Claire's Random Thoughts

It’s annoying when my ebay description specifically and very clearly states Paypal only and USA shipping only yet so many buyers have to ask if I’ll accept alternate payment methods or ship out of the country anyway.

It’s even more annoying when such buyers argue with me and explain why I should accept their checks/money orders or attempt to teach me which shipping service I can use to ship out of the USA. I’m not stupid, my policy is for my own convenience, duh.

Perhaps most annoying yet arguably humorous at the same time are these messages below, simply because they display idiocy even more so than the above two types of messages.

Due to the amount of time it takes me to crop screenshots of these questions, I’m only displaying a few for now. More may come later.
Click on the images to enlarge if they’re not big enough for you to read.

What? I'm the one reimbursing you? Did you not understand that?

Is it possible to have more or stupider questions than this guy?

Somebody didn't go to grammar school

That’s it? Well, I guess it doesn’t surprise me too much. I’ve had a lot of white friends, and I do like some things white people like too, but this quiz still shows that there’s some element of Asian in me.
The quiz can be found here for anyone interested.

I hate how all the awesome higher end phones are always introduced in Europe and Asia and may or may not ever make it to the USA. This was also true for my current phone, the HTC Touch Diamond, which I had to wait several months in order for it to finally be available on Sprint.

The past few months, I’ve done some research on phones that are both pretty and useful, and I think I found the perfect one. I stumbled upon the Nokia N97 that was recently released in Europe, and I now have a new “dream” or perfect phone for my needs that will hopefully be officially sold in the USA around the time my Sprint contract ends in December. Since I’m a techie, of course I want a phone with a plethora of functions that I may not use frequently but can brag about, and the N97 is perfect for this. Nokia calls this phone the “world’s most advanced mobile computer” for a reason. Also, since I’m female, I might care slightly more about a nice looking phone, and for a Nokia phone, the N97 is really not bad looking either. Of course I have the option of buying the unlocked version of this phone for $700+ (the current price in Europe is 550 Euros), but I’m not sure if it’s tri-band or quad-band compatible at this point. Phones in Europe and Asia tend to run on 900/1900/2100MHz bands while AT&T runs on 850/1900MHz and T-Mobile runs on 1700/2100MHz. Thus, I will be able to get some service with either AT&T or T-Mobile in the USA, but I will only be receiving roughly half the maximum reception if the phone is tri-band at 900/1900/2100MHz

Features:
3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel screen
Slide-out qwerty keyboard
WiFi
GPS
3.5 mm headphone jack
Stereo Speakers
5 megapixel camera
30 fps video capture (excellent DVD quality)
32GB of memory

These specs are definitely some of the most impressive I’ve seen, way better than my HTC Touch Diamond that I just bought a few months ago, anyway. This seems like the one device that can be used for everything, maybe even enough so that I won’t even have to carry a Netbook around for internet browsing/note taking with a full qwerty keyboard.

As an added bonus to the specs that are superior to those of any other phone I have seen, the N97 is also sleek and attractive, as the picture shows. It measures a sleek 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9-18.3 mm or approximately 4.6 X 2.2 X .72 inches which is small and thin enough to store in a small purse or pants pocket.

“A penny saved is a penny earned” –Benjamin Franklin

Roughly 2.5 centuries ago, a very wise man, Benjamin Franklin, introduced a new proverb that we still hear today. I’m sure he simply meant that spending less money was a great way to build wealth, and that’s still true if not even more true today.

First, let’s break down the US tax system:
25% federal income tax
9.3% state income tax
6.2% social security
1.45% medicare
…58.08% to keep
This is neglecting additional taxes that we all pay, such as sales tax and property tax. The above calculation is above is also missing payroll tax.

Sorry Ben, your overall concept behind this quote is wise, but your quote may need to be updated due to the way our government in the 21st century is run. I would trust that you wouldn’t approve of the tax system changing so drastically that your proverb isn’t even accurate anymore.

This “proverb” may need to be updated to “A penny saved is two pennies earned.” And my dad also added “A penny taxed by the US government is two pennies spent” when I discussed this earlier today with my family.

So, I am thinking of pennies in a brand new way from now on. I’ll either have to mentally cut the taxable income I am making in half as I am earning it or double the price of everything I’m spending money on in order to get an accurate estimate of the real price I am paying for goods/services.

We would think that it would be more logical for Americans today to save a penny once in a while, which is roughly equivalent to earning two pennies. Unfortunately, most Americans tend to make one penny and spend two, just like the US government does. The proverb may need a slight update (although I wish it could go back to being earn one = save one), but the overall concept behind it should not be forgotten.