The Department of Veterans Affairs has named me a "nerd-in-residence." The Department of Veterans Affairs is doing some really good stuff for vets that no one hears about, catching up since 2009. I've helped, in a very minor way, for several years; now I gotta do more.
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The Department of Veterans Affairs has named me a "nerd-in-residence." You can find more under VA team bios > Craig Newmark.

I really am a nerd, old-school, wore a plastic pocket protector, and glasses taped together, in the early sixties. I can now simulate social behavior for an hour, two hours tops, but then I start getting cranky.

Far as my team's concerned, this makes me the biggest nerd in the USA... maybe the world.

(As you see, I'm comfortable being a nerd, and also, I might have a sense of humor. I don't seem to be too concerned with dignity.)

On the other hand, I'm a customer service rep for craigslist, have been for more than eighteen years, and that changes humans. The stuff I do, I can see we help people put food on the table, and that matters.

The job also reminds me that crap rolls downhill, aimed at people with jobs that can be grinding and thankless. For example, I've first-hand seen that thousands of frontline VA people are doing everything in their power to do right by Vets, but government employees are being demonized or neglected.

(Dilbert is an excellent reference work regarding this. I've always resisted despair, that's Wally; I'm Dilbert.)

Ever since connecting with the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America I've been getting more and more involved with military family and veterans' efforts.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is doing some really good stuff for vets that no one hears about, catching up since 2009. I've helped, in a very minor way, for several years; now I gotta do more, for VA, military families, and vets.

Anyway, a nerd's gotta do what a nerd's gotta do.

[Originally published on craigconnects.org]

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