Things I've Noticed

Quick Quote on Eating Well

"You know you haven't been eating well when your sink is full of dirty cups and spoons and no pots or plates."

+ Atul

Thoughts on the Financial Crisis One Year Later

It has been about a year since our world underwent a huge financial crisis and it has been a stressful yet valuable time. We’ve learned what makes people tick, how greedy people can be, how stupid they can be, and how we sometimes have to help people who didn’t necessarily deserve it for the sake of the rest of us. What’s ironic is that people who spent a lot or too much on “stuff” ended up often doing better. Stuff, (except real estate), didn’t really go down in value. And then people who bought this “stuff” on credit and went bankrupt were able to keep it for free. On the other hand, those of us who did “the right thing” and invested like good soldiers, were hit hard. Those who possessed things still had them, while values of our investments, (just ink on paper), vanished. It was very disheartening. Some of these losses have been recovered, but not fully. And many of us panicked by making stupid financial moves in case things would never be the same again. People who bought more than they could afford will be forgiven of some of their debt. Those who foreclose or file for bankruptcy received a discount at the expense of the government and the banks, (many of whom deserve it). But we had to help them out or we would have gone into a deeper crisis. Few people want to buy a house next to a foreclosed house, and they certainly won’t pay as much for one if they do. It’s also funny how the Chinese finance so much of our debt to buy all the stuff they manufacture for us, but if we never pay back our obligations, we’ll have the last laugh, (and the cheap stuff we bought from their factories).

Job losses have been staggering as employees have been treated more like numbers than at any other time in history. Apparently, some companies think work can get done without people. Well, at least they think they can squeeze every last drop of efficiency out of those who are still employed. When the market turns around and the pendulum swings the other way, employees will take advantage of the situation. Turnabout is fair play.

As far as consumption goes, this economic crisis has taught me that although it’s good to invest, remember to also buy the things you can cherish or hold onto, whether they are experiences or objects that mean a lot to you. And diversify like crazy, not just in the U.S., not just in stocks and bonds, but in commodities, foreign companies and other areas you might not have thought of before. And don’t get greedy. Nothing goes up forever so cash in as you need to as you get older. Nothing goes up forever! What’s great about saving money when times are good is that it allows you to buy and spend during economic downturns when the deals are great and nobody else is buying.

It appears that we’ve avoided a depression, (and I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet), but we should never forget the lessons we can take away from this last year of economic mayhem.

+ Atul

Compliments and Criticism for Compliments

The compliment is the most controversial positive social phenomena in existence.  Compliments are often obvious and direct, but they can sometimes be hidden or subtle.  The basic idea to is tell somebody that you like or appreciate something about them or something they did.  If we were simple creatures, that would be the end of it.  But there's so much more that we must consider.  First of all is the compliment appropriate and does it fit the situation?  You don't want to tell an executive of the opposite sex that they look hot in that suit even if you feel that way.  With respect to courtship, compliments must be used judiciously so as not to appear desperate or overly doting.  You also don't want to give anybody a big head. 

And then there is the reciprocation factor.  Many people expect compliments in return, (even if there is nothing to compliment).  I've also come across people that give compliments freely because they are fishing for compliments for themselves.  We all like to be appreciated, so compliments make us feel good and can be motivating.  But some people take it too far, needing them as a self-esteem crutch.  Others use compliments to establish position over somebody else.  A compliment can indirectly indicate, "I'm good enough to critique you."  Or, "I'm so secure that I can give compliments and I don't need them".  In fact, I often make fun of myself as proof."  Compliments are complicated.

Maybe this partially explains why our world is so negative.  Criticisms are sometimes easier and usually more appropriate.  They often convey more useful information as well.  If something is nice, a compliment won't Constructive criticism often lets the other person know how they can improve.  And a criticism also shows a different kind of authority over the receiver.

Some people never give compliments.  Perhaps they feel it, but don't say it and they take for granted what they already have.  Or they want others to perpetually try to get a compliment from them.  Why change the status quo if the status quo is good and compliments might cause unwanted change?

Receiving compliments is not always easy either.  What does one say?  I get a little bashful when somebody compliments me.  Sometimes I don't feel worthy of the compliment.  At other times I do feel deserving, but I feel obligated to reciprocate.  And than I have to be sure that any compliment I give sounds genuine, and hopefully is genuine.

Compliments are nice, but they aren't all good.  They need to be brought back down to earth.  That's why I wrote this post.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on Visionaries

"Visionaries see too much possibility to ever be content."

+ Atul

Not Being Tall Gets You The Short End of The Stick

The last time I checked, my height was 5’8 and some fraction of an additional inch. By American standards, this is slightly below average for a male. But I like my height. I’m tall enough that I can see over my office cube walls, I’m taller than most women, (except maybe here in the Twin Cities), I can fit in any car, feel comfortable on any plane seat, and I never hit my head on a door frame. To clarify, I have nothing against my taller friends, coworkers, and acquaintances. I’m not "heightist". But we live in a world that judges people on height. Society in general doesn’t share my affinity for not being tall. I and many others pay the price every day.  Research shows that taller people make more money, and get elected more often than shorter candidates. They’re often seen as better leaders just because of their physical stature. But, everybody knows that some short people, like Napoleon and Gandhi were great leaders while some tall people like George W. Bush were clearly not.

Heightism is especially apparent on the dating scene. I can understand that a woman would want a guy at least a couple of inches taller for that whole protector masculine male / feminine female effect, even though a lot of short guys can kick taller guys’ butts. And many of them want to wear heels without appearing taller than the guy, but I’ve come across women that are scarcely above 5 feet tall who only want to be with guys that are 6’0” and taller. That’s like being prejudiced against your own kind. Perhaps they’re just trying to compensate. Regardless, wanting a guy over a certain height constitutes filtering a potential mate over one purely physical trait. I thought women wanted nice guys that could make them laugh. I’ve been mistaken all along. Sociological research shows that height is the number one factor women use to judge a man’s suitability as a mate. I could ask for a minimum measurements of a certain female physical feature, (if you know what I mean), and that would totally not be OK. (For the record, I wouldn’t do that.) I’m not sure where this double standard came from. I know that not all is roses for tall people though.  In my research, I've found that shorter women are preferred by men.  Tall women have to compete with the short women who only want tall guys. (They must really hate that).  And to be fair, tall men can be discriminated against too. Certain jobs don’t have the space for too much height.

In the athletics arena, height is an asset in almost every sport. Us shorter people resort to playing soccer which still holds advantages for tall players when it comes to headers. One can make up for being short by running fast, or having good jumping ability or long arms, but it’s not the same. I always used to joke that if I was as tall as Shaq, I could be a great basketball player too, (and I would have a much higher free throw percentage). There’s also interesting research that shows that taller people are slower to react to their surroundings, so maybe we have one slight advantage. I tend to root for the underdog, so I’m often cheering for short people like Spud Webb and Muggsy Bogues who played professional basketball in the NBA and were 5’7” and 5’3” respectively. We need to develop a new sport where being shorter is an asset, one besides horse racing.

In a way, I’d like to congratulate tall people for having won a kind of genetic lottery. I envy tall people without wanting to have their height. Maybe guys should be the ones who wear shoes with taller heels.  Contrary to what one might think, I don’t have a complex about my height. But height is obviously an issue with others, so I have to be aware of what factors might be working against me.  I’m lucky I’m not shorter.  Perhaps I’m just jealous of the free pass tall people get in so many avenues of life.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on Time Management

If I managed my time better, it would work harder and get a lot more done for me.

+ Atul

The Auto Industry Has Been Turned Upside Down and Twisted Around

With all the news about the hurting auto industry, loans from the government, bankruptcies and acquisitions, people tend to lose sight of the fact that the whole automotive world, (something which has been a big part of my life and the lives of millions of others), has been turned on its head.  Sure it may not seem like a big deal, but this is arguably the largest and most important industry on the planet.  The products people buy from it touch our lives daily, inspire us, and allow us the ultimate freedom, mobility.  Cars and trucks are aspirational objects that we often depend on do to just about everything else in life, we judge people by the vehicles they drive, and some people dedicate their lives to careers or hobbies revolving around vehicles.

From the corporate perspective, let’s put it this way, there is hardly a single manufacturer or automotive brand that hasn’t gone through substantial change in the last 5 years, and the pace has recently accelerated.  GM, the formerly largest corporation on the planet that sold almost half the cars we bought in the U.S. is a much smaller version of itself and in financial desperation.  There are a lot more competitors and other factors that made this happen, but that’s just the beginning in describing our upside down automotive world.  The second largest American car company, Ford will probably take over as first, the third largest is now mostly owned by Italian auto company, Fiat, part of which GM owned in the 90’s and sold at a major loss before turning it around.  Fiat, (or its Alfa Romeo division), hasn’t sold vehicles here in more than 20 years and now they have control over many of Chrysler’s old dealers.  Even crazier is the fact that GM used to own part of Subaru, and now Toyota owns part of them.  BMW used to own Land Rover, sold them to Ford and now Tata, (a huge company in India that sells everything from tea to telecom to steel), bought Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford.  So a company from a country that was a British colony now owns one of Britain’s historical car brands.  Had enough craziness?  Well, BMW owns MINI which was purely British, but even more importantly, they own the British ultra luxury brand Bentley while Volkswagen owns Rolls Royce.  Then there are the Swedish car companies.  Saab had been owned by GM for quite a while, but they just sold the brand to a small Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg.  And now it’s reported that Geely, a Chinese company with a not-so-great safety record is looking to buy the Swedish brand Volvo which is known for safety.  In the last 10 years, we’ve lost the brands Eagle, Geo, Oldsmobile, and Plymouth.  What’s going on?  I feel like I’m in a blender.  GM has closed down Pontiac, also sold Hummer to a Chinese company, sold Saturn to Penske who’s associated with racing, Hertz, and AutoNation.  The latest news says they plan on selling cars from many different international companies under the formerly all-American Saturn badge. 

As if this wasn’t all enough, another Indian motor vehicle manufacturer, Mahindra and Mahindra is going to start selling cars here and Tata is planning on bringing the groundbreakingly low-priced Nano over.  GM’s European division Opel has been sold to both a Russian investor and Magna, a Canadian parts supplier.  Think about it.  A parts company owns a car company.  I don’t know whether I want to buy a Chinese Volvo, an Italian Chrysler, a Malaysian Saturn or an American Chevy.  I do know that I would rather support the U.S. auto industry to keep more jobs and profits in our country.  So, now that my beloved Saab brand is Swedish again and not owned by GM, I doubt that I will buy another new one.  I think I’ll be buying a Cadillac, Chevy, Ford or Mercury.  But those Fiats and Alfa Romeos do look pretty cool.  And I could support my home country a bit more by buying an Indian Jaguar, but Jaguar is not really my style.  Mercedes, BMW, and Volkswagen are doing alright with their government-sponsored health care and pensions that reduce costs to the company for vehicle production.  But there’s news there too.  Mercedes dumped Chrysler and Volkswagen is largely owned by Porsche.  Honda is doing OK given the circumstances while Toyota is hemorrhaging from perhaps trying to grow too fast.  At least the Japanese car companies can thank their government for not only health care and pensions, but for currency manipulation and trade restrictions.  All we need now are for the French to bring Citroens or Peugeots to the U.S. and the car market free-for-all will get more confusing.  As it is, I’m in an automotive daze.  I’m waiting for the dust to settle and I don’t know what to make of it yet.  Maybe I’ll just build my own car, (or buy a bicycle).

Quick Quote on Cleveland Sports 2

"For Cleveland fans, instead of saying, 'There's always next year,' we've started saying, 'There's always never.'"

+ Atul

When Traveling, It’s Better to Overpack than to Underpack

I’ll be the first to admit that when I travel, I tend to overpack.  People sometimes make fun of me for it, (as if guys aren’t supposed to do this), but I don’t let that change my ways.  There are definite advantages to overpacking and they far outweigh the advantages of underpacking.   In a way, I admire people that can travel for a week with only one carry-on bag, but they’re giving up a lot.  First there’s the preparedness.  No matter what the weather or what activities I may take part in, I’m prepared.  Others shiver, boil, or have to sit on the sidelines while us overpackers have fun.  Then, there’s the free work out I get by having to lift heavier, larger bags.  It’s hard to get to the gym while I travel, and some places don’t even have gyms.

I know that overpacking can lead to inconvenience, especially when you travel to unfamiliar places.  You have to lug the bags around awkward spots, put them in cabs, carry them on trains through adverse situations.  But that builds character and lets people know that you're a tourist not to be messed with.  With more clothes, you can wear a larger variety while you travel so that you don’t look like you have no fashion consciousness.  You won't be the guy in tennis shoes and khakis.  Of course, you can’t be an inconsiderate overpacker.  If you’re taking a road trip with three other people in a car, you can’t use up half the trunk space.  But there have been many times where, the overpacking guy was the one with the entertainment or the tools that saved the day.  Things like extra chargers, music, umbrellas, and medicine all take up space but are completely functional.   Overpackers can be heroes.  Think about the worst case scenario.  Who’s going to be the guy you can count on?  It’s the person who packs the most stuff in his or her luggage.

We still get the ridicule from underpackers.  Sometimes we make people have to wait for our luggage to come on to the carousel, but if you’re going to check in a bag, (and pay for it), you might as well get your money’s worth.  That way, you’re not the guy taking up all the overhead space inside the plane.  Those people are even worse than overpackers.

A hidden benefit to overpacking is that you learn how to fit things into available space.  This is immensely helpful in the case of moving or packing a car for a long trip.  I consider myself an expert at space utilization, and although I may get some of the skill hereditarily from my father, practice makes me better.  After all, you want to use the stuff you have as much as possible and taking it with you makes you feel more like you’re at home while you’re away.

So to the rest of you overpackers out there, keep at it.  Fight for your right to be the one with the stuff that can make your trip more enjoyable, even if it might take extra effort.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on Weather

"The weather is news we can always count on as continually being news."

+ Atul