Random Thoughts

[AnaKhouri]

I dreamed my mom had a friend who persuaded her to attend a service at a megachurch. My older son and I were in town so she asked us to go with her. In the lobby of the megachurch there was a clothing boutique and a coffee shop. I asked where we were supposed to meet the friend and Mom said, "Oh, she said we'd just run into each other." but there was about 5,000 people there so there was no way we'd just see her. We sat down and the preacher started droning away and he was saying some weird stuff, and a guy in the row behind us whispered something to his wife, whereupon a secret door opened in the wall and two dude in black suits emerged and dragged him through the door into what looked like an interrogation room. At that point I said, "Mom, I think you were tricked. These are Scientologists in disguise." and she agreed I was right and we better get out of there.

[wolfie]

You frequently hear or read "Snitches get stitches". What do Quaffles and Bludgers get?

A "coffee news" type publication from February 10th had, in the "this day in history" section, an item that in 1863 the first U.S. fire extinguisher patent was granted to Alanson Crane from Virginia. Why would someone from Virginia be dealing with the U.S. patent office?

[Ironclad Alibi]

A "coffee news" type publication from February 10th had, in the "this day in history" section, an item that in 1863 the first U.S. fire extinguisher patent was granted to Alanson Crane from Virginia. Why would someone from Virginia be dealing with the U.S. patent office?

Parts of Virginia were under Union control thoughout most of the US Civil War. According to the patent, Alanson Crane was from the Fortress Monroe area, which was under Union control for the duration of the US Civil War. So he had access to the US Patent Office.

Alanson Crane's name does not appear on the list of Confererant patents that I have.

[MoonCat]

Can't tell if I'm getting a cold or if this headache, congestion and achy, tired eyes are just the usual shit from allergies. Bleah.

ETA: Ah, shit, it IS a cold. Double bleah.

[AnaKhouri]

When people talk lovingly about the 'baby smell', I think they are really talking about the scent of Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo. When I think of my own babies, I mostly remember the smell of sour milk.

[Tama]

I wonder where my energy cycle comes from.

I have pretty nervous lows, and horribly low lows, and then there's times like last night and today where I am SO FAR UP I CAN SEE THE SURFACE OF THE MOON!

I would say of myself, what I say when I see some of Robin Williams' older work. "And that's him OFF drugs!"

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I have sinned. I hopped in my car to gawk at a fire.

In my defense, I could see the smoke from my place and it's quite a distance away. A storage building for an apartment complex went up. Pretty close to the swamp.

They just said on the scanner that there may be propane tanks in there. Going to the window just in case.

[MoonCat]

I have sinned. I hopped in my car to gawk at a fire.

In my defense, I could see the smoke from my place and it's quite a distance away. A storage building for an apartment complex went up. Pretty close to the swamp.

They just said on the scanner that there may be propane tanks in there. Going to the window just in case.

Oh, not good. Back in the 80's we had a massive fire in town due to an exploding propane tank. Killed 5 firefighters and one guy in nearby house.

I hope nobody gets hurt at the fire you're talking about!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

They got the fire under control shortly after I posted, so no dramatic explosions or anything.

[MoonCat]

They got the fire under control shortly after I posted, so no dramatic explosions or anything.

That's good. When the one here happened, we heard the boom from 5 miles away and could see the massive column of smoke.

[Dreamstalker]

Contract's up again at work, there's talk of a strike (vote would be on Sunday).

The company wants to, among other things, freeze wages (interesting that this comes after the state raised minimum wage) and do away with 'premium' Sunday and holiday pay (which is mandated by state law). Ahead of the union vote, they're advertising for 'replacement' workers at $16/hour

[MoonCat]

Contract's up again at work, there's talk of a strike (vote would be on Sunday).

The company wants to, among other things, freeze wages (interesting that this comes after the state raised minimum wage) and do away with 'premium' Sunday and holiday pay (which is mandated by state law). Ahead of the union vote, they're advertising for 'replacement' workers at $16/hour

A state law that is better than what your contract provides trumps the contract. They can't do away with it, at least not legally.

[Dreamstalker]

No, they can't. They might try to restrict hours, but that would result in severe (or worse than usual) understaffing on those days...not quite sure what the goal is there. A wage freeze is just idiotic.

I think the last approved strike lasted four hours or so before the company caved; someone figured they lose a few hundred grand (at least) for each hour of a strike. We shall see...

[MoonCat]

A strike vote doesn't have to mean actually go on strike, just gives the union the members' go-ahead. Here's hoping you won't have to!

[Dreamstalker]

I'll know more on Monday. The CW I was able to talk to today said that most of the badness will affect fulltimers who have been there a long time...regardless of status, 'premium' pay is written into the labor laws so they can't decide to do away with it. Health coverage costs would be going up which may affect me; I am enrolled in the plan but recently found that it's not useful (medication not covered, all providers I use are apparently out-of-network).