MAGA

The more I see "impeachment" talk, the more I find myself thinking the internal polling regarding President Trump must be scary.
Seriously, the Trump-Russia collusion investigation keeps pointing to the Obama administration colluding with the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Obama is still popular, regardless of his failure to accomplish anything permanently worthwhile for those who believed in him.
President Trump needs to expose the corruption of the previous administration without explicitly mentioning Obama's name.
Trump has an opportunity to mold all of Obama's failed good intentions into a GOP-friendly message.
Imagine if President Trump only said positive things and left all the negatives to his opponents.
Famed trained hypnotist Scott Adams isn't a republican, but he sees the Black Lives Matter movement as having tenets of the GOP message.
I agree, but I'll go in a different direction.
Let's start with the premise that prisons are failed institutions. Locking people up and letting them fester into hardened criminals seems to be the current standard.
Should a junkie be in the same institution as a psycho killer?
It's probably wrong to say, but what would Jesus do to our criminal justice system?
It seems punishing crime makes sense until you realize punishment doesn't end the cycle. It seems wrong to give opportunities for redemption through education and skills training when there are law-abiding working poor who aren't being given equal assistance. I say provide working poor opportunities while forcing those would be career criminals into structured training that is geared towards their aptitudes and giving them a second chance.
Criminal justice system should be color-blind. Bias exists... so how do you exterminate the roots of bias? Law enforcement should reflect the communities they protect.
Just as police seem to have a bias against minorities... black communities have a justifiable bias against police.
When I was a librarian, I once had a job interview at a liberal arts college, it was an all day affair. I met with the search committee. I gave a presentation that was open to the student population. I met with faculty as I toured the campus and the various departments. I ate lunch in the cafeteria with the student population. I knew what I was getting myself into if I were hired.*
Why not hire our police officers in the same fashion with community involvement and say in how they want police relations? When you are arresting a citizen, regardless of the crime, you are arresting someone's friend or loved one.
Families and friends should take an active role in keeping troubled young adults on the right side of the law, but these same people may have their own problems with drugs, alcohol and motor vehicle operation.
Human brains aren't fully developed until 25... which is why auto insurance rates drop drastically when you turn 25.
I propose that anyone under the age of 25 should be given special consideration when implicated in a crime relating to drugs, alcohol or traffic violations.
Prisons house and feed at great costs, just think of the various ways those resources could be utilized with a more positive outcome.
Throwing money at a problem helps, but having structure and guidance makes the money have a better chance of being used efficiently.
Nothing in life is free of cost of dollars or personal time, and people will only give so much of themselves to help others.
Funding for pro-active preventive programs will need to be generated, but funding must have a long range reality unlike the Child Health Insurance Program that was dependent upon the existence of smokers and cigarette taxes.
Perhaps lowering the legal drinking age and raising alcohol related taxes is one avenue... there's a lot of things we buy that we don't need that could be taxed while there's a lot of things like Facebook and Google that should be taxed for creating the allusion of unbiased search results or news when they are pushing paid rankings.
The GOP tax overhaul has received a lot negative press. Jenna Fischer panned it by saying teachers won't be able to deduct the money they spend on poor kids' school supplies. Ms. Fischer neglected that the law doubles the child tax credit which should easily allow for parents to buy their kids' crayons, folders and such, thus giving the poor teachers an indirect raise when they don't need to buy the supplies anymore.
President Trump needs to stay positive and spin the potential for greatness of his policies rather than getting trapped in the weeds of Obama's carried over failures. It's easy to attack critics like Jenna Fischer, but I say use their own criticism as a means to highlight the good.

Wonderful year

2017 has been a very good year. I got a promotion and added hours to my work week, so I can foresee the Trump tax plan being rather interesting... since I can't keep my wages down too much through the HSA and 401(k) routes.
We've always lived check to check it seems, but of late, I'm seeing surplus cashflow that could take chunks out of mountain of credit card debt.
We've had debts since I blindly accepted Jennifer debts when we married. We didn't have jobs straight out of college. I have worked mostly part-time to avoid childcare costs. When I had full-time jobs we paid taxes on money we really didn't use.
When I was collecting unemployment, we seemed to get ahead, somehow.
My last time on unemployment, I made $210 weekly. When it ran out I got a job working 5 nights a week $240. I drove 22 miles each way, but we avoided child care costs. Then I got an extra hour a night and made an additional $48 a week. The job started to cut my hours, so I looked for something else to supplement, for we really needed to have me making $325 a week.
I got a job closer to home working roughly the same weekly hours/wages. Saved money on gas. Saved money when I qualified for their insurance. My weekly hours went from 25 to 35 while my promotion gave me a $5.23 hourly raise, thus doubling my income.
We could theoretically be credit card debt free in a year if we really wanted it.

Half of Americans think this credit card practice should be illegal

Half of Americans think this credit card practice should be illegal: These credit card offers can be very tempting, but they come at a steep cost! Here’s what money expert Clark Howard wants you to know.

Then there's people like me who are responsible with their $ and see the positive elements of using a store credit card. I have a credit score of 800+ and manage debt without penalties. As long as you buy within your means, carrying debt isn't exactly bad.

If you have the money to pay for something in full, but you have the ability to save 5-20% and defer full-payment 12-18 months, why not take advantage of the store-only credit card? Most credit cards allow you to automatically pay a bill. Set up your own payment schedule to payoff before the 29.99% carried over interest penalty bears upon you. Sure it's a planning thing that could hurt you if you make a mistake... like using a credit card and not changing the bill payment info after switching banks.

Saving $ tips mean little to me, sometimes

I like Clark Howard. I like his site and such, for it's good for leads on ideas for savings. Got a dud.

https://clarkdeals.com/story/save-by-cutting-back-on-these-little-luxuries/amp/

1. Wireless Service- I have Walmart Family Mobile, so we have 2 lines for $59.98 with unlimited data and such with 3GB per line of 4LTE.
2. Cable- We have Roku with Hulu and Netflix
3. Dinner out every week- Family of 5 with one being a teenage boy makes eating out way too expensive. We only eat out if we have a coupon/giftcard or are on vacation. Little Caesar's pizza doesn't count as eating out, does it? We buy meat in bulk when it goes on sale.
4. Twice-a-week coffee trips- I always make my own coffee with a Mr. Coffee drip coffee maker. I have an Aladan thermos my dad got me when I was 20, so I can take a half pot with me and have it warm all day. Coffee is cheap when you buy it at Meijer during 5 for 5 sales. Hmmmm... Maxwell House Colombian 10oz cans for $1.99. Costs pennies to make a cup of coffee if the can truly makes 90 cups.
5. Movies out twice-a-month- We get all our movies from the library. Occasionally we'll see something in the theater, but mostly the theater is Danberry Dollar Saver

finally

I just got home amid all of the New Year traffic. Weird being home before 1am. Hmmm... weird year on some levels, while on others it was meh or sad when not rather wonderful.
Not sure how I feel about my dad passing. I didn't get along with him once his illness got him deranged into thinking all healthcare should be free. He was afraid of dying and he channeled his anxiety into wasteful activities. He probably spent more time campaigning for BHO and ACA than he did visiting his grandkids. I know he meant well most of the time but he took my libertarian views as being fascist or something.
Well, I'm not going to dwell on what my dad was so much as what I would hope to improve upon towards my three kids' upbringing. I'm a deeply flawed person, but I don't drink, smoke or do drugs, so I have potential to set goals and expect to achieve elements of said goals.
I'm going to try to be nicer than I have been in the past. I want people to say, "Dylan is thoughtful." Actually gave my spare Fitbit away the last day of 2015. I got a hug in return.
A few years ago I tried to blog daily, and the blog wasn't much most days. I neglected it and segued here. Maybe I'm done there. I don't get much traffic like the old blog, but this marks the 50th post. I started the old blog when I was between jobs and collecting unemployment. I did some mildly wrong things to get the stats inflated, but it never generated income, so tipping the scale means I have no idea why people came upon it.

I think I had over a million visits in 2015, but totals fluctuated depending upon the algorithm, I guess.

I'm not planning on blogging daily. I should sleep more. I should try to get a career. I need to network or something 'cause the Internet alone hasn't yielded me much after all these years.

nothing to report, onto 2016

I was annoyed that I had a suspicious mole that only was seen because I am bald and started to shave my head. It's currently nothing, but could turn to melanoma, so I'm getting it removed next week. I wasn't worried. I was just annoyed and feared the ironic aspects, in case it were of the cancer variety. I don't fear death, rather I fear being in pain or being a burden to my family. Pain... for the sake of pain without hope of being recovered is worse than death itself on so many levels. Then again, death is forever, while science and miracles do happen from time to time to rid horrid pain and the like.
I am very happy. There's room for improvement, but as a whole, I have a wonderful existence at the present. Regardless of my vomiting the other day or my pending mole removal.

Force Awakens, spoiler

K and I saw Episode VII on his birthday, and we agree it's not bad. We feel it's in the stature of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. In fact, take those two and blend themes... you have The Force Awakens.
Spoiler alert.