Appeared in print December 2007.
Round about this time of year every Tom, Dick and Harry are peddling Christmas trees, many imported from the evil north, I mean, Canada. There are tree lots all over town and in many garden centers. Churches, scouts, and other youth organizations hope to capitalize on the general insanity that blows stronger than the jet stream in these parts every December.
As parents, or just fans of all things Christmas, it is incumbent upon us to find the perfect tree to adorn with what I like to call, ‘ornamentia.’ Ornamentia includes the usual complement of glittery balls, doo-dads celebrating all the firsts (baby’s first Christmas, first Christmas in our new home, first Christmas without a mortgage payment, first Christmas on solid food, etc), and ribbons, garland, and various pre-school bean and lace treasures picked up along the way.
In my house we bore the kids silly reminiscing on every darn ornament we pull out. My aunts gave us all the ornamentia we needed to decorate our first Christmas tree as a married couple. I think we still have every single ornament too. Of course, our collection has grown to an obscene size and I’m fairly certain I’ve got enough to decorate twelve trees. Each ornament has a memory attached. When I’m very old and quite demented probably my only lucid moments will come when my kids drag out these ornaments. In other words, ornamentia leads to dementia.
Nevertheless, this is a guide so first things first.
The absolute first thing one must do before embarking on a tree-hunting journey, whether to a home improvement store or 30 degree woods armed with a saw and some rope, is sit down with the spouse/children/dog and decide: Real Tree or Plastic Fake.
If you have in your household an allergy sufferer, well then, ok, Plastic Fake tree makes a certain amount of sense. However, to balance your plastic-yness, you must nicely adorn a real tree planted in the yard somewhere. It’s a moral imperative, so get on it.
On the other hand, if your family chooses a real tree you are in for a treat, or a special kind of torture. Really, it could go either way.
The second thing to do is decide where in your house the tree shall go. You must decide this BEFORE buying the tree; otherwise, you’ll end up in the garage with a circular saw, a hacked up tree trunk, and quite possibly bleeding profusely in a desperate attempt to cut down the MUCH TOO LARGE tree you picked out. But, we’re getting ahead our ourselves.
In our house, deciding where the tree should go generally involves moving all the furniture in the living room to accommodate the greatest amount of festive holiday visitors without sacrificing space or tables to put drinks on. The night before we go tree shopping the family is up late, digging under couches, reattaching wires to the entertainment center, and generally causing my husband great consternation. Then we bring up the boxes of ornamentia, stockings, and a veritable plethora of Christmas decorating crap.
Next morning, the family must tackle the third item on the list: Searching out the venue. This is a very important step. We used to be tree lot people, and tree lots serve a critical niche in the tree-buying world. We always found a nice, full tree of reasonable height and girth. It was wrapped, plopped on the car and away we went. Still, it required minutes of consideration and a good look at all the options before we go back to our first choice.
However, a certain member of our family likes the tree up for his birthday, which, being just a few days after Epiphany, isn’t so unreasonable. Unfortunately, tree lot trees just won’t last that long. They die well before January 6 and the weight of the ornaments distorts the poor thing so badly it resembles a turkey neck. It’s not good.
A few years back we decided to find a tree farm and go cut a fresh one. These trees tend to last longer for us and require less botox to maintain their youthful good looks. We put on warm coats, gloves, hats, scarves and boots and load our ropes and blankets into the car and drive the most direct route to the tree farm that passes a drive-through coffee shop where we can buy hot chocolate. We sip our too hot cocoa and listen to Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey or anything by Ella Fitzgerald during the drive.
Once at the tree farm you must learn the rules of the place. Ask the attendant and if he tells you something you don’t like, slip him a hefty tip. He’s stuck out there in the freezing weather handing out saws to idiots like me, so chances are he’ll be likely to help you later on in this saga if you need it.
This year, we went to one of the distant fields of this farm for our tree. We like a sturdy Frasier Fir and we found them. We walked up and down row after row. Each exclaiming he’d found THE TREE before discovering brown needles, a embarrassing bare spot on one side, or too short. We did this for an hour, maybe more, as my watch froze. Finally, we decided on a short, round number, which was actually the third tree we looked at 45 minutes earlier. Never mind the frostbite dear.
My husband gets down to cut the trunk with a handsaw (no chainsaws here for we hardy New Englanders), which takes all of seven minutes plus swearing.
We drag the poor tree through the lot, back to the car, and over the hill and through the woods, and well you get the point. Back at the house, we’re now in a mad dash to get the tree into some water and a bucket outside does the trick. If you wait too long to get the trunk in water after its cut, you’ll have to cut it again which sort of defeats the purpose.
After we get it inside, and fair warning, don’t freshen the paint around your door jambs until after Christmas, my husband manages the lights. This is perhaps the most important job he does all year long and he takes it very seriously. He begins by wrapping the trunk in lights and then proceeds to add many hundreds of lights to the tree. While he’s wrestling with mini-lights I prepare festive snacks for our tree trimming delight and the children chase the dog with the antler headband. Once done we put an obnoxious train under the tree. It looks good, feels traditional in the right sorts of ways, and is incredibly loud; a useful feature when someone keeps you talking on the phone too long.
Ah, the special torture of finding and decorating the Christmas tree. I used to detest the job as a kid, but now, I’m rather fond of the custom. May your Christmas be delightful, rich in joy, and as peaceful as you can get without having to administer medication.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Pull My Finger Santa
We have a Pull-My-Finger Santa. I don’t know exactly who purchased this charming treat of Christmas Cheer, though I’m sure someone had a few too many eggnogs when designing Jolly Old St. Flatulence. It may have been a Yankee Swap gift that went horribly wrong. All I know is, I have not changed the battery in three years and remarkably, that Duracell is going STRONG. My kids pull that finger four-hundred times a day from now to Christmas.
We’ve tried losing this Santa, but he keeps turning up. Last year it was my daughter’s turn to squirrel him away under her bed, in a dark corner with discarded toys probably covered in lead paint from China. She found him again, triumphantly mind you, two days ago.
There is something sacrilegious about maligning Santa’s image with a Fart-o-Claus, but at least he is amusing. What are not amusing are recent news reports attacking Christmas once again. Shopping Mall Santa’s in Australia can no longer say “Ho Ho Ho” because it might offend women?!
I’m offended someone would even think so.
Once we enter the world of extreme political correctness, Orwellian Thinkspeak takes over our lives. Well, maybe not our lives, but certainly the brains of some otherwise fine folk. Take for instance the recent cancellation of a Winchester seventh grade field trip to see Miracle on 34th Street because some parents complained about the nature of the play. In particular, Santa Claus.
Winchester fell into the rabbit hole; at least, the principal of McCall middle school did. Students and parents are disappointed because the complaints of a few turned out to affect so many. What happened to permission slips? When did field trip permission become a zero- sum game?
Heck, we haven’t even celebrated Thanksgiving yet. This brings me to another round of revisionist history: Thanksgiving as a day of mourning in America, to Native Americans. Yes, Native Americans were shoved off their land and treated horribly by settlers. But the holiday is about the results of peace and cooperation between the pilgrims and the Native Americans. Why not celebrate that, try to recapture that, not only between the cultures but also in our everyday lives. Thanksgiving is more than just a chance to slave over a hot stove for two days. It is more than turkey and cranberry sauce and football.
At low moments in our lives, finding something to be thankful for is tough work. When a spouse loses a job and a family worries about making a mortgage or rent payment or putting food on the table, it is hard to be thankful. When a loved on is terribly injured or seriously ill, the fear becomes all-consuming. When someone dies, the grief can torture us into despair.
Finding something to be thankful for in those moments is not easy. Families in our community suffer today with budget busting bills, children battling cancer and other major health issues, and older residents choosing between heat and medication.
The day-to-day mundane plod can leave me frustrated with the state of my kitchen sink, annoyed by bills, or irritated by dirt tracked across a clean floor. The doodles of a four year old on freshly painted walls, the pile of laundry that faces me daily hardly seeming to diminish. However, my worries are nothing when compared to the magnitude of another.
In a rare moment of clarity, I am thankful for my sink full of dishes, because I have a family to feed. I am thankful for the dirt on my floor, the bedoodled wall, the never-ending laundry, because they represent my children who, if I’m fortunate, will someday grow up and move somewhere close by.
As a sidebar, I am thankful for my neighbors that keep their lawns meticulous, because they encourage me to do better. I am thankful for those neighbors whose yards need some work too, because they make mine look good. Well, better.
To those who find it hard to celebrate this Thanksgiving know that there are many in our communities that care about you. I talk to them. Try to take a little time this week to count your blessings, big and small. You may be surprised at how many you can count.
I plan to use the same rationale with my family when I burn the turkey. Count the blessings of your brother, your sister, your home, your family, your dog, your cat, your unburned mashed potatoes, your apple pie…
Here’s to a happy, top-button-open-on-the-pants sort of Thanksgiving.
We’ve tried losing this Santa, but he keeps turning up. Last year it was my daughter’s turn to squirrel him away under her bed, in a dark corner with discarded toys probably covered in lead paint from China. She found him again, triumphantly mind you, two days ago.
There is something sacrilegious about maligning Santa’s image with a Fart-o-Claus, but at least he is amusing. What are not amusing are recent news reports attacking Christmas once again. Shopping Mall Santa’s in Australia can no longer say “Ho Ho Ho” because it might offend women?!
I’m offended someone would even think so.
Once we enter the world of extreme political correctness, Orwellian Thinkspeak takes over our lives. Well, maybe not our lives, but certainly the brains of some otherwise fine folk. Take for instance the recent cancellation of a Winchester seventh grade field trip to see Miracle on 34th Street because some parents complained about the nature of the play. In particular, Santa Claus.
Winchester fell into the rabbit hole; at least, the principal of McCall middle school did. Students and parents are disappointed because the complaints of a few turned out to affect so many. What happened to permission slips? When did field trip permission become a zero- sum game?
Heck, we haven’t even celebrated Thanksgiving yet. This brings me to another round of revisionist history: Thanksgiving as a day of mourning in America, to Native Americans. Yes, Native Americans were shoved off their land and treated horribly by settlers. But the holiday is about the results of peace and cooperation between the pilgrims and the Native Americans. Why not celebrate that, try to recapture that, not only between the cultures but also in our everyday lives. Thanksgiving is more than just a chance to slave over a hot stove for two days. It is more than turkey and cranberry sauce and football.
At low moments in our lives, finding something to be thankful for is tough work. When a spouse loses a job and a family worries about making a mortgage or rent payment or putting food on the table, it is hard to be thankful. When a loved on is terribly injured or seriously ill, the fear becomes all-consuming. When someone dies, the grief can torture us into despair.
Finding something to be thankful for in those moments is not easy. Families in our community suffer today with budget busting bills, children battling cancer and other major health issues, and older residents choosing between heat and medication.
The day-to-day mundane plod can leave me frustrated with the state of my kitchen sink, annoyed by bills, or irritated by dirt tracked across a clean floor. The doodles of a four year old on freshly painted walls, the pile of laundry that faces me daily hardly seeming to diminish. However, my worries are nothing when compared to the magnitude of another.
In a rare moment of clarity, I am thankful for my sink full of dishes, because I have a family to feed. I am thankful for the dirt on my floor, the bedoodled wall, the never-ending laundry, because they represent my children who, if I’m fortunate, will someday grow up and move somewhere close by.
As a sidebar, I am thankful for my neighbors that keep their lawns meticulous, because they encourage me to do better. I am thankful for those neighbors whose yards need some work too, because they make mine look good. Well, better.
To those who find it hard to celebrate this Thanksgiving know that there are many in our communities that care about you. I talk to them. Try to take a little time this week to count your blessings, big and small. You may be surprised at how many you can count.
I plan to use the same rationale with my family when I burn the turkey. Count the blessings of your brother, your sister, your home, your family, your dog, your cat, your unburned mashed potatoes, your apple pie…
Here’s to a happy, top-button-open-on-the-pants sort of Thanksgiving.
The Engineer Animal
By virtue of the kinds of stories I write for the Crier I often find myself talking to engineers. A veritable multitude of engineers. This is just fine, because I’m married to an engineer, my father-in-law is an engineer, nearly every male in that family is an engineer, and I can see the engineer mind in my son.
So, I ‘get’ engineers.
And there are two subgroups of the engineer animal.
One group takes the view that any imperfection in a design could cost people their lives. A poorly designed bridge will collapse. Imperfect applications of materials can cause concrete panels in tunnels ceilings to fall. A road built fast and loose will eventually sink, causing damage to automobiles and expensive repair. These engineers, like my husband and most of the engineers I talk to, are unique creatures. For example, it took my husband many months to build-in bookshelves, not because the project was hard but because the walls in our old house list way off center. When he was done with the shelves, however, the walls looked straight.
The desire to achieve perfection can be maddening. One engineer I know attempted to replace a simple valve in his shower and ended up ripping up the entire bath, putting up new everything and retiling. His wife may have wanted to commit seppuku, but that bath is beautiful.
Yes, these engineers fold their socks in a particular way, turn out the contents of their pockets in a meticulous fashion every day, and spend a tremendous amount of time planning any little project. If the design is not right, they reason, the execution will fail.
The second group of engineers includes the software wunderkinds of the world. They work fast and churn out product quickly, getting it to consumers sooner rather than later, then offering patches to correct problems. Their aim is less the design than the functionality. As long as it works, it does not necessarily matter how the programmer got there. And problems that appear down the road may be remedied, relatively inexpensively. Getting it right the first time, perfection, can mean missing the market, losing out to a competitor, or shortchanging customers.
Both kinds of engineers have their rightful place in the technological world today. But, when one crosses to the other side, woeful things can happen. Generally, when a design perfectionist engineer ends up at an internet start-up, the engineer leaves because he is burnt out or because the company finds him too slow. On the other hand, when the functionality oriented engineer ends up writing code for a military application, well, sometimes people die. As an engineer, it is important to know into which basket you fall.
I’ve tested my theory lately with engineers and so far, its resonating with every one, from the civil engineer that designed the new photo simulations for the Verizon Wireless cell phone towers at the South Fire Station (and my husband checked his proportions), to former DPW Director Toma Duhani, to even my father-in-law.
Likewise, remember this analogy when looking down the road at the upcoming budgeting process facing the Town of Tewksbury or even the design of the Lowell Junction Interchange. Careful planning and thoughtful design must punctuate the process for both undertakings.
Tewksbury’s budget task force, meeting often these days, will present its recommendations to the town in January. Then come the weeks of wrangling with numbers with the Board of Selectmen looking to implement efficiencies the task force recommends and the salesmanship of a probable override request, and perhaps even more fees. The only real question that remains is the bottom line figure. How much will it cost and how much can we save?
Simultaneously, the Lowell Junction Interchange collaboration moves forward. Environmental impact reports will come. Some sort of agreement between the towns on the shape of the interchange will emerge. Companies like Simon and RJ Kelly will push forward with their visions of mixed-use developments for their parcels of land. Resident must chime in here as well. Too often, a collective solipsism appears as apathy and ends up with folks missing the boat on opportunity.
Therefore, Tewksbury and Wilmington, start hitting those meetings. Listen to the developers, become part of the process, and heck, speak up about the changes you want to see. Change is on the horizon.
And to those readers in Tewksbury, begin by voting on Tuesday for Selectman. Three men have poured their time, energy, and money into this race. The decision may not be an easy one though I have tried to show their priorities and differences in the article this week. I’ve talked to them all and they are knowledgeable men in our community. I won’t make a recommendation, each voter must decide for him or herself. The most important part is showing up.
So, I ‘get’ engineers.
And there are two subgroups of the engineer animal.
One group takes the view that any imperfection in a design could cost people their lives. A poorly designed bridge will collapse. Imperfect applications of materials can cause concrete panels in tunnels ceilings to fall. A road built fast and loose will eventually sink, causing damage to automobiles and expensive repair. These engineers, like my husband and most of the engineers I talk to, are unique creatures. For example, it took my husband many months to build-in bookshelves, not because the project was hard but because the walls in our old house list way off center. When he was done with the shelves, however, the walls looked straight.
The desire to achieve perfection can be maddening. One engineer I know attempted to replace a simple valve in his shower and ended up ripping up the entire bath, putting up new everything and retiling. His wife may have wanted to commit seppuku, but that bath is beautiful.
Yes, these engineers fold their socks in a particular way, turn out the contents of their pockets in a meticulous fashion every day, and spend a tremendous amount of time planning any little project. If the design is not right, they reason, the execution will fail.
The second group of engineers includes the software wunderkinds of the world. They work fast and churn out product quickly, getting it to consumers sooner rather than later, then offering patches to correct problems. Their aim is less the design than the functionality. As long as it works, it does not necessarily matter how the programmer got there. And problems that appear down the road may be remedied, relatively inexpensively. Getting it right the first time, perfection, can mean missing the market, losing out to a competitor, or shortchanging customers.
Both kinds of engineers have their rightful place in the technological world today. But, when one crosses to the other side, woeful things can happen. Generally, when a design perfectionist engineer ends up at an internet start-up, the engineer leaves because he is burnt out or because the company finds him too slow. On the other hand, when the functionality oriented engineer ends up writing code for a military application, well, sometimes people die. As an engineer, it is important to know into which basket you fall.
I’ve tested my theory lately with engineers and so far, its resonating with every one, from the civil engineer that designed the new photo simulations for the Verizon Wireless cell phone towers at the South Fire Station (and my husband checked his proportions), to former DPW Director Toma Duhani, to even my father-in-law.
Likewise, remember this analogy when looking down the road at the upcoming budgeting process facing the Town of Tewksbury or even the design of the Lowell Junction Interchange. Careful planning and thoughtful design must punctuate the process for both undertakings.
Tewksbury’s budget task force, meeting often these days, will present its recommendations to the town in January. Then come the weeks of wrangling with numbers with the Board of Selectmen looking to implement efficiencies the task force recommends and the salesmanship of a probable override request, and perhaps even more fees. The only real question that remains is the bottom line figure. How much will it cost and how much can we save?
Simultaneously, the Lowell Junction Interchange collaboration moves forward. Environmental impact reports will come. Some sort of agreement between the towns on the shape of the interchange will emerge. Companies like Simon and RJ Kelly will push forward with their visions of mixed-use developments for their parcels of land. Resident must chime in here as well. Too often, a collective solipsism appears as apathy and ends up with folks missing the boat on opportunity.
Therefore, Tewksbury and Wilmington, start hitting those meetings. Listen to the developers, become part of the process, and heck, speak up about the changes you want to see. Change is on the horizon.
And to those readers in Tewksbury, begin by voting on Tuesday for Selectman. Three men have poured their time, energy, and money into this race. The decision may not be an easy one though I have tried to show their priorities and differences in the article this week. I’ve talked to them all and they are knowledgeable men in our community. I won’t make a recommendation, each voter must decide for him or herself. The most important part is showing up.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
International Talk Like A Pirate Day!
This Column first appeared in print September 19, 2007.
By Iron Jenny Rackham
With the beginning of autumn, we all start looking toward the familial bliss of upcoming holidays. Children scattered through the neighborhood dressed like freaks and begging for candy to rot their teeth. Or the homey image of a family Thanksgiving where your sister’s kids are writing on your freshly painted walls and your father-in-law is sitting with his pants unzipped, yelling obscenities at the football game. And, could there be any more heartwarming an image than six women related only by marriage trying to feed an army of men and children Christmas dinner before the present opening highs wear off?
This is why God gave us liquor stores.
Therefore, in deference to the fear and loathing that may be coming over you just now along with hives, I submit that there is a new holiday just waiting for your attention, and yes, devotion. Hallmark has yet to get its ferocious claws into this holiday and I’ve only seen it celebrated at the local library, though I knew about it before that. That’s right, you guessed it.
September 19th is International Talk like a Pirate Day!
Avast me Hearties and ahoy! The time has come to let down ye hair, drink rum, search for gleaming booty, walk with a swagger and quote pirate movies all day. ARRGGH!
To celebrate properly, one must first devise an appropriate pirate name. There are myriad pirate name generators on the Web. I am not making this up. Just do a Google search and pick one you like. I prefer the sort that is a bit of a personality test and generates a mishmash of a name derived from real pirates. Who doesn’t want to be a scurvy hound for one day?
As you can see in the byline, I am Iron Jenny Rackham, which is ludicrously accurate in a violent and Maggie Thatcher sort of way.
Next, preview your pirate holiday with a viewing of some sort of Pirate movie. Princess Bride, with the Dread Pirate Roberts, or any of the Pirates of the Caribbean will do the trick.
Next, lay out your pirate outfit for the next day. There are several ways to go. The simple yet chic look Cary Elwes sported in Princess Bride, all sleek black and with a blindfold.
Alternatively, one might try more a velvet coat, puffy sleeved, dandy sort such as Captain Hook of Disney animated fame. Of course, there is always Smee for a fashion mentor.
I hear Johnny Depp channeled Keith Richards for his interpretation of Captain Jack Sparrow; keep that in mind before you get behind the wheel though.
No pirate holiday is complete without a large, carnivorous, rum centered meal. It is a holiday, so one should feast as if your ship just attacked a British Man-O-War and landed enough Gold to feed the crew for a year. The alternative turns toward weevil infested hardtack, and that is no fun for anyone.
Tewksbury Public Library is offering pirate stories and crafts for kids on the 19th, which I highly recommend, for kids. For adults, remember to watch out for scallywags ready to ruin a perfectly good, non-commercialized holiday. Celebrate it now and keep it close to your heart as the rest of the season’s holidays come ever closer. Remember, that pirate costume could even be recycled into a Santa suit for someone special, haul that puppy out on Christmas day and see what comes of it.
Yo Ho Ho!
By Iron Jenny Rackham
With the beginning of autumn, we all start looking toward the familial bliss of upcoming holidays. Children scattered through the neighborhood dressed like freaks and begging for candy to rot their teeth. Or the homey image of a family Thanksgiving where your sister’s kids are writing on your freshly painted walls and your father-in-law is sitting with his pants unzipped, yelling obscenities at the football game. And, could there be any more heartwarming an image than six women related only by marriage trying to feed an army of men and children Christmas dinner before the present opening highs wear off?
This is why God gave us liquor stores.
Therefore, in deference to the fear and loathing that may be coming over you just now along with hives, I submit that there is a new holiday just waiting for your attention, and yes, devotion. Hallmark has yet to get its ferocious claws into this holiday and I’ve only seen it celebrated at the local library, though I knew about it before that. That’s right, you guessed it.
September 19th is International Talk like a Pirate Day!
Avast me Hearties and ahoy! The time has come to let down ye hair, drink rum, search for gleaming booty, walk with a swagger and quote pirate movies all day. ARRGGH!
To celebrate properly, one must first devise an appropriate pirate name. There are myriad pirate name generators on the Web. I am not making this up. Just do a Google search and pick one you like. I prefer the sort that is a bit of a personality test and generates a mishmash of a name derived from real pirates. Who doesn’t want to be a scurvy hound for one day?
As you can see in the byline, I am Iron Jenny Rackham, which is ludicrously accurate in a violent and Maggie Thatcher sort of way.
Next, preview your pirate holiday with a viewing of some sort of Pirate movie. Princess Bride, with the Dread Pirate Roberts, or any of the Pirates of the Caribbean will do the trick.
Next, lay out your pirate outfit for the next day. There are several ways to go. The simple yet chic look Cary Elwes sported in Princess Bride, all sleek black and with a blindfold.
Alternatively, one might try more a velvet coat, puffy sleeved, dandy sort such as Captain Hook of Disney animated fame. Of course, there is always Smee for a fashion mentor.
I hear Johnny Depp channeled Keith Richards for his interpretation of Captain Jack Sparrow; keep that in mind before you get behind the wheel though.
No pirate holiday is complete without a large, carnivorous, rum centered meal. It is a holiday, so one should feast as if your ship just attacked a British Man-O-War and landed enough Gold to feed the crew for a year. The alternative turns toward weevil infested hardtack, and that is no fun for anyone.
Tewksbury Public Library is offering pirate stories and crafts for kids on the 19th, which I highly recommend, for kids. For adults, remember to watch out for scallywags ready to ruin a perfectly good, non-commercialized holiday. Celebrate it now and keep it close to your heart as the rest of the season’s holidays come ever closer. Remember, that pirate costume could even be recycled into a Santa suit for someone special, haul that puppy out on Christmas day and see what comes of it.
Yo Ho Ho!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Dead Trees, Puppy Killers, and Freshly Sharpened Pencils
This Column appeared in print on August 29, 2007.
This week I had something particularly brilliant to say about a dead tree in my front yard, some sort of metaphor about weeding out a garden that I cannot seem to reconstruct.
Then I thought I’d write about NFL Quarterback and general low-life Michael Vick, who seemed more afraid of losing his job than the apparent loss of his soul. Except, oh Goody, Vick found Jesus just in the nick of time for his widely televised and totally insincere apology for his “immature acts.” An immature act is giving your best bud a “cosmic wedgie,” man, not torturing and killing animals. For those who think that after he “serves his time” Vick should be allowed to play football and not be deprived of his livelihood, I submit that Vick is not going to be deprived of making a living, just not through the NFL. And if the NFL hires him back, then that organization is the bigger fool by far.
Then I went to “Back to School” night and you know, the Crier is published on the first day of school.
The summer fairly flew for my family and no, this is not an essay on what our family did this summer, but rather a call for all things great about fall and school and darn it, pencils.
I remember with nostalgia the night-before-school jitters. Packing and unpacking my school bag. Picking out my outfit, which was always too warm because the first day of school is usually hot and I wanted to wear my new “school clothes.” I am convinced that the first day of school is hot just to torture the kids into thinking of swimming and the teachers into thinking of the beach.
I liked to gather my new pencils together and sharpen them in preparation for the big day. I wanted a healthy supply ready when the work began. When my mother brought home an electric pencil sharpener it was better than Atari 2600. I would ratchet through a pack of Ticonderogas in twenty minutes, savoring the sweet smell of shaved cedar and the throaty hum of that sharpener.
So I bought my kids one of these sharpeners, now with batteries. It doesn’t have quite the same purr sort of like the difference between a 1963 Corvette and a 1980 Honda Civic. Still and all, the fascination is there. The kids whip through a pack of double A’s in no time and I’m stuck going back to Staples to stock up on more pencils. Hmmm.
When I met my husband he was a mechanical pencil devotee. This was partly due to the fact that as an engineering student, he spent hours and hours doing homework in pencil. It was also due in part to his penchant for writing left handed, which caused pens to smear and make an awful mess. In my desk to this day I have mechanical pencil refills from our college days. I’m not sure he knows.
As much as I loved school I really hated riding the bus. In elementary school my town saved money by cutting bus routes. We kids sat THREE to a seat, in assigned seats, forced by our fascist driver. SO there I was, a little third grader squashed between two fifth graders, when the kid in the middle seat behind me thought it would be funny to reach under my seat and wrench my shoes off.
Every day for what seemed like months but was probably more like two weeks, this girl would wrestle off my shoes while the bus driver screamed at the kids and I kicked at her futilely. I’d have to fight not to get caught up in the swell getting off the bus in order to stay behind and figure out where she stashed them. More than once I got off the bus and walked through snow barefoot to the office before the matter was finally settled. And who did it? My parents? The Principal? Nope, it was another, older girl who rode my bus. She overheard me talking to the principal and offered to “make it go away.” And I didn’t even have to pay her.
The next year I got a new bus driver, because my parents decided it was time for Catholic School (we weren’t Catholic, but my parents knew a good thing when they saw it). That driver used to ask me if I thought my mom would like to date him. Are you kidding, buddy? I didn’t know if I ought to be happy for my mother or horrified. He didn’t last, but he also didn’t assign seats.
So, gentle reader, if you have a child that saw the inside of a classroom today and is still excited about going again tomorrow, bravo. When I taught Chemistry to third graders as part of a program in high school I always marveled at the unbridled enthusiasm for learning… hands raised, interest etched on little faces, and lots of questions. As we get older that enthusiasm loses out to wit, sarcasm, disinterest and disregard. I wanted to know, talking to older kids, where did all the questions go? As students of life, and payers of taxes, questions become the name of game. Once we stop asking questions, as a society, our apathy becomes a vacuum filled by problems and we can hardly find our way out.
So, tie your kids’ shoes tightly lest they lose them, sharpen the pencils, watch the weather report before picking out your outfit, and keep asking questions. Sometimes its amazing what you can learn.
This week I had something particularly brilliant to say about a dead tree in my front yard, some sort of metaphor about weeding out a garden that I cannot seem to reconstruct.
Then I thought I’d write about NFL Quarterback and general low-life Michael Vick, who seemed more afraid of losing his job than the apparent loss of his soul. Except, oh Goody, Vick found Jesus just in the nick of time for his widely televised and totally insincere apology for his “immature acts.” An immature act is giving your best bud a “cosmic wedgie,” man, not torturing and killing animals. For those who think that after he “serves his time” Vick should be allowed to play football and not be deprived of his livelihood, I submit that Vick is not going to be deprived of making a living, just not through the NFL. And if the NFL hires him back, then that organization is the bigger fool by far.
Then I went to “Back to School” night and you know, the Crier is published on the first day of school.
The summer fairly flew for my family and no, this is not an essay on what our family did this summer, but rather a call for all things great about fall and school and darn it, pencils.
I remember with nostalgia the night-before-school jitters. Packing and unpacking my school bag. Picking out my outfit, which was always too warm because the first day of school is usually hot and I wanted to wear my new “school clothes.” I am convinced that the first day of school is hot just to torture the kids into thinking of swimming and the teachers into thinking of the beach.
I liked to gather my new pencils together and sharpen them in preparation for the big day. I wanted a healthy supply ready when the work began. When my mother brought home an electric pencil sharpener it was better than Atari 2600. I would ratchet through a pack of Ticonderogas in twenty minutes, savoring the sweet smell of shaved cedar and the throaty hum of that sharpener.
So I bought my kids one of these sharpeners, now with batteries. It doesn’t have quite the same purr sort of like the difference between a 1963 Corvette and a 1980 Honda Civic. Still and all, the fascination is there. The kids whip through a pack of double A’s in no time and I’m stuck going back to Staples to stock up on more pencils. Hmmm.
When I met my husband he was a mechanical pencil devotee. This was partly due to the fact that as an engineering student, he spent hours and hours doing homework in pencil. It was also due in part to his penchant for writing left handed, which caused pens to smear and make an awful mess. In my desk to this day I have mechanical pencil refills from our college days. I’m not sure he knows.
As much as I loved school I really hated riding the bus. In elementary school my town saved money by cutting bus routes. We kids sat THREE to a seat, in assigned seats, forced by our fascist driver. SO there I was, a little third grader squashed between two fifth graders, when the kid in the middle seat behind me thought it would be funny to reach under my seat and wrench my shoes off.
Every day for what seemed like months but was probably more like two weeks, this girl would wrestle off my shoes while the bus driver screamed at the kids and I kicked at her futilely. I’d have to fight not to get caught up in the swell getting off the bus in order to stay behind and figure out where she stashed them. More than once I got off the bus and walked through snow barefoot to the office before the matter was finally settled. And who did it? My parents? The Principal? Nope, it was another, older girl who rode my bus. She overheard me talking to the principal and offered to “make it go away.” And I didn’t even have to pay her.
The next year I got a new bus driver, because my parents decided it was time for Catholic School (we weren’t Catholic, but my parents knew a good thing when they saw it). That driver used to ask me if I thought my mom would like to date him. Are you kidding, buddy? I didn’t know if I ought to be happy for my mother or horrified. He didn’t last, but he also didn’t assign seats.
So, gentle reader, if you have a child that saw the inside of a classroom today and is still excited about going again tomorrow, bravo. When I taught Chemistry to third graders as part of a program in high school I always marveled at the unbridled enthusiasm for learning… hands raised, interest etched on little faces, and lots of questions. As we get older that enthusiasm loses out to wit, sarcasm, disinterest and disregard. I wanted to know, talking to older kids, where did all the questions go? As students of life, and payers of taxes, questions become the name of game. Once we stop asking questions, as a society, our apathy becomes a vacuum filled by problems and we can hardly find our way out.
So, tie your kids’ shoes tightly lest they lose them, sharpen the pencils, watch the weather report before picking out your outfit, and keep asking questions. Sometimes its amazing what you can learn.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Deval Patrick Memorial Trash Fee
This column first appeared in print July 26, 2007
I have a new alarm clock. A very thoughtful and conscientious Hairy Woodpecker drums loudly on the fascia board outside my bedroom every morning at 4:23. I have yet to work out a thorough threat response plan but being up so early in the morning, I have more time to think about Governor Patrick’s veto of Tewksbury’s Home Rule Petition. Yes, I actually wake up with the budget on my mind; it’s about as annoying as a woodpecker.
In Patrick’s veto message, he cited his pending Municipal Partnership Act as a way that communities struggling with structural deficits may overcome galloping costs; his threat response plan, if you will. When I wrote an article on the veto last week, I asked Patrick’s staff if he was actually just trying to push through his legislation. His staff said no.
Patrick’s administration refused the home rule petition because it does not want other towns to pursue teacher salary deferrals. Dubbing salary deferrals bad fiscal policy, the Patrick administration believes fees are the wave of the future for municipal revenue generation. Tewksbury’s new Duval Patrick Memorial Trash Fee (thanks Jerry) represents a “long term” solution, according to the Governor. Fees are just another way to sock it to townspeople without allowing residents to deduct the fees from income taxes.
The salary deferral may have been less-than-desirable fiscal policy, but Tewksbury voters and town officials agreed upon it. The deferral would not have cost the state any money nor would it have deprived teachers of their pay. More importantly, it would have bought the town another year to find the solutions needed.
Of the $26.8 billion budget, the governor vetoed a puny 0.2 percent of it, or $41.4 million. No, Patrick was not terribly interested in cutting the budget and ultimately taxes for Massachusetts residents. He just wants to look like he cut the budget. The legislature plans an override of his vetoes, and at the end of the day, his cuts will remain irrelevant. Indeed, Tewksbury may yet get its salary deferral if Representative Miceli can pull an override rabbit out of his hat.
So what is Deval’s plan? He does plan to close “corporate tax loopholes,” which will bring more revenue to the state. The Municipal Partnership Act may also send revenue back to the state for “redistribution,” which is another way of saying “socialism.” With programs like paid volunteerism, I am not entirely sure we can trust him to spend the money on issues important to Tewksbury, like education.
Patrick’s Municipal Partnership Act would allow towns to raise meal and hotel taxes. For Tewksbury, that is a mixed blessing. We have several hotels largely used by business travelers, and therefore not paid mostly by town residents. However, a meals tax would burden local restaurants and residents would pick up the tab. The meals tax, for Tewksbury, amounts to just another tax increase except residents cannot deduct it on their state income taxes. Thereby Patrick “gives” towns another revenue generator while keeping state revenues rolling in. Who pays? You and me.
There’s a better way. Towns need help attracting businesses and encouraging businesses. The state needs to help towns grow. Patrick is investing in biotech and Tewksbury ought to jump on that bandwagon. This town hosts several major corporations. Everyone knows that Market Basket headquarters in Tewksbury. So is Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems, which generated $4.2 billion in 2006 and employs more than 13,500. Across the street from Raytheon is Avid’s headquarters. Avid’s technology, digital media creation tools used in film, video, audio, games and broadcasts, has won two Emmy’s, a Grammy, and two Oscars. In 2006 Avid earned more than $900 million in revenue.
Other major companies headquartered in Tewksbury include IP telephony company BlueNote Networks, online content, application and transaction provider Mirror Image Internet, CPA firm Moody, Famiglietti & Andronico which was recently named one of the 50 Best Small and Medium Companies to Work for in America, and another new technology company, Starent Networks, which IPO’d in June.
Retail space languishes along Main Street while high technology companies flourish in the office parks. Tewksbury needs to court high tech companies, bring in entrepreneurs and encourage them to develop here, pay their property taxes here, and attract smart employees that want to settle their families here. Corporations and their office headquarters require less drag on town services than retail businesses or malls.
As a community, Tewksbury has much to offer industry and individuals. With the new Lodge at Ames Pond development, attractive apartments will be ready for young engineers, scientists, and technology professionals. Families enjoy fantastic community sports programs, great schools with excellent teachers, and compared to most towns around here, very few fees. We have a new library, police station, and fire station.
Yes, there is work to do in Tewksbury, but it takes time. Too much emphasis and hope was placed on building a mall that has not, and may never, come through. I called Simon Malls last week and the company is still reviewing acquisitions from Mills, reluctant to breathe a word about possible development in town.
Tewksbury needs time to bring in high technology. The Avids and Starents and Raytheons are jewels in Tewksbury’s crown and important references for other companies shopping for a new spot to settle down.
We need time to turn the ship around. As a town, we need to ante up our share which likely means a trash fee this year and possibly a Proposition 2 ½ override next. Tewksbury needs to roll out the red carpet, welcome high technology companies, and make them partners in our community. Raytheon is already there with many donations to and volunteer opportunities (unpaid, I might add) in our schools. But while we work on that side of growth, we must maintain our services. In fact, we really need to grow those as well after years of budget cuts.
The Financial Plan Task Force is meeting August 6 at 7PM in the Library Community Room. Task force members are asking the public to come and talk about solutions for Tewksbury. Now is the time for residents to get involved and evolve answers. Don’t wait for next spring to roll around to get involved. Go to this meeting and say something about what matters to you. The task force cannot hear you if you don’t speak up.
Perhaps Patrick will someday come to Tewksbury. I hope he comes when Tewksbury has turned itself around and when he tries to take credit for it, for saving us from our salary deferral and ourselves, I want to be there. I want to show him that Tewksbury found a better way than the popular and prolific fees seen in the toniest towns across Massachusetts. I believe Tewksbury can still be the kind of town that does much for its residents without nickel and dime-ing everyone to death or foreclosure.
But it’s up to us to prove him wrong.
I have a new alarm clock. A very thoughtful and conscientious Hairy Woodpecker drums loudly on the fascia board outside my bedroom every morning at 4:23. I have yet to work out a thorough threat response plan but being up so early in the morning, I have more time to think about Governor Patrick’s veto of Tewksbury’s Home Rule Petition. Yes, I actually wake up with the budget on my mind; it’s about as annoying as a woodpecker.
In Patrick’s veto message, he cited his pending Municipal Partnership Act as a way that communities struggling with structural deficits may overcome galloping costs; his threat response plan, if you will. When I wrote an article on the veto last week, I asked Patrick’s staff if he was actually just trying to push through his legislation. His staff said no.
Patrick’s administration refused the home rule petition because it does not want other towns to pursue teacher salary deferrals. Dubbing salary deferrals bad fiscal policy, the Patrick administration believes fees are the wave of the future for municipal revenue generation. Tewksbury’s new Duval Patrick Memorial Trash Fee (thanks Jerry) represents a “long term” solution, according to the Governor. Fees are just another way to sock it to townspeople without allowing residents to deduct the fees from income taxes.
The salary deferral may have been less-than-desirable fiscal policy, but Tewksbury voters and town officials agreed upon it. The deferral would not have cost the state any money nor would it have deprived teachers of their pay. More importantly, it would have bought the town another year to find the solutions needed.
Of the $26.8 billion budget, the governor vetoed a puny 0.2 percent of it, or $41.4 million. No, Patrick was not terribly interested in cutting the budget and ultimately taxes for Massachusetts residents. He just wants to look like he cut the budget. The legislature plans an override of his vetoes, and at the end of the day, his cuts will remain irrelevant. Indeed, Tewksbury may yet get its salary deferral if Representative Miceli can pull an override rabbit out of his hat.
So what is Deval’s plan? He does plan to close “corporate tax loopholes,” which will bring more revenue to the state. The Municipal Partnership Act may also send revenue back to the state for “redistribution,” which is another way of saying “socialism.” With programs like paid volunteerism, I am not entirely sure we can trust him to spend the money on issues important to Tewksbury, like education.
Patrick’s Municipal Partnership Act would allow towns to raise meal and hotel taxes. For Tewksbury, that is a mixed blessing. We have several hotels largely used by business travelers, and therefore not paid mostly by town residents. However, a meals tax would burden local restaurants and residents would pick up the tab. The meals tax, for Tewksbury, amounts to just another tax increase except residents cannot deduct it on their state income taxes. Thereby Patrick “gives” towns another revenue generator while keeping state revenues rolling in. Who pays? You and me.
There’s a better way. Towns need help attracting businesses and encouraging businesses. The state needs to help towns grow. Patrick is investing in biotech and Tewksbury ought to jump on that bandwagon. This town hosts several major corporations. Everyone knows that Market Basket headquarters in Tewksbury. So is Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems, which generated $4.2 billion in 2006 and employs more than 13,500. Across the street from Raytheon is Avid’s headquarters. Avid’s technology, digital media creation tools used in film, video, audio, games and broadcasts, has won two Emmy’s, a Grammy, and two Oscars. In 2006 Avid earned more than $900 million in revenue.
Other major companies headquartered in Tewksbury include IP telephony company BlueNote Networks, online content, application and transaction provider Mirror Image Internet, CPA firm Moody, Famiglietti & Andronico which was recently named one of the 50 Best Small and Medium Companies to Work for in America, and another new technology company, Starent Networks, which IPO’d in June.
Retail space languishes along Main Street while high technology companies flourish in the office parks. Tewksbury needs to court high tech companies, bring in entrepreneurs and encourage them to develop here, pay their property taxes here, and attract smart employees that want to settle their families here. Corporations and their office headquarters require less drag on town services than retail businesses or malls.
As a community, Tewksbury has much to offer industry and individuals. With the new Lodge at Ames Pond development, attractive apartments will be ready for young engineers, scientists, and technology professionals. Families enjoy fantastic community sports programs, great schools with excellent teachers, and compared to most towns around here, very few fees. We have a new library, police station, and fire station.
Yes, there is work to do in Tewksbury, but it takes time. Too much emphasis and hope was placed on building a mall that has not, and may never, come through. I called Simon Malls last week and the company is still reviewing acquisitions from Mills, reluctant to breathe a word about possible development in town.
Tewksbury needs time to bring in high technology. The Avids and Starents and Raytheons are jewels in Tewksbury’s crown and important references for other companies shopping for a new spot to settle down.
We need time to turn the ship around. As a town, we need to ante up our share which likely means a trash fee this year and possibly a Proposition 2 ½ override next. Tewksbury needs to roll out the red carpet, welcome high technology companies, and make them partners in our community. Raytheon is already there with many donations to and volunteer opportunities (unpaid, I might add) in our schools. But while we work on that side of growth, we must maintain our services. In fact, we really need to grow those as well after years of budget cuts.
The Financial Plan Task Force is meeting August 6 at 7PM in the Library Community Room. Task force members are asking the public to come and talk about solutions for Tewksbury. Now is the time for residents to get involved and evolve answers. Don’t wait for next spring to roll around to get involved. Go to this meeting and say something about what matters to you. The task force cannot hear you if you don’t speak up.
Perhaps Patrick will someday come to Tewksbury. I hope he comes when Tewksbury has turned itself around and when he tries to take credit for it, for saving us from our salary deferral and ourselves, I want to be there. I want to show him that Tewksbury found a better way than the popular and prolific fees seen in the toniest towns across Massachusetts. I believe Tewksbury can still be the kind of town that does much for its residents without nickel and dime-ing everyone to death or foreclosure.
But it’s up to us to prove him wrong.
Monday, July 16, 2007
This Column first appeared in print July 10, 2007.
Town Side. School Side.
Share the Pain, Share the Gain.
Essential Service. Non-Essential Services.
These are the refrains of Tewksbury’s budget process over the last four months. Hitting fever pitch in the days leading up to the continued Annual Town Meeting, anyone with even a passing familiarity with the goings on in town is likely sick of the song and dance playing out repeatedly in meeting rooms and cable channels across town.
As an observer of the process for more than a year, watching as various boards, committees, departments, and residents study, review, wrangle, finagle, argue, and ultimately agree on a way to figure out another tough budget year I’ve learned much. I have tremendous respect for everyone involved in the process, particularly those that attend all the meetings and present real, plausible solutions. I am thankful that smart people give so much time and effort to the process, especially those that volunteer their time.
Looking at the comments at the top, one sees an essential divide. That gap will widen substantially in coming weeks and months. That which is ‘town side’ and ‘school side’ either blurs or sharpens depending on which side of the argument each participant stands. As a town, we must resist the need to trivialize the needs of one portion of our population while over blowing the importance of another, singular area.
Now that the fiscal year 2008 budget has passed, the next step begins as boards and committee turn their collective attentions to the three-year fiscal plan. This year Tewksbury faced only a $3.3 million deficit. The projected deficit for next year rises to well over $6 million. If we are not careful, we will face the same kinds of cuts and damages Stoneham with which Stoneham grapples. Stoneham had a three-year financial plan and as part of that plan, Stoneham officials requested an override. The measure did not pass and Selectmen began the painful process of devastating cuts we only read about. Just because the FY 08 budget has passed doesn’t mean we can stop talking about the budget.
I think it is likely that we’ll be asked to consider an override for Tewksbury. I trust that we’ll know where every penny will go, and as a town, we’ll be invited to set our spending priorities through public hearings. I also hope that we’ll have these answers ironed out well in time for town meeting next spring and not end up throwing another Hail Mary pass with dubious outcome.
Follow the progress of the Three-Year Financial Plan Task Force in the news over the coming months. It may not be the most exciting, interesting, or fulfilling reading encountered within these pages, but staying informed and active on the budget topic will help bring a smart solution to Town Meeting next spring.
Low voter turnout is partially blamed for the Stoneham override failure. Tewksbury cannot afford not to find an elegant, intelligent solution to our fiscal woes. We must remember that our town is one town of many departments, under one budget, and that all departments are important. Right now, there is enough time to find that answer unique to Tewksbury and make it happen for our town.
Town Side. School Side.
Share the Pain, Share the Gain.
Essential Service. Non-Essential Services.
These are the refrains of Tewksbury’s budget process over the last four months. Hitting fever pitch in the days leading up to the continued Annual Town Meeting, anyone with even a passing familiarity with the goings on in town is likely sick of the song and dance playing out repeatedly in meeting rooms and cable channels across town.
As an observer of the process for more than a year, watching as various boards, committees, departments, and residents study, review, wrangle, finagle, argue, and ultimately agree on a way to figure out another tough budget year I’ve learned much. I have tremendous respect for everyone involved in the process, particularly those that attend all the meetings and present real, plausible solutions. I am thankful that smart people give so much time and effort to the process, especially those that volunteer their time.
Looking at the comments at the top, one sees an essential divide. That gap will widen substantially in coming weeks and months. That which is ‘town side’ and ‘school side’ either blurs or sharpens depending on which side of the argument each participant stands. As a town, we must resist the need to trivialize the needs of one portion of our population while over blowing the importance of another, singular area.
Now that the fiscal year 2008 budget has passed, the next step begins as boards and committee turn their collective attentions to the three-year fiscal plan. This year Tewksbury faced only a $3.3 million deficit. The projected deficit for next year rises to well over $6 million. If we are not careful, we will face the same kinds of cuts and damages Stoneham with which Stoneham grapples. Stoneham had a three-year financial plan and as part of that plan, Stoneham officials requested an override. The measure did not pass and Selectmen began the painful process of devastating cuts we only read about. Just because the FY 08 budget has passed doesn’t mean we can stop talking about the budget.
I think it is likely that we’ll be asked to consider an override for Tewksbury. I trust that we’ll know where every penny will go, and as a town, we’ll be invited to set our spending priorities through public hearings. I also hope that we’ll have these answers ironed out well in time for town meeting next spring and not end up throwing another Hail Mary pass with dubious outcome.
Follow the progress of the Three-Year Financial Plan Task Force in the news over the coming months. It may not be the most exciting, interesting, or fulfilling reading encountered within these pages, but staying informed and active on the budget topic will help bring a smart solution to Town Meeting next spring.
Low voter turnout is partially blamed for the Stoneham override failure. Tewksbury cannot afford not to find an elegant, intelligent solution to our fiscal woes. We must remember that our town is one town of many departments, under one budget, and that all departments are important. Right now, there is enough time to find that answer unique to Tewksbury and make it happen for our town.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Father's Day
Below is the column I wrote in honor of Father's Day this year. It appeared in print June 13, 2007.
Amid all the budget bluster and end-of-school chaos this Sunday provides an opportunity to honor our fathers with home made cards (or Hallmark), precious gifts like crafty pencil cups or the ubiquitous necktie, and perhaps a hearty breakfast or round of golf.
This year I want to honor my father, a man of few words except when the talk turns to politics or football (particularly the University of Maine team), a man who took me fishing as a little girl and inspired a love of it in my son. A man who professes not to like dogs but cannot stand if a dog does not like him. A divorced Dad, he never missed a weekend visit.
I think fathers are supposed to be known for their advice. In some artificial social construct once a man has a child he is supposed to wise-up and share his collection of lessons learned with his kids. That’s a lot of pressure, and I’m sure some enterprising group of parenting experts/satirists/psychologists has the best methods and wizened nuggets ready to go at a moments notice. Or not.
My father only ever gave me one piece of advice, or perhaps it’s the only one I ever listened to. Over the years I’ve picked up a few more out of observation rather than being told.
1. On a cream cheese run Sunday morning, avoid speed traps.
2. A good game of cribbage cures many ills.
3. Teach your children to drive in a blizzard; it could save their life.
4. Keep your mouth shut and your eyes and ears open (mostly I have trouble with the first part of this cherry rule).
5. And finally, Do what you love and the money will come.
The first four on that list come from specific instances during my youth. My first ( and only) speeding ticket came while on trying to roust some cream cheese out of our rural community one Sunday morning to go with the very fine, authentic bagels we had on hand.
In the wilds of Maine, cribbage is a clever way to prevent insanity, pass the time during power outages, and gather with friends. I got so good I beat everyone I played my first year in college (including a few Texas braggarts).
Yes, my father made me drive in blizzards to return movies. And we’re not talking a 5 minute trip to the video store. This was semi-rural Maine, people. A video store run took the better part of an hour just to drive there.
The last sentence is that one piece of advice I ever really listened to and its one I share with my own kids. Well, I will when it makes sense. Right now my son seems to think that it means he can choose his own chores. Not so much.
Do what you love and the money will come. For an MBA, that was radical advice from my dad. He saw the value of pursuing one’s passion, that living what you love makes life infinitely sweeter. Toiling at a job you hate, even if the money is good, makes for a life of hard time. Choosing a path early on that allows you to do work you enjoy as well as care for your family is even more sanity preserving than cribbage. Hard to believe, I know.
Plus, loving what you do makes it easier to be an expert, to become the best in your field. Though he always wants the best for us and wishes us success, I always felt my dad would rather I was happy whether in a big or small way.
There is only one hard thing about that statement, finding what you love. Some are blessed to know at a young age, such as my husband, that he loves engineering and physics and building stuff with Legos. Others are not so sure what they love. Perhaps the hardest part of all is believing in yourself enough to trust that whatever you choose, you can make it work.
Maybe it’s a coincidence that graduations and father’s day tend to run pretty close to each other, tripping over each other in the card store racks. Often at graduations dads bestow their best guidance. Along the way, my dad stopped giving unsolicited advice, opting instead to offer up counsel whenever I asked for it, a trait I am grateful for. Nothing sours a relationship quicker than an uninformed parent giving outdated or irrelevant advice does.
So Dad, I will watch out for speed traps, especially on cream cheese runs, try to keep my mouth shut and my eyes and ears open, and keep doing what I love. Thanks, Dad.
Amid all the budget bluster and end-of-school chaos this Sunday provides an opportunity to honor our fathers with home made cards (or Hallmark), precious gifts like crafty pencil cups or the ubiquitous necktie, and perhaps a hearty breakfast or round of golf.
This year I want to honor my father, a man of few words except when the talk turns to politics or football (particularly the University of Maine team), a man who took me fishing as a little girl and inspired a love of it in my son. A man who professes not to like dogs but cannot stand if a dog does not like him. A divorced Dad, he never missed a weekend visit.
I think fathers are supposed to be known for their advice. In some artificial social construct once a man has a child he is supposed to wise-up and share his collection of lessons learned with his kids. That’s a lot of pressure, and I’m sure some enterprising group of parenting experts/satirists/psychologists has the best methods and wizened nuggets ready to go at a moments notice. Or not.
My father only ever gave me one piece of advice, or perhaps it’s the only one I ever listened to. Over the years I’ve picked up a few more out of observation rather than being told.
1. On a cream cheese run Sunday morning, avoid speed traps.
2. A good game of cribbage cures many ills.
3. Teach your children to drive in a blizzard; it could save their life.
4. Keep your mouth shut and your eyes and ears open (mostly I have trouble with the first part of this cherry rule).
5. And finally, Do what you love and the money will come.
The first four on that list come from specific instances during my youth. My first ( and only) speeding ticket came while on trying to roust some cream cheese out of our rural community one Sunday morning to go with the very fine, authentic bagels we had on hand.
In the wilds of Maine, cribbage is a clever way to prevent insanity, pass the time during power outages, and gather with friends. I got so good I beat everyone I played my first year in college (including a few Texas braggarts).
Yes, my father made me drive in blizzards to return movies. And we’re not talking a 5 minute trip to the video store. This was semi-rural Maine, people. A video store run took the better part of an hour just to drive there.
The last sentence is that one piece of advice I ever really listened to and its one I share with my own kids. Well, I will when it makes sense. Right now my son seems to think that it means he can choose his own chores. Not so much.
Do what you love and the money will come. For an MBA, that was radical advice from my dad. He saw the value of pursuing one’s passion, that living what you love makes life infinitely sweeter. Toiling at a job you hate, even if the money is good, makes for a life of hard time. Choosing a path early on that allows you to do work you enjoy as well as care for your family is even more sanity preserving than cribbage. Hard to believe, I know.
Plus, loving what you do makes it easier to be an expert, to become the best in your field. Though he always wants the best for us and wishes us success, I always felt my dad would rather I was happy whether in a big or small way.
There is only one hard thing about that statement, finding what you love. Some are blessed to know at a young age, such as my husband, that he loves engineering and physics and building stuff with Legos. Others are not so sure what they love. Perhaps the hardest part of all is believing in yourself enough to trust that whatever you choose, you can make it work.
Maybe it’s a coincidence that graduations and father’s day tend to run pretty close to each other, tripping over each other in the card store racks. Often at graduations dads bestow their best guidance. Along the way, my dad stopped giving unsolicited advice, opting instead to offer up counsel whenever I asked for it, a trait I am grateful for. Nothing sours a relationship quicker than an uninformed parent giving outdated or irrelevant advice does.
So Dad, I will watch out for speed traps, especially on cream cheese runs, try to keep my mouth shut and my eyes and ears open, and keep doing what I love. Thanks, Dad.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Skunks, Dogs, and Budgets, Oh My!
Ahhhh, the sickeningly sweet aroma of skunk outside my window late this night brings to mind all the joys of summer.
When we first adopted our rescued black Labrador retriever, Rodney, he was hit by our rather unfriendly, neighborhood skunk one night while sniffing around bushes that I’m sure, on hindsight, he rather wished he hadn’t.
The poor dog, having previously survived being a stray in Alabama and a gunshot wound to his right rear leg, was rubbing his face rather hard on my concrete patio. I suspect our skunk was not of a fan of traditional doggie greetings, if you will.
Yes, our skunk is skulking about and our gardens bloom. No, faithful reader, the rather masculine looking, stinky mushroom has not yet made an appearance but our dandelions are looking quite smart smack in the middle of our lawn.
Now that Memorial Day is past I have hauled out all my white shoes, filled the propane tank, dug out my gardening gloves, made camp plans for my children, and pestered all my neighbors with pools for invitations. School is nearly out. And I swear the ice cream man has my neighborhood on dinner-hour radar.
I did not think that, come late June, Tewksbury would still be without a budget. The budget is a bit skunky, stinking like the anal glad emissions of that crepuscular animal.
The School Committee, having given lists of 5% and 10% cuts to the Finance Committee, seems reluctant now to actually decide upon which cuts. And who can blame them? Without a number, the committee cannot decide what needs cutting. Without a number, the finance committee cannot make a recommendation.
Yet, Town Manager David Cressman announced the projected $3.5 million budget shortfall in October of last year. So how is it that we find out in October, just three months into the fiscal year, that the town is effectively skunked for the upcoming three years at least, and still eight months later we’re relying on a last ditch effort from the legislature to save our Braunschweiger.
We could blame the creation, and rather pallid execution, of the Blue Ribbon Committee. Or panel. I forget. And frankly, that is the hallmark of the Blue Ribbon Committee…it was forgettable.
The Committee, made up of smart business-people, took four months comprised of twenty hours of meetings, to conclude what the Board of Selectmen already knew. Without a significant source of new growth or an override, Tewksbury’s budget outlook was pretty skunky. The Committee validated the projected shortfalls, recommended that the schools try to be preserved, and that the town search for sources of new growth.
To borrow a phrase… well, duh.
I can’t help but think the Board of Selectmen effectively twiddled its thumbs while the fiscal dam in Tewksbury sprung a leak. And then another and another.
And once again, here we are ready to hand most of the problem to the schools. Here’s news, the schools are not actually supposed to be revenue generators for the town. The Town needs to raise revenues to support services.
Jack Dunfey got up at town meeting Tuesday and said something no one wants to hear, and I’m pretty sure he was not entirely happy to say. That an override is necessary, if not imminent. The override picture will become clear over the next few months as the new Budget Task Force gears up.
In the meantime I’m anxious to hear some fiscal creativity from the candidates for the fifth seat on the Board of Selectmen. Dennis Francis, another U-25 alum, is the first to pull papers for the job. I’m sure we’ll hear soon from David Gay of the planning board and Ed Doherty, who has no shortage of ideas or creative ways of expressing them.
The next election, in September, will likely sparkle even more than the last. And the way this town is going, we may not have an answer about the budget before then, though I’m hopeful.
The new board seems to have a healthy sense of urgency and the task force is made up of motivated residents with necessary expertise. We’re all in for a hot, skunky summer. And the lack of budget resolve really makes it stink.
When we first adopted our rescued black Labrador retriever, Rodney, he was hit by our rather unfriendly, neighborhood skunk one night while sniffing around bushes that I’m sure, on hindsight, he rather wished he hadn’t.
The poor dog, having previously survived being a stray in Alabama and a gunshot wound to his right rear leg, was rubbing his face rather hard on my concrete patio. I suspect our skunk was not of a fan of traditional doggie greetings, if you will.
Yes, our skunk is skulking about and our gardens bloom. No, faithful reader, the rather masculine looking, stinky mushroom has not yet made an appearance but our dandelions are looking quite smart smack in the middle of our lawn.
Now that Memorial Day is past I have hauled out all my white shoes, filled the propane tank, dug out my gardening gloves, made camp plans for my children, and pestered all my neighbors with pools for invitations. School is nearly out. And I swear the ice cream man has my neighborhood on dinner-hour radar.
I did not think that, come late June, Tewksbury would still be without a budget. The budget is a bit skunky, stinking like the anal glad emissions of that crepuscular animal.
The School Committee, having given lists of 5% and 10% cuts to the Finance Committee, seems reluctant now to actually decide upon which cuts. And who can blame them? Without a number, the committee cannot decide what needs cutting. Without a number, the finance committee cannot make a recommendation.
Yet, Town Manager David Cressman announced the projected $3.5 million budget shortfall in October of last year. So how is it that we find out in October, just three months into the fiscal year, that the town is effectively skunked for the upcoming three years at least, and still eight months later we’re relying on a last ditch effort from the legislature to save our Braunschweiger.
We could blame the creation, and rather pallid execution, of the Blue Ribbon Committee. Or panel. I forget. And frankly, that is the hallmark of the Blue Ribbon Committee…it was forgettable.
The Committee, made up of smart business-people, took four months comprised of twenty hours of meetings, to conclude what the Board of Selectmen already knew. Without a significant source of new growth or an override, Tewksbury’s budget outlook was pretty skunky. The Committee validated the projected shortfalls, recommended that the schools try to be preserved, and that the town search for sources of new growth.
To borrow a phrase… well, duh.
I can’t help but think the Board of Selectmen effectively twiddled its thumbs while the fiscal dam in Tewksbury sprung a leak. And then another and another.
And once again, here we are ready to hand most of the problem to the schools. Here’s news, the schools are not actually supposed to be revenue generators for the town. The Town needs to raise revenues to support services.
Jack Dunfey got up at town meeting Tuesday and said something no one wants to hear, and I’m pretty sure he was not entirely happy to say. That an override is necessary, if not imminent. The override picture will become clear over the next few months as the new Budget Task Force gears up.
In the meantime I’m anxious to hear some fiscal creativity from the candidates for the fifth seat on the Board of Selectmen. Dennis Francis, another U-25 alum, is the first to pull papers for the job. I’m sure we’ll hear soon from David Gay of the planning board and Ed Doherty, who has no shortage of ideas or creative ways of expressing them.
The next election, in September, will likely sparkle even more than the last. And the way this town is going, we may not have an answer about the budget before then, though I’m hopeful.
The new board seems to have a healthy sense of urgency and the task force is made up of motivated residents with necessary expertise. We’re all in for a hot, skunky summer. And the lack of budget resolve really makes it stink.
Monday, May 14, 2007
School Violence and Budget Bootstrapping
This week Tewksbury made news all over Massachusetts with the antics of three (give or take) students writing threatening messages and smashing a stripped down D-Cell Alkaline battery to smithereens. Moreover, while administration, police, faculty, students, firefighters, bus-drivers and staff distinguished themselves with quick response times, appropriate action, and an enormous effort to communicate with families, the real news in Tewksbury is not about what happened at school. But, its about to be.
Every year the budget process represents, to I suspect many residents, a boring footnote in springtime activities. It is tedious, mind numbing in complexity, and regularly produces the same results: months of dire warning, panics, arguments on town floor, and then, often, a surprise influx of money.
Not this year. Every single person that’s involved with the budget that I’ve spoken with at various school committee meetings, selectmen meetings, finance committee meetings, and Town-wide budget subcommittee meetings agrees that for Fiscal year 2008 Tewksbury is in trouble to the tune of $3.5 million. Out of a $77 Million budget, $3.5 seems like a drop in the bucket. However, for a town that has cut back new growth, and a school department that has developed an unfortunate talent for reductions after four years of forced cuts, well there is not much left.
Which brings us to a somewhat perplexing question raised by quite a few folks involved in the budget process: why do we continually hit the essential services, public safety and schools, and leave non-essential services practically alone? The police department will likely have to cut 4-5 officers, the fire department may have to close a station for all or part of a year, and the school department is looking to cut around 30 teachers and staff.
Cuts like these affect public safety by significantly reducing response times. If the town loses an ambulance and the remaining crew is in south Tewksbury, who will answer the call in north Tewksbury?
What about the burgeoning drug trafficking in town? Already an estimated four officers according to Chief Donovan understaff the police department. How do we handle school threats appropriately, keep the drug dealers on the run, or stop bank robberies when we do not have enough smart and capable men and women wearing our uniforms and watching our backs?
With all these cuts, why is the library safe? Why the Senior center? Why the Recreation department? Sure, those departments are all having their budgets cut too, but the library is only cutting one part time employee, one teenager that shelves books, and not staffing the Assistant Director position. I use the library often and I respect the people that work there and value the service they offer, but the library is not a golden goose we cannot touch. I am not alone; there is real dissent among the groups of people working on these budget reductions about what to cut and why.
John Mackey said it best, that if we keep cutting the biggest departments soon we are going to cannibalize essential services. Before we throw education and public safety under the bus, we need to reconsider what is essential. Before we tell kids they cannot have textbooks or charge families a fee for nearly everything (full day kindergarten, pricier hot lunches, bussing, athletic fees, activity fees, parking fees) we ought to share some of that pain across the town. I am not a fan of rubbish fees, but I am less a fan of lower property values because the perceived (incorrect) value of education in this town hurts home sales.
Much of the problem boils down to a mental partitioning many of us make when thinking about the budget: the Town Side versus the School Side. As if the two are adversaries. How can that be? Homeowners pay property tax to one office, not two. We all share in the indivisible goods provided by the services in the town. Parts of those indivisible services include education, though at first glance that may not seem the case. Massachusetts and Federal laws require the town to fund special education, to pay for placements at the regional vocational school, to pay for health insurance, pensions, and so forth for employees. Yet, every year the school is given its chunk of revenue and told to deal with it. So while fixed costs rise well beyond the control of the school department (tuition for out of town placements rose by nearly 50% in one year), the department is required to cut every year to essentially level fund. Still, the town is mandated to provide education for all eligible children.
Every time the school department and committee members talk about the impossible position for schools at public meetings, “town side” managers roll their eyes and undermine the nature of the beast, that it is the Town’s responsibility to educate, not just the teachers and parents.
The various demographic groups must share the burdens of the budget shortfall. Not to do so is discriminatory, punishing families for having children and choosing to raise them in Tewksbury. Now, after years and years of substantial cuts in the operations budgets to fund ever rising fixed costs, the cuts are hitting other departments, harder in the public safety area. No one likes or frankly, supports these cuts. However, with slow growth in town, a reduction in funds from the state, and no one-time monies ready to dig us out of the hole, the town still has to present a balanced budget.
I’m encouraged by the direction of the new Board of Selectmen and a real attempt to create a sustainable financial plan to put these budget woes behind us with what I call Selissen’s Manifesto, the Three-Year Plan Task Force.
Like so many, I am hopeful that Cressman’s office can pull a rabbit out of its hat in the form of some accounting gymnastics or obtain some help from the legislature. But I am not holding my breath. The more residents that come to town meeting can raise these questions and make significant changes on town meeting floor about budget reductions. Residents can ask committee members why certain cuts were chosen and residents can vote down the budget.
When this budget comes to Town Meeting floor on Monday, if the money articles are not deferred, passage will result in a very different town come July 1. In some ways, essential services will be stripped down and smashed against a wall until unrecognizable, just like that D-cell battery at the high school.
Every year the budget process represents, to I suspect many residents, a boring footnote in springtime activities. It is tedious, mind numbing in complexity, and regularly produces the same results: months of dire warning, panics, arguments on town floor, and then, often, a surprise influx of money.
Not this year. Every single person that’s involved with the budget that I’ve spoken with at various school committee meetings, selectmen meetings, finance committee meetings, and Town-wide budget subcommittee meetings agrees that for Fiscal year 2008 Tewksbury is in trouble to the tune of $3.5 million. Out of a $77 Million budget, $3.5 seems like a drop in the bucket. However, for a town that has cut back new growth, and a school department that has developed an unfortunate talent for reductions after four years of forced cuts, well there is not much left.
Which brings us to a somewhat perplexing question raised by quite a few folks involved in the budget process: why do we continually hit the essential services, public safety and schools, and leave non-essential services practically alone? The police department will likely have to cut 4-5 officers, the fire department may have to close a station for all or part of a year, and the school department is looking to cut around 30 teachers and staff.
Cuts like these affect public safety by significantly reducing response times. If the town loses an ambulance and the remaining crew is in south Tewksbury, who will answer the call in north Tewksbury?
What about the burgeoning drug trafficking in town? Already an estimated four officers according to Chief Donovan understaff the police department. How do we handle school threats appropriately, keep the drug dealers on the run, or stop bank robberies when we do not have enough smart and capable men and women wearing our uniforms and watching our backs?
With all these cuts, why is the library safe? Why the Senior center? Why the Recreation department? Sure, those departments are all having their budgets cut too, but the library is only cutting one part time employee, one teenager that shelves books, and not staffing the Assistant Director position. I use the library often and I respect the people that work there and value the service they offer, but the library is not a golden goose we cannot touch. I am not alone; there is real dissent among the groups of people working on these budget reductions about what to cut and why.
John Mackey said it best, that if we keep cutting the biggest departments soon we are going to cannibalize essential services. Before we throw education and public safety under the bus, we need to reconsider what is essential. Before we tell kids they cannot have textbooks or charge families a fee for nearly everything (full day kindergarten, pricier hot lunches, bussing, athletic fees, activity fees, parking fees) we ought to share some of that pain across the town. I am not a fan of rubbish fees, but I am less a fan of lower property values because the perceived (incorrect) value of education in this town hurts home sales.
Much of the problem boils down to a mental partitioning many of us make when thinking about the budget: the Town Side versus the School Side. As if the two are adversaries. How can that be? Homeowners pay property tax to one office, not two. We all share in the indivisible goods provided by the services in the town. Parts of those indivisible services include education, though at first glance that may not seem the case. Massachusetts and Federal laws require the town to fund special education, to pay for placements at the regional vocational school, to pay for health insurance, pensions, and so forth for employees. Yet, every year the school is given its chunk of revenue and told to deal with it. So while fixed costs rise well beyond the control of the school department (tuition for out of town placements rose by nearly 50% in one year), the department is required to cut every year to essentially level fund. Still, the town is mandated to provide education for all eligible children.
Every time the school department and committee members talk about the impossible position for schools at public meetings, “town side” managers roll their eyes and undermine the nature of the beast, that it is the Town’s responsibility to educate, not just the teachers and parents.
The various demographic groups must share the burdens of the budget shortfall. Not to do so is discriminatory, punishing families for having children and choosing to raise them in Tewksbury. Now, after years and years of substantial cuts in the operations budgets to fund ever rising fixed costs, the cuts are hitting other departments, harder in the public safety area. No one likes or frankly, supports these cuts. However, with slow growth in town, a reduction in funds from the state, and no one-time monies ready to dig us out of the hole, the town still has to present a balanced budget.
I’m encouraged by the direction of the new Board of Selectmen and a real attempt to create a sustainable financial plan to put these budget woes behind us with what I call Selissen’s Manifesto, the Three-Year Plan Task Force.
Like so many, I am hopeful that Cressman’s office can pull a rabbit out of its hat in the form of some accounting gymnastics or obtain some help from the legislature. But I am not holding my breath. The more residents that come to town meeting can raise these questions and make significant changes on town meeting floor about budget reductions. Residents can ask committee members why certain cuts were chosen and residents can vote down the budget.
When this budget comes to Town Meeting floor on Monday, if the money articles are not deferred, passage will result in a very different town come July 1. In some ways, essential services will be stripped down and smashed against a wall until unrecognizable, just like that D-cell battery at the high school.
Police State
Fortnight in Review
By Jayne W. Miller
Crime in Massachusetts. Not being an attorney, a politician, a criminal, or thankfully, a victim, I may not be in a position to write something pithy about crime in Massachusetts.
Yet, I’m a parent and I write stories every week about crime and I’m concerned. The number of murders in Boston is on the rise. Burglaries, home invasions, gun-related violence and especially crimes against children are on the rise all over Massachusetts. In Tewksbury two level three sex offenders, previously convicted and served time for crimes against children, live within a half mile of an elementary school. Our police have arrested more than eight suspects in six drug busts in two weeks. Drug busts for cocaine and heroin trafficking. These aren’t kids getting high in the basement; they are people trying to erode the fabric of suburban life in Tewksbury.
Tewksbury, located so very close to Lowell and with two major highways running though it, is becoming a gateway town for druggies and deadbeats to do business. With an understaffed police force relative to the level of crime in and around town, these losers are picking Tewksbury as a great spot to stop, sell some major drugs near a school, and move on. At what point do gangs come in, start staking out territory, and begin protecting their turf with knives and guns? Gang violence, along with nearly all other forms of crime, is up statewide.
I don’t want to be an alarmist and I seriously doubt the bloods and crips will take up arms on either end of 38, but the point remains. Police are working incredibly hard to catch these losers while chasing other crimes around town such as a rash of automobile break-ins, home invasions, even a carjacking. In Wilmington another burned body was found, but no arrests have been made in this baffling case.
This violent crime is way beyond the greedy hands of little league president and major league alleged embezzler Wilford Daley. We are facing drugs and violent crime. Right now these levels are not out of control but they are on the rise. Our lackluster governor seems more interested in lush draperies and Cadillacs than promoting public safety or hiring those 1000 more officers he promised during his campaign.
We cannot build a fence around our towns or run customs offices at every off ramp. We cannot run background checks on folks that drive our streets; we cannot stop criminals and high risk recidivists from living in our midst. But we can put more feet on the ground. We can hire more police officers, add to our force, and ensure the safety of our elders, our children, our businesses and our neighborhoods.
Tewksbury’s finest is doing a commendable job with the resources they have. But we know they don’t have enough. As our budget process gets underway we already know from preliminary figures that we do not have the funds for two badly needed officers to help combat the drug problem this community faces. As a community, we need to seriously consider our needs and how to balance them with our means. As residents and taxpayers we must engage in the budget process and look for creative solutions for shortages that exist throughout the budget, not just for police.
It does not take much to lose a way of life, safety, or peace of mind. Just apathy.
By Jayne W. Miller
Crime in Massachusetts. Not being an attorney, a politician, a criminal, or thankfully, a victim, I may not be in a position to write something pithy about crime in Massachusetts.
Yet, I’m a parent and I write stories every week about crime and I’m concerned. The number of murders in Boston is on the rise. Burglaries, home invasions, gun-related violence and especially crimes against children are on the rise all over Massachusetts. In Tewksbury two level three sex offenders, previously convicted and served time for crimes against children, live within a half mile of an elementary school. Our police have arrested more than eight suspects in six drug busts in two weeks. Drug busts for cocaine and heroin trafficking. These aren’t kids getting high in the basement; they are people trying to erode the fabric of suburban life in Tewksbury.
Tewksbury, located so very close to Lowell and with two major highways running though it, is becoming a gateway town for druggies and deadbeats to do business. With an understaffed police force relative to the level of crime in and around town, these losers are picking Tewksbury as a great spot to stop, sell some major drugs near a school, and move on. At what point do gangs come in, start staking out territory, and begin protecting their turf with knives and guns? Gang violence, along with nearly all other forms of crime, is up statewide.
I don’t want to be an alarmist and I seriously doubt the bloods and crips will take up arms on either end of 38, but the point remains. Police are working incredibly hard to catch these losers while chasing other crimes around town such as a rash of automobile break-ins, home invasions, even a carjacking. In Wilmington another burned body was found, but no arrests have been made in this baffling case.
This violent crime is way beyond the greedy hands of little league president and major league alleged embezzler Wilford Daley. We are facing drugs and violent crime. Right now these levels are not out of control but they are on the rise. Our lackluster governor seems more interested in lush draperies and Cadillacs than promoting public safety or hiring those 1000 more officers he promised during his campaign.
We cannot build a fence around our towns or run customs offices at every off ramp. We cannot run background checks on folks that drive our streets; we cannot stop criminals and high risk recidivists from living in our midst. But we can put more feet on the ground. We can hire more police officers, add to our force, and ensure the safety of our elders, our children, our businesses and our neighborhoods.
Tewksbury’s finest is doing a commendable job with the resources they have. But we know they don’t have enough. As our budget process gets underway we already know from preliminary figures that we do not have the funds for two badly needed officers to help combat the drug problem this community faces. As a community, we need to seriously consider our needs and how to balance them with our means. As residents and taxpayers we must engage in the budget process and look for creative solutions for shortages that exist throughout the budget, not just for police.
It does not take much to lose a way of life, safety, or peace of mind. Just apathy.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Top Ten Absurd Snippets from Planet Tewksbury:
10. I didn’t know that this year we’ll get another month of usable sunshine. Did you? Selectman Joe Gill brought up the change in Daylight Savings time this year during a meeting, and I have to say, I was rather surprised. If you or someone you love is a real techie then you probably already know all about the change. But if not you should know that this year we’ll all be Springing Ahead March 11th rather than April 1. That’s right, as part of yet another federal program aimed at saving energy (which, I’m all for) we’ll be mucking with our inner clocks nearly a month early this year. Personally, I’m not sure whether be delighted or annoyed. Maybe it will snow.
9. Speaking of snow, where is it? If I wanted a snow-free winter I’d live in Malibu, California. Oh, wait; they’ve already had more snow this year than Boston. I want snow days, hot cocoa, sledding, maybe a nip of frostbite. Come ON, its winter. I don’t want to even speak of that groundhog; I have nothing nice to say.
8. Pet Peeve; the vernacular, only found in spoken English “a whole nother,” as in, “Melba, I got a whole nother idea about that home based worm farm.” Would someone, please, tell me what in the world is a ‘nother.’ Yes, I recognize that what some people are trying to say is ‘another whole’, which is also useless. Just say “another.” It works nicely all by itself.
7. After the election I made a few predictions about who would run for President in 2008. I’d just like to take a moment to gloat: Hillary is in the race “and in it to win.” So, that means she won’t settle for a Veep nomination. Ok. Obama is also running. He may be an inexperienced first term senator, but he’s in it. McCain is running, Romney is running, and just this week former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani threw his hat into the ring. He’s “in it to win” too. This is going to be a fun Presidential race leading up to the primaries.
6. At a recent presentation to the Home for Little Wanderers in Boston, a consulting firm used my blog as an example site for a business practice change. I know this because a friend of mine who works in development for The Home sat in on the meeting. When she asked why they used my little blog out of the thousands out there in the ether, she was told that I am a, wait for it, “Sphere of Influence.” So, you read it here first. Apparently the consulting firm wasn’t aware that most weeks I have 3 visitors that stay an average of 3 seconds. But, if you want to visit a real, sort of, sphere of influence, check out my blog at jaynespeak.blogspot.com.
5. Governor Patrick finally decided not to cut the tolls on the Mass Pike. Anyone shocked? No? Of course not.
4. Like the Presidential race for 2008, Tewksbury’s Selectmen race for 2007 looks just as jam packed, although there are two seats. With one incumbent and so far, four other hopefuls, I hope we’ll see a friendly, but informative debate. I nominate myself and the other members of the Tewksbury Press Club to moderate the debate, held of course, at the Tewksbury Country Club (we’ll settle for the gym at TMHS though) and to be broadcast on the cable/FiOS access channels. Residents can send in questions beforehand, call them in live during the debate, or even attend the debate. I’ve spoken to all the candidates and they are all savvy to town politics, know the issues, and have an alarming capacity for quotability. Bring on the Policy, the Lincoln-Douglas, let’s have a debate!
3. Not to beat a frozen horse, but if it is going to be this cold, I think we ought to have a little bit of snow; perhaps just enough to cover the remnants of leaves I did not finish raking in the fall. Although, truly, it really is not cold unless your nose freezes together when you breathe.
2. At the Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night, in rather frigid cold air, I met some teachers standing outside, demonstrating, and making sure that people know they’re there. I’ve seen a lot of these teachers, at lots of meetings. I haven’t seen any other members of unions in town demonstrating anywhere. The fact that these folks are out in the cold trying to prove a point, that they mean business, probably ought to signal a wider message for the town at large. The budgetary rope, if you will, only stretches so far and this time, the ends aren’t meeting. I hope contract mediation works and pronto because the gulf between teachers, the school committee, parents, and taxpayers is yawning wider as we exceed 100 days without a contract.
1. What could be the most absurd snippet from planet earth? Well, surely there’s plenty of choice. We could go for the Lovesick Astronaut in Adult Diapers story, everyone loves a romance. Or perhaps the Lite Bright Cartoon Network “performance Art” marketing stunt, which probably did more for that silly program than all the Lite Brights in all those other cities put together. One thing is for sure, we are rarely cursed with boring news these days.
9. Speaking of snow, where is it? If I wanted a snow-free winter I’d live in Malibu, California. Oh, wait; they’ve already had more snow this year than Boston. I want snow days, hot cocoa, sledding, maybe a nip of frostbite. Come ON, its winter. I don’t want to even speak of that groundhog; I have nothing nice to say.
8. Pet Peeve; the vernacular, only found in spoken English “a whole nother,” as in, “Melba, I got a whole nother idea about that home based worm farm.” Would someone, please, tell me what in the world is a ‘nother.’ Yes, I recognize that what some people are trying to say is ‘another whole’, which is also useless. Just say “another.” It works nicely all by itself.
7. After the election I made a few predictions about who would run for President in 2008. I’d just like to take a moment to gloat: Hillary is in the race “and in it to win.” So, that means she won’t settle for a Veep nomination. Ok. Obama is also running. He may be an inexperienced first term senator, but he’s in it. McCain is running, Romney is running, and just this week former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani threw his hat into the ring. He’s “in it to win” too. This is going to be a fun Presidential race leading up to the primaries.
6. At a recent presentation to the Home for Little Wanderers in Boston, a consulting firm used my blog as an example site for a business practice change. I know this because a friend of mine who works in development for The Home sat in on the meeting. When she asked why they used my little blog out of the thousands out there in the ether, she was told that I am a, wait for it, “Sphere of Influence.” So, you read it here first. Apparently the consulting firm wasn’t aware that most weeks I have 3 visitors that stay an average of 3 seconds. But, if you want to visit a real, sort of, sphere of influence, check out my blog at jaynespeak.blogspot.com.
5. Governor Patrick finally decided not to cut the tolls on the Mass Pike. Anyone shocked? No? Of course not.
4. Like the Presidential race for 2008, Tewksbury’s Selectmen race for 2007 looks just as jam packed, although there are two seats. With one incumbent and so far, four other hopefuls, I hope we’ll see a friendly, but informative debate. I nominate myself and the other members of the Tewksbury Press Club to moderate the debate, held of course, at the Tewksbury Country Club (we’ll settle for the gym at TMHS though) and to be broadcast on the cable/FiOS access channels. Residents can send in questions beforehand, call them in live during the debate, or even attend the debate. I’ve spoken to all the candidates and they are all savvy to town politics, know the issues, and have an alarming capacity for quotability. Bring on the Policy, the Lincoln-Douglas, let’s have a debate!
3. Not to beat a frozen horse, but if it is going to be this cold, I think we ought to have a little bit of snow; perhaps just enough to cover the remnants of leaves I did not finish raking in the fall. Although, truly, it really is not cold unless your nose freezes together when you breathe.
2. At the Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night, in rather frigid cold air, I met some teachers standing outside, demonstrating, and making sure that people know they’re there. I’ve seen a lot of these teachers, at lots of meetings. I haven’t seen any other members of unions in town demonstrating anywhere. The fact that these folks are out in the cold trying to prove a point, that they mean business, probably ought to signal a wider message for the town at large. The budgetary rope, if you will, only stretches so far and this time, the ends aren’t meeting. I hope contract mediation works and pronto because the gulf between teachers, the school committee, parents, and taxpayers is yawning wider as we exceed 100 days without a contract.
1. What could be the most absurd snippet from planet earth? Well, surely there’s plenty of choice. We could go for the Lovesick Astronaut in Adult Diapers story, everyone loves a romance. Or perhaps the Lite Bright Cartoon Network “performance Art” marketing stunt, which probably did more for that silly program than all the Lite Brights in all those other cities put together. One thing is for sure, we are rarely cursed with boring news these days.
Good Samaritans, Cell Phones, and a blown tire
A few years ago, on a spontaneous trip to Williams Sonoma to purchase special cutters for a recipe I wanted to try, the tire blew out on my minivan on the highway. I had my four year old son and infant daughter asleep in the backseat, no cell phone, and no real expectation of fixing the thing alone. I didn’t have flares, reflectors, or any idea of how the hell I was going to get out of this one.
Before I go further, and in the interest of fairness, I should state that my husband and I built our marriage on a sort of bad Carma/Karma. Not to be punny, we just had a lot of automotive bad luck. In one case our only car, a midsize Mazda sedan, caught fire on Route 128. The electrical system caught fire and melted a crater the size of a basketball in the dashboard. My husband, again without a cell phone, called the fire department on the phone of a fellow commuter that kindly stopped (probably had some laughs over it too, and who can blame him?). Because the interior of the car was on fire the engines drive by a couple of times before stopping, and then didn’t believe that the car was actually on fire (the heavy layer of soot on the windows looked a lot like tinted glass) until one fire fighter opened the door to a thick waft of acrid smoke.
Another car, a hand-me-down through 4 generations, was so old that we had to repair it just to get it to pass inspection. Brake lights refused to stay fixed, the air conditioning gave up the ghost, the radio was kaput, the gas gauge stubbornly stuck at empty despite a filled tank, and a few rusted holes in the bodywork big enough for a raccoon to crawl through.
Once, the heating system in our minivan let go on a trip home from Maine in February. That was special, because in order to run heat in the back seats the system required running the fan in the front as well. So while my husband and I froze to our seats, our kids slept soundly in back for the remaining three hours. I couldn’t feel my feet for three days.
So, there I was, a silly twit without phone or clue, stuck in the breakdown lane of 128 with my wounded van, woefully distant from my destination. I didn’t know whether to wake the kids and go far away from the side of the road and risk being covered (literally) in ticks (which, I’m sorry to say has happened before) or keep them strapped in the van, a veritable target for bad drivers. I stayed put and waited for someone driving by to call the police and report that some idiot woman in her gold mom-mobile had a smoking tire and was stuck in transportation limbo. While waiting, quite a few cars and a couple of semi’s drifted into the break-down lane, as if my mini-van had a sort of gravitational pull on the cars driving by.
Eventually a state trooper on his way home stopped and saved my bacon. He called me a tow, positioned his car to protect mine, and informed me that the thing to do in such an incident is get away from the car because too many people stopped in breakdown lanes have been killed by morons that crash into them.
Once my vehicle was hauled onto the flatbed of the tow I was stymied as to how to best strap my children into the petite cab of the truck. I needed three seatbelts, and one was already being used by the driver.
Suddenly, out of the midst of the clamor and confusion, an angel in blue jeans arrived on the scene, complete with non-wounded minivan and a few car seats of her own. Apparently she drove by, saw my disabled car and me holding the infant carrier with my 10 week old baby inside. Knowing that any mother would be worried about how to safely manage the tow, she kindly stopped to offer us a ride to anywhere we needed to go.
Though she’s from Wilmington, she happened to be in Burlington that late afternoon with enough free time to ferry a stranger and her children to a car repair shop. Sent by God, right place at the right time, call it what you want. Regrettably, I don’t remember her name, but I do remember her car seats and how my little baby looked so small in one, her Kate Spade handbag that I admired, and her curly brunette hair. At one point I was reduced to gushing my thanks but she put me at ease, saying she was doing her good deed and that she was “only getting into heaven on the family plan.”
Her act of kindness has etched a place within my cynical soul and I know with certainty that there are genuinely good people, caring people in our midst.
I don’t know how to thank her, so I hope this column is enough until I meet her again. If you know her or think you might, send her my email address, I’d love to give her proper thanks.
And yes, I did get a cell phone. But just this week, I washed it.
Before I go further, and in the interest of fairness, I should state that my husband and I built our marriage on a sort of bad Carma/Karma. Not to be punny, we just had a lot of automotive bad luck. In one case our only car, a midsize Mazda sedan, caught fire on Route 128. The electrical system caught fire and melted a crater the size of a basketball in the dashboard. My husband, again without a cell phone, called the fire department on the phone of a fellow commuter that kindly stopped (probably had some laughs over it too, and who can blame him?). Because the interior of the car was on fire the engines drive by a couple of times before stopping, and then didn’t believe that the car was actually on fire (the heavy layer of soot on the windows looked a lot like tinted glass) until one fire fighter opened the door to a thick waft of acrid smoke.
Another car, a hand-me-down through 4 generations, was so old that we had to repair it just to get it to pass inspection. Brake lights refused to stay fixed, the air conditioning gave up the ghost, the radio was kaput, the gas gauge stubbornly stuck at empty despite a filled tank, and a few rusted holes in the bodywork big enough for a raccoon to crawl through.
Once, the heating system in our minivan let go on a trip home from Maine in February. That was special, because in order to run heat in the back seats the system required running the fan in the front as well. So while my husband and I froze to our seats, our kids slept soundly in back for the remaining three hours. I couldn’t feel my feet for three days.
So, there I was, a silly twit without phone or clue, stuck in the breakdown lane of 128 with my wounded van, woefully distant from my destination. I didn’t know whether to wake the kids and go far away from the side of the road and risk being covered (literally) in ticks (which, I’m sorry to say has happened before) or keep them strapped in the van, a veritable target for bad drivers. I stayed put and waited for someone driving by to call the police and report that some idiot woman in her gold mom-mobile had a smoking tire and was stuck in transportation limbo. While waiting, quite a few cars and a couple of semi’s drifted into the break-down lane, as if my mini-van had a sort of gravitational pull on the cars driving by.
Eventually a state trooper on his way home stopped and saved my bacon. He called me a tow, positioned his car to protect mine, and informed me that the thing to do in such an incident is get away from the car because too many people stopped in breakdown lanes have been killed by morons that crash into them.
Once my vehicle was hauled onto the flatbed of the tow I was stymied as to how to best strap my children into the petite cab of the truck. I needed three seatbelts, and one was already being used by the driver.
Suddenly, out of the midst of the clamor and confusion, an angel in blue jeans arrived on the scene, complete with non-wounded minivan and a few car seats of her own. Apparently she drove by, saw my disabled car and me holding the infant carrier with my 10 week old baby inside. Knowing that any mother would be worried about how to safely manage the tow, she kindly stopped to offer us a ride to anywhere we needed to go.
Though she’s from Wilmington, she happened to be in Burlington that late afternoon with enough free time to ferry a stranger and her children to a car repair shop. Sent by God, right place at the right time, call it what you want. Regrettably, I don’t remember her name, but I do remember her car seats and how my little baby looked so small in one, her Kate Spade handbag that I admired, and her curly brunette hair. At one point I was reduced to gushing my thanks but she put me at ease, saying she was doing her good deed and that she was “only getting into heaven on the family plan.”
Her act of kindness has etched a place within my cynical soul and I know with certainty that there are genuinely good people, caring people in our midst.
I don’t know how to thank her, so I hope this column is enough until I meet her again. If you know her or think you might, send her my email address, I’d love to give her proper thanks.
And yes, I did get a cell phone. But just this week, I washed it.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Deval Patrick's New Year's Resolutions!
(This column first appeared in print December 26, 2006)
Christmas is over, the fat goose got eaten, and now its time to tackle the dreaded RESOLUTIONS. New Year’s, with all its drunken hoopla and frantic calendar switching, allows each and every one of us an opportunity for a new slate (or, slightly used slate, depending on your outlook). Now is the time to vow to change your ways, whatever they be.
For real resolution success one must do three things: 1. Actually make a resolution- writing it down helps. 2. Tell people about it, then at the very least you’ll be embarrassed into keeping it (unhealthy maybe, but helpful). 3. Set goals to reach your target – these can be real or imagined; whatever helps.
Do a Google search on ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ and you’ll get over 58 million hits. 58 MILLION websites referring to the annual act of trying to outsmart yourself. The website eHow has a five step list of how to make resolutions. One website links the practice of making New Year’s resolutions to the Babylonians about 4000 years ago. Resolutions topping the ancient Babylonian’s lists: returning borrowed farm equipment.
Yes, there are billions of kinds of resolutions to make and thousands of years of humanity’s experience to help you resolve. Top resolutions, which come as no surprise, include lose weight, stop smoking, get fit, quit drinking, get out of debt, and get an oil change.
I’ve read erudite expositions on why resolutions just bind us closer to failure or that resolutions should be smaller attainable steps of an overall goal. Perhaps. Mainly I think resolutions should put the FUN in FUNctional, so, this year I’m presenting the TOP THREE RESOLUTIONS OF THE DEVAL PATRICK ADMINISTRATION (because, if you can’t make fun of yourself, make fun of state government).
Deval Patrick Resolution Number 1: Local Aid Smoke and Mirrors: During the campaign Patrick promised to restore local aid to pre-2000 levels. Utilizing a political sort of fuzzy logic, the governor-elect believes that increasing local aid will lower property taxes. Patrick knows that the state house does not determine property taxes, that residential property values (and therefore taxes) are based on residential home sales, and that the real-estate boom in recent years brought more property tax increases in than anything else. Next year Tewksbury is headed for a slight decrease in property taxes, because the real estate market has slowed to a crawl and residential property values have plummeted around the state. Surely, Patrick will take credit for the reduced property tax “burden” on the people and tout it as a result of his increase in local aid (if, indeed, it comes).
Patrick Resolution 2: No Tax is Too Little: Patrick, in what will likely become a signature move, decided to keep a tax Massachusetts should have done away with years ago: Pike Tolls. Originally levied as a way to pay the bonds sold to finance the construction of the Pike, the toll is well past its expiration date, with many commuters complaining that they’re paying for the bloated albatross of the Big Dig rather than Pike maintenance.
Additionally, the Patrick campaign promoted the institution of local meal taxes as a way to “help local communities raise the revenue they need to support the services businesses need to thrive.” Just so we’re clear, charge customers (typically the residents of the town that patronizes those restaurants) more taxes to raise money to support services for the businesses in a town… Its dizzying logic. Watch for more creative money management solutions!
Patrick Resolution 3: Speak Vaguely and Promise Nothing Good: Interestingly, Patrick ran a feel-good campaign, a Together-We-Can hug fest campaign that, clearly, overwhelmingly succeeded. Now we’re in the transition period and learning that state finances are much direr than Patrick previously thought. Like many pols, any bad news is the fault of the previous administration and any good news is a direct result of his policies. The opposites, things that are working right now, and things that go badly in the future, won’t likely receive much lip service or credit. Together-We-Can what? Nobody knows, and nobody is likely to know since the transition staff were made to sign non-disclosure agreements. Let’s hope his positive campaign-vision resurfaces in the months to come and that not all the good news was due to rose-colored glasses.
As the year draws to a close and we come closer to 2007 and the inauguration to follow, I wish everyone a year full of prosperity, success, health, happiness, a five pound weight loss, an oil change, and returned farm equipment. After Patrick takes office, we’re going to need it.
Christmas is over, the fat goose got eaten, and now its time to tackle the dreaded RESOLUTIONS. New Year’s, with all its drunken hoopla and frantic calendar switching, allows each and every one of us an opportunity for a new slate (or, slightly used slate, depending on your outlook). Now is the time to vow to change your ways, whatever they be.
For real resolution success one must do three things: 1. Actually make a resolution- writing it down helps. 2. Tell people about it, then at the very least you’ll be embarrassed into keeping it (unhealthy maybe, but helpful). 3. Set goals to reach your target – these can be real or imagined; whatever helps.
Do a Google search on ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ and you’ll get over 58 million hits. 58 MILLION websites referring to the annual act of trying to outsmart yourself. The website eHow has a five step list of how to make resolutions. One website links the practice of making New Year’s resolutions to the Babylonians about 4000 years ago. Resolutions topping the ancient Babylonian’s lists: returning borrowed farm equipment.
Yes, there are billions of kinds of resolutions to make and thousands of years of humanity’s experience to help you resolve. Top resolutions, which come as no surprise, include lose weight, stop smoking, get fit, quit drinking, get out of debt, and get an oil change.
I’ve read erudite expositions on why resolutions just bind us closer to failure or that resolutions should be smaller attainable steps of an overall goal. Perhaps. Mainly I think resolutions should put the FUN in FUNctional, so, this year I’m presenting the TOP THREE RESOLUTIONS OF THE DEVAL PATRICK ADMINISTRATION (because, if you can’t make fun of yourself, make fun of state government).
Deval Patrick Resolution Number 1: Local Aid Smoke and Mirrors: During the campaign Patrick promised to restore local aid to pre-2000 levels. Utilizing a political sort of fuzzy logic, the governor-elect believes that increasing local aid will lower property taxes. Patrick knows that the state house does not determine property taxes, that residential property values (and therefore taxes) are based on residential home sales, and that the real-estate boom in recent years brought more property tax increases in than anything else. Next year Tewksbury is headed for a slight decrease in property taxes, because the real estate market has slowed to a crawl and residential property values have plummeted around the state. Surely, Patrick will take credit for the reduced property tax “burden” on the people and tout it as a result of his increase in local aid (if, indeed, it comes).
Patrick Resolution 2: No Tax is Too Little: Patrick, in what will likely become a signature move, decided to keep a tax Massachusetts should have done away with years ago: Pike Tolls. Originally levied as a way to pay the bonds sold to finance the construction of the Pike, the toll is well past its expiration date, with many commuters complaining that they’re paying for the bloated albatross of the Big Dig rather than Pike maintenance.
Additionally, the Patrick campaign promoted the institution of local meal taxes as a way to “help local communities raise the revenue they need to support the services businesses need to thrive.” Just so we’re clear, charge customers (typically the residents of the town that patronizes those restaurants) more taxes to raise money to support services for the businesses in a town… Its dizzying logic. Watch for more creative money management solutions!
Patrick Resolution 3: Speak Vaguely and Promise Nothing Good: Interestingly, Patrick ran a feel-good campaign, a Together-We-Can hug fest campaign that, clearly, overwhelmingly succeeded. Now we’re in the transition period and learning that state finances are much direr than Patrick previously thought. Like many pols, any bad news is the fault of the previous administration and any good news is a direct result of his policies. The opposites, things that are working right now, and things that go badly in the future, won’t likely receive much lip service or credit. Together-We-Can what? Nobody knows, and nobody is likely to know since the transition staff were made to sign non-disclosure agreements. Let’s hope his positive campaign-vision resurfaces in the months to come and that not all the good news was due to rose-colored glasses.
As the year draws to a close and we come closer to 2007 and the inauguration to follow, I wish everyone a year full of prosperity, success, health, happiness, a five pound weight loss, an oil change, and returned farm equipment. After Patrick takes office, we’re going to need it.
How to do a Proper Yankee Swap or Why CUTTHROAT is best.
(This column first appeared in print December 19, 2006)
What I like best about Christmas, I have to say, is not the cheer, the joy, the vacuous look on shopper’s faces. Oh no. For me, the true merriment of the season is all about a cutthroat Yankee Swap.
Cutthroat how, you may ask. Good question. For a swap to be “Yankee” it must also be cutthroat. You might say ‘Pirate Swap’, but that would be just rude. Indeed, stalwart Yankees know that the best swaps turn even the most serene women and the most gentlemanly of fellows into capricious gift-stealing fools. The little niceties of life, politeness, consideration, have little place in a proper Yankee Swap. If you want to be nice, call it a California Swap, some left-coast feel-good swap is fine, just don’t call it Yankee.
With that introduction, let’s review the rules for proper swappage.
Most of you are familiar with the format. Each person brings a gift and places it in a central setting (under the tree, on a table, around the hot tub, etc). Each person then selects a number from a hat. The person with a 1 chooses a gift first. The person with number two can either take the first person’s gift or choose a new gift from under the tree.
Note, here lays the first distinction of a Yankee swap: the second swapper cannot open a new gift and then opt to trade it in. NOPE. Number 2 either takes from number one, thereby allowing number one to choose a new gift, or 2 picks a new gift, which he may or may not be happily stuck with. Any swap that allows number 2 to open a gift first, before deciding whether or not to swap, is a Mid-Western swap, known for its manners (which, again, have no place in a Yankee Swap).
The unwrapping/swapping/etc continues until the last person has chosen the last gift. THEN, number 1 gets the option to swap with anyone else. Number 1 gets the last say, any other way, frankly could be Un-American. Just so you know.
However, I have recently learned of two new swap methodologies that improve the richness of the experience.
Method 1: Mix up the numbers. So, number 1 doesn’t go first, he goes 5th maybe. Number 3 goes last, possibly. Just make two sets of numbers, one for guests to choose from and one for the host to use to determine order. Same rules apply though: the second and subsequent swappers can either take someone else’s gift or open a new one. Not both.
Method 2: This version is a little demented, and being where it is from Maine (where I grew up), naturally I’m partial. My friend’s grandmother has employed the TWO DECK method and frankly, its genius.
Here goes:
The host (in this case, my friend’s grandma) uses two decks of cards. One deck is for guests - each guest chooses an equal number of cards. For example, 52 cards divided by 15 players means each player gets three cards and the remaining 7 cards are removed from the other deck. Then the host uses the second deck to choose the cards (after the shuffle) one by one. Each person gets three chances to find a gift and steal it back. Thus, your swap lasts a little longer and people get a little nastier. What could make for a more perfect holiday get together?
Finally, I’d like to share a little tidbit to make the kiddies evenings bright on Christmas Eve, if the sugar rush hasn’t already glazed them over. If you have a computer and internet connection, make sure on Christmas Eve your family logs onto the NORAD Santa website.
For more than 50 years NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command, has tracked Santa leaving the North Pole every Christmas Eve. You can watch his trek around the world through the combination of 47 high power radar installations over the North American border called the North Warning System, along with Santa Cams (cameras set up around the continent and only switched on Christmas Eve to track the jolly fellow), satellites and jet fighters. Best of all, it helps to know when Santa is getting near your neighborhood so that the kids can get into bed before he arrives. Check it out: www.noradsanta.org
May your Christmas be Merry and Bright and full of the joy and hope of the season!
What I like best about Christmas, I have to say, is not the cheer, the joy, the vacuous look on shopper’s faces. Oh no. For me, the true merriment of the season is all about a cutthroat Yankee Swap.
Cutthroat how, you may ask. Good question. For a swap to be “Yankee” it must also be cutthroat. You might say ‘Pirate Swap’, but that would be just rude. Indeed, stalwart Yankees know that the best swaps turn even the most serene women and the most gentlemanly of fellows into capricious gift-stealing fools. The little niceties of life, politeness, consideration, have little place in a proper Yankee Swap. If you want to be nice, call it a California Swap, some left-coast feel-good swap is fine, just don’t call it Yankee.
With that introduction, let’s review the rules for proper swappage.
Most of you are familiar with the format. Each person brings a gift and places it in a central setting (under the tree, on a table, around the hot tub, etc). Each person then selects a number from a hat. The person with a 1 chooses a gift first. The person with number two can either take the first person’s gift or choose a new gift from under the tree.
Note, here lays the first distinction of a Yankee swap: the second swapper cannot open a new gift and then opt to trade it in. NOPE. Number 2 either takes from number one, thereby allowing number one to choose a new gift, or 2 picks a new gift, which he may or may not be happily stuck with. Any swap that allows number 2 to open a gift first, before deciding whether or not to swap, is a Mid-Western swap, known for its manners (which, again, have no place in a Yankee Swap).
The unwrapping/swapping/etc continues until the last person has chosen the last gift. THEN, number 1 gets the option to swap with anyone else. Number 1 gets the last say, any other way, frankly could be Un-American. Just so you know.
However, I have recently learned of two new swap methodologies that improve the richness of the experience.
Method 1: Mix up the numbers. So, number 1 doesn’t go first, he goes 5th maybe. Number 3 goes last, possibly. Just make two sets of numbers, one for guests to choose from and one for the host to use to determine order. Same rules apply though: the second and subsequent swappers can either take someone else’s gift or open a new one. Not both.
Method 2: This version is a little demented, and being where it is from Maine (where I grew up), naturally I’m partial. My friend’s grandmother has employed the TWO DECK method and frankly, its genius.
Here goes:
The host (in this case, my friend’s grandma) uses two decks of cards. One deck is for guests - each guest chooses an equal number of cards. For example, 52 cards divided by 15 players means each player gets three cards and the remaining 7 cards are removed from the other deck. Then the host uses the second deck to choose the cards (after the shuffle) one by one. Each person gets three chances to find a gift and steal it back. Thus, your swap lasts a little longer and people get a little nastier. What could make for a more perfect holiday get together?
Finally, I’d like to share a little tidbit to make the kiddies evenings bright on Christmas Eve, if the sugar rush hasn’t already glazed them over. If you have a computer and internet connection, make sure on Christmas Eve your family logs onto the NORAD Santa website.
For more than 50 years NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command, has tracked Santa leaving the North Pole every Christmas Eve. You can watch his trek around the world through the combination of 47 high power radar installations over the North American border called the North Warning System, along with Santa Cams (cameras set up around the continent and only switched on Christmas Eve to track the jolly fellow), satellites and jet fighters. Best of all, it helps to know when Santa is getting near your neighborhood so that the kids can get into bed before he arrives. Check it out: www.noradsanta.org
May your Christmas be Merry and Bright and full of the joy and hope of the season!
Taking Back Christmas
(This column first appeared in print December 11, 2006)
I love this time of year. The inordinate insanity of snapping the perfect Christmas card photo you won’t be ashamed to see years later; Ella Fitzgerald singing about a sleigh ride; finding and selecting the perfect Christmas tree that will draw enough water over the season so as not to threaten your home with a small bonfire; and yes, the shopping.
Generally I dislike the rampant negative cash flow associated with this most materialistic of holidays, and yet, I love to see the looks of a tree overwhelmed by the packages beneath it. I love the cheer, the merriment, and joy that Is Christmas morning.
Lately, though, I’ve come to notice a serious decline in Christmas cheer. Oh yes, even in this hamlet tucked between two interstate highways, Christmas is in danger. Store employees wish everyone Happy Holidays. Once, just before Thanksgiving a young employee of a grocery store wished me ‘Happy Holidays.’
“It’s Thanksgiving. You can say Happy Thanksgiving, it’s not religious.”
She got the point, but she wasn’t the only person I corrected.
I can’t stand this garbage-speak where we are so afraid of offending someone we actually refrain from trying to make people feel good.
Needham is doing away with printing the names of honor roll students in the paper so that the kids that didn’t make the honor roll won’t feel bad. Here’s a thought, I’d bet the schools and the paper both would love to print the names of every single kid in town if they all worked hard to earn the grades. Rather than reward the kids that worked to achieve something, and thereby reinforce a strong work ethic, Needham wants to hide it, put it away so no one will feel left out.
‘Happy Holidays’ is a similar sort of trap. Rather than offend non-Christians we say this catch-all phrase that’s effectively meaningless. Maybe it means ‘shop more’ or ‘I hope you don’t get indigestion from eating too much’ or ‘I hope you get what you want.’ Perhaps the phrase is supposed to capture the spirit of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, and school vacation, all wrapped up in one innocuous and inoffensive package. Instead, the perfidy of the phrase just aggravates me.
If you are Jewish wish me Happy Hanukkah. If you are Muslim, please wish me a prosperous Eid ul-Adha. If you celebrate Kwanzaa, share something of your plans with me. If you’re a dead Roman, wish me Io, Saturnalia. And I will wish you all a Merry Christmas.
Its not about offending or not offending people that do not hold the same beliefs. Taking the time to share part of your faith or culture that matters very much to you is a little gift. Accepting that gift, rather than throwing it back, is yet another way to show respect and dignity to your fellow man, or dead pagan, as it were.
Would that all those politically correct hacks and obnoxious bigots got down off their jackasses and took a little time to share in the true spirit of the season, rather than defend their virgin ears against a preceived religious assault. What a difference a little listening might make…
But good news abounds. During the tree lighting ceremony in Tewksbury last week, Board of Selectmen Chairman Charles Coldwell wished everyone a “Merry Christmas.” He said it, I was there. I witnessed the moment and smiled.
I love this time of year. The inordinate insanity of snapping the perfect Christmas card photo you won’t be ashamed to see years later; Ella Fitzgerald singing about a sleigh ride; finding and selecting the perfect Christmas tree that will draw enough water over the season so as not to threaten your home with a small bonfire; and yes, the shopping.
Generally I dislike the rampant negative cash flow associated with this most materialistic of holidays, and yet, I love to see the looks of a tree overwhelmed by the packages beneath it. I love the cheer, the merriment, and joy that Is Christmas morning.
Lately, though, I’ve come to notice a serious decline in Christmas cheer. Oh yes, even in this hamlet tucked between two interstate highways, Christmas is in danger. Store employees wish everyone Happy Holidays. Once, just before Thanksgiving a young employee of a grocery store wished me ‘Happy Holidays.’
“It’s Thanksgiving. You can say Happy Thanksgiving, it’s not religious.”
She got the point, but she wasn’t the only person I corrected.
I can’t stand this garbage-speak where we are so afraid of offending someone we actually refrain from trying to make people feel good.
Needham is doing away with printing the names of honor roll students in the paper so that the kids that didn’t make the honor roll won’t feel bad. Here’s a thought, I’d bet the schools and the paper both would love to print the names of every single kid in town if they all worked hard to earn the grades. Rather than reward the kids that worked to achieve something, and thereby reinforce a strong work ethic, Needham wants to hide it, put it away so no one will feel left out.
‘Happy Holidays’ is a similar sort of trap. Rather than offend non-Christians we say this catch-all phrase that’s effectively meaningless. Maybe it means ‘shop more’ or ‘I hope you don’t get indigestion from eating too much’ or ‘I hope you get what you want.’ Perhaps the phrase is supposed to capture the spirit of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, and school vacation, all wrapped up in one innocuous and inoffensive package. Instead, the perfidy of the phrase just aggravates me.
If you are Jewish wish me Happy Hanukkah. If you are Muslim, please wish me a prosperous Eid ul-Adha. If you celebrate Kwanzaa, share something of your plans with me. If you’re a dead Roman, wish me Io, Saturnalia. And I will wish you all a Merry Christmas.
Its not about offending or not offending people that do not hold the same beliefs. Taking the time to share part of your faith or culture that matters very much to you is a little gift. Accepting that gift, rather than throwing it back, is yet another way to show respect and dignity to your fellow man, or dead pagan, as it were.
Would that all those politically correct hacks and obnoxious bigots got down off their jackasses and took a little time to share in the true spirit of the season, rather than defend their virgin ears against a preceived religious assault. What a difference a little listening might make…
But good news abounds. During the tree lighting ceremony in Tewksbury last week, Board of Selectmen Chairman Charles Coldwell wished everyone a “Merry Christmas.” He said it, I was there. I witnessed the moment and smiled.
Black Friday
(This column first appeared in print November 28, 2006)
Thanksgiving came and went this year, more like a bridge from Halloween to Christmas, than a serious holiday in its own right. I attribute the gross under-commercialization of Thanksgiving to the fact that the holiday itself is more about food than generosity. Nowadays Thanksgiving gives many folks a long weekend and an excuse to go shopping on “Black Friday.” Thankfulness shows up more on classroom activity sheets than as an annual exercise around the dining room table.
Indeed, Thanksgiving’s relative marketing obscurity, locked as it is between Halloween and Christmas, keeps most commercial exploits to foodstuffs. But it’s wrecked by the power of Black Friday. This year, according to estimates from the National Retail Federation, “140 million shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday, spending an average of $360.15, up 18.9 percent from last year’s $302.81.” Consumers are expected to spend $457.4 billion this holiday season, more than double the amount spent for holiday shopping in 2003 ($217 billion). While that certainly blows away Halloween expenditure, just $5 billion, its important to note that the NRF does not track or project Thanksgiving spending at all, it just lumps it in with all “holiday” spending.
Black Friday, that holy grail of the retail industry, was so coined because retailers previously operating “in the red” finally break into profitability from the healthy shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday, and all its goody anticipation, helps us forget traditional values of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year, while Americans spent $438.6 billion on holiday gifts and decorations, only $125 billion was given to charities in the same period.
Yes, this year I braved the gridlock and hit a few stores and outlets on Black Friday. I even spent some money too. But I want my children to practice those old fashioned values of Thanksgiving and Christmas seemingly lost in the hustle and bustle known as holiday shopping. You know the ones I’m speaking of: counting their blessings (even when it seems there are few), thinking first of others before themselves, its better to give than receive, the Christmas spirit, and so on. That lesson holds more value than myriad gifts under the tree.
Today there are many ways to mark the holiday and find special gifts to give that give something back. I’ve found a few and present them here in hopes that Tewksbury residents may find an inspiring way to spend a few hours with family and friends making the most of their holiday.
Purchasing and Packing care packages for soldiers in Iraq. Jim Williams, Veteran’s Agent for Tewksbury, Elisabeth Desmaris of the Tewksbury Public Library and many others are collecting and packing boxes donated from the Postal Service full of items our soldiers need. Volunteers meet at the Disabled American Veteran’s hall at 180 Pond Street at 7:30 next Tuesday to pack boxes full of donated items. If you would like to shop for items on the wish list, drop off points are located all over town (see our information box on page X). Donations are also needed for shipping expenses as each box costs about $8-10.
Donating a gift through the Heifer Project. Heifer International gives animals and trees to people all over the world, enabling needy families to work their way out of poverty through farming. A gift of chicks, for example, costs only $20 but gives a family food from eggs, income from the sale of eggs and chickens, and in one case, provided enough money for a man in the West African nation of Ghana to open a school for 70 children and feed them all one meal every day. A wonderful gift for relatives, teachers and colleagues, this program lifts people out of poverty one animal at a time. Check it out at Heifer.org.
Bid on an auction item from The Home for Little Wanderers. The Home, based in Boston, is a nationally renowned, private, non-profit child and family service agency. Currently offering an online auction featuring, among other things, 30 books signed by their celebrity authors, James Taylor’s autographed guitar, sports memorabilia, and many more gifts and goodies. It’s a wonderful way to find a unique gift that also champions an important cause, the welfare of families and children. See all the auction items and find other ways to contribute at TheHome.org.
Give the gift of your time at Boston Cares. With hundreds of volunteer opportunities every month, this organization makes it easy to get involved in communities in the greater Boston area. Families should try the BOOYAH! (Boston Young Active Hands), which offers fun family opportunities such as working in the toy room at the Home for Little Wanderers, sorting food at the Greater Boston Food Bank, and specials projects just for teens with the Teen Action Academy. Time and caring can make an extraordinary difference. BostonCares.org.
Sponsor a Needy Family for Christmas Gifts through the Magic of Christmas program from the Lowell Wish Project. Take your kids shopping for gifts for another family and show them how good it feels to fulfill the needs of others. The Lowell Wish Project keeps a list of “urgent wishes” for seasonally appropriate items, furniture, and other household goods for families. Everything from cribs, pots and pans, beds, winter clothes and jackets, to winter maternity clothes, double strollers and safety gates are needed. LowellWishProject.org.
Check out local schools and the Community Pantry: Many of the schools in Tewksbury are drop-off locations for Coats-for-Kids and Toys-for-Tots. The Community Pantry serves Tewksbury residents directly for short and long term food supplies. Accepting donations from monetary, food and toiletries, to volunteers, the Pantry appreciates all kinds of help. The Pantry’s website may be found through the town’s website at Tewksbury.info.
These are but a few of the many and varied opportunities to give. Ask your children for ideas. Find out from your employer about matching programs. You may find a new tradition that lasts all year long.
Thanksgiving came and went this year, more like a bridge from Halloween to Christmas, than a serious holiday in its own right. I attribute the gross under-commercialization of Thanksgiving to the fact that the holiday itself is more about food than generosity. Nowadays Thanksgiving gives many folks a long weekend and an excuse to go shopping on “Black Friday.” Thankfulness shows up more on classroom activity sheets than as an annual exercise around the dining room table.
Indeed, Thanksgiving’s relative marketing obscurity, locked as it is between Halloween and Christmas, keeps most commercial exploits to foodstuffs. But it’s wrecked by the power of Black Friday. This year, according to estimates from the National Retail Federation, “140 million shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday, spending an average of $360.15, up 18.9 percent from last year’s $302.81.” Consumers are expected to spend $457.4 billion this holiday season, more than double the amount spent for holiday shopping in 2003 ($217 billion). While that certainly blows away Halloween expenditure, just $5 billion, its important to note that the NRF does not track or project Thanksgiving spending at all, it just lumps it in with all “holiday” spending.
Black Friday, that holy grail of the retail industry, was so coined because retailers previously operating “in the red” finally break into profitability from the healthy shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday, and all its goody anticipation, helps us forget traditional values of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year, while Americans spent $438.6 billion on holiday gifts and decorations, only $125 billion was given to charities in the same period.
Yes, this year I braved the gridlock and hit a few stores and outlets on Black Friday. I even spent some money too. But I want my children to practice those old fashioned values of Thanksgiving and Christmas seemingly lost in the hustle and bustle known as holiday shopping. You know the ones I’m speaking of: counting their blessings (even when it seems there are few), thinking first of others before themselves, its better to give than receive, the Christmas spirit, and so on. That lesson holds more value than myriad gifts under the tree.
Today there are many ways to mark the holiday and find special gifts to give that give something back. I’ve found a few and present them here in hopes that Tewksbury residents may find an inspiring way to spend a few hours with family and friends making the most of their holiday.
Purchasing and Packing care packages for soldiers in Iraq. Jim Williams, Veteran’s Agent for Tewksbury, Elisabeth Desmaris of the Tewksbury Public Library and many others are collecting and packing boxes donated from the Postal Service full of items our soldiers need. Volunteers meet at the Disabled American Veteran’s hall at 180 Pond Street at 7:30 next Tuesday to pack boxes full of donated items. If you would like to shop for items on the wish list, drop off points are located all over town (see our information box on page X). Donations are also needed for shipping expenses as each box costs about $8-10.
Donating a gift through the Heifer Project. Heifer International gives animals and trees to people all over the world, enabling needy families to work their way out of poverty through farming. A gift of chicks, for example, costs only $20 but gives a family food from eggs, income from the sale of eggs and chickens, and in one case, provided enough money for a man in the West African nation of Ghana to open a school for 70 children and feed them all one meal every day. A wonderful gift for relatives, teachers and colleagues, this program lifts people out of poverty one animal at a time. Check it out at Heifer.org.
Bid on an auction item from The Home for Little Wanderers. The Home, based in Boston, is a nationally renowned, private, non-profit child and family service agency. Currently offering an online auction featuring, among other things, 30 books signed by their celebrity authors, James Taylor’s autographed guitar, sports memorabilia, and many more gifts and goodies. It’s a wonderful way to find a unique gift that also champions an important cause, the welfare of families and children. See all the auction items and find other ways to contribute at TheHome.org.
Give the gift of your time at Boston Cares. With hundreds of volunteer opportunities every month, this organization makes it easy to get involved in communities in the greater Boston area. Families should try the BOOYAH! (Boston Young Active Hands), which offers fun family opportunities such as working in the toy room at the Home for Little Wanderers, sorting food at the Greater Boston Food Bank, and specials projects just for teens with the Teen Action Academy. Time and caring can make an extraordinary difference. BostonCares.org.
Sponsor a Needy Family for Christmas Gifts through the Magic of Christmas program from the Lowell Wish Project. Take your kids shopping for gifts for another family and show them how good it feels to fulfill the needs of others. The Lowell Wish Project keeps a list of “urgent wishes” for seasonally appropriate items, furniture, and other household goods for families. Everything from cribs, pots and pans, beds, winter clothes and jackets, to winter maternity clothes, double strollers and safety gates are needed. LowellWishProject.org.
Check out local schools and the Community Pantry: Many of the schools in Tewksbury are drop-off locations for Coats-for-Kids and Toys-for-Tots. The Community Pantry serves Tewksbury residents directly for short and long term food supplies. Accepting donations from monetary, food and toiletries, to volunteers, the Pantry appreciates all kinds of help. The Pantry’s website may be found through the town’s website at Tewksbury.info.
These are but a few of the many and varied opportunities to give. Ask your children for ideas. Find out from your employer about matching programs. You may find a new tradition that lasts all year long.
ELection 2008 PREDICTIONS
(This column first appeared in print November 14, 2006)
Within the last two weeks all the leaves have fallen off my many large Japanese Elm trees and made a heck of mess of my driveway, lawn, patio, and gutters. My yard transformed from autumnal delight to desolate winter landscape lacking only the chilly charm of snow. Likewise, last week’s election has the Grand ‘Ole Party mimicking my bare trees and messy yard. Looks like both of us have a lot of cleaning up to do.
I’m not a pundit and don’t have any ESP but I’d like to make a few predictions about the political landscape over the next few years. Then, after the 2008 election, pull this puppy out and see just how very wrong I was/am. Won’t that be fun?
Even though the Democratic Party has won the House and Senate America will see a new centrist face of the party over the radicalism shown by Nancy Pelosi or Charley Rangel. Many of the newly elected democrats hold moderate views and radicalism from party leadership stands to turn moderates off and entice them to vote with centrist Republicans. Additionally, after controlling both houses, if this Congress fails to move issues and make significant progress on its campaign agenda they very well may loose big in 2008, a risk even Pelosi won’t take. Historically this trend bears out and Democrats know it.
Republicans needed to clean house for some time, witness the Foley Page Scandal. Last Tuesday they had their clocks cleaned and must now find a way to keep their noses clean and recapture the political center without alienating their base. Republicans can do this by returning to conservative core values: No Big Government, Smart Fiscal Policy, and Foreign Policy Expertise. But, they have to show how they are different from those moderate Democrats, so popular of late, in order to regain control of at least one house in the next election. If the party fails to differentiate they risk losing both Congress and the White House. They have to watch out for traps from the left: minimum wage and an immediate phased pull out from Iraq, which Pelosi et al will put forward to force a vote on the record, exploiting it down the road.
Democratic Ticket for 2008: Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Hilary has planned a Presidential bid for a while and currently holds her cards close before she announcing an exploratory committee. With the security of her reelection to the Senate, she can pursue a presidential run and still keep her day job, ala John Kerry. My only wish is that the voters of New York have her serve more days in the Senate during her campaign than Kerry did for Massachusetts. Obama, the freshman senator from Illinois, is riding on a wave of popularity and will certainly explore running for the Oval Office. But, his relative inexperience and the sheer power of Clinton will offer him running mate status. Other Democrat hangers-on such as Kerry, Gore, and John Edwards may attempt runs but don’t stand a chance of gaining enough momentum or cash for the nomination. But, a lot can happen in two years.
The Republican Ticket for 2008 looks promising. Senator John McCain seems like the natural choice for presidential candidate with a strong bipartisan track record. He’s electable. So who will be his running mate? Its gotta be Mitt Romney. Romney brought the Massachusetts budget under control, created a surplus, and has proven to be a strong, effective leader. However, his administration also slashed (or seemed to slash) educational spending in Massachusetts and Democrats will make hay with that news all the way to Election Day. Signing on as running mate brings Romney’s prodigious administrative assets to the table without a Democratic besmirching of his religion or policy decisions becoming the big issue in the race. And it develops Romney for a realistic bid for the Presidency in 2012 or 2016.
I’ve got one last prediction. I welcome our new governor, Deval Patrick, and I believe him when he says he won’t be a rubber stamp for the state legislature (even though he said it right after a meeting with Senate President Robert Travaglini and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi). And I’m sure he will do all he can to ensure that our property taxes won’t rise, most likely by raising income tax and not continuing past cuts. At the end of the day, he does not have any jurisdiction over property taxes, which of course he knows. That’s why he made the promise in the first place. Get ready, Tewksbury, to hold onto your wallet.
Within the last two weeks all the leaves have fallen off my many large Japanese Elm trees and made a heck of mess of my driveway, lawn, patio, and gutters. My yard transformed from autumnal delight to desolate winter landscape lacking only the chilly charm of snow. Likewise, last week’s election has the Grand ‘Ole Party mimicking my bare trees and messy yard. Looks like both of us have a lot of cleaning up to do.
I’m not a pundit and don’t have any ESP but I’d like to make a few predictions about the political landscape over the next few years. Then, after the 2008 election, pull this puppy out and see just how very wrong I was/am. Won’t that be fun?
Even though the Democratic Party has won the House and Senate America will see a new centrist face of the party over the radicalism shown by Nancy Pelosi or Charley Rangel. Many of the newly elected democrats hold moderate views and radicalism from party leadership stands to turn moderates off and entice them to vote with centrist Republicans. Additionally, after controlling both houses, if this Congress fails to move issues and make significant progress on its campaign agenda they very well may loose big in 2008, a risk even Pelosi won’t take. Historically this trend bears out and Democrats know it.
Republicans needed to clean house for some time, witness the Foley Page Scandal. Last Tuesday they had their clocks cleaned and must now find a way to keep their noses clean and recapture the political center without alienating their base. Republicans can do this by returning to conservative core values: No Big Government, Smart Fiscal Policy, and Foreign Policy Expertise. But, they have to show how they are different from those moderate Democrats, so popular of late, in order to regain control of at least one house in the next election. If the party fails to differentiate they risk losing both Congress and the White House. They have to watch out for traps from the left: minimum wage and an immediate phased pull out from Iraq, which Pelosi et al will put forward to force a vote on the record, exploiting it down the road.
Democratic Ticket for 2008: Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Hilary has planned a Presidential bid for a while and currently holds her cards close before she announcing an exploratory committee. With the security of her reelection to the Senate, she can pursue a presidential run and still keep her day job, ala John Kerry. My only wish is that the voters of New York have her serve more days in the Senate during her campaign than Kerry did for Massachusetts. Obama, the freshman senator from Illinois, is riding on a wave of popularity and will certainly explore running for the Oval Office. But, his relative inexperience and the sheer power of Clinton will offer him running mate status. Other Democrat hangers-on such as Kerry, Gore, and John Edwards may attempt runs but don’t stand a chance of gaining enough momentum or cash for the nomination. But, a lot can happen in two years.
The Republican Ticket for 2008 looks promising. Senator John McCain seems like the natural choice for presidential candidate with a strong bipartisan track record. He’s electable. So who will be his running mate? Its gotta be Mitt Romney. Romney brought the Massachusetts budget under control, created a surplus, and has proven to be a strong, effective leader. However, his administration also slashed (or seemed to slash) educational spending in Massachusetts and Democrats will make hay with that news all the way to Election Day. Signing on as running mate brings Romney’s prodigious administrative assets to the table without a Democratic besmirching of his religion or policy decisions becoming the big issue in the race. And it develops Romney for a realistic bid for the Presidency in 2012 or 2016.
I’ve got one last prediction. I welcome our new governor, Deval Patrick, and I believe him when he says he won’t be a rubber stamp for the state legislature (even though he said it right after a meeting with Senate President Robert Travaglini and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi). And I’m sure he will do all he can to ensure that our property taxes won’t rise, most likely by raising income tax and not continuing past cuts. At the end of the day, he does not have any jurisdiction over property taxes, which of course he knows. That’s why he made the promise in the first place. Get ready, Tewksbury, to hold onto your wallet.
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