Monday, June 29, 2009

Patriotism

What with Canada Day looming near (wednesday, July 1st), I thought I'd write a lil about patriotism.

Canada, Australia, and the U.S. all have 1 thing in common - we're offshoots from people leaving (wether they wanted to or not is debatable) England.
We all speak some form of english. We all (we, the countries) welcome people from other countries with relatively open arms.

A few decades ago.. the US was considered a `melting pot`.. didn't matter where you came from.. you become an American citizen, learn the language, the ways, take pride in your new home and Be American.
Canada.. well.. wasn't quite the melting-pot, but come from where ever you came from.. and.. uh.. hey, if it ain't too much trouble.. could you, I dunno.. maybe fit in? But if you raise a ruckus, we'll leave you alone. Just.. I dunno.. love hockey, beer and pancakes smothered in maple syrup, eh?
...As for Australia.. I don't know. Never lived there.

Multiculturalism killed Rome, Greece, Babylon.. all the ancient great civilizations. They started like the 1950's U.S./Canada and ended up like 2009 U.S./Canada before basically imploding on themselves.
Where does patriotism belong in a multicultural society?..from what I can tell, it doesn't.
Patriotism is a fierce pride in one's home country, wether that's the country of their birth or chosen home.
The U.S. is considered `arrogant, stupid and rude` by the masses.. and yet, people still flock there, year after year, for a `better life` and a chance for `the American Dream`.
And what about Canada? People come here for.. well.. we're supposed to be friendly, and a safe country to be in... sure. We're supposed to be. But what is Canadian? What to be proud of?
Celine Dion? Shania Twain? Jim Carrey? John Candy, Rick Moranis, RUSH, Mike Meyers or Dan Aykroyd?...
sure, why not...

But no.. I'm proud to live in a country that flipflops over in-country citizens flaunting aggressive-violent reiligions as a defense of being `racially targetted` and crying that their `human rights` were violated by being allowed to live in this country and be subject to its laws.
I am proud to live in a country with a horribly underfunded and yet still above-par military that, while mocked and ridiculed by its own, is saluted and honoured across the world.
I am proud to live in a country that tries to ensure everyone within its borders can have access to some kind of health care.

More so.. I am proud to live in a country that while having very few `national identity` identifiers, has people from all over the world that come to it, and try to fit in..and are thankful, unlike so many of us.. to live in a country where they are free to persue financial gain, religious freedom, and a life of peace and contentment.

The owner of The Mandarin restaurants is giving a free buffet meal to the people who can prove their citizenship... and to me, that is one of the highest accolades a businessman can offer their country of residence - a thankfulness, a celebration of the nation's day, that they aren't seeking to make a profit, but to share their joy in being in that country with their fellow citizens.

Patriotism... putting aside personal wants and gains to share with others in the joy of belonging to a country you have made as your own... that country's flag planted firmly in your heart.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Head west, young man!

I don't recall when I initially heard that phrase.. but it's been tossed around lately, and the last couple of years, by anyone I know(well, almost anyone), whenever talk turns to `what am I gonna do when I grow up?`...or plans for the future, natch - the lack thereof.

Head west.. used for pioneers and such ...in western times.. gold rush, and all that jazz.
Basically.. search yourself, look hard into and through your soul.. find what you want to do, run hard after it and see what you can do with it.

So why is it.. that more and more.. I'm meeting people who've put 30 years into a business..or had a medical practice for a few decades..and then turn around, and find more joy and enjoyment doing plumbing, or just getting down to the dirt and working on farms?

I don't get it.
But what I -do- get is.. I'm done school.(been done for a lil while now).. I graduated in something I didn't initially go for..and certainly don't want to be doing all my life - not because I don't like it or can't do it, I don't mind it and can certainly do it with relative ease.. but it's just not `me`..
And yet those things that I figure would be `me` ??... I've no idea how to properly parlay them into viable income.

Eventually.. if you keep heading west, you'll hit the horizon and get burned on the sun that's setting.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Time flies by

So here I sit.. a few days after I was going to post something.. WOW time flies by when you're paying attention.. even quicker when you're not!

Sunburned - badly enough I don't want to go to sleep..or sit here and type, for that matter,
tired, sore, and ...wondering if I'm hungry or thirsty.. so I'll drink and see what that does.
(water, never you mind)

Friend of mine took me golfing today.. didn't keep score(for me) on the front 9..did ont he back 9.. played best-ball the whole way through. .. Learned why golfers wear gloves - I ripped (literally ripped) my finger open at the cuticle.. I noticed it was chafed and sore.. took one more drive and SONUVA%#!#^% (not a female dog, but an `unclean woman`.. read a dictionary, people!).. started bleeding pretty good there.
Lemme tell ya.. it's interesting to swing a golf club with any kind of decent-ability with a rag tied around your hand, encompassing a finger.
All in all, for a guy who doesn't play golf, tends to kinda hate the game(but it's beautiful scenery, and okay-exercise).. Shooting 22 over par for the back 9 on a best-ball round ain't too shabby. I figure that if we were playing strict-rules, I'd probably have shot about 140-150 for the entire round.
Go ahead, laugh it up.. but you gotta admit, that ain't bad for a guy who doesn't play the game, and swings more like Happy Gilmore than Arnold Palmer.

Single again for a little while now.. and, maybe it's my perception.. but it seems like certain folks are snubbing me. Heh, go figure. The best part is.. some of these people aren't even really `friends` of my newly-ex or myself.. at best, they're barely-comfortable-acquaintances.

One of my best friends is hoping on a child. As we drove after he told me.. we sat there for about 5 minutes of silence. 5 minutes is a LONG time to go with just road-noise. In my head, I'm thinking `You asshole! You should be happy for your friend, excited.. or something positive!`.. when, really.. I'm kind of sad. Another (potential) kid in this worthless world.
Jobs are becoming scarcer and harder to get, the population keeps expanding, buildings keep going up wiping out animal habitat and viable farmland - inevitably leading to animal attacks in city-areas and rising food prices due to a global lack of food(no farmland, no farms. No farms, no produce, or livestock.. steak don't grow on trees, and while apples do, no room for trees, means no apples)
So I gave him the whole `congratulations` thing.. and told him I should be excited for him, but I'm not. I don't think anyone should be havin kids. And people having children inside the last decade ought to be horse-whipped in a public square.. Why don't people THINK about what the future portends before going all shaggadonkey on each other?..right, because people are inherently dumb and fearful critters. Anyhow.

Out of school.. all that good.. had a job interview, went well.. asked to come back for a 2nd. ...Went back... no one was there. No secretary.. no nothing.
Not a good sign. No returns to my phonecalls.. nothing. REALLY not a good sign.

Interesting sermon in church today. It's all about the heart..
and I've caught myself wondering this at times.. Am I doing this so I can get something out of it, or am I doing this because, hey, it's the right thing to do (and hence, I'm a decent guy) or am I doing this because it's the right thing to do because my King would be pleased with it?
Yes, yes, yes and yes.. all answers, at different times for different things.
Obviously the last one is the important one.

Sometimes.. it seems like doing `the right thing` is such a waste of time.. especially if you're the only one who knows it's the right thing to do.. and it typically takes longer to do than a shortcut, or even doing the same basic thing, only quicker and not as meticulously thorough .. and it's inconvenient.
You pass up the golf balls you spot buried in the sand trap, the gorse, or the waste bunker.
You give the 20$ you find in the street to a charity or use it to buy a homeless person a meal(and let them keep the change).
You go over your grocery bill and notify the cashier you didn't get charged for something...

Inconvenient!
But it's the right thing to do.
So when's the last time you chose something inconvenient for you?

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Close to the door

Well well well...

I've got 2 days left of classes, and then, I go from being in-debt and in-class, to simply being in-debt. Not much in the way of good-looking prospects as far as the area of study I've been in.. with specialized knowledge, a secretary doing less than half of the same job is being paid more than what, according to statistics, I should be looking at.

yay?
But that's according to what I see in the market.. and when the economy goes south, people(employers) tend to blame the people in charge of their books.
Bookkeeping isn't hard.. making it balance and making it make-sense and doing the financials.. that's something else. Doing it skillfully, accurately, and modifying it when neccessary(i.e., late submissions of claims or expenses), while keeping an even-keel.. is something to itself again.

It seems like more and more, employers demand more skills and abilities from their employees, while refusing to pay them for said skills, and offering a pittance for the work they do.

Is it any wonder people feel undervalued, taken advantage of, and like they're treated poorly?

Lucky for me, I tend to find places of employment where you're valued, or at least appreciated by fellow coworkers, if not customers.
And as close to being out of school as I am, there's got to be more than pittance-pay, living expenses and repaying this debt demand it more than pride and sense of self-worth.

Good to know there's One who has more than everything else, and He's out for my good.
Yay!