My Scratchpad

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

On the $15 Minimum Wage Debate, From a Pragmatic Perspective

10:25 PM

Since the minimum wage debate is being fired up again, I'm going to weigh in. I still can't believe people think $15/hr is some sort of reward for "working hard". It's a decent wage if you're single and very frugal, but $15/hr doesn't go very far these days, especially if you have a family
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If you're already making $15 or more an hour, why does it affect you if someone else doing a different job makes the same or even more if benefits are factored into the equation? They're not taking anything from you or your accomplishments. You should be glad people are pushing for being paid more, because it means less people relying on social services and it means more money going into the economy, which makes things better for everyone.

What you're also forgetting is that more people are paying taxes at $15 an hour, which means more revenue for municipal and state services. At $7.25-$10 hourly rates, very few people are making enough to pay taxes and are usually exempt as a result, which means sharply reduced tax revenue coming in.

Were the minimum wage actually indexed to inflation, $15 an hour would still be lower than where the wage should theoretically be set, which is $22.50 an hour at our current cost of living and inflation rates. At some point, politicians and businesses forgot why the minimum wage exists, which was to allow people to be able to cover their expenses at a 40 hour workweek.

I see the backlash against raising the minimum wage as being the result of a culture where earning money is seen as a zero-sum game and being wealthy as the ultimate goal. I also find it funny how the people that want to argue against raising the minimum wage are the least informed on how the increase benefits everyone in the long-term, all for the desire to have someone to look down upon.

If we're all making $15 an hour, then that means that we're taking the steps to be better off as a country and as a society. Whether people will sit up and realize that will take a long time, and both politicians and businesses will keep fighting it, until more people realize it's in their best interest to earn more. Earning a $15 minimum wage will not demotivate people from earning more money, especially those with families, but it will give them a foundation to earn more if they want or need to.

A solid foundation to start from with a $15 minimum wage will make all the difference between struggling from check to check or being able to focus on long-term goals, and we really need more people to be able to focus on long-term goals, for the sake of the country and the economy.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

My Dream IndyCar Schedule

12:46 AM

Ever since I was about 15, I've been a huge fan of IndyCar. I started following the sport after first being exposed to it through the CART World Series game on the first PlayStation. Back then, the cars looked like cruise missiles with inverted wings and were as fast, hitting 235 mph regularly on larger ovals.

Penske PC23 - via UltimateCarPage.com

For me, next to Japanese animation, IndyCar is the other passion in my life. Sure, I'm into cars and I've built and hot rodded a few with some help, but nothing compares to sitting in an IndyCar knowing that its capable of going much faster through a corner than a NASCAR stock car and even a current Formula 1 car.

With the current direction in IndyCar being dominated by the need for a short season, it dawned on me that the current series needs to look to the past to assure its future while taking its product to more people in more places where racing isn't common, by bringing a taste of the Indy 500 to the people.

With that in mind, I propose the following schedule for IndyCar that bridges the best of the past and present with the possibilities of the future through a solid mix of ovals, street circuits, street ovals, and permanent road courses. I've laid out my dream schedule below:

Surfer's Paradise Doubleheader - Early February (Round 1+2)
Homestead-Miami Speedway - Late February (Round 3)
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Doubleheader - Early March (Round 4+5)
Grand Prix of Alabama - Late March (Round 6)
Phoenix International Raceway Twin 300s - Early April (Round 7+8)
Grand Prix of Long Beach Doubleheader - Mid April (Round 9+10)
Grand Prix of Indianapolis - Early May (Round 11)
Indianapolis 500 - Memorial Day Weekend (Round 12)
Milwaukee Mile Twin 125s - Early June (Round 13+14)
Road America - Mid June (Round 15)
Belle Isle Doubleheader - Late June (Round 16+17)
Grand Prix of Toronto Doubleheader - Early July (Round 18+19)
Mid-Ohio - Early August (Round 20)
Pocono 500 - Mid August (Round 21)
Grand Prix of Boston - Early September (Round 22)
Texas Twin 300s- Mid September (Round 23+24)
Portland International - Late September (Round 25)
Laguna Seca - Early October (Round 26)
California Speedway - Mid October (Round 27)

Along with the above schedule, the following "street ovals" could be considered as exhibition races in select cities before being added as possible regular season races:

New York
Las Vegas

This all wishful thinking and its highly unlikely that it will ever come to pass, but it's nice to think about.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

A Scratchpad For My Thoughts At 30

9:31 AM

I’m Humberto Saabedra. I’m a 30-year-old writer as of Friday May 8th 2015 and I’m not sure how I went from a struggling retail employee bouncing from job to job, sometimes holding 2 jobs at once as far back as 2008, to a somewhat known pop culture and tech blogger in the space of 8 years.

I’m also one of the few disabled bloggers actively contributing articles on a regular basis to a couple of outlets as well as writing on my own. I never thought I’d make it this far in terms of a writing “career”. I never aspired to be a journalist in the conventional sense, nor did I ever see myself as a writer.

I grew up enthralled by video games, classical music, early German and European techno along with classic rock and 80s synthpop. Along the way during my childhood, I had a total of 18 surgeries to correct orthopedic issues stemming from developing symptoms of Cerebral Palsy, which resulted from being born prematurely at 6 months and developing hydrocephalus.

I was crazy enough at one point to believe that I could have a career in motorsport, either as an engineer or even more unbelievably, as a driver. I never really pursued either option, because I was guided to chase “safer” alternatives. I still dream of sitting low in an IndyCar, even though realistically, my body couldn’t handle the strain in its current condition.

I ultimately chose not to go to college because I was afraid of seeing my family disintegrate, although I realize now that was an unwise decision. I plan to go back to school to chase a long-desired Economics degree and hopefully learn much more.

As I live each day of my 30th year, I’m beginning to realize just how lucky I am and how the direction I’ve taken in my life has shaped who I am. I know I care about my family and I know I enjoy writing. Outside of that, I know I want to fall in love and do the things that are supposed to be marks of adulthood, but I’m unsure if they apply to me.

All I know is that these past 30 years have been an interesting whirlwind, but I think I’m ready to make actual progress and grow even further as a person. I’m only writing this because I’ve had these random thoughts in my head for a couple weeks and I wanted to put them down somewhere.

If I had anything I wanted to accomplish outside of going to college, I guess it would be writing a book, but hell if I know what I would write about. Bad erotic fiction? Something motorsport-related? I don’t know yet, but I’ll give it a shot.

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