We Don’t Need No Thought Control

Today we are discussing some of the problems with higher education over at Stories That Must Not Die. Pop on over and add your thoughts and experiences to the discussion.

Stories that Must Not Die

Please welcome Bumblepuppies to discuss higher education, graduate school and a form of cultist sequestration I had no idea existed.

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I’ve come here to tell some stories. I usually write humor but today I intend to go serious with topics that sometimes end up as a punchline for me these days. You should not expect extreme emotion from me, but rather a disturbing calm. I have been away from the situation for a while now, long enough for other life events to move into the foreground. It is for this reason that I don’t usually talk about this anymore, though it is something people need to know before allowing friends and relatives to pursue a Ph.D.

If you humor me on the small stuff early on, you’ll find that the issues grow as you keep reading.

And so…

I remember that my academic department had an email listserv for all…

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breaking news

Scientists at the Matticus Kingdom University (also known as The Daily Prompt) have proven that karma exists!

Initially, I was thinking that this information would have no impact on my day to day life.  I try to live as best I can.  I’m a good father.  I’m a good husband.  I’m a good jester.

But!

Then I remembered all the time I spend in the car…

Now that I know that karma is real, I am going to have to curb the angry outbursts, the shaking fists, the hurled curse words, the finger gestures, the horn honking, the violent thoughts, and everything else that I do and think while out and about on my daily drives to and from work.  I’m going to have to redefine the nature of my commuter lifestyle.  I’m going to have to calm down, relax, and let all the idiots on the road with me continue to perform their inane driving without any negativity.

It is going to be hard.

Very, very, hard.

But, I certainly don’t want my reactions and retaliations while on the road to come back to me at some point in the future.

So, with that in mind… do any of my faithful kingdomites have any tips or tricks for safe, calm, peaceful driving on the chaotic roads of Southern California?

My first thought is to drink more.  But, something tells me that isn’t the smartest solution.

Also, this is the first Daily Prompt I’ve responded to in a long time.  Have you missed my daily contributions?  Should I do more of them?  Or, should I stick with the other prompts and random things I’ve been posting recently instead?

The Unparalled Merits of College

(This challenge isn’t all that difficult for me as I will often argue both sides of any argument depending on which one needs the most support.  What follows is the point of view of a friend from the last “disagreement” I had with them regarding the need for everyone to have a college education.)

College is for everyone.

We, as a society, benefit every bit as much as the individual benefits from that advanced knowledge and experience attained by those who attend college and seek a degree.  A more educated populace means more demand for higher paying jobs, which means more taxes being collected, which means those unable to work have better resources at their disposal, which means health care costs go down for everyone, which means more money in the pockets of everyone, which means more people are willing to spend money, which means more jobs at all levels are needed…   This creates a self replicating cycle, because more highly educated people will be needed to fill those jobs, and we start again.

While you may argue that not every job requires the skills and experiences attained from a 2 or 4 year degree, I believe that perhaps if someone with a higher education took up one of those careers they would see a way to improve it, to reduce cots, to increase output, to benefit the company they work for and the society as a whole.

While you may argue that the sheer cost of college will become a detriment to those who are unable to find a high paying position despite their advanced education and thus create a burden on society rather than a bonus, I believe that the overwhelming majority of people will be able to find work.  That majority will easily cover the cost of those unable to pay back their college debt.  Besides, to make college a goal for us all to realistically achieve we will have to greatly reduce tuition anyway.

What other arguments do you have?  What flaws do you see in this plan?

My life through maps

Feeling inspired to challenge myself today and do something a bit different, I’m going to use the Google Map embed feature to provide a (very) brief history of my life.

From 1981 through the summer 1999 I grew up in Ridgecrest, CA in the middle of the Mojave Desert:

It was a great place to grow up though I didn’t appreciate it at the time.  Quiet, peaceful, safe, and with easy access to both the western and eastern side of the Sierra. 

I was baptized in the Kings River, Zumwalt Meadows, Kings Canyon National park:

These driving directions are pretty good.  Take the 180 to Zumwalt Meadows, park, and then step down the trail a little ways.  I don’t think I could find the exact spot anymore, but once you are there you’ll get the idea.  And, yes, it was cold.

At the ripe old age of ten I went on a backpacking trip that, among other things on the week long adventure, saw us summit Mount Whitney:

These driving directions will get you to Whitney Portals and, if you have the proper permits and are properly conditioned, you can do the day hike up to the summit and back from there. On our trip we went in over Kearsarge Pass and hit Whitney on our way out of the backcountry.

We went on several family trips growing up.
Yellowstone:

Washington DC:

London:

Paris:

In 1999 I graduated from high school and moved to San Diego in the fall to attend UCSD, Revelle College. I lived in La Jolla (2 years), Serra Mesa (3 years) and Mira Mesa (3 years) until I left in 2007:

My alma-mater:

Shh, don’t tell my parents, but I may have taken a couple trips down to Tijuana:

After graduation, I took a trip out to Catalina Island to, er, um, “rest” and “recuperate” from the long and arduous years studying for school. (Can you hear my parents laughing in the background?):

I headed east to Prescott to visit my brother who went to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and then worked for the school for several years after graduating as a flight instructor before eventually winding up in Phoenix:

All of those trips were about resting and recuperating as well.

In 2007 I moved from San Diego to Camarillo where I lived with my soon to be wife until 2009:

We ventured out to Colorado on several occasions to visit her sister in Gunnison and to go snowboarding at Crested Butte:

The Rockies are as enchanting as the Sierra. Each of those trips was an absolute blast.

We took several trips up to Mammoth to snowboard, and we married there in April of 2009 at McCoy Station:

Eventually I’m going to have to do a separate post about our wedding. It was amazing. The picture at the top of my blog page is from that day – Top of the Sierra, standing on 18 feet of snow. We had some of our pictures taken with us sitting on that sign. Anyway, if you’ve never been to Mammoth, winter or summer, stop whatever you are doing (after you finish reading my blog of course) and go now.

In 2009 we bought our first house (a condo) in Oxnard and that is where we still find ourselves today:

We still venture out and about though, and aside from our normal trips up to the mountains we’ve also made it out to Pennsylvania a couple times and even to Playa Del Carmen:

Who knows where we will head next.