Before and after

After tearing it completely apart to find the leak, waiting for the expensive and large part to arrive, putting it back together to discover a new leak, overdiagnosing that problem and finding a blessedly simpler cause all while enduring over a week of not having clean underwear, I have tamed the wily beast that is my Kenmore front loading washing machine. I am now sitting in a chair, gloriously watching it manhandle my panties.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

3 fingers of milk at the Carnegie Deli.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

This must be stuck in my craw...

Unions are not about money. Unions are not about benefits. Unions are about fairness. That statement could easily be directed at most labor unions or the people who hate them. Why do labor unions exist? To try and achieve safety and equality in the workplace. If my one voice is the only one brave enough to ask my employer to treat me like a fellow human being, it does not carry much weight. But an organized group of employees asking for fairness may be heard. Especially if they're loud about it. It doesn't take much looking through a newspaper to see stories that prove that without someone loudly asking for fairness, those in power tend not to give it. Just ask Libya. Humanity is flawed. Unsafe working conditions, unfair pay for those who do not look like us, and inequality in general all happen whether we think we're above it or not. So if you think organized labor is evil, you're an idiot. If you think organized labor is all that is good and right with the world, you're an idiot. But the ideal? The ideal of a group of workers standing together to ensure that they are treated well by those who have the power? That is the only thing that can save us from ourselves. (This applies to politics, religion and sex as well) So perhaps instead of saying everything is wrong or everything is right, we should just work for change. If you see something wrong with the effect of labor unions, (I do.) get out there and try to change them. Run for office. Vote with your head AND you heart. Speak your mind. And stand up with your fellow man.

"People's Court"? Sounds kinda communist if you ask me...

Nuanced views are what we're supposed to strive for right? Nothing should be clear-cut. Are the workers right in Wisconsin, or the Governor? Is a non-violent revolution in Egypt a good or a bad thing? Is the end of what's-his-fucking-name's reign in Libya awesome? Or not?

I struggle with this stuff. I was raised pro-union. My Mom was president of her teamsters local. My best friend's dad was a union rep for AAFSCME and fought for the rights of public workers in the state of Minnesota. My dad had a beard in the early 60's. I'm a dues paying teamster myself. But I'm also on the negotiations committee for my local schoolboard and have to negotiate a contract with a bunch of union teachers every 2 years. Is there an answer to Wisconsin's problems? No. Unions don't fix everything and unions don't ruin everything. They're just supposed to address SOME needs. That, I think is a nuanced view. I think the governor of Wisconsin is a fool to try and destroy public unions. I think "fair-share" membership in unions is an idea whose time has passed.

Why is humanity so hamstrung by the "US vs. Them" mentality. To be right, someone else does not have to be wrong.

Read the comments on any news site's coverage of the recent political upheavals. Apparently Egypt will be free and awesome or sink into an Iran-like era of radicalism. Only. The leaving of Quaddafyi (I think I made that spelling up) will be the greatest blow ever struck in the name of Democracy or it will mean more bloodshed and anti-Americanism (a rather selfish perspective).

This is, of course, not a new problem. And I don't have any answers. I just wanna feel like I'm not supposed to get angry every time I open my eyes a little farther. Maybe I should blame Twitter. I'm pretty sure Gadhafi does.

My new draughtsman.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre