I've been watching the Olympics for the past week, and I'm surprised by the bad and very unsportsman-like attitudes the U.S. speed skaters, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick. I read a guest editorial in this morning's Chicago Tribune that says that Shani Davis, as a black man, has the right to be sullen, moody and rude after winning a gold medal. My question to the professor who wrote that opinion is this -- where in the world did you ever come up with that absurd notion?! Lady, this is not about race. This is about nationalism, and some people's lack of it.
True, Chad Hedrick has been very vocal in his opinion that Shani Davis isn't a team player. But when the time came, after the 1500 meter race where they won silver and bronze, to put aside the animosity and behave in a civilized manner, it was Shani Davis who fired the first divisive remark. Of course Chad Hedrick is going to respond. Wouldn't you, if someone were so rude as to insult you and then walk away before you could say anything? I would.
I am also appalled by the fact that Shani's mother has enlisted the aid of a bunch of also-ran Dutch athletes, who have no business getting involved in this. For someone who wants to be considered a private person, she sure is out there in the middle of the press stirring up a storm.
My final opinion on this is that, while Chad Hedrick made some brash comments earlier in the week, this whole thing has been blown out of proportion by Shani Davis and his mother. I'm glad that Davis is finished with his races. Maybe he and Mom will finally drop it. If not, then they will only prove just how un-American and unsportsman-like Shani Davis really is.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Valentine's Day
Today is February 14, Valentine's Day. Not that it means so much to me anymore. When I was in grade school, it was a big deal. Unlike now, back then we didn't give everyone in our class Valentines, only the people we really liked. So Valentine's day was a competition to see who got the most cards and gifts. Of course, the popular girls, like the cheerleaders, always got lots of Valentines. The brainy types, like me, hoped somebody would give us a card or two. Usually, though, I did get a bunch of cards from my friends, and one or two from some boys who gave all the girls cards.
I will always remember the look on some of the kids' faces who didn't get any cards. I think that's why I started giving everyone in my class one. I didn't want to see anybody hurt like that. Some kids couldn't afford to give cards out. I didn't care. One of the girls felt bad because I gave her one and she didn't have one for me. I told her that didn't matter because I liked giving Valentines more than getting them. The next day her mother called my mother and told her that she had a wonderful daughter and should be proud of me. Mom said she was and that was the greatest Valentine I ever got.
There was one girl in our class who was very popular, but not very sensitive. She always liked to flaunt how many Valentines she got, and not just from our class. There were boys in the class ahead and the class behind who used to give her cards, too. And she was not shy about letting us all know it either. Having someone bragging about how many cards they got while there were some kids who didn't get any was terrible! I don't think it ever sank into that vain head of hers that she was being petty and hurtful.
Nowadays, parents and teachers make sure that every child gives a Valentine to and gets a Valentine from every classmate. No one gets hurt feelings. In a way, I think that's very good. Children have enough to worry about when growing up without having to worry if they are good enough or popular enough to get any Valentines.
I will always remember the look on some of the kids' faces who didn't get any cards. I think that's why I started giving everyone in my class one. I didn't want to see anybody hurt like that. Some kids couldn't afford to give cards out. I didn't care. One of the girls felt bad because I gave her one and she didn't have one for me. I told her that didn't matter because I liked giving Valentines more than getting them. The next day her mother called my mother and told her that she had a wonderful daughter and should be proud of me. Mom said she was and that was the greatest Valentine I ever got.
There was one girl in our class who was very popular, but not very sensitive. She always liked to flaunt how many Valentines she got, and not just from our class. There were boys in the class ahead and the class behind who used to give her cards, too. And she was not shy about letting us all know it either. Having someone bragging about how many cards they got while there were some kids who didn't get any was terrible! I don't think it ever sank into that vain head of hers that she was being petty and hurtful.
Nowadays, parents and teachers make sure that every child gives a Valentine to and gets a Valentine from every classmate. No one gets hurt feelings. In a way, I think that's very good. Children have enough to worry about when growing up without having to worry if they are good enough or popular enough to get any Valentines.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
The Women's Movement
Last week we lost Betty Friedan, the mother of the modern women's movement. Betty Friedan is credited with the founding of the National Organization of Women (NOW) and other forward-thinking ideas for the protection of women's rights. It is sad that the younger women today have no idea what Betty and the women who followed her had to go through to ensure some of the rights we enjoy today. And I just don't understand that.
Today's young women take for granted all that we fought to gain in the 1960s. They have no idea what it was like before the likes of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinham. We may not have gotten the Equal Rights Amendment ratified, but we sure did get the issue of women's rights before the public. We started a dialog about job and wage parity that benefited working women by allowing them into workforces that previously only allowed men. Women were finally accepted into high paying blue-collar jobs like construction and plumbing. Opportunities were opened in higher paying white-collar jobs, too. More women were going to law school and medical school. They became attorneys and doctors, and, for the most part, had access to the power and money associated with those careers.
Back in the 50s and 60s, women were still being pushed toward clerical positions. Very few held managements positions, and discrimination in the job place was rampant. I, for one, found out what it was like to not be given a better paying job simply because I was a women. In the late 60s and early 70s, I worked for a stove manufacturing company (Roper) in its Repair Parts Division. After seven years with the company, I had worked my way up to a Clerk III and was earning a salary of about $123 a week. A job was posted in the main plant for a Junior Purchase Parts Analyst. The starting salary for the job was $185 a week. My seven years of experience in the Repair Parts Division gave me the qualifications for the job, so I submitted my application.
I had interviews with Personnel (HR, in less fancy days) and with the Plant Supervisor that I would be working under. Two weeks later, I got a call from the head of Personnel saying that the company had decided to freeze the position for the time being. I asked why they had waited until after posting the position to do that. Personnel told me that he was upset by what they were doing, and I asked him why. He told me that there had only been three people to apply for the position, me and two young guys right out of college who had no experience. Since neither of the college boys were qualified to do the job, rather than give such a high paying position to a woman (me), the company decided not to hire anyone for the position, until such time as a qualified male could be found. Their official policy was that a woman didn't need such a high salary. She should be married with a husband to support her.
Needless to say, I was furious. I went looking for another job right away and left that company within three months. About four years after I left, some other women filed a class action discrimination law suit against the company. No one thought to let me know about it, but the company ended up paying out close to $3 million to its women employees (including those who left due to discriminatory practices).
At the same company, a woman named Marci that I worked with in Repair Parts had been doing her job as Inventory Control Assistant for close to ten years. Her boss was a wonderful man who had had a couple of open heart surgeries. When Pete came back to work after his last surgery, the company brought one of the union guys up to work with him and Marci. Marci had to train Brian in the job. After about six months, we somehow found out that Brian, who Marcia trained and was doing exactly the same job as, was actually making almost double her salary. The company's rationale for this was that Marci was married and even though she was doing the same work, she didn't need as much money because she had a husband to support her. The truth was that Marci's husband was a farmer in bad health. Marci's salary was the primary financial support for her family. When the women of our department complained about the salary disparity, the company basically said that if we didn't like it, we could always quit.
We had to put up with this type of discrimination for many years. I was involved in one class action suit against Montgomery Wards. I had worked there for about 18 months in the Buying Office when I applied for the Junior Buyers Training program. My goal was to eventually become a buyer for the company. I was told that I didn't qualify because, despite the fact that I had over 70 hours of college credit, I didn't have my degree. A couple of weeks later, a Phillipino gentleman who had joined our department six months earlier was accepted into the program, despite the fact that he had no college credit at all. When I went to HR to question that decision, I was told that women were required to have degrees in order to participate because the company didn't want to spend all of that money training a woman who was likely to get pregnant and then leave. I offered to have my gynecologist provide a letter stating that I was sterile and not able to get pregnant, but the company still wouldn't let me into the program. I left the company a couple of months later.
I had worked for a couple of other places after that, and then I joined Paul Simon's Senate campaign in 1983. After his election, I accepted a position on his staff in Washington, and stayed there until early in 1986. I came back to Illinois and found a new job. I had only been back in the Chicago area for a few months when I received a letter from a law firm regarding a class action suit against Montgomery Wards. I called the attorney and told her my story. She told me that I qualified for a settlement and sent me the forms. I asked how they had found me, since I had moved to DC and back. She told me that their first attempt to contact me had resulted in a returned envelope and that someone in her office had taken one last attempt to find the folks whose letters had been returned. Since I had listed my phone number when I moved back to Chicago, they had been able to get my address. The result was that I got a $2400 settlement check a couple of months later. Montgomery Wards finally went out of business a few years ago. The class action settlement against them was a whopping $23 million dollars, and they never recovered from it. Serves them right!
Anyway, my point of this entry is that the working women of today have no idea about how hard it was to get salary parity for women. They simply enjoy the benefits of the work and activism of those of us who had to fight for our rights back in the 60s and 70s. Most of these younger women don't know who Betty Friedan was and how much they owe her. I think they should find out what the members of the Women's Movement went through to protect their rights. Youngsters (anyone under the age of 40), you need to learn about the women who've gone before you, and then you need to pick up the standard and continue forward.
Today's young women take for granted all that we fought to gain in the 1960s. They have no idea what it was like before the likes of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinham. We may not have gotten the Equal Rights Amendment ratified, but we sure did get the issue of women's rights before the public. We started a dialog about job and wage parity that benefited working women by allowing them into workforces that previously only allowed men. Women were finally accepted into high paying blue-collar jobs like construction and plumbing. Opportunities were opened in higher paying white-collar jobs, too. More women were going to law school and medical school. They became attorneys and doctors, and, for the most part, had access to the power and money associated with those careers.
Back in the 50s and 60s, women were still being pushed toward clerical positions. Very few held managements positions, and discrimination in the job place was rampant. I, for one, found out what it was like to not be given a better paying job simply because I was a women. In the late 60s and early 70s, I worked for a stove manufacturing company (Roper) in its Repair Parts Division. After seven years with the company, I had worked my way up to a Clerk III and was earning a salary of about $123 a week. A job was posted in the main plant for a Junior Purchase Parts Analyst. The starting salary for the job was $185 a week. My seven years of experience in the Repair Parts Division gave me the qualifications for the job, so I submitted my application.
I had interviews with Personnel (HR, in less fancy days) and with the Plant Supervisor that I would be working under. Two weeks later, I got a call from the head of Personnel saying that the company had decided to freeze the position for the time being. I asked why they had waited until after posting the position to do that. Personnel told me that he was upset by what they were doing, and I asked him why. He told me that there had only been three people to apply for the position, me and two young guys right out of college who had no experience. Since neither of the college boys were qualified to do the job, rather than give such a high paying position to a woman (me), the company decided not to hire anyone for the position, until such time as a qualified male could be found. Their official policy was that a woman didn't need such a high salary. She should be married with a husband to support her.
Needless to say, I was furious. I went looking for another job right away and left that company within three months. About four years after I left, some other women filed a class action discrimination law suit against the company. No one thought to let me know about it, but the company ended up paying out close to $3 million to its women employees (including those who left due to discriminatory practices).
At the same company, a woman named Marci that I worked with in Repair Parts had been doing her job as Inventory Control Assistant for close to ten years. Her boss was a wonderful man who had had a couple of open heart surgeries. When Pete came back to work after his last surgery, the company brought one of the union guys up to work with him and Marci. Marci had to train Brian in the job. After about six months, we somehow found out that Brian, who Marcia trained and was doing exactly the same job as, was actually making almost double her salary. The company's rationale for this was that Marci was married and even though she was doing the same work, she didn't need as much money because she had a husband to support her. The truth was that Marci's husband was a farmer in bad health. Marci's salary was the primary financial support for her family. When the women of our department complained about the salary disparity, the company basically said that if we didn't like it, we could always quit.
We had to put up with this type of discrimination for many years. I was involved in one class action suit against Montgomery Wards. I had worked there for about 18 months in the Buying Office when I applied for the Junior Buyers Training program. My goal was to eventually become a buyer for the company. I was told that I didn't qualify because, despite the fact that I had over 70 hours of college credit, I didn't have my degree. A couple of weeks later, a Phillipino gentleman who had joined our department six months earlier was accepted into the program, despite the fact that he had no college credit at all. When I went to HR to question that decision, I was told that women were required to have degrees in order to participate because the company didn't want to spend all of that money training a woman who was likely to get pregnant and then leave. I offered to have my gynecologist provide a letter stating that I was sterile and not able to get pregnant, but the company still wouldn't let me into the program. I left the company a couple of months later.
I had worked for a couple of other places after that, and then I joined Paul Simon's Senate campaign in 1983. After his election, I accepted a position on his staff in Washington, and stayed there until early in 1986. I came back to Illinois and found a new job. I had only been back in the Chicago area for a few months when I received a letter from a law firm regarding a class action suit against Montgomery Wards. I called the attorney and told her my story. She told me that I qualified for a settlement and sent me the forms. I asked how they had found me, since I had moved to DC and back. She told me that their first attempt to contact me had resulted in a returned envelope and that someone in her office had taken one last attempt to find the folks whose letters had been returned. Since I had listed my phone number when I moved back to Chicago, they had been able to get my address. The result was that I got a $2400 settlement check a couple of months later. Montgomery Wards finally went out of business a few years ago. The class action settlement against them was a whopping $23 million dollars, and they never recovered from it. Serves them right!
Anyway, my point of this entry is that the working women of today have no idea about how hard it was to get salary parity for women. They simply enjoy the benefits of the work and activism of those of us who had to fight for our rights back in the 60s and 70s. Most of these younger women don't know who Betty Friedan was and how much they owe her. I think they should find out what the members of the Women's Movement went through to protect their rights. Youngsters (anyone under the age of 40), you need to learn about the women who've gone before you, and then you need to pick up the standard and continue forward.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Out For A Week
I'm sure no one noticed, but I've been gone for a week. Actually, I spent the week at home, in bed with a 100+ temperature and a serious sinus infection. The infection spread to my eyes, which were very red and full of that yucky white stuff they call "matter". I almost cracked a rib with the strength of my coughing, and nothing over the counter seemed to work to turn off the crap that my sinuses were producing.
I left the office on Friday feeling somewhat bad. The night before my temperature was 100.6, so I took some Ibuprofen at bedtime in order to bring it down. It worked to some extent. On Friday morning, I only felt somewhat okay, but I knew I had to come in since my neighbor was out and I was covering her folks (see previous post). So I dragged myself in and stayed the whole day. By the time I got home on Friday night, though, I was really beginning to feel bad.
On Saturday morning, the problem with the left eye started. I was rinsing with my eye wash constantly, but it didn't seem to be helping, and by Sunday the right eye was red and scratchy, too. My temperature bounced up and down all weekend and when Monday morning came, I knew that I was in no shape to go to work, so I called in sick. When none of my over-the-counter drugs seemed to be working, I called my doctor on Monday evening. After asking a bunch of questions about my symptoms, he told me that I had a "serious" sinus infection that had spread to my eyes. He called in prescriptions for antibiotics and eye medications to my local pharmacy. He told me that I should plan on staying home for at least another two days, maybe more. While I waited for him to call in the scripts, I called the office and left messages for my attorneys and the Secretarial Supervisor, telling them that I would be out until at least Thursday, but that I would call on Wednesday to update them.
I called the pharmacy for the second time at around 8:40. They told me that the scripts had been called in and that they'd be ready in about 45 minutes. I waited until 9, then got dressed and headed for Walgreen's. I needed to refill my tissues as well as my cough syrup in addition to picking up the drugs the doctor had ordered. I also added a couple of packages of Sugar-Free cough drops. The total came to a little over $74. I paid for my stuff and headed out of the store. I couldn't wait to get home. I felt really miserable.
At home, I took the first of the antibiotic pills and put some of the drops into my eyes. I took 600 mg of ibuprofen, 4 teaspoons of cough syrup (the maximum adult dosage) and went to bed. Two hours later, I was up coughing. I couldn't take anymore cough syrup for another 2 hours, so I popped a cough drop into my mouth and tried to sleep. Thankfully, I was able to get about 3 hours more before coughing myself awake again. I went ahead and took the second antibiotic pill and another full dose of cough syrup, then went back to bed. I slept a full six hours before waking. I thought maybe I'd be going back to work on Wednesday. No such luck.
Despite massive doses of cough syrup and cough drops, Tuesday night was pure hell. I could not lay down at all without the sinuses draining into the throat causing a bout of coughing. The coughing was so hard that my left ear popped. I have been hearing a buzzing sound in that ear since then. My temperature spiked to 101 and it took two doses of ibuprofen to get it down. When I got up on Wednesday, I felt so bad. One of the offshoots of a sinus infection is a sinus migraine, which I had big time. I took my little blanket and my neck pillow into my work room, where I have a straight backed chair with a high back. It was so bright in there (eastern window) that I had to cover my head to block out some of the light. I wrapped up in my coverlet, put the neck pillow and scarf in place, and slept, sitting upright, for about 3 hours. It seemed to help a little.
After I woke up on Wednesday, I spent the day kind of dozing in my big comfy chair. By mid-afternoon, my temperature was over 102, so when I called into the office, I told them that I was still infectious and staying home the rest of the week. They said okay, just get my doctor to send a letter saying it was okay for me to come back to work on the following Monday. I took 1000 mg of ibuprofen and wrapped up in my coverlet. I dozed on and off for a couple of hours before taking the full dose of cough syrup and heading to bed. Miracle of Miracles! I actually slept for 5 hours straight before my bladder woke me (just like normal). I woke up on Thursday feeling a little more human.
Thursday night was also fairly restful, and I awoke on Friday feeling somewhat better. The infection in my eyes was pretty much gone. I continued to use the drops, however. I took a shower and washed my hair. I lounged around while my hair got totally dry. Then I put on some clothes, went to the bank and to Dominick's to get groceries. I was only gone about an hour and a half, and I could not believe how bad I felt by the time I got back. I loaded the groceries from the back seat into the cart and headed inside. I stopped to get my mail and went over to the elevators. I got on the elevator and pushed 3. The door closed and we headed up.
Now, this particular elevator has been acting up for some time (I first complained about it 6 months ago). When it is going to stop at a floor, it sort of does a little hop and then takes about 30 seconds to shudder to a stop at the floor before the door opens. On Friday, it did it's little hop, and then it hopped again, and then again. But it didn't shudder up to the floor and the door didn't open. I pressed the "Door Open" button and nothing happened. I finally pressed the alarm bell and one of the building engineers answered. I told him that the elevator door wouldn't open. He asked where I was and I told him, and he said he would be right up to open the door. In the meantime, the elevator kept doing the little bounces, and I thought I was going to be sick. Suddenly, the door opened - only it wasn't on 3 anymore. I was back down on the main floor.
It seems that our elevators are run by hydraulics, not cables. It also turns that the little hops I had been feeling were actually the elevator descending back to the main floor. Needless to say, I did not stay on that elevator. The building manager was there, and I told her what had happened. I said that I had a hard enough time riding the elevators when I felt fine (I suffer from benign positional vertigo), but what I had just experienced had been no fun at all. The engineer came back down on the other elevator and asked what had happened. I told him that somehow the elevator had come back down to 1. He said they would check it out. I took the other elevator up to 3 and finally made it back to my apartment. I was shaking by the time I got there. I quickly put away the groceries that needed to be refrigerated and went to lie down for a while. My little trip to the bank and shopping, along with the fright on the elevator had absolutely worn me out, and my temperature was back up to 100+.
By Saturday morning, I was feeling better, so I went out for about an hour to pick up some craft supplies that I needed (an errand from the previous weekend that I needed to complete). I stopped at KFC to pick up a bucket of chicken (so I wouldn't have to cook for the weekend), and headed back home. The whole trip took about 70 minutes. I fixed myself some lunch and then took a nap in my chair. After that I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in my work room sculpting clay flowers for pins. I baked the flowers and set them aside to cool. Then I just relaxed the rest of the evening. I was looking forward to a restful slumber, but that wasn't to be.
Saturday night was like Tuesday night. I couldn't seem to stop coughing. When I got up on Sunday morning, the sinus migraine was back with a vengeance. I took some ibuprofen and basically just lounged around all day. I tried working on my pins, but I just didn't have the energy or patience for it. Most of the day was spent dozing in my comfy chair wrapped in a coverlet. Finally, late Sunday afternoon, I started feeling better. The headache had eased, my temperature was down and the coughing had finally subsided. I watched the SuperBowl and then Gray's Anatomy and ER before heading to bed.
I slept pretty much all the way through the night without coughing myself awake. I got up at 6:15 this morning, took my shower, got dressed and caught the 7:55 train downtown. It's now 3:27 pm, and so far I only have a little headache and my temp appears to be normal. I am hopeful that the worst has passed. My ear buzzing is still there, but seems to be getting better. My doctor says that if it doesn't go away by next week, I should call him. Other than that, I appear to be finally on the mend. I really hate being sick and I'm glad this thing is finally over.
I left the office on Friday feeling somewhat bad. The night before my temperature was 100.6, so I took some Ibuprofen at bedtime in order to bring it down. It worked to some extent. On Friday morning, I only felt somewhat okay, but I knew I had to come in since my neighbor was out and I was covering her folks (see previous post). So I dragged myself in and stayed the whole day. By the time I got home on Friday night, though, I was really beginning to feel bad.
On Saturday morning, the problem with the left eye started. I was rinsing with my eye wash constantly, but it didn't seem to be helping, and by Sunday the right eye was red and scratchy, too. My temperature bounced up and down all weekend and when Monday morning came, I knew that I was in no shape to go to work, so I called in sick. When none of my over-the-counter drugs seemed to be working, I called my doctor on Monday evening. After asking a bunch of questions about my symptoms, he told me that I had a "serious" sinus infection that had spread to my eyes. He called in prescriptions for antibiotics and eye medications to my local pharmacy. He told me that I should plan on staying home for at least another two days, maybe more. While I waited for him to call in the scripts, I called the office and left messages for my attorneys and the Secretarial Supervisor, telling them that I would be out until at least Thursday, but that I would call on Wednesday to update them.
I called the pharmacy for the second time at around 8:40. They told me that the scripts had been called in and that they'd be ready in about 45 minutes. I waited until 9, then got dressed and headed for Walgreen's. I needed to refill my tissues as well as my cough syrup in addition to picking up the drugs the doctor had ordered. I also added a couple of packages of Sugar-Free cough drops. The total came to a little over $74. I paid for my stuff and headed out of the store. I couldn't wait to get home. I felt really miserable.
At home, I took the first of the antibiotic pills and put some of the drops into my eyes. I took 600 mg of ibuprofen, 4 teaspoons of cough syrup (the maximum adult dosage) and went to bed. Two hours later, I was up coughing. I couldn't take anymore cough syrup for another 2 hours, so I popped a cough drop into my mouth and tried to sleep. Thankfully, I was able to get about 3 hours more before coughing myself awake again. I went ahead and took the second antibiotic pill and another full dose of cough syrup, then went back to bed. I slept a full six hours before waking. I thought maybe I'd be going back to work on Wednesday. No such luck.
Despite massive doses of cough syrup and cough drops, Tuesday night was pure hell. I could not lay down at all without the sinuses draining into the throat causing a bout of coughing. The coughing was so hard that my left ear popped. I have been hearing a buzzing sound in that ear since then. My temperature spiked to 101 and it took two doses of ibuprofen to get it down. When I got up on Wednesday, I felt so bad. One of the offshoots of a sinus infection is a sinus migraine, which I had big time. I took my little blanket and my neck pillow into my work room, where I have a straight backed chair with a high back. It was so bright in there (eastern window) that I had to cover my head to block out some of the light. I wrapped up in my coverlet, put the neck pillow and scarf in place, and slept, sitting upright, for about 3 hours. It seemed to help a little.
After I woke up on Wednesday, I spent the day kind of dozing in my big comfy chair. By mid-afternoon, my temperature was over 102, so when I called into the office, I told them that I was still infectious and staying home the rest of the week. They said okay, just get my doctor to send a letter saying it was okay for me to come back to work on the following Monday. I took 1000 mg of ibuprofen and wrapped up in my coverlet. I dozed on and off for a couple of hours before taking the full dose of cough syrup and heading to bed. Miracle of Miracles! I actually slept for 5 hours straight before my bladder woke me (just like normal). I woke up on Thursday feeling a little more human.
Thursday night was also fairly restful, and I awoke on Friday feeling somewhat better. The infection in my eyes was pretty much gone. I continued to use the drops, however. I took a shower and washed my hair. I lounged around while my hair got totally dry. Then I put on some clothes, went to the bank and to Dominick's to get groceries. I was only gone about an hour and a half, and I could not believe how bad I felt by the time I got back. I loaded the groceries from the back seat into the cart and headed inside. I stopped to get my mail and went over to the elevators. I got on the elevator and pushed 3. The door closed and we headed up.
Now, this particular elevator has been acting up for some time (I first complained about it 6 months ago). When it is going to stop at a floor, it sort of does a little hop and then takes about 30 seconds to shudder to a stop at the floor before the door opens. On Friday, it did it's little hop, and then it hopped again, and then again. But it didn't shudder up to the floor and the door didn't open. I pressed the "Door Open" button and nothing happened. I finally pressed the alarm bell and one of the building engineers answered. I told him that the elevator door wouldn't open. He asked where I was and I told him, and he said he would be right up to open the door. In the meantime, the elevator kept doing the little bounces, and I thought I was going to be sick. Suddenly, the door opened - only it wasn't on 3 anymore. I was back down on the main floor.
It seems that our elevators are run by hydraulics, not cables. It also turns that the little hops I had been feeling were actually the elevator descending back to the main floor. Needless to say, I did not stay on that elevator. The building manager was there, and I told her what had happened. I said that I had a hard enough time riding the elevators when I felt fine (I suffer from benign positional vertigo), but what I had just experienced had been no fun at all. The engineer came back down on the other elevator and asked what had happened. I told him that somehow the elevator had come back down to 1. He said they would check it out. I took the other elevator up to 3 and finally made it back to my apartment. I was shaking by the time I got there. I quickly put away the groceries that needed to be refrigerated and went to lie down for a while. My little trip to the bank and shopping, along with the fright on the elevator had absolutely worn me out, and my temperature was back up to 100+.
By Saturday morning, I was feeling better, so I went out for about an hour to pick up some craft supplies that I needed (an errand from the previous weekend that I needed to complete). I stopped at KFC to pick up a bucket of chicken (so I wouldn't have to cook for the weekend), and headed back home. The whole trip took about 70 minutes. I fixed myself some lunch and then took a nap in my chair. After that I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in my work room sculpting clay flowers for pins. I baked the flowers and set them aside to cool. Then I just relaxed the rest of the evening. I was looking forward to a restful slumber, but that wasn't to be.
Saturday night was like Tuesday night. I couldn't seem to stop coughing. When I got up on Sunday morning, the sinus migraine was back with a vengeance. I took some ibuprofen and basically just lounged around all day. I tried working on my pins, but I just didn't have the energy or patience for it. Most of the day was spent dozing in my comfy chair wrapped in a coverlet. Finally, late Sunday afternoon, I started feeling better. The headache had eased, my temperature was down and the coughing had finally subsided. I watched the SuperBowl and then Gray's Anatomy and ER before heading to bed.
I slept pretty much all the way through the night without coughing myself awake. I got up at 6:15 this morning, took my shower, got dressed and caught the 7:55 train downtown. It's now 3:27 pm, and so far I only have a little headache and my temp appears to be normal. I am hopeful that the worst has passed. My ear buzzing is still there, but seems to be getting better. My doctor says that if it doesn't go away by next week, I should call him. Other than that, I appear to be finally on the mend. I really hate being sick and I'm glad this thing is finally over.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Hurray for Friday!
Wow. We finally made it to Friday. Only 6 hours until I can go home for the weekend. I don't know why, but this week has been the longest one yet. I think it's because the secretary who sits next to me has been out, and I've been covering her two attorneys on top of my two attorneys. It's not that there's too much work, 'cause there isn't really. I think it's because it's thrown the rhythm of my day off. I think we all create patterns in our lives that make it seem as if everything is going along smoothly. When we have to make changes or additions to those patterns, it disrupts the harmony we've created. That's what this week has been like for me.
Don't get me wrong. I do love the challenge of new things. I just don't like how "off" it makes me feel. It seems like I've been a step or two behind all week. And having to cope with two new people and their little foibles doesn't help. Especially since their secretary has spoiled them so! But then, I spoil my folks, too. I guess it's just that once you've worked with someone for a while, you get to know exactly how they like things done, and they get to know just how far they can push you. When you have to deal with new folks, there's an awkwardness to your communication. I mean, I know that I'm one of the best legal secretaries in this town, but Steve and Brad don't quite know that yet, so they're always double and triple checking things with me. Brad even seemed surprised when one of the items he gave me was already finished. He thought I'd have questions for him. I didn't. I just took care of it.
Things have gotten more relaxed as the week has worn on. However, Brad has started taking advantage of the fact that I'm here later than his regular secretary, who leaves at 4:20 every day. See, I usually take the 6:38 train home, but I get off work at 5:00. So I usually sit at my desk playing solitaire or reading the newspaper until about 6:10. It's warmer and more comfortable than the train station. And while I may still be at my desk after 5:00, I actually clock out at 5:00, and I'm not being paid for that extra time that I'm here. Brad doesn't seem to grasp that concept. He has been coming up to me almost every day after 5:00 with work to do. I finally told him yesterday that, just because I'm still here, doesn't mean I'm still working. As a matter of fact, I usually shut down all of my programs except Explorer right after 5:00, so I would have to open them back up in order to do a letter for him. I think he finally understands.
Oh well, hopefully today is the last day I have to take care of these guys. I'm hoping that Anne (their secretary) will be back on Monday, but she might not be. She has pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the sack around the lungs, and that takes a little while to get over. If she isn't here, maybe there will be desk coverage available, and I'll be able to hand off her folks to them.
Anyway, that can wait until Monday. Today, though, is FRIDAY. And I can look forward to two whole days of not coming into the office. Hurray!
Don't get me wrong. I do love the challenge of new things. I just don't like how "off" it makes me feel. It seems like I've been a step or two behind all week. And having to cope with two new people and their little foibles doesn't help. Especially since their secretary has spoiled them so! But then, I spoil my folks, too. I guess it's just that once you've worked with someone for a while, you get to know exactly how they like things done, and they get to know just how far they can push you. When you have to deal with new folks, there's an awkwardness to your communication. I mean, I know that I'm one of the best legal secretaries in this town, but Steve and Brad don't quite know that yet, so they're always double and triple checking things with me. Brad even seemed surprised when one of the items he gave me was already finished. He thought I'd have questions for him. I didn't. I just took care of it.
Things have gotten more relaxed as the week has worn on. However, Brad has started taking advantage of the fact that I'm here later than his regular secretary, who leaves at 4:20 every day. See, I usually take the 6:38 train home, but I get off work at 5:00. So I usually sit at my desk playing solitaire or reading the newspaper until about 6:10. It's warmer and more comfortable than the train station. And while I may still be at my desk after 5:00, I actually clock out at 5:00, and I'm not being paid for that extra time that I'm here. Brad doesn't seem to grasp that concept. He has been coming up to me almost every day after 5:00 with work to do. I finally told him yesterday that, just because I'm still here, doesn't mean I'm still working. As a matter of fact, I usually shut down all of my programs except Explorer right after 5:00, so I would have to open them back up in order to do a letter for him. I think he finally understands.
Oh well, hopefully today is the last day I have to take care of these guys. I'm hoping that Anne (their secretary) will be back on Monday, but she might not be. She has pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the sack around the lungs, and that takes a little while to get over. If she isn't here, maybe there will be desk coverage available, and I'll be able to hand off her folks to them.
Anyway, that can wait until Monday. Today, though, is FRIDAY. And I can look forward to two whole days of not coming into the office. Hurray!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Capsizing to the Right
Okay. It looks like Mr. Alito is going to be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, despite the misgivings that many people have. It is just another step to the right, but it is one that could have far reaching consequences. Forget about Roe v. Wade, let's concentrate on all of the personal freedoms that we currently hold dear. Once Mr. Alito joins the crew, we will all be very much in jeopardy of losing our privacy. According to the three briefs of the soon-to-be Associate Justice that I've had an opportunity to read so far, the Constitution doesn't really give us any rights of privacy. I am very much afraid that what we've found out lately about W ordering eavesdropping on private citizens without court order is only going to be the tip of the iceberg.
The last time this country moved so far to the right, we ended up fighting a civil war. The ultra-conservatives of the mid-nineteenth century supported slavery and wanted government out of our everyday lives. The one thing they had in common with today's ultra-conservative, though, is that they, too, believed that only those who agreed with them were true patriots. All others were suspect. I find it ironic that the current ultra-conservative movement has moved so far back in time to find their ideals. They didn't work then, and they are not going to work now.
The biggest difference between what happened just prior to the Civil War and what is happening now is that women couldn't vote then. We can vote now, much to the chagrin of Mr. Bush and his cohorts. I firmly believe that the women of this country have finally had enough of George W, Tricky Dicky, Rummy, and their friends. I look forward to the November elections this year, when I firmly hope that the voters of this country will finally return some sanity to Capital Hill. If we do not, then all of those steps to the right will eventually capsize our Ship of State.
The last time this country moved so far to the right, we ended up fighting a civil war. The ultra-conservatives of the mid-nineteenth century supported slavery and wanted government out of our everyday lives. The one thing they had in common with today's ultra-conservative, though, is that they, too, believed that only those who agreed with them were true patriots. All others were suspect. I find it ironic that the current ultra-conservative movement has moved so far back in time to find their ideals. They didn't work then, and they are not going to work now.
The biggest difference between what happened just prior to the Civil War and what is happening now is that women couldn't vote then. We can vote now, much to the chagrin of Mr. Bush and his cohorts. I firmly believe that the women of this country have finally had enough of George W, Tricky Dicky, Rummy, and their friends. I look forward to the November elections this year, when I firmly hope that the voters of this country will finally return some sanity to Capital Hill. If we do not, then all of those steps to the right will eventually capsize our Ship of State.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Mondays
I don't know why, but I have a really hard time with Mondays. I have to force myself to get up, get dressed and go to work on Mondays. I'm always down on Mondays, too. No matter how much fun I have on the weekend, when Monday comes, I find myself depressed. Is it because I long for the day when I no longer have to get up at 5:30 am to go to work? I don't know.
To tell the truth, I really like my job. I'm a legal secretary who specializes in Litigation. And when I'm busy, I really get a rush out of keeping everything going and in the correct order. When I'm preparing a document for an attorney, and I find a subtle grammatical error, or unclear sentence, I discuss it with the attorney. Most of the time I'm right, and that makes me feel really good. And on those occasions when I'm incorrect, I still feel good because I've learned something new!
I like the folks I work with. I've been with my main assignment for nearly ten years (and two law firms). He's an absolute dear. And most of the other lawyers I've worked with have been good, too. (So far, only one bad apple in the bunch, as far as I'm concerned.) I also enjoy working with the other secretaries and find that we all have the same strange type of humor (what do you call 1000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start).
So why is it, then, that I have so much trouble with Mondays.
I'm beginning to think that it's not so much the beginning of the work week, but the end of the weekend that bothers me. Maybe if we just didn't work on Mondays, I would feel better. I don't think having only two days for the weekend is enough. I, for one, spend Saturday running around, trying to get all of my errands done as quickly as possible. I try to keep Sunday for rest whenever possible. But all of that running on Saturday has a tendency to really tire me out, so that I'm more tired on Sunday than I would have been if I hadn't run all those errands on Saturday. If I didn't have to work on Monday, then I could spread my errands out over two days and still have a day of rest.
That's it. I think we should push for the 32 hour week (8 hours, Tuesday through Friday). Then I won't have any more trouble with Mondays.
To tell the truth, I really like my job. I'm a legal secretary who specializes in Litigation. And when I'm busy, I really get a rush out of keeping everything going and in the correct order. When I'm preparing a document for an attorney, and I find a subtle grammatical error, or unclear sentence, I discuss it with the attorney. Most of the time I'm right, and that makes me feel really good. And on those occasions when I'm incorrect, I still feel good because I've learned something new!
I like the folks I work with. I've been with my main assignment for nearly ten years (and two law firms). He's an absolute dear. And most of the other lawyers I've worked with have been good, too. (So far, only one bad apple in the bunch, as far as I'm concerned.) I also enjoy working with the other secretaries and find that we all have the same strange type of humor (what do you call 1000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start).
So why is it, then, that I have so much trouble with Mondays.
I'm beginning to think that it's not so much the beginning of the work week, but the end of the weekend that bothers me. Maybe if we just didn't work on Mondays, I would feel better. I don't think having only two days for the weekend is enough. I, for one, spend Saturday running around, trying to get all of my errands done as quickly as possible. I try to keep Sunday for rest whenever possible. But all of that running on Saturday has a tendency to really tire me out, so that I'm more tired on Sunday than I would have been if I hadn't run all those errands on Saturday. If I didn't have to work on Monday, then I could spread my errands out over two days and still have a day of rest.
That's it. I think we should push for the 32 hour week (8 hours, Tuesday through Friday). Then I won't have any more trouble with Mondays.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
My First Blog
Who would ever have thought that I would be a Blogger?! Not me, for sure. But here I am, about to post my very first Blog. What is my Blog going to be about? I called it "Random Stitches" 'cause I'm a crafter, quilter, doll maker, etc. , and I do a lot of stitching. But that doesn't mean that this is going to just be about crafts. I see my life in many pieces, and this Blog is going to be a look at how I've kept them all together as a whole.
I don't just craft. I work full time. I volunteer. I write. And, yes, I craft. I like to meet new people and try new things. Sometimes it's hard to deal with what life throws your way, and I find that writing about it helps me to cope. Just the act of putting feelings on paper seems to help sort things out in my mind.
So here we go. Hopefully, people will not find what I have to say to be too far out. I hope they can find some humor (laughter always makes you feel better), and I hope that I can continue to polish my writing skills.
Happy Blogging!
I don't just craft. I work full time. I volunteer. I write. And, yes, I craft. I like to meet new people and try new things. Sometimes it's hard to deal with what life throws your way, and I find that writing about it helps me to cope. Just the act of putting feelings on paper seems to help sort things out in my mind.
So here we go. Hopefully, people will not find what I have to say to be too far out. I hope they can find some humor (laughter always makes you feel better), and I hope that I can continue to polish my writing skills.
Happy Blogging!
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