i went to ECMC today to get my travel shots for china. after shelling out $400 for both me and my daughter, i was poked three times; once for tetanus, once for hepatitis A, and once for typhoid.

luckily, my insurance will reimburse me for this expense. unfortunately my mother's will not.

i had an interview today with the New England Research Institutes for a field interviewer position. this position would require me o travel throughout new york state and interview 192 physicians for a racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes, study.

the interview went well, it seemed that i was doing most of the interviewing and it was probably the most informal interview i've had. they said they will definitely be in touch late next week or early following week (because of the holiday) for a second interview. i hope that they will offer me some serious money. i can't imagine that they would offer anything below 35K but i would like something closer to 45K. with my luck they'll be dishing out 25K.

i would like to tell all of you about our crazy weekend but i've left that up to (e:ladycroft) hopefully she'll post soon with pictoral evidence of our drunken stupidity and scary stalking behavior.

mmm, my mommy just made some yummy steak tartare






nice and bloody!

here is some of the stuff i have created in the past week. feel free to commission me, cuz i is damn broke! :)


oh and by the way, new user sound. jane said to do it.

People:
1. How did you find out about/why did you become of estrip?

i was doing a google search on club diablo and stumbled onto (e:flaciness)' journal.

2. How "out" are you about having a publicly accessible online journal. Do your friends know? Does your family know? Do your co-workers know? Does your boss know? Do you use your real name? Do you use your real photo?

i am semi-out, mostly because i have shown pics to people, of gatherings, outing's, etc. i always hoped they weren't paying attention, but most of them usually ask, "what site is this?" and then i have to explain.

my family knows, mostly because the site is always up on my laptop, and because i have to explain how i've gained so many friends in such a short period of time.


3. How many epeeps have you met real life?

hmmm, can't count, but they are the ones that are present at estrip parties.


4. How has estrip changed the way that you meet people, on and/or off line?

i can't say it has changed it by much, i still would not be inclined to meet people from other sites, i.e. myspace, dating sites, etc. somehow this does not seem like an internet community because it is local, and people get together and are real (in the fleshy kind of way).

5. How has estrip affected you love life?

not at all. i have become completely asexual, so i no longer need a love life.

6. How many of your friends have joined estrip because of your influence?

2, but they are lame bastards and don't post much. i had a lot of people tell me that this site is difficult to figure out, which i don't understand, as it was easy enough for me, so i will assume they are LAZY, lame bastards, instead.

7. Are you from Buffalo/do you live in Buffalo?

i am from poland and moved to buffalo when i was nine. i lived on the east side throughout high school and then in both buffalo and baltimore simultaneously when i was a flight attendant. later, i lived on breckenridge and st. james pl. now i live with family in tonawanda, but wish i could afford elmwood area.


Equipment:
1. What type of hardware or software purchases have you made as a result of using estrip?

none.

2. Have you used the mobile version of estrip? Why or why not?

no, i am too cheap to pay for internet access on my sprint phone.

Lifestyle:
1. In what way has estrip changed your Internet surfing habits? Describe the amount of time you spend on estrip, when you use it and about how long?

i spend a lot more time on the internet now. i check this site....oh let me see......about 17 times a day! seriously, i spend too much time here.

1a. How many journals do you usually read per day?

i usually read all, unless i'm in a bad mood, then i pick and choose.

2. In what ways has estrip changed the way you perceive your local community?

i always knew that elmwood was a cool place. i honestly expected a lot more hippies, tree huggers, and activists of some sorts, to be here, but i guess most people are just as lazy as i, and just leave the activism for others to do.

3. How has journaling about your life affected the way you spend your free time?

um, i don't think i journal much. i've been here loner than some and have fewer journals compared to them. i don't like writing because i am lazy.

4. Has estrip changed your living situation in any way?

nope.


5. Do you find that you mediate/document more of your experiences now that you share them with others?

well, the fact that i journal AT ALL, is surprising to me, because i've never kept a journal or diary, so yeah. and i know my kid knows about the site, so i have to watch what i say. that reminds me, maybe i should go back and edit some old posts.

6. Has publishing on estrip affected the way that write?

i do have to check my spelling and grammar, although not very well, and that is the major reason why i don't post more often. like i said, im laaaaaazy.

7. Do you have other online journals? If so, with what service and has estrip affected your usage of that journal?

nope.

8. Have you ever gotten in trouble for using estrip at work?

not yet.

9. If you have stopped using estrip, why?

i couldn't if i tried.

mmm, i went to tops today and found out they had golden neck clams on sale for 96 cents a dozen. i bought eight dozen and steamed them with garlic, leeks, dill, onions, chicken broth, olive oil and salt and pepper.

they were so super duper fantastic that i will go tomorrow and buy a ton more and eat clams all week long. i had maybe a total 15 clams while my family and friends gobbled the rest down. wow, 84 clams for under 8 bucks.

my flower pot bussines is coming along very nicely. i have tons of orders to fill. one woman at work ordered a dozen when i gave her one as a gift. they make great gifts as you can stuff them with all sorts of things and wrap them in celophane and a bow. planning on making haloween, christmas, valentines and easter themed ones.

i will post pics of my newest creations soon. and if any one needs some pots as gifts or for your porch, let me know.

it was so cold this weekend that i stayed in and had my own art festival. painted two ugly green tables for my mom and some flower pots that i will give to my coworker as a gift for giving me the BPO tickets.

here are the two tables, wish i had before and after pics.





and the flower pots.








and here are the baby birds that are nesting on our patio. you have no idea how much they eat!




and here is where we will be having a pool party in august.

went to the BPO yesterday. it was phenomenal!
i never knew that joanne falletta was one of only two female orchestral conductors in the world!!

more stories of my crazy kid.

couple of days ago i get a call from her social studies teacher saying that faben recorded her lecture on some kind of recording device and that she did not appreciate being recorded in any way, shape or form.

when faben gets home i ask her what she was doing and she proceeds to tell me that the class was misbehaving and the teacher yelled at them asking why can't they just behave themselves.

so faben took it upon herself to tell the teacher that if her class wasnt so boring, maybe they would behave better. she says to the teacher that maybe if she gave them projects to do instead of worksheets and constant lectures then theyd be more interested in the class.

the teacher then started to cry! (this is the second time this year she cried in front of the class)

so when she had her break down, faben recorded her on her mp3 player and played it to other kids after class ended.

evil little monster. gotta give her credit for at least telling the truth.


my fucking headaches are killing me.

So if capitalism and communisim are both proving usuccessful, maybe we should look at our friends in Northern Europe, i.e. Nordic countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, etc.

The Nordic model
by Stein Kuhnle



In comparison with the rest of Europe, the Nordic general welfare states share twelve fairly distinct characteristics which, taken together, may be regarded as a specifically Nordic "model". Those characteristics are:

1. A greater degree of active state involvement than in other countries. For example, the state guarantees basic pensions and free or heavily subsidised health services for all residents, although the delivery of such services is usually administered by provincial or local governments.

2. By international standards, the greatest proportion of the labour force employed in the social, health and educational sectors-- roughly thirty percent.

3. Heavy reliance on the public sector for the provision of social and educational services; roughly ninety percent of all personnel in those sectors are public employees. The corresponding figures for other European countries range from 40-80 percent; in the U.S., the figure is 45 percent.

4. The organization of social insurance within co-ordinated national systems which have overall responsibility for basic pensions, sick-leave benefits, child allowances and health services.

5. A comparatively high level of trust between citizens and governments. Nordic societies are more "state-friendly" than other European societies.

6. Comprehensive, or universal, social insurance systems which cover entire populations or sub-groups. For example: every resident is entitled to a basic old-age pension upon attaining retirement age, even in the absence of any history of gainful employment; child allowances are allocated to all families with children, regardless of income level; all residents are entitled to the best available medical services, irrespective of income, social status or other personal characteristics. This contrasts with most other European countries, where entitlement is conditional on successful participation in the labour market.

7. An advanced level of gender equality, especially as a result of legislation since the 1970s; essentially all benefits are "gender-neutral", in that women are treated as individuals with needs and rights of their own, rather than as merely wives and mothers. Nordic labour markets are characterised by high rates of female employment, nearly-equal incomes for men and women in comparable occupations, and a well-developed support system for working mothers.

8. Social insurance systems free of class or occupational bias. Those with high incomes are included in the same system as those with low or no incomes.

9. General taxation as the principal means of financing, which has the effect of redistributing income. As a result of the Nordic countries' universal, redistributive social insurance systems, their poverty rates are among the lowest in the world. Minimum pensions are not especially high, but generous in comparison with those of most other countries.

10. A greater emphasis on providing services, as opposed to direct income transfers, than in other European countries. Those services include an extensive network of child-care centres, old-age homes, and in-home assistance for the severely ill and the elderly.

11. A traditionally strong emphasis on full employment as a goal in itself, and as a prerequisite for generating the necessary economic resources for the general welfare state.

12. Strong popular support. Such issues as children's well-being, public health, old-age care, etc., are consistently accorded the highest priority in opinion surveys and during elections. No political party seeking broad support can afford to ignore them.
        


I have taken the liberty to compile a few statistics comparing the United States with some of the Nordic states. The results are quite interesting.

All stats are from NationMaster, World Statistics Country Comparison, who compile stats from various sources such as The United Nations, WHO, and other governmenal organizations.

Total taxation as % of GDP by country

Sweden     54.2 % of GDP     
Denmark     48.8 % of GDP     
Finland     46.9 % of GDP     
Norway     40.3 % of GDP     
United States    29.6 % of GDP     

Personal income tax by country
    
Denmark     53.2%     
United States 37.7%     
Finland     31.2%     
Sweden     30.4%     
Norway     24.8%     


Personal income tax by country

DEFINITION: Property tax as a percentage of total tax collected by the country. Data is for 2000.

United States    10.1%     
Sweden     3.4%     
Denmark     3.3%     
Finland     2.5%     
Norway     2.4%     
    


Taxation Statistics >Contribution by middle 40% by country

DEFINITION: Proportion of taxes paid by the broad income group - middle class 40% (Data is for mid-1990s). Taxes include all direct income taxes, including employee social security contributions. Income groups were built on the basis of final disposable adjusted income.

Denmark     37.2%     
Norway     36.1%     
Sweden     35.8%     
Finland     33.4%     
United States    28.4%     
    

Social security >Employees contribution by country
DEFINITION: Tax on employee's contribution of social security as a percentage of total tax collected by the country. Data is for 2002.

United States    11.7%     
Norway     7.7%     
Sweden     5.8%     
Finland     4.7%     
Denmark     2.7%     
    

Social security > Contribution by employer by country
DEFINITION: Tax on employer's contribution of social security as a percentage of total tax collected by the country. Data is for 2002.

Sweden     24.3%     
Finland     20.0%     
Norway     13.7%     
United States 13.0%     
Denmark 0.7%     


Church attendance by country

United States    44%     
Norway     5%     
Denmark      5%     
Finland     4%     
Sweden     4%     

Disabled persons employment by country


Norway     72%     
Sweden     69%     
Denmark     61%     
Finland     59%     
United States 58%     

Disbility benefit recipients by country

Norway     9.2%     
Sweden     8.2%     
Denmark     7.7%     
United States    4.7%     


Obesity by country

United States     30.6%     
Finland      12.8%     
Sweden      9.7%     
Denmark      9.5%     
Norway      8.3%     

McDonalds restaurants (per capita) by country

United States    0.433 per 10,000 population     
Sweden    0.252 per 10,000 population     
Denmark    0.182 per 10,000 population     
Finland    0.178 per 10,000 population     
Norway    0.12 per 10,000 population     

Military Statistics > Expenditures > Dollar figure (per $ GDP) by country

United States    $0.24 per $10 of GDP     
Sweden     $0.13 per $10 of GDP     
Norway     $0.12 per $10 of GDP     
Denmark     $0.10 per $10 of GDP     
Finland     $0.10 per $10 of GDP     


Lifestyle Statistics > Happiness level > Not very or not at all happy by country

United States    8%     
Finland     8%     
Norway     6%     
Denmark     5%     
Sweden     4%     


Lifestyle Statistics > Very proud of their nationality by country

United States    77%     
Norway     48%     
Finland 44%     
Sweden     43%     
Denmark     42%     

Lifestyle Statistics > Will fight for country by country


Norway     90%     
Sweden     90%     
Denmark     89%     
Finland      86%     
United States 78%     

Labor Statistics > Employment rate of highly educated women by country

Denmark     88.7%     
Sweden     87.8%     
Norway     87.3%     
Finland     84.8%     
United States    81.9%     


Labor Statistics > Female doctors by country

Finland     50.7%     
Sweden     39.2%     
Norway     37.2%     
Denmark     27.0%     
United States    23.1%     


Labor Statistics > Unemployment by country

Finland     9.5%     
United States    5.0%     
Denmark     4.8%     
Sweden     4.4%     
Norway     3.5%     

Labor Statistics > Unemployment benefit as % of GDP by country

Denmark     3.4 % of GDP     
Finland     2.6 % of GDP     
Sweden     1.9 % of GDP     
Norway     0.5 % of GDP     
United States    0.2 % of GDP     


Labor Statistics > Working mothers by country

Sweden     76     
Denmark     74     
Norway     73     
United States    61     
Finland     59     

Health Statistics > Births by caesarean section by country

United States    211 live births per 1,000 pe     
Finland     157 live births per 1,000 pe     
Denmark     145 live births per 1,000 pe     
Sweden     144 live births per 1,000 pe     
Norway     137 live births per 1,000 pe     


Health Statistics > Child maltreatment deaths by country

United States    2.2 per 100,000 children     
Finland     0.7 per 100,000 children     
Denmark      0.7 per 100,000 children     
Sweden     0.5 per 100,000 children     
Norway     0.3 per 100,000 children     


Health Statistics > Out-of-pocket expenditure as % of private
health expenditure by country

Sweden     100%     
Norway     97.2%     
Denmark     89.8%     
Finland     82.2%     
United States 25.4%


Literacy > Adults at high literacy level by country

Sweden     35.5%     
Norway     29.4%     
Denmark     25.4%     
Finland     25.1%     
United States 19.0%     


Proportion of primary education time spent learning foreign languages by country

Denmark     10
Finland     9
Norway     16
Sweden     12
United States    7


Public spending per student > Tertiary level by country

Denmark     65.1     
Sweden     53.5     
Norway     46.5     
Finland     39.7     
United States    23.9     


Child poverty by country

United States    22.4     
Denmark     5.1     
Finland     4.3     
Norway     3.9     
Sweden     2.6     


Distribution of family income > Gini index by country
DEFINITION: This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country. The index is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the rich

United States 45.0     
Norway     25.8     
Finland     25.6     
Sweden 25.0     
Denmark     24.7     


Income distribution > Poorest 10% by country
DEFINITION: Share of income or consumption (%). The distribution of income is typically more unequal than the distribution of consumption.

Finland     4.2%     
Norway     4.1%     
Sweden     3.7%     
Denmark     3.6%     
United States    1.8%     


Income distribution > Richest 10% by country
DEFINITION: Share of income or consumption (%). The distribution of income is typically more unequal than the distribution of consumption.

United States    30.5%     
Norway     21.8%     
Finland     21.6%     
Denmark     20.5%     
Sweden     20.1%


Population below median income by country
DEFINITION: Population living below 50% of median income (%)

United States    17.0     
Denmark     9.2     
Norway     6.9     
Sweden     6.6     
Finland     5.4     

Aid to Afghanistan > Total development aid, estimates (per $ GDP) by country

Norway     $457.44 per $10,000 of GDP     
Denmark     $284.43 per $10,000 of GDP     
Sweden     $229.73 per $10,000 of GDP     
Finland     $160.62 per $10,000 of GDP     
United States     $71.51 per $10,000 of GDP     


Funds committed to Tsunami aid (per $ GDP) by country

Norway     0.076 per $100     
Sweden     0.034 per $100     
Finland     0.029 per $100     
Denmark     0.024 per $100     
United States    0.007 per $100     

Funds pledged by NGOs and public (per $ GDP) by country (Tsunami)

Norway     $490,710.00 per $1 billion     
Sweden     $282,694.00 per $1 billion     
Denmark     $206,422.00 per $1 billion     
Finland     $151,455.00 per $1 billion     
United States     $55,574.50 per $1 billion     

    

Parliamentary seats > Female by country

Sweden      43%     
Finland      37%     
Norway      36%     
United States     13%     


Parliamentary elections > Registered voter turnout by country
DEFINITION: The proportion of registered voters who actually voted.

Denmark      87.1%     
Sweden      80.1%     
Norway      75.1%     
Finland      65.3%     
United States     63.8%     
    

Assaults (per capita) by country

United States    7.56923 per 1,000 people     
Finland     5.32644 per 1,000 people     
Norway     3.2064 per 1,000 people     
Denmark     1.80339 per 1,000 people     


Rapes (per capita) by country

United States    0.301318 per 1,000 people     
Norway     0.120836 per 1,000 people     
Finland     0.110856 per 1,000 people     
Denmark     0.0914948 per 1,000 people
    
Murders (per capita) by country

United States     0.042802 per 1,000 people     
Finland     0.0283362 per 1,000 people     
Denmark     0.0106775 per 1,000 people     
Norway     0.0106684 per 1,000 people     

ok
finally
it's done

we were able to get it on VHS and send it off overnight. $42 for fedex!

keep your toes crossed for us!