Julio’s Musings Around Columbia County, New York

Some musings over Mud Truck Coffee.
What is the penchant people have for just doing what they are told without question?
Of course, there are many scenarios whether following police or other highly authoritative instructions , just blindly following orders or instructions is the most prudent course and often in situations where safety or life and death are the prime consideration.

But how about in the professional exercise of what we do day in and day out for a living? Isn’t the point of being considered a professional in whatever craft you happen to be in that a certain level of autonomy of thought is required?
I don’t believe I am too far off here. Yes, there is always a measure of doing what you are told but that has to be balanced with doing what is right and since we are talking in a presumably profit making institution, what is right is what further’s the business goals and that is usually easy to discern.

[tags]Julio Hernandez-Miyares[/tags]

New York City is certainly a grungy place. Even in the best of times; which just recently ended by the way, it is full of filth , vermin, cracked sidewalks, potholes , garbage waiting to be picked up and garbage just laying around. I have often wondered if that is part of its charm. That may be counterintuitive to most especially those that beehive in the suburbs. It is always easy to spot when a film where the plot is supposed to be occurring in New York is actually shot in another ostensibly look alike location. Its missing the graffiti , the cracked curbs and everything else I referenced above.
Anyway I believe quite rapidly we will return to the Grungy New York of our youth – the 1980′s and 90′s. The typical approach for the senile elite in New York to solve an economic problem is to raise taxes to protect the special interests that in New York generally represent the ossified municipal unions.
That has the reverse effect of solving anything and creates more economic dislocation, decrease in economic activity , less tax revenue in the short to medium term and a cascading effect of decreasing municipal services. But it does create something weird. Artists like the grunginess and they flock to places that exhibit it to the greatest extreme ie Lower East Side, Williamsburg , The Bowery, and the cycle repeats itself.

Though this February winter day is relatively balmy by standards of the past few weeks here in New York City, I still have to take this opportunity to “Take a Momentary Break From Winter”. It is already past Ground Hogs Day and I believe it is just days to “Pitchers and Catchers”.
Nevertheless, with the car in a heavy film of road salt, ice (melting today) all over and people generally ghostly white from lack of sun the past few weeks, I would pay anything to jump into the photo if I could even for just a day.

[tags]Julio Hernandez-Miyares[/tags]