Guess I’m not that old…yet
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Plymouth Ice Photos
Took me a little longer than I hoped it would, but I finally got the pictures from this years ice festival up in the gallery. They can be found here.
Parent Teacher Conference
I had a parent teacher meeting earlier today with Kylie’s day care teachers and I am very happy and proud of the results. If i haven’t mentioned it before, Kylie goes to day care at the Children’s Institute on Eastern’s campus. The teachers here are actual early childhood education certified teachers whom have there degree’s in early childhood education. This is the first meeting of this year, and I am pleased to say that she is doing exceptionally well.
The teacher (Christy) told me that Kylile displays a vocabulary that is advanced for her age and as a result can express herself very well verbally, and not just well but appropriately using rather large words for a three year old. Not only can she use large words but she can also use foreign words and phrases correctly. At the moment she can say hello (or the equivalent) in 4 languages (English, Spanish, French, and Japanese) along with a few small phrases in Spanish.
In addition she not only loves pretend play (weither it is in a toy kitchen or stricly imaginary) she also has the ability to relate that pretend play to her real life. In addition we have noticed at home that she knows the difference between real and imaginary, this is something that most children do not disguish between until around age 5.
Kylie gets along with all the children in her class and clearly has a favorite or two. This year she seems to be infatuated with a boy named Jack. When she comes how I ofter hear “I miss Jack” or when she is playing and pretending she often includes Jack.
However, she is not perfcet. Like other children her age and in her class she is currently learning about the impact her actions have on others. For instance, at this age it is common for children to tell other children that they are not their friends one minute and then be suggesting they go play the next. Or to play with one friend on a day when a certain other friend is not at school, only to then ignore the first child when the second is present. Kylie has a tendancy to say someone is not her friend when she is upset at that person, as do most children in her class. So that is something they are working on and we are reinforcing at home.
We are also working on her computer skills at home. She has the Leap Frog ClickStart My First Computer at Daddy’s house that she loves to play, and she has gotten very good at using the mouse and is even becoming good at finding keys on the keyboard. This, of course, makes Daddy very happy as I spend a lot of time on the computer due to work.
All in all Kylie is doing very well with her educational development according to both her teachers and her very proud parents.
Truck Estimate
As I mention earlier this week my truck was damaged and the adjuster was coming to give me an estimate today. He arrived at about 8:45am and began looking at it. He told me that the repair will be covered under my broad form collision policy as it was obvious from looking at the damage that I was not at fault for the damage. When he was finished he gave me the estimate, and I have to admit I am more than a little surprised at the bill. To fix my mirror and remove some scuff marks from the door is going to cost $524, I would not have imagened that there was that amount of damage done. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised considering how much damage was done to my motorcycle.
More Pictures
I added more pictures to Kylie’s Year 4 Gallery, mainly to the February album I think, but there may have been a few random older pictures too. I believe I am now all caught up on pictures for the moment.
Truck Damages
I was over on U. of M. campus today watching Melissa’s little brother in a wrestling tournament at the Indoor Track building when an announcment was made that half the people needed to leave due to fire regulations. I figured I would at the very least go and move my truck, and if they didn’t let me back into the event (as I had heard someone say they weren’t letting anyone in now) i would just leave and meet everyone at the restaurant. When I got to my truck i found that the driver side mirror had been struck and broken. It doesn’t look to bad as far as broken mirrors go, the casing is shattered at the outer bottom corner and the mirror is completly broken off, but the casing is still attached to the vehicle for the most part. I have already placed a claim and an adjuster will come and look at it on Tuesday. Such is life I guess.
YDL Ice Carving
Apparently every year the Ypsilanti Distirct Library holds a little ice carving event at there Michigan Ave location. Having just recently started going to the library (admitidly something I should have been doing much sooner for many reasons, including all the money it has saved me) I did not know about this event. Melissa and I went over to check it out, and though we knew it was going to be very small, I don’t think we thought it was going to be this small. Apparently there was only one person carving, however that person did a wonderful job. Below are the pictures that I took with my phone of all the sculptures (there were only 3).
Economic Stimulus: Forgive Student Loan Debt
There is a lot of talk going on right now about how to fix the economy and to stimulate spending and get the economy back on track. One proposal that has recently made the news at The Huffington Post is to forgive student loan debt.
The rich get richer, and when they get poorer…well, they get bailed out. That’s how it seems lately. As Congress prepares to spend a trillion bucks (in addition to the $700 billion bailout from last fall), it makes one wonder when the working middle class will get some love. The pending American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1) will no doubt help our economy in some form, but it’s not nearly enough and it’s not aimed at all demographics. If we can save the suits, why can’t we save the common man, right?
Robert Applebaum, an attorney from New York, thinks so and has an idea on how to help many in his shoes — and trust me, there are many — while stimulating the economy at the same time. The 35 year old started up an online campaign this month to bail out those “hard-working, educated middle class” suffocating in college loan debt on Facebook. He formed the group “Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy” because he believes forgiving student loan debt for those making under $150,000 annually would help boost the economy from “the bottom up.”
I personally have a lot of Student Loan debt, and I can testify and agree entirly with a statement that Robert makes in this article:
“I struggle to pay my rent and bills and have never defaulted on my student loans,” he said Feb. 4. But I also don’t spend money on consumer goods anymore — not only because I can’t afford them, but because I’m afraid the situation will only get worse…”
He continued, “One-time tax rebates and meager tax cuts do nothing to stimulate the economy. A recession is as much a psychological phenomenon as anything else. Knowing I’d have an extra $500 per month in my pocket will get me spending again. Multiply that across the country and the economy will start to move again.”
I know I am in this same situation, I no longer spend money on anything that isn’t necessary. The holidays were extremly dificult this past year. There are many things I would like to purchase, but simply cannot afford it. If I didn’t have to paythe amount out each month that I do to Student Loans, i could potentially be able to buy my first house. How many other people across the country are in the same predicament? The idea is a good one
“If nothing else, it warrants a good, hard look and some analysis as to whether it could work… We have an entire class of highly educated poor people. The idea is no crazier than handing over billions if not trillions of additional dollars to the very institutions responsible for the crisis.”
Please read the ariticle and support the cause, and please sign the petition! I did..
5930:
Feb 7, 2009, Edward King, Michigan
The one thing stopping me from buying a house, and adding money into our economy are my student loan bills. How could I possible afford to make a house payment when I have to pay 1/4 of my monthly take home pay to loans?
Postal Delivery: 5 Days A Week
Would you even notice if you only started receiving postal mail only 5 days a week? If you did notice would you care? I know personally I do all of my communication either via email or phone. In addition all of my bills are either delivered electronically or I check them online before I get an actual paper bill anyway. Top that off with the fact that I do all my banking and bill paying online and the loss of one day a week of postal mail doesn’t bother me at all. The majority of all my postal mail is junk mail anyway, so this would just mean one less day I need to throw stuff out.
Where is all this coming from you ask? Well according the Chicago Tribune “the Postal Service had a $384 million loss in the October-December period.” They site the recession as one reason that mail volume has been down so drastically in comparison to years past and state that the “post office lost $2.8 billion last fiscal year and if current trends continue the loss could be much greater this year.” One of the brilliant ideas they have to help increase the money flow is a rate increase on stamps:
A rate increase is scheduled to take effect in May, but the amount has not yet been announced. Because rates are tied to inflation a 2-cent increase in the 42-cent first-class price is likely. Officials could seek a higher rate, citing the extraordinary economic conditions, but they are concerned that could lead to even greater declines in business.
In other words, if you do send out a good amount of postal mail, you may want to stock up on those Forever Stamps. Personally I only tend to send out postal mail around the holidays, but I may even grab a couple of these stamps as they will clearly save money in the long run.
Other ways the Post Office is cutting costs, according to Postmaster General John Potter is by “reducing work hours, and asking Congress to ease requirements for advance funding of retiree benefits and to allow mail to be delivered five days a week instead of six.”
I am sure the 5 day a week mail delivery would upset some, but personally I don’t even receive mail everyday, and like I said, when I do it’s typically junk. As for advanced funding of retiree benefits, shouldn’t that be being handled via 401k’s or some other managed investments of some kind?
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