July 2009

Update: How deferred compensation works with Social Security

July 17, 2009

It’s 115 degrees out there, and I’ve driven from pillar to post through it. First went over to GDU’s deferred compensation provider. Turns out this is a benefit available to government employees, which you can add to your 403(b) or state retirement plan, allowing you to shelter more of your money than the modest amount [...]

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Breaking up is hard to do…

July 16, 2009

Getting disentangled from the Great Desert University and onto Social Security is a nightmare hassle! Right now I have an inch-thick folder of information, instructions, and policies about retirement, and it’s growing. There’s another folder full of paperwork specific to Social Security and Medicare. Today I learned that when the state of Arizona pays me [...]

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Kiddie nudes: Where was the editor?

July 16, 2009

This is totally off-topic, but have you seen the photo that appears on the front page of the Home section in today’s New York Times? Look at it closely, and then consider that it runs over a story asking the slightly titillating question of whether letting kids run around nude is OK. It made me [...]

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The dance of the adjunct faculty

July 15, 2009

This morning after visiting the Social Security Administration to apply for a replacement SS card, I dropped by the Paradise Valley Community College campus to find out a few of the things I need to know: how to schedule time for the li’l students to visit the library and how to get set up in [...]

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A post with no title: What can one say?

July 14, 2009

It’s 9:30 at night and the temperature on the back porch, which has been in the shade all day, is 100 degrees. Brain’s temperature is somewhere in that vicinity, too. Today reminded me of why I love teaching so bitterly. Several weeks ago, I spent about eight hours writing an Eng. 102 syllabus and another [...]

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Other people’s pets

July 13, 2009

How much do you figure your neighbor’s dog (cat, parrot, boa constrictor, tame alligator) costs you? LOL! I have to say, I expect my own pets to be destructive and figure the repair bills to be part of the cost of doing business. But one thing we tend not to budget for is the depredations [...]

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