Then, the other day I was out driving and came across a malfunctioning stoplight and all hell broke loose. No one was moving, and when they did move, they all moved at once from all directions. People were visibly frustrated and I wouldn’t doubt if some of the weaker drivers just sat there and cried.

If the 4-way stop can’t work in this society anymore, we’re screwed.

If I could find an attractive libertarian who speaks with a southern accent and enjoys cooking, I may have to pinch myself.

That’s Alton Brown second from left who hosts “Good Eats”, my favorite Food Network show, for those of you that don’t recognize him.

Health Care vs. the Penalty (on your federal taxes)

• Joe— a single, 26 year old, Indianapolis male making $40,000/year.
  • Now pays approximately $131/month for health coverage.
  • Removal of annual & lifetime limits, no pre-existing conditions = PRICE WILL RISE.
  • Under PPACA [the healthcare bill], Joe will likely pay around $200/month.
  • Penalty for Joe to forego insurance under health care reform = Approximately $400 (greater of $95 or 1% of income in 2014).
  • Joe forgoes [insurance coverage] and breaks his arm—he will still receive care and be immediately enrolled.

I had this discussion with my dad yesterday. I, as a sane human being, will be looking very closely at healthcare come 2014 when I will be 27 years old. I currently pay $100 a month for insurance. If the penalties for NOT enrolling in healthcare are less than paying for insurance, you’d better believe I’ll just pay the penalties. It’s what everyone in Massachusetts does now.

There’s a lot of stuff going on in there. I’d hate to know what’s growing in the back. There’s soy milk, zucchini, squash, onions, potatoes, tomatoes (which I know shouldn’t be stored in the fridge, but they spoil too fast for me otherwise), lettuce and a bunch of other veggies.

The one thing I wanted for lunch? An open-faced sandwich topped with guacamole and cucumber. The one thing I don’t have in this mess? A freakin’ cucumber.

Since I use a coffee maker, I pour the water in the back, put the bag in the decanter and for kicks I throw a coffee filter in the filter tray. It doesn’t really need a filter since I’m just using that area to pass hot water through. All the action happens right in the decanter. Or, so I thought.

I don’t replace the filter every day. Again, nothing but hot water passes through it and it seems like a waste. After 5 days (when I do change it), this is what my filter looks like. This is water filtered through my PUR facet filter. Indianapolis, you’re drinking this.

With input from the students (who had never worked with web stuff before) and my refusal to use shit like Comic Sans, WordArt, ClipArt or generally anything ending in the word “art”, we put together a pretty nice page in under four hours of work:

I’ve been working on a new slate of improvements for myself and my business. I’ve introduced a new support system, so anyone who wants to open a request for support can do so without needing to remember my email address. Soon, people can email a specific address and they’ll automatically be tabulated into the support system and there they will be able to monitor their support requests whenever the want, 24/7.

I’ll be updating my portfolio of work, soon, too. Right now, all of the sites on there were done before I started working full time for myself. I have dozens of new projects that I love that I need to get online. Namely, Jake’s website, Springs of Cambridge and FAIR. I’ve got half a dozen more sites in the pipeline, three of which are days away from publication.

I’ve added an online store that, while a little rough around the edges, is a good first go. I’ll be adding more stuff into it, but customers can now come directly to my website and purchase a new website immediately. If they know what they want, who am I to stop them from buying what they want so long as it fits in the guidelines of the contracts for that product? Want a blog? Super, just go buy one — custom made, directly via PayPal or cash on delivery. It’s like buying a birthday cake at a family-run bakery.

I’ll be adding a “Learning” section someday, too. Currently, it’s a walled-off area for clients to learn about their new website.

Speaking of things for clients, I’m now blasting off great looking HTML emails to clients to let them know the progress of their site after I’ve spent at least an hour working on it. It tells them what I’ve done, what I need to do and where they can view their site while in development. To ask questions, they simply just need to reply to the email. No one else offers that level of updating and progress reporting.

And, my proudest new goal: be even faster. I’ve long been told that I’m blazing fast at getting to most things. Technical issues and errors are priority 1 and site updates, development, etc. all falls into line after that. Every client I’ve ever had that asked a question or for something to be done has responded at some point to say, “Wow. That was fast.” Now, I have a new goal of responding to every client’s email within 1 hour. Yes, that won’t always happen, but between my time at home and with my iPhone and iPad, it can work. And, I have a goal of getting new site changes and requests done in 24 hours or less. Not to mention getting new sites developed under time.

I’ve been at this for 6 months and have managed to be just as successful as I set out to be. Initially, I said, “Make at least as much money as you would if you still worked for the State of Indiana.” Today, I did the math, and I’ve discovered I’m $3,000 over my goal. I’m right where I wanted to be. Actually, I’m about a month ahead.

Here’s to the next 6 months and years. Thanks to all of my clients and friends who have referred me business.

I’ve spent the better part of a week trying to figure out why I agreed to work there in the first place. Then, I ran across this comment on Digg today that pretty much sums it up:

The school system is a joke.

I spent 12 years reading textbooks and taking tests and learned nothing about REAL WORLD problems and how to overcome them.

How to write a check. How to pay bills on time and why it’s important. How to buy a car. How to buy a house. How to NOT get into credit card debt. How to change a tire. How to fix household items. How to get a job. How to keep a job. Communication skills and why they’re important.

These are all skills I had to learn on my own, because in school I was too busy learning how to factor a polynomial and building bird houses.

Autoshop [sic] was OPTIONAL, and 2 years foreign language REQUIRED. It’s great that I can say “Good Morning” in Spanish, but I still have no idea how to change the oil in my car.

I’m home-schooling my kids.

I agree with most of this, but not all. I don’t think the school system is useful today. The students we worked with at VU were on the right track thanks to Ben Davis Univ. HS, Arsenal and Center Grove high schools. They get a HS Diploma and an Associate’s Degree from VU before they’re old enough to drink. Frankly, HS diplomas need to be abolished and Associate’s made the norm.

Some would argue that school “teaches people how to think”, but that’s what everyone says about college. So, that can’t be it.

I’m not sure knowing how to change the oil in your car is all that necessary. Even if I knew how to do it, I wouldn’t want to. And home-schooling should almost be put on-par with child abuse. You end up with too many kids incapable of socializing and functioning with everyone else.

But, they’re a lot of practical things in life that schools don’t teach well or at all. Like financial management, how to live with dignity, respect others, etc. Hopefully, these are all things I helped impart on the students at X-Mester.