- Beautiful day in Southern Illinois. If it wasn’t for the earthquakes lingering in the back of my head, it would be a great day. #
- Lunch from the grill. It doesn’t get much better. #
- Perhaps grilling every day should be an option. I certainly don’t think I would mind. No more (or less) processed garbage! #
- Strange. Twitter wasn’t updating on the blog. That’s what I get for changing passwords. #
- Almost time to make way to Bud’s visitation. #
Archive: April, 2008
- I survived the Illinois earthshake of 2008! #
- And another quake. #
- Well, no quakes for a couple of hours. Maybe we’ll make it. 🙂 #
- The second quake has been called an aftershock, but Em says it shook the whole house. At least there haven’t been others since. #
- Catching up on news and working. I love multi-tasking. #
- It’s a sad day. Bud died in an accident. No plans announced yet. #
- Sleet mixed with rain. How odd. #
Well, as everyone is probably aware by now, Southern Illinois had a nifty little 5.2 earthquake. Em and I woke up at 4:30 to our bedroom window vibrating. I sat up, listened for a tornado, then for the dryer, and finally realized it was an earthquake.
The shaking stopped, then a tiny tremor a few seconds later. I waited a little bit, walked through the house, and then went back to bed. Of course I wasn’t 100% sure about the earthquake judgment until this morning when news outlets were confirming that fact.
Later on at about 10:30, there was another quake that shook our home. I did not personally feel it as I was in the car on my way back from school.
Em sent me a text and said that it shook the whole house. The United States Geological Society refers to the second as an aftershock, but it hit our house more severely than the original. Maybe it was just ‘tuned’ so that it affected us more than the first quake. Guess we’ll never know.
- At least I won’t have a lack of school work over the next 4 weeks. More to do than I have time to complete. I’ll make it, I’m sure. #
- Just so everyone is aware: stuffed crust meat lover’s pizza before bed is a baaaad idea. #
- I think my tummy is finally forgiving me for eating some pizza before bed. #
- Jaycee meeting tonight. Come meet our members and become one yourself! 7:30PM at 2nd and Broadway. #
- I love learning about new words. Especially when the teacher is interesting. 😉 #
- The weather today has ended up amazing. It’s breezy, warmer, dry-er, and just amazingly sunny. Get outside and enjoy it! #
April 15th has come and gone. Millions of Americans have filled out their yearly paperwork for the government to track how much was made and paid to them.
Unfortunately, these same Americans overpay the government all year long. This makes for a refund the following spring, but it also makes for an interest-free loan to the US and state governments for about a year. Is this something most people can afford? No, they are just ignorant of this fact. Maybe they even realize it and just ignore the loan.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take an interest-free loan any day of the week. Do you really think that we need to be giving the government such a loan?
I guess my point in writing this is that we should all make sure our W-4 forms on file at our employers are correct. Yes, you should probably be very careful when calculating the number of allowances, and maybe even reduce it by one or two just to not wind up owing the government next spring.
Also, if you are like I used to be and can’t save by yourself, the government will be more than happy to hold it for you until next spring. For some people that works out better than trying to save for themselves.
Just please be aware that your dollars will do much better (I hope) in your hands than in the government’s coffers. I have been doing a lot of research about saving v investing, and saving is a sucker’s game.
Yes, you get a small interest rate (~5.15% on my last CD), but the returns on investing in Gold, currency, the stock market, etc. are much better rates than that. Now, the CD or savings rates are guaranteed and markets are up and down, so only invest (or gamble) what you can afford to lose. Now, you will likely eventually make your money back at the very least if you can wait long enough, but never gamble everything at once just in case you need to liquidate some money fast.
My advice for the day: Invest in some silver. It’s cheaper than gold and much more likely to double in value faster.
Disclaimer: I am no kind of financial representative, and these are just my opinions.
