5 Things I Have Learned So Far in 2012

1. I have finally found a place that recycles plastic bottle caps. Now that I am armed with an address, I will be mailing these off.
2. The woodpeckers in my yard are not scared of the larger more aggressive birds. 
3. I realized that there are aspects of accounting that I enjoy. I think I may have missed that career boat when I graduated high school, but it will be a great asset (pun intended) when I open my own business. 
4. The public school system is failing. It is failing society and it is failing our children. We have children in the 9th grade who can't identify a noun. Most can't read orally. Many students are graduating without any skills except to work in a "big box store" for the rest of their lives. Only a small percentage of them can count back change without the use of a computer telling them how much to give. A few years ago I saw a shirt that said, "It will be a great day when schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to pay for a bomber." At the time, I thought it was a little naive to think that schools should come before national security. Now I believe that national security depends on our schools. The money is better spent on schooling than educating on the battlefield in a far off dessert for our greed of oil.  
5. Have you ever seen the movie "Two Weeks Notice" with Sandra Bullock? Her character spends much of her time trying to save historical buildings in the area. She becomes frustrated that she is failing to get through to other people. She doesn't have the heart to see another building get bulldozed. Lately I have been able to identify with Bullock's character more and more. It sickens me to see a beautiful old building get torn down for a strip mall. Or a family farm up for auction. Or recently a nearby school that has been in the area for 149 years will be closing its doors this summer permanently. Sometimes I also feel as though no one else notices these things too. I wonder if people have become numb. Do they not notice the history that is being lost? I am reminded by some that this is change or progress. If so, then what is it we are moving toward?