Wow, I've hit 30 now. Okay. A lot of general things have irked me lately. I also have far too many things I bookmarked & have thoughts on that need to be dealt with.
I was very happy to read this yesterday. Thank you, Amanda Marcotte for saying something I've been thinking for years but didn't put into those words.
Even in high school, I thought the dress code was extremely sexist against women & I believe I actually said this to people. Great thought on why it's so; the puritanical culture in this country has always bothered me & sorry, fuckers I'm not going to be ashamed of being who I am. You can fuck off if you expect me to dress like a Muslim woman because I have a figure. Maybe some people ought to examine just what they're teaching young women with oppressive dress codes that never punish the young men for not controlling themselves. It's not like young ladies don't have hormones. Self-respect isn't being ashamed of who you are or what you look like, okay?
This also really infuriated me, in the second instance of banning on hair color. This family had better sue. I'm sure they can find some natural redhead like me who's an attorney to take that case, shove their pictures of themselves at that age in the face of the principal and school administrators & ask them if they are bigoted toward natural redheads. I know I would. I read this & immediately claimed it was discrimination against redheads.
Think about this: you have a kid transfer in whose hair is quite bright. My own natural hair color is much brighter than this picture. Is a kid with my shade required to do a strip search for this principal to see if the curtain matches the drapes? Does the principal get to override a parent's order that the kid can't dye his/her hair? My mother told me & my sister (whose hair was brighter than mine when she was in school) we could not dye our hair until we were 18. Does Principal Bigot get to override parental authority here?
I also read a comment in the Yahoo link where someone claimed their workplace said their naturally red hair was too bright & told them to dye it a "natural" color.
You know what would happen if I were your employee & you told me that? I would tell you to go fuck yourself & that you obviously got dumped by a natural redhead or felt inadequate compared to them. I would also tell you not to take your shit out on me & that it's not my fault you're not as cool or sexy as everyone thinks natural redheads are (at least, naturally redhaired women). Or that you are sexually inadequate & your naturally redhaired girlfriend dumped you.
Neither of those are MY problem & you're not going to make them my problem, capise? I will take your ass to court in a heartbeat and see if I can't get a discrimination lawsuit going if you try it.
What next? Telling a dark black person they have to bleach their skin to be more light-skinned? Telling an Asian person to get cosmetic surgery for their eyes? We wouldn't let that stand in society so why should I be required to dye my hair? By the way, if I did dye my hair I'd never get my precise natural color again as any hairstylist would affirm so it's not a zero consequence act.
Anyone tries that with my niece, I'll be kicking ass & taking names. She's my mini-me, after all.
I also read this story and thought "More discrimination to natural redheads." I hope these people alerted the local Scottish groups & they got in their faces. I certainly would & had you tried this with me or mine in high school, I'd have made that happen. I'd have contacted every single Scottish association and found the legal defense leagues they dealt with to take the case & raise holy Hell.
Seriously, I'd be shocked if any high school ever asked me to speak there. No high school administrator would want me anywhere near their kids since I don't believe in being some docile little sheep & will tell you truth instead of garbage like the grand majority of them espouse.
After the "idiot school administrators" series, let's turn our attention to the "idiot politicians" series.
Here's a duh consideration. You can't legislate morality & no party or candidate is God. To try is a lesson in futility & stupidity. Plus, I think you should have to live by the same restrictions you place on everyone else if you want to get all high handed & tell others what to do. It doesn't work to ban abortion if YOUR kid gets to have one or YOUR wife can get one regardless of the reason. It just makes you an asshole who deserves to hang by his private parts in the public square & worse.
This also ticks me off & epitomizes why anyone in favor of surrendering their guns to the government is an idiot. You should be outraged. Remember that whole "First they came for the gays, but I didn't speak up since I wasn't gay. Then they came for the pageant queens, but I didn't speak up since I wasn't a pageant queen," and so on and so on. Pretty soon, not speaking up means you have no rights at all & don't think "they" won't come for yours sooner or later.
Then, there's this if you think trusting authority is such a hunky dory idea.
I most certainly agree with this, by the way. More people might actually bother with voting & caring if politicians didn't get to grow roots and become the living equivalent of fungus or black mold. Do we really need senile people in office? Attorneys don't get to keep their licenses if they can't do the job, even if they've got the best team in town.
And this is just disgusting. Apparently, Christine Quinn just wants everyone in NYC to get sick and for sanitation grades to be worthless. I know Bloomberg does since he's pretty much evil incarnate.
Oh, and if you haven't already heard USPS will soon stop Saturday service. Not a big thing to me since I don't think my post office even delivers mail to us on Saturday half the time. If you believe this, though, there is one bright spot to that choice.
This is a total disincentive to help anyone with anything. If you're going to be nasty to someone who returns something you lost, well you deserve not to get it back at all. You also deserve to die from choking on your own vomit but if you don't get what you lost back, I'll consider that a partial win. Anyone else? Kudos to the owners of the hardware store for rewarding this guy's generosity even though the guy who lost his money didn't.
This and that recent story I saw about how the BBC is censoring a famous episode of Fawlty Towers really annoys me. The censorship cheerleaders should be beaten upside the head & taken away from any positions of power since they are clearly too stupid to have authority over anything. Better yet, let's also take their pets away even if they are imaginary. A living creature doesn't deserve the tyranny of their rule.
Finally, I read this recently along with this story on why businesses shouldn't be total pricks to job applicants. Would someone pass these memos on to the business people who act like that?
I also find it interesting that we can be at a "too many years at the same job" situation. I guess the exception is if it's your company or you own a share in it. There's a life lesson: don't be loyal to anyone other than yourself since you're just going to be shit on sooner or later. Maybe not literally but plenty of people will do it figuratively. Frankly, I'm not going to spend my resources trying to work with anyone who demands absolutely fealty to the company above all else including my self-respect and my family. No one else should either.
If everyone refused, companies would have to adjust their requirements & expectations for staff or go under. I'd be happy to see some places go down like a lead balloon. They deserve it & should be moved out for competent, well run companies where the staff aren't treated like slaves. If you work at some company & don't get why someone who's got zero ownership interest or executive level work gives a damn like you do, you need a clue and fast. You're also an idiot if you're working off the clock, defending illegality and selling yourself out for some employer. No one is worth that & you'll get tossed under the bus in about 5 seconds if the police come knocking.
Showing posts with label Bloomberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bloomberg. Show all posts
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Paying for Sanity, The Incompetence After the Storm & Why Can't We Get Burlseque at the Bar?
This is a lesson I've had to remind myself of tons of times. As a frugal person by nature, I tend to be very picky about spending money & have refused to spend what I feel is too much on something. My husband has a similar attitude; that's probably one reason our marriage works so well. I don't have to fight with anyone who spends money like a drunken sailor who believes he's never getting laid ever again so has to spend a fortune on entertaining the hottest girl in the room so he won't die without having gotten that quickie along with getting that good, stiff drink since they're no longer making that brand of liquor. We're huge believers in frugality.
At the same time, though I've found there are times when it's okay to spend more money. One of those times was today for gasoline.
You may have read about NYC's gas lines & recent start of rationing. I was awakened Tuesday morning by horn honking from stopped cars that were in a gas line on my block. If they'd not suspended parking that day & my car wasn't already on the proper side to avoid being ticked, I would not have been able to move my car to the proper side. Those parking tickets aren't cheap.
I also saw the craziness in walking around my neighborhood & I'm having none of it. Fortunately, we had more gas in our car pre-Sandy that I thought we had. This meant the freedom of choice. I'd heard there were no lines in Connecticut or near a relative in New Jersey (where I understand gas rationing is still going on but has actually made a difference).
I decided to go to Connecticut to get gas & got up at 7 this morning to make that happen. Bear in mind that lately, I've been waking up around 12/1 p.m. (Sandy also screwed up my sleep schedule). I had to go today in order to be able to go on a trip that's been planned for months. Getting there & back was so much easier, let me tell you.
The station near my house had a line when I left for Connecticut & when I got back at around 9-9:15 this morning, the line had started to take over the main road I had to travel on. A normally 2 lane road was now 1 lane. I paid 50 cents more per gallon but I am more than happy to have paid it, for many reasons.
1. Not sitting in a 30 minutes if I'm lucky line. I'm not a person you want doing that since I've got a temper & if you mess with me, there will be problems. I also never claimed to be a paragon of patience.
2. Not paying increased tolls to get to New Jersey.
3. Not having to drive in Manhattan to go to that part of New Jersey. My route was all highway.
4. Being more familiar with Connecticut since I used to live there. I also know Connecticut doesn't have traffic circles or areas where you can't make left turns.
If this were a credit card commercial, it would end with Saving time & preventing unnecessary arrests: priceless. It's like "Wow, having lived in Connecticut for 3 years & driving around various areas of the state came in handy." That drive also helped me refresh my driving legs for the upcoming road trip & means we can actually take that road trip.
To avoid a gas line, you bet I'll do this. Essentially, it's paying for comfort. I found the same to be true when I took Amtrak on business class. That experience is why I'm not doing anything unless I can pay to get business class or not deal with crazy BS that's just going to raise my blood pressure & feel like Chinese water torture. Or for an analogy closer to home, maybe I should say I try to avoid situations akin to having a thong stuck in your butt & not being able to move it because you're at a work function or business meeting where there's no bathroom in sight or you're stuck with some irritating jerk you're just pretending to like who refuses to mingle.
I tend to resent paying more money for such things but today, I had no problem with it. Extraordinary circumstances & all. Can't believe Bloomberg claims this is going to continue for "a few more weeks." All I can say is he'd better be suspending alternate side parking restrictions while that's going on since I'm not waiting for a gas line to leave my block so I can move my car to the proper place. The street has enough room for one car on it so forget passing anyone; the only way you'll get people to move there is with a weapon or a death threat.
I'm also gratified to hear that people in Long Island started protesting at LIPA's headquarters because of the slow moving progress to restore power. My husband said LIPA is worthless & is glad he doesn't have to deal with them. Most people I know have either long since gotten their power back or never lost it in the first place (including in Long Island). I want their leadership to get nailed by the governor & hopefully forced to pay heavy fines. I'm sure those people without power would also like to see them serve some jail time.
You know, maybe the protestors without power should go camp out at the board members' homes & say "Until you restore our power, we're not moving." Might light some fires under a few behind if you did that, don't you think? Wouldn't it be ironic if they called the cops & the cops who showed up were also without power & sided with the protestors? Or maybe if the cops were human beings & agreed with this act? Gee, desperate times. Anyone get the memo on that?
I can't imagine the management there is sitting with no electricity at this point & I'd bet money they aren't.
Anyhow, another time I have to tell myself it's okay to spend money is if paying more means higher quality. There's also paying for things you don't already have or if you need a replacement. I'm very much of the school of using things until you can't anymore. I feel it's wasteful to get rid of something that still works or still fits you if it's not in disrepair. Had to reluctantly get rid of a rain coat I still can't find a viable replacement for due to it being in disrepair & despite my efforts in sewing up holes. I'd just get new holes in it. That still pisses me off & I can't find a replacement for it in my size. No one seems to have it & I adamantly refuse to get something that looks frumpy, boring or dull. Nor do I get things that look like what everyone else is wearing; kill me for having an aesthetic & caring about my appearance.
In other news, I got a part in the next City Bar show & guess what I'm playing: a "lady of the evening." I did get the one line I asked for & will get some solo singing in a song. This is probably the only venue where I can play that role without worrying about exploitation, losing credibility in my industry or getting a grievance filed against me. I also have to find out the time period of the show so I know how to do costuming. I have ideas; got the boots already though they aren't stripper heels. They come up pretty high on my leg & I've got lots of short skirts.
One thing I know is that I can't dress like I normally do. For one thing, no one's ever mistaken me for a prostitute (even in NC & Atlanta) & I've seen NYC prostitutes. They dress much more revealing than I do.
My husband's wary about it but I pointed out that I can't dress in something I'd wear normally (especially in the summer) since that's not honest to the role or the scene if it's present day. I most certainly will make sure nothing's going to be coming out unexpectedly (otherwise, I'd feel too self-conscious) & I've been on stage in all sorts of getup over the years. I've been in a swimsuit & reminded him that I did a song for my law school talent night one year in a lingerie top (a long camisole top that had a bra built in & was in the lingerie section of the store I got it from). We were dating at that time & he did not play Fashion Police over it.
If I get to dress as a modern day prostitute, I'll be thrilled since it will be an opportunity for rebellion. When I read the role, I was in immediately since I thought "In this stuffy forum, getting to do that & get away with it would be awesome!" Plus, no one would get to accuse me of hiding my body in shame or because I have scars or something that embarrasses me. I'm always trying to find ways to rebel in that atmosphere & man, if that's not the ultimate way to do so I'm not sure what is. There's also the stretch of my acting muscles if I get to play it honestly. If it's not present day, I'll have to buy stuff.
I've often thought about how cool it would be if we had burlesque at a bar association event; not all the shows involve nudity & most of the acts I've seen had zero nudity. It's also an art form & does require some talent I don't have. The outfit I have in mind would certainly lend to more clothing than most burlesque performers end up in at the end of their acts. Plus, burlesque is certainly not the same as stripping & only an uncultured idiot who doesn't know anything about it would say it was. There's a different format & tone in burlesque than there is a strip show. I also don't think a burlesque performer will give you a lap dance no matter how much money you offer her (or him, but mostly her). The men would probably still be titillated enough to show up though at the Liberty Belle Spectacular, it was mostly women watching the burlesque performances.
Now to fully enjoy Car 54, Where Are You? Hopefully, I'll be awake enough to watch Dobie Gillis after this. I like both of these shows since they are funny as hell & wish they had good DVD sets. If they did, we'd own them in a heartbeat. I'm sad that Car 54 had cruddy DVD sets. Why can't METv show their full schedule in my area?! I have it on DVD but I'd watch Get Smart on there or see about watching The Donna Reed Show since I've not seen it since the late '80s when we had cable & Nick at Nite. Why can't they show these programs at more convenient times than 2 & 3 a.m. on Saturday nights? I hate the stupid infomercials they show for half the day when we could be watching MeTV shows, considering we don't have Antenna TV.
At the same time, though I've found there are times when it's okay to spend more money. One of those times was today for gasoline.
You may have read about NYC's gas lines & recent start of rationing. I was awakened Tuesday morning by horn honking from stopped cars that were in a gas line on my block. If they'd not suspended parking that day & my car wasn't already on the proper side to avoid being ticked, I would not have been able to move my car to the proper side. Those parking tickets aren't cheap.
I also saw the craziness in walking around my neighborhood & I'm having none of it. Fortunately, we had more gas in our car pre-Sandy that I thought we had. This meant the freedom of choice. I'd heard there were no lines in Connecticut or near a relative in New Jersey (where I understand gas rationing is still going on but has actually made a difference).
I decided to go to Connecticut to get gas & got up at 7 this morning to make that happen. Bear in mind that lately, I've been waking up around 12/1 p.m. (Sandy also screwed up my sleep schedule). I had to go today in order to be able to go on a trip that's been planned for months. Getting there & back was so much easier, let me tell you.
The station near my house had a line when I left for Connecticut & when I got back at around 9-9:15 this morning, the line had started to take over the main road I had to travel on. A normally 2 lane road was now 1 lane. I paid 50 cents more per gallon but I am more than happy to have paid it, for many reasons.
1. Not sitting in a 30 minutes if I'm lucky line. I'm not a person you want doing that since I've got a temper & if you mess with me, there will be problems. I also never claimed to be a paragon of patience.
2. Not paying increased tolls to get to New Jersey.
3. Not having to drive in Manhattan to go to that part of New Jersey. My route was all highway.
4. Being more familiar with Connecticut since I used to live there. I also know Connecticut doesn't have traffic circles or areas where you can't make left turns.
If this were a credit card commercial, it would end with Saving time & preventing unnecessary arrests: priceless. It's like "Wow, having lived in Connecticut for 3 years & driving around various areas of the state came in handy." That drive also helped me refresh my driving legs for the upcoming road trip & means we can actually take that road trip.
To avoid a gas line, you bet I'll do this. Essentially, it's paying for comfort. I found the same to be true when I took Amtrak on business class. That experience is why I'm not doing anything unless I can pay to get business class or not deal with crazy BS that's just going to raise my blood pressure & feel like Chinese water torture. Or for an analogy closer to home, maybe I should say I try to avoid situations akin to having a thong stuck in your butt & not being able to move it because you're at a work function or business meeting where there's no bathroom in sight or you're stuck with some irritating jerk you're just pretending to like who refuses to mingle.
I tend to resent paying more money for such things but today, I had no problem with it. Extraordinary circumstances & all. Can't believe Bloomberg claims this is going to continue for "a few more weeks." All I can say is he'd better be suspending alternate side parking restrictions while that's going on since I'm not waiting for a gas line to leave my block so I can move my car to the proper place. The street has enough room for one car on it so forget passing anyone; the only way you'll get people to move there is with a weapon or a death threat.
I'm also gratified to hear that people in Long Island started protesting at LIPA's headquarters because of the slow moving progress to restore power. My husband said LIPA is worthless & is glad he doesn't have to deal with them. Most people I know have either long since gotten their power back or never lost it in the first place (including in Long Island). I want their leadership to get nailed by the governor & hopefully forced to pay heavy fines. I'm sure those people without power would also like to see them serve some jail time.
You know, maybe the protestors without power should go camp out at the board members' homes & say "Until you restore our power, we're not moving." Might light some fires under a few behind if you did that, don't you think? Wouldn't it be ironic if they called the cops & the cops who showed up were also without power & sided with the protestors? Or maybe if the cops were human beings & agreed with this act? Gee, desperate times. Anyone get the memo on that?
I can't imagine the management there is sitting with no electricity at this point & I'd bet money they aren't.
Anyhow, another time I have to tell myself it's okay to spend money is if paying more means higher quality. There's also paying for things you don't already have or if you need a replacement. I'm very much of the school of using things until you can't anymore. I feel it's wasteful to get rid of something that still works or still fits you if it's not in disrepair. Had to reluctantly get rid of a rain coat I still can't find a viable replacement for due to it being in disrepair & despite my efforts in sewing up holes. I'd just get new holes in it. That still pisses me off & I can't find a replacement for it in my size. No one seems to have it & I adamantly refuse to get something that looks frumpy, boring or dull. Nor do I get things that look like what everyone else is wearing; kill me for having an aesthetic & caring about my appearance.
In other news, I got a part in the next City Bar show & guess what I'm playing: a "lady of the evening." I did get the one line I asked for & will get some solo singing in a song. This is probably the only venue where I can play that role without worrying about exploitation, losing credibility in my industry or getting a grievance filed against me. I also have to find out the time period of the show so I know how to do costuming. I have ideas; got the boots already though they aren't stripper heels. They come up pretty high on my leg & I've got lots of short skirts.
One thing I know is that I can't dress like I normally do. For one thing, no one's ever mistaken me for a prostitute (even in NC & Atlanta) & I've seen NYC prostitutes. They dress much more revealing than I do.
My husband's wary about it but I pointed out that I can't dress in something I'd wear normally (especially in the summer) since that's not honest to the role or the scene if it's present day. I most certainly will make sure nothing's going to be coming out unexpectedly (otherwise, I'd feel too self-conscious) & I've been on stage in all sorts of getup over the years. I've been in a swimsuit & reminded him that I did a song for my law school talent night one year in a lingerie top (a long camisole top that had a bra built in & was in the lingerie section of the store I got it from). We were dating at that time & he did not play Fashion Police over it.
If I get to dress as a modern day prostitute, I'll be thrilled since it will be an opportunity for rebellion. When I read the role, I was in immediately since I thought "In this stuffy forum, getting to do that & get away with it would be awesome!" Plus, no one would get to accuse me of hiding my body in shame or because I have scars or something that embarrasses me. I'm always trying to find ways to rebel in that atmosphere & man, if that's not the ultimate way to do so I'm not sure what is. There's also the stretch of my acting muscles if I get to play it honestly. If it's not present day, I'll have to buy stuff.
I've often thought about how cool it would be if we had burlesque at a bar association event; not all the shows involve nudity & most of the acts I've seen had zero nudity. It's also an art form & does require some talent I don't have. The outfit I have in mind would certainly lend to more clothing than most burlesque performers end up in at the end of their acts. Plus, burlesque is certainly not the same as stripping & only an uncultured idiot who doesn't know anything about it would say it was. There's a different format & tone in burlesque than there is a strip show. I also don't think a burlesque performer will give you a lap dance no matter how much money you offer her (or him, but mostly her). The men would probably still be titillated enough to show up though at the Liberty Belle Spectacular, it was mostly women watching the burlesque performances.
Now to fully enjoy Car 54, Where Are You? Hopefully, I'll be awake enough to watch Dobie Gillis after this. I like both of these shows since they are funny as hell & wish they had good DVD sets. If they did, we'd own them in a heartbeat. I'm sad that Car 54 had cruddy DVD sets. Why can't METv show their full schedule in my area?! I have it on DVD but I'd watch Get Smart on there or see about watching The Donna Reed Show since I've not seen it since the late '80s when we had cable & Nick at Nite. Why can't they show these programs at more convenient times than 2 & 3 a.m. on Saturday nights? I hate the stupid infomercials they show for half the day when we could be watching MeTV shows, considering we don't have Antenna TV.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
6 Days After the Hurricane - Cabin Fever & Leadership
As we all know, Hurricane (or Big Ass Storm, if you prefer) Sandy came through here last Sunday night/Monday morning. Tons of people lost power, Internet access, TV signals, homes, etc.
The Angry Redheaded Lawyer was not one of them. Nor was anyone living on her block. Despite living surrounded by trees partially threaded with power lines, we didn't lose a single thing. We didn't even lose our TV signal & that's often the first thing to go. Last year, when Irene happened (a huge much ado over nothing) we lost our signal briefly but got it back. The real problem was the Internet & phone line. That started the ordeal that led me to the community board meeting & to call my local representatives; it probably also contributed to the presence of FiOS this year. We got it recently & have been fine.
We also engaged in prep beforehand so we've been fine with food & all that stuff. The big things affecting us are cabin fever & lack of meaningful public transit to Manhattan. I don't consider a 1+ hour bus ride to a subway station that's running to get into Manhattan to be viable public transit. I want my local subway back up, damn it!
There are also the gas lines. My neighborhood is not exactly close to the highway or way out in the suburbs but there are lines at our gas stations, at least 2 that I know of in the area. I passed by one of them on my way home after some neighborhood reconnaissance. If you have to wait in those lines for gas, you've got my sympathies. This is definitely a time I'm glad I don't live in the suburbs & have to drive to work.
I'm hoping the gas situation will be taken care of before 2 weeks from now since we are planning to go out of town & driving for that purpose. Due to the mandatory TSA groping of all people who dare to book an airline ticket combined with not getting to sit next to my spouse, paying to check luggage, ungodly flight delays and the increasing chance of lost luggage, you couldn't pay me to fly on an airplane. I refuse to get on one unless it's a private jet & I vowed years ago never to fly coach again after my luggage was in the wrong place 3 different times. Since holiday travel is a choice, I'll choose driving; we just have to make sure the weather holds for us.
Minor problems, don't you think? Now you see why I didn't do a post about it immediately. I know people who only today got their power back. I know people who know people who lost everything. Some of the folks I know who did fine even went to go volunteer to help those less fortunate.
As I'm not a brawn person & have no way to meaningfully get anywhere, I've opted to stay home & out of the way. I've also thought about the people worse off than me the second I think I've got it rough. I told friends if they were in my area, they could come here for a shower & some cookies (I made a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal on Sunday; I'm told they came out good & I was trying to use up eggs in case our power went out).
After it passed through, I was like "That's it?" We'd done all this prep, had some non-perishable goods & I was ready for the worst. I figured our area got off lucky & asked others how they were holding up. Facebook was a good guide to see where people lost power, pictures of the damage, get updates on friends & loved ones, etc.
In the meantime, I didn't leave my house until today to assess how our area did. Yep, I was in my house for exactly 1 week. My husband was forced to go back to work on Thursday after buses in our area were running but he considered it a relief since he could get to his branch by taking 1 bus and it would get him out of the house. Eventually, cabin fever gets to you. I've promised myself when the transit system returns that I'm living it up in Manhattan. I did consider exploring more of our neighborhood in light of this situation to do something constructive if I got bored but my husband had taken out season 3 of Nurse Jackie on DVD before the storm.
Guess what I ended up doing when there was nothing on TV? Watching Nurse Jackie. If you haven't seen it, you should. Accuracy issues aside, it's a well written and well acted show. It's on Showtime, so what else do you expect? I've not seen many crappy shows on the pay channels. The style reminds me a lot of The Sopranos so if you like that show, you'll probably like Nurse Jackie. It does star Edie Falco, after all & you see Jackie do things you wish people would do in real life.
For instance, in one episode she's in a restaurant having lunch with one of the other characters. You overhear the waitress at another table being berated by this jerky business guy. Jackie, instead of leaving it alone as her doctor companion asks, strolls over, says she's the manager & makes this guy look like shit in front of the client he's trying to impress. The waitress is so grateful to Jackie that she comps their meal.
My husband sees this scene & says "You'd totally do something like that." Probably, considering I have & still do know people working in the service industry.
I also watched other DVDs of mine like the movie Casual Sex? (a film I learned about when living with my law school roommate who'd bought it for herself on DVD). Saw The Nightmare Before Christmas yesterday. My husband & I have a literally crazy amount of DVDs; my sister once said we were Blockbuster b/c we have so many. Except we have a lot of stuff you'd never see in the typical video store aside from any of my company's films. There's a decent amount of obscure titles in there & films from earlier decades. Most films we've seen today or in the past decade are "one & done"; you see them once & there's just no re-watchability to them.
I learned other people I know are in the same boat but it still makes you feel like a member of the 1% to have all that while other people have real problems. Unlike some of these 1% motherfuckers like that Mary Wittenburg, the president of NY Road Runners who apparently went on TV and bitched and moaned about how cancelling the NYC Marathon meant all this lost revenue to the city and how all the runners traveling from out of town lost money or Bloomberg (who we already knew was a scumbag), I have a conscience & enough class not to kick people while they are down by closing off roads, diverting resources, setting up generators for the media, etc.
I do agree that it sucks those people flew in from out of the country & all to run in it. I agree they should have been told sooner so they could change their plans. But I don't think they get to displace homeless storm victims for their little marathon or use up resources that could go to the recovery effort or divert police, sanitation workers, and others trying to help victims for a (as I read it in a few places) "frivolous event." The storm was announced everywhere & surely they could have read about the damage it caused. Would these people have gone to New Orleans a week after Katrina to participate in some event that would close off the few open streets, provide comped water bottles, generators, etc. right in the faces of people who don't have power, clean water, etc.?
I will say this: at least there is more leadership around here than New Orleans had after Katrina. Governor Cuomo also wrote a letter to the utility companies saying that they'd better be getting power returned ASAP, they knew about issues and had better fix them or he'd be revoking their licenses to work in this state. That should make you feel a little better about our leadership. I wish more politicians in all areas of office did that & followed through; I'd be a hard core supporter of someone like that. There's too much pussy footing around in government & really in all parts of life. More people need to grow some balls, say "Don't fuck with me or else!" & then follow through.
At this point, I'm just seeing what happens in the next few weeks. Oh, and there IS looting going on in parts of the city that were affected per someone I know who's out there volunteering. Social media updates from people who are present (especially those you know) are more accurate than the media or what some politician says. Don't ever forget that.
The Angry Redheaded Lawyer was not one of them. Nor was anyone living on her block. Despite living surrounded by trees partially threaded with power lines, we didn't lose a single thing. We didn't even lose our TV signal & that's often the first thing to go. Last year, when Irene happened (a huge much ado over nothing) we lost our signal briefly but got it back. The real problem was the Internet & phone line. That started the ordeal that led me to the community board meeting & to call my local representatives; it probably also contributed to the presence of FiOS this year. We got it recently & have been fine.
We also engaged in prep beforehand so we've been fine with food & all that stuff. The big things affecting us are cabin fever & lack of meaningful public transit to Manhattan. I don't consider a 1+ hour bus ride to a subway station that's running to get into Manhattan to be viable public transit. I want my local subway back up, damn it!
There are also the gas lines. My neighborhood is not exactly close to the highway or way out in the suburbs but there are lines at our gas stations, at least 2 that I know of in the area. I passed by one of them on my way home after some neighborhood reconnaissance. If you have to wait in those lines for gas, you've got my sympathies. This is definitely a time I'm glad I don't live in the suburbs & have to drive to work.
I'm hoping the gas situation will be taken care of before 2 weeks from now since we are planning to go out of town & driving for that purpose. Due to the mandatory TSA groping of all people who dare to book an airline ticket combined with not getting to sit next to my spouse, paying to check luggage, ungodly flight delays and the increasing chance of lost luggage, you couldn't pay me to fly on an airplane. I refuse to get on one unless it's a private jet & I vowed years ago never to fly coach again after my luggage was in the wrong place 3 different times. Since holiday travel is a choice, I'll choose driving; we just have to make sure the weather holds for us.
Minor problems, don't you think? Now you see why I didn't do a post about it immediately. I know people who only today got their power back. I know people who know people who lost everything. Some of the folks I know who did fine even went to go volunteer to help those less fortunate.
As I'm not a brawn person & have no way to meaningfully get anywhere, I've opted to stay home & out of the way. I've also thought about the people worse off than me the second I think I've got it rough. I told friends if they were in my area, they could come here for a shower & some cookies (I made a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal on Sunday; I'm told they came out good & I was trying to use up eggs in case our power went out).
After it passed through, I was like "That's it?" We'd done all this prep, had some non-perishable goods & I was ready for the worst. I figured our area got off lucky & asked others how they were holding up. Facebook was a good guide to see where people lost power, pictures of the damage, get updates on friends & loved ones, etc.
In the meantime, I didn't leave my house until today to assess how our area did. Yep, I was in my house for exactly 1 week. My husband was forced to go back to work on Thursday after buses in our area were running but he considered it a relief since he could get to his branch by taking 1 bus and it would get him out of the house. Eventually, cabin fever gets to you. I've promised myself when the transit system returns that I'm living it up in Manhattan. I did consider exploring more of our neighborhood in light of this situation to do something constructive if I got bored but my husband had taken out season 3 of Nurse Jackie on DVD before the storm.
Guess what I ended up doing when there was nothing on TV? Watching Nurse Jackie. If you haven't seen it, you should. Accuracy issues aside, it's a well written and well acted show. It's on Showtime, so what else do you expect? I've not seen many crappy shows on the pay channels. The style reminds me a lot of The Sopranos so if you like that show, you'll probably like Nurse Jackie. It does star Edie Falco, after all & you see Jackie do things you wish people would do in real life.
For instance, in one episode she's in a restaurant having lunch with one of the other characters. You overhear the waitress at another table being berated by this jerky business guy. Jackie, instead of leaving it alone as her doctor companion asks, strolls over, says she's the manager & makes this guy look like shit in front of the client he's trying to impress. The waitress is so grateful to Jackie that she comps their meal.
My husband sees this scene & says "You'd totally do something like that." Probably, considering I have & still do know people working in the service industry.
I also watched other DVDs of mine like the movie Casual Sex? (a film I learned about when living with my law school roommate who'd bought it for herself on DVD). Saw The Nightmare Before Christmas yesterday. My husband & I have a literally crazy amount of DVDs; my sister once said we were Blockbuster b/c we have so many. Except we have a lot of stuff you'd never see in the typical video store aside from any of my company's films. There's a decent amount of obscure titles in there & films from earlier decades. Most films we've seen today or in the past decade are "one & done"; you see them once & there's just no re-watchability to them.
I learned other people I know are in the same boat but it still makes you feel like a member of the 1% to have all that while other people have real problems. Unlike some of these 1% motherfuckers like that Mary Wittenburg, the president of NY Road Runners who apparently went on TV and bitched and moaned about how cancelling the NYC Marathon meant all this lost revenue to the city and how all the runners traveling from out of town lost money or Bloomberg (who we already knew was a scumbag), I have a conscience & enough class not to kick people while they are down by closing off roads, diverting resources, setting up generators for the media, etc.
I do agree that it sucks those people flew in from out of the country & all to run in it. I agree they should have been told sooner so they could change their plans. But I don't think they get to displace homeless storm victims for their little marathon or use up resources that could go to the recovery effort or divert police, sanitation workers, and others trying to help victims for a (as I read it in a few places) "frivolous event." The storm was announced everywhere & surely they could have read about the damage it caused. Would these people have gone to New Orleans a week after Katrina to participate in some event that would close off the few open streets, provide comped water bottles, generators, etc. right in the faces of people who don't have power, clean water, etc.?
I will say this: at least there is more leadership around here than New Orleans had after Katrina. Governor Cuomo also wrote a letter to the utility companies saying that they'd better be getting power returned ASAP, they knew about issues and had better fix them or he'd be revoking their licenses to work in this state. That should make you feel a little better about our leadership. I wish more politicians in all areas of office did that & followed through; I'd be a hard core supporter of someone like that. There's too much pussy footing around in government & really in all parts of life. More people need to grow some balls, say "Don't fuck with me or else!" & then follow through.
At this point, I'm just seeing what happens in the next few weeks. Oh, and there IS looting going on in parts of the city that were affected per someone I know who's out there volunteering. Social media updates from people who are present (especially those you know) are more accurate than the media or what some politician says. Don't ever forget that.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Overdramatic Freak Outs Over Weather Conditions
If you read anything about the East Coast or were here this week, you are well acquainted with that "earthquake" and the impending "hurricane" coming up the coast this weekend.
This leads me to something that's bothered me for years: cheap theatrics over weather conditions. Let me explain what I'm talking about. If you already know where I'm going on this, I respect you as a member of the intelligent population of planet Earth. Since I think most people don't, here goes.
First & foremost, the local media is definitely a culprit in mass hysteria on weather matters. They ALWAYS blow up some minor detail & make it into a catchphrase, a slogan, or some mass travesty to society, God, animals, all living things. It's not just a snowstorm, it's the blizzard of 2011 or Snow Spectacular. Whatever!
Now, while I acknowledge that the media does this, I also know that that's simply the media being what it is. This massive exaggeration has gone on forever & will likely continue until society collapses onto itself. I'm sure this even happened before the printing press considering there were town criers. Essentially, the media is today's town crier.
The problem I have is with people who further this media frenzy. Or even better, the people who take this media frenzy to a whole new level of blind panic & hysteria. These are the people who will turn the mountain into Mount Everest.
If the media turned a snowball into a snowman, these people turn the average snowman into the Abominable Snowman.
Case in point. This week, there was a minor earthquake in NYC. I felt a little shaking and thought maybe it was neighbors at first. Then I thought it was just me seeing things. Then, it was over.
The next day, I read about chuckleheads who claimed this earthquake made them apprehensive that they were going to experience another 9/11 attack.
Were you really a few miles away from me at the time? I understand feeling that way if you were in D.C. since it was stronger there, but if you're in NYC & claim this, you're one of these instigators feeding into the media frenzy. Stop being an idiot!
Furthermore, I know 9/11 was a traumatic event here but stop thinking every little thing that happens in NYC is connected to terrorism or associated with 9/11. Sometimes, a fart is just a fart all right? Plus, if you were smart, why would you target the place where everyone's looking for more terrorist attacks to happen? There are plenty of other cities in the US and more places where there are lots of people if that's your goal. I'm sure some of them are not nearly as prepared or endowed with the kind of resources NYC is.
Oh, and lastly: when it's your time to go, it's your time to go. We're all going to die someday so while you're alive, you may as well live free, rationally & in a manner that will make you happy without hurting innocent people. Living in fear isn't living at all, got it? Let law enforcement worry about terrorist stuff & don't let people take your civil rights from you.
Let's face it: the terrorists already won & if you don't agree, you live in a fog of delusion no amount of common sense will stir you out of. You're officially one of the sheeple!
So now, with Hurricane Irene heading toward NYC and Long Island, there's more panic & hysteria. Try finding water or batteries here, even earlier today: you'd be out of luck. We went grocery shopping earlier and saw some of this firsthand. There was nothing but a wide, empty space of shelves where the bottled water would be. This was the case in every store we went into.
It seems there are also some differences between city dwellers and suburbanites. People in the suburbs seem more prone to freaking out. You mention any major weather condition and it's like telling them the Rapture is going to hit tomorrow. I'm shocked I didn't see anyone running around screaming "Oh, ag-o-ny ag-o-nyyyy!" while grabbing the sides of their head like Daffy Duck in that Looney Tunes cartoon The Great Piggy Bank Robbery.
Apparently there was the same stocking up in NYC but city dwellers take this stuff in stride. Much like me, they feel it's much ado over nothing.
They closed our transit system starting at noon tomorrow. They also evacuated parts of the city (and not our area, despite in-laws claiming we were blocks away from evacuation; welcome to more hysteria). Part of this is due to Bloomberg's incompetence during the blizzard in December. You can read about that in this blog considering I took pics of the incompetence & total lying he was doing about my area being serviceable. Ha!
I also had to deal with constant tornado freakouts growing up. Anytime there was a thunderstorm in NC, people would claim a tornado touched down & everyone would panic. Institute a tornado watch & people would immediately go into freakout mode. I went through exactly 1 tornado while living there. I also went through exactly 1 hurricane (Hugo, back in 1989). During the hurricane, I was in a trailer. Survived that just fine, thanks.
We're slated to get a Category 1. My biggest concern is the power going out, though we have our precautions set. I believe in not being stupid but at the same time, lighten up people!!! Take a chill pill, get a grip. Stop going overboard & stressing out over weather stuff. You can't control it. You can't change it so sit down, shut up & stop buying into media hype. For God's sake, stop creating exaggeration & doing the Man's job in creating a culture of fear.
More rants in the next few days if I've got power & people are actually on the ball about fixing it.
This leads me to something that's bothered me for years: cheap theatrics over weather conditions. Let me explain what I'm talking about. If you already know where I'm going on this, I respect you as a member of the intelligent population of planet Earth. Since I think most people don't, here goes.
First & foremost, the local media is definitely a culprit in mass hysteria on weather matters. They ALWAYS blow up some minor detail & make it into a catchphrase, a slogan, or some mass travesty to society, God, animals, all living things. It's not just a snowstorm, it's the blizzard of 2011 or Snow Spectacular. Whatever!
Now, while I acknowledge that the media does this, I also know that that's simply the media being what it is. This massive exaggeration has gone on forever & will likely continue until society collapses onto itself. I'm sure this even happened before the printing press considering there were town criers. Essentially, the media is today's town crier.
The problem I have is with people who further this media frenzy. Or even better, the people who take this media frenzy to a whole new level of blind panic & hysteria. These are the people who will turn the mountain into Mount Everest.
If the media turned a snowball into a snowman, these people turn the average snowman into the Abominable Snowman.
Case in point. This week, there was a minor earthquake in NYC. I felt a little shaking and thought maybe it was neighbors at first. Then I thought it was just me seeing things. Then, it was over.
The next day, I read about chuckleheads who claimed this earthquake made them apprehensive that they were going to experience another 9/11 attack.
Were you really a few miles away from me at the time? I understand feeling that way if you were in D.C. since it was stronger there, but if you're in NYC & claim this, you're one of these instigators feeding into the media frenzy. Stop being an idiot!
Furthermore, I know 9/11 was a traumatic event here but stop thinking every little thing that happens in NYC is connected to terrorism or associated with 9/11. Sometimes, a fart is just a fart all right? Plus, if you were smart, why would you target the place where everyone's looking for more terrorist attacks to happen? There are plenty of other cities in the US and more places where there are lots of people if that's your goal. I'm sure some of them are not nearly as prepared or endowed with the kind of resources NYC is.
Oh, and lastly: when it's your time to go, it's your time to go. We're all going to die someday so while you're alive, you may as well live free, rationally & in a manner that will make you happy without hurting innocent people. Living in fear isn't living at all, got it? Let law enforcement worry about terrorist stuff & don't let people take your civil rights from you.
Let's face it: the terrorists already won & if you don't agree, you live in a fog of delusion no amount of common sense will stir you out of. You're officially one of the sheeple!
So now, with Hurricane Irene heading toward NYC and Long Island, there's more panic & hysteria. Try finding water or batteries here, even earlier today: you'd be out of luck. We went grocery shopping earlier and saw some of this firsthand. There was nothing but a wide, empty space of shelves where the bottled water would be. This was the case in every store we went into.
It seems there are also some differences between city dwellers and suburbanites. People in the suburbs seem more prone to freaking out. You mention any major weather condition and it's like telling them the Rapture is going to hit tomorrow. I'm shocked I didn't see anyone running around screaming "Oh, ag-o-ny ag-o-nyyyy!" while grabbing the sides of their head like Daffy Duck in that Looney Tunes cartoon The Great Piggy Bank Robbery.
Apparently there was the same stocking up in NYC but city dwellers take this stuff in stride. Much like me, they feel it's much ado over nothing.
They closed our transit system starting at noon tomorrow. They also evacuated parts of the city (and not our area, despite in-laws claiming we were blocks away from evacuation; welcome to more hysteria). Part of this is due to Bloomberg's incompetence during the blizzard in December. You can read about that in this blog considering I took pics of the incompetence & total lying he was doing about my area being serviceable. Ha!
I also had to deal with constant tornado freakouts growing up. Anytime there was a thunderstorm in NC, people would claim a tornado touched down & everyone would panic. Institute a tornado watch & people would immediately go into freakout mode. I went through exactly 1 tornado while living there. I also went through exactly 1 hurricane (Hugo, back in 1989). During the hurricane, I was in a trailer. Survived that just fine, thanks.
We're slated to get a Category 1. My biggest concern is the power going out, though we have our precautions set. I believe in not being stupid but at the same time, lighten up people!!! Take a chill pill, get a grip. Stop going overboard & stressing out over weather stuff. You can't control it. You can't change it so sit down, shut up & stop buying into media hype. For God's sake, stop creating exaggeration & doing the Man's job in creating a culture of fear.
More rants in the next few days if I've got power & people are actually on the ball about fixing it.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
The Bullshit Begins Once Again: 90 Days
So if my spouse didn't already hate his job, he's just gotten yet another layoff letter. The pussies who staff his job didn't even have the guts to do it before Friday afternoon or hang around; how textbook predictable! They deserve everything they get & boy will they suffer if I've got anything to say about it.
Yeah, there may be a funding reprieve again but he & I have had enough. When a place makes you work in a blizzard aftermath when roads aren't even cleared and sidewalks are dangerous to walk on + the director doesn't even show up (despite not having to personally drive on the roads), that's a sign that you are no more regarded than a piece of used chewing gum. These assholes don't give a damn about anyone's families or how they might feel if something happened to their loved one. On top of that, there is zero advancement opportunity or recognition from this top brass when my spouse does well. Those jobs aren't worth it for your soul, mental health or psyche.
Oh, and asshole? Some of your employees are married to people like The Angry Redheaded Lawyer. Note that very carefully. For the stupid or dense, let me break it down:
A) "Angry": meaning the person already has some rage issues & you aren't helping by screwing w/her household & her soulmate's peace of mind.
B) "Redheaded": meaning that if you know anything about natural redheads, you know that we all have tempers and have a persecution complex
C) "Lawyer": meaning the person knows what the laws are & can probably get legal representation for a loved one much quicker than the average person; not to mention just the technical advantage of having someone around who knows the law better than you
So mix all that together. Do you really think it's a good idea to go around pissing off people who are friends/loves of folk like The Angry Redheaded Lawyer? If you do, you're just asking for some type of creepy misfortune. Life will likely hand it to you.
As was the case before, my husband getting laid off means the past 24 years of my life were a total waste. It also means I have no reason to care about things like law & order or flying right. Why do they not lay off the HR people or other middle manager types who aren't doing anything except "support functions" that could be handled by the lazy pricks themselves? They've had a hiring freeze for nearly 2 years now so what is HR doing other than being leeches on the taxpayers' dime? They can't even perform their jobs competently!
Gee, decimate someone's life. How do you they're going to feel when they are in the same boat they'd have been in had they put in zero effort to do anything or move upward?
When you find your best efforts leave you stuck as a serf, there's no point. If I'd lived in a time where there was no way to escape whatever social class and lifestyle you were born into, I'd have killed myself very early on. I was quite a mature kid & knew BS when I saw it. It's not every 15 year old that institutes an EEOC complaint against a potential employer when the employer interviews her then tells her months later that she had to be 16 even though no such signs were posted, she never lied about her age + was given an interview regardless.
There is no therapist, medication or mental health facility that could encourage me to accept my entire life & everything I worked for crashing down around me because of some bureaucratic billionaire piece of shit who personally fucked me over + would never have the balls to admit it to my face even in the presence of a whole team of bodyguards. There's a lot of players involved but our beloved mayor Bloomberg has significant fault here.
If you were going to drug me to accept my new life where I have no privacy & never get to have marital relations w/my spouse, why not just give me acid, cocaine, heroin or some illegal hard drug? You'd simply be creating a drug addict, not solving my problems. Me going to my hometown or living with my parents would mean death and I'm not just saying that. I suffered significant depression when I was in NC after graduating from college; no medical diagnosis since you know true depression when you get it.
If I'd stayed, I'd have felt like my 4 years were a waste. You'll notice the love of my life did not live in the South.
Life is also far too short to spend it on things you hate. Maybe these "readjust your priorities" types should lose a family member at a young age like I did. Then they might get it. They should also have jobs where they're not getting paid or be solicited by scammers. Have some of my experiences and then talk to me. The more you have, the more likely I'll take you seriously.
I still maintain that if I go down, I'm going down swinging. I'll go down on my terms and in my way regardless of anyone else's views. They haven't lived my experiences, my existence or overcome the things I had to in order to be where I am today. Most of these same people probably had Mommy & Daddy hand them everything to never really experience hardship, pain, poverty or any real problems.
Is it no wonder people become criminals? Maybe if you gave smart people opportunities to do things & gave them some viable support, you might have good stuff out of the US. They support their academically inclined in other countries & don't saddle them with non-dischargeable student loans in the six figures in a job marketplace where the low five figure salaries rule the day.
That "suffering life" nonsense is for the birds. I'm not about to do it for anyone and it's not a positive model for any kid. All you're telling them is that you should gladly eat shit when the establishment serves it to you & do it with a smile. Maybe the corrupt forces & morons are all for it but I'm simply not that corrupt or stupid. I think people should be educated enough to make their own decisions.
Remember that when you have been robbed of everything dear to you, you should NEVER "go gentle into that good night." You have an obligation to everyone who's been trampled on to fight hard and stand up for yourself in whatever way you have to.
See, I form significant impressions of you based on your actions & how you treat me or my friends/loved ones. One bitchy entertainment law attorney in my locale will learn that the hard way. She'd better never meet me since I'll call her out on it.
Yeah, there may be a funding reprieve again but he & I have had enough. When a place makes you work in a blizzard aftermath when roads aren't even cleared and sidewalks are dangerous to walk on + the director doesn't even show up (despite not having to personally drive on the roads), that's a sign that you are no more regarded than a piece of used chewing gum. These assholes don't give a damn about anyone's families or how they might feel if something happened to their loved one. On top of that, there is zero advancement opportunity or recognition from this top brass when my spouse does well. Those jobs aren't worth it for your soul, mental health or psyche.
Oh, and asshole? Some of your employees are married to people like The Angry Redheaded Lawyer. Note that very carefully. For the stupid or dense, let me break it down:
A) "Angry": meaning the person already has some rage issues & you aren't helping by screwing w/her household & her soulmate's peace of mind.
B) "Redheaded": meaning that if you know anything about natural redheads, you know that we all have tempers and have a persecution complex
C) "Lawyer": meaning the person knows what the laws are & can probably get legal representation for a loved one much quicker than the average person; not to mention just the technical advantage of having someone around who knows the law better than you
So mix all that together. Do you really think it's a good idea to go around pissing off people who are friends/loves of folk like The Angry Redheaded Lawyer? If you do, you're just asking for some type of creepy misfortune. Life will likely hand it to you.
As was the case before, my husband getting laid off means the past 24 years of my life were a total waste. It also means I have no reason to care about things like law & order or flying right. Why do they not lay off the HR people or other middle manager types who aren't doing anything except "support functions" that could be handled by the lazy pricks themselves? They've had a hiring freeze for nearly 2 years now so what is HR doing other than being leeches on the taxpayers' dime? They can't even perform their jobs competently!
Gee, decimate someone's life. How do you they're going to feel when they are in the same boat they'd have been in had they put in zero effort to do anything or move upward?
When you find your best efforts leave you stuck as a serf, there's no point. If I'd lived in a time where there was no way to escape whatever social class and lifestyle you were born into, I'd have killed myself very early on. I was quite a mature kid & knew BS when I saw it. It's not every 15 year old that institutes an EEOC complaint against a potential employer when the employer interviews her then tells her months later that she had to be 16 even though no such signs were posted, she never lied about her age + was given an interview regardless.
There is no therapist, medication or mental health facility that could encourage me to accept my entire life & everything I worked for crashing down around me because of some bureaucratic billionaire piece of shit who personally fucked me over + would never have the balls to admit it to my face even in the presence of a whole team of bodyguards. There's a lot of players involved but our beloved mayor Bloomberg has significant fault here.
If you were going to drug me to accept my new life where I have no privacy & never get to have marital relations w/my spouse, why not just give me acid, cocaine, heroin or some illegal hard drug? You'd simply be creating a drug addict, not solving my problems. Me going to my hometown or living with my parents would mean death and I'm not just saying that. I suffered significant depression when I was in NC after graduating from college; no medical diagnosis since you know true depression when you get it.
If I'd stayed, I'd have felt like my 4 years were a waste. You'll notice the love of my life did not live in the South.
Life is also far too short to spend it on things you hate. Maybe these "readjust your priorities" types should lose a family member at a young age like I did. Then they might get it. They should also have jobs where they're not getting paid or be solicited by scammers. Have some of my experiences and then talk to me. The more you have, the more likely I'll take you seriously.
I still maintain that if I go down, I'm going down swinging. I'll go down on my terms and in my way regardless of anyone else's views. They haven't lived my experiences, my existence or overcome the things I had to in order to be where I am today. Most of these same people probably had Mommy & Daddy hand them everything to never really experience hardship, pain, poverty or any real problems.
Is it no wonder people become criminals? Maybe if you gave smart people opportunities to do things & gave them some viable support, you might have good stuff out of the US. They support their academically inclined in other countries & don't saddle them with non-dischargeable student loans in the six figures in a job marketplace where the low five figure salaries rule the day.
That "suffering life" nonsense is for the birds. I'm not about to do it for anyone and it's not a positive model for any kid. All you're telling them is that you should gladly eat shit when the establishment serves it to you & do it with a smile. Maybe the corrupt forces & morons are all for it but I'm simply not that corrupt or stupid. I think people should be educated enough to make their own decisions.
Remember that when you have been robbed of everything dear to you, you should NEVER "go gentle into that good night." You have an obligation to everyone who's been trampled on to fight hard and stand up for yourself in whatever way you have to.
See, I form significant impressions of you based on your actions & how you treat me or my friends/loved ones. One bitchy entertainment law attorney in my locale will learn that the hard way. She'd better never meet me since I'll call her out on it.
Monday, March 7, 2011
General Musings Part 17
So, a few things have been going on lately. First off, I've taken some more assertive steps for 2 things I got communications on: a job offer & a meeting with the President of a local bar association I belong to. It remains to be seen if I'll ever get a definitive start date, salary & at a minimum, a written statement that some other attorney isn't going to get this job while I'm not being contacted.
Let's face it, you can't trust prospective employers not to do that stuff. This isn't the situation of a business partner, where you've got a written contract against that kind of thing. Nope, this is you blowing in the wind. Based on my experiences with people outright lying to my face + the stories I've read/heard about, I have very little trust when it comes to a business I don't own. Some of these people deserve some karma, as you're going to see an example of shortly.
Now, on to more stupidity:
I saw this & here's my thought: he ought to know if that's true. After all, he ran a Ponzi scheme for years. I was amused.
This has been something my husband, his co-workers & I have talked about for YEARS. Where were you, Daily News?
Let's not even talk about what it's like when they don't have weekend subway service. I couldn't even go into the city one weekend b/c my train line had shuttle buses over the ENTIRE way & there was no alternate to that crap.
In case you can't tell, I hate dealing with shuttle buses due to safety reasons (you're literally packed on there like sardines, sometimes unsafely) & the fact that it takes twice as long to get someplace on them as it does on the subway.
And this is total overreaction. Just another example of an overly sensitive parent who should just home school their child. What will this mother do if her son ends up a target of bullies? Or someone calls him a racist word sometime? I think this sort of thing is innovative teaching & is far more vivid, socially relevant, effective, etc. than having kids do a passive activity like reading or watching a film. I bet she's also one of those people who wants to keep the Censored 11 under wraps. Denying history is the easiest way to repeat it.
And shame on the school board who'll likely throw this teacher under the bus.
Now, here? Welcome to karma!!!
I honestly have to wonder when workers in this county are going to do that. Not saying I necessarily condone violence but if you act like a jerk to others, karma will generally kick your sorry behind. Kind of hard to have any sympathy for someone who profits richly off the backs of their employees while the employees are on welfare, especially when the executive in question brags about that kind of thing.
That's why I make it a point to treat all people with basic human dignity & respect. You can bet if I had employees, I'd not exploit them since I wouldn't want that done to my family members & didn't appreciate the treatment of people I knew who worked in "shit" jobs (defined as jobs that have no upward advancement & supervised by anti-education thugs who'd never let you advance).
Take note, big business owners. Treat people like shit & you could end up like this senior executive if you've left them in poverty with no chance to do anything better in life. If you weren't bragging about your deeds & showed some humanity, maybe it wouldn't happen to you.
Consider the mayor of Cincinnati who was on Undercover Boss last night. He did both jobs AND even wore a fat suit. That's dedication & I respect the guy for it since I know Bloomberg doesn't have the balls to do that kind of thing himself. He's too busy living in a bubble with the rich to bother with any public service duties. He also supports a Wal-Mart in NYC, forgetting that his rich friends will have to pay more to Medicaid & the welfare program b/c no one else will be able to afford it (remember, he either laid them off or Wal-Mart effectively shut down the small businesses) + these Wal-Mart employees will have to use it due to the poverty level wages Wal-Mart offers.
I know that the library director in my husband's area is too arrogant to that kind of thing as well based on his own past remarks. He also doesn't even drive on snowy/icy roads b/c he has a driver the taxpayers are probably paying through the nose for, but has no qualms demanding his employees to come in & work while risking their lives in such conditions.
Since the "have/have not" divide is getting larger & larger, one really has to consider that it's just a question of when this happens to a senior executive here vs. if it happens. People get pissed off & it's part of human nature.
Some sound advice here but this is how I view salary: it's the payment you make for me to dedicate my full energy to your work. Pay me too little & I'll be taking side jobs to make up the difference. That means if my side work pays more, you're not going to be my first priority.
You also risk my leaving your job to go to a higher paid competitor (myself as a freelancer or to some other company).
If you want to be the #1 priority, you're going to have to pay me a proper rate. I also adamantly refuse to sign anything restricting my ability to take side work if I'm making a pathetic rate. Some fields ban that practice anyway, including mine.
As long as we establish that, we're good. Too bad more employees don't approach salary discussions that way. These days, after getting my own legal clients, I certainly do.
Finally, this article. I'm truly skeptical about that kind of thing & think you should notice the contradiction at the end.
"No formal tone" but "maintain professional stuff." Yeah...so basically this means create an anemic Facebook profile that has nothing to do with your personality. That sounds like BigLaw logic.
Is anyone else concerned that as time goes on, places like Facebook will be filled with bland, vanilla, horribly banal profiles that make you just want to fall asleep because the people are that boring???
I've had people send me friend requests but have no way for me to message them to ask about them. For instance, why should I friend you? What do you do? What is your reason for your friend request to me, a total stranger? Are you violating policies directly stated on my profile, such as trying to get me to read your unsolicited material or ask me for a very personal favor?
Unless I actually know you in real life, you're going to have to answer that stuff before you see my personal Facebook page. Furthermore, my Facebook page is PERSONAL. I'm hardly a binge drinking, coke addicted whore but at the same time, I do have strong viewpoints & will not temper them for anyone's delicate sensibilities. I tell people that if their sensibilities are THAT delicate, then they should NOT be a Facebook friend.
I'd also never friend anyone who had employment power over me or any co-worker in such a job unless that person stated point blank in writing that any material on my personal page wouldn't be used against me. Face it, it's just better to work for yourself.
Let's face it, you can't trust prospective employers not to do that stuff. This isn't the situation of a business partner, where you've got a written contract against that kind of thing. Nope, this is you blowing in the wind. Based on my experiences with people outright lying to my face + the stories I've read/heard about, I have very little trust when it comes to a business I don't own. Some of these people deserve some karma, as you're going to see an example of shortly.
Now, on to more stupidity:
I saw this & here's my thought: he ought to know if that's true. After all, he ran a Ponzi scheme for years. I was amused.
This has been something my husband, his co-workers & I have talked about for YEARS. Where were you, Daily News?
Let's not even talk about what it's like when they don't have weekend subway service. I couldn't even go into the city one weekend b/c my train line had shuttle buses over the ENTIRE way & there was no alternate to that crap.
In case you can't tell, I hate dealing with shuttle buses due to safety reasons (you're literally packed on there like sardines, sometimes unsafely) & the fact that it takes twice as long to get someplace on them as it does on the subway.
And this is total overreaction. Just another example of an overly sensitive parent who should just home school their child. What will this mother do if her son ends up a target of bullies? Or someone calls him a racist word sometime? I think this sort of thing is innovative teaching & is far more vivid, socially relevant, effective, etc. than having kids do a passive activity like reading or watching a film. I bet she's also one of those people who wants to keep the Censored 11 under wraps. Denying history is the easiest way to repeat it.
And shame on the school board who'll likely throw this teacher under the bus.
Now, here? Welcome to karma!!!
I honestly have to wonder when workers in this county are going to do that. Not saying I necessarily condone violence but if you act like a jerk to others, karma will generally kick your sorry behind. Kind of hard to have any sympathy for someone who profits richly off the backs of their employees while the employees are on welfare, especially when the executive in question brags about that kind of thing.
That's why I make it a point to treat all people with basic human dignity & respect. You can bet if I had employees, I'd not exploit them since I wouldn't want that done to my family members & didn't appreciate the treatment of people I knew who worked in "shit" jobs (defined as jobs that have no upward advancement & supervised by anti-education thugs who'd never let you advance).
Take note, big business owners. Treat people like shit & you could end up like this senior executive if you've left them in poverty with no chance to do anything better in life. If you weren't bragging about your deeds & showed some humanity, maybe it wouldn't happen to you.
Consider the mayor of Cincinnati who was on Undercover Boss last night. He did both jobs AND even wore a fat suit. That's dedication & I respect the guy for it since I know Bloomberg doesn't have the balls to do that kind of thing himself. He's too busy living in a bubble with the rich to bother with any public service duties. He also supports a Wal-Mart in NYC, forgetting that his rich friends will have to pay more to Medicaid & the welfare program b/c no one else will be able to afford it (remember, he either laid them off or Wal-Mart effectively shut down the small businesses) + these Wal-Mart employees will have to use it due to the poverty level wages Wal-Mart offers.
I know that the library director in my husband's area is too arrogant to that kind of thing as well based on his own past remarks. He also doesn't even drive on snowy/icy roads b/c he has a driver the taxpayers are probably paying through the nose for, but has no qualms demanding his employees to come in & work while risking their lives in such conditions.
Since the "have/have not" divide is getting larger & larger, one really has to consider that it's just a question of when this happens to a senior executive here vs. if it happens. People get pissed off & it's part of human nature.
Some sound advice here but this is how I view salary: it's the payment you make for me to dedicate my full energy to your work. Pay me too little & I'll be taking side jobs to make up the difference. That means if my side work pays more, you're not going to be my first priority.
You also risk my leaving your job to go to a higher paid competitor (myself as a freelancer or to some other company).
If you want to be the #1 priority, you're going to have to pay me a proper rate. I also adamantly refuse to sign anything restricting my ability to take side work if I'm making a pathetic rate. Some fields ban that practice anyway, including mine.
As long as we establish that, we're good. Too bad more employees don't approach salary discussions that way. These days, after getting my own legal clients, I certainly do.
Finally, this article. I'm truly skeptical about that kind of thing & think you should notice the contradiction at the end.
"No formal tone" but "maintain professional stuff." Yeah...so basically this means create an anemic Facebook profile that has nothing to do with your personality. That sounds like BigLaw logic.
Is anyone else concerned that as time goes on, places like Facebook will be filled with bland, vanilla, horribly banal profiles that make you just want to fall asleep because the people are that boring???
I've had people send me friend requests but have no way for me to message them to ask about them. For instance, why should I friend you? What do you do? What is your reason for your friend request to me, a total stranger? Are you violating policies directly stated on my profile, such as trying to get me to read your unsolicited material or ask me for a very personal favor?
Unless I actually know you in real life, you're going to have to answer that stuff before you see my personal Facebook page. Furthermore, my Facebook page is PERSONAL. I'm hardly a binge drinking, coke addicted whore but at the same time, I do have strong viewpoints & will not temper them for anyone's delicate sensibilities. I tell people that if their sensibilities are THAT delicate, then they should NOT be a Facebook friend.
I'd also never friend anyone who had employment power over me or any co-worker in such a job unless that person stated point blank in writing that any material on my personal page wouldn't be used against me. Face it, it's just better to work for yourself.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
More Life Stuff
Well, I saw this & was quite gratified. My road wasn't even plowed until maybe right near the 7 a.m. deadline promised by the Director of Sanitation. I didn't go to bed until 4 & we didn't hear anyone driving down our street. This silence on our block for days on end will never happen again since cars are always driving down.
I'm also glad I didn't vote for Bloomberg & think the mayor of Newark kicks ass for going out into the mess. That guy gives a damn about his city & isn't a classist asshole who's too good to trudge out there. I tell you, if I were the mother of that baby who died in Brooklyn b/c the emergency folk couldn't get to where she was due to lack of snow cleanup I'd be going to see Bloomberg in person and demanding him to justify his elitism. You can break people if you're dedicated & when you bring a tragic situation right to someone's face, you're more likely to succeed. That's why I think kids should see the Censored 11 cartoons if you really want to teach them why racism is bad. It brings the spirit of those times & shows you racism instead of just telling you about it.
Things are much better for me but lately, I've been concerned lately about a close friend of mine. As you know from reading this blog, religion was quite pervasive in my childhood. I even went to a religious private school at one time. This close friend was, like me, from a religious household. Like many others, she also married young and stayed in our hometown.
She was in this tableau of the happy housewife/loving mother until very recently. Now I think she, like anyone else, should have gotten the opportunity to sow wild oates, date around & spend time figuring out her own identity, what "happily ever after" would mean to her, etc. I have to agree with a gentleman I met one night in Buckhead when I was at a club in Atlanta. He was in town on business & if he'd not had an early morning meeting, he said he'd have wanted to do the nasty w/me (not those exact words but you get the idea). Aside from that (and being cute enough for me to seriously consider it but only w/protection), he told me point blank that I shouldn't even consider getting married before turning 25. This is sage advice for anyone, if you ask me. You should spend time figuring out yourself, having experiences to draw upon when you're old, etc.
So, unfortunately my friend's unhappiness has hit the breaking point. She & her estranged hubby have a child together and there's been accusations that she committed adultery.
Remember when I said she was also from a religious family? Her father was livid & actually fired her for no good reason. He's apparently also living up to Christian hypocrisy by acting like anything but, including injecting himself into this private situation.
It gets even more complicated in that a new guy has entered the picture, has similar relationship baggage & that his baby mama (as I'm not sure precisely if she's an ex-fiancee or ex-girlfriend) hates my friend. I heard about a possible new wrinkle to this tale that makes my friend more like a Jerry Springer cliche than the church goer I remember her to be.
I left her a message on Christmas Eve wishing her a good holiday & wanting to talk to her. You do that for friends. Problem is, I've not heard from her & only hear about her through my family. This is someone who's like a sister to me & she should know that she doesn't need to put on some happy show or happy face for me. If I became a celebrity, she's one of the few people I could be myself around & not wonder if she had an angle.
I'm also not a judgmental person & don't consider religion a panacea. Plenty of people do just fine without going to church every Sunday or falling in line w/the preaching hypocrites.
After I heard about the potentially new wrinkle, it occurred to me that her dad is probably disappointed & feels like a failure as a parent. I still don't condone his behavior + think it confirms every non-religious person's hatred of fundies, born agains & their ilk.
Do I approve of all this? Hell no! I feel like my friend is turning into some of my sister's former friends who put men ahead of their kids. If these assholes are the same ones trying to have me breed, they've added the sin of hypocrisy to their misdeeds.
I'm really hoping that new wrinkle is a false alarm or I'm going to have to say something that will probably be taken badly but I strongly believe should be done for all that is good and fair in this world. I also can't condone anyone emotionally abusing a child since I had to go through that myself as a child. I remember lots of hurtful things that were said to me: for instance, an aunt telling me & my sister that she loved my cousins more than us.
I also feel like I'm being snubbed & that this person may not deserve to be a close friend if I can't get that reciprocation. After all, my husband's my closest friend & he wouldn't shut me out from a problem. I prefer to have quality over quantity in any aspect of my life & people are no exception.
Where's the friendship if you don't even bother to talk to a close friend? If it's not wanting to hear the truth from me, too bad. I acknowledge that your life is yours alone to live but I'm not a Yes Woman. I'm not interested in being one either.
Quickest way to avoid becoming a Yes (Wo)man? Become an attorney. Attorneys are supposed to deliver the truth, good or bad. If they don't, they get blamed when things fall apart.
I'm also glad I didn't vote for Bloomberg & think the mayor of Newark kicks ass for going out into the mess. That guy gives a damn about his city & isn't a classist asshole who's too good to trudge out there. I tell you, if I were the mother of that baby who died in Brooklyn b/c the emergency folk couldn't get to where she was due to lack of snow cleanup I'd be going to see Bloomberg in person and demanding him to justify his elitism. You can break people if you're dedicated & when you bring a tragic situation right to someone's face, you're more likely to succeed. That's why I think kids should see the Censored 11 cartoons if you really want to teach them why racism is bad. It brings the spirit of those times & shows you racism instead of just telling you about it.
Things are much better for me but lately, I've been concerned lately about a close friend of mine. As you know from reading this blog, religion was quite pervasive in my childhood. I even went to a religious private school at one time. This close friend was, like me, from a religious household. Like many others, she also married young and stayed in our hometown.
She was in this tableau of the happy housewife/loving mother until very recently. Now I think she, like anyone else, should have gotten the opportunity to sow wild oates, date around & spend time figuring out her own identity, what "happily ever after" would mean to her, etc. I have to agree with a gentleman I met one night in Buckhead when I was at a club in Atlanta. He was in town on business & if he'd not had an early morning meeting, he said he'd have wanted to do the nasty w/me (not those exact words but you get the idea). Aside from that (and being cute enough for me to seriously consider it but only w/protection), he told me point blank that I shouldn't even consider getting married before turning 25. This is sage advice for anyone, if you ask me. You should spend time figuring out yourself, having experiences to draw upon when you're old, etc.
So, unfortunately my friend's unhappiness has hit the breaking point. She & her estranged hubby have a child together and there's been accusations that she committed adultery.
Remember when I said she was also from a religious family? Her father was livid & actually fired her for no good reason. He's apparently also living up to Christian hypocrisy by acting like anything but, including injecting himself into this private situation.
It gets even more complicated in that a new guy has entered the picture, has similar relationship baggage & that his baby mama (as I'm not sure precisely if she's an ex-fiancee or ex-girlfriend) hates my friend. I heard about a possible new wrinkle to this tale that makes my friend more like a Jerry Springer cliche than the church goer I remember her to be.
I left her a message on Christmas Eve wishing her a good holiday & wanting to talk to her. You do that for friends. Problem is, I've not heard from her & only hear about her through my family. This is someone who's like a sister to me & she should know that she doesn't need to put on some happy show or happy face for me. If I became a celebrity, she's one of the few people I could be myself around & not wonder if she had an angle.
I'm also not a judgmental person & don't consider religion a panacea. Plenty of people do just fine without going to church every Sunday or falling in line w/the preaching hypocrites.
After I heard about the potentially new wrinkle, it occurred to me that her dad is probably disappointed & feels like a failure as a parent. I still don't condone his behavior + think it confirms every non-religious person's hatred of fundies, born agains & their ilk.
Do I approve of all this? Hell no! I feel like my friend is turning into some of my sister's former friends who put men ahead of their kids. If these assholes are the same ones trying to have me breed, they've added the sin of hypocrisy to their misdeeds.
I'm really hoping that new wrinkle is a false alarm or I'm going to have to say something that will probably be taken badly but I strongly believe should be done for all that is good and fair in this world. I also can't condone anyone emotionally abusing a child since I had to go through that myself as a child. I remember lots of hurtful things that were said to me: for instance, an aunt telling me & my sister that she loved my cousins more than us.
I also feel like I'm being snubbed & that this person may not deserve to be a close friend if I can't get that reciprocation. After all, my husband's my closest friend & he wouldn't shut me out from a problem. I prefer to have quality over quantity in any aspect of my life & people are no exception.
Where's the friendship if you don't even bother to talk to a close friend? If it's not wanting to hear the truth from me, too bad. I acknowledge that your life is yours alone to live but I'm not a Yes Woman. I'm not interested in being one either.
Quickest way to avoid becoming a Yes (Wo)man? Become an attorney. Attorneys are supposed to deliver the truth, good or bad. If they don't, they get blamed when things fall apart.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The Start of the Zombie Apocalypse in Pictures
At least that's what it looks like in my area of Queens. Since the blizzard on Sunday, my street has looked like this:
Nope, I'm not kidding. This was taken earlier this afternoon while I was in my car. I have a few more choice images here that will disgust you if you live in a major city or expect your city to, oh I don't know, CLEAN UP THE FREAKING SNOW. Take a gander at these:
Considering that the road looked like this as I was walking back home after this little journey,
I seriously wonder how the neighborhood's going to be after a few more days of this & no garbage collection. Bloomberg claims there's snow cleanup going on here; I have to say "HA!" to that. You can't get anyone on the city's complaint line or it's hopelessly busy while jerks like this guy get away with this type of cleanup job:
Here's what happens in real time when the streets are cleaned like this:
See that? Tip your delivery people very well if you're expecting someone to show up in this mess. I've not even gotten my mail since before Christmas. I shared my pics on line in the hope that action is taken. My husband hopes that maybe some news publication would buy one of my pictures since I got some unbelievable sights as well.
Oh, and it gets better. In some cases, you have to decide between stepping in fresh dog mess or walking in this deep snow.
So here's a sign we're officially in the zombie apocalypse:
When your mayor is a classist jerk who only cares about Manhattan, you get sights like this:
This is called "citizen action." People taking matters into their own hands when their city government has completely failed them. Next thing you know, we'll have rotting garbage piles to add to the snow ocean that is my neighborhood.
One charming thing I saw was these people creating their own little snow hideout. I had to get pics of it b/c when I was walking by, two people were actually inside these holes.
Those people were awesome but I asked to take the pic since I didn't want to be intrusive & rude. I don't photograph for those purposes.
Now I had another motive for taking these pictures. My husband's employer had the gall to open his place of business today. He doesn't work in the medical field, law enforcement or even for NYC Transit or the Sanitation Department. In other words, no one has ever died because his place of employment wasn't open at this precise nanosecond. Then a number of people who came in were completely rude; screw you if you're not in need of medical treatment or a ride to the hospital, police station, what have you. I wouldn't be nice to you in those circumstances; I'd point out the snow ocean & tell you to go dive in it.
Add to this that most employers don't care if you live or die when asking you to report to a job that doesn't entail showing up in these conditions as a matter of course. You can save the CEO's life & get rewarded by being fired. Don't expect loyalty from your employees if that's how you operate & don't expect people to risk life & limb to go to a job for non-essential services.
I swear, if someone could come up with a chemical compound that melted snow instantly without harming anything underneath it or polluting the environment and just reduced the snow to harmless vapor then that person would make a ton of money. I'd certainly want some myself. How about you?
See Facebook or ask me privately if you'd like to see more evidence of the utter trashiness & stupidity of higher ups who wouldn't traipse around in this ocean of snow themselves.
Nope, I'm not kidding. This was taken earlier this afternoon while I was in my car. I have a few more choice images here that will disgust you if you live in a major city or expect your city to, oh I don't know, CLEAN UP THE FREAKING SNOW. Take a gander at these:
Considering that the road looked like this as I was walking back home after this little journey,
I seriously wonder how the neighborhood's going to be after a few more days of this & no garbage collection. Bloomberg claims there's snow cleanup going on here; I have to say "HA!" to that. You can't get anyone on the city's complaint line or it's hopelessly busy while jerks like this guy get away with this type of cleanup job:
Here's what happens in real time when the streets are cleaned like this:
See that? Tip your delivery people very well if you're expecting someone to show up in this mess. I've not even gotten my mail since before Christmas. I shared my pics on line in the hope that action is taken. My husband hopes that maybe some news publication would buy one of my pictures since I got some unbelievable sights as well.
Oh, and it gets better. In some cases, you have to decide between stepping in fresh dog mess or walking in this deep snow.
So here's a sign we're officially in the zombie apocalypse:
When your mayor is a classist jerk who only cares about Manhattan, you get sights like this:
This is called "citizen action." People taking matters into their own hands when their city government has completely failed them. Next thing you know, we'll have rotting garbage piles to add to the snow ocean that is my neighborhood.
One charming thing I saw was these people creating their own little snow hideout. I had to get pics of it b/c when I was walking by, two people were actually inside these holes.
Those people were awesome but I asked to take the pic since I didn't want to be intrusive & rude. I don't photograph for those purposes.
Now I had another motive for taking these pictures. My husband's employer had the gall to open his place of business today. He doesn't work in the medical field, law enforcement or even for NYC Transit or the Sanitation Department. In other words, no one has ever died because his place of employment wasn't open at this precise nanosecond. Then a number of people who came in were completely rude; screw you if you're not in need of medical treatment or a ride to the hospital, police station, what have you. I wouldn't be nice to you in those circumstances; I'd point out the snow ocean & tell you to go dive in it.
Add to this that most employers don't care if you live or die when asking you to report to a job that doesn't entail showing up in these conditions as a matter of course. You can save the CEO's life & get rewarded by being fired. Don't expect loyalty from your employees if that's how you operate & don't expect people to risk life & limb to go to a job for non-essential services.
I swear, if someone could come up with a chemical compound that melted snow instantly without harming anything underneath it or polluting the environment and just reduced the snow to harmless vapor then that person would make a ton of money. I'd certainly want some myself. How about you?
See Facebook or ask me privately if you'd like to see more evidence of the utter trashiness & stupidity of higher ups who wouldn't traipse around in this ocean of snow themselves.
Monday, December 13, 2010
A Primal Scream Moment
Personally, I think we could all use these from time to time. As I've told people many times over the years, I feel it's better to call that slow driver a bitch in the privacy of your car than to pull out a gun and shoot innocent people in a bank one day b/c you've always repressed yourself.
When I'd say this to my mom, it actually had a reference point. Back in 2003, not long before I moved to Atlanta for college (the "big, bad city" in my mother's mind) there was a guy who did just that. If I remember correctly, he was a finance guy who just snapped one day.
Nice thing for your mother to hear before you move to a major city, right?
I believe that if you don't vent from time to time or have those cathartic moments, you do yourself and society a disservice.
This 24/7 existence of the working world and other things doesn't seem to account for that need for cathartic release. You see employees getting fired for ranting on places like Facebook, right? I seriously wonder why more employers haven't used technology to deal with employee issues; it's not like all of them have a conscience or care too much about public opinion. Look at Wal-Mart.
And speaking of those clueless idiots, they're trying to plant stakes into NYC yet AGAIN. Do these people ever get a clue that maybe a city known for powerful unions isn't going to be keen on an anti-union big box retailer being there? Personally, I say "Hell no!" to Wal-Mart. Good reasons for it.
1. Almost every Wal-Mart I've been to is filthy, has long lines & is filled with employees who are unhelpful as well as incompetent.
2. The utter violence & depravity of Wal-Mart. Who has forgotten about the guy who got trampled on Black Friday at the one in the scuzzier area of town? Great investigating there, Wal-Mart.
3. The shitty employee treatment. I actually have some personal knowledge of this one as I've known 2 different people who worked there & from what I heard, you'd get more compassion from Osama Bin Laden than the management at Wal-Mart. I call document review the lawyer equivalent of working for Wal-Mart w/good reason. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I'd rather be a prostitute than work at a Wal-Mart since at least I'd make more money doing that & face just as much degrading, abusive and scummy treatment. If I wanted no respect for schedule availabilities, I could work in health care & still make more money.
4. Finally, anything Bloomberg supports automatically makes me suspicious of the good it will do me. Considering he's tried to screw over the unions (including the one dealing w/my husband's job) & his attempts to turn NYC into a rich person's enclave, I just can't trust the guy.
But, getting back to that primal scream thing. I'm getting anxious and frustrated that I've had interest in my abilities to do a job that sounds interesting & like something I really want to do. Unfortunately, I've yet to hear the offer. I keep playing phone tag & never get the information out there.
This sort of thing irks me with my history of people acting like they were interested in hiring me for jobs & then being MIA, only to never have anything on the table. I've had many job success celebrations that were later false. After my personal experiences, I have a far harder time trusting anyone with a job offer. Talk is cheap, I need to see action.
The waiting bothers me because of this but it also bothers me if I get pinned into terms that I don't want. What if the offer is for something horrid and utterly ridiculous? Lawyers don't operate in the same realm as your average person but in particular, ones with my skill set are a rare breed. I know what is unfair to me & I've seen some people who do operate on planet Earth but plenty of others who do not.
For instance, telling me to go flip burgers would prove that you are stupid. I was overqualified for that after graduating high school so no chance in Hell any sane individual would have me doing that with a law license. They'd be too scared of me organizing the employees or encouraging people to assert themselves. This would have been a valid fear back when I was in high school considering I never tolerated that shit in my job at JcPenney; forget today, when I'm in an occupation known for enforcing people's rights in the face of adversity.
Telling me to go back to retail would also prove that you're stupid considering no sane person would hire someone w/7 years of experience & is a lawyer. I couldn't do it today since I would be way too blunt and tell off idiots. Leave your child? I'd immediately point out that you don't know who might be a predator or kidnapper & probably consider contacting child protective services on you for being a deadbeat parent. I think I could be a manager but most places demand you to have eons of experience for that & remember, my resume doesn't fit into a neat little box. I also refuse to work weekends for middling pay since I did more than enough of that in my retail career.
Now maybe these fears are unjustified but I've had too many disappointments & I haven't been called the real life Daria for no reason. Sometimes, it's still hard for me to believe I have a man in my life who loves me & would stand by me through any adversity I didn't inflict on myself. I still have vivid memories of being single & feeling like one guy would never make me happy. I also remember feeling like no one ever really understood me & how shocked I was to meet someone who did.
To make my day even better, I found out my cousin who's not too much older than me probably has cancer. She just learned that she's got a tumor in her abdomen that's been there for at least a year, is sizable & doctors are pretty certain is cancer. The odds aren't looking good for her & her sister who lives near by apparently hasn't even inquired about or visited her. If it was my sister, I'd be on the first flight to NC & making sure she got the best care possible. If anyone dared to skimp on her due to finances, I'd vow to make their life a living hell & get as pushy as possible to make sure she got fairness. Doctors also tend to be a little more deferential to lawyers in my experience. After all, who could locate a medical malpractice lawyer quicker? Not to mention we know legal talk & I did initially want to be a doctor, then a pharmacist before studying law.
My sister also pointed out to me that out of any kids in our family, we're the only ones with both parents still alive. I considered this & realized she's right. Not sure how I'd feel if either of my parents died. My mom is probably the heart & soul of my family, the glue holding it together, so that would be a huge loss for all concerned.
I'd likely mourn my dad less but not living in the same house w/him has helped mend that relationship a bit. He is at least a liberal voice in the conservative South & is just as assertive as anyone else in my family. Health wise, you'd expect him to go first but I think he'd just be the sort to defy medical science & live even longer than you think.
I'm sure reading this, you'd think "Wow, her family is messed up. No wonder she is the way she is." Probably true but you don't even know just how spot on you'd be in that determination, especially if you look at my dad's side. I suppose it certainly forms a basis for my creative abilities & how I draw influence. You can't live some normal, happy childhood & expect to be a great artist.
I remember my Art & Culture professor from college telling us that to be a great artist, you have to live life. He said you have to have some experiences, some hard times, so you'll have things to draw upon in your work. One of my high school teachers said something similar but not in the context of art. She said it in the context of not living with regrets later on.
Too many family members of mine seem to be dying lately. First my uncle, then my aunt & now my cousin's probably not well. Enough is enough! If more of my family's going to be dead, why not a distant relative who has some money that would go to me??? Not like I've been anyone's favorite or none of the relatives I know have money. I just wouldn't feel as bad about a distant relative I've never met or had a connection to. I'd feel like I do when some celebrity I never spoke to dies: I never knew the person so they could have been a total jerk in real life. I can't get people who mourn celebrities that probably would have been arrogant to them in a real life setting. If I were famous, I certainly wouldn't expect strangers to mourn me when they had no way of knowing if I was a good person or a total shithead.
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! The whole job situation is making me slide into depression & family stuff is exacerbating it. I'd probably spend days in bed if I didn't have a cat that makes me get up.
When I'd say this to my mom, it actually had a reference point. Back in 2003, not long before I moved to Atlanta for college (the "big, bad city" in my mother's mind) there was a guy who did just that. If I remember correctly, he was a finance guy who just snapped one day.
Nice thing for your mother to hear before you move to a major city, right?
I believe that if you don't vent from time to time or have those cathartic moments, you do yourself and society a disservice.
This 24/7 existence of the working world and other things doesn't seem to account for that need for cathartic release. You see employees getting fired for ranting on places like Facebook, right? I seriously wonder why more employers haven't used technology to deal with employee issues; it's not like all of them have a conscience or care too much about public opinion. Look at Wal-Mart.
And speaking of those clueless idiots, they're trying to plant stakes into NYC yet AGAIN. Do these people ever get a clue that maybe a city known for powerful unions isn't going to be keen on an anti-union big box retailer being there? Personally, I say "Hell no!" to Wal-Mart. Good reasons for it.
1. Almost every Wal-Mart I've been to is filthy, has long lines & is filled with employees who are unhelpful as well as incompetent.
2. The utter violence & depravity of Wal-Mart. Who has forgotten about the guy who got trampled on Black Friday at the one in the scuzzier area of town? Great investigating there, Wal-Mart.
3. The shitty employee treatment. I actually have some personal knowledge of this one as I've known 2 different people who worked there & from what I heard, you'd get more compassion from Osama Bin Laden than the management at Wal-Mart. I call document review the lawyer equivalent of working for Wal-Mart w/good reason. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I'd rather be a prostitute than work at a Wal-Mart since at least I'd make more money doing that & face just as much degrading, abusive and scummy treatment. If I wanted no respect for schedule availabilities, I could work in health care & still make more money.
4. Finally, anything Bloomberg supports automatically makes me suspicious of the good it will do me. Considering he's tried to screw over the unions (including the one dealing w/my husband's job) & his attempts to turn NYC into a rich person's enclave, I just can't trust the guy.
But, getting back to that primal scream thing. I'm getting anxious and frustrated that I've had interest in my abilities to do a job that sounds interesting & like something I really want to do. Unfortunately, I've yet to hear the offer. I keep playing phone tag & never get the information out there.
This sort of thing irks me with my history of people acting like they were interested in hiring me for jobs & then being MIA, only to never have anything on the table. I've had many job success celebrations that were later false. After my personal experiences, I have a far harder time trusting anyone with a job offer. Talk is cheap, I need to see action.
The waiting bothers me because of this but it also bothers me if I get pinned into terms that I don't want. What if the offer is for something horrid and utterly ridiculous? Lawyers don't operate in the same realm as your average person but in particular, ones with my skill set are a rare breed. I know what is unfair to me & I've seen some people who do operate on planet Earth but plenty of others who do not.
For instance, telling me to go flip burgers would prove that you are stupid. I was overqualified for that after graduating high school so no chance in Hell any sane individual would have me doing that with a law license. They'd be too scared of me organizing the employees or encouraging people to assert themselves. This would have been a valid fear back when I was in high school considering I never tolerated that shit in my job at JcPenney; forget today, when I'm in an occupation known for enforcing people's rights in the face of adversity.
Telling me to go back to retail would also prove that you're stupid considering no sane person would hire someone w/7 years of experience & is a lawyer. I couldn't do it today since I would be way too blunt and tell off idiots. Leave your child? I'd immediately point out that you don't know who might be a predator or kidnapper & probably consider contacting child protective services on you for being a deadbeat parent. I think I could be a manager but most places demand you to have eons of experience for that & remember, my resume doesn't fit into a neat little box. I also refuse to work weekends for middling pay since I did more than enough of that in my retail career.
Now maybe these fears are unjustified but I've had too many disappointments & I haven't been called the real life Daria for no reason. Sometimes, it's still hard for me to believe I have a man in my life who loves me & would stand by me through any adversity I didn't inflict on myself. I still have vivid memories of being single & feeling like one guy would never make me happy. I also remember feeling like no one ever really understood me & how shocked I was to meet someone who did.
To make my day even better, I found out my cousin who's not too much older than me probably has cancer. She just learned that she's got a tumor in her abdomen that's been there for at least a year, is sizable & doctors are pretty certain is cancer. The odds aren't looking good for her & her sister who lives near by apparently hasn't even inquired about or visited her. If it was my sister, I'd be on the first flight to NC & making sure she got the best care possible. If anyone dared to skimp on her due to finances, I'd vow to make their life a living hell & get as pushy as possible to make sure she got fairness. Doctors also tend to be a little more deferential to lawyers in my experience. After all, who could locate a medical malpractice lawyer quicker? Not to mention we know legal talk & I did initially want to be a doctor, then a pharmacist before studying law.
My sister also pointed out to me that out of any kids in our family, we're the only ones with both parents still alive. I considered this & realized she's right. Not sure how I'd feel if either of my parents died. My mom is probably the heart & soul of my family, the glue holding it together, so that would be a huge loss for all concerned.
I'd likely mourn my dad less but not living in the same house w/him has helped mend that relationship a bit. He is at least a liberal voice in the conservative South & is just as assertive as anyone else in my family. Health wise, you'd expect him to go first but I think he'd just be the sort to defy medical science & live even longer than you think.
I'm sure reading this, you'd think "Wow, her family is messed up. No wonder she is the way she is." Probably true but you don't even know just how spot on you'd be in that determination, especially if you look at my dad's side. I suppose it certainly forms a basis for my creative abilities & how I draw influence. You can't live some normal, happy childhood & expect to be a great artist.
I remember my Art & Culture professor from college telling us that to be a great artist, you have to live life. He said you have to have some experiences, some hard times, so you'll have things to draw upon in your work. One of my high school teachers said something similar but not in the context of art. She said it in the context of not living with regrets later on.
Too many family members of mine seem to be dying lately. First my uncle, then my aunt & now my cousin's probably not well. Enough is enough! If more of my family's going to be dead, why not a distant relative who has some money that would go to me??? Not like I've been anyone's favorite or none of the relatives I know have money. I just wouldn't feel as bad about a distant relative I've never met or had a connection to. I'd feel like I do when some celebrity I never spoke to dies: I never knew the person so they could have been a total jerk in real life. I can't get people who mourn celebrities that probably would have been arrogant to them in a real life setting. If I were famous, I certainly wouldn't expect strangers to mourn me when they had no way of knowing if I was a good person or a total shithead.
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! The whole job situation is making me slide into depression & family stuff is exacerbating it. I'd probably spend days in bed if I didn't have a cat that makes me get up.
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