Arizona, Day 5 - Homage to the Mecca

The beautiful interchange...


Nice, neat traffic lights in Tempe...


I saw this one coming from blocks away. He was looking for something, though I don't know what. He was offering himself to a woman walking in front of him and promising her...well nevermind...

I have to laugh. The older generation says the darnedest things. We were at a Denny's in Tempe and Mavis was looking around the restaurant. She said, "There aren't any women in here." and continued to look around. She leaned over to me and said in all seriousness, "This must be a gay Denny's."




Day 5 was exciting. We made the homage to the home furnishing Mecca of IKEA in Tempe. "What's ITEA?" Mavis asked. I just told her that she would have to see. They had to call and ask Mavis' sister-in-law for directions to get there. When we arrived, they still wondered what the big deal was. But, when we entered, you could hear the angels singing. They sang until their voices faltered and our feet were throbbing.

If you have never been to IKEA, keep in mind that it is one HUGE storage solution. I salivated. Unbelievably, the prices were so reasonable. I was in heaven! Dreams of moving out of my large house into a one room flat crossed my mind. So much unused space!! I looked at each of the items and wanted them, but to tell you the truth, although I could afford them, the thought of carrying them on the plane and being searched and carrying the stuff through the airport made no sense. I confidently grabbed a catalog on the way out thinking I could order what I wanted. When I went on the internet, I looked up the items, and they all said, find an IKEA near you. I may have to give my sister a shopping list for when she comes back from the cities...

We went to another ghost town. This one was embellished with touristy crap. When I showed the kids the pictures, Jess informed me that they had a place like that in Disney, too! Gee, if I would have only known. I had to educate her that Disneyworld was not a place where all this stuff was there...Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion, etc. were constructed imitations of things like this. She looked very confused and almost hurt, so the slideshow just moved on...

Goldfield was near superstition mountain. I got several photos and picked up a parking lot stone that reminded me of a mountain





There was a woman in the coffee shop we went to that had an unusual accent. I asked where she was from and she said she was from Hawaii. She was a native of Hawaii. Her daughter moved to Arizona with her boyfriend and begged her mother to come. This woman had a brother that goes to school in Vermillion. Sometimes it is so nice to just begin a conversation with folks.

When we stopped at a gas station on the way to Fairbank, I asked one of the attendants if she knew where any local ghostowns were. She said she did not and then asked if I was one of those ghost hunters.

An expectant cactus??

They didn't have MADD back then...

In the Olden Days

Some of us were talking the other day about employers and their treatment of employees. It sure has gone down hill. Not just the fact that pension plans are a thing of the past, but living wages, respect and status as well.

I recall when I first moved to Sioux Falls. I was 19 and getting my first experience in the culture of the area. At the time, Morrell's was the pinnacle of employers! The job was a filthy one, the hours were long and it was shift work. It was well known, however, if you worked at Morrell's you had it made for life. You made a great wage, you had great benefits and you could retire relatively young with a company pension. In the few short years since then, however, things have changed a great deal.

I have been kind of thinking about the things that we have heard about the disintegrating prospects out there. I should compose a list of the things that employers use to soothe employees annoyed by the low wages and small raises:
1. It is now a global economy and we have to compete with people making pennies a day
2. The surveys of businesses in the area show that we are within the norm for this type of labor
3. You should be lucky you have a job.
4. It's not going to get any better.
5. We don't give cost-of-living wages, we pay for performance
6. The banking industry is notorious for low wages.
7. The pay might be low, but you can't forget about the benefits.

Has anyone had the benefit of the corporate calculations for raises? It is an exponential thang...

First of all, your department is given $x for raises.

Next, you compete with your coworkers for ratings.

You are graded in 10 areas, more or less. The scale is 1-5.
Now, keep in mind that 5s, while not impossible to obtain, are reserved for the kind of employees that you see in the dusty award frames with some sort of gold embellishment. Their performance is damn near heroic. You even suspect that their framed photo was at one time sold in bulk to employers who wish to dangle the impossible carrot in front of everyone else's head, leading them to believe that they can be this kind of performer, and demonstrating in their performance appraisals that they are nowhere near that status.

After everyone is rated 1-5 in their 10 or so areas. They are given a score. Now keep in mind when the supervisor is rating everyone, that they have already been told how many of each rating they can have. For example, 50% of their employees have to be '3' performers. 20% each are '4' and '2' performers and 5% each are '1' and '5' performers.

Each person's score is then multiplied by a certain percentage. The more money you make, the lower the percentage. .: if you make $30,000 and the top pay for your job is $32,000, your score will be multiplied by a lower percentage than the person that makes $23,000 in the $32,000. This way, the more that you make, the less you will receive in raises so you never quite top out in your area.

I kid you not! This is what is done in the corporate world that I call Blowing Sunshine. I think more than attempting to create a fair way to appraise and compensate employees, this confuses them so much that they don't know what the heck happened.

Oh, as for the comment that we have to take our benefits into consideration...I have tried to cash in on the fertility limit in our health care plan, since I really don't plan on using it, and I can't seem to get ahold of it. Also they won't let me take out the military pay that I won't be using among other things. When I tried to pay for groceries with my health insurance card, they looked at me like I was nuts. I just can't seem to live off my benefits...

When I was researching income disparity last year I got sooooo mad! I found out how much my CEO made and how much United Health's CEO made. They did incredibly. Oddly enough, last year my raise was $.11 short of covering the increase in health care. This did not correspond with the fast rising costs of groceries, gas, insurance copays, utilities, etc.



I propose that we begin blowing the same sunshine at CEOs that they give us! We compared your job with the small grocery store owner on the corner and you will have to take a pay cut so you can be within the normal salary range for your position...we pay for performance and it appears to us that it is your employees that have been more efficient and productive. You will now compete with all the employees in the company, including the janitors, and your pay raises will be based on some exponential calculation divided by the number of years you worked to the power of the degree of brownness on your nose.

I think in the same way they should REQUIRE slumlords to have to reside in the stys they create, they should make CEOs try to live on our wages.

Okay, enough venting.
Good Night

UPDATE: By the way, employees' wages are considered expenses. CEO and upper management salaries and compensation is NOT considered an expense. It is taken from the profits. Therefore, when they need to trim down expenses, cutting CEO or UM payout doesn't enter into the picture.

Locks of Love to the Children

Okay, I did it!! I gave my hair away and got a new style to boot!!! I don't know if it is sane to put my picture on the internet, or not, but what the... I think it looks great and I feel good!

I had better get to studying. I have class tomorrow and need to be ready for the test!

Ta, ta!

This is So Good!

George W. Bush 2007 State of the Union Drinking Game
Raging Moderate, by Will Durst

What you need to play:

·Four taxpayers: One rich white guy wearing a suit. Cufflinks are nice. Two people wearing jeans, one in a blue work shirt, the other in a white shirt and one person wearing clothes rejected by the Salvation Army. Belt and shoelaces removed.

·One shot glass per person. Everybody brings their own from home and places it on table. Suit gets first pick for use during game. White shirt picks next, then Blue shirt. Suit takes last shot glass as well, and Rags has to beg a glass from other players when necessary or drink out of own cupped hands.

·20-buck ante for everybody except Suit who throws in a quarter.

·1 pot of Texas chili and 1 bowl of guacamole in middle of coffee table with tortilla chips nearby. Rags has to prepare and serve the chili and guacamole.

·A large stash of beer. Rags gets the cheapest stuff available. Suit gets whatever import he likes. Jeans get any domestic brand as long as it's no more expensive than Bud, but must pay for all the beer, the bourbon, the chips and the ingredients for the chili and guacamole.

Rules of the Game:

1. Whenever George W uses the phrases, "defending liberty," "enormous progress" or "challenges ahead," last person to knock wood has to drink 2 shots of beer. If he actually says, "There are those who envy our freedoms and seek to destroy us," everybody drinks a whole beer.

2. The first time George W mentions the tragic events of 9/11, the last person to eat one dollop of chili off a tortilla chip must drink three shots of beer. The second time George W mentions the tragic events of 9/11, the last person to eat one dollop of guacamole off a tortilla chip must drink three shots of beer. Continue to alternate. If you mis-chip, drink two extra shots of beer.

3. If George W mispronounces Iraqi President Al-Maliki's name, drink two shots of beer. If he even attempts to pronounce the name of Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad, first person to stop laughing is exempt from drinking three shots of beer.

4. If George W makes up a word like "9/11ers or "deterrencism," last person to yell out "Strategerie!" drinks two shots of beer.

5. Every time Senators Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama are shown in the audience, Suit drinks one shot of beer.

6. The first time George W talks about immigration, last person to finish three chips of guacamole has to drink threeshots of beer.

7. If either the vice President, secretary of state or first lady are caught napping, last person to make snoring noises drinks two shots of beer. If Senator Robert Byrd is shown awake, Blue and White drink two shots of beer.

8. Everybody drinks two shots of beer if President Bush mentions Scooter Libby. Three shots of beer if he mentions Jack Abramoff. Four shots of beer if he mentions Osama bin Laden.

9. Whenever George W quotes the Bible, last person to sing the first eight bars of "Amazing Grace" has to drink two shots of beer.

10. If George W smirks during a standing ovation, take turns throwing chips of chili and guacamole at TV. First person to hit Bush's head exempt from drinking three shots of beer.

11. If George W tells a folksy Texas tale with a deeper meaning about not leaving before the job is done, Suit has to drink out of beer-filled hands of Rags, who gets to dry his hands on Suit's jacket.

12. Predict the number of applause breaks. After the speech, drink number of shots of beer equal to the difference between your estimate and the real number.

EXTRAS:

·Anybody who can identify person giving the Democratic response doesn't have to watch it.

·If George W uses a heartfelt story of one of our brave troops, white guy gets to kick everybody once. Twice if the brave troop is a woman. Rags gets to kick the suit if Bush reveals the subject of the anecdote is in the audience. Twice if the brave troop is sitting next to an astronaut.

·Suit takes home the $60.25.

·Leftover beer, chili and guacamole go home with Rags after he/ she is finished washing the dishes.

Political Comic Will Durst is going to try and sneak into the event disguised as an astronaut.

Copyright ©2007 Will Durst, distributed by the Cagle Cartoons Inc. syndicate. Will Durst is a political comedian who has performed around the world. He is a familiar pundit on television and radio. See www.willdurst.com for additional information on Will's performance schedule and listen to his twice-weekly commentaries @audible.com/willdurst. E-mail Will at durst@caglecartoons.com.

Monday Part 2

Lately at work, things have been getting kind of crappy. Meetings eating into productivity. Appointments having to be rescheduled because we are understaffed. Overall reprimanding of the group when only a few are guilty - I hate that. For one, I feel that it is my fault. Don't ask me why, but that group thing always gets to me. If I ever become a teacher, I will never impose that tactic. But, my guilt button is very close to the surface. I am not a good liar at all. When I am accused of doing so, I have been known to burst into uncontrollable tears. I remember one time when I was waitressing one of the older waitresses accused me of stealing her tip. Apparently this customer of hers "always" left her a tip at another restaurant she worked at. We were working at one with signs all over saying, "No Tipping, Please". I told her I didn't steal it. Actually, I did her a favor when I cleared the table in the first place. It wasn't my section, but that is something I always did to help my coworkers. I had never been accused of stealing before, and never accused of lying. There was NO tip there. I was deeply hurt by her accusations. How could she? There and many times over, I learned that no good deed goes unpunished. I will never forget her name, Lottie. I will never forget her angry red face against her beehived white hair. I won't forget the hurt. Lottie, I wasn't lying. I didn't steal your tip.

Anyway, back to the point. The boss hasn't exactly been in a good mood lately. She keeps getting negative feedback on all these surveys that we are taking. We are supposed to be honest. One of the questions on the last survey we had, asked us, as employees, if we thought our opinions mattered. Low scores. So, she said that as a group we would all have to try and raise those scores. Then someone brought up moving. (We change desks every 3-6 months as people are cross-trained into different functions) I asked her if we had any input in the decision of where we would sit. Her response was that there was only one way. Hmmm...some of us think outside the box. Some of us may be able to think of different ways. I had the whole thing reorganized like never before. But, it all deflated.

I have been pretty upset lately, too because it appears that I will have to find a different job to continue my education. I am missing out on psyche courses because she doesn't want me to leave 45 minutes early once a week for 16 weeks. Yes, this is asking a lot. But when I see other people's names on the board for leaving early and know that I am scrutinized, I get awfully disappointed.

Then we have to have our vacation schedules in by Friday. I don't know what I want for vacation this early in the game. I haven't had time off for Christmas for at least 4 years. We are supposed to rotate this between us every year. There are 3 people in my "function": me and two others. They were discussing between each other who got Christmas off. I pulled out the calendars for the last 6 years and let them know that it was about...mmmm....my turn???!!! Oh, well. I only have a couple of days that are that important to me and those are the days prior to Nick's graduation. I told them that they could decide between themselves as long as when I want it off (If I am still in this job) I can have it.

Geez, I guess I feel invisible. Maybe a little worse than that.

When I got home I began cooking supper and then Nick decided to join my network for high-speed internet. He went out and bought his accessory and expected me to set it up for him. The kids have a PC. I didn't want to do it right now. I had studying to do, a lab to do, and a test to study for. Then the phone rang, and Sioux Valley, whom I have called twice this week already asking for information on the bills, (the bills, bills, bills bills bills - note to self: Do a "Bills" rendition of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells") called to ask if payment was on the way for a $60 bill that I just called about and was told was paid, but another $30 one was outstanding. Apparently Sioux Valley's new system of care means that every dr. appointment, every x-ray, every hospital visit, though all included on the same statement, are all different account numbers. So, in my attempt to pay one off, I paid the other off again. I am dealing now with 7 different account numbers for Nick's one procedure. Am I the only one that doesn't see the logic in all of that? I told the lady on the phone that this is an accounting nightmare. Imagine getting a new checking account number everytime you made a deposit...yeah...confusing.

Well, I get my hair cut tomorrow. It is now down to the small of my back. I don't know what to do with it. Leave it long, but layered? Get some wispy bangs? Chop it off? Get a buzz???? I don't know. But I know I will have a lot of studying to do afterwards!

I need some sleep.

Good night,
A

Broke Down and Did It

The quieting snow. It was so quiet and lovely.


The hodgepodge this morning. What a mess!


I am sure IKEA has better solutions, but it was the best I could do this morning. Much better!!

Okay, I finally broke down and purchased another cable. I can't believe how impatient I am. My thinking was that it wouldn't hurt to have an extra just in case. $20. I really didn't want to do it. But, earlier today I was busy. There have been too many times that the kids have emptied the dishwasher and put stuff where it shouldn't go. Today, I finally straightened it out. It is so much better. So, with new cable and straightened out mess I should go and study!

Ta ta!
A

Sunday Frustrations!!

Imagine a picture of the white snow in the orange glow of early morning - here in the city when it is snowing, the sky turns orange. It is really mystical looking

Imagine comparison pictures of my cabinets. Before I cleaned them and after.

I am asking you to imagine because I don't have my camera cable...Oh, where oh where did it go?! I have been up since 5:30 am. I went out and got the paper, put the old coffee in the microwave, snapped some snow photos and decided to add them to this morning's blog. I went to my desk to get the cable. Nope. Okay, it must still be in my attache case from the trip. Nope. Hmm...my early morning mind thought....Oh! Google it!....I then realized I must drink the coffee for it to work. I can't do a Google on everything I am looking for! Then the search began. I have 2 desks here that are mine. I looked through all the drawers. Nope. (Have you ever noticed that you look in the places that are easiest first?) Okay, if it fell where would it be? So, I sat on the floor and battled the dust bunnies looking for it! They must have carried it to their dust bunnie hole somewhere. (Note to self: time to vacuum UNDER things) The dust bunnies won. I found a few misplaced items and returned them to their places, ended up unhooking my printer, got yelled at by the computer for doing so, dropped my right speaker on my arm, moved the wires for the router, causing that to fall several times, straightened the desk all up, (Note to self: buy a damn bookcase!) and decided this could take a few more cups of coffee. So, I am taking a break from the hunt. This is not the best way to start my Sunday.

Where am I? Day four!?!

Off to Bisbee... Wheee...!!! What was in Bisbee? Was it something I mentioned while thumbing through a tourist guide? Did Mavis bring it up? Who brought up Bisbee, anyway? No one knew and no one asked. It was just on the agenda...




(Shady Dell Photo courtesy of wikipedia)
Day four of the desert journey took us to Bisbee, a pot-smoking little bohemian town. It is a former mining town just across the border from Mexico. I got a nice picture of a couple of boys that I thought were rolling a joint in front of the historical society. When we walked right in front of them, one was licking the rolling paper. Apparently it is quite open. In fact, it is said that nearby Tombstone is "a town too tough to die" and Bisbee is a "town too high to care".


To demonstrate this fact, these two guys were rolling a joint on the ledge in front of the historical society. How quaint! They must be the Chamber of Commerce.


This is the Copper Queen Hotel. The hotel to end all hotels in this little mining town. It looks pretty European.


I thought I was bad at taking the Christmas decorations down! Such a large post office for such a small town. I wonder if this is the way it originally looked. I suppose I could google it...if I had time. I am already spending homework time on this, so I had better not. Let me know if you do.


The town was built on a hill. Interesting is the fact that there were not always streets going up those hills. Often there was just a stairway. It is probably a good thing they didn't get snow there. In a way the steps are endearing...



but not always...

I made a big mistake when we were driving off between the green patina bluffs by not taking a picture of them. It was interesting to see the amount of copper that was in those hills and the massive patina that emphasized it.

From Bisbee we hit Tombstone. What a rip off!!! It is THE single worst tourist trap that I have ever seen! I was literally ticked off at the whole darn town. I shouldn't even show a picture of the town. I give it 0 stars!! Zippo! Do you want to see the OK Corral? It is behind a wall and the only way to get to it is by going into a shop and paying the entrance fee for a show where you sit on bleachers. Sometimes you really don't want or need the whole shebang. You just want to see the sight, click a photo and go on your way. No, not there. There they say they have the largest rosebush! But I will not pay $3 to go look at it and say, "Gee, that IS big!" I am not sure what was originally there and what was staged to look as if. Each shop had its own "museum" in the back in which they each charged for you to go back into what couldn't be a very large collection of memorabilia. This town is a capitalist quack's idea of what history should be and it isn't worth going out of your way for!

Real? (Front of the building)


Or not... (side of the same building)



Real town?

With badly faux painted buildings!?!



After seeing the city, we decided that maybe Boothill could redeem the town's historical virtue...
How nice of them. I have seen pictures of this several years ago and the original sticks and signs were there. In order to enable viewers to better see the epitaphs, they were nice enough to replace the old ones with brand new freshly painted ones on freshly painted pipes! How considerate!


Here is the legendary Lester Moore epitaph:
Also freshly repainted!

I think we should go to the old graveyards on the east coast, and you know those thinning tombstones where the names are barely visible? I think we should put brand spanking new stones on them! Heck, we could just pack up the bones and put them in a mausoleum! Now that is preserving history!


After Tombstone - such a fitting name for its place where historical preservation has passed away - we went to Fairbank. Fairbank is a ghost town that isn't as old as some, but apparently has more left to it than many that are simply foundations if that. They fenced (with chainlink so you can still see them!) off the old post office and its connected "downtown" buildings for safety reasons, but it would sure be nice to be able to peek inside them sometime.


The old schoolhouse:


Ye olde public restroom (A two holer!):


After Fairbank, we went back to the main highway. Just one more stop and we were done for the day! Well...maybe two. Border Patrol had a blockade that we had to get through. I bit my lip trying not to say, "Si, senor! Todo esta bien aqui!" But we made it and I did say, "Whew! We got away! Yee-hah!"...followed by the rest of Speedy Gonzalez's quotes when he has fled his predators! We all laughed! It was just that kind of day.

Our next stop was a rock formation that puzzled and awed Mavis. She insisted that we go to see the rocks and see if I could get a better picture than she could. It took a little rock climbing, watching out for snakes, scorpians, and small dragons (right, Eric?) as well as some trespassing and interstate traffic avoidance, but mission accomplished. (Thanks, GW, now I hate to even say that phrase!) Here are the photos she liked along with some that I took for moui!