Futurific

What's Wrong with a 30-Hour Work Week?

When I was a kid there were several stories that were told about what the future would hold. Among them were flying cars, robots, electric power that would be too cheap to meter and the three hour work week. We have made great strides in our technological capabilities, but we are still stuck with Homo Sapiens Version 1.0, and so we still have the 40 hour work week even though the number of people who have jobs keeps falling.
    Some people like to say that exporting jobs to countries with cheaper labor frees us up to do other, more important, more profitable work. But that more important, more profitable work requires a bigger capital investment, or more money gambled on business ventures, most of which will fail, in order to find one that will pay off. But we are expending ourselves in building war material which is getting burned up at the rate the of a million dollars a minute. That's like taking every new car and pushing it over a cliff.

Can't You Smell That Smell?

Massasoit and governor John Carver smoking a peace pipe

I've been trying to figure out what makes people crazy. Crazy enough, for instance, to become a suicide bomber, or shoot, even just a regular mad bomber. One favorite reason/excuse/agent is the temperature. The closer you get to the tropics, the crazier people get. But whenever someone makes that argument, some wet blanket comes along with some counter example that spoils all our fun. Then it occurred to me that maybe it's odors that are at the root of all this. The daily shower and ritual application of deodorant is a relatively new phenomena, maybe only 50 years old or so. 300 years ago tobacco was in the ascendancy  The common explanation for it's rapid adoption was that it contained a drug that people enjoyed. I'm thinking that possibly a bigger reason was the powerful smell. It blinded people's sense of smell and masked the odor of their fellows. Mind you this was all on a subconscious level. Smell is a funny thing. Odors that you are familiar with are pretty much undetectable, new and different odors are the ones you notice. Dealing with a stranger before tobacco could easily raise your hackles. Cover his stink with the soothing aroma of strong tobacco and business may be easily transacted. Makes me think the American Indians were on to something with their "peace pipe".

Blast From The Past

Ad for United Airlines, November 11, 1966, Life Magazine. From Scott.

Things have changed since then. Some things are better, some are worse. Sometimes I wonder if the good outweighs the bad.

Nick's Tale

Nicks tale from Charles Pergiel on Vimeo.
Up into Saguaro cactus desert hills at twilight, Nick grabs a lizard by the tail.

Update June 2022 replaced missing video.

Business as a Hobby

I often see small, hole-in-wall, businesses that seem to have almost no clients, no customers, no business, and I wonder how they manage to survive. Over the years a theory has been gestating in the back of my mind, and given any evidence to the contrary, I am beginning to suspect (as Sherlock Holmes would say) it is the truth. They are not "businesses" in the strict sense of the word, they are not making a profit and they are not paying their way. By any measure of accounting they would have to be considered hobbies. Lots of people have hobbies, some are very economical, others are very extravagant. A small business would probably tend towards the economical, I mean, if it ever took off it might become profitable. In many cases the proprietor probably owns the premises, so running a business there is more of a holding action until a real, rent paying client comes along. If you are running the place yourself, there is no salary to pay, and if you aren't selling anything you don't have the expense of replenishing your stock. The one constant is taxes, and if you do not have a profitable business, you could argue that the property isn't worth much, and so your taxes should be low. Also, as you are "running a business" any expenses you incur would go on the debit side of the ledger and could help at income tax time. I would not be surprised if a smart accountant could make a shop with absolutely no business show a profit just by juggling taxes.

My Niece, the Scientist

Amber in her secret laser lab. Tuscon, maybe.

Missing Battery

My wife got me a Makita cordless drill for Christmas some years ago. Along with a screwdriver bit extension and a Phillips bit, it is the handiest tool I have. A couple of weeks ago, or maybe a couple of months, depending on who you believe, one of the batteries and the battery charger went missing. Since they went missing together I presume that I put the battery in the charger and plugged the charger into the wall so as to charge the battery. Question is, where did I put it? I've been all over the house at least twice and I cannot find them.

    It's getting to the point where I am ready to give up and go buy a replacement. I can replace the missing items for about $40 off of E-bay, or I could buy a new, no-name drill, off of Amazon for about the same amount. Problem is that I know that as soon as I order new stuff, the old stuff will turn up, and then I'll feel like an idiot. Meanwhile, I am without a cordless drill and I am starting to feel pretty stupid. Gah! What a dilemma.