Category: Generic

Money is No Object

Daily writing prompt
List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.
View all responses

Three jobs I would have if I didn’t have to worry about money. I have two that come to me instantly. I will have to think on the third a little…

  • Musician. Sure, there are people who make a lot of money in the music business but there are some false truths here. First, 99.999% of people who pursue careers in music don’t make any money. Second, with the notable exception of Miss Swift, the music industry doesn’t really exist anymore. There are a few folks hanging on to the past model by the skin of their teeth, and a lot of legacy artists who are too big to fail, but for the most part, again with the exception of a certain Miss Swift, there is nothing left of the industry. If money were no object though, that would be my first choice of a new career. Hell, in 1989 it was my first choice of any career. It didn’t work out though.
  • Photographer. People make a living with it, but how many more fail than succeed? I don’t know for sure (unlike the music biz, where I absolutely do know for sure) but I bet the percentage is pretty high. If money weren’t a factor though, I would give it a try. I’d have a portrait studio and I would do landscape shoots and I would do travel photography and all of that stuff that I would do today just for fun.
  • Blogger. I have no desire to try to make money off of this silly little personal blog. None at all. Zero inclination toward blogging for a living. Nope. However, if money were no object, I would totally do it. I would just write blog posts all day. No one would read them, but I wouldn’t need to make any money so it wouldn’t matter and it would more or less be exactly the same thing I am doing now. I would put a twist on it though and I would make this a travel blog so that I could use not needing any money as an excuse to travel all the time and I’d just write about everything I do while traveling. Jen and I were fantasizing about a where-we-came-from trip last night. It was inspired by yesterday’s writing prompt. Travel to Scotland and Ireland and see our heritage first hand. I could write blog entries about stuff like that for a living, you bet… assuming I didn’t actually have to make any money doing it. So I guess I would do it for a “living” if you know what I mean.

There you go. Three fantasy career choices that would not pay the bills, if I need not worry about ever having to pay the bills. As it is, being a programming supervisor at a medical software company is doing all right by me. I think I will stick with it.

Ireland: 1000 Years of History

As promised in my daily writing prompt post from early this morning, I have started brushing up on Irish history. My heritage. My people (sort of). It’s time I got myself at least a little bit up to speed on the place where my family came from.

I’ve started with this video. I’m up to the potato famine, about halfway through the video. I have 15-20 more videos on my Watch Later playlist.

ADDENDUM: Damn it! The video doesn’t embed. Friggin’ youtube. Here’s a link.

(Mostly) Daily (silly) Haiku for You #41

It’s time to post today’s haiku. I don’t have anything prepared. I’m totally winging it today. What will I come up with? Something stupid, I’m sure. Let’s find out…

Nothing planned today.
No topic, no agenda.
Just write what you know.

8:57am on Day 11

Eleven days since the Covid-19 symptoms first reared their ugly head. 10 days since the first positive test.

I am really tired of this garbage, I’ll tell you that for nothing*. Symptoms are about the same right now as they were yesterday. I had a solid eight hours of sleep, which was a nice treat. I went to bed a little before 10:00pm last night. I just couldn’t stick it out any longer.

There is a part of me that wants to test again today. I know it will be a waste of time. The test I took two days ago was pretty emphatically positive. Maybe it might be a little weaker positive today, but it will still be positive. There is too much of a stuffy nose and too much of a lingering cough and too much fatigue for me to doubt it. I really want to see a negative test though. Really.

Okay, time to punch in to work. It’s going to be much calmer today. Well… the schedule is calmer than yesterday, I don’t know what the actual reality will be. Here’s hoping our customer base takes it easy on us today. Fingers crossed.

*That’s a Highlander quote. Might that be a sign that I am feeling a smidge better? I really hope so.

What is up with wordpress.com’s editor crapping out while autosaving? This is my second post today and it’s the second time I had to scrap it and start over because the Publish button was greyed out because the editor was frozen in an Autosave. Fix the bug, please.

Irish Heritage aka Stereotype

Daily writing prompt
What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?

I am going to answer this one honestly even though I don’t really have an answer and what I am going to say is just an embarassing embrace of a really dumb stereotype. I apologize to everyone I am about to insult and offend in advance. I truly am sorry for not knowing more about your history and culture and reducing your marvelous heritage down to something silly and stupid. I am so sorry. So very sorry.

My father’s mother’s family came to the United States from Ireland. I think I used to know where in Ireland but I don’t recall at the moment. Was it Clare? It might have been Cork or it might have been Kildare. I don’t recall.

My father’s father’s family came to the United States from Canada, Nova Scotia specifically, but prior to that they were in England. They don’t count for this discussion. Partly because I am not really interested in the English piece of my ancestry, but also because he pissed off in 1950 and my father never saw him again so the hell with that dude. Also, there is some portion of that family that may have come from France. I say that because my name, which is very English, appears to have originated in French. That’s too far back for me to have any real information though, so the French piece doesn’t really enter into the equation at all.

Both of my mother’s parents came from Newfoundland. At the time, Newfie was not technically part of Canada. It was an English protectorate, or something like that. Prior to that, both families were in Ireland. I have no idea where. I’m not sure my mother ever knew exactly where.

When I think of my heritage, I think of Ireland. Unfortunately, I know jack shit about Ireland, or Irish culture. I know that Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher were killer guitar players who are both no longer with us. I know that U2 is a great band even though there have been a couple of phases in their recording career where they went to places that I didn’t want them to go. I know that historically they have been kicked around by their English neighbors. I know that within my lifetime they underwent massive political upheaval that included home grown terrorism. I know that technically they are two nations when they should really be one.

So is there an aspect of my cultural heritage that I am particularly proud of? I don’t think so. I can’t really say either way. It’s embarrassing that I know so little.

No, the thing that I am most proud of is a silly stereotype. I am honestly very proud of this but yeah it is a stereotype when you connect it to Ireland. I’m sorry for this. Truly and seriously.

I am a red head and I am fiercely proud of it. Well… as proud of the color of one’s hair as one can reasonably be. Red hair is generally associated with Ireland, is it not? There are a ton of red heads in Scotland too, from what I hear, but no one ever tried to make fun of me by asking if i was Scottish or not. Nope, it was always har har you have red hair har har are you Irish? Well hells yes I’m Irish, wanna make something of it asshole?

When I was a kid I hated having red hair. I was picked on and teased and hassled and ranked on all the time. It sucked. As I grew up though it turned into something positive. Something other people (people with taste) were jealous of. Hells yes, I am a red head. Don’t you wish you were me?

So when it comes to my Irish heritage, there really isn’t anything culturally that I am particularly proud of. There is that one little insignificant genetic trait though. That one little blip in my DNA that gave me red hair (and amazingly at age 52 I still have it… though there’s a little more grey mixed in every day). I’m pretty freakin’ stoked about that little Irish bit, I tell you.

So again, my apologies to the great people of Ireland for reducing their history and culture and achievements down to the color of my hair. I don’t mean it to be a negative. I don’t mean to be offensive or insulting. I really should know more about where my family came from. Maybe I’ll start doing some research and read a history book or two. Maybe this is just the push I need to broaden my horizons a little.

Corporate Buzzspeak

This is a further response to today’s daily writing prompt. I am being sarcastic here. You can laugh along with me. You can flip the finger at the buzzspeak mentality with me. If you want, you can even be offended by this. It’s all good. Here we go…

I asked Google Bard to, “explain why the term brand is a meaningless corporate buzzword.” Here is Bard’s response:

The term “brand” is often used as a corporate buzzword without any real meaning. It is often thrown around in marketing and advertising materials, but it is rarely defined or explained in a clear and concise way.

One reason for this is that the concept of “brand” is complex and multifaceted. It can refer to a wide range of things, including a company’s name, logo, products, services, reputation, and even its culture.

Another reason is that the term “brand” has been overused and misused in recent years. It is now applied to everything from products and services to people and places. This has led to a certain amount of confusion and cynicism about the term.

Here are some specific reasons why the term “brand” is often a meaningless corporate buzzword:

  • It is often used in a vague and unsubstantiated way. For example, a company might claim that its brand is “innovative” or “customer-centric,” but it may not provide any specific evidence to support these claims.
  • It is often used to sell products or services that are not actually that different from the competition. For example, two different brands of toothpaste might both claim to be the “best for your teeth,” but there may be little real difference between them.
  • It is often used to create a sense of artificial exclusivity or superiority. For example, a luxury brand might claim that its products are “only for the best” or that they are “the epitome of style.”

In short, the term “brand” is often used as a marketing gimmick rather than a meaningful way to differentiate a company from its competitors.

Here are some examples of how the term “brand” is often used as a meaningless corporate buzzword:

  • “Our new product is designed to help you create a more authentic brand.”
  • “We are committed to building a strong brand that resonates with our customers.”
  • “Our brand is all about innovation and creativity.”
  • “We want to be the world’s leading brand in our industry.”

These statements are all vague and unsubstantiated. They do not provide any specific information about what the company’s brand actually is or what makes it different from the competition.

To be truly meaningful, the term “brand” should be used to describe a company’s unique value proposition and the way that it differentiates itself from its competitors. It should also be backed up by specific examples and evidence.

https://bard.google.com

I Hate That Term!

Daily writing prompt
What brands do you associate with?
View all responses

I friggin’ HATE the term “brand”. Talk about your arrogant asshole corporate buzzword speak. We’re not a soulless corporation out to put profit over the wellbeing of the people, we’re a brand. Oooooh. No, screw you, jerk-wads, you’re a friggin’ company and no you are not people and no you do not deserve to have the freakin’ vote!

UGH! I HATE THIS TERM!

To answer the corporate buzzword bullshit question though…

Gibson guitars, specifically Gibson USA. I can’t afford anything from the custom shop. I own four of them (a Les Paul Custom, a Les Paul Standard, an ES-335 Pro, and an SG Standard) and am constantly drooling over the idea of owning more (a Firebird, a Les Paul Junior, and a Les Paul Standard with P90’s).

Apple. I’m quite the fanboy as I type this on my MacBook Pro while wearing an Apple Watch and looking at my iPhone 14 Pro Max sitting on the desk next to me, and knowing that I have an iPad sitting on a charger in the next room, and a pair of AirPod Pro Max next to it, and lamenting that my little AirPods fell out of my pocket at the airport the other day.

Still… I absolutely loathe the term brand. Fuck that noise.