Monday, March 28, 2011

Random Stuff for Fun

It was a tough day at work and I ran out of gas big time after lunch. Still not feeling all that well, but getting better. Only 4 weeks to go until I will be in Antigua for a week getting warm and tan. So soon.

Good Position Day
Had a pretty good day in the markets with some of the positions I took last week:
YGE

TAN

RPM

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day!

The Robots are Still Marching
I have not had a robot story up for a bit, but here is your regular warning about humans being taken over very soon.

A robotic bird?

THE HORROR! This thing is creepy!

We have talked about the Uncanny Valley here before. Here it is in chart form:

All I know is that as I watched the video I wanted to shoot that abomination out of the sky with a huge shotgun.

Small Crowd
From Geekologie, the countries that do not use the metric system:

Wow, I actually had no idea it was that bad.

Taxes Suck
The accountant called today and told me where we stand tax wise. Seems between raises at work for the wife and I, and the killing I made on the SLV trade last year, we have moved up to the next tax bracket! Well that's just aces really. Wunderful. Anyways, it put me in a mind of a film from way back, Kidco.

I wrote this last year about this time, but it still fits:
Paying taxes on money I made when it is done using after tax money I already paid on reminds me of a scene from an obscure film "Kidco". The set up is the owner of the all kid fertilizer business is taken to court on a charge of not paying sales tax on his product, which is horse manure. The lead kid represents himself and calls as a witness the man that sells hay and oats to his father to feed the horses that make the manure he uses as fertilizer. The exchange goes like this, but it is from memory so I may be off:
Kid: Mr. Jones, does my dad buy all his feed from your store?
Mr. Jones: Yup.
Kid: Does my Dad pay you sales tax on said items?
Mr. Jones: Yup.
Prosecutor: Your honor, the question is not whether the defendants father paid sales tax....(interrupted)
Kid: Good. Good. Your honor, you see all Kidco sells is manure, which used to be hay and oats! Don't you see!? We are getting taxed at both ends!!!
Court erupts with laughter.
A funny film if you can find a copy.

All There Is?
I still cannot believe the only copy of Craig T. Nelson's speech in the film "All the Right Moves" is this cruddy quality one. Must be copyright issues. Ugh.

Have a good night.

7 comments:

EconomicDisconnect said...

Reader JH asked why my profile pics are so creepy as I SEEM normal in the last post's comments. It's not easy being in thrall to the darkside! I like Darth Nihilus' look.

David Batista said...

I like Darth Nihilus, too. Your pic RAWKS! :)

Yeah, today was a brutal one for me at work, too. Sounds like you're slowly getting back up to speed. And, wow, you get to go to Antigua? Lucky! You're making me remember the awesome trip the wife and I took to a secluded island in the Bahamas back in '09:

http://davidjbatista.blogspot.com/2009/07/smooth-return.html

Jennifer Hillier said...

You SEEM normal but maybe, since you're obviously well-schooled in both science and economics, you're actually evil and are planning some kind of world domination...

EconomicDisconnect said...

Ssshhhh! You will ruin the master plan!

EconomicDisconnect said...

Hey David,
The wife and I were married in the Bahamas and we almost always go to the Sandals at Nassau. I know tourist trap but it is so pretty and quiet we love it. Anyways, after 7 trips there we are trying out the Antigua locale and see whats up. Cannot wait.

David Batista said...

We were so going to go to Sandals on Cable/Paradise Island a few years back. I'm glad to hear you really enjoyed it there. Hmm, maybe we'll go after all. We went to Harbour Island, which is just off the northern tip of Eleuthera. The pink sands there are gorgeous . . . and we had the entire 3-mile stretch of beach almost entirely to ourselves!

My wife's best friend is from Antigua, actually. She's always telling us to go. My wife herself is from Jamaica (Kingston) and we've been there quite a few times. Too many, in fact.

Would love to hear your account of the trip when you get back. If you're not better by then, you certainly will be once you arrive I imagine. :)

EconomicDisconnect said...

Unlimited booze tends to make me fine by most standards, lol. We love the Bahamas! I want to go to Antigua because I booked a charter boat for tarpon/grouper/barricuda fishing which is just silly expensive in the bahamas, not so much in Antigua.