Quote du jour: Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Study du jour: Don't Get Too Excited About Job-Creation Plans.
The good news: For workers over 25 years old with a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate stands at 4.3% down from 5.0% a year ago.
The bad news: For those over 25 without a high school diploma, unemployment stands at a staggering 14.3%, up from 13.3% in August 2010.
Moral: Get that degree.
Or not? This guy has a different take on it:
...if we take the average earnings of a high school graduate and college graduate, account for cost of college and the opportunity cost of going to college (time not spent earning money) and assume a 5% savings rate for each, the college grad has a net worth of $400,000 when he retires. The high school grad: $1.3 million. Revenge of the jocks.
- Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
Or, you can compromise -- you don't actually need a degree if you can merely convince people that you have one instead of going out there and doing your homework. One woman wrote a memoir, Phony! Or, how I faked my way through life, about how she built a successful career by lying about having a college degree. Apparently, she worked her way up to a six-figure salary with several people working under her. Her main skill seemed to be picking the right people to do the work that she herself didn't have a clue how to do. That, and the fact that she mastered the art of confident lying.
I'm not sure how much credence you can give to this story-teller. I mean, she admits first off that she's a liar, and a good one. And then you're supposed to believe this memoir?
Oh wait. This is an exercise blog. I suppose that means I should get back to actually doing some of it. I was going to go bicycling, but it's going to be too hot for that today. Luckily, all the trees have left me with lots and lots of raking that I can do in the shade.
Exercise du jour:
Morning -- 1 hour elliptical
Done. Well, by 'done' I mean I turned the resistance down to nothing and went through the motions in super slo-mo. I pretended to work out for an hour. I'm going to pretend that counts.Noon -- 1 hour gardening
Done. Gardening is riskier than I'd thought. Simply because I destroyed his web while I was raking the lawn, a spider climbed up the inside of my trouser leg and bit me on the ... well, let's just say I'm sitting a bit funny right now. The things I do in pursuit of fitness...Evening -- gentle walking, ellipticalling
Done. Decided not to rake the part of the lawn that was occupied by a wasp's nest. The elliptical doesn't sting, at least.
11 comments:
That author sounds like a sociopath. Are leaves already falling where you live?
One of my trees is a mighty 60 year old Linden, which sheds twice. It sheds tiny little bracts from July to October. The yard is covered with them. I like to think of it as extra mulch. Or something like that.
I rake 'em all up, and then in November the rest of the leaves cover the yard again. Hours of exercise, all for free.
I wonder if that woman is my former manager, she certainly climbed the career ladder without the hindrance of any qualifications and, as far as I know, she's almost at the top
I've run into a few managers like that as well, alas :(
I'm going to pretend I commented.
For some reason, Damn Knee wasn't in the mood for a good workout this morning, so we decided to take it easy. It was a -- oh, I have to say it -- a Joint decision.
Did you get joint counseling on that?
Does one get joint counseling from the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
I've worked for managers who don't know what they're doing (as I'm sure we all have). Yes, they make money, but they pi** off everyone else and turnaround with them is high. If I'm going to do a job, I'd like to be able to ACTUALLY do it. Net worth isn't everything!
Personally, I think I'm going to take up whittling and go on relief.
I find the prevalence of total moron shitheads in positions of power in business is staggeringly high. I think the key to success really is lying with confidence because the honest talented people just get trampled on.
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