Category Archives: Size Matters

The Long and Short of it.

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Target Marketing

Remember back thirty or so years ago when being chosen to participate in a TV survey was an honor?  You were a Nielsen family and your TV preferences counted. Your voice mattered.

With cable and satellite, the idea of being a survey family has fallen out of favor.  I am not even sure my kids know what a Nielsen family is, but if they did, they would probably think it was redundant.  Don’t the cable/satellite companies track everything we watch as it is?

In the past, my husband was a huge fan of radio surveys, at least until he started using an IPod.  I am unclear whether ITunes collects data, especially as we seldom log in, but I am sure Pandora is collecting information from my husband.

It seems the novelty of being part of a survey has worn off as technology now makes so much more available to companies seeking information about consumers.  I remember, in years past, getting phone calls asking me what kind of laundry detergent I preferred, or what kind of shampoo I used.  Sometimes those calls were a nice respite from motherhood; sometimes they were simply odd since I wasn’t much of a brand name shopper.  Either way, I never felt my privacy was being infringed in any way.  I still don’t feel my preference of soap is intrusive information.

Just recently, while planning for a trip, I searched online for “support” socks.  It is amazing how quickly and abundantly ads for support socks showed up on Facebook and Amazon since my search and purchase.  These adds do not bother me, it is needing the support socks when traveling which bothers me.

Media discussion about target marketing seems plentiful, and while I agree there are some negatives, from a personal standpoint I don’t find this type of marketing to be much of a problem.  It is actually less irritating than the huge piles of junk mail of the past.

Another advantage with target marketing is that unlike TV commercials, I don’t get hounded by ads which I find objectionable.  Out of curiosity the other day, I tried to delete an ad from my Facebook page. I was delighted when I could.  I am not sure it is always possible, but in this case I could not only delete the ad, but also give feedback as to why I wanted it removed.

Target marketing is nothing new; the method of information gathering is all that has changed.  As with any other change, learning how to maneuver in a less than private world takes some adjustment before a comfort level can be reached.  Some days I feel frustrated with all the disruption to my comfortable rut, but on other days, I reflect on how this constant change is keeping my brain active.  It is up to me to look at the negative or at the positive of the changing world.

Now I ponder – would it have been funny or mortifying if on the day I searched for “support” socks, I had also searched for a sexy negligee?  Since it was a family trip I was planning, the thought and the search never occurred.  Give me another decade…

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Censorship or Good Neighbor

Is it censorship or a violation to constitutional rights when a privately owned company providing a service chooses to set decency policies?  In a recent Facebook debate, I read a multitude of criticism over Facebook deleting a photo some deemed objectionable and others deemed humorous.   The following are some questions that came to my mind.

  1. When does a privately owned company providing a service become so big that it is perceived as “public” space rather than a service?
  2. Why is an attempt to protect civility or decency perceived as a civil rights infringement to so many?
  3. When did the public come to conclusion it is a smart idea to save original data, photos or conversations on a server they do not personally own?

I have become a huge fan of using technology and social media to communicate with distant acquaintances and friends.  I have found social media to be an enjoyable way to connect, but I always utilize the advice of my mother, my journalism instructors and my own common sense.

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Vacations

You know you have reached exhaustion when unpacking the souvenirs seems beyond your ability.  It is strange how the excitement of a vacation can push you past the aches and pains of a tired body.  You can walk further than you normally do, sleep briefly and restlessly night after night, and unhealthily for days on end, all with continued stamina.  Then you arrive home, drop your bags, cringe at the piles of mail, dread the laundry and want to sleep all day.

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Remembering the Roses

It is funny how memories can return with a flood due a smell, sight or sound. The flood of recollection washes over you. For a moment, time and space dissolve and you are transported to a different moment of your life. A time you once thought you would never forget, but somehow had.

While it is easy to remember big events in life, remembering the roses often takes a low priority. You may have taken the time to smell them, you may have even taken a roll of film or two, but you didn’t take the time to reflect on the roses over the years. Occasionally looking at the photos in a book, does not seem to be enough to keep the roses fresh and vivid. The fragrance fades with time and only an image remains, not the full experience.

It seems the best remembered roses are the ones we share with others. Those who originally smelled them with us, those who help us remember the fragrance as well as the shape and color. Taking time to smell the roses is important, but if we hope to remember the fullness of life’s journey, then taking time to cultivate and nurture the relationships of the loved ones who walked with us through the garden is vital. It is how we will remember the roses.

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Forgetfulness

Hey, don’t you remember me?

Is it a sign I have written too many blogs or just of advancing age when I can no longer remember what I have written in the past?

It does make reading my own postings so much more interesting, because they are like long, lost friends.  I recognize their faces but have forgotten their names.

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Accountability

I have already written about the problem of entitlement and how society tends misplace the blame for this societal ill.  This is not the only area in which society is misplacing blame and avoiding individual accountability.

While reading an article today on the recession, and perusing the comments made in response, I once again was amazed at how accountability is sorely lacking in our society.  For the record, I believe that the role of the government is to safeguard the people, and understand that while regulations sometimes restrict economic progress, they can also aid in safeguarding the people.  With that being said, when I hear assertions that the recession is the fault of our most recent presidents, or Wall Street, I get a bit miffed.  Yes, Wall Street should be held accountable for their greedy actions and our government should have been more diligent in its oversight, but when are we the individuals going to accept the unpopular accountability for our own choices and actions?

When I read about how more young people need to live at home because they can’t afford their own place, or of the difficulties associated with buying or keeping a home, I wonder why we blame the government.  How is it that we can argue over government enforced healthcare, claim the government is interfering in our lives, yet at the same time cry foul that the government hasn’t helped us find a job or buy a home?

Don’t get me wrong, I feel for the people of our nation. This recession has hit us all in ways we did not foresee, but foreseen or not, we should have been better prepared.  Like any good Boy Scout will tell you, there is wisdom in the motto “Be Prepared”.  This can mean creating a plan if you live in a hurricane or flood zone, because the 100 year disaster may coincide with your lifespan.  It can mean having food storage or a generator if you live in an area that gets heavy snow.  It should definitely mean  becoming informed before you buy a home.   Owning a house is expensive and there are costs besides the mortgage you will pay.  Get informed before you buy, and if it will sap your budget, buy smaller or buy later.  A house can be a great blessing and investment, but don’t purchase the dream, invest in the reality.

Understandably it is hard to prepare for unemployment.  Often we live month-to-month barely getting by, and building a nest egg feels difficult to achieve.  However, young or old it is the responsibility of the able-bodied to be prepared and to be informed.  If this means having a back-up plan to sell your house and move in with relatives, or take on roommates, then be prepared to do so.

One report on housing states that we must go back to the 50’s to find so many multigenerational households.  I find this claim to be interesting.  Isn’t that the era in which our entitlement nature really sprouted?  New houses, new cars and new gadgets for the home; college educations a middleclass norm; and dreams of retirement at age 65 were the dreams of that generation.  Now the youth of the 50’s have grandkids and those grandkids are struggling to live up to, and pay for the dream.

Dreaming big is not a bad thing, but the recession was a reality check for everyone.  For dreams to become reality, hard work is required. This hard work does not follow an employer’s time-clock.  It does not retire.  It does not grow up and move out.  It does not get paid off.  The American Dream is bigger than a house, or a two car garage, or a retirement account.  It has more value than a vacation home, or a boat.  It is not measured by the size of your income or your bank account.

The American Dream for a secure tomorrow is not the responsibility of the President; it is the responsibility of the individual.  Our elected officials work for us, and if we are asking for all the wrong things, then that is what they will provide us.  The Preamble of the Constitution states:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

It doesn’t promise a house, or a college education, or a car.  It promises justice, civil order and defense.  It promotes general welfare but does not promise it. Finally, it secures liberty.

The government of the United States does play a huge role in the nation’s prosperity, but the individual plays a greater role.  Citizenship is not like high school, where you get credit for showing up, doing the work and then going home.  Citizenship requires accountability for one’s own choices and actions.  Blaming others, especially the government, may seem easier, but in the long run, individual accountability will provide prosperity.

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Rainstorms

I love rainstorms. Can’t say I like the wind, but I don’t mind the lightening.  As a kid, I enjoyed watching the lightening from the safety of the garage.  Now, I enjoy watching the lightening from my bedroom window.  I listen to the rain splattering against the roof.  Hard rain or soft, it comforts me.

When in college, I enjoyed running in the rain. Only the presence of a hurricane seemed to bring the turbulent, lightening filled rainstorm of my youth.  Often the rain was warm rather than cold and biting.  Running in the rain was reminiscent of childhood post-storm puddle-jumping, it would always make me smile.

Last night’s rain was hard and heavy. We needed the rain; a lack of winter storms has left the ground too dry.  Sprinklers and drip system cannot replace Mother Nature.  Good heavy rain now will go a long way in helping our plants grow and survive the summer.

Rain unaccompanied by strong winds is a rare thing on the Eastern Plains of Colorado.  Sadly, last night’s rain was accompanied by a couple twisters.  Luckily for us, we are well north of where the tornadoes touched down, and our rain, while heavy at times, was pleasant.  It was hard to wake up and learn that the comforting storm which brought life sustaining rain to our land, left a path of destruction on land to the south. It was a reminder that the good and the bad go hand in hand.  Joy and sorrow, the time eternal contrast which gives life its meaning are often the companions of the Colorado rainstorm.

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Procrastination In Politics

It is a well-known fact that college students, regardless of their majors, spend endless hours each semester studying the art of procrastination.  In the past this skill was criticized and deemed detrimental to success in the “real world”, but no longer.  Thanks to the 2012 election cycle, procrastination equals votes or at least the attention of voters.

In Speaker of the House John Boehner’s recent interview, he spoke on the issue of Student Loan Interest Rates and the need for legislation to keep them low.  He stated, “Democrats and Republicans knew that this was going to take effect. Democrats and Republicans fully expected this would be taken care of and for the president to make a campaign issue out of this and then to travel to three battleground states and go to three large college campuses on taxpayers’ money to try to make this a political issue is pathetic and his campaign ought to be reimbursing the Treasury for the cost of this trip.”

In three months’ time, if legislation is not passed, student loan interest rates will jump from the current 3.4% to 6.8%.  Such a startling and seemingly arbitrary increase makes for a wonderful campaign topic. It is not surprising that congress has waited until now to decide how to avoid such an increase.   Ironic that it was a Democratic controlled House in 2007, which set the July 1, 2012 date for the 3.4% to disappear.  Now as Speaker Boehner asserts, both Republicans and Democrats alike are working together to make future student loan recipients happy.  Awe, bipartisan cooperation at last.

Yet timing is everything, and now the Republican controlled house is acting quickly to assure young voters of Republican interest in their welfare.  Too bad the President already had his three-state tour planned before Boehner made his public declaration of support for younger voters.  I guess the President could have changed his travel plans, or at least his talking points, but he didn’t.

Nevertheless, all this attention must be making college students giddy. Back in 2008, college age voters turned out to support President Obama.  By the time the Republicans figured out the political momentum of young, tech savvy voters, it was too late to make headway with this voting group.  This time around, Republicans are paying attention.  That is what is really important here – paying attention to the youth.

Presidential campaigning via Air Force One has been standard since before the current president was born.  Presidents go from place to place shaking hands, kissing babies and posing for pictures, all while taking their work and staff with them.  During these trips, the “common man” has a rare opportunity to meet with our highest elected official.  The fact that in this case the “common man” is a bunch of students, rather than business men or politicians does not change the value of presidential meetings with the public.

In an age where money equals voting power, it is nice to see the moneyless college masses actually matter to the politicians.  Republicans should be avoiding further procrastination and jump on the band wagon.  Rather than railing against the President for spending taxpayer money on visiting students and discussing student concerns, maybe they should be celebrating the fact that our younger voters matter.  It is going to take years to fix the mess in D.C. It is going to take fresh ideas. The youth of today will inherit the mess their fathers and grandfathers created, and it will be the youth of today that will find the solutions.  Politicians should stop procrastinating and recognize that young voters are just as important as old voters.  While they might be cash poor, they are idea rich.