1st Cottage Visit 2011

These are some pictures that I took while spending my first summer afternoon this year at the lake cottage.  I took more than 50 shots.  These are the best of the bunch.

I'm really enjoying my new Nikon D7000 camera. 

I also really  like the metering in the D7000.  I'd owned only a Nikon D80 prior to my purchase of the D7000 and the metering in that camera is awful.  Quite often the camera will tell me that the shot is totally under exposed, but upon review after I've taken the shot, the picture is fine. 

The fps speed of the Nikon D80 is also extremely lacking.  At best I was only able to take shots at a rate of 3 - 4 fps.  The D7000 is easily double that rate.  The shutter button is so sensitive that I often take 2 - 3 shots before I even realize that I'd depressed the button.

The Beach of Hilton Head

End of An Era

Hi Family,

An era in my life came to its conclusion this morning. There was no fan fare, no pat on the back, no one saying, “job well done”. This era came to an end with no notice of its significance at all.

I started working for Paratransit way back in November of 1994. I was hired in as a CSR. While an entry level position, doing the job properly is paramount to both company and driver profitability. Because of my accuracy, speed, and work ethic, I was promoted to midnight CSR within a few months. Many would not see this as a promotion, but I enjoyed the challenge of working alone. Also, the fact that I was paid more than any other CSR made me feel good as well.

By 1998 I was named Assistant Manager of Yellow Cab. Yellow Cab was but one division of Paratransit. Things were looking up as far as I was concerned. Though only an Assistant Manager, because I worked midnights there was no higher “authority” on duty than myself. All answered to me. This was the case until this morning.

The owner of Paratransit did not name me Yellow Cab manager when my supervisor resigned so at that time I decided that my future with the company had hit a dead end. Though I still continued to drive taxi part time, I sought full time employment elsewhere.

I worked at a number of jobs full time between 1998 and 2000. In April of 2000 I was finally able to convince my wife that I could earn as much driving a cab full time as I was working at some BS job. After many “discussions” she allowed me to show her what I knew to be true. I drove cab full time from April 2000 until October of 2002.

During the summer of 2002 one of the current owners of Selectride, Inc., formerly Paratransit, asked if I'd be interested in working in the call center from time to time. I agreed and this arrangement quickly turned into a full time job opportunity. By October of 2002 I rehired full time at the company and named Assistant Call Center Manager. I was rehired into my old midnight time slot. The owners of the company again wanted someone with my level of professionalism, experience, and business acumen manning the fort in their absence.

In May of 2005 I was promoted to Call Center Manger. Was I up to the challenge? It was all fully my responsibility now. Unlike before when I'd call my boss with a “major” problem, I was now charged with solving said problem on my own. I also had the responsibility of being in charge of and responsible for more than 2 dozen staff.

I remained Call Center Manager from May of 2005 until today 02/25/11. Last night was the last time that I'll be in charge. Last night was the last time that my word was law. Last night was the last time that I'll go to work when the sun sets and go to bed when it rises.

Last night was the end of an era...

Enough is Enough

How long are we as a people going to sit idly by while our government continues to spend money it doesn't have? How long before we as a people have the courage to stand up to the politicians and say, “enough is enough”?

The way our government spends money is no different than our own family budget. We are not able to spend money we don't have. Creditors who loan us money expect to be repaid. While we have the last resort of filing for bankruptcy, the US government does not have that option. How then can our government spend money it doesn't have? It doesn't matter whether it's the federal, state, or local government. The problem is still the same. Money going out must be less than money coming in. Income has to be more than expenditures. When the opposite is the case said government operates at a deficit. A little debt is not a bad thing, but the current debt of the federal government is more than $14 TRILLION!!! Call me crazy but I think this is just a little insane.

It would be real easy to blame the politicians for getting us in the mess, but the bottom line is we are all responsible. We elected the self-indulgent, cowards and at no point attempted to stop them from frivolously wasting our tax dollars. We stood by and allowed them to dig us into this hole and at no point questioned how we were paying for it all.

Politicians spend other people's money. So it's easy to understand why they don't bother considering where the money will come from to pay for the expenditure. We keep electing and re-electing them term after term. They pit you versus me each claiming that the other is the enemy when in fact they themselves are our true enemy. There's an old adage that says, “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Politicians don't have absolute power unless we give it to them. Through the election process we have the power to retake control of our government. The only question that remains is do we have the courage to do what is necessary?