Well, I suppose what I really mean is that little things can get out of control and that then sets other things into motion. It should have been fairly simple. In the usual manner, I had a number of tasks planned before we left on our trip, some planned to take care of the morning before our afternoon flight, then a string that I needed to jump on as soon as we returned home. That was of course after we had a full and productive trip jammed tightly with activities – all of which were pleasant and involved family, friends, and fun. Ah yes – such were the plans. The problem with simple colds is that I, like many, choose to believe that they really only last about three to five days and the truth is that they last closer to 10-14. I finally looked it up out of sheer frustration. It’s the first 3-4 days when you are the most contagious. How contagious ever got translated into cured is a probably a combination of wishful thinking and advertisements that show folks up and doing well after taking pick-your-product. And then of course, there is the distinct possibility that now that I have tipped into that over-60 age category that perhaps my body doesn’t respond to things in quite the same way as before. Gee, wouldn’t that be a big surprise?

At any rate, what would have been a truly terrific trip was still terrific in the sense of things that we did providing that I didn’t pull a Typhoid Mary (which I shouldn’t have based on the calculations). Now, of course, I’m behind on several critical tasks that I need to make up which means I need to do a little re-prioritizing which I generally dislike doing. I mean, seriously, I do not have time for this nonsense. And that leads me back around to the little things – the reality is that I have been pushing myself very hard with several parallel projects and that probably impacted my resistance which allowed what could have been a relatively simple cold to hit me harder than it would have otherwise. In either case, I’ve been a bit of a mess for the past several days and hopefully am now ready to get back on track and will just have to admit that the recovery time isn’t likely to be shortened any. Now, do I still have a can of chicken soup in the pantry?

 Okay, let me explain that my objections to jury duty have absolutely nothing to do with not wanting to sit on a jury. I am fine with fulfilling this duty, just as I faithfully vote. It’s part and parcel of our system. The problem is that the courthouses are deep in Miami and the traffic is terrible. Even trying to use the Metro is a hassle because Miami has the worst Metro I’ve ever encountered for a city of it’s size. If there was a courthouse near the South Dade Government Center, that would at least cut back on the almost 3 hours of commuting that I had yesterday.

Anyway, with that said, of the six times that I have been pulled in for jury duty, there was an interesting addition to the initial instructions that are issued to the very large jury pool before groups are selected (or not) to go to the various courtrooms. The new and fairly lengthy part of the instructions has to do with electronic devices and social media. It isn’t something that I had thought about, but the instructions do make sense. Each judge will determine the degree to which cell phones, tablets, computers, etc., must be silenced/turned off. Photographs and recordings are prohibited. If selected for a jury, jurors may not research or access information about the case electronically. The social media part was a prohibition against emailing, tweeting, blogging, using Facebook or any other form of post to identify the specific case or comment on it. There has always been the prohibition against discussing the case while it is in progress and it’s logical that must now extend to the electronic communications that are so prevalent. It would never occur to me to do a post about a case, but I do see how it can be a potential problem. I wasn’t selected for the jury by the way, although it was an all day process to get through all the steps.

You know how there can be situations and you ask yourself, “How did I get into this?” Not that it’s terrible, just something that you really didn’t see coming? That’s when all those sayings kick in about “hindsight being twenty-twenty”; “don’t cry over spilt milk”, “learning a lesson the hard way”; “it could have been worse”; etc.

In fact, what are all those other sayings? What’s your favorite? Like I said, this is not for one of those times when you seriously messed up, just one where things don’t turn out the way you were expecting and there’s nothing you can do to change it. I have to figure out how much “pouting time” this deserves, too. I’ve already done a rant, so that part’s over with.

No, this isn’t exactly about math. As I have mentioned in previous posts, math and I did not have a good relationship, and while in retrospect and with new understanding of the mechanics of learning I know that aspect of my schooling could have been reversed, there is also a great deal of water under that bridge, the horses are long gone from the barn, etc., In what may sound odd, this post is actually about what charities you decide to give to. I have previously addressed this issue coming from a slightly different angle.

The percentage of revenue a charity spends on their direct programs is the key component for me. There have to be administrative costs and there have to be fund raising costs since getting volunteers to raise funds is very difficult and I don’t like to do that myself. However, as always happens in capitalism (and anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I support capitalism), fundraising has become its own business and it is big business. The calls that you get from professional fundraisers are no different from any other telemarketer except these are for charities rather than to sell you a timeshare (or whatever). And since most of those companies operate on a percentage of what they bring in, you can understand that their reluctance to take no from you and their refusal to remove you from a calling or mailing list is not only because they are asking for donations for a worthy cause. So if you have a certain amount that you set aside to give to charities and you have reached that threshold, don’t feel guilty with the heartrending script that is being read to you. The individual making the call probably does agree it’s a worthy cause, but remember that like any sales’ commission, the more you give to the charity, the more the fundraising company earns, too. Their “job” is to get as large a donation from you as they can and it can be especially tempting during the holidays to give extra and there is always that end-of-year push. Give what you can and understand the attempted “guilt trip” for what it is.