Broke

One Estee Launder tube of Perfectly Clean (r) face wash is $20. I never thought about it before when I would run out. I simply threw away the tube after squeezing the last glop and bought another.

It is a luxury these days for me to be able to buy another tube without thinking about the variables that will impact my decision to plunk down another $20, plus tax, plus shipping, for another tube. One, I have to make sure I have the money in my checking account, rather than charging it to my Amex (JetBlue points notwithstanding). Two, I consider that a $6 drugstore version is probably just as good as the stuff inside the luxury brand that I have used faithfully for many years so I will feel guilty about wasting $14 – worth a decent meal with a drink in my neighborhood. Three, to save on shipping, I have to buy $50 worth of Lauder stuff. That’s at least $6.

I am getting tired of having to think thrice about why I have to make a purchase for something I want. I miss the carefree days of… well, not thinking at all. But these days, and with only one of us earning a living, the thinking is a necessity of my reality. So to stretch my dollar, I cut the tube in half, and of course, I am amazed to see that I probably have another month’s worth of washes I can smootz out of this tube.

I try to tell myself, this frugality is a characteristic to be admired. In avoiding waste, I am saving the environment. Living creatively thrifty is the new chic. And not to mention how many blessings I should be grateful for, such as having a decent paying job, a husband who adores me albeit currently struggling with unemployment, and two healthy gainfully employed sons who think the world of me. Yes but…

As I dip my finger into the spliced tube and begin lathering my face, I don’t think about how clever I am for saving dollars. Sometimes. Just sometimes, being broke sucks.

Raptor Dreams

Daybreak rouses this heavy heart
In the quiet of the lightening morning
Cascading a waterfall of tears.
Monochromatic colors of a brown
parched earth swirl persistently
through glassy eyes
Resisting the harsh disruption
Of this catatonic state

Remnants of a dream
From a hot restless night
Of twisted sheets and
Crumpled hopes.
A desert stretches endlessly
nothing in sight but dunes
of ochre-baked sand beneath
a relentlessly burning sun.

Struggling to find strength
This weary soul rises
Wearing again a stone mask of
Meaningless smiles and nods
Empty words uttered in monotone
Directions toward unknown
destinations, fearful of tomorrows
And whatever lies beyond.

A hawk circles above
Its plaintive caw echoes
Above the greener earth
Warmth rising from
the valley below, it soars
majestically toward a
A luminescent sky
Taking with it, this mortal’s
burdensome sadness

Lifting a somber veil
That I might see a luscious world
Radiant with beauty
Hear the beating of my own heart
And feel, despite the sadness,
That I am very much alive.

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The Banking HandCuffs

“Everyone still hates banks, apparently. Ok, that’s an exaggeration”

No, it’s not.

That was the latest blog entry on ConfirmIt’s Customer Feedback Stream. Statistics may be a measure of customer loyalty. But in banking, the percentage of customers who say they might or definitely will switch banks, is likely to be lower – much lower. Why? Because when customers say they’re going to or would like to switch, it doesn’t mean they can. And for those who say they definitely will not switch, a number of them may say that simply because they can’t. In both cases, they would just rather not because of the inconvenience switching entails.

Consider my experience as an example:

Last month, I took a cab home and paid with my TD Bank debit card. The first swipe didn’t go through. Not an uncommon occurrence, so I re-swiped. Nothing. Third time’s a charm, the cabbie got paid, and I went on my merry way. Three days later, I noticed three of the same cab fare charges on my online statement.

TD Bank acquired Commerce Bank last year. The transition did not go well for customers who found themselves without their direct deposit paychecks in their checking accounts until three days later. Still, I forgave. We all have glitches. TD Bank without question ensured that no debits bounced or declined, and any inadvertent fees associated were reversed.

Not so with the taxi charges. A 30-minute argument with an online customer service rep ensued. She argued that since the charge had three approval codes, they were valid. My point was how could three charges of the same amount within seconds of each other be valid? She insisted I had to go to the cab company and let them reverse the charges. And I said no, they were going to reverse the debits because they should not have approved two of the three charges. Their fault. Not the cab company’s. Not mine.

Two days ago, I made a purchase at a store and the same thing happened. The store needed to re-swipe my card. Thirty minutes later, two of the same charges appeared on my account. While I had a better experience this time around with a different CSR, the fact that the re-swipes appeared on my statement again was enough for me to want out of TD Bank.

There are other reasons for wanting out of TD Bank. They now have minimum balance requirements on both checking and savings accounts. And while I sometimes will dip below the minimum balance, there are other accounts I maintain with balances that more than make up for the short fall.

But here’s the catch. To switch banks, I would have to change my direct deposit, which typically takes two paychecks before it happens. That means in the interim, I get a paper paycheck, which means, I have to suspend all of my automatic bill payments, which means I have to write checks out, put them in envelopes, address the envelopes, lick stamps, and … you get the picture.

Do I want to switch banks? Damn right, I do. Will I? God, no! Too damn much trouble.

Immigrants MUST Be Here Legally

Liberty Imprisoned
 What I think of Arizona’s SB 1070
(Shot from Brooklyn Heights Esplanade)

When I posted this photo to reflect my disdain toward Arizona’s immigration bill, it did not mean I was against illegal immigration – only the right of officials to demand proof of legal status from anyone they “reasonably” believed was in the country illegally. No one who is here legally should feel they have a need to carry their passports or Green Cards just because they don’t pass the blue-eyed test. I shouldn’t have to, and neither should my kids.

While I feel for those caught in immigration bill limbo (NYTimes Article: Illegal Status of Army Spouses Often Leads to Snags), I strongly believe that the immigration law must be upheld. I have never in my life been in this country illegally. Not me, not my sisters, not my father, who strove to make sure that when we immigrated – we did so following the letter of the law. Even if that meant years of separation. We suffered through the wait. We made the sacrifices. But when we arrived in this country, we proudly carried our immigrant’s visas that gave us the legal right to live here permanently, work, and after five years, become naturalized citizens.

I don’t admonish that people from other countries be barred from their desire to make a life here. This country will always have its shores open, and Liberty’s arms will be there to welcome them. But like our forebearers, who suffered the Ellis Island traumas, the wait, the bureaucracy, and then the struggle to assimilate into such a strange lifestyle like we did, so should they.

There’s an argument to be made for service men who have served this country in good faith to pardon wives who have been here illegally, perhaps just this once. But it’s hard to say because people have taken immigration laws for granted, and many emboldened to defy it by simply disappearing into the mainstream until the law changes or another Presidential pardon happens. Hence, the result is Arizona’s law tilting to the other extreme.

No one should be exempted from immigration laws. If we don’t like the law as it stands, then let’s move to change it. But as it stands, if someone wants to live in this country, it has to be nothing short of legal. Had this law been upheld and respected, illegal aliens would not have been such a Federal case. And those of us here legally would not have to carry passports in fear of being demanded to prove the status of our presence.

You’re Invited …

Dear Friends:

I’ve submitted three of my photographs from last fall semester’s gallery class which was exhibited at the SoHo Photo Gallery. These three photos will be on exhibit at the New York University AMC Artist Show from May 15 – June 3.

I would be honored to have you visit the gallery and see the work that I accomplished under the tutelage of Professor T. Lawrence Wheatman in a class he taught at the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies called: From Beginner to Exhibitor.

When and Where

NYU
Kimmel Center
Stovall Gallery
60 Washington Square South – 8^th Floor
New York City

Mon-Sat: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sun: 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Preview the Collection Showcased at the SoHo Photo Gallery

 

 

Photography’s Pleasant Surprises

It’s been more than 15 years since I last boarded the Staten Island Ferry. Still, when my photography professor suggested the excursion for our class field trip, I was hesitant to participate just because I have a gazillion pictures of the New York skyline, back when the Twin Towers were still alive. Ever since I started taking photography classes, I’ve begun looking at photography more as serious art. Meaning finding the interesting subjects that no one else might have thought or considered while maintaining that journalistic impression of recording life. And now without the distinct landmark that defines Lower Manhattan, I have since found skylines to be flat, ordinary, and very boring.

I haven’t seen the results of my black and white film yet. But with my digital camera, I chose to shoot the people who boarded the boat — an eclectic group of tourists, commuters, and local travelers.

On such a beautiful Saturday, we set sail for Staten Island. Once there, we disembarked and walked around the esplanade to take more of the view of Manhattan further away.

The lesson I’ve learned from this short trip is to never take for granted that we know everything there is know from what we’ve experienced in life. Sometimes life springs surprises in the most pleasant of ways. Had I not joined the class, I never would have shot this.

Mother with Child

What Lies Ahead

That’s what I retitled my personal journal (FKA Reflections). Here’s the header image:

If only life had warning signs...

Teaching the Rudiments of Personal Finance to Your Children

When my sons were in elementary school, I taught them the value of budgeting by giving them an allowance on a monthly basis. Each of my two sons received $100. Yes, that does sound like a lot of allowance money but I stipulated that within that $100 included their ability to buy the “must-have” stuff – the Nintendo, Playstation, the electronic games, software, movie tickets with popcorn and soda, gifts for friends, Christmas money, and their school lunch money. If they blew the whole wad in the first week of the month, there was going to be no bailout from me – they would bag lunches for the rest of the month. However, they could also choose to bag their lunch to save their allowance, and this was ideal if they wanted to save up for something they wanted badly. I taught them the value of choosing when to bag lunch or not based on what was being served in school. Why would you pay $3 for a PBJ sandwich when you make it at home without cost?

At a very young age, my sons learned the value of the money they had in their pockets by being very careful on what they spent and how they spent it. My son once bought a toy that cost him $10. It broke within a few hours. Had I bought it for him, he might have just discarded the toy and asked for another one. Instead, he asked me to take him back to the store to get his money back. Did he want to exchange it for another? He said no, the toy was “a piece of junk. I’ll just save my money.”

Throughout their school years they have also learned the value of earning a bonus for a job well done and how small errors can become large financial disasters. Each A they brought home netted them an extra $20. On any given month, they could earn an extra $160. Vis a vis each forgotten task at home resulted in a “docking of pay.” The frequency that one forgot certain tasks could result in near bankruptcy before the next “payday.”

Today, as adults, they continue to practice that financial vigilance. My oldest has a good paying full time job and could afford a nice place to live and a nice car. Instead, he continues to rent a room in a house to keep expenses down, pay off his student loans faster, and is saving for a wedding and a down payment on a house. His only luxury is his Honda Accord, a purchase he researched for a year. My youngest also chooses to rent a room in an apartment in order to save for a rainy day. And that came in handy when he was laid off for 10 months. He is now back at work and is replenishing the savings account.

Some parents might think they don’t have the money to give their kids $100 a month in allowance money. However, if you calculated how much you would have spent on things they asked for – clothes, shoes, games, toys, – you’d have spent more than $100. You can take this example and make it work for your kids based on how much you would have spent on their lunch money and their little luxuries. You don’t want them to go without. You just want them to value what you give them.

My children did not learn these lessons in school. They learned it themselves with my help. What started out as a simple lesson in budgeting the allowance has actually turned them into financially responsible adults.

When It’s Time to Get Off Social Media and Make a PERSONAL Connection

If you’ve ever gone AWOL on an important meeting or scheduled conference call, chances are there will be some very annoyed people who were counting on you to show up. And if it’s a sales meeting, one with a potential client, that’s not good.

I had a conference call scheduled with Jeff to discuss how his company, Web Analytics Demystified, and their app, Twitalyzer, could be used to measure our own social media metrics. Joining me in this conference call was my research analyst. I had emailed Jeff a couple of minutes before the start to confirm our call and to determine who was calling whom. Ten minutes into the appointed hour, however, I got neither a call nor email from anyone at the company. I left a message on voicemail with Eric Petersen, one of the company’s partners. It wasn’t until I sent out a tweet that I heard from Jeff.

By the time I got Jeff’s email, 15 minutes later, he apologized for the “last minute notice” with reasons that would have been legitimate — except this waasn’t a last minute notice. This was a late notice, which led me to believe he simply forgot about us. Hey, that’s really OK with me. These things happen. We all forget at one time or another. And since I’m in the “interviewing” stage of my hunt for an appropriate analytical software, it wasn’t a big deal at this point. What irked me was his effort to cover up the snafu with reasons that sounded more like a “my dog ate my homework” excuse, rather than just owning up to what really happened — WITH A PHONE CALL.

There are very specific dos and don’ts that you are taught as a business professional when something like this happens. Maybe these mantras weren’t taught in biz school, but I know employers will hammer the point — once. And then you’re fired.

1. If a prospect (especially one with a legitimate brand) contacts you and expresses interest in your product or service, you thank them for their interest (You also whisper ’thank you, God’).
2. In the first of communicaes, learn more about the prospect. Do your research. Find out what their interest in your product is about and what resources you can provide that could help in the client’s consideration of your product. And I don’t mean sending me to your Web site because I’ve already been there and I want to know more. This is really your opportunity to show why your product is better than the others.
3. When a meeting or conference call is scheduled for an opportunity to present your stuff, put it in your Outlook, synch it to your Blackberry,  and turn on the alarm at least a half hour ahead of time so that you can prepare for the meeting. I learned to do this as a reporter after missing a critical interview.
4. If something comes up that is urgent, notify the prospect immediately. If you can’t make the call yourself, have a colleague do it for you. Never, ever, have the prospect hunt you down to find out what happened.
5. If you end up being a no-show, CALL the agrieved party as soon as you can with your legitimate reasons. If you simply forgot about it, then own up to it. Groveling with apologies won’t hurt either. Note: It is important that you make a person-to-person connection when a snafu like this happens.
6. Demonstrate how the prospect is still important to you by offering to reschedule based on THE PROSPECT’S availability.

I’m not trying to be hard-nosed or overly critical about this. I’ve been very excited about what Twitalyzer can do in the social media metrics sphere and I’ve been talking it up through Twitter with my industry networks and followers. In most cases, prospects are willing to give vendors a second chance. So am I. However, that second opportunity will only happen if you react quickly and appropriately. I’m still waiting for Jeff to call.