Inheritance

The Voices Inside My Head

So I am sitting at work watching my iPod play song after song.  There are currently over 9000 songs on the thing (it is a 60 gigabyte model) and it counts up how many songs it has played since I have reset it at the beginning of the week.  It currently sits at song # 283.

I started thinking, “Who gets all of this when I am gone?”

I mean seriously, this little device contains pretty much everything I have listened to since I was working the swing set in 3^rd grade.  When I pass away, the iTunes library that it is synced with will go fallow since no one around will probably know the password to access it. 

Then it dawned on me.  I can ‘give’ it to anyone I want. 

You see, I am a big fan of everything Apple, and actually understand some of the lesser known features that Apple offers in the form of device sharing and the ‘iCloud’. 

I have a subscription to iTunes Match.  This service, which costs $24 a year, allows iTunes to upload ALL of your music content to the ‘cloud’.  I originally did this as a form of backup in case of a hard drive crash.  Then I realized that once in the cloud, all 9000 songs are playable ‘anywhere’ that I have a device.  So in effect, my little outdated iPhone 4 has over 9000 songs on it as long as it has connectivity, so does my iPad and so does my AppleTV. (That Steve Jobs was a genius) 

All I have to do is ‘will’ my Apple User Name and Password to someone and they can be gifted this music where ever they are on the planet when I am gone.  By then, it might be up to 15000 songs.  It is bound to be worth something to someone.  All they have to do is keep paying the $24 a year to keep listening to it, or they could just download it all to their computer (might take a few days).

It makes me chuckle to think that I can give this to someone, who will spend several months listening to it and wondering how I came to have the Tiki Music of Martin Denny next to the Russian Orthodox chants of Rachmaninoff’s Vespers. 

Any Takers?  

(Click this link to read)

Lions and Tigers and WMD, Oh My!

Hiking the Abandoned Rails

A Photo Essay in PDF format. Click here to launch the document.

(click the link)

New World Order

The Concept and the Reality.

In my last job I worked as a property inspector that verified the replacement cost of homes for insurance companies. We did not work for a single company, we contracted with many of them nationwide.

In order for me to get this job, I had to take an online training course that was rigorous and timed. I had two weeks to pass 15 tests in order to be accepted. This was a contract job that was supposed to be part-time, where I worked out of my home.

During this training course, they taught us about the corporate culture and how we were supposed to represent the various companies that we worked for. We were also told about the various criteria by which our work would be judged and graded.

The job was to inspect the inside and outside of the insured residence and complete a report online and e-mail it back to the company. We were not to discuss policy or what the company may or may not do with the reports that were filed. We had to wear a tie, be courteous, not swear, etc, etc….

However, when I started actually doing the work, a few things became very clear. We were expected to have a 75% completion rate on cases within 10 working days. We were required to make three phone calls to the insured and attempt to see the house (risk) within 3 days of assignment.

The only problems were these. Most homeowners do not use their phones as a primary form of communications. They no longer have land lines, and they use their cell phones only for family communication and texting. If they see a strange number come up on their cell phone, they don’t answer.

The other problem is that most homes are not owner occupied. While home sales are going up, they are not being purchased by homeowners; they are being purchased by speculator and landlords as rentals, and thereby are managed by property managers. Getting hold of the insured, then finding out their property managers, getting hold of them, who then have to contact the tenants to schedule an appointment sort of blew the whole 75% completion rate in 10 days out of the water.

While this was a nice job, it was supposed to be a part time, work from home deal, and with the various problems I was running into, it was evident that it was a 40+ hour a week job that I was netting less than minimum wage for, so I eventually found something better.

I ran into one of my counterparts as I was starting my new job and discussed how difficult it was to meet the expectations of the company based on the phone / landlord issues. He sort of laughed at me and told me that he usually inspected 8 to 10 hours a DAY with no problem. Stunned I asked him how the hell he was able to schedule so many appointments.

He said it was simple; you call up the insured and leave them a voice mail that states if I can’t see you house in 48 hours your insurance policy will be canceled. Stunned, I reminded him that was against company policy. He laughed and replied, “That is window dressing for the clients, if you want to make money and meet quota you have to knock some heads. Policyholders and Property Managers are idiots.”

I just can’t work this way. I guess I just don’t have what it takes to screw people. But it appears that is what is necessary if you want to work in today’s modern world.

Lucky Dog

Stuart & Sue Headed to Bisbee

Things are really screwed up.  North Korea is causing problems, you can’t get the ATM’s to work on Cyprus, there is snow drifts in the mid-west in Mid-April.  Gun control and gay rights, lets not even go there.

So when something good really does happen, it tends to stand out.  Such is the case of Stuart.  Stuart is a year old, has a tail and four paws.  He is a dog. 

Stuart did not have the best breaks in life.  He was abandoned in Phoenix Arizona on the street, but the previous owner did manage to leave a bowl of water so he wouldn't die of thirst….at least not right away. 

Now I can’t fault the owner.  They may have fallen on hard times, or they may just be supper ass-hole jerks.  I can’t be sure.  But one thing is for sure.  Stuart is a charmer.  I could not imagine a better dog. 

Stuart was found by a kind hearted sole that, unlike the original owner, could not bear to leave him on the street.  He was taken to a No-Kill non-profit animal shelter where he was nursed back to health.  He has been neutered, vaccinated and feed to the point where he is one healthy dog. 

The shelter managed to find him a savior that was willing to take him in.  The only problem was, the new owner is an ex-patriot that lives in Mexico.  So, through a chain of events and some dedicated people Stuart made it to his new home.  Three people coordinated three legs of the trip from the shelter to our house in Phoenix, then to Bisbee, Arizona, and from there south into Mexico to the small town of Banamichi

Stuart spent almost 5 hours with us on the trip from Phoenix to Bisbee and during that time he proved himself to be a wonderful dog.  He did not know where he was going, but had the air about him that he knew he was in good hands.  He somehow knew that his future was bright. 

We hated to see him go.  But we were just the link in a chain.  A very good chain.  So when you hear of how screwed up the world is on the nightly news, or get depressed at how depressing your job can be.  Think of Stuart.  Good things happen.  You just have to be a link in the chain.  

The Fire In The Belly

The Old Office Award Shelf (in my new office)

I haven’t been blogging much recently.  A lot of the bloggers that I used to read don’t blog as much these days either.

Reasons, well….lack of frustration would be one.  Blogging was always a release to the stress and frustration that was ever present in my life.  Take away those factors and the need for ‘therapy’ hasn't been as great. 

In the past, readers will recall, that my job was a constant source of blogging material.  Looking back on that past life, I have come to realize that my employer really was “F’ed Up”.  I mean it really was a bizarre place to work.  Having gotten away from it and looking back, I am amazed at how I lasted there as long as I did.  I will probably be summing up my experiences there in the coming weeks.  As I have often stated, looking back at a problem from a great distance lets you see it in a different light.

With that stress gone, the world is a happier place, and happy people don’t blog as much for therapy..  They can, but when you are happy, you find happy things to do, and don’t need to blow off as much steam. 

I always hoped to turn this blog into a more introspective and contemplative work, where I explored the broader meaning of life through fiction and poetry.  However, that takes a lot more thought and a lot more time to write out.  Like I stated, I am now doing ‘happier’ stuff that leaves less time for writing in that vein. 

So hopefully, this blog has turned a corner.  It won’t nearly as frequent as it once was.  But hopefully better.