Probably The Last Post of 2010

Well I certainly hope everyone has had a pleasant holiday. I can say with certainty that we in Hickersonia have, in spite of a few stressful moments and gripes here and there. We did end up spending more than I originally wanted on Christmas related things (doubled our Christmas budget at the last minute, actually), but we still kept our total expenditure well below the $658 amount the so-called “average” American has apparently spent this year and made absolutely no purchases on credit. I guess I'd call that a financially successful Christmas.

So, moving on, I do have a certain disappointment to share with this post. I have found some surprise in who has chosen to contact me this season to wish me a Merry Christmas and the like, while certain others have, well... not. I understand many of us our quite busy, but I think most of us still have time to shoot off a text message or a wall post on Facebook. Many of my friends didn't even do that.

Okay, I'll admit there are people that I didn't contact too. I guess what that means is I understand first-hand why I was “forgotten.” Not that I don't care, or that they don't care, but that we obviously don't care enough, so while I can accept some blame on the matter as it comes to those who might point a finger at me, that doesn't make me any less disappointed with those who I hoped to hear from, at least briefly, this season.

Moving on again, I wanted to share something of a lighter nature. This year, my son's “Christmas haul” included a NERF gun. I noticed it at Meijer a couple months ago and decided that it was about time he be introduced to some projectile fun (that didn't involve large, heavy objects flying around the rooms of our 800 square foot apartment). The model we purchased is the Maverick Rev-6, a six-shooter which included six plunger darts (at least one of which my son has already misplaced) that will, using the amazing power of suction, stick to many flat surfaces.

Of course, after our son opened this thing and started playing with it, I decided that I had to have one too... but I wasn't about to be out-done by a mere six-shooter. I browsed online for the right foam firearm and, after reviewing some of them close up at the store, chose the Raider CS-35.

As the name might suggest, this thing is designed to fire 35 darts prior to reloading, and for that purpose carries a drum magazine that reminds me of the combat shotgun from Fallout 3. That similarity may actually even be one of the things that attracted me to this particular design...

And so, hilarity ensues. Well, not for you because you aren't here to witness it, but my son absolutely loves this stuff and I've found that apparently I do too.  Once in a while it is nice to share something fun with one's children, right?

Anyway, I hope everyone has enjoyed a blessed Christmas, and I hope the new year is good to everyone as we move forward.  Maybe the new year will bring me more things to blog about, eh?  Hopefully fun things, if so.

The Forgotten Employee

My company has been touting a fourth-quarter bonus over the last 10 weeks, repeatedly stressing to us it's basis on our productivity individually and performance as a facility. That is all fine and good, and I appreciate any such bonus simply as a matter of gratitude because clearly there is no reason why a bonus has to be granted in the first place.

Well, yesterday the bosses were meeting with employees one-on-one to inform them of what dollar value their bonuses would be. I wasn't too concerned about it because I'll know on Friday regardless (yay for payday), but I was asked to visit with one of the bosses so I dutifully complied. Of course, it was pointless because the boss in question didn't have any information about me because I apparently don't technically work for him.

Furthermore, I've already been told by “my” boss, who I haven't seen much over the last two months because I don't really work for him either, that he doesn't have any information for me either.

So I guess I'm kinda curious about what sort of bureaucratic crack I've fallen into to be forgotten so completely... I mean, I still draw a paycheck so I am still employed (I guess), but no one knows who the hell my boss really is anymore. No one really ever bothers me about anything unless I make a major mistake (such errors are, thankfully, few and far between), and then it sometimes takes a few days for anyone to bother tracking me down about it.

I suppose I'll be fine as long as I'm not forgotten by the payroll department, right?

Financial Comedy

12 cents each. That's all, I swear!

You want 1.1 billion of them? That's great!

There is just one catch. Some random percentage of them will be defective due to faulty equipment and sloppy processes, and those will have to be destroyed and new one will need to be made, all at your expense.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/40521684/The_Fed_Has_a_110_Billion_Problem_with_New_Benjamins

That's pretty much what is happening in relation to the newfangled, so-called “high tech” $100 Federal Reserve Notes. Aparently there is a defect that will cause some number, as of yet undetermined, to be useless, and each one of these worthless pieces of “high tech” paper costs 12 cents.

I guess it is OK to waste so much money when you consider that the money used to pay for it is also worthless... but that doesn't make it sound any better when you consider all the stuff people can still, for now at least, buy with it.

I sometimes wonder if we waste more money implementing new anti-counterfeiting measures than we'd waste simply dealing with the counterfeiting directly. 12 cents doesn't sound like much, but that's 12 cents for each of 1.1 billion bank notes... totaling 132,000,000 dollars. If these were one dollar notes, each one would cost 12% of it's face value to create, but regardless of the tiny fraction of the cost involved with these $100 notes, 132 million dollars is still a lot of money to see disappear into thin air.

Of course, I'm sure they printed enough to compensate for it...   

Federal Regulations on... Bake Sales?

Alright folks, my wife brought my attention to an article that I want to make sure gets noticed by as many people as possible:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/nation-world-news/hold-the-brownies-bill-could-limit-bake-sales-1020132.html

So, let me get this straight... there are “public health” organizations that believe that the items commonly available at fundraisers such as Bake Sales (among others) are “bad for us, mkay?” Alright, I'll bite – sure, I can't argue for any nutritional benefit to most such foodstuffs, but how does that become an issue for the Federal Government? Why does some random organization, no matter how well financed or intelligent it's members may be, have the right to forcibly interfere with my food choices?

From what language in the Constitution does the Federal Government derive the power to write any such legislation at all? If someone says the “Commerce Clause,” it serves only to illustrate just how ridiculous interpretations of the Constitution have gotten.

If a particular school district wants to enact health rules on fundraisers, by all means, let them, but tell the Fed that their help is neither needed nor desired.

Continued Appeasement of Dictators

Once again, North Korea has committed itself to reprehensible acts and the world is standing around like “wow, I cannna believe they done did that thar.”

I think one thing that we as a species should have figured out by now is that a bully, when left unchecked, will continued to be a bully, especially if he thinks he has a bigger stick with which to beat you. The North Korean regime continues to be a thorn in the side of the so-called “free world,” and after repeated acts of war it would seem that pretty much everyone is content to just let him carry on about his business of murder.

I hate the thought of committing the country to another war, and I do believe that, as it stands right now, we're clearly over our heads financially and probably cannot afford it, but that doesn't seem to be stopping Congress from spending on so many other programs and entitlements... so why not? Things like this are a major reason behind my opinion that a national health care system is unaffordable – it isn't simply that it will increase taxes (which it likely will), but that we need to use the money more on matters of being prepared for crazy people like Kim Jong-il to do evil things... or else we have to keep letting such people do those evil things with impunity.

Also, for the record, it shouldn't always be the United States that is compelled to “do something” about these people. To the rest of the world: What the hell is wrong with you people? Why won't anyone else do something about this bastard? We're kinda busy right now, could someone else stand up and take some of the work off our hands for a change? South Korea only puts up with it because the North does indeed seem to have a bigger stick than they do, and we (nor anyone else) is willing to support them fully.

The world really is a crappy place... if only it were so easy that we didn't have to make choices between letting evil people reign terror on others or putting people in harm's way to stop them.

Related Articles:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/11/23/skorea-nkorea-fires-artillery-island/

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/23/nkorea.skorea.military.fire/index.html?hpt=T1

Business as Usual

There are times when I seriously think that companies, particularly news companies, seem to be intentionally trying to alienate their online readers through intrusive advertising. I understand they need to make money, but this has gotten to the point of lunacy – to the point where I've been experimenting with various ways of disabling advertisements and even completely boycotting sites on which ads cannot be blocked to my satisfaction.

This got started a few days ago when Fox News hit me with a new kind of ad that takes an screen-capture of the site and then uses an animation to slide the page down (like it is lying down) so that a nearly full-window ad can be played. I don't know what the ad was for (the only thing I pay attention to is the frustration in figuring out how to close it, not the content of it). The ad's “close” button was almost exactly the same color as the ad's background, so it was nearly impossible to see. Obviously, I wasn't incredibly impressed. By the time I had closed the ad, I had decided that I didn't really need to read any articles on Fox News, and have even removed the site from my bookmarks.

So I started checking out CNN and noticed they too have started using some pretty odd tactics with their ads, although nothing quite so infuriating as the Fox News example above. Most of their banner ads will expand from a tiny bar to a half-window length billboard when the page loads completely. What this means (for me, anyway) is I'm just starting to click on the link to the article I want to read by the time that the ad enlarges, moving my link out of the way and putting the expanded ad right under my cursor (meaning, I click on the ad by accident because everything has moved).

These tactics are abhorrent and clearly illustrate either how greedy they are or how badly they are hurting financially. In either case, I have found an interestingly easy little trick to kill most of the ads (including Fox News' evil in-line ads – you know, the ones that underline seemingly random words in the articles and show you ads ever if you accidentally hover your cursor over them?).

I have set my Chrome browser to disable JavaScript except on sites where I have deemed it “safe.” This list includes sites like this blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Reason, where the ads shown are done so in a tasteful manner and which I have deemed necessary for operation (Facebook doesn't work very well without JavaScript, and Twitter won't work at all), while I leave it disabled on pretty much every other site. Amazingly, Fox News and CNN's ads have gotten a lot less distracting, and in many cases have disappeared altogether.

Do I feel bad that they are going to lose a little bit of ad revenue? No, not really, especially if it means the difference between controlling the garbage content displayed on my screen or not. Fire the assholes thinking up these advertising tactics and I'll turn my JavaScript back on.

The Life that Didn't Know it was Alive

Yesterday the official word came down from my wife's doctor that our pregnancy is over. I'm not sure how the doctor put it (because I don't have any option of leaving work for this sort of thing without attendance penalties, so I wasn't present), but it all comes down to a single word:

Miscarriage.

Okay, I guess technically speaking the miscarriage hasn't occurred yet as my wife continues to carry the poor life that once was but will never be. I guess that is supposed to be rectified today via surgical procedure... Anyway, those who know me probably understand that this sort of thing is difficult for me because of my particular views on when a human life (or really any life, I suppose) begins. Not that I blame anyone, I simply find it very depressing.

My wife seems to be dealing with it pretty well, but I have a feeling it just hasn't sunk in yet. I'm figuring that will change soon, so I guess it is good that I will have probably gotten past my own sadness on the matter. Dalton seems to be doing OK too, but insisted on writing about how the baby died for his “free writing” handwriting practice.

So a sad time in Hickersonia this week... Hopefully better news will be forthcoming...

What Constitutes Law if Judges Can Apply Anything?

I noticed an article today that I'm a little confused about regarding an Oklahoma legislative decision that supposedly bans the use of Islamic “Shariah” law. The article is echoed, albeit somewhat differently (of course) by other news sources, so I'm going to post the two that I found most relevant.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/08/oklahomas-ban-shariah-law-blocked-critics-say-attorney-general-failed-respond/

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/08/oklahoma.islamic.law/index.html?iref=allsearch

The CNN article is somewhat more informative, stating that the amendment will “officially disfavor and condemn the Muslim community as being a threat to Oklahoma,” which I can somewhat agree with from the standpoint of the First Amendment. It continues, claiming that it forces “Oklahoma courts to rely on federal and state law when deciding cases and forbids courts from considering or using" either international law or Islamic religious law.”

On the second point mentioned above, I am very pleased and wish most States would apply similar laws. No document signed or created outside the boundaries of the United States should carry any force in our legal process, nor should any religious text be utilized on it's own as if it codifies law. Each state has it's own law codes, as does the federal government, and those statutes should be the only source of legal authority in the nation.

So I agree that singling out any one religious group is almost certainly in violation of the First Amendment. That said, I think that the legislators should seriously consider returning the issue to their voters after eliminating the specific references to Islamic law. The same effect can be had without singling out any one religious text – or are they afraid that they can't be generic without having their new legal weapon aimed back at themselves???

Hmmm....

Did That Make You Feel Any Better?

There is occasion from time to time when I feel like breaking things. I haven't quite figured out why, especially considering that it doesn't really make me feel any better, nor do I like cleaning up the resultant mess, but it is true all the same. Tonight at work was very much one of those occasions. Of course, the evening progressed well up to a point, and I really could find no fault in anything up until the bitter end... but that end came, and has since went.

It is a reasonable thing to be expected to do a job until it is done. I respect the fact that every day certain things need to be done, and sometimes the occasion call for more things – or all possible things (as pertaining to a series of job functions) to be done, before the work is considered finished. In tonight's case, all on-inventory product had to be put away completely before we could leave because we're going to work tomorrow morning doing inventory counts.

Of course, I use “we” in the above sentence loosely. We as meaning me, mostly, and a few team leads and supervisors. How I ended up in that group is beyond me, but I was left with certain tasks that, with a group, could have been completed within 10-15 minutes. Instead, I spent over 70 minutes because it was decided that I was “already on it,” so no one else was needed.

Of course, I will concede, to my own credit, that very few others would have been willing to take the time to do what I was doing and do it accurately. That said, however, I do not feel that I was given the appropriate level of respect (not to mention compensation) for the hassle involved in completing those tasks and staying until 10:30 PM whilst being expected to go into work tomorrow morning at 9AM.

Completely unacceptable.

Of course, I also must concede, much to my frustration, that I would have probably still been there until 10:30 tonight even if I hadn't been pulled in 10 different directions, expected to do the jobs of others, and talked to as if I'm insignificant. One of the two cars remaining in the parking lot as I sped away belonged to one of my team leads who was still feverishly working on our normal duties, the so-called “Look Fors.” Don't ask. Anyway, I imagine he was just as frustrated as I was...

In fact, I may owe him an apology now that I think of it... I wasn't trying to be a particularly nice person near the end of the shift...

Tariffs on Imported Candy Reach Record Highs

Well the Trick or Treating thing was fun this year. We ended up doing it twice because one of our friends' neighborhood was doing it on Saturday whilst my wife's family's locality was doing it on Sunday. Of course, this meant that I hung out “with the guys” and passed out the candy while the ladies took the kids out.

Numerous cheap lagers were consumed, of course. I have paid for that a little this morning but my coffee is seems to have, thus far, compensated adequately.

But for all the hassle involved in drinking those lagers, we do reap some benefit:  My son's candy haul was rather impressive. Duties paid on the imported sweets should yield to the King a nice sugar high from time to time. Yes, I have been teaching my son the concept of taxation through the taking of a certain percentage of his candy each Halloween. *evil laugh*

Tomorrow's election should be kinda interesting. I don't really have a whole lot to say about it at the moment, being that I've resigned myself to the idea that the two major parties are worthless... suffice to say, my votes will be placed firmly within the territory of the Constitution and Libertarian parties (depending on which is presented as an option) and with the Republican candidates only when no other option is available.

I know there are many expecting some sort of major reversal in Congress this week as a result of the election, but I don't really expect any “change” even if a massive number of Republicans replace Democrats... it is only if we oust these two self-righteous legions entirely that we have the potential to truly see change in the behavior of our government. Fiscal responsibility has not been the strong suit of either major party in decades with even the best facade of such plagued with cronyism, corruption, and so-called “pork barrel politics.” I guess what I'm trying to get at is that no one should be holding their breath in anticipation of anything special or new...

And now, hi ho hi ho, off to work I go...

A Quick Update Before I Must Depart Once More...

Well I guess this has been a relatively light month for my blogging. Not much to say for it, I mean, it isn't exactly as if the month has been any less noteworthy, I just haven't had much time to devote to it. I've worked a pretty good bit of overtime lately, of course. Oddly, the evenings that I've expected to be “easy” have been directly and proportionately opposite. Friday was a good example of that – we expected to do about 4,900 orders – an easy night. Sure, we did about that number, but I was still there over an hour of overtime. Why? Because other people fail. Yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say about that right now...

I've also spent a lot more of my free time in the evenings this month playing games on the computer, Civilization V in particular. I've always been a huge fan of the Civ franchise, and while I've really enjoyed the game, I must admit my disappointment in just how resource-hungry each new Civ installment has been. I have a quad-core PC with 4 gigs of ram and I'm crashing in the end-game on large maps with the graphics settings set way low. Ridiculous. In any event, I'm learning the new game and I actually like some of the more drastic changes they made to how military units behave.

In other news: Dalton's schooling has progressed nicely. This morning I logged in and found that he is officially out of Kindergarten Language Arts and Phonics – both replaced with first grade materials. I'm sure we'll be seeing some new materials in the mail as well before too long. Assuming a slight slow-down in his speed (due to more challenging materials), I expect he'll still finish both before the end of the Kindergarten school year in June (even though the end dates projected by the school are at the end of July).

As for his History class, we have finished the Africa unit and, today, started South America. In Africa, the focus was not on specific countries, but on the different geographical regions instead. South America looks to be set up similarly, with only one lesson focusing on a specific country, Brazil. Antarctica follows before we finally see our own continent and begin a series of nine units focusing on everything from native American tribes, the colonization period, U.S. independence, and civil rights.

Lessons completed so far have focused on the following regions/countries:

Well, I have to start readying myself for work so, once again, if I had something more to say I'd not have the time to say it. Another time, perhaps.

Interesting Happenings in Hickersonia...

Last night I returned home from work to find nearly a dozen law enforcement vehicles, including canine unit(s), at my apartment complex. Blue and red lights flashing all over the place and dogs barking – many of the neighbors standing outside wondering what was going on. One neighbor said something about “dey be shootin' people 'round here,” but I had to brush that off as rumor since, quite frankly, I just didn't really think that so much commotion could occur without waking my wife. That and the neighbor in question didn't sound intelligent enough to tie his own shoes let alone be aware of anything around him...

Well I come to find this morning that someone was indeed shot last night, but news sources are rather tight-lipped on details at the moment.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101019/NEWS010701/310190024/1196/NEWS/Man-shot-in-Fairfield

http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=13346749

I can't find much on the subject aside from the above links. I call Fail on the law enforcement and news right now because in this day and age of radio, telephone, and internet, there is simply no excuse for information to not be distributed more quickly and completely. Speaking technologically (not ethically or legally), If the police cite me for jaywalking on my way home from the Wendy's restaurant a couple blocks away, I should be able to look up the citation on that law enforcement agency's website when I get home. Basic information on something like a shooting in my parking lot should have been available to me within minutes of police responding to it -- I shouldn't have to wait until morning for half-completed blurbs.

Anyway, I hope they can find the shooter – I really hate to think that I could be walking from my car some evening from work and get shot for the 30$ in fuel money I carry or something else equally stupid...

Circular Reasoning Prevails

One thing I've noticed about all the overtime at work recently is that I don't really mind the 500$ weekly paychecks. I don't mind that at all, seriously. I think my problem is that I work harder and longer for it than I used to and I have a major objection to that in and of itself.

Yes, I do realize I'm not the only one in the country that has gone from one job to another with a net decrease in pay. I admit to be quite perplexed at how easily my wife tolerates her own, rather massive, income drop, but I never hear a complaint about it from her. Face it, folks, if I didn't complain about it, I simply wouldn't be me.

My biggest problem with getting a different job right now (ignoring the economy) is a problem on paper only, or that of lacking paper to be more exact. I spent ten years working with and learning a great deal about computer networking, and even with that aside, I've got the same period worth of data entry time that should still land me a much less stressful job. Thing is, I don't have any documentation (or degrees) to prove that I have any skills at all. Sure, that's no one's fault but mine – it only serves to illustrate how I incorrectly expected employers to be more interested in workplace experience than book knowledge.

While I'm not entirely confident that a degree would save me in today's economy, it has caused me a lot of grief to not have it. Pretty much every job advertisement to which I would consider responding has declared firmly “those without at least a two-year degree need not apply” or similar. Even then, a lot of such jobs advertise lower pay than I receive today – are the overseas techies really willing and able to work for so much less?

So I guess I've resigned myself to sticking it out in the job I'm in for the foreseeable future... I mean, putting it in another way, if the economy isn't going to start adding “real” jobs until, oh, 2019 or so, I guess I'd better get entrenched where I am or get used to the idea of taking less pay in order to get out. So, like I said at the start of the post, I guess I don't really mind the 500$ weekly paychecks...

Dalton's Continued Progress

Today we finished the Asia unit of Dalton's history class, focusing on the Arabian Peninsula and the countries of Japan, China, and India. As an added bonus, I developed a lesson on The Philippines so as to increase the unit's scope.

Today's lesson was focused on the Arabian Peninsula, with emphasis on Saudi Arabia in particular. I think seeing this lesson on the plan was one of the reasons I decided to add The Philippines-- I mean, I don't mind him learning about other countries but I guess I didn't really want too much focus on countries I consider “enemies” of the United States. Oh, and no, I didn't express that opinion to Dalton, at least not in the context of the lesson (he knows I don't like buying goods made in China, but not why, nor does he really care I suppose).

Finally, today's lesson closed with a review on the entire Asia unit. Tomorrow he goes on to Africa, starting with the Sahara. Below I have included his “Progress” meters for each class.

With Social Studies completed, I will be focusing on Science two days a week – possibly three if I can get the energy and time to do it. Trying to not get over my head though since I still have to have time to get ready for work every morning. I'm hopeful take taking on Science will give my wife the time she needs to handle the remaining four classes while not over-extending herself during her pregnancy... but I do expect at some point I'll need to take on a little more to help out... we'll see.

Anyway, just wanted to share his progress.

I Wasn't Kidding...

On September 24 I made the comment on Facebook that I was feeling as if I were “starting a new chapter of my life.” I have found that this is more true than I at first believed... Over the weekend we came to the realization that Michelle is pregnant, and calculated that she is possibly as far as five weeks along.

Of course, this revelation compels me to the realization that I do, indeed, need my job a lot more than they need me, first and foremost in order to maintain health insurance to cover the to-be-determined cost of bringing another child into the world. Of course, I also have great need of many, many more Federal Reserve Notes... Even if the currency is merely a fake paper facade, it still proves useful from time to time.

So now I have the daunting challenge of funding the further growth of Hickersonia under the circumstances of a seemingly endless economic crunch. I have some measure of faith that things will be OK, but I have to admit my hesitation to assume it at face value... More on this later.

Maybe my child is a Genius?

Maybe not, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's close. Home schooling him was definitely the right choice. Yeah, I need to brag a little...

First, as for his progress in Kindergarten, he has nearly completed both Phonics and Social Studies, has over 50% of his math course completed and has made solid progress in every other area.

(Full Size)

Of course, as he's doing all of the above, he also took an assessment designed to compare Kindergarten students in the K12 organization to determine where each is at, developmentally, relative to one another. This test focused on counting, quantities, and numbers in general. Dalton measured “Well Above Average” in each category, the chart making it appear that he may, in fact, by the highest-scored student in two of the four (although I cannot prove that exactly, I feels good to say it anyway).

(Full Size)

Also, as a result of his being enrolled as “full day” Kindergarten, he has Social Studies and History classes that would otherwise not be presented to him at his age. The Social Studies class was intended, as far as I can tell, to be a once-weekly class, but Dalton has done at least two classes weekly, sometimes three. The lessons have focused on things such as the Pledge of Allegiance, the symbols of the United States (such as flags), National Holidays, and basic cultural diversity. These have all been areas of familiarity for Dalton, and each lesson has taken about 20 minutes as opposed to the 45 minutes the school expected them to take.

The History class has so-far focused on defining certain constructs such as the Cardinal Directions, the difference between continents and countries, and is taking him on an imaginary journey to each continent and through various countries on each. In this class, he has studied Australia and Europe, and is starting the Asia unit this week.

(Full Size)

In Europe, he “visited” eight different countries, learning about certain landmarks such as the Eifel Tower and Big Ben, and has completed various little art projects and read stories relevant to the culture of each.

So anyway, I simply wanted to display my son's achievements a little. I don't know for sure, but I doubt there are all that many 5 year old's running around talking about Italy or The Star Spangled Banner, and his test scores are clearly above what a regular public school would expect of him. I'm not sure how much of this is the result of decent parenting or just because he's simply freaking smart as hell... but we're going to keep doing what we're doing because it seems to work.

September 17, 1787

On this fateful day 223 years ago, James Madison helped to pen what I dare to consider to be the most important document ever written by man*, the Constitution of the United States. I suspect that most people forget about this day, or worse, believe that the Constitution was written and/or signed on our Independence Day, July 4, 1776.

Of course, this happens because we tend to forget that the United States had a constitution prior to that which we have now, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Of course, this document (effective from 1777 to 1787) established a much weaker, ineffectual government that was soon seen as needing replacement for fear that foreign powers and internal trade disputes would tear the country apart.

That is where our current Constitution comes in. This document set up a government with a well defined sphere of influence and a clear separation of powers between its different branches and even itself and the States. While this concept has been forgotten, perverted, and downright ignored at numerous times since, I continue to have faith in the principles laid out therein. Further, I maintain hope that people will become interested, and dare I say concerned, about the state of affairs in relation to the Constitution. Finally, I hold dear to the love I have for our great nation.

May The Creator bless America and all those who cherish it.

* Some may argue that the Bible should hold title as the “most important document ever written by man,” forgetting that the Bible is seen by most theologians as being inspired by God, thus not entirely a work of man.

Never Forgetting...

Above: A beautiful sight from this day in 2005, the aurora australis as photographed by NASA's IMAGE satellite. This was happening whilst we in the United States remembered the tragedy that befell us 4 years prior in 2001 when a number of Islamic extremists decided that jumbo-jets made great guided missiles. It is important to remember these terrible occasions, but it is equally important that we realize how infinitely small we are in comparison to the rest of the solar system, and the universe as a whole.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=6226

As random as it may seem, I think today I am most thankful for the fact that the Earth has a reasonably strong magnetic field, for without it, on occasions such as September 11, 2005 when the Earth was struck by the awesome power of our own sun, we might not have been permitted the luxury of being so self-absorbed as to believe that the day was only significant because of terrorism.

Rambling About Moving

We're moving into a new apartment, starting September 17 and hopefully being completely moved by the 20th. It is my hope that we'll be starting to settle in by that point, but it is hard for me to really be terribly concerned with that yet since we really haven't hardly started packing yet. Pictures are still hanging on the walls and most non-essentials are still sitting out in the open just waiting to be parked in boxes, but very little as of yet has actually made it into one.

I did start packing up some of the stuff on my desk, but with one box full I find that the rest of the things might be needed between now and the move, you might imagine I'm hesitant to put it all away if I'm just going to have to cut it back out of a box in a day or two...

But, I'm ready for this otherwise. I want it done and over with so that we can get on with planning Christmas and, hopefully, enjoying the Winter months. Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos that LIKES the winter, but anyway...

Of course, I couldn't tell you to save my life what most of our... uh... stuff... is. I know a lot of it is mine, and I remember acquiring some of it, but what it is or why it is hanging around is unknown to me right now. This goes for a lot of stuff that sits inside one of a multitude of boxes, totes, and other containers that have only been opened a couple times this year, but also applies to the vast majority of the items that reside in our living room, a large portion of which I suspect pretty much belong to my better half (sorry, love).

So, while I'm totally ready for this move, the rest of Hickersonia isn't quite there yet. I really hope we can get it together in the next ten days... It is kinda funny how much stuff we accumulate over time, even if we can't see any real reason to have it. Of course, if we weren't moving, it wouldn't matter, so I guess we'll just have to try to stop moving so frequently... Ahh, wouldn't THAT be a novel idea?

So Very Tired of Hurting

September 11, 2008 I sustained a back injury at work that has never quite left me in peace since. Today is feeling like one of my “bad” days, which is incredibly unfortunate considering we have plans with friends this evening. While the pain is pretty much continual, it varies in severity from day to day – today being at the point at which I hesitate to pick up anything that might be on the floor or even tie my shoes. Going from standing to sitting is uncomfortable too, and on days like these I find that leaning over the table to eat will cause me more grief than it is worth.

My only solace is in the fact that I have finally gotten over my pride and made an appointment with my doctor to see if there is anything we can do about this continued failure in pain management and healing. Those of you who know me well may be familiar with my extreme disinterest in dealing with physicians, the one caste of human being that seems to always act with arrogance, probably due to their seemingly god-like powers over life and death. As such, I have waiting far too long in having my troubles investigated further – a decision that I hope will not turn into a huge regret.

Hablante el Español en Los Estados Unidos Actualmente

Or, for the español-challenged: “Speaking the Spanish in the United States nowadays.”

Over the last ten years I have noted the ever-increasing number of products that are labeled in Spanish, and sometimes even advertised in Spanish. I try to not let these things bother me, but occasionally I find examples of the phenomenon I can't ignore.

For instance, I recall when I last went out to purchase a new DVD player. I had looked up reviews online and decided on one particular model that was both equipped with the features we wanted and priced low enough for us to be able to afford it. At the store, I spent a considerable amount of time looking for the item before I realized that the store had placed a large, incomprehensible inventory label on top of the entire English-language section of the box – I only recognized it because I had written the model number down.

I remember my surprise as I grabbed one of these boxes to find only two places where the unit's specifications were written; the English-language section completely covered by the aforementioned label. Why? I can't really say, but I have to admit my frustration with it. In this case, I chose to not complain because I figured it would have been a worthless gesture, but I seriously considered it anyway...

When did the United States become a bilingual country? Sure, I understand that English has never been the official language of the country, but most applicants for citizenship have to have a functional knowledge of the language. Why is it that about 1/3 of the people I work with are seemingly so ignorant when I attempt to communicate something to them? Why does my employer have to provide Spanish versions of our equipment checkout logs even though none of the bosses are fluent in Spanish? Further, why do my bosses tolerate it when these Spanish-speaking employees fail to follow reasonable orders as a result of the language barrier? I guess I should be thankful I'm not one of the bosses... I wouldn't tolerate it.

Ten years ago I had recently graduated from high school. I took three years of Spanish courses and one year of French, but never really picked up on any more than was absolutely necessary to pass the courses. I remember thinking that I would never need to understand Spanish because, quite frankly, I had never seen a practical application of the language anywhere in my life. Never had I seen an advertisement in Spanish, nor had I ever seen other tongues printed on product packages. I can't remember ever meeting anyone that spoke Spanish as their first language until four years ago, and it does kinda seem like in the last four years in particular I have seen an explosion of Spanish-focused marketing.

It seems to me that some immigrants are simply not even making an effort anymore to assimilate, choosing instead to force the creation of a double-culture that will do nothing but make lives harder and communication more difficult. This opinion was further enforced when my wife told me about an Hispanic child in her preschool class that speaks no English whatsoever. My wife doesn't know Spanish! Yet she has chosen to take on the task of learning at least a series of select Spanish words for the benefit of this particular child. I respect her motives (she is a better person than I) but I don't think it is reasonable for her to have to bother with it.

I don't really have any answers to any of the questions or problems I raise here... I do, however, wish for someone to come up with answers that satisfy my intent to be “me,” while still affording immigrants the opportunity to come here to work and live. Suffice to say, I don't think I should have to read Spanish (period) and I have no intent to really learn any more of the language than I have to to survive. So far, my opinions are shelved because, well, I figure I am a sort of “mental” minority, and I figure I shall continue forever to be so.

Business Gone Dumb

This should be a short one, but I just need to vent a little. I received a call this morning from the jokers at Cincinnati Bell, this time about our home service as opposed to our cellular service (the fiasco with which my Facebook friends should be familiar). Apparently they somehow confused the date for our move request and decided that they would go there TODAY instead of on September 20, the date we requested.

Of course, this presents a major problem because, not only do we not have possession of the apartment in question yet (and won't until September 17), but the outgoing tenant still lives there!

Fortunately, the technician called prior to arriving, but he sure sounded upset about it when I told him we weren't there, couldn't get in even if we were, and we weren't scheduled for today in the first place. Not really my fault, duh... and just to be sure, I called Cincinnati Bell and they do indeed have the correct date for the service change, so what happened is anyone's guess. This company really needs to get it's act together!

9 Years of the Hickersonian Dream

This day officially marks seven years that my wife and I have been married. We met each other over the internet two years earlier, making our relationship not only the longest in which I have participated but certainly my most meaningful. We have brought a son into this world, now five years old and being schooled at home – we have made a lot of sacrifices and overcome many challenges to build our lives.

We have become comfortable with each other without loosing the power of the passion we feel or loosing sight of our combined goals in raising our son. I know too few who are so happy with their spouse, and even when we have hard times I know no other, greater love than that which I feel for her.

The challenges undoubtedly continue daily as we manage our time between our jobs, home schooling, and simply trying to enjoy each others company. Sometimes our son makes further challenges us with the usual 5-year-old attitudes and unusual decision-making processes that can frustrate even the most patient parents, and other times my own frustration with work can bleed over into everything else I do, making me irritable and all-around unsociable. We seem to have an unusual knack of getting through such stresses with hardly a flinch, and I pray that we continue to be so blessed.

And so we continue our epic journey, the Hickersonian Dream if you will. We take each other as we are, even the not-so-loveable parts, and we make a family like none I've ever known previously. I only wish that everyone could have what we have.

The Hickersonian Political Platform

First and foremost, I must acknowledge that my personal political ideology is not the same as that of the entire family. My wife is, arguably, much more liberal on most topics than I am, but she also doesn't really care about a lot of political subjects. For that, I sometimes find myself quite thankful – I can only imagine the stress of continually arguing various subjects with the only person in the world I can't get rid of... Anyway...

My personal philosophy on political structure always goes back to the Constitution. I'm a self-proclaimed strict-constructionist, which (in simplicity) means that the text of the Constitution, or of any document, can only be interpreted by itself and a dictionary. A lot of people insist on attempting to interpret documents based on the original writers' intent, which I have come to believe is nearly impossible to know, and others seem to think that politicians can and should be able to simply re-invent the context of a statement whenever it suits their needs. Fact is, to me there can be only one way to interpret a volume of text, and while I'm willing to allow for some wiggle room for “oops, we were wrong” scenarios, I can't excuse changes in interpretation of law that permit any government a so-called new power that it never seemed to have previously.

I do take this to extremes... I know, and to some degree I understand and appreciate that people find my comments humorous. I don't believe that there is any Constitutional justification for federal funding of highways, federal regulation of telecommunication systems, or even the existence of NASA, an entity that appears to branch out from the Air Force but performs missions that are governed outside of that entity. I tend to think that most of these things should be handed at the state level where the Constitution throws pretty much everything that isn't specifically spelled out in it, or the Constitution should have been amended to permit the authorities that the government currently exercises with impunity.

With the above said, I know better than to say that I think we can return to what I would consider to be a Constitutional standard. Most people wouldn't even consider it a desirable situation, and those that would probably relish the idea of economic havoc and misery that might ensue as a result. The biggest evil of our government is that it has grown so large and powerful that we're all too addicted to it to give it up without sacrificing something that we feel like we need. Of course, I feel like this is the point behind why the politicians have led the government to this point – we need it more and more every passing day, and that means they can tax us both directly (income, sales, and property taxes) and indirectly (corporate taxes, search and seizures of property that “may have been used in the commission of a crime”, and inflation) and we'll never really do anything about it.

So I look to this problem with a weary eye and I am forced, as many are, to pick a side that is seemingly “less evil” than the other side(s), and usually I'm either forced to pick one of two entities or to choose a third that has nearly no real authority with which to lead. Placing my faith behind Democrats feels to me like giving the government a blank check and telling it to spend as much as it wants on pretty much anything, most of which seems to affect me none but cost the country millions. Placing my faith behind Republicans feels similar, except that I'm giving the check to business and the military in specific with which to execute economic irregularities and conflicts in countries many Americans tend to be unable to even identify on a map.

I side with Libertarians on a great many issues but they seem to have no political momentum whatsoever; same with Constitutionalists when don't even get a slot on most ballots because there isn't enough support for them to fill their petitions...

Generally speaking, unless provoked by someone else, I don't really bother to discuss politics much anymore due to my disgust with the mess. Much like the problems I see at work every day, no one is really interested in fixing the “real problems” because they probably have no idea what the problems really are. Do I know better? Not really...

So politically, I choose to stand for my principles. I call myself a Strict-Constructionist / Constitionalist, and until something better comes along, I will continue to advocate a simple, plain text version of handling law and politics. The only question I really feel like I have to ask when it comes to new legislation and regulation of anything at the federal level is: “Where in the Constitution does the government derive that authority?”

Hickersonia Elementary Opens

Well, our son started Kindergarten on Monday, albeit officially school doesn't begin until tomorrow. So far, he and I have focused on handwriting, social studies, and history courses – things I feel relatively confident I can at least help with. His mother will be working with him on reading, language arts, and math. There will also be a science course, although I'm not sure how we'll do that class yet since I can get into it but I may just not have time every day.

This home schooling program through K-12 is pretty interesting, for those who might be interested in that sort of thing. I never really thought it could be made easy enough for parents to handle, but it looks like they did a better job than I could have anticipated. I particularly like the “Study Island” program they have because I can set him up on it in the morning for 20 or so minutes while I get my coffee started and try to wake myself up enough for the other lessons. Hey, I gotta have my caffeine you know!

Of course, school starts while work is pounding me with overtime, but I guess I can't have it easy or I'd be cheating or something...

Continued Economic Blues

I've come to the conclusion that my employer, either by accident or design, has realized it's position as the giver (and taker) of life. This is an unfortunate economic truth that I suspect many local employers are enforcing, especially with Ohio's average unemployment rate at 10.4% (with the Cincinnati rate closely mirroring the state average). In my case, I'm paid a so-called “competitive wage” of 13.30$ hourly (a wage I had surpassed by about a dollar an hour over four years ago at my last job), and I find little comfort in it except that it is currently sufficient, albeit barely, to meet our needs when supplemented by my wife's part-time employment.

I find myself asking, however; whatever happened to the times of the single-income family? I wouldn't feel so bad frustrating myself needlessly at work every day if my wife didn't have to work for us to still meet our needs, but as it stands there is just no way to survive without the second income. No one ever said life had to be “fair,” I realize that, but with no debt, no major medical problems, and a reasonable rental payment for our home, what does it take to manage on a single income?

I assure you, I'll be working on a solution to this question over the next few months.

But beyond that, I will continue the struggle to balance my work life with my home life... something that seems harder to do with each passing month.

Turning a Page

This morning my wife embarked on the first day at her new job, turning yet another page in Hickersonian history, even if not quite starting a new chapter yet. She goes from a full time daycare/preschool position at a seemingly underfunded company to a part-time gig with a church-operated preschool. 40 hours weekly down to 16; 7.75$ per hour up to 11$.

Technically speaking there is a pay decrease but certain other factors apply to make this a potentially favorable change. The biggest such factors include the elimination of child care (and the 74$ weekly expense involved with it) and the fact that she'll have more time for home schooling our son, which I dare say is the actual start of our next so-called “chapter.”

Overall, this change was budgeted as a $2,430.80 decrease in our yearly income, not an inconsequential amount, but we feel it is worth the cost to secure the proper environment for home schooling our son. Of course, this sort of deficit required an extensive package of trimmings to our expenses, forcing us to move to a smaller, lower-rent apartment (hoping for lower utility costs as well), drop certain cell phone services, and change where we store our excess items. I have estimated the total cuts to the budget around 200$ monthly.

This job change, while nearly guaranteed to work for the duration of the school-year, has a major drawback in that it leaves us without a second income during the summer when school is out. This is, you might imagine, a major stressor to me (even if it isn't so much so for my wife). This is where most of the income drop comes into play, an amount I think we'll be hard-pressed to save up over the next seven or eight months while managing our other needs. My wife may be left with no option but to get a temporary part-time gig for the summer – something we can't guarantee when you consider the state of the economy. After I finish the 2011 budget, I'm sure additional cuts will be on the table.

Even with these probable financial hardships, with the turning of this page my wife sees not only more time for our son's home schooling, but the opportunity to work more closely with her church and to do work to which I believe she feels called by a higher power. I can't stand in the way of that, nor can I argue the impossibility of our financial situation because I am still fairly confident in our ability to adjust our lifestyle to nearly any need... but I'm not going to claim any of it will be particularly easy.

Cardinals Sweep the Reds

In a three-game series this week the St. Louis Cardinals, much to the chagrin of most people I know, swept the Cincinnati Reds on their own home field. This earns me the ire of many of my coworkers, several of my friends, and at least a few of my wife's family, even though I obviously had nothing to do with it. It is funny all the same, especially considering many of my coworkers kept telling me how this was the “most important series of the year.”

If the Reds had won at least two out of three I was going to wear one of my wife's Reds caps to work on Thursday, but since that didn't happen, well, I guess my STL cap will be worn instead. Go Cardinals!

Change for the Sake of Change

(or Rant on Changes)

I'm the sort of person that doesn't deal well with change. As a general rule, with any modification to my life and schedule comes crankiness, forgetfulness, and new and creative uses of foul language.

Most of the daily changes I have to deal with tend to be forced by the management of the company for which I work. It is definitely a company that is willing to e xperiment with new ways of doing things, or at times to re-experiment with an old way of doing things (that probably didn't work very well). Of course, the employees fill the position of “lab rats” in this process, paying for the management's mistakes in blood, sweat, and unnecessary overtime hours.

So they change things, and then change them back, numerous times before settling on a course of action – usually the way it was before they started messing with it – and then pick something else to play around with like a kitten that has bored with its ball of yarn. Sometimes they change break schedules, other times job processes are modified. Other times yet they have changed entire shifts, forcing workers into new schedules to accommodate the company or even to quit entirely because their personal lives couldn't be so totally re-arranged on a whim.

Lets just suffice to say that I do tire of feeling like I'm owned by my employer... but that could be another post in and of itself so we'll move on.

Aside from work changing things, sometimes seemingly at random, there are many other sources of so-called “improvements” to life. Recently the State of Ohio passed legislation that changes child booster seat requirements so that our son is required to sit within a booster until he is 7 years old. While I understand the intent behind the law, it makes absolutely no concession for those of us who drive older vehicles that do not have shoulder belts in the back seats. As a result, my only way to comply with the law is to have my son ride in the front seat whenever he rides with me (which isn't terribly often).

Furthermore, booster seats are not intended to be used with a locking clip (that little metal H-shaped thing that locks the seat belt), but the belts in my older vehicles do not lock without it, further complicating my compliance with the law.

Fortunately the law doesn't require the booster to be placed in a back seat or I'd be completely screwed... Am I seriously in a minority to be a licensed driver with a vehicle over 20 years old and a booster-aged child? I understand the goal trying to protect children from vehicular deaths but laws need to be written in a manner that can be reasonably applied. I can't spent hundreds of dollars installing new seat belts in my vehicles (not that I'd even be able to find someone who could do it considering the availability of parts for them) and I'd really rather have my son restrained in the back seat, but I will comply to the best of my ability.

So while I deal with government and work changing things on me, I still have to deal with changes within my own family. My wife is starting a new job Monday and my son starts his home schooling the Monday proceeding. Both changes promise to bring new challenges to my schedule, including the need to wake up earlier while work forces me to go to bed later due to steadily increasing overtime. We won't even get into the havoc being wrought on Hickersonian economic policy, suffice to say that the budget has been overhauled six or seven times in the last month. While, like everything else, I know I'll make it through, I still have to acknowledge the stress and anxiety I feel constantly about it all.

So I sit down now with my morning coffee and try to find some way to relax before I face another day of random changes that serve little or no purpose, less random changes that serve other peoples' purposes, and purposeful changes that still continually leave me feeling like everything is out of control. I hope there will eventually be a time when I can get past it and just let it happen without apprehension, fear, or worry... but I honestly think I'm just “wired” to feel this way and that is one thing that will probably never change.

I'm Still Upset

I'm still upset.

Not that the reasons for my irritation are entirely out of my control... Surely some of my own decisions (and at times, indecision) influenced the situation. Of course, some of those decisions were probably influenced by those things that were entirely unpredictable, and as such I have less trouble further reducing my own perceived personal responsibility on the matters. Perception is everything right? If I don't feel like I should be responsible for something, am I still?

Perhaps.

In any event, a great many things led to the Hickersonian financial meltdown in 2009, and as I said a moment ago, I'm still upset.

I'm still upset about the loss of one of my jobs in January of 2009. This event has served as the catalyst for nearly every financial policy change made since. The reasons for termination were crap at best, and since my employment was severed remotely, I was never given an opportunity to let my side of the matter be heard. This was something that I firmly believe was out of my command entirely, and I could speak volumes about this job and how it ended... but I don't think that would serve much purpose here.

Following the job loss, there are certainly moments of indecision, or even just failure to act on decisions (which I suppose amounts to the same thing) for which I take full credit. For instance, there were numerous occasions in which I felt that I needed to find a new part time job doing anything that would provide our budget with at least an extra 200$ every month (about 1/6^th of what the previous part time gig provided). I figured that this, along with a package of budget cuts that I felt were nearly impossible at the time, would be enough to stave off most potential disasters. Since the bankruptcy, we've managed to enact nearly every budget cut that I ever considered prior to August of 2009, so the cuts were indeed possible, and honestly, I don't feel like we are worse for it.

Of course, I'm not entirely sure that getting another job and cutting expenses would have saved us in the long run. One of our early, pre-bankruptcy financial policy changes involved the so-called “sale” of one of our vehicles (and it's 370$ monthly payment) to one of our friends. I say “so-called” because the vehicle had to remain in our name because this friend was unable to finance it himself. For six or seven months he seemed to have no difficulty whatsoever paying for it, but when illness struck his wife payments became impossible for him, leaving me responsible for the payments while he continued to drive the vehicle... for a time, anyway.

As we prepared for the bankruptcy, we did end up “repo-ing” the car, so to speak, but it was difficult. I'm still upset that he didn't just return it to us the moment he couldn't pay for it anymore, but I am further upset that I even allowed to whole fiasco to take place. While I'm not sure there was much I could have done to avoid the bankruptcy, I do think I could have maintained the friendship had I simply never entered into the deal with him.

I'm also still upset with myself for my anger with this friend as I came to learn a few months ago that his wife passed away as a result of her illness... but I'm not entirely sure my actions could have been avoided.

My frustration continues to linger about loosing our house, even if I'm still convinced it was the right decision. To this day we still receive quarterly waste water and trash bills for the property because of various local legalities that leave us responsible for the property until the foreclosure process completes, even though we have no property rights there – we can't even legally enter the dwelling! It is possible that I wouldn't be so upset about this still if it weren't for these continual reminders...

That is one thing no one tells you when you start the bankruptcy process: is that sometimes you're still on the hook for certain expenses even though the trustee has abandoned your claims to the properties in question. I feel like I have every right to be a bit upset about that still... not that it would have changed anything, really.

So today I stand on the other side of the bankruptcy, feeling like we're doing better, but only (quite frankly) because of the charity of others, in particular my wife's family. I wouldn't even have a vehicle to drive to work if it weren't for them, and I remember this debt that we cannot repay daily. I admit, this further upsets me – I don't feel like I'm ever going to see true independence as a man, like I'm going to have to rely on others forever to keep my financial policies working even though, at least on paper, every financial plan I have ever created is logical and consistent with our goals and needs.

It is hard for some people (such as myself) to remember that life can't be plotted out on paper logically. I suppose if it could be, it would be too easy and probably not worth living, but it would certainly be more sensible and predictable.

So I continue to work for a company that, at times, seems hell-bent on my destruction simply to bring home a sufficient amount of currency to allow us to pay our rent and utilities and (hopefully) keep our vehicles running. No wage increase this year, of course (what's a raise?), so while we watch all of our costs going up our wages freeze (or decrease, in some cases). We're moving again this September simply because the rent at our current place is too high for us even if it remains the same (which it wouldn't).

And every day I find myself wondering, “What's next?”

Opening Day

Most of my friends remember there was a time when I was quite verbose about my opinions on a number of subjects, most of which I posted routinely about on my website, titled "Tripwire" before thetripwire.com existed.  Even today I think they owe me some sort of credit for the idea, but I digress...

Today I have created this... blog... in spite of the fact that I've always and will forever hate the term.  Sometimes I need a venue in which to post the things I just can't post on Facebook due to its various limitations, and this will be it.  Excuse me if I ramble and rant from time to time -- its in my nature.

Welcome to Ultimately Hickersonian.