I have worked with Adobe’s Lightroom application for several weeks now and I am still quite impressed with it. It has really made my photography appear much better than ever before though it helped considerably that I went to the RAW format with its better range of tonality and detail. The only issue I have and I knew about this before going this route was that it made for a slower process for me to take a photograph, enhance it and send it to the web.
Its consistently well thought out interface gives me a fair bit of control over all aspects of the photo but the choices are not buried away in a myriad of submenus and difficult to recognised functions like in Photoshop. Like many people, I am not into making elaborate images using composite images and masking techniques; all I want is to make my photos look better than the moment I took them. On every level, Lightroom succeeds in doing that.
I went to the bookstore to preuse the various books available in getting the most out of Lightroom. Of the ones I examined, the best one is Rob Sheppard’s book Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Digital Photographers Only, a good hands on book that delves right into how to use the program effectively. The writing is accurate and easy to understand and steps the user into using each module in sequence and refrains from going into off-topic items.
Working with Lightroom has also highlighted the fact that my current computer setup is woefully underpowered. On a machine with just 512MB of RAM, opening and processing files does take time. On a more powerful machine which I have used Lightroom, one with 2GB of RAM, working with scores of large image files is a snap. So on my current machine, I have to go about and shut down every non-critical program and utility. Additional processing with Elements is something to be done after shutting Lightroom down or I will find myself waiting for the applications to respond as the operating system furiously writes everything to a swap disc before switching apps.
Comparing the images I am generating from the RAW to Lightroom processing as opposed to the JPEG to Elements processing which was my prior way of handling my photos, well, there is no comparison. The quality of my finished images now are vastly superior. Even doing my older JPEG files in Lightroom comes out much better though there the factor that my copy of Elements is version 3.0 while the current release is 6.0.
Even though I am planning to go to the Mac OS soon, I will stay with Lightroom as my preferred image processing app. Apple’s Aperture is considered to be top notch but I prefer to stay with the app I know better. It is that good.
Today is New Year’s Eve a time of merriment and celebration for the holiday we celebrate tomorrow. Of course, many people have taken the day off at my work so it is relatively quiet right now.
Having Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall in the middle of the week is always a bit awkward when it comes to taking time off and arranging your family schedule. Is it those days preceding or succeeding the actual day when you have to decide whether to work the time or take a day off if your employer does not grant the day off. When the days fall on the Friday through Monday, it is quite easy to take the time off and get the long weekend. It is the Tuesday through Thursday that makes it all awkward.
The problem is the frame of mind you are in when these days are coming. Thinking about work and other mundane things is the last thing on your mind. Indeed, today I may be only half as productive than usual. Others do not even think they can not even be that so they took the time off. Same problem last week; with the balance of the week to come, no one is really in the frame of mind to do any work at all.
In a way, a mid-week break throws off our natural rhythm for the week where we work five days and take two off or for those long weekends, four days of work and three off. Now we are in a situation where you work one day, take a day off, work three more days then two days off. It is like getting a sick day then returning back to work and it takes a day or so to adjust to the change in the weekly time flow.
This new year is a leap year and so we will have Christmas and New Years Day on a Thursday. That is actually better than on a Tuesday. You actually can put together consecutive four day weekends and that works better with most people as they can return to work on Monday as they normally do in the course of the year.
Right now, I am just counting down the hours.
Yesterday, Wake Forest won the Meinke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte NC, beating University of Connecticut 24-10. it was a bit nerve wracking going in to halftime with the team down 10-0 to the Huskies but on the opening drive of the second half, the Deacons marched down the field for a major score and never lost control of the game after that.
It is a most satisfying end to a pretty decent season by the team. It may not be the ACC Championship and Orange Bowl game of last year but still much better than it has been in prior years. This is a mature team that knows how to bounce back from adversity and just knows how to win and it did that going 9-4 for the year.
The star of the game was no doubt Kenneth Moore who was Riley Skinner’s favorite target throughout the day. No touchdowns for him on this day but he did up the team to achieve major scores from his efforts. His versatility and ability to make the big play is going to be missed next year along with the rest of the senior class especially center Steve Justice. But there is a star in the future with Josh Adams who managed to put together another outstanding game with a touchdown to start off the team comeback in the second half.
All in all, a pretty good game which I stayed with from end to end. It will take some adjusting for my Saturdays without any college football. But there is a new season in nine months to look forward to and one I hope will be just as excellent as the past two years.
From the time we start handling money as children until the day we retire, we are constantly extolled to save money. Put some aside for a rainy day. Every penny counts.
Sometimes, I wish it was that easy.
Background
Lately, I have been seeing quite a few opinion pieces lamenting the virtually non-existent savings rate that exists in this country. Very few people maintain any sort of balance in their bank savings accounts if they have one but savings also includes things like 401k plans or IRAs. When the median amount in 401ks is about $23,000, people who are expecting to live comfortably in their retirement are in for a bit of a shock. Naturally people who earn much more tend to have more savings but interestingly enough so do those on the other end of the income scale. These low-income workers do have quite a bit of cash savings because of lack access to credit but also they know that their situation can turn bad at any moment and they need something to fall back on. It is the vast middle class that seems to be in the worst situation.
There is no question that saving is difficult; temptation dogs every step of the way. Buy this iPod, get these new shoes, furnish your home from Pottery Barn; We give into this temptation because it is so easy to do. But I do not think that is the real problem though. Having a normal life today with everyday expenses like gas, groceries, utilities, and basic clothing consumes nearly all of the net income we have.
When I hear about various government initiatives to increase savings through raising 401k limits, Healthcare Savings Accounts, Social Security replacement saving accounts, education saving savings accounts, I wonder if these lawmakers realize just hard is to save any portion of your income today. As growth in middle class incomes have essentially been non-existent in the past six years, any price increases in such critical items like gasoline and healthcare insurance premiums only goes to gnaw away what little remains of the paycheck.
What we need to consider is that saving is just a way to defer spending money into the future. Problem is that we need to spend the money now.
Family Planning
A change in circumstances like a prolonged illness or a birth of a child can wreck havoc with the family finances. For example, placing Madeleine in daycare meant a transfer of money from other household expenses to the daycare. For her day care, I will be paying about $8300 this year which is a large portion of the family discretionary income. It is partially offset through the child tax credit and dependent care tax credit but only partially. The difference represents a shift in either spending or saving for the household to the daycare. It will be a similar situation if a family member took ill and required prolonged care.
What we need to consider is that saving is just a way to defer spending money into the future. Problem is that we need to spend the money now.
Many families are faced with situations that to save would required significant sacrifice not just on the luxuries of life but also on the essentials of everyday life. Families just do not have the ability to make those sacrifices. Many people are in debt not because of extravagant spending but paying for everyday expenses and emergencies.
One recommendation that financial planners always put forth is to have the equivalent of three months of income stashed away in a special emergency fund. It is never clear whether they are talking about net or gross income but regardless, for most families the equivalent of having 25% of your income placed into such of an account is nearly unattainable. Certainly it can not be accomplished within a year; it may actually require five to ten years to build up this type of account at the near exclusion of all other savings.
Then there is the case of saving money for university and post-secondary education. Sending your child is getting more and more expensive. Not everyone deserves to go to college but many families think it is their right and would do everything they can to put their children through. There are various saving vehicles available. Some provide prepaid tuition and fees; others are set up like IRA accounts where the money withdrawn is not taxed. But still you have to contribute to an event that is as far into the future as fifteen years away with no idea how much it would really cost for the initial four year program. Many families now are realizing how grossly they underestimated the costs and have to use mortgage refinancing or have the child take on student loans to pay the costs. People do not think about college costs until the child is almost in high school but then again consider that when the child was born, most families are young and just starting off and getting by.
For most families, it is the paycheck to paycheck living that really raises the stress levels. This is really an acknowledgment that the social safety net is quite weak and that you are on your own for the most part. Having substantial savings can alleviate that stress significantly knowing that for awhile you are okay. But in the real world, saving is a luxury only some can do and rest of us just gets by.
Retirement Savings
The real problem though is saving for retirement. Company pensions are becoming scarcer these day and while the Social Security crisis is a bit overblown, there will be less forthcoming from the government in the future for senior citizens. So to make up the difference in income and the lifestyle they want to lead as retirees, people have to save now. Again, though, family incomes today do not have the ability to contribute to any sort of retirement plan. The median amount people will contribute to their 401k or similar plans is about $2400/year. Very few people can contribute to the maximum amount which for 2006 is $15,000, up from $14,000 last year. As for me, I will contribute about $9600 this year into my 401k plan. That amount represents a significant portion of my income but I think it is essential to have funds in the account now so to take advantage of the long term growth of money. I could use the contributed money to pay for expenses today but then I will be shortchanging myself for the future.
However, it is the expectation that the stock market will continually grow that underpins the whole rationale for investing in 401k and IRA plans. A stock market crash or a prolonged recession can undo years of careful saving and sacrifice. But that is the risk you have to take when you invest. Otherwise you may just be better off placing your money in real assets like real estate.
Thinking about the future
There is a saving crisis in this nation. Of that I have no doubt but it is just one of many crisis facing families today. If a family has to split its income and follow the recommendations of various financial planners and put some money in 401k plans, some in college fund accounts, some in a rainy account, there will be scarcely anything left over to survive on.
Sometimes I think people have a lottery mentality to life, that some event will put a large amount of money in their hands whether it is the lottery, a college scholarship, a big tax refund or an inheritance of some sort. That is a dangerous way of thinking in expecting that the future will take care of itself. Most likely it will not happen. But in a way, it is helpful to be optimistic considering most families’ current saving situation is rather depressing.
I have no real magic recommendations on how to save. Saving requires patience, time and sacrifice. If you remain focused on your saving goals then you can succeed to some degree. My income does not allow me to save for every situation I mentioned above so I decide to focus my savings on retirement and college funds and hope that no calamity befalls us. It is a bit of a tightrope act to keep it all together and a fair bit of sacrifice on my part but slow steady wins the race which in this case is the race of life.
Note
The Kennedy Family Portrait taken on Christmas Day 2007.
Top Row: David Cox (Son-in-law) Willard Kennedy (Father), Beth Cox (Daughter), Brian Leon (Son-In-Law).
Bottom Row: Kayla Cox (Granddaughter), Deedie Kennedy (Mother), Madeleine Leon (Granddaughter), Andrea Leon (Daughter), Christen Leon (Grand daughter)
