(no subject)

The following is not meant to be productive, it is merely me thinking out loud to prevent my gf from killing me or boring her own ears out to stop from hearing me cover the same issues over and over.

Today at long last I was able to show ETrade transferred my friggin money to my account, and I had to pay them extra to do it. I had no idea when you traded stocks that while they let you buy stocks within hours of a trade, that to get your money out you need to wait approx 2 weeks (3 business days for fund availability, 5 more business days for actually getting the money unless you drop $25 for a wire fee, which drops it down to 2 days). I'd be rich right now if I wasn't about to blow it all on a stupid condo. Bad time to vacation in Acapulco...

So I got an estimate from the painter for 2 br and the hallway - $850. This would be more with the doors either being sanded or replaced, by a guy who can do general maintenance work (I may have him do other things at the same time). I'm trying to get a 2nd est today. I'm thinking for a thousand friggin dollars I could live with the crappy blue walls for 6 mos, and then paint them myself even with the furniture in the place. For that money couldn't I buy a spiffy new dell media center computer? I keep thinking how much easier it is to get it done now with the room empty, but the money is much higher than I hoped. I have a 2nd bidder looking at the place today.

I've taken off the 12th to settle, even though it's not until 12pm. Perhaps I could take the first part of the day to try and replace the old tub faucet myself.

I just got an estimate today from the movers: $1,405. Fawk? I have mostly Ikea furniture...for that price I could re-order all my belongings and have them delivered with setup from Ikea again! It's $140/hr, and that was with boxing. Screw that. $700 to move, at 3 guys for 4 hours plus 1 hour travel. I checked another mover, 2 guys and a truck, and they also run $140/hr. This is with no truck - just up 3 flights of stairs and one building over. They say they accept help, so the more I do the less I pay. Now, the entire concept here was avoiding spending time on this project due to my work/school schedule, but now I'm looking at doing my own boxing, taking apart the pinball machine, and helping with the move...and still spending hundreds of dollars.

I could easily get this all done and waste no time, but it looks like to the tune of $5,000. That's a lot of money in my little world. It might be cheaper to paint by myself, beg borrow and steal friends to help me move, and then blow the cash on strippers for a housewarming party! /rant

(no subject)

Support the troops!
How? By paying a "war on terrorism tax. I love it!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070206/pl_nm/usa_tax_terrorism_dc_1
Lieberman has proposed we actually pay for the war and support our troops with today's dollars, rather than dumping the burden onto our children and the children of our soldiers. I think this is a fascinating idea - if we believe in this war, if we "want to win," and if we really want to support the troops currently engaged, we should pay them now. Today.

I fully support supporting our troops through this "war on terror" tax. I think this should cover the budget trickerly going on right now, and should be expanded to include the domestic programs we are paying for. Much of homeland security could be paid for with this tax, and so could all those police drills (unless they're blowing up cartoon promotions in Boston). DC government has been saddled with millions of dollars in expenses due to heightened security the Federal Government demands. The citizens of DC who pay taxes should be reimbursed immediately so the funds can go to other domestic programs of the District's resident's choosing.

I think it would show the commitment of every red-blooded American when they show that they support all the programs to fight terror and provide security from terror by immediately sacrificing 10-20 cents on the dollar for this cause.