Under the mattress or in the bank?

I don't know about you, but I like to keep a few hundred thousand dollars worth of gold bullion around just in case of natural disaster or if Sarah Palin ever gains national office*.

The question is - where to keep it?

I have a number of options

• I can keep it nice and close where I can keep my eye on it - under my bed.
• I can buy a home safe and keep it locked.
• I can rent a safe deposit box and keep it in a bank.

The first two of these options certainly offer some psychological comfort. Knowing that those Krugerrands are close - where I can touch them, see them and protect them - on the surface might might seems like the safest course of action. After all, I have the biggest stake in keeping my stash secure.

But on reflection, most of us quickly realize that one's valuables are safest in the bank. The bank employs professional security staff. Its safe is a lot bigger and stronger than what I can afford. And banks offer some degree of insurance against loss.

Yes, banks are sometimes robbed and one could get mugged carrying one's loot to or from the bank, but the odds of those things happening are minscule compared to have one's home burgled. Electronic fund transfers, using a bill pay service and doing automatic deducations are all safer and more reliable than writing a paper check.

So if it make sense to keep one's physical valuables in a bank, why does it not also make sense to keep one's data (like e-mail) on an ASP - an application service provider? These off-site, professional services like GMail hire professional staff, give strong security to users, and maintain 99.9% uptime rates. It's like keeping your data in a bank instead of under your mattress (or on your harddrive).

Jeffrey Kaplan in CIO writes: "Although service disruptions experienced by Google ... get plenty of attention, those types of incidents don't happen very often, and they don't last as long as many enterprise outages. And there hasn't been a major compromise of a SaaS operation reported yet, even as we continue to read regular accounts of security breaches in traditional IT environments."

*I am just kidding. Please don't burgle my house. Or if you do, please take some of the left over turkey.

Cynicism and distance

I worry no matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up.
Jane Wagner

In a recent comment, Skip Olson pondered, "I found myself last week wondering if it is possible to grow old without growing cynical. So far the answer for me is apparently, no."

I've asked myself the same question wondering if aging must leads to a permanently skeptical view of the motives of others. Unless one deliberately adopts a Pollyannaish mind-set, can the thinking person avoid cynicism?

Reflecting a little on this, I've noticed that the farther away, more abstract or larger something is, the more cynical I tend to be about it. Some examples...

• I am cynical about religion on the whole (especially fund-raising TV evangelists, moralizing political philosophies, and the general ju-ju that is a part of most religions), but I have absolutely no doubt that my pastor son-in-law and his small church is a genuine blessing and comfort to its members and community.
• I am cynical about the teaching profession and its willingness to change, but I know and admire lots and lots of individual teachers, librarians and administrators who are changing and have devoted their lives to making schools a better place for kids.
• While I am deeply, deeply cynical about both federal and state government and politics, the few individual legislators and state employees I know personally are dedicated, thoughtful people and I still believe in participating in the legislative process as much as possible.

Studies often show that while the general population gives "education" in the U.S. negative approval ratings, individuals give their own children's schools high marks. While most people are against higher taxes on general principle, we often vote increases to fund local projects like schools, libraries, recreational facilities or civic centers. And no matter how reprehensible politicians are as a species, we nearly always return the incumbents to office.

Any take-aways from these idle musings???

• Probably the fastest and most meaningful way we could decrease cynicism and actually improve schools is to allow no district to grow over 10,000 students in size. Small school districts (not small schools or small class sizes), lead to more parental contact with administrators, less bureaucracy, and more local accountability by elected school boards. After a certain point, economy of scale is not economy at all.
• When anyone proposes a good "change theory," I will continue to respond: "Yes, that sounds good. Can you give me an actual example of a time that worked in a school building?" Let's start with what works in practice and build theories from that.
• To avoid cynicism, look at individuals, not groups. We are better spreading the word about fantastic individuals and programs that we are bemoaning the "state of education." For every problem stated, one should be required to report on an example of an antidote to that problem. Or it simply becomes whining.
• I will continue to advocate that individual teacher and librarian bloggers "Praise locally; complain globally." Not just to keep out of trouble with one's administrators, but to increase the likelihood of their writings making a difference.

Peanuts character Lucy once said, "I love mankind. It's people I can't stand." This old cynic just might reverse that. 'I don't trust mankind, but I have faith in people."

Thus endeth today's sermon.

Generational cowboys

I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy
"Streets of Larado" song lyric

On this family holiday, a reflection in pictures...

1959 - ish


1989 -ish


2009

A long line of cowpokes in our family.

Happy Turkey Day to all Blue Skunk Readers. Enjoy those families and folks close

to you - even when they take the last piece of pie!