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Post by berkley on Mar 8, 2020 23:24:47 GMT -5
Showing up uninvited to someone's house without the hint of a phone call, text message, or any line of prior communication makes you a dirt bag. Unless it's an emergency, someone died, or whatever...don't just show up randomly to people's houses unannounced. There, I said it. Inconvenient but it doesn’t make you a dirt bag. Yeah, I think this is very much a cultural thing: in some places or among some cultures, it's considered totally normal to just show up at a neighbour's house without prior notice. And there's a range of what feels right or wrong - where I'm from is probably a little looser in this regard than where I live now and it took me a few years to clue into the difference in this as in many other things. And there are other places that are more free still. Also, apart from the differences between cultures, I think there's a big difference in rural and urban practices within a culture.
Of course, wherever you happen to be living, you should try to be in tune with whatever's considered acceptable behaviour, no matter how weird it seems to you.
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Post by brianf on Mar 8, 2020 23:48:30 GMT -5
Showing up uninvited to someone's house without the hint of a phone call, text message, or any line of prior communication makes you a dirt bag. Unless it's an emergency, someone died, or whatever...don't just show up randomly to people's houses unannounced. There, I said it. It depends upon who it is. I have a few close friends that live in town that if I got a surprise visit from them, I'd be delighted.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 18, 2020 8:51:05 GMT -5
As a student and former teacher of history, I freely acknowledge the critical role that labor unions played in creating the safer and more-equitable work environment (comparatively speaking) that exists today.
That said, with some of them, they long ago lost their way, and it is actions like the one below that make people question if they still have a place in the world.
Last night, at my plant, one of the shift supervisors (a non-union position) came across an empty hand sanitizer dispenser (one of the wall-hanging variety) and because his skeleton crew of union folks were engaged in other tasks, he replaced the bag in the dispenser, which should be seen as a good thing, what with the coronavirus going around and all.
This morning, the union filed a grievance, saying that "all housekeeping activities" were union responsibilities and that maybe another crew member needed to be added if the shift supervisor did the replacement because the on-shift crew was "too overburdened" with work to be able to get to that task.
The maintenance manager asked that if a roll of toilet paper needed to be added to the dispenser in the bathroom, was he allowed to do it, and he was told "no" by the union rep, not even if he was sitting on the pot and needed to wipe and the roll was right in front of him. If he did it, they'd file a grievance against him.
This is why many of us who have to deal with unions today despise them. Some of them have gone beyond protecting workers from real threats, be they safety or environmental or job security, and now dwell in the realm of being nuisances more interested in harassing management and employers with petty complaints like this.
There. I said it.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 18, 2020 9:13:54 GMT -5
As a student and former teacher of history, I freely acknowledge the critical role that labor unions played in creating the safer and more-equitable work environment (comparatively speaking) that exists today. That said, with some of them, they long ago lost their way, and it is actions like the one below that make people question if they still have a place in the world. Last night, at my plant, one of the shift supervisors (a non-union position) came across an empty hand sanitizer dispenser (one of the wall-hanging variety) and because his skeleton crew of union folks were engaged in other tasks, he replaced the bag in the dispenser, which should be seen as a good thing, what with the coronavirus going around and all. This morning, the union filed a grievance, saying that "all housekeeping activities" were union responsibilities and that maybe another crew member needed to be added if the shift supervisor did the replacement because the on-shift crew was "too overburdened" with work to be able to get to that task. The maintenance manager asked that if a roll of toilet paper needed to be added to the dispenser in the bathroom, was he allowed to do it, and he was told "no" by the union rep, not even if he was sitting on the pot and needed to wipe and the roll was right in front of him. If he did it, they'd file a grievance against him. This is why many of us who have to deal with unions today despise them. Some of them have gone beyond protecting workers from real threats, be they safety or environmental or job security, and now dwell in the realm of being nuisances more interested in harassing management and employers with petty complaints like this. There. I said it. One weekend, one of my grad students was working in the lab and a breaker went off because too many devices were draining power from the same outlet. He found the breaker box and switched the power back on. BAD MISTAKE, KID!!! The union gave us a lot of flack about it (how they found out I don’t know), claiming that this was a maintenance job, and that a unionized employee should have been called in to do the deed. Of course, this being the weekend, the dude would have had to be paid for three hours’ work even if all he did was flip a switch back on. I think unions are still necessary... but this kind of attitude suggests that they have way too much power and are ready to behave in an irrational and counterproductive way to protect said power. Especially since most developed countries now have pretty strong labour-protection laws that prevent abuse from employers. (At least that’s how it is here). We just went through a strike here (I was off work for four days) and while the union as a whole behaved pretty well, one representative went so far as to suggest outright sabotage (“everyone knows accidents happen. Just imagine if your dog ate your mid-terms or a USB key with all the students’ marks got erased? It would be soooo sad”). I was incensed by such a lack of professionalism.
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Post by The Captain on Mar 19, 2020 9:48:56 GMT -5
From the "credit where credit is due" department:
The US Energy Department said today they would buy 30 million barrels of crude oil, focusing their purchases to small and midsize US oil producers, and put this into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Steve Mnuchin plans to recommend additional funding be provided by Congress to buy even more, up to the amount needed to completely fill the SPR.
This is a very smart play right now, as it serves multiple purposes. The government, which has no long-term energy plan (and hasn't under either Democrat or Republican leadership for decades, so this isn't a partisan thing, but rather a lack of fundamentals thing), is taking advantage of the current market to do something for down the road, while at the same time helping some businesses that are struggling right now with cash flow, which should help them avoid layoffs and maintain their operations.
Even a blind squirrel bumps into a nut every once in a while.
There. I said it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2020 11:52:29 GMT -5
As a student and former teacher of history, I freely acknowledge the critical role that labor unions played in creating the safer and more-equitable work environment (comparatively speaking) that exists today. That said, with some of them, they long ago lost their way, and it is actions like the one below that make people question if they still have a place in the world. Last night, at my plant, one of the shift supervisors (a non-union position) came across an empty hand sanitizer dispenser (one of the wall-hanging variety) and because his skeleton crew of union folks were engaged in other tasks, he replaced the bag in the dispenser, which should be seen as a good thing, what with the coronavirus going around and all. This morning, the union filed a grievance, saying that "all housekeeping activities" were union responsibilities and that maybe another crew member needed to be added if the shift supervisor did the replacement because the on-shift crew was "too overburdened" with work to be able to get to that task. The maintenance manager asked that if a roll of toilet paper needed to be added to the dispenser in the bathroom, was he allowed to do it, and he was told "no" by the union rep, not even if he was sitting on the pot and needed to wipe and the roll was right in front of him. If he did it, they'd file a grievance against him. This is why many of us who have to deal with unions today despise them. Some of them have gone beyond protecting workers from real threats, be they safety or environmental or job security, and now dwell in the realm of being nuisances more interested in harassing management and employers with petty complaints like this. There. I said it. Sounds like the defunct British Leyland: ‘Red Robbo’ ruined British Leyland
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 21, 2020 18:21:29 GMT -5
I am more than a bit annoyed that Franco Rossi’s absolutely classic and brilliant adaptations of the Odyssey and the Aeneid (which were done for Italian television in the late 60s-early 70s) are so hard to find today, while decidedly inferior adaptations starring bodybuilders who couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag are on every platform.
These texts are an important part of humanity’s heritage, and deserve the very best treatment. That the market treats them with so little respect is enough to make a grown-up cry.
There! I said it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2020 19:34:20 GMT -5
I am more than a bit annoyed that Franco Rossi’s absolutely classic and brilliant adaptations of the Odyssey and the Aeneid (which were done for Italian television in the late 60s-early 70s) are so hard to find today, while decidedly inferior adaptations starring bodybuilders who couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag are on every platform. These texts are an important part of humanity’s heritage, and deserve the very best treatment. That the market treats them with so little respect is enough to make a grown-up cry. There! I said it. And I think the Greeks would be appalled that people thought these were static stories with a singular (monolithic) version and didn't adapt each telling/performance of the stories to the audience receiving it and the people telling it. The Homeric epics were living evolving stories that changed with each telling, but people believe they should be ossified corpses of once brilliant living storytelling. -M
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 21, 2020 19:56:17 GMT -5
Okay, when you have a natural disaster or major societal interruption, like a pandemic, necessities do not include shipping birthday presents, printing photos and getting business cards made. it means thing necessary to sustain life: food, water, medicines, medical supplies and equipment, fuel, etc...
I've lived through a week without power, during an ice storm (1978), tornadoes, Hurricane Hugo, polar vortices, and 4 years of active duty: you get through it by focusing on NECESSITIES and wory about the really important stuff; not the stuff that makes you comfortable. it's the stuff that KEEPS YOU ALIVE!!!!!!!
Also, you survive by sharing and helping others, not hording and running around in blind panic.
Wake up to the realities of life!
(Happy place.......happy place.....happy place.....cat purring on my chest...........Columbo solving a murder.........Archie Goodwin stories......Hobbes pouncing on Calvin..........)
Ahhhhhhhhhhh......................
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 22, 2020 8:13:22 GMT -5
I am more than a bit annoyed that Franco Rossi’s absolutely classic and brilliant adaptations of the Odyssey and the Aeneid (which were done for Italian television in the late 60s-early 70s) are so hard to find today, while decidedly inferior adaptations starring bodybuilders who couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag are on every platform. These texts are an important part of humanity’s heritage, and deserve the very best treatment. That the market treats them with so little respect is enough to make a grown-up cry. There! I said it. And I think the Greeks would be appalled that people thought these were static stories with a singular (monolithic) version and didn't adapt each telling/performance of the stories to the audience receiving it and the people telling it. The Homeric epics were living evolving stories that changed with each telling, but people believe they should be ossified corpses of once brilliant living storytelling. -M Rossi’s brilliant treatment is nothing like Shanower’s magnificent adaptation, which is not the same as Shakespeare’s or Jean Racine’s plays, which in turn are not like the funky SF adaptation by Lob and Pichard, which is not at all like the modern movie Metamorphoses (adapted from Ovid, granted, but based on Greek myths too). Stop motion films like Harryhausen’s Clash of the Titans were a lot of fun and worth remembering. There’s nothing ossified in there. And it’s a pity that these works are harder to find (if you can find them at all!) than cheap and entirely forgettable versions of the myths trying hard to be the next Game of Thrones. (“Swords, sex and monsters... what could go wrong, Smithers?”) I’m not against new Spider-Man comic-books. However, I’d find it a pity if all that was available were reprints of the spider clone saga, and never Ditko’s or Romita’s work.
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 22, 2020 13:52:17 GMT -5
I am more than a bit annoyed that Franco Rossi’s absolutely classic and brilliant adaptations of the Odyssey and the Aeneid (which were done for Italian television in the late 60s-early 70s) are so hard to find today, while decidedly inferior adaptations starring bodybuilders who couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag are on every platform. These texts are an important part of humanity’s heritage, and deserve the very best treatment. That the market treats them with so little respect is enough to make a grown-up cry. There! I said it. I'd never heard of these! But I'll be on the trail now! As for the boldfaced line, YES!!!
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 22, 2020 13:55:53 GMT -5
Just found two parts anyway. On YouTube. First part here: Is this what you're referring to, Roquefort Raider@
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 22, 2020 14:14:33 GMT -5
Just found two parts anyway. On YouTube. First part here: Is this what you're referring to, Roquefort Raider @ Yes, absolutely! (My favourite vision of the Odyssey, bar none). Rossi also produced a version of the Aeneid in the same vein, but all what we can find on Youtube is a low-res Italian copy... and I don’t think there is a DVD available.
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Post by Prince Hal on Mar 22, 2020 15:16:36 GMT -5
Just found two parts anyway. On YouTube. First part here: Is this what you're referring to, Roquefort Raider @ Yes, absolutely! (My favourite vision of the Odyssey, bar none). Rossi also produced a version of the Aeneid in the same vein, but all what we can find on Youtube is a low-res Italian copy... and I don’t think there is a DVD available. All four parts of The Odyssey are on YT. I just watched one of my (many) favorite scenes, from O's arrival at the place to the bow scene and the slaughter. I love it! Only quibble. The bow is already strung. Oh, the tension and suspense in that scene as Odysseus waits for the suitors to fail one after the other and then takes his sweet time examining the bow. And then the death of Antinous, told in such detail that it's as if you're watching the scene on film in slow-motion. Beautiful. But that's a small price to pay for a version that retains the power and the raw beauty of the story. God, I wish I'd known about this back when I was teaching it to ninth-graders. The only version I would ever show in class was O, Brother, Where Art Thou?, which is wonderful in its own right, but still not Homer by any means.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 22, 2020 15:44:09 GMT -5
I thank the Fates that we got to see that series while in fifth grade, Prince Hal , a perfect age to discover the Illiad and the Odyssey. I remember that for a while, instead of playing cowboys and Indians, we kids played Odysseus and Polyphemus. A few of us needed glasses afterwards.
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