how I’d party in Obama’s situation

I was just reading about the crazy-huge inauguration party that Obama is having.  The budget for it is $49 million, but the estimated actual cost is around $150 million.  I could think of much better ways to allocate taxpayer funds, but I already ranted about that on my other blog.

Here, let’s take a more humorous view of it.  The $49M will cover the standard amount of food, security, and other necessary items for a Presidential party.   (That still seems very excessive, but whatever.)  So Obama is spending an additional $100M for his party.

Let’s see… if I was hosting a party and had an extra $100M to spend, what would I do?   That’s so much money that it boggles the mind.  I don’t even know where to start.

I’d have the world’s largest nachos buffet, for starters.   (Although that could be covered by saving money on the standard food package — you know they’re overpaying for that stuff.)   Actually, with all that money, I’d have available ALL the types of food I want.  There would be lots of games with fabulous consolation prizes.  I’d have huge virtual reality gaming booths, with the latest technology.

I need to start thinking bigger or I’ll never spend that kind of money.  Let’s see… I’d buy my own private island.  Yeah, that’s it.  And I’d have a castle built on my own island.  I’d buy my own private plane (along with carbon credits so folks couldn’t complain).  And I’d fly all my friends to said island for a massive after-party party that lasted for weeks.  They’d all get vacation pay so it won’t hurt to miss work.

I’d probably still have some money left over after that, surprisingly.  So I’d build a weather-controlling satellite and take over the world.   Wait, maybe I should hold off on that one for a while.

I’d create my own TV station, and it would play only programs approved by me.   So of course it would be awesome, and I’d make millions more dollars.  🙂

This could go on for a while, I think.  So I’ll stop for now.

you must take breaks at work

Did you know that there are federally mandated breaks for workers?  That is, you’re supposed to get something like 15 minutes off for every 4 hours of work.  (Those numbers may vary; I can’t be bothered with research right now… too much stuff to do.)

By my reasoning, if you don’t take your two 15-minute breaks per 8 hour workday, then you’re breaking the law.  I mean, they are federally mandated, which means the government is telling you to do it.  So unless you want to be a criminal, you’d better be taking those breaks!

BTW, your employer might not mention that, because some places want you to work, work, work all the time.  But don’t let them strong-arm you into illegal practices.  Know your rights!  Knowing is half the battle!   (And in this case, goofing off for 15 minutes is the other half.)  🙂

question about caption contests

We have some new polling technology here, and I’ve been wanting to try it out.  But I didn’t want to just choose some stupid question for the first one (although I’m not going to rule that out for future ones).  Anyway, here’s a question that I’ll ask, and it might even influence future content here.  So choose carefully.  🙂

our exclusive snow

Last night I had the Buffet o’ Blog staff over to my house, and as always, it was a great time.  Just the sheer amount of awesome in one place is enough to make some people jealous that they weren’t invited.  But we did something that may cause additional feelings of jealousy: We made it snow.  (Yeah, you read that right.)  One of the guys built a snow making machine.  The outside temperature was right at freezing when we started it, but it cooled down enough that we had some accumulation.

I realize we have some readers in other locations, even as far north as Canada, so getting snow may seem ho-hum to you, but here in Arkansas, we haven’t got a real snowfall yet this year — just some ice and sleet.  So this is a big deal.  This is exclusive snow.  And it’s homemade.

man-made snow

Now, don’t be mad or jealous.  I realize you might be tempted to feel that way, because no one else in this area got any snow.  You may be thinking, “What makes you so special, to get snow?”  Well, it’s because we are special.  And we built the snow machine.  🙂

There’s still some in the front yard, even though it has warmed up quite a bit today.   I wonder what the neighbors thought when they saw it…