tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319155682024-03-05T07:31:30.695-08:00Bachelor TimesLiving single in a two-income economy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger30125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-36526024832850828422018-10-21T17:53:00.000-07:002018-10-21T17:53:34.324-07:00Flavor, Nostalgia and the Economics of AlcoholI remember my mother's cooking. Ever hear of something called "Mock Pizza?" If I remember correctly you cook up ground beef in a skillet, spread it over some Pillsbury pizza crust, covered with slices of American cheese then baked. That was the version we knew about as kids. Would you eat that again on a T.V. tray and watch old taped reruns of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom followed by Walt Disney then Columbo or McCloud on Sunday night just that nostalgia vibe?<br />
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Who knows, it might awaken some other repressed memories that will leave you in a fetal position on the floor, evacuating your bowels uncontrollably.<br />
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I never understood why people pay so much for their favorite beer, gin, rum, vodka, whiskey, bourbon, schnapps or whatever, to get basically the same effect from the same molecule of alcohol they could get from Everclear, which is 95% pure alcohol, or 190 proof, but so much cheaper than those ridiculous special brands.<br />
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I think people delude themselves into believing they love a "single malt" whatever, or they're good at "putting on airs." I can't stand any of that. I just mix 50 ml of Everclear with 65 ml of Margarita mix and about 100 ml of water over ice and it tasted delicious.<br />
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How much does it cost? Let's do the math:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
EVERCLEAR GRAIN ALCH $18.99 (750ml) / 50 ml = 15 units.<br />
MSTR MIX MARGARITA $3.99 (1000 ml or 1Liter) / 65 ml = 15.385 units.<br />
Tax Rate Taxable Amount Tax Amount<br />
Tax 2..8.7 22.98 2.01<br />
Total Tax: $2.01<br />
"Card used" $24.94 / 15 drinks = <b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">$1.67 per drink.</span></b></blockquote>
Maybe all that expensive beer and name-brand specially distilled whatever brings back memories of fun times, but WTF are you spending for it?<br />
<br />
A typical beer is 12 oz and has about 5 or 6 percent alcohol, so 12 x 0.06 = 0.72 ounce of alcohol. How much does that cost?<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-18484575757330839882018-08-31T11:02:00.000-07:002018-08-31T11:02:08.753-07:00Adult Content???I was thinking of posting erotic content. I already discuss topics like alcohol and other adult activities, but what is the definition of an adult?<br />
<br />
Every state has different laws governing the legal age for marriage, smoking, drinking, sex, driving, registering to vote, getting a job, joining the military, familial emancipation, and so on.<br />
<br />
There are also other laws different in each state governing types of sexual activity, like <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=autoerotic%20asphyxiation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">autoerotic asphyxiation</a>, <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=autofellatio" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">autofellatio</a>, <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fellatio" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">fellatio</a>, <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cunnilingus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cunnilingus</a>, <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rimming" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">rimming</a>, <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pegging" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pegging</a>, <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sixty+nining" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">69</a>, <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bukkake" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bukkake</a>, <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=orgy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">orgy</a>, and many other risky behaviors.<br />
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What might be posted may be considered pornography by some, what is the legal definition? One could refer to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who said "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">I'll know it when I see it.</a>" There are many <a href="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/obscenity.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">serious debates on the definition of obscenity</a>.<br />
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Butt, in the end, it's really up to you and your consenting friends to decide if you want to get down and dirty, and keep your filthy mouths shut. So filthy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-72158364010586484462017-11-30T17:31:00.001-08:002017-11-30T17:31:35.215-08:00Gem Clear versus Everclear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOjzgvWzsR9fq3LjxCzIgf8RPkg9s1HnLt8qjErHnmsT3dWi7t-IoMfyICJ2K1BK_5zzHKqgoCHdtvzCv8UeHJsKTaxtrctf5zUg13S6j9QsZ6_94_z9Wii_lR4p5qHD-XwNm/s1600/GemClearvEverClear_v001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="815" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOjzgvWzsR9fq3LjxCzIgf8RPkg9s1HnLt8qjErHnmsT3dWi7t-IoMfyICJ2K1BK_5zzHKqgoCHdtvzCv8UeHJsKTaxtrctf5zUg13S6j9QsZ6_94_z9Wii_lR4p5qHD-XwNm/s320/GemClearvEverClear_v001.jpg" width="254" /></a></div>
Everclear has absolutely no odor other than pure alcohol. It left me with no after-taste and no hangover. It's made with corn.<br />
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Gem Clear, while it is slightly cheaper, leaves me with a Vodka-like aftertaste, a terrible hangover, and a day with a mildly upset stomach. I can't find information on what's it's made with. I'm guessing potatoes.<br />
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The upside of this is a loss of appetite because alcohol has 7 calories per gram.<br />
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Typically I mix 50 ml of the alcohol with 50 ml of Margarita mix over ice in an 8 oz glass, then top it off with water, or tonic water. Under normal conditions, you should only use about 25 ml of the alcohol, which would match a normal Margarita's alcohol content.<br />
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You can stretch your alcohol budget very far with cheap, pure alcohol, instead of buying expensive brands of Vodka or Gin. Basically about half the price.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-34218023062121093502017-11-30T17:02:00.002-08:002017-11-30T17:02:22.416-08:00Obsessions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
My family has a long history of Quaker Puritanism. They settled in Pennsylvania coming from Switzerland in the late 1600's, long before the American Revolution and the existence of the United States. Being omitted from the family history, I can only assume they came to America because they were pacifists, avoiding conscription into some military. I only learned they escaped some soldiers who were trying to capture them, not kill them.<br />
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Anyway, I think the Puritanism was so deep-seated, so embedded into their minds, that it became hard-wired into their genetics. They reel with disgust at the slightest innuendo or dirty joke, or even a swear word. I was adopted into this family.<br />
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My genes are different. I was raised in this family and I was conditioned to never express my desires and to repress my feelings about sex. It didn't help to be raised in a family of women who never had anything nice to say about men either. I feigned ignorance about my knowledge of intimacy out of fear of being ostracized and punished. It was a habit I had no choice but to adopt, and it stuck with me. Now at age 51, I am alone.<br />
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Without intimacy, I never had the motivation to achieve anything, and so nothing, I achieved. If I was going to be denied a relationship, because all my crushes were unrequited, I assume I don't qualify for natural selection, then what's the point of achieving anything?<br />
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Relationships for me are too difficult. Friendships have ended in disappointment because all of my friends have achieved the American Dream. Believe it or not, that's the circle within which I roll. They are all professionals, except me of course.<br />
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All of my friends went to college, got a career, then a family and then children. Do you know what it feels like to go to your best friend's wedding, only to be treated with secondary guest status? It's infuriating.<br />
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= ### =<br />
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It's now two years after I originally wrote this. I'm no longer holding out hope of entering an intimate relationship. The more I think about it, the more awkward I imagine the situation. I think I'm done.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-33409050272002660352014-02-11T12:09:00.000-08:002014-02-11T12:09:42.972-08:00It's Charles Darwin's birthday, let's talk about Natural Selection.Why have I been neglecting this blog? It's a combination of health and economics. I'm turning fifty years old in July. I don't drink alcohol so I don't go to bars. I'm on a tight budget so I avoid restaurants and coffee shops. I work out of my apartment on my computer. I most frequently get out for groceries. That's it.<br />
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I'm a member of some Meetup.com groups, but my social skills just don't cut it. I'm not good in large groups and I'm too slow to interact in conversations so I usually wind up just listening. Some people are polite enough to engage me for a while, but they eventually grow tired. I probably don't interact properly, but nobody ever cared enough to tell me so I don't know.<br />
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My whole life I think I had one girlfriend for about two years starting when I was about fourteen years old. When we first met it seemed like a mutual "love-at-first-sight" situation and we held hands and kissed a lot, but then I didn't see her for a few years and we lost touch. I had a couple of lucky make-out sessions in middle school for a total of about five minutes during gym class behind the stage curtain. After that I had crush after crush on girls and after seventeen or eighteen spurned advances I finally got a clue that I just didn't qualify for Natural Selection.<br />
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I hear stories about how my cousins met their wives through their friends. It hurts to know that people I thought were my friends wouldn't have a first thought about introducing me to anyone, but I suppose that's part of Natural Selection.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-33067228154706666642012-10-16T12:08:00.001-07:002012-10-16T12:37:22.689-07:00Dating Advice QuestionI recently visited the "<a href="http://datingrelationship-advice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dating For Today's Man</a>" (<a href="http://datingrelationship-advice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DFTM</a>) site and looked at all the interesting advice given for how to communicate with women. Lots of top-ten lists like "What women find unattractive," "things that impress women," "...red flags women look for," "...dos and don'ts," etc.<br />
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It all boils down to a complicated maze of advice for the purpose of having a relationship with a woman. If you took all of the positive and negative qualities listed on the <a href="http://datingrelationship-advice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DFTM</a> site and created a checklist for yourself, and somehow managed to achieve all the good qualities and avoided all the bad qualities, how likely could you maintain all of those qualities, every day for the rest of your life? How long could you last under those conditions?<br />
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If you lack a major portion of those characteristics for yourself, but you managed somehow to get married and have children, you might choose to instill some of those positive qualities in your children to improve their chances of having "successful" future relationships based on those standards. Is our culture capable of adopting the proper habits of good relationships proposed by this site?<br />
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The mere existence of the topics covered by <a href="http://datingrelationship-advice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DFTM</a> says that enough people fail to successfully navigate through the mine field of expectations, that they seek help here, which is great for advertising. However, this is also a symptom that these expectations are not natural. Where did the unnatural expectations of behavior come from?<br />
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What is probably more dangerous is your daughter's expectations that her date is actually a gentleman and not the animal he really is, simply following the intricate instructions necessary to get into her pants. Widely miscalculated expectations on dates may be a major cause of unwanted pregnancy.<br />
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Sites like <a href="http://datingrelationship-advice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DFTM</a> and the classic magazine found at the grocery store check-out line present celebrities with extraordinary characteristics. The articles are spectacular, not normal. Normal behavior would not qualify for magazine articles. However, the material is presented in such a way that the casual reader develops unrealistic expectations and feelings of extreme disappointment in their own lives because they feel that standards are too high to reach for themselves.<br />
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Unrealistic expectations generated by mass media create fear, and in some people, to such a degree that they won't go outside because they are unrealistically ashamed of their own appearance. It's made much worse for people who have little or no control over how other people see them.<br />
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A person's expectations of others are typically higher than can be achieved by that person. This is a human weakness easily preyed upon by marketers who submit what appear to be informative articles juxtaposed with advertising. Most people don't hold themselves to the same standards they hold to others.<br />
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Propaganda as a soft tool of eugenics may yield results in a shorter period than previously estimated due the proliferation of sites like <a href="http://datingrelationship-advice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DFTM</a> and the "style" magazines on the Internet. Meanwhile, stop beating yourself up over your appearance and get out more frequently, and accept people for who they are.Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-48480916521637849522012-09-07T10:43:00.000-07:002012-09-07T10:43:37.404-07:00RELOCATEDI moved from Springfield, Illinois to Seattle, Washington. Springfield is a town of just over a hundred and eleven thousand people. <a href="http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=bars&find_loc=Springfield%2C+IL&ns=1&ls=5ba6947af12b31ed" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yelp</a> reports that Springfield has over 107 bars, 25 taverns, 373 restaurants, 57 hotels, 9 theaters, 7 bowling establishments, 1 water park and 1 man-made lake in its sixty square miles of land. Everything is family-friendly, it must be in order for the establishments to make enough money to survive. When I was working nights, the only places that stayed open all night, as far as I knew, besides a few grocery stores were the two Denny's and a Deja Vu adult establishment.<br />
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I didn't make much money so I stayed home on my nights off, which was bad because I lived with my mother and had to stay quiet in my room all night. I was actually glad to be back to work because work gave me an excuse to get out of the house. I thought about getting a place of my own, but under the same economic and social conditions was simply not worth it. Springfield was dominated by homogeneous white conservatives with a religious-centered power base, meaning that if you wanted to get a good-paying job, you got recruited at the right church. I refused to give up my autonomy, privacy and freedom of thought, otherwise I would have converted to Catholicism, but even converted Catholics are not held in much esteem.<br />
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The government of the state of Illinois is a fiscal disaster. Billions of dollars in debt and unsustainable pension obligation, with government officials often double-dipping from the government pension trough. It's easy enough to just Google "Illinois corruption" to find all the information you need. It's gotten to the point where politicians treat their offices like the finish-line after a campaign competition. Try the <a href="http://illinoiscorruption.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Illinois Corruption blog</a>.<br />
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I finally had enough. If I was going to free myself, it was going to be in a place of my choosing. A place with vastly more people with a wider diversity of perspectives. A place where I could ally myself with enough like-minded people to have a modicum of political influence.<br />
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I planned for months on how I was going to get out of Springfield. I was terrified because I didn't know what to expect. I began to keep tabs on issues that would justify my leaving, and they accumulated. It's interesting how one begins to keep certain things in the front of one's memory to help with decisions. The biggest fear I had was two-fold. I was afraid that an employer would not be interested in me if I didn't live in the location I chose, and that a landlord would not be interested in me if I didn't have a job in the location I chose.<br />
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For a while my prediction rang true, but I persisted and finally found a place to call home, with enough savings to last me for a very long time. My months of self-imposed economic imprisonment while I saved my money paid off. At one point I was almost ready to chose homelessness anywhere but Springfield, Illinois.Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-51471678689489791762012-04-20T13:55:00.003-07:002012-04-20T13:55:53.699-07:00The right buzzIt's Friday and most people I know who work hard want to get hammered drunk, but just getting wasted on a Friday night doesn't work anymore when you hit forty eight, at least for me anyway. It would have been fine if I had the foresight to know that moderation keeps you from burning up your liver too quickly so you can enjoy the liquor longer. But I didn't, so drinking makes me sick longer than it allows me to enjoy the intoxication effects. It just doesn't work anymore like it once did because I drank too much too often, and now it feels like a kind of booze impotence.<br />
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Word of advice: limit yourself to three drinks with dinner once a week until you retire, then you can afford to get totally sloshed and maintain a total drunken stupor all day in your boxer shorts and black sock straps as you parade your lawnmower across your front lawn right as the kids across the street get off the school bus.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-42882546567918522332011-08-23T07:47:00.000-07:002011-08-23T07:49:46.454-07:00New logo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklX7p4hrIa0veMZCyIdhk901jMLrpI8rKU7N3j2AA9ePcFxZFXKzgrPTW9G3rTN3r5AYqo4FbD0VqmfnmaKLJZy2OUYLx-vsY8XIrkVgYfwYJwW8OuxZXA2h2IHj5YWII9k3g/s1600/BachelorTimesLogo3.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklX7p4hrIa0veMZCyIdhk901jMLrpI8rKU7N3j2AA9ePcFxZFXKzgrPTW9G3rTN3r5AYqo4FbD0VqmfnmaKLJZy2OUYLx-vsY8XIrkVgYfwYJwW8OuxZXA2h2IHj5YWII9k3g/s320/BachelorTimesLogo3.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644063439568963346" /></a>
<br />Not on the site yet, but I've been working on a new logo. I'm not sure if someone else is using this configuration, but it scales down to icon size very nicely. I may consider changing the colors later.Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-28971188880282123702011-01-29T07:08:00.000-08:002011-01-30T07:22:01.566-08:00So-called "experts" on low and middle incomeIn today's Illinois State Journal-Register (dated 01/29/2011) the first headline of the City/State section reads "Experts: Tax hike will hurt families with low, middle incomes most." The subheading reads "Structure of taxing everyone at same rate 'disadvantages poor people.'<br />
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The second paragraph starts with the following quote:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>It's especially going to hurt lower-income folks -- those who are just starting out in careers or are struggling for whatever reason, who have incomes in the $20,000-$40,000 range.</blockquote><br />
Excuse me, did you say struggling with incomes in the twenty to forty thousand dollar range? Where did you get your experts, Panther Creek? Fox Meadow subdivision?<br />
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The minimum wage here is $8.25 per hour. Full time that's a gross annual salary of $15,840. After taxes and deductions I'm lucky if I bring home $850 a month. Gee, what do I do? I'm a security guard at a hospital. Do you feel safe now?<br />
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The newspaper article continues with a profile of a family that moved to Springfield from Florida only a year and a half ago because the wife got a job at Memorial Medical Center, Miraculously, the husband got a job with the state. I guess the fastest way to a state job is through Memorial Medical Center. So that's the secret, well isn't that just wonderful.<br />
<br />
The husband said between him and his wife they make less than $50,000 a year and they have two kids, yet they must ride the bus to make ends meet. Give me a f###ing break!<br />
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The good news is that they are planning to move back to Florida so some positions for local people might open up soon.<br />
<br />
Before the election, Governor Quinn promised only to raise the tax from 3 percent to 4.5 percent and include exemptions for low income earners. NOPE! Exemptions were left out entirely and the tax went to 5 percent. Oh, he also promised to "fumigate" the state of employees hired by ousted governor Rod Blagojevich, he didn't do that either as far as I can tell.<br />
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Meanwhile, Michael Madigan who holds the record for term of service and who leads the Illinois Legislature, has stood by for more than thirty years there, and watched the state spend itself into oblivion.<br />
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The voters keep electing the same people who have been spending the states money like there is no tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Here is a link to the timeline showing who they are.<br />
http://www.dipity.com/spfldnet/Illinois-Legislature/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-58260258001742126702010-05-07T09:40:00.001-07:002010-05-07T09:40:39.298-07:00Health care options out for bachelors<span xmlns=''><p>I'm single, over 45, and have no health insurance because I only work part-time. Recently I had some shooting pains in my right foot which kept me in bed for about 36 hours straight. I was only able to get to the bathroom by shimmying across the floor balanced on my left foot. The pain was excruciating.<br /></p><p>I went online to see if I could qualify for Medicaid, no dice. You have to be over 65 or pregnant, or have children under the age of 19. I can't afford health insurance, and my quality of life has been bankrupt (without being in debt, luckily) for a decade. I would rather be dead than let the medical industrial complex diminish my quality of life further by making me an economic slave to them.<br /></p><p>When you have nothing to lose, you may want to take with you those who would see you lose even more in the future, the quality of life from treatment forward will be a life of near starvation and deprivation. This is why we need the public option. Without health care reform, there will be a vicious backlash against those who gouge the infirm and helpless.</p></span>Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-46437492192415194832010-04-24T09:06:00.001-07:002010-04-24T09:06:00.665-07:00One solution for bachelorhood<span xmlns=''><p>As a bachelor I have nobody to impress with my money. The months and years went by before I finally found a solution to boring solitude in Springfield; trading stocks online.<br /></p><p>I've been looking enviously at other people's belongings, other people's junk, stuff they don't need, wondering if they derive happiness from possession, or the act of possessing. Some research shows that more perceived value in an object is created from the effort and expense of attaining it than its actual extrinsic value.<br /></p><p>I had my fair share of junk over the years. Getting laid-off, selling my house, then selling most of my possessions on Ebay and garage sale was a depressing experience. Later I wondered what got into me, to want such things as I had in the first place.<br /></p><p>Today I'm bent toward utilitarian minimalism but the boredom is excruciating. I was about to lose my mind because I was torn between consumerism as a medication and the disdain for the very act of purchasing something I know I do not need.<br /></p><p>Driving around Springfield, swimming in shear boredom and irritating consumer messages, it finally dawned on me that I can actually do something that actually builds wealth and provides a modicum of excitement in the process. Building a stock portfolio and trading stocks gives me something to look forward to each day.<br /></p><p>The secret was laid out before me over the course of attaining my degree in communication. The underlying messages that came with it were cultural conditioning, consumer behavior, and the frailty of the human mind. Weaknesses the marketplace has taken advantage of for generations.<br /></p><p>Warning! There are two sets of consumer messages involved with the world of finance, a multi-layered consumer paradigm. You must be careful not to rely on information gathered for you by your online trading host. <br /></p><p>Always keep in mind that any single source of information was generated to serve the source. It's a natural rule of behavior. If you get your business news from one source, you might as well quit while you can. Keep in mind that most of the business news on the main-stream media has been distilled for public consumption, it will be to your advantage, especially when panic sets in and some controversy is aired about a business and its stock price plummets.<br /></p><p>So now, boredom temporarily averted. I only wish I thought of this last weekend, because today's Saturday and I have to wait probably until next Tuesday or Wednesday to hear back from my trade branch about getting money into my account. Meanwhile, do the research. Pick some stocks, go to <a href='http://www.sec.gov'>www.sec.gov</a> and check out the company's annual statements. If you have an email account with Google, Yahoo or MSN, you can set up a fake stock portfolio and watch your stocks until you get your online account set up. </p></span>Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-91206412806007924752010-04-22T14:40:00.001-07:002010-04-22T14:40:51.774-07:00The site moves!<span xmlns=''><p>Not in the sense that it's changing location, just that there is actual activity taking place. I've been experimenting with Spry tabs while coding the website but I'm still on the fence about whether or not to use it. It might look very cool, but I like to keep things simple and cross-platform compatible. I have such little time to work on it, plus the fact that I am single and have very little money to spend on such things as entertainment that this site has been neglected. A new approach may be in order.<br /></p><p>I may have to write a book first, and then publish it as online content later. I definitely need the content first, with luck we'll get advertisers. I would prefer to have paying subscribers who need to be shielded from the predatory marketers who peddle trash. I may convene a panel of responsible bachelors to decide the best course of action. Some time, somewhere.<br /></p><p>The important thing is the content. I may simply seek out relevant content from local bloggers and freely link to their blogs. They could advertise anything they wanted on their blogs, that wouldn't be prudent; they might turn out to be predatory marketing spammers.<br /></p><p>I have so little time to think about this, so I'll end it before it turns into a nonsensical ramble.</p></span>Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-50700383374386997252010-04-20T16:50:00.001-07:002010-04-20T16:50:32.038-07:00Dating<span xmlns=''><p>I'm not going to date like it's some kind of game or ritual, which basically leaves out bars on my list. I don't like to drive someplace and drink, then try to drive home either.<br /></p><p>Most of you who fall into a relationship were introduced by mutual friends. I however, have no such advantage. Nobody will look at me then look at someone else and exclaim "Say, they would make a great couple, let's get them together!" Not possible. So I am destined for bachelorhood forever.</p></span>Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-52619450502203067582009-09-03T17:33:00.000-07:002009-09-03T17:38:16.122-07:00What will become of us?Well, I have some ideas.<br />Publishing a guide to the taverns of Springfield. That would take forever and I doubt I would find them all.<br /><br />I have yet to come up with a decent format. I've been so busy with other things. Hopefully I will be able to settle down and really dedicate some time to the site.<br /><br />I'm off to look at the website layout, do some tinkering.Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-14476343213414958292009-06-09T01:12:00.001-07:002009-06-09T01:12:20.265-07:00Pay attentionWatch this video<br /><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7886780711843120756">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7886780711843120756</a>Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-83299882473995991312009-04-25T09:36:00.000-07:002009-04-25T09:37:06.054-07:00InactivitySorry this blog has been inactive for so long, but it is after all, Springfield, Illinois.Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-17179359087171203262009-02-14T08:32:00.000-08:002009-02-14T08:35:20.846-08:00National Condom WeekPlanned Parenthood just emailed me about National Condom Week. They wrote that I might have missed it. I totally appreciate the need for condoms. You just can't do it without them.<br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/p/48D0C2CCB4CE027C?hl=en" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/p/48D0C2CCB4CE027C?hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-28112135275563470632009-01-09T06:58:00.000-08:002009-01-09T07:14:01.455-08:00Not another dating website!Another dating advice website has emerged through advertising on Facebook called "DatingAdviceSecrets.com." The site attempts to attract men by making the following claim:<br /><br />Are You Making These Mistakes With Women?<br /><br />"The Ten Most Dangerous Mistakes YOU Probably Make With Women- And What To Do About It…"<br /><br />Here Are The Top Ten Reasons Why Men Fail With Women- And How To Make Sure YOU Avoid Every One Of These Deadly Common Mistakes…<br /><br />You can go to the site if you want, but I challenge this claim by a making a claim of my own:<br /><br />"Men don't make mistakes, they make choices."<br /><br />Sorry ladies if you walk away from a man and think to yourself that he made a big mistake. Wrong. He made a choice.<br /><br />The site lists the ten mistakes, but they are really not mistakes, they are real and functional methods of vetting companions.<br /><br />You cannot alter your behavior or use psychology in a way that allows you to pursue someone you find attractive on a shallow level, because you would need to keep it up forever.<br /><br />That form of deception requires you to divert energy and resources that might ruin you financially, or in ways that you can't even imagine.<br /><br />So when anyone tries to tell you you are making a mistake, guys, you are not making any mistakes. Always be yourself.Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-17043837442477503612008-11-30T07:02:00.000-08:002008-11-30T08:20:52.585-08:00Saturday NightSaturday night in Springfield the line at D'arcy's out on Stanford was out the door, so we went to the Dublin Pub at Town and Country Shopping Center. The wait there was going to be twenty minutes.<br /><br />I heard the shriek of a toddler, the kind of shriek you get from a child that has just discovered his or her voice. Then I head another.<br /><br />There were at least three small children in the Dublin Pub amid the throng. Those young twenty-something married couples and their children, unable to shake the old free-wheeling lifestyle, come back to the old haunts, inappropriately with their new kids.<br /><br />There were several large flat-screen televisions on the wall showing sports, and the music was competing in volume with the conversation. Every table was full and the crowd in front of the door waiting was making it difficult for people coming and going.<br /><br />It was early, only about six o'clock in the evening. We decided to try the Tasti Thai restaurant just a few doors down. The place was nearly empty. It was quiet. There were a few people at another table, but that was it.<br /><br />We had a good conversation and good food. Unfortunately it wasn't a date for me, I was out that night with my mother and my sister. Still, an excuse to get out of the house. Otherwise, I have no reason to go out because I'm single, and my friends don't live in this town.<br /><br />Someone my age, 44, doesn't make friends easily, and it's worse when you live in a town where you once had a history as an elementary school student, but then moved away and lost track of everyone over the years only to move back and discover all your friends have left town.<br /><br />I always wind up asking this question: What can a single middle-aged man do in this town without feeling scrutinized by people who know each other? It wouldn't turn out like the movie starring Steve Martin titled "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087635/"target=_blank>The Lonely Guy</a>," maybe I should revisit that movie for tips.<br /><br />Back to the Tasti Thai restaurant. I'm wondering if all the other Asian cuisine restaurants in town are like this on a Friday or Saturday night? I'll need to bring a date to find out because I don't imagine they would seat one person at a table. They definitely don't seat one person at the Buffet King on Veterans Parkway.<br /><br />Wish me luck. I'll work this map into my site soon too.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&s=AARTsJobhQkLaB2MDK1f48-lzkhPNn2JmQ&msa=0&msid=107581025425371948235.00045ce8bea8470c37dd1&ll=39.770815,-89.706566&spn=0.011545,0.018239&z=15&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=107581025425371948235.00045ce8bea8470c37dd1&ll=39.770815,-89.706566&spn=0.011545,0.018239&z=15&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-87862747924537683442008-11-28T14:04:00.001-08:002008-11-28T14:07:40.148-08:00Site changesI'm going to change the look of the site. It will take a while because I have far too many irons in the fire, or my iron in many fires, he he he.<br /><br />I'll come up with something. If anyone has a suggestion, you can post a comment on this blog.Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-59303198680287449302008-09-21T10:49:00.000-07:002008-09-21T11:01:02.460-07:00What is an eligible bachelor?The word "eligible" applies to bachelors who are wealthy, handsome and successful at cultural activities and businesses that conform to the expectations of those who think they qualify for marriage. I don't hesitate to identify the term "eligible bachelor" as derogatory.<br /><br />Bachelorhood as a way of life is in no way culturally "eligible." We thumb our noses at the alleged "conventional wisdom."Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-61327622962935509492008-03-14T07:06:00.000-07:002008-03-14T07:27:25.231-07:00Some quick notes<div>I worked for six months in a room populated mostly by women who often forgot that I was there and comfortably spoke their minds. I noticed some interesting differences between men and women after listening for quite some time.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Managing money:</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Most of the ladies with whom I worked were married and spoke generously about their nuptial financial arrangements. Their husbands always seeemed to have the same responses during shopping. "We can't afford that."</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>One woman said that her husband ordered something in the mail and wouldn't tell her what it was. She was furious. Somewhere in the conversation she said "I keep track of every penny so I know exactly what I can spend." That got me thinking.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Men manage money by pretending they don't have any at all, until they see something they really like. Women manage money by keeping track of every cent, knowing immediately if an item they see is affordable.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Which is the lesser of two evils? No clue.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The odor:</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>My room sometimes has an odor that lingers even after I clean it. Turns out it's my laundry.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I once was lazy and started buying extra underwear on weekends I didn't feel like doing laundry. I accumulated a large quantity of socks and shorts and would neglect them until the dresser drawer was empty.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Just having a laundry basket with more than one week's laundry can be offensive to others even if you get used to it, and believe me, you do get used to it.<a href="http://www.bachelortimes.com/graphics/manlookingoutdoor.png"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.bachelortimes.com/graphics/manlookingoutdoor.png" border="0" /></a> Throw all your extra socks and shorts out. Don't keep more than will last between one laundry cycle.</div><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div>Bachelor1http://www.blogger.com/profile/02557184062724531653noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-76889183093200438612007-08-07T05:18:00.001-07:002007-08-07T05:18:49.737-07:00House and Senate on BreakOur U.S. Senators and Congressmen are on their August break. You might see them around your district. We, the people expected change after the 2006 election, and the rumors going around are that the Democrats have rolled over and have not been effective since they have become a majority.<br /><br />But, we, the people rolled over. We only gave the Democrats a simple majority, not an overriding majority. For the Democrats to be effective against the onslaught of warmongering predatory capitalists, an overriding majority is needed, a better than two-thirds majority that can override a Presidential veto or some other arcane parliamentary procedure.<br /><br />So we have nothing to complain about but our own inability to elect an effective majority of legislators different from those who dominated our government for the last six years.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31915568.post-78393742667901044212007-04-24T16:05:00.000-07:002007-04-24T16:07:19.211-07:00The Legacy of our FathersIn a culture with highly reinforced gender roles as is ours and has been for centuries, men were expected to provide a clear path for their families survival. Men were expected to teach their sons how to hunt or manage the flock and sons were expected to take up the bows, arrows and swords of their fathers, or learn from their fathers a traditional craft and direction for its use.<br /><br />The fathers of the last generation were expected to pave the way for our future by providing the means with which we could afford an education. More than that, fathers were the expected role models for their sons, creating a legacy of tools for success as well as secret back entrances to the castles of opportunity, where the front doors of those palaces are bolted securely against the rest of the huddled masses.<br /><br />The living fathers of my friends and distant relatives are well in their retirements, and basking in the glow of their healthy grandchildren. Their legacies constructed comfortably in ways that may protect them financially for many generations.<br /><br />My father’s legacy for me was a precarious footpath shrouded in smoke and dimly lit along a precipice of extinction by the glint of shattered dreams and discarded bottles, leading directly to early pauper’s grave. I was forced from that path when I joined the military and found new mentors. For the rest of my time I scratched and clawed my way through life with no gain at all until finally my mother realized what should have been done so many years ago. She paid my way through college.<br /><br />Now at age 43 I am finally a college graduate. It turns out that I’m not so stupid after all. I’m not the family member that failed anymore, I’m now the family member with evidence that points toward someone else as the cause of my problems.<br /><br />My parents divorced when I was in the third grade at elementary school. Following that, my mother fully expected that I would still learn what I needed to know from my father. His business went bankrupt when he was the age I am now. Ironically, he and I both moved in with our mothers at or near the same age. In my case I was laid off and couldn’t find work to sustain my own home anymore.<br /><br />He finally found a state government job, bought a condominium and was eventually forced to retire. He racked up credit card debt and finally drank himself to death. Would such be my legacy? Is that what is expected of me? Am I pushed toward that end by the expectations of others?<br /><br />I’m left with the feeling that I have no path, yet I also see evidence of being pushed along the old one. I have a newly acquired education, but it may be too late to make a different path for a son, or even myself. This means that I will never marry because I refuse to perpetuate a legacy of failure. This branch will fall from the family tree never to bloom.<br /><br />In reality, most of us scratch and claw our way through life and find ourselves at the end of a cattle ramp waiting for the final slaughter that comes in the form of taxes and funeral expenses, never having really lived at all, but only worked.<br /><br />We find ourselves at the locked front gate of the castle every time we apply for a job because it was advertised in the classifieds, not because our father’s friends were making offers of employment. But remember, there are many more of us, and castles always have weaknesses.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0