You know how folks like John Stossel on ABCNews like to tout that Gas is a real bargin, when adjusted for inflation, in fact he claims it’s cheap! You know, that’s a real misconception. Maybe that’s the case, theoretically, however when you look at Minimum wage when adjusted for inflation, you can see that your dollars can’t buy the same amount of things as you could way back when. Look at this website: http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth484/minwage.html You can see that the minimum wage worker continues to see a reduction of real dollars when adjusted for inflation, and that converts into reduced buying power at the pump.

Mr. Stossel points out that ice cream, milk, water and other stuff costs way more than gas. First off, we don’t buy milk and ice cream at 20 or 30 gallons at a shot and need to fill up 4 to 6 times a month. Spending $1 for a quart of water is silly, since it doesn’t cost that much out of the tap, and you can filter it much cheaper yourself, if you feel the need.

The bottom line is that if minimum wage earners don’t see rises in their paycheck, what’s the incentive or chances that otehr industries will follow at a rate that will beat inflation?

As you may or may not know, I’m a Navy Reservist… and I recently took the exam for Chief Petty Officer and now my “package” will compete with probably 400 other sailors for 10 to 30 slots for Chief.

At least I have a chance. If I didn’t pass the test and make board, I wouldn’t even have a chance.

Today, my most recent boss retired.  I was somewhat surprised when my boss told us that he planned on retiring when he did.  I thought for sure he would stick around for a bit longer, but alas, he decided to move on, and I can’t say that I blame him.  I thought that he was a pretty good boss, as bosses go.  I have had a few different bosses over the last 20 years, and have seen what is good and what IMHO is bad.

My boss prior to my boss who is retiring died suddenly of cancer at about 50 years old.  She was a good boss and was really doing things to move her career and life on the fast track.  But most of all, she cared about the people who worked for her.

My current boss who is retiring, he also took a vested interest into the people that worked for him.  When you see the possibilities of the future, you start to see that you can’t choose your next boss.  That person will be chosen by other people.  But my current boss was the guy who originally hired me on.  I interviewed with him about 4 times total over 5 years.  I always thought that I would make a great writer, but it was getting my Bachelor’s Degree that made the difference, amongst a good interview.  But if I had been offered the job prior to getting that degree, I wonder how hard I would have worked to finish my degree, or how much money I would have been offered?

All things happen for reason, and I was pleased that things worked out well in the time that it did.  I hope that he enjoys his retirement to the fullest.

This made me think about my retirement and what I would do to get there.  Of course there is the financial outlook.  What will I do for that?  Investments, stocks, real estate or something else?  I think that I will be prepared, but it definitely takes a bit more than wishing.

Do I want to live in a house when I retire, or on a boat, or in a condo?  Will I live near the beach, or in the mountains, or at the desert?  Will I retire or will it just be the next phase of my life.  I’m lucky, i’m still very young, with plenty of time to consider all things.  But prior planning is important.  You have to watch your health so you can be there to enjoy your twilight years.

I don’t imagine being so retired that my end of days is spent like Jabba the Hut on a couch.  That’s the real key, knowing what you want to do, when you cross the finish line.  Will you do that hobby, travel to that place, or do those things that you never had the chance to do?

Maybe the key is to start doing the things that you want to do when you are retired, so that the transition is seemless, and you won’t skip a beat!

What is up with locks on the toilet paper dispensers in the bathroom?  At my work, they have locks on the dispensers.  This is something that is a hold-over from when another organization work at the building.  Yet the building is managed/maintained by someone else entirely.  Shew! But back to the locks.  Why are we locking up toilet paper, or even paper towels for that matter?  Is someone afraid that we may use too much toilet paper, or are they afraid that we might steal a roll of half used TP?  Locks denote the lack of trust, especially when they protect something as innocuous as TP.  I mean this stuff is John Wayne TP, not the softest stuff going.  It’s Rough and Tough, and doesn’t take crap off of no one. 

I’m convinced that the lock issue is a psychological one that has to do with the importance of keys.  My guess is that janitors like keys.  You’re not just the cleaning guy, but you’re also the person of “responsibility”.  See, that’s why they are called custodians.  They have full and total custody of the building, and every key for the place.  Imagine seeing the keyring that has the TP containers.  I bet there is a different one for each dispenser. Maybe it’s just me… Maybe I just want control of the toilet paper.  Maybe, I want the freedom to take that roll off of the dispenser and quickly get what I want.  Just like that paper towel dispenser that has a lock on it, and as you pull one towel, the rest of them spill out on the floor, or worse, each one rips into unusable pieces requiring continuous pulls until you get one nice square.

The best way to protect the bathroom is to put the lock on the door.

 

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I have been able to think about things now for about 4 days, and have come to some conclusions when considering my career. I am a “Documentation Engineer”, one of the unsung heros of the community where I work. Interestingly enough, it used to be said that the Navy had a war on trees, and that a forest was used to float the boat. The procedures and technical manuals that my org. produces is the product that the Navy pays for, but it’s not where the emphasis of customer’s money is spent.

Based on the knowledge that I have, I needed to make a decision, and that decision was to apply for another internal posting, to broaden my breadth of experience and increase my chances for upward mobility. Looking inward within my organization, I can easily see that people will have to retire to move on for me to get a promotion, or at the least a Lead position.

I am ready for more responsibility and leadership chances. I make a good liason and presenter between the company and the customer. I provide credibility to the job.

I need to keep moving up, and sometimes you need a change to do that.

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