Random thoughts for a Wednesday

Seems to be the season for illness - two people were out at work today from my group.  The talk was all about who would be next, although I don't think that anyone wants to be that one.  We're also hoping it isn't exponential growth - 1, 2, 4, 8, ...  However, now that I think about it, it could be Fibonacci growth - 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, ...  Oh well.  Made it to Wink's for lunch - they have a special on this month.  Anyone from our company gets 25% off lunches.  An excellent idea on their part - I think it will keep people there all month.

Listening to the CBC this morning, there was a bit on the Current that suggested that general health improved during the Great Depression.  I talked to my dad about this point and he said that he has noticed that people seem happier during a recession.  He couldn't figure out why, but I thought it made sense to me.  Actually, he said two things - people were more productive and were happier.  Increased productivity could originate from fear, or from happiness.  Fear is a simple motivator to identify during tough economic times.  I think people would also be more happy in general because they can focus on fewer things (like doing their job) and can be happy with what they have.  When times are good, people search for happiness in material goods, social status - a myriad of ways.  When times are bad, just having a job is a weight off your shoulders and you forget about superficial diversions.  Simply doing your job well is all you can do, but getting paid validates that you are doing something right.  It's a zen argument - cast off the distractions and focus on the now.  Quiet the competing thoughts and focus on silent truth.

Now that you can see my carefully raked white pebbles, let me talk about stupid flat-panel tv mounting systems.  I don't have a flat-panel TV, but I'd like to get one when I can afford it.  To figure out when the time is right for that, I've been exploring the various technologies, prices and  so on.  One critical piece of the puzzle is a wall-mount system that allows the panel to be swivelled.  I have not seen a suitable mounting system for less than $400.  I paid ~$250 for a portable basketball net that I guarantee has more metal and supports more weight than those stupid brackets.  It is ridiculous to have to pay so much for a stupid piece of steel (or aluminum) that probably costs $30 to manufacture.  For instance, one retailer is offering a 52" TV, with a tilt-swivel wall-mount, including installation for $1899.  The TV by itself costs $1899, so the entire cost of the wall mount and the cost of the installation is discounted.  I don't know where the profit margin hides in this equation, but I suspect that it is a combination of the TV being overpriced and the tremendous margin on the wall mount.  What I really want to do is talk to the guys I know in the tool-and-die business and get them to create a mount for me.  I would pay them the same - or more - just for the satisfaction of having specified it myself.  I don't think my wife would wait for me get that made after having bought such a TV.  Oh well - it's still a fun thought.

A new year - a time for...

I guess it is time to write up something here. I find it hard to believe that it was August when I last posted. Then again, maybe that isn't so hard to believe. We've started a new year - 2009, last of the 'oughts'. Probably it will be a year of reflection (I aught to have done this, I aught not to have invaded Iraq, I aught not to have create a fiscal device which crashed markets around the world). Hopefully that kind of thinking won't weigh on consciences too heavily. What I aught to have done was write more. Gonna try and change that here - 'tis a simple habit, but a tough one to keep up. Well, some seem to have an easier time than others. Kimota94 even had to branch out to 2 and even 3 blogs. I have trouble keeping up and I'm jealous that I can' t even compare to that output. Then again, I always wished I could write like Isaac Asimov at 90 wpm on a manual typewritter. There was a mind that could make things work the first time through, on the fly.

Well, the new year brings renewal - hope, possibility and some third thing which I'm not going to tell you. Maybe later. When I get into writing as a habit. Always seems so easy during the dark cold months of the year when I'm on vacation. When I stop talking to so many different people, I guess I have more to write about. The experiment comences!

Happy New Year! Remember, the media likes to say a lot of things, but that doesn't always reflect what is going on. The stock market crashed, but it hasn't erased a large portion of the jobs. Statistics Canada's latest unemployment numbers (check out this chart) show Canada's unemployment rate at ~6.5%, lower than the 7% in 2005. This means the economic crises is no Great Depression, at least not yet. On the other hand, all the frank discussion that claims that my spending (as a consumer) is responsible for keeping everything going, seems like a pretty asinine thing to base wealth and species success off of.