Friday, January 18, 2008

one less thing to worry about

So Illinois finally passed the bill that saved my commute. I'm greatly relieved about still having a way to get to work, but I'm anticipating the punch in the face I'll get from the Real Estate Transfer tax hike later this year. Part of the drama leading up to this "doomsday" scenario was that the proposal (which included bumping up the real estate tax in Chicago and the sales tax in the city and collar counties). But at the last minute the Governor said he wouldn't sign it unless senior ride for free.


Don't get me wrong, I love seniors; crotchety as some of them are, most are pretty darn cute. But in the coming years, there are going to be a whole lot of them as more Baby Boomers tire of the 9-to-5. What's going to happen then? How high will the taxes/cost of public transportation jump to make sure all of that is still covered? It's already so expensive to try and live "green," am I going to have to start walking the 72 miles every day? Wait, will I even be able to DO that in a day?

And what about Social Security? I've been paying into the system; am I even going to have anything to lean on later? Oh crap, am I going to have nothing to live on in my twilight years because I didn't set up my 401k until three years into my first job and haven't contributed much since then? And what about when the country goes into a Depression? Waiting-for-Reports jobs are already starting to shrivel up (hell, I practically had four different jobs in a single year).

Oh my God, I should be taking night classes in electronics or iPhones to have some kind of backup plan! What if my kids won't take care of me when I'm old because they're in jail or something? What if I don't even get any kids? What if I never get married and end up living in some ashram somewhere with only one tattered sari because I'm the social outcast that Bollywood and the Auntie Patrol have insinuated I will become if I don't hurry up and make a family before the expiration date stamped on my ass?

And here I thought my worries were over.

7 comments:

SupaCoo said...

Is this the time of year for worries, or what? I can not seem to stop myself from having a nervous breakdown every other day.

WORDofRYE said...

Wow, now you're stressing ME out! :) I suggest a deep breath and a glass of wine. Or maybe a bottle. hehe

cadiz12 said...

i had a glass of wine w/ lunch (yesterday we worked till 9 to make a big deadline, so today is chill and i take the train). i feel considerably more relaxed.

Librarian Girl said...

Is it wrong that the scariest thing to me in this post was the ONE SARI thing? No one deserves just one sari. NO ONE.

sari said...

I didn't start having kids until I was in my early thirties so don't worry about the date stamp for a while! ha ha

Then again, having kids just gives you a whole new set of worries.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

:-)

Kimberly said...

Yikes, now I'm worried too. :-)

Now go get that 401(k) rolling!

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Speaking of worries, I have to haul out my red book and write the list of things I've been worrying about and what I can do about them...that keeps them in check, don't ask me how!