Category: Observations Page 50 of 90

Play the market, don’t let it play you

On April 21, 2014

Growing up I learned a lot of things. One of them was about how I needed to go out and get a job. I needed to stay at that job for years and I would be taken care of. The company I worked for would invest in me as I invested in them. There would be a mutually beneficial relationship. We would both thrive.

That is a fairy tale. That is a story for another time. Another generation. That is not the reality of today. I learned too late in life the only person looking out for me is me. So I needed to do a better job of looking out for me.

I’m my own best advocate and ally.

I made one huge mistake when I entered the job market. I believed what I’d been told all through growing up. I believed loyalty was rewarded.

I went to college and learned in my four years there I did not want to work in Advertising. And I worried. What would people think of my Mass Communications degree?

Absolutely Nothing! And I don’t meant they didn’t like it. It didn’t matter. All my employers were interested in was if I had a degree. Not what the degree said on it.

I had a Bachelor’s degree. That’s all they cared about. Something I quickly learned was that having the degree won’t get me a job but it will keep me from being disqualified.

A college degree won’t land you a job. It will keep you from not being considered for the job.

A little story from the first time I’ve interviewed someone to hire. I was the lead Desktop Support Tech and we were looking for a new technician. The job was posted and we were flooded with resumes. We had well over 1,000 applications for this single job.

How do you think we filtered the list? We started eliminating anyone who didn’t fit the criteria. And one of the criteria was having a college degree.

From my first job working in IT Support I stuck to a simple plan when selecting jobs.

I’m a hired gun. I’m a technical mercenary. I work for the highest bidder.

Want a raise? Get a new job. I started making $12 per hour. Then $17, $19, and eventually $21/hour for the same job title doing the same work. But I’d worked for a different place each time.

While I worked as a contractor, I had no paid time off. That meant if I didn’t work, I didn’t get paid. Period. I would work through being sick. I didn’t take vacations. I worked. It’s what I did. That was my reality. So I wanted more money to justify the lack of time off. This is not sustainable and it was always my goal to get through it to something better.

And health benefits… Yeah. I had them. Technically. But they were often terrible. Expensive benefits that covered little if anything. It was barely worth the money I paid. And since I didn’t take time off. I didn’t go to the dentist or the doctor unless I absolutely had to.

Then I moved out of the area and landed my first job with benefits. I had time off. I had decent healthcare for the first time since leaving school and I was salaried. That changed everything.

That meant I got paid the same thing every pay check. No overtime but also very little demand for it. But my pay checks were consistent which made budgeting easier. Not that I had any money in savings. But I could pay my bills.

And I had a little on the side so I could enjoy myself and go out to eat some times. I could go see a movie. I could even take time off and enjoy life and visit friends or family out of the area without having to race out-of-town Friday night and return by Sunday. I had freedom.

Sales

By Carl

On April 16, 2014

In Observations

Here’s the thing about sales.

You’re not actually saving any money.

Advertisers are good at what they do. Which is devising new ways to divide you from your money. I should know, I studied advertising in college long enough to realize I didn’t want to work in the field.

NO MONEY DOWN! $2000 CASH BACK!

I like to pick on car commercials because they’re the most absurd. “You can save $10,000 on this car today!” they scream. “Drive it home today!” You know how car ads are always screaming at you? Would you listen to someone who walked up to you and started screaming at you to buy a car in person?

Then why do they do it in the commercials? Urgency. They’re creating the excitement and urgency in your mind. You have to buy this car right now!

Don’t wait. That car won’t be sitting there tomorrow!

They always tell you how much money you’ll get back. Or how good a financing offer they’ll give you. Every time I see a car commercial promising such amazing terms all I can think is or don’t buy the car and save thousands of dollars.

Seriously. That brand new car that’s $30,000 is still $30,000 you have to spend. Maybe a little less. Maybe it only works out to $24,000 after the incentives. But that’s still $24,000 you are giving away.

SALE! TODAY ONLY!

Have you walked through a shopping mall lately? Are most of the stores there having a sale? Yes? Can you think of the last time they were not having a sale? No?

When a store is perpetually having sales, when does it stop being a sale and start being their regular price? And is the sale price a better deal than it was before? Not always.

Stores will often increase the original price on the label so the sale price looks more attractive. When in reality, the original price was much closer to the sale price. But no one, myself included, looks that hard at prices of most things.

Sale Prices

I look at a sale price and think, well, if you can afford to sell it to me for this price, then why would I pay a higher price? Why would I pay full price at your store? Wait for a sale. So I often do.

I’m a large man, standing well over six feel tall and over 300 pounds. When I need clothes, I don’t turn to sales and department sales. They don’t feel anyone with arms as long as mine deserve to shop there anyway.

I turn to Big & Tall stores. Which are notoriously expensive because they can be. My choices are limited so I always shop at the same place for all of my business casual attire for work.

But I always wait for a sale. Always.

I know eventually there will be 30% or 60% off sales. I know sooner or later I can save a pile of money. So I wait.

Save 100%!

Don’t buy what you don’t need. Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean you’re required to buy it. Yes, that app just went on sale. Sure, that new game just saw a price drop. Do you need it? Will you use it? Will you play it?

Before spending your hard-earned money on something decide if it’s worth it. There are piles of games out there I’d love to play. And they often go on sale, or I see a cheap used version and I’m tempted. The same with apps. I love a good app sale as much as anyone. But I don’t need them all. I don’t use much of what I download and pay for.

I’m getting better at this but I still struggle. But I’m getting better at saying no to sales and spending money I don’t need to.

Violence Problem

By Carl

On April 10, 2014

In Observations

In the wake of 20 students being stabbed at a Pennsylvania high school, much has been said about it. But I’ve read nothing better than what Chief Oliver from the Brimfield Police Department posted to the police department’s Facebook wall. I have included it in full below:

Good Afternoon,

A little while ago, I posted about the tragic stabbings of students at a high school in Pennsylvania. We post info like that incident (and also officers being killed) as a notice for mourning and reflection. Soon after, the insults and innuendos started, with words like “conservative” “liberal,” “it wasn’t a gun” and “arm the teachers.” Here is some unsolicited advice. Do with it what you will. If it does not apply to you, then ignore it.
Until we, as adults, learn to stop being angry, insulting each other and picking fights every chance we get, how in heck can we expect our kids to behave any differently? I guarantee, if you are an Internet troll, generally angry and surly and by all appearances hate the human race, the children around you will act no better than what you are modeling. We have to be the examples for those who are still growing.
If you want another opinion, here you go. Until adults start leading and acting like adults, we are just spinning our wheels. There is no perfect political party, no perfect way to peel a banana, and no perfect person. Adults insulting each other and cramming political views in our ears in a constant barrage of “the world is ending,” is only making the kids in our society more stressed and angry.
In a case like this awful stabbing incident at a HIGH SCHOOL….pipe down and let the people mourn. Be there for them, but be quiet unless there is something helpful to say.
My apologies for being direct. It’s sort of my thing.
Carry on….Chief Oliver.

Take a moment to read his words. We need to come together and stop blaming each other. It’s not the violent video games or loud music turning our kids violent.

Adults insulting each other and cramming political views in our ears in a constant barrage of “the world is ending,” is only making the kids in our society more stressed and angry.

Maybe it’s us. Kids look at how we treat one another and reflect that. Look around you. Everyone is screaming at everyone else over everything. How are kids supposed to learn to deal with their problems when we’re so quick to scream and threaten. So what’s what our children do.

Despite a personal policy of never reading the comments. I did wade into the muck since I saw the Chief was responding to a couple of them.

Greg Aydt RhymesWith Right writes:

Chief – you should still think twice before you use official department resources to spout your personal opinions and tell Americans what they should and should not say. Get your own blog or own facebook account if you want to do that.\

And the Cheif replies with:

Greg….All I want, simply, is for everyone to stop fighting and solve problems. We don’t have a gun or knife problem…we have a violence problem. We also have a problem involving everyone being angry and spouting politics constantly. It is getting old. You are attacking a person who likely shares many of the views you have….which is troubling….Chief Oliver.

He’s right. We have a violence problem. And until we start addressing that we’re not going to get anywhere.

But Carl. That’s such a huge problem how do we even start?

The first step is to start treating each other as human beings with feelings. Start talking to each other instead of at each other. Stop being so quick to anger. Stop shouting. Take a second. Think before we speak. As the Cheif said, you are attacking a person who likely shares many of the views you have…which is troubling…

And it is troubling. It doesn’t matter how we got here. We’re here now. And we need to step back.

I’ve got a task for you today. Instead of replying to someone in anger. Take a second. Think before you speak or hit post. Respond with kindness. Respond with peace. Respond from a place of level-headed thought instead of reactionary vitriol.

The world could use some more positivity in it.

Adventures in Rust – Part 1

By Carl

On April 6, 2014

In Observations

I finally gave in and bought Rust. After my initial love affair with DayZ and watching play through videos on Youtube I realized it was PC Only. Not a huge issue but it would involve installing Windows on my Mac. So I looked at Rust. It seemed to be geared more towards survival, if not running for your life.

Something I’m used to from years of Serious Sam and generally any first person shooter.

I started life with my rock. It is a good rock. It led to much smashing of things. Other rocks. Trees. Animals.

I spent much of the game running. I ran from wolves, bears, wolves and bears. I started out on an empty server so I could orient myself to the controls without the additional fear of other players.

I did some sight-seeing. I built a hovel. I found some animals. And after eating some raw meat and vomiting to my death, I learned how to cook it properly. Though I never found my original place in the world, I started over and built a new tiny cabin. I had a roof over my head and a door

I felt safe. I cooked some meat. I ate it. I survived. I went exploring and found more meat. More wood. More stone. I built a hatchet. I felt like I had the hang of it. I crafted some pants and a shirt. Then I closed my door, doused my fire and went to sleep.

When you leave a server in Rust, your character goes to sleep.

I joined a bigger server with around 100 people on it. And I encountered my first sleeper.

This server was very similar to my first attempt. I tried to build and I ran into wolves. I tried to explore and ended up in a radiation area. Trying to get through it, I nearly died and attracted a zoo’s worth of angry animals trying to end me. Which they eventually did.

I died a lot. But I’m OK with that. I was out to explore. I wasn’t trying to build a home. I was a traveler. I was sight-seeing.

I saw this mighty tower to the sky. I didn’t approach it since I wasn’t sure if it was inhabited or not.

I found a campfire. I put some wood on it and cooked the raw meat I was able to collect. It was getting towards nightfall. And as the meat cooked and the smoke wafted into the air, I hear footsteps nearby. So I crouched in the corner, clutching my rock, hoping to complete my meal before my life.

Thankfully the footsteps retreated. I quickly doused the flames and collect my now-cooked chicken breast. All animals give you chicken breast. Wild boars. Deer. Rabbits. I did see a chicken but I’ve not been quick enough to catch one. I assume it will also produce chicken breast.

I saw many houses. Some with doors. Some without. I climbed through a few, looking in long-abandoned storage boxes. I found very little to help me. So I kept going.

I saw a man standing on a rock. He didn’t move so I approached slowly. He was staring off into the sky. He didn’t respond to my advance. I didn’t attack. I looked with him. I didn’t see anything. Maybe he had stepped away from his keyboard. Maybe he was having network problems. Perhaps he was just typing to a friend or in another window.

Either way, I spared him and moved on.

After that, I tried to avoid people, as I wasn’t sure of their intentions and I was a lone traveler through their land. Despite a huge map, I did have some close calls.

I heard footsteps coming up behind me. I turned to see a man with a bow and arrow and a full set of clothes. I quickly typed friendly into the chat. Hoping he would spare my life. He looked at me for a moment. Then ran off.

As night fell, I lit my torch cautiously. I didn’t have anything worth stealing, though he didn’t know that. I hoped my newly spawned appearance would work in my favor.

Rounding a bend in the rocks, I saw a man in the distance with his own torch. I quickly extinguished mine and stopped. I stood silently in the pitch black night and waited. Had he seen me? Was he violent?

He didn’t seem to notice me. He was moving away from me. I watched him for a bit and once he rounded a rock out of sight, I lit my torch and took off in the other direction.

Later that night, I found two people around a camp fire.

I stopped. I went dark. I stood motionless. I watched them. They were talking and working together. Though I dared not approach. Never knowing what to expect.

I would welcome an ally in the harsh world. But with nothing to trade and without knowing their intentions, I watched them for a bit then crept away into the darkness.

Inclusiveness

By Carl

On April 4, 2014

In Observations

Might as well bring this trilogy to a close.

Mozilla’s CEO has stepped down. And the Internet erupted. I held my tongue today. But I watched a lot of impassioned discussions break out among the social networks I frequent. And I’m sad. I’m sad because I feel like I’m sitting on a side that bullied a man into leaving a job.

I’m sad at how this all played out. It feels an awful lot like a witch hunt. The HTMLynch Mobs gathered with their TorchPresses. The words have flowed today and the stories have been fast and furious. I’ve watched debates take place on Twitter and App.net.

I saw a lot of anger today. A lot of rage in my tiny corner of the Internet.

Justifiably. This is an issue that riles everyone up. This is an issue of discrimination and the results of such are not pretty. But this also became an issue of bullying. And an issue of ganging up on one person. That in the end, is inconsequential. What really changed today?

Did we win anything? Are we more tolerant as a people? Did we show that we can come together and work through our differences? No. We just yelled and screamed until we got our way. Did the ends justify the means?

It may be a win. But it’s not a pretty win. How is this any better than others losing their job for their views? We should not be out for blood. We’re not trying to make the whole world blind.

Are we any better for bullying a man who gave a small amount of money to a cause four years ago? He has not publicly spoken out against it. He has not made it an issue. He has not enacted policies to forbid it. He is coming out of this whole situation looking like the bigger man. He gave $1,000 to a cause where over over $83 million was donated.

Why are we not turning our pitchforks and torches towards the IRS who leaked the information? If they’re leaking information the no one’s donations are safe. No one’s actions are safe. Would you feel comfortable with everyone knowing who you gave money to last year? What about 5 years ago? How about 10 or 20?

Update: “California requires disclosure for donations over $100 in any ballot measure, and makes them publicly available.”
https://alpha.app.net/doctorlinguist/post/27656710
I did not know that and had not seen that mentioned.

Turn this situation on its head…

Take this headline.

Mozilla CEO resigns amid controversy over donation to anti-gay marriage proposition

Now let’s pretend it read differently.

Mozilla CEO resigns amid controversy over donation to gay marriage proposition

How does that strike you? Would a CEO stepping down after supporting gay marriage make you just as angry? Is that a win? Or a loss? Or a man losing his job because he had an opinion a vocal minority didn’t agree with? This doesn’t feel like winning. It just feels mean.

Patrick Rhone said:

https://alpha.app.net/patrickrhone/post/27596715

https://alpha.app.net/patrickrhone/post/27596320

I agree with him. We should be working to come together despite our differences. Not yelling at those who don’t share them.

This wasn’t justice. This was revenge. And that does nothing to aid either side. We are not working to be closer and to have our side heard. We’re using the same tactics as those who wish to keep things as they are.

The Verge has a good post on this whole mess. Mozilla is a company in turmoil. Their board members were already planning to leave. Eich wasn’t even sure he wanted this job. And this issue originally surfaced in 2012.

For a man who talked of his wish for inclusiveness, he wasn’t given any. One of the people who originally started this whole thing writes of the sad “victory” and about not ever wanting it to become this big.

The fact it ever went this far is really disturbing to us.

If that was the case, when why make a public statement? Why not talk to your new CEO privately? Why not take to email? Pick up the phone? Schedule a meeting. Sure, CEOs are busy and not necessarily in the same building as you. But there are ways this could have gone down very differently.

So you raised an issue publicly. Got a man fired for his beliefs. And now you can go back to your life without consequences? That’s not inclusiveness. That’s not equality. That’s not a victory. Extremism doesn’t end well for anyone.