Pacificapocalypse

We have pets, specifically we have two dogs and three cats. That’s our furry family (with exception, Andy dog is a Chinese Crested Hairless, and Jayne cat is a Sphynx) and for the time being that’s how it’ll probably stay. So we had some drama start about two weeks ago with Panda dog; she started peeing in really un-cool places (the bed spread! Panda no!). We were concerned that it might be acting out since Jayne cat is a new family member, but not *that* new. We’ve had him for about a month now; a little late to start acting out and we’ve been careful to spread the love and attention equally among the kids so no one feels left out. We thought maybe a doggie UTI; off to the vet’s she went. Court brought her home with some general antibiotics and a doggie pheromone potpourri warmer. Supposed to calm their little puppy hearts and make them less prone to acting-out peeing.

And then… Butch cat started up. First he pee’d on the bedspread also (AAAARG!! We just got that back from the cleaners!) And then on the couch and finally the next day on one of the dog pillows. Something seriously up here; he’s never done anything like this before. So off to Coastal Cat Clinic he goes. By this time, the vet had called back to say that, yes, Panda dog did have a UTI and that the antibiotic she was on should get her through with no problems. Anyway, they take some blood and urine from Butchie and send him home. I get the call the next day; no UTI for Butchie, but something much worse. Apparently Butch cat’s personal chemistry cause his urine to be very high pH which cause crystals to form. These crystals can be very irritating AND clump together to cause a blockage, just like kidney stones in humans.  Very serious. The vet said to bring him back in the afternoon (that was Thursday last week) and we would need to give him sub q fluids for the next ten days and put him on a special diet to lower his pH, raise the acidity of his urine and hopefully dissolve the crystals. I freaked out a little. Sub cutaneous fluids? Like with a needle and shit? Holy crap. Thank god Court has done stuff like that in the past with horses so she had some experience, I would have been a complete wreck without her.
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Yeah you! I’ve installed the Lightbox Box plus plugin for WordPress; if you click a picture it *should* open on-screen, allowing you to view the picture full size without navigating away from the page.

Anyway, I think I’ve got it working (under FireFox anyway) but if anyone is viewing this via Internet Explorer, Safari, etc. and it’s not working, can you please drop me a quick note.

Appreciate it.

UPDATE: Ok I can’t get Lightbox to function in Internet Explorer… disabled the plugin, needs more research.

We Watch Movies: Watchmen

You know what? There’s millions of reviews out there for this film, literally. And some (most?) of them are by people who’s skills far exceed my own, so I’m not going to even try. It was epic. I was entertained. It hit all the right notes re: the source material. And it earned it’s hard R rating and didn’t puss out where it counted.

So if you liked the original graphic novel, you’ll probably enjoy this too. But please please please, don’t go not having read the original AND thinking it’s a costumed super hero movie. And leave the kids at home.

Ok kids; here’s the final score.
The Guild has voted and ratified an agreement on contract changes, to take effect immediately. So what does that mean? First off, Hearst Corp. says 150 people will be let go, most likely starting April 1st. That’s when they file their WARN Act notice. We were informed today that most of the cuts will come from Editorial and Production, but we will be hit also. Management has been instructed to start filling out evaluation forms for all employees starting immediately.

So there you go. We get a little breather until the axe comes down.
Jeez it’s been like living in Warsaw in ‘38; you know it’s coming and you know it’ll be bad. But you really don’t know how bad… maybe they can get Adrian Brody to play me in the movie. I’d be okay with that.

I hate this shit.
Pins and friggin’ needles.
No news is good news? Not in this particular case. We’ve received a couple of updates from the Guild and it’s not looking good. But then again, no matter what happens, the situation is grim. If Hearst Corp. get their demands, the workforce is cut dramatically as well as benefits for the remaining employees, which equals a suck fest.
If the Guild and Hearst can’t reach an agreement, then Hearst puts the paper up for sale and if they don’t get a buyer, they close it all down. 144 years of publication history, just swept away. Which equals an even harder suck fest.
Update from this morning:

Chronicle Unit negotiators met Friday with management representatives
to raise certain issues concerning the company’s latest cost-cutting
proposals. It appeared we made some headway in terms of narrowing our
differences, but the meeting adjourned without an overall tentative
agreement.

The parties plan to resume the discussions on Monday.

Hearst Corp., owner of the Chronicle, announced it would have to sell
or close the 144-year-old newspaper if the Guild and other unions
refused to accept concessions.  At least 150 jobs are expected to be
eliminated from the Guild’s jurisdiction, including news,
advertising, circulation and other departments. Buyouts may reduce
the number of involuntary layoffs.

No deadlines have been set. Management has made it clear that
agreement needs to be reached soon.

I can’t even say ‘hopefully I’ll have more news later today’ ’cause any news is going to be bad at this point.
The consensus in my department, and probably building wide, is that it’s definitely time to have a Plan B ready to go. Because, boys and girls, it’s not a matter of ‘if’ anymore, only ‘when’.

Well it’s been a week since they made the announcement regarding the start of negotiations between the management of the San Francisco Chronicle and the Media Workers Guild (yeah boy, I’m a ‘Guild Member’ – sounds so archaic, I feel like I should be setting type Gutenberg Style like some Dickensian character.. “Please Sir! Might I have a steady paycheck and health coverage?”) We’ve got the list of demands (Okay they call it a ‘Summary of Hearst Proposal to Guild, but “list of demands” sounds way cooler and evil.) from Management, of what concessions they want from the Guild, and it ain’t pretty.

<snip>
…Exclude from Guild protection all recently hired outside advertising, online advertising, ChronDirect salespersons and sales reps for the Gate.
Grievances – Eliminate the right to take new grievances to arbitration without company agreement in each case.
Layoffs – Expand employer’s right to lay off anyone out of seniority. Higher severance for out-of seniority layoffs.
Pensions – Discontinue any further contributions to the pension plan.
<endsnip>

Full text pdf here.

There’s (obviously) a great deal of apprehension in the air, and rumors are everywhere. Some people say this isn’t so much about revenue as it is Hearst Management wanting to break the back of the Guild. And the timing doesn’t make sense to me and others; Hearst has sunk a ton o’ cash into a new 15 year agreement with a new state-of-the-art printing facility in Fremont that is set to make it’s debut in June 2009, so what happens to that?
No one really has a clue, but I do know that many people are expecting the worse and making plans now.