Ramblings #9

Yesterday, as I was driving to work in the afternoon, I noticed the price of gas was $3.69 a gallon. 8 hours later, as I was driving home, it was $3.75 a gallon. It had just jumped 6 cents in a matter of hours. Just a few days before that it was $3.65.

I must say, this is really starting to piss me off, and I live in a state where gas is cheaper than most everyone else in the country. (Poor California, their prices are already over $4.00).

Some people like to blame Obama, but is it really his fault? Personally, I think it's just those greedy scumbag oil companies, who are now making billions in profits off the backs of us working stiffs. Sure, they'll try to say it's because of Libya or Syria or some crap. I think most of us know by now that those countries supply very little oil to the U.S. It may not be Obama's fault, but he better start cracking some whips here. I don't enjoy paying close to $35 to fill my small tank (I have a Honda Fit.)
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Speaking of Obama, I'm glad the guy finally released his birth certificate. Hopefully this will make the redneck "Birther" movement disappear. But I doubt it. In its place you are likely to see the "Transcripters" instead. Rednecks wanting Obama to release his college transcripts. Please, people, just get a life. Just accept the fact that a black man is president. And, if gas prices keep going up, he's not likely to remain the president that much longer anyway.
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So, it seems that we will indeed be going to Taiwan this year. We've bought our tickets, so there's no turning back now. We're also going to be visiting Thailand on this trip. It seems one of my relatives is sitting in a prison in Bangkok and we decided it would be best to pay them a visit and give them our support. (My vagueness on this topic is because I plan to write about this in more detail at a later time.) Stay tuned.
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The Taiwanese girl (the one I met here in the US) who dumped me 8 years ago because I didn't drive a Honda has now added me as a friend on Facebook. Why, I don't know. But pretty crazy, isn't it? I should probably point out to her that now I do drive a Honda.

Easter 2011

Here's a few pictures from the annual Easter Egg Hunt outside the hospital where I work.

Ramblings #8

I think that if someone were to cut the hair of Paul Ryan (Republican Congressman from Wisconsin), they just might find the numbers "666" etched into his head.

It's obvious that America is in a dire financial situation, but Paul Ryan's ideas of how to balance the budget are a bit extreme, to say the least. Ryan would basically reverse everything that FDR and LBJ started. Medicare as we know it would no longer exist. Seniors instead would have to rely on vouchers for health insurance.

On "Real Time with Bill Maher", Maher asked RNC Chairman Michael Steele what would happen to seniors when the vouchers ran out:
"We don't know yet." Steele replied.
"They're S.O.L." said one of the other panelists.

This whole exchange pretty much sums up what will happen to the poor, the middle class, the elderly, and the sick if the GOP ever has complete power. They will be S.O.L. (or..Shit Outta Luck, for those who don't know)

This outright attack on the elderly is pretty bizarre, considering that seniors are the base of the Republican party. Seniors also vote in large numbers. This just doesn't make sense.

Paul Ryan's budget cuts pretty much every social program out there....but, he wants to cut taxes on the rich from 35% to 25%, and increase defense spending. What a surprise, huh? That 10% cut for the rich alone would cost the country over 4 trillion dollars in lost revenue.

I don't look forward to the future that the GOP have laid out. A future where tax cuts for the rich are paid for on the backs of the middle class. As weak a president as Obama is, how could I possibly ever vote Republican when these are the values they stand for? Raising taxes a few percentage points on the rich won't hurt them, but throwing seniors to the wolves in their golden years certainly will.
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I want to take back any positive thing I might have said about Donald Trump in one of my previous "Ramblings." Now that he's reversed his opinion on numerous topics, and become a Tea Bagging birther, he's just become a big, orange clown with bad hair.
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Bon Jovi is accusing Steve Jobs of killing the music business. This is what he said:

"Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it."

Sounds a bit like the ramblings of an old man, but I sort of agree with him. As a kid, I used to love listening to albums, and I would often come home from school, go to my room and just zone out the rest of the day with the music. An iPod isn't really a good substitute for a vinyl record with trippy artwork.

However, when I was a kid, I didn't really own that many albums, either. Maybe about 50, with the bulk of them being Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. So my musical exposure was pretty limited. Now thanks to the internet, I've got more music than I could ever possibly listen to. I've got hundreds, if not thousands, of songs from almost every genre of music. I just recently downloaded "The 99 Most Essential Opera Masterpieces" from Amazon.com for 99 cents. 99 cents for 99 songs! And opera, no less! Would I have listened to opera 30 years ago? Hell no. But now I do. So...sorry Bon Jovi, but I don't think you have a very good argument.

Sara.....the genius?

Sara...the genius? Who knows...but still, I think it's every parents dream to have a truly gifted child. Sara got the results from her "Cognitive Abilities Test" back yesterday. This is the test to determine whether or not Sara will be enrolled into the "Gifted and Talented" program for advanced learners. Not only did she qualifty, her scores were pretty remarkable. This is what it said on the letter:

"This student's standard age score of 124 on verbal reasoning ability means that he/she scored higher than 93% of the students in his/her age in the national norming sample. 115 for quantitative reasoning ability means that he/she scored higher than 83% of the students his/her age in the national norming sample. 114 for nonverbal reasoning means that he/she scored higher than 81% of the students his/her age."

Of course, both Christy and I are really proud of Sara, and naturally we are both trying to take credit for Sara's talents.

"That's my smart gene." I say to Christy, jokingly of course. "And because I spent that year with her in Taiwan and helped her develop her English skills."
"No, that's just my smart asian gene." Christy replies back, also jokingly. And this tends to go back and forth, all in fun though.

Christy also thinks that because Sara spent her first 3 years in Taiwan, and was exposed to two languages, that also helped her. She wants Sara to continue learning Chinese by enrolling her in Saturday "bushiban" style classes. I'm not really in favor of this. I don't think bushiban classes are very productive, and based on my experience, kids hate going to them. I'd prefer that Christy teaches the kids herself. She has about the same experience as any bushiban teacher, which is none. I feel pretty confident Sara will be successful in life, no matter how hard certain politicians in this country try to destroy education. I know there will be a lot of roadblocks in her way, but I'm sure she will persevere.

It will be interesting to watch as she grows up. Now I hope that she will pass some of her wisdom off to her brother.

Video - Kyle Celebrates His 4th Birthday

Kyle celebrates his 4th birthday today. We gave him a little party, complete with a "Star Wars" cake. His big gift this year was a "Thomas the Tank Engine" tent house. (see picture)

Austin Renaissance Faire

The Sherwood Forest Renaissance Faire came to Austin, and (judging by those in the crowd) every nerd, geek, and dweeb was out in force. We managed to go on the last day of the faire, and although the winds made it a bit dusty, the weather was pretty nice.

Christy and I each paid $14 to get in and the kids were free. I was kind of surprised that once we got it, we had to pay for everything else inside. Obviously I knew we would have to pay for food, but if you wanted to do any sort of activity (other than watching a show), you had to pay. $3 each for the kids to ride a carousel. More money to shoot an arrow or throw an axe. $20 to talk to a fortune teller. Even the supposedly free shows ended with the performers coming around to everyone asking for tips.

Most of the shows were pretty lame, except for the big joust tournament, which was okay. Again, though, this trip was something that I don't think will be repeated next year.