New 7 Mile Route

Last week was my first official week of marathon training.  In order to build up to being able to do 26 miles I have to increase my long run mileage by 1 mile or 10% (which ever is more) every week.  When I do the math this means I may not be able to make it for the Long Beach.  If I do it means I'll have to cheat and skip ahead which is not really a good idea.  Cheating just means opening yourself up for injury.  If I'm not ready I won't force it.  There are other marathons.  I wanted to do that one again because it is obviously most convenient.  Also I feel like it beat me last time so I'm itching for some payback.  So last week was a 6 mile long run, today was a 7 miler.  This is the farthest I have run in quite a while.  Probably over a year.  There sure are a lot of hills in Signal Hill and Long Beach.  I'm sure I am running up and down more hills here than I was in Chino Hills.

I have an interesting situation happening at work right now.  My supervisor is going to be leaving to go on vacation about a week before we are to deliver the project.  That means it is completely on me to get it done.  This is also a project that I came onto late so I am not totally familiar with it.  This could prove to be a challenge.  The main thing I am looking forward to is a vacation that I scheduled starting July 30.  I really need it.

Quick Brownie Tip

Never, ever, eeeeeeeeever use olive oil when making brownies.  I was looking forward to having a day off tomorrow, but inevitably work asked me to come in.  Like always I said yes.  Then I thought about it, and decided to say no.  I really want to hang out with Derek tomorrow. 

Inflation

I was bored this morning so I decided to google a few prices of things like milk and gasoline for the year that I first started working, 1997.  Then I determined how much I could buy back in 1997 for a single hour of work versus what I can buy now.  This is what I came up with so far.

1 hour of work in 1997 would buy me 13 gallons of gas, today I can buy 10 gallons.  The same ratio exists for milk.

In 1997 it took me 55 hours to make enough money to pay my rent.  Today it takes me 67 hours to make my mortgage.

One thing that I found interesting is how difficult is to find historical information about prices.  I tried to find out what a Toyota Corolla cost in 1997.  I couldn't find it.  Tuition at UCI.  Nope.  How bout a Big Mac?  Not readily available either.  In this information age you would think that there wouldn't be anything you couldn't find out in 5 minutes on Google.  Perhaps there are still secrets.

Obamacare Upheld

Obamacare was upheld today in the US Supreme Court.  This was a big surprise to many on the left and the right, because it appeared fairly clear that the constitution does not allow the government to force a citizen to purchase something from another private citizen.  In this case we will all be forced to buy health insurance or we will pay a fine.  The court rationalized this by saying that it wasn't a fine but a tax, and the Congress is allowed to levy taxes.  This seems like a blatant end run around the Constitution.  Frankly I am shocked that the Supreme Court has decided this way.  This essentially throws that part of the Constitution out the window.

There are some things I like about Obamacare like forcing restaurants to show nutritional information about the items on their menu.  Not that that is going to stop somebody from stuffing a Big Mac into their face if that is what they went to McDonald's for.  The main thing I have a problem with Obamacare about is not the mandate it is that it does not address the fundamental problem with health care in America.  The cost.  Health care has been going up by about 9% per year every year since the early 80's.  Has anybody's income gone up by that much?  Not many.  What that means is that health care has become less and less affordable.  So instead of attempting to address the cost, Obamacare seeks to spread the cost of this ever increasing burden to as many people as possible.  I suppose hoping that there will be enough healthy people to pay for all the sick people.

What if all the mechanics in a town decided to slow start increasing the cost of an oil change until one day it cost $500 for one.  People would say they can't afford that and would either do it themselves or go to another town for an oil change.  This would in turn force the mechanics to lower their prices to what the market can bare.  This is basic economics.  However, what if the government stepped in and said we'll pay for $450 of that oil change by taxing people who don't own cars.  Why would the mechanics lower their prices in that case?  Of course they wouldn't, and they would keep right on increasing their prices.

Greece Votes

Today is the day of the Greek elections.  The financial news is telling us that this is a very big deal.  It could mean the difference between Greece staying in the Eurozone or rejecting the deal that was painstakingly put together over the past 6 months.  The fear among many is that the Greeks will vote to reject the deal which calls for huge cuts to their already bare bones government.  They literally have people working in government who are not getting paid.  I wonder what they will do.  What does somebody who is already on hard times, being told by somebody in another country that they will be forced to endure even harder times for the good of the European continent.  What would I do?  I would vote for whatever direction is best for my country.  I think I would vote to tear up the agreement.  I don't think a country is a country if officials from another country can tell you how to spend your money.  That would be like me having a checking account but with some random person in Italy also having access to it.  If that were the case, it would not be my checking account.

I am pretty sure they will vote for whatever choice will make their own lives easier in the shortest amount of time.  That is just human nature. 

Derek Graduates

I went to Derek's graduation today.  My boy has come a long way and I am very proud of the young man he is becoming.  I am looking forward to hanging out with him this summer.

Good Job Derek!

Late Night Warrior

Here I am again.  It is getting close to 10pm.  I had about a 2 week layover between the last project I was on and the one I am supposed to go onto next.  Usually this layover is spent prepping for the new show, which I could definitely be doing.  However, knowing that another project in house was in dire straits, I chose to offer my services....and here I am.  Even though I would prefer to be home right now, it feels good to know that I have the ability to help my friends when they need me.

I found out that one of the shows I worked on, Nike Knit, one an AICP award.  How bout that.