I Don't Understand Global Economics...

I admit it...I don't pretend to understand Global Economics.  However, I do understand the concept of listening very carefully to those who do understand.  So here is a little story about how I got to that point.  

Subversive Gardening (shhhhh...)

I have previously discussed just how great the website TED.com is when it comes to information that is available regarding Being Pragmatic!.  I also mentioned that there is discussion regarding the wonders of the universe, ranging to the wonders of gardening.  

Hey!...Do you know TED?

One problem I have had regarding Being Pragmatic! in my life is the incredible extent of information that is available now...good, mediocre, and bad.  Just where does one start.  About a year ago, a friend of mine sent me a link to a site that has helped me a lot.  Not only is it a good source of information...it also feeds my mind.  And if your mind is anything like mine, it needs to be fed, or it wonders off in the strangest places.  

So what's YOUR idea??

When I first started my career 25 years ago, I went to work for a large municipality (population around a million people).  I was just a young engineer that grew up in a very small town, and the new city I lived and worked in was just overwhelmingly awesome to me.  To be honest, I spent a lot of time with my mouth figuratively hanging open at all I saw on a daily basis.  

But this is the RIGHT way...

I've spent a lot of time over the three decades of my adult years focusing on how I think things should be done.  After all, if it is my way, it's the right way...right??  As I was growing up, I was taught to think in a very "black and white" / "right or wrong" kind of way.

Just Store It!!???......

One day a couple of years ago, I realized that I wasn't sure why I had a self storage unit.  When I went to go visit it, I was amazed at what I had stored in it versus what I was paying for it.  If I remember correctly, after a "teaser" rate of around $20 per month, it went up to around $45 per month.  I then weighed in my mind what that $45 per month was buying.  Just what was in that unit that first of all was important, secondly belonged at a storage unit instead of at my home, and thirdly the value of the stored contents versus the storage rent.  (I didn't harp too much on the fact that what was stored could likely be completely replaced for less money than a year's worth of rent to the facility).

The Checkered Flag.

I think we all sense a level of excitement when it comes to a race.  The race can be between many things ranging from NASCAR to a local track meet.  Racing is defined in Wikipedia as, "a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goal.  A race may be run continuously from start to finish or may be made of several segments called heats, stages or legs."