With the Euro rate going yet further down....and being paid in dollars....against German taxation...I've come this week to agree that I'm basically working for charity.
When I left the military in 1999 and took the contractor/German tax test.....I basically failed....meaning that I don't get tax free status, and thus I pay German taxes....all of them. There is the TV tax of $450 a year, the vehicle tax for $150 a year, the 19 percent sales tax which I toss around $2000 a year for consumer items or food I buy, and then there is that gas tax....which I basically pay around $7.80 a gallon. Toss on a 25 percent income tax.....the VAT on electricity & natural gas...the property tax....and the garbage tax....and its all in Euros.
Since 2004....when the exchange rate was around .82.....things have gone downhill....to a rate today of .64. My pay? Well....you really don't get an real incentives beyond a meager and regular yearly raise. The company did feel some woes for us, and tossed us a $100 a pay period deal....but it doesn't do much of anything.
I figured up my situation....after the monthly checks....I've got basically $290 left....to pay for gas and pocket money.....oh and vacations.....plus all of those wonderful things like new furniture or clothing or trips or tires or such. So as you can imagine....I'm dipping alot into my Air Force pension to survive. There is no millionaire scheme in my mind. As of today....I'm working for charity....and little else.
Most of us are waiting for some miracle....like the Euro rate going back up....but the truth is....it probably won't. For those who dream of living in Europe and enjoying the good life....you can kinda forget that dream....and just think of the wonderful charity work you can do....like me. Should I leave? Common sense would dictate something.....but after all.....would I really want to give up this fine charity work?
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Bottled Water
Through the BX here at Ramstein....they sell a bottled water....on the cheap side. You could buy Perrier water or any of a dozen great German waters....if you needed bottled water. But the BX manufactured their own water, via the Colligan label (a franchise group). They went out to Grunstadt and took water from the city....from the "deep wells of Grunstadt" and added some minerals to it....and sold it fairly cheap.
So they did some testing and have confirmed that there is uranium (4.5 parts per mill-what-ever), and thats ok....not great....but not dangerous. Yep....ITS SAFE to drink.
Well....they say that....it was in the headline of the Stars and Stripes. I sat there and pondered this....while sipping my 8-ounce bottle of Colligan water....wondering how come I felt real charged up and light-headed. Some of the guys said I kinda lit up when the lights were dimmed in the vault. This has me a bit worried. I'm thinking I may have to switch....and drink some French water.
Its a sad thing....when you try to buy the cheapest stuff possible.....and then discover there might be a serious problem here. So I sat around the vault all day....thinking about this. Obviously....it bothers me. I may have to just quit drinking water....and go back to bourbon and gin.
So they did some testing and have confirmed that there is uranium (4.5 parts per mill-what-ever), and thats ok....not great....but not dangerous. Yep....ITS SAFE to drink.
Well....they say that....it was in the headline of the Stars and Stripes. I sat there and pondered this....while sipping my 8-ounce bottle of Colligan water....wondering how come I felt real charged up and light-headed. Some of the guys said I kinda lit up when the lights were dimmed in the vault. This has me a bit worried. I'm thinking I may have to switch....and drink some French water.
Its a sad thing....when you try to buy the cheapest stuff possible.....and then discover there might be a serious problem here. So I sat around the vault all day....thinking about this. Obviously....it bothers me. I may have to just quit drinking water....and go back to bourbon and gin.
Congress and Baseball
As congress walks deeper into the baseball swamp....and fails to act on the top 100 problems in America....I'd like to offer up three simple fixes....so that we can get senators back into real work.....and maybe solve a great screw-up.
First....by order of congress....have the president appoint a 3-man commission to run baseball (two members must be approved by the house and third is the president's man). Fire Bud Selig and just abolish the commissioner's position. The 3-man commission serves a 4-year period and is terminated at the end of that period....with a brand new crew. Whatever the commission says....is the final word. If the union doesn't like it....quit baseball. If a player doesn't like....just quit. If a owner doesn't like it....sell your team.
Second....identify every single banned substance at the beginning of the spring training (to be set in concrete for 365 days). You test any player or manager you desire....as many times as you want...where and when you want, with only the 3-day period around the all-star game as a drug-vacation period. Season ends? Fine.....no testing until January. You get caught....you are finished for that season. Second time you get caught.....you are finished for two seasons. Third time.....finished with professional baseball.
Third....absolute limit of three years on any contract deal, and one option year. No more seven-year contracts and idiot players walking around worthless after four years. You injury yourself for more than 60 days....fine....you lose 25 percent of your pay. It goes to the old-players pension fund. And that 25 percent includes your agents fee too, for that period.
I don't have pity for these guys. I really have grown to hate baseball. Its not the same sport.
First....by order of congress....have the president appoint a 3-man commission to run baseball (two members must be approved by the house and third is the president's man). Fire Bud Selig and just abolish the commissioner's position. The 3-man commission serves a 4-year period and is terminated at the end of that period....with a brand new crew. Whatever the commission says....is the final word. If the union doesn't like it....quit baseball. If a player doesn't like....just quit. If a owner doesn't like it....sell your team.
Second....identify every single banned substance at the beginning of the spring training (to be set in concrete for 365 days). You test any player or manager you desire....as many times as you want...where and when you want, with only the 3-day period around the all-star game as a drug-vacation period. Season ends? Fine.....no testing until January. You get caught....you are finished for that season. Second time you get caught.....you are finished for two seasons. Third time.....finished with professional baseball.
Third....absolute limit of three years on any contract deal, and one option year. No more seven-year contracts and idiot players walking around worthless after four years. You injury yourself for more than 60 days....fine....you lose 25 percent of your pay. It goes to the old-players pension fund. And that 25 percent includes your agents fee too, for that period.
I don't have pity for these guys. I really have grown to hate baseball. Its not the same sport.
William F. Buckley
There are few men that stand in the shadow of William F. Buckley. I have probably watched well over 100 hours of interviews or discussions with the man. His broad knowledge and keen sense of the center...always amazed me. He was right-wing....without any doubt....but then he argued his points so well and almost made you weep at the argument he gave.
In the nation today....there are few if any folks....as capable as William F. Buckley. The point that seemed to perk up on each topic....was his sarcastic slap. He had humor that could take root and make a bold topic....very humorous and almost comical. The sad thing...is that I watched these hours when the dude was in his late 60s and early 70s. To have watched him at his peak in the 1960s....were have been enjoyable.
Today.....we morn the passing of a brilliant man....who was the king of the front porch. He could sit a spell and toss your position on a topic in one direction....and then toss it another. He was able to make you laugh about a extremely serious situation in America.....and wondering if it really was that serious. We salute William F. Buckley.....and will miss him.
In the nation today....there are few if any folks....as capable as William F. Buckley. The point that seemed to perk up on each topic....was his sarcastic slap. He had humor that could take root and make a bold topic....very humorous and almost comical. The sad thing...is that I watched these hours when the dude was in his late 60s and early 70s. To have watched him at his peak in the 1960s....were have been enjoyable.
Today.....we morn the passing of a brilliant man....who was the king of the front porch. He could sit a spell and toss your position on a topic in one direction....and then toss it another. He was able to make you laugh about a extremely serious situation in America.....and wondering if it really was that serious. We salute William F. Buckley.....and will miss him.
The Times
Last week....the New York Times wanted everyone to know the latest news from the early 1990s on McCain....about his potential affair...although they really couldn't dig anything up to report new stuff...so they settled for news about ten years old. The ombudsman actually said he was rather surprised that they ran a story....with nothing new (a terrible offense for any paper...to report old news).
So this week....not to let anything unusual happen...they basically ran a story from 1936 on Senator McCain. They isolated and discovered that he was born in the Panama Canal "ZONE" in 1936....thus it might disqualify him for the presidency. So far....they haven't found a single constitutional professor to provide actual real substantial proof of this violating the constitution. There is a rule....that you must be born an American. The canal zone area....for those who've never been there (all of the staff of the New York Times, for example)....was US property and considered US territory. Everyone conformed to US laws while living in the zone.
The Times...basically ran a story....dating from 1936....identifying McCain as a former "zonie". I sat and kinda laughed...having lived there for three years. The lack of intelligence or actual reporter analysis....is zero.
So in this mighty world....where in 1950....the New York Times was probably the best paper in America. I'd really have to regard the paper today....as maybe somewhere after the Tucson Citizen (the afternoon paper, not the prized morning paper). The Times probably needs to fire twenty-five reporters and bring in folks from outside of New York City. I'd look for junior reporters who are willing to work 40 hours a week and actually write real analysis....NOT crap.
As for next week? Well...I'm thinking they will inform us of McCain's darkest days in the POW camp and remind everyone that he is from Arizona.
So this week....not to let anything unusual happen...they basically ran a story from 1936 on Senator McCain. They isolated and discovered that he was born in the Panama Canal "ZONE" in 1936....thus it might disqualify him for the presidency. So far....they haven't found a single constitutional professor to provide actual real substantial proof of this violating the constitution. There is a rule....that you must be born an American. The canal zone area....for those who've never been there (all of the staff of the New York Times, for example)....was US property and considered US territory. Everyone conformed to US laws while living in the zone.
The Times...basically ran a story....dating from 1936....identifying McCain as a former "zonie". I sat and kinda laughed...having lived there for three years. The lack of intelligence or actual reporter analysis....is zero.
So in this mighty world....where in 1950....the New York Times was probably the best paper in America. I'd really have to regard the paper today....as maybe somewhere after the Tucson Citizen (the afternoon paper, not the prized morning paper). The Times probably needs to fire twenty-five reporters and bring in folks from outside of New York City. I'd look for junior reporters who are willing to work 40 hours a week and actually write real analysis....NOT crap.
As for next week? Well...I'm thinking they will inform us of McCain's darkest days in the POW camp and remind everyone that he is from Arizona.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)