A culture of liars

I have known ever since I became a teacher over 20 years ago that being lied to was just part of my daily experience. I think that was the biggest shock I had when I became a teacher. So, I have come to expect to be lied to at work. What I have noticed lately is that I am being lied to more and more outside of work. In fact I would say that we are becoming a culture of liars. Not only are more more people lying, more and more people are expecting to be lied to and accepting it. I think this will have a devastating impact on our society. How can our society survive when everyone is a liar? What does that say about us a a society when we think that lying is OK?

What do you think?

Nightcap 3-2-16

Stocks were basically flat today. Oil was all over the map, but closed higher. That makes a few days in a row where my correlation theory did not work out. Ben Carson dropped out of the race. He should have dropped out long ago. I guess he had enough money left to keep going till now. The next debate should be interesting. It is going to be a dog pile on Trump. what ever happens it will not make much of a difference. The people who support Trump do not seem to care about the truth or his views. They just want him to be elected no matter what. Now that is scary. Other than the usual crime, mayhem, and disasters, there was nothing else of great importance in the news.

What do you think?

And then there were four

Ben Carson has suspended his campaign. That now leaves only four candidates for the nomination in the Republican race. Unfortunately I do not think that Carson dropping out will make much of a difference since he did not garner very many votes. On the other hand, there will be one fewer debater at the next debate. That will give everybody else more time to beat up on each other. I was just hearing that Donald Trump has the vast majority of of delegates already. But, if you add up all the delegates that are going to the other candidates, they are greater than what Trump has amassed. In other words, there are more delegates against Trump than there are for Trump. If that continues, Donald Trump might not get the nomination. We might end up with a brokered convention. Now that would be interesting

What do you think?

Gas prices - California

I had to buy some gas this morning and I thought I was going to pay much more for gas than I did last week. That was not the case. It was a little bit higher, but not substantially. So either the switch to the new formulation and has not affect the price of gas in California yet, or the change in formula is not going to have much of an effect on price at all. It is possible that the demand for gasoline here in California has diminished enough so that changing over to the new formula won't make a difference. That's great news for me at the gas pump, but not very good news for our economy. I am not sure which one I should root for. Do I want to lower prices? Or do I want a better economy? It really does not matter because what is going to happen is going to happen.

What do you think?

First create, then edit

When you are writing something that is going to be published in some form, it is very tempting to edit as you write. Many times as I write things that will be published I am tempted to do this. I am tempted because it feels like a shortcut and a timesaver, but it is just a way to make sure that what you write is bland and boring. It is also a great way to make sure you do not write very much because if you edit as you write, it'll stop you from putting words on the page. It'll stop the flow. Writing should always be a two-step process. First throw the words on the page as fast as possible. Then, come back later and fix it. That's how you create good stuff for your readers. It's also the best way to make sure that you keep putting words up on the page without impediment.

What do you think?

Nightcap 3-1-16

The results are starting to come in and both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had a big night winning the majority of state delegates today. Sanders won a few, Cruze two, and Rubio won one as well. Though it was not a knock out punch, Trump and Clinton are way ahead and will more than likely be the nominees. As I look at the last two presidential campaigns, the person who won the most states on Super Tuesday went on to become the nominee. I think it might be over, but then again, I also said there was a correlation between oil and stocks. Clearly that has not been the case today with stocks closing much higher and oil not moving a whole lot. Besides the usual mess of stories, nothing else was of any great importance today. Lets see if anyone drops out of the race tomorrow?

What do you think?

Change - how we communicate

One of the biggest impact the digital age has had on our lives is in the area of communication. Because of the Internet and smartphones we no longer really talk to each other face-to-face. We text, we message, we email, we even use videoconferencing but, we don't really talk to each other face-to-face anymore. I know that is a shame because frankly we miss out on so much when we don't talk to each other face-to-face. On the other hand, it is what it is. The genie has been let out of the bottle and it's not going back in. I for one am not going to give up my iPhone any day soon. I doubt very many others would give up their smartphones either. The way we now communicate is here to stay.

I have noticed one thing though. I actually communicate with my family members more than I did in the past. In the past if I wanted to contact my wife, I had to wait till I got home. Now I just just send her a text or an email and she responds rather quickly. Granted, how we communicate is not very deep, but I do talk to her more during the day than I ever did before. I could say the same thing for the rest of my family members. I guess you can conclude that the quality of our communication probably is not as it was, but the quantity is greater. Maybe that might not be a bad thing overall.

What do you think?

Becoming a teacher today

Would I recommend that anyone become a teacher today? I am actually mixed on the answer to that question. It is true that teaching today is not a great career to go into. Talk to most teachers and they will tell you that it is a thankless job, with unending demands, horrible behaving students, and crazy parents. The pay in some states is fine, but in others it is still horrible. The benefits used to be great, but since Obamacare, they are expensive and mediocre. So why even think about teaching? The only reason is that you still get to make a positive impact on a few students. I have come across two ex students of mine over the last two days who still remember me fondly and were thankful for all I did for them. That's the only reason I still teach. If you want to become a teacher, the only reason is because you want to make a difference. You will, but it might not be as huge as you think. If you want to teach for any other reason, it's not worth the hard work, stress, working conditions, and a host of other negative aspects.

What do you think?

Creatively lazy

I am basically a lazy person, but I have found ways to be very productive. I have done so by being a little bit creative. For example, I have done all I can to create a job for myself in which I do as much of the things I enjoy during the day. Now, there are plenty of things I do not enjoy doing during the day but I have minimized them as much as I possibly can. I did so on purpose. It is interesting how you can do this in just about any field. I did it by creating a program from scratch in music in public education. If I can do that in public education you could probably do it in just about any place. Just add some creativity, decide what you would like to do, and then slowly but surely work your way to make it happen.

What do you think?

Nightcap 2-29-16

So much for there being a correlation between stocks ad oil. Stocks were down today. but oil was up. I'm glad I did not make that trade. The rest of the news today was not all that important. There were plenty of stories about the Oscars, which I am glad I did not watch. Not only did I not want to be lectured about race and all the other liberal issues, but none of the movies or people I liked won anything. Also, why is it that the movies people like usually do not win? The highest grossing movies of the year were basically never mentioned. Are the customers that ignorant? I think not and that is also one of the reasons I did not watch the Oscars. The other story was all about what might happen tomorrow in the Super Tuesday primaries. Frankly, it is not going to be much of a surprise. Trump and Clinton are going to walk away with the majority of delegates and will be in effect, the nominees for president. If that is not scary, I do not know what is! That was it except for the usual crime, mayhem, and disasters.

What do you think?