Author: Paul | Page 25 | Shiny Bits of Life

February 3, 2015February 3, 2015

How the other half lives

price upon request description in Wall Street Journal article I love the looney tunes 1% of the upper 1% lifestyle stuff in The Wall Street Journal. You know – articles comparing camel hair coats – the cheapest being $1,195 and the most expensive being $3,550.

I was quite amused recently to see “price upon request.” I know that phrase. It means, “If you don’t know the price range in which this object is priced, you shouldn’t ask.” Or better, “Unless you drove to the store in a new Bentley, don’t ask.”

I know, I know, there are some good people in the top 1% of the upper 1%. And some of them keep the wheels of society moving forward.

But others are making their zillions off the backs of people who can’t afford to stay in a one-bedroom apartment in the worst section of town on what their wages will cover.

My own sister-in-law has been working for a large company that has given her only about 10c more an hour reward for the several years she has faithfully served.

What amused me most about, “price upon request,” was that for some reason, The Wall Street Journal didn’t take the time to request the price.

So why do I write this kind of post about something I can’t change? I may be “full of sound and fury – signifying nothing,” as Shakespeare said in Macbeth. I understand that the top 1% of the upper 1% will never read this. I know that there is very little you or I can do to change the injustice of major corporation CEO salaries.

But I am amused at some aspects of that lifestyle. And you may be amused at some aspects of my lifestyle too.

January 27, 2015January 25, 2015

Yearning for human connection

three plugs entering an electrical outlet I love blogs.

I’ve been blogging since 2005. (You can visit my first month of blogging if you like.) I still put up a blog post almost every week. And I enjoy reading blogs by other people. But there are few real blogs left. By “real,” I mean where someone shares what’s on their heart.

One friend who used to blog about life rarely blogs that way anymore. His blog has evolved into thoughtful reflections in his area of work.

Several friends just stopped altogether. Other friends only blog occasionally.

Don’t think I’m saying I am a “from the heart” blogger – most of my posts are just reflections on shiny bits of life. But I do like reading posts where people bare their souls – even if I don’t often write such posts.

Are there any blogs that you still enjoy visiting regularly? Share them with me and other Shiny Bits readers in the comments. Thanks.

January 20, 2015January 10, 2015

Change is not always better

mac interface screenshot, showing new typeface I very much love Apple products. One of the thorns in my side is spending my 8-to-5 on a Windows 7-based laptop. It works fine, but I very much miss using a Mac. (And changing back to a Mac at home messes with my head.)

Like every forward-facing company, Apple is always changing things. The latest computer operating system, Yosemite, has some significant improvements. But the new system-wide typeface is harder for my non-assisted eyes to read. The Helvetica-like “6” looks too much like an “8.”

If we could pick and choose what gets changed in our lives, that would make us God. But we can’t, so I’m hoping the not-fun-changes will make us stronger.

Footnotes:

There are some ways Windows is better. One good aspect is having both a delete key and a backspace key.
If you have a minute, in the comments, share a change you experienced that provided both good and bad results.
My Mac starts up much faster with Yosemite. (Your results may vary.)

January 13, 2015January 10, 2015

Emperor’s new clothes

Spark - © Graham, Creative Commons licensed, via Lfickr Marketing these days seems to be in a rut. I am amazed at the ideas some companies use to represent their goods and services.

Lexus, for example, has a new crossover vehicle that they are trying to sell with the slogan, “Go Beyond Utility.”

Meh.

The closing line of their ad says, “”Once you go beyond utility, there’s no going back.”

What does that even mean?

Lest you think I am saying that I’m a creative genius, I don’t have a quick and easy suggestion for a better campaign to sell the new Lexus NX crossover. And I understand that true creativity is an art more than a science. Great ideas don’t come always quickly to even the most creative person.

Footnotes:

The Emperor’s New Clothes is a wonderful story from 1837 that illustrates how the ruler of a large land is swindled into believing nothing is the best something ever.
The sparks photo is courtesy of Graham on Flikr, and is used through a Creative Commons license.
The new NX is a repackaged Toyota RAV. Car and Driver magazine gives it 3 out of 5 stars. Maybe that’s why the creatives had a hard time coming up with a good idea to sell the car.

January 6, 2015December 27, 2014

Love me, love my dog

Sparky dog My dad used to say that. (He’s gone now, so I haven’t heard him say it for many years.)

“Love me, love my dog,” simply means we have to put up with things we may not appreciate about some of the people we know. This is such a fundamental idea that I too often forget.

We all expect perfection from others, at some level. The closer the person to us, the more we expect from them. (The opposite holds true too – we expect a lot from our governmental leaders, and we will probably never meet them.)

Annoying habits or choices can be huge roadblocks in any relationship. The sooner we get over being fixated on those things, the sooner we can enjoy that relationship.

And yes, that’s our little dog Sparky. She’s pretty easy to love, as she is very loving in return. But she loves to bark at squirrels and ghosts we can’t see. I hope you get to meet her someday.

December 23, 2014December 21, 2014

What would you do with a million dollars?

a million dollars in nairobi We had a million dollars. We lived in an alternate universe for five years, where we had a million dollars compared to some of our neighbors.

Nairobi, Kenya, is a huge city in East Africa. The distance between the rich and the poor is huge. As a result, crime is more common than in most parts of North America and Europe. There are more razor wire fences, alarm systems, security guards and carjackings.

I know it’s nice to focus on the positive aspects of other cultures, but that’s not my mission today. Instead, I want to tell you what it’s like to be rich.

Generally, it’s not fun. Simply eating at a restaurant caused a lot of guilt. We knew the price of one not-even-fancy meal could have fed a hungry family for days. Was the brief pleasure of eating out worth it? We thought so, as dining out was one of our ways to survive.

And we gave. We invested in people who were naturally part of our lives. We quickly learned that just giving money was not the answer.

Providing training allowed a young man to have a better-paying job that made a difference that lasted a lifetime. But it was a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make that path actually work, on his part and ours.

Paying for dental work for a lady we knew allowed her to eat with no pain, for years afterward.

So how do you deal with the guilt in your life? I would encourage you to not sit on it or suppress it. Do something.

Epilogue: We have been back in the land of Target and Prada for more than seven years. We are not directly involved in the lives of those we helped back then. And the guilt of having so much relative wealth decreases as time washes our memories away. But we’re still trying to make a difference in situations that are in front of us now. We fail a lot – and still eat at restaurants. But we are doing something.

December 16, 2014December 14, 2014

Pride, literally, comes before a fall

I love riding my bike to work, even in the cold and dark of winter. Knowing that if I can’t be seen, I can be run over, I bought a taillight so bright that “it can cause seizures,” as a friend described it. That same friend went on to tell me of his ultra-bright headlight that allowed him to see potholes and road imperfections.

I pridefully said I was good with my little flashing headlight that allowed me to be seen – but not to see.

The very next evening after that conversation, I was riding home and ran head-over-heels into a corner curb. I had assumed that there was a wheelchair ramp on that corner. No.

Ouch!

Thankfully, I did not tumble into oncoming traffic or damage myself or my bike more than just a few scrapes and a destroyed innertube.

Lesson learned. I need to listen to advice, even when it’s not given as such. (My pride could have been the death of me.)

December 9, 2014December 7, 2014

Where to give this Christmas

homeless sign Homelessness is sometimes a result of mental illness. Often that is combined with substance abuse.

My friend and I encountered another friend we hadn’t seen in a year. Our not-seen friend is now homeless. No substance abuse is involved, but there are definitely some other powerful issues at play.

I’ll be talking with two friends who are experts at my church to find out some ways to help him. It’s complicated.

So this Christmastime, I think it’s a great idea to give to an organization in your area that helps the homeless. You’ll be assisting those who have reached bottom and maybe providing hope for the future.

December 2, 2014November 23, 2014

Great thinking

Sprouts, a health-oriented supermarket with stores near us, has a great idea… double-sided receipts! I’m not referring to the kind with advertising on the back. These have purchase information carried onto the formerly blank side.

This will effectively save about twice as much paper as regular receipts. Yes, there is an infrastructure cost – registers that can print tape on both sides are probably more expensive than those that print only on one side. But that cost will eventually be made up. Or not. Even if it costs more money in the long run, that’s a nice investment in the health of our planet.

If you want to find your nearest Sprouts, click here.