Becoming the Object Lesson Guy

So with the end of the year also came the unfortunate fact that I am now unemployed. Nothing evil happened (unless you want to call government shutdowns and sequestrations cutting aerospace programs evil), but I'm on my own now with only so much money in the "rainy day fund."

What to do? Well, anyone who knows me understands that I've been trying to get back to Orlando, Florida, since I left there. I left the area because I couldn't find work in my chosen career, aerospace technical writing. As it turns out, after ten years away from sunny Florida, I found myself in a similar situation. I figured if I was going to start over again, I might as well start over and struggle back where I'm happy.

Over the past few days I tried getting an apartment. This turned out to be problematic. Apartment complex owners all have the same application and background check process, and they all want the same thing: proof of income 2.5 times the monthly rent. I'll probably get there eventually, but I'm not there NOW.

The options were:

• Try to rent from private owners who didn't use the Standard Apartment Application Form.
• Try to sublet from someone.
• Crash with friends.
• Crash with family.

The first three options cost money. The fourth did not. QED, at the tender age of 45, I'll be moving back with my father and stepmother temporarily. I've got a house-sitting gig in March, but for a little more than a month, I'll be one of those infamous boomerang children. My goal is to NOT be that guy for an extended period, so I'll be making the rounds, working the room, pressing the flesh, whatever it takes to get back on the employment rolls. It offends me to have to apply for unemployment. This will be the first time in my life, and I'd honestly prefer not to. I didn't apply in Alabama until December and then I did it wrong. Frustrated with the Byzantine paperwork, I've given up on filing here and will try again in the Sunshine State...unless I get work, then I'll retract that application so quickly you'll be able to hear the sonic boom from the government wallet snapping shut.

Anyhow, here I am: working on Plan B. Or C. I've lost track. But if you're reading this and you're employed, allow me to be your Object Lesson for the day. If you haven't start setting aside a liquid account for a "rainy day fund," do so now. This is different from your retirement savings or your checking account. Ideally, it's something that's a CD or money market account that can be liquidated quickly if you need it but otherwise is doing something useful for you and not just sitting there idly tempting you. And make the fund 6-9 months. I had a fund good for 3-4 months, which has been extended by occasional paychecks the last couple of months, but it can't last forever, so I've got to go back to basics: 1) get income flowing again, 2) reduce expenses.

2014 is going to be interesting. Stay tuned.

Potpourri CL

I haven't done one of these in awhile, but I'll keep the links to a minimum, for your sanity's sake, and mine.

Science fiction writer Charles Stross has a provocative essay on why space exploration is inherently incompatible with the libertarianism that seems to pervade so much of the pro-space community.  It's not that I disagree with most of Stross's individual points, but I think he's missing a crucial aspect of the appeal of space exploration, even among non-libertarian white males, which is simply the romantic notion many human beings have of going "where no one has gone before," which includes more than a little "frontier narrative."

I found an intriguing paper via Facebook that links creativity to law-breaking. I have a very long response to this paper in the works, but I'm a little on the sleepy side to finish it this evening. The truth is out there.

From Lin: Interesting conflict of values in the whole "green power" debate: if those giant windmills kill hundreds or thousands of bats, birds, etc., which faction of the environmental movement wins that debate?

From Karen: a personal website for one of folks who designs cool things for Hollywood.

From Martin: a wiki for those interested in commercial space.

Oh, here's a shock (sarcasm font ON): Huntsville has been rated among the top 10 geekiest cities in America.

From Antoinette: celebrity commentaries on the stupid stuff you see on TV.

From OpenCulture:

• An interview with Jorge Luis Borges recorded before the eminent SF writer died.
• Harvard University has released an open-source program to help scholars create project-related web sites in a hurry.

From Jerry Pournelle: some remarks on the Tea Party movement and its effect on the American political scene, as well as other matters.

From Jim P.: The top ten human-hating ecologists.

From Mom: a time-lapse video showing the "progress" of unemployment across the country. Note the "bright" spots in the underpopulated Great Plains and just outside Washington, DC. If those are the choices...think I'll tough it out here in Huntsville. The taxes are lower and the weather's warmer.

I'm probably going to lose my battle against my buying urges on this one: a Star Wars sun shade for the dashboard.

From Janel (a.k.a. FemiFist): some suggested links if you need to do web tracking of your marketing efforts.

And I think that'll about do it. Have a good week, everyone. Keep the chaos down to a minimum on your end, and I'll try to do the same on mine, 'kay?

Book Review: Escape from Cubicle Nation

I found this book via an actual friend (as in, know him in person, not just electronically) on Twitter, and I was intrigued by its punchy title. Escape from Cubicle Nation is written by Pamela Slim, an energetic "escapee" from corporate America who became a consultant for big businesses in Silicon Valley before turning her attention toward teaching individuals how to become entrepreneurs like her. And she's not fooling around: this book is definitely for people who are ready to strike out bravely on their own and turn their lifelong dreams into profitable businesses. If you're not up to it, she wisely advises her readers to stay where you are. It's not so much that starting your own business isn't for the timid, though that is certainly true; but Slim makes it clear that when corporate America turns on you in some fashion or starts to make your life miserable, "Hating your job intensely is not a business plan."

As it happens, I'm more of a corporate type than an entrepreneur. For the most part, I like working for large organizations and letting other, more interested people handle the bookkeeping, lawyering, insurance, and other stuff that doesn't fall under the realm of "communications." But all is not lost, according to Slim. More on that in a moment.

What won me over with this book was the author's "Open Letter to CXO's [chief executive officers] Across the Corporate World," which was her manifesto for why she decided to "take your best, your brightest, most creative, hard-working and passionate employees and sneak them out the hallways of your large corporation so that they are free of the yoke of lethargy, oppression, and resentment." What follows is a series of suggestions for how to make drastic (but unlikely) changes in American corporate culture, such as "Teach people how to get rich like you," "Don't ask for your employees' input if you are not going to listen to it," "Ditch the PowerPoint when yoiu have town hall meetings," "Focus on the work people do, not how or when they do it," and my favorite guffaw, "Forbid people to work while they are on vacation." Those might be fun changes to see...at some point.

Something became clear to me about one third of the way through the book: Slim's advice applies to a very specific, though admittedly large, segment of the American workforce: white-collar workers working in positions with high technical skills. Some jobs just aren't exportable. The first example that popped into my head was a line assembly worker at GM or Boeing, which is a job you really can't just pick up and do anywhere in the world, like a couple of her examples of successful entrepreneurs. You need to go where the work is. Of course those folks could start up their own machine shop, perhaps, but that involves investments in heavy equipment that isn't very portable or transferrable.

I don't say this to be critical, but Slim's emphasis on portability will not always resonate with people who want to open their own flower shop or set up some sort of business that requires a physical inventory. The choir she's preaching to is mostly folks who use their brains and computers to get their jobs done. The reason this emphasis is unfortunate is that her readership could have been broader if she'd focused on just starting one's own business. A lot of her advice does apply to any type of business, as she addresses all the practical concerns a potential entrepreneur needs to consider before starting. However, some of her advice, references, or analogies might fall on deaf ears because not everyone is operating in a corporate office environment.

All that said, the rest of the book rings true for me, and the author moves along briskly (as opposed to the science fiction book I've been slogging through on my Kindle for months, I got through Escape from Cubicle Nation in about a week). She covers not just the practical concerns of running a business, but also the social aspects of entrepreneurship, including overcoming doubters among your friends and resistance from your significant other, especially if you've enjoyed a great deal of success and stability in your corporate life. I appreciated her balance of encouragement and "reality checks" throughout the book. The bottom line for Slim, as you might suspect, is that you have to keep your eye on the ball and love what you're doing, or you'll crash and burn. More importantly, if you do crash and burn, you have to be willing to get back up again and work your backup plan(s).

So after reading this book, am I ready to jump out on my own? Actually, no. Escape from Cubicle Nation is not something I'm eagerly craving at this point in my life, and I'm honest enough with myself to know that I don't want to do all the paperwork entailed in running my own business. Plus--and this is probably most important--I don't have a specific thing that so sets me on fire that I think I can only do it well by starting my own business. At some point, maybe. In which case, I will return to this book, and reread its lessons, because Pamela Slim has all the bases covered.

Potpourri CXIII

Today's little doses of the different:

The U.S. Science & Engineering Festival, the first national science festival, will be happening in Washington, DC, October 23-24, 2010.

From Dar, Data in the Cloud from Dallas to Mars. This article on the blog Shepherd's Pi talks about Microsoft's latest search engine system, which appears to be a sort of hyper-Google, designed both to compete with Google and to do things they can't do, like assign meanings or draw trends from very large sets of data.

From Yohon, a link to a new science/space publisher.

From ABC News, of all places, a report that jobs the Obama administration claims to have saved or created exist in congressional districts that don't even exist. I'm shocked, shocked...

From Doc:

• A link showing what Stormtroopers do on their days off. Fantastic!
• The T-shirt of the week from Cafepress.com

Want to be a Martian? NASA has a web site for that.

From NASAWatch (really?): Help choose the best public service announcement in support of NASA.

If you're interested in the works of an honest-to-gosh Rocket Scientist, check out the web site of Les Johnson, a very smart fellow whom I've had the pleasure of chatting with, reading books by, and participating on a panel at a sci-fi convention with. Les is an excellent writer because he is also an excellent and patient teacher--he takes the time to explain very difficult things in words that illuminate without insulting the reader. These are all good skills to have.

From AIAA:

• Richard Branson, founder and owner of the Virgin family of companies, wants Virgin Galactic to eventually fly tourists around the Moon. Great, if he can do it and I could afford it.
• A UCF professor was profiled in the Chronicle of Higher Education for his efforts to promote zero-gravity experiments on privately built suborbital rockets.

And that'll about do it for now.

A Step Closer to Socialized Medicine

So late last night the House Democrats managed to pass their version of nationalized health care in a 220-215 vote--a squeaker, but still a win. I cannot emphasize enough what a bad idea this is. This particular bill, in any case. There are ways to ensure that every American and legal immigrant has access to health care. Vouchers--payouts, coupons, checks, call 'em what you will--would be easy and much cheaper. And the legislation would be very short, as it would only require proof of no insurance, a dedicated source of funding, and a sunset clause for individuals who manage to get a job or their own insurance. You do NOT need additional taxes on new medical devices. You do NOT need penalties, fines, or jail time for people who do not WANT insurance. You do not need business-killing regulations covering illegal immigrants, when hospitals nationwide have already closed their doors because they were already compassionately covering people without insurance. You do not need this government "guaranteeing" supposedly low-cost insurance. They can't do it. This is the same government that...

• Continually increases the cost of college educations.
• Spent the Social Security trust fund/"lock box" in the world's biggest Ponzi scheme.
• Despite $5 trillion spent on the "war on poverty," has somehow managed not to eliminate poverty.
• Cannot keep a space exploration program funded.
• Creates $400 hammers and $600 toilet seats for the Department of Defense.

The point is that NOTHING the government has done has been made cheaper, and in fact is very often made more expensive just by its presence in the economy. In the name of doing something for one segment of the public, our government will take away the freedom of others. Note again that if this bill passes, you will be arrested and thrown into prison if you do not have health insurance.

There are, in fact, people who deliberately choose not to have health insurance but have enough money to pay doctors directly as they go. Others are young and stupid and think they don't need it. Others would rather spend money on cable TV or nights at the bar. So if someone does not have health insurance by choice, it's none of the government's business.

It's time to rethink a government policy--led by our president and championed by his allies in Congress--that says government has the right to force you to do something for your own good. Now I know someone will say, "Yeah, but government forces you not to commit murder, steal, etc." Not the same at all. We are talking about optional activities. Items that fall under the umbrella of freedom and things not in the Constitution. Freedom used to connote the freedom to use it badly. Consider the idjits who win Lotto and go broke buying multiple cars and houses. They might be stupid, but they've got the money and they're free to use it as they see fit if it doesn't harm anyone.

If government can dictate that everyone gets health coverage, they can tell you that you must live your life in a prescribed "healthy" manner to reduce their costs. "What's the difference between that and businesses?" someone might ask. It's really simple, and this is why I trust businesses infinitely more than governments: a private insurance firm will give you a discount for healthy living (for example, my insurance company reimburses my health club membership up to $150 a year). If government is telling you to live healthier to be elligible for insurance and you don't, they throw you in prison. Can I make this any clearer? You do not want the government to have this much power over you, even in the name of "doing something for you."

And again, this WILL cost more. So Washington will raise taxes to pay for this. Except that raising taxes takes more money out of the economy that otherwise would be used for private investment and spending. You might recall that there's a recession on--10.2% unemployment and rising. If companies have to pay for part of this healthcare mandate by the employee, it makes sense for them to have a few employees as possible. Therefore, they will NOT hire more people and unemployment will stay high or increase. This is not going to help the broader economy, it will hurt very badly.

Call your senators and write them. Stop this. Please. I intend to. Repeatedly.

Potpourri XCI

Your first bit of thought provovking content for the evening: a Foreign Policy Research Institute review of Gulf War I that is worth reading.

Norman Augustine was interviewed on NPR recently. His responses are still vague, so we'll just have to wait and see...maybe we'll know something by Wednesday.

What did you get out of the space program? Here are some examples.

What is the actual unemployment rate? Depends on how you count who qualifies as "unemployed." While we've hit a new low in expectations when we see it as a positive sign that the unemployment increase has dropped, the President might not be out of the woods quite yet.

A Missouri car dealership is giving away a free AK-47 with each truck purchase. It must be true: I saw it on CNN (via YouTube). This is a little different from Cash for Clunkers.

Redistribution and Taxation in America

The Tax Foundation recently summarized a report by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The report points out that the U.S. has the most "progressive" tax systems in the economically developed world. Progressive taxation is simply defined as the more you make, the more you pay. The left in this country often admires the social welfare states of Europe as models for America.

Why, then, is the left not satisfied if America taxes its rich people more than Europe? Is it because our unemployment rate is lower than France? Germany? the EU overall? Is it because, despite our government having the largest budget of any nation on Earth, one that exceeds the record profits ExxonMobil made by more than 200 times, it still isn't big enough? Is it because we are not as politically correct, or that our electorate is center-right instead of center-left or far left? Is it because our government's level of social and economic control isn't enough? One can only wonder.

I happen to like capitalism--not unfettered, not utterly unregulated, but not owned or controlled by the government. Governments exist to spread resources more or less equally to soothe a restless populace. Capitalism exists to allow individuals to compete and produce new goods and services at the lowest costs and highest profits possible. Simple supply and demand determine what those costs and profits will be. In the realm of government, costs and profits can be and are regulated, not according to supply and demand, but according a nebulous definition of fairness, with that definition changing constantly, depending on the political priorities of the ruling party. When government gets too involved in capitalism, you end up with crony capitalism, as happened at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Once government starts trying to pick winners and losers, either through political favors or "fairness," it inevitably becomes less "fair," more expensive, and much more intrusive.

What bothers me about the two presidential candidates (Obama more directly than McCain, but McCain is just as willing to interfere with the market) is that neither of them has my full confidence that they will restore some sense of rationality, independence, or competition to the market. Everything is becoming "too big to be allowed to fail," from banks to insurance companies to car makers and airlines, so government "must" step in to "save" these businesses. This salvation comes in the form of a government bailout, which must be paid for somehow out of the public treasury, which in turn must come from the taxpayers.

If businesses fail due to bad management and the government partially bails them out, their employees become unemployed, and they might or might not find jobs. The unemployed who remain unemployed do not pay taxes and collect unemployment insurance from the government, becoming a double "cost" to the government. So then one must ask: where is all the money supposed to come from to save future businesses and all the other stuff the two candidates want to do?

It has been suggested to me that we could cut the military. Swell. As long as we go bipartisan on this issue and start cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits. Or maybe cut the Department of Education, which spends more and more for worse and worse results. Or we could be seriously suicidal with our nation's future and cut federal infrastructure spending--roads, basic science research, and space.

Another suggestion I've heard is to cut the capital gains and corporate tax rates--America has some of the highest tax rates in those two categories, too. Might as well try it at this point; if the Fed lowers the interest rate any more, they're going to start reaching negative numbers. And I love it when I hear that "tax cuts for the rich" line. Having already established that we tax the rich more than anybody and (in a previous posting) that 50% or more of the American public invests in the stock market, why should the American people be offended by efforts to help businesses? Where do they think the value of their pension funds or 401(k)s was coming from? If the health of businesses improves due to tax cuts, and millions of Americans' retirement accounts immediately increase in value, that's not just "trickle down" economics--that's a direct benefit to 50% of the American public!

Never mind. I can just wait for Obama to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, sink the economy further, and watch the government take over even more of the private sector so I can wearily say, "I told you so." But don't think I'll do it with any sort of pleasure. It's my country, too.