Month: October 2018

Loss of voice
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I am not talking about my voice in the physical sense, though some would probably like it if I actually did but that is a discussion for a different day.

I am talking about “the voice” in my writing.

I have struggled over the last several months to find something to post about. Over that time, I have recycled writing I did in the past but that I thought was worth visiting again. It seems I have just tried to keep the blog afloat on topics that were on my on my radar at the time it was written. I have started and deleted so many posts, mostly based on current events and my take on them.

When I was teaching I was having conversations about these things on a daily basis with my students and the conversations were worth rehashing in another forum, collecting my thoughts from the conversations and things students were thinking and then writing about that. It worked for me because it was something thrived on.

Now, well, those conversations just aren’t happening and I feel like the lack of conversation has finally caught up with me. I have lost my voice. It isn’t that I don’t have things to say, I just don’t have the ability to express them in a way that I have in the past and it is confounding me.

Or, maybe I am just overthinking it and caring too much about what I put out there. I have always struggled with a balance between putting content out there and putting content out that is researched and supported. Sure, I can write opinions all day long but as I always used to tell my students, “No one will care about your opinion unless you can back it up.” Therein lies the challenge for me, just write or write well?

So, I feel like my voice is bottled up. I want to express myself but to what end? Is it just to hear myself or is it to be listened to?

Anyone else dealing with this? Or dealt with it? How do/did you deal with it?

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1 year later: Branching out, er, expanding?

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It’s been a little over a year and the project keeps growing! More people have looked at the page and more people have joined me on Instagram so see what comes up next. Have you taken a look yet? Have you followed on Instagram yet? I bet you get a giggle or two if you do! Go ahead, grab a morning coffee, and go visit and take a scroll.

Just a quick note to have you take a look at the new page on the blog. You’ll find it up there in the top next two “Home,” “About,” and “Contact.” If you can’t figure it out from all the hints, try looking for “Stupid Board: Classroom Quotes.” There is an explanation about what it is and where to look as well.

Happy viewing, and I hope you will be intrigued enough to join me on Instagram as well!

Accountability of Weight: Update #8
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This is the eighth update on this project. I started a year-long project of returning my physical self to a much lighter, and healthier, version of the past.

I’ll try to keep it short so as to not bore you with lots of details and try to just cover some of the lowlights and highlights, cutting to the chase at the end.

Lowlights:

It has to get worse before it can get better, right? Isn’t that what we tell ourselves? Yes, I know, we shouldn’t do that but that is all I can hold on to at the moment…

Progress? Yeah, not so much. Holding steady? Yeah, pretty much. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be! In fact, it’s become a chore. I was hoping it wouldn’t get to this but now it feels like it will never get better. How do I change this attitude? Better yet, how do I change? There doesn’t seem to be any motivation left in me.

The elliptical I got used, broke. Well, not completely, but I am working on repairs and the parts are on their way.

Highlights:

I am still tracking the food intake, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference if I stay under the calorie count. Well, at least it isn’t making much difference in losing weight. It is helping to maintain where I am currently at – which is less than when I started but well above where I would like to be.

I can’t come up with any. It is hard to stay positive when you see little to no progress.

The Chase:

210.0  = official starting weight 2/15/18

   7.2   = pounds lost as of the morning of 10/16

202.8  = current weight

Your thoughts, encouragement, and good juju as the journey continues is much appreciated! Slow, or lack of progress doesn’t feel good and so some extra motivation is helpful. If you have ANY words of wisdom, it would be much appreciated at this point.

 

In the land of self-identification

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The idea of self-identification is absurd, a scam really. It is fraught with so many contradictions that society can’t keep up, so it just keeps creating more exceptions to make it float. Logic, rational, and even science are disregarded as “false” because it doesn’t fit with one’s idea of who they want to be. There is no rhyme or reason, it is “just because I want to.”

So, I have decided to join the conversation with my own self-identification.

From now on, I am going to identify as a 67-YEAR OLD, RETIRED WHITE MALE.

I am really 46, but that is beside the point. Who are you to tell me that I can’t be a retired 67 year old male? Are you going to deny my the right to identify as I please?

Now that I am retired, I am no longer going to show up at work. Why would I? I am retired. However, my work will now have to grant me my pension and continue to pay me on a monthly basis based on my past employment.

Also, since I am now retired, the government can start paying me my social security and medicare/medicaid benefits as well. How much should I receive in benefits? Well, that is hard to determine since I haven’t continued to work for the next 21 years. But, let’s assume that my current wage will increase on an average of 5.4% (plus, COLA and inflation)per year. Once my highest wage has been calculated then they can figure out my benefits. I want them now, I am retired.

man and woman sitting on brown wooden bench

Photo by Monica Silvestre on Pexels.com

Oh, call AARP too. I want my membership card. Watch out everyone who has senior discounts at your stores and restaurants, I am coming for those benefits as well.

Hmmm, what other benefits can I derive from my new found identity?

Um, what?? You don’t like this idea?? Wait, you say I can’t do this?? Why??

Are you discriminating against me because of my age? That makes you an “ageist” and that is illegal.

Are you discriminating against me because I am a male? That makes you “sexist” and that is illegal.

Are you discriminating against me because I am white? That makes you “racist” and that is illegal.

Are you discriminating against me because I haven’t made enough money or because I make too much? That makes you an “economist.” Oh wait, probably not that but…hell, I don’t know, but is probably has something to do with socioeconomic status…

I think you get the point. At least I hope you do. I am RETIRED. Nothing you say or do can deny me of this right.

Now, give me my money and benefits before I take you to court and sue your ass.

School Picture Thievery

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It’s that time of year again, folks!

This school picture thing is a pretty big racket if you ask me, and if you’re a parent you know what I am talking about. If there is any place you know it and can feel yourself being ripped off but can’t do anything about it, it is definitely with school pictures and sports team photos.

I have felt this frustration in the past, but it kind of boiled to a head this year when I went to order my daughter’s school pictures. It usually isn’t a big deal trying to order them, but being the “non-custodial” parent who usually gets the information second-hand sometimes it takes a while to get it done. (Yes, I realize I could just have photographer friend take the photo and avoid all the trouble so I guess I am a glutton for punishment).

Anyway, I logged onto the website with my special code and wanted to just download the image to my computer and then go have them printed in the quantities and styles I desired. So, I selected the outrageously overpriced digital image – $22. Say what? Yeah, you read that right…let’s do some quick math…

If a school has 300 hundred students and the photographer can get 60 students through a line and photographed per hour, then the photographer would work for five hours. The photographer is, most likely, using a digital camera to take said digital images @ $22 each, therefore making $1320/hr, or $6600/day. That is of course presuming that each parent purchases just the digital image, let alone one of the other overpriced packages they offer. Now we know not all parents purchase the pictures, but you get the idea.

So, after choosing the digital image for download I get to the check out page only to see that I am going to be charged a “Shipping and Handling” fee of $7. Uh, wait, what? I am downloading a digital image. Why is there a shipping and handling fee? What’s worse is that I can’t remove the fee either. The radial button is greyed out. I either pay the fee right now, or wait until the next day to call them. So, I opted to call the company the next day since surely the fee for a digital download isn’t $7 bucks…

I called the next day and waded through their automated answering system until I got to a real person to talk to. I explained my situation and asked if there was some kind of error on their website that wouldn’t allow me to remove the shipping and handling fee. The response?

“No, that is a flat fee we charge for all late orders.” 

Late? Yes, it is true I didn’t order when the pictures were taken in the fall, but your website says they can be ordered at any time until the following fall AND there is nothing to indicate this is a “late” order on the website. I was a little dumbfounded. I said, “You’re joking right? How does downloading a digital image warrant a $7 late fee or even a shipping and handling fee?”

“Well, we do have to mail you the rights release so you can have the picture printed.”

So what you’re saying is that you are going to charge me $7 to mail me a sheet of paper and an envelope that costs, at best, a stamp or maybe two? I said, “Listen, I understand it costs money to send a piece of paper and envelope out to me but I have ordered digital images from other photographers in the past and they didn’t charge me an extra fee for the rights release, they included it with the digital image download. Surely you have the ability to do that right? So, why would I need a piece of paper mailed to me? It takes less than three minutes to compose a generic email and attach two image files to it.”

“Ok, I suppose I could waive the shipping and handling fee. What email address would you like the images sent to?”

Thank you. Now was that so hard and how about you waive all shipping and handling fees for all digital downloads from here on out? I probably speak for everyone who has encountered this ridiculous fee. There is no reason for it other than you can, and you have families over a barrel. I would venture a guess that many people just pay the fee, which is sad.

Highway robbery, I tell ya, only there was no highway and the bandit holds parents and other family members hostage every dang year around school picture time.

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