Well the election is over for us - we did our part and mailed in our ballots a long time ago. As what often seems to be the case, the elections are not about the true issues. But rather a mess of mudslinging and character assassination. Long ago I determined that every politician will promise the moon. So you can't use that as a reference. But rather you need to look at what they actually did in past as opposed to what they say now. Both of the major party candidates are lacking in this regard, which is why I voted 3rd party.
Well there is that and the fact that there really isn't that much separating Democrats and Republicans. They agree on 90% of the issues and only use a few hot spot issues to get their bases fired up. And even when they disagree, there is generally an area where they can compromise and come up with a solution that works for both parties. Take abortion which is a hot spot issue. The cause of abortion is unwanted pregnancies.
So instead of doing legitimate work to join hands and reduce unwanted pregnancies - it is easier to name call and finger point. The net result is nothing gets done. And both parties can dust off their arguments for and against for the next election... In other words it works better politically that this remain an issue to stir up the base on either than to actually compromise and work towards resolving or at least reducing the problem. Guns are another hot button issue and I could list a few more.
Ohio is a battle ground state so we have listen to the bucket fulls of drivel that are spewed out on our local broadcast stations. I will be so glad when this is over. The way I see it about 1/3 are Democrats and about 1/3 are Republicans. It would take a major act for either of these two groups to turn about and vote for the other party. And about 1/3 are independent. Yeah, I know folks like me are voting 3rd party, but this group is still a small blip on the radar. But this last group has to have some inkling about who they are voting for come fall.
So of this last 1/3 maybe 5 or 10% are truly undecided. Therefore all these ads are aimed at these few who have no clue. I wonder how much per vote of these undecided that each candidate are spending. It has be a hefty amount. Someone needs to vote on a button where if you are already a decided voter that the political ads are skipped for you! I can see why cord cutters leave the networks - ad fatigue!
Well win or lose Trump has changed politics in America. The democrats were against him, the mainstream Republicans were against him. He was like Custer taking arrows from all sides. And Hillary had everyone campaigning for her - her husband, Joe Biden, the President. Yet it seems like this will be a close election. It is the political machine vs the outlier. The bully versus the crook.
Yet I still feel confident in my vote. It does not matter for this election, but I hope that in years to come that it helps set the foundation for a true 3rd party. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over - that is voting for the lesser of two evils as is the case for the past several presidential elections. Neither one of these candidates are worthy of being president in my opinion. But over 90% of Americans will vote for these buffoons. Am I the crazy one for voting Libertarian - or the 90%+ that do the same thing election after election but expect different results...
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Summer Vacation Ends
Well I ended up with an extended summer vacation this year. Thanks to a layoff from Luxottica. They are going with another vendor for their manufacturing software and so they will no longer do any further development on their existing software. No developers, no need for me and many of my coworkers. 9 out of 22 were released. Once they change, they plan to also have this same vendor do their support, so my whole group could eventually be shrunk down to a handful of analysts.
So I was let go in June - it was like being in school again and having the summer off. Even went to Gulf Shores, Alabama with the girls and their families to celebrate Vanessa getting her degree. And I actually lost weight, did some honey do stuff and kept busy working around the place. It was a trial run for being retired. It worked out OK - I planned my week by the day each Sunday evening. So each day I had something to do - no sitting around on the porch. Then I cut back on spending. I was able to get it fairly close to what we are planning to spend monthly upon retirement. So in that sense it was good to get a trail run and get a feel for what to expect. I did not sit around and do nothing - even on the weekends.
I was kind of sort of hoping to stay under the radar on unemployment. If I had not gotten hired by January then I would have officially retired at that time. I cannot touch my IRA until age 59 and half, although I do have about 2 years of income I can get my hands upon. So that would have bridged me until that time. But I was contacted by a company for a job and restarted work in September - I am working for a subcontractor to a subcontractor doing work for Wright Patt. So summer vacation has ended - it is back to the grind for me. I guess on the plus side it is an opportunity to put even more back for retirement so that we can do that trip to europe that we were talking about.
One thing that I noticed is that when your income is limited, you use a lot more discretion when shopping. You go in a store, get what you need turn around and get out. Since I got rehired, I do the opposite - hey I could use that, and look here - this is on sale. How quickly that thrifty habit is forgotten about. Once again there is no worrying about the total amount, and just getting whatever you want, not just what you need. I went to a store to get a $5 item last week, and walked out with over $40 of stuff. On the way to the car I was shaking my head at myself.
Worked both Cash and Serenity this weekend. They helped me with firewood. Both worked hard and earned some $$ to take home. We also got to play a little bit - Cash and I played World of Tanks. The next morning he was not listening to me - I had to tell him several times to do things. I gave him a stern lecture that he does not want to make Grandpa mad by ignoring me when I give him an order to do something. He was taken aback and did finally help cleanup as requested.
Serenity looks as though she will be like me - partially left handed. She picks up and throws things with her left hand but does some things with her right hand. I also saw that Cash can be timid at times and has Serenity do things for him. He wanted to check out a boat, but he told Serenity to go up there first and check it out. Then when all was OK, he went up. Apparently Serenity is expendable in his eyes... When I told Sarah the tale, she remarked that Serenity should wear a red shirt - a reference to the red shirts worn by the expendable junior officers on Star Trek.
Both kids got to explore on their own for the first time. I figured that they were old enough now to go traipsing over the hillside on their own. Something that I enjoyed as a child. I hope that our woods is as full as adventure to them as the woods that we got to play in as youngsters. Lots of Indian and Civil war battles, lumber jack camps, etc. as I recall. Although Cash was of course drawn to some of the old cars that his father left on the other side of creek years ago. Old rusted heaps in my eyes, restorable relics in his.
So I was let go in June - it was like being in school again and having the summer off. Even went to Gulf Shores, Alabama with the girls and their families to celebrate Vanessa getting her degree. And I actually lost weight, did some honey do stuff and kept busy working around the place. It was a trial run for being retired. It worked out OK - I planned my week by the day each Sunday evening. So each day I had something to do - no sitting around on the porch. Then I cut back on spending. I was able to get it fairly close to what we are planning to spend monthly upon retirement. So in that sense it was good to get a trail run and get a feel for what to expect. I did not sit around and do nothing - even on the weekends.
I was kind of sort of hoping to stay under the radar on unemployment. If I had not gotten hired by January then I would have officially retired at that time. I cannot touch my IRA until age 59 and half, although I do have about 2 years of income I can get my hands upon. So that would have bridged me until that time. But I was contacted by a company for a job and restarted work in September - I am working for a subcontractor to a subcontractor doing work for Wright Patt. So summer vacation has ended - it is back to the grind for me. I guess on the plus side it is an opportunity to put even more back for retirement so that we can do that trip to europe that we were talking about.
One thing that I noticed is that when your income is limited, you use a lot more discretion when shopping. You go in a store, get what you need turn around and get out. Since I got rehired, I do the opposite - hey I could use that, and look here - this is on sale. How quickly that thrifty habit is forgotten about. Once again there is no worrying about the total amount, and just getting whatever you want, not just what you need. I went to a store to get a $5 item last week, and walked out with over $40 of stuff. On the way to the car I was shaking my head at myself.
Worked both Cash and Serenity this weekend. They helped me with firewood. Both worked hard and earned some $$ to take home. We also got to play a little bit - Cash and I played World of Tanks. The next morning he was not listening to me - I had to tell him several times to do things. I gave him a stern lecture that he does not want to make Grandpa mad by ignoring me when I give him an order to do something. He was taken aback and did finally help cleanup as requested.
Serenity looks as though she will be like me - partially left handed. She picks up and throws things with her left hand but does some things with her right hand. I also saw that Cash can be timid at times and has Serenity do things for him. He wanted to check out a boat, but he told Serenity to go up there first and check it out. Then when all was OK, he went up. Apparently Serenity is expendable in his eyes... When I told Sarah the tale, she remarked that Serenity should wear a red shirt - a reference to the red shirts worn by the expendable junior officers on Star Trek.
Both kids got to explore on their own for the first time. I figured that they were old enough now to go traipsing over the hillside on their own. Something that I enjoyed as a child. I hope that our woods is as full as adventure to them as the woods that we got to play in as youngsters. Lots of Indian and Civil war battles, lumber jack camps, etc. as I recall. Although Cash was of course drawn to some of the old cars that his father left on the other side of creek years ago. Old rusted heaps in my eyes, restorable relics in his.
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