Time for an update on the state of the debt.
With recent interest charges added in and payments made, our credit card debt now stands at $22,229.68, nearly $1000 dollars below what it was when I started this blog on February 11, 2003. But danger approaches: it looks like we're going to owe a couple thousand dollars in income tax with nowhere to turn for the money but credit cards. It seems absurd to owe so much given our relatively low income, but there it is. Most of the tax debt is due to the fact that my wife's income comes from self-employment, meaning we have to set aside between 25% and 30% of her earnings to cover income and social security taxes. Tough to do, and though we managed to set aside more than half of the necessary tax money over the past year, in the end we fell short.
If we do have to borrow, I've got plenty of options for getting the money from a credit card at 6% or less interest, but still...it means the debt goes up, the monthly minimum payment goes up, and the end seems further away than ever. The struggle continues to tame the beast, to get the debt down without life coming along and knocking it back up.
Saturday, April 05, 2003
Thursday, April 03, 2003
New Post at Last
It's been a couple weeks since my last post. Just been busy, tired, and mentally beaten down by this idiotic war our leaders have undertaken. But I'm ba-a-a-ck, and have a huge backlog of things that have been rolling around in my mind, so watch out.
Yes, I've felt a bit gloomy as I ponder living in this United States whose ignorant, arrogant leaders I feel are wreaking destruction on international relations, the economy, the environment, civil liberties, human rights and on uncountable individual lives around the globe, but I'm dealing with it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Americans in general are dealing well with it. On March 27, they published an article headlined "Americans Seen Withstanding War's Psychological Challenges." It is truly inspiring to know that these challenges of living in wartime cannot defeat the American spirit. After all, how many of our favorite television sitcoms have been pre-empted by this endless war coverage? Aren't those sandstorm oranges and night-vision goggle greens really unappealing colors? Aren't those videophone reports from the 'embedded' reporters annoyingly jerky?
In spite of these hardships, requests for sleeping pills have remained normal, and have only risen somewhat for anti-depressants. Oh, there are a few signs of stress. Another Wall Street Journal article today warns: "America's Wartime Diet: Finding Comfort in Cupcakes; Calorie Intakes are Surging as Nation Hunkers Down." Yes, restaurants, caterers, personal chefs and groceries around the country are reporting an unusually high demand for high calorie, high fat and high sugar comfort foods. An upscale bistro in Philadelphia reported it sold 560 hamburgers the first week of the war, nearly twice the usual amount. That $29 sirloin and foie gras hamburger at DB Bistro Moderne in New York City accounts for 40% of the restaurant's sales some days.
People around the country report sitting in front of the TV watching news coverage while eating pizzas, caramel corn and Peruvian Blue gourmet potato chips. Noses are turned up at baked chicken or seared ahi-ahi in favor of gooey, fatty, mind-numbing and body-expanding concoctions of comfort. This is a little worrisome in a country where 30% of the adult population is medically defined as obese, especially with swimsuit season fast approaching, but I'm sure we'll deal with that hardship with equal courage.
The fact that we Americans have to endure these wartime deprivations should help us to feel empathy towards those Iraqis who have to suffer their own forms of trouble. Their worries aren't the same as ours, of course. Their wartime jitters come more from things like wondering if one of the bombs dropping night and day will fall on them, having to hunker down in concrete bunkers, worrying about lack of food, lack of water, lack of money, lack of healthcare, outbreaks of disease, but at bottom, isn't it all the same? Don't we both have to bear our own particular burdens of living in wartime? I hope American's fortitude can be an inspiration to the Iraqis. Perhaps they might also like to try a few of the Wall Street Journal's suggestions for coping, such as ordering a $20 apple strudel from Comfortfoodonline.com.
Yes, I've felt a bit gloomy as I ponder living in this United States whose ignorant, arrogant leaders I feel are wreaking destruction on international relations, the economy, the environment, civil liberties, human rights and on uncountable individual lives around the globe, but I'm dealing with it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Americans in general are dealing well with it. On March 27, they published an article headlined "Americans Seen Withstanding War's Psychological Challenges." It is truly inspiring to know that these challenges of living in wartime cannot defeat the American spirit. After all, how many of our favorite television sitcoms have been pre-empted by this endless war coverage? Aren't those sandstorm oranges and night-vision goggle greens really unappealing colors? Aren't those videophone reports from the 'embedded' reporters annoyingly jerky?
In spite of these hardships, requests for sleeping pills have remained normal, and have only risen somewhat for anti-depressants. Oh, there are a few signs of stress. Another Wall Street Journal article today warns: "America's Wartime Diet: Finding Comfort in Cupcakes; Calorie Intakes are Surging as Nation Hunkers Down." Yes, restaurants, caterers, personal chefs and groceries around the country are reporting an unusually high demand for high calorie, high fat and high sugar comfort foods. An upscale bistro in Philadelphia reported it sold 560 hamburgers the first week of the war, nearly twice the usual amount. That $29 sirloin and foie gras hamburger at DB Bistro Moderne in New York City accounts for 40% of the restaurant's sales some days.
People around the country report sitting in front of the TV watching news coverage while eating pizzas, caramel corn and Peruvian Blue gourmet potato chips. Noses are turned up at baked chicken or seared ahi-ahi in favor of gooey, fatty, mind-numbing and body-expanding concoctions of comfort. This is a little worrisome in a country where 30% of the adult population is medically defined as obese, especially with swimsuit season fast approaching, but I'm sure we'll deal with that hardship with equal courage.
The fact that we Americans have to endure these wartime deprivations should help us to feel empathy towards those Iraqis who have to suffer their own forms of trouble. Their worries aren't the same as ours, of course. Their wartime jitters come more from things like wondering if one of the bombs dropping night and day will fall on them, having to hunker down in concrete bunkers, worrying about lack of food, lack of water, lack of money, lack of healthcare, outbreaks of disease, but at bottom, isn't it all the same? Don't we both have to bear our own particular burdens of living in wartime? I hope American's fortitude can be an inspiration to the Iraqis. Perhaps they might also like to try a few of the Wall Street Journal's suggestions for coping, such as ordering a $20 apple strudel from Comfortfoodonline.com.
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