Music Monday: Beatie Boys Intergalactic

Beastie Boys - Intergalactic 

You have to watch this video. It is completely campy and crazy.

But I think therein lies what I want to talk about. Being creative, being silly, being willing to enjoy something for the sake of enjoying it. Being willing to imagine, push the envelope. This video is a spoof on all the B-movies, which envision aliens and there is a bit of a Godzilla vibe. Imagination. We credit imagination as being childish or for those certain select few, the artists, the poets, the others. Imagination is not grown up (unless we call it innovation and then it is a 50-50 shot, is it grown up imagination or bullshit dressed up.) I say those who think imagination is only for children are those who are trapped and unwilling to push, unwilling to try. There is no age limit on imagination.

For those who know me, I am not a fan of the mindless film or slapstick or anything which resembles MTV's series Jackass, but that does not mean I am serious all the time. There is a time to be serious and there is a time to be lighthearted. What I am not lacking is imagination.

There is also a time to step outside of ourselves and challenge our notions. I have all but tuned out most traditional news outlets, in part because it makes me sad and angry. All this news is filled with hate and violence and there is no love or compassion. There is no willingness on the part of people, to take a deep breath and say, "wow, that is different from how I see it, but let's explore that..." there is no willingness on the part of other people to say, "wow that is how I thought we always did it, but look there are X number of people doing something else successfully, let's explore how that is possible." Let's explore and LEARN.

Instead of hiding behind notions of "that is HOW we have always done it" or "that is how GOD/ALLAH/JEHOVAH has said we must do it" let's consider that Galileo was told repeatedly the world couldn't possibly be round, because everyone knew it wasn't.

 Looks round to me...

What if in the 50s and 60s, those scientists had defaulted to "oh, we could never land on the moon, humans have never been to the moon and that is just how it is suppose be."

(OK I will give you it is hard to tell in the space suits, but my guess is the guys dancing there, they are humans.)

The reality is we have to as people stop letting our prejudices and  fears get in the way of seeing that we are all on this planet together, that there are real problems which must be addressed and when everyone is telling you that "is how we have always done it" it is because that person fears change or they fear the inevitable loss of power. Chains of power are both reassuring and choking.

 

Let's consider what some people more famous than I have said:

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.
George S. Patton

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_imagination2.html#ixzz1PouR1a7v

OR

People who lean on logic and philosophy and rational exposition end by starving the best part of the mind.
William Butler Yeats

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_imagination2.html#ixzz1PougcRuf

OR

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.
Edgar Allan Poe

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_imagination3.html#ixzz1Pov1iFNR

OR

We imagine that we want to escape our selfish and commonplace existence, but we cling desperately to our chains.
Anne Sullivan Macy

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_imagination3.html#ixzz1PovOMAv2

My challenge to you is to take a minute and examine your beliefs? Are they yours or are they the ones someone else told you, you should have? Are you dreaming only at night. Have you given up on imagination? Are you too serious or important to imagine?

Is Patton right, is someone not thinking???

The answer, I doubt is Intergalactic Plan-a-tery.

 

Music Monday: Howlin Maggie

Easy to be Stupid

I'm a Slut

Alchol

I saw Howlin' Maggie back in the day. They put on one amazing show. They recently came back together for a benefit for Andy Davis. They are a local band and I think they made two fantastic records. Above are three of their best known songs. At least, three of my favorites.

 Today's post will likely get a few people worked up. So fair warning, if you do not want to read my frank discussion about sex, violence, capitalism, and the judgmental and I believe stupid and misguided regulation of vice, I humbly suggest you stop reading this now. Right now, move along - nothing for you to see here.

I am going to link to some works written by some folks I respect, who aim their material to those folks who are over 18. There will be a crafty post later and you should really think about coming back for that one. For this reason I am employing the cut. To protect those who choose not to stop reading. You click, you affirmatively have decided to read what I have to say. (For those of you reading on Facebook, you were warned. Stop now if you don't want to read about sex and capitalism.)

Music Monday: Pete Seeger

I studied American Studies at Miami University in the early 90s. My interest was in American popular culture, material culture and how architecture both informs us culturally and is a physical tie to our past. I wanted to go on and pursue a PhD in American Studies, but a long illness my senior year and lack of resources made me rethink that plan.

I was very lucky to have a number of influential visiting instructors. One such instructor, who taught AMS 201, did a retrospective of American music. We studied the history of the time and how it influenced the music of the time. Anyone who thinks art - be it visual, musical, literary or otherwise happens purely for arts sake is just deluding themselves. Just as Wagner was part of the Nazi machine, people like Arlo Gutherie and earlier still Woody Gutherie and Pete Seeger are in many cases speaking out the policies and ideals of the American government or GASP! just trying to be evocative and get others to think about it. Art should, at its best, challenge us.

Part of how artists do that is through chronicling events, making connections and perhaps even being provocative. I would argue the Peter Seeger song below is very provocative and lest anyone wonder, yes he did it on purpose. Protest songs are angry reactions. Satire is something else entirely. Satire is provocative and yet it is subversive too. Satire isn't true or untrue, it is satire... it is the art of being subversive and provocative and making it funny. Smart people, clever people produce satire... they often poke fun at others. They amp up certain bits and pieces of the story, not only to be funny, but to make a point.

My music Monday submission today is a few songs... I hope you enjoy them... more importantly, I hope they make you think. The problems today, aren't really all that different... what does that say about the human condition, our reactions to and does it suggest a direction, are my questions to you?

Pete Seeger - What did you learn in school today?

Arlo Guthrie - City of New Orleans

Woody Guthrie


(as a note - Woody is first chronologically, then Pete Seeger then Arlo, who is yes Woody's son.)

Dear Mr. President

I rarely write to my elected officials, cuz let's be honest, no one above an intern actually reads what is written. Also I am rarely moved to such high levels of angst. I have to tell you, not much gets me up in arms, aside from when the government tries to monkey with my right to free speech and I am a BIG fan of the 4th Amendment. I have a right to say NO you can't touch me, look through my car or house, just because YOU think there is threat.


I also have spent more than ample time empowering both L and E to say no. No you can't hit me. No you can't hurt me and no you can't touch me in inappropriate ways. I am not inclined to make an exception to a TSA official, especially when this list of folks gets to waltz through scott free, unmolested and unscreened (as reported by Chris Elliott.)

The TSA insists it is listening to air travelers, and has already loosened many of its screening requirements in response to the public outrcy, including exempting pilots, flight attendants and children under 12 from the body scans or enhanced pat-downs. (Children will receive a “modified” pat-down, but the agency declines to say how, exactly, kids will be screened.)

It is so damn easy for President Obama to say these measures are important, he gets to jet set around the world with his wife and children and not have to explain to his daughters why women and men in uniform are touching them inappropriately. He does not have to explain to his daughters why they have to give up their right to consent to sexual touching.(also as reported by Chris Elliott)

President defends pat-downs. President Obama tells ABC’s Barbara Walters tonight that the pat-downs will continue. “I understand people’s frustrations with it,” he says. “But I also know that if there was an explosion in the air that killed a couple of hundred people…and it turned out that we could have prevented it possibly…that would be something that would be pretty upsetting to most of us – including me.”

No one is going to goose him in an airport, so why should he care. His cronies are exempt. His wife is exempt. His children are exempt. The baggage handler is exempt. This TSA policy is for the birds and we all know it.

So this is the message I sent the man I voted for 2 years ago. His job is to keep us safe and UPHOLD the Constitution. It is not an either/or proposition Mr. President. Take your fancy education and figure out some real solutions. I would start with finding Mr. Pistole a job as a pencil sharpener, he is not representing you well.

My Letter to the President:

I am writing you to urge you to reconsider this horrible and I feel unconstitutional TSA search and irradiation policy. As the father of two daughters, I cannot believe that a) you feel what amounts to sexual assault is justified, even to young children and b) this policy with its abundance of loop holes, like unscreened airport employees and members of congress, and the underscreened cargo  is not actually making us safer, but it is discriminatory.

Buying an airline ticket should not also mean I must submit defacto to sexual assault.

There are better ways and it is up to you, Mr. President to find them.

There must be a balance between security and dignity.Policies which purport to ensure our safety but steal our dignity must not be tolerated. That is not what the founding Fathers' risked life and liberty for and we should not be willing to accept anything less than that.

Freedom comes with great responsibility and first and foremost we must responsibly protect those freedoms.
This wrongheaded and unconstitutional TSA policy are not the way to do that. I know you know that. As a father you want your daughters to be safe and have the right to consent. Do not steal that from my daughter, just because your daughters can fly on a private jet. Just because your wife does not have to be man-handled in public, do not make me consent to such treatment.

If there were proof that these type of loop hole riddled policies actually made me safer, perhaps I would go along with it, but they don't and we all know that.

Sincerely,

Susan

February

February is always SUCH a long month, never that it has the fewest days of any month. Last years was all kinds of craziness and this year is shaping up to be the same.

Today we are getting an insane amount of snow. Always a pleasure. Luckily H is home and he has been shoveling it ever few hours. H went and collected the kids today, as school let out early.

The big news thus far in February is that H is likely being transferred to NYC to be based at LGA. For those of you who have followed me here for awhile, I might have blogged about his time being in Detroit. He was based in Detroit when E was a baby. This mean his scheduled trips begin and end in NYC and then he has to commute home. It is an added layer of complexity. No the airline does not pay for his hotel or apartment in NYC, he is on his own. That is an added expense.

It also means he is home less or potentially home less. When E was a baby it was really really hard and his mom was sick then also. Now E is almost in school full time, so hopefully this will be more manageable. I often say that as a pilot's wife, I am a single mama with husband. Starting in March that will be more so.

We have made some changes to the after school schedule and I think we are in a position to adapt.

Now February is not all gloom and doom. I am pleased to announce that I am done. I have completed my MBA with the University of Phoenix. I am writing about it for an article which will appear in an upcoming issue of Stiletto Woman. I will post a link when it is published.

Now I am looking forward to rebuilding my business and perhaps teaching.

For now, I am going to curl up and read a book and pretend that there is not going to be nearly 2 feet of snow outside my door come morning.

Violet Gray

Maybe it is because L is such a devoted artist. Or perhaps as I grow into myself as a poet, but I seem to be noticing all the subtle colors around me more and more.

Thrusday, while at the Wexner Center in the cafe, I was looking at the bright luminous sun and marveling at the color of the edges of the clouds dancing around the sun. The edges of the clouds were kissed with the subtle tones of pink and orange.

This morning on an arguably gray day, the sky was an amazing shade of violet gray. The depth of the color in places in striking counter point to the flat white gray of the upper sky (or the rain dotted sky out my window as I type.)

There is something about the subtle of life. Maybe I am seeing it now, because I am open to seeing it or perhaps it really does come with age.

Or are the colors a metaphor for the emotions which imbibe our lives. Is the violet purple the manifestation of melancholy? Is the jaunty pinks and oranges - the brightness of an excited mood?

I am not sure if there is a connection, but I am sure that the colors of our lives matter. They matter alot.

Too cool for School

Well not really - but I am back in MBA school. For a variety of reasons. This round it is Human Resources Management. A subject I both enjoy and loathe.

I was speaking with EP today. She is a friend from back in the day at the former JOB. She and I think alike. Difference is she is still there and I am sitting here writing for you all to read.

My beef with HR is not actually with HR. My beef is with the text books and the corporate disingenuous rhetoric - which perpetuals the myth that all the HR mumbo jumbo actually matters. I am behind the idea of actually using intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. I am behind 360 feed back and peer evaluations and I am behind compressed work weeks and health benefits and gym membership discounts. I am behind team building exercises and the whole bit... but what I am finding hard to stomach is the the way they dress it UP and make it sound like these lofty principals are what drive corporate decision making. That is BS!

The almighty dollar is what drives corporate decision making. Intrinsic rewards and praise for a job well done be damned. When the chips are down - as they are now - the CEO and the CFO and the CIO and so forth and so on are gunning to keep their jobs and could give a shit about yours - other than it costs them money and they would like to cut it. You are just a pile of zeros.

You can emasse years upon years worth of glowing HR reviews, a killer sales record and/or perfect attendance from 40 years ago. Never sick one day and frankly it is all for shit. Cuz when they cut - they cut and it is not based on fact or reason or anything. It is a free for all! They chuck the HR manual and start looking at fiance reports. If they even ever bothered to look at the HR manual. And I know that is why MBA school is pushing the HR piece - but really. I read the news... it is about money. ML has an HR department - which they outsourced to INDIA. That says alot about the value they place on that part of th MBA ciriculum.

I was a model employee at the former JOB. Good reviews and the whole bit. Showed up gave 110% and at the end of the day the whiny guy on the team whined louder than I worked hard and no one but no one cared. When I sought a lateral move or something, that bite me in the butt. Besides I was a woman in an all male business. I was told by the HR designee in our office that "getting your MBA is a waste of time and the companies money - Because we all know you will just end up a mom - like all the others before you!"

My friend who has worked for 10 years at her company and is a middle manger - yep she is drawing unemployment. Not because she was the weak link or anything. The company's profits are for shit and 1/3 of the work force was laid off and yet the CEO is enjoying wine and veal at Cipreoni's.

I get that business is about making money. Duh! But we need to as a culture decide if we want to define value solely as money. Is shareholder value solely about the bottom the line. Cuz the same shareholder is paying the good for nothing CEO - to eat at Cipreoni's and my friend to draw unemployment. Is this a VALUE? I think not.

The CEO should be paid only if the company makes a profit. If the theory of business is that the business is in business to make model holds true.

I am CEO of Images Written - my business and I only make money if I make money. I work for myself - but the point is.... that is the CEOs job. To run a profitable business. His/Her decisions shape the business and he/she should be held directly accountable. The buck stops at the CEOs door.

The big guys, by my estimations see it that we work for them to make them money. While they hang out, drink martini's and play golf. Something is wrong with this picture.

Oh I get that they are networking and visioning and thinking... my ass they are loafing. And they are stealing from those of us who just want to work hard, make our mark and feed our families.

It takes - in my mind - the balls of a brass monkey to get on national TV or appear at the senate hearings and start crying now that the auto industry is for shit and you need my tax money or else the world as we know it is going to end.

Well they should know - the greedy corporate jet flying, multi million dollar earning BIG GUY. You ran it into the ground. Stop shifting the blame and take it like a man. You want the rest of use to eat rice and beans - pony up and share your can!

Same for the Lehman goons. They trashed a legitamate bank and put 1000s out of work for greed alone. They should be tarred and feathered. No amount of HR razzle dazzle could save any of the lifetime Lehman employees - who did nothing wrong - other than to trust the BS coming out of the CEOs mouth.

I think they should have to pick up trash on the side of the road from now until eternity to atone for their egregious breach of both their employees and share holder's trust - the rest of us have bills to pay and team building meetings to attend.

Enough....

Ok I have been silent for a bit, but this is beyond the pale. I am sure we are all aware that I believe that hate begets hate. Close mindedness begets Closed mindedness.

I am going to state something that many people will not agree with BUT I feel it is the TRUTH. My motto of late is "I cannot tell you what you want to know, only what I know..."

• On 9/11 a group of MEN blew up and slaughtered many innocence people. They were men who where not "right minded" and loving. They were fanatics. They happened to be from countries in the middle east. They spoke languages other than English.
• An American blew up the the Federal building in Oklahoma City. His command of English was fine and he was also not "right minded" and loving. He slaughter Innocent people who were just working and making a living...
  
• In 1776 - depending on the view the revolutionaries began a revolution which while grounded in honorable ideals - was viewed by many as an act of terrorism and sedation. It turned out to be an amazing choice - but it was viewed by many as not right minded and loving... How about the civil war?
  
• The French Revolution saw the slaughter of 1000s of people - what began as a movement founded in philosophical principals, melted and morphed into a blood thirsty reign of terror.
• When the police killed the protesters at Kent State, they committed murder - I am not sure it was right minded or not. They followed orders. But what about freedom of speech.
  

See every issue has so many sides. Acts of hate beget more hate and confusion.

But this has to stop. Arabs, Middle Easterners and those who are Muslim are not guilty by proxy. Just as those of us who are Euro American are not all militia members and we are not going to blow up federal buildings. I am Euro American and I have never been a militia member, have no interest and frankly think fertilizer is dangerous to your health - blowing it up is just plain stupid.

I went to the young socialists meetings in college - but that did not mean I was going to join a group like the SDS in Germany. They were urban terrorists.

Arabic language t-shirts are not the problems. Arab or Middle Eastern Families, who are having a conversation about their fears of flying and the safest place to sit in an airliner - a conversation I had with L when we went to NYC are not a threat to the safety of other passengers.

Enough....

The real threat to security is not those who are Arab or those who are wearing clothing we do not like. The real threat - the threat to humanity is our own illusions, our own prejudices and our own arrogance.

If you think striping at the airport and having your bags searched is going to solve this - then I have some swamp land in Florida... cheap cheap cheap...

If you think discriminating against a certain group of people - Arabs, women, French speakers or whatever is going to help make us safer - I am here to tell you - IT IS NOT. HATE IS NEVER ENOUGH. Small mindedness is NEVER ENOUGH! Just look at what is happening in Israel and Palestine as I write. There is so much hate and violence and blood on hands on both sides in that conflict. Love and compassion is the only true resolution and that is hard. Hard to love with bloody hands... but it in the end will only be enough....

I have always thought that it is my right as an American - it is my legacy and my duty to live the principals of freedom. Freedom is a costly adventure my friends. Freedom lives in love and rightmindness and Freedom is a hard road. I ask you... Are we on the right road.

Delaying flights, covering T-shirts and bowing to the small and petty mean - well that is not courageous and it will never - not ever - BE ENOUGH.

The Fox and the Hen House

I know you need experience but why is Obama picking an insider to run the SEC. We need someone who is not tainted and who can carry a big stick & bust some balls. Not someone who is considered a low profile caretaker.

I am as a woman happy to see a woman at the helm. But is THIS the woman for the job. I want someone running the SEC who carries a big stick, busts balls and puts these crooks and frauds in their place. Not a rubber stamper and not someone who has been an insider for a number of years. We need a straight talker like Jim Cramer or Suze Orman. Someone who talks straights and will make the SEC talk straight. Chris Matthews even. Their industry experience is less important to me - it is their low tolerance for bullshit which should receive the top billing in this case.

We need someone who will work with the Justice Department and who will be willing to throw those who cheat and lie and play fast and loose with the public's money and trust under the bus.

Wall Street is now taking my tax dollars to their bank in the Caymans and that pisses me the hell off.

I have my doubts that Mary can effect any real change.

So Obama - with this appointment I have to say I am questioning your normally sound judgement.

We need a pit bull and not another industry lap dog.

White flakes from hell

Yep that is my general feeling about snow. I hate it. Snow has no redeeming value. So guess what. We have about 2 inches of the stuff.

Wanna guess where is H???

NOT HOME!

No H is snowed in, in Chi-town in a 3 star hotel, enjoying a hot breakfast, a hot tub, a sauna and a pool. He is studying and on call. He is blissfully alone and surrounded by quiet. Not cooped up in a house with 2 cabin fever ridden children.

What did I do?

I schlepped two kids to the store and back, got gas, and took L to a party. If that were not enough, I shoveled it off the driveway!

How is it that H, who likes snows, always seems to not be here for the chores which come along with it.......

Where is the cosmic fairness in that?

It's no Boogie...

I know next to nothing about golf. One year at work I rallied long and hard to be included in the annual golf outing. Not becasue I enjoy golf or wanted to golf per se - but I felt and feel it is wrong to exclude anyone from an all office event. It either is an all office event or it is not.... my colleague got paid to golf on a Wednesday well damn straight I am too....

Back on topic...

PGA golfer J. P. Hayes is a stand up guy. He is a man of principles and integrity. He played in a PGA event with an unapproved ball. He also broke the PGA rule of playing a game with same ball - or brand of ball. He owned up to the violation and it will likely cost him a season's worth of play.

Why do I care and why should you? Because HE DID THE RIGHT THING... He made an error and broke some rules. Not on purpose, not cheating or being underhanded - but an honest mistake. Even still the rules are the rules and he took responsiblity for his actions. He did not point the finger at his caddie or blame someone else. He is CEO of his game and as such is ultimately responsible for his actions. He acted with HONOR. An astonishingly infrequently occurrence.

J.P. I am sorry to say I do not know you. I do not follow golf and had not heard of you before now. But I will say this to you... Thank You! Thank your for demonstrating the type of values and sportsmanship and ethics I am trying to teach my kids. You had alot on the line and YET you did the right thing. You stood up and accepted responsiblity for your actions and in an era where executives who make millions fail to be concerned with any of those things - values and ethics mainly instead choosing to focus mostly on their own personal bottom lines - I say thank you.

I will also say this. I live very near one of the Spring PGA events and you are welcome to come over for a drink and some refreshments - my way of saying thank you. I have handed out some tough criticisms here on Thoughts from the Edge - but when I see someone doing the RIGHT thing - well I think that ought to be honored as well. So the cake is on me!

How is this different...

I will admit I knew very little about the Middle East until 9/11 and even then I knew only enough to get the geography and so forth. That is until I met JM, who is a dear friend and a very well known anthropologist/archaeologist who specializes in pre-Biblical civilizations of the middle east.

Once I met her I made it my business to read more, pay more attention to the news and to learn what I could about countries like Syria and Yemen, if only so I knew something about places she goes to regularly.

She is about to go to Syria - although this news makes it seem unlikely. When we spoke this weekend she was waiting on her VISA to come through, that seems increasingly doubtful now.

I have very mixed feelings about our response to the "crisis" in the middle east. I think 9/11 was a terrible tragedy and those responsible should be prosecuted in the international court or at the US level.

I do however have issues with the War in Iraq and I certainly have issues with cross boarder raids into other nations, like Syria.

The terrorists who struck on 9/11 feel and believe and I think if you listen to their rhetoric, they passionately state they are engaged in a holy war. They feel their religion and ideology is on the line. I happen to disagree and I think millions of other people disagree - but they truly feel convicted that it is true.

How is our entering another sovereign nation any different. Even if we are following the "bad guys" - please explain to me how it is different. We broke any number of international laws and for what? The terrorists on 9/11 broke those same laws and well then some - but the premises was the same. Each act shows a blatant disregard for international law and sovereignty.

The War in Iraq is wrong and needs to end. The raid into Syria is/was wrong and it needs to end. We should apologize for not honoring their sovereignty.

We need to bring our troops home and focus on what we can control, mainly our borders and who gets into our country and making sure we are well educated and competitive labor force. We are wasting countless resources by trying to police the world and frankly we are not doing that great of a job at that either. The loses in "Goodwill" column are immeasurable by my estimation.

Power and respect come in many forms and I would humbly submit - for at least the last 8 years we have been slowly diminishing both.

Just shut up and nod...

Ok I have developed a skill. I call it "Shut Up and Nod..." I have learned that some things are worth addressing and sometimes it is just better to shut up and nod!

For example, the contractor sent someone over to clean today. Just here and there becasue the trim guys got saw dust all over the place becasue they had not hung up the plastic over the bathroom door.

OMG there is so much dust in my house how in the hell did they notice yesterday's saw dust.

I just held my tongue and nodded. Frankly yesterday I was too tired to think straight, let alone argue...

Today they installed a temp sink and counter.... Why? I get that the counter is going to take a week or so before it is ready to be installed and that we are slowly inching to the finish line - but DO THEY SERIOUSLY think I am going to sort of move into my partially done kitchen. Are they insane? I am not moving anything into that kitchen until they are DONE and vacate and I can clean properly...

So I just nodded and agreed that it was SO nice to have my temp sink and counter top...

Really it is just easier...

An American in Paris

I have actually never to Paris. I want to go - alas the dollar is worthless and I will remain state side for the time being.

I have spent a reasonable amount of time off and on over the last 20 years overseas, specifically in Germany. I studied abroad, I have visited friends and family. I have experienced German culture not from a tour bus but from the living rooms and pubs, with actual Germans. I went to school in German for a bit and I have just done normal daily stuff.

(Switching gears - trust me we will get back to the topic.)

I live less than a 1/2 from L's school. I have mentioned before that I walk while most of the neighbors drive. L loves to ride the bike train. She enjoys biking. So of late we have been biking. Now I happen to believe that there is biking and then there is riding your bike.

Biking is the kind of activity that requires a special work out type outfit. The point of biking is to work up a sweat, train for an upcoming event, ride for miles and miles and miles.

Riding your bike is how you get from point A to point B. Perhaps it is a distance a bit too far to walk or your mood fancies a ride over a walk. It is not speedy per se, but rather leisurely and calming and peaceful. You can dress in more or less normal every day clothing.

(Back to my topic)

In Europe and specifically in Germany, people ride their bikes all the time. I rode my bike to school. I rode my bike to the market. I rode my bike to meet friends for beers or coffee. I rode my bike to the theater once.

Women in Germany do not wear work out outfits to ride their bikes to the market, they dress nicely, in jeans and a sweater or a skirt and sweater. They wear a trench coat when it is cold and I can assure you they seldom wear tennis shoes. They will be wearing boots, heels, clogs or just everyday leather shoes whilst riding their bike. I would image they would also be wearing a fashionable scarf. Germans wear scarves all the time.

I fail to see why it is different here. I get up before the little people, get dressed for the day and then see to the little people and if my day includes going somewhere in the morning like the market or a meeting or something, I dress for that, ride her to school and then come home and continue on my day.

I am raising this issue for a number of reasons. First and foremost I can ride my bike in a skirt. As long as it is long enough and I am covered who cares. (Um yeah I have gotten dirty looks.)

I can and have ridden my bike in fashionable jeans and a nice sweater and platform shoes. It is doable. There is no reason to be in athletic clothes.

Today I even - hold on - wore my trench coat. It was cold and I was dressed to head out in a bit. I garnered all sorts of disapproving looks.

Many children ride their bikes to school. They are excited to ride their bikes. It is healthy to start the day with a bit of exercise. It is a great way to clear the mind or experience nature.

We have a well documented gas shortage in parts of the country. We are a nation of overweight people. We have an economic bubble about to burst. There is no reason, that we cannot learn to change and look to other cultures and see what may work.

We have built our lives around what is quick and easy and are totally dependent on our cars and SUVs. In Europe a drive thru is a rare site, a bike rack is always easy to find. Mark Twain wrote a charming story about a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. We have a history as Americans as being innovative and forward thinking.

I think a bit of reflection is in order and perhaps it is high time to admit that some of our choices have not been for the best and we need to perhaps contemplate what others happen to do well and learn from their example.

We can change - if is as easy as putting one foot in front of the other - or pedaling with all our might. Just becasue we have "always" done it one way does not mean we cannot change.

I say we slow down, breath deep and think about what kind of world we want our kids to grow up in.

So I am going to head out for coffee now and yes I very likely will be driving my car, although... it is in biking distance and stranger things have been known to happen.

Burn Baby Burn

I have been silent on the Bush - "Hey I Wrecked the Economy with my Lack of Leadership, but damn I have a nice White Cape Bail Out!" dog and pony show - but I think the tumble in the market reflects a number of things. Let's examine them, shall we! (see serious news story here...)

1. The stock market is not the economy. The stock market is both more important than the actual economy and simultaneously less so.

The market or actually Markets in all fairness - are a place to exchange stock. Stock is paper ownership in a company with limited control. Control of the company is on a percentage basis and trust me the company set it up SO THEY HAVE the MAJORITY share - THEREFORE CONTROL.

The market is like a being of its own. It is fed on rumor, speculation - investing in stock is always about speculation. Sometimes the market trend leads the economy and somethimes they lag or are reflective.

The market can be going like gangbusters and the economy can be for shit. Or the market can be doing lousy and the economy can be booming.

At the moment - well they are both for shit.

2. House of Cards.

For the most part the entire banking and brokerage industry is a house of cards. The problem is THEY need us little guys. We bring in our paychecks and then the BANK gleefully plays fast and loose with our money. Same with the brokerage houses.

The problem is - the Banks and Brokerages have been playing fast and loose with each other and making bad loans and bad choices and well it is a big knot which cannot be easily untied and FRANKLY the simpleton we call our President and his addled HENCHMAN cooked up a plan that was a GREAT sound bite but fundamentally flawed. (I think while we are letting people hang we should add the entire government machine - bloated and needs a house cleaning - an overhaul maybe.)

I normally am loathed to agree with anything the far right has to say but I was excited when House Republicans stood up and defeated this BILL the 1st time (I will explain why later...)

Had the SEC and NASD and Banking Regulators been enforcing the rules on the books already some of this might have been mitigated. But when those agencies are stock full of ex-bankers and ex-brokers and they are now policing their buddies - well it is a bit like the FOX guarding the HEN HOUSE is it not?

3. One Man's Collapse is Another Man's Break

I think we can say that the Great Depression was horrible for people. People lost their homes and their life savings and their security - not to mention terrible job loses. I am not saying that we need to experience that again.

HOWEVER - I think that instead of giving Wall Street another dime - the Government should do its job and protect the people. Give me my tax money back. Make it easier for me - while I weather the storm. Freeze credit. We can all live without a new car. Ease the crunch by having a borrowing holiday.

I would not give those greedy rat bastards on Wall Street a piece of chewed gum - let alone billions of dollars. They fucked up - they should pay. They should lose their big houses and big bonus and their golden parachutes.

After the market collapse in 1929 and a period of terrible austerity for most Americans - we had a period of enormous economic expansion. Granted a War helped - but I would argue that when the chips fall - SOMEONE picks them up.

The government should not bail out companies they should protect citizens and they should enforce the rules we have and they should stop accepting corporate campaign dollars and they should throw these cheats and frauds in jail and lose the key.

Maybe if we went after White Collar Criminals the same way we did drug dealers (who by the way run a CASH business... mmmm) people might make better business decisions.

4. Capitalism is organic - kinda like the Hunting Lion

Would you step in front of a hungry Lion about to take down a gazelle. Yeah, me neither. Capitalism is alot like that. It is ugly in its raw organic form. I would argue that of any economic system it is the most organic in that it follows the laws of nature. Survival of the fittest and all of that - BUT it works.

What does not work is all this intervention and rule breaking and all of that. We either have a free market or we do not. We either want a capitalist state or we do not. We either let the cards fall where they may or we reward bad behavior and encourage it to be repeated.

Our economy is built almost completely on NOW NOW NOW and more credit and more credit.

The House Republicans actually asked some of these questions and I applaud that (regardless of their reasons.) The entire mess is a mess of our own gerrymandering and frankly no bail out is going to solve the root of the problem. The problem is cultural and systemic and deep and goes back about 4 generations. We are a culture of greedy Me-First - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme - people - who have lost site of important things - like honor, dignity, community, and compassion.

So I ask you - What really is that House of Cards?

No more funds...

Last month, the school board agreed to pay the superintendent an additional $1,800 a month for rent and utilities until his house in Chagrin Falls is sold. When Axner took over the position a year ago, he moved into an apartment in Dublin and his family stayed in Chagrin Falls so his son could complete his senior year. He spent weekdays here and tried to get home most weekends.

He put his home up for sale five months ago but it has not sold, board president Gwen Callender said. Axner moved his family into a rented home in Dublin two weeks ago and hopes to buy a house here once his Chagrin Falls home sells.

Kalson said everybody is "tightening their belts" in today's economy and she has a problem with the additional compensation. While she appreciates the $5.5-million in budget cuts Axner and district treasurer Steve Osborne found and the board approved, they included the elimination of elementary school library aides.

The $21,600 the board will pay Axner over the next year would pay for one aide, she told the board.

That is misleading, Callender said, because once the house sells the additional compensation stops.

After hearing from Kalson the board stands behind its decision, Callender said.

Nothing in Axner's contract required him to move here or move his family here, she said. The board recently gave Axner a near perfect evaluation, despite his commutes to see his family, "and we expect him to be even more effective as a leader now that he's moved them here É

"We will now have him down here full-time É which is a huge benefit for us," she said. The board plans to revisit the additional compensation issue next May if the house still has not sold.

(Read the full article here!)

Then a mere few weeks later the school board decides to discuss and vote to put a levy and bond issue on the November ballot. (full story here!)

Then I read the lengths some school distracts are going to to save money. (story here)

*****

Are you kidding me? The superintendent should have to pay his own living costs. I can see making the deal to let his child finish his senior year of high school - but it was HIS choice to take a new job and WHO I ask is going to foot the cost of living increases all of us face. Groceries are more expensive, gas prices thru the roof, goods are costing more thanks to a weak dollar!

Why should I have to pay the superintendent's housing costs and pay for his 3% wage increase. Excuse me - but times are tough and he should have to eat it in his pocket book like everyone else. H is a pilot and I betcha when contract talks come around - the company will be looking for concessions again.

I plan to vote no on the levy - becasue I just do not think that the board has the best interests of the community at heart and I think it takes alot of nerve to come to us - asking for yet more money when they are willing to just give in and pay the superintendent more money. I am sorry his house has not sold - but that is a fact of life - sometimes things just do not work out as planned. If his contract stipulated that he had to move to Dublin - they maybe - but it does not - so he made this choice of his own free will and it should be on his own dime!

I moved here for good schools and they are great schools - but I also expect the school board to make solid business decisions and coming to voters asking for money in a down economic climate is irresponsible and unreasonable. Giving the superintendent a 3% raise and a cushy housing allowance when the rest of us are counting our pennies and tightening our belts is JUST WRONG.

While I do not want to see the students in this distract using old and out dated materials and not having enough enrichment activities - I think that some belt tightening would not hurt. Beside the levy and bond issue are all for the building of more classrooms and improvements to existing buildings. While this might impact the students down the road and I am sure the distract may at some point grow - growth in the next 5 years is not horribly likely with the downturn in the economy and the tightening of credit in the area of home mortgages.

I question the boards projections and I question their judgment asking us for these funds - becasue one thing is for sure - if funds are available they will spend it - as evidenced by their misguided decision to give the superintendent more money when in fact he does not deserve more money on top of his 3% raise. We should all be that lucky.

"If only or could" or...

"better yet I could do it better than X." I heard this sort of sentiment routinely while working at Firm X during the tech boom. Everyone including the stray cat thought they could out fox Wall Street. If they could just get access to after hours trading, if they could just get access to more money to plow into tech stocks. If they could watch more CNBC.

Everyone fancied themselves as an investment whiz. Until the bubble burst and all these "daytraders" these tech geniuses lost the entire balance in their E*trade account if not their house. It did not matter if you were a well educated neurosurgeon or a hard working middle level manager or a factory worker - the market won and won big time.

Today I was reading the Wall Street Journal from this past weekend. There is an interesting article about "distressed debt" (Vulture Investors Won't Have It Easy.) I was shaking my head. First of all "distressed debt" is NOT an investment it is a gamble. It is speculation. It is not a vehicle for funding retirement.

I would submit that most of us do not have the excess capital nor the know how to play in this areana - nor should we.


Part of the problem with Wall Street is we as a society have lost focus. We are all about quick bucks and fast profits. There is no Investment anymore. No forethought. No thinking about what is best for everyone - and not just the the executive committee & shareholders (the largest ones anyway.)

The best way to be prepared for the future is to plan. To have a plan and stick to it. I am not saying park it all and let it ride - but I am saying that the time invested should be on careful forethought and careful planning. Chasing the next quick dollar sign is a race that I will gladly lose.

Just like with ingredients on the food label - if I cannot pronounce it - I will not eat it. With my investment decisions - if I cannot wrap my head around it - I will not buy it!

The will is strong and the body is....

The other day my friend was lamenting her lack of running mojo! I have the mojo but sadly not the body to go with it. I ran yesterday but it was a push to get the 2 miles. My right hip is troubling me and well I am stiff in places I have not been stiff in for a really long time.

I really want to do the half marathon again. My brain wants to and my heart is on board - but my body seems to be saying - "wait a minute there girls, I am not sure I am game." My mind tells my body to push through it and go and my body responds by making it hurt just a bit more.

I know I have to listen to my body. If I have learned nothing in the last year and half it is to listen intently to what my body says. Cuz if I do not, my body has a nasty way of jumping me when my back is turned, ignoring it, and I have to say - my body wins - always.

This is not to say that I am not still working out and doing well - on the contrary. I am biking with the kids, running in the gym and doing the elliptical machine. All no problem! But when it comes to running for more than 2-3 miles, my body is slamming on the breaks.

This happened last year, but earlier in my training - so I am not sure what to make of this. Other than I am going to keep stretching and hope that we get past that - because I so want to run the half marathon again this year. Somehow it will just not be the same - standing at the finishing line watching my friend J finish it!

And the Award goes to... Part 2

The Award for Outstanding Customer Commitment goes to WOW Cable.

We have been customers of WOW for 5 years. We have had consistent service and could not be happier. During last week's storms we lost our service - the phone, the cable and the internet. I called them on Thursday evening about 6 pm and I spoke with a wonder phone rep, who was helpful and arranged for a service tech to come the next day - with a 20 minute call ahead. They could not give me more narrow time frame than 8 am to 6 pm - since they were working me in. Not a problem, I really had nothing going on on Friday.

The 30 minute call ahead came - and it was a live person. She was very professional and nice and told me the service tech was on his way and she thanked me for choosing WOW. I was shocked it was a real person. Pleased mind you - but shocked.

The tech came and he investigated the problem and it took him some time to figure it all out and he was oh so good natured at having E follow him around the yard with me. E was very interested in the goings on and was even showing the tech around our basement.

It took no time at all and the tech stayed until I was sure the tv, phone and internet was working once again.

So since I gave an award for very poor customer service - I feel like I should be balanced and praise those who are doing a good job, providing outstanding service and actually running a customer centered business.

Perhaps it is because WOW is not the only game in town - which could very well be a part of the process OR it could be that the CEO of WOW - actually gets it - the customers are the reason they are in business!

And the Award goes to

Columbia Gas - for easily hands down the absolute worse customer service on the planet. While they may say this about themselves:

Columbia Gas of Ohio Background

Columbia Gas of Ohio, headquartered in Columbus, is an investor-owned public utility that sells natural gas and provides gas transportation services to customers in Ohio. The company serves 1.3 million of Ohio's approximately three million natural gas customers. Columbia is the state's largest natural gas utility, serving more than 1,000 communities in 64 of Ohio's 88 counties with a service territory covering approximately 25,400 square miles. The primary Ohio metropolitan areas served include Columbus, Toledo, Parma, Mansfield and Springfield.

I say they are failing miserably. They have positively horrible customer commitment - on a service level. While I know many people complain - I have actual and factual proof to back it up.

This post then is an open letter to Combulia Gas's President Jack Partridge.

Dear Jack,

While it is true that I have absolutely no choice when it comes to who supplies my Natural Gas - I mean you have that wacky pick your supplier program, so I guess I can by my gas from whomever I please - but I am still stuck with your company delivering it to me and acting as agent in terms of payment arrangements and the like. I am still stuck with you and your company providing me with an absolutely unacceptable level of service.

Sure when I turn on the oven or the furnace it is working and directly so because of the product I am purchasing from you - but SERVICE - CUSTOMER SERVICE is also part of the equation and I gotta tell ya Jack - in that arena - you fall very short from the mark.

Even though you are the only game in town - there is absolutely no reason to flaunt that fact and treat your customers in a shabby manner. There is value in service and humility. There is value in acknowledging that your customers are very busy people with lives and that as a service to your customers you will leverage technology and the very least be polite.

I will now share with you two examples of your complete failing to be a forward thinking customer focused organization. It is your choice - be the only game in town and KNOW that your customers would rather get struck repeatedly by a semi truck than deal with your Company OR Be the only game in town and BE SEEN AS A TRUSTED PARTNER. Sadly I gotta tell you - YOU ARE Light YEARS AWAY FROM THE LATTER!

I volunteer for my church and we own a rental house. It needs an automated meter reading device. This makes our life easier and YOUR life easier. (Ah, once again the opportunity to partner! Which your company fails miserably at by the way.) I arrange payment for the device, I attempt to set up a time to have it installed. The house is vacant. An all day window is not doable for me - as I have family responsibilities and a LIFE, Jack, so I ask for a call ahead. Begrudgingly I am told they will call me 30 minutes ahead.

Because of a bad traffic accident I miss the first appointment. I tried to call and let the service tech know this - but I was told by customer service - "Too Bad - I would have to reschedule." I did so. They claimed to A) not know who was going to be at the house and B) nor could they contact anyone via phone or otherwise.

Next time around. Again the call comes, I drag my daughter, who is ill and my sleepy toddler across town - only to sit at the property for over an hour and no tech arrives. I call. I get told too bad so sad not our problem and hung up on. (I am paraphrasing but let me just say helping me was not this woman's job apparently.) I call again and get a very nice young lady - who tried to find the tech via dispatch. She tries and it does not seem to work and well I needed to be at the doctors at this point and so I bagged it.

So let's review some random facts:

It is 2008. Everyone - including my 11 year old neighbor has a cell phone. How hard would it be to issue all service techs - a 2 way cell or something - so that they may be contacted at a moments notice. MMMM. Not hard I should think. AEP does it. WOW Cable does it. Sears appliance repair does it. If the techs have phones or radio - everyone should be able to stay in touch. You should be able as CEO and the BIG GUY IN CHARGE - reach out to anyone in the field at any time!

You have a very poor automated phone service that calls when they are on their way - WOW cable - has a live person - who thanked me for my business when they called today to say the tech was on his way. MMMM - seems like a touch point and an opportunity to service me well.

After my 2 horrible experiences with your company - and the lack of service I request a supervisor - and well she was young and sweet and totally not helpful. Not interested in my feedback in the least.

I fail to see why we cannot schedule service in 2 hour windows and I understand that if there is an emergency I will get bumped - but I deserve a phone call. I am the paying customer - I DESERVE service. I DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT. A dog generally even politely sniffs the fire hydrant before it takes care of business - YOUR company - yeah not so much.

Let me ask you JACK how you would feel being in a restaurant, and the server can come and take your order between the hours of 8am and 6 pm or they can fail to show up at all or they can tell you they will be there in 30 minutes and well 4 hours later they finally arrive. I would image that you would not be satisfied with this level of service. Nor should you be.

How about at the doctors - you show up at 8 am and wait in the little room all day - only to be told by a Medical Assistant that the doctor was called away to an emergency and well you will have to reschedule and be prepared to waste another day, she is very sorry but that is the way it is. I think the doctor would loose alot of patients.

But you Jack do not have those worries as a businessman, now do you? No as the only game in town, you feel you can mistreat those who butter your bread. My thought is that plan may work for a time - but in the end - bad business always fails.

My challenge to you - is to give this some thought. My brother and his roommate still have no gas in their apartment after 10 days. I plan to be there on the 2nd of July - the earliest time apparently in your Company's very busy social schedule - in which you can provide them service - to wait on a tech. My hope is they show up - an even better touch - maybe you can show up and we can have coffee. As a professional writer - I am good with words and well I have a few more choice ones for you - all constructive mind you. I only want to see that YOU take a step forward.

I do so hope Jack that you will come to see that - there is the right way to run a business and there is the wrong way. It is as easy choice - if one truly values their customers.

All the Best to You!

Thoughts from the Edge