Subj : Entitled... was: I'm not back yet.. To : Barry Martin From : Nancy Backus Date : Sat Jan 04 2020 19:17:18 -=> Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 26-Dec-2019 08:58 <=- BM>> On this morning's news the chances for a white Christmas went down to BM>> 2%; was 5% yesterday. NB>> And you probably ended up like us, with a green Christmas... except NB>> for the leftover piles here and there.... ;) BM> And not that many piles except at the business sites. We still had some in the front yard from Richard's shoveling before... The huge piles in parking lots managed to not melt even when we kept having those highs in the 50s.... Now they've got a new coating of snow from what we got overnight... ;) BM> Yesterday's (Christmas Day's) official high was 62ø!! Average is 32ø; BM> and from glancing through the on-line charts to get this looks like the BM> previous high was 59ø -- and record low was -18ø. Sounds like you may have set a new record high, then... ;) BM>>> If no reason to go out sometimes just let Mother Nature remove the BM>>> snow she put on the car! I did have to scrape the frost off my BM>>> windshields yesterday before my errands -- if I had been able to wait BM>>> a half-hour or so would have melted. NB>>> Yeah... it's always nice when one has the luxury of waiting for the NB>>> snow/frost to take care of itself... ;) BM>> I've had it where the dew/moisture on the windshield, apply the wipers BM>> and it turns to frost and stays frozen, so still have to scrape. NB>> If one has time in that situation, the windshield defrost might melt NB>> the frost, at least eventually... BM> Generally I don't have time to sit and wait at that point so get out BM> to scrape but do have the defogger on and set to high. There have been BM> other times when the ice layer is too thin or too thick for the scaper BM> and I do wait until the defogger has melted the attaching layer. One has to get out a little earlier to have the necessary time to get the car cleared... ;) BM>> Sort of speaking of Malls, the sister Mall on the Illinois side was BM>> closed all day Monday due to a fire. Occurred early mid-morning in BM>> one of the little shop-stores. AFAICT not much fire damage, just a lot BM>> of smoke. Went on-line to check and no details. NB>> So apparently easily taken care of, then... BM> Yes, apparently the initial problem was smoke inside the mall but why BM> the fire deparment didn't allow or the Mall decided to stay closed all BM> day I don't know. Probably a "better safe than sorry" mindset.... Clearing the mall of all the smoke might take longer than we'd think... BM>> True; must have been hungry and that was only example I could think BM>> of. The "I'm entitled" thing is more buy a huge-screen TV to show off BM>> (to oneself). Probably better is the 'rolling house sized' brand new BM>> SUV when a one- or two year old car would work just as well if not BM>> better. (And again all depends: maybe a SUV is better for one's BM>> situation.) NB>> I think I'd refer to that sort of thing more as conspicuous NB>> consumption... the always wanting bigger and more expensive whether NB>> or not it is needed... BM> Yes, I'd agree. :) My thinking on entitlement might be tempered by BM> acceptance: "OK, so you have eight billion dollars and want to buy a BM> yacht. You can afford it and not make sacrifices elsewhere. Can I BM> come someday? I'll bring some snacks!" That could work, if you happened to actually know someone like that... generally the billionaires are living in an entirely different world from us... :) NB>>> I was thinking more of those of very modest means, possibly even NB>>> struggling to make ends meet because of limited income, that think NB>>> that they still deserve to have this that or the other thing, even NB>>> though they clearly don't have the money for it... saving to get it NB>>> is probably out of the question, since by the time the couple of NB>>> pennies (probably literally) they can squeeze out of the money at NB>>> hand grew to be closer to enough to pay for such, the item would be NB>>> hopelessly outdated, and no longer of interest..... for them, the NB>>> credit card is a very enticing trap.... "But I DESERVE it... why NB>>> can't I get what everyone else has..." BM>> That's probably a much better way to give an example than to try to BM>> give an actual example. NB>> I could probably come up with specific instances that I've seen NB>> in people I've worked with, but the more general description is NB>> probably more understandable to someone in our circumstances.... BM> Probably so: trying to 'self-analyze' it appears I probably would not BM> get into the understanding the situation because it's just not me. BM> And can excuse (up to a point) those of the Lifestyles of the Rich and BM> Famous group because that's the way things are. (OK, some do some BM> stupid things and should know better, $1 or $1,000,000,000.) You've had experience with two classes of people, your own, and, to a lesser and more vicarious extent, with a class of people beyond your means.... ;) Just not with another class of people that are well below your standard of living.... NB>>> From our discussions, I'd say that neither you nor I are exactly NB>>> rich, by most standards anyway... but we do have more leeway in NB>>> allocating funds beyond the bare necessities, and we do tend to be NB>>> more balanced in making financial decisions whether on a small scale NB>>> or on a large scale, and a willingness to postpone gratification NB>>> where wiser... ;) BM>> Bingo! Not exactly rich, nor poor. I want/need something I can buy BM>> it, but there had better be a reason for it, then I'll spend time BM>> looking for the best or close-to-the-best deal: time is money! If it BM>> appears $22.99 (and free shipping!) is the best price I'm not going to BM>> spend time looking for a $22.95 deal. (See? My real life examples are BM>> even chump change! ) NB>> But it does underscore my point... being not rich, but also not poor, NB>> we've developed good habits of being reasonably frugal... using our NB>> resources wisely... But, when poor, there tends to be a different NB>> sort of mindset... a feeling of "I should be able to get it, even if NB>> I can't afford it, it just isn't fair otherwise"... which is what I've NB>> been calling the entitlement syndrome.... If I hadn't come up across NB>> it in various situations with various people in straitened situations, NB>> I'd likely not have noticed it quite so clearly.... BM> Quite probably, and maybe I haven't been in the situation. Right now BM> I'm thinking back to my college days and we'd sometimes do study BM> groups at our homes. I lived in a decent apartment, two others live in BM> trailers (now 'mobile homes').... One guy was reluctant to have us BM> over because he lived in a semi-rundown apartment building because he BM> didn't have much money. Essentially he 'broke down' when I said "we're BM> friends with you, not the apartment". That probably comes closest to what I've been talking about, except that college life tends to be a temporary stage of life... usually after getting out of college, the impoverishment period ends and one learns to function on a different basis... The people I've been dealing with are full adults, and probably, barring a miracle or at least some significant intervention, not ever going to have enough to live on, especially to the level they'd like to think they should be able to.... BM>>> I don't know if the government sents out renewals for passports. BM>>> IMO double-reminders are better than none! NB>>> From my experience, no they don't send reminders... you are on your NB>>> own for that renewal... which is why I'll need to reapply at this NB>>> point... ;) BM>> OK - I was pretty sure the state sent out driver's license reminders BM>> but not sure about the federal reminder for passports. BTW, you'll BM>> probably need a visa to accompany the passport -- seems like that was BM>> starting in 2021. Two separate items; AFAIK don't need a visa until BM>> making the trip; get the passport ahead of time. NB>> Yeah, I heard something about that... That's actually been in effect NB>> for many decades, at least for some countries... What's changing, I NB>> guess, is that more countries are going to require visas along with NB>> the passport... BM> Right: off-hand don't know which countries but they have required a BM> visa for decades. (And hence the joke 'but what about my BM> MasterCard?'.) Not sure why the EU (European Union) will require BM> visas, though I'd guess may have something to do with immigrants from BM> the Mediterranean area. Quite likely.... and possibly also some softening of the relationship with the US.... BM>>>> factors like upper lever winds, air temperature and the strength of BM>>>> the balloon material it could land anywhere between Illinois and New BM>>>> England/New York. So if you happen to see a big white balloon with BM>>>> red lettering on it...... NB>>>> I'll keep my eye out for it... ;) Not that I expect it would fly NB>>>> this way... more likely to skip us and land in NE... :) BM>>> OK, thanks! Haven't heard if their balloon has been found yet -- BM>>> might be partway to England! NB>>> Could be.... or went too high and deflated over the ocean.... BM>> Awwww. ;( NB>> Probably you'll just never hear anything about it, but if you do, NB>> tell us... ;) BM> I'll probably end up like the news reports: vague comment to follow-up BM> and that's the end. I think I saw a replacement balloon at the BM> rebroadcast of the (local) Festival of Trees parade. I guess they probably would have spares... balloons can be pretty fickle.... ;) ttyl neb .... When someone told me to "delete cookies", I ate another OREO! --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452) .