Eyebrows

For some reason, I'm totally neurotic about plucking my eyebrows. Every night before I go to bed, I have to carefully inspect my eyebrows, and pluck out any stray ones growing back that are outside my perfect eyebrow lines. For some reason I'm obsessed with doing this. It could take me up to 20 minutes to inspect them fully and be satisfied. I also tend to inspect and clip/trim my fingernails and cuticles the same way. I inspect them very closely for any chips in nails, or hangnails which could be torn if not removed right away. On occasion, I have gone to bed without this inspection process, but it is bothersome. Even if I'm late getting to bed, and completely exhausted, I still end up inspecting and plucking where necessary. It is definilty a mild form of OCD...

Fixing Social Security (Secretly)

George W. Bush is not one of my most favorite people. I disagree with almost all of his decisions, and he sounds like an idiot when he tries to talk without a speech in front of him. But the smartest thing I think he's done is to secretly fix the Social Security problem. Here's how his secret plan works....you read it here first!

As some of you may know, Bush has passed a number of new tax laws since he's been in office. Most of these laws reduced tax rates for the rich while being sold to the public that it reduced taxes for the poor. One of these taxes is the estate tax ("death tax"). The estate tax is what the government takes when you die, if they decide you are too rich and have too much money or net worth built up at the time of your death (over the exemption amount, which is currently $1.5million). Before Bush was in office, the highest rate for estate taxes was a whopping 55%. Yep - if you were super rich, didn't plan well, and then died, the gov't would take away more than half of your estate. It's one way the government taxes the rich and gives to the poor.

Anyway, Bush (and most Republicans) don't like this "death tax". They would like the rich to stay rich, and fund the government with poor and middle class people's incomes. (My first blog warned you that this was an opinionated blog - so deal with it!) So when Bush passed his tax reform bills, one of the things he did was get rid of the estate tax. Well, that's how he promoted it. What it really does is reduce that maximum 55% rate gradually over several years. Then in the final year of this tax bill (2010), it completely abolishes the estate tax. But when 2011 hits, this bill expires, and the estate tax goes right back to 55% again. This is called a sunset provision. (Mind you, this all only happens if Congress and teh President don't make new laws to change these ones or supersede these - that's always up in the air as a possibility.)

Anyway.... For the ONE year of 2010, there will be absolutely NO estate tax whatsoever, no matter how rich or how much money you have (with the caveat stated above - that someone doesn't change the rules). But that means you have to DIE in 2010 in order to take advantage of this benefit. By putting in the sunset provision so that there's only one year where you won't have estate taxes, Bush has secretly fixed the problem of the under funded Social Security system. He has bet on the possibility that there will be enough deaths, suicides, and murders of old rich people so that the Social Security system won't have as much money to pay out as projections currently show. Get it? If we take out enough of the old folks in 2010 (or they take themselves out for us), there will be so much savings in Social Security payments that we will be back in balance! Then there's a greater chance there will be SS left for the younger generation!

So if you're rich and over 65 years old 2010, be watching your back...

The Beginning

Well, I decided I should do something with my free time from work. Doesn't have to be productive, which is why I decided to give this a shot. Maybe I'll never do it again (like Vicki), or maybe I'll do better than Michelle (not better writing, just more volume). So if you are bored at work or need a mental break, you can read my random voluminous thougths to distract you.

I have always been someone with a lot of opinions who is never afraid to share them. As someone once said, "Everyone is free to hear my opinion!" I guess that kind of applies to me. I also have a career/job that is very much feast or famine when it comes to work load. I am hardly ever able to prepare for my heavy workload times by taking care of stuff during the slower times. You can't close a set of accounting books for a month until the month actually ends! So here I am, and you've probably already stopped reading. Or maybe you're bored sometimes at work too. Does anyone ever really want to get to what's at the bottom of the "to do" work pile? The horrible stuff always goes down there so I don't have to deal with it.

Well, I guess I'll end this post here, and then start some of those random thoughts with their own titles. That would be so much more organized! Because random, voluminous thoughts should be organized....yeah....that's it..... But leave it to me to organize almost anything!