Insanity: Jobs and Social Media Posts:

Alright, here's a common complaint I hear from people who have been let go from their job: "I busted my ass/balls off working for [insert company here] and they fired me for time adjustments/stealing time/under-performing during my shift".  Fair enough, if you actually were, it's a legitimate complaint.  Legally, you are protected under the National Labor Relations Act from punishment for discussing wages and conditions of employment, so being fired for that is illegal if you are off the premises, even online.  However, legally you are not protected if you rant about a single employee or employer, or rant about a group collectively that is not regarding the wages or working conditions, i.e., complaining about something annoying management might do that doesn't actually affect your working conditions.  Likewise, you are not protected for posting selfies while on the clock if your job does not permit you to do so.  Most jobs do not permit the use of cellphones or other electronic devices other than your watch on the clock unless specifically approved by the company for company use.  Even one single use of a cell phone to take a selfie while on the clock at my job, for example, legally allows the employer to fire you once they verify you were indeed on the clock during the picture.  It's misuse of company time for a non-work-related activity.  I've seen dozens of people posting pictures from their jobs on a weekly basis, and most are lucky to still be employed.  Others I've seen let go for that and other actions, and then months later let go from another employer for the same or similar issues.  It has to be insanity that they keep doing it, because being told once might have been ignorance, but doing it again is insane.

Insanity: Improper Price Comparisons:

People love to get great deals.  I completely understand that, don't get me wrong.  However, there is one bit of issue I personally encounter frequently, which seems to elude the comprehension of some customers and other people that I encounter: improper price comparisons.  This is not to say that people are comparing the exact same product at two different stores and wasting more money in gas and time (as compared to even minimum wage) to get to the lower price; that is a separate issue and just as insane.  No, the issue in particular I'm talking about is when people are comparing the price of a used product to a new one when it significantly makes a difference, like the wear and tear on a television set and getting only $25 in savings or the like, or when comparing two products that are not the same.  Taking a 720p resolution plasma television set and comparing it to a 1080p LED LCD television set when their price is not too far apart is ignorant, but once people are told this most will get the LED set.  However, some will get the plasma, return it thinking it is just a defect because it doesn't look as good as their friend's 1080p LCD set, then return it again and again.  That's insane.  Likewise, complaining that the $5 set of headphones doesn't last long enough due to wear and tear, and then getting a $7 set that has the exact same thickness of rubber in the part that had broken before.  Quality truly costs more, and mass-production leads to lower quality for faster higher markup sales because the manufacturers know people will just buy another when the first one fails.  It's called planned obsolescence.

Electronic manufacturers know that every few years technology jumps ahead and it becomes less expensive to include the same quality as was in their previous models, and so they have to keep up with newer quality at the same price, or keep producing the same thing but at a lower price.  As this is more costly in the long run, they make sure that you'll need to buy another in a few years by making it cheaply, by not properly telling people in the manuals how to prolong the life of their products, and by frequently using salvageable parts from other sent in products rather than completely unused parts.  This means those same parts already have wear on them, and it becomes even more likely that the product will only last a little bit beyond the life of the warranty.  Quality products still suffer from this problem but usually have a longer lifespan, and people that try to compare a high quality product to a low quality product are often sadly insane in the notion that maybe, just maybe, this new one will last longer than the old even though it was the same cost.

Insanity: Overvaluation and Undervaluation:

"Teach a parrot the terms 'supply and demand' and you've got an economist." - Thomas Carlyle

"Supply always comes on the heels of demand." - Robert Collier

In any market, be it retail, fine art, literary or other, there is an amount of demand that is produced by the consumers, namely, patrons of the market that support it by their choice of purchases. This is especially true for the art world, as mass production until recently was much more expensive than mass production of a product for sale, and the original always being worth more than copies regardless. In centuries past, especially around the Italian Renaissance, this happened far more frequently as a direct result of a patron paying in advance of a work being completed, but it had largely dropped off the accessibility of those getting into the market itself.  Kickstarter, Patreon and other forms of crowd funding have made it easier now for some, but the vast majority of amateurs trying to break into the field are doing so through freelancing and applying to larger collectives such as publishers who can aid their careers greatly.  However, there is some manner of issue many amateurs have with is the problem of their pricing.

Overvaluation happens when someone or a group of individuals examines their product or service looks at how much time, money and resources go into their end result, and think that it is worth a huge margin, or think that the demand is high enough to justify the supply they intend to produce.  Undervaluation is the opposite, of course, when the individuals underestimate the margin of profit that they can readily justify, or underestimate the amount of demand.  It takes an expert to determine if something is correctly priced, but usually an overvaluation or undervaluation is not hard to readily recognize.  Looking at any freelance illustrator or writer, etc, and then viewing their portfolio, one can easily compare it to that of others in the same industry.  Additionally, that may not be enough as one might misunderstand the supply and demand, but such data is readily available to those willing to look at the research for each market they are interested in.

So why is this post listed under insanity rather than ignorance?  Because unfortunately a lack of knowledge is usually not the problem with an overvaluation or undervaluation in and of itself.  It usually ties to the individual or group of individuals looking at their work and not objectively looking at the market, but looking into their own ego.  Those that have an overvaluation tend to feel good about their work, denying any stain upon it and thinking it needs no polishing, no additional finesse to make it even more marketable, or to make their pricing justified on freelance work.  Those that have an undervaluation tend to have the opposite problem, being so depressed, nervous and ashamed as to miss opportunities that will not just stroke their ego, but show them the reality of their work's marketability.  So why is it so hard to deal with that I consider it insanity?  Simply put, because those that choose to set their pricing beyond reasonable limits and either ask too much or too little are less willing to listen to anything others say with regard to it, and continue wondering why they can't become more successful.  If they over-evaluate, then they are less likely to get paid.  If they under-evaluate, they are more likely to be paid, but not enough to necessarily be worth the effort, furthering their stress and deteriorating their work quality.  Two sides of the same coin, carried throughout history by the inventive, the creative, the marketable and of course, the insane.

Ignorance and Insanity: One Solution is not Everyone's Solution:

I have Diabetes Type I.  I have had it for over a year and a half now.  Like most people who have had it that long, I know how to deal with it in a way that works for my body.  My doctors were surprised at how much of a change (13.8 a1c at the ER to 6.1 a1c in 8 months and only up by 0.1 a1c 5 months later despite needing to increase my insulin usage) that I was able to make without backsliding on it.  Yes, my cholesterol read higher, but that was somewhat to be expected with more protein (eggs especially) in my diet than carbs as I had before.  I'm overweight for my height, but it's still within acceptable limits currently, and I am working on losing it at a slower pace than I had previously while on a self-disciplined diet.  Many years back I had put on more weight than I have now, and took off 70 pounds in 7 months.  As I had let it slack a few years later, I put it back on, but lost it once more in 7 months, using 'The Hacker's Diet', which really does work well...  If you're not at risk of hypoglycemia from massive calorie cutting while still exercising.  As taking that diet on as fiercely as I did before no longer is viable, I'm working on other avenues, or a modified version of it, something which will also have to incorporate low-carb meals and snacks, and a lower cholesterol diet.  All in all though, I know how my body functions well enough to take care of it.  Aside from the trip to the ER for high blood sugar and finding out I have diabetes, I've only missed 3 days of work in seven and a half years at my job.  Those were all due to food poisoning from our local Arby's, which I used to eat from a lot during high school, but unfortunately either their employee washing or food quality control went to hell, so I no longer risk it after the three consistent times of illness the following day.  I sleep four to five hours a day on my work days, and six to eight on my days off, and I typically feel perfectly fine, or only a little groggy for a short period.  While ideally I should be sleeping more, my body and mind are able to get by on that amount, allowing me to better utilize time I would otherwise be sleeping for writing, research, reading, or other forms of entertainment.  I know how to rub certain pressure points and nerve clusters in order to make my muscles relax when tense and even make some numbness or stiffness fade rapidly without merely walking it off.  Overall, I know my body.

That long paragraph said, the crux of today's post.  Last Thursday, a woman who heard I was a Type I Diabetic asked if I was considering going on the pump.  When I replied that not only would I not be needing it, but that it wouldn't really help my diabetes any, she insisted that it would help, and that she as a mostly Type II Diabetic was using it and she didn't have to worry about anything.  That I should really get it, especially as it would help prevent the possibility of my fainting if I were to overexert myself without ingesting more carbs.  Thankfully the woman soon left, as not only am I not paid to talk about my diabetes, but she was being ignorant and insane.  Diabetics can be Type I, Type II, or both.  Type II Diabetes means that one's body is resisting the insulin it naturally produces (or is being injected with).  Type I Diabetes means that one's body is not producing and regulating diabetes properly, but not necessarily resisting it.  In my case, if I don't have enough carbs, my diabetes will not regulate the release of energy from fat properly, instead dropping into hypoglycemia, and I might feel faint, pass out, or slip into a coma.  If I have too many carbs, I may have a headache, feel dizzy, have my heart racing when doing minor tasks, or have a heart attack.

In the case of the pump, it allows one to set a specific amount of fast-acting insulin to be released throughout the day through a catheter inserted into the abdomen.  The user has to measure their blood sugar levels 4 times a day, and input into the pump how many units that they wish to use.  This is in turn fed by a small vial reservoir.  Having used both those vials and drawing the insulin out manually, and using flexpens which are already loaded and ready to dial to the correct amount, I decided to stay with my doctor's original suggestion and use the flexpens.  Why?  Because for the cost I get 40% more insulin, I lose less of it to air bubbles and the angle of the insulin in the bottle versus the pen having neither problem, and they're already set to go.  I don't have to measure my blood sugar and input it four times a day (blood sugar test strips don't last as long as insulin and for testing it 4 times a day it ends up being half to four times more expensive than the insulin!  And it isn't covered by my insurance at all!) into a pump, letting it work out how much I need to balance that and my food choices.  I can work out how many carbs I'm eating, judge if my blood sugar feels high or low, and test it once a day, or even less if I'm eating the same things over and over.  Using the pump works for the customer I met last Thursday, but for me it'd be stupid!  This particular customer was ignorant of my situation, and that is perhaps understandable as it a different situation from hers.  However, once I had told her simply that I would not get the pump and it wouldn't work for me, she continued to say I should reconsider it, even after I said I had already and wouldn't be getting it.  That goes beyond ignorance to insanity as she was repeating herself as she walked away.  Her solution is not my solution.  My solution is not her solution.  People who don't get that either are ignorant or insane.  Ignorance is tolerable to me as it can be remedied with education, such as what I've given here to those who didn't know.  Insanity, on the other hand, isn't something so easily escaped.