Linky Wednesday

Young men who like to steal books: remember, when you're stealing Bukowski from your local used bookstore, you are in no sense sticking it to the man.

Mental health officials are deciding whether to include compulsive shopping as a legitimate disorder in the DSM. This article notes that in the U.S. avid shopping is a widely observed norm, so it's hard to distinguish avid shoppers from compulsive ones. The whole thing makes my teeth chatter.

An Indianapolis janitor finally got an apology from his union which censured him for reading a historical book on the KKK during his break. Now you know why I'm always nervous about being spotted reading books about Nazis.

A Yahoo article lists five jobs you can feel good about and still make a decent salary at. (Not that it's going to be any picnic getting them. Good luck on that nonprofit executive one. Sheesh.)

A study confirms what we already knew: high-tech gadgets are causing us all to waste our lives. According to this research, 15 to 20 percent of people can be categorized as chronic procrastinators, dramatically up since the availability of computers and mobile phones. Professor Piers Stell from Calgary University estimates that the beeps notifying the arrival of email are responsible for a .5% drop in the gross domestic product of the U.S. -- that's 70 billion a year.

No one is saying reading blogs is anything but an excellent use of your time, of course.

And..I found someone who's an even bigger cheapskate than me. A New York man pulling down six figures a year chose to live in the company paint shed without anyone knowing. I gotta say, I admire the discipline.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner?

My brother David sent me this link which talks about just how horrible it is to work in a poultry factory. When you're cutting into a chicken 20,000 times a day, it's no surprise that you'd be subject to serious carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis, but you also might be risking both life and limb. This has been going on for decades, and yet in past years these poor working conditions stopped being part of the public record. The reason is explained by an interviewee on a recent PBS special on this very subject:

AMES ALEXANDER: There used to be a column on injury logs where companies were supposed to record all repetitive motion injuries. Uh, and this essentially gave OSHA inspectors a very quick idea of how common repetitive motion problems like carpal tunnel, like tendonitis, were. Uh, and then, uh, under pressure, uh, from the industry, OSHA removed that column.

(OSHA = Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

The Charlotte Observer did a lot of coverage on this group of workers back in February. They note that over 80% of poultry workers in the Carolinas are Latino, and the majority of those are here illegally, and not in a position to officially complain about sub-par working conditions.

Although my brother correctly assessed that I'd be interested from a Workin' It standpoint, I don't think he is aware that reading about such conditions in poultry factories in a 1989 New York Times article is what prompted me to become a vegetarian, which I still am to this day. Back then, I was so horrified by both the working conditions for humans and the living conditions for the animals that I decided to sever my association with the poultry industry by no longer eating their food. Another reason was, back then, the use of antibiotics on these birds was rampant, although this practice has been somewhat phased out. This overuse led to one strain of bacteria, Campylobacter, commonly found in chickens' intestines, to become resistant to antibiotics, and led to a subsequent massive increase in the presence of this bacteria, which was passed on to humans eating this contaminated poultry. (Which is why everyone is always so concerned about cleaning everything a raw chicken touches.) In 2001 this stuff sickened one percent of the (U.S. human) population per year. This overuse of antibiotics has also seriously contributed to their ineffectiveness in a general sense.


I was planning on posting something upbeat today, since it's Monday. Sorry about that. If you don't work in a poultry plant, you can take solace from that. And, if you do, you have my sympathy.

Bonus Cheapskate Tip

This is the biggest overall tip I can give you to help you save money: don't increase your expenses just because your income increases. I know that when I made the biggest salary of my life, back in the dot com days, every time I got a check I was surprised that I was being paid yet again. I drove the same car, lived in the same converted garage, and didn't add any significant additional expenses to my budget. As a result, I was able to weather the very grim financial times of late 2001 through 2002 without having to borrow any money.

By the way, I hope anyone doesn't feel personally attacked by my cheapskate posts. Everyone obviously has different priorities, and if you've been dying to buy Guitar Hero or the new iPhone and can afford to do so, don't think I'm quietly thinking: looks like someone's going to be eating cat food in about forty years! I'm not. Unless you're also $20,000 in debt and up to your neck in an ARM mortgage. Then, I admit, I kind of am. But only because I want what's best for you!

How to Be A Cheapskate

Bleaders, I'm worried about you, and here's why: you're not saving enough money.

I am posting, for your edification, a 2005 chart on worldwide household saving rates. Korea: 10%. Thailand: 18.7%. India: 24.3%. U.S.: 1.4%


That's right, people. The richest country in the world, with one of the most pitiful savings rates going. (As a side note, I can't believe Canada saves as little as we do. I always think of them as being the more thoughtful, civilized version of us.) I don't want to hear your excuses. Cost of living, blah, blah, blah, kids need to get into Harvard someday so they need those lessons, blah, blah, blah, I need those clothes to look good for work, yak, yak, yak. If you're some single mom working two jobs to support your three children and making $28,000, this rant is not directed at you. You are excused. Go make yourself a hot chocolate and take a load off.

For the rest of you, I am going to give you a piece of advice: stop spending so much money. What? You say you don't make enough to save? Let me ask you this: do you have cable TV? Premium channels? Do you buy more than one pair of shoes a year per member of your household? Do you go on vacation, somewhere that involves a plane? Then I don't believe you. Neither does Japan (7.4%) or Germany (10.7%).

Fellow wage slaves, none of us know what the future holds, but I can guarantee you this: some emergency is going to come up where you will need savings. You or your spouse are going to get injured and be out of work; your car will need extensive repairs; your kid will need braces. And no matter what, you are ultimately going to retire, and hopefully live a long time after that. And you're going to need cash, and lots of it.

So here's some advice from a lifelong thrifty person on how to start saving.

1. Buy stuff used. Thrift stores aren't for everyone, and I won't claim that they'll solve all your problems, but it's worth everyone's while to try to buy big items used: appliances, computers, etc. Unless you are a freelance graphic designer, you don't really need a brand new computer, and getting one a year or two old will save you tons of cash. I got a used breadmaker at a yard sale for $5.00. Works great. Delicious, delicious bread.

2. Drive an old car. It's a complete waste of money to buy a new car. It loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot, and the insurance is crazy high. God forbid you're paying it off in installments and paying all that interest. (Don't even tell me, my heart can't take it.) Save up $5,000, buy the best fuel-efficient and reliable car you can afford, and drive it into the ground. Plus, if someone keys your car, you don't even care. Bring it on, vandals! Your attack means nothing to me!

3. Buy quality items that you'll hang on to. If you're making a big purchase, like a piece of furniture, buy something classic that will stand the test of time. That way you won't keep buying the same thing over and over again. I like to buy older used furniture because I find it's more well-crafted than most contemporary stuff, plus (if you can keep kids and pets away from it) it doesn't actually decrease in value like that lame IKEA bookshelf you spent four hours putting together. The same goes for clothes. Avoid purchases that you know are going to be easily identified from a certain period of time (blazers with fringe on the lapels, anyone? Skirts that come down to a point?) and take good care of what you buy.

4. Don't make shopping your hobby. Shopping isn't a hobby. Gardening is a hobby. Chess is a hobby. Find something to do that doesn't cost you money. When you've got some free time, don't go over to Zappos and check out the new shoes. Don't cruise Best Buy looking for new DVD releases. Join Facebook and find your old friends. Got for a run. Learn French (from the tapes you checked out from the library, of course.)

5. Think of excuses not to buy stuff, instead of the other way around. Instead of your usual internal dialogue about how that jacket is going to really be the last black jacket you ever need, so it's totally worth the expense, turn that conversation on its head. Think: I already have two black jackets, and getting another one is not going to improve my life. But at some point I might really need this $60. Pass.

6.Learn to cook. You'll eat better, save money, and it qualifies as a hobby. Plus, it's actually not that hard.

7. Think about what the old version of you will think of your purchases. When I picture old Nancy Matson shaking her bony index finger at current me because I frittered away thirty-five bucks on a throw pillow while she's picking pennies off the sidewalk to buy a cup of coffee, it gives me pause. That old lady scares me.

Have a great weekend!

Linky Wednesday

Here's a few snippets from an upcoming book about phone sex workers. Sounds like a good job category for an interview.

If you're worried about having enough for retirement, you're probably right to be. Especially if you're a baby boomer.

Workers hard hit by the economy and the unemployed are tapping into their 401(K)s. It makes me all nervous just thinking about it.

I found out too late that the oldest living blogger has now died, at the age of 108. Olive, may you rest in peace.

Workplace bitterness: parents v. non-parents

It's taboo to mention it, but this poster on the Evil HR Lady's blog did: non parents resent it when they feel they're being asked to do work that people with kids aren't.

According to this article, citing an earlier poll, 16.5 percent of workers resented doing work to cover for a parent who is busy parenting, and 4 in 10 workers resent employers who provide work/family benefits to workers with family only. (I would guess that the first number is on the low side, and we have to consider that some people who responded have kids, and some probably haven't been called upon to do any extra work. I scrounged around for a better poll, but couldn't find one.) The fact is, while no one doubts that managing a career and children at the same time is a difficult task, you have to be a pretty generous person to cheerfully fill in when a parent dashes out of the office and you are asked by your boss to stay late to take care of something your co-worker rightfully should have done.

Usually, of course, this reallocation of work is more subtle. You're asked to come in on the weekend, not the parent who holds the same position, and the reason is never explicitly stated. Or you're in the middle of a meeting, and the people without kids remain behind while the parents run off to pick up their kids. As a non-parent you'd love to leave, too, but you know there is no excuse you can offer that will allow you to gracefully exit. And there you have it, the root of it all: whatever you, as a non-parent, are doing in your off-time, never mind that it's volunteering for the aged or installing solar panels in your house, much less spending time with people you care about or just watching TV -- doesn't count. It's not like you're nurturing America's next generation, are you? Then back to your desk!

Personally, I applaud the efforts to make workplaces more family friendly, and allow people to live their lives with less stress. But I think changes to the work day, like unpaid time off or flextime, should be offered to all employees, not only those with kids. And if parents get to leave at five to pick up their kids from school, non-parents should be extended the same privilege, even if they're only going home to write a curmudgeonly blog post.

Would You Want to Know?

Agent Nathan Bransford asked his readers this week if there was a seer who could tell writers they'd absolutely, never be published, (a) would they want to know and (b) would they keep writing. Overwhelmingly, the answer was yes, they'd want to know, and even if the news was bad, they'd keep writing.

It's hard to know exactly how seriously most of these responders take their writing, how many hours a week they work on it and all that. I can only assume the range is wide. But I have to say I can't get on board with the idea of continuing to write with any kind of seriousness without the slightest chance of being published and having some kind of audience. Certainly writing a novel, even a short story, is a grueling task if you're going to craft something that anybody besides you can appreciate. Even if you're the kind of writer that enjoys the process, at some point you're going to be (a) despairing that you'll ever finish, (b) sorry you ever started and (c) plagued by the idea that what you have written thus far is utter crap. Certainly it is satisfying when you finally feel you get something right. But doesn't at least some of that satisfaction come from knowing that what you've written is good enough that maybe someone else will like it?

Some people admitted they'd probably cut down on their writing time if they knew there was no hope, and would also spend less time perfecting their prose, but still they'd have to write, because they needed to. I can see keeping a diary or dashing off a page of something you had stuck in your head. Or blogging, because it's not all that taxing. But if you saw a post-apocalyptic movie in which the last human on earth was working on the third draft of a literary novel in the middle of a trash-strewn field, would you really think: oh how nice, she's expressing herself!

I'm sure there are those who write for the sheer joy of it, and I can't say I'd never write another sentence if the seer came to me with the bad news. But I think it's telling that a high percentage of the never-say-die group in the commenters tried to cheat the system, saying no one could ever know for sure what would happen, and some of them would go on writing to just to prove the seers wrong.

Have a great weekend!