day off until key dropoff

The end of the year has a number of meaning to me. I mainly review the year and think of its pluses and minuses in my development towards finality. 2013 was a fair year. Economically it seems square with 2012, so no regression is good. My family has been healthy, though we have burned through over $5K in HSA funds.

Nothing sticks out. I have a job, which is much better than being on unemployment. I would never consider bringing another child into this world if I was not working. I could work more, but childcare is so expensive that avoiding it is like free money in a strange way.  If you spend $20 a day for a kid to be watched, then I saved easily $10K ($20 X 2 kids X 5 days X 52 weeks= $10,400, plus not having to pay taxes on money saved means an additional chunk saved considering Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes are still owed on the money paid towards childcare).

HSA will be beneficial when tax time comes, for the medical expenses would have been made regardless of HSA, but HSA saves us whatever % of income tax we'd have paid on the money that we were spending. Lowest tax bracket is 10%, so that's a minimum of $500 less in taxes owed.

Dull stuff, taxes, but I think of them a lot after reading Rex Stout's reasoning via Nero Wolfe.

I'm reading Richard Zacks's Island of Vice, which has given me a new perspective on William McKinley's successor in the White House. I once wrote a paper on President McKinley's untimely assassination. I didn't have anything nice to say about McKinley's term in office given my impression of Mark Hanna as his puppet master.

Though I am not done, I am glad that Richard Zacks told me about his research when I emailed him that I enjoyed one of his previous books regarding pirates. I still have the email dated November 7, 2007, which seems a lifetime ago.

--- Richard Zacks <rzacks@echonyc.com> wrote:

> always glad to cement a marriage...
>
> Thanks for your note... it gives me a boost as I try
> to make sense of Teddy
> Roosevelt, prudish police commissioner of NYC,
> 1895-1897. I'm a tad behind
> schedule but hope to have a book out late next year.
>
> Sorry for the delays... I toyed with writing fiction
> but it doesn't suit me
> to make stuff up. I prefer the strange but true to
> the merely strange.
>
> If you have a friend or neighbor to tell about the
> books, pls. go right
> ahead. I have delusions of... being surrounded by
> adoring eyes, followed by
> applause. I would probably run off the stage or trip
> down the stairs but
> it's a nice delusion.
>
> Richard Zacks

 TR had his fair share of haters. Wonder how he would have reacted to today's blogsphere.

Quiet day. Kids are home another week and I had the day off until I got a call needing my key. Someone from corporate had inadvertently pocketed a manager's key during an inspection and is now out of state. I live 20 miles away from my job so the venture takes an hour roundtrip, which is much shorter than anyone else who was available with a key to spare.There's worse things.

My New Year's resolution is to embrace the happiness I have achieved. Sure I'll look for opportunities and be forward thinking regarding taxes and the like, but I have to remember to be thankful for the family with which I have been blessed despite my personal failings.

Yard work

Was in the yard Saturday pulling weeds. Fired the lawn guy because of the drought and the fact I was unemployed, thus making the luxury of a treated lawn seem silly.
Anyways, there are weeds in the yard in addition to brown spots where the grass died. J wants the lawn treated, but I'd just assume not pay for it when we have other priorities.
When we went on vacation to Disney, we couldn't afford it, but a promise was made that we'd go on a vacation. I don't regret going to Florida for the memories will last a lifetime, unlike our lawn which will require regular maintenance just for aesthetics that depend upon elements beyond our control.
It would probably be more expensive to be my own lawn man beyond merely cutting the grass, but with videos online, it's something to consider as an alternative.

Parallels

There are things beyond my control that will frustrate me until I am able to accept such circumstances and worry about things I can control.
I believe that the Serenity Prayer is a re-occurring theme in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. It's been years since I read the book, but I remember the prayer being written on a locket dangling in the cleavage of the B-movie star. Pictures/drawings makes such images easier to recall, and KV had a way with crude drawings. I didn't know there was such thing as such a prayer until an alcoholic told me that the prayer was said during AA meetings. This makes sense since K's uncle supposedly founded an AA chapter, and K was always intrigued by the artificial extended family element that AA created.
Anyways, given the nature of the Serenity Prayer, one must wonder how much free will is one allowed to fret.
I can pick my friends, but I cannot pick my family.
I can pick my degree of education, but I can't force someone to hire me.
I am frustrated that I cannot get work, so I pursue things outside my typical field in addition to expanding my geographic search. I still meet the same result of going no where, which suggests that I'm still doing the same thing and expecting different results. I'm doing a number of things differently, so I'm thinking I need to scrap everything I've worked towards and start over.
The reality is that I'm not comfortable starting over. I've a skill set and degree that already makes me overqualified for most entry level positions, and I've been passed over because employers don't want to hire someone that will up and leave for greener pastures at first opportunity.
When I was an infant, my mom quit her teaching job. I am not sure of the reasons, but I take it that she wasn't comfortable with childcare arrangements. She never got another full time teaching position until I was in college. She always tried to get another job even while I was a toddler, but the best she could do was be a long term sub. Not sure why, especially considering she was a special ed teacher, but we lived on a single income for the most part when you consider my father is a teacher as well.We could have moved to another job market, but my dad didn't want to lose his seniority.
I don't want to be like my parents and willfully inflicting harm upon my children out of selfishness of being determined to work within my field without moving.

Mr. Mom

While I was waiting to drop off B at preschool, my brother called to wish me a happy birthday.

Normally, I don't answer his calls, but I figure I'd be best to do so as to not have to bear another anytime soon. He referenced Mr. Mom. I hadn't seen the film in twenty plus years so I didn't catch his meaning.

Watched the film on Netflix the other night, and I found myself more annoyed than I'd like.

I like Michael Keaton, but I find it hard to believe that the movie showed on the "big screen" once upon a time, but I feel that way about a lot of things associated with John Hughes.

Speaking of John Hughes, he's been dead three years.

Grill purchase

So I bought a grill today that was on sale. Do I have buyer's remorse? Probably. I tend to feel ill when I buy things regardless of the rationale for the purchase (I read a lot of reviews on Lowe's website in addition to the rating of Consumer Reports. Heck, I even asked a guy I know that bought the deluxe version  of the grill for his opinion. No one deterred me from making my less than impulsive purchase).
In the grand scheme of things, grilling is a luxury. Old grill was a gift that merely set us back the price of the propane tank. That was at least 5 years ago. Got a lot of use out the grill, but I feel the need to log all of the new grill's usage. Maybe I'll make a spreadsheet of the cost for steaks and such made and cross reference with a comparable restaurant until I feel I get my $ worth for the grill.
Even could keep track of burgers made on the grill. Steak N' Shake will be hard to beat price-wise with Kids eating Free on Weekends, their $3.99 meal menu, and their bombardment of coupons.  We ate there yesterday for lunch and the meal cost a whopping $13.02! That's including drinks, soul, and milkshake.

A pound of ground beef costs X. A quart of ice cream costs Y. A bag of buns costs Z.

Had my own table for standing room only event

Got a letter a couple weeks ago saying that I needed to go to a seminar to learn how to get transitioned back into the workforce. I went to the Job Center a few months ago and found the experience less than productive, so I wasn't expecting much from this event that could take up.

It was raining rather badly so I left early to avoid potential traffic issues, and I got there a little early. Saw someone I knew who now works for the county. I seem to see a lot of people I know whenever I leave the house. Either the world is small or I know a lot of people. I hate being around strangers, so I was put to ease a bit from being able to idly chat.

The presentation was to start at 1, but it was eight after when it started. Seemed they were waiting for stagglers to arrive that never showed. There may have been twenty people in the room, when there were at least 16 tables that seated 4. They will come next week since they will have their unemployment benefits withheld until they attend the session.

May have been a waste of time, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I got out and the sun was shining.