Thursday, May 09, 2013

So much for starting my two month break today

Yesterday we had our required training session.  I went of course, and I was fortunate to be recognized as the top producer in the district in two areas.  Being recognized in front of one's colleagues is always ego-stroking.  It also got me to raise my hand and volunteer to help with a short-term project.  As a result, my break will not start until Sunday and I'll be working tonight and on Saturday.

Thanks to one of my teammates brilliantly identifying all seven of the actors and movies where they portrayed real-life gangsters, in the final round, we won trivia last night.  So in three nights we've posted finishes of 1st place, 2nd place (by one lousy point) and 1st place.  Can't wait until August when we're once again in that tournament where the five of us have a shot at splitting $1,000.

Now that she's been convicted, Jodi Arias wants the death penalty.  Obviously this should be taken to mean she should be given life in prison without parole.  When someone wants a punishment, give them another one that they don't want.  Reflecting on the heinous crime of murder for 30 or 40 years is actually a more difficult punishment to endure than just being painlessly put to death.

I think the way to handle the punishment of Ariel Castro, the man who "allegedly" held three Cleveland area women for more than ten years should be a lottery.  Let the population of Cleveland who are interested enter a lottery to keep him chained in their home for the rest of his life, never being allowed to leave the room.  I won't advocate that they rape him repeatedly or try to get him pregnant, although....

Michael Jackson thought God was speaking to him.  That's the testimony at the trial where his mother wants $40 billion in damages.  Lots of people think God talks to them.  No biggie.

California is 11th out of the 50 states when it comes to hospital safety.  Worse yet, UCLA Medical Center in Westwood got a grade of "D", up from last year's "F".  Guess we'd better work hard to stay out of the hospital system.  The VA hospital where I go for treatment wasn't rated, supposedly they report publicly on their safety record in a different way.

The cheerleader who was described by a sports blogger as "too chunky" to be a professional cheerleader is speaking out again, pointing out that she's a size 4.  If that's too chunky to be a pro cheerleader, there's something wrong.  The blogger was fired and rightly so.

Say it isn't so.  Prostitutes working the high-end clientele during the Cannes film festival can earn more than $40,000 a night.  You mean in the middle of all those great films, people are paying for sex and not going to screenings?  It can't be.

In Montreal, their "Habs" (the Montreal Canadiens hockey team) are worshipped like royalty.  On the day of game 1 of their playoff series with the Ottawa Senators, students at one elementary school were allowed to wear Canadiens' jerseys instead of their uniforms.  One fifth grade student is a fan of the Senators and wore a Senators jersey instead.  School officials insisted she change to a Canadiens jersey, or her uniform, or be sent home.  She refused.  The owner of the Senators heard about it and sent a limo to fetch the girl and her family to sit in his personal suite for Game 4.  The Senators won in overtime. 

This Date In History:

On this date in 1874, the first horse-drawn bus makes its debut in Mumbai.
On this date in 1877, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake strikes off the coast of Peru, killing over 2,500 people.
On this date in 1887, Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.
On this date in 1941, the German submarine U-110 was captured by the British, giving them access to the latest Enigma cryptography equipment.  This incident partially inspired the movie "U-571".
On this date in 1942, the Jewish populations of Zinkiv (Ukraine) and in the Zouldek Ghetto (Belarus) were murdered by the German SS.
On this date in 1949, Ranier III becomes Prince of Monaco.
On this date in 1961, FCC Chairman Newton C. Minow makes his "vast wasteland" speech.  The S.S. Minnow on "Gilligan's Island" is named for him.
On this date in 1974, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins holding formal and public impeachment hearings against President Nixon.
On this date in 1980, a Liberian freighter collides with a bridge over Tampa Bay, causing the collapse of a 1400 foot section of the bridge.  35 people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall into the water and die.

Famous Folk Born on This Date:

Minamoto Yoritomo (first Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate)
John Brown
J.M. Barrie
Anton Cermak
Pedro Armendariz
Hank Snow
Mike Wallace
Johnny Grant
Billy Joel
Tony Gwynn
Lane Kiffin
Prince Fielder
Audrina Patridge

Movie Quote of the Day comes from the 1993 film "Tombstone":

Doc Holliday: What did you ever want?
Wyatt Earp: Just to live a normal life.
Doc Holliday: There's no normal life, Wyatt, it's just life. Get on with it.
Wyatt Earp: Don't know how.
Doc Holliday: Sure you do. Say goodbye to me. Go grab that spirited actress and make her your own. Take that beauty from it, don't look back. Live every second. Live right on to the end. Live Wyatt. Live for me. Wyatt, if you were ever my friend - if ya ever had even the slightest of feelin' for me, leave now. Leave now... Please.
Wyatt Earp: Thanks for always being there, Doc.

Love that part about there being no normal life, just life.

Tax Tip of the Day:

Jury duty pay is taxable income.  But if you are being paid by your employer while on jury duty and are required to give the jury duty pay to the employer, it is no longer taxable.

Also, if you rent out your home for less than 15 days during the year, that income is not taxable in almost every situation.