Thursday, February 5, 2009

Thoughts for Today

In 1979 our nation was facing a similar crisis as we are today. In a speech given by President Carter in July of that year he spoke these words...

"In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit
communities and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self
indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one
does, but by what one owns. But we have discovered that owning things and
consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We have learned that
piling up material goods cannot fill the empties of lives which have no
confidence or purpose."


For anyone who did not believe before that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it, should read that paragraph again. It's hard to believe that only 30 years later we are right back where we started from. Our economy is collapsing, gas prices are constantly fluctuating, banks are in serious need of restructuring, and our paychecks can't keep up the the rising cost of commodities.

The mentality of "I want it and I want it now" has consumed our daily lives. I can honestly say in some ways I've contributed to this crises of self indulgence.

Big TV's, Big Cars, buy now pay later. All the wonderful conveniences of credit are finally catching up with society and it seems to all be happening at once.

There was a story on the news the other night, where a town was looking to fill 35 firefighter positions. To really get an understanding of how bad our economy is picture: 1,500 people lined up, some camped out over night, to apply for these 35 positions. And this is just in one town in the United States. It use to blow my mind when people would say "I need a job, but I'm not working at McDonald's I'm to good for that." Where are these people now? Working at McDonald's so they can pay for groceries and a house they paid way to much for.

I think if everyone in America had to work on a farm, get up at 4 am, shoveling cow poop, carrying bales of hay and not getting home until 7 pm, i think only then would they truly appreciate what they have and realize any job is better than having no job at all. America was built with blood, sweat and tears, and my prediction is it's going to need to be rebuilt with those same blood, sweat and tears.

On another note... Things around the office were interesting yesterday. This lady drove an hour and half to our office so she could yell at me for fifteen minutes straight about something I have no control over.

So here's the story: She moved up here from some place, didn't specify where. She found a local contractor to builder her a house. Well turns out she claims this contractor "Is the worst contractor in the entire world and should have his license taken away from him."

Ok so how is this my problem? I'm thinking to myself. Then she proceeds to tell me how it is MY problem. So she hires one of our companies inspectors to go in and inspect her wiring. Generally there are three parts to an inspection. The first one is to get the power turned on at the site, the second is before the walls are covered and the third is basically the final look through. Well the first two inspections went fine at this lady's property (and i use the term lady very loosely), however the final inspection there were a few minor problems and our inspector had to go back a few times. Well OMG you thought the world was coming to an end. She was yelling at me saying "you should be reporting this guy and getting his license taken away etc." Again I'm thinking "why is this my responsibility?"

So I begin to explain that in New York State there is no requirement that electricians hold a license. Then she starts yelling at me "are you kidding me that is ridiculous i don't believe that". Ok well don't believe it lady but it's the truth. Then I tell her some towns do require any electrician working in their town to be licensed but the town that she lives in does not currently do that and if she wants to change that she needs to bring that up with the local code enforcer. Then again I get the "you should be reporting this guy and getting his license taken away etc." Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't i just explain he doesn't need a license? Anyways after fifteen minutes she figured she wasn't going to get anywhere so she leaves. I should have made her pose for a picture so i could post it here. She certainly was a piece of work I'm telling you.

Oh and to correct a previous blog posting about the old picture I wanted to post of Scott, it was not Star Wars outfit it was a Star Trek outfit. Now only a true geek like my husband would need a retraction printed about something as special as that. Luv ya!

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