This is the first blog post of 2013. I have to say it was a good holiday season. There wasn’t anything I did or money I spent that I regret. The kids just went back to school and I just started a rare early year vacation. The agency finally got serious about me taking some of my vacation days. While everyone else is getting into the flow for the New Year I am watching ESPN and drinking a few cups of coffee. I wrote a task list for this week so I could feel like I was productive in some way. There’s a good chance that only one or two of the things I wrote down will get done.
I was snapped out of holiday mode last Friday after receiving my paycheck and noticing my social security tax increase. When I first saw the decrease in my take home pay I got upset. No one wants to lose money they could be using throughout the week. Then I calmed down and realized that I have to do my part. Besides, who knows what we will be paying in deductions after the next government showdown on the debt and the budget. It seems like we are going to have one of those every two months so this increase may only be temporary. It’s almost time for the next debt ceiling crisis so who knows what may happen. I figure if people raise too much hell about the increase it may trigger the politicians to rationalize that no one wants social security and try to do something to cut it. It doesn’t take much to talk the president into making a bad deal so I’ll just be quiet.
It’s just a minor adjustment to the budget until the insurance exchanges kick in and I can find a health insurance policy that cost a lot less than the HMO’s plan that is draining our agency and is going up yet again in 2013. I would have still preferred the public option but I guess the exchange will have to do. Between the insurance and the taxes, you have to set your budget with some overhead just in case.
I didn’t watch any football this weekend. After the Saints bounty season I needed a break. It felt like my team’s chances were taken away from them off the field. It’s hard to tell if the team would have made the playoffs even if they had the coach. After all, they did give up a record number of yards on defense. I don’t know if Sean Payton could have done anything about that. We’ll never know if we could have or not and that’s what sucks about the situation. It’s going to be interesting when Roger Goodell gets to town for the Super Bowl.
Speaking of the Super Bowl…...
I will not be heading anywhere near the CBD unless I absolutely have to. I don’t have time or the patience to keep up with all of the street closures and I am not sitting in traffic for 30 minutes just to get back to work. It’s going to be hectic down there until Mardi Gras. I am not sure why we have to start blocking off streets so soon. The Superbowl is almost a month away. I guess you have to set up security and everything but that just seems like a long time to shut off streets in the city.
I have been thinking about cutting back on social networking in 2013. That’s going to be a more difficult task than I expected. First of all I have two cell phones, a tablet, and a laptop available everywhere I go. Second of all, I just had an evening long conversation with friends and family on Facebook about whether you should soak red beans before you cook them. I would miss those moments.
There’s a rapper name Trinidad James that kind of sucks to me because I am grown. I was riding around with a teenager in the car Friday and when that guy came on he acted like he was listening to Marvin Gaye. Instead of acting like an old man and putting down hip hop in general, I tried to break down life and explain the impact of Rakim in 1987. It’s my responsibility to let the kids understand greatness.
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