Bryce Moore's Blog, page 173

Brexit Thoughts and the 2016 Elections

Not that I wasn’t following the news or anything while I was away at ALA, but I didn’t have the time to really respond to anything as it happened. I was stunned that Brexit actually went through, as were most of the people across the world, it sounds like. What’s been even more surprising to me is how many people who voted for Leave were shocked and dismayed when their protest vote actually ended up winning.

Votes are votes. They come with real consequences, and I don’t understand how people can think of them in any other light. You don’t cast a vote for something just because you want to show the world you’re unhappy with your lot in life at the moment. (Unless the question you’re voting on is “Am I unhappy with my lot in life at the moment?”)

To see so many people express surprise at the consequences of their votes is dismaying, particularly when that’s coupled with people who say they didn’t really understand what it was they were voting for. (Of course, some of their anger is aimed at politicians who deliberately misportrayed the fallout of the vote. That anger is totally justified, and it’s really disappointing (but to be expected) that politicians are willing to do or say whatever they want to try and get their way in the political arena.)

So what does all of this have to do with the 2016 elections? As I was driving home from the airport yesterday listening to talk radio, it struck me that both sides of this election seem to be shifting more and more toward arguing “Vote for me so that ______ doesn’t get elected.” Yes, they say a bit about what they want to get done, but when I listen to people who are discussing who they’re voting for and why, many of them are either voting for Trump so that Clinton doesn’t get elected, or else voting for Clinton so that Trump doesn’t get elected.

Has it really come to that? When you vote against someone, you still end up voting for someone else. And if that someone comes to power, you’re still stuck with him or her for 4 years. This goes for the people voting against Trump and the people voting against Clinton. Unfortunately, I don’t really see an answer in the sort term. Perhaps we have to get stuck with someone the majority dislikes for the country to actually get beyond this two party system wall.

Maybe we have to have our own Brexit before we can move forward.

As long as that Brexit doesn’t involve Trump at the head of the country for four years . . .

A Report on This Year’s ALA

I’m in the airport waiting to fly back to Maine after another successful ALA (despite the Travel Gods’ best efforts to keep me from getting down to Orlando). It hasn’t been a perfect trip, but it’s been a good one in spite of that. What have I been up to? Let me tell you.

I’ve been doing the library thing. I had an all day meeting on Friday focused on how to be an effective leader at the state level. It was filled with other state chapter presidents, and we discussed things lie how to respond to sensitive legislation and how to run state-wide programs. It’s always nice to hear how things are going elsewhere in the country. (Also, lunch was at a Cuban restaurant which was particularly tasty . . .)
I’ve been heading to library panels. There was one on the future of library technology with the presenters being head honchos from some of the biggest library companies out there. (EBSCO, Innovative, Ex Libris, etc.) Kind of interesting to see them bicker in public. I’m thinking a reality show might be in order. ALA is a huge conference, and this convention center was particularly large. It took forever to get from one place to another, and that was fairly irritating. So far, my favorite convention center has been Chicago’s. It’s big, but doable.
Fighting off being sick. I woke up in the morning last week with some tightness in my chest, and that’s developed into a cough over the last few days. It hasn’t helped that I’ve been talking so much. My voice is about three octaves lower now, and that’s if it even works when I try to talk. I think the trip down took a ton out of me, and then I just kept pushing through things. Kind of didn’t have a choice, but it’ll be really nice to get home and be able to rest.
Eating. And eating. And then eating some more. I haven’t been on a scale since I left, and I’m not looking forward to getting on one when I get home, but I figured I’d live it up while I was here and use my “Conference Diet Immunity” to its fullest extent. I ate at ‘Ohana, Raglan Road, and Boma, and all three of them were pretty incredible. The bread pudding at ‘Ohana was sublime, Raglan Road had great Irish ambience (with live music and dancing through the whole dinner), and I’ve always loved Boma. Fantastic food from across Africa.
Mingling with Maine librarians. It seemed like anywhere I went, it was inevitable that I’d run into someone from home, even in a conference with 20,000 people or so. I think I counted 19 librarians that I saw from Maine. Fun times.
Book signing! Adaptive had a booth for me on Saturday, and I got to sign free books for librarians. Very nice to see the enthusiasm for the book, and I signed and gave away every copy they’d brought, so that was a good feeling. I also found out some of the promotional plans they have for THE MEMORY THIEF, and that got me pretty excited.
Hanging out with authors. On the exhibit hall floor, at lunches, in halls. Great to see some faces I’d only met online before.
Nabbing free books. My kids love it when I go to ALA, because I scour the floor for books they might like. I’m thinking I might have them write some reviews for me that I could post on the blog. I sent three boxes home this time . . .
Speaking with library vendors about everything from technology to furniture. Gotta make it worth my while to be down here on business, you know. Not that I think you’d find it particularly interesting, but I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t, you know, working while I was here as well.
Figuring out Uber. We don’t have much call for it in Maine, but I really came to appreciate it down here in Orlando. I’d heard about it, but had never used it. Being able to call a private car that cost a fraction of what a taxi would cost, and have it appear wherever I was whenever I wanted, and never having to worry about giving credit cards over to people or paying with cash . . . I can totally see why people love it. So easy to use!
And of course I made time for the Game of Thrones finale yesterday evening. But I won’t talk about that to keep it unspoiled, other than to say I really loved this season.

Anyway. Here’s hoping it’s a smooth flight home. It’s been fun, Orlando. I think I’ll come back at Thanksgiving . . .

Reflections on ALA

I’m in the airport at the moment, on my way down to Orlando for ALA Annual, though this will get posted tomorrow. (Hey! I might actually still be on my way to Orlando tomorrow. Who knows?) It’s got me a bit reflective, because it’s about nine years to the day that I was at ALA in Washington DC, on the hunt for a job and getting more than a little nervous that I still hadn’t found one after five months of searching. I had an interview lined up in Maryland, and a number at the conference itself, and I was hopeful one of those would pan out.

Oh yeah. And I had a ticket for an interview with a school in Maine as soon as the conference was over.

The crazy thing about having blogged for as long as I have is that I can look back at those entries from then. Here’s the first, and you can look through the archives for July 2007 for the others. (Side note: amazed at how little I actually wrote back then. The entries felt much longer, for some reason.)

Anyway. It’s fun to be in the same airport where I’d flown in for that interview nine years ago, and I’m amazed by how much has happened since. I have three children now, not just one. I’m flying to ALA as part of my role as President of the Maine Library Association. I’ll be doing a book signing while I’m there for my second published book (Saturday at 2pm! I’ll post more info when I have it). Back nine years ago, I was working on revising the book that became VODNIK, my first published book.

Many changes. All in nine years.

Anyway. Not sure how much I’ll be able to be on the blog to update you all. So check my Facebook feed if you’re desperate for updates. I’m most active there. I’ve got a few sweet dinners lined up on Disney properties, but I won’t be going to any of the parks. Gotta work, you know.

Wish me luck!

A Simple Trip to Orlando

I knew it had been too long since I’d had a real travel nightmare. The Travel Gods must be appeased, and nothing you can do can save you. Today it’s my turn to offer up the sacrifice, apparently.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to Orlando. Leave Portland at 11:50, get to Orlando at 4:50, with a quick layover in Baltimore. But then the fight got delayed 55 minutes when I arrived at the airport. (Early, because I try to stick it to the Travel Gods whenever I can, and I always anticipate them trying to foil my well laid plans.)

I should have known better. Should have anticipated a canceled flight right then, and had Southwest on speed dial for as soon as they canceled. But I didn’t.

Sure enough, the flight was canceled. Thunderstorms in Baltimore. There was a mad dash for the counter, but I know my airport fu well enough to know that if I wasn’t the first or second person there, I’d be better served calling Southwest directly, which is what I did.

I managed to get on the 5:45 to Baltimore, then the 8:45 to Orlando, scheduled to get into Orlando at 11pm. I thought I was okay, but then I discovered the 5:45 has been delayed 2 hours at the moment, which would make me miss my connection.

Yeah. One of those days.

At the moment I’m scheduled on standby for a 3:15. First in line for that, and hopeful (but not holding my breath). Maybe this will all work out. Two friends were on the same flight. One is scheduled now to leave tomorrow morning out of Manchester, 2 hours away. The other is now on a flight tomorrow night. So I guess it could be worse?

What am I saying? Of course it could. And probably will. Stay tuned to Facebook to see any updates. Wish me luck!

(And if you’re in Portland for the next few hours, swing on by and say hi! I’ve been here since 9am already.)

VRBO: A Great Place to Find a Cheap Place to Vacation

I was talking to a friend the other day and I mentioned I was using VRBO to book a vacation in October (heading down to the coast with the fam), and he had never heard of it. So I feel like it’s my civic duty to make sure I’ve at least mentioned this site on my blog. I’ve used it for four or five vacations now, and it’s always been a great experience.

What is it? It stands for Vacation Rental By Owner: a site where you can rent a house for a weekend or a week. It’s like AirBnB (which has gotten more publicity), but just for renting apartments or houses. No “rent a part of a house and have to share it with the owner.” Granted, AirBnB does has this feature as well, but I’ve been a happy VRBO customer, and I’ve really appreciated how easy it is to search a wide variety of of houses, and I haven’t seen a need to switch. (Though of course you could always search both sites and find the best deal. Never a bad idea.)

We first used VRBO for our trip to Quebec City, getting a condo right downtown for a week for really cheap. It was a great experience, so I turned to VRBO again for our family reunion, renting a house for 30 people for the Fourth of July weekend. This was a bit pricier, since it was for that many people and at a holiday, but it was still super easy and we got a fantastic house. Just what I was looking for.

I used VRBO to get an apartment 100 yards from Notre Dame, for three nights, for $600 during summer vacation last year. Hotel rooms were going for more than that, and this was much nicer, and much closer to all the action. And now we just reserved a house on an island on the coast of Maine for October: three nights for $450 total.

What I’m trying to say is that if you’re looking to stay someplace for a few nights, and you want more than just a cookie cutter hotel room, then you should really be looking at places other than hotels.com. You’ll save money and have a much bigger place to stay in. You help individual property owners instead of a faceless corporation.

When I’m just staying by myself, a hotel room is just fine. But if I want to enjoy a vacation with my family, it’s been so much nicer to have room to breathe. Here are a few tips I’ve found helpful when using the site:

There are a ton of different search parameters. Use them to your advantage. Put in the minimum number of bedrooms you want, and the max you’re willing to pay. Want to stay on the beach? Want internet? Bringing pets? You can get very specific.
Pay attention to the reviews. I have yet to stay someplace with no reviews. I realize that’s cutting out a good number of properties, but I’d like to have at least some assurance that the place I’m staying will work out. I’m not willing to bet my vacation on a good deal and a prayer that it actually turns out to be a good experience.
Be flexible on the exact location you’re looking for if you can. Narrowing things down too much can eliminate some really great properties.
You’ll be dealing with the individual property manager in the end, not VRBO. Be prepared for some back and forth emails and negotiations. You’ll probably have to pay for a deposit, and then pay the rest of what you owe at a later date. Typically they arrange a time for you to check in, or give you information on how to get into the house.
Pay attention to details like cleaning fees and deposits when you’re booking. That can affect the bottom line of what you pay.

Anyway. I’ve now plugged the site for free, but I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been a happy customer. Give it a shot for your next vacation.

Home Improvements Ramping Up Again

We brought in a new contractor yesterday to give us an estimate for finishing off the room above our garage. It’s always a bit depressing meeting a new contractor. Not because he was mean or anything (he and his partner were very nice and respectful the whole time), but rather because I see my house through a new contractor’s eyes.

Again.

That rarely is a good sight, honestly. When you have a house that was built in 1841 and subsequently renovated by a whole slew of people over the years, it’s inevitable that things aren’t going to be up to snuff. (Especially when some of those renovations were done by yours truly . . .)

Yesterday was no different. The floors were saggy in places. The angles didn’t quite come together right. Plans we’d thought made sense no longer did. Again, this is nothing against the contractor. I imagine some of it comes down to a matter of taste. When I look at how another author has written a scene, I critique it. There are things I would have done differently if I were writing it. Things I like, things I abhor. So that plays a part. And in the construction business, when you’re required to build something using the work someone did before you, it’s good to approach it all with a healthy dose of skepticism. (Especially when you know they guy who did the work before you ended up being a thief.)

Anyway. We got through the experience, and we’ll be getting an estimate soon on how much it’ll cost. There’s a part of me that still wants to do it all on my own. But there’s a bigger part that is through doing it half as good as someone who does it professionally, and then just accepting the flaws as part of the learning process. I suppose which side ultimately wins out comes down to what the estimate looks like, but for now, I’d say the “Pay Someone Else to Do It” side has a healthy lead. I’ve got too much else going on to be adding one more thing to my To Do list . . .

An Expedition to Northern Maine

We’ve lived in Maine almost 9 years, and yet somehow we’d never made a trip up to the Northern half of the state. (Bangor always felt like the Northern half of the state, but if you look at the map, it’s really pretty much right smack dab in the middle. Why haven’t we explored it?

Because it takes a long time to get there, and there hasn’t seemed like any real reason to go.

However, we did have friends move there two years ago, which was the first reason we might consider exploring the place, and then I had a library meeting scheduled in Presque Isle, which is the best sort of motivating reason to go to a place. (Getting paid to go to a place usually does that for a place.) So since our friends were also up there, I asked Denisa if she wanted to give it a shot, and she said yes.

We drove up Thursday morning and down Saturday afternoon. And as expected, it was a fairly long drive. 3.5 hours, which was still a half hour shorter than what Google thought it would take me. (And I’ll say that on the way down, it felt much shorter. Typical.) Getting to northern Maine involves driving through many trees. and little else. Once you get past Bangor, you don’t see much in the way of civilization until you get off the freeway at Houlton. Presque Isle is forty minutes north of that.

I was surprised at how much farming you see there. Lots of potato fields as opposed to the thick woods I generally associate with the state. It looked a lot more like Pennsylvania than I expected, in other words. (And they have a large Mennonite/Amish community too.)

Overall, I really liked the area. Sprawling and largely empty, which is about how I prefer my areas to be. Presque Isle had a good downtown area, with a variety of businesses. Bigger than where I live, though it’s also the one real town for miles around, so that makes sense. Sort of the hub for the area. (And they had a very tasty ice cream shop, which is important.)

But the extra two hours beyond Bangor really does make a difference. Not that it’s in the middle of nowhere. That would be more somewhere between Bangor and Houlton. (Nowhere.) So this is more the outskirts of nowhere. But I can definitely see why people like it, and if I never had to fly anywhere or take trips off to who knows where, then I think I’d be very happy there indeed. But in the end, I think I live about as remotely as I want to live.

Nice to know there are more remote options, though.

We had a really nice time up there. Great to see old friends again. Went on a great short hike. Ate good food. Denisa and the kids saw two moose (their first moose in the wild sightings). A coworker ran into a bear on his morning job (both bear and coworker are fine). All you could ask for a quick vacation. I think we’ll be back, at the very least as we drive through to explore New Brunswick.

Library Retreat (and a Poem for Pondering)

You’re on your own for today and tomorrow, peoples. I’m at an all day retreat today and tomorrow, scheming and plotting libraryly things for the coming year. (Fun times.)

Interestingly, I’m up in Presque Isle, Maine, a part of the state I’ve never been to before. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.

So to keep you all pacified until I return to the interwebs Monday, here’s a poem that’s been on my mind in the last few days. Think of it what you will.

Choose Something Like a Star (by Robert Frost)

O Star (the fairest one in sight),

We grant your loftiness the right

To some obscurity of cloud—

It will not do to say of night,

Since dark is what brings out your light.

Some mystery becomes the proud.

But to be wholly taciturn

In your reserve is not allowed.

Say something to us we can learn

By heart and when alone repeat.

Say something! And it says, ‘I burn.’

But say with what degree of heat.

Talk Fahrenheit, talk Centigrade.

Use language we can comprehend.

Tell us what elements you blend.

It gives us strangely little aid,

But does tell something in the end.

And steadfast as Keats’ Eremite,

Not even stooping from its sphere,

It asks a little of us here.

It asks of us a certain height,

So when at times the mob is swayed

To carry praise or blame too far,

We may choose something like a star

To stay our minds on and be staid.

A Letter to My School Board

First off, thank you. Thank you very much for the hours upon hours you’ve donated to trying to present a reasonable budget. I appreciate all the hard work you do and the many nights you miss with your families on behalf of the students in this district. Like many (but not all) of you, I’m disappointed in the results of yesterday’s vote. It was very close, with great turnout on both sides of the issue, but in the end, the budget was voted down.

That’s not on you. Your job was to come up with the best budget you could, and you did that. Dealing with the constraints you’d been given, you proposed something that was a balance between increasing expenses and increasing taxes. It didn’t magically do the same for less money, but it was a compromise.

But the voters have spoken, and they rejected that compromise.

I could argue that many voters did so based on misinformation. That the No side presented a story that felt very authentic, even though it tweaked a lot of the facts to make them fit what they wanted to believe. If you listen to their side, there are still many areas where there’s fat in this budget, and cutting it out will be a simple process.

You know better. You tried to warn the district that this was already as close to the bone as you could get without really cutting important things. More than that: that the budget was already cutting important things.

The voters called your bluff.

I’m not saying that I want the ensuing budget cuts to hurt our schools unnecessarily, but we’re past the point where we can continue to stretch and stretch and stretch to make do with less and less. Cut where you can, of course. But until voters see that you weren’t kidding, they won’t believe you. Put another way, if somehow you’re able to come up with another $300,000 or $500,000 of cuts, and real programs and offerings aren’t affected, then you’re proving the No side right. You’re showing the voters that yes, there was fat in the budget.

I don’t believe there was. Maybe I’m wrong.

In any case, I’m sorry for the additional nights you’re going to have to lose as you work on a new budget. I know that the No side has tried to portray this as an easy process: just fire some administrators and cut out some of the overspending on facilities, and you’ll magically find $800,000. It’s simplistic and wrong, but it sure did get the vote out.

Just know that as a parent of three children in the district, I understand there will be consequences to this vote. That there will be things that get cut that I didn’t want to get cut. That’s not on you. It’s on us. The voters spoke. I said ahead of time that you pass the best budget you can, and if it’s voted down, then you go back, make more cuts, and try it again.

Sooner or later, you’ll be forced to cut things that really set off a nerve with enough parents in the area that the Yes vote will outnumber the Nos again. It’s cyclical.

But judging by how tired I am of this process already, I can’t imagine what you’re feeling.

Good luck, and you still have my support.

Gratefully,

Bryce

All Debate on the Internet, Summed Up in One Movie Clip

In light of all the lovely chats I’ve had online over the past few months, ranging from Donald Trump to School Budgets to Gun Control and more, I present this handy clip from one of my favorite movies. It came out in 1990, but it predicted online discussion so well, you’d figure it was directed by Nostradamus.

Fun fact: I named the principal in THE MEMORY THIEF after this guy. Mr. Waturi.

The great thing about this clip is that I’m pretty sure every single person watching it will relate to it, no matter which side they take on any particular internet debate. Which makes me wonder what the scene looked like on the other end of that telephone line.

That’s all the blogging I’ve got in me today, folks. Happy Tuesday!