My iPod is here!

My new iPod mini just arrived from the Apple store via FedEx. I can't believe how quickly it arrived - I just ordered it two days ago. The thing was customized, shipped from Shanghai and delivered in just two nights. Hat's off to Apple and FedEx, that's pretty impressive.

And speaking of impressive, this thing is GORGEOUS! I got the blue, and the color is much deeper than on the 1G minis. It's charging up right now, I can't wait to use it. I'll report back with lots more.

President Bush in Louisville

I got to see President Bush speak about Social Security reform this afternoon. Here he is being introduced by Congresswoman Ann Northup.

I think that the President has so far done a nice job of creating awareness of the problem with Social Security, but has a bit of a gap to overcome in proposing a workable solution. For example, the slogan for this tour seems to be "Do the Math" (it's printed on all the yard signs and bumper stickers that were handed out at the event). I agree that doing the math is the first step, and looking at the numbers it's very clear that we have a big problem looming with Social Security. Here's the math: WD = RB. Since Social Security is pay-as-you-go, the number of workers times the amount deducted from their checks must equal the number of retirees times the amount of their benefits.

I haven't yet been able to connect the dots in my own mind to figure out how adding personal retirement accounts to Social Security will solve this problem. The basic problem is that by 2018, the amount of money being withheld from workers' paychecks will not be enough to pay all of the benefits owed to retirees. Here's my confusion - say this plan were available today, and I choose to participate, putting aside 3% of my SS withholding into a personal retirement account. This is a good thing for me, because I now own a portion of my Social Security. The money is invested in relatively secure funds and I get to watch it grow. If I die, my beneficiary gets all the money. Good for me.

Now fast-forward to the year 2018. I'm still working, and the Social Security deductions are still coming out of my paycheck. But since 3% of the deduction is going to my own retirement account, that's 3% less that is going into the fund to pay today's retirees (by the way, since almost all of the baby boomers have retired there are a whooole lot of retirees now - in fact, there are only two of us workers for every retiree).

See my problem? The equation doesn't fundamentally change just by adding private retirement accounts to the mix. Unless I'm missing something (which is entirely possible), the only way to change the math is to change the numbers involved. In order for the equation to remain balanced in 2018 and beyond, either the amount of money flowing in has to increase (higher taxes) or the amount flowing out has to decrease (lower benefits or fewer beneficiaries).

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but in my mind we've still got quite a long way to go towards solving this problem.

"What are we going to do tonight, Brain?"

"The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!"

I just saw this link on BoingBoing about scientist who are planning to grow mice with brains made entirely of human brain cells. Now I don't claim to be any kind of expert in ethics or morality, but this just sounds like a very bad idea. This sounds better suited for Mystery Science Theater (or Animaniacs) than for the science lab.

Here's the full link.

Speaking of Cruises...

Here's one of my favorite photos from my collection. This was taken in Sint Maarten last October during our cruise on the Mariner of the Seas (that's her in the background). This was a pretty special cruise for us as pretty much my whole side of the family went (my Mammaw and Pap, Mom and Dad, 2 aunts and uncles, 4 cousins, my sister, my wife and I) - what a great experience! This was my fourth cruise, and it was definitely the best one yet. I give the Mariner four stars.

Going to see the President

I just found out that I'm getting a ticket to go see President Bush on Thursday. He's in Louisville Thursday morning on his Social Security tour and my company was allotted some tickets to go see him. I'm excited about the opportunity to hear firsthand what he has to say about the Social Security mess. Up to this point I've only heard the sound bites from the news, and it's pretty difficult to be sure that your getting the real picture that way.

As for my own thoughts on Social Security, the jury is still out. As a younger worker (I'm 31), I'm particularly interested in the private accounts issue. I don't know that Social Security is the right place to do that. Call me cynical if you'd like, but I'm well aware that by the time I retire I won't see the level of benefits from SS commensurate with what I will have paid in over the years. Don't misunderstand, I'm very much in favor of individuals owning their own retirement accounts - that's why I'm funding a 401(k) and two Roth IRA's (for my wife and I). I don't know whether the government security blanket (I use that term loosely) has any room in it for designating funds for a specific individual. To me that seems somewhat contrary to the program's stated goal of being a "safety net" for those that need it.

I'll take the President's speech under advisement, and like always, I'll draw my own conclusions on the matter.

No Cruise

Wow! The Disney cruise is a little too expensive for my blood. I guess for what Disney considers a "regular" family (four people or less), the price wouldn't be too outrageous. Unfortunately, when you add a fifth person, you either have to book two staterooms or upgrade to the family suite - ouch. Oh well, I happen to think that three kids is the perfect number - unfortunately Disney does not agree!

Disney Cruise?

Now I'm thinking about the possibility of taking a combination cruise/WDW trip. My wife and I love to cruise and have taken several of them, but we've never gone on Disney. The kids have never been on a cruise, so it might be sort of fun to take them. I'm thinking about three or four days at WDW and a three day cruise. Has anyone done this that can offer some pointers or share their experiences?

Disney World Planning

I've officially begun planning for the long delayed family trip to Walt Disney World. It's a little overwhelming right now trying to get my head around all of the options - fly or drive, stay on property or off (sub-choice: hotel or house rental), spend all of the time in Disney World or hit Universal or SeaWorld or Busch Gardens? We have 5 people in the family which really limits our on property options at Disney World - we can't stay at any of the value resorts and Port Orleans Riverside is the only moderate resort that can accommodate 5. Complicating matters a little further is the possibility of travelling with some friends of ours (they have a family of 6). Am I the only one that finds it odd that Disney World - the ultimate family vacation destination - has such limited options for bigger families?

I've never used a travel agent before, since I've not had any problems doing research online and deciding where I want to go and how to get there. This time may be an exception. Of course that brings up another choice - should I use a local all-purpose travel agent that I can go to and sit in their office or should I use one of the online Disney specialist travel agents? I've looked at a couple of these, namely mouseketrips.com and themagicforless.com. Both of these sites look like they have a great deal of Disney related expertise and can probably do a good job for me.

I'm sure that in the end it will all come together nicely. Does anyone have any helpful advice for me?

What I'm Reading - Dianetics

I recently picked up a copy of L. Ron Hubbard's book Dianetics. I've been wanting to read this book for some time, but have never made the effort before. This book appeals to me because it touches on a couple of topics that I'm very interested in. First of all, I'm very interested in how the mind works and am always looking for new methods for improving the functionality of my own mind. Also since dianetics is one of the building blocks of Scientology, it touches on another topic that fascinates me - religion and philosophy. I am Catholic, but have long been intrigued by the various religions of the world and their underlying philosophies.

I'm not too far into the book yet, but one thing has already struck me about it. There have been several topics introduced that the author calls "scientific facts" or says that they've been proven in "clinical trials", but offers no evidence to back up the claim. Most of the ideas themselves seem pretty sound though, so I'll press on with my reading with that in the back of my mind. I'll give a full review when I've finished reading.

My Job

I am a computer programmer by trade. Right now I work for a large healthcare organization as a software developer (among other things). I have been programming professionally [I use that term loosely] for about 10 years now, but I did it as a hobby for many years before that. In addition to programming, I wear many other hats at my job - project manager, business analyst, software analyst, tech writer, etc. I like my job and I like where I work. In fact, I've been at the same company for over five years now - that may not seem like long to some of you, but it's more than twice as long as I've ever worked anywhere else!

Chess, anyone?

I've recently gotten back into playing some chess (it's been a while). I like to play online on GameKnot. If you're ever on, challenge me - I'm cmyoung4.

Skydiving

Here is my first attempt at telling you a little about who I am. This was me in my first skydive (July 2004). This moment was one of the hightlights of my life (actually, the real pivotal moment was about 2 minutes before this photo was taken - when I was hanging by my arms from the strut of a cessna looking down from 3,500 feet!). It's difficult to put into words, but I learned so much about myself from this skydive. I hesitate to categorize the experience as "spiritual", but it definitely gave me the opportunity to look my fears in the eye and overcome them.

Welcome!

This is the first post of my new blog - Journal This! My name is Chris Young, and in future posts I'll tell you all about me (if you care). I plan to post thoughts about my job, my family, my thoughts on philosophy and religion, and other random thoughts that happen to come up when I am typing!

Again, welcome and I'm glad you're here!