Secular Confessions

Dana I say go for it and go back to school!! Good luck with whatever you decide.

I too am clueless about politics, I watch the news rarely, listen to NPR ever more rarely. I just don't spend a lot of time in the car anymore.

I would love to see our system become like the UK or Canada. I am not holding my breathe though!!

I bought wild caught salmon for dinner tonight-woohoo. It's marinating, I sure hope it's good. My mouth is watering for my favorite meal of salmon, broccoli and baked potato.

Gilly must have read that article you posted Suja. This morning G woke up, pushed the chair to the cupboard, got his cup out, pushed the chair to the freezer put ice in his cup, then filled his cup with water. He was so proud that he had done it all by himself!! I do let him do a lot of stuff on his own, and he will help me in the kitchen. It's when we are trying to leave the house and takes forever to put his socks and shoes on!

I took the plunge and chopped my hair off!! It was long, down to my bra strap, and it had a bad color job with blonde ends and dark roots. I colored it dark, quite dark and it's just above my shoulders now. I took before pictures but forgot the after pictures doh!

forgot to add.

Dana-total creepy stalker!

Bridget good luck with pawprint and the kiddos

Chrissy-so glad to hear Cramer to back home with you!! :)

AAAAAAACK!!! I just got a notice from the tax assessor's office related to our house in Southern CA. Three years back, I'd petitioned for, and received a temporary reduction in assessed (taxable) value. Everyone in the neighborhood did, due to a depressed market. Now the value is back up again - by their calculations - by $270k. Taxes are 1.25% in LA County. That adds $3375 to my annual property tax bill. Adds.

The city just rebuilt the marina nearby the house, and ironically, I just posted on FB about a trendy new artisan market that is opening tomorrow in one of the old warehouses nearby. But that can't bring both my Land and Improvements (structure) that much higher up, can it? I haven't seen anything in the news about the housing market making a recovery. What do you bet if I go on Zillow right now and look at my valuation, it won't have appreciated anywhere near that amount? And Zillow "Zestimates" are usually inflated. I think someone somewhere made a miscalculation, and at the very least, I'm going to have to re-petition for a decline-in-value reassessment, which is a real pain. I have to go out and research the comparable properties in the area, and since mine is a duplex, there aren't a lot of comps.

If I can't sell my house for as much as they're taxing me for it, I'm not going to be happy paying taxes at their inflated assessment. Ack. Ack.

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Originally Posted by Suja

Mandy, quick question for you. When do kids start getting gender assignment correctly? Mira refers to everyone as 'he' or 'him'. Jack (over 3 now) refers to everyone as 'her' or 'she'.

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He/she should be in place by the age of four years. Lots of three-year-olds get it, but some don't. At two I would be surprised to see it consistently correct.

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Originally Posted by demigraf

I'm only on page 12 of my 193 page copy of the ruling. You know what I don't get? I don't see how the individual mandate was interpreted as a penalty and not a tax insofar as allowing the case to proceed despite the Anti-Injunction act, but it ultimately was interpreted as a tax in the decision to let the mandate stand under Congress' taxing power. I need someone smarter than me to explain that to me.

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That's my biggest surprise about the ruling. The administration specifically argued that this was NOT A TAX. All the discussions cited congress' powers to regulate interstate commerce as justification for the mandate. The supreme court found, if I am getting it right, that they did not have power to do this under interstate commerce, but had power to tax us any way they like so the law stands. Even though those who passed the law say it isn't a tax. I really, truly don't get it.

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Originally Posted by AmeriBrit

Good luck with the vet trip, Bridget. I'm sure the kids will be little angels while you're out. :D

I've read all y'alls thoughts on the Obamacare thingamajig and can only say that I'm so glad I live in the UK now where I don't even think about medical insurance. My FB feed has exploded with people saying America is not a democracy any more and I've had to just snort to myself about that. It makes me realize that I've spent my whole adult life over here and can't imagine living in the USA again; I would not know how anything works or what to do over there! The longer I am here in Britain, though, I do grow fonder and fonder of socialism.

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If I were you, I'd let them know that America is not now and never has been a democracy. We are a "constitutional republic." There is a difference.

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Originally Posted by AbbeysMom

I take care of th bills at our house, for the most part. I really enjoy it. I like doing taxes too. :crazy:

As far as lack of healthcare ruining people's lives, we lived it growing up. My Dad passed away when I was 11 after battling leukemia for three years. We went from upper-middle class to over $500K in debt, and we had so-called 'good' medical insurance. It was a very expensive illness. In the end my mom went bankrupt and lost our house, and for a bit of time when I was 13/14 we were homeless, living in a hotel for awhile.

What really blows me away is people who take advantage of programs like medicare (ILs) or medicaid then complain about health care reform or want to vote it down.

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This blows my mind too. I know a lot of people on SS, Medicare and Medicaid I work in public housing and pretty much everyone who lives in our buildings, which are public housing and government funded BTW, utilize these programs and many of them b!tch and moan all the time about how "entitlements" should be cut. I am like....ummmmm.....you are living off of pretty much every freaking entitlement!!! It was really crazy to me because there is a guy who agrees with Romney that we should get rid of HUD. All of our buildings are run with money from HUD. It took all I had not to tell him that if there was no HUD he would be homeless and not living in a $1200 a month apartment in the ritzy neighborhood he lives in, especially considering he only pays $150 a month and the rest is subsidized. I don't get into politics at work as I think it is tacky and can cause issues with co-workers.

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Originally Posted by demigraf

I'm only on page 12 of my 193 page copy of the ruling. You know what I don't get? I don't see how the individual mandate was interpreted as a penalty and not a tax insofar as allowing the case to proceed despite the Anti-Injunction act, but it ultimately was interpreted as a tax in the decision to let the mandate stand under Congress' taxing power. I need someone smarter than me to explain that to me.

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Originally Posted by Gwenn

That's my biggest surprise about the ruling. The administration specifically argued that this was NOT A TAX. All the discussions cited congress' powers to regulate interstate commerce as justification for the mandate. The supreme court found, if I am getting it right, that they did not have power to do this under interstate commerce, but had power to tax us any way they like so the law stands. Even though those who passed the law say it isn't a tax. I really, truly don't get it.

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So I am a bit confused about this too. But according to what I've read, and the way I understand it, it doesn't matter what whether the mandate is called a tax or a civil regulatory penalty or whatever. The SCOTUS is supposed to apply any reasonable reading that would allow them to uphold the law. They say, this could rightly be interpreted as a tax, and interpreting it as a tax will make this law constitutional, and ta-da, it's a tax. The goal for the SCOTUS is to uphold the law if there is any way to do so. Or so I read. IANAL.

That interpretation does help make sense of it, Dana. My understanding was they were judging the merits of the case and arguments that were brought before them. Sometimes I have heard that they will state that an argument is incorrect so allow a challenged law to stand, but leave the door open for other challenges on different grounds. I guess I really need to research what the role of the SCOTUS is precisely in interpreting a law.

That's another good thing that I think has come out of this law going through the process. It seems like many people are a lot more interested in exactly how the process works and that can't be a bad thing.

That's a great point.

With regards to the healthcare thing, everything is not perfect with the UK system. Cradle to grave healthcare is great and no one should be bankrupted by illness. However, there is a trade off. If you need non- emergency surgery here, with insurance the wait is minimal. It's not like that in the UK. Depending on the priority given to your type of surgery the wait can be years. I had a patient come in for knee replacement when I worked in the UK. She had moved to our area because the wait time was 1year. Where she lived before, the waiting list was SEVEN years.
My sister wanted to be considered for bariatric surgery in the UK at the same time as my husband here. My husband had his surgery a year before my sister got an appointment to see the doctor for the first time.

There's a saying - there's good, fast and cheap. You can get two out of three.

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Not gonna debate it in here. If you want to debate health care, please start a thread about it in Random. We're all pretty much on the same page and discussing the topic amongst like-minded friends in this NET.

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Originally Posted by missychrissy

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Not gonna debate it in here. If you want to debate health care, please start a thread about it in Random. We're all pretty much on the same page and discussing the topic amongst like-minded friends in this NET.

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I'm sorry if this was directed on me. I didn't mean to cause offense. I actually did think we were somewhat like minded on the topic in this thread - I only intended to highlight what a difficult balance it is, even for the best systems, to balance cost, quality and access. I was flippant about it and I'm sorry if I came off wrong.

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Originally Posted by dana_renay

I'm sorry if this was directed on me. I didn't mean to cause offense. I actually did think we were somewhat like minded on the topic in this thread - I only intended to highlight what a difficult balance it is, even for the best systems, to balance cost, quality and access. I was flippant about it and I'm sorry if I came off wrong.

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No, not you at all. :D

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Originally Posted by raspberry

I bought wild caught salmon for dinner tonight-woohoo. It's marinating, I sure hope it's good. My mouth is watering for my favorite meal of salmon, broccoli and baked potato.

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I love salmon! I just had some this weekend that I cooked in a foil packet, heaped with fresh dill from my garden and a little olive oil on top. Sooooo tasty!

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Originally Posted by dana_renay

I'm sorry if this was directed on me. I didn't mean to cause offense. I actually did think we were somewhat like minded on the topic in this thread - I only intended to highlight what a difficult balance it is, even for the best systems, to balance cost, quality and access. I was flippant about it and I'm sorry if I came off wrong.

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Dana, you are an established poster in this thread and your opinion is right in line with the majority of posters in here. I am certain that comment was not directed at you.

I'm okay with an opposing viewpoint. It was said respectfully. No system is perfect, but ours is in serious need of fixing.

I'm perfectly fine with differing viewpoints, too, actually I agree with the sentiment she posted and agree it was respectful. I am just concerned that we will have an influx of new posters who will want to jump in here and turn this into a heated debate, when that sort of thing is much more appropriate in its own thread. As our gun discussion showed, we are up for debate in here but primarily because we all feel comfortable and can predict the responses of those who will read and respond, even though we do have a wide range of opinions on the subject. I hope that makes sense.

Yeah, I was a member of a NET that was permanently deleted because a heated debate ensued. That's why I didn't want to go into it here. Random would be more appropriate I think.

Bean dip anyone?!!!

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Originally Posted by dana_renay

Bean dip anyone?!!!

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LOL! I'm more of a French Onion girl myself. Or Pico de Gallo. Mmm, Pico de Gallo.

I'm drinking beer. If y'all knew how much I detest beer, you'd be in awe. But it was left here so...

I actually don't eat beans. My favorite dip is a fantastic concoction, probably from some 70's ladies magazine called curry dip. I loved it long before I ever tasted indian food. This is an approximate recipe since I just do everything by look/taste/guess:
About one cup of mayo
2T Mustard (I like to use spicy brown, but yellow is ok too)
2T honey
dash low-sodium soy sauce
2-4 heaping tablespoons of yellow curry powder. If you made your own curry powder fresh you prob wouldn't need quite that much, but don't get the heat of cooking to release the flavors so you do need a lot.
Mix it all up and put it in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to marry (4 hours is ok, overnight is better)
It is awesome with any crudite, I like carrots, cauliflower, jicama and even radishes!

I'm trying to imagine the taste of that and I can't. I'll have to try it - I like curry favors most of the time.

That dip sound awesome! And DANGIT I still need soy sauce.

The vet trip. Oy. I thought it was at 4:40 so I thought I was being very proactive by telling myself it was at 4:30 to allow for mishaps. Pawprint escaped from the box I got her twice so I had to coax her back to me and put her back in the box and then she promptly escaped again when I put her in the truck but she just lay on the floor. We had discussed our system beforehand so when we arrived, without opening any doors, I put Pawprint back in the box and Savana climbed to the front and held the top of the box closed so she wouldn't jump out. I got Kai and Sawyer out, put Sawyer in the stroller and took them to the front walk where Kai upheld is solemn duty of making sure Sawyer didn't roll anywhere. Then I went back and got Savana and Pawprint and we went in only to be told by the grumpy receptionist that we were going to have to reschedule for being excessively late. The appointment was at 4 TWENTY. I think it was my dramatic crumple to the ground and Noooooooo that caused her to change her mind. But we still had to wait a full hour in the waiting room. Savana and Kai were complete dolls. Sawyer was very busy and there was a parrot(?) that was imitating cat meows and saying "hi" back to Sawyer who said hi to the bird about 86 times. Oh, and they shaved Pawprint's belly, made me wait an hour and charged me 40 dollars to tell me that she isn't spayed. Thaaaanks for that. They wouldn't let me make an appt for the operation until she was "examined". So two weeks and we don't know if she's already pregnant since it would have just likely been over the last few days. I have a weird feeling about having her fixed if she might have babies in there. Savana and Kai are really hopeful about the (very unrealistic) idea of having kittens. Oh, and the woman behind the counter told me when we left that my children were unbelievable well behaved and she also pointed out that she never says that about children. lol. They walked out of their with their heads held high. I think it helped them maintain that wonderful behavior after when we went out for mexican so I wouldn't have to cook in our sweltering kitchen. FYI, mexican eateries are the place to go while eating gluten free. Corn flour.

We're camping out in the basement again.

This is too funny. Back in May, I got sent a flyer about a professional conference up in Phoenix this summer. It was cheap and offered professional development credits, and they reserved a block of hotel rooms at a good price. I wasn't so much interested in the conference but really wanted a vacation so I talked my coworker into going with me and sharing a hotel room. She agreed to go.

So last night I looked it up so I could go register, and when I read the description of the different sessions it sounded mind-numbingly boring. I was trying to work out whether I could tell her I didn't want to go or if I was just stuck. Well, she just called to say she is going to do volunteer work in Mexico for the next three weeks and can't go to the conference, and she was really sorry to leave me in the lurch! I am SO glad to get out of it! So I thanked her. I'm still laughing.

Gwenn, I love it when things work out like that! Sometimes I am able to convince myself I actually willed it to happen:)

Bridget, I'm tired just reading that. Glad the kids were so good at least!

When DH is serious about his Paleo diet he has an easy time at Mexican restaurants. He can order carne asada or just a burro and he will take the filling out of the tortilla and eat it that way.

Oh man Bridget, that sucks about the cat :( But WONDERFUL about the compliment you and the kids received. And the Mexican restaurant :P

I'm glad things worked out Mandy. :P Too funny!

1 more day of work & then it's the weekend. I love my job and my office, but it's been a crazy, nuts, INSANE week and I'm just over it already.

Suja, i think it wasn't so much the differing opinion....but how it was done. It just seems "off" for someone to come into a net and start an opposing opinion post....without even introducing themselves.

I don't like dip. I will eat mild salsa and that is about it. I would rather eat veggies plain.

We had chicken tacos tonight. But flour tortilla's. Which I am eating one less than I used to because of all the dang points those cost me. The meat and cheese aren't too bad but man those tortillas are a lot of points! Least I don't like sour cream! And tomatoes, my favorite, are freebies.

Bridget I'm so feeling for you with the heat and no air. :(