Jen Psaki is asked if anyone in WH is worried about setting a precedent with releasing Jan 6 documents.
“I can assure you Ed that this President has no intention to lead an insurrection on our nation’s Capitol.” #psakibomb pic.twitter.com/G9KQhZ7zhA
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) October 14, 2021
We’ve created nearly five million jobs since I took office in January.
That’s ten times the average monthly rate I inherited from my predecessor.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 14, 2021
EXPLAINER: Rising inflation has triggered the largest jump in Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment since 1983. Here's what the increase could mean for you. https://t.co/RFTwOy8uoL
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 13, 2021
A new CNN poll finds that 75% of the Democratic Party's voters want an expansive reconciliation bill, compared to 20% who prefer a scaled-back version.
A bigger bill wins support even from two-thirds of moderate and conservative Democrats.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 14, 2021
Leader Schumer tells Democratic colleagues that he'll file cloture on the Freedom to Vote Act, which he describes as "consequential voting rights legislation that has the support of our entire caucus" on Monday. That would set up an initial vote on Wednesday of next week.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 14, 2021
The Biden administration Tuesday ordered a halt to large-scale immigration arrests at job sites, and said it is planning a new enforcement strategy to more effectively target employers who pay substandard wages and engage in exploitative labor practices. https://t.co/WyiAeo7Zvd
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 12, 2021
The Biden admin has canceled the remaining construction contracts for Trump's border wall.https://t.co/kfPglm1dfF
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 11, 2021
Baud
Thanks, AL.
FWIW, that’s actually a worse percentage than with actual Congress people.
Unfortunately, we can’t govern with a majority of the majority.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ???
rikyrah
???????? for President Clinton.
NotMax
Wow, it’s that time again. Didn’t find time to dash out and get a card. Nevertheless, Happy Kiddo Day once again!
rikyrah
That first tweet… I played it over and over ?
Love her
AJ
Wonderful to note some of what’s going well, thanks Anne!
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
raven
We can use da dough with this renovation!!!
rikyrah
Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) tweeted at 9:04 AM on Thu, Oct 14, 2021:
“Veterans organization VoteVets has endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe after his Virginia Republican opponent pledged allegiance to a flag carried during the Capitol attack.”
https://t.co/qFqlI1c6ce via @politicususa
(https://twitter.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1448650914311520257?t=c0eEyF3BxAhq9jCl-P_PiA&s=03)
Dorothy A. Winsor
Happy to be greeted with good news this morning, AL.
I hit 45K words on the zero draft of a new book yesterday. It’s a random pile of scenes but I’m starting to think I may actually be able to pile up enough material to work with.
MattF
The Long Egg.
debbie
@raven:
I heard that not everyone on SSI will get the 5.9%, but nothing about what will determine who. ??♀️
sab
Our renter stopped paying rent when his daughter got laid off early in Covid times. She had been paying her mom to watch the kid and that was where they got the money to pay rent. So we have spent a year scrambling for money to pay property tax so that we don’t have to evict the renters and sell the property. It is a hot property market.
Renter just notified us that with COLA he will be able to pay rent next year. Yay!
Geminid
@rikyrah: Younkin has tried to project to the general public the image of a reasonable, moderate conservative. But he plays footsie with his party’s radicals enough to let them know he is on their side. I’m glad that VoteVets called him out.
Baud
@sab:
You’re a good egg.
Soprano2
I’m glad that there’s good news. As for me, I’m feeling discouraged this morning. One of our servers at the pub gave her notice; she’s gone after next week. Our manager said her explanation was “It’s too busy for me here”, which makes no sense to me because if you’re busy you make more money and time goes faster. Hubby & I are going to try to talk to her to see if we can suss out if something else is going on. Another server called in yet again last night because her husband wasn’t home and she had no one to watch her kids. Her husband isn’t even working, so I have no idea what she thinks they’re going to do for money if she loses her job.(Sometimes I suspect some of these people are making money in illegal ways, which is why they can act the way they do.) She calls in at least once a week; our manager is beside herself on what to do because she’s great at her job when she’s here, but she has to be here. I’m sympathetic to her problems, but a small place like ours can’t have people who call in all the time! Oh, and our most experienced bartender is leaving at the end of the month to move to Kansas City with her sister. In a normal job market this would be hard but doable. In this job market, it puts us perilously close to having to close down – not because our food and service suck, not because we aren’t busy, but because we cannot find good reliable people to work for us. They all tell us our manager is great and we’re great, but they leave anyway. We’re at our wit’s end as to what to do. We can’t raise our wages to $20/hr, plus that’s not why they say they’re leaving anyway. None of them say they need to make more money. They’re making good money – when they show up. This is so foreign to me, because I never would have thought about calling in on a job once a week or more. So, when you’re all talking about how great this situation is because it’s driving wages up and workers have all the power, keep in mind that your favorite local watering hole or local restaurant may not be able to weather a situation where they cannot find reliable people to work. It makes me understand better why places to go a situation where they try to minimize the amount of people they have to hire – machines don’t call in once a week, they’re always there and they’re usually reliable.
NotMax
@debbie
sab
@Baud: God, you sound like my late mother. That was her ultimate compliment. Took my husband five years to earn it.
frosty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: If someone handed me a zero draft with characters partially fleshed out and a bunch of scenes, I think I could turn it into a book. Writing the zero draft? I tried once, it’s not gonna happen.
Geminid
@sab: Make him apply for that renter’s assistance if you can. He’s leaving a lot of your money on the table.
Ken
@rikyrah: Could be worse, could have been the flagpole used to beat one of the Capitol police.
debbie
@NotMax:
Is that saying if your usual SSI monthly check is more than $841, you won’t get the COLA?
sab
@Geminid: He is a childhood friend of my husband. I have been bleating about this for a year, to no effect.
ETA Good point. I might bleat louder.
Kristine
The nights here in NE Illinois will finally start dipping into the low 40s. I need to clear space in the one room with decent southern exposure so I can bring in the bonsai and other assorted plants.
Geminid
@sab: Yes, this has not been just a material problem for you. Does the lease come up soon? That might be leverage.
danielx
True to form, contractor did not show up on Wednesday to start tearing out carpet and flooring. I filed the insurance claim on July 6th…this is getting old.
sab
@frosty: I loved your photos this morning.
I have an idiotic question. 40 years ago I drove through that area. The diners all had cute little plastic dinosaur honey containers, little dinosaurs wearing park ranger hats, kind of like the little bears we have in the rest of the country. Do they still sell those? I have always regretted not buying one.
NotMax
@debbie
SSI is a different subsection of the program than regular Social Security. Might you be confusing the two? Current maximum for SSI for a qualified individual is $794. See here.
otmar
Just in case you missed it: Austria switched head of government this week. The old one is implicated in a scheme being favorable media coverage using gov. funds.
The chat history from the backup of an old phone of an associate that was seized following an unrelated investigation contained some juicy nuggets.
The coalition continues. Nobody wants elections right now.
sab
@Geminid: Not a marital problem. How do I evict my husbands best friend since forever?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kristine: It’s October 15 and we haven’t had the heat on yet.
raven
@Soprano2: My buddy has exactly the same problems. and he’s so fucking bummed all the time I worry about him. Of course he’s also opening another place.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@frosty: Hm. I think WP must have eaten my comment. I’m finding this painful right now. The next round will be better.
PAM Dirac
@debbie:
I read this to mean that the COLA amount is applied to the previous max to come up with the new max for 2022. If your usual SSI monthly check is already above the federal max it means the state is adding in some funds and you would have to look into the state policy to see how they handle COLAs for their contribution.
Soprano2
Oh, and then there’s this:
Here’s something to put into perspective!![]()
Fryer oil A year ago $21 , 6 months ago $32, Today $44
Chicken wings a year ago $45 a case today $172 a case..
Togo boxes a year ago $25 Today $95
This is the same for almost every food paper, and cleaning product they use. Not to mention minimum wage increase every year.
Soprano2
@sab: Can you apply for the renter’s assistance where you live? If I were you I’d do that if your renter won’t or can’t.
Soprano2
I hate to sound like an old fogey, but I cannot understand what’s happening in the world. We had the same problem with the people I hired to cut down two trees – they would text me that they were planning to come “next week”, then they would never show up. This went on for over a month before they finally showed up! Just tell me if you can’t do it, I won’t get mad. Don’t keep leading me on that you can be there and then not show up – that makes me madder than if you say “We can’t get to it for two months because we’re so busy”. It made me wish I had hired the other company that bid the job over $2,000 more.
debbie
@NotMax:
No, I was abbreviating Social Security income. That’ll learn me.
Soprano2
That is insanity in this job market. There are two food establishments in a neighboring town that were built but remain unopened because they cannot find anyone to work there! You couldn’t pay me enough to open another location right now, because we can’t keep one staffed!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Soprano2: That’s always been my experience with contractors. A guy we hired to fix our front porch once went to China instead.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid: If I were handling T-Mac’s advertising, I’d be going all-out with ads saying Youngkin pledged allegiance to the insurrection flag.
Whatever half-assed explanation Youngkin might come up with, if you’re explaining, you’re losing, as the old saying goes.
Geminid
@sab: I meant not just a material problem. It also involves friendship, an intangible but real factor.
But I am only an amateur counselor, so I’d best just say, good luck!
lowtechcyclist
You have a location in Africa??
;^)
p.a.
Hope you can send some positive vibes I will pass along to GF & family; son, 37, 2 kids just finished radiation; surgery to remove under-arm sarcoma next month (DanaFarber???). Recovery prognosis very good but some muscle/nerve damage likely. SiL, 29, 2 kids, just diagnosed w MS.
NotMax
@debbie
Yeah, SSI is Supplemental Security Income.
Acronyms be a thicket of brambles.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lowtechcyclist: In the “if you’re explaining, you’re losing” category, here’s TFG to R senators and donors
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: There is also a lot of PAC money to spend on those ads. Everything and the kitchen sink will be flying in Virginia these next two and a half weeks. National Republicans really want a Youngkin victory, and Democrats are digging in too.
Nelle
@Dorothy A. Winsor: We haven’t turned the heat on either, though it is supposed to get to 39 tonight. We don’t have a furnace check until next Tuesday, but i dont think we are going to make it. We should tough it out. We had no central heat in New Zealand. I wore fingerless gloves a lot there.
debbie
@NotMax:
Funny. Where I work, that acronym is used for regular Social Security income.
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: No, just saying the cost of everything has gone up, in some cases by a lot. A case of gloves that cost $65 in February 2020 is now double that. Fryer oil is a lot higher, and so on.
Fair Economist
@Soprano2: Sounds like you are in a “chased by a bear” situation. All the other eateries and wateries are likely in the same situation. Now the question is who gives up first to let the others keep going.
Kalakal
@sab: My mother -in-law used to call me “number 1 son-in-law”
My wife is an only child
frosty
@sab: The Visitor Center had a lot of kid stuff, as they usually do. I didn’t look specifically for dinosaurs with ranger hats but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were there.
Fair Economist
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Trump saying he’s not in golden showers makes me wonder if he’s into golden baths instead. Then again, seems like everything he says is a lie, so…
debbie
@Soprano2:
Costs have gone up for workers too. I honestly don’t know what the answer is.
Fair Economist
@p.a.: Best wishes for a good recovery. Sounds like they are getting excellent treatment, so that helps.
danielx
@Soprano2:
I believe it was Woody Allen who said that eighty percent of life is just showing up.
frosty
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Putting myself in your shoes, I agree about the pain. It would be easier to work on a rewrite of someone else’s draft. Not quite so personal or something like that; you’d be busy cutting out characters that the writer thought created the idea of the story, for instance.
NotMax
@debbie
Me neither, but I can tell you what it’s not.
Chicken tartare.
;)
Soprano2
Yep, and the unfortunate thing for the consumer is that places like Applebee’s can weather this a lot easier than places like mine. In February 2020 we would have been able to hire people to replace all of these workers easily. Now, things like this happen – manager schedules 4 interviews, all people sound eager to interview, but no one actually shows up for an interview! You can’t hire people if they won’t even show up for the interview. What can you do about that? The ironic thing is that we have finally turned the corner this year and are making money, but in the end that may not matter. I can understand why some people are going to a “no server” model of doing business.
Professor Bigfoot
Pretty much all supply chains are stretched to the limit— everyone’s been running “Lean” and “Just-In-Time” for the last couple decades; and that’s really what’s driving prices right now.
And I still don’t know what to do about it.
Ken
I’m still not comfortable with rare pork. Sure, the pork industry says it’s safe now, but they might be biased.
Fair Economist
@Soprano2: Can you go to a no server model yourself? Or at least to central ordering?
sab
@Kalakal: Laughing here.
Fair Economist
@Soprano2: I notice two of those pricing issue are you on the receiving end of monopoly pricing businesses; paper products (Koch brothers), and chicken. There’s a nationwide shortage of chicken because *one* producer switched to a rooster strain with fertility problems.
Soprano2
Meanwhile, here in Missouri, our governor is threatening a reporter who right-clicked on a Web site and looked at the source code with prosecution for “hacking”. The reporter found that there were SS#’s of teachers in the source code, and wrote about it. This guy is dumb as a bag of hammers.
Soprano2
When we bought this place we got rid of central ordering because it’s not that kind of place, and most of the customers hated it. Now, I don’t even know how we’d do that without a big investment in technology, plus I’m pretty sure most of our customers would hate it. The ironic thing is that we’re going to be closed on Monday because we’re getting a new POS and camera system; we’re paying for it with the money we got from the restaurant revitalization fund. My husband says it will all work out in the end, but I’m not as optimistic about it as he is.
NotMax
@Ken
Yup. Made an eight pound loin of pork yesterday. It was on special at Costco when did the monthly run there this past weekend.
Too cumbersome for my cookware, so I cut it into two ~four pound pieces and place them side by side in the roasting pan. I do them low (325 oven) and slow (same cook time – 20 minutes per pound – as if it were a single eight pound piece), basting every 45 minutes or so. Not a hint of pink, just tender and juicy.
Soprano2
@Fair Economist: Yep, everyone is in the same boat on the chicken wing shortage. It’s crazy how many deficiencies in the way we do things Covid has revealed.
soapdish
“The Biden administration Tuesday ordered a halt to large-scale immigration arrests at job sites, and said it is planning a new enforcement strategy to more effectively target employers who pay substandard wages and engage in exploitative labor practices.”
Been saying for years that if you *actually* want to control illegal immigration you don’t punish the immigrants, you punish the Americans who exploit them.
mrmoshpotato
Masterful.
Kristine
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I haven’t turned it on yet, either. House is 64F this morning. Great sleeping weather.
My heating company phoned last month to schedule the furnace PM. I held off in that until earlier this week and scheduled it for the end of this month. I couldn’t bear the thought of testing that thing when it was still 70+ and I needed A/C.
jonas
@Soprano2:
Sounds like pretty much all I’m hearing from everyone I know in the restaurant/hospitality/childcare business as well. Was talking a while back to the owner of a restaurant who was running herself ragged covering both front and back of the house and simply couldn’t get workers to show up. They repeatedly ghosted her on interviews. Others would simply quit showing up one day — no notice, nothing. One person went through several weeks of training and then quit three days into their job, saying they didn’t like “being told what to do.” She was paying upwards of $20/hr for cooks.
On the other hand, I’m also hearing stories from people I know who have been out of work, are desperate for anything, and can’t get anyone to look at their resume, call them back — anything. It’s really crazy. Employers claim no-one wants to work and people looking for work claim no-one will hire them.
raven
@Soprano2: Yea, I don’t know what to think. They are full growed adults and didn’t ask my advice.
Soprano2
I agree, it is crazy. I think one answer is that these are two different pools of workers who are looking for different things. What kind of jobs and wages are the people claiming no one will hire them looking for? I think some of these people who quit on a whim know the job market is so tight that they can do almost anything and have another job next week. Personally I think that’s not good because it enables bad behavior. I keep telling myself that things are going to settle down in the next year, but I’m not sure we can make it that far.
raven
@jonas: Again, exactly what my buddy is experiencing.
Kristine
@Fair Economist: I always had the impression that he got off on watching others be humiliated. Things like hiring prostitutes to urinate in the bed PBO slept in would fall in there somewhere.
raven
@Soprano2: My pal says that high school kids are more dependable than the “townies” and college kids he gets. He’s also been accused of homophobia online by a former worked and, believe me, it’s the last thing he and his wife are.
Soprano2
I wish people understood how much lack of good, reliable childcare is fucking with the job market. A lot of our problems would be solved if the childcare market wasn’t so fubared right now. At least half of our unreliability problems are related to women who don’t have reliable care for their children when they are working. This idea that it’s all about the pay is just wrong. The childcare stuff in the Build Back Better bill would help the job market more than increases in wages.
Soprano2
@raven: Well, unfortunately we’re a bar so employing high school kids is a non-starter. I believe him about that, though.
lowtechcyclist
@Soprano2: That was a joke, son. Togo is a nation in Africa.
mrmoshpotato
@Soprano2:
Stop. Hammer libel.
raven
@Soprano2: No booze at his current joint but the new one will.
Baud
@mrmoshpotato:
Isn’t that when you accuse someone of being able to touch this?
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: Ugh, I’m too tired to even get that joke! I didn’t sleep much last night.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud: ooh, that one was bad.
gene108
I got rear ended yesterday. Not much damage. The body panel under the passenger side tail light was knocked a bit out of place and is no longer flush with the tail light.
I stopped, when the light turned yellow, deciding not to try and risk seeing if I could get through before it turned red. Guy behind me thought I was going to push it. He started stopping a little too late. He braked hard. There were tire marks on the pavement from his stopping.
We both got out looked at damage. I looked at my fender where I was hit and it looked good. His front fender wasn’t damaged. I told him it was good, then as I walked to my driver’s side, I saw the damage by the tail light.
Then pointed it out to him. I said let’s exchange insurance info and be on our way. He thought I was trying to scam him or something. He got a bit agitated. I spent minutes showing him the passenger side tail light is flush with the body panel and the drivers side is not.
He then pointed out a crack in his windshield. I though how the fuck does a windshield get cracked near the top drivers side from a fender bender, but kept it to my self.
Then he said I stopped at a green light, and I’m like no, it was yellow. Then he I stopped way past the white line in the intersection, a good 30 ft in front of his car, and I said it’s there because you rear ended me.
I thought to myself how does he think we’d be having this discussion, if I stopped 30 ft. in front of him.
I then said, if can’t just exchange insurance info, I’ll call the police to get a report and let them decide who’s at fault. He was very much against the idea. I didn’t want to wait for the police over a fender bender.
He finally agreed to exchange insurance info. We went on our way.
I think from the insurance document he has, he has minimum coverage, so his insurance might not cover this anyway.
People are annoying.
I’m contacting my insurance agent today. I’m looking to get front and rear dash cams.
A minor aggravation.
When I was in college, in NC, a cousin visited from out of state. I dropped off in front of the airport (early 1990’s, instead of seeing him off at the gate). A woman pulls in front of where we’re parked, she then backs her car up damaging my front fender.
I got her information. I got a quote as to the damage. She sent a check to cover repairs, instead of using insurance.
I think this encounter with this nice lady, nearly 30 years ago, has totally screwed up my idea of what people causing accidents would behave like.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
I’m here all week. Please remember to tip your waitresses.
Actually, never mind. They all just quit.
lowtechcyclist
@Soprano2: Sorry about that. It was a pretty lame joke about ‘Togo boxes.’ I knew what you meant, of course.
Barbara
@Soprano2: First, I am sorry for how hard it is for you right now. But the idea that a robust job market enables “bad” behavior has to be challenged. Even if this doesn’t apply to you, employees have essentially been “coached” by employers for a while now to expect being “ghosted” when they apply for jobs, or to come in — or conversely, told not to come in — on the last minute whim of an employer. When employees mimic that same behavior they are called out for being bad employees. Seriously, whatever trust or mutual respect used to exist between employers and employees seems to have irrevocably broken down over the last 30 years. It’s just that during this same period employers have not really had to endure the same kind of behavior they have been modeling.
Just case in point, I hadn’t really been in the job market, but I was recruited for a position and I went for a day’s worth of interviews, and they never called me back. Never. I had to track them down and they swore that they had told the recruiter to let me know. He didn’t. I was incredulous, but in speaking with other people this kind of treatment is just par for the course.
Baud
@gene108:
Glad you’re ok. It’s always the car in the back’s fault.
germy
The Invisible Hand Of The Marketplace is somehow waving in favor of the worker, and it’ll take some getting used to:
This text exchange reminded me of some bosses I’ve had over the years:
mrmoshpotato
@lowtechcyclist: LOL!
Baud
@germy: There’s at least one subreddit on Reddit dedicated to bad employers like that. I saw that text exchange yesterday.
Chief Oshkosh
@Kalakal: Ah, but is there polygamy in the family?
germy
The cereal corporation is looking for “strike replacement workers” (temporary)
Ksmiami
@Soprano2: Toast is a pretty inexpensive scalable software solution for establishments like yours
Soprano2
@Barbara: I know that employers can suck too, I’m not saying they don’t, because I’ve worked for sucky bosses. Two wrongs don’t make a right, though. When unemployment is 10% and the economy is bad, employees don’t call in at the last minute at least once a week and expect to keep their jobs, or think they can behave that way because they can always find another job. The way I was raised, people treat each other with respect; I don’t allow the way others behave to cause me to also behave badly. I was taught that if you schedule an interview you show up, that if you accept a job you should show up, that if you are scheduled for work you should show up unless there’s an urgent reason that you can’t. It seems to me that when people know they can go out tomorrow and get another job it enables bad behavior on their part just like knowing they can hire someone off the street tomorrow if they are unhappy with you enables bad behavior by employers. Neither of these things are good, yet I see a lot of people cheering that now employees have all the control. That’s OK as long as they don’t abuse it, but too many people are willing to abuse it, and it’s employers like me who pay the price for that. There has to be a balance so that no one is attempted to abuse what power they do have. ETA – and yeah, I agree that it’s atrocious that they recruited you and then never even called you back! What assholes.
Baud
I’ll be curious to see if workers appreciate their newfound leverage at election time, or whether they will chalk it up to the natural order of things and their own gumption and not act to preserve the momentum.
Professor Bigfoot
@Barbara: The entirety of my professional experience.
Baud
@Soprano2: I don’t think people are cheering about workers who are assholes so much as there is now more parity between worker assholes and employer assholes, which hasn’t happened in a long time.
You are correct that that doesn’t change the fact that all assholes are a burden on the rest of us.
germy
@Baud:
You seem to be spending more time on Reddit. Is there anything we can do to lure you back? We can’t increase your salary, but maybe free pizza on Fridays?
germy
Soprano2
@germy: So how does that guy think he’s going to pay his bills?
Baud
@germy:
I need a plan B if BJ goes tits up.
OzarkHillbilly
@Soprano2: The same way he is now?
Soprano2
Sure, but the employers who aren’t assholes are being treated just the same as the ones who are.
Soprano2
@OzarkHillbilly: Maybe, but on Twitter he doesn’t say what the alternative to working is. I understand people’s frustration, I do, but it’s not as easy to work for yourself and make a living as some people make it sound. Maybe that’s what people are doing.
Baud
@Soprano2: That’s true the other way too though. People never do nuance.
OzarkHillbilly
@Soprano2: You are assuming he isn’t working. I see him saying he refuses to work harder than he already is when it won’t do him any good.
germy
https://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2021/10/15
5,000 piece toy civil war soldier set from Tom the Dancing Bug.
Ken B
@sab: In Virginia, the landlord can apply as well.
Last year, I got laid off, and applied, never heard a peep from tje aid folks. A few months later, the folks at the apartment complex and I were talking about it, and they offered to apply. I gave them the paperwork and they applied for me. they reached out to me every 4-6 weeks to let me know if they had any update.
Took months, literally, but the money came in.
I don’t know the situation in your state, but you may want to check out that option.
Jeffro
@Geminid:
Yes – very important to keep the tv off until Election Day. =)
It’s interesting to see that McAuliffe has that 5-point lead despite, well, despite many things. May it hold up well!
Soprano2
@OzarkHillbilly: Well, he’s talking about how they all quit, so I guess I assumed that meant he quit his job too. *shrug* I guess it’s not clear. I take his point, and know that many employers have behaved badly and still do, which is counterproductive, but bad behavior by employees too certainly isn’t the answer.
Baud
@Jeffro: Although closer than I’d like, I’ve noticed that when the Dem has a slight lead, the national media calls the race “effectively tied.”
Baud
@Soprano2: The answer is an update and modernization of laws and social expectations. With respect to the laws at least, I think the blame falls predominantly on big (and to some extent small) businesses.
Jeffro
It was enlightening to see clips of ol’ Tucker sneering at Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave – it’s kind of a double-whammy for the Tuckster: only people of means are supposed to be able to take time off for their young ‘uns, and certainly not gay people.
He can feel his white hetero rich male privilege eroding away hour by hour, can’t he? GOOD
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@germy: Meanwhile over at the John Deere strikes, truck drivers are refusing to cross the picket lines, possibly at great cost to themselves. Go truck drivers!
JOhn Deere workers convince truck drivers not to cross picket line
“Deere workers, part of the United Auto Workers union, have successfully convinced at least one semi driver not to cross a picket line in Ottumwa, Iowa, which essentially means that trucker won’t be making his daily delivery. You can watch it unfold in the video below, courtesy of Jonah Furman, who has been covering this strike in depth: The semi driver honks his horn and makes a hand motion that appears to signal he’ll be turning around. Furman noted that there were similar stories from Davenport Local 281 and Dubuque Local 94, though he didn’t have videos to share at the moment”
The Moar You Know
@Soprano2: I am absolutely fine with that. If my favorite restaurant/watering hole/whatever can’t pay people a decent living wage, then they can close down. Someone will come along who will. And if the industry can’t do it as a whole, then the industry is broken and they all need to shut down. And I’m OK with that too. I spent far too many years working for shit wages in both retail and food service to be able to condone wages that keep people in living conditions like those I experienced for years.
OzarkHillbilly
@Soprano2: As a buddy of mine used to say, “You can fuck with your employees, but your employees can fuck you.” And it’s true. Some people are just assholes*, on both sides of that equation. It behooves people to not be assholes, I am a firm believer that eventually it pays off.
germy
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone:
I hope when it comes time to vote, they’ll remember who is pro, and who is anti-union.
Soprano2
@The Moar You Know: But it’s not just about wages. Not one person who has quit us has said it was because they weren’t making enough money. I have to wonder if people who feel OK with calling in at least once a week also think they aren’t making enough money.
Jeffro
@Baud: oh, always
The great thing is, I know VA Dems are working hard here and will pull out every last possible vote. Two weeks ago, I had already early-voted but my wife and daughter had not. Someone from the local D party stopped by and when I explained that I’d already voted straight-ticket-D, she goes, “thank you! But I’m actually here for [Mrs. Fro] and [Fro-ette], have they made a plan to vote?”
(they’ve since gone and early-voted =)
Baud
@Jeffro: Although VA is seen is pretty solidly blue, Biden only beat Trump by 10 points. It’s not CA or NY.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@germy: I hope so! I know unions aren’t perfect but I see too much “oh, it’s an emergency, we don’t have to follow the break time, lunch time, no mandatory overtime rules”, happening to my friends who work in service jobs/public facing jobs…”ut’s just for now/until things settle down” sure..sure
I’m am lucky but most people I am friends with are so Not.
narya
@Soprano2: I’ve been following along with this conversation here, and all I can say is I hope it works out for you.
Soprano2
@narya: Thanks, I hope so too. It’s so discouraging that our business has actually gotten a lot better this year but the personnel situation is endangering it all.
Fair Economist
@Soprano2:
I don’t think that’s true. Certainly it can be hard for decent employers, but that asshole types are seeing mass walkouts. They’re probably having a harder time in less sensational situations as well.
Baud
@Soprano2: There’s always something. I hope things will get better for you soon.
Soprano2
@Fair Economist: That is probably true, but it sure does feel like businesses like ours are being lumped in with places like Dollar General and Applebee’s (who in our town is also having problems and is still only seating at 50% due to worker shortages). It’s possible that Covid will cause a complete restructuring of the hospitality industry, but it’s going to be painful for a lot of people if that’s true. It’s my experience that most people over the age of 30 still like being waited on by real people, and aren’t that enthusiastic about the totally “touchless” experience at a sit-down restaurant. I’m sure there are places that are exceptions; what I know about is here.
Another Scott
@Soprano2: I too am sorry that it’s so challenging for your business now.
But it’s temporary.
CalculatedRiskBlog – Retail Sales in September:
Take a look at that second graph. There were absolutely monstrous changes in the whole economy over the last 18 months. Things are settling down towards more normal changes now.
Hang in there. Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Ksmiami
@Baud: fuck Sinema… that’s all
Villago Delenda Est
Going after asshole wannabe slaveholders is the thing to do. They should not only be fined, they should spend time in stir.
catclub
I think 55-45 is considered not even close.
Ksmiami
@The Moar You Know: the ownership model should change and more restaurants should subscribe to a consortium model that provides benefits like bigger marketing budgets, better pricing than one offs and employee insurance offerings. The one off restaurant model is more hobby oriented than financially sound. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought
Baud
@catclub:
I didn’t say it was close. But in comparison to McAuliffe’s average polling lead for an off year election, it’s not that much of a discrepancy.
Geminid
@catclub: Biden did win by a comfortable 10 point margin, largest for a Democratic Presidential candidate since 1964. Northam won the last Goveror race by 7-8 points. Virginia Democrats have shaken themselves out of their off-year torpor since 2016. Hopefully they will be out in force again this year.
superdestroyer
Will the increase in social security payments shorten the time until the social security trust fund runs out? Increased spending on social security means that increases in social security will be happening sooner.
debbie
@NotMax:
Damn, I miss carpaccio.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@germy: This bit
So Mr Serious Manager was to busy playing mine sweeper in his office to be bothered to walk around the production floor during the shift and apparently doesn’t even know who his is staff is.
Shakti
@Jeffro: There’s that. But also: Tucker is angry that he was never breastfed and that his mommy left him. He’s also envious of people whose fathers take time off to bond with them. It’s not like his dad would’ve done it even though he could’ve afforded it.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Jeffro: Tucker is like the Harkonians in Dune; having affection and being nurturing is so alien to Tucker it terrifies him.
Another Scott
@Geminid: I think we’ll do Ok.
Poll averages have had Terry Mac ahead the whole time (except for one day). We still have to fight like we’re behind though.
From BlueVirginia.US
Cheers,
Scott.
germy
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
The employee’s health issue had been documented, so the manager could have checked before firing off a threatening text message.
StringOnAStick
@Kristine: Hey, send a photo of your bonsai in for the Sunday morning garden chat, I’d love to see it.
Last week’s Gardeners World (BBC, watched via YouTube) was all about trees and they had a segment on a fellow who is bonsai crazy; his specimens were amazing!
germy
thread:
satby
@Soprano2: I’ve given up on trying to get people here to understand that it’s not just about pay scales, because to them one simple trick (pay moar!) solves everything. No matter how much we tell them otherwise. Even my millennial sons can’t believe how bad the work ethic is in a lot of their generation. But this is the real key, because it’s the primary reason I have people bailing in the middle of a shift at work as well as having to call off:
jonas
@Soprano2: While it’s definitely the restaurant/hospitality/childcare industries that are having the toughest time right now hiring/retaining workers, the job-seekers are kind of all over the place, from the anecdata I know, from teens looking for part-time work at a local store to recent college grads to lawyers and other professionals. They put in applications for jobs that seem tailor-made for them, and for which they’re eminently qualified, and never hear back. A lot of businesses won’t even look at you if you have anything more than a few month gap in your resume, either, so that’s killing a lot of people who got laid off early in the pandemic. It also helps (as it always has) to know someone in management or HR, as opposed to placing your fate in the hands of one of those automated resume evaluation systems everyone uses these days and which appear to make completely random decisions.
Fair Economist
@Soprano2:
My impression is that you aren’t being forced to seat at 50%, right? So Appleebee’s must be getting troubles even worse than yours. Appropriately.
Around here central ordering is becoming the norm. New local places are generally central ordering. Full service is for fancy-schmancy. Not seeing many conversions, so places that have full service are staying that way, but they are going out of business and being replaced. Personally, I much prefer central ordering in spite of being way over 30, as it’s faster ordering and faster leaving, as well as generally cheaper (our fave Italian restaurant has been central ordering since it opened and is several dollars per entree cheaper even though the food is excellent). Serverless I don’t like because I don’t like having to sweat about whether my food is done, whether somebody else picked up my meal, etc. But I know many feel differently.
gene108
@satby:
The dynamics of employee retention and satisfaction are complicated, at the best of times.
It’s gotten more complicated because the pandemic has distorted all sorts of traditional work arrangements, like get up and go to the office, instead of work from home. There are now added health risks for people in customer facing jobs, due to COVID transmission, for retail and hospitality.
I’m not sure what the new normal will be.
WaterGirl
@germy: One of the comments on that:
Most excellent.
germy
@WaterGirl:
That’s a good one.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Soprano2: Have you thought about cordoning off a space in the back where the kids can hang out with their toys or whatever? It won’t work with babies, obviously, but older kids would be less of an issue.
Kristine
@StringOnAStick: I can do that.
I could actually prepare a short “how I almost killed my bonsai, then brought it back” presentation if folks are interested.
Kristine
@StringOnAStick:
I’ve visited the bonsai exhibit at Chicago Botanic Garden a number of times, and taken bonsai classes. Some of those trees are hundreds of years old, and simply stunning. Each tree is a never-ending project, always growing so change is always possible.
Soprano2
@satby: Yep, it honestly makes me not want to hire anyone with kids. I know we can’t legally do that, but with the way our society handles it this is a built-in problem, especially for a small business.
Soprano2
@jonas: I guess this surprises me some since it seems like 3/4 of all the businesses here are trying to hire people right now. You’d think they’d be more forgiving than that under those circumstances.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@germy: You mean like talking to the worker’s supervisor instead of just undermining his subordinate too?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Soprano2: The guy was basically saying he could work his ass off, be dead broke, or just bum around, be dead broke. Ether which way he can’t pay the bills.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@satby: I was just talking a friend of mine who was doing waitressing. She said Doordash is the thing now, somewhat better pay and she can work her own hours which is the really important part. Plus most customers don’t want to interact with the drivers.
JaneE
@soapdish: Back when the Reagan amnesty was being debated everyone said it would punish the people who employed the undocumented and the jobs would dry up as a result. But the E-verify program that was necessary for employers to be able to determine if an immigrant could be legally employed had problems, so penalties for the employers was put on hold until they had a way to do the checking while the penalties for employees had no barriers to enforcement.
Today I could believe that the no penalty for employers and penalties for workers was the original intent and plan all along, but back then it may have been an honest failing. Never following up and getting the program back on track covers a lot of administrations.
If Biden does crack down on the employers of undocumented immigrants he will do something we were promised over 30 years ago.