I don't mind numbers, never have. When I'm entering checks and deposits in my Baha'i community's cash journal, I often to the math in my head first, then check it on the calculator before making the entry in pen. Usually I get the math right, and smirk a little when I do. Because I can round numbers pretty easily, most math problems don't phase me. I always did well in algebra too (get the joke?). But when I have uneven cents? Then I just go straight to the calculator, unless the cents are in the 90s -- they're easy to do. I've handled our local organization's books and funds for decades. Handling our personal checking is also easy because I just spend (within limits), and Janet does the bookkeeping..
The same principals apply to both organizational and personal finances: Save all deposit slip copies and paid receipts, write a numbered receipt for all monies received, reconcile the checkbook monthly, and usually trust the monthly bank statement. On the back of the statement is a form that makes reconciliation easy for small accounts, and I use that religiously. When I skip any of these steps a simple transposed number can throw my balance off for weeks. Then I bring in the big guns, Janet, an ex-accountant for Mercury Travel for years, and she finds and corrects my accounting problems. She hates it, but she's good at it. Hate is too strong. Frustrated that I make simple mistakes at all is more like it. But that's because I rush. I rush everything - my work, driving my car, and opening my mouth.
I've never taken a formal accounting class, except for a very basic, brief class that the Baha'i National Treasurer's Office in Wilmette Illinois gave me over thirty years ago. It was on the double-entry system, and the booklet they gave us had many double entry examples of all types, even contributed expenses, so it wasn't hard to understand. I still refer to that booklet. So working for the state, handling millions of dollars daily, I had no trouble with math, and could see a ripoff or a bargain easily from doing a breakeven analysis.
(Correction, three days after posting this: When Janet read this blog, she said "Liar."
"Huh,? What do you mean?"
"This year your books were a mess! I spent all those hours fixing them! How could you write that accounting comes easy to you?"
"Ah, you're right, this year I was terrible. But I really don't mind numbers, it was the new credit card that threw me off."
"No
excuses! You have to write your entries carefully, and balance each
page of the cash journal at the end of each month with the bank
statement. Got it?"
"Got it dear, promise.")
And I will be careful: S-L-O-W-E-R.
Breakeven analysis is easy too, and every accountant's best friend. It tells you how many months it takes to "break even" on an expenditure, including all costs in and expected savings from the purchase or lease. For example, the car I may buy (a Honda), costs $25,000 new, and the lease is $3200 down and $200 a month (aside from maintenance and gas etc), I'll spend $10,400 over a 36-month lease, and NOT own the car at the end. But its' a new car, so maintenance and repair costs s/b low, especially if I finagle free oil changes.
What if I bought it and kept the car five years? $26,750 k (incl. NJ Sales tax) for 5 years of use equals $450/mo compared to the $300/mo for the lease. Equalize that on five years, and the longer lease (3 years plus two years), costs around $350+/mo with inflation etc. vs $450 for the purchase, still a bargain. However, if I keep the car longer, you can see they will be the same payment at some point. Either way, leasing saves money over purchasing outright for short terms, and I have the car the same length of time.Unless I want to own the car for ten years. But then starting in year 5+ I'd have to add in maintenance costs.
The basic formula is P = Rm + Mm, or Purchase Price equals number of Rent months plus number of Maintenance months, and their costs. In this car example I don't have to factor in maintenance for the first five years, so the breakeven simply tells me how many months it takes to reach the Purchase Price. We used these formulas all the time in my office at the state, because buying products like software always had three elements: the term of the contract in years, the Purchase Price and the annual Maintenance cost (usually, now, 20 to 25 percent of the software purchase price - Microsoft called this "Software Assurance"). The variations help factor for any number you need. There's only one problem with using an automobile in this example. Add in mileage charges, and this analysis goes out the window, and leasing vs purchasing becomes much more equivalent - no advantage either way. Of course, having $25k in one's pocket is quite different than paying $350/mo.
All this is off the topic of accounting and more on math, but as a business owner, along with the other 500k small businesses in America, tools like these become critically important to survival. The State's SBDC doesn't teach this that I know of, but if you don't do it in your business regularly (and change prices accordingly), you won't be in business long. Most breakeven business analysis formulas have to do with Revenue (Sales) Income vs Cost of Goods to produce the product, but the same principles apply.
I mention all this because 1) it is soooo easy to start a business in New Jersey ($300 to $400 depending), 2) soooo easy to use a credit card online to do it, or 3) get a business loan if you have excellent credit and put up collateral (like your house), if you have bigger goals. it only cost me $350 each to start both my limited liability companies. That also makes it soooo easy to fail. According to the U/S Census Bureau, there's around six million small businesses in the U.S. with less than 100 employees. And, according to the Small Business Administration, over 50% them fail within the first five years. The SBA gives a bunch of valid reasons, the first one being lack of experience.
The State's website even has a tab called "Starting Your Own business" to help you do it, but its not training. Its a checklist. I think all new business owners should go thru training like the little break even formulas above, as a condition of getting their business license or registration number.
Maybe, just maybe, we can cut that 50% number down to say, 25%? Wouldn't that be better for everyone, especially the owner.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Like you, I've had many ups and downs, and quite a few sideways experiences. I firmly believe everyone should write theirs and share them, whether just for themselves or their kids. Here are some from my memoirs, observations and thoughts.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Joy of Having a Job
A better title for today's blog might be "The Joy of Having Wealth," because without a job and regular income, from what I read and understand about life, there's little joy in being an American (or other nationality?). "Baha'u'llah has written that, '. . . He who is the Eternal Truth -- exalted be His glory -- hath made the fulfillment of every undertaking on earth dependent on material means.'" (Source: UHJ Letter Sept. 17, 1992) His son, 'Abdu'l-Baha has also written. "Man should know his own self, and those things which lead to loftiness or baseness, to shame or to honor, to affluence or to poverty. After man has realized his own being and become mature, then for him wealth (or recompense) is needed. If this wealth is acquired through a craft or profession, it is approvable." (Source: Art of Divine Living) Everyone needs a job; worthwhile employment; income.
That to me is the number one issue facing not just Americans, but all peoples and governments. so obvious now since the economic recession (depression?) that began 2007-2008. Look at Greece, Spain, the European Union and others. High unemployment rates. We survived because we had the Troubled Asset Relief Program. You don't hear that phrase often, only "TARP" which has been spun a hundred ways, mostly negatively. The law was signed by President Bush no less. So TARP failure is just not true, altho I agree with critics that banking criminals should have been prosecuted as well for their frivolous and careless (and greedy) ways.
What's the labor department doing to create jobs? That should be where we put our efforts -- locally (yes -- its number one on munis minds and programs), statewide, nationally, and internationally. We have the IMF. How about the IJF? (International Jobs Fund) or IJB? (International Jobs Bank). There's private sites that do this now, afforded by companies who pay a head hunter to get just the right candidates for them, and sometimes by the candidates themselves. I wouldn't mind paying something from my first bi-weekly paycheck if someone helped me land a decent job . . . .
I started working the summer of 1965. Getting a job was not just easy, it was guaranteed. The newspapers had all the job announcements (no more). So I applied and got a job selling magazines door to door, part subject in my book Work of ABLiA. At the end of the summer, a State labor Department rep came to our house, interviewed me, and sent me a check for $30 for unpaid wages. The company I worked for had skipped town with all the funds they conned out of innocent subscribers, mostly the elderly. I had no idea; it seemed perfectly legit. But I had performed, and others, in good faith. Now there's a social program for you, getting unpaid wages. Yet we encourage and allow U.S. companies to pay their overseas workers pennies a day. And restaurants pay their waiters and waitresses around $2.25 an hour. But that's another blog.
I didn't know in May 1970 that I was beginning a 39 year career with the Treasury Department, but jobs for life then were common. No more. Why not? Because we allow companies to move jobs overseas, and to mostly hire part time workers to the detriment of them and their families. Why? One reason is that our corp business tax is at 35%, while most of the world is at 25%. Why not just standardize all countries at 25%, and change it by universal, majority vote? No, national sovereignty prevents that. Well, someday we won't have that problem. The barriers to true progress will be thrown away with all our other outworn shibboleths.
Also, we lose good workers when we do have them because we don't provide decent career paths, and no incentives, like the bonuses Wall Street fat cats get. (Note that the best companies don''t have these problems, having low turnover rates.) Of course that's oversimplified, but true enough. All these issues have solutions if we would just work towards them cooperatively and collaboratively. Consultation and principle are the ways to solve issues like this. That's why I applaud profit-sharing companies -- the wave of the future.
So, being mentally ill, yet being able to hold down a good job, with good medical and mental health benefits, among other things, did, in my opinion, make me a productive and contributing American citizen. And my jobs, like tarring roofs, or being a stock clerk, or a manager funneling millions of dollars to vendors, gave me a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. I took pride in my work, and they taught me it was easier to get cooperation, and save the State millions of dollars, thru agreement rather than pushing for my own way all the time.
A job. Jobs, jobs, jobs. They help make America as great as it is, and me.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
That to me is the number one issue facing not just Americans, but all peoples and governments. so obvious now since the economic recession (depression?) that began 2007-2008. Look at Greece, Spain, the European Union and others. High unemployment rates. We survived because we had the Troubled Asset Relief Program. You don't hear that phrase often, only "TARP" which has been spun a hundred ways, mostly negatively. The law was signed by President Bush no less. So TARP failure is just not true, altho I agree with critics that banking criminals should have been prosecuted as well for their frivolous and careless (and greedy) ways.
What's the labor department doing to create jobs? That should be where we put our efforts -- locally (yes -- its number one on munis minds and programs), statewide, nationally, and internationally. We have the IMF. How about the IJF? (International Jobs Fund) or IJB? (International Jobs Bank). There's private sites that do this now, afforded by companies who pay a head hunter to get just the right candidates for them, and sometimes by the candidates themselves. I wouldn't mind paying something from my first bi-weekly paycheck if someone helped me land a decent job . . . .
I started working the summer of 1965. Getting a job was not just easy, it was guaranteed. The newspapers had all the job announcements (no more). So I applied and got a job selling magazines door to door, part subject in my book Work of ABLiA. At the end of the summer, a State labor Department rep came to our house, interviewed me, and sent me a check for $30 for unpaid wages. The company I worked for had skipped town with all the funds they conned out of innocent subscribers, mostly the elderly. I had no idea; it seemed perfectly legit. But I had performed, and others, in good faith. Now there's a social program for you, getting unpaid wages. Yet we encourage and allow U.S. companies to pay their overseas workers pennies a day. And restaurants pay their waiters and waitresses around $2.25 an hour. But that's another blog.
I didn't know in May 1970 that I was beginning a 39 year career with the Treasury Department, but jobs for life then were common. No more. Why not? Because we allow companies to move jobs overseas, and to mostly hire part time workers to the detriment of them and their families. Why? One reason is that our corp business tax is at 35%, while most of the world is at 25%. Why not just standardize all countries at 25%, and change it by universal, majority vote? No, national sovereignty prevents that. Well, someday we won't have that problem. The barriers to true progress will be thrown away with all our other outworn shibboleths.
Also, we lose good workers when we do have them because we don't provide decent career paths, and no incentives, like the bonuses Wall Street fat cats get. (Note that the best companies don''t have these problems, having low turnover rates.) Of course that's oversimplified, but true enough. All these issues have solutions if we would just work towards them cooperatively and collaboratively. Consultation and principle are the ways to solve issues like this. That's why I applaud profit-sharing companies -- the wave of the future.
So, being mentally ill, yet being able to hold down a good job, with good medical and mental health benefits, among other things, did, in my opinion, make me a productive and contributing American citizen. And my jobs, like tarring roofs, or being a stock clerk, or a manager funneling millions of dollars to vendors, gave me a sense of self-worth and self-esteem. I took pride in my work, and they taught me it was easier to get cooperation, and save the State millions of dollars, thru agreement rather than pushing for my own way all the time.
A job. Jobs, jobs, jobs. They help make America as great as it is, and me.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
The Joy of Liking the Iroquois
I have a deep respect for the Native American peoples and cultures. That came more from seeing and reading about their historical treatment (which I always knew was shameful), and the other extreme where a few casinos fund tribal activities now. I've also had a deep respect for Quetzalcoatl, a Mesoamerican deity, whom I discovered in 1972 when I first learned of him as a Baha'i. Among other positions, he was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood and of learning and knowledge. To the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl was, as his Aztec name indicates, a feathered
serpent, a flying reptile (much like a dragon), who was a boundary-maker . . . between earth and sky. He was a creator deity having
contributed essentially to the creation of Mankind. (Source: Wikipedia) He was the earliest manifestation of God in the Americas that I had heard of up until that time, and I bought a book describing him and the Aztec culture which I studied avidly, now since lost.
His relationship to the Iroquoian-speaking peoples, a group of tribes later combined as the Iroquois League, may seem oblique. Until you read about Daganawida and Hiawatha. We all know of Hiawatha, from the Song of Hiawatha epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow written in 1855. Many of us will also remember the opening words and tune "By the shores of the Gitche Gumee . . . ." Longfellow's Hiawatha was fictional and not associated with the historical figure of the same name who lived c. 1570 - 1600+(?).
"Although Hiawatha is largely described as an Iroquois legend, it is the general consensus that he was indeed a real person who did have a hand in the formation of the Five Nations in what is now present day New York state. The Five Nations joined as five tribes (later six) of the region to halt inter-tribal feuding that had gone on for over a hundred years." (Source: Native Net) According to legend, Hiawatha was influenced by, and partnered with, Daganawida, The Great Peacemaker. He is associated with the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy; to my mind, the first formal "interdependence" of independent tribes, states if you will, within the pre-and post-revolutionary War of Independence, here in America. I could definitely be wrong about that, but it still serves as an excellent example of early political unity. At one time the League/Confederacy was over 80,000 strong, and fought along-side the British.
Daganawida has an even more fascinating history, "[B]y some accounts, his mother was a virgin, so the birth was miraculous . . . . By all accounts, he was a prophet who counseled peace among the warring tribes, and he called for an end to cannibalism. His follower Hiawatha, a Mohawk(?) renowned for his oratory, helped him achieve his vision." (Source: Wikipedia)
I write this because it all came back to me through the 1980's program called Indian Guides (and Princess), founded within the YMCA decades earlier. When my seven year-old son Jesse and I joined in September 1984, I had been merely impressed with the father-son aspect, but the Native American motif really drew me in. During our three years in the program, and then three more with my daughter Kate, we learned more about Native Americans than we had ever known. And that little bit of knowledge garnered much respect on our parts. Yes, it wasn't always authentic depictions, just generalities, sometimes over-simplified, and condescending in some ways. But that's not how Jesse and I took it. We took it seriously, although being in Indian Guides was the most fun we had together during his growing up years. It was much the same with Kate, only more social with five giggling girls coming together with their dads for monthly meetings.
When I went to my first orientation meeting at the Hamilton Y, I volunteered to start a tribe. So I held an open house, and a handful of dad's came to hear about it. From that I was nominated chief, and we adopted "Iroquois" as our name, even though I would later find out, as described above, that "Iroquois" was the name of a people, not a tribe. But we continued on happily in blissful ignorance. Jesse and I fully participated in, and actively nurtured our tribe, one of a dozen in the local program. By the second year I was helping other chiefs form their tribes. Jesse and I would go to their open house in our full regalia: leather vests (mine said Sunblaze and Jesses's Sunshine), leather wrist bands, bead necklaces, and Indian Guides headbands with eagle feathers.
We would gather in a circle sitting on our haunches, and open with the prayer to the Great Spirit. I would hold the talking stick and explain the simple program elements, then pass it to Jesse and he would say, "And Winter Weekend is just too much fun to miss!' Winter Weekend was just that, Saturday and Sunday spent in cabins at YMCA Camp Mason in Hope NJ, near the Delaware water gap, among all the tribes of the nation. There's was always at least a foot of snow covering the woods, trails, and hidden paths, streams and ponds, and we held a bonfire and sang camp songs the last night. There was a great hill for sledding, and a canteen where we gathered for meals and skits - during which each tribe told a short Indian story. We loved the program, and Kate and I later enjoyed it just as much.
I was deeply disappointed a few years ago upon hearing the Indian Guides Program had been cancelled, and a new one, with all references to Native Americans removed, had replaced it. It seems it was no longer "PC" -- politically correct. It's now called YMCA Adventure Guides. Not the same thing at all, since there is no theme that I can determine. However, the basic premise, father-son or father-daughter bonding (or even mother-son, mother-daughter), is still intact, and that's a good thing. We need more programs like that, along with the many CYO youth programs, for example. In the Baha'i Faith we have similar, but not as organized, Junior Youth programs. The point is, all of us have a responsibility to our children and youth to help them socialize, accumulate new knowledge, as well as be tolerant and accepting of others. Diversity is the name of the game today. The best part about Indian Guides? It wasn't a mere babysitting exercise, it was full, engaging and active participation.
One more point about this story of the Iroquois. When they were separate, independent tribes, they had warred and killed each other for the past hundred years, as stated. They were "rugged individuals." But in unity they found peace, collaboration, and development. America wasn't founded on rugged individualism, although that of course is a part of our unique history. America was founded on unity of the disparate colonies thru thoughts, freedoms, laws, and political unity.
Our forefathers surely knew and saw and heard of the Iroquois Confederacy and their great strengths. That is the foundation of America.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
His relationship to the Iroquoian-speaking peoples, a group of tribes later combined as the Iroquois League, may seem oblique. Until you read about Daganawida and Hiawatha. We all know of Hiawatha, from the Song of Hiawatha epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow written in 1855. Many of us will also remember the opening words and tune "By the shores of the Gitche Gumee . . . ." Longfellow's Hiawatha was fictional and not associated with the historical figure of the same name who lived c. 1570 - 1600+(?).
"Although Hiawatha is largely described as an Iroquois legend, it is the general consensus that he was indeed a real person who did have a hand in the formation of the Five Nations in what is now present day New York state. The Five Nations joined as five tribes (later six) of the region to halt inter-tribal feuding that had gone on for over a hundred years." (Source: Native Net) According to legend, Hiawatha was influenced by, and partnered with, Daganawida, The Great Peacemaker. He is associated with the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy; to my mind, the first formal "interdependence" of independent tribes, states if you will, within the pre-and post-revolutionary War of Independence, here in America. I could definitely be wrong about that, but it still serves as an excellent example of early political unity. At one time the League/Confederacy was over 80,000 strong, and fought along-side the British.
Daganawida has an even more fascinating history, "[B]y some accounts, his mother was a virgin, so the birth was miraculous . . . . By all accounts, he was a prophet who counseled peace among the warring tribes, and he called for an end to cannibalism. His follower Hiawatha, a Mohawk(?) renowned for his oratory, helped him achieve his vision." (Source: Wikipedia)
I write this because it all came back to me through the 1980's program called Indian Guides (and Princess), founded within the YMCA decades earlier. When my seven year-old son Jesse and I joined in September 1984, I had been merely impressed with the father-son aspect, but the Native American motif really drew me in. During our three years in the program, and then three more with my daughter Kate, we learned more about Native Americans than we had ever known. And that little bit of knowledge garnered much respect on our parts. Yes, it wasn't always authentic depictions, just generalities, sometimes over-simplified, and condescending in some ways. But that's not how Jesse and I took it. We took it seriously, although being in Indian Guides was the most fun we had together during his growing up years. It was much the same with Kate, only more social with five giggling girls coming together with their dads for monthly meetings.
When I went to my first orientation meeting at the Hamilton Y, I volunteered to start a tribe. So I held an open house, and a handful of dad's came to hear about it. From that I was nominated chief, and we adopted "Iroquois" as our name, even though I would later find out, as described above, that "Iroquois" was the name of a people, not a tribe. But we continued on happily in blissful ignorance. Jesse and I fully participated in, and actively nurtured our tribe, one of a dozen in the local program. By the second year I was helping other chiefs form their tribes. Jesse and I would go to their open house in our full regalia: leather vests (mine said Sunblaze and Jesses's Sunshine), leather wrist bands, bead necklaces, and Indian Guides headbands with eagle feathers.
We would gather in a circle sitting on our haunches, and open with the prayer to the Great Spirit. I would hold the talking stick and explain the simple program elements, then pass it to Jesse and he would say, "And Winter Weekend is just too much fun to miss!' Winter Weekend was just that, Saturday and Sunday spent in cabins at YMCA Camp Mason in Hope NJ, near the Delaware water gap, among all the tribes of the nation. There's was always at least a foot of snow covering the woods, trails, and hidden paths, streams and ponds, and we held a bonfire and sang camp songs the last night. There was a great hill for sledding, and a canteen where we gathered for meals and skits - during which each tribe told a short Indian story. We loved the program, and Kate and I later enjoyed it just as much.
I was deeply disappointed a few years ago upon hearing the Indian Guides Program had been cancelled, and a new one, with all references to Native Americans removed, had replaced it. It seems it was no longer "PC" -- politically correct. It's now called YMCA Adventure Guides. Not the same thing at all, since there is no theme that I can determine. However, the basic premise, father-son or father-daughter bonding (or even mother-son, mother-daughter), is still intact, and that's a good thing. We need more programs like that, along with the many CYO youth programs, for example. In the Baha'i Faith we have similar, but not as organized, Junior Youth programs. The point is, all of us have a responsibility to our children and youth to help them socialize, accumulate new knowledge, as well as be tolerant and accepting of others. Diversity is the name of the game today. The best part about Indian Guides? It wasn't a mere babysitting exercise, it was full, engaging and active participation.
One more point about this story of the Iroquois. When they were separate, independent tribes, they had warred and killed each other for the past hundred years, as stated. They were "rugged individuals." But in unity they found peace, collaboration, and development. America wasn't founded on rugged individualism, although that of course is a part of our unique history. America was founded on unity of the disparate colonies thru thoughts, freedoms, laws, and political unity.
Our forefathers surely knew and saw and heard of the Iroquois Confederacy and their great strengths. That is the foundation of America.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Sunday, May 26, 2013
The Joy of Male Friendship
With women, I speak in pleasantries. "How's Max and Lindsey doing since they got married?" I'll ask Suzen, or "How's Gabe doing at school?" I'll ask Nicole." Once in a while, its "How's work going Ev?" That's a favorite, that works with both sexes.
With men, it's not just "how's work", it's the details of the work. I listen intently as Rich tells me about the new computer application for personnel they installed for the County Board of Social Services. I get the blow by blow behind the scenes account of what the bosses do right, or not, in his view, and compare it to how I was as a boss. Just like I share my views more intently when we see a Saturday action or sci-fi flick together.
"Yeah, they really didn't need that scene in Fast & Furious 6 where the car dealer dropped his pants, that was stupid." But a lot of people in the audience laughed. "Nor the requisite city-race scene with all the hot mamas and hot cars, but that seems to be their trademark, besides the unbelievable action." We'll spend a good five minutes talking about the movie and audience reactions, and our own. In that movie, the last scene was killer, and means we'll definitely see # 7.
I'm speaking as a 63 year old adult here. Quite different than when I was a boy. When I was growing up on the rough streets of Trenton, every white boy was an automatic friend, and every black boy an enemy. Every spanish boy was a potential enemy. I'm glad I'm past all those stereotypes now. But our grammar school was 98% white, so it was hard not to get prejudiced somehow. No, I didn't get it overtly from family members, thank God, so it didn't get ingrained. But in the fifties and sixties making friends was easy, very easy. Just like getting a job, even a good paying job.
In 6th grade, all classmates were friends. By 8th we had cliques on both sides of the sexual divide. I hung out with David Schuster, the toughest kid in school by every measure. A punch like a jackhammer. I know because others would hold me while he punched me, and other boys, in the chest -- just to see if we could take it. He taunted us to try it on him, but nobody did. We would walk down Center Street to Junior High Number 4? and wait for the black boys to get out of school. Then we'd pick fights for no reason. Stupid, cruel, and criminal now.
There was also Joey Catana, who lived on Second Street. He and I would exchange comic books of Superman and Flash, Green Lantern and Dr Strange, Tales from the Crypt and more, even Mad. And we'd actually talk about the characters and stories. Hence I love the current flush of DC and Marvel movies, even tho I never read the X-Men much. So us guys talked.
I played basketball at St. Joachim's blacktop court, and sand lot baseball with the guys in the fields out back when Mom, Stephen and I moved to Ewing Twp. in '62. I kabitzed and chatted with the neighborhood boys, shared hopes and ideas. we were all buddies, building tunnels in the dirt, a treehouse and a fort. We had no cares, no real problems.
When the three of us had lived in Trenton, until I was twelve, we were a step above the poorest in our midst, whom we avoided. I would ride my bike to Rich Meskel's house on Lamberton and we'd cruise the city haunts. Rich was mild-mannered to Dave's violent nature. And they were my best friends in grammar school, so maybe I was balanced? Never saw them again after graduating in 1964.
In high school I was a loner. No best friend or friends. Plenty of acquaintances, yes, hanging out, playing "hit me" in the halls, saying hello and chatting. The closest I had to a best friend was John Piccone -- he had a black 58 Chevy he would let me ride shotgun in. But that ended when we got busted by Ewing police for sniffing glue and being whacked out of our brains. But by summer of 67, Janet H., a senior, was becoming my best friend and soul mate. It was easier making friends with her friends, like Don Fish, who got me my career start with the State of New Jersey three years later.
After barely graduating Ewing High I left to try college in southern California and met Arthur in the school cafeteria. A singer/ songwriter, I drove him to record companies on Sunset Strip for (cassette) tape auditions and promotions. By the time I left five months later he had an album produced. We would also go to parks and Arthur would sing and play guitar while I flirted with the girls. But no deep exchanges, no inner secrets shared on my part with them, and I never did.
I was a good liar, and could avoid being pinned down. I never spun tall tales, just enough to avoid being totally truthful about myself, and with myself. I was a creep.
'69 was a turning point when three ex-classmates took me in and we shared an apartment on Carteret Ave. Mike Wallo, Tom Cerrone and Dickie Heiser. We spoke in metaphors often, when we were stoned on uppers, pot and hash, and lots of beer, ripple and wine. Keg parties were normal occurrences. Otherwise, we joked a lot, were friendly enough, and never had any killer arguments. Except when I locked Tommy out of his room so I could make out with Tina from the downstairs apartment. He pounded the door and shouted and I just kept groping Tina. Finally I unlocked the door and got blasted (not punched -- but he was mad enough).
Those friendships led to renting a house/mansion with six of us (five guys, one girl), then to a split where Hank Alexander and I got our own two-story apartment. Hank was a good friend, but we never talked about serious issues, except the poor nature of world events and the need to fix them. Not personal stuff.
It wasn't til meeting the Baha'is in '69 that I started opening up and coming out of my shell(s). I've had many male friends since. All of us are close, knowing each other for decades, but three stand out. The guy who threw my cigarette lighter out the window cause he heard they might blow up in your face, the know-it-all and punster who is unbelievably astute and easy to chat with, and my joke-telling buddy who I see every week. All unique friendships,
They and others will be shocked when they read part of my true story soon when my book Episodes of ABLiA is published. We'll see how they react and what attitudes are then.
Friendships change all the time, right?
By Rodney Richards, NJ
With men, it's not just "how's work", it's the details of the work. I listen intently as Rich tells me about the new computer application for personnel they installed for the County Board of Social Services. I get the blow by blow behind the scenes account of what the bosses do right, or not, in his view, and compare it to how I was as a boss. Just like I share my views more intently when we see a Saturday action or sci-fi flick together.
"Yeah, they really didn't need that scene in Fast & Furious 6 where the car dealer dropped his pants, that was stupid." But a lot of people in the audience laughed. "Nor the requisite city-race scene with all the hot mamas and hot cars, but that seems to be their trademark, besides the unbelievable action." We'll spend a good five minutes talking about the movie and audience reactions, and our own. In that movie, the last scene was killer, and means we'll definitely see # 7.
I'm speaking as a 63 year old adult here. Quite different than when I was a boy. When I was growing up on the rough streets of Trenton, every white boy was an automatic friend, and every black boy an enemy. Every spanish boy was a potential enemy. I'm glad I'm past all those stereotypes now. But our grammar school was 98% white, so it was hard not to get prejudiced somehow. No, I didn't get it overtly from family members, thank God, so it didn't get ingrained. But in the fifties and sixties making friends was easy, very easy. Just like getting a job, even a good paying job.
In 6th grade, all classmates were friends. By 8th we had cliques on both sides of the sexual divide. I hung out with David Schuster, the toughest kid in school by every measure. A punch like a jackhammer. I know because others would hold me while he punched me, and other boys, in the chest -- just to see if we could take it. He taunted us to try it on him, but nobody did. We would walk down Center Street to Junior High Number 4? and wait for the black boys to get out of school. Then we'd pick fights for no reason. Stupid, cruel, and criminal now.
There was also Joey Catana, who lived on Second Street. He and I would exchange comic books of Superman and Flash, Green Lantern and Dr Strange, Tales from the Crypt and more, even Mad. And we'd actually talk about the characters and stories. Hence I love the current flush of DC and Marvel movies, even tho I never read the X-Men much. So us guys talked.
I played basketball at St. Joachim's blacktop court, and sand lot baseball with the guys in the fields out back when Mom, Stephen and I moved to Ewing Twp. in '62. I kabitzed and chatted with the neighborhood boys, shared hopes and ideas. we were all buddies, building tunnels in the dirt, a treehouse and a fort. We had no cares, no real problems.
When the three of us had lived in Trenton, until I was twelve, we were a step above the poorest in our midst, whom we avoided. I would ride my bike to Rich Meskel's house on Lamberton and we'd cruise the city haunts. Rich was mild-mannered to Dave's violent nature. And they were my best friends in grammar school, so maybe I was balanced? Never saw them again after graduating in 1964.
In high school I was a loner. No best friend or friends. Plenty of acquaintances, yes, hanging out, playing "hit me" in the halls, saying hello and chatting. The closest I had to a best friend was John Piccone -- he had a black 58 Chevy he would let me ride shotgun in. But that ended when we got busted by Ewing police for sniffing glue and being whacked out of our brains. But by summer of 67, Janet H., a senior, was becoming my best friend and soul mate. It was easier making friends with her friends, like Don Fish, who got me my career start with the State of New Jersey three years later.
After barely graduating Ewing High I left to try college in southern California and met Arthur in the school cafeteria. A singer/ songwriter, I drove him to record companies on Sunset Strip for (cassette) tape auditions and promotions. By the time I left five months later he had an album produced. We would also go to parks and Arthur would sing and play guitar while I flirted with the girls. But no deep exchanges, no inner secrets shared on my part with them, and I never did.
I was a good liar, and could avoid being pinned down. I never spun tall tales, just enough to avoid being totally truthful about myself, and with myself. I was a creep.
'69 was a turning point when three ex-classmates took me in and we shared an apartment on Carteret Ave. Mike Wallo, Tom Cerrone and Dickie Heiser. We spoke in metaphors often, when we were stoned on uppers, pot and hash, and lots of beer, ripple and wine. Keg parties were normal occurrences. Otherwise, we joked a lot, were friendly enough, and never had any killer arguments. Except when I locked Tommy out of his room so I could make out with Tina from the downstairs apartment. He pounded the door and shouted and I just kept groping Tina. Finally I unlocked the door and got blasted (not punched -- but he was mad enough).
Those friendships led to renting a house/mansion with six of us (five guys, one girl), then to a split where Hank Alexander and I got our own two-story apartment. Hank was a good friend, but we never talked about serious issues, except the poor nature of world events and the need to fix them. Not personal stuff.
It wasn't til meeting the Baha'is in '69 that I started opening up and coming out of my shell(s). I've had many male friends since. All of us are close, knowing each other for decades, but three stand out. The guy who threw my cigarette lighter out the window cause he heard they might blow up in your face, the know-it-all and punster who is unbelievably astute and easy to chat with, and my joke-telling buddy who I see every week. All unique friendships,
They and others will be shocked when they read part of my true story soon when my book Episodes of ABLiA is published. We'll see how they react and what attitudes are then.
Friendships change all the time, right?
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Friday, May 24, 2013
The Joys of IKEA
I'm a stereotypical man if you believe all the reports. Shopping is not the first thing that comes to mind when I feel like going out. An AEE energy conference and exhibition in Philly? My weekly memoir writing classes? An action or sci-fi movie Saturday morning? Dinner at Ruby Tuesday, Pizza Hut or Taco Bell with Janet? Yes to all. But shopping never enters my mind. Until I need something specific, like a pair of jeans, socks, sweater or summer shirts. Then off to Kohl's we go. Immediately. No store hopping for me looking for bargain prices. Once in a while I'll accompany Jan to Freehold or Quakerbridge Mall while we look for something for the house, for her, or others. Of course, for Jan's birthday, Ayyam-i-Ha (our gift giving days like Christmas), and our anniversary, shopping is mandatory. When I'm lucky I remember to do it a few days ahead and not that morning.
But I love it when Jan asks , like she did yesterday, "Why don't we go to IKEA tomorrow?" The given purpose was to look for a queen-sized bed for Kate's old room, now the guest room, previously our second den when Kate moved out six years ago. When she bought her own condo, we offered to help her buy living room furniture. We found a great, three-piece, sturdy, tan living room set at Jarron's or somewhere on sale. cost? Maybe $200 for long coach, loveseat and chair. Kate got the loveseat and chair, and we replaced her old bunk bed bottom with the couch. We sold her old bed at our annual spring yardsale, bringing the actual cost down. We were in a rush so didn't travel to faraway IKEA that time, but the furniture definitely has that plain, sculptured European, IKEA look.
Jan and I had both been attracted to knock-down furniture in the eighties, when we stumbled on a Conran's in a Mall in Valley Forge, PA, twenty-five miles from home. The same simplicity, clean lines, mostly wood, and low cost. Then IKEA opened at Plymouth Meeting, only five more miles from home via the PA Turnpike. Oh what a fun store! Laid out beautifully with wide paths thru meticulously built kitchens, dens, living rooms, offices and much more. Downstairs was all accesories: lamps of all kinds, cutlery, dishes and glasses, rugs, house plants, bed covers and pillows, and much more. All in vibrant colors, fabrics and weaves. And the unique Swedish/European style meant form and functionality melded together, like a Michael Graves teapot (which we own). After a few visits I liked the Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and gravy also.
Today's experience at IKEA in Conshohocken met expectations. Plymouth Meeting store had been closed and this new gigantic one opened a handful of years ago. But I noticed the selections weren't as diverse as I'd remembered them. The choices of stools was disappointing, and we would have bought four. Also the floor lamps. Disappointing. Mostly focused lamps for reading, and none with broad lighting capabilities, like we were looking for. Altho all the fixtures and bulbs sold were low wattage and high lumens, which was very good. I found what I thought would be the perfect queen-sized bed. Low, with storage drawers on the sides. No headboard or footboard. A platform bed. Perfect. But Janet resisted as strenuously against it as I argued for it.
"We don't need the storage. It's just more for me to clean," Janet said.
"But look at all the stuff in the closet in Kate's room. Certainly some of that could go under the bed, leaving more room to hang clothes. That way if Jesse, Rachel and the baby wanted to stay longer, they could, maybe even a week"
"I have a hard enough time keeping track of you for a week, let alone guests."
"Well, I'm not arguing. I'm not attached. Whatever we get is fine." Finally, after forty-two years of marriage I might be learning something. How to avoid an argument or bad feelings. Nevermind that I felt strongly that we should get it.
"And besides, it"s $99 plus to ship it to us. That's way to much.
"I agree hon." And shut my mouth.
I love going shopping at IKEA. I saw some large fantastic porcelain sink tops and bases I'd love to replace our 25 year-old ones. Speaking of which, even the Baha'i writings say you should change your furnishings at least every nineteen years.
PS. We bought a drawer/cabinet to hold all my writing papers, now grown into miscellaneous stacks. of course I have to put it together. No problem. I put our IKEA kitchen cabinets together in 1987 from their (very) simple, pictorial (no words - which is a problem sometimes), but doable without uncorrectable mistakes.I started at segment 1 and was working thru until, planning all the pieces visually, I noticed there weren't and sideboards to the large bottom drawer. They hadn't been packed! A first in my long experience putting together IKEA furniture. So I went online to file a report/claim for missing pieces.
Very disappointing. Have you ever put together a large Lego item? Thousands of piecies for my '62 VW Bus that Jesse and Rachel gave me for my birthday, a red replica of one I owned for real. Thier site for missing pices is gorgeous, simple, and clear. Just click the part number missing next to the picture of the piece, and Voila! Done. With an email acknowledgement following. Receipt within a week, and I was back in business.
Not so poor IKEA. First I could hardly find the page for missing parts. Second, it wasn't a nice list w/pictures of the product. No, you had to send an email with the information, which I did. No email acknowledgement. It'll be interesting what happens next, if anything.
Does there have to be a fatal flaw in everything? I find online sites worse than physical products in stores, although finding written specs for TVs in ANY store is impossible, another fatal flaw. Like me I guess, although mine are still being discovered....
By Rodney Richards, NJ
But I love it when Jan asks , like she did yesterday, "Why don't we go to IKEA tomorrow?" The given purpose was to look for a queen-sized bed for Kate's old room, now the guest room, previously our second den when Kate moved out six years ago. When she bought her own condo, we offered to help her buy living room furniture. We found a great, three-piece, sturdy, tan living room set at Jarron's or somewhere on sale. cost? Maybe $200 for long coach, loveseat and chair. Kate got the loveseat and chair, and we replaced her old bunk bed bottom with the couch. We sold her old bed at our annual spring yardsale, bringing the actual cost down. We were in a rush so didn't travel to faraway IKEA that time, but the furniture definitely has that plain, sculptured European, IKEA look.
Jan and I had both been attracted to knock-down furniture in the eighties, when we stumbled on a Conran's in a Mall in Valley Forge, PA, twenty-five miles from home. The same simplicity, clean lines, mostly wood, and low cost. Then IKEA opened at Plymouth Meeting, only five more miles from home via the PA Turnpike. Oh what a fun store! Laid out beautifully with wide paths thru meticulously built kitchens, dens, living rooms, offices and much more. Downstairs was all accesories: lamps of all kinds, cutlery, dishes and glasses, rugs, house plants, bed covers and pillows, and much more. All in vibrant colors, fabrics and weaves. And the unique Swedish/European style meant form and functionality melded together, like a Michael Graves teapot (which we own). After a few visits I liked the Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and gravy also.
Today's experience at IKEA in Conshohocken met expectations. Plymouth Meeting store had been closed and this new gigantic one opened a handful of years ago. But I noticed the selections weren't as diverse as I'd remembered them. The choices of stools was disappointing, and we would have bought four. Also the floor lamps. Disappointing. Mostly focused lamps for reading, and none with broad lighting capabilities, like we were looking for. Altho all the fixtures and bulbs sold were low wattage and high lumens, which was very good. I found what I thought would be the perfect queen-sized bed. Low, with storage drawers on the sides. No headboard or footboard. A platform bed. Perfect. But Janet resisted as strenuously against it as I argued for it.
"We don't need the storage. It's just more for me to clean," Janet said.
"But look at all the stuff in the closet in Kate's room. Certainly some of that could go under the bed, leaving more room to hang clothes. That way if Jesse, Rachel and the baby wanted to stay longer, they could, maybe even a week"
"I have a hard enough time keeping track of you for a week, let alone guests."
"Well, I'm not arguing. I'm not attached. Whatever we get is fine." Finally, after forty-two years of marriage I might be learning something. How to avoid an argument or bad feelings. Nevermind that I felt strongly that we should get it.
"And besides, it"s $99 plus to ship it to us. That's way to much.
"I agree hon." And shut my mouth.
I love going shopping at IKEA. I saw some large fantastic porcelain sink tops and bases I'd love to replace our 25 year-old ones. Speaking of which, even the Baha'i writings say you should change your furnishings at least every nineteen years.
PS. We bought a drawer/cabinet to hold all my writing papers, now grown into miscellaneous stacks. of course I have to put it together. No problem. I put our IKEA kitchen cabinets together in 1987 from their (very) simple, pictorial (no words - which is a problem sometimes), but doable without uncorrectable mistakes.I started at segment 1 and was working thru until, planning all the pieces visually, I noticed there weren't and sideboards to the large bottom drawer. They hadn't been packed! A first in my long experience putting together IKEA furniture. So I went online to file a report/claim for missing pieces.
Very disappointing. Have you ever put together a large Lego item? Thousands of piecies for my '62 VW Bus that Jesse and Rachel gave me for my birthday, a red replica of one I owned for real. Thier site for missing pices is gorgeous, simple, and clear. Just click the part number missing next to the picture of the piece, and Voila! Done. With an email acknowledgement following. Receipt within a week, and I was back in business.
Not so poor IKEA. First I could hardly find the page for missing parts. Second, it wasn't a nice list w/pictures of the product. No, you had to send an email with the information, which I did. No email acknowledgement. It'll be interesting what happens next, if anything.
Does there have to be a fatal flaw in everything? I find online sites worse than physical products in stores, although finding written specs for TVs in ANY store is impossible, another fatal flaw. Like me I guess, although mine are still being discovered....
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Joy of Knowing Math
As you know I went to Catholic grammar schools from kindergarten thru 8th grades. You also know that in (my - all?), catholic schools, memorization (rote), was king. Whether it was places in the world like Uruquay from Geography, "Who is God?" from Catechism, or 6x9 from Arithmetic class (Ans. 54), it was all good. By the end of sixth grade, taught by Sister Florence (Flossie), I knew my times tables easily. And that knowledge has served me in good stead.
In 9th grade I went to public school, Fisher Junior High in Ewing Twp. We lived just a mile or two down the road and sometimes I would walk it. Other times I'd get a ride in Jimmie Falzini's 1956 blue Ford. In that grade I loved Mr. Fenton's style and youthfulness. He was only 28 or so? He taught Algebra I with enthusiasm. After a short while I understood what A = B & C, or A = B x C, really meant. After a few months it all came easily. When I wasn't throwing hard boiled eggs at other kids in class, and acting the class clown, I was learning.
My joy of learning started decreasing by the end of 9th grade, and Geometry in 10th was hard for me (I got a C), and in 11th I got a D in Algebra II. I failed Chemistry in 12th and barely graduated Ewing High school in '68, having to repeat gym class. I was also absent 39 days that year from skipping classes. Junior College in Fullerton, California, lasted three months (not because I was stupid, but because I was Janetsick). Although, I earned 44 credits from Mercer County Community College (MCCC), by going nights over many years starting in the mid-eighties thru the 90s. My course work and experience was evaluated by Thomas Edison College in 2000, and I only need 39 more credits for a Bachelor's.
But after high school life started for real. A steady, adult job and renting an apartment. Pot, hash and uppers in between. I opened a bank account at the old (now gone), Trenton Trust bank started by Mary K. Roebling of the famous family. Now its Wells Fargo bank which has been okay. Anyway, I needed to know math. And I knew enough.
I have always been good at estimating also, something they teach today in elementary schools."About how many apples are there if a basket is full of 25, and a barrel has 92?" Estimating well is a valuable skill. (Ans. 120 is close enough.) I use my 10 times time table constantly as well, even for fractions. "If Alaska has 732,000 people, and Bahai's are 1 % of the population, how many Baha'is is this?" Well, 10% is 73,000, and 10% of that (i.e. 1% of the total), is 7,300. "About 7,300." "Right, Rod!" I can do stuff like that in seconds. It's like my spelling ability - in seconds. It pops into my head.
I do remember I liked Economics in 11th grade with Mr. Mervica. We followed the stock market. I had picked IBM, not knowing it would become a part of my career later. It was over $200 then (and the stock has split fifteen time or so since then). Wish I had bought some, or convinced my parents to. Learning about free enterprise and free markets, budgeting etc. was all good and stayed with me. Every student should take economics, now including world economies and markets for sure.
Basically, those skills in math have been enough to easily get me thru life, a career in information processing and technology (and energy), making buying decisions (before they had comparison labels like "price per pound" etc.), being a community treasurer for over thirty years (off and on), and maintaining a check book, cash journal and doing formal budgets and reports and much more. And for managing finances for my two businesses, RR Energy & IT Consulting, and ABLiA Media Co.
So I thank the Sisters of Mercy and my high school teachers for mostly doing a good job. I only remember one teacher I hated, Sister Mary Constance in third grade -- we never got along. One or two teachers were boring as hell, mainly in high school, but the rest were gems. And my college professors had outstanding qualities -- they were engaging, smart, personable, and direct. I don't remember any getting badly sidetracked (which I hate).
Today, of course, memorization of everything is out of the question. "Mere cramming of the memory with facts about, arithmetic, grammar, geography, languages, etc., has comparatively little effect in producing noble and useful lives." (Source: UHJ) Also because information changes minute by minute (look at the loss of Pluto). So "look it up" has become the teachers watchword, with computers in every classroom. (well, they better be!)
Everyone needs to memorize the basics, and these math basics were enough for me, altho now there is much, much more to learn.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
In 9th grade I went to public school, Fisher Junior High in Ewing Twp. We lived just a mile or two down the road and sometimes I would walk it. Other times I'd get a ride in Jimmie Falzini's 1956 blue Ford. In that grade I loved Mr. Fenton's style and youthfulness. He was only 28 or so? He taught Algebra I with enthusiasm. After a short while I understood what A = B & C, or A = B x C, really meant. After a few months it all came easily. When I wasn't throwing hard boiled eggs at other kids in class, and acting the class clown, I was learning.
My joy of learning started decreasing by the end of 9th grade, and Geometry in 10th was hard for me (I got a C), and in 11th I got a D in Algebra II. I failed Chemistry in 12th and barely graduated Ewing High school in '68, having to repeat gym class. I was also absent 39 days that year from skipping classes. Junior College in Fullerton, California, lasted three months (not because I was stupid, but because I was Janetsick). Although, I earned 44 credits from Mercer County Community College (MCCC), by going nights over many years starting in the mid-eighties thru the 90s. My course work and experience was evaluated by Thomas Edison College in 2000, and I only need 39 more credits for a Bachelor's.
But after high school life started for real. A steady, adult job and renting an apartment. Pot, hash and uppers in between. I opened a bank account at the old (now gone), Trenton Trust bank started by Mary K. Roebling of the famous family. Now its Wells Fargo bank which has been okay. Anyway, I needed to know math. And I knew enough.
I have always been good at estimating also, something they teach today in elementary schools."About how many apples are there if a basket is full of 25, and a barrel has 92?" Estimating well is a valuable skill. (Ans. 120 is close enough.) I use my 10 times time table constantly as well, even for fractions. "If Alaska has 732,000 people, and Bahai's are 1 % of the population, how many Baha'is is this?" Well, 10% is 73,000, and 10% of that (i.e. 1% of the total), is 7,300. "About 7,300." "Right, Rod!" I can do stuff like that in seconds. It's like my spelling ability - in seconds. It pops into my head.
I do remember I liked Economics in 11th grade with Mr. Mervica. We followed the stock market. I had picked IBM, not knowing it would become a part of my career later. It was over $200 then (and the stock has split fifteen time or so since then). Wish I had bought some, or convinced my parents to. Learning about free enterprise and free markets, budgeting etc. was all good and stayed with me. Every student should take economics, now including world economies and markets for sure.
Basically, those skills in math have been enough to easily get me thru life, a career in information processing and technology (and energy), making buying decisions (before they had comparison labels like "price per pound" etc.), being a community treasurer for over thirty years (off and on), and maintaining a check book, cash journal and doing formal budgets and reports and much more. And for managing finances for my two businesses, RR Energy & IT Consulting, and ABLiA Media Co.
So I thank the Sisters of Mercy and my high school teachers for mostly doing a good job. I only remember one teacher I hated, Sister Mary Constance in third grade -- we never got along. One or two teachers were boring as hell, mainly in high school, but the rest were gems. And my college professors had outstanding qualities -- they were engaging, smart, personable, and direct. I don't remember any getting badly sidetracked (which I hate).
Today, of course, memorization of everything is out of the question. "Mere cramming of the memory with facts about, arithmetic, grammar, geography, languages, etc., has comparatively little effect in producing noble and useful lives." (Source: UHJ) Also because information changes minute by minute (look at the loss of Pluto). So "look it up" has become the teachers watchword, with computers in every classroom. (well, they better be!)
Everyone needs to memorize the basics, and these math basics were enough for me, altho now there is much, much more to learn.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Joy of Writing
The hardest book I've read that I can remember, is A Celestial Burning: A selective study of the writings of Shoghi Effendi, written by J.A. McLean, an author of this, his third book, who lives in Ottawa, Canada. Saying this may be the hardest book I've read, is really saying something, since my job at one time entailed learning programming languages like COBOL and RPG, and all those esoteric data processing and information technology abbreviations and acronyms, like OS/MVT, TSO, IBM 360, DASD, Procs and a hundred others. At another it was all the technical in and outs of computing devices and software applications. And at another it was everything to know about energy - buying and selling it, solar, CHP, HVAC, motors, exchangers and much more. And I had to write about all of it in business reports, letters, memos and emails. And I had to have a basic understanding of them.
I must admit A Celestial Burning threw me to the dictionary with words like hermeneutics (interpretation) and exegesis (critial interpretation), and dozens more like them. Shoghi Effendi's writings do that also, so it was a good fit.
The reason I mention this at all, is to say I agree with Stephen King (On Writing), and every other author or blogger, that reading to become a good writer is mandatory and essential. Even if you read poorly written books (and there are more and more - especially now with self-publishing), you'll learn what NOT to write. Our Baha'i leader 'Abdu'l-Baha once said "You can always serve as a bad example." (Pilgriim's Note)
I'm not an author yet (hopefully around June when I self-publish Episodes of A Blessed Life in America), but after four years of sitting at our computer every day, I do consider myself a writer. Readers will be the judge of what kind, even if just family are the judges. My boring, one-dimensional 500 page autobiography has been done for six months. Since I started to learn how to write in 2011 with membership in the Lawrence Library Memoir Writing Class, its been a fun, challenging, exciting journey since, with no end in sight. At one point I attended at least four, sometimes five, memoir critique groups every week. Every week! Tony, a writer friend, sometimes attended twelve! (We're both retired.) And slowly I've been improving. Now I teach and facilitate two memoir writing classes per week, free, at local public libraries.
The best writers show the action and just don't describe it. It's a basic rule of writing which is SHOW DON'T TELL. Showing motion and emotion, smells, and sights, thoughts and dialogue. But I don't believe that's enough anymore. In memoir I'm the protagonist, the narrator. And I firmly believe its SHOW AND TELL with emphasis on showing. I try to do both. Things like the year, my age at the time and that of others, what you, and they, look like, backstory etc., all need to be woven in as well. Describing settings is important, even tho the scene takes precedence. But the number one rule in writing? As the Writer's Digest masthead states "There are no rules."
So I've written tons of memoir scenes and pieces, and sometimes weave them together like I did for this upcoming book. Memoir is the easiest genre for me to write for me, although I do like writing poetry on occasion. And so much fun! Especially the reaction of others to a well-scripted piece. You know you want to improve and write more when you get good reactions. And every one of us has a story, in fact hundreds of stories within our synapses, in our hearts, and felt by our bodies. Let alone the spiritual goodwill or stirrings the vast majority of people (I think), have felt.
And it is so riveting, and touching, and evocative, to hear others personal stories. I've heard stories of murder, marriage, embarrassment and shame, mental illness (mine), and the Pennsylvania coal mines. Graphic stories all, from the heart, told truthfully. Perhaps with nostalgia or melancholy, great joy, deep sadness and personal loss, surprise of attempted death, the armed services and their cruelty, and the joy of reunion.
And that's what writing is to me. The joy of reunion between my soul (truth), my heart (emotion), my body (physicality), and my rational soul - my brain. Writing is a path to discovery, for the writer, and, when its written well, for the reader also. I encourage you to write down, or type, your story. Start now and don't wait. You'll be pleasantly surprised and amazed at what you're capable of.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
I must admit A Celestial Burning threw me to the dictionary with words like hermeneutics (interpretation) and exegesis (critial interpretation), and dozens more like them. Shoghi Effendi's writings do that also, so it was a good fit.
The reason I mention this at all, is to say I agree with Stephen King (On Writing), and every other author or blogger, that reading to become a good writer is mandatory and essential. Even if you read poorly written books (and there are more and more - especially now with self-publishing), you'll learn what NOT to write. Our Baha'i leader 'Abdu'l-Baha once said "You can always serve as a bad example." (Pilgriim's Note)
I'm not an author yet (hopefully around June when I self-publish Episodes of A Blessed Life in America), but after four years of sitting at our computer every day, I do consider myself a writer. Readers will be the judge of what kind, even if just family are the judges. My boring, one-dimensional 500 page autobiography has been done for six months. Since I started to learn how to write in 2011 with membership in the Lawrence Library Memoir Writing Class, its been a fun, challenging, exciting journey since, with no end in sight. At one point I attended at least four, sometimes five, memoir critique groups every week. Every week! Tony, a writer friend, sometimes attended twelve! (We're both retired.) And slowly I've been improving. Now I teach and facilitate two memoir writing classes per week, free, at local public libraries.
The best writers show the action and just don't describe it. It's a basic rule of writing which is SHOW DON'T TELL. Showing motion and emotion, smells, and sights, thoughts and dialogue. But I don't believe that's enough anymore. In memoir I'm the protagonist, the narrator. And I firmly believe its SHOW AND TELL with emphasis on showing. I try to do both. Things like the year, my age at the time and that of others, what you, and they, look like, backstory etc., all need to be woven in as well. Describing settings is important, even tho the scene takes precedence. But the number one rule in writing? As the Writer's Digest masthead states "There are no rules."
So I've written tons of memoir scenes and pieces, and sometimes weave them together like I did for this upcoming book. Memoir is the easiest genre for me to write for me, although I do like writing poetry on occasion. And so much fun! Especially the reaction of others to a well-scripted piece. You know you want to improve and write more when you get good reactions. And every one of us has a story, in fact hundreds of stories within our synapses, in our hearts, and felt by our bodies. Let alone the spiritual goodwill or stirrings the vast majority of people (I think), have felt.
And it is so riveting, and touching, and evocative, to hear others personal stories. I've heard stories of murder, marriage, embarrassment and shame, mental illness (mine), and the Pennsylvania coal mines. Graphic stories all, from the heart, told truthfully. Perhaps with nostalgia or melancholy, great joy, deep sadness and personal loss, surprise of attempted death, the armed services and their cruelty, and the joy of reunion.
And that's what writing is to me. The joy of reunion between my soul (truth), my heart (emotion), my body (physicality), and my rational soul - my brain. Writing is a path to discovery, for the writer, and, when its written well, for the reader also. I encourage you to write down, or type, your story. Start now and don't wait. You'll be pleasantly surprised and amazed at what you're capable of.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Monday, May 20, 2013
The Joy of Reading
Reading is easy for me, generally. I had a good education, particularly in Catholic grammar school in the 50s and 60s (1954-1964).The Sisters of Mercy (not all were), were hard on reading, writing and arithmetic (and catechism). And I'm so fortunate they were. Perhaps that's why I still remember and still rattle off 40 prepositions that I memorized in third or fourth grade (there's 70 now - things change). Also in those early grades, the nuns taught English using two main methods: the Latin roots of words, and phonetics.
Latin roots. Easy to learn 'cause I knew no different. Prefixes and suffixes became very easy to recognize and separate from their roots, for example, in-doctrin(e)-ation. In later years, I learned Christ's prayer, the Our Father, in Latin (and can spout half of it now), and recited it in 1964 at the baptism ceremony of my converted Boy Scout troop leader. He had chosen me as his Godfather. We quickly lost touch.
Then there's phonetics, a boon to my learning and reading abilities. It was discarded by the 70s, but to me, it was a fantastic way to learn, especially how to read aloud and guess right most of the time. I firmly believe phonetics should still be taught, especially in those early grades. My wife Janet has taught English as a Foreign Language to immigrants attending Mercer County College and elsewhere, and swears by roots of words and phonetics in those environments. Between grasping both of them myself, and not being stymied by big words, my vocabulary isn't half-bad (hah!).
Maybe that's why Janet and I like the movies like Spellbound and Akeelah and the Bee. However, I am not nearly as good as those young students, nor am I a motivational speaker either. I do help Janet often with her spelling needs tho. And being in Sacred Heart Catholic School, memorizing words and their spellings became second nature. I was in our school spelling bee, in front of an audience, on stage, and was defeated by my misspelling "mischievous," which would be a perfect description of me in my youth.
Altho Mom has told me I didn't speak much until age six, I've always liked to read. Circa 1963 (or earlier?), Mom bought a complete set of Encyclopedia Brittanica's (now online only I think). The main set consisted of thirty or so 4-inch tomes, mostly composed of topical essays. I certainly looked thru them. But I was attracted to the Brittanica Juniors, fourteen red-covered smaller books, only two inches wide each. Over a period of a few months I read every word of all fourteen books when I wasn't in school or playing outside or getting into trouble. That, shooting pool, and building model cars were my pastimes during that period, TV-watching not so much. I don't remember any specifics I read, but somehow reading them helped my comprehension and language skills (and probably intelligence too). They still sit in Mom's den, barely touched and horribly outdated (but not all by any means).
As an aside, I've had two IQ tests: the first c. 1983 and the latter c. 1994. Both given by my bosses. The first when I begged Charlie Burrows at the Bureau of Data Processing to see if I was computer programmer material. After all, my title was DP Programmer II, even tho I didn't write one line of COBOL for work. I took that first test and achieved 132. In 1994, our Treasury Admin Director, Chuck Chianese, had all his managers take one (very similar test I might add). I achieved 131. But when seeing results, I questioned the grading on a couple, and so one answer was deemed correct, giving me 132 again. Who knows what it would be now. Janet and I almost match exactly.
So I've never shied away from reading. Its criminal that girls and women (and boys too, but less so, often 'cause they (and girls), must work at a young age), are denied education under some misguided regimes or philosophies. Criminal. Education - reading, writing etc. is to important to human development and potential to be neglected, let alone banned. "Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”
— Bahá’u’lláh
And I do like to read and study Baha'i, religious and spiritual writings almost every day, at least a little something. I've "read" the highlights of the Old and New Testaments all my life, and the Quran twice, but have much further study ahead of me. I am a third done another book I'm writing called Islam for Westerners, because I feel so strongly that the western mind and heart has paid little attention to the tenets of Islam (except for a bad TV show set in L.A., and a half-decent one made in Canada), and the life and teachings of the Apostle and Prophet Muhammad, whom Baha'is also believe is a divine Manifestation and Messenger of God. Can 1.3 Billion Muslims all be wrong? Get serious! How many believers does it take to convince you there's truth there? And to set the record straight, true Islam has always been, and is today, a Faith that has only defended itself. And like all faiths, it has that right. Today it must be in words and discourse, not force and violence.
Sorry, back to reading. I got on my high horse for a minute. I've stated elsewhere I rarely read newspapers for news. NPR and News 4 every night are my basic sources. But I had to read (and write), every day during my last 35 year's with the State, mostly technical and business reading and writing. On the literary side, ever since being a kid and reading Asimov's I, Robot, Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451, and similar sci-fi stories, its been my primary reading interest (and watching movies). (Oh, and no book burning, especially not the Word of God as in the Quran.) I also read eight books of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time until I just couldn't take the protagonist Rand al'Thor's ineptness. Science fiction, and sci-fi fantasy whether Le Guin, Ellison, Heinlein and many others, especially now with George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels (I'm reading Clash of Kings now), I've also liked. Terry Goodkind was my favorite for his epic series. And since 1960 or so, since I saw a rerun of the original 1951 The Day the Earth Stood, sci fi movies don't go unwatched.
Movies also teach language, and that's the only reason I mention these other interests as well. (Of course, Sesame Street's a good example also.) But reading and education has to be our biggest priority as a nation (along with providing universal healthcare -- but not free, per se; ending poverty, corruption etc.).
I earn a lot of cheap books from our Hamilton Twp. Free Public Library where I work Mondays, the most recent being Plato in 90 Minutes, a fun read. I also love reading magazines. I skim the ads, pictures and titles, but like to peruse Time, AARP Magazine, Parade Magazine, Consumer Reports, and especially The Week. My son Jesse bought me a subscription years ago for my birthday, and we've been enjoying its dual viewpoints (in some cases), since. And online reading? I can't list all my digital magazine and report subscriptions, over 100, centered on energy, information technology and writing/publishing.
In fact, my next "Joy of" blog will be on writing, then math, and finally this mini-series will be capped by one on Education.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Latin roots. Easy to learn 'cause I knew no different. Prefixes and suffixes became very easy to recognize and separate from their roots, for example, in-doctrin(e)-ation. In later years, I learned Christ's prayer, the Our Father, in Latin (and can spout half of it now), and recited it in 1964 at the baptism ceremony of my converted Boy Scout troop leader. He had chosen me as his Godfather. We quickly lost touch.
Then there's phonetics, a boon to my learning and reading abilities. It was discarded by the 70s, but to me, it was a fantastic way to learn, especially how to read aloud and guess right most of the time. I firmly believe phonetics should still be taught, especially in those early grades. My wife Janet has taught English as a Foreign Language to immigrants attending Mercer County College and elsewhere, and swears by roots of words and phonetics in those environments. Between grasping both of them myself, and not being stymied by big words, my vocabulary isn't half-bad (hah!).
Maybe that's why Janet and I like the movies like Spellbound and Akeelah and the Bee. However, I am not nearly as good as those young students, nor am I a motivational speaker either. I do help Janet often with her spelling needs tho. And being in Sacred Heart Catholic School, memorizing words and their spellings became second nature. I was in our school spelling bee, in front of an audience, on stage, and was defeated by my misspelling "mischievous," which would be a perfect description of me in my youth.
Altho Mom has told me I didn't speak much until age six, I've always liked to read. Circa 1963 (or earlier?), Mom bought a complete set of Encyclopedia Brittanica's (now online only I think). The main set consisted of thirty or so 4-inch tomes, mostly composed of topical essays. I certainly looked thru them. But I was attracted to the Brittanica Juniors, fourteen red-covered smaller books, only two inches wide each. Over a period of a few months I read every word of all fourteen books when I wasn't in school or playing outside or getting into trouble. That, shooting pool, and building model cars were my pastimes during that period, TV-watching not so much. I don't remember any specifics I read, but somehow reading them helped my comprehension and language skills (and probably intelligence too). They still sit in Mom's den, barely touched and horribly outdated (but not all by any means).
As an aside, I've had two IQ tests: the first c. 1983 and the latter c. 1994. Both given by my bosses. The first when I begged Charlie Burrows at the Bureau of Data Processing to see if I was computer programmer material. After all, my title was DP Programmer II, even tho I didn't write one line of COBOL for work. I took that first test and achieved 132. In 1994, our Treasury Admin Director, Chuck Chianese, had all his managers take one (very similar test I might add). I achieved 131. But when seeing results, I questioned the grading on a couple, and so one answer was deemed correct, giving me 132 again. Who knows what it would be now. Janet and I almost match exactly.
So I've never shied away from reading. Its criminal that girls and women (and boys too, but less so, often 'cause they (and girls), must work at a young age), are denied education under some misguided regimes or philosophies. Criminal. Education - reading, writing etc. is to important to human development and potential to be neglected, let alone banned. "Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”
— Bahá’u’lláh
And I do like to read and study Baha'i, religious and spiritual writings almost every day, at least a little something. I've "read" the highlights of the Old and New Testaments all my life, and the Quran twice, but have much further study ahead of me. I am a third done another book I'm writing called Islam for Westerners, because I feel so strongly that the western mind and heart has paid little attention to the tenets of Islam (except for a bad TV show set in L.A., and a half-decent one made in Canada), and the life and teachings of the Apostle and Prophet Muhammad, whom Baha'is also believe is a divine Manifestation and Messenger of God. Can 1.3 Billion Muslims all be wrong? Get serious! How many believers does it take to convince you there's truth there? And to set the record straight, true Islam has always been, and is today, a Faith that has only defended itself. And like all faiths, it has that right. Today it must be in words and discourse, not force and violence.
Sorry, back to reading. I got on my high horse for a minute. I've stated elsewhere I rarely read newspapers for news. NPR and News 4 every night are my basic sources. But I had to read (and write), every day during my last 35 year's with the State, mostly technical and business reading and writing. On the literary side, ever since being a kid and reading Asimov's I, Robot, Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451, and similar sci-fi stories, its been my primary reading interest (and watching movies). (Oh, and no book burning, especially not the Word of God as in the Quran.) I also read eight books of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time until I just couldn't take the protagonist Rand al'Thor's ineptness. Science fiction, and sci-fi fantasy whether Le Guin, Ellison, Heinlein and many others, especially now with George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels (I'm reading Clash of Kings now), I've also liked. Terry Goodkind was my favorite for his epic series. And since 1960 or so, since I saw a rerun of the original 1951 The Day the Earth Stood, sci fi movies don't go unwatched.
Movies also teach language, and that's the only reason I mention these other interests as well. (Of course, Sesame Street's a good example also.) But reading and education has to be our biggest priority as a nation (along with providing universal healthcare -- but not free, per se; ending poverty, corruption etc.).
I earn a lot of cheap books from our Hamilton Twp. Free Public Library where I work Mondays, the most recent being Plato in 90 Minutes, a fun read. I also love reading magazines. I skim the ads, pictures and titles, but like to peruse Time, AARP Magazine, Parade Magazine, Consumer Reports, and especially The Week. My son Jesse bought me a subscription years ago for my birthday, and we've been enjoying its dual viewpoints (in some cases), since. And online reading? I can't list all my digital magazine and report subscriptions, over 100, centered on energy, information technology and writing/publishing.
In fact, my next "Joy of" blog will be on writing, then math, and finally this mini-series will be capped by one on Education.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Sunday, May 19, 2013
The Joy of a Future World without Politics
I ruminated about how to start this blog series -- so many possible topics that interest me, and which I hope will interest you. So I debated with myself about this first subject. It's not a topic I would normally choose, the future, I mean. But why not just put some of my thoughts, feelings and beliefs, out there? Nothing stopping me but common sense and the threat of libel, so I'll be gentle this go-round.
Where to start. Here's my interpretation of what might be...
One. In the future they'll be no need of political parties. They'll be obsolete, thrown away for a better method closer to true democracy. And what do I think is true democracy? Essentially the freedom of thought and the ability to express oneself thru considered words and actions, not just words alone, unlike all the political ads, advertising copy, magazines and TV, mobile and news outlets, do everywhere. Granted, all the media outlets (and more), will still be there, but no political ads. The media focus will be on expressing the truth and not "spin," half-truths or outright propaganda. The media will be judged heavily according to the "pants on fire" barometers of Politifact and many others in the world of the future. Disinformation and misinformation will be exposed for what they are, and who's behind them, unlike now with faceless PACs hiding behind their concocted rhetoric.
Why no political parties? Is it even possible or practical? Well indeed its both if you change the ground rules slightly. We'll never change one person, one vote, although the legal age may become less than eighteen, worldwide. That right is sacrosanct. We'll still have polling places (bad word), I mean voting places, to accommodate secrecy and a degree of anonymity. (Polling will be obsolete as well, for this.) Also sacrosanct. The rest of the details will be worked out by worldwide experts, by locality, region, state, nation and world, but the system will be similar with a number of notable exceptions and guiding principles. Someday maybe I or someone else will write a book explaining well the best systems of human governance and Divine Economics.
A. No "running for office." No election campaigns, slush funds and anonymous donors. None. Hence, no political advertising of any kind. No signs on lawns, back-to-back commercials, bumper stickers -- none of it. Wouldn't that be nice.
B. Every citizen in good standing will be eligible for election at all levels of government (businesses will follow later), much like it is today, with, perhaps, elections extending to Cabinet officers, department heads, or even division heads. Most certainly to governing bodies like boards, authorities, colleges etc., and to judges and their administrators. In other words to all the governing institutions of humankind. How? Based on individuals demonstrated (not just spoken), public, and private, words and actions (and writings), education, knowledge, competence and above all -- honesty and trustworthiness.
Wouldn't that be novel -- voting for the best woman or man for the job (with equal opportunity of course, including race which goes without saying). Based solely on their capacity, reputation and qualities. Their "character" as Dr. Martin Luthor King Jr. stated. And term limits will apply, except for universal acclaim like we had for FDR, and even then, "Emeritus" would do. Whether three or four years, with one reelection only? That will have to be worked out. But gerrymandering will be absolutely forbidden. Independent boards with watchdog organizations will draw up districts based solely on population, civil boundaries, and community unity.
C. Here's the toughest part, but a part I know exists and works well nonetheless. Here I'm talking about the absolute prohibition against nominating and electioneering. Simply not allowed, with social and civil penalties when discovered. How in the world can this system work you ask?
Well, I'm bias, and I admit that and declare it. But this system exists right now in the Baha'i worldwide community of over five million members. I've participated in the system I've just described above at the local, national and international (indirectly), levels since 1975, just after we had our first Hamilton Twp. local Baha'i community election. These are conducted on an annual basis every April. Local elections are followed by election of a delegate(s) for the larger region. In October we vote in annual national election of our continental U.S. Baha'i council (governing over the 150,000+ American Baha'is), then those national members vote for the international council once every five years. Everything I've just described has been in place and functioning for Baha'is since the Faith's earliest days in the late-1800's, and on an international basis since 1963. Voting for council members in the first place is accomplished thru simple plurality.
Oh, and one more "slight change." Those elected vote their own conscience. They do not represent those who elect them in the same sense that we elect politicians today. In other words, they're not politicians. Our goal as elected members is the general welfare of the community, the whole, not its sometimes discordant parts or individual's plans and schemes, especially not big business. Yes, as elected we listen to suggestions, recommendations, even criticisms intently, but then make up our own minds. And there are ample opportunities and ways to make recommendations, including the 19-day Feast when all community members gather for spiritual and physical refreshment, and to conduct community consultation and business.
Their are no lobbyists of vendors who can necessarily sway those elected, especially not more than community members themselves. But our bodies of nine adults consult before every decision, gathering the facts and circumstances first. On our local Assembly (council), rarely do we have to vote on a decision when our personal goal is purity of motive and not self-aggrandizement. 98% of our decisions are made by consensus, and if voting at all, a simple majority rules.
All I'm trying to say is that this unique system of human governance can work when done with pure intentions and a pure heart. I'm still working on those for me, but our history has proven over and over again, year after year, that somehow the right individuals are naturally elected, and the entity itself, our little local community for example, is the better off for it. And it is healthy and functions well, without debt or overspending. And there is no dearth of qualified, capable, stable and upright individuals to choose from.
Basically, what I'm saying is that unity of thought and action with good intentions and right outcomes is not only possible but inevitable, with just a little faith in the nobility of man.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
Where to start. Here's my interpretation of what might be...
One. In the future they'll be no need of political parties. They'll be obsolete, thrown away for a better method closer to true democracy. And what do I think is true democracy? Essentially the freedom of thought and the ability to express oneself thru considered words and actions, not just words alone, unlike all the political ads, advertising copy, magazines and TV, mobile and news outlets, do everywhere. Granted, all the media outlets (and more), will still be there, but no political ads. The media focus will be on expressing the truth and not "spin," half-truths or outright propaganda. The media will be judged heavily according to the "pants on fire" barometers of Politifact and many others in the world of the future. Disinformation and misinformation will be exposed for what they are, and who's behind them, unlike now with faceless PACs hiding behind their concocted rhetoric.
Why no political parties? Is it even possible or practical? Well indeed its both if you change the ground rules slightly. We'll never change one person, one vote, although the legal age may become less than eighteen, worldwide. That right is sacrosanct. We'll still have polling places (bad word), I mean voting places, to accommodate secrecy and a degree of anonymity. (Polling will be obsolete as well, for this.) Also sacrosanct. The rest of the details will be worked out by worldwide experts, by locality, region, state, nation and world, but the system will be similar with a number of notable exceptions and guiding principles. Someday maybe I or someone else will write a book explaining well the best systems of human governance and Divine Economics.
A. No "running for office." No election campaigns, slush funds and anonymous donors. None. Hence, no political advertising of any kind. No signs on lawns, back-to-back commercials, bumper stickers -- none of it. Wouldn't that be nice.
B. Every citizen in good standing will be eligible for election at all levels of government (businesses will follow later), much like it is today, with, perhaps, elections extending to Cabinet officers, department heads, or even division heads. Most certainly to governing bodies like boards, authorities, colleges etc., and to judges and their administrators. In other words to all the governing institutions of humankind. How? Based on individuals demonstrated (not just spoken), public, and private, words and actions (and writings), education, knowledge, competence and above all -- honesty and trustworthiness.
Wouldn't that be novel -- voting for the best woman or man for the job (with equal opportunity of course, including race which goes without saying). Based solely on their capacity, reputation and qualities. Their "character" as Dr. Martin Luthor King Jr. stated. And term limits will apply, except for universal acclaim like we had for FDR, and even then, "Emeritus" would do. Whether three or four years, with one reelection only? That will have to be worked out. But gerrymandering will be absolutely forbidden. Independent boards with watchdog organizations will draw up districts based solely on population, civil boundaries, and community unity.
C. Here's the toughest part, but a part I know exists and works well nonetheless. Here I'm talking about the absolute prohibition against nominating and electioneering. Simply not allowed, with social and civil penalties when discovered. How in the world can this system work you ask?
Well, I'm bias, and I admit that and declare it. But this system exists right now in the Baha'i worldwide community of over five million members. I've participated in the system I've just described above at the local, national and international (indirectly), levels since 1975, just after we had our first Hamilton Twp. local Baha'i community election. These are conducted on an annual basis every April. Local elections are followed by election of a delegate(s) for the larger region. In October we vote in annual national election of our continental U.S. Baha'i council (governing over the 150,000+ American Baha'is), then those national members vote for the international council once every five years. Everything I've just described has been in place and functioning for Baha'is since the Faith's earliest days in the late-1800's, and on an international basis since 1963. Voting for council members in the first place is accomplished thru simple plurality.
Oh, and one more "slight change." Those elected vote their own conscience. They do not represent those who elect them in the same sense that we elect politicians today. In other words, they're not politicians. Our goal as elected members is the general welfare of the community, the whole, not its sometimes discordant parts or individual's plans and schemes, especially not big business. Yes, as elected we listen to suggestions, recommendations, even criticisms intently, but then make up our own minds. And there are ample opportunities and ways to make recommendations, including the 19-day Feast when all community members gather for spiritual and physical refreshment, and to conduct community consultation and business.
Their are no lobbyists of vendors who can necessarily sway those elected, especially not more than community members themselves. But our bodies of nine adults consult before every decision, gathering the facts and circumstances first. On our local Assembly (council), rarely do we have to vote on a decision when our personal goal is purity of motive and not self-aggrandizement. 98% of our decisions are made by consensus, and if voting at all, a simple majority rules.
All I'm trying to say is that this unique system of human governance can work when done with pure intentions and a pure heart. I'm still working on those for me, but our history has proven over and over again, year after year, that somehow the right individuals are naturally elected, and the entity itself, our little local community for example, is the better off for it. And it is healthy and functions well, without debt or overspending. And there is no dearth of qualified, capable, stable and upright individuals to choose from.
Basically, what I'm saying is that unity of thought and action with good intentions and right outcomes is not only possible but inevitable, with just a little faith in the nobility of man.
By Rodney Richards, NJ
The Joy of.... A New Series of Blogs
While driving my jet to the Broad Street Diner for breakfast yesterday, a really exciting idea struck me for writing my blog posts. Why not write a series of blogs on things that make me happy? So I started with a few, like The Joy of Yardwork, or Owning a Home, or Dating and Marriage, or Having Kids etc. etc. You get the idea.
I've been blessed in so many ways I can't count them. And my disposition has always been to take things as they come, and as they are. I never felt, and still don't, that the world owes me anything, and I learned long ago from my mentor Bill Foster, it's not important how the world treats me, but how I react to it. Not coincidentally, Janet shares this same philosophy. She'd say, "It's past, get over it." And that went for any of our outstanding accomplishments, as well as the glaring mistakes -- mostly mine.
Perhaps that's why I'm a little cold or reserved about most things now. Yet, I can remember a time, from my childhood until just after my first bipolar episode in 1979, where I could get excited, and rowdy, and involved, in just about anything. I started Mercer County Community Community College that year with a class in Philosophy, which I had to withdraw from when i ended up in hospital for a month after the episode. Those days and earlier I could get high from drugs or good news, and had many more fancies and interests, like our new son Jesse.
But then I started my pill regimen: anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, Lithium and sleeping pills. All geared toward slowing me down, calming me down, and preventing nasty highs and depressing lows. And over 30+ years of them, they've taken thier toll on my spirit. But I'm certainly not complaining, and explain it all in my forthcoming book Episodes of A Blessed Life in America. Yet I must be truthful and say, that because of my mild bipolar mental illness, I've never had those debilitating clinical depressions so often read and heard about in others. Again, I've been fortunate.
So I'm going to give this blog series a try, and hope you'll feel free to comment and add your joys. In fact, better yet, you should start your own blog! It's free, and very easy to do, especially when you get into the routine of writing and sharing. I use Google's Blogger and am very happy with it. You need to have a GMail account, but I'm biased, and really like GMail for any number of reasons, particularly for its excellent spam filters. Blogger only requires a little intuition, because, like 99% of the apps on the Internet (and mobile phones), there's no instructions or good labeling. Well, either way, Blogger's not to bad. There's other free blog platforms as well.
So, hope to read your comments or read your stories soon...
Best,
Rodney Richards, NJ
I've been blessed in so many ways I can't count them. And my disposition has always been to take things as they come, and as they are. I never felt, and still don't, that the world owes me anything, and I learned long ago from my mentor Bill Foster, it's not important how the world treats me, but how I react to it. Not coincidentally, Janet shares this same philosophy. She'd say, "It's past, get over it." And that went for any of our outstanding accomplishments, as well as the glaring mistakes -- mostly mine.
Perhaps that's why I'm a little cold or reserved about most things now. Yet, I can remember a time, from my childhood until just after my first bipolar episode in 1979, where I could get excited, and rowdy, and involved, in just about anything. I started Mercer County Community Community College that year with a class in Philosophy, which I had to withdraw from when i ended up in hospital for a month after the episode. Those days and earlier I could get high from drugs or good news, and had many more fancies and interests, like our new son Jesse.
But then I started my pill regimen: anti-psychotics, mood stabilizers, Lithium and sleeping pills. All geared toward slowing me down, calming me down, and preventing nasty highs and depressing lows. And over 30+ years of them, they've taken thier toll on my spirit. But I'm certainly not complaining, and explain it all in my forthcoming book Episodes of A Blessed Life in America. Yet I must be truthful and say, that because of my mild bipolar mental illness, I've never had those debilitating clinical depressions so often read and heard about in others. Again, I've been fortunate.
So I'm going to give this blog series a try, and hope you'll feel free to comment and add your joys. In fact, better yet, you should start your own blog! It's free, and very easy to do, especially when you get into the routine of writing and sharing. I use Google's Blogger and am very happy with it. You need to have a GMail account, but I'm biased, and really like GMail for any number of reasons, particularly for its excellent spam filters. Blogger only requires a little intuition, because, like 99% of the apps on the Internet (and mobile phones), there's no instructions or good labeling. Well, either way, Blogger's not to bad. There's other free blog platforms as well.
So, hope to read your comments or read your stories soon...
Best,
Rodney Richards, NJ
Friday, May 10, 2013
You Can't Bid Everthing
One thing I learned early on working for NJ Government for 39 years, is that nothing is free. Everything comes with a price, even if its hidden initially.
Take for example the practice years ago of offering people like me (contracting and procurement officers - well managers anyway), box seats at a Phillies, Giants or Jets game. Or the free trinkets and pens (with company logo) offered at the ubiquitous trade shows, some just blocks from my office, or those I attended at the Philly Convention Center or New York City hotels. Scarfing down the trinkets was a favorite past time of us government attendees until the State Ethics Committee finally said (correctly), "No more." Ah, what's wrong with a pen for God's sake? Well, when you use it around the office, or heaven forbid outside, it can give the wrong impression with IBM in big letters on its side. Now that's picayune. That's crushing the mice while the elephants stomp past. "How's a pen going to alter my judgement?" all the managers would ask.
Case in point, "The Pilot Project." Someone gets a bright idea and just happens to know of a vendor who can implement it. The vendor comes in with six flunkies in suits, sometimes with a pretty woman in a business suit, and gives a big dog and pony show - glossy folders and handouts, maybe a Powerpoint, either way, no matter how carefully crafted, its a sales pitch. Some in state government trusted positions have committed fraud for thousands or even millions of dollars. Yet vendor meetings are above board. And vendors come in and do this for managers, assistant directors and directors all the time. Especially legislators. Almost weekly. Why? Supposedly its free, no obligation, and the excuse is always given "We're just investigating options. We need to be informed since we don't have the expertise ourselves." In Washington they're called lobbyists; in New Jersey they're just "vendors."
And I was the guy that had to write the special request to the Treasurer's Office (but if he or a deputy was involved, it was all a snap), to the Office of Management and Budget to approve the funding, and to the State Purchasing division to procure these "pilot" products and services. Illegal? Certainly not. Fair and free competition? No.
One example: The electronic device that attached to the base of any light bulb, and cut electricity use by 10%. It cost $1.80 each. Supposed payback less than six months. How did they demonstrate this miracle? With a black box with two lightbulbs, one with the device attached, the other without. And the vendor's question when he flipped the switch on? "Notice how you can't see any decrease in lumens (light output). Its not even noticeable, but yet its saving energy." That's a hell of a proof, isn't it? And I had to write-up and walk-thru the paperwork for $25,000 worth of these "miracles." Personally, as an energy manager, I tried to stay mum about the whole fiasco. After all, the Chief of Staff of a major state agency was pushing this -- let him tell the other agencies.
These types of backroom deals, especially with big vendors like Microsoft and others, resulted in millions of dollars in expenditures. Why? Because someone up above was sold on the idea. "It will save you money in the long run," the vendors said. Only problem? No one, no one, ever did the follow-up to prove their savings estimates.
I was lucky. The thirty folks in Treasury Fiscal and Administration I dealt with on a daily basis were all honest. Yes, we might bend the rules, or force them to the outer limit, but never break them. And those bendings were rare -- and justified, and signed off at the highest levels. And they cost millions of dollars. None of my contracts were for less than $1 million. These "pilots" always ended up being much bigger within months; thousands of software licenses bought initially for example, then tens of thousands within months. All necessary to keep the State running. Yes, without a doubt. All necessary.
So what do you do? My motto for me and staff was to know more about a product or service then the vendor. Dealing with a vendor, when using state funds, is a matter of trust. We knew they had something up their sleeve, but could rarely catch them in the act of deception. All vendor reps had great explanations when questioned. Hell, they were trained to overcome objections; we weren't trained in recognizing untruths, or how to verify their claims. Oh, we did our homework on comparison products and costs when we could, talked to agencies or other companies that dealt with the vendor to see how above board they were, and if they were fairly priced. Of course, we could never know as much as the vendor -- they always had the advantage. But we could ask the hard questions. I was the bad cop to my staff's good cop. After all, it was my name (and others), on Form PB-129 "Request for Waiver of Advertising" which authorized these procurements.
Most of the deals I dealt with were "Sole Source." By definition there was only one source of supply. Hard to believe in today's world of innumerable shopping sites, huh? But this system of requesting waivers and justifying sole source, or technical compatibility, for me, went on prior to 1979 when I started. Way before the Internet, Wikipedia or Google searches. And the waiver system is still in place today. Regrettably, a necessary system because, bottom line "You can't bid absolutely everything."
Take for example the practice years ago of offering people like me (contracting and procurement officers - well managers anyway), box seats at a Phillies, Giants or Jets game. Or the free trinkets and pens (with company logo) offered at the ubiquitous trade shows, some just blocks from my office, or those I attended at the Philly Convention Center or New York City hotels. Scarfing down the trinkets was a favorite past time of us government attendees until the State Ethics Committee finally said (correctly), "No more." Ah, what's wrong with a pen for God's sake? Well, when you use it around the office, or heaven forbid outside, it can give the wrong impression with IBM in big letters on its side. Now that's picayune. That's crushing the mice while the elephants stomp past. "How's a pen going to alter my judgement?" all the managers would ask.
Case in point, "The Pilot Project." Someone gets a bright idea and just happens to know of a vendor who can implement it. The vendor comes in with six flunkies in suits, sometimes with a pretty woman in a business suit, and gives a big dog and pony show - glossy folders and handouts, maybe a Powerpoint, either way, no matter how carefully crafted, its a sales pitch. Some in state government trusted positions have committed fraud for thousands or even millions of dollars. Yet vendor meetings are above board. And vendors come in and do this for managers, assistant directors and directors all the time. Especially legislators. Almost weekly. Why? Supposedly its free, no obligation, and the excuse is always given "We're just investigating options. We need to be informed since we don't have the expertise ourselves." In Washington they're called lobbyists; in New Jersey they're just "vendors."
And I was the guy that had to write the special request to the Treasurer's Office (but if he or a deputy was involved, it was all a snap), to the Office of Management and Budget to approve the funding, and to the State Purchasing division to procure these "pilot" products and services. Illegal? Certainly not. Fair and free competition? No.
One example: The electronic device that attached to the base of any light bulb, and cut electricity use by 10%. It cost $1.80 each. Supposed payback less than six months. How did they demonstrate this miracle? With a black box with two lightbulbs, one with the device attached, the other without. And the vendor's question when he flipped the switch on? "Notice how you can't see any decrease in lumens (light output). Its not even noticeable, but yet its saving energy." That's a hell of a proof, isn't it? And I had to write-up and walk-thru the paperwork for $25,000 worth of these "miracles." Personally, as an energy manager, I tried to stay mum about the whole fiasco. After all, the Chief of Staff of a major state agency was pushing this -- let him tell the other agencies.
These types of backroom deals, especially with big vendors like Microsoft and others, resulted in millions of dollars in expenditures. Why? Because someone up above was sold on the idea. "It will save you money in the long run," the vendors said. Only problem? No one, no one, ever did the follow-up to prove their savings estimates.
I was lucky. The thirty folks in Treasury Fiscal and Administration I dealt with on a daily basis were all honest. Yes, we might bend the rules, or force them to the outer limit, but never break them. And those bendings were rare -- and justified, and signed off at the highest levels. And they cost millions of dollars. None of my contracts were for less than $1 million. These "pilots" always ended up being much bigger within months; thousands of software licenses bought initially for example, then tens of thousands within months. All necessary to keep the State running. Yes, without a doubt. All necessary.
So what do you do? My motto for me and staff was to know more about a product or service then the vendor. Dealing with a vendor, when using state funds, is a matter of trust. We knew they had something up their sleeve, but could rarely catch them in the act of deception. All vendor reps had great explanations when questioned. Hell, they were trained to overcome objections; we weren't trained in recognizing untruths, or how to verify their claims. Oh, we did our homework on comparison products and costs when we could, talked to agencies or other companies that dealt with the vendor to see how above board they were, and if they were fairly priced. Of course, we could never know as much as the vendor -- they always had the advantage. But we could ask the hard questions. I was the bad cop to my staff's good cop. After all, it was my name (and others), on Form PB-129 "Request for Waiver of Advertising" which authorized these procurements.
Most of the deals I dealt with were "Sole Source." By definition there was only one source of supply. Hard to believe in today's world of innumerable shopping sites, huh? But this system of requesting waivers and justifying sole source, or technical compatibility, for me, went on prior to 1979 when I started. Way before the Internet, Wikipedia or Google searches. And the waiver system is still in place today. Regrettably, a necessary system because, bottom line "You can't bid absolutely everything."
Boarding Passes Please
I have a lot to share about my recent trip to Ireland with my 81 year-old mom, so I'd thought I'd start here -- boarding the planes to and from the Emerald Isle. And it is mostly emerald, a deep, rich, fresh green, dotted with two story houses and gray castle ruins, with herds of cattle and horses, and flocks of white sheep -- all grazing contentedly in the serene undulating hills. But getting there and back by plane was a challenge -- for me anyway, a novice, not an experienced international traveler (well, not since 2005 and my pilgrimage to the Holy Land). I had forgotten everything I had learned about flying and its practices and procedures.
My siblings and I had chipped in to send Mom to her native land as a birthday present. Having never been, it was her lifelong dream. I volunteered to go to make things easier for her, since none of my two brothers and sisters, or their spouses, could do it. Anyway, I am retired - I had free time on my hands. No writing for a week, which would turn out not to be true, but small price to pay for Mom to meet her cousins in Clonmel and Carrick-an-Suir, birthplace of the Cavanaugh clan.
After researching Ireland online, emailing our host cousins, checking out travel companies etc., I discovered my good friend Chet, a past co-worker, was a Travel agent. Ah, this made it much easier - a human on the other end of email and the phone who could answer my picky questions and ease my concerns. After speaking at length together, I hired him, a good decision. We settled on Gate1 Travel as the tour company. Chet and I fleshed out a bare-bones itinerary, which I would later fill in, and picked the dates - April 29th, departure, and May 6, 2013 return. We were to fly nonstop out of Philly Airport, equidistant from Newark Airport from our home. (Newark would have been easier in hindsight.)
I sent Gate1 a deposit online, and we were on our way to an affordable trip (we thought - more later). After back and forth's with Chet, Mom and I agreed to make Dublin our base of operations, and also signed up for a one day trip to the magnificent Cliffs of Moher (pronounced "More"). I got separate tickets online to visit the famous Guinness Storehouse and tasting, as well as Dublin Bus Hop-on, Hop-off passes to tour the city for a day. Our hotel, the Camden Court, in center-city, was also booked for us. After making the final payment two weeks before, I received online a twelve-page detailed description from Gate1 of all aspects of the trip, including, most importantly, our US Airways ticket numbers. I only had to do three things before leaving: pack my bag with Janet's help, print the boarding passes within 24-hours of departure, and pick up Mom. Janet would drive us there and pick us up. All set. Almost.
A day before leaving I hurriedly emailed Chet.
"Jan told me I need the plane boarding passes. Do you do that or do I?'
"You do, Rod. remember my last email and the link I sent? You go to US Airways website, click Manage Reservations, and print your passes."
"Oh, okay, I'll do that tomorrow then?"
"Absolutely, within 24 hours.Got it?"
"Got it. Thanks Chet!" I had exchanged over a dozen emails with Chet, and a long phone call, during this process. He was kind and responsive to my every need.
I went online. Their main page had the tab I sought. I clicked it and entered the special code Chet had given me. It confirmed departure time and seat numbers. I clicked "print" for the passes and all was done neatly and cleanly. Success! However, Without Janet having recently flown to London with friends, and having done this herself, or without Chet's help, I don't know how I would have figured out to print the boarding passes.
As good as the Internet can be, it assumes to much. Way to much. It expects me to intuitively know how to do all this. It expects me to click on tabs or blue letters, even though it doesn't say "click here" like it used to in the early days. "How to obtain boarding passes" wasn't a clickable item. (FAQ pages are notorious for decent explanations, but no clickable links to the solution -- one still has to search the site.) Nothing explicit or helpful to me, a novice, at all. I've found this time and time again with the Internet. Supposedly good, even well-established websites have these communication problems. They assume I know how to do it, and what to click when. Hogwash. Without external help, I challenge anyone to say this process is intuitive. In a complex world, I need explicit directions.
Coming back was more traumatic. Janet had told me the hotel would print the passes for me. I asked them, and the clerk kindly printed something -- a bar code -- not passes. What do I do with this? I even went on the hotel computer for three euros for thirty minutes (cheap), to try it myself. Once on US Airways website I could not find our departure passes. Nada. I got anxious, and was anxious from that moment until I saw a kiosk in the ticket line at Dublin Airport's US Airways terminal later that day.
I certainly didn't want to frighten Mom. But I vaguely remembered using a kiosk to print my own boarding pass years earlier. I saw others using the four nearby stations. While Mom waited in the long ticket line, I waited for a kiosk to open up. I didn't see a scanner for the bar code -- the only thing I had. I almost panicked. But I saw "Enter special code" on the screen. I had written down the code Chet had given me a week earlier. I was worried it might not work, but I entered it. Quickly the two passes printed. Hurray!
I am not sophisticated. I'm an average Joe. I don't travel by plane much. How was I supposed to know all this? No signs at the airport helped, either. A simple sign on the kiosk "Print Boarding Passes Here" would have been a tremendous help. But no, nothing explicit.To add insult to injury, I got back in line with Mom and waited 15 minutes to see a ticketing clerk. I showed our passes and passports.
She said, "Do have any luggage to check in?"
"No, just carry-ons."
"Then you're all all set, just go to the USPC Gates marked on your boarding pass."
"Uh, that's it? Which way?" I didn't tell Mom we had wasted our time in this line.
"Oh, take the elevator to floor 2."
"Uh, thanks."
There were no signs to the elevators or to the gates that I recall. I guess I'll just have to develop more intuition if I'm to survive in an online or machine-driven world.
My third company will be a sign-making one.
My siblings and I had chipped in to send Mom to her native land as a birthday present. Having never been, it was her lifelong dream. I volunteered to go to make things easier for her, since none of my two brothers and sisters, or their spouses, could do it. Anyway, I am retired - I had free time on my hands. No writing for a week, which would turn out not to be true, but small price to pay for Mom to meet her cousins in Clonmel and Carrick-an-Suir, birthplace of the Cavanaugh clan.
After researching Ireland online, emailing our host cousins, checking out travel companies etc., I discovered my good friend Chet, a past co-worker, was a Travel agent. Ah, this made it much easier - a human on the other end of email and the phone who could answer my picky questions and ease my concerns. After speaking at length together, I hired him, a good decision. We settled on Gate1 Travel as the tour company. Chet and I fleshed out a bare-bones itinerary, which I would later fill in, and picked the dates - April 29th, departure, and May 6, 2013 return. We were to fly nonstop out of Philly Airport, equidistant from Newark Airport from our home. (Newark would have been easier in hindsight.)
I sent Gate1 a deposit online, and we were on our way to an affordable trip (we thought - more later). After back and forth's with Chet, Mom and I agreed to make Dublin our base of operations, and also signed up for a one day trip to the magnificent Cliffs of Moher (pronounced "More"). I got separate tickets online to visit the famous Guinness Storehouse and tasting, as well as Dublin Bus Hop-on, Hop-off passes to tour the city for a day. Our hotel, the Camden Court, in center-city, was also booked for us. After making the final payment two weeks before, I received online a twelve-page detailed description from Gate1 of all aspects of the trip, including, most importantly, our US Airways ticket numbers. I only had to do three things before leaving: pack my bag with Janet's help, print the boarding passes within 24-hours of departure, and pick up Mom. Janet would drive us there and pick us up. All set. Almost.
A day before leaving I hurriedly emailed Chet.
"Jan told me I need the plane boarding passes. Do you do that or do I?'
"You do, Rod. remember my last email and the link I sent? You go to US Airways website, click Manage Reservations, and print your passes."
"Oh, okay, I'll do that tomorrow then?"
"Absolutely, within 24 hours.Got it?"
"Got it. Thanks Chet!" I had exchanged over a dozen emails with Chet, and a long phone call, during this process. He was kind and responsive to my every need.
I went online. Their main page had the tab I sought. I clicked it and entered the special code Chet had given me. It confirmed departure time and seat numbers. I clicked "print" for the passes and all was done neatly and cleanly. Success! However, Without Janet having recently flown to London with friends, and having done this herself, or without Chet's help, I don't know how I would have figured out to print the boarding passes.
As good as the Internet can be, it assumes to much. Way to much. It expects me to intuitively know how to do all this. It expects me to click on tabs or blue letters, even though it doesn't say "click here" like it used to in the early days. "How to obtain boarding passes" wasn't a clickable item. (FAQ pages are notorious for decent explanations, but no clickable links to the solution -- one still has to search the site.) Nothing explicit or helpful to me, a novice, at all. I've found this time and time again with the Internet. Supposedly good, even well-established websites have these communication problems. They assume I know how to do it, and what to click when. Hogwash. Without external help, I challenge anyone to say this process is intuitive. In a complex world, I need explicit directions.
Coming back was more traumatic. Janet had told me the hotel would print the passes for me. I asked them, and the clerk kindly printed something -- a bar code -- not passes. What do I do with this? I even went on the hotel computer for three euros for thirty minutes (cheap), to try it myself. Once on US Airways website I could not find our departure passes. Nada. I got anxious, and was anxious from that moment until I saw a kiosk in the ticket line at Dublin Airport's US Airways terminal later that day.
I certainly didn't want to frighten Mom. But I vaguely remembered using a kiosk to print my own boarding pass years earlier. I saw others using the four nearby stations. While Mom waited in the long ticket line, I waited for a kiosk to open up. I didn't see a scanner for the bar code -- the only thing I had. I almost panicked. But I saw "Enter special code" on the screen. I had written down the code Chet had given me a week earlier. I was worried it might not work, but I entered it. Quickly the two passes printed. Hurray!
I am not sophisticated. I'm an average Joe. I don't travel by plane much. How was I supposed to know all this? No signs at the airport helped, either. A simple sign on the kiosk "Print Boarding Passes Here" would have been a tremendous help. But no, nothing explicit.To add insult to injury, I got back in line with Mom and waited 15 minutes to see a ticketing clerk. I showed our passes and passports.
She said, "Do have any luggage to check in?"
"No, just carry-ons."
"Then you're all all set, just go to the USPC Gates marked on your boarding pass."
"Uh, that's it? Which way?" I didn't tell Mom we had wasted our time in this line.
"Oh, take the elevator to floor 2."
"Uh, thanks."
There were no signs to the elevators or to the gates that I recall. I guess I'll just have to develop more intuition if I'm to survive in an online or machine-driven world.
My third company will be a sign-making one.
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