3 Costly Mistakes..

Well you all know the saying..."When it rains, it pours!". I have been having some MAJOR costly mistakes lately. Mistakes might not be the best choice of words but I have had to spend a ridiculous amount of money in the last couple of weeks. I tell you this being grown things sucks!

Costly Mistake 1
Well I went to the eye doctor this week. I have vision insurance and I was thinking...this will be a good visit if I can get out of here without spending more than $100. Well of course that didn't happen. First he tells me that my exam would be a total of $65 dollars since I had to get a contact fitting. So I'm like okay. Now how much will it be for my contacts. Things were okay at this point. I got 4 boxes. (2 boxes for each eye) and that was like $40 after my insurance. So I'm thinking let me see if I can get a nice pair of glasses. Well I begin to look at a few pair. I find one pair that I really like. So I decide to get those. Well the guy is talking about this anti-reflective crap stuff and me just wanting to hurry up and get out of there says fine just add it. Well that made my glasses like a $130 after insurance. I'm like DAMN!!! Yep I spent a total of about $250 at the place when my goal was not to go over $100. Yep the man gets me again.

Costly Mistake 2
IPOD's are the devil. I bought a nano about a year and half ago. I haven't had any problems with it. Worked great and I loved it. Of course I had become attached to it and all. Well I get in my car last Sunday and the damn thing won't turn on. So I am confused. So of course when I bought it I got some extended service plan thing from Target. They then tell me they will send me out a label to send it to them to try and fix. This would mean I would be without my IPOD for a couple of weeks at the least. So of course I couldn't take that. What would I do for music. Well I get on the Apple store's website to see if I can find another one on there. Well the new nano's are about $149 plus tax. I'm like DAMN! I'm not trying to spend more than $100. So I find out that you can purchase these refurbished one's for $99. Of course I am a little skeptical about this but I go ahead and purchase a refurbished one and get the overnight shipping which is like almost $20 bucks and then plus tax. I had spent another $125. Yes, more than the $100 that I was trying to spend. Oh well I thought I could possibly get another one if they fix my other one and then I will just sell one of them. Alright no big deal.

Costly Mistake 3
So sometimes with my job I have to travel to our client's office to do work. A couple weeks ago I had to go to a client and do some work. Well I am going into there parking garage and when I am pulling into a spot, I do the unthinkable. I scrape the side of my car on this pole! I jump out the car to see the damage. It looks bad. I'm like DAMN AREN'T I THE LUCKIEST PERSON ON THIS PLANET! Well I finish up my work there and decide to take my car to see how much it would cost to get the scrapes and a new paint job on it. The first place I went to was Macco. I was hoping it would only cost me $300 at the most. Well the damage didn't look that bad to me. Well the guy comes back and is like, "It's going to be about $950 to $1,000 to fix!" I was in shock. How the hell was I going to pay for that. He then tells me that other places will charge me probably close to $2,000. So I'm like let me get a couple other estimates and I will get back to you. I then think well my insurance deductible is only $500. I could just turn this in and be done with it. After some advice from a friend, I took it to another place for an estimate. I explained to them what happened and the guy is like well you can turn it in to your insurance and I'm like I don't really want to do that. So he's like let me see what I can do. So he comes back with the estimate. I am so nervous because I don't want to pay $1,000 to get this fixed. I read the estimate and it's $700! I'm like that's better so when can I bring it in. I schedule the appointment and now Smokey is back to normal. All nice and shiny!

So there you have three costly mistakes/problems that I have had in the last three weeks! Please take note of this and remember, "When it rains, it pours!" Anybody got a dollar?

I am America's Nightmare...

10 Reasons why I won't support John McCain

John McCain aka The Maverick. The 2008 Presumptive Republican Nominee and Republican Senator from Arizona. Most of you are probably wondering why in the hell I am writing about John McCain? You know I am not supporting him, but I just wanted to take a moment to discuss him. By living in Ohio I am (un)fortunate to be bombarded with campaign ads already. We are one of the top battleground states and I am sure the candidates will be bombarding us with visits and campaign ads until November. I have never known much about McCain. I just knew that he was considered a "Maverick" of his party. He wasn't afraid to step out of line with his party. Whether it was controversial or not. Well as a presidential candidate John McCain has done a 180 degree turn on who he is. Now I know as a politic an you have to be able to evolve and change your position as time goes on, but Senator McCain is a new candidate. It's unbelievable. Here is 10 reasons why I don't support John McCain for President.


1. He opposed a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am sorry but you can't explain to me why you wouldn't support this. I don't know his reason for opposing it but I refuse to find out why. Yeah I should but I won't. I just can't understand why someone would think it was a bad idea for this. You know now he fully supports the holiday. Just look up on the Internet on what he was doing to mark the anniversary of King's death!

2. He wants to continue fighting the war in Iraq no matter how long it takes.
I'm sorry this war needs to end and end NOW! It's ridiculous that we are still fighting and we don't know what we are fighting for. The Iraqi government is set up and they want us to put a timetable together of when we are going to leave, but of course McCain doesn't want to do that.

3. McCain doesn't support affirmative action.
In Arizona, they have a ballot initiative to end the practice of affirmative action in Arizona. I believe it is to end the use of race based hiring and admissions. (Affirmative action for the slow.) Trust me AMERICA isn't ready to end affirmative action. There are too many people that are still prejudice against minorities and we won't ever be able to get rid of affirmative action because there are still loads and loads of people teaching their children racism and prejudice.

4. McCain is now against any form of abortion.
My how times change. Not to long ago I seem to remember him being in support of a woman's right to choose. I could be wrong but I know I am right about this one. Some will do anything to be President!

5. He is 71 and will be 72 by the time he takes the oath of office.
That's not a typo. John McCain is old as dirt. I'm sorry but I have a hard time voting for anyone that is over the age of 70. At a certain point you have to let it go. Yeah some my say I am an ageist but I don't care. It matters to me when someone is going to be running our country.

6. He supports tax cuts for the wealthy.
I am a big advocate of people who make more should pay more in taxes. Say what you want but I am a tax accountant and I know that those that are wealthy don't pay as much as they should in taxes. There are many loopholes in the tax code that helps them avoid having to pay taxes. It sucks and I am sorry if you are making 50 million dollars a year as a CEO or actor/actress I honestly think you shouldn't have a problem with giving at least 25% of that in taxes.

7. He wants to continue Bush policies, thus giving us a third term of Bush.
Yes, look at where John McCain stands on the issues. He has voted in congress to support Bush on 95% of the time. That's way too much for anyone that wants my vote.

8. He's an elitist!
I know many have tried to call Barack this but if you look up the word elite you will see that Barack Obama definitely isn't elitist. He doesn't own 10 homes and isn't worth about 100 million.

9. He's a Republican.
Republicans are the devil. They have ruined this country. That's why we are in a recession and gas prices have risen so much since Bush has been in office.

10. Barack Obama is the better candidate.
Yeah I am biased but the truth is the truth. BARACK THE VOTE 08!!!

I am America's Nightmare...

2 or 3 year itch...

Well I have been thinking a lot lately about my career. I have been out of school for two years now. It's been a good two years so far. I have had ups and downs. Now I feel like I am having the two year itch. What is the two (or three years in some cases) itch? It is when you start reexamining your life. Looking at how your career has been going. Should you make any major life decisions? New job/career, buy a home, or relocate to a new city. These are some of the many questions that young professionals face every so often. I am calling it the two (or three) year itch.

As a young, black, professional I seek to be in the company of like minded individuals. Moving back to my hometown was out of the question. Small town wouldn't be suitable for me to achieve my dreams. So in an effort to satisfy my mom I decided to begin my career in Columbus, Ohio. Not a bad city. Nice big city, nice downtown, many young professionals, suburbs and good night life. I thought hey I could hang in there for a couple of years. Well since I am experiencing the two year itch I am ready to make a move. I desire to be in a different city. Columbus just no longer does it for me. Honestly I would like to be in a city around more young, black, and professional people. So that has led me to decide that i need to move to Atlanta or D.C.. I would have loved to move to one of those two cities this year but plans are changing. I will probably have to just wait until next summer. I do know one thing I will be gone from Columbus next year at this time.

In regards to career, I have noticed that many of my friends have been changing jobs. This has made me think about whether or not it is time for me to do the same thing. Should I put the resume together and start sending it out. If I don't then should I go back to school? I have always said that I was going to be a college professor. I was always perturbed because there wasn't a lot of African-American professors at the colleges I went to. I feel strongly that we need more African-American professors at the college level. I have been debating hard if now would be the right time to go back and do this. Could I really see myself entering school again in the Fall of 2009? Who knows I definitely could do it if I wanted to. Who knows I might just end up doing it.

Home ownership. I have one friend who is over excited about owning a home. He wants to buy one right away. I just don't have the desire right now. Everyone always says well you know by paying rent you are just making someone else rich. Well I just don't want to probably buy a home until I am about 30. I feel like i would be making enough to afford the taxes and stuff on it. I mean right now I am paying less than $300 a month in rent. Yeah I just got a roommate so I have cut my rent expense in half. It is nice having that extra money too. Hopefully I can put that money to good use. We will see though.

This two year itch has really got me thinking. I know a lot of people my age are experiencing the same thing. What are we going to do? We will definitely make it through it though. Besides we will be turning 30 soon so we will begin to worry about growing old soon!

I am America's Nightmare...

CNN's Black in America...I loved it!

CNN's Black in America. This two part documentary aired on CNN on July 23 and 24Th. Many were anticipating what was going to be discussed. At first I wasn't going to watch it, but after being reminded by several emails and facebook messages about the program I decided to DVR it. I didn't know what to expect. I am black and I know what its like being black in America. I like journalist Soledad O'Brien so I expected good things from her, I was just worried about who they were going to get to talk about being black in America. Were they going to choose are typical "leaders" in the black community to discuss it? I was hoping not. Many of us young blacks don't even recognize people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as our leaders. We are looking at folks like Senator Barack Obama as the leader of black America. That's a different topic that I will leave for a different day. But back to the subject. I didn't catch the first part on July 23Th. I DVR'd it and was going to watch it over the weekend.

So It's July 24Th. I send out an inspirational quote to a group of young, intelligent, black accountants every morning. I was surprised when someone in the group wanted to know how we all felt about the first part of CNN's Black in America which focused on Women and family. That's when the flood of emails came in from people saying they didn't like it. They felt it was telling them being a black successful woman was bad because they wouldn't get married. They hated that they focused on the fact that many black women age 24-35 are being infected or is infected with HIV more than any other group of people. I sat back and read the many emails. I was surprised by all the negative responses. So I decided that day that I was going to watch part 2 of CNN's Black in America that night. I wasn't going to wait until the weekend. The second part was about being a black man in America. I was expecting the worst after receiving all the negative emails about the first part.

I got home that night and got me some dinner and sat down to watch part 2. I was glued to the TV. They looked at many different aspects of the black man. They looked at successful black men and black men who weren't as successful and ended up in jail. they looked at black fathers or the lack of black fathers in children's lives. They talked about being black in corporate America. I was enjoying part 2. They showed the struggles we as black men face everyday. From raising our children to trying to get a job. I was very happy with part 2. This made me think why were people so upset over the first part. So the next morning I emailed my group and told them I really enjoyed it and thought part 2 was great. Some emailed back and said that part 2 was better arranged than part 1.

Well I waited until the weekend to watch part 1. After watching it I just didn't understand the gripes people had about it. I thought it gave a very accurate portrayal of family and women in Black America. Showing how the black family got together for a family reunion, successful black women and the hardships of dating, and single black mothers. Again I felt part 1 was spot on. So I asked myself why are people really so upset over this. The black people that have been giving such negative feedback on it know the realities of being black in America. It isn't a pretty picture. So why did they expect CNN to try and paint it like it was.

Overall those upset over the CNN special need to get over it. Deep down inside you know that CNN's special did a good job of showing the many different lives of those that are black in America. They showed "success" stories and are "unsuccessful" stories. The truth of the matter is there is a lot more "unsuccessful" stories in black America than "successful" ones. I hate admitting it but its the truth. Most of us that are black grew up in a segregated community. Blacks on one side of town and whites on the other. We have family members that are deadbeat fathers and some that are single mothers. I guarantee most of us could find one person in our family that could relate to every single person that was portrayed on CNN's special. Being black in America is very hard. We continue to face many prejudice and injustice everyday. Many feel like we have come a long way, which we have, but the reality is we haven't come far enough. It should be the goal of all of us that are the "success" stories to find some way to get our black community on the right track. It won't change overnight, so make sure you recognize that it will take time. I think some of the best feeling I have is when my younger cousins tell me they want to go to college like I did and get a good job, drive a nice car, and be able to travel and do the many things that I do. It definitely brings a smile to my face.

For those who haven't seen CNN's special try and catch a rerun of it. It's definitely a must see for all races.

Until next time I am America's nightmare.

My Life from A-Z

A is for your age:
25-so far the first half of my twenties have been very memorable. I have done many things that I never expected to do. I love being in my 20s.

B is for your burger of choice:
Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. That's the only hamburger that I will eat from fast food restaurants.

C is for the car that you drive:
A 07 Toyota Camry...Smokey is holding up just fine right now.

D is for dog’s name:
Roscoe. That's what I am goin gto name my dog's name when I get one. Now if only I could get a job where I didn't have to work 80 million hours a week.

E is for an essential item you use each day:
Tooth brush. Need I say more.

F is for your favorite television show:
Right now I would have to say Big Brother 10! Love this show.

G is for favorite game:
Too old to play games but if I had to choose one I would have to say Snood. I want a Wii so that I can discover some new games.

H is for hometown:
Middletown, Ohio...What you know about tha Middie?!?!

I is for instruments played:
I don't play any instruments now, but I used to play the recorder. I am sure that counts for something.

J is for favorite juice:
Non alcoholic would have to be apple juice. Alcoholic would have to be cranberry with grey goose. You can never go wrong with a cran and goose.

K is for what you’d like to kick:
Right now...umm I better not say what I want to. I will go with kick my hatred for the gym. I gotta get back in there especially since i have a cruise in 5 months!

L is for last restaurant you dined at:
Applebee's the other day with Katya. gotta love half price appetizers.

M is for your favorite Muppet:
Kermit the frog of course.

N is for number of piercings you have:
Zero. Not really into piercings.

O is for overnight hospital stays:
One. I had an absys (sp.) in my neck and it had to be cut open and drained. They kept me in the hospital overnight to give me an IV and stuff.

Q is for what you do in quiet times:
relax and watch tv or sleep.

R is for regrets:
WOW...how many can I name? Everyone has some regrets I think one that comes to mind is I would have enjoyed my last year of college more before starting to work. If I could go back for one more semester.

S is for status:
I am currently typing this up and single.

T is for time you woke up today:
5:30am...yeah you see why I need to leave public accounting because no one should be getting up at that time to get into work.

U is for what you consider unique:
People's ability to backstab and hurt others without any remorse. That's something I just can't do, but I am learning that many people will do anything to succeed even if that means ruining others. Sad but true.

V is for favorite vegetable:
Favorite vegetable would have to be collard greens or green beans.

W is for your worst habit:
Lazy. After work all I want to do is lay on the couch and watch tv and do nothing.

X is for x-rays you have had:
probably some but I don't remember them.

Y is for yummy food you ate today:
that taco bell I had was pretty good.

Z is for zodiac sign:
What's that number one zodiac sign...TAURUS!!! gotta love it.