Review of May 2010

These months are starting to speed up for me - which I still am unable to determine as a good thing or a bad one.  This week has been the calmest of the last few for me - though for AC, classes are starting to ramp up again for the summer semester.  She's taking two intense courses over the next 8 weeks, which means that from 5-9pm on Monday through Thursday she's at the campus.

On another note, one of our very good friends, JA, has joined the Bank Midwest team in her current location - which is awesome for all of us!

This weekend is going to be a pretty big one for both AC and I - tomorrow we're going to view some duplexes that could potentially turn into our next home and Friday we're going to be downtown for the day to celebrate our anniversary.  Really looking forward to being able to hang out with her without any need to be somewhere for either work or other family members - just the two of us being able to explore the downtown area of KC at our leisure.

As always - if you're in the Kansas City region, don't hesitate to give us a shout on either cell phone (if you don't have those numbers for any reason, email me and I'll get 'em to you).

April 2010

Many apologies for those few individuals out there that might be reading this thing - April was a blur of a month. From AC getting through tax season and starting on the next stage of extensions to my final ability to post for a new position within the bank (the result of which I should be hearing sometime in the near future) we have been going full speed.

We are currently looking at apartments for potential moving into within the next few months (hopefully we'll be able to fully move sometime either in June or July). Which means it's budget creation time!! >_<

I really can't think of much more that has come to pass in the past month - we bought a new car, a 2010 Nissan Versa, that we're both in love with. But other than that, there really hasn't been that much to report on...

As always, if you're ever in the KC area, feel free to hit either myself or AC up on our cells - or if you're looking for a place to stay, email us....we might have just the spot for you in the next few months!

------ Minor Edit ------
As per Katie's comment - I feel that I should add a shot of the new Versa:

February 2010 - Reflections

Looking back at the year so far, it's been a blessedly busy one - something that after 6 months of having nothing to do other than search for work is as welcome as the sun will be after this winter leaves us finally. Speaking of which - Overland Park is extremely cold at the moment, though to be honest it's not nearly as bad as it was last month (the high for most of the month hovered around 10-20 degrees). So yeah, 30 degrees is very welcome at the moment.

As far as the job goes, well it's just nice to have something to dump my time into other than browsing the 'net and getting into trouble. I'm still looking into the Johnson County Sheriff's department, but for now the certainty of work is something that takes precedence over the hope of an awesome job. And to be honest, banking isn't that bad of a job - if you can get over the complete morons that you have to deal with on a daily basis. I mean, the way some of these "people" get into financial trouble makes my head spin; there is no logic behind the things that they do...but it does reassure me that no matter how bad it gets for AC and I, we're going to be fine. If these people can make it through life with all the stupidity that they generate, then decently educated people should be more than fine.

On other notes, AC has officially started classes (something that most people who are probably reading this thing already knew - but just in case, there it is. She is on her way to get her Masters in Accounting and has started working with her father as a staff accountant within his company - which she is seeming to really enjoy. Kyara is doing excellent (she's in absolute love with snow and the yard that she now dominates at the house) and hopefully will stop growing now that she's topped 35 lbs.

If I'm missing anything, I'll probably catch it when I post next (trying to start a habit of at least giving people a monthly update for our life). Ciao.

Thoughts on the Upcoming Year

I think that this does a pretty adequate job of detailing where I think we're headed here:

2009 Personal DNA Results

As has become customary for me, I have completed another annual PersonalDNA quiz, the results of which are displayed below:

Concerned Creator

Simply Because I Can

Presidential Speech to Congress

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Just out of curiosity - and this is purely meant to be a thought provoking point - where is this supported in the bill?

"But thanks to the bold and decisive action we've taken since January, I can stand here with confidence and say that we have pulled this economy back from the brink."

Can you? Are we not now more in debt than ever before?!

"Others are self-employed, and can't afford it, since buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer."

Not the case for me - it was actually much cheaper for me to buy a personal plan rather than pay through my employer. Not sure on this particular statistic - but we might want to look at that one.

"There are those on the left who believe that the only way to fix the system is through a single-payer system like Canada's where we would severely restrict the private insurance market and have the government provide coverage for everybody. On the right, there are those who argue that we should end employer-based systems and leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own."

Great use of some good old Communistic Rhetoric here - let's play each side against the other so that we all figure out that the "Messiah" knows the safe way down the middle.

"But what we've also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have towards their own government. Instead of honest debate, we've seen scare tactics. Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise. Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned."

Isn't this a bit of the kettle calling the pot black? Who's better at using "scare tactics" - the liberal politicians or the conservatives?

"Let me repeat this: Nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have."

Except that it states explicitly that it does....you know - other than that, this is perfectly true.

"Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a preexisting condition."

Annnnnd how is that viable for a business? Isn't part of the deal the competitive nature of the insurance provider?