Bang for Your Buck

Well, I've gone and done it again.  I have been thinking.... and that's a dangerous pastime.  

I have been thinking about the difference between getting a good value for something versus getting a service or object that is cheap.  You can probably guess how I typically feel about the subject if you know me or you have read prior blogs - but let's just go through it anyway!

Full value ice storm!

There are two kinds of ice storms in my world.  There is the kind that really blusters and produces a fair amount of ice, only to melt off of the trees and power lines almost before the sun comes up.  Of course, those storms can still cause damage, including power outages, bruised buttocks, vehicle accidents and the like.  But, in my mind those are cheap storms - gone almost before we knew them.

The other type of ice storm is like the one we got on Friday.  Not only does it include power outages, accidents and a bruise on one or two person's bums, but it makes sure the ornamentation on the trees sticks around for at least a couple of sunrises.  After all, you've got to give the farmer more than one chance to take a picture of it all.

And, while we are at it, let's make sure a decent swath of the Upper Midwest gets some fresh snow cover.  After all, if you HIDE the ice underneath some soft, beautiful snow, farmers everywhere will be taking their first and last steps of the day just outside of the farm house in a matter of seconds.  Add a little bit of downward slope from the farmhouse and you can go bowling for farmers.  Or is that bowling WITH farmers?  I always have confused the two. 

Unfortunately, this was a "full-service" storm system that also provided some extremely violent tornadoes in Kentucky along with twisters in surrounding states.  While I can't get behind the damage and loss of life, I will say this storm gave us plenty of bang for the buck.  It packed enough wallop that we'll all be thinking about its "quality" for a while.  

So, let's hope we can provide some quality human compassion for those who are struggling after these storms - that's some "bang for the buck" I can also support.

Strong Internet presence

I had an individual send me a note that asked why I didn't do more to promote my online presence so I could get more readers.  They argued that I clearly put effort into my farm and postal history blogs, so clearly I should find ways to increase my readership.

Well, social media agrees.  I could get UP TO another 87 people daily if I give them $14.  I don't know if this is fourteen dollars a day, a week or what?  But, WOW!  Another whole eighty-seven people (maybe - it does say "up to") who can be "reached."  By the way, a "reach" in social media terms simply means your post scrolled onto their screen.  It doesn't mean they read what you produce, nor does it mean they even notice what rolls on by as they scroll to the next video of cats falling off of counter tops.

I suppose "bang for your buck" is a relative term and is prone to our own interpretations.  

A case in point is the series of signs on a street post shown at the left.  In my book, these sorts of signs were a precursor to electronic social media.  Anyone who has attended college or been in a college town has probably been amused at least once by the things that show up there.

It is one thing for a person to scrawl a witty saying on the wall of a toilet stall or clever reply on someone else's sign.  But, it is entirely a different thing to create your own piece of work and put it out there for the world to chortle at.

And here, I resort to the cheap way out by simply posting someone else's photo of a signpost with clever signs someone other than the photo taker put up (I am guessing, of course).  

Would I have put this in the blog if the only two signs were "Mole Catcher" and "Frog Juggler?"  Probably not.  "Chicken Whisperer" might have encouraged me to share this picture in a blog post on our poultry...but I would probably forget to do so.

But, when you add "Squirrel Matador 1800-800-OLE" to the list?  There's the bang for your buck.  Hoorah for the squirrel matador!

Quality thought provoker

The internet and all of the social media platforms are full of flashy things that work to grab your attention.  And, to be perfectly honest, most of it just annoys me.  

Why?  Well, most of it is recycled material that has been around for years in some form or another.  Many who share these things barely put any thought into sharing them AND they certainly did not put any effort into creating them.  

The straw that breaks this proverbial camel's back, though?

Many people seem to consume these cheap things more readily than they do the things that have a little depth and quality to them.  Or, at best, they see no distinction between the two.  

Yet, once in a while, something gets my attention because it DOES make me think.

I remember seeing a sign like this when I was a kid in some sort of shop and it displays some real wisdom in a very concise way while still maintaining a sense of humor.  And, on top of it all, it actually speaks to some of what I've been saying in this blog post with considerably more words.

I wonder how long it took the original author of this to refine it so it could do its job so well?  It was certainly more time than it took for me to save and share the file.  I guess that's some real bang for your buck - but for whom?