Tax return a go-go

So every year from now until April 14, everyone in the United States gets either happy or depressed about one thing.

TAXES

Now for all my peoples around the world that are not exactly sure what I am talking about, this is the short version. Americans have money taken out of their paychecks every time we get paid, at the beginning of the year, the gov't sends us a W2 and we get it filled out and send it back in and then in a few weeks or so we get a check from the the government.

Honestly, getting a tax return is not a bad thing, unless you are the guy that wrote this

http://money.msn.com/tax-planning/why-i-hate-income-tax-refunds-schnepper.aspx?GT1=33005

See, now here is the thing, I understand if you are making 50 trillion dollars a year and half your paycheck is going to taxes, leaving you with 25 trillion dollars and you are like, damn I don't want to get a tax return because that would mean I have been paying too much during the year and I could have used that money, but now I have to wait to get it back.

Now for the rest of the working population that is essentially living from paycheck to paycheck, The smart move is to get a tax return. Honestly, you work the whole year and you are still broke on the first and the fifteenth of every month, and then sometime between January and april, you get a check for anywhere between 1,ooo to 2,000 or whatever, feels really good.

So seriously, fuck this guy.

KenNitro Vs The Facility: The WAR REPORT

So there was this huge ice storm that hit Carrollton, and as usual the people of this town and any other town in Georgia did not disappoint. All the bread and ALL the eggs were purchased with the veracity of angry wilder beast. I even went to the store myself, late and I picked up a loaf of bread too. I actually already had eggs, so while I still fell into the madness it was more of a casual walk.

The snow was a crucial moment at the facility and if you read my previous blog you know the decision I made and the perilous journey to work. I along with the “Professional Wild Boyz” did in fact go and “Get dis Money HO!!!!!”

However, in preparation for such an even there was a great email sent that in a very professional said the following “Regardless of the weather, get yo ass to work. There will be repercussions, no one will be over looked.”

It was wild, after I decided that I was going to risk it on the road, I started to get hype. I started to feel like how I guess you should feel if the zombie apocalypse was going to happen and you had a six hour head start on the whole thing. I put together an anti-cabin fever package containing all things necessary for such an event as this epic snowpocalypse.

First on my list was food. I know for a fact that the children of the facility will have their nutritional needs taken care of and just like on airplanes where it says put your air mask on before you help someone else, I had to make sure I had food for me so I can handle all situations at work.

Second, my toothbrush.

Third, a 24 pack of cokes, see the soda fountain might have been available for my caffeine needs, but like I said earlier, this is the cold weather version of zombies coming to eat my brains, I can’t take the chance that the machine is off and I can’t get a coke. I can promise you there would have been a death, and I could prolly tell you right now which child would be made the example and which one would be the object lesson.

Forth, my Xbox 360. This time it was for me. On rare occasions I disable my entertainment hub for the kids but I figured if I am going to be snowed in, I need to have something to give me the idea that I am not at work.

Finally, the mental preparation to know that sleep will be what I am working for not without.

Seriously, I worked about 23 hours and had maybe an hour worth of sleep. Sleeping was not really an option because there is a third shift from 11-7 that had to be covered, but there were enough to where we could sleep in shifts, but I like most of my coworkers would rather go without sleep than not get enough. Around 10 that morning I was coaxed into taking a nap because my actual shift did not start until 3, but I am working the 1^st shift from 7-3. I sleep for about five hours in an office with a locked door, I could actually relax.

I worked my shift and finally made it home Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at 12 am.

What is funny is how some people at work apparently have their nose turned up at the people who made the inverse decision to stay home. Honestly, I don’t blame them. I live 13 miles from work and there are those at work that live 45+ miles from the facility.

I was reading all over facebook how folks suffered from cabin fever and all this snow related nonsense. I would have killed to have been at my house during this stuff, but you know this flat screen tv is not going to pay for itself.

FACT.

KenNitro Vs The Facility Vs The WEATHER: This is for the TV title

As we all know, the TV title was actually the hardest belt to win in WCW. The match was always the last on the show and the challenger generally had 15 minutes or TV time remaining in order to defeat the champion. A lot of champions, especially Diamond Dallas Page or DDP as us real fans refer as was the king of exploiting this particular rule. I remember as a kid watching this guy not cheat, but take full advantage of the opportunity of the rules set forth. Not to mention the Diamond Cutter, this move was in fact the business because it could come from anywhere at at any moment and then BAM!!!! you are looking like the dude in the orange spandex I mean just so we are on same page here, I am going to give you a little hot youtube action of the man, and you will see that not only could the Diamond Cutter be delivered from any angle of position, but it was a game changer!!!!!

and anyone could in fact get it!

Like Muddy Waters said, "Ain't that a MAN!!!!!"

Well right now, I am in a similar position. Here I am, the facility is thirteen miles away, and the only thing stopping me from coming closer to the flatscreen tv that I want is ice on the road.

The smart move is always the safe move.

The safe move would be for me to stay my ass indoors play this call of duty, and watch dexter.

The pimp move, would be for me to get out there, get this money, like a hungry lion. Cats is on the island counting money like....like....

LIKE THIS NIGGA HUURRRR

Seriously, if Brian Nichols can walk into a court house, and walk out, not because a judge told him he could, but because he decided he did not want to go to jail. Why am I sitting here not gettin this money?

ACT LIKE YOU WANT IT, GO HOME WITH THE TROPHY

I base a lot of decisions around this phrase, sometimes it works out, sometimes not so much, but in the end, I made a decision, which is something a lot of people never really do. So I am going to pack up some sandwiches and teletron and brave this 6-7 inches of snow in Georgia.

I think I get it now

So collectively we all know certain kinds of people. Hippie's, conservatives, pill heads, douche bags, etc, and right.

And we all know about the site people of wal-mart right?

Well this blog has nothing to do with anything I just mentioned. The other day while out and about before I went in to work, I decided to go to Publix for lunch. I guess you could say Publix is to wal-mart as G.I. Joe is to Cobra.

And we all know people who only shop at Publix if the "Whole Foods" is not an option.

Anyway, I typically don't go to Publix for much because I like most people have a Kroger card and even though the discount is small it adds up and I actually like seeing my final price decrease, even if it is just a little.

At Publix you don't get that.

I remember one time I was at Publix in the produce section and while looking at whatever the fuck I was shopping for this chick in her late twenties early thirties starts up this whimsical conversation, and I just looked at her like

"What the FUCK do you think this is some kind of romantic comedy?"

At that point I knew this Publix shoppers were crazy. I am almost certain no one goes to wal-mart to pick up chicks. Kroger...well I don't shop early enough there to truly get a read on that, but only one of these female Publix shoppers would put themselves out there in the produce section to be picked up...

I'm digressing.

So I stop in for lunch, cause the deli is just as good as quizno's and cheaper to boot! I order the Publix daily special and I wanted to pay for it at the deli so I can eat it in the little section they have there for them, but the guy behind the counter wouldn't ring it up.

He said, "Just keep the box and pay for it at the register"

What?

You mean in this age of identity theft, credit card fraud, and face book stalking, I can go to Publix and post pay for a sandwich? Everywhere else in this town I live in requires you to pay for your purchase before you leave/eat them. So I enjoyed my sandwich and then did a quick walk through of the store because...well prettier people do shop at Publix.

So I get to the checkout line and there is this lady with a shit load of groceries and me with this empty box, now I am prepared to wait in line, but she lets me go ahead of her, which was nice of her, but all it did was put me behind another lady with another cart full of groceries.

I chuckled at the irony

Well that lady, either in a female’s innate sense of competition for men or mere consideration for others also allowed me to go ahead of her also. I was really thrown back. I mean have you seen the news lately? You really can't trust anyone.

As I walked to the car I pondered all that just transpired.

Paid for lunch after I ate it at a grocery deli

Was allowed to go in front of one lady

Was allowed to do it again in front of another lady

What is it with Publix?

Then I realized something.

People at Publix pride themselves on not being like people at wal-mart, and to be honest the difference price is not so high to where people that shop at Kroger and wal-mart could not afford it, just the people that do not want to shop at Kroger and wal-mart will pay for the convenience of not having to go there.

I think that has created this culture of politeness that is just not found at other stores. I mean I can’t speak for publixs elsewhere but the one in Carrollton is the only grocery store that does not have one of the self check-out kiosks that all the other grocery stores have. Instead there is this trust factor that the employee’s of the store have for customers because well…

They don’t look like they shop at wal-mart.

Seriously.

Where did 2010 go?

No seriously, it seems like I just wrote this blog yesterday.

Read it if you like, but the best part is this:

"Anyway, I just try to be better than what I was before, good or evil, I want to be better at it than before."

I did start learning a new instrument...

I do believe that I have been a better person, but I don't really know what that means past doing good deeds? This year, I have cast out, let in, sinned, forgave, been forgiven, pushed and shoved, hustled, created and destroyed.

I would like to say that it is all in the name of forward progress, but I don't know. Lately, in the last few instances that I have been angry which have been less than five times, I see myself compartmentalizing all of it, and never really purging myself of the actual reason I am angry. I use to think that I needed that, this angst that keeps me on edge.

The proverbial hare in front of the hounds

Anyway, this year has been interesting enough, the good parts of it are

I have a job that I am good at

I have my own apartment

I have my health

I have some of the best friends ever

I think therefore I am

I think I will own 2011

I am going own 2011

RANT

Sometimes I really don't think I am cut out for this job...

I have patience, as a matter of fact I spent a good part of my life learning that through the lessons taught at the Southeast Martial Arts Center, I generally feel as though in my personal life I weigh my options and make a decision based on what I want and what I can deal with and I roll with it. I have worked at my job(I work with kids facing obstacles) for a little less than a year and I am hear to tell you.

TEACHERS NEED TO GET PAID LIKE PRO ATHLETES.

I spend the better part of the day observing kids and taking notes, seeing patterns of behaviors and learning what makes them tick. I feel like if I can tell you something that is pretty much the real truth about the education. There are two types of kids sitting in the desk in any class room

The kids that want to learn and the kids that don't.

As much as I hate sweeping generalizations, this is what boils to the top.

I'm not talking about the kids that have a hard time getting through lessons, they are truly deserving of help, I am talking about the kids who actively seek to disrupt the learning of others, for no reason other than the fact that they themselves do not want to learn.

Truth is, they want no part of the world we are looking to prepare them for. We are wasting their time and fooling ourselves into thinking that we can change a child's mind who does not want to do good at all, and desires to be rewarded for mediocrity.

Immortal technique has a line in his song, "Dance With The Devil"

"...Ask a nigga doing life, if he had another chance, but then there is always the wicked that knew in advance..."

Honestly, I hate the whole "Label Theory" but Jesus Christ on a cracker, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it damn sure ain't a T-rex.

I guess what I am saying is that sometimes treatment is not the answer, but jail is.

There Are Only Three Types of Men Out There (as it relates to women)

I like to write about relationships and people and I like to think that I call things pretty down the middle. My uncle always told me, “To thy own self be true”. I always thought that was some stuff he would say to me to keep me from telling a lie to him, but as I got older I am certain that the life lesson was learning to not lie to yourself even when that is in fact the comforting thing to do. I have come to the point that there are three types of men in relationships. The guys that don’t know, the guys that do know, and the guys that found out. The weak always want to be whatever it is that they aren’t.

When I returned from Korea, I was visiting with my old roommate and his new roommate and I started a conversation about women and how he “Doesn’t want to be the guy that doesn’t know” and we all laughed at the horrid notion that ignorance is bliss, in any situation involving women. If you have read this blog and this one you will see prime examples of “The Guy That Doesn’t Know”. The cold hard truth is that guy is the only one that doesn’t know, reminds me of the emperor’s new clothes.

You remember that story right? It was the flick about the guy whose head was so far up his own ass that some ol hustling ass mofo’s showed up and made him some invisible clothes, but the real pimp shit was that they had his eyes all wide open, telling him shit like, “Only folks on your level can see this fits we hookin you up with” and then they told him if folks couldn’t see it, they was just plum dumb.

Game was on SMASH!

We all know how the story ended…you know looking like a fool wit yo pants on the ground!

I bet the person who coined the phrase ignorance is bliss probably was not strong enough to handle the reality of the situation.

Guys that know, are the sum of their actions, and play things by ear. Protecting themselves at all times never being too close to any situation, but always aware of such situations. Guys that know will be honest with themselves and ask the question, “Why am I angry” and after careful internal discourse a decision will be made. Guys that are generally in the know are what some refer to as “players”. Mainly because of the nonchalant attitude about feelings of others and inability to be anything more than considerate given any situation; I think a better term for them are emotional disconnects. These types can be frustrating for women that do not know how to define them, normal stressors that would indicate emotional connections don’t normally react, not because they are not there, but because they are not always attuned to the females they have relationships with, and that tends to be the underlying cause of issues with men of these types. Also, these types have to deal with a lot of haters…Some want to see you fail; others want to see you take your own medicine, but it’s ok. You already knew that.

The down side to being the guy that knows is that nothing is ever constant. It’s a delicate balancing act keeping ones emotions in check, you spend enough time with anyone and feelings will in fact start to develop, and while if left unchecked they could lead to comfort, and comfort is always a slippery slope, when you get comfortable you lose the edge that you had in the beginning, and when that edge is gone the only other thing left to be

Is the guy that found out.

The guy that found out is at best a transitional phase from not knowing to knowing or from knowing to knowing more, but for the most part the guy that found out

DIDN’T KNOW SHIT

And when they find out that they were the last to know, they tend to get upset with everyone else that knew and didn’t tell them, even then they still don’t get it. At this point you really are looking at a fork in the road. Once you find out you have options, and as we all know options are better than obligations. The options are simple: Leave, Stay, or run.

When you leave, you walk away with nothing but your anger and a wounded ego. Of course, your anger will subside and your ego will heal, but at least you have your dignity.

That by far is more important than your ego.

If you stay, you are now in a position to discuss why this particular bit of knowledge makes you feel the way you do. This may require you to eat your own words, show your own hypocrisy, and maybe just maybe admit that you were wrong.

First, running is not the same as leaving, when people run, they are trying to get back to where they were before they found out. The roads to these forks are long and arduous, and there is no coming back from that.

You want to know some folks that found out?

Jedi’s, yeah…all them found out at the last possible moment and look what happened to them. Oh they thought they knew. If you don’t know the story, it goes something like this:

See these folks was sitting all kinds of pretty in their big rooms picking things up with their minds, so one of them is like, “Man see there is this kid, that is going to bring all this stuff into balance”, so these cats were like, “that’s what’s up” and they go back to chillin.

Meanwhile, the Sith were posted up in the back hittin licks left and right, ya dig putting clones in check, makin death stars, all that shit!

Jedi’s were just chillin.

Aight, so when obi-wan show up with this straight up G named Anakin, and then they started hatin on him. I mean but on the low, palpatine was like, “Maaaannnnn FUCK YODA” so when they started dumping on Jedi’s they was all like

“OOOOHHHH SHIT SON, I’m SCARED AS SHIT, WHAT WE GON DO”

Yoda, straight ran like a little bitch.

Finding out is a lot like pulling teeth too. How many times do you see people with their hands on their face, chopping down pain relief medicine, complaining about a tooth, instead of going to the dentist and getting the bad part over?

Far too many.

Relationships are the same way, and trying to stand on the fine line between knowing and not knowing is uncomfortable at best and at worst it is like getting a tooth pulled,

It hurts, but only for a little bit.

These relationship archetypes are all interconnected; you can’t be one without being the other at some point you won’t know what you are until you accept what you were. Truth is we all want to be wanted more than the others and we people to want us as much as we want them.

Open your eyes and play your position or you could in fact just be playing yourself.