Sigh

When people do things to benefit themselves, then fuck around and eventually hurt and discredit the union, it makes me mad. Like the kind where you feel your stomach moving around and your heart swelling up.

Not because unions are perfect, but because then the next time someone needs consideration, there will be less of it, because people have just confirmed all the bad things people think about greedy, lazy unionists.

I saw a couple instances of this this week.

But then today I saw something remarkable. Someone waited for over a year and a half, to get a result that did not benefit her at all, but will prevent problems for so many other workers. She suffered through meeting after meeting where she had to face an employer that mistreated her. She missed paid work to go to meetings and hearings.

But it fixed a big problem (which is sort of complicated and procedural to explain), and it was kind of neat to see. I have a bit of the all workers unite bug tonight.

So I am going to write a grievance now before I go to bed.

Best dog toy ever

I am always searching for new dog toys. I figure that an animal with the approximate intelligence of a four year old child requires a small toy box with some neat stuff in it.

Dog toys tend to come in three categories:

-balls
-stuff you throw that's not shaped like a ball
-stuffed animals

There are, of course, variations on themes. Balls that dispense food. Kongs are in between balls and other stuff you throw.

My find of the day is a stuffed animal that's sitting on a stiff, circular rope frame.

It's a turtle frisbee.

A cross between stuffed animals, and stuff you throw. This is the flying squirrel version.



And she just loves it. In fact right now she's sleeping, with the turtle frisbee between her front paws.

This makes me feel better because even when you spend a few hundred dollars on dog toys, they will usually gravitate to sticks from the backyard, a little bone that you buy at the dollar store, and tennis balls (1.49 for three at canadian tire).

This is the best $10 I've spent in a while.

When I dream of a better world

I think about a lot of things. I have a very elaborate vision of what the world could be like.

But today, it occurs to me that a better world would mean 8 hours of uninterrupted and peaceful sleep for everyone.

It would also be a world in which William Shatner has recorded a cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game."

Oh I want to fall in love, alright.



I do want to share a couple of my favourite William Shatner tracks with you.

This is a rough bootleg



And no war but the class war

Where's my tweed jacket with the leather elbow patches?

Today I gave a guest lecture in a class at the university where I work.

This is of course more amusing to all of those who know that I dropped out of my undergraduate degree, and would not even be eligible to take that course, let alone instruct people in how to assemble their major projects.

Oh, their major project is to create a radio documentary, something which I can explain rather well.

And maybe it was the three hours sleep, but not one of the jokes I made got a laugh. The kids these days are too damn serious.


Tomorrow is meeting numero deux avec my nouveau french tutor. Tuesday is also the first new episode of Boston Legal (ahem, starring James Spader). Thursday I have an arbitration. Friday I'm going to see Final Fantasy.

But all things are just a countdown to Saturday, when I get to lie in bed and watch brat pack movies. I've invested $30 in dvds, and it's going to be great. It's going to involve fried potatoes and tempeh bacon and sweet, sweet James Spader.

Brat Pack Day

For an '80s enthusiast, I sure missed a lot during that decade.

I'm just now discovering the magic of brat pack movies. And in particular, I did not realize that James Spader, who has captured my heart as fictional character Alan Shore in ABC's Boston Legal, was among them.

So I have a plan for the 28th, also known as my next day off, and it goes like this:

Wake up and fry potatoes in my new and now well-seasoned cast-iron pan.

Make coffee.

Get back in bed and watch Some Kind of Wonderful, St. Elmo's Fire, and The Breakfast Club, or as many of these as possible before my eyes begin to bleed and my bum falls asleep.

I am not very creative at recreation.

Adopt a couch

In September, everywhere in Guelph is littered with couches and other household items that have been abandoned by students who are fleeing the city to teach english overseas, move back in with their parents, and otherwise move on.

It's awfully tempting to try these out. I have sat on about 13 couches over the last few weeks. Key criteria include:

-are there burns, holes, or other severe disfigurements?
-does it smell?
-is it relatively clean?

And if the first three seem okay, I sit down on it, and I think:

Why would someone give this up?

I, goaded by several friends, have adopted a sofa bed that's now perched in my livingroom. It is ugly, and smells, well, old. I haven't been brave enough to check out the mattress yet.

How come no one ever gives away bookshelves? I really need some of those.

Skunks and Sirens

Sunday was my first day off for over 21 days. And in fact I was supposed to spend it at an out of town union meeting, but I was just too tired.

So there was a lot of lounging around. Until the dog and C. return from the backyard. Abby is drooling huge quantities and is trying to tunnel under the linoleum with her snout. She is just rubbing her face all over the floor and she won't stop salivating.

When C. says, Can you check the dog? I think something's wrong?

Did you know that most dogs are hit by skunks on their necks? They provoke the skunk or scare it, and when they see they are going to get sprayed, they turn their heads as fast as they can. Hence they get hit on the side of the neck, or perhaps their shoulder.

Her left shoulder is covered in it. Her collar is ruined. My face is full of skunk spray.

My dog is not particularly co-operative. I try to coax her into the tub by sitting inside it and waving cookies around. No go. So I give her a sort of doggie sponge bath, which does nothing at all.

Did you know that it's a myth that you can use tomato juice to remove skunk spray? Molecules called thiols are very sticky. In laboratories, they clean then up with peroxide.

So C. goes out to acquire the ingredients we need: 1 litre of peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda, and 1 tablespoon of soap. Actually, there's already soap in the house, but I digress.

Skunk spray doesn't smell very much at first. It takes some time to develop. Like a wine that must breathe.

As soon as C. gets about a block away from the house, two fire trucks pull up on the lawn.

Now I know that I am in hell - I must evacuate two cats, a skunky dog and myself, because the other side of the semi-detached house is on fire.

And the fire fighters have assumed that it's all one house, so no one has come to tell me I should evacuate.

The scene goes like this:

Me: Hi there, is everything alright?
Firefighter: Do you live here?
Me: Yes
Firefighter: There was a gas leak called in. The people on this side think they smell gas.
Me: This is kind of embarrassing, but my dog was just sprayed by a skunk right below their window. It might be gas, but the smell is pretty strong.
Firefighter: Oh, that's good to know, it's probably that. My cat got sprayed about three months ago, and she still smells when it rains.
Me: Don't tell me that.

Actually, after you slather a dog in hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, you'd be surprised actually, at how fresh they smell.

So then everyone tried to sleep while mouth-breathing.

None of my co-workers have said anything yet today, so I must have scrubbed off enough skin to smell normal.

Dog years

If a dog year is equivalent to seven human years, every minute you spend waiting for potentially very important news is equivalent to seven hours.

Teen movie fest

I've been watching a back to school, teen movie marathon, and drinking neo citran. Actually, neo citran is a name brand. This is "Hot Lemon Relief, extra strength." I would agree that it lives up to its name.

So like these teen movies, this is a story of how I've fallen in love and had my heart broken once every two hours all day.

I remember that once, several years ago at a conference, someone told me I looked very "pretty in pink, like the movie." Now I see that they meant I looked spunky, and working class.

That movie breaks my heart. And the line that super mega ultima breaks my ticker in two is:

"But if I hate them for having money, then I'm just as bad as they are for hating us for not having any."

Not so, Molly Ringwald, not so.

She chooses the rich guy. I would normally think this was a spoiler, but apparently I am the only human alive who has not seen this movie.

I'm feeling a bit better having watched But I'm a Cheerleader. If you haven't seen this movie, you should. Because everyone loves a middle-class, christian blonde girl who discovers she's a lesbian. You have to love her.

Election holds some promise because Ferris Bueller is in it. I know that actor has a real name, I just refuse to acknowledge it.

So teen movies are indeed terrific. Too bad I didn't know that when I was a teen.

How many trade unionists does it take...

To operate the union flag?


A few.

Whether you are a paid worker, unemployed, work in the home, are on social assistance, are on disability, are retired, if you're unionized or not, for all of you who think of yourselves as workers, Have a very happy labour day.