11/03/2007

Life 101

This is a continuation of some thoughts I have after 60 years of living on this planet.
  • No matter how hard you try, people just don't hear your unspoken thoughts. Telepathy is not telephony so don't be surprised when you just don't get your unspoken thoughts across.
  • Deeds are just that, deeds. People don't always see what you do and they sure as heck don't see them as you intended. Good intentions aren't always seen as such if they cross purposes with the desires of others.
  • It is often quick and easy to figure out what and annual salary is. there are 52 weeks in a year and 40 hours per week is 2080 hours. If you get paid vacation and make about $10.00 per hour you make $20,800 per year. If you make about $20.00 per hour you earn about $40,000 per year. I don't know why this is at the front of my mind but hey, not every life lesson has as much purpose as all other thoughts.
  • I hear people say, "If we didn't spend so much money on the Military, we could have all the new schools we need." My concern is what happens to all those soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines? When you put them out of a job do we need to retrain them or are we willing to accept unemployment growth while we rebuild. Many of the people today don't remember when Jimmy Carter tried to cut the guns and did nothing to improve the butter. Our economy sputtered and almost ground to a halt. There is a balance in our spending and everything we do has an effect. I'm not sure if anyone has a complete handle on the scales and know just what to do.
  • Sometimes the simple things can bring as much pleasure as the big new shinny things. Feeding the birds with a little sunflower seeds and a little suet can bring hours of enjoyment out your back window.
  • Unintended consequences can be tricky. When you move item A, sometimes item B is effected. For years I stuck out a career in the National Guard and could have easily quit and had every weekend free. Instead, I stuck out a 30 year Military career and now it is paying off. Once a month I am reminded that my part time job is now paying for a lot of retirement. I know I missed a lot of weddings, funerals and birthday parties but I promise you it is nice to have the money and time now to enjoy retirement.
That's all for now, I'll do more later. Oh by the way, don't let anyone tell you that laminate flooring is easy to install in a closet. It is a royal pain in the butt.
Dennis aka, MUD

2 comments:

  1. Some profound thoughts there, MUD.

    As for the military, people fail to realize also that in a world where certain ideologies want to dominate... have for centuries or decades at least for others, we need a military!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a very interesting point about cutting military spending. I'd never thought of that, but it makes sense. Personally, I couldn't begin to understand how to balance the national budget. I have enough trouble with my own. That's why I'm not too terribly critical of the efforts of those who are responsible for that national budget. Unless I know exactly what could be done better, I tend to keep my mouth shut. Constructive criticism is helpful; plain ol' criticism, a.k.a. whining and complaining, is not.

    ReplyDelete