Work Gratitude

Today was my first day on a 90-day contract with the Fruit Company. It was the smoothest first day I have ever had. The only hitch was that the contracting company had not forwarded my information, so the Fruit Company’s security systems didn’t know who I am. Because of that, I won’t have building access until tomorrow.

Amazingly enough, they were able to get my computer set up today. I can work at my desk, which is next to the windows, using my own login. OK—it may take a while to get access to all of the servers I need, but that was already in progress by the time I had non-guest computer access. I am amazed at how efficient they are.

And I have projects. Well, these may not be any better defined than anywhere else I’ve worked, but I at least have something to do. And will soon have a pay check. And for that I am extremely grateful. And I am grateful to my friend and former boss for lobbying to get me a employed. It is good to be working with her again.

A Job and a T-Bucket

How often do you get to see something this nice for free?

It is official now. I have a contract that will feed the family though the end of the year. I signed the paperwork to work at the Fruit Company this morning. I start next Monday, but I still don’t know which building to report to or what time to report.

On the way to the contracting company, I passed two guys having a ride in a really cool looking T-Bucket. It sounded nice, too.

While I was waiting for all the paperwork to be filed, I heard someone pull up on what I thought was a lovely sounding motorcycle, but when I left I realized it was the T-Bucket I had passed on the way in. It is owned by someone who works at the Texas Association of School Boards.

I spent a few minutes looking it over and drooling. It is definitely show quality.

Football’s Back

TubaBoy—March of the Week!

High school football resumed again last night after a two week break. The game two weeks ago was canceled (thankfully) because of hurricane Ike. If it had not been, our kids would have been coming back from College Station on roads packed with refugees. They probably would have still been in the buses when the storm caught up to them.

Last week was a by week. And the two off weeks did nothing for our team. They had their butts handed to them by another local high school. At least the band was good.

And speaking of the band: TubaBoy was the Marcher of the Week. This is the first time he has gotten to stand on the little step ladder and have the band told who he is and how great he is. He was the picture of grace and humility. Not!

Cowboy Bush

I always knew that boy just ain’t right. Once again, he wants the taxpayers to bail out his buddies.

Photo source: List of the Day

Last night our Supreme Leader issued a call for the American taxpayer to rescue his cronies from their own greed. In what is the largest cash-grab in our history, Bush proposes giving billions—maybe trillions—of dollars to his drinking buds on Wall Street to keep them from going broke.

Bush does paint a relatively accurate picture of how we got into this mess, but he blames foreign investors and consumers. While these people were culpable to some degree, I believe it was a shameless financial industry—or as my dad would say, the worshipers of Mammon—that got us into this mess.

Since good rhetoric always denies itself (“I come here not to praise Caesar…”), let’s take a look at what he actually said:

“Financial assets related to home mortgages have lost value during the house decline, and the banks holding these assets have restricted credit. As a result, our entire economy is in danger.”

The banks and consumers may be overreacting, but what got us there in the first place was deregulation and greed. The housing bubble was driven by an unrealistic expectation that home prices could inflate to infinity. Deregulated financial institutions were able to relax their lending standards to lend money to people with absolutely no chance of ever paying back those loans. They did so in the expectation that when they foreclosed on those mortgages the properties would be worth more than the loan or that the purchasers would be able to flip those houses for a profit.

In some cases, purchases were not even required to be able to pay the interest on the loans; the amount over a specified minimum payment would be rolled back into the loan. After making payments for several years, the consumers would actually owe more money than they originally borrowed. Even Bush admits, this.

Many mortgage lenders approved loans for borrowers without carefully examining their ability to pay. Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford, assuming that they could sell or refinance their homes at a higher price later on.

Then the bubble burst. Again.

Bush swears he only wants to help us all.

This rescue effort is not aimed at preserving any individual company or industry. It is aimed at preserving America’s overall economy.

Then why does the money all go to Wall Street, the ones whose greed caused the problem? Mr. President, the amount of money you’re talking about equates to almost $300,000 per adult in this country after taxes. If you simply gave that much money to the people, almost all of us could pay off those mortgages on which you blame the problem.

What happens if we don’t save the rich? Bush essentially says we’re screwed.

• America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold.
• More banks could fail, including some in your community.
• The stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account.
• The value of your home could plummet. Foreclosures would rise dramatically.
• And if you own a business or a farm, you would find it harder and more expensive to get credit.
• More businesses would close their doors, and millions of Americans could lose their jobs.
• Even if you have good credit history, it would be more difficult for you to get the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college.
• And, ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession.

So the options presented are either to save the rich, or we all go down together. Is it better to go down together or drown keeping the heads of our betters above water? Isn’t there another option? What about just using that money to pay off those troubled assets and giving working class people a break? That’ll never happen here.

The irony is that under the Republican free-trade regime, the United States is about to become the most heavily socialized country in the world—without doing a thing to promote social justice or take care of those most at risk. But then, as one friend of mine put it, “We socialize losses. We privitize profits.”

Is that what Bush meant when he said,

The government is the one institution with the patience and resources to buy these assets at their current low prices and hold them until markets return to normal.

If so, let’s all hope that the government can turn a profit on them—eventually.

Trey Bone

This is just a quick update on last night’s Trey Bone performance at B.B. Rover’s. It went well. We performed our set in an acoustically unstable environment, and nobody died. Even better, several people actually enjoyed it. Unfortunately, nobody thought to bring a camera.

Trey Bone Performs at Live Oak

Photo by CT

Well, here we are again. Three members of Trey Bone and Beccano played at Live Oak yesterday morning. We provided supporting music for the first sermon Aaron White delivered in his new role as sabbatical minister. He is filling in while our main minister is on sabbatical (until December). I will be glad for Chuck’s return, but I am not looking forward to losing Aaron. He is the most interesting speaker we have at Live Oak.

Beccano made his performing debut using my 1972 Jazz Bass. He did a really fine job and shows here that he has mastered the attitude.

Photo by CT

Yesterday’s sermon was about looking more for the things that unite us than those that divide us—especially in this time when the politics of division seem to be ruling all of our lives and ruining our nation. To support that theme Suna picked three songs that we can add to the band’s repertoire:

• “Rocky Mountain High” (John Denver and Mike Taylor)
• “Warrior for Peace” (Suna)
• “One Tin Soldier” (Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter)

“Rocky Mountain High” is about finding inner peace and harmony with nature. We performed it as the prelude to an almost empty house. But those who were there applauded loudly, and it inspired our poet in residence to read a poem he wrote about the death of John Denver when Joys and Concerns rolled around.

While Suna and Bill carried the vocals, I played “lead accoustic guitar,” which consisted mainly of finger-picking the chords and improvising melody on “Warrior.”

Photo by CT

Suna wrote “Warrior for Peace” for this sermon. We played it while the ushers passed the plate. The house was packed at this time because the kids and their teachers had not yet split off for religious education. Everyone applauded loudly.

We did “One Tin Soldier” as the postlude, primarily because it is a song about endings. And Suna didn’t want to do it while the kids were in the room because the good guys lose in this story. Again, the crowd applauded loudly.

Afterward, we got lots of compliments on all three songs. The applause and the compliments mean a lot to me because Live Oak is such a musical community. I mused with one of the parishioners whose tastes rung to big band music about that. He asked me how large an orchestra we could put together if we had everyone who played an instrument on stage. I said I thought that there would be more people on stage than in the audience.

So once again I am grateful for music. Oh yeah, and the new contract.

Shameless Plug:

Come see us Tuesday night at B.B. Rover’s. We will start playing our hour set at about 8:00PM.

What Country Are You?

The National Symbol of Argintina. I couldn’t use the bikini bottom from the profile. I didn’t fit.

Photo source: Yahoo! Answers

Since Friday’s Feast appears to be down for the count, I decided to take one of those so-called psychological profiles that I got from Jo’s blog. I say “so-called” because it’s hard to see how they can distill key points of your personality from seven questions, but this one seems to have me nailed down fairly well. Here’s what it had to say about me:

You are a set of contradictions, and it often seems like you live in two worlds.

You are introspective yet outgoing. You are modern yet traditional.

You are warm and honest. Your life is petty much an open book. You are a hard worker, and you don't mind putting in long hours. And then you’ll go party til dawn! [Not so much anymore. It hurts too much.]

Argintina, huh? No wonder I despise G.W. You know…the one who stole two elections and then talks bad about others who do the same.

Kids

Beccano in Disguise As Me

First, the good news! I probably have a contract with the Fruit Company. That contract should keep us solvent through the end of the year, and it could possibly be extended after that. And the hiring manager wanted to hire me as a real employee, but after month of interviews all hiring was frozen. Sigh!

That is really good news because kids are expensive—even kids as good and self-reliant as Suna’s. It seems that TubaBoy has been texting so much that the buttons fell off of his phone. Granted this is a phone he inherited from his father who upgraded to an iPhone. (This is a day after my phone decided to become a flash light and I decided to upgrade to an iPhone.)

So yesterday, we went to buy him a new phone. He chose a really sensible model. He doesn’t need the email or calendar functions of an iPhone, so he picked one that looks like a mirror when it’s turned off. It also has a really nice display and a good camera (for a cameraphone). He seemed really happy with it.

That eats up three of our four upgrades this year. Beccano can get a new phone (if he needs and wants one) in January—right after my contract could expire.

Afterward we went out to eat at a Chinese buffet. I thought it would be a treat for Beccano because that is usually his favorite type of restaurant. But last night, he said he wasn’t very hungery. He did eat a goodly amount, as did TubaBoy who usually complains about Chinese buffets. (Why is it that teenage brothers never want to eat at the same type of places?)

What Beccano was was entertaining. One of his favorite games to play when we go out to eat is “Look! I’m Lee!” It’s amusing. I always take off my glasses (and hat, if I’m wearing one) to eat. When he finishes eating, Beccano like to put on these items and say, “I’m Lee.” This is always followed by random amusing statements. These statements are totally weird—nothing like what I would say. Quiet, those who know me!

Book Review: The Film Club

Gilmour, David (2008). The Film Club: A memoir. New York: Twelve.

Photo source (and another good review): Zawan

David Gilmour is a Canadian writer and film critic who shares a name with the guitarist for rock legend Pink Floyd. The Film Club is a memoir about a deal he made with his son and an unusual home-schooling strategy. Gilmour allows his son to drop out of school with caveats:

• They will watch a minimum of three movies a week together. (Gilmour is unemployed at the time.)
• All bets are off if there is even the hint of drug use.

Some of the reviewers on LibraryThing seem a little dismayed that a noted film critic could write a whole book without discussing a single film in depth. But this book is not about the films they watched together—the discussion of the films serves only to illustrate Gilmour’s teaching method, not as an exhaustive curriculum or instructional paradigm— it is about the relationship that develops between a father and son as they explore life. It is about being there for your kid, something I was not that good at. It is about winning by losing, holding on by letting go, and learning through freedom.

The strength of the book is that Gilmour does not gloss over his own misgivings or mistakes. Nor does he hide the bad choices his son Jesse makes. This is an honest, at time brutally so, tale of growing up and making choices.

As an instructional designer, I believe that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. Gilmour had the courage to allow Jesse to make mistakes and to provide only enough of a safety net to help the boy survive them. That isn’t an easy path to follow in a classroom full of strangers, and it would be that much harder to follow with your own offspring. I would not have been able to.

Gilmour’s choices are not for everyone. Jesse’s choices, good and bad, are similar to those made by many young people. The book is the story of how they come to survive together and Jesse learns to stand on his own. It is well-written and hard to put down.

Bumper Sticker Politics

As I was leaving church today, I saw a bumper sticker that sums up the political legacy of George W. Bush:

One Nation…Under Surveillance

And there was another one for this Fall’s Presidential campaign:

Jesus Christ was a community organizer. Pontius Pilot was a governor.

BTW: Feel free to add your favorite political bumper stickers in the comments—or anything you feel like.