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 |  I've maxed out. Closed this blog. |
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This is a way of making myself write something coherent and grammatically correct almost every day. I'm opinionated and need an outlet. I'm also prone to flights of fancy. Thanks for stopping by. |
| The men have been doing a passable job, but more women need to take leadership roles in the building industry, particularly home building. If more women were architects, houses of all sizes would have more organized storage space, including broom closets. Houses and apartments would be functional as well as aesthetic. If women were builders, there would be more energy efficient, easy to clean spaces and products. So young women, this is your call to study architecture and engineering. Women are not limited to interior design. Why not do it all, electrical, plumbing, building products design and manufacture, heating and air, and landscaping. Women are capable of doing these things but have stayed away from these "manly" fields. Women can excel in math, drafting blueprints, electricity, and chemistry. Why not use these fields to improve the quality of American homes? Who knows better where electrical outlets should go, or where switches should be placed. Only a man would place a light switch two feet away from a door. Why are homes never designed with a place to store the vacuum, the mops, buckets, and chemicals? Why are cabinets designed with inaccessible corners? If you buy slide out components, you lose valuable space. And we want products in our homes that don't exude chemicals that are harmful to living things. That involves manufacturing those safe products. Women can run factories and design products, too. The bottom line is that girls don't have to plan on just being teachers, or nurses, or clerks, as necessary as those jobs are. They can pursue the many types of engineering, math, chemical, and mechanical studies out there. Women mastering these fields will only benefit all of us in the future. |
| Up From Slavery by Booker T Washington was a great book. His speeches really came alive in it. I think when he envisioned an audience his thinking and his writing became more vibrant and clearer. But the rest of it was pretty good. One of the things he wrote about a freed slave he was visiting had a lasting impact on me. I do not descend from freed slaves, but his words still affect us all. This particular man wanted to learn French, but Mr. Washington told him that first he must sweep his floor and sew the button on his shirt. Education was a fine and desirable thing, but self respect was more important. Having orderly surroundings were a first step to an orderly mind. It hit me hard because I was not an orderly person then or now. I don't wear shirts that are missing buttons, but anyone who has read my ramblings knows that I hate housework, and it always torments me. I love to research things, read, write, and learn new things.So I always feel guilty. Today is a holiday. I told myself I can write because I'm off from work. I had to drive someone to the airport early today, and then stopped at the store on the way back. So it was late morning when I got home. I would not let myself sit down at the keyboard until the floors were swept and mopped, the dishes were done, and the toilet bowl cleaned, and laundry folded and put away. I even paid a bill and watered the plants on the back porch. So now I can sit and write. It's not so easy on work days. Most of us have to make a living. Writing with a clear conscience only 3 or 4 days a year is not very productive. Yet it's interesting how the words of a great teacher and writer can have such a lasting influence on us. That book is not outdated, but is full of practical wisdom that can still be applied today. It should be on every student's reading list. |
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