the interview went well. . . but it was obvious by the types of questions asked that the other candidates had previously worked in business services in other agencies. if i don't get it, at least i know it would be because the other person was more qualified and not because i interviewed poorly.

speaking of work, a few have asked my feelings on the furloughs and proposed layoffs so i thought i would post about it here. as a general idea, i don't mind being furloughed. i finally make enough that i can cut back a bit and wait on buying a new car and moving to a bigger apartment and not be too hurt by it. however, i do feel it should have been negotiated at the bargaining table. what's the point in having a union and all the laws associated with that if the governator can simply sign an executive order and do what he wants? it doesn't solve the budget issues ($1.5ish billion in savings compared to a $42+ billion defecit). and it doesn't make sense that money generating agencies (like the dmv) are furloughed. also agencies are approving overtime and/or hiring and/or hiring contractors to cover the work not being done on furlough days.

in the end, the furloughs are doing us a favor. they're doing half of what a strike would do - point out to the public the state services they rely on daily. when your toll waits are incredibly long because there's one poor sap working, remember that guy is a state worker and you have arnold to thank for your waste of time and gas!

on the layoffs, it's funny to me that people are surprised that he announced the 10,000 layoffs. it was part of the furlough executive order! however, arnold did say in a speech a few days before the furlough case was in court that if they didn't go through that he would lay people off, and the following day he said that if they went through he would not lay people off. i hope the public remembers that.

the main reason the layoffs are bad is that when a layoff happens, the position is completely eliminated from that agency's allotted number of positions. so it permanently cuts positions within agencies. so for anyone who relies on any state service, get ready to deal with even longer waits and major headaches.

in addition to all this, the governator hasn't done things that past governors (even pete wilson) always do when the state has money issues - mainly offering a golden handshake (giving eligible employees an extra year or two on the books so they get slightly higher pension payments to entice them into retirement earlier than planned) and implementing a voluntary leave without pay program and/or a voluntary personal leave program (where you voluntarily get 5-20% of your pay in leave instead of pay). in the past, those things have saved as much as the furloughs will save. and none of them cost the state money. i can't wait till arnold is gone.

muni has just gotten ridiculous lately. sure, it's always been unreliable and hellish, but lately it seems to be so much worse. last week, the n judah train i was coming home on broke down at ucsf. the train stopped at the ucsf stop, opened the doors, and just sat there. no announcement, no anything. after a bit, about half the passengers got off and started walking. eventually the driver walked through the train, saying that there are two mechanical malfunctions still not telling us if we should wait or if another train was coming or what. after some prodding, he said the mechanic was coming but still didn't give any instructions or a time estimate. i got off, started walking, saw the train pass me with a "not in service" message, got on the next train at 7th ave, and literally had my face pressed up against the glass the rest of the way home.

on wolf's train coming home yesterday the driver forgot to close the doors after a stop. the train started going through the tunnel over near the haight, someone had to pull the emergency brake to stop the train and then yell at the driver over the intercom to close the friggin doors!!

then today, i knew muni would be stupid since it's raining. for those who aren't subjected to muni's daily tortures, when it rains the misery of the trains is tripled. drivers don't show up for work so there's fewer buses/trains. more people take muni because they can't bike/walk/etc to work. so there's more people shoved on to fewer buses/trains, and everyone's wet, bitchy, and miserable. muni vehicles normally stink and the layer of wetness makes this smell just unbearable. i catch the 71L or 16BX in the morning since the n judah is completely unreliable in the mornings. usually i'm okay since the buses use the same stop so there's a higher chance that one will actually show up on time. today i left the house at my usual time. i got in 35 minutes late. if i'd have opted for the train, it would have been just as bad. my coworker caught it over at church street. the train was stopped for over 15 minutes between stops. finally the driver announced that everything was delayed, they didn't know when they'd move again, and he stayed at the next stop with the door open. so paul walked to work. he still got in 10 minutes before i did! i hate muni.