Our country is in the worst state of financial and political chaos since the days of the depression. Are there ways to remedy the situation? Yes. Will it happen? Probably not because our politicians have forgotten or refuse to use the art of compromise. Without compromise, Congress and the White House are at an impasse and they are holding us hostage.
How did we get to this state? We wouldn't have become the greatest nation on earth without compromise. And we are not going to remain the greatest if something doesn't happen soon to break the stalemate. It is absolute ludicrous that our government is threatening to shut down because Congress can't pass a budget. All the time they are wasting passing temporary stopgaps is shameful.
Our country is based on a two party system that has worked since the country was founded. It has worked because the people we elected to Congress and the Presidency knew the necessity of compromise. Why has that changed? Are our present elected officials willing to let the entire country collapse in the eyes of the world because they are unwilling to compromise?
Every family no matter how large or small knows the importance of compromising. Without compromise marriages would not survive. And parents would be in a constant state of war with their children. You have to choose your battles and not sweat the small stuff.
Why can't our elected officials learn that lesson? Are they really willing to stick to their so called "principles" while our great nation becomes another country brought to it's knees by the people elected to run it? I pray that is not the case, but things are going to have to change soon to save us all. And all of you better pray with me.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
NOSTALGIA
At my age, there is a lot of talk about the "good old days." But you won't hear it from me. I may be no spring chicken but I definitely do not want to turn back the clock. Well at least not as it affects modern living. I wouldn't mind being say 45 again if it could be in the 21st century.
When I hear people talking about wishing for the good old days, I want to say really? You really want to go out and catch a chicken, wring it's neck, pluck the feathers, and cut it up before you can have fried chicken? Ok, but I will just go to the freezer and take out my bag of frozen chicken breasts. And I don't even want to think about what you will go through to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. No, thank you.
Let's talk about laundry which I am doing right now. I can put the clothes in my washer and while I'm waiting for the washer to do all the work, I can do other things, like typing this blog. You nostalgic lovers on the other hand, have to heat your water, hand wash your clothes, and put them through a hand wringer if you are lucky enough to have one. Watch out your little ones don't run their arms through it. In the good old days, one day of the week was set aside for laundry because it took an entire day. When my washer stops, I can throw my clothes into the dryer and go about my day. The dryer will stop automatically when the clothes are dry. I admit that I still have to fold them and put them away. You on the other hand have to hang them up to dry. On a good day, that would be outside on a clothes line. Where I admit they smell wonderful when you take them down. But I have frozen my fingers taking down clothes that were stiff as boards on a wintry day. And don't get me started on ironing. I still hate to iron but 90 percent of today's clothing is wrinkle free. If I do have to iron, I have a light weight iron that steams the wrinkles out.
And how about communication? Do you really want to go back to the early days of the telephone? Some of you nostalgic types will remember the party line. People say that the internet destroyed privacy which I agree with to some extent, but the party line could do the same thing. I love my cell phone which allows me to get a call anywhere. I no longer have to be home to wait for the plumber or repair man to call back. I can keep in touch with my family and friends when I travel through my cell phone or even the internet. I can send and receive pictures in just minutes. If you want to go back to sending postcards that take days to arrive, be my guest.
Travel improvements are another thing I wouldn't give up. Yes we may have to spend an hour in an airport security line, but compare that to the time it would have taken to get somewhere in the "good old days." I can hop on a plane in Springfield Il and be in Ft Myers Florida in two hours, two hours, just imagine. And it is not just flying that has improved travel. Our highways are a vast improvement over the old macadam roads. I watched a special on early travelers to Yellowstone park and was amazed at what those first visitors had to go through to get there. We have it so easy compared to the "good old days."
Yes, the 21st century has it's own set of problems. Progress always comes with hiccups but our lives are so much easier in so many ways. So I say to those people nostalgic for the "good old days", you may think you want to go back but do you really?
When I hear people talking about wishing for the good old days, I want to say really? You really want to go out and catch a chicken, wring it's neck, pluck the feathers, and cut it up before you can have fried chicken? Ok, but I will just go to the freezer and take out my bag of frozen chicken breasts. And I don't even want to think about what you will go through to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. No, thank you.
Let's talk about laundry which I am doing right now. I can put the clothes in my washer and while I'm waiting for the washer to do all the work, I can do other things, like typing this blog. You nostalgic lovers on the other hand, have to heat your water, hand wash your clothes, and put them through a hand wringer if you are lucky enough to have one. Watch out your little ones don't run their arms through it. In the good old days, one day of the week was set aside for laundry because it took an entire day. When my washer stops, I can throw my clothes into the dryer and go about my day. The dryer will stop automatically when the clothes are dry. I admit that I still have to fold them and put them away. You on the other hand have to hang them up to dry. On a good day, that would be outside on a clothes line. Where I admit they smell wonderful when you take them down. But I have frozen my fingers taking down clothes that were stiff as boards on a wintry day. And don't get me started on ironing. I still hate to iron but 90 percent of today's clothing is wrinkle free. If I do have to iron, I have a light weight iron that steams the wrinkles out.
And how about communication? Do you really want to go back to the early days of the telephone? Some of you nostalgic types will remember the party line. People say that the internet destroyed privacy which I agree with to some extent, but the party line could do the same thing. I love my cell phone which allows me to get a call anywhere. I no longer have to be home to wait for the plumber or repair man to call back. I can keep in touch with my family and friends when I travel through my cell phone or even the internet. I can send and receive pictures in just minutes. If you want to go back to sending postcards that take days to arrive, be my guest.
Travel improvements are another thing I wouldn't give up. Yes we may have to spend an hour in an airport security line, but compare that to the time it would have taken to get somewhere in the "good old days." I can hop on a plane in Springfield Il and be in Ft Myers Florida in two hours, two hours, just imagine. And it is not just flying that has improved travel. Our highways are a vast improvement over the old macadam roads. I watched a special on early travelers to Yellowstone park and was amazed at what those first visitors had to go through to get there. We have it so easy compared to the "good old days."
Yes, the 21st century has it's own set of problems. Progress always comes with hiccups but our lives are so much easier in so many ways. So I say to those people nostalgic for the "good old days", you may think you want to go back but do you really?
Monday, September 26, 2011
GUILT
Guilt is an inherent human trait. We are all born with a guilt gene. Some of us just seem to have a problem keeping guilt in balance with other traits. I am one of those people. I think my background has a lot to do with that. My family were straitlaced New Englanders as far back as the 15th century. We were the orginal Puritans. Then to compound matters, my siblings and I were raised in the Seventh Day Adventist church.
For those of you not familiar with that religion, it is based on the Old Testament and is very strict. It involves every aspect of your life including what you are allowed to eat. From sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday, you are not allowed to do anything except read the Bible. Meals had to be prepared ahead of time and only absolutely necessary chores such as milking the cows or feeding the animals were permitted.
Then when I was nearing my pre-teens, my family relocated to Florida which was a complete culture shock. And my father who was already very strict, became a police office. So this is the background that has shaped my life as an adult.
I remember thinking I can't wait until I'm eighteen, then I can do anything I want. But as we all know that is not true. And in my case there was the little matter of guilt tapping me on the shoulder and saying "You shouldn't do that." Or worse yet making me feel remorse.
Now I'm not talking about committing crimes. No, I am talking about small everyday things. For example I usually make my bed every day. If for some reason I don't, I feel guilty. Or if I sleep an extra half hour, I feel guilty. I know that is ridiculous but my conscience nags me all day.
I feel guilty if I don't exercise or eat right. Some of that is because we are bombarded day after day with experts telling us to eat this and don't eat that. They tell us to exercise this many hours a day and give us horror stories of what will happen if we don't. I am a sucker for all of that. The perfect candidate to preach to because of my overactive guilt gene.
One of my biggest causes of guilt is how I spend my money. Now keep in mind this is money I earned, money I saved (that New England thrift background). Why should I feel guilty spending it on what gives me pleasure? I pay my bills, I give to charity. I help my family. If I have the money to spend, shouldn't I be able to enjoy it? Well not according to my conscience. And the daily reports of economic disaster just adds to my guilt. This little voice in my head says "Do you really think this is a good time to take a cruise. What if the market crashes? What if one of the kids needs something they can't afford? What if someone gets sick? And that little voice goes on and on.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
WHO AM I AND WHAT IS MY PASSWORD?
Don't get me wrong, I am not a technophobe. I love the way technology allows us to keep in touch with the world. I Google instead of using the dictionary. I email. I Facebook. I blog. I tweet. I bank online, shop online, make all my travel reservations online, and play games online. In other words I am as uptodate as the next guy.
However, I seem to have a problem when it comes to passwords. This morning for example I was going to do a new post but I couldn't remember my password to sign on. So I went to password recovery and had them send a link to my email. Well guess what when I tried to sign into email, I was told I wasn't using the correct password. To make a long (really long) story short after many attempts to get into my email I was locked out.
Ok I have another email account. I'll fix this problem or so I thought. But this time I couldn't remember my other email address. After many attempts, you guessed it, I was locked out again. I was told I would have to wait awhile to try again. So frustrated, I decided to walk away from the computer and do some laundry.
A couple hours later I tried again. I finally got my password changed but by then I had forgotten what I wanted to do. The problem isn't just that I am forgetful, but there are just too many passwords to remember. I recently got an Iphone which requires an Apple password, an Itunes password and an email password. All of this in edition to the passwords required for banking, shopping, Facebooking, tweeting, emailing etc etc.
Another frustration I have is just when I have learned to maneuver on a site, they change it. I feel like I am driving and someone has just put up roadblocks all around me. I feel like there is a room full of nerds watching me and falling over laughing. Please somebody tell me I am not the only one with these problems. I feel like my theme song should be the Beatles classic HELP.
However, I seem to have a problem when it comes to passwords. This morning for example I was going to do a new post but I couldn't remember my password to sign on. So I went to password recovery and had them send a link to my email. Well guess what when I tried to sign into email, I was told I wasn't using the correct password. To make a long (really long) story short after many attempts to get into my email I was locked out.
Ok I have another email account. I'll fix this problem or so I thought. But this time I couldn't remember my other email address. After many attempts, you guessed it, I was locked out again. I was told I would have to wait awhile to try again. So frustrated, I decided to walk away from the computer and do some laundry.
A couple hours later I tried again. I finally got my password changed but by then I had forgotten what I wanted to do. The problem isn't just that I am forgetful, but there are just too many passwords to remember. I recently got an Iphone which requires an Apple password, an Itunes password and an email password. All of this in edition to the passwords required for banking, shopping, Facebooking, tweeting, emailing etc etc.
Another frustration I have is just when I have learned to maneuver on a site, they change it. I feel like I am driving and someone has just put up roadblocks all around me. I feel like there is a room full of nerds watching me and falling over laughing. Please somebody tell me I am not the only one with these problems. I feel like my theme song should be the Beatles classic HELP.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
DOWNSIZING
When we think of the word downsizing, most of us probably think of grandma and grandpa moving from the big house into a smaller place. This would involve choosing which things will fit into the new house and which things they will have to give away.
Another use of the word downsizing is similar. A large company may decide for one reason or another to trim their business. This usually involves laying off employees. Both of these examples are usually quite traumatic. But there is a more insidious meaning to the word downsizing that involves actions that affect you without you being cognisant of them at the time.
Have you noticed that when you buy certain groceries these days, that you are paying the same amount or even more for less. A pound of bacon has become 12 ounces, five pounds of sugar is now four pounds, even our favorite brand of chocolates though it looks like a pound box is only 12 ounces. There are no announcements or signs telling us about these differences. We usually don't even notice until we get home. That is what I mean about it being insidious.
But it gets even worse. Without our knowledge or consent our privacy has been downsized. Our personal space has been invaded. We no longer have the luxury of living our lives at a respectable distance from the chaos of the world.
The world has been downsized. It is no longer, to steal a phrase "those far away places with strange sounding names." Those places are in our living rooms every day and night with tales of war, famine, and of terrorism. Our every action is documented and recorded. There is no place to hide, no place to escape from the glare of the headlights, no refuge from today's downsized world.
Our only hope is to somehow quiet our minds and thoughts and try to keep the world from downsizing us any further.
Another use of the word downsizing is similar. A large company may decide for one reason or another to trim their business. This usually involves laying off employees. Both of these examples are usually quite traumatic. But there is a more insidious meaning to the word downsizing that involves actions that affect you without you being cognisant of them at the time.
Have you noticed that when you buy certain groceries these days, that you are paying the same amount or even more for less. A pound of bacon has become 12 ounces, five pounds of sugar is now four pounds, even our favorite brand of chocolates though it looks like a pound box is only 12 ounces. There are no announcements or signs telling us about these differences. We usually don't even notice until we get home. That is what I mean about it being insidious.
But it gets even worse. Without our knowledge or consent our privacy has been downsized. Our personal space has been invaded. We no longer have the luxury of living our lives at a respectable distance from the chaos of the world.
The world has been downsized. It is no longer, to steal a phrase "those far away places with strange sounding names." Those places are in our living rooms every day and night with tales of war, famine, and of terrorism. Our every action is documented and recorded. There is no place to hide, no place to escape from the glare of the headlights, no refuge from today's downsized world.
Our only hope is to somehow quiet our minds and thoughts and try to keep the world from downsizing us any further.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
THE POWER OF WORDS
I love words. I love the way they look and the way they sound. My blog is called Serendipity because it is one of my favorite words. I love the meaning of the word. I love the power the word has had in my life. Only words have the power to evoke so many emotions. That power transcends any language. Listen to a child call for his mother in any language and you can understand the love even if the word is a little different. Words can make you cry or laugh out loud. Words can draw pictures. Think of the word peach. You see a round fuzzy yellow orange fruit. But if you see the sentence "She was eating a sweet juicy peach." You can actually imagine the juice running down her arms and your mouth starts to water. Some words just sound like the thing they are meant to convey. If you hear the word placid, you can picture a calm lake or a quiet person. If you hear the word torrential, don't you immediately think of loud roaring rain or water going over a dam.
I love to watch a baby learning to talk. I am still amazed at how fast they pick up language skills. Right now my great grandson who will be two in a few weeks seems to be picking up 50 words a day. If he hears a new word, he repeats it over and over. Yesterday, I was telling my daughter about the Jambalya I made. He said Jambalya over and over with pure joy on his face. The four year old delights me with his perfect use of words such as ordinarily, actually, occasionally and many others. He can explain in great detail how a combustion engine works. Just think how amazing it is that in just a few short years, a child goes from babbling to having a vocabulary of thousands of words.
Though I can't carry a tune, I love words set to music. I can hear a song and it will bring back memories of other times and places. I sing the same songs to my great grand kids that I sang to my kids and grand kids. They listen and snuggle and warm my heart.
My favorite gifts to give or receive are books. Books have always been my passion, my comfort, a place to replenish my energy. When I was an unhappy teenager, I turned to books. My favorite place of refuge was the library. I still love libraries and I am happy to see how inviting today's libraries are for children and adults alike.
Nothing has the power to hurt like words or the power to invoke passions. Wars have started because of words and wars have ended because of the power of words. Today's information technology makes the dissemination of words more powerful than ever. The downfall of the dictators in the middle east is proof of that. Our own country was founded because of the power of words. We still abide by the words written in the constitution so many years ago.
Words can evoke joy, tenderness, and wonder. Words can transport you to exotic locations without ever leaving your home. Words can help you experience the past or perhaps the future.
My love affair with words has added immense joy to my life and comforted me when I was sad. We tell our children to "use your words." I hope I will always use my words for the good of the world.
I love to watch a baby learning to talk. I am still amazed at how fast they pick up language skills. Right now my great grandson who will be two in a few weeks seems to be picking up 50 words a day. If he hears a new word, he repeats it over and over. Yesterday, I was telling my daughter about the Jambalya I made. He said Jambalya over and over with pure joy on his face. The four year old delights me with his perfect use of words such as ordinarily, actually, occasionally and many others. He can explain in great detail how a combustion engine works. Just think how amazing it is that in just a few short years, a child goes from babbling to having a vocabulary of thousands of words.
Though I can't carry a tune, I love words set to music. I can hear a song and it will bring back memories of other times and places. I sing the same songs to my great grand kids that I sang to my kids and grand kids. They listen and snuggle and warm my heart.
My favorite gifts to give or receive are books. Books have always been my passion, my comfort, a place to replenish my energy. When I was an unhappy teenager, I turned to books. My favorite place of refuge was the library. I still love libraries and I am happy to see how inviting today's libraries are for children and adults alike.
Nothing has the power to hurt like words or the power to invoke passions. Wars have started because of words and wars have ended because of the power of words. Today's information technology makes the dissemination of words more powerful than ever. The downfall of the dictators in the middle east is proof of that. Our own country was founded because of the power of words. We still abide by the words written in the constitution so many years ago.
Words can evoke joy, tenderness, and wonder. Words can transport you to exotic locations without ever leaving your home. Words can help you experience the past or perhaps the future.
My love affair with words has added immense joy to my life and comforted me when I was sad. We tell our children to "use your words." I hope I will always use my words for the good of the world.
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