Cubano Jul 15, 2021

Every trip I take, I find some sort of callback to home. On this particular family trip, I was staying at a lovely Airbnb in Elkton, Virginia and the callback came in the form of a magazine—an Airbnb magazine no less—in the bathroom. I don’t normally partake in reading magazines in bathrooms that aren’t my own, but this one was different. It had an article in it that I couldn’t pass up—Chasing the Best Cuban Sandwich.

As a native 4th generation Tampan of Spanish and Cuban descent, I’ve probably eaten a couple thousand Cubanos. In fact, I made sure to eat one before leaving on this trip. For almost every day of high school, my nana made me one for lunch. And man could she make a good Cuban. She had about half a century of experience at that point. So naturally I was curious if this article had anything to teach me.

Let’s get the most important thing out of the way first—the Cuban sandwich is a Tampa invention. No one debates that the Cuban sandwich was developed through a back and forth process between various cultures and even countries. As with absolutely anything, of course that is the case. But the point is that all of the research leads you to one sandwich—the one with salami that only existed in Tampa until very recently.

The Cubans bring the roast pork. The Spaniards bring the ham. The Italians add salami. The Germans and the Jews supply pickles and mustard.

Perhaps that’s an apocryphal story—the cited food historian in the article calls it "bunk" because it doesn't tell the full story, but the point isn't that it was developed here in a vacuum. The point is that all of these cultures brought things from home and through living peacefully within blocks of each other in Ybor City they built the Cubano we know and love today. And if other places influenced it, that's great, but you didn't see Cubanos on the menu in any of those cities 40 years ago like you did in Tampa.

Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection, Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.

La Segunda alone has been making Cuban bread daily for over 100 years. At the time the sandwich was developed, Miami existed, but the largest Cuban population was in Tampa due to the cigar trade moving from Key West. This is why you don't find true Cuban bread in many places in Miami—it didn't come from Cuba. It's from Cuban immigrants to Tampa. If you're in Miami, get a media noche. That's what they do and they're excellent. If you're in Tampa, get a Cuban.

Now, everything this author says about the Cuban is pretty much exactly what I feel about them. A good Cuban sandwich makes you forget everything wrong in the world, your life, whatever. One of my favorite childhood memories is going to the store with my grandparents. Back then, even large grocery stores in Tampa baked fresh Cuban bread. We'd buy two loaves, because we'd crack into the heel of one of them somewhere in the store and it'd be half gone by the time we'd get through checkout. The warm, fluffy inside of fresh cuban bread is amazing. You don't find it in most large supermarkets like that anymore, or I'd still do it. But you can still hit up La Segunda or Faedo's and eat it warm in the car if you're so inclined.

So, let's get down to brass tacks. If you're seeing this link because you saw the note I put into that magazine in the airbnb, wash your hands and then take notes for the next time you happen to find yourself in Tampa. If you're not going to make it soon and you want to taste some of this bread, this recipe is one I tried out during the pandemic when everyone was baking bread. It took an attempt or two but it came out excellent. You might have to try harder if you're not familiar with what the bread should be like.

Sadly, the author, who is probably my spirit animal, went right past one of the best Cubanos in town. He went to Aguila's and also tried a CuBaoNo from Ichicoro which I hear is good. But right nearby on the corner of Hillsborough and Florida there's a place called the General Store. They have a traditional Cuban that is always spot on. I've never had a bad one. They are pretty consistent.

If you're not looking for a traditional Cuban, then grab Bodega's Cuban, which is maybe a quarter-mile North from the General Store. For some reason, they're closed Monday and Tuesday. Like Chick-fil-A, I always happen to really want it on the days it's closed.

La Segunda is good. I've been meaning to try Brocato's. Another notable Cuban is Carmine's—although I did go once and it wasn't as good, but I'm hoping they just had a bad day. They're right on Ybor's main strip, 7th avenue. They also have a delicious raw oyster plate and deviled crab. If you see a deviled crab anywhere in Tampa, it's usually good. That's another Tampa specialty that I'm sure somewhere else has tried to claim. I've also heard that West Tampa Sandwich Shop is good, but I haven't been personally.

I will eventually find the gas station mentioned in the article because when I was a kid, I used to work at a laptop repair shop out at 56th, and the nearby gas station had an amazing Cuban. It was so long ago that I sadly forgot where it is, and you need to know what you're looking for to find it. For some reason, you can find some ridiculously good Cubans in odd places—which is exactly why I tried the Cuban at the General Store. They have this old truck out front and on an extra truck door, they advertised it. I tried it and I was pleasantly surprised.

This only applies to Tampa and surrounding areas. Elsewhere in the country, if you order a Cuban, you'll get all of the insides in varying qualities and quantities—often with too much of one meat and not enough of another...they don't have the right balance—and you'll almost never find actual Cuban bread. You'll get some too-hard French bread or some light crust with dry fluffy inner bread that blows. True Cuban bread is thicker on top where there should be a palmetto frond or evidence of such helping to split the loaf, and the inside is dense but airy. It's chewy, kind of like al dente pasta if that makes sense. Find it, you'll see what I mean. It is like no other bread in the world.

One last note: if you go to Aguila's—small is regular, regular is large, and large is for two people.

Start Drawing. Repeat. Apr 13, 2017

A friend on facebook was asking about how to learn how to draw the other day. He usually puts up quite humorous posts, so I thought I'd write something a little tongue in cheek. But as I started to reply, I thought of a way of offering good advice while also being funny. My response was: Start drawing. Repeat.

So I've been drawing since I was a kid. This guy knows this. So at first this might come off as some callous reply from someone who already has that skill. But it's really good advice actually. Of course, I'm not the first to come up with this advice. Seth Godin tells people to ship. A famous adage says practice makes perfect. Nike says Just Do It. There are plenty of variations on this theme. But I felt my reply kind of says, stop wondering how to get started and just get started. Dave Grohl kind of nails it here:

Often people think that talent is what makes you great. But here's the thing, anyone who is great at something sucked at it to begin with. Yes, there are child prodigies and there are people who may try forever and not succeed at certain things. But almost anyone can be great at something if they stick with it—and to be great at something you have to actually put in the work. Hendrix didn't just pick up a guitar for a few minutes before busting out Little Wing.

I suck at guitar. And I've sucked at it for a good many years. I couldn't even get my brain to let me sing what I'm playing. As soon as I opened my mouth my strumming would go to hell—sometimes even thinking of opening my mouth would send my hand out of rhythm. So if I wanted to play a song I had to be a mime. It's only within the last year or so I've overcome that for just one song—Zombie by The Cranberries. I've owned quite a few guitars for several years, and while I'd go through a few bouts of playing every once in a while, I've been playing a lot more recently. And I've been actually working at being able to play and sing. And you know what? Not only can I now play and sing more songs, but they've even gotten into more complex strumming patterns—from Violent Femmes' Blister in the Sun to The Animals' House of the Rising Sun. And most of that gain was from just this past week where I've probably played an hour or more a day and focused on these songs. I couldn't figure out Johnny Cash's strumming patterns, but after all my practicing I not only got it down, but I can sing with it too—and even though it's relatively simple, that was a big leap for me. And it's been so rewarding that I feel like I passed some invisible gate that's held me back. And that makes me want to play more. And all it took was some actual practice and figuring out how improperly I was actually strumming to begin with.

We were shooting for a client a week or two ago, and a kid came up to us and asked us about photography and how to get into it since he enjoys it. And I gave him some advice that's on the level of shoot and repeat. But I elaborated an important point. Be reflective. That was a lesson that was hammered home to me at Tampa Jesuit—though religion wasn't—and it has served me well for quite a while in many areas of my life. I told this kid to shoot a lot. If you have a digital camera, you can shoot as many images as you want. But don't just shoot them and throw them on a hard drive. It's not just the act of shooting or doing something that really helps you grow. Go back. Look through those images. Look at your drawings. Listen to yourself play guitar. Create and then go back later and analyze. Reflect on what you did wrong, what could be done better. Look for ways to improve. A lot of it can even be done while you're creating—which is one reason I love playing guitar. Music is so engrained in us that you can immediately tell when you've messed up or if something sounds terrible while you're in the middle of it.

If you're a creative person, you're never going to feel like what you make is completely satisfying. And it's that nagging voice in the back of your head that tells you that something isn't good enough that keeps you moving forward—that keeps you growing. Become friends with that voice. It's the quickest way to learn how to improve. And challenge yourself. Take bigger leaps. The bigger the leaps the bigger the fall, but the bigger the lesson. Start something. Repeat.

Thirty for Thirty - Three Years Later Apr 12, 2017

Well, I guess my site ran off the rails like this poor Ferrari. Oddly enough, I used a photo from the St. Pete Grand Prix last time, and this was the year I finally made it back. So it all fit together nicely. I can believe I haven't posted here in so long. I had a good thing going. I'll get back into it. I just started to do a lot of different things. But that's for later. For now, let's check up on my Thirty for Thirty—one last time before we beat the horse to death. It'll be interesting to me to see how it went. I still need to make my Fourty for Fourty list. :/

The List

1. Get in shape, eat the right amount (I got in better shape, I'm still doing ok, but I fell off the wagon a little bit, I need to get some willpower back)
2. Design personal site
3. Get a road bike, ride it
4. Finish the bathroom (well, I finished one, but it wasn't the bathroom on this list, haha)
5. Bank an undisclosed amount of money
6. Add to the IRA (Could've done that if last year weren't so slow compared to every other year lately)
7. Bike to office, at least once(Once I got my road bike I rode it all over the place)
8. Get a tattoo
9. Skydive (now that I have kids, I think I'll hold off until they're old enough to go if they want to—but this is definitely going to happen)
10. Make a new print each month: 12 (Made more new prints and shirts and sold quite a few, so that was cool)
11. Screen print something (I have the equipment, but haven't had a moment to get going)
12. Have a good plan for New Year's Eve
13. Tent house
14. Fix the porch
15. Finish the office
16. Organize accounting software
17. Make art for the office
18. Pay off A/C before interest is added
19. Replace sink in main bathroom
20. Submit two articles to Reason (1/2 submitted and rejected)
21. Write After Effects plugin
22. Put walkway in to rear driveway (haven't done this since I put a new rear latch in the gate that opens from both sides—when it works)
23. Plant juniper? along the fence
24. Add walkway and porch lighting
25. Finish 'American Crisis' (I kind of revised this, but it's still not done)
26. Add switch to control porch lights automatically(using Hue lights now)
27. Figure out something for table in back yard
28. Have trash in back hauled away
29. Replant rear flower beds
30. Start [MVNICIPAL] (I've sold stuff locally, not sure when I'll get around to setting up an online store and sales taxes are still a bitch)

I got a few more things accomplished. Some of the things have changed. Some of the priorities are a little different now. But you know what, I still feel like I did this list some justice. Some of these will probably show up in my Fourty for Fourty list in expanded ways. I've got a little over 7 years left for that one. I guess I should write it soon. I am a better procrastinator than you are. Trust. :)

Thirty for Thirty Results May 28, 2014

So, since I'm now thirty I guess it's time to go over the results of my Thirty for Thirty list. How well did I do?

The List

1. Get in shape, eat the right amount (Overall a lot better, I'm in great shape, I just need to curb my appetite a bit still)
2. Design personal site
3. Get a road bike, ride it
4. Finish the bathroom
5. Bank an undisclosed amount of money
6. Add to the IRA
7. Bike to office, at least once
8. Get a tattoo
9. Skydive
10. Make a new print each month: 12 (Made new prints, but not 12)
11. Screen print something
12. Have a good plan for New Year's Eve
13. Tent house
14. Fix the porch
15. Finish the office
16. Organize accounting software
17. Make art for the office
18. Pay off A/C before interest is added
19. Replace sink in main bathroom
20. Submit two articles to Reason (1/2 submitted and rejected)
21. Write After Effects plugin
22. Put walkway in to rear driveway
23. Plant juniper? along the fence
24. Add walkway and porch lighting
25. Finish 'American Crisis' (poem was written two years ago, needs revisions)
26. Add switch to control porch lights automatically
27. Figure out something for table in back yard
28. Have trash in back hauled away
29. Replant rear flower beds
30. Start MVNICIPAL (store is up, still figuring out how to deal with shipping and sales taxes)

12 for 30. Not terrible but not great. I got closer on many of the ones I didn't complete and for some I did alternate things instead.

Paying off that A/C, and paying for a trip to Europe put a dent in a lot of the things that cost extra money, like buying a new bike, adding to the IRA, finishing the bathroom, or replacing my sink.

That said, I did bank money, and I opened up an extra savings account. Instead of submitting more articles to Reason, I added some to Medium. I doubled up some with making prints and making art for the office. And some, like writing an AE plugin, were completed after I turned 30. But I did write a good amount of scripts for AE before then.

I've figured out what course to take for the MVNICIPAL store, but I still need to figure out the most cost effective way to ship prints. I'll be enlisting the help of my awesome wife for that when she's off for the summer (thanks Cait!). I do need to add a few sections to the site though.

I wish I had put in that walkway to the driveway that I park in, because it's low at the end where you have to walk and we're coming up on rainy season. I might have completed that one if I had a truck to get railroad ties without having to ask for help. If only I could still park in the closer driveway. The oak tree would ruin my convertible though.

So there you have it. I'm still trying to decide if I should do a list for 31 or just go big and hit 40. I might just do both. We'll see. Either way it'll be a bit because it's difficult just to come up with the list! Try it and let me know what you put on your list.

The Blame Game May 28, 2014

When did we go from blaming people for the things that they do to blaming things for what people do? When a tragedy such as a massacre occurs, some person always comes out and blames the thing they hate most. Certainly, it's not the murderer so it must be violent video games, or movies, or guns, bullies, etc. At what point are we still responsible for our actions?

There are millions of people who played violent video games—myself included. There are millions of people who've seen a violent movie. There are millions of gun owners. There are millions of people who were bullied. But there are few mass murderers.

One thing I find interesting is that if you are a serial killer and you methodically murder 16 people over a span of a few months, society considers you—rightfully—crazy. But if you happen to methodically kill 16 people in one place, it's no longer your fault. It must be something about your upbringing, or it must be the gun or knife you were able to obtain.

Why isn't murder always the fault of the murderer? You killed someone. You're crazy. You're abnormal. Video games didn't make you crazy. Movies didn't make you crazy. Weapons didn't make you crazy. You were crazy to begin with and, unfortunately, no one noticed.

But obviously we should ban everything because someone might hurt someone else. We should all lose our freedoms because some people are crazy and might hurt others. And then, when it happens again, we should ban that other thing. And that other thing, again and again until we have no freedom to do anything. Then we'll all be safe sitting alone and bored in our homes. It's worth it, that pursuit of happiness, don't you think?

Mind Your Business Dec 19, 2013

Did you know that our money used to have "mind your business" printed on it? We should've never taken that off.

There is always such disagreement in Congress on issues that don’t affect anyone—guns, gay marriage, marijuana. But they have forgotten what originally united us—tolerance. I’m not talking about tolerance colloquially as it has come to mean the opposite of hate. I’m talking about tolerance as in minding your business. If it doesn’t specifically affect you, leave it alone. Ignore it. Tolerate it.

Unfortunately, today our response is to legislate things or form groups to oppose things that we don’t like. Note that that is very different from forming groups to oppose things that affect us. Here’s the difference. It’s totally cool to join up as a group and rally for gay marriage because that is fighting an injustice and the end result harms no one. It’s not cool to rally up and get someone fired for voicing their bigoted opinion. I’m not saying don’t speak against it—just don’t call for their head on a platter. If people don’t like it, they’ll ignore it and that person will suffer the effects anyway.

A better course of action is to state your opinion and move on. Don’t support that person. It’s that simple. Instead, you are just as intolerant when you call for their job. And if you don’t support their right to say what they want, who is there to support your right when you say something that other people don’t like?

There are plenty of things and people I don’t like. Instead of trying to get them fired, I focus instead on what I’m doing. Time flies, mind your business.

A Reasonable Expectation of Privacy Dec 18, 2013

Call me strange but I think the test for American privacy is a little perverted. A "reasonable expectation of privacy" is quite vague. Some parts are easy—privacy doesn't exist in public. Other parts aren't—information provided to third parties isn't private even if it is offered in private. What?

Well, what about if I give my social security number to an online tax program to file my taxes? What if I send an iMessage to a fellow iPhone user? What if I'm having a quiet conversation in a Starbucks? What about things I post on Facebook with specific privacy settings? What if I just go online?

Maybe you have reasonable answers for the first few questions, but that last one is peculiar. Unless you have the funds required to be your own ISP (internet service provider) any information you provide or obtain on the internet is funneled through a third party—which is not protected according to the 1970s case that basically paved the way for NSA spying.

But how can that be the test on a network which most would assume is private? And how can that be the test on a network in which there is no way to easily access it without going through a third party? You use the internet on personal devices most of the time. You use your own pipe to funnel information to specific places for specific purposes. But even though you may be on a private device on a private network, according to that ruling, all of those communications have no expectation of privacy. Your cell phone calls have no expectation of privacy because you could reasonably assume that someone can pick up that signal and listen in—unless it's encrypted perhaps. And land lines can have an expectation of privacy. Or it could be the other way around. It is pretty convoluted and it's hard to keep straight when I expect privacy on any phone within my home.

I think it's time we revise what our expectations of privacy are. I think intent of the user and action of the eavesdropper are important. I don't intend for others to eavesdrop on my cell phone calls, text messages, or any packetized traffic that I don't use in public or on a public network. Just like the information I provide to my wife, I expect that information is intended for the individual I share it with unless I am providing it in a public forum—and I am definitely expecting that it cannot be used against me. I assume that communication is safe, unless it is easily accessible by someone. No one has to break a law to read my website or stand by me at a pay phone, but someone has to perform an illegal act to packet sniff my network for information or tap my phone. Isn't that sort of test reasonable enough?

Libertarians Care Dec 11, 2013

The argument against Libertarians has always been that we're "weird" or that we simply "don't care" about other people. We're selfish. But every argument that Libertarians make is about how our ideas would help other people. The ideas are not always intuitive but they're always rooted in helping others be free economically and socially so that we can all pursue the happiness that is our most basic human right.

So with that in mind, I'm going to write a small series of posts about how our "unintuitive" ideas are actually good for the population. The first topic I'm going to tackle is something that the Left finds abhorrent—Capitalism. In order to understand the Libertarian philosophy, one must understand Capitalism and how business actually works because it is at the root of most economic arguments and people woefully lack understanding of business.

It's vogue to take the "intuitive" stance that Capitalism is evil because the only thing that the "evil" corporations are interested in is profit. So? Wanting profit is not an evil motivation. It's a completely human motivation. Who doesn't want more money? So that is the first thing to relearn. Companies—no matter the size—are seeking profit and it is their duty to seek as much profit as possible.

The problem is that our large government can be bought—and it's why Libertarians hate large government and regulation. This is Crony Capitalism and we have no protections against it because our government was supposed to be severely limited to protect the rights of the individual only. It was not designed for regulation.

So corporations do what they do best. They seek profit via the path of least resistance. And that path is through our Congressmen. Large corporations are not evil. They're seeking profit as all companies should. They use the government as a tool to circumvent the market. They legislate out competitors. They create policies that have adverse effects on others so that they can profit.

As a result, people think they hate Capitalism because it let these larger corporations make laws and affect other people and businesses, but it didn't. The large government and regulation allowed these companies to infiltrate the government. People should hate the large government that provided this tool for those corporations.

People should love pure Capitalism because it provides a mechanism for balance—the free market. Note the "free" part. Despite what your high school social studies teacher might have taught you, we do not have a truly free market because of all of the regulations that pervert the market. Despite that reality, we do enjoy a relatively free market, but it's a mediocre version of what it could be.

Given those two things—profit seeking is natural and free markets are the best regulation—we can continue.

Sometime around 2011, Rush Limbaugh was criticized for saying, "Greed has fed more mouths than charity ever could." While I don't always see eye to eye with the man, he couldn't have been more right in this case. But people demonized him for saying it, and people demonize Libertarians for saying the same thing. Remember, profit seeking isn't evil which means that "greed" isn't evil. It is a neutral and natural human act.

You have to understand that it is precisely the search for profits that is the reason for prosperity. How? To understand that, you need to know how Capitalism, business, and markets actually work.

Capitalism basically works like this. Let's assume that you have a good or service you want to offer in exchange for money. You charge $X for it, and you modify that price based on the reaction of the market. If your product is marketable, it sells. If not, it fails and you make something else. Eventually you make a nice profit, but nothing major. But who is ever satisfied with their income? So what do you do about it? At some point you just can't do it alone. You can't make more profit without sacrificing quality—which the market will react to accordingly.

So you expand your operations so that you can profit on volume. You hire workers. They agree on a rate to work with you. Unlike what most people seem to think, you're not forcing them to accept anything. Labor functions within the market just as sales do. In fact, it is the market that keeps wages afloat—and it's why most jobs are NOT minimum wage jobs and why Libertarians argue against minimum wage. If you want good workers you have to pay for them.

And that truth is where Rush Limbaugh's quote comes from. The capitalist seeks as much profit as he can because he is greedy. But because of that, the capitalist employs vast numbers of people which keeps them out of poverty. And they acquire skills through working that eventually let them leave and form their own companies. And their companies provide competition and innovation which keeps costs down. And since there are then more places for skilled workers to work, they can leverage their ability to leave for better wages.

This is what creates prosperity. It actually led to benefits such as pensions and insurance, before the government stuck their hands in it. And it's exactly why places that are more economically free, like Hong Kong, prosper. Look at their growth in the last 50 years if you doubt the success of free markets.

Unfortunately, we are retreating from the path that we started. That's exactly why the US is losing ground to other nations. We are becoming less and less free economically. It's a pain to start a business, it's costly, it requires so many things to just get started, and then there are burdensome taxes that are costly to deal with and regulations they keep piling on. You'd think we live in an "unregulated" society if you listened to those who decry Capitalism. But it is rampant. As comedian Doug Stanhope nailed it, "You're not free in the least. You need a diploma in this country to cut hair."

But regulation is unnecessary in a free market, especially when word of mouth travels the globe instantly. I know it's another counter-intuitive thing, but you don't need to worry about company X screwing up the environment, for example, in their greedy search for profit because if they screw up, they will pay for it. BP's profits plummeted after their oil spill, and they were fined for their impact. And other companies were watching so that they wouldn't make the same mistake. And as an aside it led to the development of better, cheaper processes to contain oil spills.

Unfortunately, our gut reaction is to instead choose to regulate these issues to somehow stop them before that happens. That gives us a false sense of security and more loopholes companies can exploit to get profits through the federal coffers rather than through the sales of their products on a free market where there are actual consequences. Again, that is not a function of Capitalism but a failure of large government and its regulations.

All of these things exist in some way in your everyday life, you just might not notice them. And often you use them to be more successful and prosperous—maybe you switch jobs or demand a raise. But in our current system the market can be perverted by those with the most influence which leads to the imbalance that you perceive is due to Capitalism—which couldn't be further from the truth.

Chuck Lorre Nov 21, 2013

At the end of tonight's Big Bang Theory episode, I read yet another Chuck Lorre vanity card. Normally they're funny and sometimes insightful. But lately they've begun to tackle political issues, so I thought it might be interesting to write some responses to a few of them. So let's do it. First up—#431.

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #431

I'm concerned that the infrared beam which triggers public toilets to flush might cause cancer.

I'm considering getting a Twitter account so I can have a way to express my innermost thoughts to strangers.

I'm confused as to why a poorly designed web site means affordable health care is a bad idea.

I'm thinking of writing a children's story about a leaf on a tree who arrogantly insists he's a self-made, independent leaf. Then one day a fierce wind blows him off his branch and to the ground below. As his life slowly ebbs away, he looks up at the magnificent old tree that had been his home and realizes that he had never been on his own. His entire life he had been part of something bigger and more beautiful than anything he could have imagined. In a blinding flash, he awakens from the delusion of self. Then an arrogant, self-centered kid rakes him up and bags him.

I'm wondering if maybe I should stop writing these freakin' vanity cards.

I'll go through them point by point. First up, infrared toilet beams. While funny, I would have thought that most people know that the sun generates massive amounts of IR light. Just look up infrared photography.

Next up, "affordable" health care. Most people would argue that if the government can bungle something as simple as a website—even a complex website is relatively simple compared to health care and its regulations—how could it possibly handle health care? And what's affordable about this health care? Most people's costs have risen commensurate with the law. I wouldn't expect a big Hollywood producer to understand or notice something that probably costs him relatively little compared to his income. My costs will likely double if not triple. I wouldn't call that at all affordable, especially since it has doubled already since the passing of the law. Trust me Chuck, this isn't helping most of us. It's an undue burden to those of us that work to pay for things like health care.

Ah yes, let's defend Obama's comment about people helping you to get where you are. While nearly anyone can thank society or humankind as a whole for helping us to be who were are, we probably shouldn't gloss over everything else as if everything anyone does is helpful to us. What about what I just wrote about the other day? Surely there are some people and entities that also serve to hold us back in some fashion. But of course, the government can't do anything wrong—especially with Democrats in the lead—right?

And is it impossible for someone to be self-made? Sure, everyone has help but some people have tons of help—perhaps too much. I disagree with the implied assertion that those who were given tons of help deserve the same respect as those who succeeded with little help. Self-made doesn't mean that they didn't have assistance, it just means they mostly did it on their own. Even society itself has help.

Maybe you should stop writing these vanity cards.

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #425

Perhaps I've read too much science fiction, but I can't help thinking that the way out of this protracted battle over universal health care is a good ol' Edgar Allan Poe/Michael Crichton-style plague. Who's going to bicker over access to medical care or insurance deductibles if one wet cough from a busboy kills all the rack o' lamb-eating small government advocates in the restaurant? Who's going to fight against pre-existing condition coverage when it becomes frighteningly clear that we are all, rich and poor, smart and stupid, cute and inbred, swimming in the exact same bacterial soup? I'm betting no one. Because when that day happens, helping a sick person get well will not be an act of mercy or generosity. It will be the very definition of selfishness. And if history has taught us anything, selfishness rocks the casbah. Of course, there is plenty of sci-fi literature that takes this story down an even darker path. It involves everyone with a wet cough getting rounded up at gunpoint and trucked into "rehabilitation camps" in North Dakota. A privileged young man, raised on rack o' lamb, sees their suffering and sacrifices himself in order to lead them to a free clinic in Canada. When things are looking particularly grim in their march out of viral bondage, a small government advocate smiles cruelly and says to the young man, "Where's your health insurance now, Moses?"

So yeah, uh, many of the parts of Obamacare were actually agreed upon by both sides—like banning pre-existing conditions exemptions.

I take exception with your branding of the "small government advocate" as some sort of cruel hater of humanity. We small government advocates just have a different belief system—one with proven ability to actually foster prosperity for the largest number of people. So I don't really see how wanting the majority of people to be prosperous is somehow akin to wanting everyone to die.

Now I know what you're thinking. You've ignored everything after my side comment. You're wondering what data actually proves that small government leads to prosperity. And to that I say, look at Hong Kong. Hell, look at the countries on this list. There are many countries listed above us, and a few of them even have that universal health care you want. It's probably a lot easier to afford when you're growing GDP versus spending.

If you want an even better example, look at the United States pre-1900. There's a lot of good stuff there, and we didn't have to tax ourselves to death to accomplish things. Hell, we even had a large amount of private transportation systems. There were actually a lot of private systems that people today think are only possible under the purview of government. But you're clearly right, I mean the larger the government has grown through Bush and Obama (and many administrations before them) the more prosperous we've all become. Oh wait.

The Cost of Government Intervention Nov 9, 2013

Often people who don't run businesses simply fail to understand what is involved. They often think that we're somehow ruthless profit seekers, hell bent on charging them more money when we say things like, "government intervention increases costs." They think that government restrains us from charging them exorbitant prices. It's actually the opposite. Government restraints add to the cost.

I happen to have come across the perfect example that—I hope—is pretty bullet-proof to any naysayers. For the past few months, I've been trying to run a side project—MVNICIPAL—and I haven't had the time to get it off the ground.

Well, actually that's inaccurate. I've got nearly everything set up except for this hurdle I have. And that hurdle is called sales tax. In some states it's not very complicated to collect. But I happen to live in Florida. While Florida is actually pretty good with many laws, it is unbelievably poor with respect to sales tax. Allow me to explain.

Unlike states that charge sales tax by the county the seller is located in, Florida requires that you charge sales tax for the county in which the buyer is located. As you might imagine, one scenario is simple. It requires knowledge of one tax rate. The other scenario is massively complex. It requires knowledge of all of the tax rates in Florida. And it also requires you to stay updated on them, because they can change each year.

For one thing, not everyone hand codes their own shopping cart to accept Florida counties. If you use things like Paypal to do your processing (as I was planning on with Big Cartel) you can only enter zip codes. Even if you had the time to enter all of the zip codes you'd still be incorrect because some zipcodes span counties. And for those of you who are curious, the city I live in has sixty different zip codes alone—and there are gaps in the range so entering them in that way doesn't work either. If what I found through my hours and hours of research is correct, there are somewhere around 1,500 zip codes for Florida.

This tax code is a burden that has kept me from actually selling anything so far. Big retailers can set up a system to deal with it. Small companies, like mine, can't. Now, it wouldn't be bad if there were any leniency built into the system. But there isn't any. Any late filing or any problems all come with insane fines (upwards of $50/day). The crazy thing is that the problem isn't even really what to charge. The problem is, they need to know where to send that money once it gets to the state so they require us to tell them where to send it. And that's where it all falls apart.

So here are the options—none of which are particularly appealing. Some are incorrect, and one is what I wish I could do.

1. Charge whatever the highest rate is.

This has the advantage of being fair to all. On out of state sales, I make a slight profit which is blown out the window by the complexity of my state's sales tax code. For intrastate sales, I have to somehow figure out what county the buyer is in. There are lookups on the Florida Department of Revenue site, but that requires me to manually input, check, and log each address.

2. Enter every zip into Paypal or whatever processor.

This is still wrong for the reasons explained above. I can charge differently, but that's not exactly fair to all buyers either.

3. Charge based on my own zip code.

This is the option many people decide. Unfortunately, I can't do it because it's illegal and I'm trying to be legit here. If audited, you could be screwed. And how would you possibly report what counties your sales went to other than just straight up lying?

4. Ignore it and just pay the tax yourself.

You can build the tax into the price, from what I understand, but you technically can't charge the price, and then pay the money yourself. Why? Who knows. And this still has all of the burdens of #3.

5. Ignore it altogether.

This is what many eBayers and low-volume sellers probably do. And when that happens, the state loses the money it's putting me through hoops to get. And because the system is so broken, I really want to go this route. But I don't want to break the law because there are consequences, and they are hefty. And I'm pretty sure they'd include jail time.

So what do you do? I suppose I could go find a different system that caters itself to my stupid state's tax code. But why should I have to do that? That's additional cost to me, and ultimately cost to you. And neither of us want that. And it's certainly not going into my pocket like people want to think.

And why does my state require this asinine way of reporting sales tax? I'm operating in my city. I generate all of my income within this city. And yet, I'm supposed to have the state pay someone else's county for goods made here? Wouldn't it be easier to just charge a flat rate?

Then there's the asshole brick and mortar retailers that are equally clueless or deviously cunning who argue that online businesses have an advantage because they don't have to charge sales tax. They deal with one sales tax per store and we have an advantage? Hahahaha! Are you kidding me?

Technically, even if you're not located in Florida and you ship to a person in Florida, you're supposed to charge the surtax—the amount the county charges in addition to the state's tax rate—if their county requires a surtax. That means if you give a shit about doing that (or you need to be completely legit across state lines like Amazon) you have to figure out how to tax for rates outside of your actual location. Oh and let's not forget, if you ship to Florida and you don't offer local pickup, you must also charge tax for the shipping!

So when we talk about burdens placed on business and how that leads to increased costs, this is exactly the kind of thing we're talking about. And this is just one simple example. Look at that photo above. Those are the surtaxes by county for all 67 Florida counties. And that envelope stuffed with all of that crap is about half of what the state has sent me in about 6 months pertaining to collecting sales taxes. I've even had to file two sales tax forms so far under threat of fines even though I haven't recorded a sale yet this year because I've been trying to figure out this issue. If it isn't clear by now, this issue is holding me back and increasing my costs.

I should also mention that it's not just me. I searched a bunch of forums and found that this question—how do I charge sales tax in Florida without jumping through ridiculous hoops—has come up consistently and has gone unanswered consistently. And many people post the advice of their CPAs, which usually isn't even correct from a cursory reading of the stuff the Department of Revenue has sent me. Many of them suggest method #3!

All of these problems are a result of just one tax in one state. There are thousands of little taxes in the 50 states. So I must ask the question. When a business owner spends hours upon hours of his time trying to comply with an insanely complex tax code, who do you think ends up paying for that? Hint, it's usually not the business owner. We need to make a salary to survive too, and we can't do that by lowering our salary to accommodate the government's hidden fees.

Look at your utility bills if you don't believe me. If you don't think government regulation makes things more expensive the proof is right in front of your face.

My Shoes Nov 7, 2013

These are my workout shoes. I row a lot and sometimes I ride the bike at the gym. So they're bound to get some damage. With nearly every pair of shoes I own my pinky toe eventually pops out of the side. It happens with Converse, ASICS, etc. So I kind of look like a poor person, especially at the gym I go to in South Tampa.

Well, normally I'd just look like someone who just uses shit shoes at the gym. But at my gym, I look homeless. I see people walk in and they look like they just walked out of Footlocker. Even worse, today I saw someone wearing Coach shoes. I don't know shit about Coach, other than they're probably highly overpriced for what is basically a tennis shoe. If my ASICS cost like $70 new, I can only imagine what ridiculous price Coach asks—and somehow gets—for sneakers.

Originally I felt like maybe I needed new shoes. My wife has newer shoes (or at least more intact shoes) but they at least have a bit of wear. Mine are totally worn out. And then I got to thinking about it a bit. Why was I so concerned about this? Why do I feel like the weird guy. Why do all of these people at my South Tampa gym have perpetually brand new shoes?

Sure, I could go out and buy new shoes to work out. Yeah, fuck that. I'm the normal one. I go to the gym to actually use the equipment, not to be on display. Most of these other people dress in expensive workout clothes and have shoes that look like they've only just made the first trip from the parking lot to the front door. I'll keep wearing my Target workout clothes and my old shoes. I guess I should give the South Tampans some credit though. At least they actually work out a little bit. That's an improvement over my last gym which was just a hangout with machines that people could use as chairs while they talked.

My shoes look like they should—they look like I've actually done work in them. So I think I'll stick with them. The rest of you need to break in yours.

Thirty for Thirty Nov 6, 2013

So a bit ago, I decided to start a list. I'm sure it's not an original idea, but I came by it honestly—though I'm sure after hearing about it from somewhere else. And I've since seen it elsewhere.

I decided to come up with a list of things to accomplish before I'm 30 next year. I came up with this in June, and I have until next May. So we're nearly half way there, and I haven't accomplished much. But finally starting this site allowed me to cross off another one. So let's take a look. Any progress is listed in parentheses.

The List

1. Get in shape, eat the right amount (somewhat on the way, I'm definitely in much better shape)
2. Design personal site
3. Get a road bike, ride it
4. Finish the bathroom
5. Bank an undisclosed amount of money (started)
6. Add to the IRA
7. Bike to office, at least once
8. Get a tattoo
9. Skydive
10. Make a new print each month: 12
11. Screen print something
12. Have a good plan for New Year's Eve
13. Tent house
14. Fix the porch
15. Finish the office
16. Organize accounting software
17. Make art for the office
18. Pay off A/C before interest is added
19. Replace sink in main bathroom
20. Submit two articles to Reason (1/2 submitted and rejected)
21. Write After Effects plugin (wrote interface, need more research)
22. Put walkway in to rear driveway
23. Plant juniper? along the fence
24. Add walkway and porch lighting
25. Finish 'American Crisis' (poem was written two years ago, needs revisions)
26. Add switch to control porch lights automatically
27. Figure out something for table in back yard
28. Have trash in back hauled away (currently sitting in Bagster)
29. Replant rear flower beds
30. Start MVNICIPAL (store is up, still figuring out how to deal with shipping and sales taxes)

So as you can see, I've got a good amount of goals. Some turned out to be lofty, some not so much. I tried to make a list of things that were possible. I'm not sure I'm going to finish them all, but I think I'll get a fair bit of them completed. I'll report back when I can check items off the list. Anything not completed will be additional on my Forty for Forty list.

Welcome Nov 5, 2013

Remember remember, the 5th of November, gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

I guess that's as good a way as any to start this thing. So, this is basically a quick note to give you an idea of what this site is for. It's my personal site. I'm going to talk about whatever interests me. Topics are further explained on the about page if you care to know now.

Hopefully I will keep things updated here. I've made it relatively easy to do so—and it follows the same format that Yellow Dog Party does. Anyway, I often do a good bit of writing when getting wrapped up in internet arguments or whatever, and a lot of it actually explains some points pretty well. So I figure this can be a place for those things to live along with a multitude of other things that interest me.

For now you'll have to be satisfied with this though. I'll be back soon. At least now I can scratch an item off of my thirty for thirty list. Perhaps that will be my next topic.