ALL ABOUT BEN
by Ben Robinson

I hate to say it, but this unemployment stuff is really getting old.
Basically, I just do nothing all week, then collect a check. It’s almost like I’ve been promoted to management. Of course, the guys who are managers collect a larger paycheck than I ever did. But in their defense, they do less than I ever did, so I guess somehow that is fair.

The thing that kills me is that somehow there are a few jobs I’ve applied for that I did not get because they say I am over-qualified. How in the world could I be over-qualified for anything? For the past 24 years I have made my living covering local news and sports and writing a humor column each week.

Covering local sports is easy. Your readers want to support the hometown team, so you don’t want to blast anybody with something like “Hometown team stinks up the field Friday night.”
But you want to have the truth in the paper, so you could put, “Hometown team could have smelled better.”

Life As I Know
By Nicole Daughheteeit

I didn’t really make New Year’s resolutions, which is to say I didn’t compile a list — “To Do” style — that I will be checking off with each passing month.

I do however have a list in my head — ideas I have mulled over, certain changes I have pondered, enrichments I can add to life, as I know it, to ease stress or simply make myself and those around me happier.

The most profound change in my life happened about six months ago. After years of searching, my mom and I finally found a church to call home. More importantly than having a church to attend, I have focused time on rebuilding my relationship with God. The simple acts of prayer and letting go have blessed my life in ways beyond what I ever imagined possible.

By Steven Jester
Duke Energy
Guest Editorial

Lake Keowee has been a central force in the Upstate since Duke Power constructed it in the late 1960s. Its turquoise waters support regional economic development, electricity production, municipal water supplies and downstream water needs, and provide a beautiful place to live, work and play.

Those who have lived in the Upstate for some time might recall that Lake Keowee used to fluctuate much more than it does today. Through the 1970s and 1980s, it fluctuated by as much as 16 feet, and the current federal hydro operating license allows Duke Energy to operate the lake as much as 25 feet below full pond.

Much has changed at Lake Keowee since the original license was issued in 1966. One of these key changes has been Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements for Oconee Nuclear Station. Though the station was originally designed and constructed to operate with Lake Keowee at a 25-foot drawdown, requirements have evolved since the 1990s so that’s no longer the case. Duke Energy currently operates the lake within a narrower range of 5.4 feet below full pond or higher except during planned maintenance periods.

On The Way
By Olivia Fowler

Our state is dealing with the consequences of allowing all its citizens’ information to fall into the hands of those who do not wish us well.

What can we do? Sign up for the year of protection. Was it preventable? Yes. Who allowed this to happen? Whether through ignorance, incompetency or negligence, all who should have acted did not. They’ll continue to pass the buck on this, but it doesn’t really matter, because it won’t change anything.

It’s a fact, let’s get over it and move on. Forget our troubles, etc.

All About Ben
by Ben Robinson

Monday was a long day.

I got up, did a few chores, washed some clothes, showered and got ready for my day.

I looked around the kitchen for something that was suitable for lunch.
I started to make myself some toast, unbuttered to fit the specifications of the “diet” I’m supposedly not on.

According to my reading material, “diet” is a dirty word with negative connotations, and should not be used. I’m just making “healthier choices.”
Calling unbuttered toast a choice makes people question my sanity, instead of my “healthy lifestyle.” No, I just couldn’t go for the unbuttered toast again this morning.

Life as I KNow It
by Nicole Daughhetee

Considering my proclivity toward degree-seeking in the realms of higher education, one might think that I was always an excellent student.

To that I say pish-posh (in my best written British accent).

Last night for homework, Emerson, my third grader, had a math sheet focusing on geometry — specifically identifying right, acute and obtuse angles. Here I was thinking I would at least be able to help my children get through elementary school math.

I was not exposed to geometry until my freshman year in high school. Having done well in junior high pre-algebra and algebra, I was placed in an honors geometry course that ninth grade year. That, I believe, is the year when numbers turned into some mocking form of hieroglyphics that made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

LIFE AS I KNOW IT
By Nicole Daughhetee

I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but I was certainly born with a taste for silver.

Truly I am the epitome of having a proclivity for drinking champagne but a budget that can afford PBR beer on a good day.

I’m not having a one-woman pity party here, nor am I suggesting that I am unable to meet the basic needs of my children or myself.

What I am saying is that the present state of my financial affairs has me in a bit of a funk, and I am kicking myself in the behind for not being more fiscally responsible in the not too distant past.

Albeit alluring with the sweet promises you can have whatever you want right now and worry about paying for it later, credit cards have afforded so many of us the opportunity to live well beyond our means.

ALL ABOUT BEN
by Ben Robinson

Being unemployed is never any fun. Since I’ve “misplaced” (i.e. “lost”) the charge card that the State puts my unemployment benefits on, I’ve had to scramble for funds as I try to straighten out the situation.

My nephew was driving my car last year and wrecked it. So now my insurance is roughly half the cost of the car every six months. I’ve promised that my nephew won’t be driving my car anymore, but the insurance company wants proof, perhaps his head on a platter.

That seems a bit extreme. Besides, I couldn’t pin them down on exactly how much that would lower my insurance payment.

So the first payment on my policy was due last week, and — being without a job and missing my unemployment checks for a while — I had to be a little creative. In my car, I keep a little drawer full of change that I receive back from drive-thrus. The theory is that the next time I go through a drive-thru, I will have enough change to avoid breaking a dollar. Of course, I generally forget about the change, it builds up, and eventually I cash it in for “real money.”