Why pet's are important

In life we are graced with Love from many sources.  There are family, friends and pets.  My family means everything to me, both my immediate and extended family.  My friends define me as a person.  My pets however, ground me.  Love abounds with all the above. 

My family includes my wife and daughters along with my mother, brother, two sisters and my wife's entire family.  I love them all.  I did not leave my father and father-in-law out.  Unfortunately they both passed but, not without influencing my life.  My father sacrificed so much to make sure that all of his children accomplished whatever they wanted.  Truly he is my hero.  My father-in-law was an awesome person who made sure his daughters and son moved forward in life.  Each of these men were true heroes to the families they left behind.  Although my brother, sisters and I weren't very close growing up we are very close now.  My wife's family are very close and I enjoy being with them very much.  Our being so far away from them is a strain for us all.  I have gained a true appreciation of family since my youth.  Any of my cousins reading this, let me know that I appreciate all you as well.  You guys have seen the very worst of me and some of the good and never judged.

In my life I have been honored to know some very special friends.  They have all been there for me when I needed it most. People like Steve, Carl, Billy, Pat, Chris, Harold, Tuna, Leo, Darell, Kipper and Skip came along in my life exactly when I needed them and helped to make who who I am.  There is the David's, Pats' and others that helped define me.  I ended up where I am with the help and friendship of these people.

Growing up we had many pets.  The pet's I identify most with are Pepe a chihuahua, Pfieffer a throwback German Shepherd, Sam a small mutt, Beau an Australian blue tick healer, Phieffer II and Australian shepherd and Fiona a chow chow and golden retriever mix.  These dogs were all great companions.  Pfieffer I and Fiona are the most memorable dogs for me.  My best companions.  They both stuck with me during my darkest and saddest moments.  Pfieffer used to be with me all the time during long walks to North Gate mall, or play time behind the baseball fields at the YMCA and the mountain trails off Trans Mountain road.  Fiona has settled in with my current period of unemployment going to the dog park or just lazing around the house.  All the pets have been great in knowing what my moods were and accommodating them.

My thought is this:  Family, friends and pets make you who you are.  Don't underestimate the power of a pet's companionship in your life.

Politics in America

Politics in America is different than anywhere else on the planet.  Although theoretically we vote in the best person for the job, do we really?  I think not.  It seems that those with the most money and can align themselves with the political powers that be have the best chance of winning elections.  All the parties do the same thing they align themselves with a candidate that will tow the party line.  This puts the individual that we are electing directly in the pocket of the party.  The Media cannot escape criticism for the current political landscape.  The media backs individual politicians, where is the objectivity in that.  I was always taught that that the media was supposed to report the news and politics objectively.  Let us not forget business and social interests that have access to our congressmen and senators.  It all comes down to money.

Our media focuses a lot of attention on foreign corruption.  They ignore the corruption that is American politics.  The media, special interest groups and political parties are all about spending a lot of money to get candidates elected, so that they can further the interests of the group or party.  The Parties create platforms and back only those candidates that fully support the platform.  The media supports candidates that the media moguls endorse and the special interest groups support only the candidates that support their programs.  It really comes down to the money.  The money will get better coverage with the media and the full support of both the party and the special interest groups.  Why is not corrupt?

Politicians have been forced to go with the money.  If you want to be elected you have to support 100% of the platform that the media, party or special interest group supports.  The corruption is that if you get elected and don't do as you are told by the money people you are vilified by the media, party or special interest groups.  Any power that you had hoped to attain is gone.  As a politician you are subjected to supporting a small group of people holding the money rather than your constituents.  Our government is not for the people anymore it is for the people who hold the money.

My thought is this:  If we don't want to become a third world country known for corruption we need to enact laws that limit the power of special interests, media and political parties.

Time to Play

There are more frustrations and aggravations than there are good times it seems.  When I was younger the opposite was true.  As I've aged it seems that the good times faded to more and more frustration.  Now it is up to me to find the time to play in an already too full of a day.  I'm missing the days of my youth when all I did was play and have fun.  It seems that now I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to turn aggravation and frustration into something less stressful.

Although it took me a while I finally grew up and quit playing all the time.  I started taking my job and my life more seriously.  I buckled down and became more engaged in what I was doing.  In other words I stopped looking for the fun in my job and started to become more serious about working and living.  It is at this point that I started to become more frustrated and aggravated all the time.  My mood was somber and I no longer was the happy go lucky guy I had been.  People walked on egg shells around me because  I was more likely to withdraw and become angry than I was to smile and laugh.

Then I found BBQ contests and life was fun again.  People started to like me again.  I really enjoyed the play time on the weekends and the concentration on something other than work.  I was meeting new people with a like interest.  It was the ultimate weekend full of fun.  The weekly stress was erased.  I was having fun because I was playing.  There was stress involved with my hobby but it was mitigated by the rewards and friendships.  Life was really good and I was having fun.  Alas it came to an end when we aged and I was laid off from my job and had to retire from the BBQ circuit.

I became engrossed in trying to find a job.  This became my job and there is no time for fun or, so I thought.  I started to become moody and agitated again.  Then I found that I could literally blow off steam by going to the shooting range.  This has become my hobby and where I go to have fun.  I found that the balance between my serious life and my play life.  I still to this day do not keep ammunition in the house which is for safety reasons.  I do not keep my firearm in the house for protection I keep it here because I have nowhere to keep it.  I have a young curious daughter at home and I don't want anything bad to happen to her.  I am once again the happy person I once was.  A balance achieved.

My thought is this:  We all need to be serious about our lives and jobs but, we also need to find an outlet for our frustrations and aggravations.  It doesn't matter what it is that you find relaxing as long as it requires some concentration and there are rewards and companionship involved.

A Short Jobless Story

For most of his 55 years Hart had worked hard at various jobs.  He changed jobs only to improve his situation.  He stayed with a job for many years and left only when the job was about to expire or a new job offered more than he could get at his current position.  Finding a job had always been easy for him.

After ten years at his current job we was layed off.  His severance package was good but, the economy wasn't.  Now the husband and father had to find a new job during a period when jobs were scarce and the competition for those jobs great.  Hart bucked up and started searching, researching and applying for any position that he was even remotely qualified for.  The search for a job became his new job.  The pay was not great and the rewards were even worse.  After his severance expired he had to, for the first time in his life apply for unemployment.  His unemployment wages were far below what he and his family were accustomed to.  Finances were very tight and every penny had to be accounted for.  His family helped where they could and his life never got to the point that they became homeless, barely. 

With all of his savings and 401k used up Hart felt helpless.  The feelings of desperation and frustration were almost overwhelming.  If not for the the support of his family, friends and God he would have gone to a dark place.  The love and compassion he felt from those around him kept him grounded.  He kept up his searches, research and job applications.  As time goes on he gets closer and closer to job.  His faith and confidence keeps him focused and his family and friends keep him positive.

My thought is this:  Thank you to all my family and friends for helping me get through this difficult time.

Who I wanted to be

Back in my youth I wanted to be a writer.  Back in my youth I wanted people to read my words and be informed and entertained.  Back in my youth the literary world beckoned me.  As I matured writing seemed more a dream.  As I matured I needed people to understand technical aspects of complicated systems.  As I matured the literary world narrowed and started to close itself off to me.  I wanted people to see inside my imagination and experience a world not normally seen or felt.  I wanted people to get lost in my words and let time and reality drift away from them.  I wanted norm of everyday living to become a part time necessity.  In other words I wanted everybody to experience how I lived.

Like most people I had a dream to become something.  Some people want to become a policeman, fireman, doctor, lawyer or teacher.  A lot of those people go on to become what it is they dream of becoming.  I wanted to become a writer.  Somebody who shared his imagination or detailed the facts for those who needed to be informed.  I wrote poetry and short stories to practice my future trade.  I wrote articles about current events in a journal with the intent of sharpening my skills.  I took every experience that life presented me with so that I could capitalize on the emotion and dramatize the feelings.  I opened myself up to all of life's experiences and drama.  I engaged in all that I could.  My intent was to put the experiences, emotions and drama into writing for everybody who wanted to, to read it and experience those things through my writings.  My first musing for select friends and my wife was titled "Bedroom Spelunking".  Although I wrote this on my Commodore 64 and printed it out for a very select few people it was well received and quite popular.  I was happy that people were entertained, amused and informed by the word I wrote.

I was transferred to a project management position.  My writing was now going to be to technical and business people.  I wrote my first letter to an engineer.  After my boss reviewed the three page letter he whittled it down to 3/4 of a page by eliminating the "frivolous prose".  Thus started my future as a writer to include only those words that are necessary to the point I am trying to make.  As the years went by I resolved myself to stick to the point and eliminate any unnecessary prose.  My mind was transformed from the power of prose to the power of words.  It ails me that I no longer put details of my emotions into my writings.  I no longer deal in imagination but, deal only with the facts.

My thought is this:  I want to get back to the fun and frivolousness of writing.  I want people to feel the emotion and imagination of what I feel.  This blog will hopefully get me back to that.

Spring Break

My youngest has started her spring break.  Due to my employment status we are staying home.  This is unusual for us we usually go some place for spring break.  Financing being what it is we can afford to go window shopping at some of her favorite places.  I hate to use the when I was her age card but, I must. Things were definitely different back in those days.  Once my wife and I established ourselves financially and had our first daughter we could afford to do something for spring break.  My parents were not so lucky.  To us spring break meant that we could spend a couple of weeks with our friends playing all day instead of going to class.  When we got older it meant we could drive to White Sands, Cloud croft, Ruidosa or Elephant Butte for a couple of days.

I felt guilty about not going anywhere during the break while all of her friends are going to exotic far away places.  Then I thought about all the fun we had when I was her age just playing in our yard with all my friends.  I think this is what made all of us such good friends.  You know the kind of friends that you never forget and remember when you are feeling down.  My brother and sisters were in the same boat and more often than not we banded together with our friends to make the days not only bearable but lots of fun.  Even when we got older we didn't have to go to South Padre Island, Cozumel or Guadalajara.  We went someplace we could afford and where we could all go just for a few dollars each.

We are spending the week going to do some of our favorite things.  We are doing inexpensive things that doesn't require travel.  Things like going to the ceramic shop to paint small knick knacks that get placed in places of honor around the house, or sent off to grandmothers.  We went to the pet store to visit all the different pets that they have there puppies, large birds and her favorite ferrets  Today we are going to the music store so she can play the bongos and admire the guitars, keyboards and other instruments.  Tomorrow if the weather is nice and the ground dry we will go to the dog park with the dog.  There are so many things to do that she really enjoys here in town that we will have an adventure a day while she is on break.  Hopefully she will be able to brag to her friends of all the in town adventures she had while her friends tell her about the places they visited.

My thought is this: when we can afford to go someplace we go.  When we can't we stay here and have adventures that are just as fun.   I have really good friends in places that I would love to visit and at some point I will.  I will take my family to those places and we will have adventures there when we can afford it.  Life is good when you have adventures.

Interviews

Since I was laid off from my last job two years ago I have been interviewed dozens of times both in person and on the phone.  Hopefully this last interview was the last.  I know it was the best.  I have had some pretty bizarre interviews, I've had some competitive interviews and some confusing interviews.

Just for the record I have prepared and studied for all the interviews.  I looked up the companies I was interviewing with and memorizing their philosophies, pillars of success and direction.  I have looked up the key players and gathered as much information as I could.  I burned up phone minutes and pretty much brought the Internet to it's knees (not literally).  I worked so hard at it that my wife and children thought they were a single parent household. 

During all this time I have heard questions that no reasonable man could answer.  For any techies out there one Linux guy interviewing me for an AIX position asked me: "If you were in a restricted root shell what five commands would you need to do your job?"  How do you answer that as real administrator?  I told him I would never be in that position as an AIX administrator, I don't know much about Linux but I doubt you could restrict root to five commands and if you you could and had chmod and chown you could make any command executable and owned by root.  Evidently that was not correct because based on that I didn't get the job.  I've had interviewers ask me if I were and animal or a tree what type would I be?  (I answered live to both questions by the way.)  Also not correct.  I've had a few interviewers get competitive as far as experience and knowledge go.  I went through the whole process with one company only to find out they hire only college graduates with degrees in computer science.  (They apologized because I was the best qualified candidate but I did not have the proper degree).

Finally there was an opportunity where I took advantage of a resource and my own experience.  I got a first person to person interview.  The interview with the hiring manager went very well.  It seemed to be more of a conversation than an interview.  We discussed my experience and to a degree my knowledge.  It was the most comfortable I have ever been in an interview.  The second interview was with that same manager and some of his team.  Again it was more of a conversation than an interview.  Almost a like a personality test than anything else.  If that's the case I think I nailed it.

I'm not an extremist

I have noticed over the last few years, decades actually that both political parties have become extremists.  You are either ultra liberal or ultra conservative if you want to survive in either party.  We as a nation abhor the extremism of the Jihads, yet we are allowing the same extremism in our political parties. Should we as Americans support the extreme edges of our political parties or should we remain moderate?  Politically there is very little or no difference between ultra and extreme.

Our political parties are endorsing candidates that are either ultra left or ultra right and consciously trying to eliminate candidates that are moderates.  This is causing a huge rift between parties.  It's almost like the parties are in competition to see which can become more extreme than the other.  Both parties are equally guilty of this extremism.  We as a nation abhor what we consider extremism in other countries and call extremist terrorists.  I am not saying that our political parties should be considered terrorists but, how much further can they go left or right before they are? 

The "media" is as responsible for this as either of the parties.  It seems to me that responsible journalists would be more inclined to be objective about both parties than supporting one party or the other by reporting only the negatives of the party they are unwilling to support.  CNN and FOX are at odds with each other over which party is the best.  CNN is liberal and FOX is conservative.  Both are trying to control our national morals by trying to slant the news one way or the other as far as the ultra liberals or ultra conservatives go.  Both outlets spend as much time on accusing the other of being either democratic or republican heavy in their reporting. In actuality neither is very objective.  They spend too much time defending themselves and their slant to the right or the left to actually objectively report the politics in America.

My thought is this:  It's time we as responsible Americans and consumers start to look at what the political parties and media are doing to our politicians.  We need to listen carefully to the people looking to be elected to ascertain whether they are towing the party line or concerned with their constituents needs.  In other words are they going to do what is best for the people they represent or are they going to do what the political parties want.  I personally believe that my representatives will look at what is best for me and the community I live in before he/she looks at what the party expects from them.  I know that in the long run money talks and bullshit walks but, I also believe that if you do what is right for your neighbors they will always support you at election time. 

One last thought.  All of our lives we have taught that moderation is best.  Now our political parties and media are trying to tell us extremism is best.

Common Courtesy

What happened to the day when people treated each other with respect and courtesy?  When did people stop teaching their children to treat their elders with respect?  Simple things like referring to our elders with terms like sir and ma'am.  Opening doors not only for women but, for elderly people as well.  I was taught as many of my friend were that we must treat everybody with respect especially if we wanted respect as well.  Courtesy was the greatest form of respect you could show any body. 

I was brought up calling my friends parents Mr. or Mrs. whatever.  My bosses and elders were always sir and ma'am.  When my daughters friends ask me my name I always say Mr. Burns.  They always seem confused by that.  I have friends that I still don't know what theirs parents first name is.  I always called my bosses Mr., Mrs. or Ms when addressing them formally and sir and ma'am when addressing them informally.  On request I would call my bosses or friends parents by first name.  I always treated them with respect.  The respect due their station in life.  This along with the rule of don't speak unless spoken to in the presence of elders and superiors has always served me well.  I am well thought of and respected among my peers and superiors.

It seems to me that courtesy has gone by the way side by generations following.  Many younger people want to refer to elders and superiors by first name without getting permission first.  Very few young adults have sir and ma'am in their vocabulary unless they are from a military background.  Simple courtesies like opening doors or addressing elders with Mr., Mrs. or Ms. are not ingrained in them.  Showing respect for elders is not a given anymore, children are being taught that respect must be earned by others and that they should expect respect from others. This is an oxymoron perpetrated by parents to give children a basis of self respect. 

My thought is this:  Children should be taught to earn the respect of their elders and peers by being courteous and respectful.  Not expecting respect because that is what they want.  Courtesy is the building block of earning the respect of others.  The golden rule says do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Not expect other to do unto you because you expect it.

Facebook

As an IT professional I had heard about Facebook from the time it was pretty much limited to college students.  I watched it grow from a campus social network to it's acceptance as a true social network.  I ignored the temptation to join in not only because of the privacy issues but, also because I figured I probably didn't know anybody on the network.  Then along came a Friend "Toni".

Toni sent me a message through e-mail asking me to befriend her through Facebook.  I joined and friended Toni.  Because of that I found long lost friends and family.  Other friends like Steve, Harold and Darell whom I had known since childhood.  Family like Chris, Bill and Jane who I haven't seen since we were very small.  I found myself in a place where I could be me and find out what's been happening to friends and family. 

In-laws, sisters, cousins and friends who know.  My thought is this:  sometimes things you are afraid of can become a literal lifeline to your past.  Thank you Facebook, family, friend and especially Toni for letting me be social again.

Obviously I don't have thoughts every day.

Before I started this blog I thought it would be no big deal to post each and every day.  After starting the blog it became evident to me that I don't have access to my lap top every time I have and can maintain a thought.  I never thought that what I think would change the world.  I figured that my thoughts should be posted for my own benefit, just in case I get dementia and want to know what I was thinking.

I found that my best and deepest thoughts come to me when I am all alone and nothing to distract me.  Usually when I am in front of the lap top there is plenty to distract me.  I am going to try and figure out a way to preserve my thoughts until I can get to my computer.  The problem is that I can't read my own hand writing and a lot of my thoughts come to me when I'm driving. 

My thought is this: My uninterrupted thoughts are way more profound than my distracted thoughts.  I will try to post more of my uninterrupted thoughts in the future.  No promises though.

The Upside of Snow Days

Snow days are very disrupting for parents, teachers and businesses.  Parents must scramble to find someplace for the kids to go or stay home from work with them.  Teachers lose a day in the rigorous schedules of keeping our kids on track for mandatory testing.  Last but not least businesses lose a lot of productivity from parents having to take the day off to stay home with their kids.

Some parents who have kids in day care are not as affected by snow days they can still go to work.  Other parents must find other arrangements and often times have to decide which parent will stay home with the kids on the snow day.  Even if that parent has a way to work from home there will be a disruption of his/her concentration and productivity. 

Modern teachers have a very rigorous and tight schedule of lesson planning in order to prepare our children for mandatory state and federal testing.  Snow days create problems for them.  They must intensify the amount of homework our children bring home and cut out some of the fun activities that break up the days. Snow days for teachers are stressed.

Most businesses have ways for workers to work from home on snow days, but none the less know that the productivity for those workers is going to suffer.  The amount of money lost to a business during these weather related emergencies is pretty significant especially small businesses.  Any day to day disruption in productivity is a loss to any business.

My thought is this:  Let's go back to our childhood when snow days meant an unexpected play day.  When I was young we took out our sleds and found a hill to sled down.  We dragged our parent or parents with us and usually they had as much fun as us.  Our teachers could spend a day relaxing while reconfiguring our lesson plans.  Businesses thought far enough ahead that snow days were expected and planned for.  Let's all think of snow days like we were children and the stress is lifted.  Have fun, live a little.

Rudeness and Entitlement

Why is it that some people who have more than you, feel that they can be rude and entitled to more than you?  In my opinion people like me who grew up with the Golden Rule ingrained it them live by it.  People who grew up with the belief that people who have more deserve more live by that rule.  In those cases entitlement begets rudeness.

I'm sure that all of us have encountered the person that has achieved enough material wealth to look down on those of that don't have the same things.  People who cut you off in traffic or the parking lot because they have a more expensive car.  The person who yells at the cashier to get what they want.  You know them as the rude person who cut you off or takes way too much time yelling at the cashier. 

To counter this I have taken to pointing and laughing.  Why you may ask?  Well it's rather simple if you subscribe to the whole golden rule philosophy.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Well obviously rude people want people to be rude to them, what is more rude than pointing and laughing?  Just a thought.

BBQ old school v modern

Twenty years ago when I first started to compete in BBQ contests for all intent and purposes all the contestants competed on a level playing field.  The smokers were charcoal and wood burning pits.  You bought your meat from purveyors that supported you in your endeavor to win.  Electricity was a luxury that you had to pay extra for and was just enough juice to power a couple of shop lights.  The judges were local dignitaries and visitors to the contests.

A few years ago Treager introduces pellet smokers and the game changed.  With pellet smokers you load your smoker with pellets plug it in turn the thermostat to whatever temp you want to cook, put the meat in and check it ever six to eight hours.  My wood smoker on the other hand requires that you add enough charcoal to get the wood started then you have to adjust the smoker to get the right temperature.  You put the meat in and check the smoker every hour or so to be sure that the temperature is being maintained.  My smoker however does not require electricity.

Meat purveyors decided to sponsor teams and "cherry pick" the best meat for the teams they decided to sponsor.  Leaving the rest of us to scramble for the left overs.  By now the rest of the teams have become shoppers to get the best possible meat from grocery stores and butchers that don't sponsor teams.  Not to worry we became experts at what we wanted and would be best for our style of BBQ.

Now to judging.  Way back when judges were instructed to grade the contestants from the top down.  The highest score was nine.  Judges were instructed to start at nine and work down depending on taste, tenderness and presentation.  Then the powers that be decided to certify judges and change the criteria for a start point.  Instead of starting high and working down now they are instructed to start in the middle and work up or down.  They have a team cook for them and based on what they cook the judges are instructed on how to judge the meat.  This is okay, but the judges have only what the team that cooks for them presents.  With that as a basis it is unfair to the rest of us that cook with more traditional tastes and smoke.  Judges are told to ignore the smoke ring and smoke flavor in favor of less smoke flavor and a visual presentation based on what can be achieved on a pellet smoker rather than a traditional smoker.

My thought is this: When dealing with tradition leave the tradition alone.  If all you want is new then start a competition that allows for that.  In other words money talks tradition suffers.

Pet's

My dog is my constant companion, my immediate family are my part time companions.  We adopted our dog when she was young and my daughters were younger.  Both daughters and my wife promised to help take care of her.  I promised to train and help in her upkeep.  After a seemingly prolonged period of time we picked her up.  Being responsible adopters we had her spayed and built a fence around our back yard.  She came home to a happy family and a home especially prepare for her.

After two weeks my oldest daughter was no longer interested in picking up her mess in the back yard.  My youngest daughter kept trying to get the puppy to love her.  My wife miracuously forgot that she insisted on and promised to help with the upkeep and training of the puppy.  I however, had to keep up with my end of the deal.  I trained her, fed her, and cleaned up after her.  She turned out to be the best dog we have ever had.

The dog is well behaved and socially at ease.  She is always there for you when you need her.  She is loving and caring.  She has even become my youngests best friend and walking companion.  She takes the dog for a walk and all the neighborhood kids accompany her.  She lays around the house with me during the day and gives me hugs.  My oldest lovesw to spoil her when she is home from college and my wife loves the attention she gets from her when whe comes home from a trying day.

My thought is this.  A happy pet will make for a happy home.  Although she is not perfect (but then again who is) she is ours and makes us all happy.

Friends

During your life you get to meet a lot of people, out of all the people you meet only a few can you call true friends.  I have been blessed with having quite a few true friends.  Some of them I haven't seen for quite some time, yet they are still my friends.  As importantly I have discovered that some of my best friends are family and in-laws. 

Growing up there was family and then there were friends.  Now that I matured I have discovered my family and in-laws are the greatest.  I have also discovered all the people I called friend while growing up are truly friends as well.  Case in point: while I was on vacation this last week I got the opportunity to visit with a friend from my youth.  During this visit we caught up with what has happened to us since last we saw each other.  It was comforting to know that we trusted each other with secrets, sorrows and joy.  At the end of the visit we gave each other a hug and knew that we are still good friends. 

I spent the week with my wife's sister. mother and brother-in-law.  They made us feel at home and put no pressure on us to do anything what-so-ever.  If we wanted to just hang out that was okay and if we needed to do something they made sure it happened.  The whole week they were gracious and accommodating they made us feel at home and welcomed how great is that.  Along those same lines when we go to visit my family they always make sure that we are taken care of.  They are also gracious, accommodating and loving. 

My thought is this, your good friends are not the only friends you have sometimes you have to look at your family as well.

Hosts for Family

We went on vacation this last week in El Paso, Texas.  My wife's sister, brother-in-law and mother allowed us to stay with them.  We had a great time.  It was relaxing, warm and comforting.  All the best things in life. 

We didn't do anything we didn't want to do and our hosts were gracious enough to do what we wanted to do.  My stomach pretty much rules my memories of places that I've lived.  Our hosts visited all the place I wanted to go plus took us to places we've never been.  It was great.

I know at the begining of this blog I identified our hosts specific to thier relationship to us, but it goes much further than that.  They are our family and as importantly our friends.

My thought is this:  When your family are your friends there is no such thing as a bad visit to family and  vacations with family is vacation with friends.

What did we do before Computers

How did the world operate before computers?

I remember the first computer job I had was in a facility that was transitioning between a manual cardex and typewriter system to an online inventory system.  Even with the addition of the accounting system nobody had to be laid off.  I took the same amount of people to keep up with the efficiency as it took to do the manual system.

Being Layed Off

Let me start with I have no animosity toward the company that laid me off.  I understand that they had to lay people off and I also understand why I was one of those people.  A public company has to protect it's investors and bottom line.  The economy being what it was and is worked against me.  There are other factors that played into the decision as well and of those punitive action was not one of them. 

I have come to find that there are perceptions of a company that play a bigger role in their personnel decisions than just how many people they have working for them.  There is an element of intelligence perception based on how many people work for a company that have a college degree and even to further that advanced degrees.  Business is gained by perception.  If customers perceive that you can do a better job than the competition because you have smarter people (on paper at least) they are more willing to do business with you.  There is also the economics of personnel.  Who is more valuable the person with a degree and two years experience making $32,000 a year or the person without a degree with 20 years experience making $ 76,000 a year?  To a public company with a bottom line to protect it's easily the person with a degree.  Especially if that person has been working with the 20 year veteran to learn all about the concepts and inter workings of the job.

The current economic situation requires that companies hire degreed people with far less experience and knowledge.  However, this puts a huge strain on unemployment benefits.  people like me who were making a good deal of money doing what we did for as long as we did now make more on unemployment than we can at jobs that don't require degrees.  By the way I can remember when you risked burnt fingers soldering connections and the satisfaction of enabling a port and seeing a login prompt on a terminal.  Just a thought.

My former Life on the road

In a previous life I used to travel quite a bit.  In the 90's I traveled quite a bit by air.  In those days you showed up to the airport a half hour before your flight and had a pretty good chance of making your flight.  If you were going on a short trip for say two or three days you could pack everything you needed in a carry on bag and skip having to check any baggage.  When you did check baggage you had a 99.9% chance of it showing up with you at your destination.  Security was a lot friendlier and easier to get through.

Of course after 9/11 all that changed.  The threat and attempted acts of terrorism subsequent to that horrible day has made traveling by air far more tense and strenuous.  Now on busy travel days it pays to get to the airport at least 2 hours early to check your bags and ensure that you have enough time to get through the security checkpoints.  Your luggage on some airlines has only an 89.7% chance of getting to your destination with you.  Security is a lot less humorous and a lot tougher to get through.

I understand perfectly why all these changes have happened.  The threat of terrorism is very real and a constant in our lives now.  The inconvience of travel by air now is substanial.  What you can pack is limited now.  Even what you wear to the airport has to be well thought out before you leave.  If I were traveling today as I did in my former life I'm sure I would have adjusted and become used to the inconvenience.  The problem is I don't travel that often any more and now traveling by air especially with my family is very stressful, inconvenient and time consuming.  I still have to worry about my baggage getting to my destination with me.

My thought is that all of us as patrons, clients or customers of the airlines and airports are paying for less service and more inconvenience.  This cost of security is being passed on directly to the consumer with the airlines and airports paying little or none of the costs.  Although we are only paying about $500.00 dollars for this trip normally the cost for us to travel to our hometown would cost $1,500 at a minimum and then I wouldn't be guaranteed that my baggage would be there at the same time I arrived.