Eighty Years (or so) To The Big Zero

I canceled my cell phone from Verizon yesterday!

No more two year contracts, no more paying for “services” and “features” I don’t use or even need, no more tether.

This month I put a total of 20 minutes on my cell phone. I had a 450 minute plan (at $50 per month) and never once got even close to 200 minutes. Previous months I was averaging 50 minutes per month. Honestly though does it really cost the phone companies money if you use 460 minutes instead of 450 minutes? Does it warrant the overage charges? Aren’t these numbers just aributary values to force higher prices on people for different plans?

When I called a while back to cancel my subscription they tried to get me into a special plan (not advertised) of 100 minutes. “Really?” I said “How much is that?”

$29.99 per month.

Hmm… doesn’t seem so special.

I remember a time before cell phones when you’d make arrangements before hand. You’d plan out with friends what was going to happen tomorrow or that day and then you showed up at the proper time and place. You fraking showed up! Now it’s so scattered and people rarely plan ahead anymore. Or when they do it’s always three different plans that are worked out on the fly because you can just call everyone to update the plan at the last minute. I hate last minute. Make a plan and stick to it! It’s like some form of inter-personal social laziness.

Cell phones are billed as a device that brings people together. That may be true but it also makes it easier to keep them apart. Txt msg A1 l8ly?

See anyone talking on their phone while going through the check-out line? What about on the bus? Mall? Store? Theater?

While in the car do children look out the window at the world around them or talk with their parents or are they texting/talking/gaming/listening to music on their cell phones or clued to the mini-dvd player in the ceiling of the mini-van?

“The things that you own, end up owning you.” - Tyler Durden.

Thinking out loud

Well for a while now I’ve been thinking about work.

Sometimes about my work but more about the work friends my own age and with similar skill sets as I and what jobs they have.

Plus I’ve been having some … how can this be said … philosophical differences with the purpose behind why I do what I do and if it’s really making a difference or having any sort of impact and if not then why the hell am I squandering my time and talents in essentially a thankless position that has no room for advancement? I’ve been waiting for some district position that each year seems to be more and more of a phantom.

So the reason I’m saying all this is so it’s understood that my next chapter to this little tale isn’t coming out of the blue.

…. 

I’m having lunch with my folks at Logan’s Roadhouse - great burgers, good salads and my dad likes to throw the peanuts on the floor - plus they serve crack bread. Literally they replace some of the flour wih crack, I’m sure, or maybe coke but anyway the bread is a meal in itself.

So I’m talking about work and they ask about the budget cuts and I mention that the county is considerng getting rid of the technology positions all together. My dad claps his hands and says “Oh that’s great. Now you can go out and get a real job.”

This isn’t new. He’s been saying I should get a real job every year for about a year after I started working in the school system. To some degree I understand his point - the pay is terrible. But they string you along with perks, like two months off during the summer, but screw you over with crap like chaperoning dances, and other school functions… anywho I digress.

We are getting ready to leave but mom has to use the restroom. So while she’s away I ask my dad what he has against my job and why he thinks it would be good if they got rid of the tech position: “Because then you’d have to go out and find another job. You won’t do anything unless you are forced to.”

“What?” I say. “You say I’m in a rut.”

“Yes. You’re comfortable. You like to find a spot and sit there until something comes along and forces you too move. That’s what you’ve always done. You’ll starve for one day a week if you can eat ok the rest of the time. Being forced to find another job will get you out there and you’d find something that will pay much better for the skills you have.”

Hmm… ok. So a little face slap with a compliment at the end. In your best interest, son, sorta thing.

Mom arrives and we go shoe shopping.

….

I am always open to self reflection and when given advice, even advice I don’t agree with, I’ll at least consider it.  

So I think about this for a while on my drive home. My dad is a no nonsense type of person and he’ll speak his mind if he thinks it’s right. I start to examine my career choices over the last couple years and there is truth to what he says. I examine myself and find comfort in steady solid routine even when it’s just enough to maintain life. Is that sick? Fear? Cowardice? Masochisim? Prudence?

Would I be having anywhere near the financial issues I have if I had gone out and pursued another job earlier? Is all my angst financial or mental or imposed? Am I short changing myself? People I know are moving on and it’s paying off in spades for them.

Does a kernal of truth warrant a life changing shift? If the kernal is important enough?

Thinking out loud

A Whole New You, Thinking out loud

I posted a complete list of my dvd collection I have for sale under the Hawking My Wares page.

If interested post a comment with your email address and I’ll contact you directly. (I’ll then remove the comment so your email isn’t out there for the world to see.)

It’s a very select list and all titles are in excellent condition.

Time to clean house.

The Credit Trap

So I just returned last night - at 10:30 pm - from a week long trip to the Great Smoky Mountains.

Myself and two other teachers took 12 students to the mountains for some hiking, camping, whitewater rafting and all around outdoor fun, plus the Aquarium in Chattanooga.

After being in civilization for nearly three years (the last time I went out into the woods for an experience like this was three years ago), it feels a little weird typing on the keyboard. On an interesting note I was able to go through the hundreds of unread emails in about 30 minutes. It’s weird now it went. I was able to scan through the list and select 25% that was obvious sales and pitches I didn’t want and delete them. 50% of the rest were joke emails (which I enjoyed and watched) and the rest were regular type emails for events I wasn’t there in the week to attend, so I skimmed them and deleted, and updates on plans from before I left.

And yes I have pictures. (Not of me working through my emails. Geez people keep up. :P) There are some great shots of me on the mountain top - Mt. Le Conte. Yes that mountain in the photo.

Oh and as far as my road to Mt. Olympus goes, and the lack of updates for the last month or so, I think I just covered the entire month of April in one week so I’m writing that down as a physical exercise success.

Well I have some unpacking and mental preparing to do to get back to work on Monday. Stupid Monday.

A Whole New You, Thinking out loud