Sunday, January 31, 2010

PUTTING NEWS INTO THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE!


We are daily receiving myriad of news, all competing for our attention. Sometimes they are somehow connected and we only discover this when taking notice of them and delving into their background.

For example, when the U.S. weather report announces that it had hurricane Edward has been downgraded to strength 3 and later on it was announced that the president assures the people that the mistake of hurricane Katrina will not be repeated…….well there seems to be a connection there! It is easy to make this statement when the hurricane is obviously ‘only’ strength 3 whereas Katrina was strength 6!

Other news show blatant duplicity as is the case quite often in politics as a recent event will highlight.

Early in the morning, when just getting up and feeling more or less fortified to face the day, I was confronted on television with the sensational news clip of a dying baby whale, trapped in an Australian bay.

It showed how concerned people were with rescuing the cute little creature which somehow had become separated from its mother who was nowhere to be seen.

Reporters and animal activists milled around this calf in little boats, trying to find a way out of its entrapment and into the realms of the free, wide oceans. There, they pondered, it would find a mother whale willing to suckle and nourish it back to health and into becoming a great, proud creature of the wide-open, watery spaces.

And all the time, a magnitude of press, reporters and other media were swarming around the poor and helpless creature, were excitedly fluttering around, chattering into their microphones or looking concerned into their cameras. Newspaper circulations have increased and television channels intensified their ratings war.

Eventually, the hapless creature started to suffer and a compassionate veterinary surgeon had to put it out of its misery.

Now, there is a bit of after-kerfuffle by politicians, especially from the opposition party, about what should have been done and wasn’t done by the heartless people in government and a few more points have been scored by political parties, back and forth.

Now, everything seems to have dyed down and other, so-called newsworthy news, have replaced this event and very soon people will have to rake their brains to remember this tragic incident. .

Now comes my main point: forgotten by all this is the fact that we are having a whaling fleet in our Southern ocean waters, with killer ships constantly bringing in large numbers of wale carcasses, for study purposes, as the Japanese euphemise their senseless slaughter.

They do this with seeming impunity as we are too cowardly accepting this action of illegality and inhumanity. After all, we do not wish to confront an important trading partner – do we?

And for this reason, the clamour had been directed to an incident and sentiment plus publicity are exuded over a cute little baby whale where it can do us no harm!

Which, again, necessitates the careful examination of any news we receive, lest we be misled and misinformed of the true situation of our world we live in!

Peter Frederick

http://www.peterfrederick.org
http://www.life-on-the-road.com


Monday, January 25, 2010

ANOTHER LIMERICK


SENDING AN EMAIL


WHEN TRYING TO SEND-OFF AN EMAIL

A ‘CLICK’ AND OFF IT WOULD SAIL

WITH PRIDE I WOULD SWAY

THEN I HAVE WORDS TO SAY

‘CAUSE MY INTERNET CONNECTION DOES FAIL!


Peter Frederick

http://www.peterfrederick.org
http://www.life-on-the-road.com

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

THE LIFE-CYCLE- COST CONCEPT AND HOW IT IS EFFECTING US.


A new realization is spreading through our materialistic world, a new concept is gaining recognition in the commercial field and also entered our private life. It is based on the discovery that a newly bought product does not stop costing after its purchase, but keeps costing us throughout its life cycle. And, it is now realized, it is the total costs of a product, throughout its life cycle that gives us the real costs!

It is therefore often the case that an item with a cheaper purchase price but a high on-going cost factor turns out to be much more expensive than, say, an product with a higher initial cost. Seemingly more expensive at the moment of purchase, but with lower maintenance costs throughout its life-cycle, it may well be a cheaper one!

The clearest case to demonstrate this may be a car, purchased at a higher price, but with lower on-going running, maintenance and replacement costs it may turn out to be the actually cheaper or cost effective vehicle than, say, a cheaper car purchased at the spur of the moment but with high on-going maintenance costs plus a petrol thirst to match.

In many hospitals and nursing homes the installation of a flooring with a polyurethene wear layer will reduce the cleaning costs by up to fifty percent. The initial purchase of such a flooring may be dearer but, as a result of a decision in its favour, the cleaning costs in these institutions may half. If a medium-size nursing home has an annual cleaning bill of $ 200 000.--, the saving is often more than $ 100 000.--, resulting in a saving of $ 1000 000.—within ten years. This amount thus saved may be used for healing people or caring for them!

This principle of cost-effectiveness applies to every item, – the total cost throughout its life-cycle give us the real or total costs. In our fast-living consumer society, where products are being bought purely by comparing prices, in the end, more money will have to be spent as these may not last as long or when repairs set in. Do we remember our grandparents’ solid oak furniture that have been passed down through generations? Rock-solid, they have outlived many fashion furniture that have been acquired for no other reason than being perceived as ‘cheap’ and subsequently had to be replaced several times over.

But times are changing and we become more and more enlightened when investing in new items and equipment.

Accounting has also changed and new factors are being considered when deriving a true cost factor of an item: Not only do we now state the purchase price, but also incorporate a replacement value and disposal cost before we are able to determine our total cost of a product.

This is already law in an increasing number of countries as the cost of disposing of material in a responsible way is costly too and has to be incorporated already in the cost price and subsequently in a purchase price.

To derive at all these new cost factors may require some investigative work, however, there are now in the professional field an increasingly number of life-cycle-cost experts with all their facts already recorded in their specialized software for instant assistance. Sometimes they are called Logisticians or have other specialized names and are already indispensible in some industries.

Therefore, the total sum of a product’s cost factors, plus the on-going costs throughout a products life-time, are the true expenses for the customer and when calculated that way, responsible accounting will ensure business success.

Peter Frederick

http://www.peterfrederick.org
http://www.life-on-the-road.com



Wednesday, January 13, 2010

WE WALK TOGETHER........


We walk together side by side,

You with your swinging gait,

With eyes so blue they look at me

No words need to be said.


Together now for many years

In love and many a kiss,

When in my arms you touch me gently,

Your cheek on mine - it’s bliss!


Right now, I stop and turn to you

And you stop too and see

My open arms – you take the hint

The world may our witness be.


I feel your breath, your lovely sigh,

Your cute li’l nose and cheek

We schmooze and coo as lovers do

And love is all we seek.


You show that you belong to me,

Your love is wav’ring never;

I proudly tell the world the truth

‘This cat is mine forever!’


Peter Frederick

http://www.peterfrederick.org
http://www.life-on-the-road.com


Tuesday, January 5, 2010

THE LATEST IN CRIME FIGHTING

Nigel Osprey sits in front of his television set with a can of beer in his hand, slowly raising it and taking a luxurious sip. A sound escapes his wet lips ‘ah…..this is life!’

He is enjoying the sport program on television, holding his favourite brew in his hand as symbol of freedom, whilst stabilising a family size pizza that had just been delivered and now balances precariously on his knees. He notices its steam rising gently and wafting through the air, filling the room with his favourite aroma: ‘food!’

He listens with rapture to his favourite football manager’s ranting.Yes, he reminds himself with glowing eyes: that manager’s a real man, strong, with a thick-set body and a mouth that continually seems to burst forth outrageous statements! And expletives – admittedly beeped out by a sissy programme editor – seem to stream effortlessly from thick and egotistic lips.

Nigel giggles to himself. He is enjoying these outbursts; they are amusingly insulting and words are being aired that cannot be received over the airwaves because of their earth content – they are too earthy! But one can always lip-read and not missing out, thereby increasing the fun!

Wonderful thoughts are coming to his mind as he takes another strong suck from his beer can: The wife’s gone away, this time for good! The divorce was very disturbing and a real upheaval. She seems to live now with her aunt Gerti in Muckalot in another state - wherever the hell that is.

Her dim-witted cousin Winston had come and picked-up all her belongings. He’s taken a lot, piling it high on a truck, but it was great to see the last of her junk!

From now on, he keeps reminding himself, there is no more screaming at him, no more berating, the home is now quiet and peaceful as there is only he and his cat Benny, who is in complete agreement with him.

He glances around and notices that the room now looks sparsely furnished. His wife, ex-wife to be exact, has left him with the bare necessities! But there is a tranquil light filtering through the sheer curtains, making all the dust visible and yet giving the room a tranquil ambience.

‘This is a man’s paradise’, he thinks, nodding to himself. There are his scattered newspapers, with the sports pages open and soon there will be a few magazines lying around the room he would normally not have dared to buy.

‘It‘s great to be free’, he thinks – it is a wonderful feeling, and he becomes aware of an intoxicating rush rippling through his body, making him sigh in bliss.

Suddenly, there are knocks on the door, rather firm and banging with determination.

‘What on earth…..’ He doesn’t like unforeseen visitors, especially when they are interrupting his favourite television program! Before he is able to shout ‘Go away!’ it bangs again, this time with an added touch of impatience and very annoying! He feels his fury rising.

Opening the door somewhat to avoid further noise, he becomes aware of two men who were obviously detectives, identifiable by their tight fitting suits and felt hats – ‘who wears hats, nowadays?’ he observes. Behind them jostled a fat policeman with a television news team, complete with camera man and sound technician.

The detectives worry him - right from his first glance at them he has this gut feeling that they spelt troubles. These two men had faces so leathery and weather beaten and with darting eyes that, when making eye contact, seem to yank out any secrets a person might want to withhold.

They are with a third man, a kind of professor type, with thick glasses, holding a clipboard in his hands.

The news team is getting visibly exited, starting to push their way closer to Nigel. They are of the delicate type, colourfully dressed, ‘very pansy-like’, Nigel observes.

They are holding their various apparatuses as if they were doing the public, and humanity in general, a great favour! ‘But what is this all about?’ his thoughts keep racing through his mind.

Before he could think straight and absorb all this gathering, one of the detectives, with a face like a constipated bulldog, with eyes that were big and bloodshot and darting everywhere, held out a shiny metal plaque.

‘Homicide!’ he rasps, ‘Are you Nigel Osprey?’

And he did not wait for a reply – so sure was he of his case! ‘You are under arrest for the murder of a Mrs.Emilia Prattlelot…, your ex wife!’

‘W..w..w.whaaaat?’ Nigel could only gasp incredulously.

‘That’s right!’ You heard!’ This bellow comes out of non-existent lips.

‘Come with me now. Come on, come on…..’ A huge fat hand reaches out to grab him.

‘What are you talking about?’

Nigel instinctively tries to close the door in an attempt to shut out this hostile crowd. Unfortunately, this Robert-Mitchum-look-alike has big feet – very big, they reach the door gap, thereby preventing its closing.

The third man, the one looking like a boffin, but with the same non-descript clothes, had white hair and probably a large bald spot that, too, is covered by the old-fashioned hat. His pronounced features were thick spectacles – very thick. They were so pronounced that they seem to convex out in an attempt to reach him, with two tiny black spots showing that are trying to hypnotise him – they were either his pupils or the dots flies had left on his glasses.

‘We know’ escaped his stern lips. His Adam’s apple moved up and down his scrawny throat with a collar that was far too big, giving the impression of shrinking whilst on duty!

The policeman, was in a uniform that tries to control his excessive weight by compressing it severely. But it only shifted his blubber downwards, manifesting itself in legs like concrete crushers, with rather gigantic, broad feet.

Now, he too, tried to get into the act: Come out, quick!’ it escapes his thick lips.

Nigel feels that it is time to say something:

‘Look, I haven’t done anything to anybody – I just wish to be left alone’. He forcefully through his weight against the door, as hard as he could, jamming that giant’s foot as hard as he could – with no effect.

‘He must have a prosthesis’, he observes as the man’s features betray nothing.

The man with the thick goggles explained:

‘We are from PCU, Predictive Crime-fighting Unit, based at police headquarters……’

‘I don’t give a fig what you are – I haven’t done anything and my meal is getting cold’

(He didn’t shout exactly ‘fig’, but this writer is of good upbringing and would not know how to spell the exact expletive!)

Nigel keeps banging the door against the detective’s shoe - a useless exercise.

‘Hey’, shouts the man with the microphone, ‘can you come out a bit and give us a smile – you will be on the news tonight!’

Amazed, Nigel opened the door and steppes outside. ‘What news? What are you talking about?’

The reporter was quite friendly; ‘Our government has installed a new supercomputer that not only records all the crimes in this state, keeps statistics as to their frequency and type……..’

The scientist took over:’ With all the demographic details, and the time-span, motive and all other relevant personality traits of the perpetrators, we are now able to forecast where a crime will happen, by whom, the reason, et cetera, et cetera’, letting the Latin words dissolve on his tongue.

He looked really exited about this new era of crime fighting. His hand, holding the pen, seem to write something unseen in the air.

‘What rubbish! I ‘aven’t done anything and that’s it. Leave me alone – the lot of you!’

His eyes encompassed everybody and his chin pointed especially at the reporter and his team. Blood is draining from his face and suddenly he feels so alone and helpless.

‘This is a nightmare! How do I get out of this?’ his thoughts keep racing. And there are now signs of perspiration on his forehead.

‘Come with us – come on, come on!’ The hefty detective uttered these words like a busy landlord reminding his patrons of closing time.

‘Just to show you how accurate we are,’ the scientist tries to demonstrate eagerly, ‘You’ve ordered a pizza for dinner, with extra anchovies and mushrooms.’ Staring at his clipboard folder in his hand, he rattled off the words.

Stunned silence prevailed.

‘Well, yes, but…..’

‘Come on, come with us. Don’t give us any troubles.’ The mountain-man began tucking at his arm again - a symbol of his impatience.

‘Leggo of me - I ‘aven’t done anything!’

Nigel’s cry now sounds a bit more desperate.

Staring at his clip board folder, the scientist eagerly continues:

‘You’ve ordered this from an outlet called Pizza Paradise – did you not? Then you fed your cat – didn’t you? Also, you rang your friend Alfredo, inviting him for the evening?’

The last sentence was shouted with disgust.

In the background, the television anchorman started to talk into a microphone, explaining to his unseen viewers this great new technology, with the eager face of an expert and an uneasy stomach because he was not sure what exactly he was talking about.

Standing on a nature strip, he notices that this was not the only thing he was standing on. Don’t people believe in picking up after their dogs?

Now the policeman gets into the act: ‘You have a brother called Arthur who lives in England. And a cousin in Townsville, called Edward, - right? And your car number is ……’ Raising his voice in triumph he finishes:

‘Your ex-wife will arrive any moment now, attempt to take custody of the dog, leaving you with the cat. And then it will happen!’

He nodded at the increasing number of spectators. Justice is being done – everybody can see this!

A new person, female, approaches the crowd. She is somewhat dowdily dressed, with a headscarf and showing an expertly way of pushing and shoving her way into the crowd and through it.

Nearly reaching Nigel, she nods at him.

‘Stop! Where do you thing you are going? And who are you anyway?’ The policeman held up a meaty hand with sausage fingers.

‘Let me through, I must see Nigel!’

The detective tried to state a fact:

‘So, you are Emilia Prattlelot, the ex-wife?’

The gathered crowd outside the door stiffens; they look at each other, nodding ‘I told you so!’ Then they step back somewhat, aware that they are facing a cataclysmic moment.

‘No, I am Sally the cleaner! I am here to pick up my pay for the house cleaning. She looked at Nigel, holding out a hand: ‘You promised you’ll have the eighty-five dollars for me…..’

Nigel gasped: ’Of course, Sally, eighty five-dollars did you say? No problem! Reaching into his back pocket he produced his wallet and carefully counts out the money into her upheld palm.

Staring at the money piling-up in her hand, she readily gives information to the questions. Yes, she comes regularly and this afternoon is her pay-day.

Great consternation is spreading and the police suddenly look deeply wounded: It is supposed to be the time of murder!

There are frantic phone calls to the police head offices and phones are ringing in reply, back and forth.

‘Thanks, Nigel, see you soon!’ Sally disappears with the same amount of determination she came with, but this time with an added touch of triumph.

For some reason the group of police are looking pale and stunned. The scientist staring into his clipboard folder was suddenly red-faced, the police crowded around him, all attempting to look knowingly.

‘There is no mention of a Sally!’ The geek with the thick glasses seems to have his eyes protruding like on stalks.

‘The wife is not here, but a cleaning woman turns up…..’

First, a murmur goes through the crowd, then a kind of rebellion starts spreading. Mumbling first disappointment, then loud sounds of dissatisfaction about the police in general and the law begins to be aired.

The television team hurriedly pack-up their various equipment with downcast expressions whilst their bus driver starts the engine. Now, they have no story to report!

People are walking away, disgusted and in all directions, having been cheated out of a real drama.

The people of the law are still making frantic phone calls to their head offices, especially to their computer department.

‘Goggle-eyes’ stares at his mobile as if he cannot believe what he’s just heard, Fatso tries to crush his phone in his meaty hand and the bulldog’s blood-shot eyes keep staring in disbelief at the scientist’s computer readout.

But after a while they, too, withdraw, making their exit with a final glare at Nigel: ‘We will be back,’ their looks seem to say.

Everybody withdraws – the new, crime-predicting, computer has made a mistake!

Leaving Nigel standing outside his door, alone and scratching his head. Shrugging his shoulders he murmurs:

‘Who the hell is Sally?’


Peter Frederick

http://www.peterfrederick.org
http://www.life-on-the-road.com