Whatever happened to Aesop's fables?

Whatever happened to Aesop's fables? You remember the Ant and the Grasshopper, The fox and the grapes, The boy who cried wolf, The tortoise and the hare?  Why don't we tell our kids these any more? And why aren't they taught in school?  Why don't we see more cartoons that follow along the lines of the original vice what is socially convenient?  I can not find a copy of Aesop's fables in print at a public library, or on film, that matches what the original source says.

Have stories told to children today become social engineering that make children more dependent on others and less resilient?  Fables and stories such as these been used as tools for millennia to impart important lessons about morals and social interactions.  In fact, children used to be inoculated to the occurrence of death from a young age, because death was a daily occurrence.  Why aren't children allowed to read those stories anymore?  Changes in medical science should not be cause to change this.  If you ask a child to look up from their electronic distraction, would they be able to tell you the name of a fable or moral story?  Do any of them know the origin of 'Ring around the rosie'?  Do they even play it in the school yard or even backyards and parks any more?  I think it is highly unlikely.

I think parents are afraid to let their children grow up these days.  Too often, we depend on others to teach our children how to conduct themselves; how to think about certain topics; what to read.  It's time we, as parents, stop using the excuse of too tired, too busy, too late to direct the development of our children.  It used to be that children prior to the Information Age learned their skill and trade from their parents or entered into apprenticeships.

Although if that were the case, that would mean my oldest daughter should be married off already.

I, for one, do not have time to teach my children all the skills (like mathematics and science, reading and writing, logic and rhetoric) they need day to day; but I know I must make time to mold their character, by engaging them in moral debate, having them study stories in moral and stoic thought.  That is my responsibility as a parent and steward of good citizenship. It's time we help our children develop the character to grow up unafraid; be willing to challenge the status quo, and risk all for what they truly believe. 

How will you help your children grow up today?

A to Z Well-being (personal philosophy): Debt

Debt (n) - something, typically money, that is owed or due.

If you've found your way here, undoubtedly it's because you're curious about debt; and possibly getting out of it.  And if you've also been looking on YouTube, you have seen some videos by amateur economists saying you can't have a functioning economy without debt.  The way I see it, there are two types of debt:either Purchase debt, or Productive debt.  I'm sure economists and financial geniuses have other words for them, but that's what I call them.

Purchase Debt
Purchase debt is the exchange of credit (the value of your good character) for goods; credit cards or loans (business or personal) are examples of these.  Think of using your credit card as having the Credit Card Company co-sign a loan for your meal, they vouch that you're good for the money and pay on your behalf.
Chattel loans, like mortgages or car loans, are secured credit loans.  The lender (bank, lending company, Vinny the Lump on the corner) lends you the money based on your credit but hold on to the title for security. If you can't make the payments like you promised you would, the lender takes your collateral, sells it and comes after you for the rest.  In the case of credit cards, the Credit Card company just ruins your name (financially speaking).

Productive Debt
Productive debt is the exchange of goods for services; bartering or a paycheck are good examples of that.  The exchange of effort for money (currency, credit exchange notes, Federal Reserve Notes, what have you); think paying for a meal in a restaurant.  This is what really drives the economy.  This requires the ability to determine what is immediately necessary, what is necessary, and what is nice.

Eliminating Debt

Eliminating debt to have more money in your pocket (to save, spend, roll around on your bed in) is BAD,BAD, BAD!  Or so lending companies would have us believe.  I think that this is a show of smoke and mirrors.  The only ones that benefit from the general public being in debt are the lenders. Not only are you on the hook for the principle, but they hope you NEVER pay it off; if you don't, they can collect interest indefinitely.  The best thing you can do for yourself is eliminate all Purchase (or Consumer) debt.  But how?  The simple answer - whatever it takes.  Cut out luxuries, reduce unnecessary services, diversify your income, or consolidate debt SMARTLY.

Example:I have a friend who has chosen to get rid of her five - FIVE! - credit cards by transferring the balances to a line of credit. That's five cards at 12-20% down to 3% on a line of credit.  Great! But it only works if : 1) she acknowledges that interest automatic payments will go up because the principle has increased, and 2) ALL PAYMENTS that were being put against the credit cards is put against the principle of the line of credit.

The reality is economies function because the free market allows.  In countries where the economy is government controlled, a free market forms naturally in the shadows; the black market.  

We don't need to live our lives in constant fear someone will knock on the door.

Vaccinating your kids against Affluenza

Recently, my two children had the chance to take the ice on an NHL rink, as part of a learn-to-skate program through the local community centre.  It wasn't as big a do as it was built up to be but still pretty cool.  But in the excitement, my oldest had asked if she could go, too. The problem was my wife didn't think to investigate whether it was possible; she had her mind on other things, like a girls weekend away with one of her oldest friends.  she assumed the information  provided, from a consistently unreliable source, was accurate.

So, I was left trying to keep my teenager from losing her mind, this was all she had been talking about for weeks. I told her I would see if it was possible, but not to get her hopes up.  When we arrived, it was just program participants and coaches.  The "and family" portion of the invitation was to sit in the stands.  Into the stands we went, and to my surprise my teenager didn't say a thing; not one word.  If any of you have a teenager, you will appreciate the significance.  How do you reward and reinforce that attitude - the dealing with expectation, anticipating the opportunity to lace up, only to be disappointed?  Should I take her out for a Daddy-Daughter date?  Send her to the movies for a day by herself because she demonstrated a level of maturity I hadn't expected?

Simply - you don't.

Far too many parents, in my opinion, insist on giving their kids "more than we had".  That's a bullshit attitude and the source of the sense of entitlement so many youth have today.  Here's a cookie for  eating your supper; don't throw a tantrum in the store while Mommy is shopping and you get a toy.  Working behind the counter at McDonald's, delivering papers, or pump gas for the summer is beneath them, but want the "Jersey Shore" lifestyle.  Kids living in mom and dad's basement into their late 20's not knowing what they want to do with their lives because they haven't found themselves.  Here's an idea get a job, any job, you'll find out what you don't want to do for the rest of your life REAL QUICK.  "We" had plenty growing up and our parents tried to do the same for us.  Don't get me wrong, my parents helped me if they could, but for the most part I had to figure things out for myself.

My teenager gets paid to babysit (and she's in demand around the neighbourhood) and all my kids get an allowance, based on their age, are expected to do chores around the house because they contribute to the mess, and a "performance bonus" for getting A's on their report card.  Why?  To teach them to be responsible for earning their money, how to save for what they want, and to teach them that rewards and success come to those who work for it.

It's time we stop treating our kids like delicate china dolls, and start treating them like they're people.  Learning to deal with disappointment is part of growing up, handing them responsibility at a young age not only teaches them a work ethic, but also allows them to take pride on the work they do.  If you want your children to develop into strong, independent-thinking citizens, be a parent and start teaching them to be so.

Cheap like borscht.

Since I started down the path to be more self-reliant and self-sufficient, I have really come to understand the meaning of the phrase "Cheap like borscht" and the reality of it.
  
Growing up, borscht was one of those things that we had often enough in late summer and fall to be dreaded.  I didn't start to really appreciate the subtlety of it until I was in my late teens.  I didn't like beets and when Mom made cabbage, I only recalled it being boiled; a foul smell if ever there was one (or so I thought until I was changing diapers regularly).  While I was at university, I wouldn't say I was poor, but I ate some pretty rustic meals i.e. sauerkraut soup (which after my brother was done eating all the sausage out of, consisted of sauerkraut and boiled potatoes).  Fortunately, I almost never had to eat mac &cheese as a staple.  Ironically, I've only become a mac & cheese master since I had kids.

I really fell in love with Borscht when I went to Russia. It was a true Baltic winter when I arrived in January.  And nothing warmed so well as a bowl of borscht.

Borscht is a, truly, rustic meal - simple, versatile and international; versions of borscht stretch from China to Western Europe.  Growing up, when mom made borscht, it was simple - 5 ingredients - beets, cabbage, carrots, beef stock, sour cream; BOOM, done!  It is a true peasant's soup.  The key ingredients make for a food sources that will last through out the hard winters of the Steppes of Russia and Ukraine. Beets, carrots, cabbage and other root vegetables can be buried in mulch (have earth mounded up and covered with hay) to keep through the winter.  And it's full of vitamins and minerals essential to keeping healthy though a hard winter.
This is my take on the recipe, as I recall, from my mother's kitchen and how much it cost to make.

 

Recipe (to make a batch for me - I'm the only one that eats it right now)

Cabbage, green, white or red ($2.55, only used half for this batch)

4 Beets ($2.21)

1 Jumbo Carrot ($0.46)

1/2 Medium Onion (pantry)

1-3 cloves Garlic (pantry; I had minced on hand)

1-2 L Stock, beef, chicken or vegetable (pantry; if you have time, you can make bone broth)

8 oz Beef, diced (optional, I left it out because I didn't have any left-overs to throw in)

Sour Cream (fridge)

Dark Rye bread ($3.49, but I will only use about 1/3 to 1/2 of the loaf for this batch)

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Shred cabbage, beets and carrots. 

Chop onion, sauté with garlic.

Add vegetables, stock and meat.

Season as you wish (I like to add a teaspoon of dry mustard)

Stew until cabbage tender.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and slice of rye bread.



Just make sure you wear gloves during prep.

I like to make it first thing in the morning and leave it on the stove on LOW to stew all day.  You can cook it faster, I just choose not to.
 

It made 6-8 servings and cost me, for this batch, $5.69 or $0.95 per large serving

Soup in a bag, anyone?



It's the perfect base to a variety of regional soups, add tomato paste, potatoes, beans, mushrooms; really anything available or your heart desires.  Because you can prepare your vegetables any way you like, you can change the feel: julienne for a more aristocratic look, chopped for more rustic; I prefer shredded, I like the way the colour of the beets and cabbage is released to make a deep wine-coloured soup.

And it freezes well, so you have no left overs going to waste in the back of the fridge.  Even better, now that I have some in the freezer I know when the forecast calls for cold and miserable weather tomorrow, I have something I can put in the fridge to thaw before I go to bed and all I have to do for supper, when I get home from work, is heat it up.




#borscht #rescipes

Helpless at Starbucks, or Exercising personal leadership and initiative

I am a Starbucks junkie.  If left to my own, I could go twice a day. If they had a hot beverage sized bigger than Venti, I would order that size; yeah, that kind of junkie. But it seems to me that at least once a week I find myself reaching for the milk only to find it empty.  And every time, I have to wonder how many other patrons have pick up that same empty pitcher only to sigh and go on their way, complaining about the milk pitcher being empty and having to go without milk in their beverage.

SURPRISINGLY, if you take an empty back to the counter, it comes back full.

But it doesn't end there; what is more striking is the fact that the philosophy in my workplace seems to be one of hand-wringing "Do as I say, not as I do."  I find it odd considering all the managers in my workplace are supposed to be the innovators and initiators of great visionary changes to how we conduct business.  Nobody wants to be the one to make a decision, regardless of the timeline or the outcome from inaction.  You see, I work for a government agency; for which I receive no recognition other than a pay cheque.  Being a bottom-of-the totem pole cubicle dweller, I can literally do the bare minimum and still get payed.  I am not required or even expected to go beyond the expectations of my work description, in fact in some areas initiative is not desired.  But I do exercise initiative and personal leadership; not because it's required by my work, but because I require it.  It's a demand I place on myself and shoulder the consequences with a grin.  Never was this demonstrated more to me than this week.  

In my workplace we have a communal kitchenette and every month one section has to do a weekly clean-up.  February is ours.  Everything was scheduled and everyone in our organization was informed by email.

When we showed up for clean-up, people were still eating lunch and hanging out; immediately, anyone who didn't want to do the task in the first place left. 

"We'll comeback when everyone is done." 

"There's no point in cleaning up, the sink is just going to get dirty again when people wash their dishes." 

Etc,etc, etc.  

I stayed. I don't want to clean the kitchen either, but it has to be done; and whether I do it now or come back later, I have to do clean up. But because I demonstrated 'personal leadership', a few of the co-workers who were hesitant came back in and helped me; other co-workers stood around waiting for everyone to be done eating and clear out of the kitchenette; and the managers were no where to be found. "Do as I say, not as I do".

Contrary to what has developed in corporate culture, leadership is not taking credit for others work or initiative and blaming your staff when things go wrong; punishing the productive with more work and the ineffectual with less. Leadership is rewarding the productive with more responsibility and making the less effective more accountable; assuming the mantle of responsibility for failures and eschewing credit, in order to recognize those who did the work.

But what does this have to do with anything?  To my mind, it seems to represent a bigger problem in society - lack of initiative and personal leadership.  The lack of 'personal leadership' is different than lack of 'leadership'. Leadership is the art of motivating people to want to fulfill your objectives; personal leadership is motivating yourself (and others through your actions) to fulfill other peoples objectives when you gain nothing from doing so.

You may never be in a position to be in charge but you will always have an opportunity to lead.

And remember, a small act can initiate great action, even if it is just getting the milk jug filled for the next guy!

A to Z Well-being (personal philosophy): Time

Time (n) – The indefinite continued progress of existence and events in

       the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.

           Time and money are the two things everyone wants more of. The distribution of wealth will never be equal, but time is the one commodity that everyone has the same daily allotment of, and probably the most squandered resource of all and how we use it is up to us.  While catching up on posts on “The Art of Manliness” (a blog, as a reader, I strongly recommend to men, young and young at heart), I recently read a pamphlet from 1910 called "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day".  I think it's a stretch to call it a philosophical text, but it will certainly give you pause to think about how you use your time away from the house, and upon your return.  

            Take my case: I’m to bed between 10 and 10:30 pm; awake at 5:30 am and spend the next 60 to 90 minutes in my morning routine (exercise, bathing, dressing eating, etc,) to be at work 8-4, commuting 45 minutes each way, sometimes wait for my wife to catch up (about 15 mins after work) and head home for the evening.  My wife and I used to drive to work every day.  It used to be our time to talk about nothing at all.  At the end of my day, I would take the reverse route, getting ramped up because I was trapped in rush hour traffic, coming and going.  If my wife got held up when I came to pick her up, I would get wound up even more.  The worst part was paying $80 a month to leave my car parked outside 40 hours a week (I could have done that without leaving my own driveway), discounting the extra cost of gas and maintenance.  

            We've changed the way we do things.  Today, I still spend about 45 minutes going to and from work each day. Now it’s on the bus.  It gives me time to think on various topics, or spend time strengthening relationships with my neighbours on the same commute and, more importantly, it gives me time to separate work from home life; either gear up for the work day or decompress.  Things have improved dramatically.  Now, I get home, free of stress and able to spend time with my kids before supper, help them with their language studies or school projects and am at the table for supper ready to discuss their day.  That 45 minutes, each way, is the equivalent of a gained day during my work week from using ‘wasted time’.  I found it has even caused the time the television is turned on to be pushed back later in the evening, and often, only to get the full media coverage of something I saw on social media.  I'm spending more time researching, thinking and ruminating topics I want to be clearer on.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a time and place when you need to plug in and stop thinking for a short period of time.  For me, it’s like those Magic Eye pictures; when I remove my focus on a problem, the solution reveals itself.   Whatever works for you, the key is to not allow it to become distraction; set a time limit and stick to it. Sometimes, all it takes is doing a mindless chore, like shovelling snow or washing supper dishes  

          I now take every opportunity, when there is a lull at work or home to study something.  Whether studying methods of improving work processes, working on courses required by my employer, or even following, and further researching, a topic of interest, in print or digital.  I used to listen to music or the radio, now it seems I always have a podcast playing, of whatever topic I happen to find interesting at the time.  And I am amazed how often other people around the office start work-related conversation then wander off topic and start socializing; only to complain about being short on time to get projects completed.  I admit I'm no saint when it comes to social conversation around the office, but I could pack a weeks’ worth of my socializing into the time some people spend socializing daily.

            I even had a friend tell me the best advice he ever got about time management as a university student – treat it like a job; show up at 8 and work until 4, regardless of the classes scheduled.  Wish I had had someone tell me that when I was a student 20 years ago.

            The opposite is also true.  In my job, work ebbs and flows.  At year end, there is barely enough for one person to keep active, let alone busy.  At the height of our production, however, there is almost too much for two people to handle.  Breaks are scheduled for a reason; to allow you the time to regroup and refresh - take them!  They will help you keep your work stress at a manageable level and able to leave it behind at the end of the day, so you can enjoy your time with your family.

           Complaining about petty things because you have nothing to occupy your mind is a thief of time and effort.  Make use of your 'wasted time' (commuting, standing in line, or waiting on some task), to maximize your life: think on things; listen to a podcast you've downloaded; practice a skill in order to get your next promotion, prepare an application to a job you desire. Develop temporal leverage.  Separate the stress of one aspect of your life from another; it will make it easier to deal with in small pieces.  Filling the voids in your schedule is like filling potholes in the road; it makes it a whole lot easier to get where you want.

How will you spend your time today?

Impact of Cheap Oil, a lower Bank of Canada interest rate, and how it can help you.

Caveat: I am not, nor do I have any experience as, an economist or financial adviser.  This is just my view on the topic.

          Since June 2014, the average price of gas in Canada has dropped $0.50/litre.  50 cents!  I'm not that old and I can't readily recall the last time it was that low.  If you look at the attached link ( 24 month Canadian gas price ), you can see that the price of gas has paralleled the drop in oil prices.  If you heard the recent announcement from the General Secretary of OPEC, the reason for the drop in the price of gas is the fault of the United States of America and its pursuit of shale oil.  The US energy policy, in my opinion, is driven by defence strategy; I've heard the the US Navy estimates it alone uses 1,000,000 barrels a day.  The realpolitik of weak oil prices means nations, like Canada and Russia, that depend on oil revenue as part of its budget calculations did not foresee this stall.  And that will affect their budget forecasts.  But this isn't about how cheap oil is affecting the bottom line of the nation-state.  It's how the nation-states' bottom line will affect you.

          From an economic standpoint for the man on the street, the cascade effect is going to be bigger than most people think.  All we have to do is look at how oil producers function; they are businesses after all.  When oil prices drop below a profitable margin, the less productive oil wells are capped first, laying off those crews.  That loss of revenue not only affects the individual employees, their families, their communities, the communities the work sites are located in and their debtors (read banks they have borrowed from to buy cars and houses).  That means loss not only loss tax revenue from oil sales, but loss of personal tax revenue and extra funding put out for social support systems.  The reality of cheap oil and its fiscal impact upon nation-states and people is like a rogue wave when sailing, there is only one way to face it and that's head on.  

          It used to cost me around $90 to fill my tank from empty; and because we drove to the nearest park and ride, in addition to running kids to activities 4-5 times per week, we were filling up every 7-10 days.  That's anywhere from $270 to $360 a month in gas alone, plus I was still paying for two adult bus passes (an additional $200 per month).  That was half a pay cheque just on transportation. Now with gas around $0.85/litre, it only costs about $55-$60 a fill, automatic gain $30 every week or so; that's like me not paying  my kids their allowance every week.  My household income isn't tied to the oil industry at all.  So for me, right now, low oil is a good thing; but that doesn't mean I can sit back and live the good life on all this 'extra' money.

          There's no such thing as spare change or 'extra' money in the budget, there's just creating room to save or paying off debt.  An article from CBC about yesterday’s Bank of Canada announcement regarding interest rates made it pretty clear on how we, as consumers are going to be affected.  Basically, no relief for consumer debt.  But that doesn't mean we aren't afforded an opportunity to create leverage for ourselves. By taking the excess from your transportation (read fuel) expenses and, hopefully, lower prices on store shelves, we have more cash to service our consumer debt, i.e. extra payments against credit cards, lines of credit, or even bills that are in arrears.  It is NOT the time to take on more debt because of lower prime-rate rates.  And with a lower Bank of Canada rate comes lower interest rates on savings account.  

          Think about it where are you going to have more gain with $100 a month?  Put it in a savings acct with, what, 0.75% annual return?  (Right now, it's actually 0.000%.)  Or against $10,000 outstanding on a credit card with a 20% annual interest rate?  For easy math, we won't use compound interest.  

So for your savings account,  that's roughly $0.75 per year for every $100 deposited (or $9 in interest).  

Or put it against your credit card (we'll assume you are paying the minimum), $10, 000 last year cost you $2,000 in interest (pretty much your entire budget for paying that credit card). This year, $10, 000 - an extra $100/ month means you end the year with only $8,800 in outstanding principle, or 12% less; that means you're minimum payments are 12% lower too. 

          Even if prices for everything else goes up and that $100 gets used by other expenses, you still had $2000 dollars budgeted to pay the interest on your credit card; but because the annual interest is now only $1760, you have now budgeted $240 to put against the principle (remember the no such thing as 'extra' money), all because you leveraged the lower prices of gas and necessaries.

          I can only use my experience and observations to demonstrate the principle of my argument.  Another change we made that has helped - changing the way we commute; we now catch the bus at the stop at the end of our block.  I have driven my car to the transit way twice since returning from Christmas vacation, that's right - TWICE!  The last time I bought gas before I filled uplast Thursday was on Jan 2nd.  Nearly three weeks on one tank of gas.  Now, this situation is unique to me because I live in a city and am close to public transit terminals and stops.  I realise some of you may not live close enough to take such advantage but there is still opportunity to create  leverage for yourself without getting a second job or selling things off.   Add to that the fact we should be able to expect lower costs for necessaries on the store shelves (hopefully), we are provided with extra cash to attack our debt.

          If I can go from filling my gas tank, at $90, every ten days to filling it every 21 that means I'm going from 37 fills (roughly $3,300 a year) to 17 (roughly $1,550), it's like I got $150 a month pay raise; and all I did was maximize the use of my bus pass, which I was paying for anyway.  And that doesn't even take into account the lower gas prices.  Last Thursday, I didn't even pay $55 to fill up and my fuel gauge was flat-lined. 

Make hay while the sun shines.

          Changes in the economy don't always turn in our favour, and never last as long as we would like.  Take advantage of them immediately.  Market changes like this allow you to apply leverage against your debt which, while not sexy, in the end means a less stressful life with more financial freedom.  

And that's an advantage everyone could use.