People are Awesome

Amazing video of some amazing things

Trip Summary

We had a good (tiring) trip. This was our third time to Disney, so we have in down to an extent. Over four days, we hit Magic Kingdom three times with half days at each of Hollywood Studios, Blizzard Beach (water park), and Epcot. The kids were interested in getting autographs and pictures from all characters - EXCEPT princesses.

The kids are old enough that we were able to tackle some of the more daring rides. Katie started off timid. Although Space Mountain was her favorite ride last trip (in 2007), she was reluctant to ride it at the beginning. However, it turned around by the end. The last day, we rode Space Mountain three times. Other favorites included Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mickey's Philharmagic, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear's [something], Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.

Hollywood Studios was a bit of a disappointment. We felt that with the kids older, they would have more stuff to do. There was, in fact, very little to do. Emily and I LOVED the Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster (Katie wouldn't go). And neither one of them would do the Tower of Terror. The nightime show Fantasmic was the only real family highlight.

Epcot is... well, Epcot. Odd place. Lots of walking around. We had a nice lunch in France (only after finding the English pub had an hour and a half wait). There are a few fun rides there. Soarin - a virtual hand glider over a virtual California - is really cool. GM's Test Track was also fun with your open air car hitting 65 miles an hour. Finally Mission Space - a simulated rocket ship - was also an enjoyable experience (again - Katie passed). We ate dinner at Corral Reef - a seafood restaurant inside Epcot's aquarium. Something seemed wrong about that.

We have now been to Disney at three different times of year - April, August and now October. Although more crowded than we expected (lots of New Englanders with Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots gear), October was the best timing of the three. August and October had similar crowds, but it was 20-30 degrees cooler. April was a zoo.

Dis Pics

Remembering back to August 2007...

And April 2006...

And away we go

The kids have three days off for Teacher conferences. We had a timeshare week expiring in October. Consequently, we're off to Disney World.

We leave tonight, and unfortunately have to connect through Dallas. Direct flight ticket prices on Delta were just ridiculous. We'll spend four full days there, and the flight home Sunday morning (again through Dallas). The good news is that we used miles to fly and got a good deal - first class all the way.

We'll update the trip along the way as possible.

Fourth

The Patriots picked up Deion Branch for a fourth round draft pick earlier this week. I've heard a certain school of thought on this. It basically goes, "Branch has fallen off the face of the earth and why bring him back other than for sentimentality, and a fourth round pick is a waste of a pick."

Let me ask you this, would you trade any of the following for Deion Branch - even if he was only slated as your third receiver?

1. Rich Ohrnberger - Offensive lineman who is currently on the practice squad
2. Jonathan Wilhite - back up CB
3. Kareem Brown - Released defensive lineman
4. Garrett Mills - Released TE
5. James Sanders - occasional starter at Safety

If the answer was yes to those names, you should be fine with Deion. Those were our fourth round picks from 2005 - 2009.

Great demonstrative tax article

Harvard Econ Professor, Greg Mankiw, makes a great demonstrative case against higher marginal tax rates on the "rich." His NY Times OpEd, I Can Afford Higher Taxes. But They’ll Make Me Work Less, is a great (and easy) read. [Free registration required]

Click Here

Here's the gist of it (although the context of the article is good):

Suppose that some editor offered me $1,000 to write an article. If there were no taxes of any kind, this $1,000 of income would translate into $1,000 in extra saving. If I invested it in the stock of a company that earned, say, 8 percent a year on its capital, then 30 years from now, when I pass on, my children would inherit about $10,000. That is simply the miracle of compounding.

Now let’s put taxes into the calculus. First, assuming that the Bush tax cuts expire, I would pay 39.6 percent in federal income taxes on that extra income. Beyond that, the phaseout of deductions adds 1.2 percentage points to my effective marginal tax rate. I also pay Medicare tax, which the recent health care bill is raising to 3.8 percent, starting in 2013. And in Massachusetts, I pay 5.3 percent in state income taxes, part of which I get back as a federal deduction. Putting all those taxes together, that $1,000 of pretax income becomes only $523 of saving.

And that saving no longer earns 8 percent. First, the corporation in which I have invested pays a 35 percent corporate tax on its earnings. So I get only 5.2 percent in dividends and capital gains. Then, on that income, I pay taxes at the federal and state level. As a result, I earn about 4 percent after taxes, and the $523 in saving grows to $1,700 after 30 years.

Then, when my children inherit the money, the estate tax will kick in. The marginal estate tax rate is scheduled to go as high as 55 percent next year, but Congress may reduce it a bit. Most likely, when that $1,700 enters my estate, my kids will get, at most, $1,000 of it.

HERE’S the bottom line: Without any taxes, accepting that editor’s assignment would have yielded my children an extra $10,000. With taxes, it yields only $1,000. In effect, once the entire tax system is taken into account, my family’s marginal tax rate is about 90 percent. Is it any wonder that I turn down most of the money-making opportunities I am offered?

Eye on the Governor

Dayton is a tax the rich populist. He's a disaster. Independent Horner is screwing things up for business-minded Emmer. I never understood the concept of the independent candidate. Almost by definition you help the guy who is LEAST like you, and split the most like-minded. Independent voters who have shown where their voting preferences lie need to step up and not throw away their vote.

Disappointment

I hate the loss of Randy Moss. For all his lack of public relations ability, the guy is a constant threat on the field - even if this year has not exactly been his best. And as a bonus, Brady loves playing with him. His catch rate is down to 41%, and Football Outsiders ranks him as only the 44th best receiver this year. However, that doesn't take into consideration the fact that he sees quite a few double teams. The guy has the potential to be thrilling and explosive at any moment.

Maybe it was time. However, I'd rather see him in our uniform than someone elses - especially when that other uniform will be playing in Foxboro on Halloween. The Vikes play the Jets on Monday (will this be the first time a player has had back-to-back weeks on MNF?), and the Patriots are on bye. Inside the trading deadline, the timing couldn't have been better from a disruption point of view. Nevertheless, I would have rather seen him stay the remainder of the season and go somewhere else next year. NE would have received a 5th round compensation pick in 2012.

A friend of mine compared this trade to that of Nomar. I disagree. Nomar had to go to make the Red Sox a better team. I don't think Randy did. If you want to be optimistic, you could compare it to the Lawyer Milloy release in 2002. I'm not THAT optimistic.

I feel bad for Emily. Her Patriots jersey is #81 - Moss.

March, march, march

Friday was Westonka High School Homecoming. They have a short (somewhat lame) parade prior to the football game against Orono. What is nice is that they incorporate the middle school and elementary schools into the activity. The Third Grade got to close out the parade with their kazoo band, while singing the fight song. Emily enjoyed it.

The video was taken with my cellphone, so not exactly the best: