Will's Blog

With the recent presidential campaign and my personal dealings in life, I have observed that people whom claim that they are "tolerant" of others' views and that we should "respect" other people's views are the most intolerant and disrespectful people. I have a deep seeded morale and ethical belief set from my own personal faith in Christianity. These set of beliefs color how I see and react to all of the world. Every instance of the day, my choices are based upon what I have been taught and believe to be true of the bible and Christ as well as the sum of life experiences. I realize that some do not see life or the bible the way I do. I acknowledge those difference and see where they come from.

What ever your philosophy, beliefs, and morale outlook on life is, it affects the way you react and respond to EVERY situation. Even if one does not think they have a "belief system" and "set views" on the world, they do. It goes beyond heaven and hell, but also how you react to a every day situations like a bad day. Is a bad day just a case of the "Mondays", random chance, the affect of "evil" forces, or God trying to shape & grow you? The first responses sees things as cyclical, the second responses chalks up things to chance, while the third response is always blaming external (to the person) items, and the fourth is reflective in order to grow from the situation.

People whom USUALLY view themselves as "tolerant" have the flawed reasoning that everything and each belief should have equal weight. It is based on a hypothesis that has gained large acceptance in the last few decades that no one is wrong. If Jack believes that bears are dangerous and "tolerant" Joe believes that bears are harmless, than Joe will think that Jack is intolerant if he does not acknowledge that the two contradictory beliefs (in Jack's eyes) are not equal. Jack is "tolerant" of Joe by acknowledging the differences and agreeing to disagree. Joe may someday find out the error of his ways when he is mauled by a bear while feeding it picnic scraps.

My example is a little simplistic (and brutal?), but it none the less illustrates my point. "Tolerance" and other PC terms are usually in the eye of the beholder. Webster does not fully define all of the English language terms as they are in each individual's mind. Terms are "re-invented" and additional definitions added to word meanings throughout time. Meaning of words are colored by one's life experience, culture, social, and religious upbringing. A quick example is the word "pissed". In the states one whom is pissed is terribly angry and may best be left alone. In the UK, it is one whom is drunk and may need assistance. Be careful how you react to one whom is "pissed". Rushing in to help out one whom is "pissed" up the stairs my have dire consequences.

The philosophy that everyone's beliefs have equal weight is rooted in a culture of inclusion. By acknowledging equal weight to all beliefs, you are validating that person. The thought is that to disagree or differ in an opinion with someone is to challenge the person themselves and invalidate their belief. We may all be created equal, but we are not right 100% of the time. If this were true, one would never make a mistake. Disagreements are not personal attacks, but difference in view point.

The next time that someone professes to be "tolerant" be wary of voicing opinions that differ from their own. Their definition may be different than your own and in extreme cases it may just be code word for "I am right, don't challenge me!" Flock to conversations with the "intolerant" people, at least you know where you stand.

Any thoughts?

I recently stumbled upon an article from the NY Times entitled "Why is America so Religious?" I found it interesting, because it describes what we have seen so far in Europe, a loss of religion. Religion, specifically Christianity, here in the UK is more of a cultural phenomenon than it is religious. People wish you a "Merry Christmas" and do not care about Christian signs, like happens in the US. It is more akin to someone who is a "Jew" by birth that makes the same choices as the culture around them and does not go to synagogue.

I found the NY Times article particular funny on its bent on publishing it and analysis. The article stated,

I always find the use of statistics and studies in the news to be particularly interesting, because it usually is only presented to shape an opinion. A flashy graph or tally is usually lifted from a study and then the media gives you an analysis that is flawed, due to being only partial story or one way to look at a data set. Mark Twain was made famous by saying, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Take this study for instance. The graph shows two axis, wealth and a "religious %". Wealth is pretty easy to quantify, but religious percentage is harder. Do you take in anyone whom fills in a box or is it another quantifier? For arguments sake, lets say we believe the "religious %" and the nice little resulting chart. It seems to me that the point of the NY Times article is to lead you to the conclusion that the US is an anomaly, where we should be less religious. Why, America should follow what Europe is doing! (And not those stupid 3rd world countries.)

Now here is the kicker is statistics and studies that is never presented in articles that try to lead the reader to a conclusion, interpretation. Leaving out information can lead to readers making "conclusions" (which the writer intends), that do not take in all of the facts. First, the countries that are listed at the bottom of the slope are also monarchies or feudal systems at some point in time (or still are). Two, most are socialist systems. Third, a case can be made that "religion" has been replaced by a non-deity entity (like government, monarchy, etc). Fourth, There are plenty of more arguments to make (or study) to find out a cause. One could also draw the conclusion or headline "Socialism leads to loss of religion."

Next time you hear a poll that tauts a point of view or conclusion, assume that the writer WANTS you to make that conclusion. Throw it out the window, re-look at the facts, and try to determine if there are other equally valid conclusions to make. Chances are the writer is trying to shape you opinion in some way:) Think of any type of media as "propaganda."

Full study is on our server for download.

Living in the country has it's advantages. You are out away from people, never have to travel for a good hiking trail, and farm animals are at your finger tips. The last one is a good thing with young children around. The children can learn first hand about farm animals that most people only read about in books and see in pictures. The children love seeing the sheep and going "baaaa." Liam was very excited when all of the calves were born. Every trip by the calf field was accompanied by cries of "calves!". Of course, the cows on the farm are not quite the dairy cows that I am use to in the states. I would say they are about twice the size and even the heifers have horns.

Ok, so there are some down sides that may not be so highly publicized or thought about. Occasionally Sheep and Lambs will get out and find their way up to our door or into the play area. It is never that much of bother. Just call the farmer, while the kids enjoy the closeness to the animals. I never put much gray matter into thinking about what happens when cows get out of their pastures and decide to romp around the houses. Usually one just goes for some tastey grass and then seeks out more cows to taunt outside of a pasture.

That is until one wakes you up at 2am tearing apart your house and you look at them in a different light for the hulking masses of strength that they are. One horned heifer found her way in between mine and the neighbor's houses. Between the two houses in a stone patio adjoining the two with a dividing fence down the middle (approximately 4 feet between my house and the fence). Everywhere on the farm are gates to stop or divert animal flow. They are usually highly useful when all of them are closed. Then someone leaves one gate open and allows rogue cows to funnel directly up inbetween the houses. In the daylight it would not have been quite the issue, but a four foot wide space, coupled with the pitch black of an overcast, moonless night is a recipe for the hulking monstrosity to cause some damage in panic!

At 2am Bekah woke me up because she thought someone might be in the house. The hooves on the attached stone patio caused a reverberation that sounded a lot like someone was frolicking around in the living room. My thoughts jumped immediately to an animal walking around outside. I journeyed down to the living room, turned on the outside light, and peered at a nice black and white hide. The only real problem is that the cow noticed the light on and wanted to come in for a spot of tea through the nice glass door (like the one pictured).

She (the cow, not the wife) decided that I was not going to open up the door after politely knocking on it a few times. The heifer, thankfully, determined that it would be much easier to finish off ramming the gate in front of her, which led into a stone walled-in area with a couple of fuel oil tanks. With gate in splinters and an area about 6 foot square (with fuel tanks on two of the sides), the panicked heifer luckily decide that the best way to exit was directly through the stone wall. Stone walls in the UK are not like brick and mortar walls that are found in the states. The walls are essentially carefully stacked stones, which one adrenaline filled cow can easily demolish. After a few more broken gates, she managed to find herself away from the houses with a little less of her blood.

Moral of the story. There is no Bull about it, when some tells you to close a gate, close it and keep it closed.

Garth Brooks made famous the song "She's Every Woman". The song begins "She's sun and rain, she's fire and ice". The song is specifically speaking a a girl friend, but I can't help think of the song when I think about Aine. If you have never heard the song, it describes a woman (or a female) whom can embody the best and worst of women. She can be eloquent or down home, "She's so New York and then L.A., And every town along the way".

Earlier, I talked about the little pistol that Aine can be. This is really only half of the story. For all of her fire, she can be equally compassionate (and often is). She can throw a fit and then give you ten minutes of hugs. She will go from throwing the much bigger Liam onto the floor to carrying her purse and trying to look "pretty", as she always says.

"She's anything but typical
She's so unpredictable
Oh but even at her worst she ain't that bad"

Easter is just a passing weekend event in the US, about the Easter bunny for some and religion for others. It will never be a federal holiday (with days off), because of everyone's fears of religion. So it will be left to mostly the corporations to push in order to increase candy and good sales. (And of course the Christian church whose event defines it apart from Judaism.)

In the UK, it is quiet different. I drove to work on Monday (took Good Friday off) and did not pass a single car in my 25 minute commute until I reached work. It is a stark contrast to the US, in that "religious" holidays are not something to be shunned. The UK observes a four day weekend for Easter and even call it the "Easter Holiday."

Before you think that the UK is just a religious country, I would argue the opposite. In this area, it seems most people could care less about Christianity or any other religion. There are churches, but I would not call them full, even with the big population to church ratio. Religion is not even a hot button topic like in the states. (The old adage, do not talk about politics, religion, or ? in mixed company.) People are more likely to get into debates about global warming and environmental issues than that of God.

I know that there are Christians in the UK. It is just interesting to see cultural differences where the underlying assumptions are different. Here, global warming is fact, tradition rules, and religion is mostly a concept subjugated to historical texts.

In the realm of quite surprises, the variety and cost of things to do with children is better than we knew in the states. Now, we only lived with children under the age of two, so our experience was not exhaustive. Britain has many indoor children play arenas in our area. People described them to us as "Chuck E. Cheese" places, but anything could be further from the fact. They are not the substandard food & money pits like Chuck's place.

Recently we went to "The Wacky Warehouse", which is a play area attached to a kid friendly pub named "The Squinting Cat". They had two-for-one meals and Liam loved jumping in the ball pits, bouncing off of walls, and sliding down slides. The food was good Pub food and served the best steak that we have encountered in the country. So it was a win all around for the Schermer Family.

Of course, when Aine was ready to leave, she let everyone know. She grabbed Liam's shoes and preceded to tell him that it was time to go. Of course, Liam having so much fun, did not listen to his half-sized sister no matter how insistent she was.

This was the second "soft play structure" that Liam has encountered in as many months. He is growing out of his shyness, bounding joyfully through the balls minutes after arriving. Last time it took him more like 20 minutes to warm up to the idea.

Lessoned learned, there are some great things to do with kids in Britain and the children are still jockeying for the third spot in the pecking order (although they may argue its for the second spot).

I once read somewhere that little girls are "sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of." I looked very much forward to having a little daughter of my own. So much so that I thought that I wanted our first child to be a girl. It ended up that God blessed us with a boy, Liam, first. I would describe him as sugar and spice and everything nice. He is a sweet little boy (although kind of quirky and crazy sometimes). I thought "Hey, if a boy is THIS easy, a girl should be a breeze!

Then along came a little gift named Aine...

She could be described as stubborn, fiery tempered, and opinionated. She keeps you on your toes and laughs at you when you punish her. Some may tell you that Liam is like his mother and Aine is like her daddy. Do not buy into the propaganda!

After seeing the kind of little girl my daughter is, I stepped back and took stock of all of the little girls that I have come into contact and know. I wondered if Aine is one of a kind and destined to become a snare to some poor husband. I would say that pretty much all of the girls are little pistols and Aine is on the "nice" side of the scale.

BOTTOM LINE:

"Sugar and Spice and Everything nice..." is just propaganda.

New pictures are up on the server, linked off the main page at http://schermerties.com/Gallery2/main.php?g2_navId=x8a1d9118 , You need a password to enter and you can register with an email address. We recently had a friend take some posed pictures of the kids, since Britain does not have any cheap "Sears" type photo studios. You can order pictures straight off of our gallery or, for the technically challenged, let me know what pictures (plus sizes) and I can snail mail them too you. We are automatically making some up for the grandparents, aunts, and aunts (why didn't our parents have more boys?).

Now planning out the year's vacation schedule! We are looking into taking a few trips around the area. If you have interest in visiting the UK this year, let us know approximately when. We have an guest room with a queen bed with its own bathroom.

Living in the UK opens a vast number of opportunities for travel to never before seen locations. Its amazing that Europe is just as close as traveling back to our home town use to be:) (If you listen closely on a clear night, you can hear the sounds of what appears to be bull frogs in the distance.)

We sat down the other night and drew up a budget for our expenses (and pleasure). We calculated the cost of a trip back to the states to visit all of our family and friends as part of the budget. Wow, the cost was a little more than I was expecting. Especially when you compare it to the cost of travel on the continent we have never seen.

We are still contemplating our travels (and the money thingy) around the world. We hope to see all of our friends and family when the time permits, but we only live in Europe for a short while...

Football games over here are a little bit different. They use a black and white ball and you do not get hit quite as much. The good thing is that the matches are at times convenient to one's schedule.

OR ?

Game time is never really an issue for the devoted fan. A fan whom lives his sport. How late would you be willing to watch an event that you were a die hard fan of? I know that my friend Cotton would respond, "9pm. Anything past that is cutting into sleep time." How about 2330 until 330? Yes, the game of all games, the Superbowl did not start here in jolly old England until 2330 local time. It was a great all night affair. Sky sports broadcast the game with original US commetary, but the commercials left something lacking. Too bad Sky did not rebroadcast the American commercials, because it would have been a lot better filler. (Who does not watch the Superbowl for the commercials?) Sky showed a few local commercials, but included a lot of British commentary on the game. The lead pundit looked like he mugged a couch and I am not convinced that any of them understand the game of Football. They were still wondering when the black and white ball was coming into play.

Bottom line: New England is not the "Greatest Team Ever", Brits can't commentate of American Football, and I still hate the '72 Dolphins.

The old adage about England is that it is windy and rainy. This was the predominant sentiment conveyed to me before we made the trip across the ocean. I ran out and bought a rain jacket, preparing myself physically and mentally for the upcoming onslaught of weather.

Our first week here was sunny and beautiful. In the first six months living here, the rain never bothered me. Actually, it was quite nice. Unlike the states, the rain tends to be just drizzly or "spot showers" where it rains for a bit and then drys off within minutes. It was nice, you would wake up to rain, eat breakfast, and go out to a dry land ready to adventure in the outdoors. It definitely was a mindset change from the states, where if it was raining, it was raining for a while.

Now its winter time. We are finely past the winter solstice and are gaining 3 minutes of daylight a day, getting excited about getting out of the gloom. The only downfall is that there are long stretches of rain and winds. Scratch the wind thing, its more like a hurricane. One weather report I read stated that we were having gusts of 84 miles per hour, with sustained winds around 60 mph. This means the poor 20+ pound children have to be attached to kit strings when outside.

Bottom line: Thinking of coming to the UK? Plan around the weather seasons. I see why they all live in stone houses. Harder to blow away...

Growing up in the snowy north of the US, you learn how to navigate through snow, sleet, and inclement weather. I remember my father teaching me how to get almost every manner of motor vehicle out of snow. He showed me a plethora of techniques to get cars, trucks, ATVs, and tractors out of snow. It was not often we were not able to navigate or unstick something.

Now, take the boy out of his surroundings and throw new challenges at him. He will try to apply all of that gathered knowledge to the new problem, sometimes learning the differences in the circumstances.

This is what I have recently done in the floods around the area. We live on a reservoir and are currently in a rainy season here in the UK. The roads tend to flood if the rain continues for a day or more. This was never more true than a few days ago taking the in-laws to the airport. The exit road out is in a flood plane with dikes to alleviate overflowing water. (This is really just the worst spot.) The water fills the field and the road for approximately 100 yards. Worry not, because it can not grow much more than 100 yards due to geographic restrictions. It just starts getting deep.

Now enter our hero, on a perilless mission to nobly deliver his entrusted mates to safe harbor. (Well, more like safe airport.) Our hero sends a trusty scout through to test the waters (i.e. my SUV driving landlord). The scout gives the "thumbs up" and our hero pushes on. The hero moves his chariot across the 18" deep water. He realizes that when he hits the thick of it that he should ease up, like he would on the snowy impasses of his homeland, and maintains control of the chariot.

Now what happens with momentum on his side? The car chokes out from lack of good air flow through the engine, via the tailpipe. Thankfully the car coasts far enough along to carry the vehicle mostly out of the water.

Lesson from this event? Keep up the back pressure. Water may be another form of snow, but navigation is different.

This will be the new home of "Schermer's Blog". I can't figure out how to move all of my deep thoughts, but I will just continue on from now blogging here.