Behold– my cake final!
It was German chocolate cake covered in chocolate Swiss buttercream with marzipan and fondant accessories.
I am really happy with this one!!
Final for Cake Class
What makes you happy?
It’s not even 11:30 a.m. and I feel my head already ready to burst. So I’m trying to calm down and be grateful for what I have. Today, here are five things that make me happy.
1. Enough money to cover the costs and life comfortably
2. The fact that Rob understands me
3. My macro lens
4. Sunshine. Glorious warm sunshine.
5. My body. It may not be perfect, but it works. And it’s healthy.
It’s not that bad, right?
This morning I went to fill up my gas tank before heading off to work. I was flabbergasted to find that medium grade 89 gas now costs $3.69 a gallon. (Even more scary, AAA is reporting that the mid-grade average in Connecticut is actually $3.775.)
I think they may be right- gas will be $4 a gallon before we know it.
It’s hard to understand that in the larger picture, we don’t have it that bad. According to the Energy Information Administration, on April 7, 2008, gas cost $8.08 in the UK, $9.24 in the Netherlands, $8.11 in Italy, $8.22 in Germany, $8.44 in Belgium and $8.15 in France.
Back when I was learning how to drive 10 years ago, gas cost $1.25 a gallon.
So what makes gas prices more manageable abroad? Do they have a better mass transit system where people do not need to rely on their own automobile to get to and from work?
Taxes play a roll in high prices
Apparently, according to a 2005 MSNBC article, Americans paid only 27 percent in taxes when it comes to gas. Back in 2005 in the UK, between 66 percent and 75 percent was taxes. But, unlike Americans, over in the UK, hybrid car ownership was embraced, along with Vespa scooters to get the most mileage out of a tank of gas.
Here in the U.S., tax incentives for owning a hybrid car are shrinking. And it’s hard to still actually afford one. Due to funny calculations determined on when car manufactuerers sell their 60,000 hybrid vehicle determines how much of a refund you get. (Try to understand the math here.) Basically, if you want a Toyota or Lexus hybrid, no tax refund for you. They met their mark on Oct. 1, 2007. Honda isn’t far behind.
What is looking good for tax refunds? Nissans. The 2008 and 2007 Altima Hybrid will get you a $2,350 (for the 2007 tax year that is). Hopefully, that will continue into 2008. But even if it does, the cheapest car I could find during a quick web search at my local dealer is $31,225.
Still too much for me to switch my RAV4 over, or even Rob’s Grand Am.
I’m not sure what the going rate is for hybrid cars in Europe, but if you have that statistic, feel free to comment below. It would be interesting to see if they are more affordable abroad.
Meanwhile, today, 62.5 cents of my gas bill goes to taxes. Even though I’m trying to stay optimistic, I still grumble - loudly - when pulling away from the station.
Family Photos
It’s official. I have my new storage unit. Not sure of the date that my family furniture and piano will be arriving yet, but I still have plenty of “rescued” items all over our apartment that could find a new (temporary) home.
I was gathering random boxes scattered throughout my apartment this afternoon to go to storage when I popped the top off one and found random photographs from my Grandpa. Most are unlabeled, and I know about half of the people in most of them. This was the pile of photos that my grandfather kept in his kitchen on top of his shelf. It was his nook where he would keep cards and photos that people sent to him, as well as a digital TIMEX clock.
In the pile are many photos of my second cousins, as well as many photographs from Germany. Two weeks ago I attempted to contact my extended (what is left) family there, in a way to reconnect with people I’ve only met once when I was a child and they visited the United States.
Maybe I’m a little sentimental, going through all the boxes again. But I’d thought I’d share a few photos that I found.
This is my Grandpa’s family. He was one of nine (we think– though some family members say he was one of 13). The back of the photo is in German but the year is 1926, making Grandpa 18 years old in this photo. He is in the top row, on the left.
Grandpa (left) enjoying German life.
My mom as a teenager.
Grandpa’s House in the 1970s.
I was able to restore these photos pretty well quickly using Photoshop, even though there is still a good amount of dust I still need to get rid of. I’m going to try to actually start digitally storing these photos … it was one of the projects I had set out for myself after my mom died and just never completed.
