Farewell "green receipts"

Here in Portugal one option for a worker is "freelance".

A "freelancer" (doctor, architect, writer, translator - you get the idea) provides a service and receives payment after submitting a "green receipt" to the client. The green receipt serves as an official document and is proof of payment.

After earning somewhere in the neighborhood of €12,000 per annum this system becomes more complicated. The client must pay a tax (20%) to the freelancer. The freelancer then passes these funds along to the state quarterly.

It's not like a pay raise or any kind of benefit. What it boils down to is just one more thing to do as the freelancer is required to file a form online and submit the funds. (You might remember my bitch, I mean post, last year as a result of NOT filing IVA at a time when I had no income . . .)

This whole IVA system was once again in the news. Seems that you are now obliged to file an end of the year form that nobody knows about. Evidently this law has been in place for a couple of years now and the fines for the 200,000 people who have not complied with this piece of legislation (because they didn't even KNOW about it - duh!!) have been cancelled (isn't that generous).

I was once-again reminded that ignorance of the law is never an excuse for non-compliance but this seems a little ridiculous to me. I think that most people would file all the governmental forms they need to IF they are AWARE of them.

Since these forms are all filed electronically and the govt has our email addresses - wouldn't it be in their best interest to send out an email explaining what needs to be done? Or could they maybe (and forgive me if I'm wrong but I'm just thinkin' out loud here) create a pop-up when the freelancer logs into the system to pay their quarterly fees? How about a video? a mass-marketing email? a podcast? a cartoon? a PhotoStory? an e-newsletter? an e-card?

Anyway enough of my bitching about that because I have just cancelled my status as a "freelancer" and have a book of green reciepts if anybody needs one. . .

Boo!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday (even though it's not technically a day-off kinda holiday). Dressing up and collecting goodies appeals to the kid in all of us. Imagine - costumed you shout "trick or treat" on someone's porch and you are immediately given candy. (Can life get any better than that?)

There were "good" Halloweens and "bad" Halloweens. I remember a really old couple on my street who gave out taffy apples (that they made in their kitchen). This was the ultimate and we often walked out their back door only to run around to the front of the house and get in line again hoping that we weren't memorable enough to be noticed. I remember another Halloween where a neighbor of mine dressed up as a bride. Her gown was beautiful and was handmade by her older brother who was attending art school (don't ask!). She was reduced to tears when during the evening the hem of her dress ripped. Not even a pilow case full of candy could consol her.

My most memorable Halloween was the year I turned 7. My older brother who was 8 (my only brother at the time) had gone out early (as usual) and came home with a bag full of candy. My aunt arrived with my cousin who was 9. The three of us set out on our own. This was quite something as it was the first time we went trick or treating unescorted and we ventured further than we should have.

Somehow after the time changes in late October evening not only comes earlier but seems DARKER as well. The three of us were not too far from home as we were near school which we walked to every day but we had walked beyond the school. It was way dark and although it couldn't have been more than 7:15 or so most of the porch lights were off and we found ourselves alone.

We started to walk back when out of the blue (or should I say black) older boys (who couldn't have been more than 12 or 13) appeared and grabbed my brother's bag of candy. We were stunned. We didn't know what to do. They towered over us. We were no match for them and we all knew it. Then one of the older boys grabbed my bag and we began a tug of war. He pulled one way and I pulled the other. Then I let out a wail that would wake the dead. The boys took off and we hurried home, my brother crying all the way.

It still makes me wonder whatever possessed these tweens to take advantage of three little kids and ruin their fun but that's another post.

The moral of this story is that when someone is trying to take what's rightfully yours - hold onto your bag/idea/valuables/scruples and SCREAM (at the top of your lungs) and then watch the culprits scatter into the night. . .

Games people play . . .

I was recently reminded of a boy I knew the summer of 1967.

There was a big world out there but we weren't a part of it. As dysfunctional as our lives were back then we still had 10pm curfews during the week so you couldn't get up to much. Marty was one year older than I was and in my brother's class. He wasn't my "boyfriend" although I liked him a lot and wanted him to be (hahaha). No it wasn't like that, we just kinda hung out together the way kids do. We smoked cigarettes and laughed a lot and we played cards under the streetlight across from the swimming pool on hot, summer nights.

We played all kinds of traditional card games including rummy and poker that summer. I don't remember exactly what prompted this but one night Marty asked me if I knew how to play a particular game. I said that I didn't so Marty set out to explain the rules to me.

I was winning at this new card game and Marty seemed surprised. He added rules (that he said he had forgotten to mention) as we went along that were always in his favor. It didn't take an Einstein to realize that Marty was making this game up as we went along. AND he didn't like losing. I never let on and to be honest I really didn't mind because I liked him a lot and liked the time that we spent together.

But as I look around the world today, I have the feeling that the powers that be are pullin' a Marty. It seems as if a lot of people are making up the rules as they go along. And every time you start to win at their game, they change the rules again. . .

I'm in love again. . .

Well, there it is. I've said it, "I'm in love again (and it's not even spring!)"

My first love was Cary Grant, then when I was a little older I fell in love with Paul Newman and my last big love was Warren Beatty. Yes, I took an occasional fancy to others over the years. Burt Reynolds, Tom Sellick, and John Lennon were each on my list at one time or another, and while I was smitten, they were merely crushes - (hahahaha).

Well I thought all that was well behind me and whammo Cupid's arrow strikes again. This time the object of my "intellectual" desire is Alan Shore. Yes, Alan Shore from Boston Legal. No, not James Spader who by the way is a great actor and is doing a fab job making this character come to life. But not James Spader. I'm in love with the with fictional character of Alan Shore.

For those of you who don't know Alan Shore is a character on Boston Legal one of those lawyer shows so popular in the States. His character is a wealthy, eccentric widower in his mid 40's. He is also a womanizer. Blah, blah, blah . . .

The most important qualities of Alan Shore are that he is: intelligent, well-educated, informed, articulate, passionate, and honorable. And more importantly, he isn't afraid to say what he thinks. (Listen to him speak here). He takes on the tough issues - he asks everyone to be accountable and to hold our leaders accountable. He talks about what it really means to be "American".

Yes, I'm in love again. The thing that bothers me about all this is that Alan Shore is NOT a real person but a fictionalized character. That for one to find an honorable man we must look to fantasy.

It bothers me that we live in a "me" society in which we shove and snatch what we want much like the pre-schooler who grabs a toy from another child - only now the stakes are higher.

It bothers me that the people who started this current economic crisis are the sames ones who will be given the funds to correct it.

It bothers me that the fox is guarding the henhouse.

It bothers me that it's not our business or political leaders who are trying to make the world a better place and that people like me who are looking for a better day for humanity are resigned to flights of imagination with characters like Alan Shore for 1 hour per week less adverts . . .

20 Years Ago

On a sunny September morning 20 years ago I received a telephone call asking me to come immediately to the hospital.

I was staying with my friend Sandy who lived a "walk across the park" from the hospital so I was able to shower, dress and get to the hospital in no time at all. It's times like this that you want to linger to avoid the inevitable . . . You know the feeling. It's like when you were a kid and you wanted the walk to school to last a decade because you hadn't done your homework.

But you hurry because the call was from one of the nurses at the hospital and without being told you know. You know that the end is near - and you rush to be with your loved one - one last time . . .

You are greeted by hosptial employees with downcast eyes who usher you into the ICU and there you are permitted to stay until all hope has faded and your life has changed yet again.

It was 20 years ago that my mother died on a sunny September morning; 20 years ago that September took on a whole new meaning for me.

I'm glad that tomorrow is October. . .

Kids Say The Darndest Things. . .

Way back when in the late 50's folks crowded round the television for a night of family entertainment. Mom and Dad usually got first choice of the offerings from the 2 or 3 channels then available.

Art Linkletter had a program called "House Party" and for the last few minutes of each show he had 4 or 5 children on and he engaged in informal/impromptu conversation with these youngsters. (Yes, we are referring to a time when kids were still called youngsters.) He would ask questions and the children would answer honestly and naturally - and it was usually humorous (to a bunch of grown-ups). As the program closed everyone was smiling and grinning from ear to ear Art said, "Kids say the darndest things!"

Fast forward 50 years and yes, kids still do say the darndest things.

Just the other day when I was, once again, trying to explain to a group of high-school kids why they had to pay attention during school hours one of them said, "But, Miss, we are Indigo kids."

Well, I had never even heard of the term so onto Google we went. Our keyword was "Indigo Kids" and lo and behold there it was - about 413,000 entries. Wow! Imagine that! Where the hell have I been?

I began my research into this term that I never heard of before. According to Wikipedia, "Indigo children refers to a New Age belief that some children, especially those born after the late 1970s, represent a higher state of human evolution." Higher state of human evolution???!!! - impressed I read on to learn more about this exciting phenomenon.

USA Today did an article in May, 2005 which stated, "James Twyman is convinced that there's a new generation of special children among us who are psychically sensitive and spiritually evolved." I couldn't believe what I was reading . . . Could this be exactly what the world/Earth needs? Will these kids save us all from impending doom and environmental destruction?

It seems that these Indigo kids are "special". They are purported to be non-conformists who are strong-willed and independent thinkers and don't comply with authority figures. I was assured by the teens in question that this was, indeed, a great quality in a kid.

When I mentioned that the literature says Indigo Children are also intellectually creative and self-starters (which means that they actually do their homework AND hand it in on time) and are supposed to be empathetic and sympathetic to the needs of others and that I didn't see those qualities being displayed in the least, they just shrugged and insisted that they were special (one step away from stamping their feet and flying into a temper tantrum - hahahaha).

Well, that set me straight. There I was thinking that these kids were just a bunch of spoiled, smart-@ssed, rich kids who did whatever they pleased! Go figure!

It's definitely true; kids say the darndest things!

What'll I do?

I love this song. What'll I do was written by Irving Berlin in 1923. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Happy Easter!

Can every kid get a 7?

A problem arose in my school at the end of last term when I had a group of Year 7's and a group of Year 8's that did outstanding work. The Year 7's (basically 11 year olds) learned to use Microsoft 2007 and my Year 8's (12 year olds) were introduced to PhotoStory 3 and had amazing results. The curriculum was written by me, checked by the MYP Co-ordinator and approved by the Head of the Technology Department who also happens to be the principal.

These kids did great work and had fantastic results. A problem arose when I gave them all 7's (the highest grade) - which they all deserved. This was met with a lot of resistance by the Dept Head/Principal and, although not directely asked to do so I am smart enough to know that I was expected to change the grades and I did so (unhappily/begrudgingly).

I was informed that all kids can't be 7's and if they are then there is something wrong. And I quote,

"They cannot all be achieving level 7 by the end of the course. If they are, it suggests that the demands of the course are not significant enough."

I don't get it - I'm teaching Word 2007 and PhotoStory 3 not Brain Surgery 101 to middle-school aged children. What I saw in those 2 classes was a bunch of little kids following directions, working hard, and having a bit of fun. Sounds like a winning combo to me. In my book, that in and of itself is deserving of a 7.

Somebody has a lot to learn, and I'm not exactly sure who that is . . .

All Chiefs, No Indians . . .

International schools staff through "job fairs" held (primarily) in February. A colleague of mine (who I like VERY much) was planning on attending the Job Fair this past weekend. She is looking for a new experience and has been on the international circuit for some time now. I must say that I have been surprised by all the tension at the school and naively thought that it would be a more nurturing environment. I mentioned that another school might provide a healthier setting but she filled me in. . .

She said (and I'm paraphrasing here) that in a school we are ALL leaders. We are ALL educated people. We are ALL capable so there is a lot of strife going on because we can ALL do it (whatever "it" is). In order to have a pleasant work situation, there should be 1 leader and lots of followers.

Like they say, "Too many cooks spoil the broth."

Help . . .

Type B Personality

After all this time, I finally figured out what the problem is: I'm a Type B personality in a Type A work environment. Yep, that's it - case closed.

It's great that the IB school in which I work heralds values that I also cherish.

According to the IBO

"The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.
IB learners strive to be: Inquirers, Knowledgable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-Minded, Caring, Risk Takers, Balanced, and Reflective."

These are characteristics that I wholly believe in (they sound a little 60's don't they - Like Hey Man)and try to uphold. They have a ring of gentleness about them. Makes you think that if everyone embraced these ideals that the world would, indeed, be a better place. These principles give us hope.

But as I sit and ponder (oh yes, that's what a Type B does - takes a moment to sit and ponder), might I also suggest that these characteristics could be considered Type B Characteristics. - Ok, then why in the hell are we rushing around all day at the school? I started the day with an 8am meeting (first class begins at 8:30) and my lunch hour was cut short because I was on duty at lunchtime. Evening are taken up with lesson planning and searching the web for cool IT things that can edutain the kids. And everyone at the school (including the children) are equally as rushed! Can you imagine - kids taking lunchtime meetings?????!!!!!

I must confess that I took a little detour while online today (another typical Type B behavior) and I came across a short quiz that could help you come to grips with who you are (hahahahaha). Type A behaviour is characterized by an intense drive "to achieve goals and an eagerness to compete." Type B behaviour is generally characterized as the absence of Type A behaviour. And of course there is a whole scale with these two personality types as polar opposites.

The results of my quiz:

Results of Your Type A Personality Test
Personality Type

Your score = 38

What does your score mean?

You seem to be in the middle between the Type A and Type B personality. In this case, the middle ground is good. Your attitude to life is more of the "smell the roses" kind and you know how and when to relax. Nonetheless, you realize that picking up a challenge and competing a little bit for your place in the sun can add some spice to your life. The equilibrium is important, so don't let your hostile, aggressive, and competitive alter ego take over too often. Generally, you are easy to be around, and people tend to feel relaxed and comfortable in your presence. Yours is a very healthy attitude towards life.

Gotta say that I felt quite relieved after reading the results . . . Type B isn't so bad after all!

Where do you fall on the scale? Take the test here at Discovery Health Tools.