Honest Pay for Honest Work

Earlier today I read this opinion piece about earning power today compared to earning power during the baby boomer years, and it made me think. Here are my thoughts.

When I was growing up during the 1960s and '70s, my father was the only breadwinner. My mother was a homemaker. On my father's single salary, my parents were able to purchase a lot and build a house on it. They owned two cars, not brand new luxury cars, but still two reasonably good vehicles. When my father died my mother got a job that allowed her to keep the house and keep my sister and I clothed and fed and supplied with whatever we needed for school. We went on vacations every summer. When I got my driving license she bought me a car - not a new one, but my own car. She sent me to Europe for two weeks as a graduation present when I graduated from high school. When my sister was old enough to drive she got her own car as well.

Because my father had died I was eligible for Social Security benefits, which helped with my college tuition. I also received a Pell Grant. That took care of tuition, and my mother took care of my living expenses while I attended a small university a short distance from my home town. When my sister went to college she attended a private university that was more expensive, but my mother managed that, too. When my mother passed away in the '80s, she left a substantial sum of money to my sister and I. I used my inheritance to pay out-of-state tuition at the university where I decided to go to graduate school.

My job with my employer is considered 'exempt', which means that my employer is exempt from paying me overtime if I work more than 40 hours per week. That means that I can work 18 hours a day and still make no more than what I would earn for 8 hours. I am supposed to be able to receive enough salary that I wouldn't need overtime pay. In reality I don't earn enough money to do what my father did. I couldn't afford to buy a house in today's economy, at least not without putting myself in debt for the next 30 years and struggling to pay my other bills. I can only afford to take trips to places I can drive to, because air fare is too costly. My employer gives me four weeks of paid vacation time annually, but I typically only use it for 3-day weekends or to extend holidays, because I can't afford to take a trip out of state and stay in a hotel every day for a week or more like my family did during my childhood vacations. My husband and I have one car. We couldn't afford to insure two vehicles. We don't have children, and I don't know how my coworkers who do manage to make ends meet.

I do have some extra expenses that my parents didn't have, such as cell phone and cable tv bills, but I don't think those are so much that I should be unable to do what my parents did. But when I was a child hotel rooms for four people cost $60 a night at most. Meals for an entire family didn't cost as much as $20. Gas for the car cost less than a dollar a gallon. Health insurance cost less. Electricity and water bills cost less. Houses were less expensive, so mortgage payments were lower. When we sold my parents' 3-bedroom 2 bath house back in the '80s, it was worth less than $50,000.

I know that inflation happens, and that the cost of living is higher where I live now than where I grew up. But it's disheartening to think that here I am, 55 years old, working for my employer for 20 years, and I have so little to show for it. I'm fortunate to have a pension; people who were hired a year or two after me didn't get one. But if inflation continues at the same rate it's currently at by the time I'm old enough to retire, my pension won't do much for me. I probably won't be able to afford to live as I live now. I might have to move into a tiny studio apartment and give up my car just to retire. And my husband, who only works part-time, doesn't have a pension, or any kind of retirement savings. He doesn't earn enough to pay bills and still set something aside for the future. Even though his job is hourly-paid, he's not eligible for overtime, either. If he works 40 hours in a week he doesn't get anything beyond his usual wage, even though he's worked twice as much as he normally does. If he retires he'll have to live on my retirement income. And my employer stopped offering health insurance for employees who retire, so we'll have to figure out how to shoulder the burden of our own healthcare when we're not working anymore. If healthcare costs keep skyrocketing, most of our income will go for insurance premiums and medication. That's not much of a retirement to look forward to.

I'm far from the only person in this boat. I don't know what the solution is, but I do know that in another 20 years or so there are going to be a lot of retired baby boomers like me who need affordable housing and healthcare and something to do with their time besides watch tv all day. And in another 20 years after that the next generation will need the same thing, only they'll all still be paying off their mortgages and student loans if we don't find a way to make those things less costly.

I Want That, Part One

Apropos of nothing, here are some things I want that I will probably never acquire.  Sigh. Being a materialist is such a disappointment. I don't have a Pinterest account, so this is where they will be immortalized.  Until next month when I find something else I dearly desire but cannot have.

Free People Sargeant wool coat  Can't find this anywhere in a larger size, so I'll never even know if it would fit.  Maybe it didn't come in a larger size. I have actually touched one, but it was an Extra Small.

Or this one, although I'd prefer a longer coat.  Never seen one "in the flesh".
Free People Military wool coat. 

If I can't have that one, I'd take this Alexander McQueen coat..

Completely impractical as a coat, but very smart-looking.
Newport News velvet coat.

Frye Veronica slouch boots  I love Frye boots.  But they are so expensive. 

These are cheaper and probably not bad boots.  But they are difficult to find in my size. 
Steve Madden 'Fairmont' boots.

I actually have a pair of these.  They're are very comfortable. Lucky Brand 'Sweet N Straight' cords  Sadly, I ripped the knee on the first wearing - I snagged a buckle on my boot on the trouser leg (no, the trouser leg did not get caught in my bicycle pump).  The style has been discontinued, so I'll probably just have to patch them and live with my misfortune..

Velvet frock waistcoat / sleeveless dress 
It's pretty.

Well, that's enough of that.  For now.

To Sleep, Perchance to Write

SPOILER ALERT! 

I have a confession to make:  I've become a Sleepyhead.  For those who haven't yet heard this term, it's the online name for fans of the new Fox Network dark fantasy series, Sleepy Hollow.  For those who haven't heard of or seen Sleepy Hollow, it has taken Washington Irving's two best known fictional characters, Ichabod Crane and Rip Van Winkle, and blended elements of them into an engaging tale in which Crane awakens in 2013 after a 250-year magical sleep and must join forces with a sheriff's lieutenant to battle demonic forces that are attempting to bring about the End of Days.  (Pauses to catch breath.)


There are many reasons I like the program: The engaging actor portraying Ichabod Crane; the chemistry between the two leads; the mythical premise with its references to Biblical prophecy, Freemasonry, witchcraft and other occult and supernatural elements; and the frequent use of historical flashbacks to the Revolutionary War. 

But aside from those reasons, I think the real appeal for me comes from something else.  For the past two years I have been working on a fantasy novel for which the premise bears more than a little resemblance to the plot of this series.  My protagonist is a man who finds himself awakened in a new time, long after his normal lifespan would have ended, where he must pit himself against the forces of evil.  The details of course differ from Sleepy Hollow, but the basic coincidence of concepts remains. 

I'm not the sort of person to think that any idea I have is an original one, so this similarity doesn't trouble me.  Others have written such stories and will again.  But I do find it interesting that this program has inspired me to write more on my novel than I have in quite some time.  It had been languishing untouched in my "story stub" file since last year, as I lost inspiration and my attention turned to writing other things.  Watching Sleepy Hollow has inspired me to return to this story, to add new details to it and fill in blanks. So, in addition to enjoying Sleepy Hollow for its entertainment value (and for the dishy Tom Mison), I can enjoy it because it led me back to writing.  Anything that inspires me to write is a good thing.

Linkinator

Falling down on the job on my plan to put links in my blog so they don't get lost in my Facebook news feed.

An uplifting story involving celebrities.  Sometimes fame and wealth don't make you into a jerk.  The Lifelong Friendship of Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve.  From Buzzfeed.

A depressing story from Time about our totally broken for-profit healthcare system. 

Yes, we really are all related to royalty.  The Atlantic explains why in The Royal We.

We've been rotting our teeth for 7500 years according to this article from Io9.

Someday I want to visit this place.

A writer friend of mine posted the link to this "Is Your Character a Mary Sue?" quiz.  I took it twice, for two different original fiction characters I created.  To my relief, if I answered as honestly as I hope I did, neither of my characters is a Mary Sue.  Both fell well below the critical Mary Sue level. 

If you don't know what a Mary Sue character is, you can find out here

Some nice photos from National Geographic, including one from a garden I frequent and am very fond of.


If only more proponents of teaching Creationism as science would read this article. Teaching Creationsim as Science Insults People of Faith.

Don't Blame the Messenger

Recently I saw an ad from AARP flogging the life insurance plan offered through their organization (but - and this is important - it is not offered by AARP itself). The ads mention that applicants need only complete "3 simple health question".  As I work for a company that offers life insurance, and I have extensive knowledge of the terms and conditions of our policies, I was curious what the questions are. 

A Google search yielded a result I found interesting at this site.  Sadly, on reading some of the complaints, I found that most of the complainants were clearly people who had not read their insurance policies and knew little or nothing about how insurance works. 

Several of them seem to think that if they terminated their policies, they would be refunded all the premiums they had paid.  If you find an insurance company that offers to refund your premiums when you cancel the policy, that company is either a) lying; or b) about to go out of business because they're not making enough money to cover their benefit payouts.  Insurance companies make money by charging premiums.  They have to charge enough to cover their reserves, the amount of money they set aside to cover insurance claims.  Their are state and federal regulations about how large these reserves must be.  But insurance companies also have to pay overhead: office space and equipment, salaries and benefits for their employees, advertising, etc.  If they are publicly-traded companies, they have to earn dividends for their stockholders.  To do all this, they have to charge enough premiums to earn more than what they need for reserves and overhead.  They have to balance the risk that they will earn more in premiums than they pay out in claims.  But they know that if premiums are too high, they won't get any new customers and their old customers will leave. 

One way life insurers manage this balancing act is by charging higher premiums to older policyholders, or to people who have dangerous health conditions.  These are the people who are mostly likely to die and incur a claim.  All of this is normal insurance industry practice, not anything illegal or immoral.  If the insurance companies never raised premiums for older insureds, they would have to charge all of their customers exorbitantly high rates. Others complainants on the site were incensed that premiums increased commensurate with the age of the insured person.  There were a few who blamed AARP for the perceived flaws in the plan, failing to recognize that AARP is not the insurer. I explained above why the rates go up.  AARP is not responsible for what's in the insurance policies, which are often by New York Life.  New York Life isn't preying on the elderly; it's just doing what it has to do to offer inexpensive life insurance to older people. 

The saddest part of all this for me was seeing that these unhappy people didn't read their insurance policies to learn the terms and conditions. Other ways that insurance companies can reduce premiums is by putting certain requirements in the policy.  For example, some policies require that if you are put in a care facility, there must be a resident physician on duty.  If there is not, and you die in such a facility, the policy will not pay any benefits.  It's important to know this stuff.  Not all insurance policies make this kind of requirement.  But having a requirement like this is another way the insurance company can save money, both for you and for the company.  They're not doing it just to be horrible to your relatives.  If you're aware of these limitations, you won't get an awful surprise when Grandpa dies in a nursing home (which don't usually have on-site doctors), and the insurance company declines to pay the claim. 

Seriously, people. read your insurance policy.  If you don't understand what it means, call the insurance company and make them explain it to you.  If they don't do that, then you have grounds to complain.  But be sure you're complaining about the right company.

In-link-erator

Clever and artistic arachnid.  This spider even knows how many legs it has.

Mistletoe's not just for kissing.  As usual, when we investigate, we find that even things we think are bad are really necessary.

Christmas sweaters - ironic or sincere?  To me it doesn't matter - I still won't wear them. 

Saruman sings metal.  I love it that Christopher Lee is still going strong at 90, but I draw the line at listening to him sing metal versions of Christmas favorites.

It's fun time in Krampus town. Seriously, why don't we have parades like this in the US?

What to do when the world doesn't end.  The world didn't come to an end on December 21st.  What will the doomsday prophesiers do now? 

Where have all the trees gone.  Yet more worries for the environment.  When will we get our priorities straight?  What's happening to the trees is far more important than legislating who can marry whom.

The story in the bones.  Our ancient ancestors can be shown to have cared for those who couldn't care for themselves, even if it required them to give up precious resources to individuals who could do little to benefit their societies.  Maybe not always, but often enough that we have hard evidence of it.

But as a contrast to that, this:  Amazing photos of incredibly well preserved Inca mummy.  Yet even this shows that all lives were valued.  What better to sacrifice than your most precious resources?

What shaped the evolution of the human hand?  It might have been violence. But the need to fight, for territory or for mating rights, has shaped many animals.  Why should we be ashamed that it may have shaped us, too?

Links, anyone?

Tesla buses charge as they go.  This is just cool. From Discover's 80Beats blog.

North Korean 'archaeologists' discover unicorn lair. "Archaeologists"?  I don't think so.  From the UK Telegraph.

Robot socks. Tweeted by Wil Wheaton @wilw, who has a pair.

Racial stereotyping much? Maybe Disney should monitor manufacturers who put their name on products a little better.  Shared by my husband.

50 Best Cosplay Ever.  Okay, that's probably debatable, but they are pretty awesome.

From the BBC:

Star Wars fans begin joint project to build full-size Millenium Falcon replica.  See, Star Wars fandom isn't just about whether Han shot first.  This is a cool project.  I wish them success. 

New Contender for World's Oldest Known Dinosaur.  

How Companies Test Skyscraper Elevators (video).  Ever since I saw the episode on elevators of The Secret Life of Machines, I've found them interesting.

Ancient Raindrops.  I love science.

 

Linkmania

Copy of lost Da Vinci masterpiece recovered.

Pythons sued over Spamalot royalties.  Some people will do anything for money.

Skyfall fails tech test.  (Warning:  Spoilers)  I notice stuff like that, too.  But it's a movie.  Movies aren't realistic.

UK stand on teaching Creationism.  Can we do this too?

Australia bans cigarette branding.  Wish we could do this, too.  It seems Big Tobacco doesn't have the Australian government in its pocket as it does in the US.

Scientists detect 12 billion year old supernova.  We already have time travel.  It's called astronomy.

Easter Island statue walks

What we can learn from poop. 

Bendamustine as a treatment for indolent lymphomas.  This is pretty technical, but I still found it of interest since I'm receiving Bendamustine as part of my treatment.

More info about Bendamustine.

Links-n-Things

More links.

I didn't realize anyone thought so, but it seems chemobrain isn't just in your mind.  Thanks to
Jay Lake for the link.

Bizarrely big black hole baffles.  Don't blame me for the title.  From the BBC.

More from the Beeb:
Bendy phones the next big thing?  Do I need to be able to roll my phone up like a burrito?
Where's the beef?  Growing up in Texas, when the wind blew a certain way we could smell the feedlot.  They're stinky and disgusting.  I think skinnier cows is a good thing.  And cattle ranchers may just have to consider a different income producer.  Cattle ranches are huge contributors to deforestation and global warming. 
Shrinking America.  Time to rethink the tax base.
Candlelight theatre.  Sigh.  I wish I could go.
Is this the end of planned obsolence?  What happens to our throw-away culture when we run out of resources to make new stuff instead of fixing the stuff we already have.
You can't buy happiness.  Believe me, I've tried.  And now putting the garbage out depresses me.  I can't help wondering why we can't recycle everything.
Welcome to Hinglish.  No wonder we can't understand the tech support folks from India, and they can't understand us.

Linky Things

I've decided to start putting links and comments about them in my blog rather than on my Facebook page, as they tend to just get lost on FB's news feed.

#1 today is this link from the BBC about a Texas school district that is planning to give all students radio tracking ID badges so they can find out how many students are on campus daily and keep track of them, and what happened when one student refused to wear the badge. 

The above article provokes so many thoughts from me.  First is that the student's religious objection to the badge seems specious.  Why not just make a human rights objection?  Second is the ridiculous assertions by the representative of the civil rights organization.  Who seriously believes our government has the resources to constantly monitor every email, text and tweet of its citizens, in addition to keeping constant track of their whereabouts?  Even much more restrictive Communist countries aren't able to do that.  Contrary to popular opinion (and propaganda), China isn't able to monitor its citizens at that level of detail.

I'm also amused by the idea that we have any privacy now.  The only privacy anyone has currently is the privacy to be in your own home without anyone looking in the windows at you.  The idea that we can keep our electronic communications and personal activities private from government agencies or commercial interests is a fantasy.  My employer uses ID badges that can track when we use them, and also records keystrokes on our computers.  Why should a public school student have more privacy than me?

Next: The last ninja. , underground art in Paris - literally, and Not the Da Vinci Code.  The modern art of cryptography used on an 18th-century secret society's documents. Way more fun to read than a Dan Brown novel.

In other news, Jackie Chan announces that apparently he wasn't retired yet and is now retiring from acting.  We'll see how long that lasts.  Maybe he can do better at retirement than Jet Li did - Li's retirement lased for, what, a week?

My friend Anthony Pryor writes a very entertaining review of The Beastmaster on his Pit of Swords and Sorcery blog.

More links to come...