Siberian Alps

Got a cool view of the Siberian Alps on my flight over to Tokyo:

Catoctin Mountain and Cunningham Falls

I finally got out for a decent hike this weekend. I went up to Catoctin NP up in MD and did the Cunningham Falls/Hog Rock Vista/Blue Ridge Summit Loop. It was the perfect warm-up hike for the season since it was not difficult. The loop is about 5 miles long, with only about 250m elevation gain. There were couple of nice overlooks, one of which I ate lunch at, and a waterfall. Not the most spectacular waterfall ever, but it's supposed to be the highest in MD at 78 ft. The footbridge to the falls lead you to a fenced dead end where the view is not so great, but you can back track a bit to where the fence starts, get off the path, and make your way to the fall that way. If you want to skip the hike and just see the falls, you might be better just going to the Cunningham Falls State Park. Btw - no entrance fees :)

Bull Run Park Bluebell Trail

I'm not a girly girl, but I do like flowers. I always make a point of seeing the cherry blossoms in DC every year. Last year though, I discovered the bluebells at Riverbend Park. So now I make a point of seeing them the week after cherry blossoms. This year, I heard that the bluebells at Bull Run were spectacular so we decided to go check it out. Sure enough, the bluebells were amazing there. You can see bluebells as far as the eye can see. A sea of bluebells... like something out of a fairy tale.

The trail itself is only a mile or 2 long but I think there are also bluebells on the Occoquan trail, which is only slightly longer. The trailhead was not so easy to find since I didn't have a map. I did find the Occoquan trailhead though across from the waterpark/frisbee golf parking lot. The Bluebell trail started shortly into the Occoquan trail, and ends back at the road slightly back toward the gate. We walked back along the road a bit (100m?) but you might be able to cross the road and use the trail to get back to the parking area. The flowers had already peaked probably last weekend or so and started to wither a bit from the heat, but it was still very pretty.

Foreign Transaction Fees

Credit card companies are one of the worst when it comes to charging their customers in an effort to make some extra money. One of the new fees they came up with over the last few years is the foreign transaction fee. It wasn't enough that they charged the merchants a few percent, they had to go on and

Here's what Citibank had to say about why they charge a foreign transaction fee (3%):

"We price our products to reflect the values we deliver in the marketplace. As we determined what this fee should be, we considered competitive, customer, franchise, and regulatory factors. In addition, we considered the added processing and servicing costs, as well as fraud liability associated with foreign transactions. Our research indicates that using Citi credit cards is 1 of the least expensive ways to purchase goods in a foreign currency.

Because of the changes that we have had to incorporate as a result of the new processes used by Visa and MasterCard to bill the conversion rate to us, we now consider the Foreign Exchange Transaction Fee to be an interest charge on purchases that were converted from another currency into U.S. Dollars."

Value Added Tax

According to this article, one of Obama's economic advisors is suggesting the government begin charging Value Added Taxes (VAT) to help address the issue with our debt. While I don't know the specifics of what they would implement, going to a sales-based tax would be great if they could eliminate the income tax. Since the largest consumers would presumably be those who make more money, it would still be progressive - as in the rich people would pay more in taxes. The sales tax could also vary depending on what the product is so again, it could tax those who indulge in unnecessary luxury items more, and tax less the necessary items like basic food items (e.g. milk, eggs, veggies, etc.) Also, taxing sales will help curve consumers' appetite for spending and encourage people to live more in their means. Even better, by doing away with income tax, it will eliminate the need for people to file complicated tax returns, along with all the loop-holes that the rich find to avoid paying taxes.

Of course there are other considerations and many of these changes will have to be phased in. I for one, however, would be all about switching to sales based tax if it eliminates income tax. Again, I have no idea what the administration is considering or will propose. Another thing I wish people would do though, is stop whining about the administration possibly raising taxes. Yeah, I don't want to pay anymore taxes either, and I am also angry at the situation our economy is in thanks to all those mofos who gave out loans people couldn't afford or bought houses they couldn't afford. However, the issue of our growing debt needs to be addressed asap, and everyone must now pay for the mistakes others made whether we like it or not. The government is doing what it thinks is best for our country, and it's not an easy job with the mess they have on their hands. If cutting spending is not an option and people need to pay more taxes for a while so be it. Half of those cry babies probably do nothing about any of this anyways but sit back, watch, and complain. Either be a proactive part of the solution or shut the f * up.

DC Cherry Blossoms

It's my favorite time of year again - the cherry blossom season! This Spring we've been having some really nice sunny days... actually unseasonably warm days. Since the cherry blossoms peaked midweek, I was afraid they would not last too well into the weekend given how hot it was this week. So I convinced couple co-workers to come with me midweek to check out the trees. What was supposed to be an in-and-out operation during lunch turned into a bit of a traffic & parking nightmare though. I guess everyone else had the same idea. There was traffic everywhere in DC, and especially around the Tidal Basin. All traffic was directed around the Tidal Basin because the city had blocked off the direct entrance onto Ohio Drive. We eventually made it out to the East Potomac Park, but had to circle around Hains Point before we found a place to park. From there it was a good 45 minute walk to the Tidal Basin. There were supposed to be shuttle buses, but we only saw one go by the whole time. It was a gorgeous day to be out though, and there were cherry blossoms all lined up along Ohio Drive which made the walk pleasant.

The next day I went into the city again with my husband and some friends. This time we went over the Memorial Bridge to avoid traffic from I-66. We hit some traffic along the tidal basin but not as bad as yesterday. We also got lucky and found a place to park near the Tidal Basin. There were so many people in DC though. It was crazy. I thought last year was bad but this year seemed even worse, probably because of the nice weather.

The cherry blossoms were as beautiful as ever this year though. If the weather next year is as nice as it was this year, I think I will hit DC at the crack of dawn like I did couple years back. And take a blanket, a day's worth of provisions, and a good book. It would have been nice to just take a nap, or read a book under the trees.