Seems that everyone is talking about yesterdays SCOTUS decision on the affordable health care act. Guess that means that I need to weigh in as well. Let's clear something up first. The first thing I need to tell you is that , for the most part, I agree with what is in the act. What I don't agree with is the mandate that everyone have health insurance, the misnaming, and the lack of protection from the insurance companies. These all go hand in hand so I will start with the most basic problem, the name.
This act does nothing to affect the cost of health care. Why do I say this? Firstly, it does nothing to address the issue of health care costs. The bill deals almost exclusively with health insurance and provision of care. In otherwords, who pays for the health care. Either insurance companies, the states, or the federal government. The same as it was before. This has no effect on the cost of health care. At best, the name should be the health insurance reform act.
Now for the meat of the problem, the mandate. The supreme court ruled that there will be a fine for those who don't have health insurance. The first thing you need to realize is when this fine is levied. It isn't on your tax form or by the policeman pulling you over, it is levied when you visit a doctor without health insurance. This means that you still visited the doctor without health insurance and have to pay that bill and now you have an additional fine on top of it. So lets figure out who wouldn't have health insurance.
When it comes to health insurance, There are several categories. There are those that can afford it and pay for it. Those that can afford it, think they are healthy enough not to need it and thus don't buy it (a minority). Those that can't afford it and qualify for state or federal health care (Va, Medicare, etc.) and are on it. Then there is the last 2 categories. These two are the ones hurt most by this bill. The first category is those that can't afford health insurance but aren't poor enough to get government health care. Then there are those that have been denied health insurance for pre-existing conditions.
Let's talk about those with pre-existing conditions and how this bill does nothing to help them. While it is true that health insurance companies cannot deny coverage to someone with preexisting conditions, there is no provision to make that affordable. We are talking about private comanies here. They exist to make money, not to care for people. Everything they do needs to be profitable. They aren't going to offer insurance at reasonable rates for everyone if it affects their bottom line. Here is what I see happening. A person with a pre-existing condition applies for health insurance and the company, because they have to offer insurance, quotes them an annual rate that will cover their costs and then some (for profit, remember). Now, the applicant can't afford the coverage and thus declines it. The insurance company complied with the law and offered to cover you, you chose to decline it adn thus it is your fault you aren't insured. Nowhere in this law is that prevented.
As for those who couldn't afford health insurance already, once again, there is no provision to make it affordable or get them on government programs. All we've done is make criminals out of people who are just trying to survive and increase the profits of a bunch of health insurance companies.
The idea that your health insurance will go down as a result of this law is highly laughable. The reason is simple. These companies are making huge profits on those who are already paying, they aren't going to jeopardize them for this law. They will make up the costs in whatever way they can. This means by raising rates for those of us that are healthy should their lawyers advise them to insure the previously uninsurable. What motivation do they have to lower rates? To be nice? They're trying to make profits. If they can increase rates to increase profits they will. At some point someone is going to mention auto insurance, so I will address that right now. Yes, there are a ton of auto inurance companies out there and they all claim to save money. The fact is, auto insurance rates have gone up signaificantly over the years at a rate higher than inflation. But yours has gone down? Has your driving record improved? Did you get older? If you compare apples to apples, auto insurance has gone up, not down. Sure people are always saving according to the commercials, but what they don't tell you is that people don't switch unless they are going to save money or their insurance dropped them (in which case, they usually don't save money). The reason these people save money is because, for the most part, they haven't reviewed there policy in years and were getting charged at the rate they started in which didn't reflect there current status (good driving, accident free, getting older, etc.). Health insurance will be no different. Why should it be? They both are working for profit.
Now for the solution. In order to make health care affordable, there has to be a baseline alternative. Something everyone can afford and sets a bar that the health insurance companies need to meet. The only way to do this is through a government offered insurance plan. The way that would work of there is an allowable deduction for health care. If you take the deduction, you are saying you have purchased health insurance from a private company. If you opt to not take the deduction, you are enrolled in the government health insurance which is a basic insurance (regular preventative medicine, emergency care, etc.) for one year (your next tax return). Then, if you go to the doctor and you don't have health insurance, instead of a fine, you get and IRS audit, are investigated for tax fraud/evasion, and face jail time. This would increase tax revenues, make health insurance affordable for all, and allow freedom of choice of providers.
Let's go back to the point I made about the unisured visiting hte hospital. Under this bill, a fine is levied if you visit a doctor, for any reason, without insurance. Those that are currently visiting doctors wihtout insurance usually do so via the emergency room. This wouldn't change. Those without insurance would visit the ER and then have a fine to pay ontop of an ER bill. As I mentioned before, the primary group that does not have insurance are those that can't afford it. If they can't afford health insurance, what makes the politicians think they will pay for an ER visit and a fine. They would already ignore the bill from the ER so what is ignoring a fine. Health care costs stay the same and insurance goes up. We all lose.
This is my opinion and I take responsability for it. If you can dispute any of this, I welcome it. I love being proven wrong. OK, I don't love it, I do accept it though and learn from it.
Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.
Showing posts with label solutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solutions. Show all posts
Friday, June 29, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
An Apology, a solution, and a loving wife.
After rereading yesterday's post, I realize that I owe a huge apology to my wife. I allowed anger to cloud my judgement on what I posted and it was wrong. The way I posted it makes it sound as though my wife is evil, coniving and self centered. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The disagreement we had was based solely on mutual misunderstanding and was solved to both of our satisfaction. We have since made up and have moved on (at least until my wife reads yesterdays post and I have to apologize all over again, which I will do when I get home). I made a mistake and will deal with it when I get home. It should also be noted here, that as of this post, my wife has not read yesterday's post and thus may not know of what was written. Thus this apology is not prompted by arguements or otherwise. I am sorry, dear, I will speak to you on this when I get home.
I was going to add on to this post a seperate commentary on an unrelated matter, but realized it would muddy the waters and possibly dilute the first part. So I will end today's post with this. Men, just because you feel wronged (even if you weren't) is no erason to air it publicly. In a loving relationship, who is right has no bearing on the outcome. Solutions are the goal of every conversation (and argument) between you and your wife. It doesn't matter who was right (and, by proxy, who was wrong) only that you solve your problems and move forward. To dwell on the mistakes of others is to live with the results and mess of those mistakes rather than to correct them. The longer you point fingers, the longer it takes to find a solution and move on. I could keep spouting cliches, but you get the picture. I didn't until last night. Thank you to my lovely wife for pointing me in the right direction (again).
Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.
I was going to add on to this post a seperate commentary on an unrelated matter, but realized it would muddy the waters and possibly dilute the first part. So I will end today's post with this. Men, just because you feel wronged (even if you weren't) is no erason to air it publicly. In a loving relationship, who is right has no bearing on the outcome. Solutions are the goal of every conversation (and argument) between you and your wife. It doesn't matter who was right (and, by proxy, who was wrong) only that you solve your problems and move forward. To dwell on the mistakes of others is to live with the results and mess of those mistakes rather than to correct them. The longer you point fingers, the longer it takes to find a solution and move on. I could keep spouting cliches, but you get the picture. I didn't until last night. Thank you to my lovely wife for pointing me in the right direction (again).
Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Why cut the pay for those that work and not those that don't?
So I missed yesterday's post because I got sent home to deal with my Septic system. Turns out, I shouldn't have worried. Hopefully it happens today. Unfortunately, I have duty so I will not be able to be there and my wife will have to take care of it. She worries about it, but I think she will do fine.
As I was looking at various things, I came to the conclusion that there is something fundamentally wrong with politicians. How else do you explain the idea that in order to save money, you cut pay and wages from working people (military, federal workers, etc) in order to maintain pay to those not working (welfare, jobless benefits, etc.) Don't get me wrong, I think that these programs are necessary to a point, but to justify cutting pay from those who work and not to those that don't at the same time is ludicrous. We cut jobs for the sake of savings only to have those whose jobs we cut end up on unemployment and other costly programs as they search for jobs to replace the job we cut to save money.
Now comes the fun part. I was always taught that if you don't have a solution or aren't willing to discuss one, don't bring up the problem. So here goes. I say put the people on welfare to work. Set up day care that is open only to those on welfare and staff it with those on welfare. Next, put those who now have free time to work in jobs appropriate to their physical abilities. If they don't know how to do the job, they get trained. If they don't want to work, they don't get welfare. I can hear some of you saying, "what about those who are disabled?" I didn't say anything about those on disability, I said welfare. But they can work too. There are phones that need answered, data that needs inputted, etc. There are jobs out there for all disability levels. Just as there are jobs out there for all ability levels. Streets need cleaned, ditches need dug, parks need mowed. Fences need built. Fences need painting. Trees need planting. I could go on and on. But we continually complain about those on welfare and the job market. But no one wants to do the jobs that are available, either because the job is not at their particular "skill level" or because it doesn't pay as well. I think that if you gave people a choice of working for their welfare and unemployment checks on these needed government jobs that they would either work or get off of welfare.
The other side of this is that the work we are either not doing or contracting out at exhorbant rates would get done rather cheaply. One other thing to throw out there. Because they are working and may actually want to better themselves, you put into place a policy that gives them the freedom to job hunt while doing the work. What I mean is, you give them the flexibility of schedule that allows them to better themselves. If they want, you give them the option of going to school on the governments dime with the agreement that they will stop getting welfare in 5 years. This gives them the time to get a degree and another year for the following job search. Once they sign up and take money, there is no turning back. They are off of welfare regardless of whether they finished school or not. Of course this means we supply tutoring, but in the long run, it saves us a ton of money.
This is all my opinion and you can take it however you want, but we have a problem here in the US and it is a selfish problem. No one wants to take responsibility for themselves. Everyone wants the government to provide for their comfort. And it does, as long as you are willing to claim that you can't do anything else and throw everything away and start over. Do that and you will find that you can live pretty well on the government dime. Especially if you combine programs properly. If you give something to someone for Free without any end in sight, you find that there is no reason for them to take a risk and get off of it.
Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.
As I was looking at various things, I came to the conclusion that there is something fundamentally wrong with politicians. How else do you explain the idea that in order to save money, you cut pay and wages from working people (military, federal workers, etc) in order to maintain pay to those not working (welfare, jobless benefits, etc.) Don't get me wrong, I think that these programs are necessary to a point, but to justify cutting pay from those who work and not to those that don't at the same time is ludicrous. We cut jobs for the sake of savings only to have those whose jobs we cut end up on unemployment and other costly programs as they search for jobs to replace the job we cut to save money.
Now comes the fun part. I was always taught that if you don't have a solution or aren't willing to discuss one, don't bring up the problem. So here goes. I say put the people on welfare to work. Set up day care that is open only to those on welfare and staff it with those on welfare. Next, put those who now have free time to work in jobs appropriate to their physical abilities. If they don't know how to do the job, they get trained. If they don't want to work, they don't get welfare. I can hear some of you saying, "what about those who are disabled?" I didn't say anything about those on disability, I said welfare. But they can work too. There are phones that need answered, data that needs inputted, etc. There are jobs out there for all disability levels. Just as there are jobs out there for all ability levels. Streets need cleaned, ditches need dug, parks need mowed. Fences need built. Fences need painting. Trees need planting. I could go on and on. But we continually complain about those on welfare and the job market. But no one wants to do the jobs that are available, either because the job is not at their particular "skill level" or because it doesn't pay as well. I think that if you gave people a choice of working for their welfare and unemployment checks on these needed government jobs that they would either work or get off of welfare.
The other side of this is that the work we are either not doing or contracting out at exhorbant rates would get done rather cheaply. One other thing to throw out there. Because they are working and may actually want to better themselves, you put into place a policy that gives them the freedom to job hunt while doing the work. What I mean is, you give them the flexibility of schedule that allows them to better themselves. If they want, you give them the option of going to school on the governments dime with the agreement that they will stop getting welfare in 5 years. This gives them the time to get a degree and another year for the following job search. Once they sign up and take money, there is no turning back. They are off of welfare regardless of whether they finished school or not. Of course this means we supply tutoring, but in the long run, it saves us a ton of money.
This is all my opinion and you can take it however you want, but we have a problem here in the US and it is a selfish problem. No one wants to take responsibility for themselves. Everyone wants the government to provide for their comfort. And it does, as long as you are willing to claim that you can't do anything else and throw everything away and start over. Do that and you will find that you can live pretty well on the government dime. Especially if you combine programs properly. If you give something to someone for Free without any end in sight, you find that there is no reason for them to take a risk and get off of it.
Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
How's your Check Engine light?
On my way into work this morning, my check engine light came on. I have no clue what it could be as I can neither feel nor hear anything wrong. This led me to the realization that the check engine light isn't there just to tell me when something is wrong, but also when something is going wrong. It lets you know that something is not as it should be before it leads to something more expensive and damaging. At least I hope that is what it does.
The interesting thing is, we humans have a check engine light of sorts. We call it our conscience. It lets us know when we are doing something wrong. And just like the check engine light in your car, you can choose to ignore it or you can choose to fix it. The problem we run into is we tend to ignore the check engine light until it does so much damage the repair is costly and painful.
We, as humans, don't like to admit when we were wrong. We are stubborn and hard headed. It is easier to try and justify what we did or cover it up in a web of lies. The problem with these two approaches is that, either way, you don't fix the problem. We are still wrong and have to live with our consciences until we make it right. With a car we take our check engine light to a mechanic to get it checked out and repaired. We can do the same thing with ours and the mechanic for our check engine light is the best there is since he made each of us. Yes, I am talking about God. He will forgive us as well as cleanse us. He gives us strength and guidance and so much more. It isn't easy but it is actually very cheap. In fact it is a free gift. The only thing you have to do is accept it.
"But that means I have to quit doing some of the things I like to do," you say. That is part of repenting. You admit to your sins and that they are sins. This means that you recognize what you are doing is wrong. The only question is, "if you know it is wrong and you need rescue from it, why would you want to do it again?" Sure, you should give up the wrong things you did, but this is a result of doing what is right and repenting, not a cost for it. Think of it this way, you get your car fixed after the check engine light comes on. The mechanic tells you that the problem was due to you driving over curbs all the time. Concerned about making your car last longer, you stop driving over curbs. Was that a cost, or correcting the error of your ways? You see, changing what you do is not a cost of salvation, but a result and a correction. It means giving up immediate gratification for lasting salvation. It means giving up the now for the later.
So, have you had your check engine light looked at by the mechanic? Or are you ignoring it, hoping it gets better?
Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.
The interesting thing is, we humans have a check engine light of sorts. We call it our conscience. It lets us know when we are doing something wrong. And just like the check engine light in your car, you can choose to ignore it or you can choose to fix it. The problem we run into is we tend to ignore the check engine light until it does so much damage the repair is costly and painful.
We, as humans, don't like to admit when we were wrong. We are stubborn and hard headed. It is easier to try and justify what we did or cover it up in a web of lies. The problem with these two approaches is that, either way, you don't fix the problem. We are still wrong and have to live with our consciences until we make it right. With a car we take our check engine light to a mechanic to get it checked out and repaired. We can do the same thing with ours and the mechanic for our check engine light is the best there is since he made each of us. Yes, I am talking about God. He will forgive us as well as cleanse us. He gives us strength and guidance and so much more. It isn't easy but it is actually very cheap. In fact it is a free gift. The only thing you have to do is accept it.
"But that means I have to quit doing some of the things I like to do," you say. That is part of repenting. You admit to your sins and that they are sins. This means that you recognize what you are doing is wrong. The only question is, "if you know it is wrong and you need rescue from it, why would you want to do it again?" Sure, you should give up the wrong things you did, but this is a result of doing what is right and repenting, not a cost for it. Think of it this way, you get your car fixed after the check engine light comes on. The mechanic tells you that the problem was due to you driving over curbs all the time. Concerned about making your car last longer, you stop driving over curbs. Was that a cost, or correcting the error of your ways? You see, changing what you do is not a cost of salvation, but a result and a correction. It means giving up immediate gratification for lasting salvation. It means giving up the now for the later.
So, have you had your check engine light looked at by the mechanic? Or are you ignoring it, hoping it gets better?
Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Happy New Year: resolutions for a new me.
Welcome back. This is the first post of the new year and I just want to start out the year right. It was a great holiday season. I got to spend a lot of time with my family and we had a good time. Took the entire family roller skating. They all had a blast. The 4 year old enjoyed himself as well, which was great. Christmas went well as did the New Year, so there is that.
I know this is a day late by some estimates, but I just wanted to make sure I got it all worked out before I got on here. First day back to work and all that. I was kep t busy with office emails and package reviews, but today looks like it may be a bit slower.
Now for the question I know you want the answer to (then again, maybe it is just my ego speaking), what are my new year's resolutions? Resolutions are made based on things you need to improve and the only way to find those things is to reflect on the past year. I chose resolutions I could accomplish, but required a change in me to complete. Resolutions that not only meant something to me, but to others as well. That is also why I chose to share them. If you have a goal and fail to share it, you remove accountability. Share your resolutions with those they affect, that way they can help you keep them. You also need to communicate with the people who will help you with your resolutions what you mean by them and how you plan to accomplish them. If you say you want to lose weight (not a comment on any of you, just an easy target), then you need to explain how you plan on doing it, otherwise, you may find the help you get is advice you have already recieved a dozen times and advice you hate. Anyway, you need to take the time ot make your resolutions, write them down, and follow through. Now on to my resolutions.
The first is to actually be more involved in the family. This sounds like something that should be easy, but as I looked back I realized that I would get home, turn on the TV, and tune out the family. I want to be a bigger part of their lives. With that in mind, the resolution means that TV will be a family event, vice a me event as much as possible. I will still have a few shows that are mine, but I am going to stop surfing to "see what's on" until after I have been able to spend time with the boys. They deserve it.
The second resolution is simply to stick to my work out and diet regime. I need to do this to make sure I pass my last physical fitness assessment (PFA), the Navy's way of weeding out the fat people. I should be able to pass it as long as I work out and diet. The last PFA was nearly a failure as my work outs were inconsitant at best and my diet was erradic. This cycle, I am determined to do my best. I will still make dinners as much as possible, but I will just start limiting my portions.
The final resolution I made is to be more involved in my church. Since we have decided to stay out here, we decided that this was definitely our church. I already do a lot with the church, but I need to find more ways to be involved. This will mean a shuffling of priorities, but I think it is something I need to do.
So what about you, what resolutions did you make? Or did you decide it wasn't worth it since you can't keep them anyway?
I know this is a day late by some estimates, but I just wanted to make sure I got it all worked out before I got on here. First day back to work and all that. I was kep t busy with office emails and package reviews, but today looks like it may be a bit slower.
Now for the question I know you want the answer to (then again, maybe it is just my ego speaking), what are my new year's resolutions? Resolutions are made based on things you need to improve and the only way to find those things is to reflect on the past year. I chose resolutions I could accomplish, but required a change in me to complete. Resolutions that not only meant something to me, but to others as well. That is also why I chose to share them. If you have a goal and fail to share it, you remove accountability. Share your resolutions with those they affect, that way they can help you keep them. You also need to communicate with the people who will help you with your resolutions what you mean by them and how you plan to accomplish them. If you say you want to lose weight (not a comment on any of you, just an easy target), then you need to explain how you plan on doing it, otherwise, you may find the help you get is advice you have already recieved a dozen times and advice you hate. Anyway, you need to take the time ot make your resolutions, write them down, and follow through. Now on to my resolutions.
The first is to actually be more involved in the family. This sounds like something that should be easy, but as I looked back I realized that I would get home, turn on the TV, and tune out the family. I want to be a bigger part of their lives. With that in mind, the resolution means that TV will be a family event, vice a me event as much as possible. I will still have a few shows that are mine, but I am going to stop surfing to "see what's on" until after I have been able to spend time with the boys. They deserve it.
The second resolution is simply to stick to my work out and diet regime. I need to do this to make sure I pass my last physical fitness assessment (PFA), the Navy's way of weeding out the fat people. I should be able to pass it as long as I work out and diet. The last PFA was nearly a failure as my work outs were inconsitant at best and my diet was erradic. This cycle, I am determined to do my best. I will still make dinners as much as possible, but I will just start limiting my portions.
The final resolution I made is to be more involved in my church. Since we have decided to stay out here, we decided that this was definitely our church. I already do a lot with the church, but I need to find more ways to be involved. This will mean a shuffling of priorities, but I think it is something I need to do.
So what about you, what resolutions did you make? Or did you decide it wasn't worth it since you can't keep them anyway?
Monday, October 31, 2011
A new direction and refocusing.
I'm back. Sorry for the lack of posts, last week I was in a transition class that kept me from computers (through sheer lack of time). It was an awesome class and put out a lot of good information. Other than that, I have been kept pretty busy.
I have done some reflecting and realized that I have been allowing to many distractions to come into my life. They crept in slowly until, suddenly, the things that I needed to do were on the back burner to things I wanted to do strictly for selfish reasons. I allowed myself to be distracted by entertainment websites and useless browsing instead of actually putting effort into the things that I needed to get done. I would justify what I was doing by telling myself that there was no rush until there was. After last week, I realized that I needed to refocus. I realized that I needed to prioritize what I was doing and start actually following up with what was happening.
The class I was in convinced me that I need to start focusing on what I can do to direct my future and to figure out where I am going. I allowed myself to be convinced that living in the moment and not worrying about the future was the best way to live. Why worry when you can enjoy the now? turns out, if you ride the wave, you eventually crash into the shore. If you direct yourself just a bit, you can swim out onto the beach instead of the rocks. I will continue to post daily as it is a way of organizing my thoughts and communicating who I am, but I will be eliminating a few of my regular features to allow me a little more freedom in what I write. I will continue to have at least one day a week where I try my hand at humor (I get mixed reviews from my family) to ensure that this doesn't become a blog to cry to, I just won't have it on a regular day.
I thank you for your support and continued readership. I will try to make sure I continue to touch on current events and other things that are going on in my life. Have a great day and keep on trucking.
I have done some reflecting and realized that I have been allowing to many distractions to come into my life. They crept in slowly until, suddenly, the things that I needed to do were on the back burner to things I wanted to do strictly for selfish reasons. I allowed myself to be distracted by entertainment websites and useless browsing instead of actually putting effort into the things that I needed to get done. I would justify what I was doing by telling myself that there was no rush until there was. After last week, I realized that I needed to refocus. I realized that I needed to prioritize what I was doing and start actually following up with what was happening.
The class I was in convinced me that I need to start focusing on what I can do to direct my future and to figure out where I am going. I allowed myself to be convinced that living in the moment and not worrying about the future was the best way to live. Why worry when you can enjoy the now? turns out, if you ride the wave, you eventually crash into the shore. If you direct yourself just a bit, you can swim out onto the beach instead of the rocks. I will continue to post daily as it is a way of organizing my thoughts and communicating who I am, but I will be eliminating a few of my regular features to allow me a little more freedom in what I write. I will continue to have at least one day a week where I try my hand at humor (I get mixed reviews from my family) to ensure that this doesn't become a blog to cry to, I just won't have it on a regular day.
I thank you for your support and continued readership. I will try to make sure I continue to touch on current events and other things that are going on in my life. Have a great day and keep on trucking.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Manic Monday: Occupy Wall Street: You got the wrong address.
First off, I would like to apologize for not posting last week. I was busy and decided to put the blog on the bottom of the list. After a week off, I feel as though I was missing something so I am back.
Today is Monday, which means, Manic Monday! Today, I think I will tackle this Occupy Wall Street thing. After reading what it's about and what the protesters are saying, I find myself of two minds. On the one hand I sort of agree with what they are saying, but on the other, I find it to be overridden by angst against our system. Allow me to explain.
The parts I agree with are the some of the base points. The first being that the majority of Americans have the minority voice in our government. Our Government tends to listen to the biggest donors (this is done by both Democrats and Republicans), which are not the majority. How many middle class families can afford $1,500 a plate fundraising dinners? The Democrats like to point out that the republicans are the most vocal for these businesses, but you have to ask yourself, are the Democrats really against them? They had 2 years in which to raise taxes on them and they waited for the inevitable swing to blame it on the Republicans. I agree that we should raise the taxes (or at least remove the deductions they use to not pay taxes) on the rich.
The second thing I agree with is the underlying message we are feeding our kids these days. The one that says you have to go to college to get a job. Years ago, college was what you used to make yourself stand out. You got your degree in the field you were going to work in and you worked in that field. You followed it all the way and became as close to an expert in the field you wanted to work in as you could, then you worked in it. Now, we are told to, "just get a degree." Really, what in? It doesn't matter, the employers "just want to see that you are capable of learning." I looked it up (it was quoted to me so I had to), less than 30% of college grads are working in the field in which they got their degree. Granted, Lawyers don't necessarily have to have a pre-law degree to go to law school, so they aren't technically working in the field they got their degree in, but it is still a statistic that I find disgusting. Especially when you add on the fact that the average college grad owes $30,000 in student loans. Couple that with a tight market and you start your career in debt and behind. Not a recipe for success. Let's be realistic, we don't need a degree to be work in a mail room or as a receptionist. These two positions were the starting points of many a millionaires careers. The other side of this is that these college grads are led to believe that their degrees rate a higher starting pay. The sad truth is that this is false. When you have 20 people vying for the same job, the person who will do it most economically (cheaply and good enough), gets it. The guy that tells the hirer that he will do it for whatever and has the ability, will get it over the guy with the degree that demands a higher salary. That's just econ 101.
Now for the tough part. I disagree with the Occupy Wall Street movement on a couple of issues. The first being the ire directed at inequality in pay. Yes, there is inequality in pay. This happens in a society such as we have. The rich must be taxed. If you tax their income, they will keep it in the company as much as possible. If you tax the company profits, the company will put the money into expanding the company and thus create more jobs. Simple economics. Yes, this is contrary to what the republicans preach, but it is the truth. This means the problem isn't with the CEO's or the wealthy, it's with our government. The Idea that all pay should be equal, or close to it, is a communist ideal. To protest that corporations should share their wealth, is ludicrous. You have to reward innovation and business sense. Failure to do so, will lead to loss of business and thus loss of jobs. Allow the rich to amass wealth, but at the same time, tax them in such a way as to aid the nation. The difficult part is finding the balance. We have to find a balance where we tax the wealthy enough that they find it better to reinvest in society, but not so much that they leave altogether. The same with businesses.
The second thing I disagree with is where it is located. As you can tell from my comments above, this should be a Occupy Washington movement. Camp out on the capital's steps, in front of the White House, and at the congressional offices. The CEO's are laughing at you because you are ineffectual in your actions. Move to Washington, and they may start quaking in their boots. Right now, the CEO's are finding your actions laughable because, while you may inconvenience them a little bit, they are still raking in the cash. While you may draw attention to yourselves, you are not inconveniencing anyone who can be swayed by your stance. True, the media is following you, but you are railing at the CEO's to change. True, some elected officials are listening and commenting, but they aren't afraid because you haven't targeted them. Move you your protest to Washington and start naming who is donating to who. Start pointing out the money and what needs to be done, not just in Washington, but in their home states. You can affect the elected officials' jobs with your protest by pointing out how they are stopping the necessary change. You can't do that by protesting the guys who worked their way up to the top and managed a company that made money. they just aren't going to listen because you can't affect their pay.
That's all I have for today. I know some of what I said is controversial, I just ask that you be respectful in how you respond. Thank you.
Today is Monday, which means, Manic Monday! Today, I think I will tackle this Occupy Wall Street thing. After reading what it's about and what the protesters are saying, I find myself of two minds. On the one hand I sort of agree with what they are saying, but on the other, I find it to be overridden by angst against our system. Allow me to explain.
The parts I agree with are the some of the base points. The first being that the majority of Americans have the minority voice in our government. Our Government tends to listen to the biggest donors (this is done by both Democrats and Republicans), which are not the majority. How many middle class families can afford $1,500 a plate fundraising dinners? The Democrats like to point out that the republicans are the most vocal for these businesses, but you have to ask yourself, are the Democrats really against them? They had 2 years in which to raise taxes on them and they waited for the inevitable swing to blame it on the Republicans. I agree that we should raise the taxes (or at least remove the deductions they use to not pay taxes) on the rich.
The second thing I agree with is the underlying message we are feeding our kids these days. The one that says you have to go to college to get a job. Years ago, college was what you used to make yourself stand out. You got your degree in the field you were going to work in and you worked in that field. You followed it all the way and became as close to an expert in the field you wanted to work in as you could, then you worked in it. Now, we are told to, "just get a degree." Really, what in? It doesn't matter, the employers "just want to see that you are capable of learning." I looked it up (it was quoted to me so I had to), less than 30% of college grads are working in the field in which they got their degree. Granted, Lawyers don't necessarily have to have a pre-law degree to go to law school, so they aren't technically working in the field they got their degree in, but it is still a statistic that I find disgusting. Especially when you add on the fact that the average college grad owes $30,000 in student loans. Couple that with a tight market and you start your career in debt and behind. Not a recipe for success. Let's be realistic, we don't need a degree to be work in a mail room or as a receptionist. These two positions were the starting points of many a millionaires careers. The other side of this is that these college grads are led to believe that their degrees rate a higher starting pay. The sad truth is that this is false. When you have 20 people vying for the same job, the person who will do it most economically (cheaply and good enough), gets it. The guy that tells the hirer that he will do it for whatever and has the ability, will get it over the guy with the degree that demands a higher salary. That's just econ 101.
Now for the tough part. I disagree with the Occupy Wall Street movement on a couple of issues. The first being the ire directed at inequality in pay. Yes, there is inequality in pay. This happens in a society such as we have. The rich must be taxed. If you tax their income, they will keep it in the company as much as possible. If you tax the company profits, the company will put the money into expanding the company and thus create more jobs. Simple economics. Yes, this is contrary to what the republicans preach, but it is the truth. This means the problem isn't with the CEO's or the wealthy, it's with our government. The Idea that all pay should be equal, or close to it, is a communist ideal. To protest that corporations should share their wealth, is ludicrous. You have to reward innovation and business sense. Failure to do so, will lead to loss of business and thus loss of jobs. Allow the rich to amass wealth, but at the same time, tax them in such a way as to aid the nation. The difficult part is finding the balance. We have to find a balance where we tax the wealthy enough that they find it better to reinvest in society, but not so much that they leave altogether. The same with businesses.
The second thing I disagree with is where it is located. As you can tell from my comments above, this should be a Occupy Washington movement. Camp out on the capital's steps, in front of the White House, and at the congressional offices. The CEO's are laughing at you because you are ineffectual in your actions. Move to Washington, and they may start quaking in their boots. Right now, the CEO's are finding your actions laughable because, while you may inconvenience them a little bit, they are still raking in the cash. While you may draw attention to yourselves, you are not inconveniencing anyone who can be swayed by your stance. True, the media is following you, but you are railing at the CEO's to change. True, some elected officials are listening and commenting, but they aren't afraid because you haven't targeted them. Move you your protest to Washington and start naming who is donating to who. Start pointing out the money and what needs to be done, not just in Washington, but in their home states. You can affect the elected officials' jobs with your protest by pointing out how they are stopping the necessary change. You can't do that by protesting the guys who worked their way up to the top and managed a company that made money. they just aren't going to listen because you can't affect their pay.
That's all I have for today. I know some of what I said is controversial, I just ask that you be respectful in how you respond. Thank you.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Priorities: Find yours.
Let's start with a notice. I reread what I wrote yesterday and found quite a few glaring grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors. I have since corrected these and must apologize to any of you who care about those things. The rest of you who didn't notice, well, ignore the first three sentences.
Today I wanted to share with you some things that have been going through my head for a while. Then I thought about it and realized that may be a little gross, so I decided to give you this instead. Try and imagine the one thing that would change your life the most. Think on it. Don't just grab the easy, more money. Try and think of something that would make a substantial change. Something that involves more than paying the bills. Something that would make a difference in how you thought of yourself and how you acted. True, vast amounts of money might do that, but would it be a change you would be proud of?
We have all had the dream of being rich and not having to worry about money. Turns out, no matter what you do, you will eventually worry about money. It's just the way we are. If you don't have it, you worry about not having it and what you need it for. If have some but not a lot, you worry that what you are doing with it is right. If you have a lot of it, you worry about other people trying to take it and how you spend it. True, the worries are different, but then, so are we.
I like to go through this mental exercise every once in while, just to remind myself that money doesn't end all our problems, it just changes what those problems are. It becomes more of an attitude adjustment at that point. Yes, I would love to have a few hundred thousand dollars to get myself out of debt and living comfortably, but how would that change me and would I want that change? There is always something I can improve on and money is not something that is key to those improvements. Attitude is. I find it funny that people think that they would be better people if they just had more money. Not true. If you are a jerk (to put it kindly) before you have money, you tend to be a jerk after you get it. Money is an amplifier. It usually amplifies the trait you least like about yourself. The guy who never paid for a date, he spent all his money on cars, houses, and parties. The guy who was rude to the homeless, he ignores his old friends because they can't afford to hang with him.
There are exceptions, there always are. But usually, what you see as exceptions, are just amplifications of the rule. The couple that won the lotto and founded and ran several charities, they were active volunteers in their community before they won. The guy who payed off his debts and the debts of his family, he was struggling to get by and paid his debts before he fed himself. Money amplifies not only our personality, it amplifies our priorities.
In the bible, it says, "the love of money is the root of all evil." This has been perverted to "money is the root of evil." While to a degree this is true, I think it is more accurate to say, "money amplifies evil." The more money you have, the more obvious your priorities. Ask yourself what you would do with the money if you won the lottery. Would you invest it to make more? Maybe you would pay off all your debt first. Maybe you would give a bit to charity. Or would you just spend it on a bunch of toys? Where you put that money tells a lot about where your priorities are. What you find important is where you will put your time and energy as well as your money. By asking yourself these questions and being honest with the answers, you will find what you deem worthy of your time.
Now for the clincher. Where is your family on the list? Is it first? If not, what are you giving up your family for? Now is the time to adjust your priorities, not when you win the lottery. If your priorities are right now, they will be right later.
In closing, I just want to say that, by investing in things that are worthwhile (I can't think of anything more worthwhile than my God and Family), you can't help but be content. I am not saying you will be monetarily rich or that it will be easy. I am saying that even when things are tough, you will be able to find a way to smile. That investment will give you the strength you need to get through those tough times. Take a second and discover your priorities. Better to adjust them now and find contentment, then be miserable when you find your priorities left you alone.
Today I wanted to share with you some things that have been going through my head for a while. Then I thought about it and realized that may be a little gross, so I decided to give you this instead. Try and imagine the one thing that would change your life the most. Think on it. Don't just grab the easy, more money. Try and think of something that would make a substantial change. Something that involves more than paying the bills. Something that would make a difference in how you thought of yourself and how you acted. True, vast amounts of money might do that, but would it be a change you would be proud of?
We have all had the dream of being rich and not having to worry about money. Turns out, no matter what you do, you will eventually worry about money. It's just the way we are. If you don't have it, you worry about not having it and what you need it for. If have some but not a lot, you worry that what you are doing with it is right. If you have a lot of it, you worry about other people trying to take it and how you spend it. True, the worries are different, but then, so are we.
I like to go through this mental exercise every once in while, just to remind myself that money doesn't end all our problems, it just changes what those problems are. It becomes more of an attitude adjustment at that point. Yes, I would love to have a few hundred thousand dollars to get myself out of debt and living comfortably, but how would that change me and would I want that change? There is always something I can improve on and money is not something that is key to those improvements. Attitude is. I find it funny that people think that they would be better people if they just had more money. Not true. If you are a jerk (to put it kindly) before you have money, you tend to be a jerk after you get it. Money is an amplifier. It usually amplifies the trait you least like about yourself. The guy who never paid for a date, he spent all his money on cars, houses, and parties. The guy who was rude to the homeless, he ignores his old friends because they can't afford to hang with him.
There are exceptions, there always are. But usually, what you see as exceptions, are just amplifications of the rule. The couple that won the lotto and founded and ran several charities, they were active volunteers in their community before they won. The guy who payed off his debts and the debts of his family, he was struggling to get by and paid his debts before he fed himself. Money amplifies not only our personality, it amplifies our priorities.
In the bible, it says, "the love of money is the root of all evil." This has been perverted to "money is the root of evil." While to a degree this is true, I think it is more accurate to say, "money amplifies evil." The more money you have, the more obvious your priorities. Ask yourself what you would do with the money if you won the lottery. Would you invest it to make more? Maybe you would pay off all your debt first. Maybe you would give a bit to charity. Or would you just spend it on a bunch of toys? Where you put that money tells a lot about where your priorities are. What you find important is where you will put your time and energy as well as your money. By asking yourself these questions and being honest with the answers, you will find what you deem worthy of your time.
Now for the clincher. Where is your family on the list? Is it first? If not, what are you giving up your family for? Now is the time to adjust your priorities, not when you win the lottery. If your priorities are right now, they will be right later.
In closing, I just want to say that, by investing in things that are worthwhile (I can't think of anything more worthwhile than my God and Family), you can't help but be content. I am not saying you will be monetarily rich or that it will be easy. I am saying that even when things are tough, you will be able to find a way to smile. That investment will give you the strength you need to get through those tough times. Take a second and discover your priorities. Better to adjust them now and find contentment, then be miserable when you find your priorities left you alone.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Weekend up date and other things
Tuesday and all is well. OK, sort of. The usual stuff is going on. Soccer practice, rehearsal, and meals. Maybe that is why I am going insane. I just keep going on with things that I have to do and places I have to be. So close and yet so far. Am I rambling, I think I am rambling. Guess it's time to perform the weekend up date.
Here goes nothing. This weekend my brother in came in for a few days. I think I mentioned that Friday. Anyway, it was a good weekend. The weather was nice so we were able to enjoy our sons' soccer games. They both did well. We were busy Saturday because of it though. Sunday went well and we were able to enjoy ourselves further. That is until I had to go to work at 9:30 pm. I had to work graves Sunday night. There was only 1 job, but I did OK. At least I got to spend Monday at home. I did sleep half the day though. That is why there was no Monday post. That and it was my anniversary. That's right, 13 years of marriage to the most wonderful woman in the world. Here's to, oh, let's say, a few millenia more. The topper came when the Cowboys won on MNF. Good day all around.
This isn't to say that nothing bad happened this weekend, just more good than bad. The down side of this weekend? My phone has decided that it doesn't want to charge properly. I have a work around so I don't need to get a new phone, it is just darn annoying. Most people would say to just get a new phone, so let me explain why I don't want a new one. Yes, dear, I just said I don't want a new one. First off, I don't want to sign a new 2 year contract to get a new phone. I retire and leave the area (probably) in about 16 months. This means that if I go to an area that Verizon doesn't cover, then I will still have 8 months left on a contract for a phone I can't use. Thus no new contract allowed. Secondly, we aren't rich and thus can't afford to shell out the $200 that a new phone costs without a new contract. Thirdly, I am limited in what phones I can have right now as I am not allowed to take a phone with a camera on it into work (my current phone doesn't have one so I am OK). The next time I get a new phone, I want to get a nice one and that means it will probably have a camera. If I wait until after I retire, I should be able to get the nice phone I want. This all adds up to no new phone for me. Sure I may have to trade batteries with my wife's phone every morning, but that isn't to much of a hassle. I will deal with it.
So that was the bad side of the weekend. It probably wouldn't have been that bad, except that I went off a bit when I first found the problem and now my wife is convinced that I want to drop $400 on a new phone. Now, every time I note that the battery on my phone is dead, I get to hear a worried lecture on how we are broke and can my new phone wait. I think I've said, I am fine with my phone and that I'll work around it at least a dozen times now. Hopefully this will change that. If not, I will live with it. That's what I get for freaking out that I didn't have a phone. For those of you who don't know us all that well, I love my wife deeply and do not mean any of this in a negative sense. I refer you to the opening announcement of my 13 years of wedded....OK, maybe not bliss, but definitely mostly happy times. Hey, it's marriage and life, and thus it isn't always happy. My marriage is about 90% happy (the remaining 10% is 5% my fault, 1% hers, and 4% confusing) and that is pretty darn good. Especially, with 4 boys in the house. That being said, I will probably hear about this post when I get home and my wife and I will talk about this and hug afterwards.
Keep your chins up, and don't let the world get you down. Have a great day and I will post tomorrow. Thank you
Here goes nothing. This weekend my brother in came in for a few days. I think I mentioned that Friday. Anyway, it was a good weekend. The weather was nice so we were able to enjoy our sons' soccer games. They both did well. We were busy Saturday because of it though. Sunday went well and we were able to enjoy ourselves further. That is until I had to go to work at 9:30 pm. I had to work graves Sunday night. There was only 1 job, but I did OK. At least I got to spend Monday at home. I did sleep half the day though. That is why there was no Monday post. That and it was my anniversary. That's right, 13 years of marriage to the most wonderful woman in the world. Here's to, oh, let's say, a few millenia more. The topper came when the Cowboys won on MNF. Good day all around.
This isn't to say that nothing bad happened this weekend, just more good than bad. The down side of this weekend? My phone has decided that it doesn't want to charge properly. I have a work around so I don't need to get a new phone, it is just darn annoying. Most people would say to just get a new phone, so let me explain why I don't want a new one. Yes, dear, I just said I don't want a new one. First off, I don't want to sign a new 2 year contract to get a new phone. I retire and leave the area (probably) in about 16 months. This means that if I go to an area that Verizon doesn't cover, then I will still have 8 months left on a contract for a phone I can't use. Thus no new contract allowed. Secondly, we aren't rich and thus can't afford to shell out the $200 that a new phone costs without a new contract. Thirdly, I am limited in what phones I can have right now as I am not allowed to take a phone with a camera on it into work (my current phone doesn't have one so I am OK). The next time I get a new phone, I want to get a nice one and that means it will probably have a camera. If I wait until after I retire, I should be able to get the nice phone I want. This all adds up to no new phone for me. Sure I may have to trade batteries with my wife's phone every morning, but that isn't to much of a hassle. I will deal with it.
So that was the bad side of the weekend. It probably wouldn't have been that bad, except that I went off a bit when I first found the problem and now my wife is convinced that I want to drop $400 on a new phone. Now, every time I note that the battery on my phone is dead, I get to hear a worried lecture on how we are broke and can my new phone wait. I think I've said, I am fine with my phone and that I'll work around it at least a dozen times now. Hopefully this will change that. If not, I will live with it. That's what I get for freaking out that I didn't have a phone. For those of you who don't know us all that well, I love my wife deeply and do not mean any of this in a negative sense. I refer you to the opening announcement of my 13 years of wedded....OK, maybe not bliss, but definitely mostly happy times. Hey, it's marriage and life, and thus it isn't always happy. My marriage is about 90% happy (the remaining 10% is 5% my fault, 1% hers, and 4% confusing) and that is pretty darn good. Especially, with 4 boys in the house. That being said, I will probably hear about this post when I get home and my wife and I will talk about this and hug afterwards.
Keep your chins up, and don't let the world get you down. Have a great day and I will post tomorrow. Thank you
Monday, September 12, 2011
Manic Monday: Remember 9/11 and Unity Lost
It's Manic Monday. This week I think I will skip the rant and go for the memory. With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 yesterday, I got to thinking, "what exactly has changed because of that day?" Yes, air travel has become more inconvenient. We have a sense of loss when we are reminded, but really what else has changed. Have we become a more unified country? Are we truly stronger and better able to care for ourselves? Or did we sink lower than we were before hand? When we are asked to remember that day, some of us tear up and are moved. Some of us simply say what a tragedy, but it's time to move on.
In the first months following 9/11 we saw a united nation. We saw something that hasn't been true of our nation for decades. There was no partisan politics when it came to what must be done. We reached across the aisle and mourned together as Americans. We worked together to find a solution and pass legislation that was required. The sad state of affairs is that less than 10 years later, we do nothing but play the blame game and refuse to pass anything that the "other party" has proposed. The good of the nation has been replaced with the good of the party. Bush is continually blamed for two wars, yet when you look at it through the filter of history you find that the war in Afghanistan was a direct result of 9/11 and a bipartisan war. That's right, it was a unanimous decision to go into Afghanistan and eliminate the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The nation rejoiced when we were told we were going. Yet, not even 10 years later, we blame Bush and denounce the war we all wanted. Granted the announced reasons for the war in Iraq were wrong and less than ideal, but in all it was necessary as part of the war on terrorism. There may not have been WMD's, but there was most definitely direct support of terrorism. Yet, we still denounce this. The biggest problem I have with those that denounce these wars is that they want us to just leave. We, as Americans, don't go somewhere, mess stuff up in major ways and not fix it. It just isn't in our natures. We learned from our past mistakes (at least I hope we did). The fact is that, if we had left these two war zones when public opinion turned against them, they would be havens for terrorists today and back under totalitarian regimes again. When you leave a country torn by war with no leadership or established government, the strongest military force takes charge. In this area of the world, that would be the best armed and that means the very people we went to defeat in the first place. This means we have to establish a stable government before we leave. This means we have to ensure that government can defend itself. This takes more time than we expected.
I find it hard to believe that we have sunk so low in 10 years that we can no longer act for the good of the nation. That we must put the election of those in our party over what the nation needs. That politics has replaced patriotism. That the strength of the party is mistaken for the strength of the nation. Support your soldier was been replaced with support your party. Remember the fallen has been replaced with remember what the other party did. We are no longer happy with doing what is right for the nation, we only blame the party we don't like for where we are. It isn't our fault that we didn't act on what was right, the other party made us. This has become the mantra of both parties and it needs to stop.
As I look back at 9/11 I see 2 tragedies. The first is obviously the loss of life from the attacks and the extremism that spawned the attacks. The second (and greater loss I believe) is the loss of the national unity glimpsed following this tragic day. We saw a unified nation. A nation where differences were put aside for the national good. A nation where, though we may have differed in opinion, we were united by patriotism and the ideals that made the nation great. A nation where we stood together and denounced the wrong. That is lost now. Instead of standing together to denounce the wrong, we stand apart and denounce each other right or wrong. Instead of being united by love of country and national ideals, we are torn apart by opinion and blame. Instead of putting aside differences for the national good, we emphasize the differences and use them to highlight the individual bad. I am saddened by this and look toward the future with trepidation. Unless things change, it will only get worse.
I am not pointing fingers at any party. All parties are to blame. We as a people are to blame. I have fed the flames of separation by denouncing other parties just as many of you have. We as a nation need to stop finding the bad in everything and start pointing out the good. When a new piece of legislation is passed or proposed, we need to find the good in it first. And then try and make it better. Instead we find the bad and say that this makes the entire thing bad. When I offer my children something new to eat, the first thing they see is something unfamiliar. One of 2 reactions ensues, either revulsion because it is unrecognized, or excitement because it is new and maybe better. I work with my boys and have asked them to try it s though they expect it to be good. I understand that not everything tastes the same to everyone, but if you believe you won't like it before you try it, you won't. It's just a given. You won't like it because you have already made up your mind (and none of us likes to admit when they are wrong, especially when it is a matter of opinion and personal taste). The opposite is true as well. If you go into something expecting to like it, you at least have a chance of enjoying it. True, you may sometimes still end up hating it, but at least it isn't due to stubbornness. How many great foods are passed up because we decide they look horrible? The same can be said of legislation. Our first take on it can sour the rest of it. If we believe that it bad before we read it, then it is hard to find anything good in it. But if we look for the good, we may find bad, but we can at least find something worth saving.
I guess what I really want to say is, let's put our priorities straight. We have allowed our priorities to be reversed and it is destroying our nation. Nation before party. Let's remove the party blinders and do good by the nation. I love this country, but it's politics are destroying it. I think we should remember 9/11 and strive to achieve the elusive cohesiveness we had following it. If we wait for the other guy to start first it will never happen. Reach across the aisle and be the first. Lead by example and end the divisiveness that is the catchword of the day. Sit next to someone different from you. Greet your opposite with a smile and a friendly handshake. Step out and be open and honest. Heal our nation.
Thank you for tolerating my rant today. It is just my thoughts and feelings. Thank you. God Bless America.
In the first months following 9/11 we saw a united nation. We saw something that hasn't been true of our nation for decades. There was no partisan politics when it came to what must be done. We reached across the aisle and mourned together as Americans. We worked together to find a solution and pass legislation that was required. The sad state of affairs is that less than 10 years later, we do nothing but play the blame game and refuse to pass anything that the "other party" has proposed. The good of the nation has been replaced with the good of the party. Bush is continually blamed for two wars, yet when you look at it through the filter of history you find that the war in Afghanistan was a direct result of 9/11 and a bipartisan war. That's right, it was a unanimous decision to go into Afghanistan and eliminate the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The nation rejoiced when we were told we were going. Yet, not even 10 years later, we blame Bush and denounce the war we all wanted. Granted the announced reasons for the war in Iraq were wrong and less than ideal, but in all it was necessary as part of the war on terrorism. There may not have been WMD's, but there was most definitely direct support of terrorism. Yet, we still denounce this. The biggest problem I have with those that denounce these wars is that they want us to just leave. We, as Americans, don't go somewhere, mess stuff up in major ways and not fix it. It just isn't in our natures. We learned from our past mistakes (at least I hope we did). The fact is that, if we had left these two war zones when public opinion turned against them, they would be havens for terrorists today and back under totalitarian regimes again. When you leave a country torn by war with no leadership or established government, the strongest military force takes charge. In this area of the world, that would be the best armed and that means the very people we went to defeat in the first place. This means we have to establish a stable government before we leave. This means we have to ensure that government can defend itself. This takes more time than we expected.
I find it hard to believe that we have sunk so low in 10 years that we can no longer act for the good of the nation. That we must put the election of those in our party over what the nation needs. That politics has replaced patriotism. That the strength of the party is mistaken for the strength of the nation. Support your soldier was been replaced with support your party. Remember the fallen has been replaced with remember what the other party did. We are no longer happy with doing what is right for the nation, we only blame the party we don't like for where we are. It isn't our fault that we didn't act on what was right, the other party made us. This has become the mantra of both parties and it needs to stop.
As I look back at 9/11 I see 2 tragedies. The first is obviously the loss of life from the attacks and the extremism that spawned the attacks. The second (and greater loss I believe) is the loss of the national unity glimpsed following this tragic day. We saw a unified nation. A nation where differences were put aside for the national good. A nation where, though we may have differed in opinion, we were united by patriotism and the ideals that made the nation great. A nation where we stood together and denounced the wrong. That is lost now. Instead of standing together to denounce the wrong, we stand apart and denounce each other right or wrong. Instead of being united by love of country and national ideals, we are torn apart by opinion and blame. Instead of putting aside differences for the national good, we emphasize the differences and use them to highlight the individual bad. I am saddened by this and look toward the future with trepidation. Unless things change, it will only get worse.
I am not pointing fingers at any party. All parties are to blame. We as a people are to blame. I have fed the flames of separation by denouncing other parties just as many of you have. We as a nation need to stop finding the bad in everything and start pointing out the good. When a new piece of legislation is passed or proposed, we need to find the good in it first. And then try and make it better. Instead we find the bad and say that this makes the entire thing bad. When I offer my children something new to eat, the first thing they see is something unfamiliar. One of 2 reactions ensues, either revulsion because it is unrecognized, or excitement because it is new and maybe better. I work with my boys and have asked them to try it s though they expect it to be good. I understand that not everything tastes the same to everyone, but if you believe you won't like it before you try it, you won't. It's just a given. You won't like it because you have already made up your mind (and none of us likes to admit when they are wrong, especially when it is a matter of opinion and personal taste). The opposite is true as well. If you go into something expecting to like it, you at least have a chance of enjoying it. True, you may sometimes still end up hating it, but at least it isn't due to stubbornness. How many great foods are passed up because we decide they look horrible? The same can be said of legislation. Our first take on it can sour the rest of it. If we believe that it bad before we read it, then it is hard to find anything good in it. But if we look for the good, we may find bad, but we can at least find something worth saving.
I guess what I really want to say is, let's put our priorities straight. We have allowed our priorities to be reversed and it is destroying our nation. Nation before party. Let's remove the party blinders and do good by the nation. I love this country, but it's politics are destroying it. I think we should remember 9/11 and strive to achieve the elusive cohesiveness we had following it. If we wait for the other guy to start first it will never happen. Reach across the aisle and be the first. Lead by example and end the divisiveness that is the catchword of the day. Sit next to someone different from you. Greet your opposite with a smile and a friendly handshake. Step out and be open and honest. Heal our nation.
Thank you for tolerating my rant today. It is just my thoughts and feelings. Thank you. God Bless America.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Manic Monday: Coffee, With clothes please.
So I am going to try a full post today. It is Manic Monday after all. Today's subject is a local problem. Up here in Washington state, we love our coffee. With good reason, it is cloudy (I'd say rainy, but it really doesn't rain that much, just a lot of drizzle and no sun) and miserable for most of the year so we need our coffee to keep ourselves going. To recognize this fact, all you have to do is pay attention to your morning drive and you will notice coffee stands all along the road, and most of them drive through. I have around 12 drive through stands within the first 3 miles of my morning commute.
So it is no wonder that they have to find something to make themselves competitive with the other nearby stands. Some are cheap and others are really good. The ones I want to talk about are the ones that sprang up a couple years ago. They started as bikini stands. Stands where the girls wore bikinis to serve you. Bikinis are worn everywhere so no one had a problem with these stands. Then a second one opened and they started competing. At first it was prices, then they started pushing boundaries. Now, they have become a hot point. Why? The baristas are wearing practically nothing. They wear the smallest panties they can and only stickers covering the nipple area as they serve coffee. I understand that, in today's society, this may be an acceptable way of doing business. While I don't agree with it, I understand they have a right to do business the way they want, but I won't give them my business.
No, my problem is that they are infringing on my rights as a parent. How are they doing that you ask? These stands are drive through and thus up against major roads. The nature of the business requires that they have windows so they can serve their customers and peddle their wares, so to speak. The problem is, they have very little in the way to block the view through the window from the road, and nothing to stop someone, no matter the age, from standing on the side of the road and getting an eyeful. Thus, in order for me to keep from having to tell my boys why the lady is naked in that window, I either have to go miles out of my way, or find some way to distract them as we drive by.
Luckily, my boys are not old enough to drive yet so I don't have to worry about them going through the drive thru as there is nothing to stop anyone underage from frequenting the place. You see, if these places stay the way they are, I will have to have the talk with my boys long before I am ready. I will also have to worry about on more place that they can go that I don't approve. While I wouldn't be upset if these places close, I understand that in today's society they have a right to exist. All I want is for them to completely block the view from the road and control access. Put someone at the entrance to check ID before they can see in and only allow those of age to drive through. That's all I can reasonably ask for.
I could cite instances of these places doing more than serving coffee and being busted for prostitution and other such things, but I also understand that not all of these stands do that. I also understand that, while I don't like these places, there are those that do. I also understand that the women work there of their own free will and choose to do so. This isn't about me pushing my morals on them. In fact, what is happening is they are pushing theirs on me. They claim that it is their right to parade themselves that way and that my attitude offends them. Apparently, I am not allowed to be offended as I am a Christian and have to turn the other cheek. Apparently, if I tell you I am offended by something and offer a reasonable solution, I am pushing my morals on you and by not allowing you to expose yourself to my children, I am somehow oppressing you. Sorry, I just don't see it.
The reason I decided to write this is this. Last week I saw an article where one of these places was busted for lewd conduct. They had a stripper pole installed in it and they video taped one of the ladies (I use the term loosely) dancing on the pole from across the street. If they can tape it from across the street, what is stopping a child from seeing in the window as his mother drives by? That isn't what upset me the most though. It was the comments that followed. By and large, there was a large contingent that was upset that the police bothered to enforce the law and they actually defended these places by using the arguments I mentioned above. No condemnation of the actions of the baristas, just outrage that the police would actually take the time to enforce the law on these places. It is what it is. Luckily, my area is taking action to define what is to be done. Hearings are being held and we are trying to do something about it. I can't make them put on clothes, but I hope we can make them block the view and control access. Let those that want to frequent these places do so, and let those of us that don't, well, let us not see them.
Thank you for sticking it out and being patient with me. May you have a wonderful day.
So it is no wonder that they have to find something to make themselves competitive with the other nearby stands. Some are cheap and others are really good. The ones I want to talk about are the ones that sprang up a couple years ago. They started as bikini stands. Stands where the girls wore bikinis to serve you. Bikinis are worn everywhere so no one had a problem with these stands. Then a second one opened and they started competing. At first it was prices, then they started pushing boundaries. Now, they have become a hot point. Why? The baristas are wearing practically nothing. They wear the smallest panties they can and only stickers covering the nipple area as they serve coffee. I understand that, in today's society, this may be an acceptable way of doing business. While I don't agree with it, I understand they have a right to do business the way they want, but I won't give them my business.
No, my problem is that they are infringing on my rights as a parent. How are they doing that you ask? These stands are drive through and thus up against major roads. The nature of the business requires that they have windows so they can serve their customers and peddle their wares, so to speak. The problem is, they have very little in the way to block the view through the window from the road, and nothing to stop someone, no matter the age, from standing on the side of the road and getting an eyeful. Thus, in order for me to keep from having to tell my boys why the lady is naked in that window, I either have to go miles out of my way, or find some way to distract them as we drive by.
Luckily, my boys are not old enough to drive yet so I don't have to worry about them going through the drive thru as there is nothing to stop anyone underage from frequenting the place. You see, if these places stay the way they are, I will have to have the talk with my boys long before I am ready. I will also have to worry about on more place that they can go that I don't approve. While I wouldn't be upset if these places close, I understand that in today's society they have a right to exist. All I want is for them to completely block the view from the road and control access. Put someone at the entrance to check ID before they can see in and only allow those of age to drive through. That's all I can reasonably ask for.
I could cite instances of these places doing more than serving coffee and being busted for prostitution and other such things, but I also understand that not all of these stands do that. I also understand that, while I don't like these places, there are those that do. I also understand that the women work there of their own free will and choose to do so. This isn't about me pushing my morals on them. In fact, what is happening is they are pushing theirs on me. They claim that it is their right to parade themselves that way and that my attitude offends them. Apparently, I am not allowed to be offended as I am a Christian and have to turn the other cheek. Apparently, if I tell you I am offended by something and offer a reasonable solution, I am pushing my morals on you and by not allowing you to expose yourself to my children, I am somehow oppressing you. Sorry, I just don't see it.
The reason I decided to write this is this. Last week I saw an article where one of these places was busted for lewd conduct. They had a stripper pole installed in it and they video taped one of the ladies (I use the term loosely) dancing on the pole from across the street. If they can tape it from across the street, what is stopping a child from seeing in the window as his mother drives by? That isn't what upset me the most though. It was the comments that followed. By and large, there was a large contingent that was upset that the police bothered to enforce the law and they actually defended these places by using the arguments I mentioned above. No condemnation of the actions of the baristas, just outrage that the police would actually take the time to enforce the law on these places. It is what it is. Luckily, my area is taking action to define what is to be done. Hearings are being held and we are trying to do something about it. I can't make them put on clothes, but I hope we can make them block the view and control access. Let those that want to frequent these places do so, and let those of us that don't, well, let us not see them.
Thank you for sticking it out and being patient with me. May you have a wonderful day.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Happy Hump Day: I need me one of these.
Well, it's Happy Hump Day and I am not happy. Went to turn on the computer at home and it refused to work for me. No power, nothing. It was dead. So now I get to look at power supplies for it. Luckily they are pretty cheap. I should be able to fix it myself, I just have to buy the darn thing. I love going into stores and dropping dirty, dusty, non functioning items on their counter and saying, "I need me one of these."
It seems to work rather well. I have found that the nastier it is the better the reaction. I once dropped an oil and grease covered, broken water pump on the counter at a new auto parts store (it was so new that the floors were still shiny) and the look on the face of the cashier was classic. What made it even more enjoyable, was that she had no clue what it was. Have you ever seen a young lady try and pick up a water pump from a 60s era Chevy with two fingers? It wasn't until one of her coworkers came out, saw what we had, and sold us a rebuild kit (this guy was good), that she finally got it off the counter. The puddle we left behind was pretty good sized too. She didn't seem to appreciate it though.
I wouldn't recommend doing this at some stores though. Take a pet store for example. I really doubt that they would appreciate you if you came in, threw your dead dog on the counter and said, "I need me another one of those." You'd probably be arrested. Grocery stores probably wouldn't appreciate it either (I'll leave how that would work up to your imagination).
I have found that "I need me one of those", tends to get you better service than, "I need that thingamajig that (insert function here)." They may have a clue what could perform said function, but it could also be a range of things and inevitably, the first thing they suggest isn't it and is usually more expensive than what it really is. This is especially true if the store has a no returns policy. Add to that the fact that the real fix is probably buried deep in the bowels of whatever it is you are trying to fix and you may as well have an expert fix it. I had a universal remote that was out of this world. Touch screen, multiple commands, awesomeness that made most techies drool. The touch screen got broke (who would have thought with a two year old and a couple of dogs in the house?) So I decided to try and fix it. The new touch screen cost as much as a new remote! I guess sometimes you just can't win.
I remember walking into Lowe's one time knowing the name, size, use, description, and color of an item once (a spanner wrench, of all things). I just couldn't find it. Finally I found an employee and asked for the item by name. I figured, they work at the place, they should know the name, right? Wrong. The look I got back would have made an idiot look intelligent. I then described it. Same look. Ten minutes later, the guy finally led me over to a rack of tools and asked if it were one of those. They weren't it. As I spun around I finally saw what I was looking for. I picked it up and he got this aha look on his face. "Oh, you meant a pin face wrench," and he was proud that he could put a name to it. I returned his previous looks to him and read the label. It said "1-2 inch spanner wrench." Just goes to show, just because you know what you're looking for, doesn't mean anyone else does. Better to just stick with, "I need me one of these."
The thing that really gets me is when you don't actually know what is wrong with said item. You decide that , rather than have an expert (or someone who does it for a living anyway) look at it, that you can do it yourself and save a few bucks. You go into said store and describe said problem to the person working the store. You just made two mistakes. First, you assumed that the person working the floor had any knowledge of the item you are trying to fix. Secondly, you are assuming that anyone with a minimal mount of knowledge could understand your fuzzy (at best) description of the problem to diagnose the cause and give you the correct fix. What makes it worse, is that if you have actually done this once, you will return to the same store when the suggested fix fails and try again. Eventually, you will rebuild the item and get it to work and assume that the last part you installed was the cause. Never mind that you just spent the amount a new and better one would have cost you in the first place, you fixed it. That feeling lasts just as long as it takes for your wife to add up the receipts, by the way. Give up and take it to the experts and say, "it doesn't work, I don't know how to fix it, please help." You may find it humiliating, but believe me, it's better in the long run.
The best part about today's post, my wife won't get to read it until I get the computer fixed. This means that I don't have to tell her I am guessing until after I have fixed it. I get to see what it feels like to seem like I know what I am doing. You all have a wonderful day and remember, I need me one of these, is always a valid shopping plan.
It seems to work rather well. I have found that the nastier it is the better the reaction. I once dropped an oil and grease covered, broken water pump on the counter at a new auto parts store (it was so new that the floors were still shiny) and the look on the face of the cashier was classic. What made it even more enjoyable, was that she had no clue what it was. Have you ever seen a young lady try and pick up a water pump from a 60s era Chevy with two fingers? It wasn't until one of her coworkers came out, saw what we had, and sold us a rebuild kit (this guy was good), that she finally got it off the counter. The puddle we left behind was pretty good sized too. She didn't seem to appreciate it though.
I wouldn't recommend doing this at some stores though. Take a pet store for example. I really doubt that they would appreciate you if you came in, threw your dead dog on the counter and said, "I need me another one of those." You'd probably be arrested. Grocery stores probably wouldn't appreciate it either (I'll leave how that would work up to your imagination).
I have found that "I need me one of those", tends to get you better service than, "I need that thingamajig that (insert function here)." They may have a clue what could perform said function, but it could also be a range of things and inevitably, the first thing they suggest isn't it and is usually more expensive than what it really is. This is especially true if the store has a no returns policy. Add to that the fact that the real fix is probably buried deep in the bowels of whatever it is you are trying to fix and you may as well have an expert fix it. I had a universal remote that was out of this world. Touch screen, multiple commands, awesomeness that made most techies drool. The touch screen got broke (who would have thought with a two year old and a couple of dogs in the house?) So I decided to try and fix it. The new touch screen cost as much as a new remote! I guess sometimes you just can't win.
I remember walking into Lowe's one time knowing the name, size, use, description, and color of an item once (a spanner wrench, of all things). I just couldn't find it. Finally I found an employee and asked for the item by name. I figured, they work at the place, they should know the name, right? Wrong. The look I got back would have made an idiot look intelligent. I then described it. Same look. Ten minutes later, the guy finally led me over to a rack of tools and asked if it were one of those. They weren't it. As I spun around I finally saw what I was looking for. I picked it up and he got this aha look on his face. "Oh, you meant a pin face wrench," and he was proud that he could put a name to it. I returned his previous looks to him and read the label. It said "1-2 inch spanner wrench." Just goes to show, just because you know what you're looking for, doesn't mean anyone else does. Better to just stick with, "I need me one of these."
The thing that really gets me is when you don't actually know what is wrong with said item. You decide that , rather than have an expert (or someone who does it for a living anyway) look at it, that you can do it yourself and save a few bucks. You go into said store and describe said problem to the person working the store. You just made two mistakes. First, you assumed that the person working the floor had any knowledge of the item you are trying to fix. Secondly, you are assuming that anyone with a minimal mount of knowledge could understand your fuzzy (at best) description of the problem to diagnose the cause and give you the correct fix. What makes it worse, is that if you have actually done this once, you will return to the same store when the suggested fix fails and try again. Eventually, you will rebuild the item and get it to work and assume that the last part you installed was the cause. Never mind that you just spent the amount a new and better one would have cost you in the first place, you fixed it. That feeling lasts just as long as it takes for your wife to add up the receipts, by the way. Give up and take it to the experts and say, "it doesn't work, I don't know how to fix it, please help." You may find it humiliating, but believe me, it's better in the long run.
The best part about today's post, my wife won't get to read it until I get the computer fixed. This means that I don't have to tell her I am guessing until after I have fixed it. I get to see what it feels like to seem like I know what I am doing. You all have a wonderful day and remember, I need me one of these, is always a valid shopping plan.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Manic Monday: National Debt = National Disaster
To start off today's post, I would like to give a shout out to my brother in law, Joe. Thanks for coming and spending time with us. It was truly wonderful and we had a great time. Next up, the news. A week from Wednesday, our house goes on the market. This means my wife and I will be busy cleaning house for the interim as we try to make it presentable. This also means we need a ton of boxes. Which means I need to find them. It is what it is. I am not looking forward to this. So much work.
Now for the part you've been waiting for (either with dread or hope, I am not sure which I find more frightening), Manic Monday. Today's topic: The Debt limit and the politics around it. Let me start with a quote from a bumper sticker. "Truth isn't always popular, but it is always Right." How could it be any more simple than that. Let's look at the current situation and find the truth in it. Truth: 40% of every dollar the US government currently spends is borrowed. Truth: You can't pay reduce a debt unless you spend less than you make. Truth: You can't reduce your income when you spend more than you currently make. These should be obvious, yet for some reason, the people WE voted for don't understand this. For fear of insulting their constituents they make it easier to get on government funded programs. They add on other programs and increase the area of responsibility. They haven't "created" new programs, just enlarged current ones.
Then they cut taxes (read income). So they didn't really cut taxes, they just refuse to repeal previous tax cuts. Do I want to pay more in taxes? Not really, but the question should really be, will I pay higher taxes now for reduced taxes later. The answer to that will be yes.
The final nail in the coffin in this debate is the fact that, while they are talking cuts, they are meaningless if they don't remove earmarks and special interests. The fact is that government needs to become more efficient. We need to remove waste and have a directed approach.
I have always said, don't complain about a problem unless you can present a solution along with it (I wasn't the originator of this, but I can't remember where I heard it). That being said, here goes. Please note that these are long term solutions and it may take a few years for the effects to be seen and the results to match. The first thing that needs to be done is to increase revenue. Until the debt is paid, we have to increase taxes. This isn't a hope, or a want it is a must. The simplest way to do this is to revert to remove deductions and credits. No matter what you do, people will be angry, but it must be done. We all need to pay. I am not a tax lawyer so I don't know the exact sections to repeal, but I think the best way is to start at a flat 20% tax across the board. We can reduce later when the debt is paid. As for those whose income is such that paying 20% taxes would reduce them below the poverty level, they would be exempt (after all, if we put them into poverty, that would be that much more spending the government would have). As for businesses, they are taxed for 20% of their profits. Thus, they can avoid taxes by expanding the business thus creating jobs, thus reducing unemployment and increasing tax revenues. Obviously, we have to define legitimate business expenditures (a company jet would not be one) so that buying a house for the CEO from business funds is not counted as a business expenditure and thus no taxes paid on that money. Now that we have raised revenue by putting more people to work and actually taxing income, we can move on to reducing spending.
The second part of this, spending reduction, now comes into play. First off, we partially solved it by reducing the number of people on unemployment and welfare by increasing jobs. Now we need to look at other areas. First off, welfare. I have never liked it, but I recognize that there is a legitimate need. The biggest problem I have with welfare is the fact that it makes it easy for people to stay impoverished and becomes a way of life. Welfare should be a stepping stone, not a living. Start with drug testing of those on welfare. If you fail a drug test, you are placed in government funded rehab (yes, I know, one more expenditure, but hear me out), this way when you are sober, you may find a better way to make a living and no longer need welfare. If you fail a second drug test after you complete rehab, you lose welfare. If you are on welfare and you have children, you will only get one welfare increase. This is for the first child, after that, if you can't provide for them, the government will take them and place them into the foster care system until you can (having children as a means of increasing pay only compounds the problem, it doesn't gain anything). Studies have shown that only a small percentage of people born into a poor family rise above the level at which they were raised. In fact, from what I have found, most people raised on welfare end up on welfare themselves.
Another way to reduce spending (and maybe even raise revenue) is to put our criminals to work. At one time, the US prison system actually made money after paying for itself. Now we are paying around $30,000 per inmate to house them. They are criminals, they had their day in court and were found guilty. Make them earn their keep. If we made them just tend the fields where their vegetables came from, they would save the tax payer thousands.
Another place we could save money from is by giving incentives to various agencies to become more efficient. Instead of saying that if they don't use all their funding this year they won't get it next year, tell them that funding won't decrease and that it will increase by a percentage of what was saved. The current system merely punishes underspending. Overspend and you get berated, but you get your extra funding (it wouldn't be right not to pay your people). Underspend and you get you funding cut. This is fundamentally wrong. We should reward people for doing good things with our money.
Will we see results from all of the above this year? Not even close, I would estimate that it would take a decade for the debt to finally be paid if all the above was done (and I am no expert), but it is a start. The biggest problem with all of this is that, for some inexplicable reason, once the politicians get to Washington, DC, everything they ever learned finances goes right out the window. If any house in America operated like the US government, they would be bankrupt at the least. I can't imagine a bank saying OK if someone were to try and borrow more if they already were spending more than they made and had to borrow to pay their bills. It just doesn't happen. In reality, we have to live within our means. Raise taxes, reduce spending and pay our debts now. Then we can reduce our taxes later and decide if we really need to increase spending at that time. That's just my opinion, maybe you have a better solution. No matter how you look at it, something needs done. Thank you and have a wonderful day.
Now for the part you've been waiting for (either with dread or hope, I am not sure which I find more frightening), Manic Monday. Today's topic: The Debt limit and the politics around it. Let me start with a quote from a bumper sticker. "Truth isn't always popular, but it is always Right." How could it be any more simple than that. Let's look at the current situation and find the truth in it. Truth: 40% of every dollar the US government currently spends is borrowed. Truth: You can't pay reduce a debt unless you spend less than you make. Truth: You can't reduce your income when you spend more than you currently make. These should be obvious, yet for some reason, the people WE voted for don't understand this. For fear of insulting their constituents they make it easier to get on government funded programs. They add on other programs and increase the area of responsibility. They haven't "created" new programs, just enlarged current ones.
Then they cut taxes (read income). So they didn't really cut taxes, they just refuse to repeal previous tax cuts. Do I want to pay more in taxes? Not really, but the question should really be, will I pay higher taxes now for reduced taxes later. The answer to that will be yes.
The final nail in the coffin in this debate is the fact that, while they are talking cuts, they are meaningless if they don't remove earmarks and special interests. The fact is that government needs to become more efficient. We need to remove waste and have a directed approach.
I have always said, don't complain about a problem unless you can present a solution along with it (I wasn't the originator of this, but I can't remember where I heard it). That being said, here goes. Please note that these are long term solutions and it may take a few years for the effects to be seen and the results to match. The first thing that needs to be done is to increase revenue. Until the debt is paid, we have to increase taxes. This isn't a hope, or a want it is a must. The simplest way to do this is to revert to remove deductions and credits. No matter what you do, people will be angry, but it must be done. We all need to pay. I am not a tax lawyer so I don't know the exact sections to repeal, but I think the best way is to start at a flat 20% tax across the board. We can reduce later when the debt is paid. As for those whose income is such that paying 20% taxes would reduce them below the poverty level, they would be exempt (after all, if we put them into poverty, that would be that much more spending the government would have). As for businesses, they are taxed for 20% of their profits. Thus, they can avoid taxes by expanding the business thus creating jobs, thus reducing unemployment and increasing tax revenues. Obviously, we have to define legitimate business expenditures (a company jet would not be one) so that buying a house for the CEO from business funds is not counted as a business expenditure and thus no taxes paid on that money. Now that we have raised revenue by putting more people to work and actually taxing income, we can move on to reducing spending.
The second part of this, spending reduction, now comes into play. First off, we partially solved it by reducing the number of people on unemployment and welfare by increasing jobs. Now we need to look at other areas. First off, welfare. I have never liked it, but I recognize that there is a legitimate need. The biggest problem I have with welfare is the fact that it makes it easy for people to stay impoverished and becomes a way of life. Welfare should be a stepping stone, not a living. Start with drug testing of those on welfare. If you fail a drug test, you are placed in government funded rehab (yes, I know, one more expenditure, but hear me out), this way when you are sober, you may find a better way to make a living and no longer need welfare. If you fail a second drug test after you complete rehab, you lose welfare. If you are on welfare and you have children, you will only get one welfare increase. This is for the first child, after that, if you can't provide for them, the government will take them and place them into the foster care system until you can (having children as a means of increasing pay only compounds the problem, it doesn't gain anything). Studies have shown that only a small percentage of people born into a poor family rise above the level at which they were raised. In fact, from what I have found, most people raised on welfare end up on welfare themselves.
Another way to reduce spending (and maybe even raise revenue) is to put our criminals to work. At one time, the US prison system actually made money after paying for itself. Now we are paying around $30,000 per inmate to house them. They are criminals, they had their day in court and were found guilty. Make them earn their keep. If we made them just tend the fields where their vegetables came from, they would save the tax payer thousands.
Another place we could save money from is by giving incentives to various agencies to become more efficient. Instead of saying that if they don't use all their funding this year they won't get it next year, tell them that funding won't decrease and that it will increase by a percentage of what was saved. The current system merely punishes underspending. Overspend and you get berated, but you get your extra funding (it wouldn't be right not to pay your people). Underspend and you get you funding cut. This is fundamentally wrong. We should reward people for doing good things with our money.
Will we see results from all of the above this year? Not even close, I would estimate that it would take a decade for the debt to finally be paid if all the above was done (and I am no expert), but it is a start. The biggest problem with all of this is that, for some inexplicable reason, once the politicians get to Washington, DC, everything they ever learned finances goes right out the window. If any house in America operated like the US government, they would be bankrupt at the least. I can't imagine a bank saying OK if someone were to try and borrow more if they already were spending more than they made and had to borrow to pay their bills. It just doesn't happen. In reality, we have to live within our means. Raise taxes, reduce spending and pay our debts now. Then we can reduce our taxes later and decide if we really need to increase spending at that time. That's just my opinion, maybe you have a better solution. No matter how you look at it, something needs done. Thank you and have a wonderful day.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
It works fine.
This whole week has been weird and I am not sure why. First off, I didn't get to post Monday as I explained Tuesday, then Yesterday, I got sent to the other office and was unable to get on a computer to do my Happy Hump Day post. I really don't know what is going on and the sad thing is it is not a new feeling.
We have all had times in our lives where we were sent to do something and had no clue what we are doing. Most of my life has been like that. It wasn't until I was married that I realized exactly what that feeling meant. I just thought that when I was going in circles I was figuring it out. Turns out that I had no clue. Now, for some inexplicable reason, my wife expects me to know what is going on all the time. Take my recent trip to Italy for example. As we went through the various airports, my wife relied on me to guide us through safely. Never mind that I had been to them just as much as she had. Never mind that we both can read rather well. Never mind that she is the one carrying the info (she insisted). I was the one responsible when we went in circles. I was the one that got asked, "are you sure we're going the right way?" Not really, but this is the best guess I got. I'm just winging it most of the time.
I really love the question, "Are you sure you know what you are doing?" It just adds so much confidence to me. It makes me want to reply with a simple, "sure, why not?" The problem is, half the time the answer is no. It really doesn't help that when I actually break down and say I'm not sure what I am doing that my wife suddenly gets super supportive and has huge amounts of confidence in me. Usually the level of confidence she has in me just happens to coincide with how much it's going to cost us to have someone else fix it. Free to fix/replace means she is going to inevitably ask, "are you sure?" Where a hundred dollars gets me, "I know you can do it."
There is the other side though. You know, when something is working, but it is making funny noises or is not working up to its max potential. This is where my wife's confidence in me is tested. If it doesn't matter, her confidence in me is high. If there is the slightest chance that I could screw it up, I end up hearing, "are you sure you need to mess with it, it's working fine?" Never mind that you can't hold a conversation next to it when it's running. Never mind that it smokes slightly. Never mind that you have to shake it and hit it just right. "It works fine." There are buttons missing. It has a remote, it works fine. It is stuck on one setting. How many do you need, it works fine. It scares the children. Don't operate it when they're around, it works fine. Apparently, fine is all that is necessary and right is just a bonus. It drives me nuts. Anyway, I'll see you all tomorrow. I have to go to the other office now. Have a great day.
We have all had times in our lives where we were sent to do something and had no clue what we are doing. Most of my life has been like that. It wasn't until I was married that I realized exactly what that feeling meant. I just thought that when I was going in circles I was figuring it out. Turns out that I had no clue. Now, for some inexplicable reason, my wife expects me to know what is going on all the time. Take my recent trip to Italy for example. As we went through the various airports, my wife relied on me to guide us through safely. Never mind that I had been to them just as much as she had. Never mind that we both can read rather well. Never mind that she is the one carrying the info (she insisted). I was the one responsible when we went in circles. I was the one that got asked, "are you sure we're going the right way?" Not really, but this is the best guess I got. I'm just winging it most of the time.
I really love the question, "Are you sure you know what you are doing?" It just adds so much confidence to me. It makes me want to reply with a simple, "sure, why not?" The problem is, half the time the answer is no. It really doesn't help that when I actually break down and say I'm not sure what I am doing that my wife suddenly gets super supportive and has huge amounts of confidence in me. Usually the level of confidence she has in me just happens to coincide with how much it's going to cost us to have someone else fix it. Free to fix/replace means she is going to inevitably ask, "are you sure?" Where a hundred dollars gets me, "I know you can do it."
There is the other side though. You know, when something is working, but it is making funny noises or is not working up to its max potential. This is where my wife's confidence in me is tested. If it doesn't matter, her confidence in me is high. If there is the slightest chance that I could screw it up, I end up hearing, "are you sure you need to mess with it, it's working fine?" Never mind that you can't hold a conversation next to it when it's running. Never mind that it smokes slightly. Never mind that you have to shake it and hit it just right. "It works fine." There are buttons missing. It has a remote, it works fine. It is stuck on one setting. How many do you need, it works fine. It scares the children. Don't operate it when they're around, it works fine. Apparently, fine is all that is necessary and right is just a bonus. It drives me nuts. Anyway, I'll see you all tomorrow. I have to go to the other office now. Have a great day.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Financial Odities.
Sorry I missed Manic Monday, but I had other things to do. Congratulations to my friend Darryl on his retirement. In case you were wondering, that is what I was doing yesterday. I felt it important enough to skip the post. Now on to today's post. I thought about doing yesterday's post today, but decided it just wasn't worth it. I really don't need to upset myself with it. So this weekend, we were planning on going camping. Since there were a few items we needed, we decided to total up the checkbook. We discovered that we had spent a little more than we thought and were down to the point where spending extra would be irresponsible. So we ended up working on the yard and house. Yesterday, we did a little shopping for necessities and decided we needed to transfer a bit out of savings to our checking account to get us through. I decided to compare what the bank said we had and what we said we had. After checking the math twice, I discovered that the bank said we had around twelve hundred dollars more than we said we had. I have had a day to think about this now and have realized why this is. We constantly round up our monthly bills to even dollar figures. With about 15 monthly bills that we round up by about one to two dollars apiece, it adds up over the years. Add in the fact that I am overestimating the amount we set aside for the house and you end up with a significant amount set aside. It's nice to know that even when the checkbook says we are in the red, we are still safe (we only allowed ourselves to take $200 of the error back), not that we let the checkbook go into the red. At some point we will have to go into the bank and have them go through our records, just to make sure that we are truly up to date. I have to thank my wife for being so pragmatic at times that we can have this extra bit. Now if I can only talk her into the Star Wars special edition Xbox. Have a wonderful day.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Our Independence Day, what patriotism means to me.
Today's post will be a patriotic thing, you've been warned.
There seems so much that this country has done for us that we take for granted. In my years in the navy, I have been to several other countries. From the affluent to the destitute, there is always something America has, that the other countries don't. Yet, when we are asked to sacrifice for the country that has given us so much, we tend to answer with, "what's in it for me?" We take for granted that we are given so much. We all know that should we fall on hard times, the government will give us what we need to survive. From welfare to food stamps, we expect our government to take care of us all along the way. So much so, that we get angry when we are asked to give up a portion of our wages so that we can pay for these programs we rely on.
We ask the government to protect us from enemies, both external and internal, yet we refuse to support our troops because they are following orders of people you don't agree with. We ask the government to keep our food safe, yet we rail at the cost of watching it. We ask the government to provide our retirement, yet refuse to live within our means. How can we expect our nation to endure if only our government must give of itself? How can we endure if only the other group is to pay for it all? We must all give of ourselves to keep this country great.
There is a famous Benjamin Franklin quote that is making the rounds. You have probably heard it, it says, "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, deserve neither," Or something similar. While this is true to a certain extent, I believe there is more to it. We have all heard the saying, "Freedom isn't free." This is true as well, but we tend to forget it. I believe that the two sayings should go together as follows, "Those who aren't willing to pay for their freedom and security deserve neither." I am not saying that you have to join the military and die for your country. What I am saying is that we should be more willing to give of ourselves for our country. Give of our time and serve. Volunteer to help the police and fire departments at the next parade. Take a meal or two down to the precinct or fire station every once in a while. Pay your taxes. Vote. Call your senator and tell him what concerns you. Recognize what is a real need in your life and recognize what you can give up. Why is it that we as Americans can raise billions of dollars in just a few weeks when there is a disaster abroad, but we can't even raise a few million when it comes to the nation/state/city we live in? Why is it we can give so greatly to others and live so well ourselves, yet we can't give any to our home? How is it that we can yell cut spending in the same sentence we can yell give us our stuff? I don't envy our leaders these days. They cannot win. In order to balance the budget, they have to cut programs, which means lost jobs, pay, or both and they have to raise taxes. There is no way our government can meet the demands our nation has put on it and maintain a balanced budget. It is impossible. With that being said, on this Independence day, think on what it is you have given for your country and ask yourself, "can I give more?" I know I can and should and I have served in the military for 18+ years. How about you?
Have a wonderful 4th of July. God bless America.
There seems so much that this country has done for us that we take for granted. In my years in the navy, I have been to several other countries. From the affluent to the destitute, there is always something America has, that the other countries don't. Yet, when we are asked to sacrifice for the country that has given us so much, we tend to answer with, "what's in it for me?" We take for granted that we are given so much. We all know that should we fall on hard times, the government will give us what we need to survive. From welfare to food stamps, we expect our government to take care of us all along the way. So much so, that we get angry when we are asked to give up a portion of our wages so that we can pay for these programs we rely on.
We ask the government to protect us from enemies, both external and internal, yet we refuse to support our troops because they are following orders of people you don't agree with. We ask the government to keep our food safe, yet we rail at the cost of watching it. We ask the government to provide our retirement, yet refuse to live within our means. How can we expect our nation to endure if only our government must give of itself? How can we endure if only the other group is to pay for it all? We must all give of ourselves to keep this country great.
There is a famous Benjamin Franklin quote that is making the rounds. You have probably heard it, it says, "Those who sacrifice freedom for security, deserve neither," Or something similar. While this is true to a certain extent, I believe there is more to it. We have all heard the saying, "Freedom isn't free." This is true as well, but we tend to forget it. I believe that the two sayings should go together as follows, "Those who aren't willing to pay for their freedom and security deserve neither." I am not saying that you have to join the military and die for your country. What I am saying is that we should be more willing to give of ourselves for our country. Give of our time and serve. Volunteer to help the police and fire departments at the next parade. Take a meal or two down to the precinct or fire station every once in a while. Pay your taxes. Vote. Call your senator and tell him what concerns you. Recognize what is a real need in your life and recognize what you can give up. Why is it that we as Americans can raise billions of dollars in just a few weeks when there is a disaster abroad, but we can't even raise a few million when it comes to the nation/state/city we live in? Why is it we can give so greatly to others and live so well ourselves, yet we can't give any to our home? How is it that we can yell cut spending in the same sentence we can yell give us our stuff? I don't envy our leaders these days. They cannot win. In order to balance the budget, they have to cut programs, which means lost jobs, pay, or both and they have to raise taxes. There is no way our government can meet the demands our nation has put on it and maintain a balanced budget. It is impossible. With that being said, on this Independence day, think on what it is you have given for your country and ask yourself, "can I give more?" I know I can and should and I have served in the military for 18+ years. How about you?
Have a wonderful 4th of July. God bless America.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Trio of faith miracles, science, and knowledge.
So There has been a recent discussion that has been weighing on my mind. A friend of mine on Face book, who is a staunch Atheist, called the bible a fable and fairy tale based on a few of the stories (Jonah and the whale for example). He automatically dismissed them and thus the entire bible. Normally, this wouldn't bother me that much as I believe that people have the right to believe as they wish and that it is better to lead by example rather than by pushing. Anyway, this time it really irked me. I now realize why. It wasn't so much the unbelief, it was the fact that he was willing to dismiss the entire bible out of hand.
For those of you who have chosen not to believe in God, here is my issue. You claim that there is no evidence of God. Then, when a writing that has been verified through archeology and other non religious texts (yes, I am describing the bible) to be accurate in many details, it is dismissed out of hand for several passages that have no naturalistic explanation and thus "could not have happened".
Think on this. If every act of God had a Naturalistic explanation, what kind of God would he be? On the other hand, if an event has no naturalistic explanation and can be proven that no naturalistic explanation exists, would this not prove the existence of a supernatural event? In other words, the supernatural events that you dismiss as false because they couldn't happen naturally are proof to the believer of God's existence. When you dismiss the supernatural explanation, you dismiss God. I guess the meat and potatoes is this, if you can't accept that a God exists, then you can't accept the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural never happened and any mention of it nullifies anything associated with it.
Now for the flip side. Not everything is a supernatural event. What this means is that there is much that science can explain and should. All to often, we as Christians are to willing to jump on the God did it band wagon and dismiss all scientific research. There is ample scientific evidence for many things and thus a supernatural explanation is not required. To try and apply a supernatural explanation to things that science has adequately explained and proven is to live in ignorance.
Just because you are a scientist, doesn't mean you have to give up God. And just because you are religious, doesn't mean you have to give up science. The two are not mutually exclusive. In fact they enhance each other. God encourages us to ask questions and seek answers. " 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. " Matthew 7. This applies to many things, not just the search for God. I have found that when I study the sciences, I find God more and more. This doesn't mean that when I find something I don't understand, I stop and say "God did it." It just spurs me on to find out more. How can I believe that random chance is responsible for all the increasing complexities I see in nature. The balance that exists is awe inspiring. Then there is the fact that I can appreciate the beauty that is in nature and that nature is in fact beautiful. More beautiful than is necessary for naturalistic functions. God and science are not mutually exclusive and do not cancel each other, they only enhance each other.
In all, I guess that my real problem with his remarks wasn't so much with his disbelief, as with how I reacted. I allowed myself be angered by it and rather than studying up on what I should say, I ignored the post and let it stew. This was wrong and it I apologize for it. He is entitled to his beliefs and I only hope that he can forgive me my attitude. Than you for allowing me to rant on this. I look forward to any comments you may have.
For those of you who have chosen not to believe in God, here is my issue. You claim that there is no evidence of God. Then, when a writing that has been verified through archeology and other non religious texts (yes, I am describing the bible) to be accurate in many details, it is dismissed out of hand for several passages that have no naturalistic explanation and thus "could not have happened".
Think on this. If every act of God had a Naturalistic explanation, what kind of God would he be? On the other hand, if an event has no naturalistic explanation and can be proven that no naturalistic explanation exists, would this not prove the existence of a supernatural event? In other words, the supernatural events that you dismiss as false because they couldn't happen naturally are proof to the believer of God's existence. When you dismiss the supernatural explanation, you dismiss God. I guess the meat and potatoes is this, if you can't accept that a God exists, then you can't accept the existence of the supernatural. Thus, the supernatural never happened and any mention of it nullifies anything associated with it.
Now for the flip side. Not everything is a supernatural event. What this means is that there is much that science can explain and should. All to often, we as Christians are to willing to jump on the God did it band wagon and dismiss all scientific research. There is ample scientific evidence for many things and thus a supernatural explanation is not required. To try and apply a supernatural explanation to things that science has adequately explained and proven is to live in ignorance.
Just because you are a scientist, doesn't mean you have to give up God. And just because you are religious, doesn't mean you have to give up science. The two are not mutually exclusive. In fact they enhance each other. God encourages us to ask questions and seek answers. " 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. " Matthew 7. This applies to many things, not just the search for God. I have found that when I study the sciences, I find God more and more. This doesn't mean that when I find something I don't understand, I stop and say "God did it." It just spurs me on to find out more. How can I believe that random chance is responsible for all the increasing complexities I see in nature. The balance that exists is awe inspiring. Then there is the fact that I can appreciate the beauty that is in nature and that nature is in fact beautiful. More beautiful than is necessary for naturalistic functions. God and science are not mutually exclusive and do not cancel each other, they only enhance each other.
In all, I guess that my real problem with his remarks wasn't so much with his disbelief, as with how I reacted. I allowed myself be angered by it and rather than studying up on what I should say, I ignored the post and let it stew. This was wrong and it I apologize for it. He is entitled to his beliefs and I only hope that he can forgive me my attitude. Than you for allowing me to rant on this. I look forward to any comments you may have.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Dad's wisdom
So I missed posting on Saturday. It wasn't really that busy, I just never got around to it. Sorry. Anyway, I am now back at work and I have a bit to do so I will keep it short today. I got the camper in to the shop Friday and it looks like it will cast me in the neighborhood of $300 to get it up and running for the camping season. I should hear from the shop this afternoon. All in all, it wasn't a bad weekend.
Now to let you in on my theme for the week. With Father's Day coming up on Sunday (yes, it is that close), I have decided that this week will be dedicated to posts on my dad. Either I will tell a story about him, or share a lesson I learned from him. Today, I share a quick lesson.
The lesson is basic and can be summed up in one phrase. "It is better to have a little to much, than not enough." At the time, he was referring to cutting lengths of wire for rewiring a house, but I have found that this simple philosophy applies to many parts of our lives. Meals for example. Every time, I try to make the exact right amount so I don't over cook, I end up with to little. The only time I have enough for everyone consistently is when I throw in a little extra, just in case. It can also apply to your saving account and expense planning. Think about it, which is worse, over estimating how much something will cost, or convincing yourself that something is cheaper than it actually is.
There is a flip side to this. You can find yourself going beyond what is prudent, into the realm of excess. As my dad said, just a few inches extra is all you really need, otherwise it's just waste. In other words, use a little bit of self control when getting that little extra. Don't make a five course meal for 20 when you're expecting 10. Don't overestimate the cost by doubling it. Don't add an hour onto a 15 minute commute.
Now I know some of you are thinking that there are areas where to much is just to much like alcohol. I agree, but I wasn't referring to that. The whole premise behind the philosophy is planning. This isn't about consumption or implementation, it's about planning. If you try to apply this to the activity currently in progress, you may find yourself in hot water. As always, prudence is necessary when implementing a plan.
Well, that's it for today. I look forward to tomorrow. Thanks Dad for all your wisdom and lessons taught.
Now to let you in on my theme for the week. With Father's Day coming up on Sunday (yes, it is that close), I have decided that this week will be dedicated to posts on my dad. Either I will tell a story about him, or share a lesson I learned from him. Today, I share a quick lesson.
The lesson is basic and can be summed up in one phrase. "It is better to have a little to much, than not enough." At the time, he was referring to cutting lengths of wire for rewiring a house, but I have found that this simple philosophy applies to many parts of our lives. Meals for example. Every time, I try to make the exact right amount so I don't over cook, I end up with to little. The only time I have enough for everyone consistently is when I throw in a little extra, just in case. It can also apply to your saving account and expense planning. Think about it, which is worse, over estimating how much something will cost, or convincing yourself that something is cheaper than it actually is.
There is a flip side to this. You can find yourself going beyond what is prudent, into the realm of excess. As my dad said, just a few inches extra is all you really need, otherwise it's just waste. In other words, use a little bit of self control when getting that little extra. Don't make a five course meal for 20 when you're expecting 10. Don't overestimate the cost by doubling it. Don't add an hour onto a 15 minute commute.
Now I know some of you are thinking that there are areas where to much is just to much like alcohol. I agree, but I wasn't referring to that. The whole premise behind the philosophy is planning. This isn't about consumption or implementation, it's about planning. If you try to apply this to the activity currently in progress, you may find yourself in hot water. As always, prudence is necessary when implementing a plan.
Well, that's it for today. I look forward to tomorrow. Thanks Dad for all your wisdom and lessons taught.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
What, me Worry?
Yesterday was a good day. I ended up playing games with my boys. The best was when I got to watch my 5 year old beat my 9 year old at checkers. He was so excited that he left the board alone until he had a chance to re enact the winning play for everyone. It was awesome. I love being able to teach my sons new games and watching them excel at them. I also love the fact that my boys get along and play well together (most of the time anyway).
This week has been going incredibly slow. Maybe it's because I go on leave next Monday and head for Italy next Thursday. The great thing is I get time with my wife. There are so many things to be thankful for. I find I have very few worries. When I do get them, they tend to fade away rapidly when I think about them a bit. I find that worry, by itself, does no good. When I look at what I worry about, I realize that the worry is based on things that I either have no control over or that can be easily avoided or minimized by what I have already done. Either way, they are nothing worth worrying about. Really, what do I have to worry about? I have the love of my wife and children (which I wholly reciprocate). I have my needs covered. I know that no matter what happens, a way will be found to get through it.
Why worry about what might happen? Why dwell on things that may never happen? The only thing you can do is plan for what will happen. And the only future event of which we can be assured, is death. No one knows when it will happen, but it will come to us all. So we plan for it. I have life insurance and thus my family will be taken care of. I have a will, and thus my material things will be passed on. Other than that, we can try to plan for the possible. Save some money back in case of lean times, plan for vacations, maybe save for your kids education.
I am not advocating ignoring facts and going hog wild (I.E. spending everything you have and taking on massive amounts of debt), but not worrying about every little thing. What this means is, when a worry crops up, you address it and place it in its place. If it is something you have no control over, recognize it and ignore it. If you can do something about it, take action. For instance, if you start worrying that you may not have enough money for gas, set aside an appropriate amount and it is taken care of. If you find yourself worrying that you may be on the list to get laid off, take action. Become that stellar performer and make yourself what you need to be to stay. If you happen to be in one of those jobs that is of the "last hired first fired" sorts, start looking for another job that will take care of you. Do it right, but take action. Action stops worry. Worry is a spectator sport. If you are watching events occur, you worry about how they affect you. If you are actively involved in directing them, you don't have time to worry about them and you can sleep at night knowing that you are doing all you can for a favorable outcome.
There are many benefits to this philosophy. I continually am told that I don't look near as old as I am (I was told this weekend that I looked about 25ish, I am 36). Some of it maybe genetics, but I also attribute it to my philosophy on worry. I used to say it was because I don't care. That was a lie. I do care, I just don't waste my time with worry. Think about it. If you ware worrying, you tend to scowl and frown. This action builds wrinkles and also can affect your health. I used to get heartburn a lot. Since I embraced this philosophy totally (I get to thank my wife for making it possible), I found that I don't get heartburn near as much. It is just so wonderful a feeling knowing that I do what I can to mitigate the worry.
There is a couple of downsides though. The first is that you tend to smile a lot. This annoys other people. You get comments that may be embarrassing or otherwise. You also get categorized as a fool sometimes. It can be perceived that you don't understand the world or how to live properly. This means people may or may not trust you based on the perception that you don't care. I don't understand how care and worry are synonymous, but that seems to be the perception. Apparently, if you don't worry about it, you don't care about it. I believe the opposite, if you worry about it, you aren't caring for it. As I mentioned earlier, worry is a passive verb, there is no action involved in worry (wringing of hands doesn't count). Care, on the other hand, requires an action verb. If you care for something, you must take action to ensure its health. So how can you be inactive (worry) and care for something? Think on it. Try it and see how it affects your life.
This week has been going incredibly slow. Maybe it's because I go on leave next Monday and head for Italy next Thursday. The great thing is I get time with my wife. There are so many things to be thankful for. I find I have very few worries. When I do get them, they tend to fade away rapidly when I think about them a bit. I find that worry, by itself, does no good. When I look at what I worry about, I realize that the worry is based on things that I either have no control over or that can be easily avoided or minimized by what I have already done. Either way, they are nothing worth worrying about. Really, what do I have to worry about? I have the love of my wife and children (which I wholly reciprocate). I have my needs covered. I know that no matter what happens, a way will be found to get through it.
Why worry about what might happen? Why dwell on things that may never happen? The only thing you can do is plan for what will happen. And the only future event of which we can be assured, is death. No one knows when it will happen, but it will come to us all. So we plan for it. I have life insurance and thus my family will be taken care of. I have a will, and thus my material things will be passed on. Other than that, we can try to plan for the possible. Save some money back in case of lean times, plan for vacations, maybe save for your kids education.
I am not advocating ignoring facts and going hog wild (I.E. spending everything you have and taking on massive amounts of debt), but not worrying about every little thing. What this means is, when a worry crops up, you address it and place it in its place. If it is something you have no control over, recognize it and ignore it. If you can do something about it, take action. For instance, if you start worrying that you may not have enough money for gas, set aside an appropriate amount and it is taken care of. If you find yourself worrying that you may be on the list to get laid off, take action. Become that stellar performer and make yourself what you need to be to stay. If you happen to be in one of those jobs that is of the "last hired first fired" sorts, start looking for another job that will take care of you. Do it right, but take action. Action stops worry. Worry is a spectator sport. If you are watching events occur, you worry about how they affect you. If you are actively involved in directing them, you don't have time to worry about them and you can sleep at night knowing that you are doing all you can for a favorable outcome.
There are many benefits to this philosophy. I continually am told that I don't look near as old as I am (I was told this weekend that I looked about 25ish, I am 36). Some of it maybe genetics, but I also attribute it to my philosophy on worry. I used to say it was because I don't care. That was a lie. I do care, I just don't waste my time with worry. Think about it. If you ware worrying, you tend to scowl and frown. This action builds wrinkles and also can affect your health. I used to get heartburn a lot. Since I embraced this philosophy totally (I get to thank my wife for making it possible), I found that I don't get heartburn near as much. It is just so wonderful a feeling knowing that I do what I can to mitigate the worry.
There is a couple of downsides though. The first is that you tend to smile a lot. This annoys other people. You get comments that may be embarrassing or otherwise. You also get categorized as a fool sometimes. It can be perceived that you don't understand the world or how to live properly. This means people may or may not trust you based on the perception that you don't care. I don't understand how care and worry are synonymous, but that seems to be the perception. Apparently, if you don't worry about it, you don't care about it. I believe the opposite, if you worry about it, you aren't caring for it. As I mentioned earlier, worry is a passive verb, there is no action involved in worry (wringing of hands doesn't count). Care, on the other hand, requires an action verb. If you care for something, you must take action to ensure its health. So how can you be inactive (worry) and care for something? Think on it. Try it and see how it affects your life.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Philosophy with problems?
Today was a good day. I made wieght for my Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA) and I do the actual fitness part tomorrow. I am not really worried about it, I just need to do well so I can get off of remedial PT. I was about to rant about the Navy's fitnes program (I had actully gotten up to 3 rather large paragraphs) when I realized that you probably don't really care. If you aren't in the Navy, it isn't relevant. If you are in the Navy, you've either heard it, or you've said it, so why waste my time? The fact is, we all have something that we can complain about. The question is, do you have a solution?
Let me share a bit of wisdom. No one cares about a complaint, but if you share a solution to a problem, you can make people think about it and maybe get it fixed. The reason? Simply put, a problem has a solution, but a complaint can't be fixed. When people complain, they are percieved as whiners and are not attractive because they can't be pleased. If you offer a solution, no matter how off the wall, with percieved problems, you may aid in fixing the situation, or maybe learn just why it is that way; either way you are no longer a whiner, but an insightful person. As a wise man once said to me, "sometimes the reason the problem exists is because no one offered a solution."
To finish today's post I will leave you with this. There is no problem so large that it can't be solved through careful consideration, a little work, and the right people. Take care, and look at each problem as a solution waiting to happen.
Let me share a bit of wisdom. No one cares about a complaint, but if you share a solution to a problem, you can make people think about it and maybe get it fixed. The reason? Simply put, a problem has a solution, but a complaint can't be fixed. When people complain, they are percieved as whiners and are not attractive because they can't be pleased. If you offer a solution, no matter how off the wall, with percieved problems, you may aid in fixing the situation, or maybe learn just why it is that way; either way you are no longer a whiner, but an insightful person. As a wise man once said to me, "sometimes the reason the problem exists is because no one offered a solution."
To finish today's post I will leave you with this. There is no problem so large that it can't be solved through careful consideration, a little work, and the right people. Take care, and look at each problem as a solution waiting to happen.
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