Jim Putnam - Thinking Through My Fingers

Sunday Evening

I haven't done my homework yet, so this post may not be as long as I'd like.  Homework is a word that raises a defensive mechanism in my attitude, and it probably shouldn't.

I've found the Census Bureau training to be very inefficient.  There doesn't seem to have been much pre-planning, and there is definitely very little time allocated to training the persons who do the training.  I don't mean that as negatively as it may seem.  Let me attempt to explain.

All the people out in the field are volunteers, from the office manager in charge of three counties down to the listers.  Volunteers trained the Crew Leaders (CL), CLs train the Crew Leader Assistants (CLA, my job), and both CL and CLA train the listers.  Listers are the people who will be going to every address to be sure that it is mapped and listed.

The Bureau obviously couldn't know whether these volunteers have any teaching experience at all, so they wrote manuals that are supposed to be used to train, and then they demand that the trainers read the manuals verbatim.

The Hand Held Computers (HHC) used in the field are very sophisticated.  The manuals are designed to teach the HHC, and they do a reasonable job.  It just seems to me that the sequence of training has the CL and CLA moving through the manuals in a disorienting manner.  It almost seems that whomever wrote the manuals, and therefore the training program, didn't know much about how the job is done in the field.  There is entirely too much flip-flopping through the chapters, not progressing steadily through the way the job is normally done.

I have in my professional past both written computer based training and the manuals to accompany them.  I've trained people for years, and enjoy it.  Tomorrow, I begin a week of training in a manner I detest, standing before a group of 16 individuals and reading a manual to them.  If I get past this week I know that I'll enjoy working with these same individuals as we do the job.  But honestly, I have a level of dread about this next week.  I'll press on, but I hope I can refrain from telling some higher level person - higher that is than ny CL - exactly how poorly I think they have designed thie training program.

Reporting for Duty

As a retired military NCO, Reporting for Duty is a familiar phrase, though admittedly it hasn't been a part of my life for more years now than it ever was.  But, once more, after an extended absence I am reporting for blogging duty.  And incidentally, also reporting for duty each morning in a full time job that will be a part of my life for at least the next three months.

I volunteered to be a part of the US Census Bureau decentennial census, and have been selected as Crew Leader Assistant for the canvassing phase.  In this phase, we verify every, and I do mean every, address and location that is, or could be, living quarters.

The past week I have been training for this job.  Next week, along with the Crew Leader I will be training a crew to perform the canvass.  Our crew has responsibility for a large portion of the county I live in.  It promises to be an exciting job, and one I believe I will enjoy and be good at.

Right now, the only problem is acclimating myself again, after five years of retired life and work ethic, to return to a real job.  I'm finding the work aspect interesting, and the old skills aren't completely dessicated, but getting my sleep habits to readjust is very difficult.  Last night, I wanted to watch the UNC-Gonzaga NCAA Tournament game in the round of 16 finalists.  I slept sitting on the couch through most of the second half.  UNC won, and I am happy, but I didn't see a lot of it.

I hope that this next week will be easier, and that I'll be able to better use my time and be able to blog regularly.  There are numerous interesting aspects of politics, some religion, and there's even canvassing for the Census that I can write about.  There are some restrictions about the Census, but I'm not going close to any of them, or at least I don't intend to write anything that  violates the Confidentiality clause I signed.

I've been coming home very tired, and unable to find the energy to write.  I hope that I'll find time and energy to write more now that I've reported in.

The Right Mistake

My last post was about the book that gives this one its title, "The Right Mistake: The Further Philosophical Investigations of Socrates Fortlow" [2008, BasicCivitas, New York].  In that post, I wrote "The ideas, biases uncovered, prejudices, and questions about myself raised may require some time to settle, but this is a book that every person should read and take to heart."  I'm not sure there has been any settling; actually, I've returned to the book and still cannot decide exactly how to respond to it.

The subtitle of the book, whether determined by Walter Mosley or his publisher, is interesting.  Truthfully, it doesn't have any philosophical investigations by either Socrates Fortlow or Walter Mosley.  Instead, the book lays out a series of ideas, prescriptions actually, for moving toward improving race relations and the human condition of us all.  On the other hand, isn't that what philosophy is at its core, a set of ideas or prescriptions that will, if adopted, improve the human condition?

In my return to the book, I found something I hadn't noticed on my first reading.  Mosley dedicates this book to "Harry Belafonte and his virtual Big Nickel; www.thegatheringforjustice.org"  I typed that in, and was transported here: http://gatheringforjustice.ning.com/, a site I have bookmarked and will return often.

That dedication and the web site give another dimension to the book.  Mosley has Socrates develop a meeting place in a house that is encased in hammered and treated tin siding.  Socrates calls the house the big nickel, and he uses it as a meeting house, nameing it the Big Nickel School.

These are wondrous meetings.  The first meeting has Socrates, a gambler, a lady lawyer, a street drug dealer, a social worker, a Muslim, a well known black woman singer, a Mexican-American carpenter, a black girl, a Chinese restaurant owner, and a Jewish rag-picker.  Over time the gathering grows.

As an aside, I found the vocation of the Jewish man very interesting.  Another book that means a lot to me had a Jewish rag-picker as its central character. ["The Greatest Miracle In The World", Og Mandino, 1975, Frederick Fell Publisher].  I had never believed I could make a difference in the world until I read this book.  There is no better self-help book ever written including the Bible, in my opinion at least.

Returning to "The Right Mistake", through the Big Nickel School, Socrates Fortlow brings people together to discuss ideas.  To me, it's interesting that the police and justice system cannot believe that is all that occurs.  They are invaded several times by police searching for drugs and guns.  The meetings gain recognition beyond the city, and several similar groups are begun in other cities.

Walter Mosley is making a statement in this book, one even clearer and more pointed than in his previous book, "Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned", [1998, Walter Mosley, W. W. Norton & Co, New York].

Perhaps I find this book so good is because of its meanings to me.  I said that there are ideas and biases uncovered about myself, and I suppose that calls for explanation.

Toward the end of the book, Socrates has a meeting of the black peole that are attending the meetings, even though by this time there are several non-black people.  In the separate meeting, he calls them to "talk about bein' black." (page 213)  Mosley is, I believe, writing for the black person in the discussion that these people have, but it also applies to all of us.

"So you sayin' that bein' black or believin' you black is like some kinda security blanket?" William George asked.

"Absolutely," Socrates replied.  "Bein' black is what explains everything to us - why we get love or don't, why we made it through a bad time or why we don't make enough money, why our chirren is sick or our friends get killed.  Good or bad we got an explanation.  But you know it was all made up in a dream they havin' right now. An' it ain't just us, baby.  It's Jews and Arabs, Christians and Buddhists, gays and straights, tall men and short ones.  Some of 'em get together and some run away.  Black people, it seems to me, do both.  We love ourselves and hate each other, we fight to the death for the number one spot in the white man's dream and then we congratulate the winner."

"But, Socco," Mustafa Ali said, "If there ain't no black people really and they ain't no white people then how come you still usin' them words"

"Because them words is still usin' me, Brother Ali.  They usin' me like a mothahfuckah." (page 221-222)

These words pull at me, causing me to wonder how I conform to the words other people use about me, or how the words I use confine others.  And, isn't that a mark of good writing, to make us think and question?

More Mosley

In mid-January I wrote about a book that had a strong impact on me, "Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned", [1998, Walter Mosley, W. W. Norton & Co, New York].  In fact, I mentioned it in three consecutive posts, two on one day, January 23, (here and here) and another on the 24th.

This evening I've read another of Walter Mosley's Socrates Fortlow novels, "The Right Mistake: The Further Philosophical Investigations of Socrates Fortlow" [2008, BasicCivitas, New York].  Once I started it, there was no way I could have put it down.

A certain gravitas is required for an author, or publisher, to begin a subtitle "The Further Philosophical Investigations of ...".  In this particular case, it is well justified.  It's too fresh for me write about it this evening.  The ideas, biases uncovered, prejudices, and questions about myself raised may require some time to settle, but this is a book that every person should read and take to heart.

Community

Last Friday's post listed several topics that I wanted to discuss further.  I've done one, Friends, and today I want to get into another.  I quoted a short phrase from  "The Last Lecture", [2008, Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow, Hyperion, New York]. 

Rights have to come from somewhere, and they come from the community.  In return, all of us have a responsibility to the community.  Some people call this the "Communitarian" movement, but I call it common sense. [page 175]

First, it's interesting from this brief section that he didn't seem to think that there are certain inherent (should I say inalienable?) rights, but that rights come from the community.  I believe Thomas Jefferson might disagree, though I don't know enough about Jefferson's philosophy to know with certainty.  If we read further than the short quoted phrase, we see that Pausch explains his communitarian, common sense rights versus responsibilities idea.  He has a point, and I agree.

As I read the pages following the quote, I began to feel that Pausch has a different perspective of rights that I.  Follow the link, [page 175], and read  pages 175 and 176.  He isn't talking about rights.  It seems to me he is misusing the word.

I believe that Pausch, and many of us, confused responsibility and duty.  It seems to me that his students have the right to be in the class, if for no other reason than tuition was paid that initially included that right.  Beyond attending though, I interpret Pausch as saying that the students had certain duties, and that without accepting the duties, the right of attending class could be denied.

On the other hand, it is undeniably true that all citizens have responsibilities to the community.  And, quoting Pausch, "When we are connected to others, we become better people." [page 176].  But that isn't always true, either.  The community has to recognize the differences, strengths, and weaknesses of its members and work together toward a common good.  Communities with a core of that denigrates and destroys are a cancer that needs excision and to be rebuilt.

Communities require leaders, workers, and followers.  But for a community to flourish, every element must assume duties that enable and enhance the community.  That's what I believe Randy Pausch was saying.  We are all better when we are connected, when we willingly assume our duties and assist our fellow citizens.

Friends

Last weekend, Marrianna and I were visiting friends in Maryland when a snow/ice storm struck the area.  We had the luxury of being with two very good friends for four days.  My previous post listed the books I had time to read.  There was also time to just sit and think.

The following is a transcript of a digital note I made to myself while thinking. 

There's no such thing as instant friends.  They build, and weave, and interconnect, and grow over time, even distance.  Friends are, are -

When I was in the Air Force many years ago, I used to define friends as someone who would come and help, go and help, anytime there is a need.  That's probably partly true, but it's certainly not all of it.  There's more of growing of sharing, and understanding, and acceptance - acceptance even of differences.  It's just a wonderful way of putting more of one's self into or with someone else.  It's very similar to love.  I guess love is a part of friendship, or friendship is a part of love, but it's interesting how the connections build and, to an extent friends are also like little differences.

J and C are such good friends but they're also very different from Marrianna and I.  I think if we were more alike, we would probably not be friends as much as acquaintances.

I've had a lot of time since recording that to think about those words, and about friendship.  I don't think there is much that I would change, though I do wish I had a better definition, and that my thoughts were more organized than the recording reveals.

Love and friendship are very similar, perhaps even synonyms.  Perhaps the differences are only of degree, or intensity.

I once belonged to a men's group that met at 6:30 AM every Wednesday morning for a couple of years.  It was a wonderful experience.  When we began, one of the guys said that he was hoping to find face to face friends.  According to him, he had enough side by side friends, people he could go to a ballgame or event with, where they sat side by side and enjoyed each other and the event.  He wanted friends who would sit face to face with him and talk with him about what was happening within each other.  This group became such friends.  And today if any of them were to call and ask, I would do all that I could to fit within the definition I had in the Air Force, and I believe they would too.

That relationship, and the one Marrianna and I have with J and C, are so much a part of who I am, and how I got to be, that I cannot reach inside myself and give voice to how I feel about them.  I hope that everyone has an opportunity to be so enriched.

There is, however, more to friendship than proximity.  I've been fortunate enough to be a part of another group that I feel are friends.  Most of us have never seen one another, and those we have has only been for hours.  We are an email group that formed during the Clinton impeachment hearings, discussing our opinions.  After that time, we continued to write each other, doing the same thing all these years.  We've brought others into the group.  The only thing we have in common is that we enjoy thinking and using words to be with one another.  We differ, but we agree to disagree and move on.

I know this group has given me reason to go within and discover parts of myself that I would not have recognized when we began.  We are face to face, even when our faces are continents apart.

As a definition, that isn't too far off.  A friend is someone who will sit face to face with you, assist you to know more about yourself and the friend.  A friend is connections built over time, developed to enable us to know, understand, and possibly enjoy.  And as I said above, may everyone have the opportunity to be so enriched.

Hopefully, I'm Blogging Again

What is it?  Is it that I am hopefully going to be blogging regularly again?  Or, perhaps it's that my blog posts will all be hopeful, or maybe I'm simply reaching for an explanation of why I've not been blogging regularly.  Whatever, the past week has provided me with a series of possible subjects, and I am getting started.

The past weekend was strange and wonderful.  Friday, Marrianna and i traveled to Maryland to visit friends.  Sunday evening there was a snowstorm that changed the complexion of the entire weekend.  While the main roads were probably passable Monday, neighborhood roads were not.  That gave us an extra day with friends, with time for reading, bridge, and complete relaxation.

In addition, between Sunday and Monday I read three small books that our friend Cathy had in the house.  The three books were very different, but each spoke to me in its own way.  Interestingly, the first book began with a description of a snow and ice storm.  As I sat in an easy chair, I read:

There is something joyful about storms that interrupt routine.  Snow or freezing rain suddenly releases you from expectations, performance demands, and the tyranny of appointments and schedules.  And unlike illness, it is largely an individual experience.  One can almost hear a unified sigh rise from the nearby city and surrounding countryside where nature has intervened to give respite to the weary humans slogging it out within her purview.  All those affected this way are united by a mutual excuse, and the heart is suddenly and unexpectedly a little giddy.  ... ["The Shack", page 15, William P. Young, 2007, Windblown Media, New York, ISBN 978-0-9647292-3-0]

I expect to discuss the book more fully in a separate post.

The second book was "The Last Lecture", [2008, Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow, Hyperion, New York]  It's a book constructed by Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University, as his last lecture.  He has pancreatic cancer, and is dying.  A complete video of the lecture, with introductions, is here.  Lecture alone, without introductions is on YouTube, here.  Either video is interesting, and worth any time expended.

I liked the book, and have since watched much of the video.  On the whole, it is a very good book, and a better video, but it seems to me an updated "Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale. [1952, Prentice-Hall, New York].

One phrase in particular caught my attention, and I made a note to myself to write about it.

Rights have to come from somewhere, and they come from the community.  In return, all of us have a responsibility to the community.  Some people call this the "Communitarian" movement, but I call it common sense. [page 175]

My thoughts on that will also come in a separate post.

The third book was the best, though some would dispute that.  It's "The Choice", by Nicholas Sparks. [2007, Grand Central Publishing, New York].  Nicholas Sparks generally writes lighter love novels.  Several have been made into films.  This one is slightly different, and I have to admit that it has given me much more to think about than either of the above.  The primary question of the book is, quoting:

The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?

Essentially, the story is of a man and woman who have a very good life together until they are in an accident.  Both live, but she is in a coma.  The crux is that just months before the accident the two of them had discussed just this scenario, and then completed living wills, agreeing that if either of them were to ever be in a coma, the other would pull the plugs after three months.

Naturally, with Sparks as the author, at the end of the three months he cannot pull the plugs, and following as morning follows night, several months later she awakes.

The question remains doesn't it?  In real life, not a love novel, how far would one go to keep the hope of love alive?  Would I have the courage to pull the plugs?  Marrianna and I discussed this as we drove home Tuesday.  I will probably discuss this in a separate post also.

It was a very nice weekend.  There is one more post subject garnered from it.  I want to discuss friends, how they're made, and what they mean to me.  That, too, is a separate post.