November 14, 2009

Why I like being a nerd

(This essay was written by my niece, Laura Mills, as part of her college application. It struck a chord with me, and I thought others might enjoy it)

A universal part of high school life is the practice of assigning specific social labels to various sub sets of students who were previously homogenous. Thus, a group of five “best friends” who were once bonded throughout their elementary school years by things such as living in the same neighborhood, or their love of softball, suddenly find themselves assigned to a whole new social order.

Right about the time they begin high school these five people who once considered themselves so similar are suddenly tagged as being very different, and their new social labels seem to stick better than any adhesive you can buy at Home Depot.

The lexicon of this phenomenon is as familiar to people who graduated from high school during the Eisenhower Administration as it is to people who cannot remember a time without the internet or cable television.

Even as you read these labels, you will likely - - if only subconsciously - - instantly assign faces from your high school experience into these convenient categories. They are known as the “jocks,” the “princesses,” the “brains,” the “slackers,” and yes, the “nerds.” I am a proud member of the latter of these groups.

While Hollywood has done its best to glorify our particular social subset with movies such as the 1984 classic, Revenge of the Nerds, the Breakfast Club and just about any other John Hughes movie, there are some unavoidable realities and consequences that escape the feeble attempts to recreate high school on the silver screen.

I’m told that life goes on beyond high school, but these labels and their meanings seem to linger much longer than whatever fashion sense seemed so important at the time. Really, who wears bell bottoms anymore? But you probably remember what social group you were assigned to in high school. It’s also quite possible that your label had a profound effect upon every social interaction you’ve had since you dressed in a gown and marched across a gymnasium while Pomp and Circumstance was played on a loudspeaker.

What do you think of when hear the word nerd? Maybe you were a nerd, maybe not, but you probably know a few people who were nerds. From my perspective, nerds are much less likely to need several hours of psychotherapy or court-ordered phone calls with probation officers within ten years of high school graduation.

Nerds, by their very definition, are not afraid of being true to their own essential character. Generally speaking, nerds are less frantic than non-nerds in the race to shed our childhood joys, fantasies and innocence during society’s push toward adulthood. Children don’t worry about what label is affixed to the back of their pants. Children like to play games, and their social awkwardness is forgiven because of their age.

But if a fifteen-year-old likes to play games, doesn’t care about their clothing labels and appears socially awkward, he or she is labeled as a nerd. Apparently, society rejects those who linger in childhood innocence.

Nerds reject the notion that we must conform to any other subset. We are the mongrels, the ones who cannot be so conveniently labeled by our SAT scores, our ability to throw a baseball or the net income of our parents. But there is a price to pay for our refusal to blend in and conform. The grinding wheels of society come to a screeching halt when one of the cogs snaps and refuses to roll along.

Non-nerds are very intolerant of those who refuse to play by the game of life as pre-determined by some sort of universal power that assigned our labels on the day after freshman orientation. Those punishments can be severe, especially when they are placed on the shoulders of young people with still-developing egos.

Even primitive cultures understand the significance and pain of being ostracized. Being cast aside or shunned by your peers is a battle scar that can take years to heal, but I think nerds become stronger as a result of this ultimate rejection.

Consider the words of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “That which does not kill us only makes us stronger.” Some people say high school can be tough. That may be true, but other aspects of the human condition can also make for tough circumstances and are certainly more costly, such as the so-called mid-life crisis.

I don’t know of any statistical evidence to prove this next point, but I’m willing to bet those who were nerds in high school have better developed the skills necessary to adapt to an often cruel world than those jocks and princesses who pine for the glory days of the winning touchdown or being named senior prom queen.

Beauty fades and athletic ability wanes with the passage of time. But the strength and enduring spirit of surviving high school as a nerd can be carried to the grave.

That’s why I am proud of being a nerd, and am very much looking forward to my 25th high school reunion.

I only wonder if the labels will survive.

October 7, 2009

Health Care: An Inconvienent Truth




The tide has turned on our economy. Millions of Americans are out of work. The real estate market is in the toilet and consumer confidence is at an all time low. Our nation's current economic picture is very similar to what was happening in 1930s Germany, a country that was especially hit hard by the Depression that also rocked America in 1929.

The time is ripe to rise up against the corporations. You know those legalized collections of people who like to make a profit. It seems profit is a bad thing now.

I guess we're lucky that the Democrats have control of our state and national economy because we all know only the Democrats care about the working class...the little people like you and me...

In the midst of all this economic crisis, our country is focused upon "reforming" our nation's health care system. Many people, it seems, are fed up with the greedy insurance companies that would rather focus on profits than healing the sick. But beyond the sound bites and the rhetoric of Nancy Pelosi are some inconvenient truths.

Take, for example, the following nuggets of information that you will not hear from the folks at Change for America or Michael Moore, who is making a pretty penny on his latest movie, which did not use union workers.




According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers’ study, in 2007 health plans had an average profit margin of 3% (THREE PERCENT)

According to a study by RAND Health for the California HealthCare Foundation “…medical costs explain nearly 89 percent of [health plan] revenue increases.”

According to Kaiser Health News (not exactly a bastion of conservative thought), “the major causes of health care’s escalating costs are the rising prices and the increased use of medical services, including hospital stays, prescription drugs, new technologies and doctor visits.”

According to CMS data, over 40 years, the real costs of private health insurance have grown at an annual rate of 5.2 percent. Benefits, as measured by the cost of health care services to members, have grown at real rate of 5.3 percent over the same time period. Administrative costs have grown more slowly, at a real rate of about 4.9 percent since 1966.

According to Kaiser Health News, “With the nation’s health care spending estimated at $2.5 trillion this year, even the elimination of insurers’ profits and executive compensation would lower health care spending by just 0.5 percent.”

In 2006, health plan profits of the top 10 for profit health plans accounted for 0.5%of total health care spending; in 2007, 0.6%; and, in 2008, 0.5%.

Well, there you go. There's no question that our current system needs reform and that working Americans should have access to adequate and safe health care, but Congress ought to focus on solving the problem instead of stirring the class warfare pot. Putting the health insurance companies out of business will create another huge void in the private sector, put millions of people out of work and further grow our escalating federal government that has already put the moves on banking, automotive manufacturing and the mortgage industries.

If you trust the federal government to take care of you, ask yourself: Would I want to live in public housing? Do I prefer public transportation? Even if you answer YES to both of those questions, ask a native American how well it worked out trusting the federal government.

September 13, 2009

Double Standards & Memory Impairment

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
-- George Santayana


I write these words just one day after the eighth anniversary of September 11, 2001, a day like so many others lately when the fracture between political ideologies in America seems to grow exponentially with each passing hour.





The only plausible theory for this situation involves a chain of events that transpired in a galaxy far, far away…a long time ago and was thus missed by NASA.

Perhaps so many of us were so enraptured with the election of Barack Obama that we failed to notice the giant meteor that was racing toward planet earth on November 6, 2008.


That meteor seemingly collided with something much larger in outer space. The fallout from the collision resulted in an explosion that sent millions and millions of tiny meteor fragments streaming into our atmosphere virtually unnoticed.

Strangely, these pieces of galactic shrapnel landed mostly in the United States, causing significant brain damage to millions of unsuspecting victims who now cannot seem to remember much of what happened before President Obama’s election except to say that it was bad… very bad.

Frankly, I think George W. Bush was – in many ways – the worst president in recent memory. In 2004, I held my nose and voted for John Kerry. Four years later, I held my nose again and voted for John McCain. This piece is important information.

Undoubtedly, many people will dismiss the entirety of this rant simply because its author did not vote for President Obama.

Why would I make such an ignorant, cold-hearted decision? There are plenty of theories out there to explain people like me. Let’s start with some of the most popular.

Theory 1: I am a racist. Hmmm.
Does this mean that Democrats who chose Obama over Clinton during the 2008 primaries were misogynists?

What about all the people who opposed the appointment of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991? Did the meteor shower impair our memories to the extent that we cannot remember the vitriol which surrounded those hearings just 18 years ago?

Frankly, my own memory seems a bit fuzzy because I don’t recall the charge of racism being leveled at then members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Joe Biden or Ted Kennedy. I don’t think they are racists. Do you?

Theory 2: I am a right-wing nut job. We’re getting warmer.

Yes. I am a registered Republican. If you listen to the likes of Chris Matthews, John Stewart or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, you may believe that people like me are uneducated, gun-toting, homophobic, Bible-thumpin’ bigots with big hedge funds and even bigger SUVs.

We don’t care about the environment, civil rights or the plight of the working poor. We fantasize about “Nailin’ Palin” and search the night skies for UFOs that are likely government spy planes. We are angry white men who shoot kittens for sport and chant “Drill, baby drill” while stocking up on ammunition, bottled water and canned goods.

Hmmm. We’ll get back to this a little later, but let’s get back to this apparent loss of our national memory before I forget why I decided to pen this rant.

Earlier this week, President Obama delivered a thought-provoking and inspiring speech to our nation’s school children. In my opinion, it was one of the best speeches to ever come out of the White House, right up there with JFK’s inaugural address and FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech in December 1941.

Some people got upset about the prospect of President Obama using his bully pulpit to somehow “indoctrinate” our nation’s youth about the value of hard work, perseverance and the concept of personal responsibility. They invoked Orwellian images of Big Brother and likened the concept to Hitler’s “brown-shirt” strategy.

We heard about all this because our national media is becoming very adept at downloading YouTube videos and surfing internet blogs. It was, in a single word, nonsense.
But Democrats would never attempt to stifle speech, would they?

Please join me and step into the “Way Back Machine” and set the dials to October 1991. Back then, Republican George Bush Sr. (41) was the president and Congress was controlled by Democrats.

The recent objections to Obama’s speech pale in comparison to what happened in 1991.
Congress called for an investigation and asked the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to determine how much public money was used to deliver the president’s speech. The National Education Association roundly criticized the president. The media went nuts as best evidenced by a front-page story in the Washington Post.

From an article this week in the Washington Examiner, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/When-Bush-spoke-to-students-Democrats-investigated-held-hearings-57694347.html
“ Lost in all the denouncing and investigating was the fact that Bush's speech itself, like Obama's today, was entirely unremarkable. "Block out the kids who think it's not cool to be smart," the president told students. "If someone goofs off today, are they cool? Are they still cool years from now, when they're stuck in a dead end job. Don't let peer pressure stand between you and your dreams.”

And finally, there seems to be a growing call for civility and decorum these days, especially with regard to the President and respect for the office.

That’s a good thing. But let’s again step into the “Way Back Machine” and set the dials for December 2008.

Do you even have a vague sense of the unbridled joy Democratic activists and the media expressed when shoes were thrown at President George W. Bush? What about the angry and hate-filled outbursts that happened all over the country by “Code Pink” members?





I see. We should only be civil sometimes. Come on, really. Don’t ever forget that some animals are more equal than other animals.

And that about wraps it up for this installment of Double Standards and Impaired Memories. In the meantime be wary of space debris and the concept that a two-party political system can do anything more than cast aspersions and doubts about people on the “other side.”


.

December 18, 2008

Just a leaky toilet? Yeah, right....

In mid November, I arrived home from a business trip and heard my 13-year-old son, Tim exclaim: "The toilet is leaking, and it's coming right into the basement!"

No problem, I thought. It was probably just a gasket ring that needed to be replaced. No need to panic, I told Laura. "This will be an easy, inexpensive fix."

Famous last words....

Day 1.... Saturday afternoon (First trip to Home Depot) So far, so good...Pick up a new wax ring replacement kit ($9.95) drive home and remove old toilet. Uh, oh.... the sub-floor is rotted. The laminate tile all needs to be pulled up. Can we find a contractor who can get in here fast (five days before Thanksgiving)?

Day 4: subcontactor arrives, replaces portion of floor ($200) so far, so good..

Day 6 (Thanksgiving Day)
See the photo to the right? Yup, we decided to go all out and pull out the ugly sink, too...


Day 7: (Day after Thanksgiving) we remove all tiles from wall and begin scraping wallpaper...Dust is everywhere, cats are coughing....Randy is feeling major stress. Debris accumulates in backyard. We're exhausted, especially since we did our annual "Black Friday" shopping at 4 a.m., but hey, we found a really good deal on a new sink, vanity and faucet at Lowe's. We also picked up a new medicine cabinet and new, state of the art toliet with all the fixings. We also purchase tile, grout, mortar, floor padding and assorted plumbing pieces...today's expenses? $765


Day 8 (Saturday) Randy gets up bright and early to meet neighbor with a pick-up truck. They take old tiles, sink, toilet and loads of other crap to town dump. Matt finishes scraping wall while Laura relaxes with a hot cup of coffee..

Our house is a disaster zone....the dust is everywhere! The shop vac is in the kitchen. The tub is a repository of tools and bottles of caulk. Laura gets herself prettied up and unloads the tile cutter. The noise is shrill, like a Vietnamese women screaming at her dog on a humid summer night. Randy opens a bottle of Chivas....Tim is nowhere to be found. The wallpaper is almost all off, but we decide to get the flooring in first. The old light fixture (isn't is pretty?) will remain for now so that we can continue working at night and drinking heavily during the day...


Laura says her back is killing her. Matt says he is hungry. Tim is pulled over by the police (more about that later) and Randy is in the backyard with some kerosene and matches.

There is the distinctive smell of desperation in the air and the looming questions remains: Will our Christmas guests be able to crap in our new house without soling the carpet?

Laura becomes the true champion of this project. Working against the clock and with an aging tile cutter blade and the body of a 49-year-old, (oops, sorry, honey; but that's less than 10 years away now) she makes incredible progress. The new floor is shaping up. Everything else, including our bank accounts and relationships, are falling apart.


Day 9: (Sunday) Trips No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 to Home Depot. We pickup new laminate sheets for bottom walls and (who knew moulding is so friggin' expensive?) and new moulding, plus a basin wrench (a tool that Randy says you "absolutely must have" in order to put in a new sink) We never quite figured out how to use the basin wrench, but there's no way we can get to the sink today, anyway...it is now time for the toilet!! (Total costs today: $379.87)

To our blathering delight, at approximately 4:58 p.m., some nine days after the story began our new toilet is working!!! This means that our bedroom will once again be our sanctuary where we can lock the door without forcing the kids to go outside in the middle of the night for a pee. Remind me sometime to tell you what Tim likes to do with Poland Spring bottles.........
To all you do-it-your-selfers out there, one sage piece of advice: never underestimate the beauty of buying at least two (2) new wax ring replacement kits just in case something should happen to go wrong after Home Depot closes.


In PART TWO of this series we will discuss in detail the strains that installing a new bathroom light can have on even the best of marriages. We will alo examine crooked medicine cabinets, the beauty of drywall screws and how letting your wife flirt with a contractor will save you lots of moulding installation headaches.

March 15, 2008

Hawaii 5-0

Dah-dah-dah-da-duh-da . . .da-da-da-da-duh . . .
Come on, you know the song . . .it's the theme music from Hawaii 5-0... Okay, so now you remember the song, check out this video compilation of our vacation... (double click on the play button to start the video)



Now try humming the Hawaii 5-0 theme while stuck in a 747 for more than 10 hours straight... That was me, just a few weeks ago, on our way to the island of dreams, Oahu, the poster-child for land-use planning and zoning.

Check out this link, it makes Waikkiki look good.....but trust me, there's a good reason that camera doesn't roll 360 degrees....because what's behind it, is your avaerge city, think Cleveland, Boston or Detroit being uploaded and smcked down in the middle of the Pacific... so, welcome to Honolulu

http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/multimed/waikiki.asp

August 4, 2007

Wild, wild life

Here are the other photos.... scroll down for more
of Mr. Moose!











Burgers, anyone?


This is just one of several shots Laura took during our annual summer vacation at Rangeley Lake. This moose was very friendly as you will see below, along with some other wildlife photos Laura took...




MERC: Your input wanted

As you may already know, I was appointed by the Biddeford City Council last week to serve as one of two public representatives on the Maine Energy Recovery Company Citizens Advisory Committee.

For the better part of the last decade, I have followed the Maine Energy issue very closely. Because of my former occupation as a Biddeford-based journalist, I have a keen appreciation of how important this issue is to the citizens of Biddeford.

I was honored to be asked to serve on this committee, but it is paramount that I represent all citizens and all perspectives during my service on the committee. Thus, I am inviting anyone with concerns, suggestions or ideas to contact me directly so I may bring those concerns to the table as one of your representatives.

Please feel free to contact me at 571-4376, my home telephone number; or via e-mail at randyseaver@hotmail.com. I look forward to discussing these issues with concerned citizens, and appreciate the faith and trust bestowed upon me by Mayor Nutting and the Biddeford City Council.
Thank you,

June 28, 2007

That damn novel


So, the whole reason I started a blog was to share my writing. Where's my writing?? How about a piece of the novel I started writing nearly 15 years ago? We'll start this evening with the prologue.


****************

It was the sum realization of a lifetime, and David Haskell couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. Staring at the computer monitor, he wondered if he was making the right decision. There was only one thought prevailing among the thousands of others in his crowded mind: After all this time— could he possibly know what the right decision was anymore?


The house was dark, save for the bluish haze of the computer screen. David had been drinking. It was the only way he could find the courage necessary to execute the chain of events that he had been contemplating for the last three months.


He took another swig from the bottle beside him. The bourbon couldn't stop the shaking. David knew that the drinking wouldn't help— but he no longer cared.


The memo was only four paragraphs in length; some 400 words to describe the hell that he had helped to create.


Would sending this message be worth the consequences? He forced a laugh, reaching for a nearly-empty pack of cigarettes. “Screw 'em,” he whispered, hitting the return key. Within seconds, David's confession was coded and sent deep into cyberspace, making its way toward an unwitting recipient.


What's done was done.


He took a long drag on his Camel, feeling some small measure of satisfaction. Too many people had died. Too many lies. It was time for some truth. With his eyes still closed, David reached down and opened the desk drawer. Reaching inside, he felt the cold, yet welcome, steel of the Lorcin semi-automatic.


He kept his eyes closed, crushing the remains of his cigarette on the desk and lodged the muzzle of the gun beneath his chin, slowly wrapping his index finger around the trigger.
“Forgive me, Beth,” he sobbed before squeezing the trigger.


With that, the deputy national security advisor was no longer a threat to those who were worried about his loyalties.


Yard work


As many of you know, my yard is my obsession. Here are a few photos to show how out of control I have been during the past few weeks. Given the new family member (see next post) this will most likely be the last time the back yard looks like this. My friend Parke says the reason I spend so much time working on the yard is because I have all but given up on the inside of the house. Parke knows me too well.