SImply for the fact

"The simple Fact is..." and "Simply for the fact that..." are, one, not interchangable statements, and, two, very irritating to hear or read.

Did I use two many commas, there? Should I have actually presented the list in list form? Meh.

Stats

Was just having a look at my blog's stats and came across two interesting nuggets.

1. This is my most viewed post.

2. I get more traffic from China than any other country.

Bald and whatnot

I've got ridiculously thick hair. So much so that I can't really grow it without looking dumb and fluffy.

I spend probably half the year with a buzz cut, and the other half convincing myself it will grow past the fluffy stage any day now.

I've always said that if I start going bald:
1. I'll happily embrace it and just shave my head all the time.
2. It'll look ridiculous because of the fluffy thickness of my hair.

Number 2. is turning out exactly as I expected, my ever growing forehead and the wall of hair sprouting from the top of it have a very awkward interface.

I'm struggling with number 1. I have no idea why. I think I just don't like the idea of never having the liberty of combing/gelling/cutting my hair a different way.

I'n hindsight, I've never really had that liberty anyway.

FIller Post

HAve you noticed how I haven't posted in a while? Me too. Here's some filler text from http://chrisvalleskey.com/fillerama/ to make it feel like I'm still blogging.

The 30% Iron Chef

And when we woke up, we had these bodies. Oh, I don't have time for this. I have to go and buy a single piece of fruit with a coupon and then return it, making people wait behind me while I complain. But, like most politicians, he promised more than he could deliver. For the last time, I don't like lilacs! Your 'first' wife was the one who liked lilacs! Oh sure! Blame the wizards! You are the last hope of the universe.

I Dated a Robot

Ow, my spirit! Ah, the 'Breakfast Club' soundtrack! I can't wait til I'm old enough to feel ways about stuff! Okay, I like a challenge. As an interesting side note, as a head without a body, I envy the dead. Good news, everyone! There's a report on TV with some very bad news! It's a T. It goes "tuh".

• And I'm his friend Jesus.
• Ooh, name it after me!
• And why did 'I' have to take a cab?

The Late Philip J. Fry

That's not soon enough! Bender?! You stole the atom. So I really am important? How I feel when I'm drunk is correct? Yep, I remember. They came in last at the Olympics, then retired to promote alcoholic beverages! Yeah, and if you were the pope they'd be all, "Straighten your pope hat." And "Put on your good vestments."

Anthology of Interest II

Is the Space Pope reptilian!? Robot 1-X, save my friends! And Zoidberg! WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY! GOOD NIGHT! And why did 'I' have to take a cab?

1. So I really am important? How I feel when I'm drunk is correct?
2. Calculon is gonna kill us and it's all everybody else's fault!

The Prisoner of Benda

We're also Santa Claus! Ah, computer dating. It's like pimping, but you rarely have to use the phrase "upside your head." Are you crazy? I can't swallow that. One hundred dollars. For one beautiful night I knew what it was like to be a grandmother. Subjugated, yet honored.

A Poem, by jake

Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy

(Get Ready)
My name is KIIIIIIIIIIIID...Kid Rock

Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy

And this is for the questions that don't have any answers
The midnight glancers and the topless dancers
The candid freaks, cars packed with speakers
The G's with the forties and the chicks with beepers
The Northern Lights and the Southern Comfort
And it don't even matter if the veins are punctured
All the crackheads, the critics, the cynics
And all my heros in the Methodone Clinic
All you bastards at the IRS
For the crooked cops and the cluttered desks
For the shots of jack and the caps of meth
Half pints of love and the fifths of stress
For the hookers all tricking out in Hollywood
And for my hoods of the world misunderstood
I said it's all good and it's all in fun
Now get in the pit and try to love someone

Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
(Love Someone)
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
(Kill Someone)
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
(Love Someone)
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
(Come On)

For the time bombs ticking and the heads that hang
All the gangs getting money and the heads that bang bang
Wild mustangs the porno flicks
All my homies in the county in cell block six
The grits when there ain't enough eggs to cook
And for DB Cooper and money he took
You can look for answers but that ain't fun
Now get in the pit and try to love someone

What
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
(Come On)
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy

Love, and for the hate
And for the peace.... WARRRRRRRRRRRR

Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
(Come On)
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy
Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy

The richest Man,,,

I'm bored at work again, so I'm reading through a PDF copy of "The richest man in Babylon" and this exchange just stuck out to me, reminding me of my Preachings from the congregation link.

"A twelfth month after Algamish had gone he again returned and said to me, 'Son, have you paid to yourself not less than one-tenth of all you have earned for the past year?'

"I answered proudly, 'Yes, master, I have.' " 'That is good,' he answered beaming upon me, 'and what have you done with it?'

" 'I have given it to Azmur, the brickmaker, who told me he was traveling over the far seas and in Tyre he would buy for me the rare jewels of the Phoenicians. When he returns we shall sell these at high prices and divide the earnings.'

Also, this one on the next page is a bit of a Gem

you have learned your lessons well. You first learned to live upon less than you could earn. Next you learned to seek advice from those who were competent through their own experiences to give it. And, lastly, you have learned to make gold work for you.

Write a book?

Saving money is a lot more effective than paying off debt. It can be pretty hard, but it is way more effective. I spent a good part of my 20s telling myself I wasn’t disciplined enough to save, but I was definitely disciplined enough to pay my bills, so I might as well credit-card it up. Carrying about $2000 balance for years at about 13% cost me about $250 a year. If i had held a balance of $2000 in a high-interest savings account at 4.5% I could have earnt about $90 a year instead. That’s a pretty significant swing, just for a lack of discipline and an impatient attitude to spending. Think about how you’d rather spend $340 a year.

The example. You want to go on holiday with your friends, nothing crazy, a week in Bali or something similar - $2000. You and your 3 closest mates get together and start planning. “We should just drop everything and do it in two weeks, my credit limit is 3000 bucks, i’ll just pay it off when i get home.” or “I’ve only got about 500 bucks in my savings account, I reckon I can save $75 a week, so I’m good to go in about 4 or 5 months”

You know which one sounds more exciting and spur-of-the-moment-y. But think about the process of saving and paying off debt first.

Saving - You get your paycheck each week, put some cash aside for bills/petrol/food/bus money/whatever and rather than leave the rest sitting in your debit card account, you shuffle that excess $75 off to a high-interest online savings account, never to be thought of again, until the time comes to paying for flights etc. This money then earns you something like half a cent for every dollar, every week. While you’re on holiday, you know exactly how much savings you have set aside and spend each day on massages, knock-off sunnies, bintang and cheap noodles accordingly.

Credit card - You take off next week, all your money is coming from no-where, so you live it up and have a great time, Waterbomb park, Quad-bikes, boozy nights and pool-side cocktails. You go a little over budget and come home with a maxed out credit card and get back to work. each week when your paycheck comes in, you pay your bills etc as in the other example, but you now have a new monthly bill to account for, a maxed out credit card, with a minimum repayment of $90 a month and an interest rate that adds about $60 a month to the balance, at this rate, you’ll pay it off and be ready for your next holiday in about 3 years, having paid something like $1000 in interest over that time. Obviously, you could pay it off at $75 a week, just like the saving example, and get the debt down quicker, but if your were that disciplined, you would have been the saver in the first place. Even if that was the cases, you’d still be getting stung by a few interest charges before it was paid off.