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September 24th, 2009
10:44 am - Beautiful dream
I had a dream last night that I was at my parent's house in Michigan, and there was the most beautiful sunset (in the east...:-/) over Susan Lake, and the clouds were positioned in such a way that made the lake look as big as Lake Michigan, and just as the sun went down, I saw a fiery glimmer in the middle of the lake, and was surprised to see lava shooting up from the water. I ran outside and snapped a bunch of pictures, but the sun was too far below the horizon to capture the initial beauty that I saw from the bedroom window of the house. I feel the urge to paint a picture of what I saw, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do it justice. It's the most beautiful thing I ever saw.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/punquinheads/blue/loved.gif) touched
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September 16th, 2009
10:15 pm - Developing good habits
They say it takes 28 days to make something a habit, and this has proven true for me. The only catch is that if I go somewhere other than my home for a couple days or more, my habit inevitably breaks. I didn't floss while I was at Brevard, for example, because I couldn't stand being in the bathroom for more than was absolutely necessary.
Here are my healthy habits that I am trying to get back into:
Take a daily multivitamin
Leave it to my boyfriend to look out for my health. He got this for me as a present :) This one, especially for women, has 25% of your daily calcium needs, 100% iron, and 250% vitamin D, plus MANY more!
Wear sunscreen!!
For Godssake don't try to tan all the time, unless you want to have nasty leathery skin for the rest of your life. The best way to look younger longer is to apply sunscreen EVERY DAY. I've heard that you should apply a minimum of SPF 15. I use SPF 45, because I'm in Miami...helloooo sun! I love this Neutrogena Ultra Sheer, because you can't really feel it on your skin once it dries...and I HATE greasy, oily sunscreen.
Brush and FLOSS
Yeah, that's right, extra whitening...have you seen my teeth? I can't stress it enough, though you probably hear it enough from your dentist...floss every day! I should take my own advice. I get the brushing part, twice a day, no problem, but the flossing is where I get hung up. Some people may not have a big problem with it, but when your teeth are very close together, it's really hard to get the floss in between them...and if you don't, you'll get LOTS of cavities. I learned the hard way, in my childhood. Approximately 20 fillings, and 1 root canal later...I learned my lesson. C'mon stem cell researchers! I want some new teeth!
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01:54 pm - Join me in my quest to...
Lose weight without really trying
I hate exercise for the sake of exercise, don't you? Going to the gym bores me to tears. The easiest (and I use this word loosely) way to lose weight is to move more and eat less. I don't care about WHAT I eat, but how much I eat. The following is what I've been doing these past 2 years, in addition to exercising at the gym (which I hate), and I've already lost 20 lbs, and gained 5 back this summer when I visited my parents.
1600 calories per day. When I am super active on some days, I'll allow myself to eat a bit more.
a) Measure everything you eat! I bought myself a food scale, and now I really know what 1 serving of cereal looks like. Most people eat more than they think they do, and don't forget to add in calories from beverages!
b) It takes a bit of time to measure everything, but once you get the hang of it, you'll just know what a proper serving looks like, and how many calories are in the things you eat most often. You don't have to be exact when calculating calories...I always round to the nearest 50 or 100. c) A lightly active 115 lb, 25-year-old woman needs 1700 calories/day to maintain her weight. Limiting calorie intake not only helps you lose weight, but prepares you for the amount of food you should be eating when you get to your goal weight. Find your calorie requirements for your goal weight at Prevention.com Take the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible. Little things like walking up and down 4 flights of stairs every day really adds up when you think about it.
Walk instead of driving, if it's not too far. Obviously, I'm not going to walk 5 miles to get somewhere, but if it's within 1-2 miles, sure!
Consider walking to the grocery store. Make sure you bring a backpack, and a couple tote bags. The trip back will really burn calories! I guess this wouldn't really help unless you live in a city, but there are other things you can do. Getting a dog is a great way to start walking more :)
Swim for exercise, because it's fun! I'm not going to exercise unless it's something I ENJOY. I also enjoy long walks on the beach, nature hikes, yoga, and dance workout videos! DDR and the Wii Fit are also fun!
Height: 5'2"
Current weight: 130 lbs Goal weight: 115-120 lbs Current measurements:
Neck: 12" Bust: 33" Waist: 27.5"
Hips: 38" Thighs: 22"
Calves: 15"
Arms: 11"
It would be AWESOME to have a blogging partner to do this with, so if anybody is interested, let me know! It would certainly help keep us motivated and on top of things.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/punquinheads/blue/cheerful.gif) optimistic
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September 9th, 2009
09:19 pm - I eat more...I eat less
Anecdotal evidence that we consume more when we are not paying for it directly:
When I go to visit my family, I eat 2-3 times the amount that I normally would... --->this girl<--- does not turn down free food. I pay for it when I step on the scale to find myself 5 lbs heavier, and have to kick my ass back into shape.
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August 29th, 2009
03:43 pm - Finding Happiness
Often, finding happiness is as simple as taking the time to do my hair, put on some makeup, or dress well even when I'm not going out to see anybody. It's important for me to find happiness in little things like that, because so often I concentrate on the imperfections of my looks, and even my character. For some reason I have major self esteem and jealousy problems. I crave the attention given to beautiful celebrities (well, not the media attention...just the adoration). My boyfriend humors me by telling me that I'm in the same league as Scarlett Johannson, which I appreciate, even if I don't believe it one bit. I could believe it if I was as confident in my own body as someone like her. Confidence is so important to attractiveness. But not too much confidence.
Happiness goes hand in hand with confidence, in my experience. So to build my confidence, I need to build my happiness, which is so hard to do when it has been cold, dark, and rainy for 2 weeks. Walking is my go-to activity to feel a quick boost in happiness.
Another challenge to my happiness is that my life seems to be moving at lightening speed. A job offer, potentially moving across the entire country, leaving my boyfriend behind in Miami, and pursuing a long-distance relationship. It's terrifying, and I have my doubts that I'll be able to cope throughout the whole thing on my own. I know I can't do it on my own...my sanity is at stake. The first thing I'll have to do when I move away is to find a meet-up group of like-minded people, make some friends, and see them on a regular basis. Meeting people in a new place is so difficult when you don't know ANYBODY. Sounds like I'm going to have to read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" again. The most stressful part of meeting new people is trying to explain to them what I do. "So, what exactly IS an orchestra librarian?"...ugh! Unless they have ever played a string instrument, or any instrument, chances are they won't have a clue what I'm talking about. And I always feel like a boring idiot when I try to explain it. Like they're listening to me out of politeness, and not out of interest. I get this, because rarely does a person ask any further questions. Of course, it could be the big sigh I let out when someone asks me what I do. :)
I guess I find a lot of happiness in the sense of accomplishment, which is why taking a walk, making my bed, cleaning or organizing something, and making an effort to look my best are such immediate boosts. The organizing thing? That's why I like my job.
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July 26th, 2009
08:06 pm - The fine line
Being a head librarian this summer has taught me a lot about being in charge and laying down strict policies, and teaching people how to do everything that I do. I have 30 work-study students here at Brevard, and 2 full time assistants. The camp has over 400 students and probably 50 faculty, and just about all of them come to the library to get their music.
The library has become my hangout spot, when I'm done with work. The library is far more comfortable than my little tiny ant-infested cabin. So naturally, when people walk up to the library and see lights on, they think "Oh, the library is open!" But they are nearly always disappointed because the door is locked at precisely 5:00 PM, and doesn't open until precisely 9:00 AM the next morning. Even with the hours clearly posted on the door, people still try. So I've learned to be a stickler. If they see me inside, I will at least answer the door. Usually I turn them away and tell them to come back when we're open, but many times I've relented and gotten them the music they needed so desperately for rehearsal the next morning. But when you start doing that for one person, others find out and try the same thing. Today I was so fed up with it, because it's Sunday, and we are ALWAYS closed on Sunday, which means everyone should know that they need to pick their music up by Saturday if they want it before their Monday morning rehearsal. We're 5 weeks into camp, and many people still can't seem to grasp this. So when two girls came knocking on the door today asking for tomorrow's music, I turned them away. And then I felt terrible.
I'm never sure of the right thing to do in situations like these. When people are nice to you (and they were polite), it's best to be helpful and kind. But when the hours are clearly marked on the door, and they still come knocking, are they then trying to take advantage of my friendliness? Should I be strict, or nice? Sometimes I think I've been too hard on the students at camp this summer, and I sense that they dislike or even fear me. With the faculty, it's another story. With them, I try to be helpful even when we're closed, because I know they teach lessons all day and have rehearsals and whatnot. They need to be as prepared as they can be, and I'm there to help them whenever I can. But with the students, I feel the need to teach them responsibility, and letting them come in to get their music after hours doesn't exactly teach them that they need to be more responsible. They need to learn to pick up their music A WEEK EARLIER, instead of the night before or the day of the first rehearsal. With 400+ students at camp, they can't expect me to be available at everyone's convenience.
I guess it just goes with the job...being a bitch sometimes.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/punquinheads/blue/gloomy.gif) discontent
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April 9th, 2009
09:55 am - Stupid shipping
Why does it cost $16 to ship ONE dress from Victoria's Secret using standard shipping??? That's crap. I'm waiting until I get one of those promos in my e-mail for free shipping. It's a really cute dress, though.
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April 5th, 2009
02:15 pm - Venting my anger in dreams
I dreamt about pancakes last night.
I was at a mall with my boyfriend, and we were looking for a place to have some pancakes. We went to one place, but they didn't have what we wanted. The second place we went to, called "Joe's" had pancakes in all sorts of flavors. Max got one with cream cheese or something like it mixed in, and I wanted the same thing with bananas and pecans inside. Well, that was a problem. They could make a banana-pecan pancake, but they couldn't make a cream cheese-banana-pecan pancake. I was like, "What do you mean I can't have that kind of pancake? I just want the same one he's having with bananas and pecans mixed in. How difficult is that?", to which he responded, "If it's not on the menu, it's not available." Then I started lecturing him in a raised voice about customer choice, and options, and poor customer service, and how I would gladly go to another place, but nobody seems to sell "Create your own" pancakes! After about 5 minutes of screaming at him, I settled for a banana-pecan pancake, but woke up before I could eat it.
I've been thinking a lot about how bad customer service has become. But I think that dream stemmed from an incident I had on the bus one day. I got out the money for my fare, but one of my dollars was a little torn, and wouldn't go through the machine on the bus. I asked the bus driver if he could just take my dollar, since the machine wouldn't take it, and he refused. I stood there arguing with him for about 3 minutes, pointing out how insane it was that he would kick me off the bus for not being able to pay my fare when I CLEARLY had the money in my hand. The problem? The government has a monopoly on transportation. If I COULD go to another bus with better service, I WOULD, but alas it is illegal to start a transportation company that would be in direct competition with mass transit. And this is the friggin' U.S.A...land of the free? Yeah, right. I would love to start a transportation company that provided wireless internet, and pastries to riders. The fare would reflect the quality of service, and I'm fairly convinced that there would be plenty of business to go around.
*SIGH* Pancakes...
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March 4th, 2009
02:57 pm - Gratitude
Maintaining happiness is a constant struggle for me. It's hard to be happy when I think that my boyfriend is ignoring me, or doesn't love me, or doesn't want to spend time with me, and I know that it's not true because he's just stressed with finals and family issues, and I feel guilty for putting blame and even more stress on him...I'm a mess this week.
So here's 10 things that I'm happy about today:
1. I had two delicious pieces of chocolate for a snack today
2. My eyelashes are beautiful and long
3. Teddy finally came into the library to pick up the scores I made for him
4. I feel like I'm on better terms with one of Max's friends, who I've been jealous of. I'd like to get to know her better.
5. I haven't been cold all day, which is a nice change
6. I discovered another Starbucks drink that I like: the vanilla latte
7. Listening to the countertenor, David Hansen, who is singing with us in our all Handel program this week
8. My weight today was 126.8
9. A joke by an 8-year-old: Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide :)
10. Sunshine (if only we had windows in the library!)
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09:44 am - Virgin Mary? Prophecies? Really?
Recently, I've been studying the Bible a whole lot more than usual
To all those people who think Mary, mother of Jesus, remained a virgin for her entire life, read this:
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. [Matthew 1:24-25]
Also, if Joseph wasn't biologically connected to Jesus, how can Jesus fulfill the prophecy that the messiah will descend from David? And moreover, how do you come up with messiah from this passage:
11 The LORD swore an oath to David,
a sure oath that he will not revoke:
"One of your own descendants
I will place on your throne- 12 if your sons keep my covenant
and the statutes I teach them,
then their sons will sit
on your throne for ever and ever." [Psalm 132:11-12]
AND THIS:
5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness. [Jeremiah 23:5-6]
AND THIS:
14 " 'The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15 " 'In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line;
he will do what is just and right in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.' [Jeremiah 33:14-16]
--I think this is why Jesus has so many names - they didn't come outright and say his name would be Jesus in the Old Testament, even though the prophecies were from God, and the Angels knew it...why not? Maybe because Jesus was such a common name? Then they'd have everyone claiming to be the Messiah? But if he descends from David, and if his sons keep the covenant, they will sit on the throne forever...then that means he would be a king...but that doesn't fit either...because he wasn't actually related to Joseph. These are weak prophecies, and like most prophecies, are so vague that they could be referring to anybody...like, I don't know, David's kids and grandchildren??
I'm going to make a prophecy:
In the days to come, the Revered One will rule the land from east to west, and all shall look upon him with hope to take them out of their darkest days.
A prophecy has to be vague enough so that it can't be falsified. Here's what I think a real prophecy should be like:
On May 3, 2009, at 3:30 PM Eastern Time, Judy Collins of Tallahassee, FL will be struck by a car while she crosses the street, and have a successful recovery at the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.
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February 28th, 2009
12:06 pm - dreams
Last night, I couldn't sleep very well, but when i did, I had two or three very strange dreams:
Marijuana: I was sitting at my grandparent's house with an old friend from middle school (Brie), and two of my distant cousins. I was asking Brie how she felt when the police searched her place for marijuana plants. I asked her if they had a reason to search the place. She didn't want to talk about it, being way too pissed. What's weird is that I'm sure this girl would never be growing marijuana in her home in real life, and why she popped up in my dream is beyond me. However, I was also very pissed in my dream that police would search anybody's house to look for marijuana plants. I think they would need a much better reason to enter anybody's home.
Dressing up a manequin: Can't remember a whole lot from this one, except that I was dressing up a mannequin in women's clothing, but it had a man's head. I was with another person from New World (Darren???) and we were trying to cover up the fact that it was a man's head by putting a ton of makeup on it. Then it just looked like a drag queen. Then I happened to find a box on a shelf with a woman's mannequin head in it, so we swapped it, like popping off a Barbie doll's head and snapping a new one on.
Living in a 1 room apartment with my sister: I really really wanted to rearrange the furniture to give us more space. I was accused of cluttering up the place, and having my stuff spill over into her area (actually, now I'm not sure that this was my sister). I laughed, because all my stuff was in it's place, and only her stuff was lying around on the floor.
Some other things:
Growing koosh balls, then getting them tangled up - but they were needed to save someone! So we had to quickly untangle them, and hang them properly from a mesh basket/bag...it made sense in the dream.
Walking through a maze of heavy stage curtains, trying to find my way to a dressing room where I could change into something that would look really hot for Max.
Working out in the gym, and a trumpet friend (the most annoying one) came in and looked at the magazines I had laying there. He started being really nosey, so I left.
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February 16th, 2009
10:39 pm - I took a risk...and failed
I got the bright idea today (since I had the afternoon off) to go over to Max's place and surprise him with dinner! So I got on the bus, then the train, went to Publix to get the foodstuffs, then headed up to his apartment. I was expecting him to be in class today until 5:30, but when I got to his apartment, I was surprised to find it unlocked. So I opened the door, and he was home! And then he was upset because I didn't knock. In hindsight, that would have been the correct thing to do...stupid me.
So then I find out he just ate minutes before I got there, so he's not hungry, and "btw I'm playing a computer game (Left 4 Dead) with 4 of my friends from class tonight."
So a couple hours later, I start cooking dinner, which is salmon rubbed with a mixture of brown sugar, salt, pepper, cumin, and mustard powder, fried in an iron skillet. Amazing stuff, at least it turned out really great when I cooked it last week at my apartment. His stove is different than mine, and apparently I had the stove too hot. The salmon burned, but didn't cook all the way through...it was on MEDIUM heat! :( It smoked up the whole apartment. I swear I will never cook meat on that stove again.
I'm a little upset that he can't cancel his gaming plans for one night...he says it will make him seem unreliable. I guess his school connections take top priority or something...or maybe he doesn't like to be surprised. I know he's irritated that I didn't knock, and yes, I admit it was stupid.
What was I thinking of, coming over hear without letting him know? STUPID STUPID STUPID. I really do like to surprise people, but I never expected to feel so bad about it, especially after making dinner AND cookies. I think I just expect too much, and I want to be loved desperately. I think he does love me, but he won't come out and say it, which makes me second guess if he loves me.
On the bright side, he said he was glad I came over, he's very happy I did (he only wishes I knocked), and he loved the salmon and the cookies. He says the salmon tasted better "pan-seared"...it was practically burnt. I think I should have just stayed home today. I should really write more on here when good things happen, because it sounds like Max is not a good boyfriend...but it's only these rare occasions when he upsets me this much, and that's when I write. All the time that I'm not writing, everything is wonderful.
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February 7th, 2009
08:37 am - Weight loss over the past year
It's hard to believe that I've lost almost 20 lbs in the past year and a half!
The secret is simple: Eat fewer calories than you burn. The trick is keeping an accurate record. Sometimes I would bake something, or cook dinner, and have no idea how many calories went into it. That's why when Max showed me www.nutritiondata.com, it made it much easier. There's this feature on there where you can enter in recipes, enter in how many servings in the recipe, look up each ingredient, and it will automatically calculate how many calories and other nutrition info per serving.
For tracking my progress, and recording what I eat every day I go to www.prevention.com and use "My Health Trackers"...it's fun because you can enter in foods that you eat a lot, and it'll keep a custom list for you, the food search tool sucks, so I use the custom food tool most of the time. You can also enter in your body measurments, your daily weight, and your daily activities. If you are looking to lose weight, this kind of makes it fun, and it teaches you a lot about the nutrition of the foods you're eating.
To rev up the weight loss, I started working out in January of this year, and I've surprisingly been keeping it up! It's finally paying off. For a while I was stuck at 131, even though I worked out every day and burned more than I ate...then just yesterday the scale started moving =D What a great feeling!
Last night, I was just looking at pictures of me from the TFC/BSO European Tour, when I was 145 lbs, and I thought, "WOW! My face was definitely fuller, and you can see my love handles."
And now I'm 127 lbs, almost to my goal of 120, which is apparently still on the high end for someone my height...but who the hell cares? I feel great!
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November 5th, 2008
02:28 pm - Thoughts on being an orchestra librarian in a technological age
As I was reading about string divisi from Norman Del Mar's Anatomy of the Orchestra, it occurred to me that the problems with page turns may very soon be solved indefinitely.
 The LCD music stand may soon make the job of the orchestra librarian much easier. Currently, one tablet costs between $900 and $1,400 (quite out of the question for most orchestras who are considering switching to these stands for the entire orchestra). Disregarding the cost, there are still some problems with the current models:
1.) They are still too small. Until these screens can be made to equal the size of an actual piece of sheet music (approx. 13x20, with two pages side by side), orchestral musicians will be reluctant to make such a switch.
2.) Battery life. This particular stand has a rechargeable battery with 3 hours of use. Obviously, this wouldn't work for a 3 hour rehearsal, unless these things are able to be plugged in. But then there's the problem of wires being everywhere on stage, not to mention the cost of electricity.
3.) Networking the stands. I have yet to read anything saying that these stands can be interconnected, which they would need to be, particularly in the string sections. When there are bowing changes, the principal would ideally mark the changes in their part, then hit a button to send the changes to the rest of the section. Also, the librarian would need access to everyone's stand, in case there are cuts to be made, errata, or any other changes. This is absolutely possible, it's only a question of whether or not this feature is available in the current models. Internet access would also be useful.
4.) Writing features. I know that this LCD stand has a touch screen, but I do not know if you are able to mark the music by hand. Musicians could not function without this feature, as conductors, and section leaders always make suggestions that need to be written in. This would be a separate function from marking errata, as errata is permanent, and personal markings would need to be erased (and the nice thing about it being digital, is that the musician would be able to save his or her markings for future use!) So it would be ideal to provide each stand with a stylus, much like a PDA, which would work just like a pencil with an eraser.
Who knows how long it will take for the costs to decrease enough for an orchestra to pick up on this technology. It will most likely be a slow transition, and will be met with much resistance in regards to rental music and copyright laws. But as we see CDs and DVDs being slowly replaced with digital media, and paper bills and banking statements replaced with e-statements, so we will eventually see sheet music replaced by digital sheet music as well. How long will it take...20, 30, 40 years? Something tells me it won't take that long, but musicians and librarians may be more resistant to change than you'd think. As for me, I think this is an exciting new beginning.
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September 22nd, 2008
04:37 pm - Thanksgiving
I've been with my boyfriend for a year now, and I've recently brought up the subject of Thanksgiving with him. As most of you know, my family lives in Michigan, and I live in Miami. His family lives in Miami as well. I've decided that this year, it won't be worth going home for Thanksgiving because of high airline ticket prices, and the fact that it will only be for a few days. I told my boyfriend this, hinting at the possibility of spending Thanksgiving with his family, so I won't be all alone that day. He said no.
After practically begging him to invite me to his family's Thanksgiving, he still hasn't changed his mind. He says, "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or bored." His family is mostly Hispanic, and would be speaking Spanish the whole time.
This isn't the first time he's made this excuse. I haven't met his father for the same reason. I trust that he wouldn't lie to me, but this excuse sounds just like that: an excuse. Granted, none of his ex-girlfriends ever spent Thanksgiving with his family (he has gone to their family's houses), but then again, none of them ever lived close enough to do that. I told him that if we lived close to my parents, and he was the one who would be spending Thanksgiving alone, I would invite him without hesitation! Personally, I'd much rather be slightly uncomfortable with my boyfriend and his family than all alone.
Should I keep trying to bring up the subject, or just drop it? How weird does this sound to everyone else? Am I being too pushy?
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/punquinheads/blue/confused.gif) confused
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September 19th, 2008
September 18th, 2008
September 12th, 2008
10:38 am - The more I read...
the more I'm convinced to NOT vote for Obama. Take this example, taken from his website:
Expand Paid Sick Days: Half of all private sector workers have no paid sick days and the problem is worse for employees in low-paying jobs, where less than a quarter receive any paid sick days. Barack Obama will require that employers provide seven paid sick days per year.
Sounds good, right? Hell yeah, it would be GREAT to be able to be sick and not worry about being behind on rent or bills, because I could be sure that my paycheck would be the same. And yes, this is what happens to a lot of people when they get the flu and miss out on a couple days of work. However, what are the incentives here? Requiring that employers provide 7 paid sick days means that people who didn't get sick that year miss out on 7 paid days in which they were not working. So what do you do? Call in sick even if you aren't!
Raise the Minimum Wage to $9.50 an Hour by 2011: Barack Obama believes that people who work full time should not live in poverty. Before the Democrats took back Congress, the minimum wage had not changed in 10 years. Even though the minimum wage will rise to $9.50 an hour by 2011, the minimum wage's real purchasing power will still be below what it was in 1968. As president, Obama will further raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing -- things so many people take for granted.
Again, Obama really makes this sound appealing. But here's the problem I have with the minimum wage. It limits employers' ability to hire at wages equal to the type of work. If a restaurant owner needs a potato peeler because they serve a lot of potatoes (or whatever), and he can afford to hire him at $6/hr, but not $7, if the minimum wage is $7, he is unable to hire someone to do the job, and therefore may have to split the work between the employees he can afford to hire. And, unfortunately, for the man or woman who would gladly work for $6/hr, because they have no other job...instead of earning $6/hr, he's earning nothing, and he must continue looking for a job. Anyway, that's a very rough example, but the point is that unemployment usually increases as the minimum wage increases...and Obama wants to create more jobs. Hmmm...
As of now, I'm not too optimistic about either candidate. I need to do some more reading though.
If anybody wants kill time and listen to some superb economists talk about various topics, here are a few links (highly recommended):
Mike Munger and Russ Roberts talk about Public Transportation, Fair Trade vs. Free Trade, Price Gouging, Recycling, and more! Seriously, you'll learn a lot about incentives and how economics ties in to almost everything we do.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/punquinheads/blue/hyper.gif) bouncy
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August 25th, 2008
04:28 pm - Feeling inadequate
These past couple days have taken a toll on me.
Forgetting to put saxophone music in the trunk for the concert this past weekend resulted in rushing back to the hall (a 45 minute drive from the concert site) to retrieve it. Big mistake on my part.
Didn't realize my last day of work was Labor Day, and technically I'm not supposed to be in the building that day. My plans to pack everything up to ship, and finish anything else in the library are foiled. I didn't realize I'd have to be supervised if the building is closed.
Got an e-mail today that the drum set player needs percussion parts for some of the pieces this week. All the percussionists picked up their music, and there is nothing to make a copy from, unless one of them can come in with their music. The music needs to be shipped today. I have no contact info for the percussionists. Rebecca (who has that info) is not here this afternoon. In fact, it doesn't seem like anybody is here this afternoon.
Ordered a score from Kalmus for Bruckner, Symphony No. 7, to be shipped as soon as it arrives. They sent Bruckner 8.
Need to send Bernstein music back to Boosey, but a few string players who borrowed extra parts did not return them after the concert. I have no contact info for the musicians.
How in the world am I supposed to do my job?! I'm totally at a breaking down point right now, and I feel like everyone is going to be mad at me for not being professional enough. I don't want to appear like I don't know what I'm doing, but I really don't know the best way to go about this! ARRGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/punquinheads/blue/sad.gif) overwhelmed
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August 18th, 2008
04:37 pm - blah
23 years, and I still sound like an idiot whenever I leave a message on the phone.
Maybe I should seriously write what I'm going to say before I call, so I'll at least sound intelligent.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/punquinheads/blue/embarrassed.gif) embarrassed
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rachtrumpetess's journal
