nvram -p... strange results
If your NVRAM was set to boot into safe mode, you need a boot-args variable set to -x.


Safe mode on: sudo nvram boot-args="-x"
Safe + verbose mode on: sudo nvram boot-args="-x -v"
Clear verbose and safe flags: sudo nvram boot-args=""


The details on these settings are straight from Apple Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode.