Bloomberg.com reports that while economists have overwhelmingly ridiculed the idea of suspending the gas tax over the summer, Hillary Clinton has continued to stick to her guns. Clinton, after hearing that the economists thought the idea was ridiculous, stated:

I’m not going to put my lot in with economists

Ya know, it’s perfectly fine to say that you’re not going to listen to a consensus of football players giving you advice on filling out your taxes. Or a large group of lawyers giving you advice on how to paint your house. But generally, if you’re untrained in a subject, and practically an entire professional field gives you advice on the subject they specialize in, you should probably listen. And if you’re not going to listen, you’d better have a darned good explanation beyond “I know where you’re coming from, small folk,” for why you’re deviating from trained professionals. So Hillary (and Mr. McCain): if it makes sense to suspend gas taxes, please come forward and explain why rather than giving the same old pandering political speeches about how you’re trying to help “the little guy.” Call me an elitist, but I would rather that economic decisions follow the advice of trained professionals than “the little guy,” who hasn’t learned a thing about economics in his entire life.

My Story:

Three years ago, I noticed my left middle fingernail began turning white instead of its normal healthy pink. I did not know what was going on, but after a few weeks, the entire nail became white and flaky. At first I did not think much of it, but then I started getting regular questions along the lines of “what the heck is wrong with your nail, you freak?” Subsequently, I decided to go to the doctor.

After a short appointment, the doctor told me I had “onychomycosis,” which means nail fungus in regular-person language. He said that I needed to take a medication called Lamisil for two months. That sounded easy enough. But there was a catch: I needed to get a blood test to make sure that my liver could handle the medication.

At that point, since I like my liver, I asked the doctor if I had any other options. I told him I understood the medication was probably more convenient than the other options, but that I would much rather see if I could try a solution that didn’t involve damaging my liver. He told me this was my only option, and that if I did not take the Lamisil, my nail would grow thick and I would get frequent fingernail infections and live with constant fingernail pain. He then wrote me a prescription for Lamisil, using a pen with the Lamisil logo, and I walked out of his office dreading what might happen to my finger if I did not take the drug.

Hulu.com is the coolest website ever.  On it, you can watch full length episodes of a ton of TV Shows and some full-length movies for free.  They have lots of popular shows like The Office, The Simpsons, etcetera, but they even have one of my favorite obscure shows of all time: Jack of All Trades!  The website just launched today, but based on my test viewing of one episode of Jack of All Trades, it runs really smooth and is very easy to use.  When watching, the only interruption is a commercial once every 10 minutes or so, and the commercials are only about 25 seconds each, which is not bad at all.  I highly recommend checking Hulu out.

If you want to get good fuel economy, sit ten feet behind a tractor trailer.  You barely have to touch the gas.  I just filled up my Toyota Camry and averaged 36 miles per gallon, after driving in tons of wind, and 1/3 of that tank city driving.  I average 36, but if you net out the city stuff and the wind, and the fact that the drive had a net elevation climb of a few thousand feet, I was probably in the mid 40s.  All hail gigantic trucks that get 2 miles per gallon that allow commoners like me to draft off of them.

P.S. I swear it’s safe.  I mean, think about how long it takes a truck to brake.  Even if you’re close to the truck, unless you fall asleep at the wheel you won’t crash into it when it starts to slow down.

Here are my 2007 New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Reduce Personal Road Rage: I’m not an angry person, except when I’m in the car.  When someone shines their high beams in my eyes, or cuts me off, or if I take a wrong turn, it drives me up the wall.  I hope I can calm down a little bit in the future, so I’m putting this on the resolution list.  In order to accomplish this goal, I’m going to leave a little bit earlier for my destination every trip, and I’m going to use the GPS my girlfriend gave me for Christmas when I’m going somewhere new.
2. Take Personal Responsibility More Often: I’m not a huge complainer, but every now and then, I make excuses for why things didn’t exactly go my way, and the fact that I do bugs me.  I’m going to make a bigger effort to take responsibility for ALL of my own actions.
3. Become More Confident in Law School: I oftentimes feel like I’m just trying to keep my head above water in law school because everyone else is so smart.  Well, I was admitted there, too, so it’s not like I’m deficient compared to my classmates.  I’m going to stop being in awe of my peers.
4. Stay Fit: I’ve always been a fitness nut, but at the end of last semester, before finals, I really let up on my training.  I resolve to stay on top of my running and try to run a few races this upcoming year, at least.
5. Become More Efficient: Although I am an efficiency nut as well (I was an Econ major in undergrad), I don’t consider myself to be a very efficient worker.  I hope to find the time to implement a more efficient schoolwork schedule, perhaps by implementing David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” program, which I frequently hear good things about.