Oh The Fog

The daisies have nothing to do with my blog today. They are just bright and cheery and its cold and dreary here. I am also sick.

Yep, the cold showers did me in.

So today I should have just stayed home. I got to work, took sinus meds and they totally zonked me out. I would turn my head and it seemed like the whole world was then trying to catch up with me. Wooo Nelly!

I went to a meeting that I shouldn't have gone too. It was a struggle to stay awake and my notes are chicken scratch. I'm writing and then doze off and my pen goes streaking across the paper. I should have gone home because the professional perception of me tanked, I'm sure.

The Small Things In Life Bring Such Joy...

... like hot showers.

You don't realize how much you appreciate something until you don't have it, or until it turns cold on you. I have spent the last 2 days taking cold showers in the locker room at the gym at my work. Why on earth would Ranger's Girl take a cold shower? Especially when its like 17 degrees outside. Well, I didn't have a choice. Apparently, everyone is on the get fit in the new year kick and the hot water tank just hasn't had the capacity to accommodate all of us.

Yesterday was the worst. I had done an hour of cardio so I was drenched in sweat. I turned on one shower and it was ice cold. The thought of it still gives me chills. I yelled out to the other women - - did any of the showers have hot or warm water. I switched showers to one that had brisk water. It wasn't pins and needles cold - - but cold enough you didn't want to stand under it for long. Interestingly, I was REALLY awake all day.

Today, a man came in the weight room and was joking with some of the other men not to use up all the hot water, that he had taken a cold shower for the past two days. I replied, "You and me both!"

Funny how you can bond with a complete stranger over the shared experience of ice cold showers. However, after sharing the story of how getting ice cold water in the middle of my shower on the first day caused my back and hip to cramp up -- I realized all the men in the weight room were picturing me standing in the shower with cold water running over me. Not an image I want strangers to have - - well strangers I see everyday. Does that make them strangers then?

Today, I entered the locker room and asked the other women, "Any hot water today?" And are you ready - - YES! It was very hot! So exciting! After two cold days - -this morning's shower was like heaven!

Snow Tubing Fun

Had a blast snow tubing today at Whitetail ski resort in Pennsylvania.

That is me in green, kneeling behind my tube, dead center, with grey hood.

I'm really tired so not much else to write here! Hope all are enjoying the winter weather if you have it.

401K Clarification

Thanks for your comment Flora.

A 401k plan in the United States is a retirement account. 401k is the tax code that defines this type of plan for private corporations. For public institutions such as schools and colleges, its a 503b retirement plan. 401k plan should not be confused with $401,000. I wish I had this much in my 401k plan.

Americans pay for housing booms excess

You got that right!

Tuesday morning, I wrote a page long rant about what the darn housing boom has cost me after seeing my 401K statement for the last quarter of 2007. While I got a healthy 10% return in 2007, the last quarter results were pretty much equivalent to me burning my contributions along with my company's match.

I don't feel bad for the lenders one bit. They created this problem. Made it worse, actually, by providing people who wouldn't have qualified for traditional loans, they inflated the customer base. Here in Washington, DC, that resulted in bidding wars on homes that shot things way out of control.

Now, some people made out on the deal - - like my sister, who purchased a one bedroom condo in Alexandria, VA a year before things got really crazy. She had some help from my mom and dad with closing costs. By the way, I am still bitter about that, as that was what I was trying to save for. Even offered my sister the option of the two of us going together to buy a house - - didn't know she already had a plan. O.k. my blood pressure is rising so I'll cut this short. Basically, she held onto her condo for two years and sold it the year after I bought my townhouse (I had no help from mom and dad) and she made $100,000. She took a year off from work and just worked out, volunteered and studied for the LSAT and GMAT.

I had to continue saving my pennies while working my butt off and bought my house during the upswing - - thankfully before the peak. Thankfully, no sub-prime loans here.

However, thanks to the wacko lending practices which flooded the market with buyers - - I really paid a lot more for my two bedroom townhouse than I should have. Now, hmm, now I'd be lucky to sell it for what I paid for it. Granted, the falling property value does mean lower taxes. (Positive thoughts).

Now, I don't want to continue to get screwed by a federal government bailout. Are you kidding me - - that is just too bad that banks screwed themselves over and are losing money. As a stock holder (via my 401k) in many of these institutions, I'm footing the bill already in losses. I'm paying them interest on my loans (which were higher than they would have been in a normal market). I don't want to fork over more money to them via higher taxes to cover their irresponsibility. I especially don't want to bail them out when the executives of these financial institutions are raking in high dollar bonuses.

Getting to Know the Candidates

Well, the primary here in Virginia is less than a month away. I've decided that I should get to know a little bit about the candidates - - actually be an educated voter.

Well, I could let Oprah guide me, I mean she's educated and all. Oh, and she makes lots of money, so she's gotta know what she's talking about when she backs her man Obama. That would save me a lot of time. If you let another educated person decide your vote, does that make you an educated voter by default?

I'm being my typical, dorky, journalism-history-poli sci major self. I have created a matrix comparing the candidates on the issues. I also used all my black ink printing out their platforms (yes, I actually read those things - - how else can you compare). Interestingly, I found that all candidates touch on the same issues across the board. I'm out to find out what is different about each - - or are they different?

The differences at a glance in issues I have found are:

1) Republicans have on their platforms the sanctity of life and 2nd amendment rights

2) Barack Obama stands alone in having Civil Rights as a platform issue

3) Hillary Clinton stands alone in having Women as a platform issue.

One of the universal issues among candidates is Health care.

Here is Hillary's proposal:





Obama's proposal:





John Edwards' proposal:





Mitt Romney's proposal:





Mike Huckabee's proposal:





John McCain's proposal:



Are they saying anything we don't already know? How different are their plans? These sound bites don't really get to the meat of their plans - - that is why I'm also reading their platforms.

Yes, I know I haven't selected ALL the candidates running - - I've copped out and just selected the top three so far in both party's races (I only have so much time!)

Sound off - - who do you think has the best Health Care plan?

Ambassadors and 6-year olds

This is another recent photo I took of the museum around 6 p.m.

Well, as usuall, I have some interesting and cute, mostly cute, stories to tell you about the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

The other day, I noticed a man along with his sons (high school, college age) taking a look at the Corsairs we have in the Leatherneck gallery, so I told them about the differences and started telling them about the other aircraft in the museum. Turns out the guy is New Zealand's Deputy Ambassador to the United States. A Marine General recommended he visit the museum. Of course, Marine Corps World War 2 History is all in the Pacific. He was excited to see a New Zealand artifact in the timeline in Legacy walk - - the baseball used in the first ever baseball game in New Zealand, played by Marines in 1943. I'll have to remember to take a photo of it and add it here later. He was very impressed with the museum. I was so glad that he and his sons were having a good visit.

That same day another father and his two sons came in for a visit. The boys were about 4 and 6. As they started to walk into the orientation film, the 6 year old said, "Dad, I don't want to watch TV, I want to look at the displays."

These two little boys were so excited to be at the museum. The oldest asked me all about the HRS-1 helicopter and had his dad write down information (apparently, they look stuff up on the internet later - - these are obviously very smart little boys!) Yep, I think I may have met a future Commandant of the Marine Corps.

I ran into them again in the Vietnam gallery - - they asked me questions about the war dog. So I told them about that and the booby traps and I pointed out the A-4 and we ran into that gallery (you know 4 and 6 year old boys have very short attention spans and run back and forth) Well after checking out the model of the air field at Chu Lai, we headed into Hue City where the Ontos is.

I said, "In this next room, there is a really cool vehicle that is similar to a tank!"

The 6 year old held his hand up in the international sign that means "Stop" and says, "We've been here before and we want to do this by ourselves."

Nuts! They were so excited! I was so bummed!

I love seeing young kids getting excited about this stuff.