Out with the old, in with the new! Happy New Year to all I hope 2011 ends well for all of you and 2012 begins the same, and continues to be even more so.
2011 has been a trying year for our country and the world in general. Many weather tragedies occurred in the US as well as other countries, with the tornado in Joplin, Missouri at the top of the unwanted list for us, with the many deaths and destruction. Much suffering and unrest has occurred around the world. Yes, I am a loyal, patriotic American. Like it or not, and I don’t, in this present-day world we live in, we are affected by what happens in the rest of the world, and what we do affects many other countries.
We share the planet with many others. If you believe in creation, as many say you do, then God is responsible for everyone in this world, everywhere. If God is responsible for all creation, then why are some so mean and others not? Oh yes, ‘free will.’ We freely get ourselves into all kinds of trouble.
I am disturbed by the militant Christian who rants, raves, shouts and uses ugly word protesting what he/she feels is discrimination against Christians. In a simple example, I’ll go back a few years, when many put bumper stickers on their car that said, “If you love Jesus, honk!” Well that day, I decided to honk. The driver responded with very rude words and gestures. A Christian demonstration? Are we convincing anyone we’re a Christian with our words and actions? It's that "Walks like a duck, talks like a duck" thing. Oh, I know no one is perfect, but maybe we could be a little less imperfect?
Many have had personal tragedies in their families this past year, as mine has. The loss of jobs and homes has, and is being borne by many. Which way to turn? Wet to do? How to keep your family fed, housed and closed, not to mention healthy?
One of the seven deadly sins is greed. I believe that one of the reasons for our current financial situation is corporate/investor greed. Not satisfied with a good, healthy profit, but pushing for a bigger and bigger profit. There is nothing wrong with making money, making money is a good thing, depending on what you have to do to get it, and who you have to walk on. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil, not money itself, but the love of it, when you are willing to do anything to get it.
Wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever your life was in 2011, my hope for you is a better 2012. Please, have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Have you heard of “Do One Nice Thing?” One woman’s [Debbie Tenzer’s] attempt to make the world a better place by doing an act of kindness for someone, somewhere; simple or more complex. Is there a good deed you can do? Even a small deed will make a difference to someone. I’ll leave you with an old adage, “If you would change the world, first change yourself.”
Showing posts with label Jobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jobs. Show all posts
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Christmas Cards
Christmas Cards: Economics of mailing them and what to do with old cards.
Is sending Christmas cards to friends and relatives through the mail becoming obsolete? Or has it already done so? Did you send as many cards this year as usual? Did you receive as many as you usually do? The answer for me to the last two questions is “No,” in both instances. I did receive a few cards, and sent a few cards. I still have a couple to send because they need ‘catch-up’ notes to go with them, and I haven’t quite got them all done yet. To friends in the complex where I live, I sent cards, but they were hand delivered to the villa or apartment.
In my case, many of the people I formerly sent and received cards to and from are no longer around. To others, it is simpler and less costly to email a greeting. I sent and received some of those too. And I received and sent Christmas and New Year greeting on Facebook. However, I did enjoy the attractive scenes on the cards I received,and the sentiments inside; not to mention reading the notes included, when the person took a moment to fill us in on the happenings in their life. But, when you mailed a number of cards, the postage was a bit costly, especially when the postal rate just kept going up-up-up. To be fair, everything else has done the same.
Not mailing cards saves the former sender money. Not sending cards costs the postal service revenue. So, it’s more of the good news – bad news situation. We have been hearing recently that the postal service revenue is declining. One of the suggestions has been to cut Saturday delivery. At least one postal worker, and there were likely others who felt the same way, didn’t like that idea because she received overtime for the working Saturday and depended on the extra income.
I can understand that, but I don’t think they should pay overtime for working an Saturday. It could be they thought the overtime for Saturday was less expensive than the expenses of hiring the requisite extra employees. Perhaps another way could be found if Saturday delivery was a necessity. But is it?
In my opinion, dropping Saturday mail delivery is a good idea under the present circumstances, and individuals losing Saturday overtime for that one day is preferable to someone losing thier job altogether.
Retailers work on weekends, but most offices don’t. How often do you get ‘important’ mail on Saturday. If you do get something from a business on Saturday, the office is likely closed, and you can’t act on it until Monday anyway. Since most offices are closed on Saturday, they generally speaking, don’t need delivery, though you can still mail a letter if you want to. If we have mail to send to an individual, we can just adapt to sending it so they will receive it by Friday. After all, that is what we do now for Sunday, when we don’t expect to receive mail
I should think that the cut back on mailing Christmas cards would affect the greeting card industry as well as the postal service. If this trend continues, the following probably will fall by the wayside too. However, if you currently have used Christmas or all-occasion cards on hand, and don’t know what to do with old cards, you might consider sending them to the organization listed below.
St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude's Street
Boulder City, NV 89005
The children redesign the used cards and sell them as fund raisers.
All Occasion cards can be mailed to the organization the year round.
Is sending Christmas cards to friends and relatives through the mail becoming obsolete? Or has it already done so? Did you send as many cards this year as usual? Did you receive as many as you usually do? The answer for me to the last two questions is “No,” in both instances. I did receive a few cards, and sent a few cards. I still have a couple to send because they need ‘catch-up’ notes to go with them, and I haven’t quite got them all done yet. To friends in the complex where I live, I sent cards, but they were hand delivered to the villa or apartment.
In my case, many of the people I formerly sent and received cards to and from are no longer around. To others, it is simpler and less costly to email a greeting. I sent and received some of those too. And I received and sent Christmas and New Year greeting on Facebook. However, I did enjoy the attractive scenes on the cards I received,and the sentiments inside; not to mention reading the notes included, when the person took a moment to fill us in on the happenings in their life. But, when you mailed a number of cards, the postage was a bit costly, especially when the postal rate just kept going up-up-up. To be fair, everything else has done the same.
Not mailing cards saves the former sender money. Not sending cards costs the postal service revenue. So, it’s more of the good news – bad news situation. We have been hearing recently that the postal service revenue is declining. One of the suggestions has been to cut Saturday delivery. At least one postal worker, and there were likely others who felt the same way, didn’t like that idea because she received overtime for the working Saturday and depended on the extra income.
I can understand that, but I don’t think they should pay overtime for working an Saturday. It could be they thought the overtime for Saturday was less expensive than the expenses of hiring the requisite extra employees. Perhaps another way could be found if Saturday delivery was a necessity. But is it?
In my opinion, dropping Saturday mail delivery is a good idea under the present circumstances, and individuals losing Saturday overtime for that one day is preferable to someone losing thier job altogether.
Retailers work on weekends, but most offices don’t. How often do you get ‘important’ mail on Saturday. If you do get something from a business on Saturday, the office is likely closed, and you can’t act on it until Monday anyway. Since most offices are closed on Saturday, they generally speaking, don’t need delivery, though you can still mail a letter if you want to. If we have mail to send to an individual, we can just adapt to sending it so they will receive it by Friday. After all, that is what we do now for Sunday, when we don’t expect to receive mail
I should think that the cut back on mailing Christmas cards would affect the greeting card industry as well as the postal service. If this trend continues, the following probably will fall by the wayside too. However, if you currently have used Christmas or all-occasion cards on hand, and don’t know what to do with old cards, you might consider sending them to the organization listed below.
St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude's Street
Boulder City, NV 89005
The children redesign the used cards and sell them as fund raisers.
All Occasion cards can be mailed to the organization the year round.
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