Well gosh, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday, it was darn near 60 degrees out, and it was actually sunny. By the time I got out of work, I was stunned to see how much snow had melted. I mean, the snow was quite deep when I left in the morning, and then suddenly there was actually grass again. Now, though, it’s cold (and getting colder; supposed to be back down into the teens by this afternoon) and it’s a whiteout out there. Sweet. Oh well, I’ll try and accomplish some inside work today. Goodness know there’s a lot of it to do.
Could be tough, though, because after months without pain, my foot seems to be killing me this morning. Oh, I’ve felt it coming on for a few days, but today it’s very painful, and it’ll be all I can do to get around on one foot, let alone lift and carry. Why this sudden affliction? No idea. My previous theory had been gout, due to my less than pristine habits of consumption (beer, mostly; I wasn’t one for fatty foods or organ meat – which doesn’t even sound appealing), and the fact that it was something my dad suffered from.
Now, though, other than a few brews on New Year’s Eve (which I didn’t really even enjoy all that much; I still have five left in the garage fridge, and I believe this is a new record for the longest time I’ve had beer sitting around w/o drinking it, unless you count the high gravity beer I brewed myself and was aging in my cellar), I’ve been a very good boy for quite a while now. So what’s my reward? A big FU from the Lord of the Feet (or Pod God, as I like to call her).
Oh well, time to get hopping.
don’t like hearing your tootsies are hurting….
my bro was out of town so couldn’t see maron. I still listen to maron, not quite as much as I’d like to, but I very much like his iphone app. He’s much kinder on his audience than days of yore. He says this most amazingly brilliant comments at times.
we’ve had a 110 degree, or so, temp swing in a week. Was just 78 the other day.
In other news, mr fk is on his way back…
***
these Rethugs are so damaging.
Rethugs make me crazy. I would truly enjoy a national strike. If someone is to close down the government why shouldn’t we do it?
I hope your foot feels better, PJ.
Safe travels, Mr. FK.
The Obama administration rescinded most of a federal regulation Friday designed to protect health workers who refuse to provide care they find objectionable on personal or religious grounds.
The Health and Human Services Department eliminated nearly the entire rule put into effect by the administration of President George W. Bush during his final days in office that was widely interpreted as allowing such workers to opt out of a broad range of medical services, such as providing the emergency contraceptive Plan B, treating gay men and lesbians and prescribing birth control to single women.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/18/AR2011021803251.html
The House of Representatives has been cutting like crazy! Down with Planned Parenthood and PBS! We can’t afford to worry about mercury contamination! Safety nets are too expensive!
But keep your hands off the Defense Department’s budget to sponsor Nascar racers.
“It’s a great public/private partnership,†said Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/opinion/19collins.html?_r=1&hp
The Badger State was actually in pretty good shape. It was supposed to end this budget cycle with about $120 million in the bank. Instead, it’s facing a deficit. Why? I’ll let the state’s official fiscal scorekeeper explain (pdf):
More than half of the lower estimate ($117.2 million) is due to the impact of Special Session Senate Bill 2 (health savings accounts), Assembly Bill 3 (tax deductions/credits for relocated businesses), and Assembly Bill 7 (tax exclusion for new employees).
In English: The governor called a special session of the legislature and signed two business tax breaks and a conservative health-care policy experiment that lowers overall tax revenues (among other things). The new legislation was not offset, and it helped turn a surplus into a deficit [see update at end of post]. As Brian Beutler writes, “public workers are being asked to pick up the tab for this agenda.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2011/02/unions_arent_to_blame_for_wisc.html
Holy crap, it’s astoundingly cold out there. Not super cold temperature (17°), but goddamn wind is fierce. I seriously need to build a cab for my tractor.
The 401(k) generation is beginning to retire, and it isn’t a pretty sight.
The retirement savings plans that many baby boomers thought would see them through old age are falling short in many cases.
The median household headed by a person aged 60 to 62 with a 401(k) account has less than one-quarter of what is needed in that account to maintain its standard of living in retirement, according to data compiled by the Federal Reserve and analyzed by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College for The Wall Street Journal. Even counting Social Security and any pensions or other savings, most 401(k) participants appear to have insufficient savings. Data from other sources also show big gaps between savings and what people need, and the financial crisis has made things worse.
snip
Initially envisioned as a way for management-level people to put aside extra retirement money, the 401(k) was embraced by big companies in the 1980s as a replacement for costly pension funds. Suddenly, they were able to transfer the burden of funding employees’ retirement to the employees themselves. Employees had control over their savings, and were able carry them to new jobs.
They were a gold mine for money-management firms. In 30 years, the 401(k) went from a small program to a multi-trillion-dollar industry supporting thousands of financial planners and money managers.
But a 401(k) also requires steady, significant savings. And unlike corporate pension plans, which are guaranteed by the U.S. government, 401(k) plans have no such backstop.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959604576152792748707356.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop
I guess this must be the ideal time to eviscerate social security.