Veggie tales

I like vegetables. Really, I do. I mean, I like meat more, but I also like my vegetables. Not to mention that they help to keep me just a "regular" guy.

However, since I've lived on my own, it's been hard to eat my vegetables. In fact, it's become a real chore. See, I can rarely eat my vegetables before they go bad.

I guess it's mostly because I can be lazy about things. I don't like shopping for groceries all the time; I like to shop once or twice a month and be done with it. Unfortunately, veggies seem to go bad after just a few days in the fridge - and it's been worse since I've moved to NYC. It seems like everything in NYC arrives in the city just before its expiration. So we get vegetables and fruit that look fresh, but are really just a day or two from starting to go bad.

Milk, though I've always been able to have it last at least a few days past the "Sell By" date, always goes sour ON the "Sell By" date. In NYC, the "Sell By" date is also the "Last possible day you can drink this milk" date.

So every time, I buy vegetables because I know I need to eat my vegetables. Then I spend the next week frantically eating them because they will go bad. It's takes what little enjoyment there is in eating vegetables out.

Circadian Rythm

I have just realized that I follow a particular cyclical pattern. Every few months, I'll get really, really lazy. I'll stop exercising and just lay there watching TV and eating potato chips. Then, as I get sick of myself, I'll snap out of it, and go crazy exercising and generally getting myself together.

Right now, I'm coming off of a lazy cycle and heading into a getting myself together cycle. I wonder if one day, I'll be able to sustain the got together version of me. I assume it will be useful if I ever want to grow up.

Vices and spices

Dave's post on making burnt rice for dinner made me realize something. I am incapable of eating at home without watching TV.

Let me repeat that. I am incapable of eating at home without watching TV. I have to, have to, have to have the tube on, or I feel like I'm wasting time, especially since I can't do anything else while I'm eating (too messy to eat and do paperwork, etc).

It's kind of a bad thing, because what is typically a 10-15 minute meal (when I'm eating alone), turns into at least a 30 minute "meal", or perhaps a 60 minute meal, depending on how long the show is. And sometimes, one show turns into two, turns into three...

Babytalk

I am not good at talking to children - for any extended period of time, anyway. I simply have nothing to say to them, usually.

This may seem counterintuitive, as I taught elementary school just a year and a half ago. But, thinking back, I don't think I did much conversational talking to my students or any of the kids in my school. When I did talk to them, it was about school related things.

Of course, I ended up learning a lot about my students lives: their likes, dislikes, interests, family, etc. But this was over weeks and months of teaching.

I discovered my inability, or, more accurately, my disinterest in shooting the breeze with children today while I was attending my Power Lunch session. Most of the time, I just nod and say, "That's a good idea..." or something similar. And the child keeps on talking, so I guess I'm not all that important to the conversation anyway.

This is possibly connected to my disinterest in talking to people I don't know in general, but I can't be certain.

Recent distractions

I haven't posted much lately because I've noticed that most of my posts are either close to or exactly repeating prior posts, or that they are all along the same themes (e.g. relationships and stupid human behavior), which, frankly, I am tiring of. Thus, I can't think of anything to write about except the banal "Today, I got up. Then I brushed my teeth. Then I got dressed..." posts.

Oh, and I'm also distracted by a few projects right now:

Organizing my finances
This one is the killer. I've decided I want to use Quicken to help me with taxes and managing/tracking my expenses. This means that I need to categorize everything. This means that I need to think of categories for everything I spend money on (how do you categorize batteries?). I actually decided I would do this last year, around this time. Only I didn't really do a good job. So now I have 1+ years of data to go through and fix.

I'm finding that I've not received several rebates also, now 6+ months after the fact. GRR. I hate rebates. They are evil.

Investing
I am determined to learn how to be an informed investor. Previously, most of my money was in "high performance" money market accounts, which made something like 1% interest. THAT'S PIDDLY. Then, I moved it into an Orange Savings account (ask me for an invite, and you will get $25 for signing up and I will get $10). A little better - 2.60%. But long term, the best returns will be in mutual/index funds and potentially stocks, especially when you start young. Seeing as I had no life in my first three years of working, I have quite a bit saved up.

So I finally set up a trading account with Freetrade. It's a subsidiary of Ameritrade and offers 20 free trades a month, then a small fee per trade after that, like $3. Much better than any other deal out there. Only catch is you have to wire money in the first time.

Anyway, now that I have some stocks, I can't help but watch the market every day - even though I know that I won't be selling since I am going for long term growth.

Oh well. Back to watching the Dow. TiVo just closed a deal with Comcast. They're up 50%. Awesome.

Receipts, what are they good for?

Seriously. What are receipts good for besides:

1) Letting you return stuff
2) Helping you track things for tax purposes
3) Expense reports
4) Reminding you how much money you waste

?

I'll admit it - I'm a receipt-addict. I have to keep all receipts that I get. Even when there are no receipts to give (like the guys on the corner carts in NYC selling bagels for $1.00), I ask for one, usually resulting in the guy in the cart cursing me under his breath as he scribbles something unintelligible on a scrap piece of paper. It makes me feel better, though, to have that scrap piece of paper. It's a receipt goddammit.

That being said, I'm trying to streamline my life. I want to eliminate clutter and excess. That means paring down my wardrobe, throwing away or donating items I don't use anymore. It means trying to keep my paper records to a minimum - only the important docs stay (usually meaning things related to taxes or anything else that can get you fined or thrown in jail).

So something has to be done with my receipt collection. I still have boxes of receipts from 1992, back when my big spending consisted of a bucket of popcorn on my once-monthly movie outing.

My current plans are to, moving forward:

1) Throw away all credit card receipts related to food or services received after matching to my credit card statement
2) Keep all receipts that may have tax implications (e.g. medical bills, moving expenses, unreimbursed job related expenses)

But I have a feeling that I might be missing something. There must be a reason why Roy Rogers gives you a receipt for a combo meal, other than the off chance you are on business, right? Or is that the sole reason why so many places have the "if you don't get a receipt with this order, your meal is free" policy?

Presidential duties

A New York Times/CBS poll shows that Americans are increasingly disagreeing with Bush's policy decisions, especially around Social Security.

It seems evident that Bush, in his second term, is following a path that he believes will secure his "legacy", one of Social Security reform.

The question is, should he continue down that path to the extent of his power even if the majority (and we're talking 70%-ish) of Americans don't agree?

I think that depends in part on how you view the role of an elected official. Do we elect them on the basis that we trust them to operate in our best interests? Or do we elect them to do what we specifically want him to do? Obviously there are pressures from all directions - the "average" American, special interest groups, members of the political establishment, and, hopefully, conscience.

So what should Bush do? Should he do what he feels is right in his "gut", as he did in his previous term? Arguably, that is what the American public who made up the 51% majority that narrowly won him a 2nd term likes about him and so he should use that "mandate" to do what his "gut" tells him to do. Or, should he do what Americans are now asking of him?

I've actually always fancied myself to be the former type of elected official, if I were ever to become one. I would never want to be a elected official that bends and sways to whatever whims the public currently presents - I would be someone that operates in the long term good of my constituency, even if they don't know what's good for them. Idealistic, I suppose.

Across the pond

Just got back from a trip to London. A few notes:

Hostels are fun - if you are there with a group of friends. Not so fun if you are staying with strangers who all have different schedules. (On the plus side, you have to opportunity to get a peek at cute girls in panties at sunrise)

Most British food seemed to center around fried meat and fried potatoes, with a side of peas.

Nighttime activities appear to close very early, unlike NYC.

Dave and I are now masters of the London public transportation system.

Poor exchange rate = spendthrifts (that's me and Dave)

The best place to exchange money is at these tiny no-commission shops in Bayswater, near Queensway station and Notting Hill.

You can make pigeons fly by tossing a red or orange colored object up in the air (according to a resident guru)