Manufactured Obsolescence

This will be a very short blog since I'm on the desktop and it takes me much longer to maneuver than the laptop and my hand is throbbing. My main question is whether it is possible to buy any appliance or electronic device and expect it to last more than 1-2 years? My parents still have a refrigerator in their garage that's the same one we used growing up meaning it's getting close to 60 years old and it still keeps everything nice and cold. Yesterday, I no sooner hit the "publish" button and my laptop ( 1 1/2 years old) went clunk, clunk, clunk and then crashed. It's pretty clear to me that the hard drive is toast.

I know laptops are less expensive than they used to be but that doesn't give manufacturer's the right to build in a drop dead feature set up to activate shortly after it's been purchased. Of course we don't have the warranty because if we did it would still be working fine.

Maybe they have two product piles they distribute from. One for those who purchase the warranty, those are intended to last so the additional expense was unnecessary and those without who will be back to purchase another one sooner with a warranty. Do you suppose that is what's really going on? Anyway, I'm hoping to get it fixed very soon so I can stay out of this hole we call an office.

I know I'm not alone in this.

The More There Is, The More We Do...

Isn't it eerie how the more of something we have, the less we know?

There is more information published and available and there are more preventive options provided than ever to prevent teenage and inappropriate pregnancies in general but it still does not appear that this dilemma has been solved.

Meteorological technical equipment is incredibly advanced and there appears to be a plethora of it however it has not guaranteed any level of forecasting accuracy. You can't fool Mother Nature!

There are a tremendous number of financial advice resources and tools available to help us make sure we are making the right investment decisions and planning for that ever elusive concept, retirement. Still, most people are not saving sufficiently for significant life events, retirement being just one.

There are more medical advances now than ever before but what percentage of the world's population still dies at a young age of very basic disease, for that matter, how many in the United States still die of pneumonia, for example Jim Henson, Marlon Brando's son, etc.

There is more general information available through a myriad of sources to ensure US citizens make informed voting decisions yet Bush somehow absconded with the White House for two miserable terms in a row.


There are new US troop casualties reported on a daily basis and the Mideast is in more of an uproar/upheaval than in decades if not centuries, but we continue to throw more American lives at it. Clearly we have only made the situation there much worse with our unplanned, unwarranted and obviously purposeless occupation.

All students in the US are required to go through driver's ed in order to obtain their driver's license these days. Unless it has changed significantly since my day, these sessions go into graphic detail demonstrating what fatal events can happen when you make the wrong choices. So what continues to be the #1 cause of death for teenagers?*

*Did you know that no one drives drunk in Denmark, and I mean no one. It simply isn't done. What better way to get teens to avoid something than to make it unpopular?

Supersize Me says it all but I'll bet you continue to see long lines of cars at every McDonalds drive-in. And how many of those calories and grams of fat are being consumed by kids who are either already or on their way to being overweight?

I saw some advertisement the other day where someone stormed into the house and gave the kids citations for sitting in front of the tv or the computer on a beautiful, sunny day. What a great idea!

So what is the purpose of this diatribe? While I was heating up my soy chai this morning, I found myself asking why all these things are what they are. My epiphany was that we have information or data overload. We need to find a way to provide information with "point of need" timing. What does that mean?

Some examples:

• Well, the young couple sees some kind of a holographic image portraying them as miserable, poor teenage parents before they go out.
• Something similar could display before anyone who has been drinking starts the car.
• Perhaps if the American public had seen their own kids as war casualties in one of these images prior to voting or what super colossal national would mean to them personally it would have changed the election results.

This could certainly be effective in portraying their personal obesity to these kids and adults and how it would adversely impact their life.



Anyway, it felt good to get that down on "paper".

A Capella

One of the national morning tv shows just ran a contest, led by Boyz To Men, to select the best A Capella group in the country. The group who won is called Mosaic and they're from Henderson, NV. They are marvelous but of course I've always been partial to that sound. At least three of the six members do nothing but accompaniment, i.e. percussion, guitars, etc. If they record a CD it will go on my Wish List.

Hearing the quality of their voices, this story made me wonder if anyone who is truly talented even acknowledges the American Idol auditions, let alone tries out. I simply don't hear the same level of tone quality coming out of that show. I think the show has become more of a showcase for Wannabe's than anything else.

And that's my thought for the day...

Flagrant (vs. Fragrant) Foul

How much is too much? I ask this question as it relates to many aspects of life in general. The categories that come to mind are numerous just within television alone.

Advertising: just take pharmaceuticals as an example. They spend billions on color, flair and curb appeal for their various high cost, limited effectiveness products. Then, what are we beginning to see happen a few years down the road but the lawyers for these companies find themselves in court defending drug use results they had not fully tested prior to marketing.


Political campaigning: no matter how hard certain candidates try to avoid the mud slinging, they all get sucked in at some point. In the world of business, whenever you are selecting a vendor to provide you with services, their bid response are what the contract and service level agreement are based on. Why wouldn't we hold our political candidates to a similar standard, using their many campaign promises to measure their performance.?


Sitcoms: I hesitate to ask this because I don't want to come across as a right-wing conservative or a book burner type (couldn't be further from the truth), but are anyone's feelings or sensibilities sacred anymore? Do any limits exist?


Police or Crime Dramas: I don't honestly think there is a single crime, no matter how grisly or sick, that hasn't been described for anyone who wants the information in graphic and minute detail.



Reality Shows: Is there truly sufficient audience interest to warrant yet another Survivor, American Idol or Big Brother episode?


Children's Shows: Between Teletubbies and the current version of cartoons, I am totally creeped out. Whatever happened to good old Johnny Quest, Roadrunner & Wil E. Coyote and George of the Jungle? Okay, SpongeBob is the exception.


The News: Am I the only one who is uncomfortable with reporters mercilessly badgering the family and friends of recently murdered people?

I'll save other categories for another day.

Oxymorons...Sort Of

There are certain things you see that just don't match what you think they should be or even what makes logical sense. You could say this is due to preconceived notions, first impressions, narrow mindedness, making assumptions, etc.; nevertheless they just aren't what they would seem to need to be.

Some examples might be nice about now so let's start with cooking shows. Am I the only one who is suspicious of a skinny, perfect figured cook? They aren't all like this but there are some.




And what about a home (interior) decorator who wears clashing colors and/or prints? That kind of advice isn't cheap so why would you trust that person with your personal environment?

Then there are the attractive, ultra-feminine sports announcers, standing at courtside or fieldside pretending they know what they're talking about (or doing a really good job of reading cue cards).

How about the sports umpires and/or referees whose stomachs spill so far over their belts you can't even tell they're wearing one? It just seems odd that someone would choose a job they are so obviously out of shape to do.



That, of course, leads us to police or firemen who are in similar shape. How can they possibly climb to the top of a building (the Monte Carlo casino in Las Vegas comes to mind) or run down nasty criminals?

American or U.S. History professors who are emigrants cause me to do a double take. It's not like they grew up with it or anything. In fact, they probably grew up with an entirely different perspective of it.



Then there are physicians who smoke, how can they possibly be considered credible if they can't heal themselves?


The one from my past that still makes me smile is meeting someone for the first time (in my case it was a man with definite Asian features) who speaks a completely different language than you would expect (in his case it was Swedish). I found myself staring at his mouth but not really hearing anything he said. My bad!

Thesis

I think I have a great subject for a thesis. I say that not because I am remotely close to obtaining a doctorate but rather due to the amount of research this subject would require. The subject is, "Ultimate Career (Path) Compared to Initial Goals and Expectations". In other words, how many of us end up where we started?


Following along that line of thought, I find it very difficult to believe that all garbage men planned to pick up trash all their lives upon graduation or that all bank employees always hoped to work for a financial institution more than anything else or that lifelong waitresses or teachers started out down those paths. Wouldn't it be interesting to know what their ideal jobs had been in their minds and then to see how far they shifted from their intended path in reality?

Fot instance, just for grins, I wonder if there are certain careers that most frequently turn down a certain other path like teachers or teaching students who end up in Human Resources.
What about lawyers who end up working at an insurance company or software programmers who ultimately finish out their career driving UPS trucks?

My thought is that if there are trends that typically take people who start on one path down the same alternative path, might there not be ways to help the students within a given study program better assess their interests, personality fit, training, education, etc. before they waste time and money heading the wrong direction. It just seems to me the education system could better point people in the right direction if they took more into account about the individual than what courses the plopped their money down to take.

Anyway, it's possible someone has already performed similar research but if not, it seems to me such a project would be time well spent.

Pros and Cons

It's somewhat difficult to remember what is was like before we had cell phones, mobile phones or just portable handsets. Back then, which is only what 10 - 12 years ago, we had to wait until we got home to make that call. Or if it was an emergency, you had to keep your eyes peeled for a functioning pay phone that wasn't being used and you had to be sure you had the correct change. At this point, I think the only individuals who use them are visitors from other countries and Superman.

In the cell world our lives have changed and not always for the better. A few pros and cons follow to prove my point:

PROS

• You have the ability to have a phone at your fingertips at all times
• They are relatively inexpensive depending on your consumption rate
• They can be stylish
• They can be multi-purpose, i.e. iPhone, Blackberry, etc.
• They are light-weight; they fit in the palm of your hand
• They don't require you to dial additional digits for long distance calls
• They have pretty exhaustive networks
• Each family member can have their own at a very low cost.
• You can make the call when you need to instead of having to wait to get to a phone
• The fact that you have it with you in an emergency can save your life, a
• as with climbers, bike riders, burglary victims, etc.

CONS

• I have actually taken calls in the bathroom and that's sick
  
• It's very easy to over-consume your minutes and blow your budget
• Because they are so small and lightweight, they are easy to drop and break
  
• The more they do the more indispensable they become; nothing is more irritating than sitting in a meeting with someone who can't stop looking at theirs and texting messages while you're trying to have a discussion
• People talk on their phones while they are driving, which can quickly convert their vehicle to a death machine for them and/or someone else
• If you lose it, the phone can provide the finder with a disturbing amount of information about you, your family, friends, etc.
• You begin to become obsessed with your "missed calls" or picking up your messages

So, what's the answer? Since people haven't been smart enough to figure out for themselves to stay off the phone while they're driving, I suppose a law will have to be imposed upon them and they already have in some states. As to the whole meeting etiquette thing, hopefully once the newness wears off, people will settle down and focus on the here and now. Until then, they'll continue to get dirty looks from me. Scary.

Possibility of Snow

How much of our lives do we bank on the possibility of something happening or not happening? All sorts of scenarios come to mind:

• Hoping your boyfriend/girlfriend will eventually change for the better AFTER you're married
  
• Passing on clothes you want just in case they might go on sale

Leaving home with your gas tank on "E" thinking you don't have THAT far to go

Not studying on the outside chance there will be no quiz tomorrow

• Not finishing up a work task the night before because you plan to get to it first thing in the morning but then your morning blows up and it still doesn't get done, and now it's late
• Inviting friends over for dinner but not writing it down, expecting you will remember
• Hosting a meal without ensuring you have all the required ingredients until an hour beforehand
• Wearing the tight pants or skirt with the zipper that sticks badly just this one last time
  
• Not making the offer on the house you want thinking they will lower the price even more

• Wearing your cool shoes thinking it's not that icy outside
  

• Driving around and around the parking lot to get a closer parking space
• Not buying some item at a really good price because you're sure you can get it cheaper somewhere else; driving around to different gas stations comes to mind
• Heading to the park with full picnic regalia regardless of the black cloud bank you see on the horizon
• Buying shoes that are simply too small because surely they'll stretch?
  
• Building your home on the edge of a sandstone cliff because it hasn't eroded away so far
• Voting for a second term president who totally underperformed and lied in the first term because...why was that again?

Buying your 100th lottery ticket because you're just sure this time you'll win...certainly history has proven that, hasn't it?

Now I think I'll have some toast because there's a distinct possibility I'll get hungry if I don't!

Home Alone

Periodically I take a day off in the middle of the week to run errands or whatever. From my observations on those days, it has become clear to me over the years that a huge number of people don't work Monday - Friday; instead they shop. Conclusion: they don't make money but they spend it. I must be exceptionally dense because I really don't know how they do it.


Not only that, how do they stand being home with daytime television day after day? Actually I may have just answered part of my question, they shop instead. I know people who periodically sell all their home furnishings and buy new ones, just to change the decor. Now I can see how you would be driven to that after sitting for hours just staring at your stuff.

Actually we've had more company the last three weeks than we've had in the last 20 years. I found that I enjoyed it but probably because I didn't have to do all the work. With all that buzz constantly in the house, it makes the quiet today almost loud.

So the tides have begun to turn in that the presidential candidates within the same parties are beginning to do some serious sniping at each other. The first thing that comes to my mind as they go down these rabbit holes is that yet again, they are diverted from the very important issues by this drivel. This infighting reminds me of grade school when tattling was in full force. So maybe that's the answer, every time one of the candidates diverts from facts and issues to personal attacks, they get a timeout. And perhaps the timeout could be in the form of a hefty fine and a day or more of no public appearances, depending on the severity of their verbal attack. If only they would put me in charge.

Face the Music

I have spent no time whatsoever really listening to the various candidates and I know I can't continue on this way. It's just so boring to listen to each of them twist the same subject 20 different ways and at the end of it, you can't detect any truly significant differences between them. I think I'll go through their websites instead to see what I can glean.


Can somebody please do something important and substantial enough that the media no longer has time to cover Britney's blunder du jour? I mean anybody doing anything...okay, maybe not Paris Hilton, I've had more than enough of her. There just has to be some good news out there somewhere or at least someone using their good judgment for a change.


Well, well, well I hear we may get federal tax rebates. Huh, I could have sworn our deficit was already larger than it's ever been. How in the world are we ever going to climb out of this? And who in their right mind would volunteer to drag the entire economy uphill? I think we should all vote for an accountant.

Carrot Ginger Soup

There are a couple of movies that come to mind that contain lines referencing their provincial lives. One of them is "Beauty and the Beast" where Belle is pining for something more than her small French village. The other one is "Crossing Delancey" where Sam, the hero, chastises the heroine (I've forgotten her character name but played by Amy Irving who I think was married or the significant other of Steven Spielberg pre-Kate Capshaw) because she thinks his mind and interests are defined solely by the physical world, i.e. the other side of Delancey Street, in which he lives.

Point being, it's easy to let yourself be consumed by house and/or neighborhood stuff when you become dependent on others to extricate you. So today, when I got the chance to break out of my little comfortable world, I grabbed it. I even insisted on walking to my daughter's, which is only 4 blocks away but it was 32 degrees out so I made it a brisk one. So how does the blog title come into play, you ask? We all went to the neighborhood brew pub for lunch and I had a delicious bowl of it. It's nice to be able to join friends/family for a casual lunch in your sweats with one arm hanging out, no make-up and your hair sticking out every which way. I could quickly get used to going

au naturale all the time but I guess I'll have to wait for retirement.

So now, I'm going to go see what else I can check off my list.

On My Own Again

Within the hour, I'll be running solo (I loosely use the term running). I think because I've worked for so many years, I feel the need to plan my time all the time. This means I'm already thinking about how to fill the quiet minutes.

Here are some of the opportunities I'm planning:

• Spending more time with my family & friends
• Doing some fun stuff during the day that I can't usually do like go out to lunch at fun places, go to the zoo, watch Beckett frolic at OMSI, etc.
• Read, read, read
• Walk, walk, walk
  
• Add more music to my IPOD and organize it all into playlists (I never could find my holiday music to play at Christmastime)
  
• Placing all the old, loose photographs in photo books
• Cleaning out closets & drawers
• Organizing my study
• Begin practising my piano as soon as I have access to my right hand

I have this funny feeling my retirement will be the same way. Nevertheless, it's time for me to start checking more stuff off my list, which I'll report on over time to keep me honest.

A Day in the Temporary Life

My mom has been kind enough to spend the last couple of weeks here and has spoiled me rotten. That translates into I've gained another 10 pounds on top of the weight I needed to lose before all this. Ugh! Well, I'll start working on that after Mother leaves tomorrow.

The other thing that has dominated the last 10 days are many, many bouquets og simply gorgeous flowers. I got two more today and nothing cheers up the place like those flowers. There are few things I like more than the life and color of real flowers.

We are currently watching "Saving Grace" and I'm laughing at it for the umpteenth time. And yes, my mom sat through the whole thing and enjoyed it too. After we watched the newest version of "Pride and Prejudice" yesterday, I thought she'd enjoy another Brenda Blethyn movie. She's a great actress/comedienne.

I've now satisfied my blogging fix and since this is an entirely left-handed blog, I'm stopping now.

Short And Sweet

For the next couple of months, I'm going to be restricted to my left hand so my thought is to make my blogs subjects very short and sweet. So, here's the first one:

Why is it that the more you have your fingernails manicured, the worse shape they're in if you don't? For instance, I haven't had a manicure in two weeks and I've got broken, shredded, hard ridges around the edges of the nails, nasty looking cuticles, etc. It's a mystery to me why this happens because you would think your hands would be more inclined to remain modified as they have been week after week, month after month, year after year, etc. It's almost like they realize I'm not going to pay attention to them for awhile and they go ape shit. Can you image how gross my hand is going to look after being in a cast for 2 weeks? I'm going to have fingernails growing over the tops of my fingers. The thought of this is really grossing me out. I think I'm going to have my eyes closed when they take it off and I'll have someone there to immediately cut them off.

I don't know about you but fingernails (or toenails) run amok gross me out. If this graphic doesn't make you sick, nothing would. So there.