Misc

What’s up with this wacky weather?

james

What is up with the weather this year? I’m beginning to think Punxsutawney Phil should have predicted more than six more weeks of winter. We’re just a few days into spring and already, another nor’easter has come and gone. Yes, another. As much as I enjoy lots of snow and a frigid winter, when spring rolls around, I’m ready for Mother Nature to start warming things up. This year, she’s been hell-bent on keeping us guessing from one week to the next and terms like blizzard, nor’easter, and bomb cyclone, have become commonplace.

The first week of January, Winter Storm Grayson dumped 15 inches of snow on us. Since then, the daily high temperatures here in Ocean County, New Jersey have sporadically ranged from the teens to the high 70s. One week it’s shorts and t-shirt weather and the next we’re back in full-winter garb. As a result, everyone in our house has either had the flu or flu-like symptoms at one point or another. The constant back and forth between warm and cold weather even has Gracie, our friendly, furry feline, looking at us like, “Can I please move inside now? Please?”

This past week, the first week of spring, Winter Storm Toby delivered another foot of heavy, wet snow. The storm left our neighborhood without power for several hours. While I found the outage to be quite peaceful, not everyone in the house shared that perspective, especially not the kids. They were horrified at the idea of going without cable, the internet, or the Xbox for any extended period of time. It didn’t help that the power company’s notifications stated it would take more than 24 hours for the power to be restored. Fortunately, we ended up only going without power for seven hours and as you can imagine, a huge sense of relief was felt throughout the house.

It’s amazing how abruptly we’re reminded of all the things we take for granted on a daily basis during a power outage. Simple things like doing the laundry, washing dishes, taking a hot shower, turning on the heat, making coffee, charging iPhones, iPads, and laptops, or simply turning on a light. In the end, it was an opportunity to once again be grateful for the modern conveniences that we typically take for granted and that go unappreciated. Until the next nor’easter…

James

Monthly "Mise En Place"

Monthly “Mise En Place” – March 2018: Tax Time

james

For many Americans, April 15th accompanies a sense of impending doom. It’s a day of reckoning when Uncle Sam calls for his pound of flesh and when everyone must pay the piper. For some, April 15th is merely an annoying formality and something to be crossed off of their to do lists. For others, April 15th can’t come soon enough because they’re expecting refunds. Refunds that will be used for things like catching up on bills, taking a vacation, investing, making a down payment on a car or a house, etc.

Naturally, the unique circumstances of one’s financial picture determine which of these groups he or she falls into. With few exceptions, I’ve typically fallen into the third group. I prefer to file early and have almost always received a refund. At times, the refunds were relatively large and although I should have adjusted the amount being withheld from my paycheck, I didn’t. I simply enjoyed having Uncle Sam pay me instead of me paying him every time I went to H&R Block.

This year was different. For the first time, I needed a professional CPA. This is because I now own a business and because I moved to a different state last year. This means I had individual and business taxes to file in two separate states. This is also the first time I’ve had more-complicated taxes to file, so I wasn’t comfortable filing them myself.

The “taxes” item on my to do list stared at me every day for the past two months. Yesterday, after four hours of going through and making sure I had everything ready, I jumped in my car and headed out to meet my new CPA. On the way there, I felt like I had everything organized, neatly packaged, and ready to hand off. After sitting down at the large, round, wooden table in her office, I soon found myself repeating, “That’s why I’m here.” As organized as I had felt earlier, my need for a professional quickly emerged. A couple of times she asked for documents and as I sifted through what felt like a mountain of paperwork to find them, I began to feel disheveled. The prepared and organized version of me that first walked in had somehow evolved into a hot mess. I had made the mistake of bringing literally everything instead of only bringing the items I needed. While it seemed like a good idea yesterday morning, I began to think that yes, perhaps, less is more.

Fortunately, my new CPA was competent, patient, and helpful. She had been referred to me so I had no idea what to expect but I left feeling relieved and like I was in very good hands. Now that I think about it, I have no idea if I’ll have to pay Uncle Sam or if he’ll have to pay me but for now, I’m content simply knowing that someone else, someone much more knowledgeable about taxes than I am, is filing my taxes for me and has my back.

James

Today's Two Cents

Editing: The Hard Part

james

Only recently have I begun to seriously edit my book, and for the first time, I’m beginning to appreciate what is meant by the phrase, “Writing is easy, editing is hard.” I say seriously because all of the editing I’ve done up until now has been minor, on-the-fly stuff. When I wrote my first draft, I kicked out a few pages every hour. Now that I’m editing, it takes between one and two hours to get through a single page. This means a typical day of editing sees me through four or five pages.

Since this is my first book, I’m finding the process to be quite a learning experience. Not only is it a learning experience about writing and editing, it’s also a learning experience about myself. I’m beginning to recognize my tendencies and patterns and the way I think and feel about various aspects of the process. I’m also becoming acutely aware of how environmental factors and my mood can help or hinder productivity.

After I completed the first draft of my book, it sat shelved for nearly nine months. While I’m not sure I’d let that much time pass before beginning the editing process again, I believe it’s helped me view it from a more-objective perspective. For example, there are times when I will delete an entire paragraph or more. There’s no way I would have done that several months ago. It would have crushed me to delete anything immediately after completing the first draft.

During the nine months my book sat shelved, part of me wanted to begin editing it and another part wanted nothing more than to start a new book. I hadn’t expected to feel torn between what I really wanted to do (start a new project) and what I knew I must do (begin editing). It was like being forced to choose one child over another. Sure, I could have let it continue sitting on the shelf but since this is my first book, there was no way I could seriously consider moving on before seeing it through. Whether it was the desire to complete my first book or the desire to begin a new one, it provided the motivation I needed to get back to editing.

Currently, I’m up to my neck in editing it. Any thoughts or ideas I previously had about the editing process, have long since flown the coop. It’s exhausting, frustrating, enjoyable, surprising, mind-numbing, and rewarding. It’s also damned hard work. Some days I’m very productive and others feel like I’m taking two steps back for every one forward. It’s a process I’m learning to embrace because I’m fully aware that once I finish this first, full-edit of my book, I will have to rinse and repeat until I’m 100% certain it’s ready to be released upon the world all on its own. Well, maybe 99%. 🙂

James

Misc

Gun Control and The Second Amendment

james

Last week’s horrific tragedy in Parkland, Florida has made me reconsider my own views on gun control and gun ownership. I grew up in southern and central Kentucky where it wasn’t unusual to see gun racks hanging in the rear windows of pickup trucks with a couple of guns on them. Farmers used them for killing or chasing away varmints, hunters used them for hunting, and typically, kids used them to shoot cans, bottles, or whatever other inanimate objects they could find. In stark contrast to today, guns were not considered a great danger to society and had a very useful and specific purpose.

As children, we were taught that guns were part of our American culture. Boys were, and still are, oftentimes given guns as a rite of passage for Christmas and/or birthday gifts. We played cowboys and Indians, held mock battles with toy soldiers, and built forts where we pretended to defend ourselves from invaders. Even as kids, we understood that more powerful weapons meant greater odds of winning. So naturally, because they had guns, most kids wanted to be the cowboys instead of the Indians. Ironically, I always wanted to be the Indians. I thought it was more interesting playing the Indians and was determined to eventually beat those darn cowboys even without guns.

My Exposure to Guns.

Like a lot of Americans, the first gun I ever shot was a Daisy BB gun. I couldn’t believe how many BBs it could hold. It was great, you simply poured them in, cocked it once, aimed, and shot. After shooting at trees, cans, and bottles, I soon became bored and began looking for more interesting things to shoot. I aimed at birds, squirrels, fish, frogs, chipmunks, bugs, and, when no one was looking, the occasional light at the top of telephone poles. The BB gun wasn’t powerful enough to do any real damage and the BBs were more of an annoyance than anything to the critters on the receiving end. After a while, like most things, it wasn’t enough. Inevitably, the BB gun was set aside for a pellet gun. The pellet gun was even more fun to shoot because it could shoot both pellets and BBs. It was also an air gun that became more powerful the more you pumped it. Since the pellet gun was more powerful than the BB gun, it could actually kill small birds and animals. To a young boy, the ability to kill anything brought with it an enticing and unnatural sense of power. It felt like you could conquer the world with just a pellet gun. Once bitten by the gun bug, there was no going back.

Naturally, the older we got, we continued to be exposed to other, more powerful guns. The .22 caliber long rifle followed the pellet gun, the .410 gauge shotgun followed the .22, the 20 gauge followed the .410 gauge, and the 12 gauge followed the 20 gauge. Along the way, we were also exposed to hunting rifles like the .270, the .308, and the 30-06. Then, there were revolvers and pistols. Most households had at least a BB gun or a pellet gun, a .22 long rifle, a shotgun, a revolver or pistol, or some combination of these. They were all fun to shoot but I personally enjoyed shooting long guns because of their ability to shoot accurately at much further distances.

Guns for Sport and Hunting.

Up until my late 20s, I had only hunted a few times in my life. For whatever reason, the hunting bug didn’t bite me until my adult years. Initially, I only bow hunted. After several years of bow hunting, I decided I wanted to try gun hunting. In Maryland, where I lived at the time, the only weapons legal for hunting deer (depending on the time of season) were either a bow, a crossbow, a shotgun, or a muzzleloader. As my interest in hunting with other weapons grew, I went to Bass Pro Shops and purchased both a shotgun and a muzzle loader. Eventually, I decided to try crossbow hunting so, I bought one of those too.

Each of the bows and guns I’ve owned served the specific and practical purpose of hunting. That said, a few years later, I returned to Bass Pro Shops to purchase a pistol. This time it was different. Instead of hunting, my justification for owning a pistol was home and personal defense. Clearly, I hoped I would never have to use it for that purpose. After a background check and mandatory waiting period, Bass Pro Shops called to let me know my pistol was ready to be picked up. Soon after purchasing a pistol, I joined an indoor range and began shooting regularly to both improve my marksmanship and for sport. It wasn’t unusual to go through 100-200 rounds each time I went to the range. It was fun and I enjoyed it.

Although I spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps where I learned how to respect and safely and properly handle, combat weapons, I’d never spent time shooting or practicing with a pistol. Nearly all of the shooting I did in the Marine Corps was with the M16 (nearly identical to the AR15 used in several school shootings). The thought of someone using a weapon designed for combat, such as an AR15, to slaughter completely vulnerable and innocent children, and in school where they should be safe, is shocking and extremely infuriating. There’s no excuse for it. None.

Gun Control and The Second Amendment.

I don’t recall ever hearing about a mass shooting when I was young. Of course, there was the occasional news of someone who had committed suicide or someone who was accidentally shot while hunting or handling a gun. Such news always stunned us and would generate discussions around what might drive a person to suicide or the circumstances of a particular shooting incident. Fast forward to today and we’ve become numb with news of suicides, accidental shootings, and even mass shootings. They have become a regular occurrence and even expected.

My experience with guns, shooting, and hunting are not unique. Like millions of Americans, I have owned or been around guns for most of my life and while I’m a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” I do not adhere to the idea that the Second Amendment allows for every type of weapon and certainly not for anyone incapable of safely, responsibly, and legally owning and operating one.

I enjoy hunting and shooting as much as anyone but we (myself included) really must reconsider the way we think about guns and gun control here in America. It’s astonishing to think that we’ve already had several school shootings this year and it’s not even March yet. It’s also astonishing that the types of weapons being used are literally combat weapons. This is not something we can ignore. This is not something we can continue sweeping under the rug or kicking down the road. Kids shouldn’t have to go to school every day and wonder if there will be a shooting or if they will make it home alive. School must be and feel like a safe environment for children, parents, and teachers. Parents shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of their children at school. It’s shameful that we’ve failed to protect our children and that our government has failed to provide the resources and legislation required to really make a difference. It’s just as shameful that many lawmakers have allowed bipartisan politics to come before the safety of our Nation’s children.

Making a Difference.

The time for change is now. I’ve been inspired and moved by the passion and determination displayed by the thousands of students across the country in response to the Parkland shooting. It’s only been a week since the tragedy occurred but if the last week is any indication of their will and determination to affect real change, we may finally start seeing some real results. I’m hopeful and cautiously optimistic that this is the case. It’s imperative that each and every one of us, as voters, use the power of our vote to elect people to office who will address gun control issues head on and who will not pander to the NRA or the pro-gun lobby groups. It’s absurd that we’ve allowed groups like the NRA to become so influential that they’re able to decide which gun control measures become law and which ones don’t.

It’s literally up to us, the American people, to either continue allowing them to hijack the gun control debate or to use our votes to completely remove them from the equation. If we continue allowing the pro-gun lobby and the NRA to control the gun debate, we will never find our way back to a world in which our children are truly safe. You want to make our world a safer and better place? Vote and vote wisely. It’s on us… each and every one of us.

James

Monthly "Mise En Place"

Monthly “Mise En Place” – February 2018: The Time for Course Correction

james

February is the shortest month of the year yet, it’s a month that leaves us feeling like a lot has just happened with much more still to come. We’ve finally gotten over the holiday and New Year hump. The Super Bowl comes and goes. Valentine’s Day sneaks up on us. We anxiously await March Madness. This year, we even have the 2018 Winter Olympics to watch with the rest of the world. February torments us with the possibility of warmer weather before yanking us back into freezing temperatures. Unfortunately, it’s also brought along one of the worst flu seasons in years.

As hectic as it sounds, February also provides a useful respite for us to catch our breath and regroup. Following January’s New Year’s resolutions, February is the perfect opportunity for an objective, reality check to get us back in gear. Hopefully, our serotonin levels are on the rise thanks to resolutions that, naturally, included a renewed, positive outlook on the future and a healthy and invigorating diet and exercise regimen. However, that may not be the case for some who find themselves feeling down before the New Year even has a chance to get out of the gate.

Perhaps their resolutions were too ambitious or not ambitious enough. Perhaps they were too vague or too limiting. Maybe they no longer feel like the right resolutions a month later. There’s nothing that says we can’t adjust or replace them. Who cares if we’ve gone off course or if we haven’t been as successful or as productive as we’d hoped? Sure, it can be disheartening not to live up to our own expectations but it beats the alternative of not trying or even having goals. Instead of getting down on ourselves or worse yet, chucking our resolutions out altogether, simply adjust and realign them as necessary.

Resolutions, priorities, and goals should not be static ideals. Rather, they should be treated like living organisms that require constant care and feeding. Their care and feeding should also be adjusted as they evolve. Recently, I had to adjust my own New Year’s resolutions because of slight changes in priorities (not goals) over the past month. After an in-depth and objective review, I quickly realized a realignment was necessary. Now, nearly halfway through February, I feel they’re back on a course that more effectively ensures I reach my goals.

James

* Note – February is also Black History Month and American Heart Month.