Bama BS

Once again, government leaders in my ancestral home state of Alabama are showing why the state frequently ranks near the bottom of all of the United States in terms of education. By declaring that embryos are children, they're effectively restricting people whose only means of having children via IVF from doing just that. So stupid. Alabama politicians frequently make decisions that go against its own interests and this ruling is just another example of that. Alabama also doesn't have a state lottery. They'd rather have their citizens drive across the border to Georgia to play the Powerball or Mega Millions (and put money in the peach state's coffers) than have their own state lottery that could fund much-needed educational programs in their own state because they're against gambling (or some nonsense). More BAMA bullshit logic. 

My father is from Alabama. My grandparents had a farm there and I've grown up going there all my life. I have a love/hate relationship with the state (and right now the hate is strong). Every time I think about retiring to Alabama (because, let's face it, the cost of living is low there), the state does some backwards shit like the embryo ruling and I change my mind about relocating there.

Financial Foibles

After hearing about Donny T's most recent financial judgment against him, I found myself wondering if Don the Con would finally be taken down a peg this time. Because he's so hung up on being a rich guy, having his finances take a hit may be more damaging to him than other accusations he's faced. (On a side note, has anyone noticed he's stopped talking about E. Jean Carroll? I guess after that $83 million kick in the balls, he finally learned to shut his mouth about her.) 

Money is a difficult subject for some people to discuss. Some people are very hung up on the kind of financial picture they present to others. I know people who live above their means because they want to project an image of financial security that they don't really have. I'm not one of those people. I've said this before, but I'll say it again. There are things that may shame me in life, but money isn't one of them. I have no problem telling someone I can't afford something. I'm not the kind of person who would buy a $3,000 bag and then not be able to pay my bills for the next two months. I've lived hand-to-mouth and it's not something I share a lot with others, but it's not something I'm ashamed of either. I've come a long way since then and I try to live within my means. When I bought a car last summer because my used Volkswagen was having more issues than it was worth, I purchased a car I could afford, a Nissan. Yes, I would have liked to have bought a new Volvo, but I didn't have Volvo money. I did have Nissan money, so that's what I went with. When I moved from New York to Illinois about 10 years ago, I downgraded my cost of living significantly and I was able to save some money and buy my own place. When I bought my co-op, one of my aunts asked why I didn't buy a house. I told her, "I can't afford a house in the area where I live." And I couldn't! Even rinky-dink houses here cost over $300K and I don't make the kind of money to afford a mortgage like that. 

New York Magazine has a story in its current edition about a woman who got scammed out of $50K. This woman is a financial writer and she got scammed. The story was ridiculous for many reasons but, for me, I just couldn't figure out how this woman actually thought that someone from Amazon would put her in touch with the CIA when they suspected she had fraud on her account. Bezos is not working in tandem with the CIA, lady. Give me a break. The US government doesn't care about your Amazon account. There were other red flags this woman ignored, but that one stood out to me. We all need to be smarter about the financial decisions we make in life. You live and, hopefully, you learn from your mistakes.

Stuff I've Been Watching

I said I was going to drop my Amazon Prime subscription after they announced that their videos would have ads included (unless you want to pay not to have them), and I followed through and dropped that service earlier in January before Bezos could get in my pockets again for the next billing cycle. I don't miss it at all either. I have more than enough to watch on other services. 

Speaking of those other services, I've been watching the new season of True Detective on HBO/Max. It's okay, but not great. It is holding my interest enough to continue watching it. I had seen the previous seasons of the show except for Season 2, so I watched that over the past couple of weeks. Oy vey, what a mess. I enjoyed Season 1 when it came out and Season 3 was good also, but Season 2 was no bueno. Vince Vaughn and Rachel McAdams were miscast. I didn't buy either of them in their roles. Colin Farrell was good. I saw him in New York at a Dunkin' Donuts once. True story! I was waiting for my coffee and donuts and he came in with a woman. I thought, That guy looks like Colin Farrell. Then he opened his mouth and spoke and I realized, That IS Colin Farrell! But, back to True Detective Season 2. Too much sleaze and bad dialogue and not enough of a decent plot. Season 4 has an interesting mystery, but Kali Reis isn't working for me and I don't think she can hold her own against Jodie Foster. (Another case of an actor being miscast for the role in this series.) I'm going to see it through to the end (like I did with the awful Season 2), but I'm watching with lowered expectations.

I went to see the movie The Zone of Interest earlier today because I'd heard it was good and I wanted to see if I could understand any of the German dialogue since I took 16 weeks of German lessons last summer. Yeah, I can safely say that most of my German has gone out the window. Other than recognizing basic terms like children, hello, thank you, goodbye, and some numbers, I didn't remember jack. I watched this movie and walked out of it wondering, Who is this movie for and what was the point of it? It was ghoulish. That's the best word I can use to describe it. Was the filmmaker just trying to let the audience know that some Germans went about living their normal lives while the Holocaust was going on? Duh, I think we know that. I didn't get it.