My response to: Social security taking $52 of my $56 in overtime

I hate the Social Security tax.

To me, it doesn't make sense.

Why am I paying my entire overtime check for the improbable promise that I'll someday see it again in the form of checks from the government? According to statistics, I'm never going to see that money again because some idiot president saw the Social Security bank account and went, "I need to fund a war. But how? *evil grin* I know! I'll steal it from generations to come!" In an odd way, this dude stole money from the future. Yeah, he stole it and used it then, but the elderly people then weren't feeling the loss. MY generation will. Yet I'm still paying the damn tax.

Don't get me wrong. I know and understand that the old people who get the money from Social Security can't pay that tax; they aren't getting a whole hell of a lot of money form Social Security anyways... More than I am, but then again, what's the point of getting money from Social Security then turning around and paying them? (It's like teachers and policemen... Their checks are signed by taxpayers' dollars, and yet they still pay the taxes. It doesn't make sense.)

I blame the government for being idiots.

The “American Standard” of living is I want it- NOW. It’s what they call “Instant Gratification.” Don’t think about the consequences! Live in the NOW! Go with the flow, man! And it seems like all politicians are only concerned with instant gratification. Have you seen the cars they drive??!? Seeing the Hummers and the luxury cars with the gov’t license plates makes me nervous. If they can’t spend their own money responsibly, how well do you think they’re going to spend your tax dollars? Seeing a senator in an old, used-three-times-over, beat-up Oldsmobile would make me feel a lot more comfortable. I’m just sayin’.

Just a ditty...

This is just something I was working on tonight... I don't have Microsoft Office on this computer, so I don't have a way to save it. So... Enjoy. Maybe I'll get around to turning it into something more someday.

For weeks now, since she had been accused, she had felt a presence. At night, as she lay awake pondering her shortened future, she knew someone-or something-was watching over her. She only had to wait a few days longer before she could see more than the small expanse of sky her tiny barred window would allow her, and during that time, it would be fleeting. She hoped she would see The Presence.

As the days lagged on, she started talking to it. It didn't matter whether anyone heard her. She was simply lonely. Wearing nothing but her ragged shift, she was cold, but talking about everything and nothing kept her mind off the chill. She would not die here.

Then the morning came when she would no longer have to wait. She wakened from the sound of the village gathered around the hole that was her prison. The door was opened, and a ladder was shoved in. The leader of the witch hunters barked at her to hurry up, they hadn't all day! She slowly crawled to the ladder and pulled herself up. Such large movement was difficult; living on naught but stale bread and dirty water for a month wasn't enough to sustain a fully-grown woman right after giving birth.

Slowly and shakily, she climbed the ladder. Rough hands grabbed at her, and she allowed them to pull her up. The sun was so bright compared to the dingy hole. It torched her eyes through her eyelids and seared her skin.

They dragged her to the pillory located in the tiny town square, and tied her there, facing the sun. They didn't bother to cover her, and the shift she was in had been ripped and torn even more than before by the angry people. If she wasn't already naked, she felt like it.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she heard the wail of a newborn, the high, cracking screech of a babe just from the womb. Hers? There were only three babies in the whole village, and the tiny village was so secluded that not even for the novelty of seeing the destruction of a purported witch would bring in more people.

A Few Questions About a Higher Reality

As you may have guessed, this blog is pretty random, not focused on one specific topic. And I like it that way. It screams "MAKENNA!!!!!," more so than if I just posted pictures of pretty foods. Or nasty foods. Or any one topic, for that matter. It's just my style. My blog is not a part of any organization. Well, it is a part of the blogosphere, and is hosted on Blogspot, but hey.

My blog is like my belief system. Or lack thereof... I am a part of no organized religion, and my thoughts on “IT” all are pretty random. But that's not saying I don't believe in a god. Or gods. Or some higher entity. Some days, I pray to one God, the Christian God. Other days I pray to all gods, from Athena to Thor to Zeus to Erishkegal(sp?) to any number of nameless gods.

One of my great friends, Roger, loaned me a book called American Gods. It was a neat little novel about how the old gods are struggling to survive in a world where they no longer are worshipped in favor of the new gods (internet, cable TV, drugs, money, ect.), and the new gods want to eradicate the old ones for power. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Wednesday (the main god) told us HOW gods came to be. Through the power of imagination and worship. A new god is born every day, when something is suddenly loved and in a way, worshipped. A deity is created. I think this is awesome.

The 12-Step Program designed for AA, NA, OA, ect. States that you need a higher power, and that you have to let everything go to it. YOU are not in control. IT is. So drop it. However, the Program doesn’t state anywhere that your Higher Power HAS to be God. Or a God. For all they care, your higher power could be your favorite desk ornament in your work office (though they do recommend it be god. Or some sort of entity, and not an inanimate object. Could you imagine seeing someone praying to a small knick-knack in like, a doctors office? That would be weird).

The matter of the afterlife is next. I don’t get it. There’s no way of knowing what the afterlife holds for us. Technically, if there is an afterlife we have to have souls, right? And you can’t evolve to have a soul. That doesn’t make sense. So were we created to have one? But then you have to believe in Adam and Eve and/or Creationism. But science says that Creationism isn’t possible: we have evidence that proves otherwise. Like dinosaurs and fossils that show evolution.

Are you confused yet?

Then there’s the matter of ghosts. HOW many theories have you heard on that subject? Why ghosts are here. How you get them to leave. Poltergeists. Why only certain people can effectively communicate with them. Why there are mean ghosts. Why children and teenage girls are most likely to get visits from them. Why there are nice ghosts. Why they stayed here on earth instead of going on to the afterlife. How to communicate with them. That they can walk on Halloween. Are they even real. Are the ghosts we see and hear and know they’re there the only ones there, or are they just the strongest? What are ghosts? Why are they there? And the questions go on and on and on…

Science hasn’t been able to give us answers yet. To any of the questions about ghosts and God and souls. So just like religion, we must have faith that these things are there. Or not there. Whatever.

I was raised LDS. Mormon. Mo-Mo. Baptized on my eighth birthday. I left when I was 16, and dabbled in Pagan practices/ “witchcraft” (my own special brand). In other words, I was nuts. Now? I don’t know what to believe. One of my favorite quotes is from House. I don’t want to misquote it, so I’ll just paraphrase for right now. Cameron says that she doesn’t believe in God because if there was actually something out there, the Human Race wouldn’t even have the capacity to fathom what “IT” really was. Which is really true. Why do we think we know what God wants? If he really is “IT,” how the hell could we, as humans, even begin to imagine His great wants, and needs? What if he actually does want virgin sacrifices? In this day-and-age, he can’t exactly tell a “prophet” such… The Catholics would denounce him, call him a pagan and a heretic, the Mormons would freak out, and the Westboro Baptists would probably either join in or picket about how people are going crazy because we’ve let ‘fags’ into our society. This man would be tried for either murder or attempted murder, and would be locked up in some sort of asylum or given the death sentence.

There’s always that one person, without fail, who always brings God or Jesus into the conversation. Go read any semi-political article on Yahoo. There’s always that ONE PERSON who says something about how God has his hands in everything, good or bad; or how Jesus saved us, so WHY did this happen? or blames the Devil as to Why. Okay, now that just pisses me off. God gave us a present called Free Agency. That means we all have a CHOICE. To be and to do whatever the hell we want. For a reason. We will never fathom this reason, but I’m sure He (or She) has one. So just drop it.

There is also those people whose Facebook and Twitter statuses are always about how God is so great and has blessed them, and how Jesus loves us soooo much he died for us, ect. Good for you, bible thumpers. Now get OFF of my page!!! (I’m sure I’m going to get shit about saying that…)

Okay, I’m done with my rant for now. TTYL.

RTC Southern Nevada

I ride the bus. Different times on different days, but it's a pretty regular schedule. Two days out of the week, I ride in late morning and at night, and on three days I ride in early morning and mid-evening. When going home from work, I have to cross nearly 12 lanes of traffic (two roads that are perpendicular) to get to my bus stop. This late in the evening, most drivers in the area (I have found) are men. Perverted men. Who like young women. Like me.

I have found myself to be the recipient of many shouts ((These have all been altered to be grammatically correct) "Hey Baby! Can I get your number?" "Hey, Sexy, wanna come home with me?" "Need a ride, Sweetheart?" etc.), even more honks, and the occasional physical vulgarity. No one has attempted to touch me inappropriately, but I have a feeling that this happening is just around the corner, as the incidents are becoming increasingly worse.

Just last night, while I was crossing the second street to get to my bus stop, two men in a beat-up compact car tried to get my attention. First they honked, then flashed their brights at me, and when I passed their car at the turn, started asking for my name and number. When I ignored them, I heard a car door open, and hurried footsteps coming towards me. A car honked, and the footsteps receded. Needless to say, this was terrifying. I didn't look back to see if it was one of the men in the car, as that would show acknowledgement. Which is not good on my end.

Then on the bus (late as usual), another man asked me for my number. Again, I ducked my head and ignored him, as politely as I could, hoping he had seen my earbuds and took my non-response as that I couldn't hear him.

I am so sick of this. I'm not pretty. I don't have a great body (that's not as statement of opinion, I love my body, and am very comfortable in my own skin. I'm just big-er. "Voluptuous in some of the wrong places" is one way of putting it, I guess.) . So when I get this unwarranted interest, I can't help but think that these men are either desperate or perverted, and see me as nothing but a pair of boobs and a warm place to stick their pecker. It's disgusting, insulting, and inappropriate.

It can also be dangerous. Any one of these jerks can follow my bus and wait till I get off, and during the five to seven minute walk home can attempt to fulfill his perversion. I'm sure that this has happened to someone, somewhere. And to be honest, I'm afraid it can and will happen to me.

Unfortunately, there really is no solution to this problem. I could have my boyfriend ride the bus back and forth with me; get a car or a moped (however, no money for these options), and my license; but what about the other women who are subjected to this? Who have the same fears I do?

Another About Me

Since I couldn't for the life of me figure out what to write about today, I figured that since I haven't been writing much lately, you probably have no clue who I am anymore (if you even knew who I was then...). My name is Makenna, though if you look in the sidebar, I'm sure it's there somewhere. I'm 19, and live in Las Vegas, which means if I'm not at work, I'm at home, because there is absolutely NOTHING to do in this city that doesn't involve the 21+ age limit and/or exorbitant amounts of money, which I don't have. Or I'm gaming every other Saturday.

I'm a receptionist at a college called High-Tech Institute. It's ironic, isn't it? I've never taken classes at college, but I get a bi-weekly paycheck from one.

I don't have a car. I never have, and it's looking to be that I never will, at least till I have a) a better job or b) children. I ride the bus to and from work every weekday, and the occasional Saturday.

I don't believe in anonymity, unless you're doing something for the interest of others, and your putting your personal life at risk. Take for instance, Mrs. Q, who is blogging about the student lunches at her school. She is buying a student lunch for $3.00 every day, taking a picture of it, and then telling us about her experience with the food, describing tastes, flavors, negative/positive side effects, and her fears, inviting others to comment with experiences, or even be a guest blogger. Her job and livelihood are at stake, as well as the livelihood of her family. That is what anonymity is for. If you're trolling or flaming under anonymity, that's just fear, and there's no excuse for that.

I am in a relationship, sorry boys. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to have his info put out into the public domain, so the only thing I'm going to tell you about him is that his name is Leo. I'm sure that from some of my posts, you can deduce more about him, but I'm not too terribly worried about that.

I think I've just figured out what I'm going to write for today. See in next post.

Devotion.

With the odd schedule that accompanies my job, I find myself riding the bus at 6:00 in the morning occasionally. And on those days, I get to witness Love, with a capital 'L.'

There is a man that rides the same bus I do on these occasional days. He's tall, dresses cleanly and respectably, is black, and looks to be in his early 30's. Every morning, he stands and waits patiently for the bus.

There is a woman who also waits patiently for the bus every morning. She's a little shorter than I, looks as though she's wearing her pants on over her pajamas, wears plain white shoes, looks to be in her mid-40's, and has an overall feel of frumpiness to her.

These two don't really interact while waiting. There is no holding hands, no kisses, no fond looks (they hardly look at eachother). But at about 6:05 (three minutes before the bus arrives), she turns to him, and him to her, she smiles, waves, (occasionally gives him a peck) and runs back across the street (five lanes of traffic) and into the apartment complex. I often watch these two from the corner of my eye. I don't mean to be rude, but it's an interesting situation.

I find the situation interesting because I can't tell the what the relationship between these two is. Are theyHusband and wife? Neither of them wear any rings that I know of, but they usually keep their hands in their pockets. It's been a cold winter... Mother and son? Lovers? Brother and sister? Hell, in this city, it could be a pimp and his ho.

I had a huge urge to ask this morning what was going on. But I am honestly afraid that they are a pimp and his ho, and that would just ruin the magic for me. In my mind, I've got this fantasy where they are husband and wife, completely devoted to eachother. He has to be at work early, and she wants to spend as much time as possible with him, so when he's done showering and dressing, he wakes her up, and starts making breakfast, while she gets dressed enough she doesn't freeze. After breakfast, they walk down to the bus stop, and spend what time they can just being in the presence of eachother. But alas!, she has to start getting ready for her day, and has to go home.

Yeah, I know.... sappy. But still. I wish I had someone that devoted to me, to wake up at five in the morning, just to spend time with me. That's why it's called a 'fantasy'. Because it's likely to never happen, unless he also has to wake up at five for some reason.

Don't get me wrong; Leo and I love eachother, and love spending time together, and, again, I realize that five in the morning is waaay too early. (A favorite saying of mine, usually heard around 10 'o-clock, is "...No one should have to be awake at this Godforsaken hour...") But it feels that a quick, "I-love-you-have-a-good-day" and a small, half-awake kiss just isn't enough to last through the long, eight-hour workday. IDK, maybe I'm clingy?

I'm going to commit to writing at LEAST once a week, on something... Whether it's just a rant on my day-to-day life (buses, ferrets who don't know what "no" is, cigarettes, Obama, ect.), noting little miracles (gotta love the little things), or giving my opinion on an article. TTYL.

A quick apology, then the iPad. Which I'm sure you're sick of hearing about already.

Yeah, yeah. I haven't been posting. I know. Sorry. It's not like I have a huge following anyways.

So lately it's been slowing down at work, which leaves me a LOT of free time. So I've been reading the news. Well, mostly what Yahoo! posts to their front page, but still. It's more than what I used to do.

One of the frequent topics on the Yahoo! front page is the iPad. And I have come to some conclusions. But first let me say this: I have no experience with it. Never touched one. I also don't have an iPhone.

1) The price. It's some $600 for the smallest GB (that's with shipping, handling and taxes), and if you want 3G, well, that's even MORE pricey. For the largest GB, it's about $200 more, PLUS a plan. And that's WITHOUT the apps! The average cost of an app for this thing is anywhere from $0.99 (an iPhone app, which isn't sized for the iPad) to a $5o one. Granted, the most expensive iPhone app is $50K and doesn't do anything (it's a graphic of a ruby, just sitting on your screen like an app. To show that your rich. WTF?), but seriously?? The damn tablet is expensive enough! Not to mention all the gizmos to go with the apps!

2) The size. This thing smaller than your average laptop (I've got a wide-screen laptop anyways...) but bigger than your iPhone (duh!), and weighs about 1.5lbs. I've read it described as "heavy." Well, yeah, it's kinda hefty. You have to pack all this technology into a weedle thing about the size of a shoe. Maybe, if you break it's glass screen, you can do reps with it... In the article that prompted me to start writing again (read it here) he mentions that after playing with the iPad for an hour and watching Avatar on it, he went to fiddle with his iPhone (...He has both? WhyTF do you need both??) and his iPhone felt "puny." Yay?

3) The screen. It's glass. Which means if you want to do anything while outside on a nice-ish to beautiful day, you're fucked. Hello, glare! Also, if you want to watch movies with a lot of dark screens in them, prepare to see your beautiful face. Because the screen has the reflecting capabilities of a mirror (Which is a free app, by the way... LOL!). "You've never handled one! How would you know, froggoddess!" you might be thinking. Fine. You've got me there. But next time you pass a window when you're in the light, and the room is pitch-black... BAM! There you are with a clarity with which you can fix your mascara.

4) Apple. When the iPhone came out, everyone was sooo excited that the other cell phone companies made bank from everyone dropping their plans for AT&T (or was it Cingular back then??), only to find dismay that the iPhone was (even admittedly!) not ready for launch. There were so many bugs... hell, there still are. Not to mention the suck that was one of the patches. Dropped battery life by nearly 50%! Now the people who paid for the first-release iPhones are hopping mad, because they paid. How much? Nearly $300 for the 16GB! Now the price for the 16GB is almost $100. And you just know they're going to do the same (or similar) price drop for the iPad. So what's the point of buying now? Why, in God's name, would you pay such exorbitant prices for an almost-prototype? *sigh* I don't know. :/

5) The name. iPad. Quick! Close your eyes, and say the name out loud. What comes to mind?? An oversized iPhone? To me, I think of feminine hygene products. Or a puppy pad. Neither of which would improve if you added an electronic *anything* to them.

6) No camera. Of any kind. According to Steve Jobs, it will NEVER have one. Uhh, okay?

7) No Flashplayer. Again, I've heard that it will NEVER have it. Dear Mr. Jobs: I don't GIVE a shit if you think it's stupid and unnecessary. It's ALL over the internet. And Flash isn't going anywhere. Sorry!

8) Doesn't charge from USB. Yeah... I think it should have USB and wall-plug capabilities. I hate having to turn on my computer to charge my iPod, but some people are into that. Freaks.

9) QWERTY touch-screen keyboard. It's apparently got a really good on-screen keyboard. (Read reviews here and here). Biggest complaint? Hard to do it. Why? You have to awkwardly place it on your lap, place it on a table ("not the best solution due to the iPad's curved back"), hold it with one hand ("effectively slashing your possible WPM"), get a keyboard ($79), or get a case to prop it up ($39). With the best solutions taking even more money out of your recessioned wallet, I'd say it's not worth it.

10) E-BOOKS. To begin this section, let me start with these two works: FUCK. THAT. When Amazon introduced the "Kindle," I became infuriated. I'm a HUGE book-reader. I'm also somewhat paranoid. I believe that scenarios like Fahrenheit 451 and Equilibrium will happen, eventually, and that these "electronic-books" are a way for the government to control our reading material. They're also a LOT easier to find and/or destroy. (All electronics emit a signal of some sort.) The E-Book industry will also kill the publishing company. On a plus side, they will save the environment, and boost business for optometrists...

By now, I'm sure that you're all done reading me be a pessimist about the iPad. So I'll stop. But I'll let you know if I ever get one.