I went once and have never gone back. It's not that I had to wait on the day I went, but I paid so much for it. It was like you said, the same cost as one you'd order cooked. And it tasted lousy. The veggies tasted old and a bit rotten, and they were stingy with the cheese. In the last town I lived, there was a Papa Murphy's that made me a fan. Always great service. Always good pizza. Always cheaper than any other pizza place around. I liked to stop there after work on Thursdays when we'd watch Survivor. It became our tradition so much so that we couldn't watch Survivor without Papa Murphy pizza. I am sorely disappointed that the one near us is so lousy. Maybe the owner's will find out and get a new manager.
I got dumped a month ago and I've been doing A LOT of clothes shopping since. not a coincidence. (although i still maintain my shopping is better than going out and drinking too much or eating too much, which is what others told me i should do!)
Scott,
as far as detesting "the whole wedding ripoff" thing, I'm with you on that! Although, it isn't rape when the other party is not only willing, but actually wants it.
Overall I think weddings are absurd BS. However, I do think that ceremony (in the most basic sense) is important.
Weddings are BIG business for many, although I don't think you will find many photographers actually getting rich off of them. Most wedding photographers can do very well on them, but they just aren't getting rich. And then there are many wedding photographers that are just not very good.
As far as copying their picture(s) goes, I have a problem with that because you have made an agreement with them, and part of that agreement was stating that you wouldn't copy their pictures. As I and others have said before, if you want to be able to copy and print the pictures yourself, find a photographer that is ok with that.
For me this issue isn't about the law, it is about human beings and agreements that have been made between them. If the photographer had made an agreement to shoot your son or daughter's wedding, but then didn't show up because they decided that you were greedy for not having it at a more expensive location (which you could obviously afford), you would be absolutely livid. And it wouldn't be because of their reasoning, but because they screwed you and your family by breaking the agreement they had with you.
If you want to make weddings more affordable, go for it! There will be a market for it. But I also think that there is a significant percentage of the population that isn't very interested in economy weddings, at least not more so than what exists today. The people who like the extravagance of it are still going to like the extravagance of it. And I think we would have to see a major perception change before discount weddings would be "acceptable." And it *would* have to be acceptable to just about everybody directly involved. I think it would take some very clever marketing.
But again, if this is your calling... go for it, shake things up!
I have 2 College students who made over $3000 each last year. Should I claim them as depenants? or doesn't it matter for the sake of the Stimulus payments? Will they still get their rebate even though I claim them as dependents? All the articles I read say "taxpayers" will get the stimulus Pack payments.
I actually used to live and work in Japan as well. I was a teacher in Osaka working for Nova, before the company imploded.
Good luck with JET it is a great program. I chose not to include the myriad of English teaching options available because, well, I had to draw the line somewhere. However, this is an excellent suggestion. I recommend ESL Teacher's Board if you are exploring this option and want to see the kind of opportunities that are available.
I haven't heard of that one, thanks. I've heard of seriousteachers.com,eslcafe.com, and the international educator (tieonline.com). I'll have to check out that program for future use. We've always wanted to spend more time in Japan (my husband lived there for a while in the military and loved it - and we only had a day in Okinawa on our way through to Bangkok), but it's so expensive there that if you can have something to supplement your trip, it's a good idea. For other countries, we're not so worried about it. They're inexpensive enough. But Japan, while beautiful, is an expensive beast.
What I was trying to say was that "giving a performance" (in the sense of performing on stage) is not deliberate practice. Performing a piece of your skill (in the sense of actually doing it) may be--if you are monitoring your how well you do and trying to figure out how to do it better.
To use the example of a magic trick that one of the commenters uses above:
Performing a magic show is not deliberate practice. Neither is doing the trick for a friend.
Deliberate practice would be standing in front of a mirror and doing one piece of the trick, while watching to see if the palmed card is visible. So would doing the whole trick to practice moving smoothly from one step to the next. (You can say that's "performing the trick," but it isn't giving a performance of it.)
The JET (Japan English and Teaching) Program pays for your roundtrip airfare to and from Japan, as well as a salary of $35,000, in exchange for a year (up to three, if you choose) of teaching English as a foreign language. No English-teaching experience required.
You do have to submit and go through a long (and pretty competitive) application process, but what do you have to loose (it doesn't even cost to apply, except for the postage to send in the application)?
I've applied, have an interview in February, and will know if I was accepted in April!
I've read some of Reich's earlier books, and I think his views have changed a good bit over the past 20 years or so. Judging from Supercapitalism, I don't think he wants the government to decide what gets produced or how much (the things that a central command economy did, but never very well).
Making sure that consumers have good information is important, but it's not a trivial solution. Any kind of labeling mandate has costs at multiple levels--companies spend money making sure they understand the rules and then more money complying with them, the government spends money creating the rules and then monitoring compliance. In addition, any particular rule has winners and losers--how low of a usage of pesticides do you need to have to leave them off your label?
Businesses will inevitably push costs to a minimum, which can easily produce health and safety issues for workers and communities. I don't think rules requiring that companies, for example, limit the release of toxic substances really amount to a "central controlled economy."
I have looked at and/or used nearly everything on this list and am sad to see iwantsandy.com excluded. I use Sandy now and am so much more happy with her than anything I had before. I don't need to sign in to use the service, I just email her something I want her to remind me to do or a list or something to remember and she does it. She can email or text message you your reminders and sends you a daily agenda of things to do every morning.
Whats more, you can use Jott to call in your reminders, lists, etc and both services are free.
P.S. After using iwantsandy for while, you will start to refer to her like a person.
P.S.S. I am not affiliated with iwantsandy in any way, except that I am a happy user.
Our paycheck comes every two weeks, so when I shop twice monthly, I stash some granola bars, small bags of popcorn or chips, cracker packs or whatever else I can get on sale that's not terribly unhealthy in my car in a canvas bag. That way, if I forget to pack snacks or lunch, we're not forced to stop or have low blood sugar meltdowns.
For drinks, I try to keep a few cans of flavored seltzer water in the back of the car, in case we don't have our SS water bottles with us, but I know where every water fountain in town is also.
For over a month now, I've been improving my diet by having at least two pieces of fruit a day, starting with breakfast. I've noticed that since I've been doing that, I'm not snacking so much on unhealthy food. I save money too, because I buy whatever fruit is in season. Right now, that's bananas and tangerines. Well, they're in season in the market.
About all that's growing outside in Maine right now are snowpiles and pine trees. Maybe I should brew up some spruce tea? It's supposed to be very nutritious and it's wicked frugal.
That's what they did last time - imagine my surprise the next year when my refund was cut in half - cause they said they already gave it to me. If they don't do that this time, at the very least we will be paying taxes on it, I'm sure!
Today, after many month of unemployment I went to cash my first, very sweated pay check, just to find out that they refused to cash it if I did not give them my thumb print and refuse as well to give me a written reason to why they couldn't cash it, and I am furious!!!
How is it that so many people accept things like this, with out a ...
Or what about the service of a bank...
There is a stong contradiction regarding deliberate and non-deliberate practice. The article says that deliberate practice is "performing your skill (or, more typically, a piece of it)", yet is says in the followig section, "Most especially, actually performing your skill isn't deliberate practice"...
Funeral Homes are sensitive to this and caring for the grieving as a business is tricky.
Any Funeral Home will tell you that a grieving loved one is usually the one who pushes for the over-the-top items and services. On the other hand, the majority of people are too numb and in shock and denial to want to do anything, and that is simply not healthy. Grieving loved ones need to be able to show the significance of the one who is gone, and the loss that is felt. It doesn't matter if it is a parent, a child, a neighbour, a pet. Not being able to express the loss and not having someone hear the feelings of loss can result in unhealthy cycles that can last a lifetime. As a result, anyone who sells services and products to people in grief are concerned that those needs are met, and will encourage people to express and share and demonstrate their feelings of grief, and often that results in expenditure.
And, yes, there are the Funeral Homes who simply don't care and will try to milk families for a lot. But, honestly, although those businesses get all the attention, they really are in a small minority.
If you want to be able to balance being able to deal with a future loss, both emotionally and financially, you really need to do something that will feel depressing and awkward at first, but has tremendous positive effects; pre-plan your, or a loved-one's, funeral. Many services are available to pre-pay for funerals, and that has it's own pros and cons, but at the very least, figure out and write down how you would want to gather your friends and family and how you would all share the stories of the life that is no longer with you. There are many meaningful and cost-free ways to do all of that.
You can even do that for your own funeral and save your loved ones the financial burden of finding ways to express their grief and loss of you in their lives.
The worst thing you could do is to do nothing because you are too afraid to spend. Plan something ahead of time, put it with your will, or with the will of your loved one, and that way you can express your grief when the time comes, and keep spending under control.
I didn't mean to write my own post, but this is one issue that people get too frugal about at the wrong time, and I've seen the devastation.
I heard of another program specifically for families where a stipend is given and (if I remember correctly) even airfare is discounted for teaching English abroad. The program was aimed at teaching Business English, but actually looked for families (especially with school age kids) to interact with families and kids from other language backgrounds on the weekends. If I remember correctly it was a sort of vacation/teaching abroad program in the summer, with an average trip being two or three weeks long. I can't recall the name of this program, but maybe someone else knows.
Many churches do volunteer projects that are two to three weeks in length and are not mission based. I worked with several groups in Nome, Alaska who came up for two weeks (from Texas, Kentucky, and Virginia) to install community playgrounds, run summer camps, and do repairs to elders (a respectful term for respected older Native Alaskans) houses and vehicles.
These vacations were usually just the cost of travel, and the hosting church and community really pulled together to provide meals, housing, fun outings, and genuine friendship for visitors with hard to find skills (like construction, car maintenance, etc.)
So if you go to church, don't forget to look there too. Or, don't be afraid to start one!
I went once and have never gone back. It's not that I had to wait on the day I went, but I paid so much for it. It was like you said, the same cost as one you'd order cooked. And it tasted lousy. The veggies tasted old and a bit rotten, and they were stingy with the cheese. In the last town I lived, there was a Papa Murphy's that made me a fan. Always great service. Always good pizza. Always cheaper than any other pizza place around. I liked to stop there after work on Thursdays when we'd watch Survivor. It became our tradition so much so that we couldn't watch Survivor without Papa Murphy pizza. I am sorely disappointed that the one near us is so lousy. Maybe the owner's will find out and get a new manager.
I got dumped a month ago and I've been doing A LOT of clothes shopping since. not a coincidence. (although i still maintain my shopping is better than going out and drinking too much or eating too much, which is what others told me i should do!)
Scott,
as far as detesting "the whole wedding ripoff" thing, I'm with you on that! Although, it isn't rape when the other party is not only willing, but actually wants it.
Overall I think weddings are absurd BS. However, I do think that ceremony (in the most basic sense) is important.
Weddings are BIG business for many, although I don't think you will find many photographers actually getting rich off of them. Most wedding photographers can do very well on them, but they just aren't getting rich. And then there are many wedding photographers that are just not very good.
As far as copying their picture(s) goes, I have a problem with that because you have made an agreement with them, and part of that agreement was stating that you wouldn't copy their pictures. As I and others have said before, if you want to be able to copy and print the pictures yourself, find a photographer that is ok with that.
For me this issue isn't about the law, it is about human beings and agreements that have been made between them. If the photographer had made an agreement to shoot your son or daughter's wedding, but then didn't show up because they decided that you were greedy for not having it at a more expensive location (which you could obviously afford), you would be absolutely livid. And it wouldn't be because of their reasoning, but because they screwed you and your family by breaking the agreement they had with you.
If you want to make weddings more affordable, go for it! There will be a market for it. But I also think that there is a significant percentage of the population that isn't very interested in economy weddings, at least not more so than what exists today. The people who like the extravagance of it are still going to like the extravagance of it. And I think we would have to see a major perception change before discount weddings would be "acceptable." And it *would* have to be acceptable to just about everybody directly involved. I think it would take some very clever marketing.
But again, if this is your calling... go for it, shake things up!
Thanks Rob... I hadn't found IWantSandy.com but now I have! This looks very cool - I may just have to amend my list :)
You're aware that rebels generally don't have a lot of cash, right?
I have 2 College students who made over $3000 each last year. Should I claim them as depenants? or doesn't it matter for the sake of the Stimulus payments? Will they still get their rebate even though I claim them as dependents? All the articles I read say "taxpayers" will get the stimulus Pack payments.
I actually used to live and work in Japan as well. I was a teacher in Osaka working for Nova, before the company imploded.
Good luck with JET it is a great program. I chose not to include the myriad of English teaching options available because, well, I had to draw the line somewhere. However, this is an excellent suggestion. I recommend ESL Teacher's Board if you are exploring this option and want to see the kind of opportunities that are available.
I haven't heard of that one, thanks. I've heard of seriousteachers.com,eslcafe.com, and the international educator (tieonline.com). I'll have to check out that program for future use. We've always wanted to spend more time in Japan (my husband lived there for a while in the military and loved it - and we only had a day in Okinawa on our way through to Bangkok), but it's so expensive there that if you can have something to supplement your trip, it's a good idea. For other countries, we're not so worried about it. They're inexpensive enough. But Japan, while beautiful, is an expensive beast.
What I was trying to say was that "giving a performance" (in the sense of performing on stage) is not deliberate practice. Performing a piece of your skill (in the sense of actually doing it) may be--if you are monitoring your how well you do and trying to figure out how to do it better.
To use the example of a magic trick that one of the commenters uses above:
I hope that makes it clearer.
The JET (Japan English and Teaching) Program pays for your roundtrip airfare to and from Japan, as well as a salary of $35,000, in exchange for a year (up to three, if you choose) of teaching English as a foreign language. No English-teaching experience required.
You do have to submit and go through a long (and pretty competitive) application process, but what do you have to loose (it doesn't even cost to apply, except for the postage to send in the application)?
I've applied, have an interview in February, and will know if I was accepted in April!
I've read some of Reich's earlier books, and I think his views have changed a good bit over the past 20 years or so. Judging from Supercapitalism, I don't think he wants the government to decide what gets produced or how much (the things that a central command economy did, but never very well).
Making sure that consumers have good information is important, but it's not a trivial solution. Any kind of labeling mandate has costs at multiple levels--companies spend money making sure they understand the rules and then more money complying with them, the government spends money creating the rules and then monitoring compliance. In addition, any particular rule has winners and losers--how low of a usage of pesticides do you need to have to leave them off your label?
Businesses will inevitably push costs to a minimum, which can easily produce health and safety issues for workers and communities. I don't think rules requiring that companies, for example, limit the release of toxic substances really amount to a "central controlled economy."
I have looked at and/or used nearly everything on this list and am sad to see iwantsandy.com excluded. I use Sandy now and am so much more happy with her than anything I had before. I don't need to sign in to use the service, I just email her something I want her to remind me to do or a list or something to remember and she does it. She can email or text message you your reminders and sends you a daily agenda of things to do every morning.
Whats more, you can use Jott to call in your reminders, lists, etc and both services are free.
P.S. After using iwantsandy for while, you will start to refer to her like a person.
P.S.S. I am not affiliated with iwantsandy in any way, except that I am a happy user.
Our paycheck comes every two weeks, so when I shop twice monthly, I stash some granola bars, small bags of popcorn or chips, cracker packs or whatever else I can get on sale that's not terribly unhealthy in my car in a canvas bag. That way, if I forget to pack snacks or lunch, we're not forced to stop or have low blood sugar meltdowns.
For drinks, I try to keep a few cans of flavored seltzer water in the back of the car, in case we don't have our SS water bottles with us, but I know where every water fountain in town is also.
For over a month now, I've been improving my diet by having at least two pieces of fruit a day, starting with breakfast. I've noticed that since I've been doing that, I'm not snacking so much on unhealthy food. I save money too, because I buy whatever fruit is in season. Right now, that's bananas and tangerines. Well, they're in season in the market.
About all that's growing outside in Maine right now are snowpiles and pine trees. Maybe I should brew up some spruce tea? It's supposed to be very nutritious and it's wicked frugal.
Shine On,
Lill
That's what they did last time - imagine my surprise the next year when my refund was cut in half - cause they said they already gave it to me. If they don't do that this time, at the very least we will be paying taxes on it, I'm sure!
2006
Lasalle Bank AKA Bank of America
Today, after many month of unemployment I went to cash my first, very sweated pay check, just to find out that they refused to cash it if I did not give them my thumb print and refuse as well to give me a written reason to why they couldn't cash it, and I am furious!!!
How is it that so many people accept things like this, with out a ...
Or what about the service of a bank...
There is a stong contradiction regarding deliberate and non-deliberate practice. The article says that deliberate practice is "performing your skill (or, more typically, a piece of it)", yet is says in the followig section, "Most especially, actually performing your skill isn't deliberate practice"...
Thank you for your comment Funeral Celebrant. It is very educational. I write a lot of posts just to see what other people think.
Funeral Homes are sensitive to this and caring for the grieving as a business is tricky.
Any Funeral Home will tell you that a grieving loved one is usually the one who pushes for the over-the-top items and services. On the other hand, the majority of people are too numb and in shock and denial to want to do anything, and that is simply not healthy. Grieving loved ones need to be able to show the significance of the one who is gone, and the loss that is felt. It doesn't matter if it is a parent, a child, a neighbour, a pet. Not being able to express the loss and not having someone hear the feelings of loss can result in unhealthy cycles that can last a lifetime. As a result, anyone who sells services and products to people in grief are concerned that those needs are met, and will encourage people to express and share and demonstrate their feelings of grief, and often that results in expenditure.
And, yes, there are the Funeral Homes who simply don't care and will try to milk families for a lot. But, honestly, although those businesses get all the attention, they really are in a small minority.
If you want to be able to balance being able to deal with a future loss, both emotionally and financially, you really need to do something that will feel depressing and awkward at first, but has tremendous positive effects; pre-plan your, or a loved-one's, funeral. Many services are available to pre-pay for funerals, and that has it's own pros and cons, but at the very least, figure out and write down how you would want to gather your friends and family and how you would all share the stories of the life that is no longer with you. There are many meaningful and cost-free ways to do all of that.
You can even do that for your own funeral and save your loved ones the financial burden of finding ways to express their grief and loss of you in their lives.
The worst thing you could do is to do nothing because you are too afraid to spend. Plan something ahead of time, put it with your will, or with the will of your loved one, and that way you can express your grief when the time comes, and keep spending under control.
I didn't mean to write my own post, but this is one issue that people get too frugal about at the wrong time, and I've seen the devastation.
I heard of another program specifically for families where a stipend is given and (if I remember correctly) even airfare is discounted for teaching English abroad. The program was aimed at teaching Business English, but actually looked for families (especially with school age kids) to interact with families and kids from other language backgrounds on the weekends. If I remember correctly it was a sort of vacation/teaching abroad program in the summer, with an average trip being two or three weeks long. I can't recall the name of this program, but maybe someone else knows.
Thanks for this, David. As a Professional Hobo, I'm taking notes! I knew about some already, but have some new links in my repertoire now too!
I have been looking for something exactly like this!!
I dont think I still got an answer to my question. The qualifying income will be calculated based on 2007 tax returns, or 2006?
Ah. Since I posted that article (above) the sentence about the rebate being deducted from next year's tax refund has been removed.
Very interesting.
Many churches do volunteer projects that are two to three weeks in length and are not mission based. I worked with several groups in Nome, Alaska who came up for two weeks (from Texas, Kentucky, and Virginia) to install community playgrounds, run summer camps, and do repairs to elders (a respectful term for respected older Native Alaskans) houses and vehicles.
These vacations were usually just the cost of travel, and the hosting church and community really pulled together to provide meals, housing, fun outings, and genuine friendship for visitors with hard to find skills (like construction, car maintenance, etc.)
So if you go to church, don't forget to look there too. Or, don't be afraid to start one!