July 2011 - Financial Uproar » Financial Uproar

Saturday Morning Dump: Lip Sync Links

Jul 302011

I know most of you follow my work situation with your utmost attention, so here’s an update.

The guy I work with is old. He’s been ~~whining~~ talking about retiring for most of the last year. Part of the reason I was actually hired is because the company knew that he was going to retire sooner or later. So I work Friday-Monday and he works Monday to Friday. I enjoy 3 days a week off, but I know I want the extra money that comes with working more. Besides, I’m getting really sick of working weekends. Everybody else is off and I’m working. It blows.

Well, he finally bit the bullet and has given his notice for the 1st of October. It’s company policy to offer the route to everybody, and then they narrow it down depending on who’s interested. There’s been quite a few rural routes come available over the past year, and I don’t think anybody has offered to transfer from the city for any of them. I’m fairly confident I’ll get it.

I like the job. It’s like running my own business but without risking any capital. I talk to the boss once a week for about 10 minutes and I see her once every 3 months. I work until I’m done all my stores and then I go home. People leave me alone. So I’m pretty excited about this.

Random Thing I Enjoyed This Week

The Blue Jays acquisition of Colby Rasmus was pretty exciting. He’s gonna be some kind of good.

That’s all I got. Apparently I had a pretty crummy week.

Random Thing That Irritated Me This Week

I went out for lunch to with a guy this week. We went to Dairy Queen because we’re the epitome of class.

So I go ahead and order the Fajita Ranch Burger, since there were approximately 1.2 million posters promoting it in the restaurant. When the cashier dude asks my buddy what he wanted he says “I dunno. I’ll just have what he’s having.”

Who does that? Just make a damn choice. If you’re going to order the same thing as me, at least make it look like you’re thinking about other stuff.

And the burger? Kinda crappy. The peppers were a little slimy and the burger was dry.

Song I Like And Therefore You Should Too

Did you know that Justin Bieber’s song Baby has the most views ever on Youtube, with over 500 million views. Without further adieu…

I would never make you guys watch a Bieber video. No promises about a Taylor Swift video though.

This video is a tribute to the Montreal Expos. What separates it from every other tribute video is that this one is only a little cheesy. I wonder if the Big Cajun Man has ever seen this?

Simpsons Quote Of The Week

Flanders: Now throughout history when people get wood, they’ll think of trojans!

Homer: Hehehe! Trojans!

Lisa: What are you laughing at, dad?

Homer: If I’m laughing at what I think I am, it’s very funny

Me So Hungy

The particular potato chip company that I work for is coming out with two new flavors in the next couple weeks- dill pickle Doritos and spicy ketchup Ruffles. Those should be tasty and I definitely recommend you buy a bag or twelve.

Along the same lines, I had some nachos this week, and they were outstanding. I’m no fan of sour cream- in fact, I always request two salsas instead of a sour cream. One salsa immediately gets poured all over my nachos while the other waits for the chips that went salsa-less during the first pour. It’s a mess, but nachos are a mess anyway. You should definitely eat nachos like I do.

How come you can never get the nacho cheese dip at restaurants? Maybe I just eat at crappy places.

Entertain Yourself Dammit

I SAID entertain yourself, dammit.

Babe Loosely Related To Finance

I was gonna go with Amy Adams, but apparently I’ve already I’ve already thought inappropriate thoughts about her.

I’ve been watching a lot of Storage Wars lately. That show is pretty fun, I like seeing the cool stuff they end up finding in these lockers. I kind of want to go to garage sales to try to see if I can find treasures. Until then, we’ll just have to ogle this picture of Brandi, easily the best part of the show.

Oh Right, Time For Links

Would you let Dave Ramsey be the CFO of your company? Money Mamba wouldn’t. Don’t bash Dave too loud there JT…

My token link to Control Your Cash this week explores the logic of working overtime to impress your bosses. You might impress them, but at what cost?

I picked the low hanging fruit over at Landlord Rescue, talking about buying U.S. property. Like I always do, I put a little twist on the post. Speaking of Landlord Rescue, Rachelle had a pretty funny exchange with a liar tenant. Go for the swear words, stay for the funny story.

Both me and Echo inspired a post over at Retire Happy. Jim asks what rate of return should you assume for your retirement investments. I assume 8%. Is that too high? You’ll have to click through, I won’t give it away.

Speaking of Echo, he wrote about refinancing your mortgage. Americans do this all the time, Canadians don’t. More people should, the savings can totally be worth the few hours of work.

I wrote about moving to a cheaper and warmer climate over at Canadian Finance Blog. It’s actually much easier than you think. Besides, you’ll look like a rich white guy when you show up, where you just look like some moron here.

Young and Thrifty tagged me to participate in something called the 7 Links Challenge. Here’s her 7 Links. Sandy from Yes I Am Cheap did one too. And so did Krystal from Give Me Back My Five Bucks. Look for mine on Monday, just in case you care.

Holy Potato has a bit of a man crush on Jason Segal. It’s a little creepy.

Carnivals

I’m a slacker. So sue me.

Have a good week everyone.

Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em. Video Games, That Is.

Big Picture Stuff No Responses »

Jul 292011

Every year for Christmas, my Grandparents get me a subscription to Canadian Business. Overall, I like the magazine. Not every article can be a winner, (just like here, suckers!) but the crap to non-crap ratio is solidly positive. On the cover of this month’s edition I spied a little bubble off to the side, all alone. The contents of the bubble? It asked whether video games were the new tobacco.

Naturally, I was immediately interested in the article. It talks about a recent supreme court ruling that made it legal for American retailers to sell violent video games to whoever wanted to buy them. The court ruled that it was a form of free speech- that consumers should be free to purchase anything they want regardless of age. That’s the same out clause that allows hardcore pornographers and tobacco companies to operate, hence the comparison.

Video games are like cigarettes in other ways too. They both have warning labels on them, with some video games being worse than others. They’re also both commonly enjoyed by young people. So that pretty much seals it. Video games and tobacco are exactly the same.

Video games are also directly related to cancer. It’s not lung cancer though. It’s some other cancer. Let’s go with ass cancer, since gamers spend a disproportionate amount of time sitting on it. Video games are also technically illegal for young people, yet their parents obviously don’t care. After all, that’s why so many parents get their kids video game systems for their birthdays.

The ironclad similarities don’t end there. Video games are also linked to various breathing problems, mostly because the people who play them are so fat. Video games cost people thousands of dollars per year, just like tobacco does. Video games are known to be addictive, maybe even more so than smoking. Do you know anybody who has ever successfully quit video games? I didn’t think so.

But wait, there’s more! Tobacco companies have other products designed to get you hooked like chewing tobacco or those lame stinky cigar things. Video game companies offer portable systems to keep you hooked on the go. Both are linked to thousands upon thousands of deaths per year, video games maybe even more than smokes. In fact, if you stop playing video games for a smoke break, you’re actually getting healthier when you do it.

Is there anybody who hasn’t figured out I’m being sarcastic? I hope not.

For some reason, video games get crapped on all the time, usually by people who have never bothered to ever play one, since they’re obviously best qualified to give an opinion on the matter. I’m not really sure why, since all the arguments are easily diffused by anybody with a brain.

Video games are violent? Yeah, they are. So are movies and television shows, and nobody seems to have a problem with them. Little Timmy can watch any number of tv shows that show people getting shot, but it’s different somehow because he controls the character in Grand Theft Auto? Little Timmy isn’t that stupid, why are you?

The same arguments apply when people accuse video games of objectifying women or promoting sex and drug use. Apparently those people have never seen a Lady Gaga video. I can’t say I blame them.

Or maybe you’re mad because video games keep kids cooped up inside. Well, there are two arguments to that. If video games don’t keep kids inside, then tv, the internet, cell phones, Facebook and ipods will. Why would kids go outside when inside is so awesome? Or maybe kids don’t go outside anymore because parents are paranoid every weird guy wants to lure their kid to the big pedophile van.

Go play in the yard! But stay where I can see you!

But Mom, I’m 21!

Video games are mindless entertainment say others. Well, just like tv, don’t fault the medium. Even noted violent games like the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto franchise require many hours of progressively more difficult play to complete. Players have to make their way through challenges that test their abilities and require them to use logic, reasoning and other higher brain functions to figure out a solution. Is that really worse than an episode of Big Brother?

Yes, some kids get addicted to video games. I’m sure you can tell me about a tragic story about some kid who murdered their parents because they took away his Playstation. Ultimately though, the number of lives ended prematurely because of video games pales in comparison to things people should actually care about, like drug abuse or underage drinking. All sorts of people accidentally drown, yet nobody wants to ban swimming pools or deep puddles.

So anyway, go ahead and keep playing video games. They’re just another form of entertainment, one that can get expensive if you let it. And if anyone ever whines about how they’re crap, just finish them with the moves you learned from Mortal Kombat.

Athletes Are Not Overpaid. Stop Whining About It.

Money of Sports 23 Responses »

Jul 272011

Tweet Because my Mom is such a good cook, I can often be found eating supper at my parents’ house. On the menu last night was just homemade pizza, with a flat bread crust and ample amounts of pepperoni, peppers and other vegetables. It’s no wonder I’m a recovering fat guy. So I’m watching the Blue Jays’ game with my Read More [...]

Think Balancing The Budget Is Easy? You Try

Big Picture Stuff 1 Response »

Jul 252011

Tweet It’s 10:21 on Sunday night. As usual, I’ve screwed around on the internet instead of writing a post. The good news is, though, that I’ve been playing with something pretty cool, a game that’s both educational and fun, for about 15 minutes anyway. It’s called Budget Hero and it calls for you to balance the U.S. federal budget. Or, Read More [...]

Saturday Morning Dump: Thumbs Up For Links

Saturday Link Dump 2 Responses »

Jul 232011

Tweet I woke up Wednesday morning to the sun shining in through my window and the birds singing. I rolled out of bed, took a whiz and made myself some toast (with peanut butter, the only way to have toast). I sat down on the couch with my toast and turned on BNN to see what was happening in the Read More [...]