The Challenge of Morning

“What’s that smell?”

“5 AM.  Let’s go.”

(From the movie Lara Croft, Tomb Raider)

I’m a morning person by nature.  I’ve been waking between 4 and 5 AM without an alarm clock for almost six decades.  That’s not to say I’m completely functional at that hour.  The days of being required to be awake, alert, oriented and hardworking in the wee hours of the morning, aka o’dark hundred, are long past and not missed in the slightest.  The waking process is now quieter, gentler, and spurred on by vitamins, a once daily medication, and a lone cup of coffee.  Okay, sometimes two cups.

Yet, on this Sunday, I was inclined to revisit my abilities to smile and be personable, string words together coherently and coordinate cognition with correct action starting at 5 AM and continuing for a few hours for a good cause.  My local Kiwanis chapter, as part of its fundraising activities, helps coordinate an annual running event now known as the Kiwanis Kingston Classic.  Dedicated runners and volunteers have been coming together with their help for the last 5 of the race’s 32-year history.  I’d thought about volunteering for this event for quite a while.  Frankly, I’d rather be running in it, but that’s not happening with these orthopedically challenged feet of mine.  So, 2016 was the year I finally decided to help out, and they seemed to have the perfect volunteer slot for me – 5:00 to 9:30 AM.  I’m awake early in the morning anyway, I thought, so why not put it to good use? 

While most people can be awake, dressed and going in a matter of minutes in an emergency or crunch-time situation, myself included, the whole greeting the day process done right takes at least an hour.  Additionally, showing up at 5 AM meant being on the road by 4:30 to get the stadium where the multiple-length races would start and end.  Doing the math, that meant getting up at 3:30 AM.  Fortunately, I recognized this requirement early enough to carry it out.  But, I had forgotten what waking one hour earlier than normal and going out into the world really meant – or felt like.

Ask anyone involved in treating sleep disorders and they’ll tell you your body and mind do not take well to messing with the normal wake-up time.  Bleary-eyed, in a fog, I did one of of my best grunting zombie impersonations in the trek downstairs.  Mmph - start the morning mud and don’t put the coffee in the water hopper before you hit the button.  Breakfast, coffee, med and vitamins were consumed without fanfare.  It was then off to wash up and pour myself into the clothes of choice which, had I bothered to check the outside temperature would have included a sweatshirt and gloves, as it was 37°F when I left at exactly 4:30 with my still wet hair.  Yeah, that helped wake me up.  Although I wondered shortly after the 3:30 alarm if I might get ticketed for DUISD (Driving Under the Influence of Sleep Deprivation  – don’t laugh, drowsy driving is real and can be very dangerous), the trip over was a fully conscious and uneventful experience.  I took in and carried out the instructions for checking in pre-registered runners fairly well, and in my final hour of volunteering I got to direct the half-marathon participants onto the running track for the final few yards of the race as well as protect them from being walked into by spectators in their path.  Most importantly for me, I got to applaud them in encouragement and support of finishing what I wish I could still do.

I had a great time this morning.  My dogs (feet) were barking, my back was yipping a bit as well, and I had to take a two-hour crash-nap this afternoon, but it was all worth it.  It was helping others, which is never a bad thing, and it was proving to myself that I can still be alive and kicking at an hour when others are still looking at the inside of their eyelids.  Will I do it again next year?  Maybe, although I think it will be a two cuppa coffee kind of morning if I do.

To Return or Not to Return – Now, There's a Question

I did my FAFSA a short time ago and found that I was eligible to receive the maximum available for a Pell grant.  Not a surprise, since that was the result last year as well.  However, I had my sights set on going to SUNY New Paltz or Empire State College for a four-year degree back then and even the maximum federal and state grants didn't cover all the costs.  I would have needed to take out student loans and I didn't want to do that. 

With only casual curiosity, I looked at the tuition costs for SUNY Ulster and found that the Pell grant covered my tuition costs completely.  I've applied for NYSHESC (aka TAP) but won't know the results of that until after the state budget is passed sometime this month.  Chances are it will cover at least half the tuition costs, leaving me a surplus in Pell to pay for my books and extra fees.  This sort of blew my mind a bit and not just because I could go back to school at no cost.  It's more the realization that I could have gone back two years ago and been finished this year had I considered the possibility of another associate's degree instead of remaining focused on a baccalaureate degree from somewhere else.

As a result of this revelation, I applied to return to SUNY Ulster, but have not yet officially declared a program because I'm undecided.  Thing is, I'm not just undecided as to program.  I'm undecided as to whether I should go back at all.

I'm going to be 59 in less than a month.  I will likely finish up any program in 1½ years with full-time study.  That puts me at 60 or 61 when I graduate, leaving 4-5 years before likely retirement.  That's not even taking into consideration the possibility of earlier bowing out due to the health issues which are starting to reveal themselves.

I had put getting my second degree from SUNY Ulster, this time in business administration, on hold a long time ago because of work conflicts, then not having enough money to go back without putting myself deep in debt, then simply not having the motivation to hit the books again in a program I had no real interest in pursuing at the time. 

Given my existing educational track record from 30+ years ago as well as my continued love of learning, I'd still likely do well in something like business administration.  However, my passion would lean more toward  pursuing a potentially less marketable liberal arts program and honing my skills as a writer/journalist.  But, in terms of increased saleability and income, is either educational path worth the time and effort in a highly competitive job market that's geared more toward younger employees?  I've already run into ageism in my employment search and in my mind, it's hard to call as to whether a second associate's degree under my belt would improve my odds.  I've often said that my first associate's degree and 75¢ would get me a lousy cup of coffee, and I'm not sure that a second two-year degree would improve on that all that much.  Yet, I would encourage anyone under similar circumstances to try it anyway.  Double standard – go and figure. 

I would like the opportunity to complete a second degree just for the sake of completing it and knowing that I could.  Many people my age and older do this.  But should a so-called bucket list degree be obtained on the government's dime simply because it can be?  Do I really want my graduation speech to be, "Thanks, Uncle Sam, for letting me get the degree of my dreams even though it has no other purpose than decorating my wall, and I can die happy now?"  Quite honestly, I have an issue with that kind of thinking both from a personal as well as social point of view.  Granted, all degrees have the potential to assist in attaining greatness.  However, I think frivolous discretionary degrees should be pursued with personal discretionary funds, something I do not have.

The final element to consider is my ability to focus and retain, which has declined.  My mind is not the steel trap it used to be when I was last in college.  I've tried studying from books and the computer in the last few years for stuff that I genuinely wanted to learn (as opposed to mandatory classes that you read, regurgitate for a test and you're done) and it was nothing like it was even 10 years ago.  I'm not saying I can't learn, but I'm not sure about the time factor required to learn it and whether it can be done in the time allowed for PELL and TAP covered expenses.

Having made all the arguments, I am no closer to deciding one way or the other on returning to school in the fall.  I still have time to decide, but I think I need to hear the opinions of others on the subject before jumping back in or walking away from the shoreline of  the metaphorical Lake Academia, possibly for the last time.

A Government Quasi-Entity Reluctantly Keeps Its Word

Back in 2014, I wrote an entry about the price of first class mail jumping from 46¢ to 49¢ and suggested that it should just jump to 50¢ and get it over with.  It would have generated more income for the postal service and also made it easier on everyone to figure out the cost of buying multiple stamps.  It would have been a win-sort of win.  Didn't happen, though.  Should have happened, though.

At the time the 3¢ increase was put in place along with other price increases for mailing and shipping services, it was stated that in 2016, the rates would drop back to where they would have been in 2014 after the normal increase that would have happened anyway to keep up with inflation.  The exigent surcharge, a fancy name for the price increase beyond the normal price increase, was meant to reduce the massive deficit which had occurred as a result of the loss of revenue to competitors and the ever-increasing costs of running the postal business.

Did the temporary increase in mailing and shipping costs help?  Some, but not enough. Our beloved US Postal Service is still running more than significantly in the red and it's not going to improve as much as was hoped for in its five-year plan.  They did quite a bit to streamline their costs and there is more to be done.  But, they still need more income.  As a result, the USPS is requesting to take back its promised fall-back pricing or, as they put it, "... to seek congressional action to reinstate and make the exigent surcharge permanent." Yes, our postal service really does have to get congressional approval for just about everything it does.  Considering that they're supposed to be a business entity now separate from the Federal government, that might be part of their problem.  But, there you are.

Whether the US Postal Service gets those price increases reinstated remains to be seen.  But, it's not going to happen immediately.  So, buy those cheaper Forever stamps at 47¢ each while the gettin's good.  They might lose $2 billion a year as a result of the roll-back pricing, but you'll save $2 on a roll of 100 stamps.

The obvious sarcasm of my last sentence regarding saving a few pennies aside, the US Postal Service's financial crisis needs to be addressed more seriously and quickly by all sides than I've seen done so far or we might end up with no postal service and no one at the ready to take their place.  Give that some thought next time you attach a stamp to an envelope to send it on its way.