Hi All,
I know that I said last week that I would be talking about customer service this week, but sometimes more important issues come up that I can't resist talking about.
For those of you who do not know who David Paterson is; he is the present Governor of New York State. He didn't become the Governor via the normal route by winning an election. He was the Lieutenant Governor under Governor Spitzer who won the last election by a landslide. When Governor Spitzer resigned his position last year, after being caught as a "John" in a prostitution ring, David Paterson became Governor. I do not know a lot about Governor Paterson, but I "assume" he has some intelligence.
When the economic crisis hit this country, it also hit New York State especially hard; since Wall Street is located here. A good percentage (15-20%) of New York State's income comes from Wall Street and when Wall Street hurts, the entire State can go into cardiac arrest. When you combine Wall Street's woes with, not only the brokerage firms, but also the big banks, AIG, the housing meltdown and companies downsizing (leaving hundreds of thousands of people unemployed), it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that New York State has tremendous budget problems to the tune of being short 14 billion dollars and New York State needs life saving measures!
When the economy is good, politicians always seem to be able to increase the size of Government, which in turns means adding more people to the States payroll. But when times are tough, like they are now, Government seems less likely to reduce the payroll in a sizable amount. In New York State's case, in order to balance the budget, Governor Paterson has talked about: increasing taxes on almost everything, all agencies must cut spending by 10%, employees must forgo pay raises and also laying off and/or not filling vacant positions that number only in the hundreds. OK, so I don't know how many people it takes to run New York State, but I do know now that Governor Paterson lacks any common sense.
Why and how? Governor Paterson has decided that 17 of his aides should get a pay raise averaging 16.7%. Now averages can be very deceiving. Why? Well one of his "confidential assistants", Cassie Prugh, had her salary increased from $85,721 to $125,000. That is an unbelievable and astounding increase of 46%. Do any of you know anyone who is getting that kind of an increase in this day and age?............ I thought not. What the hell is wrong with this Governor? Oh yeah I know, he has no common sense and these pay raises prove it. The Governor now has a huge media storm brewing because of this and deservedly so.
As I said in my first blog, just by using common sense, anyone can make the correct decision that is also fair and just. Governor Paterson is obviously lacking common sense!
Talk to you next week.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Shopping
Hi everyone,
Last weeks blog was a serious one, so this weeks topic is on the lighter side.
Last week I was shopping with my wife at one of those big box stores. The store was busy with a lot of people. We were walking kind of briskly, down the middle of the main aisle, about 2 1/2 to 3 feet behind a middle aged woman who was also walking briskly. My wife and I were talking about stuff when out the blue, the woman in front of us just stopped in the middle of the aisle for no apparent reason. I almost walked right into her and had to do some fancy footwork to avoid knocking into her. The woman, realizing her mistake, apologized profusely and then said she was not paying attention when she stopped. I responded to her that it was ok and we proceeded with our shopping.
Now this isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened to me. I am sure the following has happened to almost everyone. During grocery shopping trips, (I try to avoid geriatric day) it is almost a given that someone, be it a man or a woman, will be pushing a cart down the aisle in front of you ,when they abruptly stop right in front of you. They are always oblivious as to whether or not someone is behind them. I know this because they then proceed to look at the shelves to pick out whatever item(s) they are seeking without looking in my direction.
Also at the grocery store, there are those people who have "parked" their cart at an angle, in the middle of the aisle as they look for whatever item a few feet away from the cart. Sometimes when I am in a hurry, I will move the cart out of my way and I then I always get the "stare", as in, how dare you touch my cart. Other times, when I am not in a hurry, I will wait to see how long it takes the person to realize that they have blocked the aisle and for them to move the cart and then apologize.
Finally, there is the person who thinks that it is ok to push the grocery cart, at an unreasonable speed at the end of the aisle and turn into the main aisle without slowing down to see if anyone is coming. I can't count how many times I have almost hit someone.
All these people have 1 thing in common, they have no common sense. WHERE HAS COMMON SENSE GONE?
Stay tuned for next weeks blog about customer service. Again, it is something we have all experienced and wished we hadn't.
Thanks for reading and let your friends know about my blog.
Last weeks blog was a serious one, so this weeks topic is on the lighter side.
Last week I was shopping with my wife at one of those big box stores. The store was busy with a lot of people. We were walking kind of briskly, down the middle of the main aisle, about 2 1/2 to 3 feet behind a middle aged woman who was also walking briskly. My wife and I were talking about stuff when out the blue, the woman in front of us just stopped in the middle of the aisle for no apparent reason. I almost walked right into her and had to do some fancy footwork to avoid knocking into her. The woman, realizing her mistake, apologized profusely and then said she was not paying attention when she stopped. I responded to her that it was ok and we proceeded with our shopping.
Now this isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened to me. I am sure the following has happened to almost everyone. During grocery shopping trips, (I try to avoid geriatric day) it is almost a given that someone, be it a man or a woman, will be pushing a cart down the aisle in front of you ,when they abruptly stop right in front of you. They are always oblivious as to whether or not someone is behind them. I know this because they then proceed to look at the shelves to pick out whatever item(s) they are seeking without looking in my direction.
Also at the grocery store, there are those people who have "parked" their cart at an angle, in the middle of the aisle as they look for whatever item a few feet away from the cart. Sometimes when I am in a hurry, I will move the cart out of my way and I then I always get the "stare", as in, how dare you touch my cart. Other times, when I am not in a hurry, I will wait to see how long it takes the person to realize that they have blocked the aisle and for them to move the cart and then apologize.
Finally, there is the person who thinks that it is ok to push the grocery cart, at an unreasonable speed at the end of the aisle and turn into the main aisle without slowing down to see if anyone is coming. I can't count how many times I have almost hit someone.
All these people have 1 thing in common, they have no common sense. WHERE HAS COMMON SENSE GONE?
Stay tuned for next weeks blog about customer service. Again, it is something we have all experienced and wished we hadn't.
Thanks for reading and let your friends know about my blog.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Intro to Is Common Sense Dead and digital TV
Today is the start of a new blog called: Is Common Sense Dead? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines common sense as: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts. That definition is as simplistic (no pun intended) as it gets in describing a thought process that seems to be sorely missing in in today's world. I am not suggesting that everyone is missing common sense; but there does seem to be an awful lot of people out there who are clueless. I have met and worked with some very intelligent people who can perform their job supremely, but still lack common sense and consequently make some bad decisions that affect not just them but others as well.
In most circumstances, using common sense can dictate what is the correct decision to make. It seems to me that this world would be a much better place to live and work and with less stress if more people used common sense. To my knowledge, common sense is not a course of study in Colleges, Universities or even at the High School level. So if it is not taught in schools, common sense must be learned by life experiences.
Is Common Sense Dead? will be a weekly, (hopefully posted each Sunday) and will cover topics about the lack of common sense from the mundane to the serious. Politicians and their decisions will also be discussed but not as a party affiliate, but rather their lack of use of common sense in the decisions they make. I hope you find this blog interesting. If it helps you use more common sense in your personal and business lives I have accomplished something good.
Today's very first topic is the transition from analog TV to digital TV transmission. Unless you have been living in another country, you are aware that we have been inundated with Public Service Announcements that the cutoff date for analog TV transmission is February 17, 2009. If your household uses older analog TV's (non-digital sets) and an antennae or rabbit ears to receive over the air, free TV, you have to purchase a converter box in order to receive the new digital transmissions. No converter box no TV reception as of 2/18/09.
I read in the newspaper last week that Congress had overwhelmingly voted for a postponement of the transition to digital TV until June 12, 2009. On the face of it, this seems to be a good thing since there are supposedly millions of households who have yet to purchase the converter boxes. This was due to either being on the waiting list for up to two government $40 off coupons (supposedly Uncle Sam ran out of money for the coupons to subsidize the cost) or elderly people who do not understand what the transition is all about and don't know how to hook up the converter boxes or even people who might have been to lazy or procrastinated in purchasing the converters.
It seems that in Congress' infinite wisdom of approving the postponement, it gave TV stations the options to stick with to the original date of 2/17/09 or wait until 6/12/09. WHAT?????!!!!!!!
That means that some TV stations will switch to digital transmissions on 2/18/09 and other TV stations will wait until 6/12/09. Consequently, there will be some areas in this country where people will have no TV reception as of 2/18/09. IS COMMON SENSE DEAD? Where is the common sense in making that decision? There are some people who use their TV as the only connection to the outside world. If Congress saw fit to postpone the transition, there should have been a no options clause and make the transition 6/12/09 period. This may mean that there might be an additional cost to TV stations, but why not just shut down the digital transmissions until June 12.
In most circumstances, using common sense can dictate what is the correct decision to make. It seems to me that this world would be a much better place to live and work and with less stress if more people used common sense. To my knowledge, common sense is not a course of study in Colleges, Universities or even at the High School level. So if it is not taught in schools, common sense must be learned by life experiences.
Is Common Sense Dead? will be a weekly, (hopefully posted each Sunday) and will cover topics about the lack of common sense from the mundane to the serious. Politicians and their decisions will also be discussed but not as a party affiliate, but rather their lack of use of common sense in the decisions they make. I hope you find this blog interesting. If it helps you use more common sense in your personal and business lives I have accomplished something good.
Today's very first topic is the transition from analog TV to digital TV transmission. Unless you have been living in another country, you are aware that we have been inundated with Public Service Announcements that the cutoff date for analog TV transmission is February 17, 2009. If your household uses older analog TV's (non-digital sets) and an antennae or rabbit ears to receive over the air, free TV, you have to purchase a converter box in order to receive the new digital transmissions. No converter box no TV reception as of 2/18/09.
I read in the newspaper last week that Congress had overwhelmingly voted for a postponement of the transition to digital TV until June 12, 2009. On the face of it, this seems to be a good thing since there are supposedly millions of households who have yet to purchase the converter boxes. This was due to either being on the waiting list for up to two government $40 off coupons (supposedly Uncle Sam ran out of money for the coupons to subsidize the cost) or elderly people who do not understand what the transition is all about and don't know how to hook up the converter boxes or even people who might have been to lazy or procrastinated in purchasing the converters.
It seems that in Congress' infinite wisdom of approving the postponement, it gave TV stations the options to stick with to the original date of 2/17/09 or wait until 6/12/09. WHAT?????!!!!!!!
That means that some TV stations will switch to digital transmissions on 2/18/09 and other TV stations will wait until 6/12/09. Consequently, there will be some areas in this country where people will have no TV reception as of 2/18/09. IS COMMON SENSE DEAD? Where is the common sense in making that decision? There are some people who use their TV as the only connection to the outside world. If Congress saw fit to postpone the transition, there should have been a no options clause and make the transition 6/12/09 period. This may mean that there might be an additional cost to TV stations, but why not just shut down the digital transmissions until June 12.
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