My one (male) (Tibetan) coworker gave notice last month and stopped working at the resthome, since his wife has a better job and it makes sense for him to stay at home and do childcare with their new baby.
Like a week-and-a-half after he stopped working, though, he texted me out of the blue, saying he missed everyone and to send his regards to all of them.
How often does that happen with jobs?
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Friday, October 11, 2019
On the economy in Britain.
Like last month my one (half Sudanese) (half British) friend (the brother of the brother-sister pair) was telling me about what the economy is like back in London, where he recently moved back to.
He was saying that he hates it when people are anti-immigrant and xenophobic and all, and though it's not really where he's going with it, it's quite striking how many Spaniards and Italians and Poles there are everywhere in London, all quite young and all university-educated and all working coffee shop and bar jobs.
For example, he said that the waitress or bartender down at the pub near him where he's living is a recent Polish university graduate who got her degree in chemistry, "and now she's in London, working at the pub."
"It makes you realize just how systemic the problem really is," he was like. "This is Italy, this is Spain, this is Poland, these are all really well-developed countries and there should be jobs for them at home, it's not like they're from the Sudan or something."
He also said that he had a very hard time finding a place to rent because of his fluctuating income and because everywhere you go they need proof of income, but he finally found a house full of people like him and now he lives there, five people living in a house that's actually meant for four.
He also said that the one out of them who's doing really well and has full-time work is a graphic designer, and the other week she asked everyone if she could sleep in the dining room for a month or two and sublet her room, since her income just barely covers her expenses and she can hardly save, and it would make her feel better if she could have around two months of rent set aside in her bank account for an emergency.
"And she's the one who's doing well," he was like.
He also said that his younger aunt is something to hear, since she got a job without finishing high school and now has a great retirement and 2 homes and all the hip surgeries from the NHS that she wants, and she says stuff like that the problem nowadays is that young people don't work or save etc. etc. etc.
First off, he said like he always does, that a lot of time it's just not worth it to talk to people from a certain generation, since they just don't get it and so there's no use even talking about it.
Second off, he was like, "If I was their generation, I would just be embarrassed," he was like. "It's like honestly, just shut up already and get out of the way."
He was saying that he hates it when people are anti-immigrant and xenophobic and all, and though it's not really where he's going with it, it's quite striking how many Spaniards and Italians and Poles there are everywhere in London, all quite young and all university-educated and all working coffee shop and bar jobs.
For example, he said that the waitress or bartender down at the pub near him where he's living is a recent Polish university graduate who got her degree in chemistry, "and now she's in London, working at the pub."
"It makes you realize just how systemic the problem really is," he was like. "This is Italy, this is Spain, this is Poland, these are all really well-developed countries and there should be jobs for them at home, it's not like they're from the Sudan or something."
He also said that he had a very hard time finding a place to rent because of his fluctuating income and because everywhere you go they need proof of income, but he finally found a house full of people like him and now he lives there, five people living in a house that's actually meant for four.
He also said that the one out of them who's doing really well and has full-time work is a graphic designer, and the other week she asked everyone if she could sleep in the dining room for a month or two and sublet her room, since her income just barely covers her expenses and she can hardly save, and it would make her feel better if she could have around two months of rent set aside in her bank account for an emergency.
"And she's the one who's doing well," he was like.
He also said that his younger aunt is something to hear, since she got a job without finishing high school and now has a great retirement and 2 homes and all the hip surgeries from the NHS that she wants, and she says stuff like that the problem nowadays is that young people don't work or save etc. etc. etc.
First off, he said like he always does, that a lot of time it's just not worth it to talk to people from a certain generation, since they just don't get it and so there's no use even talking about it.
Second off, he was like, "If I was their generation, I would just be embarrassed," he was like. "It's like honestly, just shut up already and get out of the way."
Thursday, October 10, 2019
An odd guilt at work:
I feel really guilty when I can't pick up an extra day at work when someone at the resthome asks me to, since for some reason I feel like I should be able to help everyone out whenever they ask.
I wonder why that is.
I wonder why that is.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Fun cat interactions (2 of 2): Sweet cat.
Last month when I visited my uncle's when my uncle was getting minor surgery, I got to hang out with his cat some, this black cat with white furry legs and paws who's very sweet and very much likes people.
When I was lying down on the couch and doing a crossword, the cat actually climbed up on my chest and sat down on the crook of my arm on the hand that I was writing with, which made it a bitch to keep writing, though I tried my best to continue.
Later, she got up and stood on top of the fatty part on top of my solar plexus, and she shifted her weight from one front paw to the other and back again, just over and over and over.
Sometimes, too, you'd also just be going around my uncle's house, and there the cat would be on its belly on the floor in front of you.
When I got back after my trip, I was telling this to my one client with disabilities and her one (lesbian) sister, and they said that cats can sense when someone is used to cats, and that's probably part of why the cat got much friendlier with me on this trip than it had been in the past, even apart from my uncle being gone for a bit and the cat being alone most of the time.
My one client's (lesbian) sister also said that that shifting weight motion is called "kneading" and is a holdover from when kittens press their mother's belly to get more milk, and that they do that with people they're really affectionate with and like, so you can really tell that that cat really likes me.
When I was lying down on the couch and doing a crossword, the cat actually climbed up on my chest and sat down on the crook of my arm on the hand that I was writing with, which made it a bitch to keep writing, though I tried my best to continue.
Later, she got up and stood on top of the fatty part on top of my solar plexus, and she shifted her weight from one front paw to the other and back again, just over and over and over.
Sometimes, too, you'd also just be going around my uncle's house, and there the cat would be on its belly on the floor in front of you.
When I got back after my trip, I was telling this to my one client with disabilities and her one (lesbian) sister, and they said that cats can sense when someone is used to cats, and that's probably part of why the cat got much friendlier with me on this trip than it had been in the past, even apart from my uncle being gone for a bit and the cat being alone most of the time.
My one client's (lesbian) sister also said that that shifting weight motion is called "kneading" and is a holdover from when kittens press their mother's belly to get more milk, and that they do that with people they're really affectionate with and like, so you can really tell that that cat really likes me.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Fun cat interactions (1 of 2): Scaredy cat.
Last month, I went like I always do when I go on shift at my one client with disabilities's house, and I went to go give her new and somewhat shellshocked cat a treat, to try to get her to understand that I'm nice, and to draw her out of her shell some more.
So, I picked up the treat jar and started softly shaking it so she could hear it and know what was coming, and then I walked into the bedroom and knelt down and leaned over and looked to see if she was there in her usual spot beneath the head of the bed and she was, only when I opened the jar and put a treat in my hand, she got up a little and stepped forward, which she hadn't done before, since she usually just continues sitting there and watches me to see where I set the treat.
So, I just held the treat in my hand for a bit and sat all still, and after like eight or ten seconds she came forward and ate the treat out of my hand.
That was totally unexpected and totally cool, since you can see that the cat is adjusting to people, and much sooner than anyone has expected.
Supposedly, like 2 owners ago she had owners who were neglectful bordering on abusive, so she's tended to be very wary of humans since then and likes to hide in her little found dens all the time.
So, I picked up the treat jar and started softly shaking it so she could hear it and know what was coming, and then I walked into the bedroom and knelt down and leaned over and looked to see if she was there in her usual spot beneath the head of the bed and she was, only when I opened the jar and put a treat in my hand, she got up a little and stepped forward, which she hadn't done before, since she usually just continues sitting there and watches me to see where I set the treat.
So, I just held the treat in my hand for a bit and sat all still, and after like eight or ten seconds she came forward and ate the treat out of my hand.
That was totally unexpected and totally cool, since you can see that the cat is adjusting to people, and much sooner than anyone has expected.
Supposedly, like 2 owners ago she had owners who were neglectful bordering on abusive, so she's tended to be very wary of humans since then and likes to hide in her little found dens all the time.
Monday, October 7, 2019
Belated Eid update.
One of the fun things about my one (cool) (Ethiopian) coworker is that she's (Muslim) and celebrates all the (Muslim) festivals, so I get to ask her about them and find out what they're like for her.
So, what with Eid happening in August and all, I got to ask her what she did for that day.
She said she went to mosque in the morning, and then her and her husband went to her husband's aunt's house, since she had like 25 or 30 people over for the holiday.
"How was it?", I was like.
"Great," she was like. "I don't like to cook."
Then, she laughed.
So, what with Eid happening in August and all, I got to ask her what she did for that day.
She said she went to mosque in the morning, and then her and her husband went to her husband's aunt's house, since she had like 25 or 30 people over for the holiday.
"How was it?", I was like.
"Great," she was like. "I don't like to cook."
Then, she laughed.
Sunday, October 6, 2019
On minimum wage.
Even though the city where I live has done pretty decently in raising minimum wage, the current wage doesn't cut it, and even local "progressive" initiatives to bump it up a dollar next year and then another dollar the year after that don't really cut it.
Just think about it: for someone who works 40 hours a week, for 4 weeks a month, the first year's raise works out to something like $160 extra a month pre-tax, then for like 12 months that's something like $1900, only you have taxes, so say it's maybe $1500 after taxes, only bills have been going up like gas and electricity and health insurance and rent so maybe you owe $10 more for utilities a month and $30 more in health insurance and $50 more in rent, so that's like $1000-1100 gone right there, so after all is said and done with, you're talking maybe your being up net like $400 a year at best, which isn't enough to set aside for an emergency, even pretending that you don't have a lot of shit charged up on your credit card right now.
Even if you fast forward one more year to the next raise, at best maybe you get like $1000 to set aside then?
I have no f*cking idea how we dig ourselves out of this low-wage hole that we're in, but minimum wage increases like are on the table right now make things barely tolerable from year to year, without really giving anyone anything to work with and get security out of it, let alone get ahead.
What kind of irks me is how the most leftie local politicians we have speak of this kind of proposal like it's some great thing to push for, and yeah it's nice, and yeah it's necessary, but it's not really all that.
But, I guess that so many politicians just come from a different class background, and though a lot of their hearts are in the right place, they're probably just really out-of-touch, having never lived it, or having few friends who are in it.
Sigh.
And then you wonder why there's so much unrest and dissatisfaction in the country nowadays.
Just think about it: for someone who works 40 hours a week, for 4 weeks a month, the first year's raise works out to something like $160 extra a month pre-tax, then for like 12 months that's something like $1900, only you have taxes, so say it's maybe $1500 after taxes, only bills have been going up like gas and electricity and health insurance and rent so maybe you owe $10 more for utilities a month and $30 more in health insurance and $50 more in rent, so that's like $1000-1100 gone right there, so after all is said and done with, you're talking maybe your being up net like $400 a year at best, which isn't enough to set aside for an emergency, even pretending that you don't have a lot of shit charged up on your credit card right now.
Even if you fast forward one more year to the next raise, at best maybe you get like $1000 to set aside then?
I have no f*cking idea how we dig ourselves out of this low-wage hole that we're in, but minimum wage increases like are on the table right now make things barely tolerable from year to year, without really giving anyone anything to work with and get security out of it, let alone get ahead.
What kind of irks me is how the most leftie local politicians we have speak of this kind of proposal like it's some great thing to push for, and yeah it's nice, and yeah it's necessary, but it's not really all that.
But, I guess that so many politicians just come from a different class background, and though a lot of their hearts are in the right place, they're probably just really out-of-touch, having never lived it, or having few friends who are in it.
Sigh.
And then you wonder why there's so much unrest and dissatisfaction in the country nowadays.
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