Posted by Raul on February 17, 2010
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When I got to this country it was a surprise to me that jobs were paid by the hour. In my country the majority of jobs are by salary and the rest by production.
Back there, when you have a “salary” job it is really difficult to get a day off in the middle of the week since you still get paid for that day, but don’t perform any work.
In a production job you get paid by unit produced if it meets the required standards. This is the kind of jobs I liked the most because, depending on how much was available to do, the amount paid was more in my hands to control.
In this last case obviously the idea is to continually find ways to work faster and more efficiently and discard any element that would reduce your production so you don’t get a reduced paycheck.
In the “increasing” area there were elements like getting all the tools needed at an arm distance, so just with slight body movements you could have everything you need to work without interruptions or wasting time.
In the “decreasing” area there were elements like not wasting time talking or looking around and just the minimum amount of breaks possible.
So when discovering that here most jobs are paid by the hour it really surprised me. Where is the motivation to work harder and faster? How do you increase your check?
It seems that the idea is to be paid by “presence” and not by performance. If I’m there eight hours every day I get a complete paycheck, even if I spent most of the time talking, drinking coffee or surfing the internet in the job’s computer and if I stay another hour after the first eight, I even get “overtime” pay (not bad to complete that football discussion)
If I want more money it seems about making the right “friends” rather than working harder and better; at least that is what I’ve seen in several jobs I’ve held for the past years.
At first it seems great for the worker since it is not about working hard but rather doing something for several hours a day, but the problem I see is that it is really tempting to create new techniques to avoid working, yet looking like working.
In several of those jobs I held in the past there was always the guy or gal who spent most of the time socializing instead of working, yet the same paycheck was given to them. Even worst, after decades of doing the same, some of this people even thought they were “hard workers” because they spent eight hours in a full time job and another four in a part time one, but in reality they contributed very little to the company extending those paychecks.
If it is possible to spend time without working hard then it is possible to spend more hours at jobs; basically you are passing the day somewhere else, but if you have to work at a fast pace without stopping, one job is enough and there is no energy left to take a second one.
And then what about the company’s profits, where you can find people who receive money they don’t generate with their amount of work?
From what I understand a company generates money with the products and/or services manufactures and/or delivered by its employees and a portion of that money is distributed back to these same employees for their services to the company, while a proportion of the collected money goes to the owner/investors who created and steer this company.
But what happens when, because of hourly pay or “paid by presence” instead of production or performance is the norm? Wouldn’t that in time create a percentage of “workers” that basically are profiting from the company without giving back enough to compensate for what they take?
And if this situation remains for years and decades and is a common one among many companies, wouldn’t that create a problem of increasing expenses and reduced profits for those companies? And what would be the solution for a company that seeks profits? No wonder why automation and remote workers has become a common issue these days!
I am not saying the system is wrong, but when considering human nature in the equation, it looks to me that the system is aimed in the wrong direction.
We all know that if the house in the corner don’t have a fence people walking by will cut thru the lawn in a curved path and only when a fence is installed that same people will go all the way around in a ninety degrees turn. That’s human nature.
So maybe the idea of hourly pay might be great, but considering human nature it could work against the intended, original purpose.
Just an observation
Raul
Posted by Raul on February 15, 2010
Since this blog is fairly new (less than four months, from November 04, 2009) I visit the Pros to learn and find tips about the craft, so to learn about blogging, English, writing, etc.
One of the tips I read is about getting to be known, and for that matter a blogger was recommending to visit and leave comments (with a link) in at least 100 other blog posts everyday.
One hundred!
Then I read in another blog a complain about people leaving very insensitive comments that clearly show the commenter didn’t even read the post and showed no concern for the feelings of the blogger.
No wonder why!
I won’t deny that one of the many reasons I started this blog was about the possibility of some day making money out of it, but the main one is about communicating with other people. This blog is becoming the line that connects my mind to the outside world; I tell my thoughts with my fingers now (no, not that finger gesture! 
)
So what happens when some people, in the intention of blogging for profit, start commenting in other’s people’s blogs? No surprise there’s so much spam instead of genuine comments (so far my ratio of comments/spam is 46 to 277, or 6.02) and if it wasn’t for the spam filtering program I would be crazy by now (thank you akismet!)
At the other hand, one hundred comments? How they do that! I cannot make more that three comments per hour after reading the post a couple of times (sometimes), just to make sure I understood the concept explained (English is my second language with no formal training), then writing something that not only applies to the post, but also try to contribute to the general idea presented; then checking my spelling and grammar before clicking the “add comment” button (and I still make mistakes after that!)
So, if the idea is to be a honest commenter and blogger, then 100 comments seems a complicated number and if the idea is to make money out of the blog as soon as possible, then those 100 comments had to be insensitive (quantity over quality), but then, those 100 comments go to prison (akismet) and never see the daylight again, so what’s the point of spamming; no links left behind in other blogs anyway.
Many “comments” I receive are like: “gfstrjxvftdre tfdregysff gftrojgfs gdftr” so I believe those are not real comments, unless they are written in a language I don’t know about.
Obviously I prefer to receive comments that complement the idea presented and contribute to make it bigger, better, or give the reasons why I am wrong in my concepts, so I learn something new and have the chance to grow a little more.
Those are the principles under which I try to leave comments in other blogger’s posts; and that’s why it takes so much time, which in turn guide this blog into a personal expression and communication channel rather than a business venue.
But the problem remains with spam and the amount of people blogging for money, not for blogging.
Fortunately I’ve found many excellent blogs that I follow and comment when I have something worth to say. Reading them I’ve been learning many things about this “infecting” craft called blogging.
Now, since you are a more experienced blogger (sure you’ve been around more than four months, right?) let me ask you a couple of questions:
-What is your take in the whole comment idea?
-Do you get lots of spam? What’s your ratio comments/spam?
Raul
Posted by Raul on February 12, 2010
Long time ago I read a tale about a man who knew was being tracked down to be murdered, so decided to hide in a room without windows. He waited in the center of the room seating in a chair facing the only door available, so he would be able to see the killer entering the room; he would not be taken by surprise.
The story went on to describe the man’s thoughts and feelings in that moment until, coming out of these thoughts, the man realizes that the killer was already in the room, behind him, even though the door never opened; then a chill went down the spine of the man at the moment he realized his precautions had been of no use and he was now in the same room with the killer to his back. No escape!
A room with no windows…isn’t that family?
Let me explain.
Sometimes dealing with the world, society and life itself can be very stressing; we have to be and many times we have to “pretend to be” in order to gain a place in this planet. We interact with our surroundings to push our thoughts and dreams in specific directions that might change over time due to specific circumstances; we deal with many elements that so many times are completely out of our control.
After years and decades of this constant “going out to grab a place” we change from human being to citizens of a society. We are not part of something unless we participate.
So the stress of everyday life, even if is accompanied by many great moments, becomes the jacket we wear every time we go out of home to face the world.
And the only place we can rely on to relax, to let ourselves be the fragile one, the doubtful person we are many times, someone who cannot withstand the pressure forever but just another human being with virtues and defects; the only place to let go and feel safe without any doubt and the assurance we will not be attacked so we can be ourselves is our home, our family; wife, husband, lover, even our own children.
From this point of view, our family becomes that room without windows and just a door to get in and out. When we are inside we are safe, we can let go and be ourselves, knowing the ones inside with us are those we can trust completely and without any doubt because they are our loved ones, and we are the one they love.
That would be the only place and time when we don’t need to be the strong one and we can be ourselves without pretension or image projection. The place where we go back to being human and share the joys of connection with the other, the chosen human being that became our loved one and with whom we formed a family, leaving behind the stress and worries of society participation.
That room without windows that is family, or suppose to be our family, is the starting point everyday and the resting place every night and if we don’t give it the attention and dedication it needs, by the means of giving time and heart to the ones that conform it, it’ll degrade and loose it’s meaning to the point of becoming just the place we go to sleep.
It’ll stop being “home” to become just a business partnership where two people share expenses in the attempt to reach more expensive stuff that they could get on their own and also share the expenses and burden of sustaining the little ones that come along.
So, with dedication of time and love, that room without windows that is our family becomes the safe place to be and rest and the place we can be human beings again.
Raul
Posted by Raul on February 10, 2010
Loneliness is the Devil and Fear is a Guardian Angel
For many years I felt that Fear was one of my biggest problems and the responsible for not doing some of the things I wanted to do. Fear was the element that kept me from moving ahead due to the possible consequences that might occur.
At the other hand Loneliness was like a permanent companion that became more as a good friend that was always by my side: “Drinking with loneliness is better than drinking alone”
But as the years went by my thoughts about this two “characters” changed; Loneliness became the bad company that was always there to help me make the wrong decisions while Fear was there to protect me from my own bad ones.
We tend to think that fear is something that must be conquered and reduced in order to be free to move; maybe it is true at some level, but Fear, at least in my case, and after analyzing the results obtained after several years (should I say decades) in this planet, has been the one who was always there to stop me from getting into trouble.
It seems like the old tale of the little devil and the little angel standing by your sides telling you what to do and trying to push you in one direction or another are simply these two common concepts we all know.
When I take a look back in my life and the decisions I’ve made it becomes clear that most of the times I was motivated by Loneliness I made the wrong decisions, and every time I was motivated by Fear I took the right ones.
Maybe what we consider our best companion is not so, and our fears can be of help after all when we learn to understand it and manage it in a proper way, while the feelings of loneliness could make our thoughts wonder without control if we don’t learn to take it in its real proportion.
Just another crazy thought.
Raul
Posted by Raul on February 8, 2010
It is amazing how “Dumb Person Friendly” is the version 2.9.1 of WP.
After upgrading I spent lots of time adding plugins like a madman (it is fun!). The ventilation fan in my laptop was screaming: “stop it you bastard!”
Since many plugins can be installed just clicking “Install” I tried several just to see what they can do; of course not all of them worked and some even fooled around with the pages moving things as they pleased, so I had to deactivate and delete the big majority of them.
Others had to be installed using Filezilla, so I kept uploading more to the plugging folder. At some point, when opening Filezilla for the “n” time I swear there was a message saying:
“You again?”
“C’mon be nice and upload this one for me, please?”
Still many had to be completed by adding html text in the header.php, sidebar.php, etc, so I spent lots of time with the “Copy and Paste”; update; checking the site to see what happened; going back to change the position of the added script; updating; back to see what happened again, etc.
Throughout this experimentation I learned some basics about the strange language of html ( <p>; </p>; </div>; <h2>; </h2> ), so now the need arises to investigate more about these curious coding systems (html, css, php, etc.)
Definitely Barbara’s idea (Blogging Without A Blog) of using a Test Site is a must. The first four days it was just trying things in this site so to learn how the whole system works, at least enough to know what to do, then on Friday came the time to implement everything in the real blog and it definitely went a lot smoother thanks to the previous experimentation.
So I changed the green color of the header with a picture; used the publicity space in the sidebars for pictures and text; added 400 pluggins (I already told you), etc, and all with a cost of zero dollars using a free Theme and plugins, half a bottle of Aleve for headaches and six gallons of coffee.
It is somehow funny that the Theme that best suited my preferences is called “Bible Scholar” considering that I use it for an “Alien Ghost” blog (Amen!)
Even though the process of updating is completed I still need to keep tinkering with a couple of things here and there, but now I could tell new bloggers:
“I remember the times when we had to upload plugins manually”
“Yes grandpa, you already told us”
So my hopes are that now this blog becomes less “hacker friendly” and more interactive, where people can be “seen” if they take the time to contribute a comment.
It is funny when you think that the mysteries of the universe (or at least the mysteries of computers) little by little and with lots of work can be slowly being deciphered and understood if you are willing to take the challenge and the work that implies to learn them, even if it is the basics.
“Not having enough money to outsource everything is a wonderful thing”
Raul
