Going Forward......

  This entry will be a departure from my previous posts because it is about this blog. I will not be railing against the many faults of the politicians that "know best for us" but about who gets these rants, who reads, them and who doesn't. As you might have guessed I write these entries as an outlet of my frustrations with things I perceive as out of kilter. I welcome comments but rarely get any. It is really not about getting into arguments with anyone. I enjoy political debate as much as the next guy but in this day of people getting offended if you look at them wrong I generally don't engage folks anymore. And that's fine. As a child of the 60's we cut our teeth on very defined arguments so I bring my "A game" to every fray.

   So here is the deal. I have been writing this blog for over 5 years. Actually more that 6 years as the first entry was on May 24, 2007, but the commentaries started in earnest in August of 2008.  As I sit here this morning I think it is time to do some housekeeping. Some of you have been with me from the start, some are recent additions. I am needing to know whether I should keep sending you the notifications of posts in the future. This is going to require a positive response to the email you get with this post. If I do not receive a positive response to keep sending them to you by next Friday, January 3rd, I will remove you from the distribution. No hard feelings I just don't want to be "that guy" sending unwanted emails. Times change, perspectives change, and my rants may not do it for you.

   When I started this blog I always intended the distribution to be limited. I never promoted it, never posted my entries to social media, or any such wide broadcast. It is apparent that my opinions do not mesh with the current political climate and that is okay. I do not apologize for anything I have written here and, if I continue, my opinions will remain unvarnished. The truth is the truth no matter how many politicians and lawyers try to tell you different!

   So I will await your response; or not. Regardless, Happy New Year!

Expectations

   We live in a world where instant gratification is the demand of the day. I find myself telling my computer to "come on, hurry up" as it is loading the requested web page. The fact that the speed of loading is determined by the band width I purchased (which was the cheapest offered) doesn't phase me. I want that page to instantly appear on my screen and have very little patience otherwise. I give the amazing technological advances of the last 20 years credit for catering to this whim.

   So a big story on the news last night was about U.P.S. and FedEx failing to get their packages delivered by Christmas, as was promised. And I guess if I had ordered something and they guaranteed it would be here by Christmas I would be upset too. And upset the people were! Social media was ablaze with the vitriol aimed primarily at "Brown" because their failure appeared to be the most widespread. Shippers like Amazon were quick to make amends to the customers and because they are a huge customer of U.P.S. I can imagine that sometime after the holidays their C.E.O. will have a none to pleasant visit with Amazon's C.E.O. Apparently there was a decision made to reduce the number of seasonal workers hired to cover the Christmas increase in shipments. Uh Oh!

   As you might imagine I have a different take on this. For many years, when the postal service had a monopoly on how we shipped things, we groused about their incompetence. You could never count on them getting the package to its destination on time so you made allowances. You still do if you are using U.S.P.S., which we do for most of our shipments. But I have found that the postal service has become much more reliable and makes quicker deliveries than they did 10 to 20 years ago. What is the reason for this change? Competition, plain and simple. FedEx was created because of the incompetence of the Post Office and have done an amazing job of carving out their place in the world. U.P.S. has gone along for the ride and compete on price and massive online shopper contracts with FedEx. Both of these carriers have kicked the ass of the postal service and taken away a ton of their business. They offer speed and reliability and the perception is that the post office doesn't.

   How will this affect U.P.S. and FedEx? No doubt it will cost them some money and tarnish their image. They have been riding a white stallion that got a thorn in its hoof. They will learn from their mistakes and be better. Otherwise someone might come along and take away a big chunk of their business. It can happen; ask the Post Office! And the lesson they should take away from this is that you don't promise what you can't deliver. Your customers deserve to be able to trust what you tell them otherwise you are no better than the lying politicians they keep reelecting.

   A final thought on this subject of expectations. Each year Christmas is celebrated on December 25th and, as a general rule, we have a pretty good idea of who we need to shop for. With online shopping being the trend I dare say that there is no excuse about not being able to get to the store to make purchases. Even so, a little planning would have had that gift purchased and delivered well before December 15th. The rather unrealistic expectation of the consumers that U.P.S. would pull their fat from the fire for procrastination should be noted. They can't ship it until you order it so if you order it a little earlier, like more than two days before Christmas, you have a much better chance of happiness on Christmas morning rather than disappointment. But it appears that U.P.S. and FedEx will absolve them of their responsibility in this matter so carry on, I guess.

  

Christianity Lite

  Last night Emma and I attended Christmas Eve services at the Presbyterian church in Luling. This service is one of my favorites of the year so I look forward to the songs, the scriptures and the sacraments. It is also where you see folks you generally don't see on Sundays. But that's another blog.

  What I am trying to figure out today is why I am so disappointed in the service last night. I can't honestly say it was a bad service. It was the first special service for our newly ordained minister and she had some stumbles. But that is to be expected. The scriptures covered both the old and new testaments so the story was properly told. It seemed we were all just going through the motions with most of the people there just to make Granny happy. They had places they would rather be. Maybe that's it. The service was not that special.....

   If it seems that I am struggling with my faith I really am not. What I am really having a problem with is the conventional approach to worship. All established churches have an order of worship, the liturgy, and customs. We become comfortable with this and changes are not well received. But isn't that the antithesis of Christ's message? From his birth to his death he challenged the order of the day. After his death he sent forth his apostles to spread the good news, which was not well received. Somewhere along the line the descendants of Martin Luther lost their spunk and, as a result, the churches are just buildings.

   I don't have a fix for this. I have a hard time keeping myself going the right direction. But someone in the established church had better wake up and smell the coffee!

Getting a Fair Price

  It seems these days our country is fixated on getting the best price for our money. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that as competition is always good for the consumer. In a time when so many of our expenditures seem not to be negotiable people want to make the most of an opportunity to save.

  Christmas seems to display this attitude in spades, almost to the point of silliness. The retailers play into this mentality with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday sales to initiate the holiday shopping season. I have my doubts of whether the real savings is worth the hassle of joining the fray so I generally don't. I saw a long discussion about the price of tamales the other day. Should I feel stupid because I willingly pay more than what appears to be a "good price"? I had several items in my cart on Amazon this weekend on which the price changed from the time I put them in the cart to the time I pulled the trigger on the purchase. You snooze, you lose, or sometimes gain?

  I think it is time for a little reality check. Some of my more seasoned readers will tell you that there is nothing new about getting the best deal for your money. During hard times it could mean the difference between meat or beans, or anything to eat. Growing up in a poor family of six it wasn't a matter of a new television. It was paying the utilities before they were turned off! So it is somewhat amusing to watch someone spend all day on Thanksgiving in line to save a few hundred bucks on a big screen TV. Why is that so important?

  Here is my theory. I really don't think it is about the money. It is about people wanting positive recognition. In their way of thinking making a "good deal" makes them look more savvy than the dude that paid $200 more for the same TV. It's a victory to stack up against the losses on taxes, utilities, and healthcare costs where they have little say in what they pay. They beat the system and it feels worth the 12 hours they spent in line to do it. It seems to me a pathetic way to get your validation but, hey, it's a free country!

  So you should never expect to see me anywhere near those doorbuster sales. I will continue to pay $9 per dozen for my tamales because 1) they are great tamales, 2) I have made more tamales than any other gringo man I know and appreciate the work that goes into them and 3) because that two dollars difference is much more crucial to Maria than my being able to brag about paying $7. My eye is on the ball of taxes, utilities and healthcare costs. I achieve small victories from time to time and that works for me.

 

Speaking Your Peace

  There has been much talk today about free speech. Seems as if a television reality star stated his beliefs as regards to homosexuality. He did this in an interview with a magazine reporter so when it came out the network broadcasting his show suspended him immediately. No doubt this was in reaction by gay/lesbian advocates. Supporters of the "offender" are raising hell, claiming his rights were being violated. Oy!

   This is really a simple matter. The best I can tell the TV star stated his opinion without fear of incarceration. His opinion was based on his religious beliefs so no one abridged his right to exercise his choice of religion. So it is really not a free speech issue. However, there is no constitutional protection from consequences for what you say. He really has no constitutional right to a job. So the network, after determining the economic impact of their association with him decided to cut him loose. That is totally legal. Only time will tell whether their calculation will prove accurate.

   Look, Phil Robertson and I are contemporaries. Granted he lives in Louisiana but I dare say that we probably aren't far apart on the issue of homosexuality. I usually don't judge people by a couple of sentences in a magazine article. We read the same Good Book. And perhaps his faith is stronger than mine in that he publicly voiced his belief where I doubt I would so vociferously. And, as far as I know, he is not whining about the suspension. He made a choice and it cost him.

  To be a Christian is to endure persecution. Been that way for over 2,000 years. His attitude toward homosexuality is mild when compared to that of the billion or so Muslims in the world but, for some reason, they get a pass from the media. There is an open season on anyone and anything related to Christ so we Christians have to recognize that going in. Most of us have been cowled into public silence as the homosexual minority flexes its political muscle. Each time a state approves same sex marriages it is trumpeted loudly and proudly by the press. At the same time the genuine good works of millions of Christians across the country are discounted or ignored and they are deemed intolerant.

Like I said, it really is a simple matter. Economics is what drives the suits at A&E network and they made a business decision. It's up to the supporters of Phil Robertson to determine if their calculations were correct. When a business mistreats me or mine it will be a cold day in hell before I darken their door again. If enough people take that attitude I think the network will be proved to have miscalculated. Won't be the first time. Anyone remember New Coke?

Failure is Always An Option

Winning. There are lots of definitions of it. Different standards, different expectations, different goals. Society measures it in games, won/loss records, in business, the bottom line, in life, lots of adoring friends and family makes you a winner. Everyone wants to be a winner. No one wants to be seen as a loser. Right?

Fortunately that is not the way it works. Losing happens much more frequently than winning and we all get to deal with it. I say fortunately because failure, in my opinion, is much better for us than success. Failure drives us to do better, take a different path, use talents that may have laid dormant had victory come easily. World famous authors will display their stack of rejection letters received before they had success.

In the age of participation ribbons, everyone plays, and not keeping score, I am concerned for our future generations. The helicopter parents of today are so concerned that little Johnny be safe, protected in every way, seek to shield them from failure at all costs. Self esteem is to be elevated and enhanced. Positive reinforcement no matter how much they suck at what they do.

I grew up in a different time. When I tried out for the sports teams I found out pretty quickly that athletics was not in my future. I worked my ass of to be an average baseball player and football rejected me derisively. At the age of 12 I had to face the facts of life. I just wasn't good enough. Not for sports that is. I had talents in other areas which I explored because of my failures with athletics. I found success because of failure. This experience has been replayed throughout my adult life and I attribute my success to knowing how to deal with failure.

Children need to experience failure. It hurts to lose and none of us want to see our children unhappy. However, there will come a time, after they leave our protective shield, that reality will slap them up beside their heads and they will lose. And it will no doubt be something infinitely more important than some junior high football game. And how they deal with the loss will be crucial to their future as functional, successful adults. So it's best they learn this lesson when the stakes are low. They will grow from the experience.

The New Religion

A couple of thousand years ago, give or take, a Savior was born and died, bringing us eternal salvation. To a large chunk of the world that was a pretty significant event. And to mark it's significance we annually celebrate it with lots of drinking, spending money on crap we don't need, and eating too much. Sure some put a couple of dollars in the kettle and call that philanthropy but for the most part the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ has come to resemble Spring Break on South Beach!

But this is not about that. This is about a new religion that has evolved over the past several decades. And like Christianity you have your devoted followers, your deniers, and those hypocrites that invoke it when it suits their purpose. It is all the rage and very politically correct to wear its colors. Its devotees kneel at the alter and take the crusade to all nooks and crannies of the world.

What? You haven't heard of it? Sure you have. It is called Environmentalism. The goddess they worship is Mother Nature and the world is their temple. What started out as a fairly good idea has become perverted and distorted and has evolved into something resembling a fanatic religious movement. And it has finally made it to Lockhart, Texas, the place that time forgot! But like most things religious in Lockhart, Texas the environmentalists are superficial and only "down for the struggle" if they see personal benefit in it. It has to be something in the water!

Before I go any further and get burned in effigy let me define the object of my scorn. I am talking about people who have been going along for the past twenty years oblivious to environmental concerns right under their noses. Less than 10 miles away the world could be crumbling but they couldn't care less. As long as they are not screwing with me or mine, cool. All of a sudden their world is shattered! Someone wants to build a (fill in the blank ______) near me! Their first concern is how does this affect my property value. Then they look for ways to stop this from happening. Enter the Environmentalist! All of a sudden these folks take up the crusade to save us all from the evil polluters. Yeah, those people.

Like I said earlier the environmental movement in its foundation was a good idea. We have learned a lot about the little things we can do to make our world a nicer place to live and most of us, under threat of having your money taken from you, are compliant. When was the last time you poured chemicals or motor oil in the storm drain? When was the last time you threw trash on the road from your car? Do you recycle? All of these are courtesy of a long period of education/indoctrination by environmentalists, enforced by your friendly governmental regulatory agency, whose sole purpose is their continued existence through ever increasing regulations and sucking money from your pockets. It is alphabet soup these days. EPA and TCEQ immediately come to mind. So like good citizens only wishing to keep a portion of what we earn comply with the laws. It's life in River City.

Unfortunately that is just not good enough. These latter day Environmentalists enlist the Jerry Falwells of the movement to fight their battle. Because the internet geniuses, armed with a laptop and the Google search engine, are infinitely more qualified to determine environmental impact than scientists that actually went to school and have experience in such matters. And of course they will beat you down with every kind of "study" written by either some environmental whacko in their mom's basement or a religious zealot long on commitment but short on actual proof. All of a sudden the people we hire at the regulatory agencies are either incompetent, shills for the industry they are charged with overseeing, or both? Reality check time!

I am not real happy with organized religion right now. People are rejecting it because somewhere along the line the church lost its soul and turned into a social club. The Ten Commandments have become the Ten Suggestions and the Protestant denominations are so into appeasement to keep from offending someone that they will accept almost any behavior. I have a similar attitude toward the latter day Environmentalist. Their religion is a facade that is deserving of scorn, not respect. Global warming has been debunked as a hoax but yet it is touted like it is written in the Gospels.

We are supposed to be a representative republic in the good old USA and, for better or worse, are governed by laws enacted by said representatives. They established the regulatory agencies that oversee all things environmental and processes that should be followed. Private property rights, one of the things that separate our country from most of the rest of the world, have been severely curtailed by this process but at least there is an equitable pathway to allowing them to use their property as they see fit. A screaming rabble of junk scientists should not impact the process. We shall see.

Getting in the Spirit

Christmas. What does in mean? If the world around me is correct it is about spending money and currying favor with the people you know and love. It's a great excuse to throw a party where people drink too much and make fools of themselves. It's about putting the guilt trip on the fortunate on behalf of the less fortunate. Oh yeah, somewhere in there we celebrate the birth of our Lord and savior.

For the past several years I have tended to check out of the festivities of Christmas. To clarify, the secular festivities. The crass commercialism is overwhelming, to be sure, but I have successfully delegated that responsibility to Emma. My total involvement in the gift buying is severely limited, which is a good thing. The grandkids would probably be disappointed if I was in charge. So Emma enjoys spending money, the grandkids love the gifts, and I get credit too.

So for me it's work to get in the spirit. It generally takes a healthy dose of Christmas music, a couple of good sermons, and lots of prayer. I got the Christmas music this past Tuesday when we attended a performance of Handel's Messiah by the Austin Symphony and Chorus Austin. Usually the best I can do is listen to the CD but this year we splurged. Great investment! Nothing quite as exhilarating as the Hallelujah Chorus performed by real musicians. I'm breaking out my Manheim Steamroller albums tonight to continue the mood. I'm actually looking forward to church Sunday because the story of the birth of Christ never gets old!

All I need now is lots of prayer. That's not for the Christmas season necessarily but to rescue me from the dark moods brought on by the evil in this world. Its hard to watch the deterioration of our society without despair setting in. It seems the path is set. I will be fervently praying that it changes.

So I am feeling pretty good about it. The evil will always be there but so will the hope. At a time when its hard to put your faith in people it's comforting to know that the grace of God will always be there. Merry Christmas!