is it over? or has it just begun?

I sent an email today to the director of human resources at the organization I worked for. No matter how I try and word this, it will prolly seem like I am harboring on things, or at least unable to move on. Harboring is not the right word, and for once I have not gone looking through the thesaurus for the right one. I am just going to attempt to describe it myself.
I believe in God, and in Jesus, and I believe that without what they are and what they have done, I would not exist, and have no hope of existing. I believe that people who claim this faith have a duty and responsibility to act a certain way - to treat others well, as you would like to be treated. It seems simple, and reality is never as easy as these little adages we learned as children.
Reality introduces all sorts of factors into a situation, and alters behaviors and perceptions. People are these factors. People who say one thing and do another. Hypocrites, but not even quite that. I am talking about something a bit more fundamental. If you ARE what you say you are, then your behavior follows suit - so if you are a believer, a Christian, or as some might say a "Bible-Thumper" then chances are you *know* you are supposed to try your best and be a good person. And when you are not, you are supposed to admit that, and try and do something about it.
I am not saying I am in any way perfect, but I do feel that in a lot of situations I seem to be the only one who recognizes my flaws and tries to do something about it. Yes, I have said before, and will again that no matter what the other person does or doesn't do about their actions, I will take 100% responsibility for mine - which is only 50% of the problem! However, I can do that, and still work hard at getting the other 50% addressed too!
So, that is why I emailed the HR person. I asked a simple question - is there any point in me pursuing any discussion (cause last time you guys just brushed me off)... we will see if there is a response.

Ending on a POSITIVE. Still loving my new outdoor/greenhouse job - killer tan, funny kids, smelly dog, and hilarious grandparents that do a great job of BURNING their grand kids! GO GRANDMA!

sum of its parts

Washing machine, part 2...

I blogged about my washing machine, and the cost of fixing it vs the cost of purchasing it, and how I somehow doubt that its original cost is actually its value! I am taking a shortcut here, and literally copy-pasting an article I wrote for another purpose. It applies, and I don't think you have to read between the lines too far - especially if you check out the story of stuff.


I often reflect on what technology has done for us. It has provided us with a means to do more. We can communicate more quickly than we can with most other forms; we can share files; we can get information.

Consequently there are other “mores” that we get, those that we don’t enjoy. Ironically, we get more communication, more files, more information. This translates into more of our time being spent using technology, the same technology that was designed and created to save us time.

Let's look a bit more closely at the "more" … More time, more resources, and even more paper. Yes, we are now able to produce things faster than ever before, but to what end? With information at our fingertips, almost at the ease of a button, why are we still printing so many documents?

We spend hours online--social networks, research, games, shopping. US e-commerce spending reached $34.7 billion by the third quarter of 2007. What are we buying—things to make our lives “better?”

With so much time spent online, with this influx of stimulation, and with the time spent earning an income to pay for them, it’s hard to find the time to use our things; Soon they become out of date and obsolete (whether actual or perceived obsolescence). We dispose, and buy more.

We’re a culture of disposable goods, disposable incomes, and possibly disposable values. We are disposing at a phenomenal rate. In six months' time, 99 percent of your current purchases will have been consumed, used, and disposed.

We talk of recycling, composting, and other "earth-friendly" practices (don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should give up on those) but these only have a slight impact on our overall consumption. The average factory produces 70 times the waste that we do.

[ Want the facts? http://www.storyofstuff.com/pdfs/annie_leonard_facts.pdf
or watch the video: http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html ]

What can we do? How do we get back to the point where this all started, the point of using technology to aid humanity, and not using it to destroy ourselves? We start now. It sounds simple, and in reality it’s not so simple, but it truly has to start with a different attitude.

We need to think of less as being more. Less intrusion into our time, the time we are meant to spend on other things – Our relationships with people, for example. We need to want less, do less, use less, and in doing so, we might find that what remains is so much more than we might have expected.

and we're back on super high-speed spin!

I am partially talking about the washing machine. It was fixed today! No new front-load machine, but that is okay, this bill was a little better on the pocket book.

But still, I have to rant about this. It cost me almost $250 to repair my $450 washer that is 10 years old. I hope I get another 6 years out of it based on that ratio!

Furthermore, I'm still not grasping the whole thing. How can the complete machine, with all those parts, all that handling, labor, shipping, etc, be only 50% more than the cost of replacing ONE PART? I understand many of the factors: the company that makes the washer orders parts by the thousands, not onesies/twosies; they manufacture and assemble a lot of it by robotic and other computerized equipment; and they have the capacity to make better deals. Besides, I'm guessing their real labor costs aren't 90 bucks an hour!

Even taking that into consideration, if you add up the sum of its parts, the washer is worth more than its original cost. What does that say to all those along that production line and their wages? What does that say about me as a consumer? I want my good deals, but what is the real cost of those good deals? I'm saving that for another day... (and yes, I know I have a couple other entries with a similar line of a follow up post needed, I will get to it!)

I am still happy to have a working washing machine again! And very grateful to wonderful neighbors who offered me the use of their machine without hesitation, I don't even need to knock to enter their house! Wow, never thought I would have good neighbors.

partially clean clothes just won't do

Right in the middle of a load, my washing machine stopped working. I hate it when things like that happen! The machine is over 10 years old, so its not like I didn't get my money's worth, but I'm still not ready to spend the money to replace it just yet - a service technician is coming on Monday to take a look.

In the meantime, its nice being on friendly terms with the neighbors, as my clothes are now in their washer. Which reminds me, I need to go get them soon.

privileged?

Saw this meme on my friend's blog, its about privilege. (It's based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Indiana State University that was originally found on this Yahoo group around class on college campuses.)

Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs*
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs*
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

I'm pretty sure this means I was not a privileged child... None of these questions seemingly imply anything to do with race, only class?

'give a little bit more than you have to give'

I think this is the first time that I have actually used lyrics as a blog title! Thanks Kid Rock and your song "Amen." From the album "Rock n Roll Jesus" 2007.

What does it mean to "give a little bit more than you have to give?" I immediately look at it two ways, first "have to" give meaning - what I am required to. Give more than required. I also see it as "have" to give... More than you physically have... Now that seems impossible on the surface.

I feel that in certain circumstances in my life, and in certain relationships that I have indeed given more than I really had in the first place. There are all kinds of relationship analogies, like the bank account one, where each person needs to withdraw and deposit equally in order to maintain proper balance.

What happens when there is no balance? I think eventually it wobbles out of control, and might even get to a point where it cannot be repaired, a point where no amount of deposits are going to bring that balance where it needs to be.

I guess I struggle with the whole idea, because how the heck do you know what the balance is supposed to be? And how can you tell things are off balance when they happen little by little and you never seem to receive a handy account statement in the mail.

Like any bank account with significant negative balances, the whole idea scares me, and rightly so...

Oh, and I'm "supposed" to follow this up with something positive, so if you got something in this situation that's positive, I'll take it!!!