I'm a science nut. I love science articles. If I read about something I look up more information on the Internet to find out all the details.
Today I read an article about a Lake in Chile that disappeared over the course of a few months. All of the scientists are up in arms about how it disappeared. There's been no earthquakes, so they cant imagine how fissures may have formed and allowed leakage of all the water. They are not yet sure there are fissures, but that's what they are researching at this point.
So I'm going to put out my educated guess. The fissures were there all along but they were blocked (or mostly blocked) by the glacier which has since melted to enough of a degree to really allow the water to start flowing, which hastened the melting and now all the water has run out.
We'll see what scientists come up with. Here's a link to one of the press stories.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19353905/
Kudos to MSNBC for the short URLs.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
being an employee these days
One of my friends was recently fired from his job over making a bad judgement call. I feel the entire thing is ridiculous. I know of several people over the past few years who were fired merely for making a few bad judgement calls.
I really don't understand businesses these days. They want to hire you already trained, they want you to be like an executive and make all of these judgement calls on your own and think badly of you if you ask too many questions. They tell you how they want you to behave, they throw the company policy book at you and then tell you to provide the best customer service possible. After a while on the job nearly everyone finds out the rules are a bunch of catch 22s and it's impossible to follow all of them and do your job.
I haven't decided if management does this because they are so completely out of touch of what's involved with the job or if they just want to leave you a bunch of pit falls so they have the excuse to fire you at their whim. You're bound to make a mistake or have to make a judgement call that doesn't fulfill all of your job requirements and that's reason for them to can you without unemployment benefits. And that's what gets me the most. Nearly everyone i know who's been fired for failure in judgement calls has been denied unemployment. In my state the employee pays 80% of the unemployment fund. So why does the employer have the right to put you in a position where there is no right answer and then they can fire you without employment? I just don't get it.
After all this now i see why many of my past supervisors took no action on anything. You would get complaints for not taking action but you didn't inadvertently break any rules or step on any toes by failing to take action. I hope business understands the environment they are creating.
I really don't understand businesses these days. They want to hire you already trained, they want you to be like an executive and make all of these judgement calls on your own and think badly of you if you ask too many questions. They tell you how they want you to behave, they throw the company policy book at you and then tell you to provide the best customer service possible. After a while on the job nearly everyone finds out the rules are a bunch of catch 22s and it's impossible to follow all of them and do your job.
I haven't decided if management does this because they are so completely out of touch of what's involved with the job or if they just want to leave you a bunch of pit falls so they have the excuse to fire you at their whim. You're bound to make a mistake or have to make a judgement call that doesn't fulfill all of your job requirements and that's reason for them to can you without unemployment benefits. And that's what gets me the most. Nearly everyone i know who's been fired for failure in judgement calls has been denied unemployment. In my state the employee pays 80% of the unemployment fund. So why does the employer have the right to put you in a position where there is no right answer and then they can fire you without employment? I just don't get it.
After all this now i see why many of my past supervisors took no action on anything. You would get complaints for not taking action but you didn't inadvertently break any rules or step on any toes by failing to take action. I hope business understands the environment they are creating.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Girl suspended for repeating what teacher said.
Today on the news I saw an interview with an 8th grader who repeated negative things (including swear words) she says her teacher had said to her and other students. The news channel had a poll as to whether or not people felt the girl should have been expelled/suspended for making the comments at the schools microphone after her choir solo.
Why is it important to get our opinions as to whether or not she should be suspended? I mean really. Our individual opinions on the disciplinary procedures of the school aren't particularly relavant. What should be relevant is what OTHER options the girl had available to her.
Did her and her mother write letters to the school? Did they file an official complaint? Did they get affidaviats from fellow students who had experienced the same thing? Why did they feel this was the only option available to them? This is what the important part of the news should be.
Come on, let's get some real news, not a bunch of opinions from people who haven't been informed of the true facts of the situation.
Why is it important to get our opinions as to whether or not she should be suspended? I mean really. Our individual opinions on the disciplinary procedures of the school aren't particularly relavant. What should be relevant is what OTHER options the girl had available to her.
Did her and her mother write letters to the school? Did they file an official complaint? Did they get affidaviats from fellow students who had experienced the same thing? Why did they feel this was the only option available to them? This is what the important part of the news should be.
Come on, let's get some real news, not a bunch of opinions from people who haven't been informed of the true facts of the situation.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
boys find money, dont receive reward
Due to a couple of comments I received, I realized my article may not be as clear as it should be, so I made a few edits to help clarify-NNR
I was reading an article yesterday about 2 boys who found a lot of cash and turned it in to the rightful owner. The city (i think, it was a bit unclear from the article) promised to put some reward money in an account for the boys for when they turned 18. No one can figure out if there was any reward money, if an account was ever created or who the reward money would have come from if there'd been a reward. No one is sure if the loser of the money put up a reward or if people in the community had donated to a reward fund.
So the kids and their mom's were very disapointed about being unable to find the reward money to help with college expenses. One boy went on about how he should have just kept the found money and used it to pay his mothers bills and how he didn't trust people any more because of not receiving the reward money.
I really couldn't believe the boys attitude. Rewards are a blessing if they work out, if not you have to be satisfied that you did the right thing. If he had said he was disapointed and upset because he was really looking foward to that money to help him pay for college, then I would have been happy to send him some money to make up for it, but instead he fell into a victim mentality. And from the article, it sounded like his mom was at least partly at fault for his opinion on the subject as she was very irate that he didn't get what she felt he was owed and everyone was being unfair to him.
So I'll say here what I would have told my son under these circumstances, "I'm sorry it didn't work out. It was a nice thought, but obviously something went wrong and there is no reward money. You pay for college on your own and I'm still very proud of you for doing the right thing."
I would never feed on my son's disapointment by pointing out how everyone has wronged him and has 'destroyed' his plans. I cant imagine that the reward would have been substantial enough to pay for much of college anyway. The boys found $4500 if my memory serves me correctly, I can't imagine the reward being enough to even pay for a year of community college, even after 5 or so years in an interest bearing account.
Turn this around mother, and teach your child that it doesn't matter what goes wrong, that he can fix this himself, or make an honest plea into investigation of the money. You're not a victim here, you just didn't make out ahead like you hoped.
I was reading an article yesterday about 2 boys who found a lot of cash and turned it in to the rightful owner. The city (i think, it was a bit unclear from the article) promised to put some reward money in an account for the boys for when they turned 18. No one can figure out if there was any reward money, if an account was ever created or who the reward money would have come from if there'd been a reward. No one is sure if the loser of the money put up a reward or if people in the community had donated to a reward fund.
So the kids and their mom's were very disapointed about being unable to find the reward money to help with college expenses. One boy went on about how he should have just kept the found money and used it to pay his mothers bills and how he didn't trust people any more because of not receiving the reward money.
I really couldn't believe the boys attitude. Rewards are a blessing if they work out, if not you have to be satisfied that you did the right thing. If he had said he was disapointed and upset because he was really looking foward to that money to help him pay for college, then I would have been happy to send him some money to make up for it, but instead he fell into a victim mentality. And from the article, it sounded like his mom was at least partly at fault for his opinion on the subject as she was very irate that he didn't get what she felt he was owed and everyone was being unfair to him.
So I'll say here what I would have told my son under these circumstances, "I'm sorry it didn't work out. It was a nice thought, but obviously something went wrong and there is no reward money. You pay for college on your own and I'm still very proud of you for doing the right thing."
I would never feed on my son's disapointment by pointing out how everyone has wronged him and has 'destroyed' his plans. I cant imagine that the reward would have been substantial enough to pay for much of college anyway. The boys found $4500 if my memory serves me correctly, I can't imagine the reward being enough to even pay for a year of community college, even after 5 or so years in an interest bearing account.
Turn this around mother, and teach your child that it doesn't matter what goes wrong, that he can fix this himself, or make an honest plea into investigation of the money. You're not a victim here, you just didn't make out ahead like you hoped.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
What to think about before getting Married.
A friend of mine has been expousing the benefits of arranged marriages. My mother in law wants my sister-in-law to give in to an arranged marriage. Not one where she's never met the guy and is ordered to marry him, but one where she meets the guy, goes on a few dates and then decides to go with it.
A neighbor of mine married her husband after just 6 months and at a very young age. It really shouldn't have worked, but it did.
So I was thinking, what works?
I don't really know, i'm just stating observations.
1. Knowing that both you and your partner have a commitment to make it work. This is not the same as a commitment to stick with it no matter what. When one partner knows you'll stick with it no matter what, they know it doesn't matter how they behave and they stop trying.
2. A realistic expectation. You know we're all human and you understand our imperfections and you know it won't be all roses and bon-bons. This keeps you from getting too down when things aren't so great. This is also where compromise comes in, you are willing to compromise because you have realistic expectations that a partnership is made of 2 people and you both can't always want or need exactly the same thing.
3. A willingness to change and knowing that your partner has a willingness to change. When one partner does all the changing and the other won't, there's an imbalance of power in the relationship and one person does all the giving and the other does all the expecting. Knowing that your partner is willing to change for you gives you the patience to hold out while the two of your work on changing together. Knowing that someone will change a bad habit for you makes you feel more than loved, you feel respected too.
4. Being truthful. You have to be truthful in a relationship or you're not being honest about what you need, what makes you happy, what the true state of your relationship is, or what your expectations of the other person are. It's a rude awakening when later you find out that your partner didn't tell you s/he didn't agree with all the things you thought you had already agreed upon. It's worse for a relationship to pretend everything is fine or feel like you have to put on a brave face and accept everything exactly the way it is. It's too lonely to feel a certain way and know your spouse has no clue about how you reall feel. You need to be truthful with your wants, needs and desires.
5 Communication. This includes being truthful, but it is more. You need to know that you are willing to accept communication from someone else before you get married. If you're set in your ways and you only want things to be 'just so,' then you're not willing to communicate. You're never going to hear your spouse, be able to relate to your spouse and you're always going to be unhappy that things aren't exactly the way you want them. You also need to know that your spouse is willing to accept communication from you. If your spouse is unwilling to accept communication from you then you have to decide if it's worth marrying someone who's like a brick wall.
6. Safety. Our spouses are the ones who can wound us the most. You need to feel that when you do all the above things that you are safe while doing them. If you are always cringing from critism, the threat of a fight, getting the cold shoulder etc... then you're not feeling safe in your relationship. Not feeling safe will cause you to emotionally withdraw so that you arent wounded as greatly when your safety is violated. If you emotionally withdraw, your relationship will stagnate, you may fall out of love and a myriad of problems develop. Many people who have been greatly hurt in their childhood and relationships emotionally withdraw from the beginning of a relationship and fail to ever fully engage in the relationship. Partners sometimes purposely violate your safety to keep you from speaking up and sometimes they are just oblivious to their actions. Knowing which is your circumstance can help you along the road of counseling. Knowing which you engage in, can help you create a safe environment for your spouses communication.
I really feel all the rest are just subchapters of the above.
Planning. Goals. Parenting. etc... will along come along much better if all the needs mentioned above are already being worked upon actively by both partners.
A neighbor of mine married her husband after just 6 months and at a very young age. It really shouldn't have worked, but it did.
So I was thinking, what works?
I don't really know, i'm just stating observations.
1. Knowing that both you and your partner have a commitment to make it work. This is not the same as a commitment to stick with it no matter what. When one partner knows you'll stick with it no matter what, they know it doesn't matter how they behave and they stop trying.
2. A realistic expectation. You know we're all human and you understand our imperfections and you know it won't be all roses and bon-bons. This keeps you from getting too down when things aren't so great. This is also where compromise comes in, you are willing to compromise because you have realistic expectations that a partnership is made of 2 people and you both can't always want or need exactly the same thing.
3. A willingness to change and knowing that your partner has a willingness to change. When one partner does all the changing and the other won't, there's an imbalance of power in the relationship and one person does all the giving and the other does all the expecting. Knowing that your partner is willing to change for you gives you the patience to hold out while the two of your work on changing together. Knowing that someone will change a bad habit for you makes you feel more than loved, you feel respected too.
4. Being truthful. You have to be truthful in a relationship or you're not being honest about what you need, what makes you happy, what the true state of your relationship is, or what your expectations of the other person are. It's a rude awakening when later you find out that your partner didn't tell you s/he didn't agree with all the things you thought you had already agreed upon. It's worse for a relationship to pretend everything is fine or feel like you have to put on a brave face and accept everything exactly the way it is. It's too lonely to feel a certain way and know your spouse has no clue about how you reall feel. You need to be truthful with your wants, needs and desires.
5 Communication. This includes being truthful, but it is more. You need to know that you are willing to accept communication from someone else before you get married. If you're set in your ways and you only want things to be 'just so,' then you're not willing to communicate. You're never going to hear your spouse, be able to relate to your spouse and you're always going to be unhappy that things aren't exactly the way you want them. You also need to know that your spouse is willing to accept communication from you. If your spouse is unwilling to accept communication from you then you have to decide if it's worth marrying someone who's like a brick wall.
6. Safety. Our spouses are the ones who can wound us the most. You need to feel that when you do all the above things that you are safe while doing them. If you are always cringing from critism, the threat of a fight, getting the cold shoulder etc... then you're not feeling safe in your relationship. Not feeling safe will cause you to emotionally withdraw so that you arent wounded as greatly when your safety is violated. If you emotionally withdraw, your relationship will stagnate, you may fall out of love and a myriad of problems develop. Many people who have been greatly hurt in their childhood and relationships emotionally withdraw from the beginning of a relationship and fail to ever fully engage in the relationship. Partners sometimes purposely violate your safety to keep you from speaking up and sometimes they are just oblivious to their actions. Knowing which is your circumstance can help you along the road of counseling. Knowing which you engage in, can help you create a safe environment for your spouses communication.
I really feel all the rest are just subchapters of the above.
Planning. Goals. Parenting. etc... will along come along much better if all the needs mentioned above are already being worked upon actively by both partners.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Nothing's Cool Anymore
Didn't you know, there's nothing cool anymore. The word cool isn't even cool anymore. The word that's been cool since before Happy Days is no longer cool. Today's generations are being raised by TV that portrays everything as old stuff and worthless after just a few years. People talk about whether or not it's because kids' values have changed, or parents values or society is failing. Really it's just about consumerism. Companies want to always sell you something new. A new concept is needed every time you want to market something new. Contempt for the old is the easiest way to prove you're into the new.
One of the sad results of this trend is that it is no longer cool to be a kid. You're supposed to be always out having fun. Haven't you seen TV? Kids who's families are struggling say, "I'm a kid, I'm supposed to be out having fun, not working like this or worrying about that." But I can't figure out what they are out having fun doing because nothing fun is cool anymore. It's not cool to go to the roller rink, it's not cool to go out with your parents, it's not cool to go to the circus, it's not cool to go to the parade, it's not cool to do anything but stand around and talk about drinking and sex. Which of course leads to actually doing the drinking and sex as the kids get older. Of course it's fun to go out and hurt people, fun to vandalise and ok to do all sorts of things because you are bored, but it's not OK to go out and have fun with your parents because that is not cool.
Parents, please tell your kids tough crap and take them out. Yeah they are saying they don't want to be seen with you as they are testing their indpendence, but it's your job to prove to them that they are part of the family and you want them around. They want you to insist they come. It's kind of a reverse psychology. They want to push for independence, but when you don't force them to participate with the family, they feel lonely and left out. Damned if you, damned if you don't if you're the parent, but in the end, your kids will be happy that they knew you loved them enough to force them to come with you.
Also, force your kids to go do something not cool. Read a book, go to the library, go to the museum, go roller skating anything besides just standing around talking with friend, watching TV or playing video games. How on earth are they going to know what they like if they don't go out and try anything? Despite their toughness act, they are going to be chicken to go out and try new things, if you don't force them to go out and try the old things.
One of the sad results of this trend is that it is no longer cool to be a kid. You're supposed to be always out having fun. Haven't you seen TV? Kids who's families are struggling say, "I'm a kid, I'm supposed to be out having fun, not working like this or worrying about that." But I can't figure out what they are out having fun doing because nothing fun is cool anymore. It's not cool to go to the roller rink, it's not cool to go out with your parents, it's not cool to go to the circus, it's not cool to go to the parade, it's not cool to do anything but stand around and talk about drinking and sex. Which of course leads to actually doing the drinking and sex as the kids get older. Of course it's fun to go out and hurt people, fun to vandalise and ok to do all sorts of things because you are bored, but it's not OK to go out and have fun with your parents because that is not cool.
Parents, please tell your kids tough crap and take them out. Yeah they are saying they don't want to be seen with you as they are testing their indpendence, but it's your job to prove to them that they are part of the family and you want them around. They want you to insist they come. It's kind of a reverse psychology. They want to push for independence, but when you don't force them to participate with the family, they feel lonely and left out. Damned if you, damned if you don't if you're the parent, but in the end, your kids will be happy that they knew you loved them enough to force them to come with you.
Also, force your kids to go do something not cool. Read a book, go to the library, go to the museum, go roller skating anything besides just standing around talking with friend, watching TV or playing video games. How on earth are they going to know what they like if they don't go out and try anything? Despite their toughness act, they are going to be chicken to go out and try new things, if you don't force them to go out and try the old things.
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