I think I’m just going to start calling every Tuesday Super Tuesday and make a celebration out of it or something. Maybe not. I don’t have the figures here in front of me since I’m writing this in the line shack for publication later, but it looked like McCain was winning on the Republican side pretty easily and Obama and Clinton were splitting a lot of states for the Democrats. Is is just me or does McCain look like the crypt keeper? It doesn’t really matter who the Republicans put up as their candidate, it is a completely futile effort. They could dig up Ronald Regan and run him and even he couldn’t win. 10 to 12 years ago I was a heavy Republican lean but the current administration has completely turned me away as it has for a ton of other people I know. I am so sick of the way the government has been being run and I will vote against anyone who represents the way it is now. I’m a registered Independent now because I am so sick of the partisan bullshit. Nothing gets done anymore because each person votes with their party instead of doing what is best for their constituents and it’s always a vote of 51 to 49. Hmmm… Steve, isn’t that enough to pass a law and send it to the president’s desk? That’s what the Saturday morning School House Rock cartoons from the 80’s taught us. Nope not anymore. Now a filibuster or the threat of one is used on EVERY SINGLE BILL that the other side doesn’t like so they all just agreed to make it 60 votes to pass EVERYTHING since that’s the number of votes it takes to kill the filibuster. Now nothing of any substance gets passed and all we get is a bunch of meaningless crap commemorating Arbor Day or naming a new building after someone in Wala Wala, Washington. I think that if they want to use that tactic to stop a law from going through then they need to go old school and actually do it. They need to have to stand there for hour after hour reading out of the phone book or talking gibberish until they collapse from fatigue and lack of sleep, while all the others have to sit there and listen to it. Simply saying “I’m going to filibuster!” should not be enough to make the side on the majority say “Ooh, I guess I’ll pull the bill then, darn, you got me!” I’m really hoping that Obama makes it and from what I am hearing from a lot of people around here I am not alone, Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. People are just sick of the status quo and want change. Most people including myself include Hillary as part of the status quo. To me she is the same old corrupt politician voting however the money is flowing that day or however will benefit her personally instead of doing what is right. I really really hope it isn’t her that gets the nomination but if it is I guess I will have to vote for her since she is “the lesser of two evils”. I’m tired of voting for the lesser of two evils though aren’t you? I yearn for someone who I am excited about and who might bring about some real change in this country. Go Obama.
Well I did my taxes this morning before I went to bed and it went relatively smoothly I guess. My experiment of waiting till the end of the year to pay my payroll taxes by strategically manipulating the number of deductions went… well I’m not going to do that again lets just put it that way. It was great the first 10 months of the year when I had a bunch of extra money but it was way too hard to pay it all back by the end of the year to avoid the penalties when you owe more than a $1000. This was also the first year I have had to deal with the capital gains and losses stuff from investments. I used the same free place I used last year and it was really easy. I don’t know why people pay for TurboTax and other programs like that when it’s free to do your federal and costs $9.95 for the state and it’s all sent electronically plus I get nice hard copies for my records. In the end I owe about $750 combined with federal and state which was part of my goal of keeping the money out of the government’s pocket and in mine for a little longer. I owed a quite a bit more total than I did last year which pissed me off until I realized that I made quite a bit more which didn’t piss me off at all. It’s all good.
Training for the half marathon is in full swing. I was slacking for a long time there when it was too far away to really start but now it’s time. A 5k and 10k race is included in between now and the half as part of the training. I found a great spreadsheet on the internet where you plug in all your numbers from training and tells you all kind of info on your progress. I bought a scale too so I could plug those numbers in too as I go. I have gained 25 pounds in the last year and it’s time to nip that in the bud before I become a big fatass. I’m tall enough where I can carry 25 pounds and people don’t really notice but if I keep up that kind of pace it will get out of hand quick. I already can’t fit into the majority of my pants. I’ve decided to train for the full marathon in Omaha in September as well so we will see how my knees hold out. I’m not going to really change my diet all that much other than cutting down dramatically on eating out. Working out and training enough for marathons should be plenty to get healthy. I like eating good tasting food too much to switch to shitty tasting health food. I don’t want to get so healthy that I live forever because then I’ll get Alzheimer’s or something and be wandering around that way for 20 years in a nursing home. I don’t think I will ever get fast enough to win a race but I’ve got a competitive spirit that I need to do something about and I can’t be competitive in anything else. Marathons and half marathons give out a medal just for finishing so that will be good enough for me.
Steve for president! Yeah, go STEVE!