Week 21 – Karma gathering has never been so hard…

THE CHALLENGE. A man (Captain Savage). A woman (Rose). A quest. To earn enough karmic points by Christmas to be reincarnated as Something Nice. Maybe a 3 toed sloth, they have a pretty lazy life? (adapted stolen from Rose’s blog)

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

 

The Dalai Lama, what a cheeky chap…

The Captain’s Karma

So what did I get up to this week worthy of perhaps raising myself to a slightly higher reincarnation?

My life this week has revolved around my work, slavishly droning away preparing briefing papers for two meetings. It drove me nuts mostly, and I’m sure I drove the staff working with me nuts too. I was once again being whipped unmercifully by my devil like boss, Mr S …

Here I am, on the galley, slaving away… Oops, maybe this is my fantasy galley… Sorry…

This week I did do some good deeds, just a few squeezed in amongst the grunting and cursing (mostly when I’m at work btw).

I managed to make coffee for several of my staff, or pay for coffees, or some combination of that. I was also very nice to every woman that I could be, getting in practice for dating; just have to catch a slower moving target… Most women run far too fast.

If only I could make a coffee heart + smiley…

Maybe 2.5 points per cuppa = 10 points?

Plus, true knight and shining armour style, I loaned my almost unused vacuum cleaner to a desperate friend (and she appreciated it). Now what she was going to do with it I hope involved just floors and domestics… I’ve heard rumours however about backyard liposuction…

And I kid you not friends…

“Suck-It-Yourself

Liposuction at home

by Eve Rings Published November 8, 1999 in Crave

It would cost me about $2,500 to get the fat sucked out of my ass. It would cost me about $250 to get a Fantom Cyclone XT vacuum with HEPA filter and a free T-shirt. The Fantom Cyclone weighs 25 pounds. I think my ass weighs 25 pounds. It would take about 25 days (almost 4 weeks) for me to heal from ass surgery. If I ordered my vacuum today, it would take me about 5-10 days to receive it by standard shipping. Not only is the Fantom Cyclone XT a great way to do your home liposuction, but it utilizes a certified HEPA filter on the exhaust to trap minute particles such as pollen, mold, fungus, yeast cells, plant spores and many other household allergens.

So what more could you want, after a hard session of liposuction, you can use the Cyclone’s upholstery/pet hair tool to clean up the lounge room, and as an added bonus it comes with an environmentally friendly clear collection bin which you can wash in your dishwasher…”

I found this article on the Internet… It must be true… And the Fantom Cyclone, well I want one now…

So, dear friend, if I find one scrape of fat in my vacuum cleaner, I’ll know what you’ve been up to…

Here is my vacuum cleaner, or one very much like it, pre-liposuction…

So maybe I get some points for dropping off the vacuum? For whatever purpose it’s intended use is = 10 points

And just maybe, just maybe, I went out to the movies straight from work, and didn’t get home to feed dear little Miss T, my pussy. Now she may just have been a little upset with me, see https://captsavage.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/tale-of-my-naughty-pussy/ and just maybe I deserved it for not feeding her on time…

SO what do you think Miss Tabitha = Minus 5 points?

Rose’s Tally…

So this is Rose’s own summary of her efforts:

“what have I thrown out into my ocean this week? Pretty much nothing – I’m struggling just to stay afloat. Unless you count taking my treasured eldest sister to Birthday Breakfast on Sunday – CAN we count that, Ms A? Please?”

A Birthday Breakfast, perhaps it didn’t look like this?

But I think you Miss Rose are being a bit hard on yourself, your heart has and is always in the right place, even if your mind isn’t always… Yep your heart is that pumpy thing in your chest… And this week you have been a little bit distracted, see Rose’s post… http://butimbeautiful.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/the-karmic-challenge-week-21-does-the-universe-care-if-you-pick-your-nose/ and you’ll see what I mean…

So how about… = 5 points?

You don’t really need many anyway; you are so close to being reincarnated as perhaps a sleepy Wombat… Almost nirvana!!!

A Very sleepy Wombat…

Ta Da… and Week 22’s points tally is…

		Rose		The Capt.
Week No.	Week Ending	Rose’s Weekly Tally	Rose’s Running Total	Capt’s Weekly Tally	Capt’s Running Total
15	4/07/2012	200	406	50	205
16	11/07/2012	10	416	15	220
17	18/07/2012	10	426	20	240
18	25/07/2012	5	431	25	265
19	1/08/2012	5	436	20	285
20	8/08/2012	10	446	25	310
21	15/08/2012	15	461	30	340
22	22/08/2012	5	466	15	355

Capt. Savage

(Soon to be reincarnated as a small furry gerbil, so cute)

I’d be such a cute Gerbil…

kArMiC ChAlLeNgE wEeK 18, and now for something completely different!!!

If only I could do or arrange something as good as this…

But this week as has been dominated by myself, re-prioritisation, decisions, changes, mostly all to do with me. So how the heck does this help with my Karma quest?

Well it is kind of like a new beginning, a metaphorical wiping of the slate clean. And this journey has only just begun, and yes I know you shouldn’t start a sentence with And!!! But my days of drone like conformity are coming to an end. Gone is my tie (except when I really really have to), gone are commitments entered into because I thought they would make someone else happy. Not that this means that Capt. Savage has turned into a self-centred misogynist, egotist, elitist, narcissist (only when I’m looking in a mirror), pragmatist (ok this one is partly me), separatist, or even leftist lunatic (well maybe just a little bit), but I have decided that I am going to be less of a PleaseSomeoneElseTist.

And Yes, sometimes I was a shameless apologist…

NO MORE… I want to break free!!!

Maybe I’ll do it without cross-dressing, just maybe…

So now that my journey of change has begun, my hope is that wherever I end up at least one person will be happy, yep it’ll be me, and maybe my new pussycat.

Now what does the Dalai Lama have to say about gaining Karma? And I am fair dinkum Rose (excuse my Aussie), I am going to try to fit a fair few of these in from now on.

Instructions for Life by the Dalai Lama

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
   
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
   
3. Follow the three R’s:
   – Respect for self,
   – Respect for others and
   – Responsibility for all your actions.
   
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
   
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
   
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
   
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
   
8. Spend some time alone every day.
   
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
   
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
    
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and
    think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
    
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
    
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
    
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
    
15. Be gentle with the earth.
    
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
    
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
    
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
    
19. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
    
20. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
    

Ask The Dalai Lama a Question

So Week 18 in Karma

Well the only good deed I really did for anyone else was rescuing my new pussycat ‘Tabitha’ from the RSPCA animal adoption centre. That included a very generous donation, joining the RSPCA, and a heap of accessories for Tabitha.

Girl on the right was the lovely person who sealed the deal between me and Tabitha

So according to Rose I deserve some points, maybe 5, because in Karmic terms this has been a pretty mediocre one. But I think for rescuing Tabitha, maybe this is fairer. Plus I made you and Miss M a lovely soup…

25 points, sound fair enough?

Over to you Rose, how did you do?

Capt. Savage

(Makes a mean vegetable soup, even if it’s straight from my mum’s cooking on a budget cookbook)

Dependence, Independence and Interdependence

Stephen R. Covey died the other day (16 July 2012). He was best known for his top-selling book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ which sold well over 15 million copies worldwide.

Now I don’t agree with everything that Stephen Covey espoused, especially the idea that all you have to do is make the right choices, and that your future is in your own hands. But who can argue with his main messages which were built around fairness, integrity, service to others and human dignity.

One thing that I do agree with is his proposition that all of us as we grow from childhood to adolescence to being adults, move from dependence to independence and then finally to interdependence.

When we are born we are totally dependent on our parents, our carers and our families. As we grow we become more and more independent, more self-reliant, more proactive and less reactive to our environment. We start to plan things, to achieve things, and this leads to a level of independence. According to Covey as we strive for independence we achieve our own private victories.

The more challenging concept is that of interdependence. That is where we start to become part of the community, make a contribution to others, look to work together to achieve rather than just striving to achieve our own goals. As we become interdependent Covey suggested that we should first seek to understand, and then seek to be understood. Further he believed that the best solutions come from joint ideas and involve striving for all involved to winners, rather than just ourselves being the winners. He described this as our public victories.

I’ve read a few of Covey’s books and found that there was quite a bit that was of use to me, and maybe a bit of who I am now is thanks to Stephen R. Covey. My very best wishes to his family and thanks to Stephen for sharing his principles and ideas with us all.

CS

Week 17 – A few more coins in the Karmic fountain

This song is for my daughter, who for some reason really likes this track. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I have the original album (Waterloo) in vinyl, maybe if my daughter is good when she comes and visits me in September I might dig out the album and play it for her. That’s after I have finished explaining to her what a record player is… Worrying part in a way for me is pretty soon I’ll need to explain to her what a CD player is… Plus all those cassettes I have gathering dust in the corner of my cupboard.

Miss J, this is a record player, and no my house is NOT a museum, at least not yet…

BTW, this weekend signals a new episode in the life of the Capt., yes my new little pussy cat arrives on Saturday (hopefully). I have been lusting after a pussy for years (minds out of gutter please!), well ever since my family’s last lovely black and white cat quietly passed away.

Timmins, the black and white pussy cat…

Pussy cats have been in my family for years actually, in fact here is a picture of my dad with his cat before he went off to the Second World War.

He was also called Timmins, as were all our family’s cats.

Dad then went off and joined the Artillery and served in North Africa.

There’s my dad, back row, 3^rd from the left, with the slightly cheeky grin, he was a naughty boy…

Anyway, back to Timmins the 1^st, my dad was away for over 5 years, and old Timmins hung on until he came back. He lasted just 4-5 months after that, and dad was apparently really upset when he passed away. Timmins really made an impression on my dad. Our family was almost never without a cat for as long as I can remember. So I’ve waited a few years dad, but finally I’ve gotten around to carrying on the family tradition (Mum does have a cat, and he is a real rascal).

My dad, well as I said, he was a bit of a lad, or slightly naughty. I think he was lucky to snag my mum. Dad was a bit of a dancer, and my mum loved dancing, they met at a dance hall in Sydney.

Here is mum walking down the to my granddad’s store, which was at the old Paddy’s Market in Haymarket Sydney. The photo was taken sometime before the war. My poppy own a large green grocers business at the markets, mum used to do the books. Apparently she was often wolf whistled when she walked to work, she claimed not to like it, but I think she really loved it…

Mum was cute I think… Love the gloves, the hat and the net stuff…

The end result was this…

Yes that’s a little Capt. Savage, at home in our backyard…

So enough of my family, on to the Karmic score.

I have I think said all I need to say about our (Rose and my) week in Karma. You can check out our respective blogs for more details, for Rose see http://butimbeautiful.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/the-karmic-challenge-week-17-guru-fred-speaks/ and for my efforts see https://captsavage.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/week-of-karmic-action-week-17/

And the points… I was tempted to give all of Rose’s point to Guru Fred, whose wisdom is never-ending… But here is the Capt. Savage view, objections can be sent to WhoCares@GuruFredsAshram.com.au

		Rose		The Capt.
Week No.	Week Ending	Rose’s Weekly Tally	Rose’s Running Total	Capt’s Weekly Tally	Capt’s Running Total
10	30/05/2012	5	151	15	90
11	6/06/2012	10	161	10	100
12	13/06/2012	0	161	10	110
13	20/06/2012	20	181	20	130
14	27/06/2012	25	206	25	155
15	4/07/2012	200	406	50	205
16	11/07/2012	10	416	15	220
17	18/07/2012	10	426	50	270

(Note, I gave myself a couple of extra points for this week, Carpe Diem, Rose)

Bring on Week 18, and let’s see what chaos a pussy cat can do…

Capt. Savage

(Finally the Capt. has his own furry little pussy)

Platonic – by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I knew it the first of the summer,
I knew it the same at the end,
That you and your love were plighted,
But couldn’t you be my friend?
Couldn’t we sit in the twilight,
Couldn’t we walk on the shore
With only a pleasant friendship
To bind us, and nothing more?

There was not a word of folly
Spoken between us two,
Though we lingered oft in the garden
Till the roses were wet with dew.
We touched on a thousand subjects—
The moon and the worlds above,—
And our talk was tinctured with science,
And everything else, save love.

A wholly Platonic friendship
You said I had proven to you
Could bind a man and a woman
The whole long season through,
With never a thought of flirting,
Though both were in their youth
What would you have said, my lady,
If you had known the truth!

What would you have done, I wonder,
Had I gone on my knees to you
And told you my passionate story,
There in the dusk and the dew?
My burning, burdensome story,
Hidden and hushed so long—
My story of hopeless loving—
Say, would you have thought it wrong?

But I fought with my heart and conquered,
I hid my wound from sight;
You were going away in the morning,
And I said a calm good-night.
But now when I sit in the twilight,
Or when I walk by the sea
That friendship, quite Platonic,
Comes surging over me.

And a passionate longing fills me
For the roses, the dusk, the dew;
For the beautiful summer vanished,
For the moonlight walks—and you.

CS

Is helping others, helping? or just making us feel better?

I have this theory, there are lots of people out there who are less fortunate than me. I make an effort by making donations and thinking kinds thoughts, while I sit comfortably in my warm and cosy apartment. I watch people shuffling past my place pushing shopping trolleys with their groceries, or in many cases what appears to be their worldly possessions, and I empathise like crazy, while sitting safely behind the floor to ceiling glass windows that led out to my balcony.

Should I be feeling guilty? should I be doing more? do I owe them anything at all? Should the social welfare system be providing them more support? or should the free market be all that is needed to fix their ills?

I used to think like a bit of a socialist, or maybe more like Robin Hood, and that the rich should be taxed to buggery and all their riches reallocated to those less fortunate than the rest of us. On that basis I didn’t feel so bad about giving so much of my income in taxation to be ‘redistributed’.

But recently following a discussion with a close friend I began to think was I kidding myself, does the system owe those who don’t are aren’t able to support themselves, especially economically, anything at all?

If you listen to Friedman and others postulate that the core role of businesses is to maximise profits for their shareholders, and that free trade and capitalism is the only way forward. He says that no society is without greed, they are instead run on greed. He also stated that there is no role for big government in the social welfare agenda, small governments with little regulation (if any) are the way to go.

Now I used to get rather hot under the collar about the views of Friedman, no friend would want to raise the subject near me as I was likely to get all self-righteous. But on reflection, is taxing the rich and giving it to the poor and disadvantaged the way to go?

Are we making it better for people through social welfare? Or are we just creating a culture of dependence and supporting under achievement? Is taxing those that are creating wealth to give to those who lack the capacity to support themselves a good thing? Or are we better to encourage them to work for a living so they can support themselves? Or if we give income support or welfare, put a time limit or restrictions on it so that everyone is encouraged to participate in the generation of wealth?

Economists tell us that having a higher participation rate, i.e. people working, is a good thing and should be the aim of governments.  Getting people who have disabilities or lower capacities to work, even if only part-time, decreases their dependence on social welfare and increases their contribution to wealth generation and the economy as a whole. Now surely that is a good outcome?

In my past I would have thought that making the less advantaged work was a bad thing, akin to slave labour. But on reflection, having a job has more than just economic benefits.

Does a job make someone feel better about themselves? does it exercise their minds? motivate them to strive to achieve?, give them new skills? allow them to save money and free them to make their own decisions?

To a degree I think having a job, even if part-time, does all of those things. I personally earn a living to pay for my lifestyle, at least that’s what I tell myself. In reality 9-5, and a bit more really, Monday to Friday, I am at work. Spending my time doing something which, at least in my case, I hope helps to deliver what my agency delivers. If I could earn a living by sitting on my balcony sipping coffee, eating cake, and soaking up the sunshine, well obviously I would choose that option. But in reality there are very few jobs that offer everything that we hope and dream of, at least not all of the time.

So back to my original question, is helping others, helping? or just making us feel better?

I think that we should be encouraged to help others, given tax breaks, awards, pats on the back, whatever. But I am probably leaning more toward it being an opt in system. On the other hand, some form of minimum social welfare net does appear appropriate to me, maybe a taxation system that taxes all people equally, rather than targeting those who have more on the assumption that they should pay more.  There appear to be many benefits actually to flat taxes, see, http://suite101.com/article/economic-advantages-of-a-flat-tax-a263516

So why did you write this blog Capt? Because as usual, my mind was stimulated by a lively discussion with a close friend of mine, in which she quoted the views of her rampant capitalist son, which as usual, once I got over my moral outrage and feelings of intellectual inadequacy, prompted me to think.

And was this Capitalist Wunderkind wrong? Well he is, as my friend herself freely admits, a rampant capitalist. In the past I would have argued passionately against him, debated violently and vehemently, this is assuming my friend (who is no economist) quoted correctly, but what she say on reflection had some merit.

Have you changed your views? Well yes, but only slightly. I think that maybe a flat tax system, rather than current system which penalises the wealthy, could have some merit. That maybe people shouldn’t have an expectation that the system will provide, yes we should help those in need, but we should also help them to move back into the labour market, and not foster a culture of dependence. I’m not saying that some people will ever be able to make a full income from the market, but every dollar that can be earned is one less dollar that needs to be taxed and paid via social welfare.

Yep, give generously to charity, you may need it one day!

But I’m remain committed to the benefits of charity, we should all be encouraged to do as much as possible.

Will all this charity result in a world without greed? Well no, I would agree with Friedman it won’t, but maybe society isn’t as broken as I thought. I also agree with Friedman that ‘the system’ can’t really fully address or change social attitudes, or individuals behaviour. But if we can make it a positive and supported thing, educate our young about charity, maybe just maybe we can make this world a better place without assuming that taxing the hell out of people is the only solution.

And I’m with Mr wunderkind, we should have police, prisons, courts, and some regulations, because the world IS NOT a perfect place, full of perfect people. So we can’t rely on the market to enforce the expected minimum in moral standards, to me justice is the place of governments and laws.

Capt. Savage

(Ever changing, ever-growing, and that’s just my waistline and my fat head)

In the beginning there was(n’t) a Management Talk!!! At least I wish

Management Talks, will they never end?

How do you gauge insincerity?

Especially when stated with sincerity,

But on and on my manager goes,

With bile so deep it reaches his toes,

Can’t he see that I can see,

That this person simply has to be,

Speaking the same crap I’ve heard before,

That management bile that you buy in stores,

Sold by the bucket load to small-minded folk,

Can’t they see they’re mostly a joke?

At least that’s my vain hope or wish,

They really couldn’t have meant this dish,

To be served to people as a hearty meal,

When it’s nothing but a shameless steal,

Of people’s time and energy,

They should toss in the estuary,

They never fully grasp the futility,

No, they’d rather waste another tree,

I say instead slaughter management,

That’d be better for the environment,

Let’s burn them all (excluding me)

We’d save the world, and the poor old trees

Capt. Savage

(Burning of excess management should not require carbon tax credits or offsets)

Empty Nest

Reblogged from Trailertrashdeluxe’s Blog:

A haunting song by Chris Isaak‘s, Blue Spanish Skys…

Posted on July 6, 2012

The world will end in three days,
The moving van will be pulled up,
The walk-in closet will empty,
I’ll sit with my gold wedding cup.

The kids have all moved to the city,
The laughs and the heartaches are gone,
The space, just a void there between us,
No more of the sweet touch at dawn.

The world will end in three days,
She has a new place of her own,
I’ll drink cyanide with my nightcap,
And be gone, before dawn, all alone.

Now I know this post is probably fiction, done in response to a challenge at http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/2012/07/trifextra-week-twenty-three.html 

But regardless it made me think about my own separation and divorce, although in my case I left rather than she left. But in reality the marriage and relationship had been broken for some time and it was just that I acted first before she did.

So TrailerTrash, a very moving poem, and it made me think of this very haunting song by Chris Isaak’s “Blue Spanish Sky”, which contains some really nice lyrics reflective of your own thoughts. In my case what I miss most is my children and the comfort of having a family.

The moment I finally walked out was in a way a release from sadness, as for so many months before I left I had been unhappy and feeling so alone. It was made more difficult because I felt I had to keep up the performance, i.e. appear to be the happy family man, when in fact my heart was broken. The confused look on my kid’s faces when I left said it all to me.

Great post TrailerTrash, thanks for sharing.

CS
(BTW I am now learning how to play this song on my guitar, and I know my daughter will HATE it when I play it to her in September, but who cares, I love it)

I don’t know why I didn’t come…

I’ve been lolling around my unit this morning, doing some washing and listening to music, when the random selection on my computer threw up this number. It got me thinking about a few things, as did a recent blog from my dear friend Rose. Her mother has just passed, and whilst it’s sad, it made me realise that, just as she wrote, how wonderful it is to look back and celebrate the lives of those we love, see http://butimbeautiful.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/farewell-to-the-loveliest-of-mothers/

All too often I think we dwell on the bad things, the things that irritate us, and forget to celebrate and enjoy the good bits while our loved ones are still with us. It’s so easy to bitch about things and point out someone’s faults. For some reason it is often so much harder to reach out to someone and tell them how much you care about them, how much they mean to you.

But for those close to us, such as our families and dear friends, there should be no reservation, no fear.

Rose’s mum was a beautiful, caring and kind person, just as my mum is and always will be to me.

Bravo Rose for celebrating your mum’s life and her impact on you and your family, and sharing it with us.

And why did you choose this particular song Capt? Well It says something about what I should have done last Friday, flowers are no substitute for being there, and I am sorry I missed the chance to say goodbye to someone really special, and being there for a very dear friend…

Capt. Savage

In a world full of others, but to be all alone

To be in world
Surrounded by others
But who are out of reach to me
That it seems so hard to see
What do we he have to share
Apart from the odd piercing stare
I reach out almost daily
For friendship and gaiety
But it seems so hard to get
So hard that I often forget
To make that next step
To reach out and expect
There to be a shoulder to cry on
Arms to reach out and hold on
The only embrace
That is always at my place
Is the cold comfort of loneliness
The heartbreaking empty stoniness
Of a world with no lover
No person, no other
To share my life’s journey
To see my life’s tourney
There are billions of others
Who travel uncovered
My trips are enclosed
Almost always indisposed
Unable to make connections
Afraid of total rejection
So life it goes on
WIthout someone to lean on
I have become accepting
And this is my lot
God I wish it were not
But my world keeps on spinning
And I try to keep on grinning
You see no one cares
When a lonely man stares

CS