Taxes

I realize the economy is in the shitter, and we blame Bush, the Republicans, the over-paid CEOs, Wall Street, and well, everyone except ourselves.

I try to steer clear of political posts, my opinion is one of a kind. Balanced on a wall, refusing to take sides.

The fact is America must have an IQ average of 79 points. They are idiots.

Are you seriously telling me Bush, the Republicans, the over-paid CEOs, or Wall Street, made a huge majority of America spend beyond their means? Houses quite litterally sometimes 100,000$+ out of your price range, because house values ALWAYS go up. Cars, clothes, shoes (me), toys.

Sure, we are all gullible, and sucked in by hype. We can totally live our lives on revolving credit. Nobody really ever has to PAY for those choices.

First the banks crumble. Honestly we should have let them. This should have stopped right there. They built empires balancing revolving credit. They funded loans that, in all reality, could never be paid. I'm not a historian, but I kind of feel like we should have learned something from the Great Depression. Or maybe even Shakespeare. "Neither borrower nor lender be.". Whatever, bygones, it's done.

So the banks crumble. With it go the jobs of those employed by the banks. Next go the over-extended businesses over-funded by the banks, and the jobs of those employed there.

Suddenly there is a large portion of 79 IQ point averages mindlessly wandering around America jobless and whining about how they are not taken care of. Government HAS to step in, it would be inhuman not to. Government has a responsibility to Joe and Jane Q Public. Really, that's what it's there for.

Government turns around and bails out the banks. Not all the banks, just the ones it likes. The way to fix the economy is to restore the core problem. OF COURSE IT IS.

Now we can spend again, all is right with the world. Except all those people in the middle from the over-extended companies still have no jobs since no one helped them.

All the other borderline over-extended companies tighten their purse strings because they know their taxes are going to increase. They cut pay, they cut work force, they extend credit where ever possible to survive. They brace for the piper, because they have an IQ above 79, and they know someone will have to pay the piper.

Government sees that saving the banks was a bad idea, or at least not a good one. Restoring the root of the problem shockingly quantified the problem. But now they are too deep. Now big companies that extended credit are also failing. There is no demand, or where there is demand there is no money.

Government bails out the auto industry (except Ford, who saw, and fixed the problems before hand). Government puts out cash for clunkers. If we PAY the 79 IQ points wandering around jobless, they can contribute to the solution by SPENDING.

Now those jobless wandering masses have run out of hope, and they are about to run out of benefits. Government has a responsibility to J&J Public, so they extend benefits.

So on and so forth to today. Government has spent trillions plugging leaks on a sinking tugboat, when Government should have simply bought a shiny new yacht.

Government shouldn't have bailed out banks, the banks should have failed. The Government should have bailed out those businesses in the middle. The ones keeping local economies going. Not by handing them anything, but by increasing grants, and protecting them from the failing banks by extending the chapter 13 bankruptcy (which is a stall more then a fail).

The Government should not have extended unemployment. People can not get jobs to pay what they want. Its more economical to stay home and collect a check that is more then if they took what they could get.

Unemployment should have been revamped. People should be allowed to work, and collect unemployment. They should be evaluated on what they should be making using a complicated formula that factors both education and experience into the equation, and they should have been paid that. Then when they take a job, the differece should be paid by unemployment. Not being productive in a society you have trained and worked for kills the soul. Sitting home watching soap operas has to kill IQ points. Maybe you started off at 130, but after a year of soul & mind sucking, your probably down to contributing to the 79 IQ average.

The government should have tightened the purse strings, not loosened them. When times are tough, you don't empty your savings account to buy shoes, you save more and only buy essentials. Why should the government run differently? It just doesn't make any sense.

It's not a Democratic or Republican problem, (giant) mistakes have been made accross the board, and there are so many more in the works.

If government feels the overwhelming need to spend irrationally, they should simply give the money back to the tax-payers. If the government is just throwing this money around shouldn't we, in all honesty, stand up and say stop? Clearly we have overpaid our taxes. Not just the rich people either, everyone has to have overpaid.

Well, that about sums it up. Not really of course, but my fingers are tired.

Hello world

Well, I road tripped last weekend. I didn't go to Vegas. If you know me, you know I have been kinda stuck on repeat for a long time. Well, I decided to break out and do something new, so I drove. I hit Idaho (quickly), and then Montana. Idaho is beautiful, and I usually get stuck there. I had it in my head to go to Big Sky/Bozeman though, so I blew through Idaho. I made it West Yellowstone and considered staying there. It was still pretty light though, so I pressed on. Here's what I encountered next:






It was so beautiful it took my breath away.

I made it to Big Sky, but I didn't really have a plan from there. It was dark, and there were lots of animals on the road, so I decided to stay the night in the parking lot of the Half Moon Saloon. Of course I went in and became a regular first.

(day 2 continues)

Moving ahead

Well, last time I wrote, which was a while ago, I told you all about I rediscovered passion of mine. Well, I am happy to report that I am pursueing that passion along with my 8 yo daughter Alexia. We have opened an Etsy shop. Http://www.AngeloneDesigns.Etsy.com We created a Twitter for it @AngelOneDesigns and have started a blog for it as well http://www.AngelOneDesigns.blogspot.com I will create a facebook next, but a girl only has so many hours!

Please follow us on Twitter, heart us on Etsy, and read our blog. If you really want to make it all worth it, buy something. (ha ha little joke there)

If you like what you see, but want something different, please send us an email AngelOneDesigns@aol.com

Much love, and thanks for the support!!

Fresh Ideas

Not that many of you know this about me, but I spent my youth dreaming of becoming a fashion designer. I went so far as to apply to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. I didn’t get in, but I did get to the portfolio stage. Three of my designs are hanging on my bedroom wall. That’s as far as my fame got lol. I decided to come home to Utah (I was living in Pennsylvania), and study acting. Long story short, I eventually traded all my dreams in for motherhood. That may sound harsh, but really, that’s the truth of it. I really lost who I was.

Today was a very productive day in the job I hate. The baby was with her dad, and my 8 was at school, so I pounded out as much work as I possibly could.

Some of you may know I have been tossing around the idea of a farmer’s market this summer and not completely sure of what I would sell if I did. I decided against it, but the very idea has released my pent up creative juices. My sister opened a craft supply store in WI, and so we bat around ideas. She called me towards the end of my day, and got me thinking some more. I decided I wanted to make Tulle tutus, hair bows, aprons, and many other things. Well, I do not have an endless supply of money, and I closed all my credit some time ago, so if I don’t have it I can’t spend it. Anyway, I decided I would start with tulle crap, as I can get very creative, and it is on the cheaper end. So, I went in search of the best tulle deals out there. I decided to buy a giant amount of white and a large amount of black to start. I can dye the white, while it will be time consuming, I won’t be stuck with a ton of stuff I can’t use. Then I started searching for patterns, and ideas, and man did I find them. Most of what I loved is a bit out of my league right now, but I’m a very quick learner, so I will keep sketching the ideas until I am ready to bring them to life. To start I am going to make pettiskirts, tutus, and canopies. I am thinking more toward the tweens with the canopies. So for a reading corner, or a desk, ect…. Then, somehow, I stumbled on a hat. A very pretty hat. Too fancy for Utah, but I don’t think that would stop me. I decided I want to make hats. Apparently, it is becoming a lost art (probably because few people wear them), but they are so creative and fun. I found a hat making (Millinery) course in OR, and perhaps this fall I can figure out a way to go. They have shoe making as well. If you know me, you know I am obsessed with shoes, and making them would be oh so fun!

So clearly I am getting ahead of myself, and my day is from Hell again tomorrow, so I won’t be able to attack this plan with any force. I will place the order for the tulle, and hopefully, by the time it arrives, I will still have zeal…. Ha, ha, humble beginnings.

Hello World

Hello there world!

I know, I don't blog as much as I used to, but, I'm working on it. I am up to alot of good stuff lately, and I am enjoying 2010 to it's fullest so far. I hope you are too!

I just got back from a trip to California where I played in the LA Poker Classic 1,000,000 gauenteed event. It was way out of my bankroll, but it was my birthday present from my parents, so I gave it my best shot. I had butterflies before I got there, but once I sat down I was in the groove, and I played the best, most solid game I ever have. I was out lucked, so that was all she wrote. I ran my Pocket Kings into Pocket Queens, but he got to a straight that cut my stack in half. My last hand was AK against AQ with AQ on the flop. Happy Birthday to me.... Anyway, my parents showed up to rail me (a little late) so we went and learned Commerce's version of 3 card poker. Once we figured out all the differences, it was a lot of fun. Luck was not on my side that day (it seems to run in 24 hour cycles for me), so I just watched my dad gamble my way into day 1b. He wanted to stake me, so we made a 50/50 deal, and I proceeded to get get very tipsy for my birthday after that. We went to Noe in Hollywood, and it was very yummy, with excellent service. I vaugly recall some sort of puff pastry that was described as tasting like "old mans ball sac", and after eating it, think it was a fairly acccurate description.... Other then that, dinner was DELICIOUS.

My parents dropped me off and I got a room for the night, slept in, and showed up in day before makeup and no brushed hair, which I actually pulled off surprisingly well. I played terrible, and busted out, convincing myself I really should wait until I properly build the bankroll up, before entering again. I went down and played 3 card for a bit, made a grand, played a little entertaing, but not successfull poker next to a VERY hot guy I hope to run into again someday, and went home. Happy and financially ahead (since I didn't lose my money lol).

My parents decided to go to the Barrett-Jackson auction, and since nobody was gonna be there, I decided I would just go to Vegas the next day. I got luck and caught on of the very few on time flights out of LAX and arrived in Vegas. Found the fastest cab driver on the planet, prop bet him on the time to the hotel (he beat it by 3 min.), and had the slowest casino invited guest check ins of all time. Made it to my room, changed, freshened make up, and made it to the Mirage 5 minutes late for the 7:00 bounty. I registered with my buddy Phil, and we both went deep, but not deep enough. He doubled up on his first hand, and I doubled up on the third hand, so we both got off to good starts. Mine was miraculous bussted Aces. He made a standard, proper, "I've got a top pair raise", I decided to call with my pocet 7's. There was one other caller, and the flop came 237 rainbow. I shoved, Aces snap call, pocket 3's folded. my set held. woo hoo. I left him 500 to play with, and he doubled up on every hand he played for a while after that, and actually went deep. I only know that cause pocket 3's told me when he was moved to my table. I played 99 percent of this game SO great, and 10% (as soon as I got big stacked) like total shit. I went from big stack to bust in about 5 hands. Talk about tilt geeze!

Anyway, we busted, then scooted to Sahara for the 11:00. My favorite tourny appears to have gone to complete shit. It's like they got new chips and then everyone quite showing up. Im probably going to skip it next time I hit town. Anyway, we both did terrible quickly there and headed to Aria for some cash. I love this poker room, but I am deathly allergic to the chairs. It's worth it for the poker though. I lost 175 on my first hand when I ran my 2 pairs into a flopped boat. Oooops. He was nice enough to (purposely) not take all my money, and I took a while to try to make it back. There were three fish at the table if you count me, but I slowly worked my way out of minnowhood, and back to the respectful end of poker in the 5 hours we were there. I learned alot in that game, and ended up making most of my money back. I actually managed to figure out a few leaks in my game that I had no idea about, and I fixed those. All in all it was just good solid fun. I got two hours of sleep before I had to check out, then I went and tooled around the MGM until my flight. That in a nutshell (BIG Nutshell) was my Birthday week.

I was so glad to get home, and get the kids back, and sleep in my own bed, you have no idea.

Well, now I have gone and submitted a casting call for Survivor. I'm not completly sure why, but I think I would really love the challenge. The audio sucks though. Go check it out, and give it love, even if you have to fake it (please, pretty please).

My Casting Call

relationships in poker terms

Okay, I guess I have been wanting to write a blog profiling my relationships in poker terms for quite a while now.

Here's the low down. I have played my relationship hands in an incrediblby fishy way. Pocket dueces against AK pot comitted type of fishy. Chasing gut shots to the river, and then pouting cause I lost the pot kinda fishy.

Oddly, as I have journeyed to a tighter more aggressive poker game, I have done the same thing in my personal life. I have not been playing marginal hands. I may limp in the occasional 9 10 from the big blind, and lose a little calling a raise on a 10 high board to pocket J's, but I am never too pot commited to fold. I try to know when I am beat before putting my purse in the pot. On the flip side, I am learning (much harder) how to commit to the best hand on a scary board.

So, here is the hand I am playing now. Idiot end of an open ended straight flush draw. I'm not too pot commited to fold, but I am fairly sure given the 1 outer, I could have the nuts. I have 2 outers really, but the other could give someone a higher straight flush (and that gets pretty expensive, I know from experience lol) Also ANY flush may be enough, as very possibly nobody else has two hearts in play, and may just be playing for the straight. So, the crossroads question here is: Smooth call, raise, or fold. My choice is smooth call. If the board were farther away from nuts, I would raise, just to test where everyone else is. If I do hit the nuts, I want somebody betting into me.

This is really where I am struggling in both my relationships, and my poker game right now. Proper play after the flop. I know this is where I get railroaded and make the wrong decisions. I'm playing the right hands, but after I double up a couple times, everyone know exactly what I am playing, and I have a really hard time chiping up. If I am in it after a raise, I am either all ready WAY ahead of you,or I need one of several (always obvious) cards to be WAY ahead of you. I think it's time I learn to bluff. I know it's time I learn to bluff. Guess I better buy some more books LOL.

How would you play this hand? Take the poll on the right and weigh in!