136.25 Hours in Cleveland (sort of Part 3)

And now to continue along the story of my epic journey (I'm hoping this is not becoming a long, meandering waste-of-time like Lord of the Rings), BUT FIRST (a dollar to anyone who anyone gets that reference (and an add'l $.80 to anyone who gets that reference)) a few thoughts.

Eatonomics Part Deux
I know folks are deciding on meal plans right now so I thought I'd use some of my newfound economic analytic skills to help you'se masses better understand the situation.

Plan	Cost	Flex Points	Meal Cost (Cost - Flex Points)	Cost/Meal	$ Saved	Meals Lost From Next Highest Plan	Extra Cost/ Meals Lost From Next Highest Plan
20	$3,298.00	200	$3,098.00	$5.16
14	$3,104.00	150	$2,954.00	$7.03	$144.00	180	$0.80
10	$2,814.00	100	$2,714.00	$9.05	$384.00	120	$3.20
7	$2,572.00	70	$2,502.00	$11.91	$596.00	90	$6.62

So basically, here's the deal. The 14 meal plan is a bad option because you only get $144 in exchange for losing about 180 meals a year. The last column means that by getting the 20 meal plan instead, youre essentially getting 180 meals for $.80 a piece. Even if you only use those meals to get Uncrustables at Jo's, you've more than made the money back.

The 10 and 7 meal plans seem much more reasonable given the "Extra Cost per Meals Lost by Not Choosing Next Highest Meal Plan" measure. However, the problem with these is the high cost per meal ($9.05 for 10 meals and $11.91 for 7 meals). For that amount you could eat really well on Thayer Street or just pay for each meal at the Ratty, etc. Get this: you can buy a meal from one of the Jose's at the Ratty for:
Breakfast $6.50
Lunch $9.30
Dinner $10.95
(and obviously Gate, Blue Room, Jo's, etc is cheaper)
YOU ACTUALLY SAVE MONEY BY BUYING EACH MEAL INDIVIDUALLY THAN WITH THE 7 MEAL PLAN ($11.91 per meal vs. $10.95 per meal assuming 7 dinners, the most expensive optio). The 10 meal plan isn't much better as, assuming you're eating 5 lunches and 5 dinners a week, you only save a dollar a week and are stuck with BUDS food options.

That leaves the 20 meal plan as the only economicallly viable solution (besides going off-meal plan entirely and paying per meal as discussed above). Hopefully that helps folks.

Thank You


To Housemates, Assorted Folks and Jews, Angela, Whit, Mel, Sara, Annie and everyone I'm forgetting:

Thanks for all the Birthday gifts. I apologize for not getting back to some of you sooner but between phone issues, failing classes, avoiding being fired again, jetsetting, blogging, BB6, and the BoSox I haven't gotten a chance to get back to some of y'all. Thanks for honoring me in gift form.

Dysablity in Dysgiuse?
Premise #1
As y'all know, I've always hated reading. The only books I've read cover-to-cover in the last ten years or so are Long Bomb: How the XFL Became TV's Biggest Fiasco, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, The Reality TV Handbook, The Five Chinese Brothers, and the Sims Strategy Manual.

Premise #2
I've always been incredibly slow not only at reading but at taking tests. I barely reached the last page of my Econ test before sensei told us that time was up. I got a 67 on the test and am in danger of failing the class mostly becuase I left the majority of that page blank.

Premises #3, 4, and 5
In PS110 class, the future Mrs. Chacon, Wendy Schiller corrects me on the fact that I transposed the numbers in a budget figure. At the library I transpose numbers when I ask for a book on reserve and the attendant suggests that I may be dyslexic. When dialing the Rhode Island lottery to ask them what the expected payoff is on scratch cards (that's another post), I transpose the numbers.

Conclusion
I may be dyslexic. According to this test, I'm sort of borderline. Having come to the end of this tale, its not as interesting as I thought it might be (i.e. a Nathan story), so I apologize.

Problematic
The WWE (formerly the WWF before the panda WWF mauled it and took the name) has a character by the name of Muhammed Hassan who is an Arab-American (Kaysar anybody?) who is a heel (industry term for "bad guy"). Go to wwe.com ASAP and click on the TONIGHT: Hassan vs. Taker link. Soooooooooooo problematic. So problematic in fact that that link will probably be taken down in the next few hours as the character Hassan has been removed from the roster after angry letters to WWE HQ by those affected by the London bombings.

UPDATE: The link has been taken down but here is a link to the original video (opens in web browser). The WWE and "Hassan"'s response to the controversy in what is presumably his final WWE appearence is here for now but I bet that will be taken down soon too. If so, then this is another copy of Hassan's response (opens with RealPlayer.) . If you ever wanted to know how Red State ppl think, watch this craziness.

Returning to Our Regularly Scheduled Program
12:15 - So it's less than an hour til the Closing Ceremony and I'm furiously helping the 8th grade speecher with the turns of his speech as I eat my traditonal Jr. Bacon Cheesburger, Biggie Fry lunch. As I've mentioned before: the crux (sp?) of the speech is him making the turn from "Benjamin Mays once said 'The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach'" to the so-called Hooters story. Speaking of which, here is (from what I remember) the Hooters paragraph of the speech:

"My most memorable experience from the [DC] trip was when [the director of the program] told us that we had an hour and a half to eat, shop, and explore the Baltimore harbor. We were all hungry and decided we were in the mood for some wings. We found the restaurant and ordered burgers, wings, and quesadillas. It was only 20 minutes left and we still hadn't received our food. Finally, the food came. And so did the bill. 178 dollars. We combined all of our money and were still 15 dollars short. There was only 10 minutes left before we had to be back on the bus so I paid the last 15 dollars. The waitresses at the restaurant were so nice that they gave us 50 extra wings. [The director of the program] always said that if we were gonna be late, we should at least show up with extra food. We actually got back early which allowed me to retrieve the 15 dollars from my classmates. [The director] was happy we were on time and even happier to get those wings."

From there, it makes a turn back to the Mays quote and gets soppy, as Beri would put it. A couple notes on the story. First, remember that "the restaurant" and "the waitresses" are codewords for Hooters and titties. Second, it wasn't the waitresses that bought them the wings but some sketchy (I believe this a correct use of the term) guy. In the hallway, the students are beginning to line up to enter the the final ceremony. It's game time. And we must protect this house...