What holidays are really about

Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and whatever else is now upon us and children, as they do, are starting to ask questions. It's always interesting to read what people have to say in answer. What really is the difference?

Back in Russia we always had a New Year's tree. We didn't know it had anything to do with Christmas until setting foot on Canadian soil. Every variety has some sort of holiday of lights associated with it.

Basically, it's cold. It's dark. There is less food, less energy to do anything, and not as much to do outside (that is immediately obvious). It takes longer to do the things that you can do when the weather is nicer and the sun is out in full force.

So, is it not just plain old human nature to try and put a smile on things? That's basically what it boils down to. All of these holidays are just an excuse to enjoy family, friends, and life in general. They are also a time to be thankful for what you have and to remember those who have less.

None of us can take it with us, despite what the ancient Egyptians believed.

So, no matter what your race, nationality, or religion. Good day to you and enjoy all that you have.

new home builders have only one goal

The latest push in new home building is this idea of the "master planned community." Many municipalities are pushing the European model of 'live, work, play' where you don't have to commute for ever to get somewhere, you don't have to drive to the mailbox, and you spend your dollars locally so that local governments can realize tax revenue required to support the population's needs.

Ironically, something like 73% of the money most people spend is not spent where they live. Yet, everybody is quick to complain about what their town doesn't do for them.

Still, when you go to by a house, the builders are the first to act like they are actually trying to build a live, work, play community. They act that way until you try to hold them to their word.

In their fairly narrow view of things, it is all about the front end. The larger builders tend to see home buyers as curvy 'es' figures with two parallel lines running down the middle.

In the mean time, people typically take possession in phases, meaning that some of them have already started living locally. These are the forgotten souls, the bleeding edge of residents who falsely expect that the builder would care.

Sense of entitlement

I owe you nothing.

These should be the words hovering above each person's head as they leave the door each morning. Perhaps they should wear it on their chest as some sort of insignia.
People need to be reminded that nobody actually owes them anything. They are no different, no more superior, no more deserving of unearned perks than the stranger who just walked past them and didn't stop to look.
But in this world that means nothing. All you have to do is complain and it becomes an actionable item.

Let me say it again: "I owe you nothing." Earn it, baby. Lift a finger and then we'll talk.

To often I encounter this attitude of 'I want it that means it is mine unless you prove otherwise, and oh, I'll make you prove it.

Earn it.

Telephone marketing: A new height of insanity

I'm working. In my pj's. Not the the ones you sleep in, though I could. The kind you wear when you have no intention of going anywhere because you are up to your eye balls in work.

I get a call on line two. The one we use as a backup line and without any features on it. We never give the number out. Just for kicks I pick up the phone, knowing it's one of two things: Wrong number or somebody telling me that either I won something or according to their records I'm due for a duct cleaning.

As soon as I pick up the phone I get a sexy recorded female voice asking me to please hold on a minute. No, really, it sounded sexy. I almost got turned on. I decide to hold, wondering what snarky one-liner I should use to tell them off before hanging up on some stunned minimum wage sucker who thinks this is a great way to earn a living.

So, I wait.... a bit longer than it usually takes them to kick in the auto dialer queue thing-a-ma-jig until I get VOICE MAIL! No, not just voice mail. Voice mail that informs me that I have reached 'M' 'G' 'R' and requests that I leave a message.

I don't even know who called me! And, 'mgr'? Short form for 'manager'? Wholly cow! I bet the call display will say they called from 123-456-7891. Do people actually do business with these companies?

For all the talk of fraud, identity theft and the like you really have to wonder if at least some of the people that get victimized sort of deserve it because they actually fell for it.

Actually, we should probably thank all those poor souls for falling for these cheap tricks so that these companies don't have to resort to things that are actually hard to detect until the deed is done.

Here's one for the Village Idiot, may there be more like you.

going off-line

Well, it's crunch time again. The next couple of weeks will be relatively silent on this blog as I have to meet a big deadline. Check back first week of December I should have some more high and mighty opinions to relay.

community spirit

The world is full of different kinds of people. Some are selfish, some are self contained, some are weak, some are passive, and some are driven to "give back".

For those that want to contribute, at some point you've got to wonder about the hidden agenda. Why do they do it?

The worst offenders are people who give everything of themselves and leave nothing for themselves. To me, it seems they are missing the whole point. Why is one person's life worth more than another's and what makes your life the one that should be sacrificed. What is this sense of duty? Unless.... There is always an unless. I guess on some level, I do understand.

After all, I am not above putting everything else first. I don't know why but it seems like these are things that need to be done. Then again, I sort of felt the same way about finishing that random game of Scrabulous on Facebook and staying up all night long to do it. Perhaps I am deeply misguided. Perhaps deeply disturbed. Perhaps both.

Anyway, everybody is asleep now and I should be too. Off to bed I go.

Personal Trainer

So I finally managed to get myself a gym membership and sat on it for a week or two. Today was the big day. I went and met my personal trainer, Rodney.

They give you a free introductory session with your very own personal trainer. The poor guy! He had to deal with the likes of me. Educated, and not very likely to result in additional revenue. He tried to find gaps where he could sell himself on the value add but it just wasn't working for him.

The other thing is this guy is super nice.... I think. He puts nice into overdrive. Like the kind of nice that borders on flaming with two earrings if you know what I mean. I kept wondering about it because it's tough to be comfortable around somebody that is Richard Simmons nice.

Finally, not sure how, I got him to dial it down a notch or to enough to manage a semi decent conversation, except for the gym world's own maze of TLAs. He kept asking me if I would be interested in this that or the other thing and I couldn't figure out if any of it was going to end up costing me or how much. The land of confusion!

Well, I'm pumped. Not literally because all we did was talk today. But I am psyched.

The coolest things was when he pulled out this fandangled gadget that measures your BMI only to tell me that I needed to lose pretty much exactly what I came in saying I needed to lose. Poor Rodney. Didn't get anywhere with me.

Nice guy though.