Tax Time

To anyone who may not have done their taxes yet....Have fun with that! :D

Tax Solution

In honor of tax time which is right around the corner, I have a tax related post:

So here it is, I have the solution to all those different people who complain about taxes on their income bracket being too high and taxes on another being too low, complain complain complain.

Percentage, people. Why can we not tax a standard percentage? Instead of saying ‘Group A is taxed 35% and Group B is taxed 25% because of reason C’, why not just say ‘All groups will be taxed at 30%’? This seems like the fair thing to do, right? “Well, shouldn’t the rich be taxed more, b/c they have more to spare?” No. “Shouldn’t the poor be taxed less, b/c they have less to spare?” No. Keep it standard across the board. When you start doing exceptions, you have problems. By having a set percentage for everyone, it ensures a sameness, a unity, between us.

In addition, I used to live in a town that was very…well, it was struggling. I worked at a grocery store, and would see people come in wearing more gold then I own, paying with food stamps. I saw people living with their boyfriends, but the boyfriend has to leave when the state comes to inspect the ‘single mother living alone’. I’ve seen people purposely not get married b/c they loose benefits, etc etc. I think that helping those in need is great. However, I’m not for rewarding those in need. A coworker of mine at the time, her daughter was in the same situation. She lived with her boyfriend (ie, ‘alone’ to the state), and had two children. They had a leak in their apartment, and my coworker was saying how daughter had to move all of their stuff into one room. “So now she’s got the big screen, both computers and the game station in the one tiny room.” I was like “isn’t she state funded? I don’t even have that stuff.” That shut my coworker up real quick. Now I’m ranting, but bear with me. I work with the Medicaid program. I pay doctors claims, that’s what I do. I also deal with the state in deciding what should and should not be covered. Let’s just say that the benefits given out in the various Medicaid programs are better then my own benefits, in most cases. You would think it would be bare minimum, what was necessary. However there are quite a few procedures we cover that baffle my mind.

It’s frustrating. So yeah, flat percentage over the whole board. Problem solved. People will quit their bitchin’. Obama can send his thank you letter to my home address.

Hope for Humanity

So there is hope for humanity. Take this article, for instances:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30092624/?GT1=43001

A man who had fought liver disease got a surprise call that, finally, his liver for a transplant was available. The man and his wife got in the car and started for the hospital….in another state. The couple lived in Wyoming, and the hospital with the liver was in Denver Colorado.

After a 250 mile drive, they came to a road closed barrier. A blizzard had blocked off roads for miles and miles. Frantic, the couple called 911. The dispatcher sent a police officer to talk to them. After talking with the couple, the police officer went back to his patrol car and made some calls. He came back to the couple and said “'If you wait right here, the area boss for WYDOT will be right here” (WYDOT being the Wyoming department of transportation). Within 10 minutes they had a convoy of plow trucks.

The couple followed on the bumper of the plow trucks in white out conditions for some 80 miles (and involving 8 different plow trucks).

I was touched by this story. It’s nice to see that there are people out there that recognize the right thing to do when it comes to them. I’m glad that this made some type of headline. Perhaps it will encourage people to realize that good does happen out there, and that they can be a part of it.

Rain

It's been raining for a few days here, and we have another 5 or 6 to go. I love precipitation of any form, and rain has always calmed me down. It's soothing.

Rain. I love it. No matter what form it comes in... ;)

So for anyone who reads my blog and not Christal (does anyone read my blog?), i wanted to redirect your attention to a recent entry she did.

It's in regards to political opinions and such.

Not long after I read her post, did I come across a little cartoon satirizing all the great things Obama will/has done for our country. They got progressivly more outragous as the strip went on, and ended with him 'dieing for our sins'. They were joking on how people think of him as the Savior. But Christal is right. He is not the Savior. No matter how much you may (or may not) like him, he's not our Savior, as there is only One.

So yeah. Good post, per usual. :) Here's the link:

http://christalcollette.blogspot.com/2009/04/president-of-world.html

General Conference

So General Conference went well, and of course it touched upon stuff that was on my mind. One of the things I feel it touched upon was my eating habits. They are bad habits, addictions, that I do b/c I’ve always done them and they’re comforting to me. Tips were given in regards to addiction (of any kind, but I apply it to where I need it). I don’t need it, and I may not even really want it. It does not satisfy the emotion I want to get from it, it just makes me feel worse, more guilty. I should think of the goals I want to accomplish, and ask Heavenly Father for help, and press forward.

On my way to work today, NPR/VPR had a short segment on Will Power. It talked about the marshmallow test. In this test, 4 year old children were left alone in a room with a treat (a marshmallow or a cookie). They were told that they could either eat the treat while in there alone, or, if they waited for the examiner to come back before eating it, then they could have TWO of the treat.

So what happened? Some kids couldn’t wait a minute, while others lasted 20. So the question was, how did some have strong Will Power then others? For the most part they used two techniques. One the children came up with all on their own. When the craving for the marshmallow got really strong, they would distract themselves: play with their toes, sing a song, make up a game, anything to get their mind off of the marshmallow. Those are some ideas I should try (except the playing with my toes part).

The other technique was given to them by the examiner before he left. This was visualization. To think of the marshmallow in a new way. Instead of seeing a marshmallow, imagine it to be a cotton ball, or a little cloud, and see if that helps to stave off the craving. Sure enough, when kids thought about the marshmallow differently, they were more able to resist it.

So I now have some valuable tools to use in my endeavor. I will think to myself ‘is this item or amount really necessary?’ ‘do I even really want this?’ ‘Father, I’m trying really hard, but will need Thine help with this one…’. After these thoughts, I shall try to switch my focus (hum a song, think of what I’d like to do instead, etc). I will also try to change the way I think of the item. Instead of seeing a pizza, I will try to picture it as a flat plate full of vegetable oil.

Which it pretty much is.

I don’t want pizza anymore… O.o

April 6th...

April 6th. Makes me happy.

April Fools

I hate April Fools day. Hate hate hate it. What could possibly be good about tricking your friends. “Oh, sorry buddy, your dad just called…your mom died. April Fools!” See, nothing fun about that at all.

In addition to disliking being tricked, I don’t like the anticipation. The waiting, wondering, worrying about what may or may not happen. It’s worse then the trick itself!

So glad when this day is over.