By Ron Dupuis
Dear Diary;
I realize I haven’t written to you for awhile, but since today is my 62nd birthday I thought perhaps an entry at this junction of my life would be appropriate. I’m aware that you will not provide any answers or advice to my queries and concerns, however, reflecting with you on some past events may lift the fog of age in my brain and better prepare me for some important decisions that have to be made in the very near future.
Decisions such as income.
You remember my beautiful, understanding, wonderful wife don’t you Dear Diary? (I had to say that, she reads everything I write.) Last week she informed me that despite my government pension, some small investments that have produced a few extra dollars recently, and the “less than pittance” this column generates, I am not contributing enough to the Dupuis family coffers. In all fairness, she made this announcement after receiving a $6000 orthodontist bill that will come due next week.
What’s an old geezer like myself to do?
I considered working at the local retailer as a greeter. I even practiced the phrase “Welcome to Wal-Mart” a few times. I killed that idea when I realized that my fallen arches and having to use the bathroom every fifteen minutes would not be a very pleasant career. Beside, it would interfere with my morning “Tee” time this summer.
“Cream and sugar with that?” This is something I considered. That is until I realized that working with a bunch of young and what surely must be future rocket scientist of the world would not only depress me, the anxiety and concern for this countries space program would probably kill me. Beside, it would interfere with my afternoon “Tee” time this summer.
School bus driver; I thought about this for about two whole seconds. Chauffeuring twenty or thirty pre-pubescent, hormonal raging young people from place, to place, without the benefit of me being on a whole host of illegal substance’s is simply out of the question. Besides, you guessed it “Dear Diary”, it would interfere with my evening “Tee” time this summer.
Yes “Dear Diary”, I did what every red blooded, seasoned senior American citizen with my lack of ambition should do. I turned to my Government for help.
My trip to the Social Security office was not as traumatic as I had figured. Except for having to take a number from a machine that reminded me I needed to pick up some salami and coleslaw at the deli later, once in front of their representative I was received in a warm understanding manor.
“Yes Mr. Dupuis, you are eligible to receive you benefits at age sixty two.”
“Yes Mr. Dupuis, despite how the government funds Social Security, your benefits will always be there.”
“Yes Mr. Dupuis, you will receive an extra check for your daughter who is under the age of eighteen.”
“Yes Mr. Dupuis you may use your benefit check in any manner you wish.” “Even a new set of golf clubs, if that’s what you desire.”
And finally, “No Mr. Dupuis, I won’t call your wife and tell her that’s a mandatory purchase with your first check.”
All in all Dear Diary, it was a pretty good day. I resolved a family income issue, I became aware that despite my complaining and worrying over the years, Social Security is there for me, and, for now, I don’t have to utter the words “Do you want fries with that.”
Not a bad day.
Now, as a full fledged, bonafide seasoned citizen AND Social Security recipient, I intend on taking full advantage of my new status by driving with my directional light constantly blinking, eating only at restaurants that have “Early Bird Specials”, and beginning every sentence with “In my day.”
Being older can be nice.
Ron Dupuis is a long time New Hampshire resident, a former State Representative, and a freelance writer. His e-mail is drcdupuis@comcast.net. His web site may be viewed at www.imho-nh.blogspot.com.
6.14.2007
6.07.2007
Global Warming Angst? Blame Currier & Ives
--- by Micheal
Yes, I mean those 19th century producers of "cheap and popular prints" which still grace so many calendars and Christmas cards. I don't mean to say that Currier & Ives caused global warming. Rather, I think they're part of the reason so many otherwise reasonable people are running in circles screaming about it.
Currier upsets people because he illustrated -- in such a romantic, idealized way -- life in the early 1800s. One-horse open sleighs, snowy New England Christmases, skating on rivers, etc. Trouble is, his quaint engravings never change, but the world has been.
Currier lived at the tail end of what climatologists call the Little Ice Age (LIA, for short). From around the years 1500 to around 1850, the world was experiencing a cold period. Currier's New England winters were LIA winters. For him, Christmases were always white (whereas they seldom are now) and his rivers always froze (but nowadays they freeze only occasionally).
Prior to the LIA, the world had been a degree or two warmer. Climatologists call that the Medieval Warm Period. The MWP spanned from 800 to 1300 AD. England was more like what we think of Italy being like, sunny, warm, complete with vineyards. In the MWP, the Vikings explored Greenland which was, well, green then. Sea levels were a little higher. Glaciers were smaller.
What if Currier had engraved romantic pictures of green Greenland and British villas amid vineyards? Would the people of the 16th century have agonized about global cooling? Would they have fretted over the climate changes that devastated the British wine industry?
Before the MWP, the world averaged a half degree cooler. What if Currier lived in the 800s and illustrated quaint villages at lower sea shores and majestic long glaciers? Would people of the tenth century have bemoaned the "threat" of rising sea levels wiping out their quaint villages, the "loss" of glaciers and changing climates?
All of this warming and cooling has been going on long before the first SUV or coal-fired power plant. Pop culture likes to pin the blame on CO2, so there's much running in circles screaming about how to reduce CO2. But what if it's not CO2? We'll have circled and screamed for nothing.
Many scientists say that it's normal for the globe to warm and cool. Normal that glaciers melt back, seas rise, then switch back again. Yet, people are all upset about the change at this cycle. I say it's Currier & Ives' fault. They gave us engravings of snowy New England Christmases, and we expect things to stay the way he drew them.
Yes, I mean those 19th century producers of "cheap and popular prints" which still grace so many calendars and Christmas cards. I don't mean to say that Currier & Ives caused global warming. Rather, I think they're part of the reason so many otherwise reasonable people are running in circles screaming about it.
Currier upsets people because he illustrated -- in such a romantic, idealized way -- life in the early 1800s. One-horse open sleighs, snowy New England Christmases, skating on rivers, etc. Trouble is, his quaint engravings never change, but the world has been.
Currier lived at the tail end of what climatologists call the Little Ice Age (LIA, for short). From around the years 1500 to around 1850, the world was experiencing a cold period. Currier's New England winters were LIA winters. For him, Christmases were always white (whereas they seldom are now) and his rivers always froze (but nowadays they freeze only occasionally).
Prior to the LIA, the world had been a degree or two warmer. Climatologists call that the Medieval Warm Period. The MWP spanned from 800 to 1300 AD. England was more like what we think of Italy being like, sunny, warm, complete with vineyards. In the MWP, the Vikings explored Greenland which was, well, green then. Sea levels were a little higher. Glaciers were smaller.
What if Currier had engraved romantic pictures of green Greenland and British villas amid vineyards? Would the people of the 16th century have agonized about global cooling? Would they have fretted over the climate changes that devastated the British wine industry?
Before the MWP, the world averaged a half degree cooler. What if Currier lived in the 800s and illustrated quaint villages at lower sea shores and majestic long glaciers? Would people of the tenth century have bemoaned the "threat" of rising sea levels wiping out their quaint villages, the "loss" of glaciers and changing climates?
All of this warming and cooling has been going on long before the first SUV or coal-fired power plant. Pop culture likes to pin the blame on CO2, so there's much running in circles screaming about how to reduce CO2. But what if it's not CO2? We'll have circled and screamed for nothing.
Many scientists say that it's normal for the globe to warm and cool. Normal that glaciers melt back, seas rise, then switch back again. Yet, people are all upset about the change at this cycle. I say it's Currier & Ives' fault. They gave us engravings of snowy New England Christmases, and we expect things to stay the way he drew them.
6.04.2007
Over The Rainbow
By Dave Buhlman
Cindy Sheehan was the face of the antiwar movement for a couple of years. Oh, how the democrats swooned in her presence, especially after she bought the land near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. The left loved it so when Sheehan challenged President Bush to come out to talk about the war. Sheehan lost a son to the empire-building war in Iraq, so she certainly had some standing to be out front on this.
But then something funny happened.
Cindy Sheehan came to realize that she had become what Lenin called a "useful idiot" for the leaders of the left. What woke Sheehan up is the fact that the democrats had not done much of anything about the war, or much of anything else, since they took charge in Washington a few months ago. Sheehan was probably expecting a bill of impeachment of Bush and Cheney to be introduced by the democrats, as she had often heard down Crawford way was critical to save "our democracy." When Sheehan began to question the democrats' dedication, it was bye-bye Cindy. The democrats will not impeach Bush or anyone else because they know that they are as much at fault for the fiasco in Iraq as the republicans are. Two wings of the same bird of prey, as Pat Buchanan calls our "two" party system. Sheehan learned the truth of Buchanan's insight and is now home licking her wounds. May she wake up completely and join the effort to save, not "our democracy," but our Republic.
***
President Bush has gone so far over the edge in his support of amnesty for illegal immigrants that his biggest supporter is the socialist from Massachusetts (please pardon the redundancy), Senator Ted Kennedy. Bush is trying to create the North American Union, the merger of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and assure a steady supply of cheap labor for his big biz buds, but it's more difficult to determine what's driving big Ted on this issue. Maybe it's just that he does not care one whit about his regular guy and gal constituents, like President Bush, and he will sacrifice their needs to appeal to the liberal god of diversity.
***
After sneak signing the civil union bill, it will be interesting to see how far down Governor Lynch's favorability numbers slip. In his first term, he didn't do much that attached to him, but now he's in the full flower of democratic fervor with a budget exceeding $10 billion, a number of new taxes and fees, the smoking ban, and an environmental bill that could cause some people to have to get a permit to rake leaves on their property. Lynch has now been outed. Based on this, as the leader of the democratic revolution in this state, he can say good-bye to his planned challenge of Senator Sununu. Watch out for an income tax and severe curtailment of gun rights in the second year of the democratic regime in Concord.
Cindy Sheehan was the face of the antiwar movement for a couple of years. Oh, how the democrats swooned in her presence, especially after she bought the land near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. The left loved it so when Sheehan challenged President Bush to come out to talk about the war. Sheehan lost a son to the empire-building war in Iraq, so she certainly had some standing to be out front on this.
But then something funny happened.
Cindy Sheehan came to realize that she had become what Lenin called a "useful idiot" for the leaders of the left. What woke Sheehan up is the fact that the democrats had not done much of anything about the war, or much of anything else, since they took charge in Washington a few months ago. Sheehan was probably expecting a bill of impeachment of Bush and Cheney to be introduced by the democrats, as she had often heard down Crawford way was critical to save "our democracy." When Sheehan began to question the democrats' dedication, it was bye-bye Cindy. The democrats will not impeach Bush or anyone else because they know that they are as much at fault for the fiasco in Iraq as the republicans are. Two wings of the same bird of prey, as Pat Buchanan calls our "two" party system. Sheehan learned the truth of Buchanan's insight and is now home licking her wounds. May she wake up completely and join the effort to save, not "our democracy," but our Republic.
***
President Bush has gone so far over the edge in his support of amnesty for illegal immigrants that his biggest supporter is the socialist from Massachusetts (please pardon the redundancy), Senator Ted Kennedy. Bush is trying to create the North American Union, the merger of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and assure a steady supply of cheap labor for his big biz buds, but it's more difficult to determine what's driving big Ted on this issue. Maybe it's just that he does not care one whit about his regular guy and gal constituents, like President Bush, and he will sacrifice their needs to appeal to the liberal god of diversity.
***
After sneak signing the civil union bill, it will be interesting to see how far down Governor Lynch's favorability numbers slip. In his first term, he didn't do much that attached to him, but now he's in the full flower of democratic fervor with a budget exceeding $10 billion, a number of new taxes and fees, the smoking ban, and an environmental bill that could cause some people to have to get a permit to rake leaves on their property. Lynch has now been outed. Based on this, as the leader of the democratic revolution in this state, he can say good-bye to his planned challenge of Senator Sununu. Watch out for an income tax and severe curtailment of gun rights in the second year of the democratic regime in Concord.
5.30.2007
I Met a Young Marine
By Ron Dupuis
I met a young Marine and didn’t know just what to say.
The event was a social function that my wife had been looking forward too for some time. Ever the diplomat, and aware of my disdain for such events, I was first approached in a thinly veiled, patronizing sort of way.
“Honey, would you come with me?’
“You’re so good at these things and I want to show you off to all my friends from work.”
My response was such that I knew I was in trouble the minute I said it.
“I painted the basement today and I have to stay home to make sure it dries right.”
Except for the uncomfortable silence, the drive to the affair was un-eventful.
Arriving a little late, we entered the hall as unobtrusively as possible. Playing the role of a supportive, doting husband, I followed my wife’s lead through the maze of tables and chairs leading to our seats, all the while enduring both the formal, polite, handshaking introductions of upper level management, to the girlish squeals of some co-workers who she had not seen in some time.
I dutifully held the chair for my wife and was about to park myself down ready to endure a long boring evening when I saw him.
“My God” I said to no one in particular. “He’s just a baby.”
There he was, standing ramrod straight in the middle of the room among a hundred or so guest. Dressed in Marine Corp “dress blues” complete with white barracks cap, gold buckled duty belt, and white gloves, he was all of 5 feet 2 inches tall and could not have weighed more than 160 lbs. His insignia of rank indicated he was a Lance Corporal and there were three “theater” medals on his chest. To me, he looked all of 15 years old.
“Who’s just a baby” my wife asked? Before I was able to respond she was deep into introductions of the other table guest. I tried being the supportive spouse and show an interest in my wife’s coworkers and friends. I really did. There was even a spark of enthusiasm when the subject turned to politics. That is until one individual declared Ted Kennedy one of the most effective legislators he had ever met. “He’s not afraid to reach across the aisle.”
I made a smart aleck comment under my breath and quickly changed the subject.
“How bout them Sox?”
The memories of another era started to return, first slowly, then at a pace that I had no control over. Chu Lai, Da Nang, Hue and about a dozen other palaces that I chosen long ago to bury in the dark recesses of my mind. Captain Reynolds, Corporal’s Williams and Smith and Sgt Fey names that had not passed my lips in at least four decades. For a reason I still fail to understand, I had to speak with this young Lance Corporal.
As I approached I gave the unofficial signal Marines give each other under such circumstances.
“URAHH!”
The young man snapped to attention and responded with a sincere “How do you do Sir”, “When were you in?” After talking briefly of my experience’s I asked how old he was. He told me he was almost 21 and that he will be returning to Iraq for his second tour next month. I wanted to give some sage advice or at the very least assure him that he will be safe. I couldn’t find the words. He seemed to sense that.
Don’t worry too much about me Sir” “I’ll do what ever is necessary to get the job done and stay alive.” “Kind of like what you probably did in Viet Nam.” He ended with “After all, we’re Marines.”
I’ve been a Republican my entire life. I supported the first Gulf war and I supported the current involvement. I’ve even spoken with two Presidential candidates about my concerns. Both of them advised me to continue my support until the results of the current build up could be evaluated. I promised that I would. I can’t keep that promise. Iraq has had its opportunity for a democratic society. Twice. That young Marine who told me that he would do whatever is necessary to “get the job done” struck a nerve with me. Our leaders in Washington failed miserably in doing “whatever is necessary” and we should stop sending our children in harms way, immediately.
“All this because “I met a young Marine and didn’t know just what to say.”
Ron Dupuis is a long time New Hampshire resident, a former State Representative, and a freelance writer. His e-mail address is drcdupuis@comcast.net.
His blog may be viewed by linking to www.imho-nh.blogspot.com
I met a young Marine and didn’t know just what to say.
The event was a social function that my wife had been looking forward too for some time. Ever the diplomat, and aware of my disdain for such events, I was first approached in a thinly veiled, patronizing sort of way.
“Honey, would you come with me?’
“You’re so good at these things and I want to show you off to all my friends from work.”
My response was such that I knew I was in trouble the minute I said it.
“I painted the basement today and I have to stay home to make sure it dries right.”
Except for the uncomfortable silence, the drive to the affair was un-eventful.
Arriving a little late, we entered the hall as unobtrusively as possible. Playing the role of a supportive, doting husband, I followed my wife’s lead through the maze of tables and chairs leading to our seats, all the while enduring both the formal, polite, handshaking introductions of upper level management, to the girlish squeals of some co-workers who she had not seen in some time.
I dutifully held the chair for my wife and was about to park myself down ready to endure a long boring evening when I saw him.
“My God” I said to no one in particular. “He’s just a baby.”
There he was, standing ramrod straight in the middle of the room among a hundred or so guest. Dressed in Marine Corp “dress blues” complete with white barracks cap, gold buckled duty belt, and white gloves, he was all of 5 feet 2 inches tall and could not have weighed more than 160 lbs. His insignia of rank indicated he was a Lance Corporal and there were three “theater” medals on his chest. To me, he looked all of 15 years old.
“Who’s just a baby” my wife asked? Before I was able to respond she was deep into introductions of the other table guest. I tried being the supportive spouse and show an interest in my wife’s coworkers and friends. I really did. There was even a spark of enthusiasm when the subject turned to politics. That is until one individual declared Ted Kennedy one of the most effective legislators he had ever met. “He’s not afraid to reach across the aisle.”
I made a smart aleck comment under my breath and quickly changed the subject.
“How bout them Sox?”
The memories of another era started to return, first slowly, then at a pace that I had no control over. Chu Lai, Da Nang, Hue and about a dozen other palaces that I chosen long ago to bury in the dark recesses of my mind. Captain Reynolds, Corporal’s Williams and Smith and Sgt Fey names that had not passed my lips in at least four decades. For a reason I still fail to understand, I had to speak with this young Lance Corporal.
As I approached I gave the unofficial signal Marines give each other under such circumstances.
“URAHH!”
The young man snapped to attention and responded with a sincere “How do you do Sir”, “When were you in?” After talking briefly of my experience’s I asked how old he was. He told me he was almost 21 and that he will be returning to Iraq for his second tour next month. I wanted to give some sage advice or at the very least assure him that he will be safe. I couldn’t find the words. He seemed to sense that.
Don’t worry too much about me Sir” “I’ll do what ever is necessary to get the job done and stay alive.” “Kind of like what you probably did in Viet Nam.” He ended with “After all, we’re Marines.”
I’ve been a Republican my entire life. I supported the first Gulf war and I supported the current involvement. I’ve even spoken with two Presidential candidates about my concerns. Both of them advised me to continue my support until the results of the current build up could be evaluated. I promised that I would. I can’t keep that promise. Iraq has had its opportunity for a democratic society. Twice. That young Marine who told me that he would do whatever is necessary to “get the job done” struck a nerve with me. Our leaders in Washington failed miserably in doing “whatever is necessary” and we should stop sending our children in harms way, immediately.
“All this because “I met a young Marine and didn’t know just what to say.”
Ron Dupuis is a long time New Hampshire resident, a former State Representative, and a freelance writer. His e-mail address is drcdupuis@comcast.net.
His blog may be viewed by linking to www.imho-nh.blogspot.com
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