Saturday, April 14, 2007
Expensive lessons
1. When given the choice to be an employee or contractor, be an employee.
I made only $13,000 last year, but somehow I owe $1,500 in taxes. This is because when my summer employer asked whether I wanted to added to the payroll or be paid as an independent contractor for my 10-week internship, I said, "I'll be a contractor." I knew there were tax implications, but I thought it was just a matter of timing. (ie. pay taxes now or pay them later, and it sounded good at the time to pay them later).
Sadly, I found out last week that I am now paying more in taxes because of my decision to not be on the payroll. If I had chosen to be an employee, I would have paid income tax over the summer but would have gotten a nice little refund from education credits at tax time. Instead, I am now on the hook for my own SS and Medicare taxes, which my employer would have normally paid as part of the costs of having an employee.* Plus, about $50 in fines for not paying the taxes at the time that I earned the income. And no, education credits do not count toward SS, Medicare, or late fines.
2. If you forget to hang up your residential parking permit on my street - a wide open street with plenty of parking on both the east and west sides pretty much at all times of day and night, mind you - you will get a ticket. For $47. And it might just blow away in the wind, and you might not even find out you got a ticket until you receive a late notice in the mail, say after returning from a nice trip to Japan.
3. If you park at a broken meter in Santa Monica on a Saturday morning, even if you try to put coins into the meter, and said meter fails to register your money, and you are fuming because you don't have enough change left to go to another meter and so you decide to just take a chance - you will get a ticket. Within a half hour. For $35.
* So that's why they said in business school that payroll costs are a big burden on employers. The lesson has finally penetrated my thick skull.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Virtual stir-frying
Virtual stir-frying *
- Take a vegetable that you would normally stir-fry (Zucchini, bell peppers, Asian greens)
- Chop it up into small pieces that would cook in a wok in just a couple of minutes. (No wok needed, don't worry)
- Put veggies in a microwaveable container that comes with a lid
- Drizzle in a small amount of cooking oil (or olive or flavored, if you want to be fancy)
- Sprinkle a bit of salt
- Put the lid on, and shake it all around
- Pop it into the microwave and cook on high for a couple of minutes
- Take the container out, give the veggies another shake, and cook again for a few minutes. (The amount of cooking time depends on type of veggie and size of chopped pieces).
* Virtual stir-frying works well with vegetables. Try other types of food at your own risk. Don't neglect the oil. You'll get a sopping mess of half-steamed veggies if you don't coat everything with a thin layer of oil. And nobody likes that.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Two things I brought home from Japan
Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo: I gorged on uni, which I have praised in a previous post. It's basically my favorite food in the world at the moment. The uni I had at 7 am one morning after visiting the famous wholesale fish market was an unusual breakfast, I grant. But oh my gosh, was it soft, fresh and delicious. I wish I had pictures of my chirashi bowl, which also contained slices of tuna and salmon roe, but the establishment didn't allow photos. All I have is these of the little restaurant district that adjoins the market. The meal I chose is pictured on the second row from the bottom. See the gorgeous yellow color of the uni peeking out? My companion was a first-year student, Vishal, who was on a pilgrimage in search of baby octopus. We sat together and ate in quiet reverence, pausing only to praise or share a morsel.
The Japanese people: I'm not going to say I'm a big expert now or that I met every last one of them, but the ones I did encounter did help to enlighten me about Japanese culture and customs. I used to think the culture rather stiff and artificially formal, with lots of hidden societal problems and tastes that lean toward the small and cute rather than the large and grand. Then of course there is that nasty business of past Japanese imperialism in China and Korea. But the visit helped me gain a more multi-dimensional perspective - which is the most valuable thing a person can gain from traveling abroad - and better appreciate Japanese culture (not excusing the imperialism).
I was struck by how comfortable and safe I felt at all times, unlike when I'm traveling in other foreign places. Never did I have to worry about a harsh word or a rude tone. My wallet, which I left behind in a stadium in Osaka after a Sumo tournament, was tagged and filed away by the staff before I even got back to the place where I had lost it. People bent over backwards to help me and my friends, and they did it all with a spring in their step and a pleasant manner. (Picture this: Our first day in Japan, we stand helpless in front of a bank of subway ticket machines in Kyoto trying to figure out how to purchase our fares, when a section of the wall in front of us actually opens and a man pops out his head to assist us).
Suffice it to say, I'm now a big fan of the Japanese notion of separating public behavior and private feeling. I see the value of behaving one way in public, regardless of how you feel inside, and helping to maintain an extreme kind of social order. The calmness may be superficial, but it sure does remind you that your fellow man is someone to be respected, not constantly struggled against. (Don't ask me to reconcile this with a horror story I heard from Tony, my very emo Taiwanese friend who lives in Tokyo. He was jailed for 2 weeks, after he aroused policemen's suspicions by being dressed in all-black and having a pocket knife in his backpack. He was eventually released with no charge.)