2008ers vs. 2009ers

I’m kind of frustrated about the WONDERFUL 2009 1st time home buyer’s credit. I feel like we lost $8,000 even though we never actually had that money in the first place. We did our taxes last night and had heard from a few people that the credit was retroactive. Well, we quickly found out it wasn’t and we were only eligible for the 2008 credit which is basically just a $7,500 loan. And that seems like just what we don’t need… more debt. The frustrating thing is that if we had waited just 3 more months to buy a house, we could have gotten a free $8,000. Just 3 months! As frustrated as we are I can’t imagine how someone who bought their house in late December feels.
Anyways, if I know anything about money, I know that you never turn down an interest-free loan. In fact, that’s exactly what the Travelers Cheques I investigate every day are… an interest-free loan to Amex that ends up making them a lot of money. So we’ll just have to take our pitiful little 2008 “credit” and envy all the lucky bastards who waited a little longer…

Sickness

I have been surrounded by sickness for quite a while. The person in the cubicle to the east of me got sick. Then the person in the cubicle to the north of me. Than the west. And then Cindy. I’ve been popping Vitamin C like crazy but to no avail. You just can’t escape that much sickness.

It’s funny that, at least for me, I’m given half a days notice or so that I’m gonna be sick. I just get this weird feeling the night before a morning that I will wake up sick even though I have no symptoms at all. Last night I was in the kitchen grilling up some lunch for today and I just knew that my time was coming. And it wasn’t just because Cindy had been filling up the house with sickness for several days, I just seem to have this weird tingling sensation in my shoulders that tells me to enjoy my next few hours of non-sickness because I will be suffering soon.

It wasn’t that bad when I woke up and it still isn’t that bad. Just a bit of a sore throat, a little achiness, a little coughing. I think it’s going to be the most annoying kind of sickness, where you feel 20% sick for 5 days instead of 100% sick for 1 day. I hate that. I’d prefer to just knock it out in one day of feverish bed rest and move on with life. I don’t like being just barely un-sick enough to go to work and suffer through the day. Oh well, at least the weekend is coming.

The Power of the Puggle

Place: The dogpark. Time: 6:15 PM, sunset. Temperature: Semi-Chilly. Windchill factor: 13. Hamlet, half-beagle, half-pug, all attitude. As he stared up, yet somehow down, at the massive bully of a Rottweiler, a spark of confusion flickered ever so slightly across the Rottweiler’s big brown piercing eyes. The Rottweiler redoubled his efforts, forcing all the intensity he could muster into that hellish glare. The others had run. All of them. Even the lab the size of a horse. What was wrong? What was happening? The puggle didn’t budge. No it wasn’t just that, the puggle was somehow gaining on him. Or perhaps growing larger and larger, not physically but psychologically. Where is the fear in this little dog? From what infinite well of confidence does this portly little beast derive its courage? The Rottweiler couldn’t take it any longer. He shuddered, consumed by terror. This dog park had a new king. There was nothing left to do but flee and beg for mercy. Even before the Rottweiler could turn, the puggle was on top of him, nipping viciously at his heels as the two sped halfway across the dog park. The Rottweiler would bully other dogs on other days but not another 10 seconds would ever go by when he didn’t give the gate a passing glance. For he would always dread the return of a portly puggle named Hamlet.

Burj Dubai

Something that many people may not know about me is that I am obsessed with skyscrapers. They totally fascinate me. The strange part of this is that I haven’t even been to the cities with the highest skyscrapers like New York and Chicago. I am determined to get to New York as soon as I can manage it though.

There is just something about one building that rises hundreds and even thousands of feet into the sky that blows me away. I think it would be awesome to be sitting in my office looking out the window and the cars below are so small you can barely see them. And to know that there are like 100 floors of people below you! My building has only 4 floors and I still feel like I hardly know anyone outside of my room. Imagine a building with 100 floors of people!

Well, for those who don’t follow skyscraping news which is probably anybody reading this, I am really excited about this RIDICULOUS building called the Burj Dubai that is nearing completion in Dubai! The way that skyscrapers usually go is there will be one that is the king of the world for quite a while such as the Empire State building. Then a new building will come along and just barely nudge it off the thrown by an extra couple of floors or a few dozen feet such as the World Trade Center. And then another building will again reach just a tiny bit higher like the Sears Tower and take the title away again.
Yeah well this new monstrosity doesn’t give a crap about all this baby steps nonsense. It’s not just gonna set a new record it’s going to absolutely obliterate it! Get this… the Empire State Building is 102 floors. The Sears Tower is 108 floors. So what is this building gonna be? 114? 116? Try 160! The thing is going to be more than half a mile tall! I don’t even know how it is possible for a freestanding structure to reach this high and be safe but it’s gonna be awesome and I’m somehow going to have to travel to Dubai sometime after September when it is completed to see this insane thing for myself.