I just posted a minute ago, but completely forgot to mention that my middle son has gotten involved in the "Occupy" movement. I'm proud of him for reading about things, making up his mind on what he believes and acting on it. When I was his age, I would have been there too. I think a revolution is coming - I'm just praying that it's a peaceful one. It's time for things to change.
I'm thinking of the things I can do that can have an impact on the fat-cats. First, I'm trying to find a Credit Union that I qualify to join. I'm going to take my money out of the for-profit bank and put it in the not-for-profit Credit Union. I know my few pennies won't mean much, but I've heard that this trend is happening all over the country. I think this is a good thing.
I got my retirement account statement today and it was incredibly discouraging. I've been having them take huge percentages of my pay and put it in the retirement account to try and make up for the fact that I had NO retirement account until 9 years ago. It seems, this year they have not only managed to lose every penny they've taken from my paycheck, but an equal amount from what I had previously accumulated. Sheila is not happy with the brokers. If they're just going to flush it down the loo, I ought to just keep it and have fun with it. Is this irresponsible? Well, it would be if the account was actually making money, but to decide not to let them gamble with any more of my money...I think that's a fine call. I'll pay off my debts faster so that when and if I do retire I'll be in a more comfortable position. I think I'm also going to see if they can't redistribute what they do have. Right now, they're way too heavily into stocks. I'd feel a lot better about something less volatile (and less Wall Street related). Wonder if I can get them to just invest it in gold for me? LOL I'm pretty sure that was NOT an option on the chart. CDs were though. That might be the safest bet. I'm not feeling like the system is particularly trustworthy anymore.
So anyway, while there have been incidents in other cities, Raleigh had a total of 20 arrests in the last 2 weeks, and 19 of them were the traditional "sit in a circle and let yourself be arrested to make a point" sort of arrests. (One was a lady trying to get back on the Capitol grounds after they locked the gate). Nothing at all this week. The city sent out only one policeman, who the occupiers proceeded to essentially adopt. They nicknamed him "The Babysitter". They are still not allowing bullhorns or microphones, so the protesters are still doing the "human microphone" thing, which seems to be working quite well.
There are reports that a number of Armed Forces personnel, particularly Marines, who have seen what is happening in the cities are going to the occupations in full uniform to protect the rights of the citizens to protest. They are not actively getting involved, just getting in-between the protesters and those who are attacking them. It is refreshing to see that the Marines are still on the side of the people of the USA, and protecting our rights. It's very sad when the police start to become the "bad guys" again... but there they seem to be headed.
Okay, enough chatter. Now I really DO have to go.
Showing posts with label occupy wall street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label occupy wall street. Show all posts
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The roller coaster
Yesterday was a tough day. My life has always been a roller coaster, with soaring highs and depths so low I wonder if I'll ever be able to surface again. Yesterday was a low day, but thankfully, only lasted a day and I'm distinctly more even today.
There is so much going on right now - scrambling to keep up with my work so I can get a few days off at the end of the month. I decided I'm going to go on a cruise - all by myself. Last time, my best friend went with me, so while it wasn't lonely, I did have to tolerate a great deal of drunkenness. I love his company when he's sober. He's intelligent and witty. When his demons act up, unfortunately, he turns from an impressive man into a drunk little frat boy. A really irritating drunk little frat boy. Sadly, he doesn't recognize that he is really great when he's sober. He thinks he has to drink to fit in. He thinks he's still 20 and the frat house party is still going on. So, he's my friend. My best friend. But until his demons go away (which will probably be never) all we can be is friends.
This cruise, I decided to try alone. It's a gamble. I might shut down and hide in my cabin the whole time (which is about what I did when I went to the Bahamas alone). But maybe I'll be okay. If the ship is like the last one, there will be plenty of things I can do alone. There was a library and an "adults only" pool area. (Now that my kids are grown but I have no grandkids, I find it depressing to be around the children of strangers. I want them to be mine, and they aren't). Given the recent knee surgery, I think it might be wise to skip the rock-climbing options. Based on the advice of a very experienced cruiser who knows me well, I'm opting for a balcony room. (Excuse me, a "Verandah Stateroom" LOL). That will allow me to enjoy the fresh air and the ocean without necessarily having to be around a lot of people if I don't want to.
I'm gambling a little bit on my timing. A few days ago, I signed up for a Delta Airlines credit card. I get 30 thousand frequent flier miles once I spend $500. I'm waiting for the card to arrive in the mail, so I can use that to buy my passage and get the bonus miles. Each day I check which cabins are still available. I've picked out the one I want, if it's still open when the card comes.
Hmmm - I just realized something. After today I'm going to be gone until Thursday night - and no mail will be coming on Sunday. The cruise is only a couple of weeks off. I think my master plan has failed. I'll have to buy the ticket using my other credit card or gamble that it is still available nearly a week from now and the price hasn't changed. That's NOT a good gamble. I'm a seasoned enough traveler to know that. I guess I'll order the ticket today.
Anyway, it's this sort of daydreaming about the cruise that allows me to keep going on the bad days. When the cruise is over, I'll have to find a new daydream - but I have to always keep something good out there in the distance. My carrot, so to speak, when life gets me stuck in the mud.
My liberal political leanings have allowed my curiosity to be piqued by the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. Thirty years ago, I would have been there. The media is doing a remarkable job of ignoring it for the most part, except for the sensational bits...the cop pepper spraying women who were already in custody, for example. I haven't seen the media reporting on the big picture. I think maybe they don't understand the big picture.
My son, Jeremy and I had a great discussion last night, comparing the 60's to today. There were huge inequities then that resulted in rioting and violence, which eventually became a more peaceful protest and which eventually led to change. I think this generation is trying to skip over the violent part and go directly to peaceful protest to try and solve the inequities of our time. Unfortunately, I suspect that the only reason the government of the 60's became willing to consider change was to stop the violence. Peaceful protest may inconvenience some people, but I'm afraid it won't be enough to lead to any meaningful change.
The protesters also need leadership - someone intelligent and well spoken who won't hijack what they have been doing to suit his or her own agenda. The 60's had Dr. King. Today, the voices that have spoken up have been heavily laced with agendas of their own.
Some folks in Raleigh have gotten a permit for an "Occupy Raleigh" protest, including permission to camp in the park. There is a planning meeting today. I think my son is going to attend. He was clearly nervous about it when he said that last night - saying he didn't THINK he could get in trouble for attending a planning meeting. It made me sad to think that young people are so afraid of our government that it makes them nervous to even talk about having a protest, but at the same time it makes me proud that my son is planning to stand up for what he believes is right.
Steve Jobs died this week, too - may he rest in peace. He was certainly a man responsible for a huge amount of innovation in our lifetimes. Thank you Mr. Jobs! I saw an absolutely lovely tribute cartoon, with Steve Jobs talking to St.Peter at the pearly gates... St. Peter flipping through the book of life to see if Steve Jobs was in there, and Steve Jobs saying to him "I have an app for that!" 8-) RIP
I had decided a couple of weeks ago to postpone surgery on the other knee until next year and this weekend my knee advised me that this was not a good decision. After being challenged with stairs repeatedly during the past week, twice this weekend it put me in such pain that I had to just completely stop halfway down a flight of stairs to regain my composure. That's just not a working thing in my business. Planning to call the surgeon's office ASAP and discuss getting it done in early December, which is my slowest time of the year.
Today I have to finish laundry and pack for this week's trip to audit a foundry in Atchison, Kansas. I have to go to the drug store and re-fill prescriptions (among my least favorite tasks) and I just need to brace myself for another week of running. Fortunately, the planes in and out of Kansas City are big ones, not hop jets, so I shouldn't have to do nearly as many stairs. Jet bridges are SO much easier.
Well I guess I should get at it.. Time to prepare for another week.
There is so much going on right now - scrambling to keep up with my work so I can get a few days off at the end of the month. I decided I'm going to go on a cruise - all by myself. Last time, my best friend went with me, so while it wasn't lonely, I did have to tolerate a great deal of drunkenness. I love his company when he's sober. He's intelligent and witty. When his demons act up, unfortunately, he turns from an impressive man into a drunk little frat boy. A really irritating drunk little frat boy. Sadly, he doesn't recognize that he is really great when he's sober. He thinks he has to drink to fit in. He thinks he's still 20 and the frat house party is still going on. So, he's my friend. My best friend. But until his demons go away (which will probably be never) all we can be is friends.
This cruise, I decided to try alone. It's a gamble. I might shut down and hide in my cabin the whole time (which is about what I did when I went to the Bahamas alone). But maybe I'll be okay. If the ship is like the last one, there will be plenty of things I can do alone. There was a library and an "adults only" pool area. (Now that my kids are grown but I have no grandkids, I find it depressing to be around the children of strangers. I want them to be mine, and they aren't). Given the recent knee surgery, I think it might be wise to skip the rock-climbing options. Based on the advice of a very experienced cruiser who knows me well, I'm opting for a balcony room. (Excuse me, a "Verandah Stateroom" LOL). That will allow me to enjoy the fresh air and the ocean without necessarily having to be around a lot of people if I don't want to.
I'm gambling a little bit on my timing. A few days ago, I signed up for a Delta Airlines credit card. I get 30 thousand frequent flier miles once I spend $500. I'm waiting for the card to arrive in the mail, so I can use that to buy my passage and get the bonus miles. Each day I check which cabins are still available. I've picked out the one I want, if it's still open when the card comes.
Hmmm - I just realized something. After today I'm going to be gone until Thursday night - and no mail will be coming on Sunday. The cruise is only a couple of weeks off. I think my master plan has failed. I'll have to buy the ticket using my other credit card or gamble that it is still available nearly a week from now and the price hasn't changed. That's NOT a good gamble. I'm a seasoned enough traveler to know that. I guess I'll order the ticket today.
Anyway, it's this sort of daydreaming about the cruise that allows me to keep going on the bad days. When the cruise is over, I'll have to find a new daydream - but I have to always keep something good out there in the distance. My carrot, so to speak, when life gets me stuck in the mud.
My liberal political leanings have allowed my curiosity to be piqued by the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. Thirty years ago, I would have been there. The media is doing a remarkable job of ignoring it for the most part, except for the sensational bits...the cop pepper spraying women who were already in custody, for example. I haven't seen the media reporting on the big picture. I think maybe they don't understand the big picture.
My son, Jeremy and I had a great discussion last night, comparing the 60's to today. There were huge inequities then that resulted in rioting and violence, which eventually became a more peaceful protest and which eventually led to change. I think this generation is trying to skip over the violent part and go directly to peaceful protest to try and solve the inequities of our time. Unfortunately, I suspect that the only reason the government of the 60's became willing to consider change was to stop the violence. Peaceful protest may inconvenience some people, but I'm afraid it won't be enough to lead to any meaningful change.
The protesters also need leadership - someone intelligent and well spoken who won't hijack what they have been doing to suit his or her own agenda. The 60's had Dr. King. Today, the voices that have spoken up have been heavily laced with agendas of their own.
Some folks in Raleigh have gotten a permit for an "Occupy Raleigh" protest, including permission to camp in the park. There is a planning meeting today. I think my son is going to attend. He was clearly nervous about it when he said that last night - saying he didn't THINK he could get in trouble for attending a planning meeting. It made me sad to think that young people are so afraid of our government that it makes them nervous to even talk about having a protest, but at the same time it makes me proud that my son is planning to stand up for what he believes is right.
Steve Jobs died this week, too - may he rest in peace. He was certainly a man responsible for a huge amount of innovation in our lifetimes. Thank you Mr. Jobs! I saw an absolutely lovely tribute cartoon, with Steve Jobs talking to St.Peter at the pearly gates... St. Peter flipping through the book of life to see if Steve Jobs was in there, and Steve Jobs saying to him "I have an app for that!" 8-) RIP
I had decided a couple of weeks ago to postpone surgery on the other knee until next year and this weekend my knee advised me that this was not a good decision. After being challenged with stairs repeatedly during the past week, twice this weekend it put me in such pain that I had to just completely stop halfway down a flight of stairs to regain my composure. That's just not a working thing in my business. Planning to call the surgeon's office ASAP and discuss getting it done in early December, which is my slowest time of the year.
Today I have to finish laundry and pack for this week's trip to audit a foundry in Atchison, Kansas. I have to go to the drug store and re-fill prescriptions (among my least favorite tasks) and I just need to brace myself for another week of running. Fortunately, the planes in and out of Kansas City are big ones, not hop jets, so I shouldn't have to do nearly as many stairs. Jet bridges are SO much easier.
Well I guess I should get at it.. Time to prepare for another week.
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