2016 Winter January 29 Friday

45 degrees this morning, walk 30:00 minutes

I think this is the fist time I have walked for an even number of minutes to the second.  

First month of 2016 is completed (or will be this weekend) and I’m still writing “2015”!   (actually, sometimes I start with “19”!

Thinking about the 98 year old retirement age, and when I retire, I have to somewhat change my thoughts.  If I ever have to work in a  regular office again, I will retire rather than do that.  

Doesn’t mean I will retire, I will still do something, but life is too short (even with a retirement age of 98 years old!) to work in a regular office again.  Not saying I wouldn’t change my mind for the right situation, but, it would have to be something very attractive.

I am amazed how much more I get done in my home office.  

Not that the office doesn’t have good points.  I probably would learn a lot more if I was in a situation where I could casually ask questions etc.  

Anyway, I have been thinking about it, and i know very few people who have the physical capacity to work until they are 98 years old, which I guess may be the point!  If no one ever retires you can promise anything!  It is only when people actually collect on those wonderful promises when things get sticky!

One more thought on Walmart.  I don’t have any problem with Walmart shutting down the new “Walmart Express” concept.  That is an idea that apparently just didn’t work.

However, when they built a huge “super Walmart” or a Walmart 20 years ago,  ran everyone else out of business and than just shut down, I think that is a real problem with corporate ethics the they don’t help the community.  

They not only destroyed the economic (and frequently the cultural and social) fabric of the community they also are destroying the real estate market by leaving a huge  vacant store the usually can’t be used for anything else. 

It only seems they could do something to assist the communities in getting back on their feet.  Maybe I will write Walmart and offer my services in doing that!

One of my favorite songs, # 587 of 6544 tunes, Mumford & Sons, “I Will Wait (for you)” is playing now.  Without sounding sappy, it reminds me of something I told Aliene years ago (and still mean). The song wasn’t around then, but it reminded  me when I first heard it.

Speaking of Walmart, being “in the field” and working with businesses of all sizes, I am amazed at the courage and tenacity it takes to succeed as a small business person.  They literally put their heart and soul in it and still frequently fail. However, I also see a lot of successes or at least people who are doing what they want to do.

I find myself putting my hands up to touch the screen more and more as I get more used to using my work computer (actually a tablet) with a touchscreen.

Frankly, Apple is going to have to get a touch screen computer soon, or I will probably jump ship on my next laptop.  I don’t understand why they have been so backward on providing a touch screen. 

I might try the large Apple iPad, but doubt that it would really substitute for a laptop.  

Still waiting for information we need to determine what our plans will be (mundane things such as where we will be living on February 18!)  Plan on getting information on this today, so if we need to make some decisions, we can start making them. 

Glad it is Friday, for a number of reasons.  I enjoy my work, but I also enjoy the weekends!

Happy Birthday to my “home state” of Kansas.  Today is Kansas Day. 

That’s it for now, Friday, January 29, 2016.

2016 Winter January 28 Thursday

38 degrees this morning, Walk 29:44 minutes

Thinking about the concept of “normal” retirement age (assuming the retirement age when it was set at 65 years of age “adjusted” for the standard life expectancy) of 98 years old, I will need to readjust when I  retire!

I had been thinking vaguely of “retiring” in 6 or 7 years, but now I think maybe it should be 12 or 14 years! It would still be “early”  retirement assuming “normal” retirement is 98 years old!  

Of course, your health will play a major role in that decision.  If the “normal” retirement age now would be 98 years old, I think health care maybe hasn’t kept up with the increasing life expectancy.  

Of course, a consideration is that the increasing life expectancy is probably attributed to better health care and certainly the elimination of many life threatening diseases etc., as well as better eating, and better safety conditions in the workplace and home.  

I’ll need to do some more research and thinking on this, the concept that the “normal” retirement age, based on the original 65 years of age, is 98 years old is just amazing.  

It is had to imagine the “normal” life expectancy of 45 or 50 in the early 1900’s.  I can’t help but think a lot of that is attributed to the elimination/prevention of childhood diseases that were life threatening, more deaths due to lack of safety standards etc.  

It would be interesting to see what the “average” life expectancy is if the early deaths were not considered.  It may well be that, for the persons who lived, the life expectancy was longer, if that makes any sense.

Speaking of Corporate ethics (or lack thereof), a big example is Walmart moving into small towns and running the locals out of business and now Walmart is leaving, apparently without any consideration for the disaster they will leave.

Walmart destroyed the social and economic infrastructure of many of the small cities, not they are abandoning them in the name of short term profits.

Not that they weren’t making a profit, they weren’t making “enough profit”.  Short-term thinking to say the least.  

For many of the small towns, Walmart was not only the main (and now only) place to buy food, but it also generated sales tax revenue.

With the short-term thinking of this state, most cities, especially small cities, depend on sales tax revenues.  

When Walmart leaves, the city will need to reduce services to an already underserved population.

So Walmart leaving means the city will lose a social center, probably lose local access to groceries etc., and also it will destroy the city budget.  

Talk about a lack of ethics!   I think Walmart is responsible for the situation, they should own up to it and take action to mitigate the damages that were created by Walmart, instead of leaving town and washing their hands of the situation they have created.  

On the other hand, with Walmart out of the picture, local grocery stores, hardware stores, clothing stores etc. may return.  I doubt it, but it could happen.  

Of course, if Walmart had any ethics, they would set up a program to help he little cities they have profited from for years set up programs to help hem re-establish local businesses.  

I won’t wait by the phone for that to happen, and I certainly won’t hold my breath!  

That’s it for now, Thursday, January 28, 2016

2016 Winter January 27 Wednesday

26 degrees this morning, no walk

Still have occasional fits of coughing, but overall feeling ok.  I am trying to get rid of the coughing for good.  

Aliene apparently got what I had (although it seems like almost everyone has some version of it now).  

I especially miss the exercise, although at least I have been able to walk most mornings since I started walking again.  I am looking forward to swimming and biking.  At least I don’t have to worry about the persons with “New Year Resolutions” overfilling the swimming pool right after New Year Day, most of them are probably gone by now!

I saw a Microsoft “Surface” (tablet)  in operation yesterday.  I think iPads (or tablets) and smartphones are truly advancing to where the laptop computer may go the way of the desktop computer, at least as  we know it now.  I think the new “large” Apple iPad is somewhat comparable to the Microsoft surface.

I still use my desktop for some projects, but don’t know if I will replace it or not when the time comes.  It is getting long in the tooth, but still has several years left before it becomes unusable.  Of course, it has been “obsolete” for several years now, which doesn’t mean it is’t still very useful.

My laptop Mac Air is approaching the end of the warranty, but since Apple is stopping the “1 to 1” training program, I really don’t have any real incentive to replace it.  

I have to admit I was impressed by what I saw of the large Apple iPad (and Surface) and was more impressed than I expected by the Apple Watch, although I will wait until at least the next upgrade and probably until the Apple Watch can operate without the iPhone, but you never know.

I have a credit card that provides 2% “cash back”, and I am saving it for either another iPad (probably the big one, which will take a while) or the Apple Watch, which would also take a while!

It would be difficult to replace my MacBook Air, but I like my Work Tablet, which is a Dell, probably somewhat like the Microsoft Surface.  I find myself reaching up the MacBook Air screen use “touch screen” and then being disappointed when I realize it doesn’t have a touchscreen!

Probably the only technology that will make me want to buy a replacement MacBook Air (other than time making it obsolete) is if they provide a MacBook Air with a touchscreen.  I don’t know why they wouldn’t for that matter, there are many brands that do provide it.  

I received a good idea from my cousin the other day about listening to audiobooks, or at least podcasts, which is to speed it up to about 1.5 so I can listen faster.  I think it will work, especially on podcasts, and it will probably actually help me listen to it.  

Thus far, the “repurposed” iPhones 3, 3g and 5 are working fine, which provides me with many audio readers, especially considering I have the iPad one, which is still an excellent device, except it is becoming to the point I can’t run much on it.  It is still great for music, pictures, as an audiobook and some programs that still run on it.  

I am still amazed that my three  “shuffles” are still working with full battery power (at least as far as I can tell, anyway they work!).

I know a lot of people swear by Samsung devices, but I only swear at them.  For some reason, since my first Samsung monitor years ago, I have never had a good Samsung device.  The monitor went out a few days after the warranty, and other Samsung devices (phones, tablets etc.) haven’t been lasted  the warranty period and were afflicted with strange behavior and outages etc..  Anyway, so I don’t buy that brand at all!

That’s it for now, Wednesday, January 27, 2016.

2016 Winter January 26 Tuesday

31 degrees this morning.  Walk 29:44 minutes 

I am still thinking about the thought that if, if the retirement had been adjusted for the “increased life expectancy” since 65 years of age was designated the “retirement age”, the retirement age would now by 98 years of age!  

That would mean I would just be reaching middle age and probably just starting the “prime” of my working life!  

I actually can see that.  A lot of time, effort and money is spent in training us for careers.  While it may sound somewhat self-promoting, I have definitely seen the positive aspect of “experience”.  Experience helps you avoid a lot of mistakes!

I think the idea of 98 years old as “normal” retirement would be hard to imagine in reality.  While many people in their nineties (and I have read/heard of ninety+ people  that still work daily), I can’t imagine a lot of people in their nineties  going to a full-time job and really being productive, unless (and this could happen) career expectations change.

That could be where robots, self-driving cars etc. could play a major role.  Many people would like to work and are simply unable to handle all of the tasks.

Robots could handle many of the mundane/heavy  tasks.  For example, for the many people with bad backs etc., robots could lift items, bend over to pick up items etc. while the person involved used their brain power in more important tasks.

Thinking about it, I think maybe expecting a robot to perform all of the functions of a job shouldn’t be our goal.  

Our goal should be to use robots and technology to augment people and support them by doing the tasks the person can’t do and allow the human beans to maximize the areas they are best in.  

I remember a book that advised you should not worry about your weak areas, and concentrate on improving the areas you are good in.  I always thought that, within reason, that is an excellent concept. 

I think even the Bible emphasizes using your talents you have to their maximum extent is the right thing to do.  

I am well aware of the type of things I can’t do, for whatever reason, and, quite frankly, I don’t worry about not doing those things.  I just find someone else whose expertise is strong where i am weak and both of us are somewhat happy!

Robots and technology would be perfect ways for persons to extend their working careers or enhance their careers at any age by using them to perform the tasks we are weak in  and also perform tasks that persons can no longer physically (or mentally) preform.  

Thinking about it, i think the concept of 98 being the retirement age does not allow for the variety of illnesses that affect older people, primarily because they are living longer since many diseases are either no longer a threat, or are cured, or at least the life-threatening extent is minimized. 

On the other hand, when you consider the family and volunteer roles many older persons perform, perhaps we should re-conceptualize retirement to include “working” as the family and volunteer roles many “retired” persons perform.

To our surprise we didn’t hear anything about the housing selling/purchasing yesterday.  Maybe today.

Still have an occasional coughing spell.  I will be so glad when it is over!

That’s it for now, Tuesday, January 26, 2016. 

2016 Winter January 25 Monday

53 degrees his morning.  Walk 29:53 minutes. 

Started walking a longer walk this morning, hoping to get back into all of my exercise again.  Hopefully can start swimming again soon.  

Glad to see warmer weather return, even if it is still coolish.  Supposed to reach the 60’s and 70’s today!

Just heard a statistic the 2/3’s of all the people who have lived past 65 years of age are alive today!  We are blazing a new trail!

Also heard the statistic that if we retired using the same criteria (the average life span was 45 years when the 65 year old retirement age was selected) the retirement age now would be 97 years old!  

Most people consider “old age” starts at 80 years of age now!  

This is based on a podcast from about 7 years ago, so these statistics might b slightly off by now.

Of course, that is based on  current knowledge of history!

While of course I realized that the life span has increased (as I may have mentioned before, I am now the average “lifespan” when I was born, and it is now a lot longer).  

Of course statistics don’t really mean much when the micro applies to you!

It is rather amazing to think that for the most of human history, few actually “retired”, at least in the current sense.  I have always, at least subconsciously, thought that was the normal cycle oe life.

The same podcast mentioned that for every decade (that is from 2000 to 2010), the average lifespan increases 2 1/2 years!

In theory, I like podcasts.  However, the problem comes when you have a boring segment and you have to to figure how to fast forward through it.  Also, it comes back to a matter of “time” again.  

I really wonder who has the time watch all of the shows mentioned, read the books etc.  I really don’t believe one person does all of that, but even when I hear about the shows etc. that people profess to watch, how do they have time to do it?  Ditto with video games etc.

Speaking of the gouging of people by sports, I recently read that ESPN  paid the NBA (pro basketball) 24  billion dollars nine years of rights to televise a certain number of games.  (I understand other networks are also paying obscene amounts to televise them also.)

Of course, since I never watch NBA games (i think they are boring to say the least), I will be gouged by ESPN fees to cable tv  for something I never watch, pay higher prices for products that pay obscene amounts for advertising on ESPN NBA games etc.  

Now I read where ESPN wants to “take over” Saturday with NBA basketball (apparently because now they have to justify the money etc.).  I don’t think so.  They appear are more egomaniac than they appear. 

I also read something about how ESPN decided they were gong to “change New Year Eve” by televising the “college football championship” on New Year Eve.

I doubt the they changed all that much, I really wonder why they would care about “changing New Year Eve”

I really wonder who makes all of these decisions.  

If ESPN took the normal risks of such stupid decisions that would be one thing.  But they are “protected” by the FCC and can change cable tv basically whatever they want, so my only choice to “cut the cord” to avoid paying for something I absolutely have no interest in.  

Start of a new week, already the last week of January 2016!  I can’t believe how fast it flies.

We should learn today if everything is proceeding well on our selling our house/purchasing another house, last least several major points.

One if the appraisal of our house.  Of course, it will be the result of he appraiser throwing a bunch of numbers in a computer program, which may or may not even come close to the correct actual figure because they are scared by government regulations from using any judgement.  

It appears like they would just put the figures in without even using an appraiser and avoid the $490 appraisal fee.  Of course that would be too reasonable and would eliminate one more fee!

That’s it for now, Monday, January 25, 2016.  

2016 Winter January 24 Sunday

36 degrees (feels like 26) this morning.  Walk 25:33 minutes 

The 2016 Presidential Election campaign is already one for the ages and is even getting more weird.  I can imagine the fun Political Scientists and Historians will have analyzing this election, no matter how it turns out.  

Of course, it will always be overshadowed by the decision that any amount of money can be spent on a candidate.  Big Monday and lobbyists already had too much power in elections before and now they can secretly spend any amount of money.  Obscene.

Any concept that corporations are a “person” is absolutely unbelievable  Corporations are artificial constructs and certainly have demonstrated they have no heart, soul or ethics.  They exist solely for the stockholders, and probably more so, for the Board and top officers.  

Not that a corporation is bad in itself, but trying to give human rights to a corporation is absolutely wrong.  A corporation exists to provide a service or product, which is great, but it should not participate in elections nor be considered a legal “person” and certainly should not be given carte blanche to throw any amount of money at a candidate, in return for huge favors.

Of course, almost as bad, allowing any individual to throw money at politicians in return for favors should be illegal.  Somehow it seems to violate the equal rights of individuals and the concept of one citizen, one vote.

The cough seems to linger on.  My early morning walk doesn’t seem to bother me, I think because I keep my mouth covered and breathe through my nose.  When I am out in the weather otherwise, I think it irritates my throat enough to continue the coughing.  

I have a Doctors appt. in several weeks and hopefully that will pinpoint the problem.  It is more of an annoyance now than a continual problem, but it is still coughing several times per day (depending on how much time I spend outside) which I’m sure is not good.

An example of what I mentioned above about “congressional giveaways” was illustrated recently by a story about the (locally owned) 7-11 stores that received  a 49 cent PER GALLON “kickback” on CNG gas by congress, apparently some lobbying payback.  

It was a payoff to the fat cat  corporations, but 7-11 is giving it back to their customers, since they consider it an illegal kickback and political payback and unethical (I my be using some poetic license here, but that is the general concept) so they are passing it on.

Anyway, it basically made CNG gas .49 cents per gallon, meaning 10 gallons will cost $4.90 etc. It will continue until the payoff is fully passed on to customers. 

Of course other stations continue to charge full-price and take the kick back for “profit”.  

There are many reasons I only buy gas at 7-11.  When we first moved here, we were shocked a the stations that advertise a low price for “10 % ethanol”, and, of course a high price for “100% gas”  (whatever that is).  THEN, they base the “premium” on the “100% gas price, meaning premium gas was frequently over a $1.00 more than the advertised price!  (At the time, our only car required premium).

7-11 stores were the only ones we found that were fair about providing 10% Premium also, so we only got gas at 7-11.

In addition, whether you agree with the lottery or not, 7-11 does not sell lottery tickets, I assume based on the owners feelings about gambling, although it may be there is just not enough money to mess with it!  

Of course, you could argue that 7-11 is not providing a needed service to residents, but, I expect it is because the owner’s feelings about the lottery.  Plus there are plenty of places to buy lottery tickets if you want one.

In addition there is another convenient store chain that is in all other parts of the state, but not here because the owner of the other chain refuses to compete against 7-11 because the owner did him a favor when he first started.

Ethics in a corporation, how refreshing!

That’s it for now, Sunday, January 24, 2016. 

2016 Winter January 23 Saturday

26 degrees this morning, walk 25:45 minutes

Google (or at least search engines in general) may have been one of the biggest transformations of modern times, if you really think about it.

While it would not have been possible without the computer, internet etc., it still has had a major impact on daily life, modern thinking, and especially learning and advances in all fields. 

I probably didn’t really realize the impact of it until a few years ago I was in the Apple store, and the techs, instead of going to a manual etc. looking for something, simply looked it up on Google!

In fact, Google and related have probably eliminated the need for reference works, manuals etc. or at least greatly reduced them.

I haven’t noticed when I go to the library (which says something in itself), but I really don’t know if they have near the reference works before, but I expect they save their money and only have a few of the essential reference works.  

I know when I was ‘weeding” i had a lot of reference works and I donated almost all of them.  I keep a few of the more esoteric ones, but I expect even that is available on Google.  

To have all the knowledge of the world available in milliseconds anywhere and anyplace (with smart phones) is simply an amazing advancement!  

This basically means any information is available to anyone within seconds of it being posted!

Of course, on the other hand, there are drawbacks.  

Probably most important, you really don’t know what information to trust.  Either someone is trying to mislead you and make money at it, or they are doing it just because they are lowlife crooks.  

Of course, there are also honest differences of opinion and belief.  

Maybe education should (or maybe it is) should be directed towards having the analytic tools and wisdom to sift through tremendous amounts of information and determine what is true, what is best for you etc.  

I really proceed on the notion that if I can look it up, I probably don’t need to waste brainpower and, especially time, on trying remember it.

Probably more important to me is having the knowledge and ability to know where to find it, know how to analyze it and determine the information I need.

One big problem with just “remembering” information even books or magazines is that they are “static” information, whereas Google etc. is updating itself all of the time.

I know Libraries have changed substantially over the recent years to deal with the new ways of thinking, new knowledge sources etc.  I only hope the schools are also keeping up.

One major problem is the massive amount of propaganda and that people (certainly including me) just don’t have the ability to deal with it.  Certainly terrorist recruitment is one example, but there are a lot of examples. 

Went to a bluegrass concert last night.  It was fun and good.  As usual, I didn’t think they played the fiddle/violin enough!

Got to bed much later than usual as a consequence, and up a little later this morning to get my normal amount of sleep.  Probably good for me to do that more often!  Don’t want to get into a rut!

That’s it for now, Saturday, January 23, 2016.

Winter 2016 January 22 Friday

30 degrees (20 degree wind chill), 25:58 minute walk

A stiff north wind this morning! Fortunately the cold doesn’t really bother me during my walk, I basically dress for it.  

Within the next several days we will have a better idea if the moves (selling our house and buying the other house) will actually go through.  Probably a good chance, but you never know.  We will live with whatever happens.  

Listening more to the biography of Woodrow Wilson during my walk.  The United States is now in WWI with the military draft starting.  

The writer notes that Wilson, who had no military experience was an excellent Commander in Chief.  

One key he notes that I never really thought about was that Wilson decided early that American soldiers would not be “replacements” for other nations armies,l but would fight as American troops under an American Flag etc.  

I had never really considered the importance of that, not only in the military, but in all aspects of life and careers.  Feeling part of a coherent group with common purposes or a common purpose is probably the key to success in many cases. 

I know my personal experience is that persons who feel part of a group (even if they are always complaining etc.), are almost always better performers than persons who don’t.  Of course you also have to define “part of the group”.

Since we are involved in buying the house etc., we probably aren’t going to take a short vacation to a warm spot this winter as we planned.  I think late January or early February would be a good time to “escape” for a few days to a warm place and forget about the cold.

Of course, an argument could also be made for March, since the cold part of Winter is over, but it seems forever before the warm weather really returns.  

We have noticed it always seems to get extremely hot just in time for the CMA Fest!  A lot of activities are outside, and it is just  uncomfortably hot.  

Also, the crowds are getting bigger and bigger and it is getting much harder to get around and really attend everything we want attend.  

Also, even though Nashville seems to grow hotels like rabbits, it is still difficult to get a room for the CMA Fest.  We used to not have a big problem, but this year we were lucky to get a room downtown and I doubt that we can get one downtown next year unless  the increase in hotel rooms makes a difference.

Oil prices are having a definite impact around here as companies start to lay off people and the retail stores are noticing the decrease in sales, probably due to both the internet and people either losing jobs and concerned about losing their job.  

Earthquakes continue to jolt the area.  I watch as the “Richter Scale” increases.  Earthquakes used to be in the 2.5 and under range, or at least 3 and under.  Now a 4.5 etc. isn’t all that unusual and that is dangerous.   

That’s it for now, Friday, January 22, 2016.

2016 Winter January 21 Thursday

34 degrees this morning, Walk 28:59 minutes 

Winter continues to grind out one day at a time, as we work towards Spring. Spring is two months away today!  At least Winter is 1/3 gone!  

Of course even after Spring, there is that long cool period and there are periods where it is uncomfortably cool until at least mid-May, although there are usually periods of good weather there.

They are taking registrations for the week long  bicycle ride across the state in June.  I had planned to be a lot further along in my bicycle training by now.  Of course, with the cough, I still haven’t started riding again.  I’ll start again soon and see what happens.  

I’m not all that enamored as to the route of the ride this year.  The ride is designed to go through small towns and staying overnight in small towns, which I think is a good idea.  

Walking has been going well.  I probably will start to increase my distance again, although I am considering shortening the walk so I can ride the bicycle in the early morning again.  

The area we are moving to (assuming everything goes well, we should know any major roadblocks in the next week) has a lot better bicycle riding area.  There are actually “off road” trails as well as a lot more low-speed streets and, as I mentioned, my favorite YMCA is  only 1.5 miles away, accessible by at least two alternative bike paths!  My kind of City!

Browsed a book about the future “living on Mars” the other day.  Unfortunately I misplaced it for several weeks and found it just in time to get it back to the Library without a fine, so I didn’t read it as such.  I’ve kept my eyes open to recheck it, but haven’t seen it yet. 

I doubt if i will ever see it, but I expect there is a good chance we will be able to live on Mars soon than we think!  

I have always wondered if there are any “limits” as to what we can achieve?  Or perhaps the question should be not limits, but what are we going to concentrate on achieving?  

AsI discussed yesterday, there is no moral or ethical reason, companies shouldn’t spend billions to create a better shoe or soap or computer program, smart phone app, or whatever. 

However, the “alternative costs” are there, since our resources are limited.  

Many of the science fiction etc. books envisioned many of the wonders we take for granted now, computers, GPS, smart phones, etc., even the “wrist phone” Dick Tracey used is now achievable!

Of course, we still haven’t  cured the common cold, found a reliable cure for many diseases etc.  

Worse yet, we have not discovered how to reduce crime and human suffering world wide or how to control or eliminate Terrorism.  

Some of the scenes I see of the brutality and human suffering world wide is just astounding and very disturbing that supposedly human beings could be capable of such things or worse yet that they do such things without any consequences, or at least any negative consequences.  

I have to feel they are simply “sub animals” or perhaps “sub insects” and so low on the cycle of life hey should be exterminated without any consideration for the fact they are supposed to be human beings.  Perhaps fortunately, I don’t have a say in the matter.  

Listening to my original iPod, tune 524 of 6524, Sara Evans “I keep looking”, and the lyrics actually are somewhat in line with my thoughts, “when I get what I want, I get unsatisfied”.  Todays wonderful inventions and advances become commonplace so fast. 

That’s it for now, Thursday, January 21, 2016.