Only One Day

Americans are very smart. I mean from going into space and inventing Microsoft and Windows to Medical Research and Pharmaceuticals the rest of the world looks up to America. Then how come the two parties cannot come up with an agreement? Is it because the parties are so much against each other that they cannot accept a good solution by the other even if it is a good one? Is it possible that neither of the parties have a good solution? My head starts spinning when I try to figure out what went wrong and when.

I just feel for people who are looking for jobs and are on unemployment benefit. I feel for people who are raising children and I also feel for people who have big mortgages and are expense bound.

In college, in Economics we learned that the sooner we pay off any loan the better because in the long run we save on interest. It is only after coming to the US we were told that paying interest on home mortgage is tax deductible therefore we can buy a home on mortgage and reduce our taxes. However I feel very uncomfortable if I owe any money to anyone therefore I encouraged my husband to pay a little extra on the principle so we can pay off the loan as fast as possible. Our tax preparer told us that that is not a very smart way because we will pay more taxes. I calculated and it turned out that we pay more in interest than in taxes. At least by paying higher taxes we are contributing towards the country budget, by paying interest we are only making the already rich banks richer. We were told time and again that we can enjoy the cash if we take out home equity loans. I rather we save for a vacation than borrow against the roof on our heads.
Another factor that is hurting us whether it is a household or  the entire country is the way we take care of our health. I would pay doctors an extra bonus if majority of his or her patients are in the best possible shape. Companies have started giving bonuses to people who are willing to answer questions about their health and are willing to participate in improving their BMI, their blood pressure, their sugar levels etc. My brother thinks that it is an invasion of privacy, but I think that it encourages people to stay fit.
I think that teaching children to share their toys even clothes and teaching them to save money from early on will keep them from becoming high maintenance and even expense bound when they grow up. I am sure that there are other very simple factors in our lives that can save a family budget an may be in the long run the country as well.
 

Modifications

Our doctor was very much pleased with us.  Although I gained  three pounds in one year and two months my overall health has been quite good. Same for my husband, although he is really overweight for his health our doctors is happy with the fact that since his open heart surgery four years ago there have been no other health problems.  He then said that we must be doing something right. I told him that I have started being careful ever since I lost my health insurance three years ago. He asked me if I could tell him in what sense I have been taking care of myself. I told him point by point about the changes I made in my lifestyle.

When I was working full time, vending machine was my comfort. During breaks and lunches, I would take a bag of chips and a soda to fill up after eating my sandwich. No need for vending machine in a part time job as you go home to homemade foods. If I ever go back to full time I will make sure that I bring a bottle of water from home or even a fruit.

Before my husband's surgery we did not realize the dangers of foods found on the shelves in supermarkets. Now we make sure that no food has hydrogenated fats or trans fats even though we may have to refrigerate them.

My husband used to think that salads and greens were for skinny young girls, but after losing his brother to colon cancer, he is understanding that all of us have to eat vegetables and fruits in order to be fit not just to look good.

I do not reach out for candy when my blood sugar drops I grab a juice box instead.

I refuse to wait for my husband to eat dinner with him if it is past seven o'clock at night, because eating late means hyper-acidity which means my asthma will be aggravated. I had read that in some cases acid from your esophagus can seep into your wind pipe, especially if one is overweight.

I have been very careful about wearing the right clothes for winter instead of caring about looks and  fashion. This could be the reason that I do not catch too many colds. Even if I do, I try to nip the problem in the bud. I still think that I'm lucky that I did not take any antibiotics in four years time. 

Last but not least, I now have Mantras to keep myself from getting my nerves worked up.  And when people tail gate me  during rush hour I try and use whatever I can to make myself laugh such as  a license plate that reads "YOURFACE".