Now, maybe the dreams will stop...

From Heels:

We Are Parents Again!
By heels

Mom and baby girl, [edited because I'm uncomfortable putting her name here], are happy and healthy!

Stats:

• Born at 2:57 PM PCT
• 8lbs 10oz
• 20 1/8 inches long
• Adorable

That is all for now.

Congrats!

The rest of you send them your congratulations either at the link above or at Heels's blog or Mr. Logic's.

Some Questionable Content

Click it for the full comic, although those are probably the funniest four panels of any comic I've seen in a while.

Fiction Friday #32

NPR's holding a contest to write Three-Minute Fiction. (Although it's over Saturday night.)

To make sure I had an entry, earlier this week I edited this down and submitted it, but I wanted to do more, if I could.

Wednesday I wrote a love story:

Trust

Teri heard Ellen pound the front door, hard. Each thump of her patchy white fist reverberated down the entry hall where Teri stood.

Tears dribbled down Teri's cheeks as she hefted the heavy, scratched-up hatchet from the woodstove, the woodstove that warmed their home almost as well as Ellen's laugh. A laugh Teri would never hear. Tears fell faster.

She couldn't think like that, though. No time. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and took a breath that tried to get caught in her throat.

After a movie one night, Ellen told Teri, "I love you more than anything, but if you came home a zombie, I'll kill you. And I expect you to do the same thing. Promise me?" Teri had promised and they both laughed.

It even became a game for them. One would walk through the house asking for "Brains. Braaaaaains." The other would pounce to kill the infected. They'd fall to the floor together, arms and legs tangled, laughing.

When the infected started popping up, they talked again, but this time it was serious. Again, Teri promised, but she wasn't sure it was one she could keep.

The pounding stopped and so did Teri's heart. Counting to three, she raised the hatchet, blunt side forward, over her head and reached out toward the door. She held the knob with just the tips of her fingers and, ever so carefully, turned it and gave a gentle pull, not enough to open the door, but enough that it wasn't really closed, so that even a little breeze could push it open.

She took several steps back and waited at the end of the hall.

She heard nothing. No pounding. Not a creak from the porch.

She wanted to run and hide in the basement, but she couldn't. She'd only be found and then infected. And she wanted to be strong, like Ellen. For Ellen.

She took a deep breath and let it out. She took another and said, voice cracking, "Ellen? Are you there?"

With a roar, Ellen burst through the door and stumbled and fell, face first, onto the tile. Teri flinched at the crack made when Ellen's skull hit.

Terri pounced, just like she did when they had been playing, except she also swung the hatchet at the back of Ellen's head. This time the sound was crunch. She started crying again.

She lifted the hatchet and swung again and again.

When her arm got tired, she stopped and stood up. Ellen was gone. She wiped her eyes again, pulled the body farther down the hall, and shut the door.

Recall?

There's a petition being passed around in the office to recall the governator.

I didn't sign it.

I couldn't.

Sure, I think the guy's an asshole and a puppet who doesn't have any real ideas and is just being used by over-zealous members of the Republican party, but he hasn't committed any crimes. A recall election should only be used by the people to oust a criminal.

Got some dirty looks for not signing the thing, too. I guess that just because I'm angry means I should throw out my, few, morals and look for some sort of revenge. Fuckers.

If he'd pulled a Blagojevich sort of thing, then I'd sign the petition, but not for being an asshole. That's not a crime. And if it were, I think we'd all end up in prison.

Terse

Terse. Terse. This is only terse.

7:30 - 4

Last week I got to start a Modified Work Schedule. It's not the modified work schedule that I wanted, though.

To refresh, for those who don't want to click, I wanted to come in at 7AM and leave at 3:30PM. Because (and this is all me guessing) the PJ doesn't trust, it was decided that I couldn't come in that early. I do, however, get to come in earlier, at 7:30AM and then I leave at 4PM.

Why is 7:30AM okay, but not 7AM?

Because SUSM is supposed to be here at 7:30AM nine days out of ten and then she can make sure that I'm showing up on time!

Of course, SUSM rarely gets here, in my experience, before 7:40AM, so what would she, and the PJ, know if I showed up a little late each morning?

No one has come out and told me it's a trust issue, but I know it is. I hope it's not personal, and don't think it is, because I'm just a clerk and clerks don't deserve the same level of trust that court reporters and secretaries do.

Ah, well, at least I get to leave early. And it's really great leaving early. I don't have to worry about as many dumb-asses racing through yellow (and red) lights. No comics have sold out at the shop on Wednesdays. And other good things that I have yet to discover.

One thing, though, is that I find myself really wishing I lived somewhere with a yard of some sort. I like to imagine that I'd use that extra hour to do something "extra," like root around in a garden, or something.

---

In a very different vein, I'm trying to come up with an analogy for my thoughts on the new Star Trek movie. So far, I've only come up with New Coke vs. Coca-Cola, but it's imperfect because New Coke was a failure and this "reboot" of Star Trek is, and will continue to be for at least two more movies, a success.

Can anyone think of an analogy where the new product is liked by more people than the original? (And don't give me other TV shows or movies or comics or other entertainment stuff. I'm looking for something really different.)

Here you go, and enjoy the movie.

Today from the Sac Bee:

The governor's latest budget proposal assumes almost 20 percent in employee wage cuts: 15 percent from the three-day furloughs that started this month, plus another 5 percent across-the-board whack.

"Three days (furlough) plus the 5 percent," said H.D. Palmer, Department of Finance spokesman when asked Wednesday to clarify the governor's budget proposal.

The Legislature won't go for the pay cut, but the governor can then add a furlough day for reasons we'll explain.

...

[In] May the governor proposed a 5 percent cut on top of what were then twice-monthly furloughs. The proposal was dead from the start; everyone knew the Democratic-controlled Legislature would never go for it. ...

Sure enough, the Legislature defeated the plan in June. Schwarzenegger followed the "defeat" with a new executive order to add a third furlough day, getting the 5 percent cut in state worker wages that he wanted.

He could do that because a Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled in February that Schwarzenegger's emergency powers let him treat the government's fiscal meltdown like a Southern California wildfire by claiming broad emergency authority – including the power to furlough state workers.

The legal hurdle to exercising that power is proving there's a crisis. The Legislature's bickering while the state's budget ruptures helps. Its rejection of a pay cut is even better.

So this pay cut won't fly, either. Then the governor can add another furlough day. The 20 percent cut will bankrupt some of the 235,000 state workers affected.

A Little Fun for the Weekend

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Just thought of this...

I won't be at work any Friday's this month:

1. The revised furlough program starts next week, so the Governator is forcing me to take the 10th, 17th, and 24th off.
2. I'm taking the 3rd off to head up to Cowtown for my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.
3. And I won't be here on the 31st because I'll either be driving up to Oregon, for my brother's (and the fiancee's) wedding, or I'll already be up there because I decided to not stay at work any longer.

Weird month already.

Also, I doubt this closing the government three Fridays a month will last long. Lots of state buildings will have to remain open anyway because there are some exceptions to the furlough rule and it'll just piss people off. It's practically insane to close the DMV for weekends, closing it for three Fridays'll just get regular folks yelling at the Governator.

That's why we switched from closing two Fridays a month to self-directed furlough days.

EXECUTIVE ORDER S-13-09

by the
Governor of the State of California

WHEREAS the global recession has caused California's revenues to continue to plummet, leaving our state with an unprecedented budget deficit that forces the State to take drastic actions that will affect every Californian; and

WHEREAS on December 19, 2008, I issued Executive Order S-16-08, in which I ordered the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) to: (1) initiate the layoff process for state civil service employees effective January 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010; and (2) adopt a plan to implement a furlough of two days per month effective February 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010; and

WHEREAS on January 9, 2009, in order to reduce current spending to ensure that essential services of the State are not jeopardized and the public health and safety is preserved, the DPA adopted a furlough plan; and

WHEREAS on May 15, 2009, state agencies and departments sent out over 4,500 layoff notices to employees funded by the General Fund to further reduce current state spending; and

WHEREAS on May 20, 2009, after the failure of Propositions 1A through 1E, California faced a budget deficit of at least $21.3 billion for fiscal years 2008-09 and 2009-10; and

WHEREAS California planned to borrow up to $6 billion through a Reimbursement Warrants (commonly known as RAWs) to address part of the budget deficit, but this short-term borrowing is no longer an available option due to the recent decision of the federal government not to provide financial assistance or loan guarantees for this emergency, short-term borrowing; and

WHEREAS the State's inability to borrow through RAWs will result in more severe spending cuts in the State's programs and services; and

WHEREAS on May 22, 2009, the Legislative Analyst predicted that the Governor's May Revision revenue projections may prove overly optimistic, and instead, projected that the drop in revenues will be at least $3 billion worse than projected putting the size of the State's shortfall at more than $24 billion for fiscal years 2008-09 and 2009-10; and

WHEREAS the State Controller has determined that without effective action to address the budget and cash crisis, the State will have insufficient cash to meet its obligations starting July 2009 and will need to issue registered warrants (IOUs) in order to preserve cash and protect payments the State must make to fund education and repay outstanding debt; and

WHEREAS the projected $24 billion budget deficit will require deeper cuts to state programs and services, additional borrowing from available resources such as special funds, and the release of thousands of prison inmates who are undocumented immigrants; and

WHEREAS on June 30, 2009, the Legislature failed to take action to pass a revised budget for fiscal years 2008-09 and 2009-10 to effectively address the unprecedented statewide fiscal crisis, thereby requiring billions of dollars in additional solutions; and

WHEREAS the State will be forced to eliminate state programs and services providing critical public services, ranging from public safety to health and welfare; and

WHEREAS if the State eliminates any of these critical state programs and services, then the public health and safety will be jeopardized, causing extreme peril to the safety of persons and property; and

WHEREAS immediate and comprehensive action to further reduce current spending must be taken to ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the essential services of the State are not jeopardized and the public health and safety is preserved; and

WHEREAS an additional furlough day per month is necessary to continue to reduce current spending and immediately improve the State's ability to meet its obligations to pay for essential services of the State, such as services provided by CAL Fire, hospitals and 24-hour care facilities, so as not to jeopardize its residents' health and safety in the current and next fiscal year.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, do hereby determine that an emergency pursuant to Government Code section 3516.5 exists and issue this Order to become effective immediately:

IT IS ORDERED that effective July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010, the Department of Personnel Administration shall adopt an amended plan to implement a furlough of represented state employees for three days per month, regardless of funding source. This plan shall include a limited exemption process.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that effective July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010, the Department of Personnel Administration shall adopt an amended plan to implement an equivalent furlough or salary reduction for all non-represented state employees, including supervisors, managers, and exempt state employees, regardless of funding source.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all state employees covered by the original and amended furlough plans must use their accrued furlough days prior to using vacation, annual leave, personal holiday, holiday credit, personal leave plan (PLP) credit, and compensatory time off (CTO).

This Order is not intended to create, and does not create, any rights or benefits, whether substantive or procedural, or enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California or its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person.

I FURTHER ORDER that, as soon as hereafter possible, this Order shall be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given to this Order.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 1st day of July, 2009.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Governor of California

ATTEST:
DEBRA BOWEN
Secretary of State

Also see the press release.

Trans-lash

Like most geeks out there, I've been following the online bitch fest that's come out of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I haven't seen the movie, and I don't plan to. (I saw the first and after watching it I decided that if movies called "Transformers" focuses on a human rather than the robots, what's the point?)

Anyway, lots of people don't like the movie. Lots of people who do like the movie seem to being assholes and using the age-old line, "Well, it's making a lot of money, so we must be right, it's good," to defend their position. (Less often used is the "That's just you're opinion" line, which, when reading a review of anything, is like a huge DUH.)

Because of so many people only reading the first paragraph, or looking at the number of stars, of the negative reviews, Jim Emmerson, of Scanners, wrote about the fallacy of the majority of reactions to what critics have been writing. He should know all about this stuff, he's editor-in-chief of RogerEbert.com, so he gets to see all the bullshit comments, as well as the few good ones. (Last year, he wrote that he didn't think The Dark Knight was great, only kind of okay. Here'sa link to all his posts on the subject, but you should start with Under Cover of The Dark Knight to see that sometimes real discussion can take place. I recommend it all, though.)

Which leads me to why I'm getting into this:

Over at The Moviefile Blog, in a post about things the writer enjoyed about the movie, some commenter named damage wrote: "The movie was awsom who cares if it jump around the world it not reality so just enjoy it if your a true fane of the transformers this movie was about the bots." The comment bugs me, not just because of the bad spelling and grammar.

Really, I want to know what a true fan of Transformers is? Seriously, what is it? Is it someone who watches or reads or plays with anything that has the word "Transformers" on it and automatically loves it? Would this damage person enjoy Kiss Players? And if he (I assume it's a he.) didn't, would that mean he isn't a "true" Transformers fan?

Is that the only way to be considered a "true" fan of anything? Just shut up and "enjoy"? So, those SF Giants fans who sit and bitch about the line-up, but watch and cheer at every game, aren't "true" fans? Can a "true" fan never criticize the thing they enjoy?

I'm a fan of The Transformers, but there's a lot of it that I don't like.

The (North) American shows are what I really enjoy. I grew up watching the original cartoon. Beast Wars was a giant step forward in plot an pacing for animated shows. And Animated is just pure fun while keeping characters pretty true to their beginnings.

The ones from Japan that I tried watching, just didn't click for me. Robots in Disguise's "humor" just rubbed me the wrong way and made it hard to watch the show. (Plus, a flying shark, really?) And Transformers: Pokémon really irked me, and that irked-ness spread into it's two successors.

Like I wrote before, I really didn't care for the murky movie that came out in 2007 and, given the opportunity/motivation, can say exactly why I didn't want to see the new one in the theater. If I were to see it, I promise I'd be one of the complainers, too.

I don't collect the toys. I only occasionally buy the comics, but that's very rare. I don't keep up with any of the news and gossip surrounding the franchise. I can only name a few actors and who they played in the original and have no clue about who plays whom in later shows.

Does that make me less of fan of Transformers that this damage guy?

I still drool over the box set that's coming out. (The GI Joe one, too.) I assume he does, too.

So, why aren't I a "true" fan because I didn't enjoy the first movie and don't think I'd enjoy the second movie?

Maybe it's just because I won't accept something as good just because it tickles my nostalgia.

Are you sure you don't want a large soda?

This e-mail just in:

Subject: Governor Schwarzenegger directs Agencies to prepare for additional furlough days

---

Late this afternoon the governor announced that he will sign an executive order increasing the number of furlough days to three per month if the legislature does not have budget agreement in place by June 30. This action is being taken to grapple with our $24 billion budget deficit and our inability to issue Revenue Anticipation Warrants. These warrants would normally be issued to keep the state running while there is no budget.

I realize that everyone has been affected by the two furlough days per month that began in February and that this has created financial burdens. Your continued cooperation and professionalism through these difficult times are very much appreciated.

Good: I'll be getting a real paycheck in July.
Bad: Less money on the pay check.
Good: 3 days off each month, if I want to use 'em now.
Bad: Don't do anything on weekends already.
Good: I'll be able to supplement with unemployment insurance.
Bad: I'll be on unemployment insurance.

This coupled with the recent bullshit that I've been dealing with, I really want to quit and move in with my parents and then curl up in a ball and die.

Zombie Haiku!

Topless Robot is holding a contest to write the best zombie haiku!

These are mine, so far:

Wandering, aimless,
Trying to stop the hunger
Drops of water tear

They promised Heaven
Or they promised me the void
Nothing about this

We huddle for warmth
And pray the snow stops monsters
Creeping in the night

Day and night they come
An endless river of dead
We can't take them all

Brains get tiresome
Liver is the money meat
'Specially off drunks

Never thought I'd hate
Eating meat, but the Reynolds
Are very gamy

Well, those are the "serious" ones, at least. (Also, that last one is supposed to be from the point of view of a survivor.)

I did get the very first comment and used it to make a joke:

brains brains brains brains brains
brains brains brains brains brains brains brains
brains brains brains brains brains

Remember that time Buffy was stalked by a sparkly vampire?

Hedgehog Launch 2!

Launch your Hedgehog to the moon and beyond (pictured above) through the Earth to avoid suspicion, or something like that.

New Header Line!

Foreshortening, With the Flavor of Mint!

And what kind of soda did you want?

From the Sac Bee:

A legislative budget committee on Wednesday rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to cut state employees' paychecks by an additional 5 percent, as part of the ongoing effort to balance a badly out-of-whack state budget.

The committee also voted to increase the state's tax on cigarettes from 87 cents a pack to $2.37, and impose a new tax on oil produced in California.

The governor has made it clear he will veto the tax proposals – and any others included as part of a budget-balancing package.

... "We are hoping that the state will look at other options for cost savings, in part because our members have already experienced (a) pay cut through the furloughs."

Zamora's reference was to the two-days-a-month unpaid leaves the governor imposed on state workers earlier this year. The unpaid days are equivalent to a 9.3 percent pay cut.

...

[Schwarzenegger said,] "It's outrageous that the Legislature would ask Californians to pay higher taxes but refuse to cut the pay of state workers by 5 percent," the governor said in a statement released by his office. "This is exactly why so many Californians have lost faith in Sacramento's ability to solve problems."

Funny, I thought Californians have lost faith in our state's government because it's never been able to responsibly spend money or come to a budget deal on time.

Do you want butter on your popcorn?

From the Sac Bee:

[W]ithout a budget patch in place by the end of this month, state finance officials say there's a chance state government might have to do what it hasn't done in 17 years: issue IOUs instead of paying its bills.

...

Until a budget is in place, the state can't borrow money.

Instead, the controller's office is forced to delay payments to various creditors. The decisions on who gets paid and who doesn't are determined in part by the state constitution (schools and bondholders get paid first); in part by federal law (state employees can't be paid in IOUs), and in part by any court edict that has ordered the state to pay someone.

Everyone else – companies that do business with the state, students who get state aid, local governments, taxpayers awaiting refunds – has to wait.

...

[T]he major banks and Wall Street investors that California usually borrows from have been so battered by the worldwide recession that just having a budget in place isn't good enough for them to lend the state money: they want it balanced, too.

...

State Controller John Chiang has forecast that absent a budget deal that allows borrowing, the state will be in the red by July 28.

...

The last time the state issued registered warrants – and the only time since the Great Depression – was 1992, when the state handed out 1.6 million warrants worth a total of $3.8 billion over a two-month period.

State financial officers say that issuing registered warrants would make it even harder to borrow from commercial markets and private investors – and nearly impossible without a balanced budget in place.

I'm just a little mad.

Last week, over at What's Distracting Us, Heels wrote this:

Geeks

The GeekDad column from Wired gives us the Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument. I encourage you to add your own in the comments.

And so I keep adding comments.

Hours, Money, Holidays, and Possibilities

For eight out of the last nine work-day's I've been coming in at 7AM to get some overtime and I discovered that I like coming in early. So, last week I submitted a request to my supervisor, SUSM, to see if I could change my schedule so I could come in at seven, take a half-hour lunch, and leave at 3:30PM rather than five.

She was gone last week, so I figured, while filling out the form, that she wouldn't approve it before this week and the stupid rules say that we who get our schedule modified can only start it on a Monday. Fine, I thought, I'll ask to start it on the 15th.

Monday, late morning-ish, I get an e-mail from her titled "FYI":

I just wanted to let you know that I have your Request for Alternate/Modified Work Schedule. I will need to talk to PJ & get back to you on this. He is out all week, but I think he may be coming in for a while on Wednesday – but not certain about that. I’ll let you know.

I wrote back with a simple okay, even though I don't understand why she can't just approve or deny it on her own. The other guys and gals who are clerks here don't want to regularly come in at 7AM if they're not getting overtime, so we'll be fully staffed until 5PM. And I asked for an earlier lunch, when no one else has one, which guarantees, on days that I'm here, that no one will ever have to leave for a late lunch again unless they WANT to. And that's a great thing, especially since I'm the one who usually has to leave late for lunch because some of the assholes I work with don't know how to make it there and back again (not a fucking Hobbit's tale) in an hour.

Without really understanding her reasons, I wrote back an okay because I figured if they decided in the positive, I'd get to start on the 15th.

Around 8:30 this morning she e-mailed me: "[ticknart] – did [the PJ] come see you about this yesterday?" meaning my request for modified work. I wrote back a simile "No." because he didn't.

Funny, I thought, isn't she the one who should be speaking with him? I think I made my position pretty clear by submitting the form that, you know, says I want to come to work earlier, take a shorter lunch, and leave earlier. Why should there be any discussion with me about it? Is it necessary for the two of them to know my motivations behind this change?

At nine she sent a reply: "He will be returning on Monday. The effective date on your request is Monday, so we will need to amend this if he approves it."

I printed and signed another request asking for the first day of this thing to be on the 22nd, since it has to start on a Monday. Not that it really matters this month because I'm going to be coming in at 7AM at least four days a week, and leaving at 6PM, so I can get a full 8 hours of overtime each week while it lasts.

Most of me doesn't think this'll get approved, though.

Sometime after I finished my first year here I submitted one of these so I would work four ten hour days each week and was denied because he didn't want to have an exhausted staff. A week after that denial I tried for a 9/8/80 schedule, but I'd stay here until 6PM (because my supervisor at the time -- I despised her -- came in at 7AM and I wanted less time with her around) and he said no to that one because the he'd have to stay until six with me, which made me feel real trusted. After that one was crushed, I quit for a while. I asked again about a year later with the schedule I'm asking for now and was denied because we had just lost two clerks and I should try again when more were hired.

So, here I am, trying again. Hoping to get an earlier shift, but preparing to once again be disappointed.

Why am I asking for this schedule?

Well, the main reason is because I'd have an hour in the morning where I could wear headphones and dick around on the 'netstuff. Sure, if I needed to get caught up, I'd use that time to do actual work, but I've been siting here writing this for the last 30 minutes and I spent much time (like more than an hour) launching hedgehogs into space. My best time is three days.

Also, though, the governator wants to cut my pay by another 5%, which would drop my pay by something like 14.6% from where it was last year at this time and that would make my buying a car in November an even stupider move and one harder to pay for than it was then. AND if the budget doesn't get passed by the end of the month the state may drop pay to all it's employees to federal minimum wage, or $6.55 an hour. (That's about $1100 a month before taxes, and since taxes take away 1/3rd of my pay not that would leave me with about $733, and my rent is, oh, $750 a month no matter how much I get in my paycheck. I know this sort of stuff is scare tactics, but it's like that old cliché: "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.")

I figure that if I work until 3:30PM I'd be in a good position to get a second job, downtown here, in the evenings and on weekends. I could start at 4PM and work until 11PM, or whenever, to offset the probably loss in pay. Sure, I may not visit my family at Thanksgiving or Christmas so I can work, but at least I'd be getting by. (Besides I was already getting myself ready to miss Christmas because I may not be able to afford the new vehicle licensing fee increase. We'll see.) How well that'd work out, I don't know. Still, it'd be better than quitting, having no job, and moving in with my parents and hoping that I'd be able to find something up in Cowtown that's more than serving coffee or putting a prefabricated burger on a bun to people who just... well, I won't write anything overly nasty about them while I'm not working in that situation.

Now I sit an wait. I'm waiting for all of this bullshit to settle into place, but mostly I'm waiting to find out if my schedule will be changes so I can come in earlier, take a shorter lunch, and leave earlier each day I work here. And when the waiting for that is done, I'll wait for the next piece of shit to settle so I can make a move to prepare for the shit that'll come after that.

Cricket Christ, there sure is a lot of waiting for shit to happen in life, isn't there?