Working for it.

There have been some really interesting radio programs on today -- CBC -- about the state of working in Alberta and in Canada.

Lots of conversation about lack of skilled workers and such.

What was missing, at least from the hour I listened to, was a discussion of wages.

As a comparative, my eldest will graduate from her degree in one month. She has spent the last 3 years pursuing her degree and, at the same time, for the last year and a bit, working for a large industrial design firm here. It is a practicum so one cannot expect full time, regular employee wages; however, she makes all of $1 more per hour than do employees of Tim Horton's Donuts, who make $10 per hour at present.

Last Friday night, she was out scrounging for fast food and stopped at Chicken on the Way, where she noticed a Help Wanted sign in the window. Wage? $14 per hour for slinging hash.

So here's my question: why do employers moan and carry on about how hard it is to find employees when there is this huge disconnect between what educated, skilled people make and what Joe Buddy makes at a greasy spoon?

In my five or so years in banking, I met loads of people who not only had a BA in finance, they'd added the Canadian Securities Course to their credentials, meaning they'd spent at least the last five years in full-time school - following 12 in the regular school system. Entry level wages in banks range from $25,000 to $39,000 on a good day. Yet, a person with a 10th grade education can walk into Chicken on the Way and start making $27,000 a year working full time with no education at all.

When my daughter graduates from her degree and becomes full-time staff at the huge, wealthy industrial design firm, she will make $18 per hour, for a grand annual total of $35,000 annual, which is $7700 more than the greasy spoon job but which extra will go to taxes. In effect, she will make as much as she would were she to work at the greasy spoon.

So for all you employers out there, heads up. People don't have loyalty to any company that doesn't respect them. Money isn't everything by any means, but it is a large part of the package.

Crap wages, disrespect for substantial years of education and an unwillingness to do everything to gain, keep and nurture employees are foundational ways to destabilize any business. In the current booming, growing, scortching hot economy, those habits are deadly.

Fly away

I’m going to Scotland!

Well, I finally bit the bullet. I’ve been planning to go to Europe again for about 8 months and have always wanted to go to Scotland but have never made it north – close, once; Newcastle – but not farther than that.

So I’m to Inverness, home of Loch Ness and the fabled monster, Nessie, and also home to Culloden (photo at left here), where the highland clans were destroyed by Bonnie Prince Charlie, who may or may not have been a pawn of the British, who were quite terrified of the Clans and their power.

Thank you very much to Chris O'Byrne for this gorgeous photo (at right) of Urquhart Castle, as seen from a placid Loch Ness.

I’m excited to see my daughter, Alex, who’s an au pair for a family in Inverness, and to see my adopted family in Hook, (On the map here, it is right north of the number 5).

Hook is in the south east of England, about 20 minutes from Stonehenge, and almost entirely at the other end of the island from where Alex is in Inverness.



I’ll be posting photos here when I am back from Scotland so keep an eye out.

WriterWriter.

Harder Next Time?

Canadian Press
Apr. 21, 2006 10:22 AM

RED DEER, AB

Talk about adding insult to injury, dude.

A 20-year-old man who was hit by a train that he didn't hear coming because he had Norwegian heavy-metal music blaring in his headphones now has to pay a $287 ticket for trespassing on Canadian Pacific Railway tracks.

Jesse Maggrah was knocked into the ditch and suffered several broken ribs and scrapes to his head and hands.

On Wednesday, a CPR officer served Maggrah with the ticket as the young man was recovering in hospital.

"This is a double whammy for me," Maggrah said Thursday. "I'm grateful that I'm living, but I'm not grateful that I've got to pay this ticket. I'm ticked off about it."

The ticket was issued under the Alberta Petty Trespassing Act. Railway police tend to issue warnings about trespassing, but in this case they decided a further deterrent was needed, said CPR spokesman Ed Greenberg.

Officers didn't, however, seek the stiffest penalty. If charged under the federal Railway Act, a trespasser could be fined up to $10,000 or receive six months in jail.

Maggrah said he'll pay the fine.

"I don't want to take it to court and all that crap, so I'll just pay it," he said.

What? This guy's pissed because he was STUPID? Who walks on the train tracks anyway, and who does it with headphones on? I'm thinking a small fine is the least of his worries considering he's alive, not on life support, not maimed, not damaged (ok, maybe from some time before), not missing limbs and has his beautiful face still intact.

Here, for any of you who might try this 'at home,' are the rules.
Don't wear headphones whilst walking on train tracks.
Don't turn the sound up so far you can't hear a train wistle! They're really loud for a reason
Don't turn the sound up becuase Apple says it's bad for you.
Don't be STUPID.

Thanks to Stantec in Calgary for the photo

So there's been this huge issue in my city -- cat licensing. Lots for and lots against and all manner of good, bad and really dumb reasons for licensing.

So, let me get this straight: according the supporters, licensed cats will stick to their own backyards while outside, stop pooping in the neighbours’ peonies, and will no longer be eaten by coyotes, hit by cars, or become lost.

Is there an education program that comes with the licenses? Will the coyotes now see the licenses and realise licensed cats are not edible? Will licensed cats realise they’re too special to leave their own yards? Will they discover that the neighbours’ gardens are no longer suitable places to make deposits? Will speeding vehicles screech to a halt when they spot a licensed cat? Will licensed cats somehow be able to read maps?

I suppose a license is a good idea if one's cat is prone to running away, but mostly, cats know where their food and warm beds are so they normally don't go too far from home.

In the case of a cat eaten by a coyote, which happens a lot here, a license won't help because coyotes can't dial the phone to say "Hey, found your cat and it was delish."

I can see a license helping for cats that are hit by cars, providing someone stops to look at the license and calls it in so the cat's owner can be told their kitty is deceased. In our area, however, the coyotes are faster than the drivers and kitty roadkill is usually dragged off to feed coyote pups.

Mostly what will happen is that disgruntled neighbours will take advantage of the license to report that the next door kitty has left poo in their plants. This city's bylaw officers report that the vast majority of infractions are reported by people who can't stand their neighbours and wish they would move.

Other than that, though, licenses are a great idea!

War. What's it good for?

And, we’d like to know why…

…The US Government is planning on spending multi-billions of dollars refurbishing its stockpile of nuclear (That’s NU-CLE-AR, Mr. President) weapons and why the US for some reason has the only UN sanctioned stockpile of nuclear warheads. We’d also like to know how more warheads equal less probability of testing said warheads…. According to Ambassador Linton F. Brooks,

“The RRW warheads would create a "reduced chance we will ever need to resort to nuclear testing." In addition, he said, "Once we demonstrate we can produce warheads on a time scale in which geopolitical threats could emerge, we would no longer need to retain extra warheads to hedge against unexpected geopolitical changes."

We’d also like to know why the US government acknowledges the very poor state of US schools, and why it does nothing about the low quality education the majority of its citizens receive.

Wait! If the US spends next to nothing on education, and some money convincing its poorly educated population that they’re under siege, then nobody will question the need for spending billions of dollars on technology that cannot be used short of annihilating the whole world, US included. That doesn’t answer the question of why the US gets to make all these rules that apply to everyone but the US.

Could it be true, the statement on the front of MacLean’s Magazine, currently on newsstands: “Worst President in the last 100 years?”

CRAP

Wow…. Lots of fun craziness going on in the world today.

Since Michael Baigent and Dan Brown have had their very public little scrap settled, there have been lots and lots of interesting programs and articles in the news. Congratulations to both those guys for really effectively using every possible facet of the media to publicise their various properties, The Da Vinci Code (book and film) and Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and The Jesus Papers.

Both books are great reads and really fun as they have so managed to piss off the Catholic Church, which has now spent untold amounts of time and money trying to discredit both Brown and Baigent.

Today in the local paper, there’s an article on a website called www.jesusdressup.com, where people can dress up “Jesus” in all sorts of funny clothing. Earlier this week there was a PBS program on a guy who does facial reconstruction and who had a skull dating from the time and coming from the area where Jesus would have come from.

It seems that Christians all over the world are highly offended by the dress up site but not in the least bothered that Christ’s looks have been utterly misrepresented for ever and ever, amen.

The facial reconstruction guy’s model is of a dark-skinned, curly, dark-haired guy – pretty much a guy who looks like most guys that come from that area of the Middle East. The mock-up guy was decidedly NOT blond and blue-eyed. So now the Christians are bothered by having holes poked in their theory of the white Christ. Why doesn’t it cross their minds that it is highly unlikely that their medieval Christ cannot possibly bear any resemblance to the real McCoy?

Here’s another question: the bible, if it can be believed at all, says that Christ had brothers and sisters. There cannot be any question that Mary, his mother, and Joseph, his father, had families – parents and siblings. So why do Christians get all bent when anyone suggests that there are many living people who have blood ties to both those families? It is illogical to believe otherwise. There cannot be any question that Christ’s bloodlines continue to this day.

Other stuff:
- “Virgin Birth” does not mean the woman’s a virgin; it means she has had her first child. See this Wikipedia reference for more, interesting, information
- It is very unlikely that Christ said “I AM the son of God.” It probable, as he was leading a rebellion against Rome, that he said “I am A son of God,” considering the rest of the message was “Join me.”
- The Catholic Church is totally freaked out by those who want to put an end to suppression of the truth, suppression of women and support and promotion of anti-Semitism. If Dan Brown and Michael Baignet’s books are garbage like the Catholic Church says, why is the church so hell-bent on disproving the stuff? Great letters at Salon.com

How weird is it that Christians put up statues and drawings and paintings of a man being brutally tortured and then tell they tell their little children to pray to that thing, all the while exhorting people not to pray to graven images. It is so wacked!

Stuff I Can't Stand

Ok. I'm in a mood, so forgive me.

I can't stand it when I call the telephone repair people and they don't know how NOT to cut me off when they put me on hold! There are problem people on both sides of the phone, I know, but seriously, can't these geeks figure out how to put someone on hold?

I can't stand it when I call the tech support group for my computer software and the tech says "I don't know how that happened and I'm not sure how to fix it."

I can't stand it when people make that HUGELY annoying "ch-ch-ch-ch-ch" sound when they're thinking out loud! It is so annoying! See "Speak to Influence" for more on this.

I can't stand it when people say "real-i-tor." There's no such thing. It's real-tor. Exactly how it's spelled. I especially can't stand it when realtors say "real - i - tor." You'd think they'd know better. Go HERE for a list of commonly mispronounced words.

I also can't stand it when people call Italian people Eye-talian. No such thing. They come from Italy, not Eyetally. OK? And It's Iraq (ihrahc), not EYE-rack and Iran (ihrahn) not EYE-ran! OH, and Mr. Bush; it is NU-CLE-AR not Nu-cue-lar! Good grief.

I can't stand it when people negotiate over small things and completely ignore the big picture.

I can't stand it when people can't figure out how to turn left!!! CRAP People.... Ok here's how to do it: When you turn left, you turn into the lane nearest the median (assuming there are two lanes to choose from). You do NOT turn into the lane nearest the curb. If you do and you are hit by someone turning right, YOU are at fault.

If you want to get into the curb lane, signal right, shoulder check and THEN change lanes. And YES, the rules DO apply to you.

I also can't stand it when people who are merging stop in the merge lane. The deserve all the "birds" that are flipped their way.

I can't stand it when people are merging and mean to get over two or three lanes, so they hold up everyone behind them waiting for a break in traffic rather than merging properly and signaling while they're at it.

Ok. I'm done. I'm going to eat soup now. It always makes me feel better.

Modern Idiocy

Bad dads...

Y’know how parents always tell their kids “Don’t hit?” Well that little piece of advice doesn’t work if you hit your kid when you say it! Geeze, adults are stupid sometimes.

That advice also doesn’t work when you’re the 40 something dad of an 8 year old boy who gets into a playground scrap with two other little boys and then you, the dad, go retaliate by hitting someone else’s 8 year-old kid and then beating up that kid’s dad and trashing his house.

Yesterday in my city, three little guys got into fisticuffs on their school’s playground. I don’t think kids ought to pound each other for any reason, but it happens with little boys. The dads of these boys, however, decided to get into a huge brouhaha that ended with two of the dads totally pounding each other and then one of the dads getting a buddy and going back to the other dad’s house, pounding the guy with a metal pipe and then trashing his house. Sadly, these dogs were scared off by actual dogs, which gives me to believe that the dads are essentially big, fat, insecure bullies.

After that, this Neanderthal genius goes home and tells his little guy “Don’t hit or I'll fxxing kill ya'.” Man, people are so stupid.

See “Stupid Adults” for more of my opinions on this subject.

Anger Management.com has an anger management tool on it. It has some useful stuff and worthwhile reading too.

Your comments are always welcome.

Sweet!

Yah,.. Big Pharma is on your side….

Here’s a great little fight. US federal health officials are all mad at the cherry industry – yes, cherries, that well-loved fruit – because the cherry industry markets cherries as health food.

Yes, folks, cherries are good for you but the US federal health department does not like it that the producers tell you that.

According to this little snippet of an article I have, the US Food and Drug Administration has ordered no fewer than 29 companies to stop telling people their cherry-based products are good for you.

One part of the government tells people to eat more fruits and vegetables, and another arm of the federal government says “don’t tell ‘em cherries are good for them!”

There are numerous studies that indicate cherries (and blueberries and similar types of berries) have extensive health benefits, not limited to high levels of anti-oxidants, which are known to fight cancer.

Way back in the day, before the onslaught of crap food and high pressure marketing from Big Pharma to take drugs for every little thing (restless leg syndrome included), people just ate good food including cherries, blueberries, strawberries, and stuff like that. Also back in the day, there were many fewer cases of cancer.

Frankly people, this is a no-brainer: if the majority of what you eat is crap food like DingDongs, crisps and everything packaged, you’re not going to be in the best health. If you choose fruit, grains and decent meats and other proteins, you’re going to feel lots better and you’ll mostly be able to laugh at Big Pharma and their drugs for your restless legs. Have a crisp now and again, sure, but don’t let junk be the main part of your diet. Basically, if it comes in a cardboard or cellophane package, it isn’t the best choice.

Now as proof of what I just said, here’s the scoop on Restless Leg Syndrome. You can take any of these drugs to treat your syndrome:
temazepam, levodopa/carbidopa, bromocriptine, pergolide mesylate, oxycodone, propoxyphene, and codeine. Ummm yummy!

Or, you can apply a cold compress and correct your iron deficiency. How do you do that? Eat spinach. Simple. Many thanks to Frank’s Recipes for a great site where people can find all sorts of ways to make good food out of healthy things, including CHERRIES

Nasty Business

It is as I suspected:
White guys are verifiably weird!!

Today’s Calgary Herald carried an article about sexual predators and paedophilia and people – men – who collect and distribute child porn and made some comments about how those two things are related. Intimately, as it turns out.

If you’re sensitive, skip this part: I’ve often said to my girls that white guys are weird. As it turns out, if the statistics quoted in said article are to be believed, it would seem that white guys, particularly those over the age of 25 are indeed weird. (We’re white, by the way, but please see my article on the term ‘race’ before you race to any conclusions)

A study by the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children looked at 1713 people charged with possessing child pornography in the US between July1 2000 and July1 2001. This is what the typical child porn possessor ‘looks’ like:

• Almost all were male
  
• 91% are white
  
• 41% had never married!
  
• A further 21% were divorced, separated or widowed
  
• 86% are older than 25 years
  
• Only 3% were under 18
  
• 40% are dual offenders, meaning that they had also victimized children
  
• Another 15% had tried to victimize a child but hadn’t necessarily succeeded
  
• 73% were employed full time
  
• 89% had not been diagnosed with a mental illness
  
• 56% have a criminal record and of those, 24% have a record for sexual assault
  
• 91% were viewing child porn on their home computers.
  

More on this here: Missing Kids.com
And Here: Equal Parenting

What does all this mean? Well, that nice daddy down the street – the white guy who’s so computer literate? Yah, he’s a prime candidate.

So does viewing and possessing kiddy porn predispose a man (and the occasional woman) to violating a child? This link hasn’t been established as of yet, but 45% of those charged with possessing such material also had a record of molestation and that figure is considered conservative.

When I as at school for behavioural sciences, I ran into some research and stats on the predominance of white men implicated in sexual crimes: nearly all those engaged in incest are white as are nearly all paedophiles; a high percentage of men charged with rape are white too.

So guys; what gives? Why are white guys so weird??? Why are white men so likely to rape and molest? Is it genetic? Is it the food they eat or the education they get - or the lack thereof? What’s the scoop? Why is it that the very people who have the world by the tail – white guys – are so fucking weird?

To quote Arsenio Hall, this is one of those “Things that make you go ‘Hmmmm…’”.