The Value of a Dollar Versus the Value of an Education

Before I start this post, I will warn you that this may get naggy... I will try to rein in my passion for this topic.

I would also like to state that this blog is merely my opinion, not a passing of judgement on any choices people make.

Today on the train, I had the "pleasure" (aka pain) of listening to a young man talk with his friend about every detail of his life. I wasn't intentionally listening in, but my interest was piqued when he mentioned that he was offered a job from someone he met while working a shift at his hourly job at a chain clothing store. He said that they talked for an hour (while he was at work) and this woman offered him an opportunity for a job on the spot. Whatever.

Continuing...

The guy then tells his friend that he's not sure what he wants to do, though, because the woman offering the job said that it was too intense for him to continue going to school. Then he says that he's only a semester away from graduation but, sure, he could go back and finish that anytime. This truly disappointed me.

My livelihood depends upon students attending college, but my response is not from my need for a job, but from a place of personal values. It frustrates me to see people giving up a degree for something that seems more "valuable"--at the time. While it would be easy to make the quick, bigger paycheck tomorrow, what comes next?

We live in a society of immediate gratification--communication, food, entertainment, the list goes on... I can see how the immediate "big paycheck" seems reasonable. However, this choice comes at a great cost... not in dollars and cents (although it could one day). The perception has become that everyone's got to have a college education to get where they want to be, which can be both supported and refuted by any number of stories from people who have done both ways. I was fortunate to have my undergraduate degree paid for through the State of Georgia (thank you lottery) and my work with my university; however, I took out student loans to cover the cost of my graduate degree, so I understand the financial pains of going to school.

Here's what I see for this young man's future: he takes the job and quits school, is pleased with himself and the money he's making doing this great job, does the job for three or fours years, gets bored and is ready to move on (or advance upwards), then finds every position in which he's interested requires a degree! Sure, you can live without the degree for a while, but what happens when you're between the rock and hard place? At that point, you may be responsible for paying bills and living a particular type of lifestyle... you can't put rent, a mortgage, electricity, or credit card bills on hold because you want to go back to school to get a job that may or may not be there in the six months, year, or two years it may take you to finish that degree.

Can you put a dollar amount on an investment in yourself?

Georgia Cat

So we accidentally adopted a spaz for a kitten.

We love her lots, but she's her own unique individual.

We were told that she was a stray until a woman took her in for a month or so while Georgia got put into PAWS system... it's a full system, so she was lucky she got to stay with her temporary family for a while. We were told when we met her that Georgia spent the entire time in the adoption center in the litter box. When we met her, she stepped right out to me, and when Ryan picked her up, you could see the comfort in her entire body. She was totally ours from the get-go.

As soon as we got her home, we knew that she was either incredibly smart or was not a stray. She knew our kitchen immediately, and joins us there when we cook... to beg. She also knows to be gentle with our hands when she plays, and you can almost feel her holding back her energy not to hurt us.

For the first four weeks after we adopted her, she woke us up between 3:30 and 4:30 AM EVERY SINGLE DAY. She was killing me. Then, she was touched by something and now miraculously she sleeps through the night (or close enough).

She's perpetually clean, which I tremendously appreciate, but she also likes to make sure the litter is out from between her foot pads... even at 2:00 in the morning. Clearly, I'm sound-sensitive but, to be fair, she's as anal retentive as I am.

As I mentioned before, Georgia is a Siamese mix, but her "meow" is ALL Siamese. This means that her talking is incessant, but I truly don't mind that. What gets me is her lonely meow, which she does if she walks out of the room. I think she forgets we're right there. As a result, we keep her in the bedroom with us overnight, so we don't repeat past "night-time alarms". We have been keeping our bedroom door closed so she stays with us. She does GREAT with this.

However, we discovered the amazing draft that comes through our room when we leave the door open. For two or three nights, we used the box our TV came in, which worked well, but looked, well... bad, and was bulky. We tried our laundry basket for one night, but let's just say that we experienced a "wake-up call" at 4 AM. No go.

So we bought one of the older model baby gates for her. I think she could scale it, but we may never find out. It freaks her out so much that she won't go within 5 feet of that thing. Excellent...

Georgia has two moods: playful and asleep. I did not grow up with animals that bit as a form of play. I now understand how Georgia sees her play as a trusting activity with us, but she knew from day one when she was playing with our hands to be VERY careful. She does get out of control every once in a while, and she gets corrected. She almost immediately knows what she's done wrong, and goes away to mope for a while. Then she's happy to play again. And we are too.

When she gets too jacked up, she has some odd habits:

• She plays with her toys with incredible energy, but almost seems self-conscious about "getting caught" doing it. She walks off casually like she was too cool for it to begin with.
• Georgia has a MEAN vertical. She randomly jumps at spots on the wall, like she sees a fly--but there isn't one.
• She has found my hair ties as her new favorite toy when she gets up early in the mornings... good thing I keep them on the headboard for me (and her now, too).
• She will run through the apartment like she's got somewhere to be. When she does it, though, she sounds like a dog whose claws need clipped.... "schritch, schritch, schritch". I'm shocked we don't have claw marks on the floors. I think the hardwood flooring is resilient, though :)

So there's a look into the life of our Georgia Cat... I think her only complaint would be that we pick her up too much. She clearly wasn't held enough as a kitten. She likes when we hold her, but can't fight the urge to run away at the earliest opportunity.

A note about PAWS: Proving Animals are Worth Saving (PAWS) is a Chicago no-kill organization who has worked to reduce the number of animals destroyed for simply not having a home. They have, in their 12 years in existence, reduced the number of animals destroyed in the city; in 1998, over 40,000 animals were destroyed annually. In 2008, that number was just over 19,000. As someone who volunteered for the organization, the people employed by PAWS and those of us who volunteer are committed to not only finding A home, but THE RIGHT home for all animals that come through the adoption center's doors. If you live in Chicago, please consider volunteering for, contributing to, or adopting from PAWS. For more information, visit their website.

Some Unofficial Rules of the CTA

After two months of commuting for 50 to 60 minutes a day, I have developed some definite preferences regarding 1/24th of my life. These are the rules of common courtesy I believe ALL CTA riders should abide by. Do not be shocked if these rules become longer... possibly much longer. However, I will not direct my anger towards this blog. Just my sarcasm.

Rule #1: If you have a bubble, you should probably leave it at the bus stop or train station in which you board the train.

Rule #267: If you want my spot on the crowded train, you should probably not try to shove me back in. Let me off and you can then get on.

Rule #310: The train conductor sticks his or her head out of the train for a reason--they're not going to leave you... they actually SEE your ass trying to get on!

Rule #891: The train is my quiet, mostly peaceful place and I would like it to stay that way--please text your friend or call them when you aren't on the noisy train. Shut. The. Hell. Up.

Rule #243: Cubs games are great for those attending, but for those of us who just got off work, this place is serious business. Don't drag your drunk tail on the train, or I will laugh at you. Whether or not I can contain it is at my discretion.

Rule #428: Grocery carts, strollers, double strollers, triples strollers, and other things that don't fold up = not train-friendly. Take a damn cab.

Rule #159: When a train goes "Express", it will look like a fire alarm. Crazed eyes and beelines towards the exits are indicators of such a circumstance. Please do NOT freak out. It is only an express train.

Rule #84: If you're looking to sit every other seat, the CTA is SO NOT the place for you. This is another instance in which you should take a cab.

Rule #995: When you're new to the CTA, staring at the maps in the train will not make it tell you all its secrets or notify you when the train reaches your stop. This means you should learn the stop or two before yours so you don't have to freak out and slam your hand between the doors in a futile attempt to escape the train. I judge thee. (Looking for informational purposes is acceptable, but please don't burn a hole in the durn thing... other people need it, too.)

Rule #17: When you are waiting for the bus or entering the CTA station for a train, you KNOW you're going to need your CTA card. Find that crap BEFORE you block the bus door or the turnstile. I contemplate saying "Excuse me. You're clearly not prepared" and pushing past you.

Labor Day 2010

Today, we decided to take a trip to the Garfield Park Conservatory to let me play with my camera some more. I like the ability to experiment and learn from the settings--sometimes I have to take a picture the wrong way to learn how I prefer the picture taken. I appreciate that the instructor of my PhotoSafari class showed me how the "Info" button on my camera shows me exactly how I set everything for each photo. This gives me the opportunity to learn what I could improve for the next shot.

Anyway, we took the Red Line to the Green Line and got off right beside the Conservatory. It was HUGE! The building is divided up by types of plants, so we ventured through several rooms before coming to the outside garden, which was fantastic in its own right. After going back into the building, we came upon another outside garden area, complete with a lily pond, mini-vegetable garden, and labyrinth.


We spent about three hours walking through the facility, and I'm certain we'll be back. The day was overcast, but just perfect in terms of temperature. It was a wonderful, relaxing, inspiring day for me.

July 2010

July was, by far, our busiest month this year! We went to a couple of neighborhood street festivals, the Taste of Chicago event, Navy Pier for fireworks, and the Lincoln Park Zoo for our entertainment. We stalked the filming of the "Transformers 3" movie, too!

All of these events were free, except for the cost of tickets to try foods at the "Taste". Here, you purchase tickets instead of exchanging money for the food. The participating restaurants serve their signature items, so they have a limited menu, generally 5 or 6 things. They also do "taste portions", which are about half the size of a full order. We much preferred doing this, so we could try something without having to commit a bunch of tickets to something we weren't sure we'd like.

So about our trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo: they just opened an entirely new section to the Zoo, which has been closed off since we moved here in November. It is still a little bare, but is a nice area for wildlife. During the slideshow, you'll see a momma duck and 2 ducks on one side of a net, and two or three other babies on the other side; they got separated somehow and we were able to watch the drama from above, unable to help. So what do I do? Start taking pictures while being super-sad for them... they were a bit frantic about getting back together, but not petrified. Sadness at the zoo.

June 2010

June was an exciting month for us: we moved into a new apartment, adopted a kitten, and gained a new neighborhood to explore: Edgewater.

We love our new place, and feel as though we got a pretty good deal on a condo rental, inclusive of everything but cable (internet & phone) and electricity. As soon as we were mostly settled into our apartment (or, realistically, the weekend after we moved in) we adopted a Siamese mix kitten from PAWS Chicago. Her original name was Kashi, but it was clear that I was thinking of the cereal. So we changed her name to Georgia!

I have been volunteering at PAWS since March, while we were living in Lincoln Park. It has become more difficult for me to volunteer there, since I no longer live within 10 minutes of the adoption center, but I'm happy to have volunteered in such a terrific shelter. The cats and dogs live in rooms with one another, but are kept on separate sides of the building. I volunteered with the cat section, so I learned the most about how they were cared for. The cats are grouped by age, so the kittens aren't terrorizing the old guys, or by compatibility, as a room full of kittens was controlled by one slightly older, mother-like cat. The cats do NOT have any cages, but have mobility around a room about the size of a bathroom. You can walk by the center and see the cats in the windows as you walk by, and I made a habit of playing with them as I walked by as I bided my time. If you live in the Chicago area and are looking to adopt a cat or dog, PAWS is the place to go; you won't feel guilty for choosing just one animal!

More to come about Georgia-Cat, too...

April and May 2010

April and May were a whirlwind adventure, but the highlights were pretty cool!

We got to attend a taping of "America's Got Talent", all because we follow a site called "Free in Chicago" on Facebook! We saw some really good acts, some amazing acts, and a couple of real duds. If anyone watched this season, the gentleman who looked like a pimp and tried to make a bird come out of his briefcase was a Chicago tryout. And fail. I was disappointed to see the young man who had an incredible opera voice eliminated in Vegas, because I truly think his talents would win over any audience. It did ours, for sure. One act they didn't show on TV: the kid who tried to make himself sneeze 20 times in less than a minute. Howie didn't dig this very much, but it got worse... the way in which he made himself sneeze was by sticking Q-Tips deep into his nose. GROSS. Howie actually left his judge's seat and walked down the aisle beside us and lobbied for everyone to turn away and not look at the kid. Howie and I totally made eye contact. And I agree with him: the act was disgusting. I'm kinda glad they didn't give that kid the acknowledgement of being on national TV. It was cool to see Howie protest his act, though.

We also got to attend our first Cubs game, after attending our first Sox game in January. VERY different experience, on a variety of levels. The Cubs won, the seats were amazing, and the company was wonderful. There will be more on the Cubs vs. Sox decision later...

Our first Broadway in Chicago show was one I've been wanting to see for at least a decade: STOMP. It was amazing... that is one talented group of performers! We got to see Avenue Q a week or later, so we learned the path to the Theater District downtown pretty well. Avenue Q was not exactly what I expected... kinda felt like pimped out, adult Sesame Street characters, which ruined my childhood heroes. I can see how the concept appealed to a particular audience, but I don't believe I was their target demographic on this one.