You all may remember me complaining about bureaucracy last week or the week before. There’s an example of it right on our water bill. Lone Oak, as well as most other cities in this area have a contract with Cash water. It’s the same all over Texas, I hear. Different cities, different water companies, but still the same.
What chaps is that most of these companies right now are yelling for us to conserve water as we are in the midst of a drought. That in and of itself is not the bureaucratic problem that I see.
The problem is that these companies have a contract with the local cities that guarantee’s them a ‘stable income.’ I see no problem with that as I’m all for folks making a profit. I’d love to make one myself. The problem is that while we are in the midst of this drought these water companies are unwilling to back up their demand that we conserve water with any real reward for good behavior.
"Duh, isn’t the reward for good behavior NOT getting a fine?" you may be snorting in derision right now. Yeah, I can see that, but you may be missing one little bit of the puzzle.
These water companies guarantee their stable income by having the cities sign up for a specified amount of water per month to be sent to their cities. The cities in question must then pay for that amount of water whether they use it or not.
Generally this is not a problem as they pass this cost along to their citizens.
Those of us here in Lone Oak all are (or should be) aware that we have a two thousand gallon minimum on our water bill for water usage. In other words, if we use only that two thousand gallons of water or less every month, then we will pay only a minimum set amount every month (comes in handy when you are planning your personal budget). If, on the other hand, we use a varying amount of water every month, two thousand this month, two thousand fifty next, then fifteen hundred, then fill up our swimming pool and use five thousand, our bills will reflect it. That is also not a problem as far as I can see, unless like me, you habitually use less than that two thousand and are on a fixed income. But if you are on a fixed income the city you live in may give you a break on your water bill. (As Lone Oak does, thank goodness!)
The problem comes in when there is a drought. Then, as a whole, we good citizens get all bent out of shape when we are told not to water our yards or else, especially when we see no relief for our pocket books on the bill for using less water. Maybe the city goes ahead and lowers our rates, mostly it doesn’t. But the real kicker is that the water company does NOT lower the cities rates! They have a contract, after all.
So, let’s say the city does an excellent job of getting it’s citizens to lower water use, and bingo! everyone uses less than two thousand gallons. What happens then? Does the city only have to pay for the smaller amount of water used? HA! Guess again, my friend! No way that happens and if the city doesn’t pay up it, and it citizens, don’t get any more water. This leads to an obvious attitude of "So there’s a drought! I’m still going to use the amount of water I’ll have to pay for anyway" from not only the citizens but the city as well.
That’s no way to save water.
If the water companies really want us to save, to conserve water they need to wake up and side step their own bureaucracies. When a drought emergency is declared they need to inform the cities and the citizens that for the duration they will only be charged for the amount of water they use. Now THAT should save water!
If the water companies want to save even more water on a constant basis they could also encourage rain water harvesting for gardening and animal use, and the use of gray water for toilet flushing. That last would even help the cities with sewer costs maybe as the volume of effluent would be lessened.
Just a couple of idea's folks. Think about it. Then start nagging the water companies.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Alt Op #34 The dread "B" word
I have been informed that last weeks opinion was not alternative but widely shared.
Dang. I must be slipping.
Let’s try this then. We will start with the discussion of a word. One that I am sure we all detest especially when we have to deal with the entity(s) it represents.
That word is: bureaucracy. According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2004 edition that word means: “ 1: a body of appointive government officials 2: government marked by specialization of functions under fixed rules and a hierarchy of authority; also: an unwieldy administrative system burdened with excessive complexity and lack of flexibility”
Sounds danged familiar all the way around doesn’t it. We are surrounded by these bureaucracies and none of them like to change the way they do things. After all if they changed somebody who is part of it just might have to go find another job somewhere. Somewhere else where they will have to, OMG! Think. Worse of all by far, if there is change the bureaucracy just might have to change the way they do things or even HORRORS!!! change their paperwork.
You have all probably also noted that a bureaucracy will often cast a blind eye to common sense and punish those who want to do good or who are doing good if they have not filled out the proper paperwork, in triplicate, and gotten it signed, and notarized by all the right officials in the precise order required. Mean while those folks who do nothing but push through paperwork and get it all properly signed and notarized in just the right order by exactly the right officials get what ever they want, whenever they want it and maybe they do good with it and maybe they just spend the money or use up the supplies for themselves. No one really checks. They’ve got the right paper work!
Such is the way of bureaucracy. Bureaucracies also loves centralization. It is so much easier for the bureaucrats to get together for lunch or golf that way. Besides, the more centralized a government gets the easier it is for bureaucracies to grow and envelope ever more of the government until it is strangled into complete submission to the overall bureaucracy.
With me so far. Bet you are agreeing right down the line. Maybe even saying: “Heck yeah! Down with these nasty bureaucracies and the centralization that goes with’em!” Well, I’m with you there.
But I do have a word of warning for you. Let me remind you that I am totally not in favor of all these nitpicking, bossy bureaucracies we have. I’m also dead against an over abundance of centralization.
I must point out, however, that if things aren’t centralized as they are now then “Big Brother” A. K. A. “Uncle Sam” will cease to be. “GOOD RIDDANCE!” you say, and I agree. You do know that there will be a price to pay for that don’t you?
You will no longer be able to say “Somebody should DO something about ____!” (fill in the blank) There won’t be a “somebody” there. YOU will have to do whatever it is that needs to be done about whatever you put in that blank. Worse, YOU will have to take the responsibility for the consequences of whatever action you take.
It’s called independence, by the way. Just thought you’d like to know. It’s something your supposed to get when you grow up and no longer depend on parents. Oh, yeah, it's also what fighting was about back in the War of INDEPENDENCE. Remember that from the history books?
Dang. I must be slipping.
Let’s try this then. We will start with the discussion of a word. One that I am sure we all detest especially when we have to deal with the entity(s) it represents.
That word is: bureaucracy. According to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2004 edition that word means: “ 1: a body of appointive government officials 2: government marked by specialization of functions under fixed rules and a hierarchy of authority; also: an unwieldy administrative system burdened with excessive complexity and lack of flexibility”
Sounds danged familiar all the way around doesn’t it. We are surrounded by these bureaucracies and none of them like to change the way they do things. After all if they changed somebody who is part of it just might have to go find another job somewhere. Somewhere else where they will have to, OMG! Think. Worse of all by far, if there is change the bureaucracy just might have to change the way they do things or even HORRORS!!! change their paperwork.
You have all probably also noted that a bureaucracy will often cast a blind eye to common sense and punish those who want to do good or who are doing good if they have not filled out the proper paperwork, in triplicate, and gotten it signed, and notarized by all the right officials in the precise order required. Mean while those folks who do nothing but push through paperwork and get it all properly signed and notarized in just the right order by exactly the right officials get what ever they want, whenever they want it and maybe they do good with it and maybe they just spend the money or use up the supplies for themselves. No one really checks. They’ve got the right paper work!
Such is the way of bureaucracy. Bureaucracies also loves centralization. It is so much easier for the bureaucrats to get together for lunch or golf that way. Besides, the more centralized a government gets the easier it is for bureaucracies to grow and envelope ever more of the government until it is strangled into complete submission to the overall bureaucracy.
With me so far. Bet you are agreeing right down the line. Maybe even saying: “Heck yeah! Down with these nasty bureaucracies and the centralization that goes with’em!” Well, I’m with you there.
But I do have a word of warning for you. Let me remind you that I am totally not in favor of all these nitpicking, bossy bureaucracies we have. I’m also dead against an over abundance of centralization.
I must point out, however, that if things aren’t centralized as they are now then “Big Brother” A. K. A. “Uncle Sam” will cease to be. “GOOD RIDDANCE!” you say, and I agree. You do know that there will be a price to pay for that don’t you?
You will no longer be able to say “Somebody should DO something about ____!” (fill in the blank) There won’t be a “somebody” there. YOU will have to do whatever it is that needs to be done about whatever you put in that blank. Worse, YOU will have to take the responsibility for the consequences of whatever action you take.
It’s called independence, by the way. Just thought you’d like to know. It’s something your supposed to get when you grow up and no longer depend on parents. Oh, yeah, it's also what fighting was about back in the War of INDEPENDENCE. Remember that from the history books?
Friday, August 19, 2011
alt op 33 or "Hey! Who the heck is in charge around here?"
Hey! Who the heck is in charge around here!
Rick Perry is off running for President while his second in command is off running for some other office. They are doing this just after they’ve spent piles of cash to get elected to the offices they are in right now. So who’s minding the store while these guy’s are out gallivanting around the country / state asking folks to vote for them? Yeah, I know all I have to do is wade through the Texas Constitution or maybe google it on-line. But I’m just a little put out about this situation right now and just plain don’t feel up to it.
I do feel up to a bit more complaining about a similar situation.
It has become obvious that the President and a whole raft of other federal level “leaders” are answering the siren call of the campaign trail. Some are running for re-election and others are running for a higher office, but the point is they are all already running for an election that is MORE than a year away!!
I mean, really now!
We should spend that much time planning our Forth of July Parade here in Lone Oak! But even if we did, it wouldn’t take that much time away from either our jobs, our families, or the clubs that the folks who do that planning belong to. But these politicians who are running for office will be spending a whole lot of time away from the jobs they were elected to do, and instead of paying attention to bills that need to be vetoed, or passed, or even just spiffied up a little more, they are going to be paying attention to polls, and surveys, and what some big ad company say’s will get them elected. Not to mention the attention they will pay to what their biggest contributors are whispering in their ears.
Next thing you know we are all going to be having all kinds of mud spread across the TV, the newspapers, and the inter net about just about every person running for everything from President to local dog catcher (excuse ME! Animal Control Officer!).
And it’s not even November yet! Sheesh.
Secondly, I’m bent out of shape because of all this cash the various candidates are getting put into their “war chests.” Money that will only be spent on advertising and such. Yes, it will help the economy of the ad agencies but how about the rest of us? These guys are going to be spending billions, Billions on advertising! It wouldn’t be much but it would go a ways toward something really crazy like, oh, say, paying off the National Debt!
Here’s an alternative idea for ya. The government issues a million bucks to each candidate from each party. Even oddballs that say they are the candidates of say, the Party Hearty Party whose main platform is “Party ’till the Cows come Home!” But nobody gets any money until August of the election year. Then they can only spend it or do ANY campaigning from August 31 until election eve. Period. The rest of the year it's nose to the grindstone and get-er-done!
Yeah, I know. Sometimes the mud slinging contests can be down right entertaining but lately they have begun to pale on me. Especially as I realize how much money is being used to smear reputations and tell us how good the other guy is in comparison.
Frankly the mud often gets so thick and gooey it seems to stick to the one throwing it as well as their target.
That just isn’t right.
Makes you wonder if it’s worth voting at all as none of the fools seem able to keep it straight who the heck they are really working for once they get in office.
Sorry for the rant, but I just had to get that off my chest.
Rick Perry is off running for President while his second in command is off running for some other office. They are doing this just after they’ve spent piles of cash to get elected to the offices they are in right now. So who’s minding the store while these guy’s are out gallivanting around the country / state asking folks to vote for them? Yeah, I know all I have to do is wade through the Texas Constitution or maybe google it on-line. But I’m just a little put out about this situation right now and just plain don’t feel up to it.
I do feel up to a bit more complaining about a similar situation.
It has become obvious that the President and a whole raft of other federal level “leaders” are answering the siren call of the campaign trail. Some are running for re-election and others are running for a higher office, but the point is they are all already running for an election that is MORE than a year away!!
I mean, really now!
We should spend that much time planning our Forth of July Parade here in Lone Oak! But even if we did, it wouldn’t take that much time away from either our jobs, our families, or the clubs that the folks who do that planning belong to. But these politicians who are running for office will be spending a whole lot of time away from the jobs they were elected to do, and instead of paying attention to bills that need to be vetoed, or passed, or even just spiffied up a little more, they are going to be paying attention to polls, and surveys, and what some big ad company say’s will get them elected. Not to mention the attention they will pay to what their biggest contributors are whispering in their ears.
Next thing you know we are all going to be having all kinds of mud spread across the TV, the newspapers, and the inter net about just about every person running for everything from President to local dog catcher (excuse ME! Animal Control Officer!).
And it’s not even November yet! Sheesh.
Secondly, I’m bent out of shape because of all this cash the various candidates are getting put into their “war chests.” Money that will only be spent on advertising and such. Yes, it will help the economy of the ad agencies but how about the rest of us? These guys are going to be spending billions, Billions on advertising! It wouldn’t be much but it would go a ways toward something really crazy like, oh, say, paying off the National Debt!
Here’s an alternative idea for ya. The government issues a million bucks to each candidate from each party. Even oddballs that say they are the candidates of say, the Party Hearty Party whose main platform is “Party ’till the Cows come Home!” But nobody gets any money until August of the election year. Then they can only spend it or do ANY campaigning from August 31 until election eve. Period. The rest of the year it's nose to the grindstone and get-er-done!
Yeah, I know. Sometimes the mud slinging contests can be down right entertaining but lately they have begun to pale on me. Especially as I realize how much money is being used to smear reputations and tell us how good the other guy is in comparison.
Frankly the mud often gets so thick and gooey it seems to stick to the one throwing it as well as their target.
That just isn’t right.
Makes you wonder if it’s worth voting at all as none of the fools seem able to keep it straight who the heck they are really working for once they get in office.
Sorry for the rant, but I just had to get that off my chest.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Alt Op # 32 : Questions about the economy.
Well, folks, I honestly have no clue what to have an alternative opinion about right now.
I’ve been ranting for ages that the economy, as it is, is just plain unsustainable. Unfortunately, with the stock market still going down (it is the night of 8/10/11 as I write this) it’s starting to look like I was right. Darn it. This is some scary stuff folks and I’d really rather be dead wrong because it won’t take much to tip the whole shebang in to total chaos.
Honestly, I have some questions for the big gun on economics, anyway. Simple questions about stuff I think helped get us into this mess. Questions like, “Why does the bottom line have to always get bigger? What’s wrong with it getting big enough to keep the ball rolling and then just staying at that size? In fact, as long as the cost of living stays the same, why do paychecks have to get bigger?” Then there is, “What ever happened to that law that kept a big business from ‘cornering the market’ as they used to say? You know, the one that busted up Ma Bell into the mini-bells.” The very law that might have kept certain businesses from becoming "to big to fail!" Oh, and then there’s my favorite, “Why in the world does a product have to become ‘NEW AND IMPROVED!!’ every year or so? Even if all you did was add a new fragrance or remove one for that matter?” Not real sure that last one has to do with economics.
Heck, I even wonder why stuff has to be so freaking centralized. I mean, I could see it back when you had iron ore and coal all together in one state, more or less but that’s not the case now with most modern industries. Why haul the raw material to a central location for processing then haul it away to somewhere else. Why not have a recycling plants in most big cities where they could recycle their trash flow right there instead of having to either bury it or haul it somewhere else? Then they could have factories there, small ones, that could build the stuff to supply that city. You know keep it local. (Yeah, I know! I’m skipping over some details and the devil is in those details. Especially that pesky law of thermodynamics that talks about entropy.) That goes for energy too. Especially, renewable energy like with solar and wind. Why does there have to be a big plant way far away, when a small turbine and solar array can power at least one or two houses close to it? After all electricity does not travel well.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. The old NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) thing. Yeah, I can see the problem there. I darn sure wouldn’t want a nuclear plant in my back yard. Or a fracking gas well either. [Why, yes. I did watch Battle Star Galactica back when! ;) ] Unless it was using solar and wind power to turn rain or dirty water table water into hydrogen and oxygen. That I think I could live with. Heck, wish I had the bucks to build that in my back yard and then buy a honking big fuel cell to power my house and maybe a couple of my neighbors houses as well!
Then there’s the food problem. Some folks just have no clue where food really come from. I suspect they will be learning fairly soon or going hungry.
I don’t know who said it but I just recently I read a saying I’d like to pass on to you. I hope I can remember it right. “For all Mans wonders and marvels his very existence rests on about 6 inches of fertile top soil and the fact that it rains.”
Now that’s scary. Especially when it hasn’t rained in so long.
I’ve been ranting for ages that the economy, as it is, is just plain unsustainable. Unfortunately, with the stock market still going down (it is the night of 8/10/11 as I write this) it’s starting to look like I was right. Darn it. This is some scary stuff folks and I’d really rather be dead wrong because it won’t take much to tip the whole shebang in to total chaos.
Honestly, I have some questions for the big gun on economics, anyway. Simple questions about stuff I think helped get us into this mess. Questions like, “Why does the bottom line have to always get bigger? What’s wrong with it getting big enough to keep the ball rolling and then just staying at that size? In fact, as long as the cost of living stays the same, why do paychecks have to get bigger?” Then there is, “What ever happened to that law that kept a big business from ‘cornering the market’ as they used to say? You know, the one that busted up Ma Bell into the mini-bells.” The very law that might have kept certain businesses from becoming "to big to fail!" Oh, and then there’s my favorite, “Why in the world does a product have to become ‘NEW AND IMPROVED!!’ every year or so? Even if all you did was add a new fragrance or remove one for that matter?” Not real sure that last one has to do with economics.
Heck, I even wonder why stuff has to be so freaking centralized. I mean, I could see it back when you had iron ore and coal all together in one state, more or less but that’s not the case now with most modern industries. Why haul the raw material to a central location for processing then haul it away to somewhere else. Why not have a recycling plants in most big cities where they could recycle their trash flow right there instead of having to either bury it or haul it somewhere else? Then they could have factories there, small ones, that could build the stuff to supply that city. You know keep it local. (Yeah, I know! I’m skipping over some details and the devil is in those details. Especially that pesky law of thermodynamics that talks about entropy.) That goes for energy too. Especially, renewable energy like with solar and wind. Why does there have to be a big plant way far away, when a small turbine and solar array can power at least one or two houses close to it? After all electricity does not travel well.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. The old NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) thing. Yeah, I can see the problem there. I darn sure wouldn’t want a nuclear plant in my back yard. Or a fracking gas well either. [Why, yes. I did watch Battle Star Galactica back when! ;) ] Unless it was using solar and wind power to turn rain or dirty water table water into hydrogen and oxygen. That I think I could live with. Heck, wish I had the bucks to build that in my back yard and then buy a honking big fuel cell to power my house and maybe a couple of my neighbors houses as well!
Then there’s the food problem. Some folks just have no clue where food really come from. I suspect they will be learning fairly soon or going hungry.
I don’t know who said it but I just recently I read a saying I’d like to pass on to you. I hope I can remember it right. “For all Mans wonders and marvels his very existence rests on about 6 inches of fertile top soil and the fact that it rains.”
Now that’s scary. Especially when it hasn’t rained in so long.
Alt Op #31 Retirement?
There has been a big flap lately about the government ‘forcing’ people to keep working until they are older instead of letting them retire at 60 or 65. Got me to wondering.
Look how long we live now (baring the killer problems that can arise from obesity, tobacco, over indulgence in alcohol and drugs and the odd car wreck or drive by shooting) as opposed to way back when ever this age was selected for retirement. Way back then when the dinosaurs ruled the earth you were really old when you hit 60. You were maybe five to ten years max away from falling down dead from old age.
Now, 60 is the new 50! Or so they tell me, 40 is the new 30! By and large this is true as folks are generally healthier and more active at the advanced age of 60 or 65 than they were when the retirement age was set.
Retirement, according to Wikipedia, “is the point where a person stops employment completely.” Who really does that now? I’ll not go into the “who can afford to do that now!?” question. Even folks who can afford to just stop working completely usually find something else to do now days simply because they are not only still physically able to work but because they simply get bored stiff sitting at home and after a while even the ol’ fishin’ hole or the garden can loose it’s appeal especially on a constant basis. Personally, I’ve even gotten bored reading a few times. Might be because I’ve been having to re-read books because of not having enough extra to buy new ones but let’s not get into that. It is what the library’s for anyway.
The point I keep meandering away from is this: if you actually like your job, are good at it, and in good enough health to keep doing it, why the heck should you have to retire? Yeah, yeah, I know. To make way for the up and coming next generation with their new ideas and willingness to change. Ha!
My opinion is the main reason most employers want to dump older employee’s, and sometimes find reasons other than retirement to do so, is because they tend to make more money than the younger, fresh hires, and are also more likely to actually use the medical insurance the company may be providing. Indeed, it may only be the older employees, working under an old contract, that even have medical insurance in this day and age.
Frankly it may be time for us old farts, umm, I mean retired persons, to do something wild and wickedly wonderful. Even those of us who are disabled in one way or another. Maybe we should, as 60 is the new 50, start our own small businesses. What have we got to loose?
Yeah, I know. Our shirts, our homes, our IRA or 401k, maybe even our social security benefits or disability pay. Thing is folks, I’m not all that sure we’ll be getting those nice little (emphasis on that word ‘little’) government pay checks that much longer anyway. And with the way the economy itself seems to be headed, along with the price of energy, we may be loosing our shirts, homes and retirement plans anyway.
Why do I say start up small businesses? Because I really don’t believe many of the local and bigger businesses will hire those of us who are or are near retirement for much more than minimum wage. Of course minimum wage is better than no wage. However, I’m sure that most folks who’ve lived long enough to retire also have all kinds of ideas on how to do a number of things better, and they still have the energy to carry it off.
Having your own business has got to be better and more fun than being a greater at one of the big box retailers anyway. Doesn't it?
Look how long we live now (baring the killer problems that can arise from obesity, tobacco, over indulgence in alcohol and drugs and the odd car wreck or drive by shooting) as opposed to way back when ever this age was selected for retirement. Way back then when the dinosaurs ruled the earth you were really old when you hit 60. You were maybe five to ten years max away from falling down dead from old age.
Now, 60 is the new 50! Or so they tell me, 40 is the new 30! By and large this is true as folks are generally healthier and more active at the advanced age of 60 or 65 than they were when the retirement age was set.
Retirement, according to Wikipedia, “is the point where a person stops employment completely.” Who really does that now? I’ll not go into the “who can afford to do that now!?” question. Even folks who can afford to just stop working completely usually find something else to do now days simply because they are not only still physically able to work but because they simply get bored stiff sitting at home and after a while even the ol’ fishin’ hole or the garden can loose it’s appeal especially on a constant basis. Personally, I’ve even gotten bored reading a few times. Might be because I’ve been having to re-read books because of not having enough extra to buy new ones but let’s not get into that. It is what the library’s for anyway.
The point I keep meandering away from is this: if you actually like your job, are good at it, and in good enough health to keep doing it, why the heck should you have to retire? Yeah, yeah, I know. To make way for the up and coming next generation with their new ideas and willingness to change. Ha!
My opinion is the main reason most employers want to dump older employee’s, and sometimes find reasons other than retirement to do so, is because they tend to make more money than the younger, fresh hires, and are also more likely to actually use the medical insurance the company may be providing. Indeed, it may only be the older employees, working under an old contract, that even have medical insurance in this day and age.
Frankly it may be time for us old farts, umm, I mean retired persons, to do something wild and wickedly wonderful. Even those of us who are disabled in one way or another. Maybe we should, as 60 is the new 50, start our own small businesses. What have we got to loose?
Yeah, I know. Our shirts, our homes, our IRA or 401k, maybe even our social security benefits or disability pay. Thing is folks, I’m not all that sure we’ll be getting those nice little (emphasis on that word ‘little’) government pay checks that much longer anyway. And with the way the economy itself seems to be headed, along with the price of energy, we may be loosing our shirts, homes and retirement plans anyway.
Why do I say start up small businesses? Because I really don’t believe many of the local and bigger businesses will hire those of us who are or are near retirement for much more than minimum wage. Of course minimum wage is better than no wage. However, I’m sure that most folks who’ve lived long enough to retire also have all kinds of ideas on how to do a number of things better, and they still have the energy to carry it off.
Having your own business has got to be better and more fun than being a greater at one of the big box retailers anyway. Doesn't it?
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Alt Op #30, thoughts inspired by the education funding debate
All this debate lately about funding for education sometimes gets me to thinking about the educational system. I should know a little about it after all I went through 12 years with the DISD and managed to snare two diplomas from what was then East Texas State University. I still can’t spell worth a flip but I can read like a son of a gun! Of course the blame for the reading really falls on my mother. You see, she was for all practical purposes illiterate. However, she felt it was a mothers duty to read to her only child (me) so she did. She would carefully point to each syllable of every word as she struggled to sound it out while I sat all warm, cozy and content in her lap with my eye’s following that finger and my ears listening closely while my mind absorbed everything about this strange relationship between those squiggles on the paper beneath the story pictures and what my mom was sounding out.
Yep. My nearly illiterate mother (she dropped out of third grade I was told, to baby sit her younger brother while everyone else went to work during the depression) actually taught me to read. More she taught me that reading just plain felt good and was fun. True she didn’t read much but my dad did and his reading habit resulted in plenty of reading material being in the house at all times. Plus I often saw him sitting down and reading. The up shot of that is that the DISD in all it’s power was never able to convince me that reading WASN’T fun and I’ve been doing it ever since. They were able to convince me that the so called “classics” were, for the most part boring as all get out and I’ve read only the ones I was required to read in school.
But on to my point. Considering my high school and university degrees I should have been raking in the dough while I was working right? HA! Whenever I’d apply for a job dealing with my education level I was told that I didn’t have enough experience. On the other hand when I applied for jobs that would let me work up to that level I was told I was over educated. Bummer all the way around and that was with just one degree. With two and living here in beautiful Hunt County I was told the same thing. I finely realized that if I wanted to be gainfully employed in this county, perhaps even in Dallas County, what I really should have obtained was either a nursing degree (not possible with my allergy to sick people!) or a welding certificate.
Having neither I’ve worked most of my life at low paying, factory floor type jobs that have just about destroyed my feet, my knees and my self esteem from being constantly underemployed.
With that experience I can only ask: just exactly WHY is it absolutely necessary for young folks to get a higher education if they don’t have a specific goal in mind? And if that goal can be reached with out the all mighty degree why should they go in debt to get that silly piece of paper. None of the ones I have ever did anything but decorate a wall.
I’m just saying, why the emphasis on the paper or the fancy letters you can put behind your name if you can get the skills and knowledge you need to support yourself without them?
In case you are wondering, I'd likely have learned nearly as much about the Earth Sciences on my own just reading for the fun of it. I must admit I'd of rubbed up against much less math or chemistry but then again who knows! I'm a glutton for the stuff lots of others think is 'boreing!'
On a personal note. Good bye WCR. You will be missed. Who’ll keep me straight now?
Yep. My nearly illiterate mother (she dropped out of third grade I was told, to baby sit her younger brother while everyone else went to work during the depression) actually taught me to read. More she taught me that reading just plain felt good and was fun. True she didn’t read much but my dad did and his reading habit resulted in plenty of reading material being in the house at all times. Plus I often saw him sitting down and reading. The up shot of that is that the DISD in all it’s power was never able to convince me that reading WASN’T fun and I’ve been doing it ever since. They were able to convince me that the so called “classics” were, for the most part boring as all get out and I’ve read only the ones I was required to read in school.
But on to my point. Considering my high school and university degrees I should have been raking in the dough while I was working right? HA! Whenever I’d apply for a job dealing with my education level I was told that I didn’t have enough experience. On the other hand when I applied for jobs that would let me work up to that level I was told I was over educated. Bummer all the way around and that was with just one degree. With two and living here in beautiful Hunt County I was told the same thing. I finely realized that if I wanted to be gainfully employed in this county, perhaps even in Dallas County, what I really should have obtained was either a nursing degree (not possible with my allergy to sick people!) or a welding certificate.
Having neither I’ve worked most of my life at low paying, factory floor type jobs that have just about destroyed my feet, my knees and my self esteem from being constantly underemployed.
With that experience I can only ask: just exactly WHY is it absolutely necessary for young folks to get a higher education if they don’t have a specific goal in mind? And if that goal can be reached with out the all mighty degree why should they go in debt to get that silly piece of paper. None of the ones I have ever did anything but decorate a wall.
I’m just saying, why the emphasis on the paper or the fancy letters you can put behind your name if you can get the skills and knowledge you need to support yourself without them?
In case you are wondering, I'd likely have learned nearly as much about the Earth Sciences on my own just reading for the fun of it. I must admit I'd of rubbed up against much less math or chemistry but then again who knows! I'm a glutton for the stuff lots of others think is 'boreing!'
On a personal note. Good bye WCR. You will be missed. Who’ll keep me straight now?
2011 alt op # 29: Rule of Law, pundits and rumor mongers
Hey People! What the heck ever happened to the rule of LAW? To “innocent until proven guilty?” You know all that constitutional stuff, those rights we all want to lay claim to when it’s our bow hinnies in a sling?
Guess what folks, for those laws to work they have to cut both ways. They have to work not just for the good friend, neighbor or relative that you know just has to be innocent as the day is long, but also for that good for nothing’ low down creep that just has to be guilty of something!
That is the reason all those statues of Justice wear a blindfold. You can pretty it up and say it’s so she (Justice) can’t see if your rich or poor, upper or lower class, what your race or sex is, so that she judges you only on the facts of that particular case. But frankly folks she wears that blindfold so that the “good folks” of a community also can’t rail road a total creep who also happens to NOT BE GUILTY of the particular crime he/she is accused of. Yeah, he or she may be guilty of something or other but there just isn’t enough to convict them of the particular crime they are accused of. So. Find something else to charge them with that you can prove. Just be careful what wild and convoluted laws you pass to try and hang the dang fool because those laws can also be used against you.
Always remember that! The sword of truth that Justice carries is double edged! It can cut both ways. What the heck am I talking about? Remember how Eliot Ness managed to bring down the crime lords who were making a bundle selling boot leg booze? Not because they were selling booze but because they weren’t reporting it on their taxes! Yeah. They did not go to jail for the other mobsters or innocents they might have killed but because they neglected to mention the cash they made selling booze. This increased the power of the IRS and now we all quake in our boots at the mention of a tax audit.
Just remember that all kinds of wild and odd things can happen that seem to put you on the wrong side of the law. Worse you can realize that something fairly innocent that you’ve done looks bad, maybe even is bad and you try to cover it up. Maybe you try to hide it because it’s embarrassing as heck or because it will place you in a bad light socially. But all you end up doing is digging a hole deeper and deeper until you can’t get out of it. If it relates to a very serious situation like a death or robbery it can get real bad real fast.
Then the gossips or the news stations, if its ’big’ enough, get hold of the story and start publicly asking all kinds of questions. Maybe some of the questions have to do with that particular situation, maybe they don’t. But the press and the gossips don’t care, they are having a field day and the reputation they are ruining is yours.
So what do you do then. Even after you are proven guiltless, there are still the rumors and the titillating questions that have been asked that the trail did not answer because they were not pertinent to that case.
You are innocent but the news stations, news papers and an outraged public just “know” otherwise.
Always remember the law isn’t there to just get rid of bad guys. It’s also there to protect the innocent. Even if the only thing they are innocent of is the particular crime they are on trial for.
Think about that the next time there’s a trial like the one down in Florida, or like with OJ. It doesn’t really matter if the deed was done just as the pundits claim. The pundits and rumor mongers are not the law, that's for the judge or the jury!
Thank God. If those who wove the rumors everyone loves so much, we’d all be in jail eventually.
Guess what folks, for those laws to work they have to cut both ways. They have to work not just for the good friend, neighbor or relative that you know just has to be innocent as the day is long, but also for that good for nothing’ low down creep that just has to be guilty of something!
That is the reason all those statues of Justice wear a blindfold. You can pretty it up and say it’s so she (Justice) can’t see if your rich or poor, upper or lower class, what your race or sex is, so that she judges you only on the facts of that particular case. But frankly folks she wears that blindfold so that the “good folks” of a community also can’t rail road a total creep who also happens to NOT BE GUILTY of the particular crime he/she is accused of. Yeah, he or she may be guilty of something or other but there just isn’t enough to convict them of the particular crime they are accused of. So. Find something else to charge them with that you can prove. Just be careful what wild and convoluted laws you pass to try and hang the dang fool because those laws can also be used against you.
Always remember that! The sword of truth that Justice carries is double edged! It can cut both ways. What the heck am I talking about? Remember how Eliot Ness managed to bring down the crime lords who were making a bundle selling boot leg booze? Not because they were selling booze but because they weren’t reporting it on their taxes! Yeah. They did not go to jail for the other mobsters or innocents they might have killed but because they neglected to mention the cash they made selling booze. This increased the power of the IRS and now we all quake in our boots at the mention of a tax audit.
Just remember that all kinds of wild and odd things can happen that seem to put you on the wrong side of the law. Worse you can realize that something fairly innocent that you’ve done looks bad, maybe even is bad and you try to cover it up. Maybe you try to hide it because it’s embarrassing as heck or because it will place you in a bad light socially. But all you end up doing is digging a hole deeper and deeper until you can’t get out of it. If it relates to a very serious situation like a death or robbery it can get real bad real fast.
Then the gossips or the news stations, if its ’big’ enough, get hold of the story and start publicly asking all kinds of questions. Maybe some of the questions have to do with that particular situation, maybe they don’t. But the press and the gossips don’t care, they are having a field day and the reputation they are ruining is yours.
So what do you do then. Even after you are proven guiltless, there are still the rumors and the titillating questions that have been asked that the trail did not answer because they were not pertinent to that case.
You are innocent but the news stations, news papers and an outraged public just “know” otherwise.
Always remember the law isn’t there to just get rid of bad guys. It’s also there to protect the innocent. Even if the only thing they are innocent of is the particular crime they are on trial for.
Think about that the next time there’s a trial like the one down in Florida, or like with OJ. It doesn’t really matter if the deed was done just as the pundits claim. The pundits and rumor mongers are not the law, that's for the judge or the jury!
Thank God. If those who wove the rumors everyone loves so much, we’d all be in jail eventually.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)