Hurricane Preparedness

Ok, so I haven't lived in Florida in 10 years, but I was unfortunate enough to be an Orlando area resident when we got our first direct hit from a hurricane in 40 years. And then our second, a few weeks later. And then our third, about a month after that. I dare you to call FEMA before a second hurricane is about to hit and ask them about the procedure for updating or creating a new claim from a second hurricane before the first was addressed. 11 years ago they literally laughed at me. And said that doesn't happen.

Well folks, mother nature is unpredictable sometimes, so it's not usually a good idea to say something "can't" happen. Just ask Colorado residents about shoveling white frozen stuff in June.

But, back to the common sense portion of this post: everyone thinks to empty the supermarkets of water and bread and shelf stable foods before a potential hurricane strike, but...
- do you have a corded phone (if you have a land line) in case the power goes out?
- do you have ice and coolers or a plan to cook any items in your fridge/freezer (without power)?
- do you have tarps (yes, those blue things come in handy when your roof goes AWOL)?
- do you have strips of wood and nails to secure those tarps (if you get hit by another hurricane before the roof is repaired, you'll thank me)?
- do you know that when the street lights are out, the intersection should be treated as a four-way stop (hint: most people either don't know this or they ignore it)?
- do you know that driving right after the hurricane is likely to get you some flat tires from nails that end up in the road (assuming your roads aren't blocked by downed trees, fallen electrical wires, or flooding)?

No, this is not an exhaustive list. But these are a few tidbits from someone who made it through FEMA laughing at her; watched her neighbor's flimsy plastic sheeting flapping over their roof in 2 hurricanes because it wasn't secured properly; benefited from a neighborhood grilling cookout to get rid of frozen food; saw her roommate get flat tires from nails in the road while driving around the next morning; and survived large intersections by making as many right turns as possible.

So, good luck - and hopefully this isn't your year. The hurricane parties aren't worth the aftermath.

Job Testing for Politicians

Think back to the last time that you applied for a job - what did that process look like? There are an almost infinite number of combinations for the typical steps that might be part of that process. One thing that remains the same: most likely, at some point in the process, you were required to pass some form of an assessment (especially when we include interviews).

Now, consider that candidates for political office do not face a similar set of job-related hurdles or assessments. Meaning, the information that we use to determine who to vote for is the carefully crafted "platform" and statements relating to stance on specific issues. In addition, we weigh the "dirt" that the opposition uncovers and uses to dissuade us from voting for a particular candidate. The end result of this process often leaves voters with very little objective, job-related information to use when determining which candidate is best. Doing your own research on each candidate's track record in their previous offices (if any), provides relevant information when the candidate is running for re-election, but not necessarily when that person is running for a new office. 

So how do we improve this process? I would argue that creating a "day in the life" simulation of realistic scenarios faced by individuals elected to that office (i.e., congress, senate, president) and videotaping candidate responses would serve multiple purposes. These include:

1) providing party leaders, voters and campaign donors with more relevant, job-related information about about candidate future performance on the job,

2) providing the media with job related and relevant talking points to debate candidate performance (hopefully reducing some of the focus on negative compaigning), and

3) providing candidates with job-related information to use in ad campaigns (include a clip of a particularly strong response to a challenge).  

For these reasons, candidates for political office should be given an assessment consisting of realistic, live-action, "day in the life" type scenarios. Their responses should be video-taped and broadcast on TV or made available for viewing online so party leaders, voters and campaign donors can see the candidates performing the job.  This will improve the election and voting process by providing job-related information on which voting decisions can be made. 

Update: Over a year ago I started a change.org petition on this very issue. After watching the presidential race politics play out over the past year, I am even more convinced that the current system needs to be re-evaluated. Unfortunately, at this point, it seems we are all stuck with the options we brought on ourselves. Good luck out there.

Be Warned: the Hazards of Warning Labels

Wow. I thought the first blog post would happen faster than it did, but that's life for you. So, here's my first actual "Ode to Common Sense Lost."

Have you ever seen this warning on a 5 gallon bucket?

Apparently, the Consumer Protection Safety Commission (CPSC) found that over 275 children drowned in 5 gallon buckets between 1984 and the writing of the warning notice. You can get a
full explanation of the problem by following the link.

So the bigger question is this: are we really lacking enough common sense to know that 1) children can get into things they shouldn't with just a moment of inattention, 2) children can drown in liquid, and 3) we should probably keep them from diving head first into a 5 gallon bucket with any type of liquid in it (not just for the sake of drowning, but *gasp* maybe to avoid chemical poisoning)?

If we need a sign to help us through this basic logic process, we have much bigger problems.

On the flip side - what are the job requirements to identify these clear and immediate threats to public safety, and do they involve designing the nifty warning labels?

Introductions

Hello!

Common sense isn't as common as the name suggests. This blog will focus on some of those "there's yer sign" moments, and maybe even have a point once in a while.

So, come along for the journey - and perhaps share some of your own.