This is the video from the winter survival chat that I attended with the Sierra Club. Enjoy the lecture and feel free to leave me some comments.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
What Would You Do?
Let's say hypothetically that a nice kid from the neighborhood offers to mow your lawn for 10.00 a week. You agree to this but you have to let him use your mower; no problem because that frees up your Saturday's the kid does a great job for a couple of weeks and then offers to take your mower home to tune it up and sharpen the blade. You are so pleased that you pay for the parts and kick him down a few bucks for the effort.
On your way home from work on Monday you notice that the kid is mowing your neighbors lawn with your mower. This is mildly annoying but you just shrug it off. After about a month he offers to do the same thing again so you say OK because he is pretty trustworthy so far and he is always on time and does a good job. On the way home from work you see him mowing your neighbors lawn with your mower again. Maybe that is just how he is tesing the tune up...so you let it slide.
The following week sitting at the bar you are talking with yet another neighbor who mentions what a nice job the kid does on his lawn. After a little digging you realize that the kid has many accounts in the neighborhood but he continually uses other peoples mowers to maintain those accounts. As a matter of fact, only a couple of his accounts even own mowers and he is just rotating through a couple of them on a regular basis to mow every bodies lawn.
Technically the kid never lied to you because you never asked him the right question. What he is doing is not immoral although probably a little unethical. He has always provided exactly what he said that he would, so he did not misrepresent his intentions. The only real crime is that he omitted important information.
The question is...How do you deal with the problem
Option 1; Ignore it and enjoy your Saturdays.
Option 2; Offer to rent your mower to the kid for ten bucks a week if he continues to mow your lawn for free.
Option 3; fire the kid and mow your own damn lawn.
Option 4; Expose the operation for what it is to all your neighbors and end his profiteering.
Pick whatever option you think that you really would. (no one will know your answer anyhow)
The real question is...Why don't we use that same option when we find out that our elected officials are using the same unethical practices to profit off of us?
Ignore them, get in on the scam, fire them, expose them so everyone will fire them. Sadly, what we say we would do to the kid does not reflect what we are doing on a daily basis, it is just lip service.
If our government is not of the people, by the people, and for the people then why are we not fixing it? Do we enjoy our lazy Saturdays so much that we don't care what happens the rest of the week?
On your way home from work on Monday you notice that the kid is mowing your neighbors lawn with your mower. This is mildly annoying but you just shrug it off. After about a month he offers to do the same thing again so you say OK because he is pretty trustworthy so far and he is always on time and does a good job. On the way home from work you see him mowing your neighbors lawn with your mower again. Maybe that is just how he is tesing the tune up...so you let it slide.
The following week sitting at the bar you are talking with yet another neighbor who mentions what a nice job the kid does on his lawn. After a little digging you realize that the kid has many accounts in the neighborhood but he continually uses other peoples mowers to maintain those accounts. As a matter of fact, only a couple of his accounts even own mowers and he is just rotating through a couple of them on a regular basis to mow every bodies lawn.
Technically the kid never lied to you because you never asked him the right question. What he is doing is not immoral although probably a little unethical. He has always provided exactly what he said that he would, so he did not misrepresent his intentions. The only real crime is that he omitted important information.
The question is...How do you deal with the problem
Option 1; Ignore it and enjoy your Saturdays.
Option 2; Offer to rent your mower to the kid for ten bucks a week if he continues to mow your lawn for free.
Option 3; fire the kid and mow your own damn lawn.
Option 4; Expose the operation for what it is to all your neighbors and end his profiteering.
Pick whatever option you think that you really would. (no one will know your answer anyhow)
The real question is...Why don't we use that same option when we find out that our elected officials are using the same unethical practices to profit off of us?
Ignore them, get in on the scam, fire them, expose them so everyone will fire them. Sadly, what we say we would do to the kid does not reflect what we are doing on a daily basis, it is just lip service.
If our government is not of the people, by the people, and for the people then why are we not fixing it? Do we enjoy our lazy Saturdays so much that we don't care what happens the rest of the week?
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Mothers Song.
I was just sitting here listening to the TV and watching the snow falling on my front porch. It got me thinking about the warning that mother nature gives us and how accurate they can be. I recently predicted the coming snow based on the barometric pressure changes and the cloud formations. In light of this prediction we made our bi-monthly pilgrimage to town for groceries yesterday. We were going to do it today but I "just knew" that it was going to snow so we bumped it up a day to be safe. Lo and behold, today we have snow. In thinking back on that I decided to write a poem in the spirit of the gift of natural signs and the ability to read them. It took me about 20 minutes to put this one together so don't be too critical of my poetic ability.
But first a little proverb by me...
The ill equipped man that runs to forest to be at peace will find no peace therein, he will find only misery and pain. For all the things he left behind he brought his ignorance with him.
MOTHERS SONG
There’s a song I have learned, a gift that was earned
Sang by our elders that watched the sky turn
From season to season and place to place
A simple truth for the human race
A song of wisdom, a song of lore
A song of knowledge, and learning more
A song of beauty, like the setting sun
A song of terror, for ignorant ones
This song I sing has no need for words
It is sang by the flora the fauna and birds
The song of the mother and of her son
The song of the father and forgotten one
A song of nature, that is noble and proud
You have only to listen she will sing it loud
From thunder storms to insect swarms
Of all that’s coming she gladly warns
Of rain and snow or wind that blows
Revealing the plan that only she knows
The wild things know not trivial things
But they do understand the song that she sings
Listen and hear the mothers’ song
When you find that you have wandered long
She will guide you to a safer place
Long forgotten by the human race
--Norseman, 30 Jan 2011
But first a little proverb by me...
The ill equipped man that runs to forest to be at peace will find no peace therein, he will find only misery and pain. For all the things he left behind he brought his ignorance with him.
MOTHERS SONG
There’s a song I have learned, a gift that was earned
Sang by our elders that watched the sky turn
From season to season and place to place
A simple truth for the human race
A song of wisdom, a song of lore
A song of knowledge, and learning more
A song of beauty, like the setting sun
A song of terror, for ignorant ones
This song I sing has no need for words
It is sang by the flora the fauna and birds
The song of the mother and of her son
The song of the father and forgotten one
A song of nature, that is noble and proud
You have only to listen she will sing it loud
From thunder storms to insect swarms
Of all that’s coming she gladly warns
Of rain and snow or wind that blows
Revealing the plan that only she knows
The wild things know not trivial things
But they do understand the song that she sings
Listen and hear the mothers’ song
When you find that you have wandered long
She will guide you to a safer place
Long forgotten by the human race
--Norseman, 30 Jan 2011
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