Recently, there has been a push to go car free. The alternative is bicycling around town. This is a great thing for the environment, the wallet, and health. I am 100% behind this movement.
However, I got a bone to pick with the bicycling culture. It's about the basic of bicycling that people either are not familiar with or forgot.
1) get a bell/horn - I don't understand why bicycles don't come with one. Every bike sold should have one. It warns drivers and pedestrians that your are coming. I don't know why every person on a bike expects both drives and pedestrians to watch out for them, but not the other way around. GET A BELL AND USE IT!!!
2) follow traffic rules - so many times I have seen bikes on the road or on the sidewalk and not follow either set of rules. When you are on the street, safety should be your priority, and the responsibility on the biker as well as the driver. When you are on the sidewalk, be nice to pedestrians. People on bikes seem to want everyone to get out of their way.
3) get a basket or rack for your stuff - I don't understand why this is not part of the commuter bikes as well. If you are going to buy stuff, put it in the basket in front or rack on the back.
Where I grew up (until I was 10), these things were very common because biking was how everyone got around. However, it seems that the biking community in the US still has a lot to learn.
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
get a f****** job!!!!
This is a rant so I apologize in advance if I am going to be offending those who don't have a job right now.
Recently, my sister graduated from college and is looking for a teaching job. Over the summer, she went to a few interviews, but did not hear back from those places. I asked a couple of people that I know who works as teachers about the hiring. I was told that the school will still hire as the school year begins. The school year has now started and she's still without a job. Meanwhile, I hear from others that principals have hired people as soon as they meet them.
I asked sister what she has been doing while she's not working? She mentioned that she's taking classes to be able to teach Montessori, which is great.
However, I looked at the postings on the county sites. There are still spots open, and quite a few. I am beginning to wonder how hard has she been working on getting a job? Did she expect to just send in her resume and wait? Did she call the HR dept. to ask about her status? Did she call the schools directly and ask if they have her resume? The answer is likely no. WTF? If you really want a job, you'll pursue it persistently right? Am I crazy to expect her to be more proactive about it?
I can understand too that the current economy is not great, and lots of places are cutting positions. But if the listing is up there, you bet they are thinking about hiring. I expect no less than calling one school a day and ask if you can send in the resume, can calling back after a couple of days to see what they think. Worst case is that they don't like what you have or you after the interview, but you can still get feedback for you next one.
This is not the first time that I have seen it happen. I had friends who decide they want to go for a career in some field. I am all for supporting them in getting into something they want to do. However, when I ask what they are doing about getting into the field, they usually answer "I gotta get through this and that first." OK fine, but in the meantime, what are you going to prepare? Are you surrounding yourselves with the right people, people who working the field, who has experience and connection? Or are you waiting for the opportunity to come? A year later, these people are still not in the field that they said they want to be in, and still getting through the this and the that. Seriously, WTF? If you really want it, don't wait for it, go get it.
Recently, my sister graduated from college and is looking for a teaching job. Over the summer, she went to a few interviews, but did not hear back from those places. I asked a couple of people that I know who works as teachers about the hiring. I was told that the school will still hire as the school year begins. The school year has now started and she's still without a job. Meanwhile, I hear from others that principals have hired people as soon as they meet them.
I asked sister what she has been doing while she's not working? She mentioned that she's taking classes to be able to teach Montessori, which is great.
However, I looked at the postings on the county sites. There are still spots open, and quite a few. I am beginning to wonder how hard has she been working on getting a job? Did she expect to just send in her resume and wait? Did she call the HR dept. to ask about her status? Did she call the schools directly and ask if they have her resume? The answer is likely no. WTF? If you really want a job, you'll pursue it persistently right? Am I crazy to expect her to be more proactive about it?
I can understand too that the current economy is not great, and lots of places are cutting positions. But if the listing is up there, you bet they are thinking about hiring. I expect no less than calling one school a day and ask if you can send in the resume, can calling back after a couple of days to see what they think. Worst case is that they don't like what you have or you after the interview, but you can still get feedback for you next one.
This is not the first time that I have seen it happen. I had friends who decide they want to go for a career in some field. I am all for supporting them in getting into something they want to do. However, when I ask what they are doing about getting into the field, they usually answer "I gotta get through this and that first." OK fine, but in the meantime, what are you going to prepare? Are you surrounding yourselves with the right people, people who working the field, who has experience and connection? Or are you waiting for the opportunity to come? A year later, these people are still not in the field that they said they want to be in, and still getting through the this and the that. Seriously, WTF? If you really want it, don't wait for it, go get it.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
what's wrong with this picture?
Last week, I was reading some financial news and came across an article for Tiffany's quarterly earnings report. It was up 25%+ every quarter the last 3 quarters, domestically and worldwide. With the domestic and world economies in near crisis every other week, how is that possible?
There are only a couple of possible explanations
1) the truly rich people are unaffected by these economic problems, and are spending as they like
2) the not so rich are aspiring to live like the rich, in which case is just sad that they think this is truly how the rich lives.
Seriously, one would think that luxury brands like Coach or Movado will not be raking it in because of the poor economic growth, but they are. J$'s guest's post points out that aspirational spending, and I agree that the practice is just asinine. Are people still chasing that luxury life style that brought the housing market and large financial institutions to their knees? Did they not learn? Apparently not as much I think they would.
There are only a couple of possible explanations
1) the truly rich people are unaffected by these economic problems, and are spending as they like
2) the not so rich are aspiring to live like the rich, in which case is just sad that they think this is truly how the rich lives.
Seriously, one would think that luxury brands like Coach or Movado will not be raking it in because of the poor economic growth, but they are. J$'s guest's post points out that aspirational spending, and I agree that the practice is just asinine. Are people still chasing that luxury life style that brought the housing market and large financial institutions to their knees? Did they not learn? Apparently not as much I think they would.
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