seprah.com

Finals.

2008-10-04T23:46:00.002-04:00

I'm on a mod system, which means I have two finals weeks per semester. I'll let you know when I come up for air. Right now, I'm a lovely shade of blue.

There are no words. Well, maybe a couple.

2008-09-29T22:13:00.004-04:00

Apparently, one of the unaired clips of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric involved Katie asking Sarah what Supreme Court decisions she knew of.

The only one she could name was Roe v. Wade.

Seriously? I think I learned of at least Brown v. Board of Education in the 6th grade. Not to mention the fact that it's the single most important civil rights decision in the 20th century.

And does no one watch Law and Order? I mean, they read someone their Miranda rights in every fracking episode.

Thank you Mom, for not giving me an h at birth so I don't have to share a name with this dipshit.

Hasn't Bush been bad enough? Do we really need to elect this idiot to be a 72 year old heartbeat away from the presidency?

More Politics

2008-09-14T23:30:00.005-04:00

Wow - an article from the New York Times lays it out better than anything here.

Data for the whole period from 1948 to 2007, during which Republicans occupied the White House for 34 years and Democrats for 26, show average annual growth of real gross national product of 1.64 percent per capita under Republican presidents versus 2.78 percent under Democrats.

That 1.14-point difference, if maintained for eight years, would yield 9.33 percent more income per person, which is a lot more than almost anyone can expect from a tax cut.

This of course means we all get richer under Democrats than Republicans. Furthermore, the article goes on to say that:

[The data shows that] when Democrats were in the White House, lower-income families experienced slightly faster income growth than higher-income families � which means that incomes were equalizing. In stark contrast, it also shows much faster income growth for the better-off when Republicans were in the White House � thus widening the gap in income.

Basically, only the rich get richer under the Republicans, while everyone gets richer under the Democrats. That's something that I wondered about all along, but didn't have the data to back up until now.

But, uh, didn't you know McCain was a POW? And Obama belongs to a wacky church?

Due

2008-09-13T19:49:00.003-04:00

Things due next week alone:

1. Case analysis of Pepsi's current state and recommendations for sustainable development due tomorrow.
2. 2 minute speech on overcoming a bad boss, due Monday.
3. Study for my accounting midterm on Tuesday.
4. About 100 pages of reading for next week.
5. Getting new software for my statistics class
6. Work on my interviewing questions for the career fair on Thursday.
7. Flyers for Women's MBA event on September 25.

It's tough being a future captain of industry.

Sums it up

2008-09-09T19:46:00.002-04:00

Since I am losing my fracking mind right now, here is a video from the bizarro land that mimics my brain... without the frustration and horror.

I've listened to it about 5 times now.

Policies

2008-09-07T15:52:00.000-04:00

One of the things that I have been hearing from people is that Obama doesn't have any policies. As if Obama were really campaigning on the idea that if he sprinkles magical fairy dust, everything bad will go away and we will live happily amongst each other.

As expected, I find this argument ignorant and disingenuous. Some things I love about his platform include:

- Obviously, the idea that he will begin redeployment immediately and have a phase out period of 16 months from Iraq. For some reason, there has been a rumor that he has revamped this plan. Not so. He merely said he would be flexible and work in conjunction with the Iraqis.

- I really like the "American Opportunity Tax Credit." The Government will give undergraduate college students $4000 for college if they complete 100 hours of community service. That's enough to pay for almost one year's in-state tuition at the University of Arizona. It could keep a lot of undergraduates from having to work while carrying a full load and also even help someone go to college in the first place.

- The Universal Mortgage Credit would allow any homeowner to have a mortgage deduction without having to itemize their taxes. For those of us who always take the standard deduction, it makes home ownership more of a reality.

- Eliminate the income tax for seniors making less than $50,000. There are too many people that have retired and are living with a reduced standard of living. This will really help.

- Expanding AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps. He wants to have 250,000 Americorps volunteers and 16,000 Peace Corps volunteers out there making a difference. Obviously, I think the Peace Corps does great stuff, but the AmeriCorps are making a difference here at home with at-risk youth, environmental protection and other great projects.

Lately, when I have been hearing, "But what are his ideas?" I have been directing people to his website. He lists all his proposals in a very clear manner. Frankly, I'm getting a bit sick of the question. It's not my job to educate perfectly literate adults who can certainly go online and see for themselves what his intentions are.

The idea that we Obama supporters are just starry-eyed idealists with a good feeling about this whole change thing is nonsense. We are voting with a voice that says these are the things we want. We want to be better educated, have our troops home and make more compassionate choices when it comes to the tax structure. These platform items, and in fact, the whole platform is exactly what I can get behind.

Are you kidding me?

2008-09-05T14:59:00.005-04:00

I very rarely miss the national conventions, but this year, I've only seen small parts of both. I saw Obama's acceptance speech, Sarah Palin's speech and part of John McCain's acceptance speech (I fell asleep halfway through) and Michelle Obama's speech (I had to get to class). In Pennsylvania, the ads are also going strong, and I first started seeing them today, mostly because I finally got some time to myself.

Obviously, I'm partisan and I like Barack Obama. I'm not going to pretend that I have been happy with the past eight years of Republican mismanagement. I also think it's ludicrous to elect a party that hates the government. It's like hiring a Christian Scientist as a pharmacist: why would I want them to dispense medicine when they think prayer is the only answer?

But I have to wonder at how anyone can vote for John McCain? Maybe it's the fact that I'm from Arizona and I knows he lies his ass off about pork barrel spending? (Oh, yeah, He never brought pork back there, no siree. Except when he pushed for millions of dollars in pork for university research in Tucson or for money for our Air force bases.) Or that he keeps saying he's a maverick with nothing in the last eight years to back him up.

I liked him well enough in the 90's, and didn't think he was such a bad guy. But since the primary in 2000, he has really changed, and nothing has made that more clear to me than this election. He runs on experience, but then anoints Sarah Palin as his running mate? The woman has only 18 months of experience as governor of a state that, if you list it in terms of population, is 47th in the nation!

Then he decries not balancing the budget. Wow. It's not like Republicans weren't in total control of all the branches of government for 6 years. I have the feeling that, if balancing the budget were of paramount importance, it would have been addressed when they had the final say in everything.

Then there are the little "senior moments." Like thinking Al Qaeda was training in Iran (when the Shia in Iran and the Sunni in Al Qaeda are mortal enemies), or that Vladimir Putin was the "German President." (the German President has no power - he most likely meant German Chancellor Angela Merkel). The thing that gets me about these slips is that, if John McCain has all this experience and he's the man for the job and all that, why doesn't he know the difference between the Sunni and Shia or how a female chancellor might not be the same as a male president?

And if it was just a slip up - a senior moment - do we really want someone who admits to being senile in charge of our country? Haven't we already done stupid for long enough?

In 2000, when Bush was "elected," I thought, "well, how badly can he screw up in four years?" Well, now I know. And I cannot imagine how anyone can be on the fence this time around. Not when there is a much better way this time.

Whirlwind

2008-09-01T17:59:00.002-04:00

The past week has been busy to say the least. As an illustration, I just found time to unpack my dishes. Previously, I had not had that time available.

I have a hellacious amount of homework, and my classes are full steam ahead with some more difficult than others.

I have not been able to sleep, in part because Tony isn't here, and also because my mind is so occupied with school that it races as soon as I relax. It doesn't have time to process information, and so the only time to do that is when I go to bed. A cure for insomnia, I have found, is my statistics book. It is possible the most boring thing I have ever read.

I won't get another break until November. Sigh.

Pre-term has begun!

2008-08-16T10:33:00.002-04:00

I'm out here at business school for preterm, and it is so busy, I barely have time to think. I don't think one night I have been able to just make dinner, or go to bed on time. There's meeting new classmates, studying accounting and running around campus like a chicken with my head cut off in between sessions of orientation.

I still don't have internet, and it's a long story about why. I am getting it today, hopefully.

The one thing that really amazed me was how friendly almost everyone has been. I thought, what with it being business school, that people would be more cliquey and competitive and that it would be a more negative experience. So far, it's been all big smiles and requests for phone numbers. It's been very happy so far in that regard, because the Peace Corps group I was with was not very friendly as a whole. I find it interesting because people who were trying to make the world a better place were much more negative (generally) than the people who are future captains of industry.

Isn't the world a funny place?

The hardest part is being away from Tony. I'm not used to coming home to an empty place, and the phone calls are cut down so I miss that during the day. He's coming in about a half hour, so I hope we will have some good quality time. I am really looking forward to seeing him again. I'm also missing my kitty terribly, and Tony has said that she's obviously missing me. She's destroying his apartment and otherwise being a brat. We were expecting that as well, so it's no big surprise.

Hopefully I'll be able to write more, but I need a chance to breathe first.

I am not dead

2008-08-13T10:43:00.001-04:00

I am at school, without internet. I'll be back soon, promise!

I thought I'd never see the day

2008-08-06T17:29:00.003-04:00

It's a strange day in politics when freaking Paris Hilton puts the smack down on a presidential candidate and is actually pretty funny. Her energy policy sucks though.

"See you at the debates, bitches." Indeed.

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Adfunny videosFunnyOrDie.com

Question

2008-07-28T09:54:00.002-04:00

I have a 60 day gap in insurance between quitting my job and going to school. My COBRA is $523.39 per month for health and $29.73 for dental, which I have to elect by September 2. The reason I was going to go on COBRA is in case I get into an accident, then I am covered. Uncovered, I also have to pay full price for my prescriptions ($160 in July) and my out of network provider costs ($900). However, the money I wold be reimbursed is $130 for the prescriptions and $200 for the $900 I actually spent. So I would be spending $523.39 for a reimbursement of $330?

The dental is worth it. The health? Not so much.

I am seriously considering waiting for August 15th, and if I haven't gotten in any accidents, just not continuing coverage. I can always do so retroactively, after all. Is this a smart idea or am I playing a dangerous game with my health?

A vacation... in Hel

2008-07-26T06:38:00.001-04:00

On every road trip we go to, the return trip is always taken in a different direction than how we begin. That way, we get a different adventure both times. The weekend of the 4th, Tony had the idea to go to Centralia, PA, which is an old mining town that was evacuated and demolished in the 80s because of a coal mine fire that is set to burn under the town for 250 years.

You might be more familiar with it than you think if you watched the movie Silent Hill. The fictional town was based n Centralia.

It was pretty eerie, and I've been to ghost towns before on field trips in school. It was like we were entering the beginning of a horror movie, where the kids go on a trip for some kicks and get dismembered by the guy in the mask. Of course, since we didn't do any drugs or have sex there, we survived.

There was this part of the highway that had been so ruined by the fire that it had to be closed down and another highway was created in its place. So, of course, Tony wanted to find the old highway and walk down it. It was pretty cool, and obviously lots of kids used it, as was indicated by the spray paint all over the old asphalt (Look Here if UR GAY!!! or "Welcum to Hel"). The part where the street was ruined was very hot, and sort of reminded me of the post-apocalyptic movies where people walk down the now abandoned roads in the faint hope they will find more survivors. (Anyone else going to Boulder, CO if that happens?)

Then we saw a Black Bear and booked it out of there before we all got eaten.

But over all, it was a great trip. We all had headaches for days. Because the fire was burning up coal without a filter, we were inhaling mercury and arsenic as well as the soot. I don't know how the people who live there (Population: 11) do it.

Hope it doesn't come up in the shuffle (when people are around)

2008-07-24T10:31:00.004-04:00

Today on one of my favorite blogs, Feministe, they are talking about the five most embarrassing tracks on our iPods. There are some embarrassing ones in the comments already (although I will maintain that having the entire Meat Loaf discography is not embarrassing... mainly because I too have many Meat Loaf tracks). Here are some of mine

1. I do have a soundtrack of all the Russian television show theme songs from 2004. I would be embarrassed if a Russian person were to hear them.

2. All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You by Heart. I love Heart, but this song makes me cringe in public. In private I belt out the lyrics.

3. There are several Wiccan/ New Age Songs that I love but if caught in the shuffle, Tony will run to to change rather than subject himself to the drums and chanting ("The Earth is Our Mother... We must take care of her!!" Ahem.)

4. I Touch Myself by the Divinyls. See #2.

5. Simarik by Tarkan. I love this song, but would be mortified, again, if someone who is familiar with the cheesiness of Tarkan were to hear it on my shuffle (He is the Turkish Britney Spears. Without the crazy, but with full pop cheese). And to find out that I had memorized the words. In Turkish.

Videos

2008-07-16T10:32:00.001-04:00

I guess that last video didn't work. I fixed it, so now it should load.

One closet. One stupid cat.

2008-07-14T00:31:00.001-04:00

The Sink

2008-07-10T00:25:00.004-04:00

Lina hates water. But she loves the sink, especially since it drips.

Makes me laugh whenever I see it

2008-07-09T10:22:00.002-04:00

I would like to dress my cat up in little dresses and take pictures of her looking pissed. Unfortunately, Tony has vetoed that.

Tony liked the pig roast part

2008-07-07T18:18:00.003-04:00

When I am going on a trip, I usually try to bring my camera this weekend. This weekend was a perfect example of why I like to do that, so of course I forgot the damn thing and have no pictures.

On Friday Tony and I took a road trip into central-eastern Pennsylvania, which is incredibly rural. Like, cue the dueling banjos rural. His old college friend was having a wedding reception/4th of July celebration/pig roast at his... compound. I really don't know how else to describe it. It was in the middle of nowhere. It took us one country highway, then an off road dirt path. Then, we had to park in a field and go by foot down another dirt path to get there. Then, as soon as we did, it was like... the most beautiful lodge ever. Next to a lake, there was this beautiful log building, fire pits and abundant greenery everywhere.

I don't know how they got all the food there, but there was wine, sangria, margarita machines, a beer wagon. For food, I was not interested in the pig roast, but there was table upon table stacked with food. I gorged myself on spaghetti, brownies, chocolate-covered strawberries, rice pilaf, and salad.

We were there for about 7 and a half hours total, beginning around lunch time and ending at 11 pm after the private firework show. I have to say that it was the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time. We were about 15 feet from where the fireworks went off and it lasted about 45 minutes, with about four finales. Tony estimated that they probably spent about ten thousand dollars on the fireworks.

It was the nicest 4th of July I've spent in a long time and it just kept getting better. We left the party still going, and called a hotel that night. It was like nothing could go wrong that day, and it was amazing.

Freak on a Leash

2008-06-26T05:15:00.000-04:00

Yes, that's my cat. This was taken on her first walk-about on a leash. Well, there was less walking and more of her squatting down and trying to get at the ants. But it's progress.

Pre-term

2008-06-25T17:09:00.002-04:00

Pre-term classes haven't even started and already I have homework! I had to do a couple balance sheets, an income statement and figure out retained income. It was due today and I just sent it in.

Complaining aside, I'm actually grateful for the early-early homework. I've never taken a financial or accounting class in my life, so it's good to get ready for all my grad classes.

Relaxed!

2008-06-22T19:38:00.003-04:00

Last Friday - Last day at work! I got totally shit faced at a happy hour and botched about my abusive boss. I finally got it off my chest: she was not as hot as she thought, as no one with a waddle can be classified as "hot" in my humble opinion.

Last Saturday - Nursed hangover. Oh, it was bad. I pissed Tony off while drunk, but we worked it out.

Last Sunday - Sat around and watched movies.

Monday - Sat around some more.

Tuesday - Started playing an old DOS computer game that I bought in the 90's.

Wednesday - Added RAM to my computer and got further in the computer game.

Thursday - Won the computer game!

Friday - Cleaned up a bit. Hung out with Tony. He's been super stressed at work, so I wanted to focus on him.

Saturday - Road trip! With shopping! But not for me....

Sunday - More shopping! We bought Lina a kitty leash. As anticipated, she hates it. But she will learn to love it.

I feel so much better...

Tagged

2008-06-15T08:39:00.004-04:00

Amy tagged me in this post, so I am going to answer the questions... I don't usually do these memes, but the questions were interesting, so here are the answers.

I'm not going to tag anyone though. Sorry.

The Meme

1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they�ve been tagged and asking them to read the player�s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you�ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?

5 years ago I was in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan. I was teaching high school kids English and working at summer camps.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?

1. Shower
2. Answer a questionnaire sent by the grad school
3 and 4. Take and send a picture of myself to grad school
5. Relax

What are five snacks you enjoy?

I don't really snack. I try to eat enough at each meal so that I don't get hungry in between. So here are my favorite "snack foods," but I usually eat them at meals.

1. Fruit
2. Flat Earth Tomato Ranch chips
3. Pickles
4. Reece's Peanut Butter Cups
5. Baby carrots

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?

1. I would probably still be getting my MBA. I just wouldn't worry so much about money.
2. I would set up a charity like George Soros' Open Society Institute, that hires locals to work on democracy-related issues in countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
3. I would help out on the Obama campaign.
4. Travel all over. I would definitely go see Dara again in Singapore (when she gets back from Vietnam) and take Tony to Germany.
5. Build the best kitty jungle gym ever.

What are five of your bad habits?

1. Like Amy, I talk loud and a lot.
2. I don't keep up with my friends like I should.
3. Leaving my crap all over the place. I can get pretty messy.
4. I never cut my toenails.
5. I have a lead foot when driving.

What are five places where you have lived?

1. Tashkent, Uzbekistan
2. Phoenix, Arizona
3. Tucson, Arizona
4. Paoli, PA
5. Exton, PA

What are five jobs you�ve had?

1. McDonald's Crewperson
2. Door to Door Salesperson
3. Freelance Webdesigner
4. Peace Corps Volunteer
5. Provider Relations Specialist

Those are some of the jobs that have meant the most to me, and taught me a lot of what I know about working.

And I'm done!

Being a good neighbor

2008-06-11T06:38:00.001-04:00

Dear New Neighbors,

After our landlord moved out, we were hoping that we would get better neighbors than a super that never fixed anything and a hoarder that took over the whole building with her shit. Unfortunately, you are even more frustrating that those two.

First, you have two very cute kittens. So it really upsets me when you keep your door open and these little babies end up in the hallway right outside our apartment. If we didn't care about animals or didn't see them, they could get out of the building very easily, and since they are less than six months old, probably be killed just as easily. The first time was fine, everyone makes mistakes, but today Tony found your youngest outside our door for millionth time. When he went to your apartment, the door was still open and the other one was about to make a break for it. No one was even near the door watching the cats. Perhaps you shouldn't have kittens if you are unable to care for them properly. We are not your cat-sitters.

Also, there are three of you. Counting Tony and I, our two neighbors and the guy that lives on the top floor, that's eight people. There are seven parking spots. So, when you let your boyfriends park in our lot, that sends at least someone to either block everyone in or into the metered parking. We should not have to pay to park on the street because you are a douchebag. Please tell your asshole boyfriends that there aren't even enough spaces for us, much less them. We live next to a train station, they can take mass transit along with everyone else if they can't pay for their cars.

Last, we have told you that the floors and walls are so thin that we can hear you walk. So, yes, we can also hear it when you blast music at one in the morning on a weeknight or talk and scream at that time late at night. We can also hear you slam the doors and it does in fact wake us up, which we have also told you. So stop it.

Being a good neighbor is important. We do our best to be quiet, to get our laundry out of the laundry room the same day we wash it and to not park like assholes. Please give us the same consideration.

Kisses,

Sepra

One more week to go

2008-06-09T06:59:00.003-04:00

Today is the beginning of the end of work. I have been looking forward to my summer vacation for awhile now. To be honest, I have some serious money worries and have been second-guessing my decision to quit so early. I know I made the right decision for my own sanity, and that this will give me the ability to get super organized before the move since I will have so little time to unpack when I move in -- about two days at best.

In response, Tony has offered me $40 to do his laundry once a week, so at least I will have something. Actually, for awhile now, Tony has been paying me to fold his laundry. We have always done our own laundry, and it's not even one of those tasks that would be easily synced. But he hates folding, and about a month or so ago, he offered me $15 in hopes that I would do it. And I did, but once I figured out that it was about an hour, I increased the price to $20. My time is more valuable than that. So now it will be $40 for washing and folding about three loads a week, which is nothing, really.

I would still be willing to do my job on a semi-part time basis for the next couple of weeks for some extra cash, but I am afraid that "part-time" would magically turn into "full-time" for less money, so I am a bit afraid to go there. And since my boss isn't offering, I haven't discussed it. So for now, there will be that $40 tax free, and that's it.