Shrimping Season Begins
Did you miss it? The Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources announced the beginning of the shrimp fishing season August 15th, upon the expiry of the seven month ban, from January 15 – August 15.
I checked the fish markets yesterday, and didn’t see any Kuwaiti shrimp, only Saudi farmed shrimp (which is also good, but farmed); I expect we will be seeing the good Kuwaiti shrimp soon. Oh, I have been missing Kuwaiti shrimp!
U.S. Taxes, a Poem
None of the following is original. Many thanks to a dear friend who forwards me these gems from time to time. I have never seen this one before:
At first I thought this was funny…then I realized
the awful truth of it.
Be sure to read all the way to the end!
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he’s fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won’t be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He’s good and sore.
Then tax his coffin ,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he’s laid.
Put these words
Upon his tomb,
” Taxes drove me to my doom…”
When he’s gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest
middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to
raise the kids.
What the hell happened? Can you spell “politicians!”
And I still have to “press 1”
For English.
I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times
This last year, they changed the way they charge taxes to ex-pats. It has made a HUGE difference in the amounts we owe every year. We now owe more in taxes than we made in the early years of our marriage! Aaarrgh!
If we believe our taxes are truly working for the greater good, we don’t mind so much. Faced with the crumbling infrastructure in our country, we shouldn’t see things like the failure of the levees in Louisiana, the collapse of the bridge in Minnesota, the degradation of our clean water programs in many states as our infrastructure ages. We should, for the taxes we pay, have a world class medical program available for all citizens, but especially the oldest and the youngest, the most vulnerable citizens.
Those who talk the most about bringing God back into our politics are often the ones who complain the most about money wasted on immigrant programs, public health and safety programs, tax monies collected for schools, for rehabilitation programs. Jesus would weep in frustration.
Hospitals Party Hearty?
I am telling you, as I tell my own family – if I am sick enough to go to a hospital, please, please, don’t come hang out with me in the hospital.
It happened to me once. I was suffering terribly, and I was very very dangerously ill. Suddenly, around my bed, were about 15 members of my family with deely-bobbers on their heads, in the emergency room, all coming to see how I was doing.
It was my Mom’s birthday then, too, and they had been celebrating, and felt sorry for me, and came so I wouldn’t feel left out.
I wasn’t feeling left out. I was in hideous pain. And the last thing on earth I wanted was to be polite to anyone, to be social. I was in PAIN.
But I also understand that other people feel differently. Some people like the support. Some hospitals – you really need to have an advocate watching out for you, so that you don’t get the wrong medications or the wrong treatment. No, I am not talking about Kuwait. It can happen anywhere, and it does!
And my dear friends in Qatar told me that if you go to visit a sick friend in a hospital ONE THOUSAND angels will pray for you, and while I don’t have that in writing, I like the idea.
So I have come to the conclusion, for myself, it is a good idea to have one very quiet trustworthy person at your bedside, someone who can read, and entertain him or herself, and will love you even at your very worst and not expect you to be polite.
How do you feel? What constitutes appropriate visiting in a hospital? How closely related do you want your visitors to be? Do you want a party atmosphere?
This is from today’s Kuwait Times.
KUWAIT: The medical care and hygiene in most of the public hospitals is dangerously below standard. Not only do nurses suffer from unfair treatment and low wages, but patients face a range of unpleasantness – none of it due to medical reasons – during their stays. Many patients and even nurses are complaining that hospitals have turned into restaurants, a party place and sometimes a garden or kids’ playground for the visiting families of patients.
Reda is a doctor in Sabah hospital who deals daily with the parties of visitors who come at all hours of the day, stay for long periods, bringing with them picnics and ice cream and toys for the kids. She says that visitors are selfish and forget the fact that they are in a hospital and that patients need quiet and time to rest. “These visitors don’t respect the visiting hours, they act as if they are in a hotel rather than a hospitals,” she noted.
An Egyptian patient in his early 50s currently hospitalized in Ibn Sina said “I can’t even sleep from the noise in the corridors. The room next to mine is always full of visitors all the time. The visitors bring their children along with them. The kids are very disturbing and they keep opening the door of my room and don’t let me rest.
You can read the rest of the article at this Kuwait Times link.
Comment Section Closed, Wooo Hoooo
I have had some problems with one particular spammer targeting one particular entry on my blog. Really nasty stuff, it offends me. I clear it out almost as quickly as they send it, but it is ANNOYING.
WordPress is so cool. I went into edit, and turned off “allow comments.” It allowed all the original comments, but has a cheery message now:
“Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time”
*Dancing at a stinging blow against spammers*
Stealing Kuwait’s Telephone Resources?
From the August 6 Arab Times:
(Once again, the government is getting tough on crime. The 23rd richest country in the world is worried about losing the revenue from poor Indians calling home and people using the internet to call their friends and family:)
KUWAIT CITY: Four government bodies — the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Communications, Kuwait Municipality and General Customs Department — have agreed to launch a joint inspection campaign against all illegal international call operators, reports Al-Jareeda daily. Reportedly, they obtained permission from the Public Prosecution to raid all suspected houses and shops conducting such illegal operations and arrest all those involved in the trade. They will also issue citations to people who illegally obtain a landline connection. According to sources, stealing international telephone lines amounts to stealing public funds and culprits will be suitably punished. A security committee too has been formed to follow-up and investigate all such thefts.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications is planning to engage international companies to study and find ways to overcome illegal calling through internet. Kuwait considers such internet facilities an infringement of its resources and intends to safeguard its rights. In another development, sources say Kuwait will become the first country to have fully installed the optic fiber communication network. Government had earmarked a budget of KD 36 million for the first phase and another KD 80 million for the second phase of the project. Also, telephone connections will be available by next year in three new areas — Ashbiliya, Sabah Al-Naser and Abdullah Al-Mubarak areas.
Meanwhile, Director General of General Customs Department Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Ghanim says his department has been foiling all attempts to smuggle equipments used for stealing telephone lines.
Reportedly, the Ministry of Communications earlier showed department officials the kind of equipment needed to steal telephone lines and “the department has been working hard to foil all smuggling attempts,” he added.
Washington State Ferries
The Washington State Ferries are part of the highway system – you drive your car on and off, and relax with a great cup of coffee as you cross the waters.
On the weekends, lines can back up and you might have to wait a couple hours for a ferry. There are coffee stands along the way to help pass the time.
And nice clean bathrooms, after you drink all that coffee!
There are ferries of all different sizes – this one has six rows of traffic on each of two levels going across to the Olympic Peninsula.
Those who watch Grey’s Anatomy will recall that Meredith almost died in a ferry boat accident. The reality is, thankfully, that the system is well maintained, and incidents are rare. Counter-terrorist teams patrol the ferry lines and suspicious cars are checked.
Cost Cutter
The store I was going to wasn’t open, and I knew we needed a couple groceries, so I headed across the parking lot to the Cost Cutter (yep, it’s raining):
As soon as I got inside, I knew this was not just any old grocery store. The cashiers, the manager and the butchers all looked Mexican! And when I got to the deli section, the specialities were things like Dulce de Leche, all packaged up for people who eat a LOT of dulce de leche:
To my delight, there was an aisle labled Middle East foods, with tabbouleh, canned hummus and muttabel, foul, and Lebanese olive oil:
And a huge aisle with East European foods (I am not sure what East European foods are!)
And, while most stores hide their beer selection in some dark corner of the store, Cost Cutter has a huge aisle down the center of the store, with all kinds of neon signage – it looks very festive:
Stores like Cost Cutter, that serve the large and varied population of immigrants are one of the reasons I love Seattle.
McGuire’s for Steak
“I just have a yearning for a steak,” I said to my son’s wife, as we sat in the kitchen chatting and thinking about what to do for dinner. “I know you want to go for a run tonight, but maybe tomorrow night.”
Here is what I have loved about staying with them. Five minutes later she came back to me and said she had talked with her husband and they thought going out for steak tonight would be a very GOOD idea, and they could run tomorrow night.
And the best steaks, they both recommended, were at McGuire’s.
When we got there, the huge parking lot was already full. The street parking all around McGuire’s was full. We dropped off my son and his wife and I went to park in one of the few places they have heard cars are never towed from: Sammy’s Club for Gentlemen. It was still early, and we didn’t get towed.
Because it was their weekly fun-run night, we had to wait for a table. As we waited, runners finishing the run were running past us. Run six runs and you are eligible for the McGuire’s coveted green fun run shirt, with a shamrock on it. Woo hoooooo! I have heard there is a Hash House Harrier group in Kuwait that does something similar, but they change locations every run, whereas the McGuire sponsored runs all end up at – Maguire’s! They have free eats for the runners, who have to rehydrate in the McGuire’s bar.
There is another tradition at McGuires; customer write their name in felt pen on a dollar bill and staple it to the ceiling. The bar has an estimated $500,000 in dollar bills stapled to it’s ceilings, walls, pass throughs, etc. It is an amazing sight.
The steaks were magnificent. I had the peppercorn steak, and it was so big I took half of it home for the next day. It came with sides – your choice – garlic mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, asparagas (my choice) and several others. The steaks were perfect, and the entire meal was worth every penny. They also have a good variety of seafood selections, and Irish selections, and a great selection of beer and wines.
“Alien Babies!”
“Whaja think of the storm?” the young man asked me, as he dusted the magazines with a feather duster.
“Oh, wow!” I said. “I thought it would go on forever! How long did it last?”
“I don’t know,” he responded, “but it WAS a long time, and it was right overhead! Hey, this can’t be right. . . it says George Bush is involved in some kind of divorce!” He was dusting one of the tabloids.
“Naaahhh.” I said, waiting for my turn in line. “Sometimes they even write about alien babies being born. You know that can’t be right.”
He stood, transfixed.
“Alien babies?” he half whispered in astonishment. “No! Not really!”
“Yes! really!” I said, “and you know that can’t be true.”
“No!” he said. “No alien babies!” and then under his breath “alien babies!” half in wonder. He followed me around the store, from time to time saying in wonder “alien babies!”
Albertson’s supermarket hires mildly retarded adults to work as baggers and cleaners. These young people are trained to greet the customers, to accompany them to the cars if they have a basket, to unload groceries and generally to make the customer feel welcome.
I always feel welcome. These young people love their jobs, love being a part of the community, and they take great pride in doing their jobs well. God bless Albertsons for this enlightened hiring and training policy.
The Apple Market, Pensacola
The Apple Market isn’t a big chain. You can hardly maneuver in the aisles, they are so close together. They have their own deli, with Boar’s Head meats, they have a big section with deli-made food, made with fresh ingredients, that you can take home and heat – some are already hot! They have rotisseried chickens, they have fresh key lime pies, boutique breads, a whole huge refrigerator full of freshly made salads . . . the Apple Market is my kind of place.
I can’t imagine the odds against the family grocery stores staying in existence against the giants. But I can walk into one of the giants here – Winn Dixie – and walk out without buying a thing, the giant is so tired looking, so sterile, so packaged. What the Apple Market offers is personal service.
When I walk up to the counter with a container of “Mama’s Gumbo” they ask me if I have had it before, and when I say I have, and loved it, they recommend the Shrimp Loxlie, in the same brand, and recommend that I serve it over rice or noodles, to make it go further. I buy some, serve it over angel hair pasta, and it is a gourmet feast. They encourage you to bring your own re-usable bags, or buy one of theirs – they are earth friendly.
You pay a little more. I don’t mind. They buy locally, the produce is always first rate, and they have an amazing variety of goods in a relatively small space. I can always fine something to fix up for dinner there, and I always love the service. Give me The Apple Market over a big box store anyday!
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