Wasted Vote?

When you look at the raw numbers, your vote usually doesn't matter. I could have stayed home yesterday, or even voted exactly the opposite and it wouldn't have made any difference at all.  I understand this, and still I vote.  I vote in every primary election, every municipal election, and every statewide and national race.  Why do I vote?  Why don't I see this as a waste of time?

There is the argument that if most folks think about the worthlessness of their individual vote, then they wouldn't bother and a relatively small coalition will rule.  There is the argument that in local elections, or crazy anomalies like the Bush v. Gore election that your individual vote DOES make a difference.  But that isn't why I vote.

I vote because voting is a duty.  As a citizen of the United States (and someone attempting to be a generally decent human being) I have a responsibility to care for more than myself and my family.  I have a responsibility to serve.  That's why I teach.  That's why I volunteer for my congregation.  That's why I help run a recycling mailing list.  That's why I give a smile to the Salvation Army bell-ringers, even when I can't afford to give them a dollar.

Voting is just one more way that I care for my community and my country.  Perhaps my vote is largely symbolic, but symbols are important.  It is also symbolic that I would never let an American flag touch the ground.  Symbols mean something.  This is one more way that I demonstrate my love for my country and my fellow human beings.  This is one more way that I show my children we are obligated to respect and care for those who came before us, and those with us now.

Changing time, a waste of time?

So today was the end of daylight savings time and I have to wonder again what is the purpose of this exercise.  The only thing I'm certain about setting the clocks backwards for forwards is that it means that everyone's sleep cycle is disturbed for a week or so.  This leads to a groggier, crabbier, and less effective work force a couple of weeks out of the year.  And the benefits are what exactly?  It seems to me that a better solution than forcing the entire country to reset their clocks would be for more businesses to allow flex-time.   That way, folks could adjust to their individual circadian rhythms as needed.

I suppose I do know of one benefit of changing the clocks twice a year.  For clocks not synchronized with nuclear clocks, periodically adjusting them helps fight time drift.  When I attended Purdue, Indiana did not follow daylight savings time and the clocks in different rooms and buildings across campus would gradually drift faster or slower until they were several minutes apart.  Other than that, I'm stumped to find a concrete benefit.

What about you?  Do you prefer the time shift?  Why or why not?

Couponing: It is Worthwhile?

*Image by SDC 20207

Those of you that know me well understand that I'm a tight-fisted sort of person.  I don't enjoy shopping for the sake of shopping.  My rooms are filled with yard sale treasures, hand-me-downs from friends and family, and items rescued from dumpsters.  I hate wasting money, and I love a good bargain.  You would think that this makes me a perfect fit for the current coupon craze.  While I do occasionally use coupons, I would not call myself a "couponer."  Here are some of the reasons that I choose not to devote much time to the pursuit of coupons.

First, having a coupon doesn't guarantee the best deal.  In many cases, you can get a better deal by buying a generic product than you can by using a coupon.  This is true even when you shop at groceries like Schnuck's, that double coupons.  There are a few products that I really prefer the brand name, such as Campbell's condensed soups.  But for the most part, I am just as happy with the store brand.

Second, coupons are often for products I would never buy.  I remember reading a couponing site about doing the "register roll" at Walgreen's where you could buy products in a certain order and through the use of coupons and register rewards you could get several items without paying any money at all.  That sounded exciting until I looked at the list and realized there wasn't a single thing I wanted or needed on the list.  While it is tempting to get something just because it is very cheap or free, my house is already cluttered with too much stuff.

Third, getting the coupons has proved problematic.  I do not subscribe to the paper.  And while it is possible that I might save much more money from coupons than I would spend on the paper subscription, I have a very hard time making myself subscribe to the Post Dispatch.  Ever since the paper was sold and the newsroom slashed, I feel that the quality had plummeted and have a hard time supporting shoddy journalism. Getting coupons online is also a problem.  Almost all coupon sites (like coupons.com) require you to install a printer before you can use the coupons.  My tech-savvy, security minded husband tells me that these printers are really a bundle of malware that will track your every move.  So installing these printers is a no-go on our home computers.

Finally, I am simply not organized and enthusiastic enough to make couponing worth my while.  I have friends and family that are very good at this and that save a lot of money.  Searching, calculating, and organizing coupons is not fun for me and I'm not good at figuring out how to get the best deals.  It seems to me that it takes a certain type of mind to enjoy couponing and to be good at it.  And I don't think I possess such a mind.

So to answer my original query, I think that the answer must be both yes and no.  For some folks, it is absolutely worthwhile.  They are using coupons for products they would ordinarily purchase.  They have established systems for organizing and using the coupons, and many people enjoy couponing as others enjoy games and hobbies.  For my family, it is not worthwhile for the reasons mentioned above.

What about you?  Do you use a lot of coupons?  Why or why not?

Democracy Inaction

With the election coming up, waste seems to abound.  I wonder how many hours that our elected officials should be spending on serving their constituents are spent washing clean dishes in soup kitchens and kissing unhappy babies?  I understand that we need time to listen to all the candidates and examine their positions, but election season seems to get longer and longer every year.  Other democracies have much shorter campaign lengths and manage to function just fine.  British are closer to 1 month and I don't hear the good folks across the pond clamoring for more time to make a decision.  Let's be honest.  Those of us who aren't political wonks don't really pay much attention to national or local elections until a month or less before the election any way.  It isn't just wasting the candidates' time, either.  It is wasting OUR time with the onslaught of ad after melodramatic ad.

*image by 401(K)

Speaking of ads, this leads me to the other huge waste of American political campaigns:  money.  I suppose on one level, political money isn't wasted.  Money spent on advertising has a huge effect, and can sway elections.  But on another level, it represents a fantastic waste.  Most of money is going to line the pockets of  the CEOs of media corporations, or executives of ad agencies.  Just imagine what our economy could be like if the billions of dollars poured into vicious television and radio ads were invested in small businesses.

Halloween Part 2

Becoming dependent on the corporate world for Halloween costumes, decorations, and candy can be an example of waste in another way besides money.  It is a wasted opportunity for creativity.  

Getting kids involved in the process of making costumes, spooky decorations, and creepy holiday treats gives them the opportunity to express themselves in new ways.  It also provides an opportunity to build skills that will be useful in other situations.  Bringing their costume ideas to life involves being able to envision a plan and then collect the materials to make that plan come to fruition.  Using scissors and glue can be opportunities to practice fine motor skills.  Measuring and baking can provide opportunities for following instructions and improving math skills.

Losing these creative skills can be problematic for adults as well.  You might find yourself at the mercy of an industry that really doesn't care about you, and isn't so creative itself.  Witness the rise of "Hookerween."  Grown women are supposed to brave a brisk Autumn night in tiny scraps of cloth bearing descriptors like "sexy" or "naughty."  Now please don't take this as prudishness on my part.  I don't mind if women want to dress in sexy costumes.  The problem I have is that this is almost the only option available in many costume shops.  I also have a problem with the fact that these little snippets of cloth foisted on women cost the same amount as full coverage men's costumes.  Selling 1/3 of the costume for the same price means that these companies are making an exorbitant profit on women's costumes.  I have no intention of letting the costume industry fleece me out of that kind of cash.  My costume this year?  A (full coverage) velvet, medieval style dress from a thrift store...$4.95.

Halloween Costumes

Somewhere along the way, Halloween (like so much of our lives) has been co-opted by big corporations.  In the same way that people have become convinced that they can't cook without a prepackaged, freeze-dried miracle in a box, our society has increasingly become convinced that Halloween is something better left to the experts.  And when people become incapable (or believe they are incapable) of creation, then they are left to the mercies of the creators.  

If you go to a costume shop, you can easily expect to spend $50-60 for a costume.  Even many children's costumes will run $40+.  In a time when so many folks are struggling to keep the lights on and food on the table, spending that kind of money just isn't feasible.  Don't be convinced that costumes must be expensive or elaborate for a night of trick-or-treating.  Below are some of the costumes that we have created for little or no money:

Batman:  already owned pajama top and a $3 mask.

Robot:   $5 worth of dryer vent hose, $3 can of spray paint, duct tape and recycling bin scrounging

Plants vs Zombies:
sunflower:  green pajamas, fabric scraps from sewing box, Easter headband (no new spending)
zombie:  jacket and tie from thrift store (about $5), soccer practice cone (already owned) and grey face paint (about $2)

Wasting Time on Perfection

So my last post on this blog was in July (yikes!).  Now, I have been out of town and busy and dealing with kids and all that.  But that isn't really why I've had such a long hiatus.  I had such a long hiatus because I wasted time wanting to create the perfect next post.  I didn't just want to fix the faucet; I wanted to fix the faucet and take pictures and document and etc.  And what actually happened was that because of this, the faucet never got fixed and I didn't start blogging again.  It is important to remember that sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good.  And sometimes perfect is the enemy of getting anything at all accomplished.

An obsession with perfection has been the source of a lot of waste in my life, mostly wasted opportunities.  I have often had a fear of look foolish or just not being good enough, and so I just didn't try.  I suspect I'm not the only one.  I realize that this is a silly way to waste my time, and it is a lousy example for my kids.  So, I'm jumping back into this blog with the idea of failing better, having fun writing, and sharing with my friends and family.

Wish me luck.