Green Taxi

I feel awful. Katie and I were really looking forward to hitting up Coachella this weekend and I totally blew it.

This year was to be our first Coachella experience. I asked some buddies for advice and was told that the last two years they picked up tickets at the gate. Considering we are always adjusting travel plans, and that our hotel could be canceled up until about a week prior, for some reason I decided to hold off getting tickets a while back.

Well, sure enough, this week the rumors started flying about it being sold out. When I looked online, it said the 3-day passes were sold out, but it also said there would be ticket kiosks available at the gate to purchase tickets. I was not sure if that message was from prior to or in conjunction with the online tickets being sold out, but I figured we could scalp some tickets in the worst case scenario.

Well, Katie and I drove all the way out there and got skunked. The place was packed and there were no new tickets available. We were definitely not the only ones looking for tickets either. The demand was sky high and there was zero supply.

So, I blew it and now I need to make up for it with Katie. We ended up seeing “Hot Tub Time Machine” (hilarious) last night. Then we drove back today after ditching our last night at the hotel. We have had a great day, fortunately, but I am still in the doghouse. Fortunately, we’re planning a fun trip for Golden Week, so hopefully that can help make up for it. Otherwise, I get to be extra nice for the next few weeks.

Anyway, lesson learned. Always purchase tickets online ahead of time if possible. Next year, I will not make the same mistake.

Remember Scantron’s?

The California Budget is a mess. That is no secret. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution to fixing it.

The State of California spends way too much money. The State is in a huge amount of debt. The State has dwindling income as revenue decreases during this recession. Tax increases barely keep revenues near previous levels, let alone compensate to cover deficits and new expenses.

Unfortunately, the State Government has lost control where the voters now have an incredible amount of power. They are able to vote in public works measures that sound great on paper while in reality no money exists in the budget for the projects (sell more bonds is the solution to every project…look how much debt that has created). They also hamstring the legislature in making any vast changes. So the Governor and State Congress can only do so much before they are required to ask for another vote. In the meantime the state hemorrhages money.

Unfortunately, cutbacks in state jobs and salaries are some of the few areas the state actually has a decent amount of power over. So, those get hit first. Now, I am not opposed to cutbacks and layoffs, especially in inefficiently run organizations such as the government, but I do wish other programs were easy to cut as well. It is no secret that state run organizations are archaically organized nightmares (I’ll mention the DMV and leave it at that). They need to be cleaned up, but probably from the top, not the bottom.

Well, these cutbacks have begun to hit home. Katie sent in her Articles of Organization for her new clothing line about 3 months ago. She has still not received back the stamped copy. We know it was approved and given a File Number back in February because we can look it up online. Unfortunately, the government is not sophisticated enough to send you an official copy over the Internet yet (that whole automated email thing is difficult, you know). So, calling the Secretary of State office, we are informed that because of the cutbacks the forms will now take between 4-12 weeks (up from the original 4-6 weeks) to be returned. Fortunately we are able to apply for some licenses with just the File Number (such as an EIN), yet others need an official copy (such as opening a bank account).

As I said, I am not opposed to these cutbacks, it is just unfortunate that they come at the expense of such a simple task. These things should have been organized and optimized years ago during technologies heyday and governments budget surpluses. It makes you not only realize the issues with large government organizations running large programs, but also what can happen if the funding for those dries up and inefficiencies become greatly exposed. God help the world if the US Government is ever unable to cover its budget with extra Treasury sales…

So, as a lesson to California small businesses, if you need to do work with the California state government be prepared for even slower responses and longer delays. Tough times are ahead for the efficiency of this state.

*image source: cityzine.com

Where the jobs will be by 2030. To be honest, I’m a bit skeptical of Las Vegas ranking so high in these two lists.


Budgeting – Mint.com

*image source: mint.com

Once a year, for a period of a week or two, the cherry blossoms in Japan bloom. The quiet pink harmony produces a stir among Japanese and tourists as they flock to both city and countryside in enjoyment of a gorgeous array of pink.

I have never had the luck of overlapping with this almost random event. Tourists schedule trips months in advance only to miss the bloom by a week or two and come home empty handed. Unexpected to me, I lucked into the exact week this Spring to arrive to a snow of pink.

Unfortunately, my iPhone picks do not offer visual justice, especially the serenity of the night.