Undue Stress – JerseySmarts.com

One of the things that I hate doing here at JerseySmarts.com is posting random entries. However, as you may have noticed October was a choppy month for consistent updates on the blog. There are some good reasons for this – most of which you’ll read about right here on the blog in the coming days and weeks. For example, I had one hell of an experience getting my Honda Civic fixed at the local dealership’s repair shop. The experience was so completely out of control, that I began writing about it last week and I’ve crafted an entry that is, I think, pretty damn entertaining. You should look for that entry coming at some point this week.

In addition, I’ve been reading through some of the books that are taking up space on my bookshelf and, obviously, you should look for a few book reviews coming in the next few days/weeks. And hey, at least one of these reviews is for a book sent to me from a professional wrestler’s publishing company so I could offer some commentary on the piece. Pretty cool, huh? Here are some other things that I’m working on that may not receive their own entry on JerseySmarts.com:

Sigma Pi Educational Foundation: I make no secret out of the fact that I donate my time, talent, and whatever treasure I can scrounge up to the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. With respect to that “talent” portion of my contributions, since August I’ve been heading up the Foundation’s strategic plan study group. This duty has allowed me to work closely with some of my fellow Trustees as well as some volunteers – all of whom are looking for a better, stronger way forward for the Foundation and Fraternity alike. Earlier this week we held the last focus group conference call which capped a two and a half week period of these types of calls – many of which I was on for over an hour. I’ve compiled a preliminary, raw data report and sent it out for the study group’s review. Later this week we’re going to have another conference call and then I’m going to spend some time compiling a final report to the entire Board of Trustees. However, the work isn’t over yet. In a few weeks I’ll be heading to Nashville, Tennessee to present our research findings and then to lead the larger strategic planning process with the entire Board of Trustees. This process will be capped off during the December/January time frame and then, finally, I can take a breather on this stuff! By the way, click here if you want to make a small, 100% tax-deductible donation to support the Foundation’s scholarships.
Preparing for a Family Night: Over the last few weeks, I worked with my brothers and future sister-in-law to plan for a family night and dinner for my Mother’s recent birthday. We had the family night and dinner last night and it was a lot of fun, I think. In fact, one of the best things to come out of last night was a family discussion about reducing our excess spending on Christmas this year because, frankly, we’re all working towards specific financial goals that require a dedicated planning effort on our parts. It was a great conversation and a great conclusion, I think. Plus, spending the night with the family for dinner to celebrate my Mother’s birthday was a great time!
Financial Planning Roadblock, Courtesy of NJHESAA: I’m not sure yet, but I might spin this little blip off into its own entry to mimic an entry that I wrote both one month ago and many months ago. The long and short of it is that I sent a $1,000 payment to NJHESAA on Monday, October 18th. The check was finally posted to my account on Thursday, October 28th. But that’s not what has me completely frustrated and aggravated with this anti-customer service organization. What bothers me is that I sent a $4,300 check to NJHESAA on Tuesday, October 19th and here we are on Saturday, October 30th and the check hasn’t been posted to my account yet. What the Hell is NJHESAA waiting for to post my damn check?! This isn’t hard, NJHESAA – I know you have the check now post the damn thing to my account for goodness’ sake. I can’t wait to be done with this miserable, horrible organization. NJHESAA could learn a thing or two from the United States Department of Education about customer service and making the student loan repayment process easier for the borrower. Because, at this point, NJHESAA’s payment processing system is borderline ineffective which tells me that there has to be some incompetent people working there. What else could bring on a nearly two week delay?!
Financial Projections and Forecasting Stunted: As you might imagine, because of NJHESAA’s inability to process a check with any semblance of efficiency, my financial projections and forecasting has been stunted for the last few weeks. For a guy who checks each of his accounts both in the morning and at night (and sometimes in the middle of the day), waiting for these bozos to post this check is torture. I’ve been adjusting my projection models by $4,300 every time that I go in there and make a move. It’s annoying. I have a lot of financial goals that I expect myself to achieve in the coming weeks, months, and years and with my ability to precisely project when my dollars will be posted to various accounts, it makes planning for the immediate future very difficult.
Bizarre Indian Summer: I’m not going to spin this out into its own entry because it’s short, but if you live in New Jersey then you know that we had this weird Indian summer hit us in the last week or so. Before the mini-heat wave hit, I went out and purchased a radiator for my bedroom and it’s awesome! It actually warms up the entire second floor of the townhouse – can’t complain about that at all!
Beginning to Complete Coursework: Some of you may remember that I’m actually enrolled in an independent study course at the local college where I teach. Successfully completing this independent study will give me a Public Relations Specialist certificate. Not too bad, huh? I’ve read through the material for the course and, once the final strategic plan report is completed for the Foundation (see above), I’m going to aggressively complete the required coursework for the independent study. I’ve decided that this is going to be the last course that I take for a while since it will complete the certificate program. Also, I don’t want to go back for more education until my life calms down just a little bit (which I think is coming within the next two years, thankfully).
Grading, Grading, and More Grading: It’s midterm season at the college where I’m an Adjunct Professor so you know what that means – grading time! But it’s not only grading time for the class that I teach in the face-to-face setting. It’s also grading time for the classes that I teach for the online college. I’m thinking of asking the online college to reduce the number of classes that they assign to me – they’re giving me two or three each month and it is so incredibly time consuming that it’s painful sometimes…
Some Consistency at the Local Gym: Hey – I’ve been going to the local college gym at least once each weekend for the last three weeks. Not bad, right? And now you know why I’ve been able to read so much in the last few weeks – I’ve been on the treadmill. I’ll be heading to the gym tomorrow morning before the trick-or-treaters start knocking on my door. While my results at the gym haven’t been overly impressive (I’m not necessarily losing a bunch of weight – a pound here and there maybe), I am pretty pleased that I’ve been able to make it there one day each weekend during a very busy, crazy time for me.
Unending Projects at the Office: Hovering above all of the stuff written above is the fact that I have a pretty busy, increasingly stressful day job. Part of that stress comes from the person that manages my department and her mood swings, part of that stress comes from a changing workplace that expects the existing employees to transition to a new organizational structure without officially telling us what that structure will look like (or interviewing us for new positions), and part of that stress comes from the daily grind stuff that needs to be completed day in and day out that is made harder by the fact that my particular department is well-understaffed and thus we all have to do four/five different jobs each. And when you add in the fact that I’ve been doing a lot of the communication work for the organization – you can see how the stress builds up. Very annoying and, frankly, until this day-to-day stress goes away (which better happen soon), I think some of the other goals I have for my health and finances are going to be hard to achieve.
Changing the Face of Usable Web Solutions, LLC: Thankfully, after months of trying, I’ve successfully spun off one of my last remaining problem clients. Sure, the client screwed me on the way out the door, but I’m so excited that this client is gone that I don’t even care any more about the screw job. Whatever. Removing this client effectively removes more stress from my life and, ultimately, makes Usable Web Solutions, LLC a stronger, better organization. And with that, I’m beginning to change the nature of this small business. In the future, I’m going to focus on websites that are owned by the company and bring in advertising revenue because, honestly, that’s where the money is in this online business stuff. Going out there to find independent clients is not the way to find success in the website world.
Barnes & Noble’s New NookColor: Here’s a quick item for both the “Watch What You Say to Customers” and “Buyer Beware” files. For some awful reason I’ve been researching e-readers lately. I don’t know why – I love reading an actual book and I really don’t like the setup or arrangement of the e-readers that are on the market. But still, I began researching them and decided that I wanted to buy a Barnes & Noble Nook. However, something told me to wait. I wasn’t sure what it was that told me to wait, but I think it had something to do with the good voice in my head constantly shouting that I had dozens and dozens of physical books in my home that I haven’t even read yet! So, this buyer was wary of the products on the market and didn’t buy. Then, lo and behold, the NookColor is introduced and now I want to buy that thing as soon as possible (probably early next year once the inevitable glitches have been worked out). But the “Watch What You Say to Customers” file comes into play here because, just days before the NookColor was released I asked the guy at the local Barnes & Noble whether or not a new model was coming out and he swore up and down to me that, “We’re not Apple – we don’t have a new version of the product each year.” Oh yeah? Really? Hmmm…

There are a few different items that I’ve been working on that I didn’t think would find full entries on JerseySmarts.com. However, this stuff may be of some importance to a few of you so I hope that you enjoyed reading!

Immediately upon seeing the title of this entry I’m sure that most of the readers of this blog think to themselves, “Oh hey! I read that book once when I was in school!” And that’s probably correct. The first time I read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 was in school – high school, I think. So I do not think it will do anyone any great good to recap the novel to any great length in this space. However, some of the themes captured in the book are worth revisiting.

In short, this is a story about censorship and an overreaching government that controls the lives of its citizens to their great downfall (a nuclear blast). The story is set in a future America where firemen have become fire starters. The subject of their blazes are the homes of those who would harbor books and the “nonsense” inside of them. As Fahrenheit 451‘s antagonist, Fire Chief Beatty, suggests – books are filled with nothing and that “nothing” evokes emotional sentiments from their readers which puts undue stress on the populace. As such, books have been deemed a public nuisance by the government and are systematically destroyed when they are found.

The novel’s protagonist is Guy Montag, a fireman who realizes the error of his ways and begins saving books. Ultimately, Montag’s actions cost him his wife (who is completely controlled by the government) and his easy life. At the same time, though, Montag’s decision to become enlightened by breaking Plato’s chains and leaving the proverbial cave saves his life. Shortly after Montag escapes his home city, he watches as it is annihilated in a nuclear blast. The blast is delivered as a part of the war that the country is fighting that most of the population is oblivious towards thanks to the government.

One can draw many parallels between portions of Fahrenheit 451 and today’s current state of affairs. With two wars being fought around the globe and unfriendly countries taking a nuclear leap forward in their missile testing, the comparisons between book and reality are certainly valid. What strikes me as the most stunning parallel between Fahrenheit 451 and our current reality is the lack of a clear “truth” in most cases. For example, how can it be that Republicans say “Fact A” is the best solution to a problem while Democrats say “Fact B” is the best solution – all the while the vast majority of the American public believes that “Fact C” is the best course of action? Further, while public debates over essentially non-issues abound, there are real dire situations that are being overlooked by the pathetic news media.

When was the last time a real, in-depth report was produced on the current situation in Afghanistan? And when was the last time that an in-depth report was biased for or against a particular political persuasion? It’s scary when you start think about all of the ways that Fahrenheit 451‘s themes are present in our world today. Another example – did you hear about how Washington State University nearly banned one of Michael Pollan’s books about the food industry? Why did they almost ban the book? It turns out that large agricultural companies that had some influence at WSU suggested that the book was anti-their industry and should be removed from reading lists.

Thankfully, an influx of e-mails (including one of my own) and phone calls led to WSU putting the book back on the reading list. The university saved face throughout the situation by saying that the entire snafu was related to a budget crisis and that an individual had come in to fund this particular program. Sounds good for the media, but the truth is that a book was almost banned because a large industry didn’t like its message regarding the truth about where our food comes from. Scary.

So I join the chorus of the hundreds and thousands that have before me recommended reading Fahrenheit 451. One final note before I end, though. For those of you that read Fahrenheit 451 while you were in school, I redouble my suggestion about picking up a copy of this book and giving it a read (go for the 50th anniversary edition since there are additional bits of information in the back such as a Coda and an interview with Ray Bradbury). I’ve found that purchasing books that I was once forced to read in school and re-reading them at my own leisure has allowed me to increase my appreciation and fundamental understanding of the books and the issues presented therein. I think that you’ll find the same to be true for you – especially with masterpieces like Fahrenheit 451.

Many Projects Due – Grading, Financial Planning, Professional Development, & More

Book Review: Fahrenheit 451 (50th Anniversary Edition)