Hi Ho, Hi Ho....

I guess it's about that time - I promised myself that after the first of they year, I would look for a part-time job. The reasons are complex, but the short of it is (1) my health insurance went up $200 a month (bringing my share to $1100 a month), which effectively cuts my retirement "income" in half, and (2) my daughter got a car, and I got the payment. As her current job is to help reduce barn fees for her horse, besides the payment, I also have to kick in for gas and insurance. I also could use some structure in my life.

In a way, teaching spoiled me. While I often described teaching as jumping on a treadmill and not slowing down until it was over, I feel I was still organized enough to get 'stuff' done. Now, with all kinds of time, I often find it difficult to get motivated.

So, what am I looking for? I don't have a clue. I can probably list hundreds of things I don't want (including public school education), but I really don't know what I do want. I can offer a few guidelines. First, I would like something that doesn't have to replace me if I'm sick or unable to make it in. It was often more trouble to stay out than go in if I was sick when teaching. We had to send in lesson plans that sometimes actually got done (I heard that sometimes the sub nodded off). The subs meant well, but they couldn't know what was on my mind or needed to be passed along.

I would like a positive, collegial atmosphere - not a place that is run by fear and intimidation. I am comfortable working in a people-oriented atmosphere (as opposed to working with things or numbers). I am pretty good with the spoken and written word and am friendly and outgoing. I know I am not a corporate type!

Two possibilities are (1) a personal speech or writing coach (or editor, but I am not sure the demand exists), and (2) a PLC (Personal Life Counselor). That second one has some real possibilities. As one who currently spends too much time on FaceBook, I see a real need for such a calling. There are so many little children in grown-up bodies who don't have a clue about what it means to be a responsible adult. They need the wisdom and guidance they never received growing up - really. They let Life happen to them and have no control to make anything otherwise. As I just posted as a FB status: "God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest." J.G. Holland. So many have learned not to do anything because The System will give them what they need (and sometimes want). Not to be crude, they have mastered the art of sucking the public teat.

Usually people are wild in and just after their high school years, but sooner or later, they are supposed to grow up instead of continually being immersed in their "daily drama!" There are so many I feel I could help guide along. No, I am not a miracle worker, but I could help so many make their lives better.

It's late enough that I have to close for now. I will either add more later or edit this. Thanks for reading.

The Golden Rule and Scams

The Golden Rule: "Them that's got the gold make the rules."

Over my many years, I have gone to concerts to see such performers as The Mamas and the Papas, The Association, Jim Morrison and The Doors, Three Dog Night, B.B. King, Led Zeppelin, and so on. With the passing of the torch, my daughter recently let me know she wanted to go to a concert in Cambridge, MA, at a place called The Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub.

Trying to be a good father and earn some well-needed Father Points, I checked the website and found that members of the group's fan club could purchase advance tickets for $52 each (the price included some extra "stuff"). For the rest of us, advance tickets costing $17.50 each would go on sale at 10 AM that next Saturday; I only wanted two. Thinking I was a "savvy" consumer, I pre-entered my consumer information and sat in front of my computer waiting for 10 AM to arrive. At the right moment, I began refreshing my screen to be among the first to purchase tickets. In less than a second, a new screen appeared stating "Online Tix Have Sold Out." I did everything right, but I didn't stand a chance.

Massachusetts law does say basically that it is illegal to sell tickets at more than two dollars above face price, but that has been ignored and laughed at for years. Almost immediately, the tickets I tried to get for $17.50 showed up on reseller sites at prices ranging from about $80 to $160 each (as of this writing, I found some online for $95 to $270 each. I don't know if they are all the same, but the first one I looked at also added a "service charge" of an additional 18.5 percent). Does anyone else see something very wrong with this picture? How do these people sleep at night (probably very peacefully)? These are the same people who show up after a disaster and sell water for $10 a bottle and a flashlight for $100 because they can.

The short of it is that my daughter won't be seeing the group, and in spite of my best efforts, I didn't stand a chance. I looked up "collusion" ('a secret agreement between two or more parties for a fraudulent, illegal, or deceitful purpose') which seems to be what's going on, but it doesn't seem to be very secret. Anyone up for a class-action suit? Anyone?

Trade-offs

Some 37 years ago (or so), my brother asked me what it was like living in rural New Hampshire. I summed up my existence by saying that if I wanted to buy a sweater, I could. If I wanted a long-sleeve navy v-neck, I probably have to order it from a catalog. Fast forward to today - some things are slow to change. (I do have to say, however, the Internet changes everything.)

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been to three hardware stores, one car dealer, and talked to a locksmith (who didn't follow-up on and return my call), and I am still without a spare key for my daughter's car. The good news is that there is a dealer who can help me; the bad, the dealer's an hour away - Road Trip!

Every so often, some need surfaces that reminds me I am still in rural NH, which isn't a bad thing - there are just trade-offs. Within ten miles, there is a Walmart and good sized supermarket. I take refuse weekly to the Transfer Station, which is fairly close. I have high-speed Internet and cable TV with 59 channels (of which I can actually get 57). Of those 57, there are perhaps 12 I like and actually watch.When I lived in and around Boston, I could eat out 24-hours a day. Here, the sidewalks are pulled in early.

On the plus side, I have been literally two feet away from various Presidential candidates. It is said if you haven't been, it's by choice. The good days are the best anywhere. The winters can be trying, but it's part of the package. We had one winter when day and night for three weeks, the temperature never went above zero. One winter we hit about 45 degrees below zero, and there have been winters with nothing more than a dusting of confectioners sugar snow. One Mother's Day, we had two feet of snow - it was gone the next day.

Many people are also among the best. In time of need, they can't do enough. I am lucky to be here.

There's much more, but I'm saving that for the book I'm working on.

Paying it Forward

I guess "Pay it forward" means to pass along a good deed. I briefly met a couple yesterday who embody the concept, and I will pay forward their deed as I am able.

I officiated a wedding yesterday in Pawtuckaway State Park, a venue to which I had never been. The bride sent along directions, which I gratefully accepted. As I always try to be early, I left plenty of time to find the place. The short of it is, I sensed something wasn't right, but I did follow the directions correctly. At one point, after going back and forth a couple of times, I saw a man and his wife in their driveway. He raised his have and motioned me over. When I told him what my problem was, he went into his garage and brought back a sheet of directions he had previously printed out. The directions from the Internet were way off, and I guess he and his wife knew they'd be seeing many people. There must have been so many driving up and down his road, that he and his wife printed out numerous sheets to hand out to lost travelers. What a nice thing to do for strangers.

If anyone knows someone who knows someone who may know the couple, please extend my sincere thanks and let them know I will pay it forward.

Two Words

In a recent column (www.bermansbits.com), I dropped in a personal quote along with others from some truly great names (Twain, Hayes, Carver, Reagan, Hoffer, and Badger). Quotes to me are among the ultimate literary forms because they say things so perfectly and precisely. When I was younger I used to think that if I could write like anyone, it would be John Steinbeck - he said things the way I would if I could, kind of like quotes.

Anyhow, in thinking about it and letting it percolate a bit, I realized the quote is something I truly believe in and is a quote that deserves to be shared with everyone in the world. EVERYONE! From someone on welfare to the average work-a-day person to those who inhabit the halls of the great palaces, hearing, understanding, and acting on the quote would change everything (it is that profound). No matter one's age, sex, nationality, political belief, personal credo, etc., the entire world would change for the better (except for those who don't follow it, which in turn would ultimately keep us just where we are).

The quote: “Two words that would truly make all the difference in today’s world: ‘Play fair.’” I mean, can you start to imagine what would happen if everyone simply played fair? From world leaders to businesspeople to politicians to bosses and workers, if everyone simply played fair everything would change. The search term "government fraud" brought me a quick 77 million returns. The government alone has wasted billions and billions of our dollars by not playing fair. Over the past couple of years, the word billion, which was once so hard to even speak, has been replaced by trillion, with no 'hope' or 'change' in sight.

I do have a solution: Play fair!

Mother Earth - It's Time!

During the years I taught a course in Science Fiction, one allegorical story was probably my favorite. It was called "The Wound" and was written by Howard Fast. I hate spoilers, but as the story is hard to find and you probably won't read it, I'll tell you something about it. It had to do with drilling for oil deeper than ever before and setting off an underground atomic bomb to aid the process. When the deed is finally done after some protests, "they" get a gusher all right, but it turns out it's not oil but blood - great symbolism!

One point of the story is we can't irresponsibly just keep taking and taking from the Earth - there really is only so much she can give us and will until she can't anymore. I am not a full-fledged tree hugger, but I do like to hold hands (limbs). I understand responsibility. Big Business is driven with the cry, "More! MORE! NOW!" as are many consumers. There is apparently little or no thought about outcomes or the future.

Good Science Fiction extrapolates - examines and presents possible outcomes if nothing changes along the way. Not everyone is smart enough or concerned enough to see that we need to think more about what's happening and the possible consequences of our actions.

I thought about this in light of the BP disaster. Maybe you can think about it too.

Tim'rous Beastie

As of this writing, there are still four kittens and two mother cats living on the porch. The day after the first kitten was placed in a good home and picked up, I went out in the morning, and there was the body of what I surmise to be a vole waiting for me. I went back inside to get gloves and paper towels to remove the creature, did a couple of other things, and went back out. The carcass was gone.

What got me thinking was why it was there in the first place. While I know our barn is an attractive birthing suite to cats, I doubt the step was an attractive place to end one's life; the vole didn't climb the step and expire; no, it had help. Knowing cats as I do, I know it was a cat that left it there for us. I think there are a couple of possibilities why. First, it could have been an offering, a thanks for finding a good home for the first kitten and an investment to assure we will do the same for the other three. Of course, I could be wrong and there is another possibility. It could be a warning that says, "Touch one of us again, and you could be next. This could happen to you!"

I like to think I know something about cats, but not that much.