…or “So much poison in power, the principles get left out… so much mind on the matter, the spirit gets forgotten about.”

Thursday
Sixteen more work hours in this week. Mercifully.

They are adding a new crew for career employees soon. I found out yesterday how they are intending to implement it. Wait. Let me rephrase that: I found out ten minutes before the end of my shift yesterday how they are intending to implement it. There are nine slots available at my level; they had 15 people who are interested in the shift. So… they will get to bid, by seniority, on those positions. At the same time, they are going to eliminate the nine most junior positions (one of which is mine because when I transfer here, I lost ALL of my seniority that I had in N.C. – I went from 11th most senior to the 2nd most junior. But that is an issue for another time…) Anyway, the nine of us whose shifts are to be eliminated will have to bid on the positions that the top nine vacate. Rough translation: I may keep the same shift or I may have my time and days off shifted. Whoop-de-fuck.

Okay, I feel better now that I have gotten that off my chest.

Song of the Day: Today’s Thursday Triple Play comes by way of the late Jim Croce. The songs: Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (you know: “The baddest man in the whole damn town…”), Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels), and You Don’t Mess Around with Jim.

NPR Stories:

  • Both Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered had interesting pieces on homelessness yesterday. It was interesting (and in some cases, a little disturbing) to hear some peoples’ opinions on what should be done about the homeless in their cities/communities.
  • Fresh Air had an interview with Fred Rogers. That’s right: Mr. Rogers from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It was good… and had some funny moments. If you get a chance, listen to what he had to say about pranks on the set of the show (it’s around the 20-minute mark of the interview); it also seems that Michael Keaton was a purveyor of many pranks when he worked on the show.

    On today’s show: Interviews with comic book/graphic artist Frank Miller and actor Bruce Campbell. Did I mention: “Frank Miller?” I did? Okay, just wanted to make sure.

  • All Things Considered also did a story about “Megan’s Law.” The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing “…whether alerting communities to a convicted sex offender’s whereabouts is constitutional.”

Stray Toasters:

  • Today’s “Quote of the Day” from Brainyquote comes from Ralph Marston: “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.” Unfortunately, I can name far too many people whose attitude is more along the lines of “mediocrity,” at best.
  • I think that the U.S.S. Ass-Whomper will make her maiden voyage this weekend. “To boldly kick ass where no Federation starship has kicked ass before…”
  • “Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake.” I still think that this, on the whole, is true… but Drake’s Cakes Coffee Cake is pretty damn good, too.
  • They are doing construction on Redwood Road, the road on which our complex borders. Right now, it’s not bad. But, I can see it becoming a complete clusterfuck in the next four to six weeks.

Idiotstick of the Day
On the way back from getting some espresso-laden frozen mocha goodness, I came the back way into the complex, along 22nd West (heading north). There was a lady in a green Chrysler who was turning onto 22nd W, intending to head south. She came flying up from the cross street, looked to her right and then seemed to remember “Gee, I’d better look to my left, too!” Of course, this seemed to occur to her at the same time that she thought that it would be a good idea to start to pull out onto the road. Oh yeah, one other detail: I was approaching her cross street as this concept formed in the cognitive centers of her brain. She turned, saw me approaching and a look along the lines of: “Well! What is that car doing there when I am trying to turn?!?” crossed her face. I continued past her, nonplussed.

And, that’s all for now. Time to make sure that the world’s mail gets delivered in a timely manner. Or something that reasonably approximates it.

Namaste.