Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Look What I Got!


New Camera - My First dSLR, originally uploaded by CraftyGuy.

I received a package today from my awesome photographer friend Carol in Austin, TX. In that package was this nifty new (for me) camera.

Carol had recently gotten a new camera, and knew that I could and would most happily provide a good home for her old camera - a Canon 300D (the original Rebel). A sweet piece of equipment indeed!

Prior to this, I have never owned - let alone used - a dSLR camera before; I had been using a Kodak EasyShare C340 (your basic point-and-shoot type) up until this time. I know I gots me some learning to do in order to use this new baby to its fullest potential, so if my photos take a temporary dip in quality (as if they could dip any lower), you'll know why - so don't you be blamin' the camera!!

Happy, happy, joy, joy!
Happy, happy, click, click!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Bar Stool Economics

I've been way too busy to even blog lately (never a good thing), but as soon as I can get my head back on straight, I'll be back to it.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some wisdom I received in email today.


Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everyone's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20 declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Please wait while Windows continues f***ing up your computer...

That pretty much sums it up.

I want a Mac and I want it NOW!!