Picking Nits

I received new course materials for 2 different courses, but rather than assume that the new replaces the old, I cross-checked. In 1 of the workbooks for one course, of a possible 300 quiz questions, only 3 questions were changed, but the answer is the same; in the other workbook, of a possible 300 questions, only 2 questions were changed, but the answer is the same. Thus, for a person who does not cross-check, the assumption would be made that the materials across the board have been changed -- and toss out any old materials. I check first, having first-hand knowledge of a recent textbook edition that cost $15 more than the previous semester -- but the only change was in the illustrations, NOT the actual content. Happily, my current files do not have to be completely replaced, a task that would have been quite a time-intensive project.

As refers to Harry Reid, for whom I have nothing but disdain for the disdain he shows to anyone who is not a Democrat, he's getting a bad rap -- the same way that anyone else who speaks openly and frankly about race in this country gets a bad rap. I heard it described that "race is the Great American trip wire," a description I find apt. No matter what one says/means when it comes to race, it's the old "are you still beating your wife" conundrum for which there is no right answer. My glee in all of this is that it's finally one of the Big Demo's getting hammered, rather than one of those crazy right-wingers who are ALWAYS making racist remarks (said tongue-in-cheek).

About Sarah Palin signing on with the Fox News Network: it's a mistake. If you listen to BO'R (notice his last name phonetically is "bore"?), Fox is the happening place. The problem is that one can only listen to BO'R about once a week or so as he's hard to take on one of his good days, and those are few and far between. It's all about him and he's always right, and man, does that get old in a big hurry. He asks good questions and sometimes makes good points, but it's obfuscated by his obnoxious bloviating, overt self-promotion, and constant marketing of his books! Palin loses all credibility (sure, I assume she had some) just by signing on the dotted line and there is no going back -- or forward from that point.

Jay Leno didn't work out at his new time slot? Uh, wasn't that point made YEARS before that change was made? There are intuitive people in our land who can make the leap mentally between what is and what will happen when changes are made, but we tend not to listen to them, especially if they are really old -- like in their 40s or 50s. I'm not age-banging young people (well, maybe a little), but there is something to be said about age and experience expanding one's perspective (in the military, this is called "time in grade"). As my mother always said, "You cannot put an old head onto young shoulders," but as I have learned, young people ignore the wisdom of their elders because that's what young people do.

My final nit for the day is the new campaign to assure the public that savings accounts are a bad use of one's financial resources. Going back to my youth, we believed in "saving for a rainy day," and we lined up to open our Christmas accounts every January to save the money we needed to buy presents for holiday gift-giving. Of course, back then there were NO credit cards, which meant everyone had to use REAL money to pay for purchases. I also remember clutching my savings passport in my hand every 3 months and waiting in line at the bank to see how much interest I had earned during the quarter. But, ya know, we also picked pennies off the pavement, rather than tossing our coins away as I've seen so many teens do. If it isn't your money, it's easier to throw it away, but when it's MY hard-earned coins, they become more precious. And, believe it or not, those pennies do add up into real dollars.

Off to work next week, 3 days a week, 3 classes this semester. I love having something to do, I love banking my paycheck to pay for all these things in life that take REAL money, and I love that I have an education, as well as a good job, and take care of the business of taking care of myself and those I love. May be old-fashioned values, but they still work for some of us.