Death and Taxes

So, I sort of disappeared for a while there, and I know that all of my imaginary readers have been distraught to an unhealthy degree, so I will post again. *granted, I have started a few posts, but I haven't been able to finish any, and through the wonders of my laptop, the text was lost to the fatal Dead Battery Syndrome. Allow me to digress though. I have been very busy lately, doing a lot of nothing and a little bit of something useful here and there. I find that the more I type here, the more I find that I, myself, am a hypocrite. The ideals that I believe in are awesome, and are not impossible, but they are, however, improbable. In an example, I told myself that when I got my mission call, I would stop playing video games. Pokemon Soul Silver came out a few days later. Yeah.... *for those of you, and yes, I mean you Kayla* I took the video game rant down because I wrote it when I was tired and in a VERY anti-technology mood. We need not talk about it. I know that for the rest of you, *the ones that don't read every entry before I take something down* may be curious and confused, but it is better that you remain that way, so that you hopefully will not think ill of me. although, you may think so since I won't tell you, but either way, you are either still reading, or have closed the tab, so yeah, that's that.

Death and Taxes are the title points of this entry, and so they shall be.

Death- Well, it is the other one guaranteed in life, so it seems relevant somehow.

Taxes- Suck. Well, rewind 14 characters, add a space, and then start over with this one. I am totally fine with paying taxes. They keep our country running, and they keep me safe from creeps that would steal my stuff. What I don't like is when the government tells me that I don't have to pay another 5-15 dollars or so on each paycheck, and that then I have to pay over 100 dollars when I don't have it for the leeway I received during each of my previous pay periods. I'd rather have a little less for a while when I have it then a lot less when I don't. It's the difference between my parents helping me, and having a smaller waistline from eating out less.

I know somewhere, deep down, that it's my own fault for not being politically aware enough to realize what was happening to me, but at the same time, the government doesn't exactly make it known what I am going to have to do. I'm a little perturbed right now, and so this is probably just me being tired and moody, but the government that we keep complaining about seems to do a lot of not changing. I think that we need to be more active in our government, so that this doesn't happen. I know that it probably won't happen before I go on my mission, but sooner or later, I'll make it happen.

That's all for now, my dear imaginary readers, and whomever may be here as well.

-Doug Knuth

The Birthday, and the Day after. 75 Days to go. (74 on Friday)

Good day to you dear reader, and thank you for stopping in. My Birthday was a rather interesting event, and I will quickly recount it for you here! We (being Skylar Warren, Jen Warren ((no relation)), and I went on a road trip to Seattle. This may not sound like too daring a feat, depending on where you live, but for us in Salem, it constitutes over 220 miles of open road, and some not so open road as well! I originally wanted to go to Portland for the day, visit some shops and the like, and then come home for a birthday dinner with my parents. Well, I changed my mind, deigning instead to return to the land of my childhood (well, till I was six) and have an adventure. Due to a lack of knowledge on my part, we were not allowed onto the Navy base that I was born on (the car I drive is technically in my parent's name, so I couldn't get a pass for it...) but we traveled a few miles and took the Ferry to Seattle. The ride was beautiful, and between the Navy base and the Ferry we were fortunate enough to see a Bald Eagle on the side of the road, perched in a tree!! It was a beautiful and majestic bird, and I like to think of the idea that God put that bird there at that particular time as a way of saying Happy Birthday to me! We then rode on the ferry, and wandered around the closing Pike's Place Market, and afterward retired to the first ever Starbucks (my friend Jen works at one here in Salem, and she had always wanted to see the original!). Proceeding from there, we drove around Seattle and found the Cheesecake Factory, and had dinner. It was delicious! After dinner (which took until around 9pm, we got on the road, and came home. It was a good Birthday, and I enjoyed it more then those around me would think I did.

The following day (today), I slept in. We got in at around one, and my mother made arrangements for us to be able to sleep in, since she knew that we would be getting up rather early in the morning. I slept till ten, and then began going about my day. I did the usual, and later went to work, all rather routine and usual. The biggest difference being that everyone is asking me how long it is until I leave, or how much longer will I be around for. It is fun to answer, but at the same time, I have a small lamenting in my heart. I know that my mission is going to be the most amazing thing ever, but I am going to miss everything here that I will leave. Visiting my home state yesterday made me think a lot about where I come from and where I am going with my life, more so then I have even been doing on a regular basis, and I found that I was, at least in my eyes, lacking somewhat. Now, I don't mean that I am a bad person, or that I am not good enough, but at the same time, I feel a little like that. I have come from such a privileged background, and I really don't have much that I can adequately complain about, and yet I find so many things to occupy my little box of worries. I worry about the silliest things, and I fret over things that are going to be fine. However, I sometimes wonder if that is something that I have been blessed with, or if it really is an insecurity. Sometimes it can be helpful in the sense that if I think to worry about something, I may do something that wouldn't have gotten done otherwise, and that is of great relief to me, since it brings a sense of fulfillment into the worrying I did... This is getting rather rant-ish, and I really do need to get some sleep, my dear reader, since I have to be to work in around six hours. I hope only the best for you, my dear reader, so have a wonderful day.