Foto Blag

Haha. I owe the commonwealth of Virginia exactly $5 in taxes.

What are people wasting their money on?

Just read an article at nytimes.com about how the slow job growth in recent recessions (including this one) is leaving people who used to have good jobs and were always employed with no job options. They quoted a woman who has been jobless for two years, and is living with her husband on his disability check of $1,595 a month. And because their rent is $1,380 they have no choice, the article says, but to get food from food pantries. Another person quoted is in this situation: “And now they find themselves in this desert of joblessness, her paycheck replaced by a $702 unemployment check every other week.”

I understand the cost of living is different, and that where I live is pretty low. But is it seriously impossible to live on $700 every two weeks? Seriously? That is what I’m currently getting paid, and I know lots of people who are making less. I don’t consider myself living paycheck-to-paycheck. Didn’t these people save any money for emergencies? It’s hard to feel sympathetic for people when every person quoted in the article was making more on unemployment than Mitch and I live on now.

One example was of a single mom with three kids who made $10,000 a month at her job. If she was making that much, she probably could’ve been saving at least $40,000 a year. It does NOT cost $120,000 to raise three kids for a year. Now she’s unemployed and, the article reports, the job she’s in training for will pay only $15 a hour. That’s $3 an hour more than I’m making. Cry me a river. >:(

Makin’ some basmati rice. So delish.

I add cinnamon, and a tiny bit of garlic. Not sure it makes any difference in taste, what with all the curry-sauce foods that’re dumped onto it, but it smells really good while it’s cooking. :)

The other day I went out for dinner break with some fellow copy desk n00bs. There was a big group of younger dudes leaving as we were paying… One of those groups of guys. Waitresses, you know what I mean. Where everything that is said is hysterical, no one is aware that it’s his turn to order but everyone else knows and tells him, loudly. Ugh.

It reminded me why I am so happy to finally have that copy-editing degree.

Shoes shoes shoes shoes

Thanks to my awesome boyfriend, I will be getting purple plaid flats and black/grey flats that will be perfect for work. :D Will put up photos to share the joy once I get them.

Seven Inconvenient Hills

One of my favorite parts of my copy-editing job is that the office is so close to my apartment. Google Maps says it’s .6 miles away - about 8-10 minutes of walking for me. For the first two months, I did walk there, and sometimes walked back, too. When my parents visited me in July, they brought my bike - a dark maroon single-speed that used to be my grandma’s. Having the bike has been enlightening… Protip: Do not purchase a single-speed cruiser if you intend to do most of your biking in a place nicknamed “The City of Seven Hills.” Some days it seems all seven are located on my commute. :)