Beneath the Wraps

          I post about my classes as because it is part of my current life.   Although the class was last mod, it still affects me, and I didn't have time to post last month as I may have this month.   I had two classes last mod, but don't generally post about my assignments or discussions in accounting.   They're boring.   Even my instructor said they were boring.   That made me laugh.   The subject of accounting is so one dimensional.   Answers have to be exact.   Everything is black and white.   Blah, blah, blah . . .           Critical thinking, on the other hand, teaches aspects of human behavior and the way our minds work.   There isn't right and wrong in the same sense as accounting.   Not everything is black and white as with math.   Not only is there a huge variety of grey shades, but huge explosions of many colors.   P...

                Serena asked if I would write a news article about the library. She sent over some ideas of what was wanted and asked if I could do it in 100sh words.   That's not a lot of words.   I could easily do more than 1000.   I did over 400 and just barely scratched the service.   I have not heard back from her.                 I enjoyed the first economy class that I took several times more than the current class I'm taking.   To give my readers an idea of how foreign this subject is to me, let me share with you the discussion and assignment topics:     Explain why you think the Federal Reserve Bank tracks M1 and M2.   OR   List and explain each of the three traditional tools the central bank has for controlling the money supply. Which is the most popular? Why?; Now with thes...

                         In November I had never heard of an oligopoly before.   I knew what they were, but until this last class I had (in economy) I didn't realize they had a specific name. I'm not saying all companies that happen to be in the Oligopoly or monopoly stage are necessarily bad companies.   The truth is the founder of the company may well have had extremely valid intentions (other than become a successful money maker who cares only about money) and may not even be involved with the company anymore as many founders are eventually kicked out of their own company (that doesn't seem right) but I am saying that there are many who make decisions, advertising for instance, that are done in a deceptive way.   Many businesses seem to get "too big for their breeches" that they have lost vision of what made the corporation great in the first place.   By the...

          I have now completed my economics course.   My instructor has completed grading all of my work, and so I will go ahead and share what I have turned in.           On my first post this month I shared a video of a phone service parody.   This is the discussion that went with it:       "How many of my classmates remember the landline and payphones? Funny how perspective changes from being a child to being an adult. Our responsibilities are not the same, and therefore we view the world in a different way. For example, I never personally had to wait for AT&T to come out and install or repair a telephone, but my mom did. Back then we didn't have the option of cell phones or even provider plans for that matter. The Bell System had a monopoly all across the nation with its "Bell" trademark on every phone booth. Every household that had a phone receiv...

          The tax proposal didn’t pass in November.   It wasn’t so much because people were opposed at having or keeping the library – they’ve just been opposed to paying for it.      On March 30, the Myrtle Creek library closed its doors.   They remain locked as some of us continue to fight for the cause.   I don’t know who is responsible for establishing the group, or just where everybody came from.   It was announced that a group would be forming for a non-profit organization which we had yet to name.           The first four meetings or so took place at the school part of the Nazarene church.   There were over 30 people who attended.   Where were they when the library was looking for a new board member to replace Marilyn?   The only ones I recognized were those on the library board – and though it appeared some were on this new-founded...

            We live in an area that was highly productive in logging and timber.   There is still production in some cities such as Riddle, but I don't think there are as many employed in the entire logging/timber industry as there had been 45 years ago.   That is when Myrtle Creek Saw Mill closed from what I understand.             I did not understand why it had closed down, or why the entire operation seems to have dwindled and why the railroads have almost a deserted feel.   As we were visiting with a native Oregonian who had remembered generations of her family living in Myrtle Creek though she now lives in Winston.               She had remembered a time when the community thrived and when there had been more logging and timber related jobs.   I've actually met others who ...

Procrastination drives me CRAZY . . . I don't understand the logic.   Logic?   I don't believe that logic and procrastination can exist at the same time.   Why do people procrastinate?               I've posted a bit about the qualifications for school.   We have to have our initial post on the discussion board by midnight Wednesday.   I have always posted either Monday or Tuesday by afternoon.   It absolutely boggles my mind when I there's not a great selection of those I can respond to as the majority of my classes have students that don't do their initial post until Wednesday night or Thursday morning - or often not at all.   What is up with that?   Granted, the research can eat up much of one's time.   Why not just spend a few hours at the beginning of the week and get it over with instead of creating a post at the last minute.   I suppose I've had time to read through ...

        Thus far I am enjoying my economic class.   It is the study of human behavior as far as decision making goes.   There are "luxuries" that we give up when we trade what we have for other things we want or need. Although we may not view them as luxuries at the time, we may miss certain situations while we are grateful not to have others.         Take our move from Salt Lake County, Utah to Douglas County, Oregon.   The major thing that drew us to Oregon was clean air quality vs. breathing deadly smog.   Myrtle Creek is certainly a lot smaller (population wise) than any city I had lived in within the Salt Lake City area.   There aren't as many roads or traffic or pollution.   The crime rate is definitely lower.   I'm not saying there isn't any crime here - it just doesn't seem as common.         Take the other night, for example.  ...