Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Cost of Living, Part II

Informational Update:

The previous post under the "Cost of Living" title showed a net income of $400.00/week.
Within 2 months of that post, net income for the same household dropped to $320.00/week.

Within 2 months of that income loss, the skyrocketing price of fuel caused the cost of groceries to triple. The rest of the bills remained the same.

One month ago, net income for this household dropped to $240.00/week.

About the Gay Marriage Controversy...

I really don't care what people do in their bedrooms as long as it takes place between two consenting adults. I particularly and specifically do not want to know what people do in their bedrooms, gay or straight. I just don't.

I don't know how to define the rules of attraction. I don't even know if there are rules of attraction. I'm pretty sure there aren't because there doesn't seem to be much logic involved, and rules usually imply an underlying logic. I do know that we are all very rarely attracted to the person who will be "good" for us.

I do believe that two people can love eachother, and that the natural forward motion of that love is marriage and a life together. Or in this day and age and era of drive-through divorce, at least move in together and have fights and cook dinners and go to the movies and buy houses and generally stimulate the economy.

If we make a law that says two people can't get married or live together because of who they are, then we open the door to a whole bunch of laws that can say the same thing to everyone else, too. That's the way our system of laws works.

So, while I don't care about who is doing what with whom, I do care that someone might be given the right to tell me whom I may or may not be involved with. Because if we allow the government to tell gay people that they cannot be married, then we give them the right to say that non-Americans can't be married. Or Americans and Non-Americans. Or Hispanics and Whites. Or Whites and Blacks. Or Irish and Italians. Jews and Catholics. Muslims and Jews. Pick your flavor.

In the end, it all means the same thing: Someone is trying to pass a law that limits our personal freedoms. We, meaning Americans, because these people are citizens of this country and entitled to the same rights as everyone else who has that privilege, are being told that we are not allowed to congregate with whomever we choose to congregate with, because someone else doesn't like it.

King George the Third tried that, too.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Meals for a Dollar (or Less)

This is a pretty good one:

Get a soup-can sized can of refried beans. Whichever kind you can stomach the taste of. I prefer Goya. This can costs under a dollar at the drugstore by my house.

Half a can should be enough for one person. Put half a can in a pot. Add water by the tablespoonful and stir over low heat, adding more water until it is a thick soup. Thick is much better than thin.

Serve. There you have it, one meal for a dollar or less.

(You can also serve this with toast, or grilled cheese, or leftover taco shells, or cornbread, but the soup is pretty filling on its own.)