Today is slogging by..

[shadowkat]

Today is slogging by. Not sure slog is a word? If it isn't, it damn well should be. Means to move at the pace of a snail. Snail like. Or a piece of wood that one is lugging or slogging up a hill. Snail like with heavy lifting involved. Or a day that lacks energy and the time on the clock never moves no matter how much you look at it. Making up words runs in my family - we are a family of Miss Malaprops (I think that is the correct spelling).

In last 24 hours have managed to talk myself into and out of and into buying Farscape DVDs for $69.99 at Best Buy. Although DeepDiscount may still be cheaper - need to double check shipping. (I work in procurement, in other words - I buy things for a living - construction and consulting services, so I can't not check prices. Hey beats selling things. Suck at selling things.) Have come to the conclusion that I deserve the treat. Plus Farscape is distinct. We'll never see its like again. Buffy is the same way. Some shows are copied ad naseum, while others stand distinct and off, left to center. Rarely rerunned and hard to come by. That's my latest justification at any rate.

Have decided to avoid the news until Sarah Palin finishes her book tour. Yes, I'm fairly liberal, although most people are liberal in comparison to Palin, Palin makes George HW Bush and Ronald Regan look liberal, and I couldn't stand them either. Made that decision last night. My blood pressure can't take it - I was yelling at the tv last night during her interview with B. Walters on ABC News.

And I am currently living in cold and flu central - people are coughing around me. Several people are out sick or have been out sick and returned with just a cough. They are taking turns. Five go out, they come back, another two go out...and you hear coughing off and on, competing with the whirl of the air vents. (Cold air not hot, because the building ventilation system is confused and thinks it is still summer.)

Comments

[shapinglight]

I can't believe all those people are coming to work with terrible coughs and colds. If I went into work with a cough, I would probably be told to go home before I infected everyone.

If you don't mind my asking, is it because they don't get sick pay?

Also, I don't blame you for avoiding Palin. She's very avoidable.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Not at all.

The rule of thumb here is - if you have a fever you stay home. If you can't drive or get to the subway, stay home. If it is just a cough and sneezing, you can go to the work.

The reason? While we get sick pay, it isn't unlimited.
I have about 8 days from 2008 that got carried over, plus 12 for this year, minus four that I had to take in Feb and March.
You get two sick days, out the third? You have to get a doctor's note. If you have numerous occurrances of sick time over a year - say about 20 - they take note of it and it could count against you. If you don't take sick time - it carries over to the next year, and by the time you hit retirement age,
you can collect half of it. Also it doesn't get added to pension.

People were told to go home when they had a fever or coughing to start. Now, that the cough is considered milder...they can come to work. Americans have an insane work ethic - we only get two weeks vacation a year, we work 40-180 work weeks, and
we don't get unlimited sick time. There are people who won't take their vacation at all - believe it or not.

My workplace is actually pretty good. Some don't give sick pay at all. What makes no sense is the whole got to have a doctor's note by the third day - so, you have to get on the subway, infect everyone, to get to the doctor? O-okay.

Sigh, I wish Palin was more avoidable and would just go away. She's everywhere. Again.
During the election it was insane. Between the comedians making fun of her (usually in a way that was frighteningly
sexist and classist), and the people going on about how wonderful she was. Now she's baaack like a bad migraine that just won't go away.

[shapinglight]

We don't really have any politicians like Palin here, I'm glad to say.

Also, where I work, I can be off sick for a week without needing a doctors note, and I don't think sick days are counted at all towards pensions or anything like that. Of course, though, if you are perpetually off sick, it will get noticed eventually and will definitely count against you.

I think we have a pretty strong work ethic here too. Certainly, workers in the UK work longer hours than other Europeans. However, we get more than 2 weeks' holiday. That strikes me as miserly in the extreme. :(

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

I say go for it. We need to treat ourselves sometimes. I already own all of the episodes on DVD, but I've still been salivating over this set. It's awfully pretty.