Occasionally I have participated in in surveys on the Internet. I think I have learned my lesson and will do it no longer.
On one survey I was asked to reply as to whether or not I was a diabetic. I answered yes which was a big mistake. Before I even completed the survey I received a phone call asking if I wanted a month's supply of free test strips for my blood sugar meter. I thought while free is free so why not. I told the man exactly what test strips I used and what make meter I used. Well I found out why not. After talking to the gentleman for a period of time he conned me into giving him my Social Security number and the name of my endocrinologist. I should have known better. The next thing I knew I received a package in the mail with a different kind of blood sugar meter and a month's supply of test strips. When I talked to my endocrinologist he said the meter was all the same quality that I could buy at Wal-Mart for eight dollars and there was no way for him to get to his computer to look at my blood sugar readings for the past several months. So I did not use it but before long found out that Medicare had paid for the meter and the test strips except for a copayment which they wanted to Bill to my insurance company. I contacted them on the telephone and told them I did not want the meter or the strips and they said fine, just send them back.
I didn't get around to it right away and the first thing I knew I received another package with test strips for the meter I didn't want to use. I called them again and then again suggested that I return them. But, by that time I found out that Medicare had already paid for them. I decided I could be as unresponsive as they were and told them that I would not give them the name of my insurance company and if they wanted a copayment for these supplies they were out of luck. Then I received another package with another month's supply. These were also billed to Social Security.I decided that if another package came I was simply mark it refused and return it in the mail. I talked to the post office and found out that that's all I had to do to get these returned but I didn't know at first that social security and Medicare were being billed for them.
For a number of months after that I received bills from the company, which I will not name but I wrote them back pointing out that I never did order of a meter and that the survey prompted a man to use fraud to get my social security number and doctors name. After a few months they quit billing me but I do not know yet whether this appears on my credit report. I intend to check that soon.
I won't explain how I got hooked into the mystery Guild which is a book club. I made four purchases from them which was what I was required to do but apparently one of the purchases did not qualify because it was not of a sufficient amount. I have now paid them about $150 for hard cover mystery books which I did not want and may never read. I still have to pay for one more book which I hope will be of a large enough cost to fulfill my obligation.
I resolve that never again will I try to gain anything free on the Internet. But so many free things are offered I'm afraid I may be tempted again. Does anyone reading this have a different experience?
Monday, March 3, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Lobbyists
I don't know exactly when it began, but it was around 1990. Bills began to be proposed to the Utah Legislature to give students vouchers to attend private schools. My wife at that time was a schoolteacher in one of the less prosperous areas of Orem Utah and she was greatly opposed to the program. Her main objection was that if public tax money was given to private schools they would take only the better students and would not be willing to take the students who manifested problems at school. This would leave the public schools with the responsibility of teaching all the problem students.
I began thinking about this when in the recent political campaign in New York Times brought up some allegations against John McCain. In essence, he was accused of giving favor, for whatever reason to a certain lobbyist.
I don't know whether he was guilty or not, but I do know that lobbyists have too much influence over the legislation that is passed and the various regulations that are made.
In Utah lobbyists began to influence individual legislators to vote for a bill to give Voucher's to students who wanted to attend private schools. They didn't have much success at first but every two years they convinced more individual legislators to support their position.
These voucher bills were brought up to the legislature in every session until finally in 2006 such a bill was passed. This was not easily accepted by the teachers in the public schools and they quickly organized and got enough signatures on a petition to put a referendum on the ballot which in essence would nullify the voucher bill.
This became the most hotly contested issue in my memory, at least on the state level. I understand that more money was spent trying to influence the voters on this issue than was spent in the last governor's election for the state. I could hardly turn on the television without seeing in an ad either for vouchers or against them. The so-called facts both for and against the program were either exaggerated or were false. I will admit that I was influenced by my wife's arguments but also by many other factors.
The pro-voucher forces pointed out or at least stated that giving vouchers to private students to attend private schools would not take away funds from the public schools. These funds were to come from a different pot of money than that which was dedicated to public schools. It seems to me that it doesn't matter what pocket the money comes from, there is only so much in the public trough and it all comes from taxes.
The pro-voucher forces also pointed out the tax money often goes to private enterprises such as those who build roads and bridges and buildings for the government. They did not point out however that some of the roads bridges and buildings that are built for the government are crappy. I was a state employee for 27 years and during that time worked in five or six different buildings. The best one was a privately built building in which we rented space. The other buildings turned out to be fairly poorly built, I assume because the state didn't have much oversight in the building. If public money is spent on schools I think the government needs to have more oversight on what happens in the private schools that this bill provides. Of course they also need more oversight on the building of bridges roads and buildings, or anything else that the government pays for.
Where does the money come from? The election where this voucher program was rejected took place on November 6, 2007. One of the television stations calculated that $11 was spent on each vote supporting the voucher program and seven dollars was spent for each vote opposing the program. As I drive around the county today I see many buildings with signs indicating they are private schools but there doesn't seem to be much activity around them. On the Saturday before the election I received in my mail three mailings asking me to support vouchers and during the several weeks prior to the election I had numerous phone calls trying to get me to vote for them.
The religious issue is one we cannot really ignore. The largest private schools in our state are run by churches and they obviously educate with the biases of their various religions. I do not believe the state should be involved in such education. I do not intend to knock any religion but I think if they want to provide a religious education they should pay for it and not the taxpayers.
I think the point that I really want to make is that lobbyists have too much influence and they do not really reflect the will of the voters. I don't know what can be done about it, probably nothing. I do feel sorry for the investors who have spent so much money building private schools. Yet I feel that they will spend more money yet hiring more lobbyists to try to influence the legislature to do those things which do not reflect the will of the majority of voters. In a few years the will of the people as reflected by this referendum will be forgotten and a new school voucher bill may be passed. Too bad, so sad.
I began thinking about this when in the recent political campaign in New York Times brought up some allegations against John McCain. In essence, he was accused of giving favor, for whatever reason to a certain lobbyist.
I don't know whether he was guilty or not, but I do know that lobbyists have too much influence over the legislation that is passed and the various regulations that are made.
In Utah lobbyists began to influence individual legislators to vote for a bill to give Voucher's to students who wanted to attend private schools. They didn't have much success at first but every two years they convinced more individual legislators to support their position.
These voucher bills were brought up to the legislature in every session until finally in 2006 such a bill was passed. This was not easily accepted by the teachers in the public schools and they quickly organized and got enough signatures on a petition to put a referendum on the ballot which in essence would nullify the voucher bill.
This became the most hotly contested issue in my memory, at least on the state level. I understand that more money was spent trying to influence the voters on this issue than was spent in the last governor's election for the state. I could hardly turn on the television without seeing in an ad either for vouchers or against them. The so-called facts both for and against the program were either exaggerated or were false. I will admit that I was influenced by my wife's arguments but also by many other factors.
The pro-voucher forces pointed out or at least stated that giving vouchers to private students to attend private schools would not take away funds from the public schools. These funds were to come from a different pot of money than that which was dedicated to public schools. It seems to me that it doesn't matter what pocket the money comes from, there is only so much in the public trough and it all comes from taxes.
The pro-voucher forces also pointed out the tax money often goes to private enterprises such as those who build roads and bridges and buildings for the government. They did not point out however that some of the roads bridges and buildings that are built for the government are crappy. I was a state employee for 27 years and during that time worked in five or six different buildings. The best one was a privately built building in which we rented space. The other buildings turned out to be fairly poorly built, I assume because the state didn't have much oversight in the building. If public money is spent on schools I think the government needs to have more oversight on what happens in the private schools that this bill provides. Of course they also need more oversight on the building of bridges roads and buildings, or anything else that the government pays for.
Where does the money come from? The election where this voucher program was rejected took place on November 6, 2007. One of the television stations calculated that $11 was spent on each vote supporting the voucher program and seven dollars was spent for each vote opposing the program. As I drive around the county today I see many buildings with signs indicating they are private schools but there doesn't seem to be much activity around them. On the Saturday before the election I received in my mail three mailings asking me to support vouchers and during the several weeks prior to the election I had numerous phone calls trying to get me to vote for them.
The religious issue is one we cannot really ignore. The largest private schools in our state are run by churches and they obviously educate with the biases of their various religions. I do not believe the state should be involved in such education. I do not intend to knock any religion but I think if they want to provide a religious education they should pay for it and not the taxpayers.
I think the point that I really want to make is that lobbyists have too much influence and they do not really reflect the will of the voters. I don't know what can be done about it, probably nothing. I do feel sorry for the investors who have spent so much money building private schools. Yet I feel that they will spend more money yet hiring more lobbyists to try to influence the legislature to do those things which do not reflect the will of the majority of voters. In a few years the will of the people as reflected by this referendum will be forgotten and a new school voucher bill may be passed. Too bad, so sad.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
On Graveyards
One of my good friends died last week and his funeral is tomorrow. This morning while at church I asked where he was going to be buried and found out that he's going to be buried in the same cemetery where my second wife is buried. This type of cemetery is a great disappointment to me.
I have traveled all over Europe and visited cemeteries in most countries between Sweden and Turkey. All of them are more interesting than the new cemeteries in the United States. It seems like the new cemeteries want to have gravestones put in that do not rise above the level of the grass. That way it is easy for them to mow the lawn without having to avoid the headstones.
This week I traveled through a number of small towns in central Utah. The cemeteries that I saw, though small, were interesting. There were headstones all shapes and sizes and the names on them as well as dates could be seen from a little distance away and not just standing right above them. Where my second wife is buried in Orem Utah I can't tell where her grave is without walking right up to it. My parents and maternal grandparents are buried in a similar cemetery in Pocatello Idaho. It is easier to find their graves because they are all in a row near the northeast corner of the cemetery.
My grandson is buried in one of the older cemeteries in Provo Utah. His name, dates, and even his photograph are on the upright headstone so when I visit it I seem to have a feeling that he is really there. I rarely even visit my second wife's grave, because it is so impersonal with all of the flat markers in the whole cemetary looking just about the same.
One time I accidentally came upon a small cemetery in a small town in either France or Switzerland that was fascinating. From the inscriptions and other decorations on the many upright graves I could just feel a number of things about the life and times of a person buried there.
I know it would cost more and it wouldn't be as convenient for the cemetery keepers but I wish we could go back to the way graveyards looked a generation ago or in the small towns of Europe or Central Utah. I was a depression baby, but honestly some things were better in the past than they are at the present time.I will probably have more to say about that at some time in the future.
I have traveled all over Europe and visited cemeteries in most countries between Sweden and Turkey. All of them are more interesting than the new cemeteries in the United States. It seems like the new cemeteries want to have gravestones put in that do not rise above the level of the grass. That way it is easy for them to mow the lawn without having to avoid the headstones.
This week I traveled through a number of small towns in central Utah. The cemeteries that I saw, though small, were interesting. There were headstones all shapes and sizes and the names on them as well as dates could be seen from a little distance away and not just standing right above them. Where my second wife is buried in Orem Utah I can't tell where her grave is without walking right up to it. My parents and maternal grandparents are buried in a similar cemetery in Pocatello Idaho. It is easier to find their graves because they are all in a row near the northeast corner of the cemetery.
My grandson is buried in one of the older cemeteries in Provo Utah. His name, dates, and even his photograph are on the upright headstone so when I visit it I seem to have a feeling that he is really there. I rarely even visit my second wife's grave, because it is so impersonal with all of the flat markers in the whole cemetary looking just about the same.
One time I accidentally came upon a small cemetery in a small town in either France or Switzerland that was fascinating. From the inscriptions and other decorations on the many upright graves I could just feel a number of things about the life and times of a person buried there.
I know it would cost more and it wouldn't be as convenient for the cemetery keepers but I wish we could go back to the way graveyards looked a generation ago or in the small towns of Europe or Central Utah. I was a depression baby, but honestly some things were better in the past than they are at the present time.I will probably have more to say about that at some time in the future.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
MURDER ??
I don’t know the statistics but as I watch television it seems like there are very many programs about murder. Some of them are drama programs, some are reality shows and others are on the news. The difference seems to be that in years gone by, people didn’t get away with killing others but now it seems like they do in some cases(at least on TV) .And it seems like in the cases where they have senseless mass murders the killers commit suicide and we don’t know what is behind their behavior except some kind of craziness that nobody recognized.
The very concept of one person killing another is beyond my experience or comprehension. When I delivered newspapers as a young boy ,in Alameda, Idaho one of my customers was abusing his wife, She called a man named Bob Hunter for help. Bob was the Marshall in our little town and he went out to the home, knocked on the door and was shot and killed by my newspaper subscriber. My only connection to it was that the killer happened to be one of my subscribers and as a newspaper boy I read many accounts of it in the newspaper. The killer was sent to prison for life although many people felt that he deserved the death penalty. I won’t mention his name but I will never forget it.
I have been involved in sales and social work for all my adult years. Even though I spent several years investigating spouse abuse and counseling the abusers and their victims I never personally had any contact with another murderer or a victim. Knowing what happened to Bob Hunter made me very cautious and I frequently had police officers accompany me if I thought there was going to be any danger during my visits.
As I go through the drama channels on my television I find that a very high percentage of them involve murder. They are either trying to find a perpetrator, convict one or set free someone wrongfully convicted. Even the soap operas are not free from violence. Often they lead you to think someone is guilty and at the last minute surprise you by finding someone else.
I wonder if with such a number all the murders are influencing our young people and if so how much are they influenced. We have watched on the news much about the murders at Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, Trolley Square and other places. Were the disturbed persons who committed the murders influenced by the news or by television.
I am also appalled by the popularity of movies and television shows that are advertised as horror stories. To me they are horrible stories, but apparently they are very popular particularly with certain age groups. Is the behavior of the members of those age groups influenced by the horror stories they see? Do people really like to be scared, or do they just understand in the back of their minds that this is fiction and not reality. I could never enjoy reading Edgar Allan Poe because of the darkness that I felt when reading his works. Yet in college I had to read them in order to get a passing grade in some classes. I don’t have to watch such things on TV or in the movies and if people didn’t watch them they would go away.
Personally I like to look at the bright side of life rather than a dark side. And I think our TV and movies show too much of the dark side that I don’t want to see.
I don’t really feel like I am being a hypocrite when I say I like to read mystery novels. For example I have learned a lot about the Navajo people from reading the adventures of Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn in the novels of Tony Hillerman. I have visited the Navajo reservation numerous times and even at one time employed a Navajo silversmith but I feel like I learned more from these novels than from my own experiences.
And if you ask me the quality of mystery novels is going down. I like those that teach me something but I dislike those that are obsessed with sex, blood and gore. As I look over the catalog of the mystery Guild I see that the majority of the Novels they list are written by women and have women as the main character in the story. I don’t like to think of myself as a misogynist but the reality is that I do not like most of the stories were the main characters are female. It seems to me like the stories written by women are bloodier, overall, than those written by men.
Perhaps I will give up the habit of reading mysteries and confine myself to reading history, but as everyone knows history is also full of death, murder and mayhem. Is there any answer to the problem? I don’t know. Perhaps I should give up and just go with the flow.
Dwj
I don’t know the statistics but as I watch television it seems like there are very many programs about murder. Some of them are drama programs, some are reality shows and others are on the news. The difference seems to be that in years gone by, people didn’t get away with killing others but now it seems like they do in some cases(at least on TV) .And it seems like in the cases where they have senseless mass murders the killers commit suicide and we don’t know what is behind their behavior except some kind of craziness that nobody recognized.
The very concept of one person killing another is beyond my experience or comprehension. When I delivered newspapers as a young boy ,in Alameda, Idaho one of my customers was abusing his wife, She called a man named Bob Hunter for help. Bob was the Marshall in our little town and he went out to the home, knocked on the door and was shot and killed by my newspaper subscriber. My only connection to it was that the killer happened to be one of my subscribers and as a newspaper boy I read many accounts of it in the newspaper. The killer was sent to prison for life although many people felt that he deserved the death penalty. I won’t mention his name but I will never forget it.
I have been involved in sales and social work for all my adult years. Even though I spent several years investigating spouse abuse and counseling the abusers and their victims I never personally had any contact with another murderer or a victim. Knowing what happened to Bob Hunter made me very cautious and I frequently had police officers accompany me if I thought there was going to be any danger during my visits.
As I go through the drama channels on my television I find that a very high percentage of them involve murder. They are either trying to find a perpetrator, convict one or set free someone wrongfully convicted. Even the soap operas are not free from violence. Often they lead you to think someone is guilty and at the last minute surprise you by finding someone else.
I wonder if with such a number all the murders are influencing our young people and if so how much are they influenced. We have watched on the news much about the murders at Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, Trolley Square and other places. Were the disturbed persons who committed the murders influenced by the news or by television.
I am also appalled by the popularity of movies and television shows that are advertised as horror stories. To me they are horrible stories, but apparently they are very popular particularly with certain age groups. Is the behavior of the members of those age groups influenced by the horror stories they see? Do people really like to be scared, or do they just understand in the back of their minds that this is fiction and not reality. I could never enjoy reading Edgar Allan Poe because of the darkness that I felt when reading his works. Yet in college I had to read them in order to get a passing grade in some classes. I don’t have to watch such things on TV or in the movies and if people didn’t watch them they would go away.
Personally I like to look at the bright side of life rather than a dark side. And I think our TV and movies show too much of the dark side that I don’t want to see.
I don’t really feel like I am being a hypocrite when I say I like to read mystery novels. For example I have learned a lot about the Navajo people from reading the adventures of Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn in the novels of Tony Hillerman. I have visited the Navajo reservation numerous times and even at one time employed a Navajo silversmith but I feel like I learned more from these novels than from my own experiences.
And if you ask me the quality of mystery novels is going down. I like those that teach me something but I dislike those that are obsessed with sex, blood and gore. As I look over the catalog of the mystery Guild I see that the majority of the Novels they list are written by women and have women as the main character in the story. I don’t like to think of myself as a misogynist but the reality is that I do not like most of the stories were the main characters are female. It seems to me like the stories written by women are bloodier, overall, than those written by men.
Perhaps I will give up the habit of reading mysteries and confine myself to reading history, but as everyone knows history is also full of death, murder and mayhem. Is there any answer to the problem? I don’t know. Perhaps I should give up and just go with the flow.
Dwj
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The Phone Book Plague
It wasn't too long ago when we used to get a telephone directory from our local telephone company. Apparently those days are gone forever. It seems like almost every Sunday I find a new telephone book on my front sidewalk either in a plastic bag or covered with plastic. I made a point to look at these phonebooks and compare them.
Some are large and some are small and I suppose they are all useful. My wonder how it is possible for all the people listed in the Yellow Pages to pay for advertising in all these books. It seems like those listed in the Yellow Pages of most of the books are quite similar. But there is far more in these books then Yellow Pages. As I look at the white pages I see that they are quite exact copies of the white pages on the Internet. The other day I talked to my computer repairman and he said he was not listed in any of the phonebooks although he did not ask for an unlisted number. He gave me his business card which had his number on it but advised me like could not find it in the phone book. I found out that was true it was not in any of the pages in any of the phonebooks or on the Internet. It seems like that when there is an error every one of the phonebooks has the same error.
One of them I received last week with the Verizon Yellow Pages is about 8 1/2" by 10 1/2". That is not too bad except in the middle of the book there are 210 pages of coupons, each of which I assume was made for by the individual advertisers. Especially highlighted are 21 pages of advertising by attorneys in the Yellow Pages section. The next highlighted section is 37 pages of advertising by dentists. The next highlighted section consists of about 13 pages of advertising for restaurants.
Then when I looked at the white pages I found that the numbers were four columns to a page. For a geezer like me it is impossible to look up a number without either bifocals or a magnifying glass.
Another directory starts out with 128 pages of community information before the white pages begin. But the white pages only have three columns to the page and I actually can read those without my bifocals or a magnifying glass.
This directory has an interesting feature called a numerical cross reference guide on which there are 63 pages where you can look up a number and it will tell you the name on the listing. Of course this only applies to the numbers published in this directory. But it is a handy feature if you have a magnifying glass because the numbers are printed 11 columns to the page. It has a special restaurant section and a wedding section before you get to the regular Yellow Pages.
The directory I am most likely to use is only 9" x 6.5" and about the same thickness as the other directories, but the white pages are only three columns to the page and the numbers are in big enough print that I can read them without any assistance. It also has a reverse directory with eight columns to the page and is difficult to read without glasses. It also has many maps of the area and the Yellow Pages while not as extensive or specialized as the other directories are in bigger print.
I have several other directories that I could describe. However I have come to some conclusions. The bigger thicker directories apparently have better salespeople to get all these people and companies to advertise in them. The one I'll most value to me is the smallest one of them. The problem with it is that it was delivered on a Sunday afternoon, left on my sidewalk in a plastic wrap. It was well sprinkled by my long system by the time I brought it in. When I first saw it I thought I should perhaps put it straight in the garbage because it was swollen with water. One of the companies who delivered a directory called me on the telephone to see if I had received their directory. I guess they were checking up on their delivery person but it was also delivered to my sidewalk on a Sunday.
I think I liked it better when the local phone company printed their own directory and delivered it to my front porch. They knew how many telephone jacks I had in the house and would deliver a number of directories so that I could have one by each telephone. I can still have one by each telephone but each one of them are different and some of them are so thick and full of garbage that I am unlikely to use them as long as I can get the information I want from the Internet.
That brings up another thing that I wanted to talk about. There is a frequent advertisement on the television about how handy DEX is and how easy it is to get information about almost anything by using it on the Internet. I have tried it and believe me the advertisements are not 100% accurate. I have a 1991 Mazda Miata that needs a new clutch. I used the Internet to try to find the most appropriate and least expensive way to get these repairs. I've found lots of them and it appears that this program merely regurgitates the same advertising that is in the Yellow Pages. It seems that the more you spend on advertising the better the recommendation is. I suppose that is true of all kinds of advertising but I have a feeling that the person who spends the most on advertising may not be the right one to hire. Draw your own conclusions.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Truth Reflected by a Depression Baby
My Birth Certificate says that I was born at 4:10 P.M. on August 18, 1931. Since I hear that the Great Depression began in 1929, I think I qualify as a Depression Baby. At the time of my birth my father was 28 years old and my mother was 23.
My father was a Boilermaker Welder who worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. My father was sometimes furloughed (layed off) by the railroad, but in spite of that we survived due to the resourcefulness of both of my parents. Dad was a Welder and was an excellent one. Welders made a little more than the average Boilermaker. Those chosen to be welders were chosen on the basis of test welds. Since his welds were far above average he was in demand, even when not working for the railroad. During his times of furlough he usually did welding for an independent Machine Shop.
In addition to that my mother was a "Beauty Operator". She did not go to a school of Cosmetology but learned on the job. She knew one thing that modern beauty operators do not learn. It doesn't matter how skilled you are with your hands and other knowledge, what really matters is how you make your clients feel. Operators make their money not with their hands but with their mouths. During my career as a Social Worker and as a step-father I have sent a number of young women and a step daughter to Cosmetology Schools. None of them were successful in that career because they did not have and did not develop the necessary people skills. Even today when I go for a haircut, I get a haircut and nothing else. I have no reason to return to the same operator because they did nothing to make me feel good. For years after my mother quit working at the the Beauty Salon, Women came to our home to get her special attention. Some even came to her after she moved more than a hundred miles away. I will admit that she did have some other hair styling skills that modern operators are not taught.
My father was a Boilermaker Welder who worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. My father was sometimes furloughed (layed off) by the railroad, but in spite of that we survived due to the resourcefulness of both of my parents. Dad was a Welder and was an excellent one. Welders made a little more than the average Boilermaker. Those chosen to be welders were chosen on the basis of test welds. Since his welds were far above average he was in demand, even when not working for the railroad. During his times of furlough he usually did welding for an independent Machine Shop.
In addition to that my mother was a "Beauty Operator". She did not go to a school of Cosmetology but learned on the job. She knew one thing that modern beauty operators do not learn. It doesn't matter how skilled you are with your hands and other knowledge, what really matters is how you make your clients feel. Operators make their money not with their hands but with their mouths. During my career as a Social Worker and as a step-father I have sent a number of young women and a step daughter to Cosmetology Schools. None of them were successful in that career because they did not have and did not develop the necessary people skills. Even today when I go for a haircut, I get a haircut and nothing else. I have no reason to return to the same operator because they did nothing to make me feel good. For years after my mother quit working at the the Beauty Salon, Women came to our home to get her special attention. Some even came to her after she moved more than a hundred miles away. I will admit that she did have some other hair styling skills that modern operators are not taught.
I have two nephews who married cosmetology graduates. They are handy to have in the family but I suspect that they are more homemakers and mothers than cosmetologists.
Recently, while staying at a Marriott Hotel in Vancouver, Washington A number of our family members went to the hot tub at night. While there we met a man who was very verbal. He wanted to know about us, where we were from, why we were in Vancouver, etc. He was really full of B.S. and kept up a constant conversation. We found out he was a successful "Hair Stylist" and had just the type of personality to make him successful in this profesision.
When his wife came in we all noted that her hair style was quite messy. Obviously it was not his hand skills that made him successful, but his verbal skills.
When his wife came in we all noted that her hair style was quite messy. Obviously it was not his hand skills that made him successful, but his verbal skills.
Just this year I sent a long letter to the parents of one of my grandchildren, a new high school graduate, expressing my opinion and trying to discourage her from going to Beauty School, because I know her personality, and her chances of success in this field are very low.
Since I am now 76 years old, a certified coot or geezer as my brother would say, diabetic and with congestive heart failure I may not continue this blog very long, but there are a few more truths that I would like to Reflect. I have survived two open heart surgeries and have a Cardiac Ablation scheduled in about two weeks, so it is possible that no one will ever hear those truths.
DWJ
Since I am now 76 years old, a certified coot or geezer as my brother would say, diabetic and with congestive heart failure I may not continue this blog very long, but there are a few more truths that I would like to Reflect. I have survived two open heart surgeries and have a Cardiac Ablation scheduled in about two weeks, so it is possible that no one will ever hear those truths.
DWJ
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