Postcards From Myself

OK, I will admit it. I love cars. I especially love European cars. And above all else, I am a fanatic about British cars. That is why when British Car Day rolls around every year here in Charleston, that I just have to go. I go to catch up with old friends, soak in the atmosphere and, of course, ogle British cars of all types and ages.

If you would like to see some real art on wheels, just check out the pictures I took this past Saturday. From Austin Healeys to Triumphs, from MGs to Allards, they are there. My gallery is here.

It has been a little heavy around here recently, so I think we should lighten things up. While lighter in subject matter this will still cause a few more wrinkles in your brain. Take a look at this mechanical aptitude test that was developed for budding Ford diesel mechanics. It is fifty questions long, so allow yourself enough time.

I will warn you though, it is fun and frustrating at the same time. But, I passed! Got an 86. If you take it, I would love to know what you made.

Most of us would agree that the reason we work is to accumulate personal wealth. Now the problem is that many people define personal wealth too narrowly - as money. In truth though it can be money, but it can also be knowledge, health, satisfaction, or any other number of things that make us a better person or make us happier. And yes, again, that might include money and the things that money buys.

Now the rub comes when you go into our annual job review, have done a great job, but there is a freeze on so there is no way you are going to get a raise. You storm out all unhappy because there will be no increase in your personal wealth this year. But wait! You have fallen into that “Personal Wealth = Money” trap. What if there was something else that you could get instead?

Try this on for size, and no I am not saying that every employer would or should do it. What if instead of that raise, your employer offered you an additional week off per year? Unless they actually have to cover your shifts while you are gone then it really doesn’t cost them anything. But, if you work fifty or so weeks per year, then an additional week off is like a 2% raise. May not sound like much, but how many of us wouldn’t like to be handed a week off? And, it is better than nothing!

Or, how about some extra training? There may be internally training already or an existing training budget that can be used. Again, this increases your knowledge and value to the company, so it really does increase your personal wealth?

No, how about a little flex time? Or one day a month working from home? By doing this the company is still getting the same number of hours from you, but you save the time you might have been commuting or stuck in traffic. That time then gives you either quality time to spend with family, to spend doing some freelance work, or just simply relaxing and lowering the blood pressure. Again, all part of your own personal wealth.

The key here is to stop defining everything in terms of cash dollars, or Euros or Pounds or whatever, and start looking at the full picture of your personal wealth and what gives us satisfaction. When you do that, you can be flexible at review time, at interview time, or even when considering what job you want. Start looking differently at your idea of personal wealth, and you will find yourself changing your view of your entire life.

If you have any more ideas on this, or comments, or criticisms please let me know. I would really like to know what you think.

I got some interesting email about my post yesterday in reference to Naomi Wolf’s book The End of America. For a very, very condensed explanation of the ten steps that move a a country towards fascism, the following was posted to Wikipedia.

The ten steps

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.
2. Create secret prisons where torture takes place.
3. Develop a thug caste or paramilitary force not answerable to citizens.
4. Set up an internal surveillance system.
5. Harass citizens’ groups.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
7. Target key individuals.
8. Control the press.
9. Declare all dissent to be treason.
10. Suspend the rule of law.

It is amazing to me, if these ten steps are to be believed, how much of this has already taken place or is taking place. For example, couldn’t Black Water be a perfect example of #3? And we all know that #1 and #2 are in place. Again, points to ponder.

And in a separate but related incident, we have an interesting example of how secrecy is maintained to hide what the government is doing. Read this entry on Psychsound. This one is disturbing on three fronts - 1) that a confession was coerced, 2) that is was subsequently deemed confidential, and 3) if it really was confidential it shows an amazingly sloppy system that lets the info out in the first place.

Man, this blog has become way too serious recently. But, as the bumper sticker says, “If you aren’t outraged, you aren’t paying attention.”

I was mindlessly channel surfing last night and just happened to land on C-Span. Now this is not a channel I normally watch, but something caught my eye and I watched for a few seconds. That is all it took before I was hooked and had to watch the entire interview that was on. I wish I had caught the beginning of the segment because it was a very interesting session with Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America as well as other books such as The Beauty Myth.

To quite one of the reviews, “Readers will appreciate her energy and urgency as she warns we are living through a dangerous “fascist shift” brought about by the Bush administration. Her chapters outline the “Ten Steps to Fascism” citing historical corollaries (as well as the pigs in Orwell’s Animal Farm), with headings like “Invoke an External and Internal Threat,” “Establish Secret Prisons,” and “Target Key Individuals.” In other words, fascism can exist without dictatorship. Her book’s publication through a small press in Vermont that is committed to “the politics and practice of sustainable living” rather than through a large trade house is itself a political act. Highly recommended for all collections.”

It was a very interesting interview and she made some very good points - especially about the move to silence opposition through such things as the Patriot Act and being able to label people as “enemy combatants”. The main thing that she kept pointing to is the current administrations removal of the checks and balances. And where those do exist, they have tried to make sure that people of their same mind or even under their control are in those positions. For example the justice system and the attorney generals.

Now, truthfully, I believe she may go a bit far and especially interview may be a bit caught up in hype and hyperbole, but she does have extremely good points. Often it takes something akin to a 2 x 4 to hit you upside the head and get you to pay attention. I think that is what she is doing here. You must realize that when rights start to slide away, or be stripped away, they go very quickly. It is up to each and every one of us to be vigilant and not say, “it couldn’t happen here.”

If you are so inclined, you can also watch a speech she gave on this same subject in Kane Hall at the University of Washington. It has been published to YouTube, here.