Ako DIY Skate Park

We just scouted out this DIY skate park in Ako. There are lots of boxes, rails, a pyramid with a nice ledge and a large mini-ramp with a 1/4 bowl section. The video is short because Naho was having trouble wrangling 2 kids and operating the camera at the same time. Then Kenji got bored. I gotta get him a skate.

abandoned man-made creations

If you want to make another lone survivor of the apocalypse movie, click the pic to browse an awesome collection of shooting locations.

I'll Work Until I Die (poor).

60 minutes had an interesting story about the trillions of dollars being sucked out of everyone's 401(k)s. It looks like the 401(k) was supposed to be a 'no guarantees' supplement to a regular retirement plan. In a regular retirement plan, the company matches the money you put aside for retirement but because the potential is greater for 401(k)s and the burden on the company is less, they just started selling them as their retirement plan. Now there are tons of ex-retirees competing with all the younger applicants for the jobs that don't exist.

Well, there's always Social Security, right? Of course that's only if you really believe in a system that depends on the human population growing exponentially for eternity; a system that was created when the average life expectancy was 65 plus about 10 years. I have about as much faith in a 401(k). Today's message from tomorroworld is that this generation will live longer than the last and be bigger than the next...

I thought it was interesting that a story about cold fusion came just after the 401(k) story as both of these issues deal with getting more out of something than you put in. Beware the futures of money AND power.

Welcome the Stimulizer

Apparently, to be elligible for the US 'stimulus', you have to be present in the states and uh...file your taxes. Thankfully, the Japanese government was kind enough to stimulate my package for me. The money for all four of us with a few package stimulating coupon books from the city was just about enough for me to buy my dream camera, and first digital camera since my D100 broke in 2005 only to be repaired to the tune of $350 and break again immediately afterward.

If I hadn't been undressing this camera with my eyes since it was announced, I would have done what everyone else is probably doing: saving it for when the days get ranier. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think that just printing more money and handing it out may not be the best way to stimulate the economy.

A few places in the states have been playing around with tax free days here and there (and Alaska is sales-tax-free). Naho and I were thinking a tax free month would be a lot more helpful. True there's no limit on how much the government loses on sales tax but it wouldn't be more than they're handing out because the average person would have to spend $2400 in a month to save the same amount ($120) on the 5% sales tax. That's not likely to happen since $2400 is more than most people's monthly salaries but it would definitely stimulate the 'get it while the gettin' is good' mentality and at least that's better than padding everyones savings accounts with decomposing dollars.

Well, I'll be posting lots more photos now that I don't have to wait for the roll of film to finish out before I take it in for $11 worth of processing. I'll also be resurrecting my youtube account since I can now use all my Nikon lenses to shoot High Definition Video. Whew, I got stimulated just writing that last sentence.