A (slightly outdated) post on the NYC transit strike

Regardless of whose side you were on in the dispute between the City of New York and the NYC Transit Union, it's pretty amazing to see how a group of blue collar workers can bring the cultural and economic capitol of the world to a screeching halt.

I haven't done an in-depth study on the differences between the union and employers; it's possible that the union's demands were unreasonable. But from what I've read and heard, they wanted to keep their retirement age, and keep their current pension plan in place. That doesn't sound terribly greedy, but times are changing. Many U.S. workers no longer get benefits as good as they have, and many feel that these workers should just move with the times. Many of their fellow blue-collar workers cursed them as they walked to work, and it's understandable, in a way; they had to walk for miles to get to their jobs where they do physical labor, and got pay docked for being late. Evening news reports showed more hardships - people with disabilities who could not work or get to treatment at all, ambulances that could not get to emergency scenes in time. I'll admit that this was a sticky one, morally. Maybe the gain was not worth the havoc wrecked upon the city.

But many people have a knee-jerk reaction when they hear about strikes - they immediately label the workers and union leadership as "selfish". Those who habitually curse striking workers do so because of their sense of morality, but that sense of morality is short-sighted. That NYC is incapacitated when these workers do not show up is evidence that their services are vital to the city, and that their work should be fairly compensated. When one group of workers is fairly compensated, it puts pressure on other employers to raise their standards, to compete for good labor. Allowing workers to organize, and strike when neccessary (while providing checks to union power) improves working conditions for us all.

it's cold!

As in -13 degrees the other night. As in highs of 11 degrees F for 4 days straight. Today it was twenty degrees and we were all like, "whew! glad that cold snap's over!"

However, extreme cold does have its advantages. I saw a phenomenon the other morning called "sundogs" or "parahelia" - there was a partial arc of a rainbow on either side of the sun. They're caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere. They look sort of like this:

The colors were much more vivid in the ones I saw. I get the feeling that they are really difficult to photograph well.









Click on the picture to see a page about sun dogs. Notice the website is from ALASKA.

Nobody's online tonight so I thought I would ramble to myself on my blog. I'm sort of down because I don't have a big grandiose plan I'm working on, which is usually the case. I really miss my old church job. Gave me purpose, even if it did drive me crazy. I don't miss working 60 hours a week though. I gotta figure something out for money though - unfortunately, church jobs seem to be the only sort of jobs I get reliably hired for. Thinking back, I have gone to many church interviews, and have only been turned down by one church. It's interesting really - and I'm not complaining about this - but I have the oddest skill set ever. I can do a mean water test, and can probably cure whatever ill your swimming pool may be afflicted with. I type 60 wpm (thanks online chatting!). I can memorize names and faces like nobody's business (I once knew the first and last names of 150 nursing home residents on sight). I make quiet, shy people feel really comfortable and relaxed. Cats are very fond of me. Can't say the same for dogs.

I've been complimented on my speaking voice. I know more about weird subsets of classical music than about 99.9999% of the population (prepared piano from the mid-twentieth century, anyone?) I know bullshit theology when I hear it. I'm good at finishing things. Poor at starting them. Academically gifted (wish that translated into career success!) Excellent public speaker. Good at listening to music, not bad at listening to people. Can you be good at listening to music? Is it any benefit to anyone if you are good at being moved, struck?