The bright side of a Moon
Attention!
My apologies — my site and my email has been unavailable for the past 24 hours. As you can see, it is working now (thanks to Caleb!) but if you sent me some email that was really important in the last day, you might want to send it again.
Although, most of the email I get is just friends saying “hi” (hi, back!) or spam. In fact, I got 10 pieces of spam in the past 24 hours. But, hey, whatever.
Let’s assume you’re being asked to do something that you have no legal obligation to do. Let’s assume that you’re being asked to do this thing by your employer, that your employer is a defendant in a lawsuit. Let’s assume that the thing you’re being asked to do is to talk to the defendant’s lawyer about the case, just you and the attorney, even though you’re a witness for the plaintiff.
Let’s assume that you respectfully decline to meet with the defendant’s lawyer (in other words, your employer’s lawyer). Further, you decline several times, but they press hard and get your boss’s boss to ask you, which turns it into an issue of insubordination.
Assuming all that… isn’t that intimidating? Isn’t that the word you would use, privately, amongst friends, to describe the position your employer is taking?
Three years ago, a coworker of mine was investigated by my employer, and eventually terminated. However, prior to being investigated, she had filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI), alleging harassment and discrimination from management. After being terminated, my coworker and her lawyer added retaliation to the charges.
Since I was the employee’s shop steward at the time I had a passing familiarity with the case. In fact, at the time, my boss called me into his office and strongly cautioned me about how I involved myself with it. I found out later that that could have been considered illegal threatening of a steward, a huge no-no for management. Since I was a fledgeling steward, I didn’t pursue it at the time.
Recently, I found out, from the legal department at my place of employment, that I was being called as a witness in the case, which is only now ready to come to trial. The wheels of justice, yadda yadda. Since I was aware that I was being called by the plaintiff, and my employer was the defendant in the trial, I knew that I really didn’t have any obligation to talk to the lawyers for the defendant. I checked with my union rep and, sure enough, he agreed that I didn’t have to speak to them. If they insisted, I should speak to them, but then we would look into grieving it.
After getting the letter from the lawyer, several days went by. Then I received an email (addressed to me and several others) requesting a meeting. I ignored the email and remained busy with work. Last Thursday I received a follow-up email, asking for a meeting once again. I replied that I respectfully declined.
That led to a series of emails back and forth, each more strongly worded than the other. I pointed out that, if I was being ordered to meet with the lawyer, I would, but failing that, I declined.
The carefully-worded emails from the legal department, however sugar-coated, could be interpreted as intimidation and threats. Y’know, in a certain context. However, they picked the exact wrong week to try to intimidate me. Tyrants need to be challenged; bullies need to be stood up to. I hope that those who wronged my coworker (and, indirectly, myself and my other employees), and have abused both their managerial power and the trust of their workers and the taxpayers and citizens of Multnomah County, will finally have to face the consequences of their actions.
Changed the format of my tables on my running log page for Speed Weeks! It makes more sense to keep track of the intervals or laps that I do, rather than total miles and times and paces and all that.
Sorry I haven’t updated much this week. I’ve got post-election, preparing for the pogrom, blues.
Ran today (yeah, I haven’t been updating my running log, either. Sorry, sorry). It was my long run, 5+ miles. I normally do it on Friday, by leaving a change of clothes at work on Thursday and then running to work in the morning, but since I was home sick on Thursday I, well, didn’t.
So I did it in reverse today, by taking a bus downtown and then running home.
Since it’s still Speed Week!, the plan was to warm up, then run the middle three miles of the run at a significantly faster pace than my normal, then cool down.
And I did!
My first mile was 8:59, my second was 9:16, and my last was 9:08.
I am awesome. My speedwork is helping. I’m going to do one more week of speedwork and then go back to endurance. Or I might design a 3-week cycle that will include a mix of long runs, speedwork, and weight training. Dunno. I’m being influenced by this month’s issue of Runner’s World magazine.
Work, America. Keep working. Your president and his staff of rich old white men require your hard work, your sweat, and the blood of your sons and daughters, in order for them to have more money and inflate their flaccid tiny pricks for another fucking. “Freedom” is on the march, they’re stealing your “democracy” and shipping it overseas, but you, the one with hopes and dreams, you just keep your head down, be fearful of the dark-skinned men in beards and the men who want to marry each other. Shuffle along, willingly put your head in the noose and just never ever ask any fucking questions. They know what they’re doing. And you don’t. You don’t know what they’re doing, because you love Jesus and you love America, you know, you read about this back in your state-run school, back when you did read, before all the flashy pictures of wife-swapping and explosions on the teevee distracted you, before they taught you to hate the smart people, you wouldn’t want to be a smart person, would you? Smart people don’t drink beer and have sex, no, their locked in their mom’s basement eating bag after bag of cheese-flavored crunchy snacks. Just keep fearing when they tell you to fear, just keep listening while they’ve switched your participation and citizenship with a glitzy blue-but-mostly-red map and talking heads telling you what to feel (not telling you what to think, no, ’cause thinking’s bad and, hell, even the president don’t think, does he? He just roots out terror and flips the bird at anyone who disagrees with him and marches his toy soldiers off to die for “liberty”.
Work, and sleep, and drink your hard-earned domestic beer and listen when your pastor lies to you about what Jesus says and fear, fear, fear what they want you to fear. And when the world attacks you because you’re an American, and your leaders call them “terrorists”, make sure and completely misunderstand both why they’re attacking and what America really has become.
Ran tonight. It’s still Speed Week! (or …Weeks! since this is the second one) so I’m still doing track intervals and stuff like that.
Today was track intervals — 1.4 miles to warm up (and get to the track), then alternate single laps (400 meters) at better than an 8:00 pace with walking fast/jogging for 2-3 minutes, then run home. Here’s my times for each stage:
My best lap was around a 6:50 pace; my worst lap was around a 7:34 pace. My warmup time = 12:30. My cool-down time = 10:42. Yay, me! Total mileage (including my fast walking laps) is 4.8 miles.