05 June 2017

Monday Musings...
And we're off on another exciting (???) excursion into that thing we call a WEEK.
I'm also holding down the "Fortress" as Wifey is down visiting her dad in Vincennes for a few days.
But that's okay...got my 2 cats inside, and one cat outside helping to "stay the bastions", as it were.
Our Hoosierland weather for today brings us mostly sunny skies as a starter, temps reaching up to around 83 degrees, and that chance for a late afternoon/evening isolated thunderstorm.
Can't seem to get away from those, can we?
So, what say we get that morning drink to assist in waking us up, as we see what else has been going on, hmm?
*** First off of the coffee table is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
JUNE 5 -
---It's National Veggie Burger Day
(LMAO, yeah, like THAT'S gonna happen at OUR home - hell isn't planning to freeze over)
---It's National Gingerbread Day
(funny, I thought all things gingerbread could be found around Christmas?)
---It's National Moonshine Day
(one good thing - if it wasn't for moonshine, we wouldn't have NASCAR...lol)
*** Next, let's put the crime aside for a spell and concentrate on better things...like "Kitten Corner"...
The kids were in fine form over the weekend...plenty of play time, and Gallifrey managed to sneak in a few catnaps before and after meals. Violet is getting more "lovery-dovey" with rubbing her head against us, and wanting her neck scratched. She does takes time to follow Wifey into the bathroom on a regular basis, too...heh.
Gallifrey just watches me shave, and that's it.
*** Next up, let's stop over to check out the "Tales of Midnight"...
I can haz the day off?
Well, he didn't have to supervise much this weekend, but was there bright and early every day for his "eats". He also spends a lot of time lounging on the patio. I don;t think he missed napping on one inch of it, either.
He did make sure Wifey got off safely Sunday by waiting near the steps out back for her to leave.
Like I said...I got me some patrol cats...inside AND outside.
*** Next up, I want to change gears here and speak a little about some stuff close to home.
First, let me say that I've always admired people who have managed to hold down a CAREER, and not just a job.
When I was getting out of high school there were jobs out there (and plenty of them) that could well lead TO a career.
I know...I had one (in the making) for a publishing house downtown in Philly. Worked there NINE years.
Started out as a messenger, on the streets of various citiies and libraries, gathering books and permissions from authors, and the like. Was a lot of footwork, but the company paid well enough (less than $5/hr with per diem for transportation)
Seemed that way.
Worked my way through the production department and into M.I.S.(Management Information Systems)...lead computer operator - day shift (yeah, we had a room-size computer complete with phone modem and a transfer rate of a whopping 120kbs
(that's KILObytes per second...lol).
I had WORKED my way up to close to $10/hr in that time, but CBS bought our company and shaved down personnel and eliminated positions (wholesale). Yeah, got my walking papers, but there were people there close to 25 years who also got the boot. That tends to sour one's perspective on career opportunities. Hell, my Dad worked at his job for 27 years before he passed (within 3 years of retirement).
After that, I took some sage advice (from Dad who told me years prior) to heart: "A job is like standing on the corner for a bus...wait long enough, and another one will come along." And he was right.
I had my share of JOBS, everything from window making to welding and sheet metal manufacturing.
Even pulled a two-year stint as a federal employee with the Treasury Dept (IRS division). I left THAT job over my conscience. I like to sleep at night, and what the feds did and did not do (breaking their own rules along the way and turning a deaf ear and a blind eye in the process) bugged me to no end.
So you can imagine how I feel after Wifey make her choice to leave FWCS, And that was after TWENTY YEARS.
It's nothing she did or did not do...Lord knows that to be as true as the day is long.
It was (and usually is) "the system", and the way they "decide" to change things for no reason and, to suit a few, while ignoring the many. I've been down that street myself...not a good neighborhood at all.
Now, I fully support Wifey in this matter. I'd be a fool not to, considering how things went in my "professional" career.
She's got a damn good head on her shoulders, PLUS something I never quite got - a DEGREE!
I had been after her to get her masters for years (prophetic in some way?), but still, between her bachelors and ALL those years experience, she will do okay finding something else when the time comes.
As for FWCS? Well, you know how I feel about them, and it's not as good as how Wifey feels. Her beef is not with FWCS proper, or any principal or admins like Dr. Robinson...it's the overall "system" as it currently stands - a system which is slowly devouring itself with problems it won't be able to easily rectify.
We've seen how all the money (haphazardly) tossed at the public education system has done little since the inception of the Dept of Education (during Carter). We HAVE seen our nation's achievement (for children) drop significantly on the global arena since then, too.
And who does everyone typically BLAME for this?
The educators.
How effin' wrong is that?
This is like if your army isn't winning a battle or war, you blame the soldiers?
NO, you moron...you blame the GENERALS who direct the soldiers (as well as the POLITICIANS who have their finger in the warfare pie). Soldiers follow orders (when practical), and educators also do what they're told, in spite of knowing that it can be detrimental to the educational process (and get them fired if they so much as oppose the regime).
THIS is the kind of problem we create in our society, and as is always the case, we have those in power always looking and implementing "solutions", when they never even come close to knowing WTH the problems are.
That is "the system", and many of us get caught up in the cogs of the machinery.
Like I said, Wifey is no slouch and always did what was required of her as a teacher (and THEN some), but there does come a time when you just have to close a door on something you were passionate about, just to maintain your sanity and ethics.
And, as Wifey said on her FB post, with every door that closes, another one opens (she's been hanging around me for 20 years...must be rubbing off...lol).
I just get so very bummed when people have to sacrifice a career in the process.
A job is just that (a job), but a career is something I always look up to, because I've never been able to have one.
Got close a couple times, but close still only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades, right?
I suppose there is some solace to be taken for knowing there has been (and will be) so many of us this has happened to. Thing is, what about everyone who wanted that career, but through circumstances, had to leave or had it leave them?
There's something to think about. Maybe I'll revisit this as the week progresses.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.

4 comments:

A Beer for the Shower said...

Hey, what a coincidence. I'm also holding down the fort while my wife is off visiting her folks. Cheers to sweet, sweet freedom! ...And by that, I mean doing the exact same things I usually do, just surrounded by cats instead of the wife.

I admire people who can have a stable career at the same job that they love. Every single job I've ever had, I ultimately was laid off or let go because the company shut down or severely scaled back. And I definitely would have been willing to stay there a long time, but that decision was never up to me.

My dad worked at the same place for 30 years. Got promotions. Was well compensated. Retired, and got great benefits from it. It's both sad and scary to know I'll probably never experience anything like that.

Bob G. said...

ABFS:
---Coincidence? Perhaps a planetary-alignment thingy?
It's got it's good and bad, but I'm like you - do what I usually do...lol.
---I know that feeling EXACTLY. I think more jobs left ME that I left jobs. This all seemed to start in the 1070s, so it's nothing THAT new (to me, anyway).
---I agree. Those "good old days" of 25-30 years in and then a retirement party and the "leisure life" may be gone for most of us "regular folk".
But the REALLY scary part are those coming INTO the working fields...with a lot LESS to offer than we did when we graduated school.
Plus, we got by well enough WITHOUT any subsidies from any source.

Hey, thanks for stopping by today and commenting.
Much appreciated.

Stay safe (and classy) out there, guys.

CWMartin said...

I've done the veggie burger thing- not meant to be a regular part of one's diet IMHO.

"Daddy, when can I shave?"

On D: It seems every job any more is trying to grind the life out of its workers. And teaching is such a critical profession, every one that falls is a bigger loss than the one person.

I was just reading about how SOME people are starting to figure out that slamming kindergardeners with test after test MIGHT not be the best idea.

I think it comes down to we have a bunch of people making decisions who either never had a childhood, don't remember it, or just have acquired that "management mentality" who sees any human input- even little kids- as just a cog or a part.

In sum, I am sad that it had to come to this, and hope the next chapter is bright and fulfilling.

Bob G. said...

Chris:
---Sorry, buddy...I'm totally OLD SCHOOL when it comes to burgers.
Any veggies (like tomato, pickle, etc.) go ON it...not become PART of it...heh.
---Actually, I think he was making some snide comment about me nicking my chin...children, huh?
---I agree with that. Time was, a company VALUED it's employees a LOT more. Today, you're just "another brick in the wall" (w/ respect to Pink Floyd).
Teaching HAS become a lot more critical professions...much like the POLICE, and certainly the MEDICAL field.
Maybe all this criticality of individuals has spilled over into entire career paths.
---Yeah, when you become a "total" manager w/o taking into account the humanity behind those working for you, so much is lost. Then again, you used to be able to catch more flies with HONEY than with VINEGAR.
(got my own "management" story to go with that...gotta tell you some day)
---I'm praying that D's knowledge, wisdom, and talent never goes for naught. Then again, I'm kinda BIASED...lol.

Thanks much for taking time to stop by today and comment.
A good friend's words are highly valued in my book.

Stay safe up there, brother.