Dr. Riedy's Random Thoughts

How often do you become aware someone has been noticeably helpful to you or to others, performed beyond expectations, or simply done a good job in and of itself? When that awareness occurs, how often do you take the time and make an effort to speak with or write a brief note to that person, saying you noticed how well they performed, appreciated their helpfulness or just wanted to compliment them on a job well done? From decades of workplace experience and day to day living I've come to realize, especially for support staff--the people behind the scenes rather than on stage--their work almost always is taken for granted. Yet their very existence and support, for the most part invisible to the audience, is absolutely critical to the success of those in "out front" jobs. I think I was originally sensitized to how many individuals exist in the shadows--of a family, a social circle, a firm--and whose efforts go unnoticed, when I saw the Broadway musical, Chicago .  In it th...

Not everyone will necessarily agree, but I believe the issues of housing affordability and homelessness are substantively different from one another, and as such the solutions to each issue are substantively distinct from one another. In the case of homelessness the solutions tend to emerge from society's general notion that those whose homelessness is beyond their control, at least in the short term, ought to be helped within the limits of  public and private programs whose resources are targeted toward these solutions. It's not that the homeless have a right to decent living space but that society voluntarily will try to help them, at least temporarily, gain access to the space so that they have somewhere other than the street to call "home". The affordable housing issue is different, and tends to be much more politically charged than that of homelessness.  Almost every mayor, city council member, county supervisor and other politician at the local level has ...

Credit scores are important determinants of an individual's ability to obtain credit, and to borrow at a reasonable cost.  Everyone is entitled to a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) once every 12 months. The lesson to be learned from this issue is that everyone should scrutinize their credit scores regularly because they are important, and they are not always accurate.  Read on. On February 11, I purchased a used car (a pre-owned Genesis, because the state of California will not allow Genesis to sell new cars in California until certain permissions are yet to be obtained, permissions the dealership could/would not explain to me--but that's a different story). I financed part of the cost through a major credit union affiliated with the north county Hyundai dealership I had dealt with previously.  After waiting five minutes for the financing to be approved on-line, I was informed credit had been denied ...

I was shopping at a local Vons grocery store (Del Mar Heights Road, Del Mar, CA) yesterday, filling my cart after a week-long vacation in Cabo San Lucas. While near the back of the store my attention was drawn to a young man seemingly selecting grocery items almost at random.   His cart wasn’t quite half-filled, but what I noticed more than anything else was the speed at which he was shopping. He was wearing a large black backpack, though it was not a burden because it appeared to be empty. No more than five minutes later I crossed paths with him again. This time he no longer had a shopping cart but his backpack was bulging at the seams. We were still near the back of the store, and I knew from prior visits that the men’s restroom was located well back into the storage room/freezer area.   A prominently displayed sign told shoppers not to take items with them into the restroom but there were no employees around and apparently no security cameras either. I walked quickl...

Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board, was quoted recently in calling income inequality the biggest challenge in America over the next decade.  Personally, I think the biggest challenge occupies an oval office at present, but that's a different topic for another day.  Powell was quoted in the Washington Post as saying "We want prosperity to be widely shared." He followed up with "We need policies to make that happen."  He did not exactly define who "we" are, but fortunately it seems he meant other government agencies, not the Federal Reserve.  The Fed's job is not social engineering, thankfully, but rather influencing money, credit and interest rates in such a way as to provide a reasonable balance among the competing goals of income/output growth, full employment and the rate of change in price levels in the American economy. Didn't income inequality exist 100 years ago?  I think so. Won't it exis...

June 6, 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, the largest seaborne invasion in history. Recently I learned about the possibility of honoring America's combat veterans with an exhibition of 75 of their portraits, along with ten of the iconic photos of the D-Day landing shot by Robert Capa, in Normandy, during this coming summer.  The cost of framing them, then insuring and shipping them to Normandy, was estimated to be $30,000, an amount I immediately volunteered to raise for The Greatest Generations Foundation.  The Foundation had been invited to provide the portraits and photos of the D-Day landing for a gallery exhibition, in Normandy, to run throughout the summer of 2019. The portraits already exist, having been taken by our son, John, a professional photographer who works with The Greatest Generations Foundation.  He has traveled the globe with these combat veterans for a decade, photographing them on the beaches, in the forests and on ...

Take time to write a love letter We’ve all been to funerals or celebrations of life where the deceased was a close friend of ours who passed away after a lengthy illnesses. At the funeral or celebration of life, friends and family of the deceased delivered heartfelt and inspirational eulogies or stories evoking happy memories, and reminding us of humorous events, in the life of our dear friend.   Maybe we were even one of those privileged to offer personal comments celebrating their lives.  During our lifetimes we also have been inspired by or in some other way benefited greatly from someone—a mentor, in the broadest sense of the term--whose interest in us or caring for us made a significant, oft-times life-changing, difference in our lives.   Whether or not we stayed in touch with such a person, the impact they had on us remains in clear focus forever, and our feelings toward that person are positive and appreciative. What I am about to suggest may not be c...