The Culture of Mediocrity

Is quality even a thing anymore?

It seems that in this day and age, we as consumers are paying way more for way less.  That is not just in terms of quantity, but of quality as well.

A number of years ago, my wife and I had our main bathroom completely overhauled: new shower, vanity, the works.  I had just retired from my full-time job and this upgrade was a gift to ourselves.  We went through the usual process of auditioning contractors and we finally made our choice  Long story short, the finished product was only adequate; this, in spite of their promises and the tens of thousands of dollars we paid.  And...their "lifetime" warranty became moot when they suddenly went bankrupt.

Another point: As a musician, I have to watch my hands so when it comes to car repairs I have it done by professionals.  I went to my automotive specialist and had my summer tires installed.  At home, I discovered they made a mistake that forced me back to their garage on my own time and dime a few days later.  I did get an apology from one of the attendants, but when I was requested to send feedback to the manager, I heard nothing.  I know that no one (understandably) wants to be told that their job is less-than-stellar.  I just wish contractor and service industry folk would realize it for themself.  Is craftsmanship of product or service a thing of the past?

Right now there are renos we could do around the old homestead, but I'm apprehensive.  It seems if you want quality you have to either: find a way to teleport back to the 1950's when contractors actually cared; or, pay huge bucks for high-quality work that should by rights be standard for anyone who sells their expertise.

No wonder so many people are opting for the do-it-yourself approach.  

After all, what choices do we have?

Twenty-Fifth Year Anniversary

Coming into the New Year of 2025, I am reminded that we are celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Y2k.

Remember that year?  2000 was the start of a new millennium (which actually began in 2001 to be precise) and one of the big concerns was that our new found friend (or enemy), the computer, was going to crash and wreak world-wide havoc.  Oh the concern!  Oh the horror!

But through foresight, or sheer luck, the year 2000 rolled in rather uneventfully for most of us and we carried on, marveling at the first year ever that didn't start with a "1" but instead a "2."

So now that we're about a quarter way through the first century of the next millennium, we can look back and say, boy did this world ever get screwed up.  So much for ending wars, poverty, and decaf coffee.  Instead, all are still with us in full force.

Will we do better in the next 25 years?  I'm guessing there will be advances in technology that will astound us.  Maybe we'll end up on Mars, who knows?  But I'll bet you we'll still have the same problems, same worries, and same type of troublemakers that we have now.

And I'll bet decaf coffee will still be around.  

Happy New Year!

Now You See It, Now You Don't

Recently, I made one of my regular trips to my local music store.  It was a typical occurrence and while I was selecting some material for the upcoming fall semester, the owner casually mentioned that he may close the print-music part of his business. The reason?  Online competition.

Online business is big business.  Who can argue of having the convenience of having items sent right to your home, often with little or no delivery charge is a great thing?  Wait by the mailbox, and presto!

But that encounter with my local merchant realigned my thinking.  This store has been around since 1989 and now they are thinking of closing a substantial portion of their business.  For me, this would not be good.

Why?  Because sometimes I've needed an item or two for my studio right away; not tomorrow and sometimes not even in a few hours from now.  Right away.  And who is there for me?  My retailer who is often quietly working behind-the-scenes, a smile on their face, ready to bail me out of my predicament in moment's notice.  And all it took was a 10 minute trip from my home to their business.

There are somethings that stores just don't seem to carry anymore.  As a movie buff, I still buy re-mastered versions of old movies and that's something my local retailer doesn't carry anymore.  In this case, it's online to the rescue!

But for regular business items, it's back to the brick-and-mortar establishment!  The last thing I want to see is a “for lease” sign in the vacant location where a music store used to be.

The Joy of Music, (I)

Music is an interesting phenomenon.

It's easy enough that many individuals have found that after learning a few chords, they can make their own music.  And truthfully, some of it isn't half bad.

But then...there's the serious stuff.  

As any highly-trained classical musician will tell you, there are compositions that will keep you up at night due to their complexity.  One practise session won't do it, so the musician gathers their instrument - piano, violin, voice, or other - and gets to work trying to get a handle on the piece.  Repetition, deep thought, repetition, frustration, repetition, pursuit of perfection, repetition; the hall marks of the professional musician.  Being able to go over the same sections of a work, over and over, without the requisite bouts of fear and yes, even anger at times, is the hallmark of what greatness will finally occur.

And here's a thought...

Think of a symphony orchestra.  Each member is a highly-trained musician who has spent countless hours perfecting what they do, almost always in solitude and the expense of giving up some perhaps more instantly-gratifying activity.  (Which professional musician hasn't yearned to go outside on a beautiful summer day, instead remaining indoors just to perfect that pesky trill passage?)

Now imagine 40, 50, 60 or more of these musicians gathered in one place to play a single work.  The symphony concert has begun.

Think of the number of accumulated, behind-the-scenes hours of work that are present.  If each person carries a minimum of 10,000 hours to achieve their professional status, well then, you do the math.

Of course it is true that very many other activities require the same amount of work.  But hopefully there aren't too many amateur doctors out there like there are amateur musicians, "performing" on their own."

Next time you hear any type of music, think of the total number of hours that are hidden from view.

Is It Worth Your Time?

As the famous American, Benjamin Franklin, once observed, there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes.

The latter for most of us may be more appealing than the former, even though it can be more frustrating.  (Afterall, once you're gone, your frustration level drops to nothing, right?)

In regards to taxes, let's think for a minute of what they really are.  Taxes are your hard-earned money; but looking at it another way, taxes are a taking of your limited time here on earth.

Time spent in labour is necessary, and those of us who work a full-time job do so so that we can provide for ourselves and our families. Nothing new there.  Most people have no real resentment performing even unpleasant tasks at our jobs if it benefits the family.  But can the same be said if it benefits the government and their spurious priorities?

I am not an anarchist, but I do believe government has a sacred trust to be careful how it spends our money.  It is my belief that I can do more for myself than others can do for me except in specialized circumstances such as medical care, security, fire, and other areas where government control has shown their expertise.  And I know that this costs money.

In this case, I don't mind giving up some of my limited time on earth, exchanging it into money, and giving it to the government.

And that is my point: how much of your time in a labour environment are you willing to give up?  Money that could actually go into your household?

From 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. you leave your family, drive in heavy traffic, arrive to fulfill your quota or what constitutes "work" and then leave.  Next payday, the government takes your time in the form of taxes for about a third of your day.  (So from 8:00 to 10:45 a.m. you worked for "free.")  Then there's more "taking" when you fill up your car, make purchases, or give to the next level of government.  How does that feel, especially when you can't afford a home, a car, or even a once-in-a-lifetime trip?

We all have to work for the government but it can be depressing to think that one-third (or more) of your life's time is being given to the faceless levels of government.  In order for this to make sense, our taxes have to be seen as having some worth.  Do they?  Or could you do a better job with the time-to-money activity you engage in everyday?

When you spend your life working, who should get the benefit of your time?

Style Over Substance

In politics, it can seem sometimes that the only factor that matters is how a campaign is run.

If you smile, avoid saying too many dumb things, and attend enough events surrounded by many people, you might get enough of the common folks to vote for you, even if underneath, some of your policies may leave something to be desired by some voters.

Case in point: Alberta is currently in the midst of a provincial election.  The choice is a conservative or a socialist party for government. 

Many people, as well as some newspapers, support whoever runs the most error-free campaign.  Skeletons that are sometimes long-buried are resurrected and trotted out in the bright sun of the election. And truth be told, some of these should be brought out.

The New Democratic Party for example, seems to have a number of pro-communist candidates in its ranks including Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse (Edmonton-Rutherford), Rob Loyola (Edmonton-Ellerslie), Girinder Brar (Calgary-North), and others(!), some who advocate an end to capitalism.

Much of this gets little to no news space in the mainstream media often because communism was never given the same weight as Nazism as a great evil.  That's extremely unfortunate since Communism's track record of death is 125 million... and still counting, unfortunately.

Am I suggesting that the NDP is a covert communist party?  No.  It is not.  Yet extremists seem to lurk within its ranks and membership and nothing is being done about it.

The United Conservative Party's Premiere Danielle Smith has said some really dumb things, mostly hyperbolic in nature, but dumb nevertheless.

But she has never taken overtly extremist stances on anything. No new taxes and it would be business as usual.  

Some have suggested that she advocates some type of user-fee for medical services, but his is false.  Plus it would be political suicide.  (As an aside, I would be fine with a small fee at hospitals if it kept people with colds and flus out of emergency rooms, saving it for true life-threatening situations.)

So, the NDP might win.  Their campaign has been slicker, their leader has made fewer gaffs, and truth be hold, Rachel Notley does have a better smile than Danielle Smith.

But the substance of a 30+ day campaign should not be the only criteria upon which to base your vote.  Look under the hood.  See who's running and what the policies are and whether you be happy with at least four years of their programs.

This same NDP was the government over four years ago.  Soon after, folks indicated that they had voter's remorse.

If they win again, will it be any better this time?

Hybrid Canadians - How Odd it is!

Canadians are in a unique place when it comes to measurement.  Officially metric since 1975, we still have an abundance of imperial measurements creeping into our daily lives, no doubt because we live next door to the one of only three countries that still uses the old system ("Myanmar" or "Burma" and "Liberia" are the others).

Think about it.  When we hear the weather forecast, the temperature is in Celsius and we seem to be good with that.  In fact, trips to our southern neighbour can get a bit confusing when we hear that the high for the day is going to be 61 Fahrenheit.  Should we bring a sweater or not?  But, if we know that that's 16 C, the more cold temperature-sensitive among us might just want to bundle up a bit after all.

But what about cooking?  It seem that a number of folks at least still use Fahrenheit when adjusting their oven temperature.  Afterall, we all know what 400 F does when cooking a roast don't we?  Would 204 C be just as familiar?

What about feet and inches?  Us older folks still prefer to know our height in that way.  Same when measuring the size of that new bookshelf or TV (we want a 65-inch flat screen, not a 165 centimetre one lol). Yet, on a larger scale, metric takes over.

In our travels, we use kilometres per hour (km/h) not miles per hour (MPH). A lot of modern cars will allow you to switch systems with the push of a button.  That's a welcome piece of technology! 60 km/h is obviously a lot slower than 60 MPH, which, if you forget, will find you quickly learning all the latest swear words and hand gestures on America's superfast highways.

For weights, it seem to be half and half.  We're okay buying 2.25 kilograms of sugar, and then adding a half a cup to our recipe.  Buying milk by the litre is no problem and we'll pour ourselves an 8 ounce cup to go with our lunch.  Meat and produce from the local grocery can still be tricky so a lot of them print both, although metric seems to have "won" at the deli counter.

There are other examples. Acres instead of hectares.  With lumber, we're all familiar with 2 x 4's which are supposed to be inches even though they're really not.  Or that 4 by 8 foot piece of plywood, which it actually is.

So the older folk who have learned the metric system later in life will probably stick with their hybrid measurement system for the rest of their days.  The young folk who have been brought up in metric, will probably tip the balance more in favour of that system, being aware that that won't fly when they take that trip to the States.

Yet in spite of the odd nature of how we blend the two systems, it seems to work for us. THAT is Canadian resilience and adaptability,

Happy New Year!