Monday is my day off. When I say "day," I mean night. I work 9pm-2am cleaning a carwash every day except Monday and Tuesday. I get home around 2:30am on nights I work, and generally, I go to bed around 4am. During the school week, I get up at 7:30am when my wife leaves for work to ensure my older kids get ready for school and on the bus by 8:25am. Most mornings, my youngest is dumped on me as my wife is leaving, if I haven't already gotten her before going to/down for bed.
With that said, I was having a typical Monday aside from having an afternoon perio appointment to see why I have loose teeth. My youngest usually naps in the afternoon, so I try to get a catnap in during that time. My nap wasn't available so I pushed through until after dinner when I said I'd rest my eyes around 7:10pm before my show started.
I never got up to watch Gotham. My rest went beyond nap, and I got up around 2am. I wish I had said goodnight to the family. I didn't have my wrist braces on. I didn't brush my teeth.
Regardless, I'm usually hungry at 2am. It's when I usually eat a meal that is like lunch, but I'll take anything that is filling. I like to let my food settle before I go to sleep. At the moment, I can't do much fun stuff like Twitter due to SPOILERS of my show, hence this blog post I started a while ago but never felt much like filing.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
how old is Hillary Clinton?
So the most talked about Presidential Candidate seems to be Mrs. Clinton. I only say such because no one mentioned anyone else seen eating with peons at quasi-Mexican restaurants or hanging in a van (down by the river?) with blurred faced supporters.
Americans should feel ill at ease at the thought that the next presidential election is over a year and a half away, or at least those of us living in states like Ohio or Florida that are fickle and swing whichever way, should feel like taking a long hibernation.
Hillary Clinton seems to be like John McCain in that she lost 8 years ago in a primary and waited to go again until after her rival was forced out. I guess that Bob Dole is a better analogy, but he was before my time.
No idea what her platform is, but what difference does it make?
Americans should feel ill at ease at the thought that the next presidential election is over a year and a half away, or at least those of us living in states like Ohio or Florida that are fickle and swing whichever way, should feel like taking a long hibernation.
Hillary Clinton seems to be like John McCain in that she lost 8 years ago in a primary and waited to go again until after her rival was forced out. I guess that Bob Dole is a better analogy, but he was before my time.
No idea what her platform is, but what difference does it make?
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
rape prevention as tweeted by Sarah Silverman and general income inequality
A couple weeks ago, men were upset by a "sexist" tweet about only men can prevent rape by resisting the urge to rape, this week Sarah Silverman is championing equal pay.
Both matters are important, but I'm not sure Sarah Silverman is the right person to discuss the matters. Rape isn't funny, but she treated the subject as joke. I was almost tempted to share with her the article of how the US has more men raped than women, due to its prison system.
The equal pay campaign isn't new, I just saw an article in the UK Daily Mail today that talked about her getting $10 a week compared to $60 when she was doing stand-up somewhere. I find the argument flawed based on the fact that anyone getting on stage getting equal $ sounds fair but doesn't go into the quality nor ROI of the performance.
If a guy is getting people to come see him perform and they are buying booze at full price then he merits more take home than a gal rim-shotting to an empty room during happy hour. I'm not sure of what the scenario actually was in Sarah's life experience, but it's not a fair story given her biased memory.
Only one profession I have ever heard where the pay inequality favored women, and it was in the porn industry. I suppose others exist, but they're trivial. I suppose women could form unions and holdout for higher wages, but part of me thinks that having more people competing for same jobs only drives the wages down for those jobs. There are jobs that women are less likely to pursue, while jobs considered to be women's professions don't exactly pay much even when they require education degrees (like librarians and teachers).
Women don't play in the NBA, NFL, MLB or NHL, yet those leagues aren't sued for discrimination. Those jobs pay minimum six-figures and don't require college degrees, I'm just waiting for the day that the leagues are required to play women or at least hold roster spots.
Both matters are important, but I'm not sure Sarah Silverman is the right person to discuss the matters. Rape isn't funny, but she treated the subject as joke. I was almost tempted to share with her the article of how the US has more men raped than women, due to its prison system.
The equal pay campaign isn't new, I just saw an article in the UK Daily Mail today that talked about her getting $10 a week compared to $60 when she was doing stand-up somewhere. I find the argument flawed based on the fact that anyone getting on stage getting equal $ sounds fair but doesn't go into the quality nor ROI of the performance.
If a guy is getting people to come see him perform and they are buying booze at full price then he merits more take home than a gal rim-shotting to an empty room during happy hour. I'm not sure of what the scenario actually was in Sarah's life experience, but it's not a fair story given her biased memory.
Only one profession I have ever heard where the pay inequality favored women, and it was in the porn industry. I suppose others exist, but they're trivial. I suppose women could form unions and holdout for higher wages, but part of me thinks that having more people competing for same jobs only drives the wages down for those jobs. There are jobs that women are less likely to pursue, while jobs considered to be women's professions don't exactly pay much even when they require education degrees (like librarians and teachers).
Women don't play in the NBA, NFL, MLB or NHL, yet those leagues aren't sued for discrimination. Those jobs pay minimum six-figures and don't require college degrees, I'm just waiting for the day that the leagues are required to play women or at least hold roster spots.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Waiting for Hillary
Martin O'Malley. Have you ever heard of him? I remember when he was mayor of Baltimore, he appeared on various tv shows I had seen. Not a whole lot I can say about him aside from that and his being governor of Maryland.
Anyways, he's out there making a case for being nominated for the democratic party's presidential candidate, or there's people doing it for him.
I'm open minded, but I can't help question the sincerity of the presented argument. Maryland is a tiny state that is the suburbs for all that is DC. Virginia is bigger and has more rugged terrain, thus has poorer parts. Taking credit for coincidental events rubs me wrong.
Regardless, his name is off putting. His initials are MOMish. Mal doesn't translate nicely to hispanic voters. O'Malley has three syllabols and starts with an O like Obama. Who knows how popular Obama will be upon leaving office. Obama's presidency has not been one that was advertised, particularly when it comes to transparency.
Anyways, he's out there making a case for being nominated for the democratic party's presidential candidate, or there's people doing it for him.
I'm open minded, but I can't help question the sincerity of the presented argument. Maryland is a tiny state that is the suburbs for all that is DC. Virginia is bigger and has more rugged terrain, thus has poorer parts. Taking credit for coincidental events rubs me wrong.
Regardless, his name is off putting. His initials are MOMish. Mal doesn't translate nicely to hispanic voters. O'Malley has three syllabols and starts with an O like Obama. Who knows how popular Obama will be upon leaving office. Obama's presidency has not been one that was advertised, particularly when it comes to transparency.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Minimum wage should be $35.20/hr.
In 1978-79, average public 4-year in-state college tuition was roughly $688 a year. Assuming that a summer job spans one-fourth of a year, a minimum wage of $2.65/hr generated $1,378, which would cover said tuition amount.
In 2015, the average public 4-year in-state college tuition is roughly $9,139.
If minimum wage increased proportionately with that of college tuition, minimum wage would be $35.20/hr.
An annual salary of $73,218 is much higher than the average entry level salary for a college grad.
Sources consulted:
In 2015, the average public 4-year in-state college tuition is roughly $9,139.
If minimum wage increased proportionately with that of college tuition, minimum wage would be $35.20/hr.
An annual salary of $73,218 is much higher than the average entry level salary for a college grad.
Sources consulted:
- http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d06/tables/dt06_319.asp
- http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm
- http://college.usatoday.com/2014/11/13/stock-up-on-ramen-average-cost-of-college-rises-again/
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/19/the-college-degrees-with-the-highest-starting-salaries-in-2015/
Monday, March 23, 2015
Thoughts about Raising the Minimum Wage
Anyone comparing the price of higher education from the late 1970s to that of today as an argument to raise the minimum wage is either ignorant or intellectually dishonest. Education costs have increased 7% annually since the early 80s. Said increase is not correlated to the rise of inflation (averaging 3.2%), but rather complex reasons, reasons dealing with higher education being subsidized by various entities.
Seems that Federal minimum in 1978 was $2.65. It had just increased from $2.30, which is 15.21% increase. The following year, it increased a more modest 9.43% to $2.90, followed by a 6.9% increase in 1980 to $3.10 and by a 8% increase in 1981 to $3.35.
Collectively, that's a 45.6% increase over a 5-year period.
The next batch of raises to minimum wage occurred in 1990 and 1991 to $3.80 (13.4%) and $4.25 (11.8%), respectfully, for another collective increase of 26.9%. Interestingly, George HW Bush was president during this time, and he was not re-elected in '92 partly due to a recession.
Weird coincidence that recessions occurred following these periods of wage increase. Weirder still that minimum wage was last bumped up a collective 40% (from $5.15 to present $7.25) during a 3-year span starting in July of 2007 and finishing July of 2009, strangely correlating with the Great Recession of '08.
Regardless of my above nonsense with numbers and such, calculating what today's minimum wage should be relative to inflation of an annual increase of 3.2% means the person making $2.65/hr back in 1978 should be making roughly $8.50/hr now. But to be more intectually honest given where I got my inflation number, take the minimum wage from 1982 of $3.35/hr and calulate inflation from then to present figures to $9.47/hr.
So, I guess a raise in minimum wage is in order, but it's not going to mean a summer job will pay for a year of college as predicated in the argument. I did the math, and using said logic, minimum wage should be like $35 an hour.
Sources consulted:
- http://www.nasfaa.org/advocacy/perspectives/articles/Myths_and_Realities_about_Rising_College_Tuition.aspx
- http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm
- http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d06/tables/dt06_319.asp
- http://www.forumoecon.com/forumoecon/pearchives/political/poleconarticle2print.pdf
- http://www.calculatorpro.com/calculator/salary-calculator/
Articles on raising minimum wage to $15/hr:
- http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/19/la-minimum-wage-rise-vote
Friday, March 20, 2015
people I'd like to meet
While driving to see my dad in the hospital last July, I listened to Lorde's Pure Heroine on the Passat's CD player. Not sure why J got it out from her library, but we both liked what we had heard of hers on the radio.
I'm not a big fan of music. I don't hate music, I just don't think about it much. Up until last Thanksgiving, I spent my afternoons and car drives listening to talk radio. I think there's a limit on how much preaching to the choir I can tolerate, and I reached it when nothing said was new. Being comfortable with the status quo is fine if it's not boring. Nonetheless, I can't drive in silence for three hours, hence roadtrip with Lorde.
So the opening line to Tennis Court has a certain meaning to me.
The problem with being bored with how people talk is that I don't care to meet new people. Regardless, people don't care to talk to me. I limit my interaction on Facebook to family and friends. I find that they seem to not update their status to things of my interest much. I must be boring, for my updates sans pics of my family go without comment or the like. I don't know many people on Twitter, but those that I do, I am moreso inclined to interact.
Subtweeting aside, most tweets can be a conversation starter if the character limit is used. Tweets are short and sweet, and there's no being bogged down with boredom when you follow a collection of varying viewpoints on nights that aren't flooded with inane red carpet nonsense from the various award shows for the uber 1% or sporting events like March Madness that are silly to me.
Not everyone does Twitter. I'm annoyed that Camille Paglia doesn't seem to utilize Twitter. Maybe she does now, but last I checked, she was not to be found. I guess that means she's one of the few people I'd have to meet in person to interact. I'm not in the mood to watch her speak, but I find her views interesting and mostly well thought out. I don't have to agree with her, but her arguments are neither simply cliche nor closed ended talking points. She's not boring.
I'm not a big fan of music. I don't hate music, I just don't think about it much. Up until last Thanksgiving, I spent my afternoons and car drives listening to talk radio. I think there's a limit on how much preaching to the choir I can tolerate, and I reached it when nothing said was new. Being comfortable with the status quo is fine if it's not boring. Nonetheless, I can't drive in silence for three hours, hence roadtrip with Lorde.
So the opening line to Tennis Court has a certain meaning to me.
The problem with being bored with how people talk is that I don't care to meet new people. Regardless, people don't care to talk to me. I limit my interaction on Facebook to family and friends. I find that they seem to not update their status to things of my interest much. I must be boring, for my updates sans pics of my family go without comment or the like. I don't know many people on Twitter, but those that I do, I am moreso inclined to interact.
Subtweeting aside, most tweets can be a conversation starter if the character limit is used. Tweets are short and sweet, and there's no being bogged down with boredom when you follow a collection of varying viewpoints on nights that aren't flooded with inane red carpet nonsense from the various award shows for the uber 1% or sporting events like March Madness that are silly to me.
Not everyone does Twitter. I'm annoyed that Camille Paglia doesn't seem to utilize Twitter. Maybe she does now, but last I checked, she was not to be found. I guess that means she's one of the few people I'd have to meet in person to interact. I'm not in the mood to watch her speak, but I find her views interesting and mostly well thought out. I don't have to agree with her, but her arguments are neither simply cliche nor closed ended talking points. She's not boring.
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