1) tonight we're going to tacos and margaritas at www.underdogssf.com for wolf's birthday. we'll get there around 5:30. $1 margaritas go from 6 to 6:30. we'll probably stay until 7:30 or 8 or maybe later depending on how the night goes. text (or comment here) if you're going to come and around about what time you think you'll get there.

2) a coworker needs to find a new home for his adorable dog. conan is an 11 month old german shepherd pit bull mix. he is lovable, friendly, loves walks, absolutely loves people, and knows commands in portuguese like sit and stay. let me know if you or anyone you know wants to possibly give him a new home.

notified today that i got the MST promotion effective may 12th.

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.

trying to not get too down. . . but the bad news keeps on coming. . .

saturday - second degree burn on foot.
monday - found out leatha died.
yesterday - governator is now talking about a TWO DAY monthly unpaid furlough for all state employees lasting through july 2010 (the one day a month mentioned a month ago was depressing enough!). you're talking about $2500 less take home a year for me.
also yesterday - majel barrett roddenberry died of leukemia.
last night - band aid took off part of the skin covering my blister.
today - foot hurts like hell and i'm limping. hopefully neosporin keeps me infection free.
also today - wolf was told his last day will be december 31.

trying to focus on the positive. . . .
i was wearing a sock when i spilled the boiling water on my foot. lucky for me, or i would have experienced my first personal ER visit.
leatha died in her sleep. peacefully. if it's going to happen, that's the best way to go IMO.
i have a union that will fight that bastard. and as ersigh reminded me, thankfully he cannot run for president.
i was lucky enough to have met majel at jimmy doohan's farewell convention. and i have a signed figure and photo. and she recorded the computer voice for the new movie already.
lucky for me i had neosporin and one large gauze pad handy.
at least wolf got some sort of notice, and they're offering a good reference.

now if i could get this stupid beyonce song out of my head i could get through the rest of the day.

you may remember a year or two ago when i posted a picture of a turtle that had grown with a plastic band around its middle? algalita posted a video update - she's alive and living in the new orleans area.



this reminds me. .. i need a good icon thing to use with work related posts.

happy birthday jim, rob, brent, mom on sunday, sheri next tuesday, and anyone else i've missed (or will miss) in these months of craziness!

part of that craziness will be over on saturday. coastal cleanup day takes place from 9am to noon in 48 of the 58 counties and in most coastal states and countries throughout the world. go out and make a difference.

for those wanting to come see me that day, i'll be at ocean beach, nearest cross street is fulton, at stairwell 21. you can't miss us - tons of tents, a dj, bunch o people, etc. i'll probably be worn the eff out after helping to set all that up and chilling near the tables. sunrise yoga on the beach happens at 8am if you're into that - breakfast, coffee, etc is provided for yoga participants.

things have been kinda nuts between regular CCD craziness, wedding stuffs, no budget, union stuff, and slowly looking for a new job.

CCD - i'll be at ocean beach near fulton on 9/20 if anyone wants to come out and chill with the jessicka! you can either go pick up trash (usually i'm beat by then b/c of setting up since 7am) or hang with me and direct volunteers.

wedding - i now have maybe 5 things left to buy/take care of. all the big stuff is bought and paid for and the invitations are going out tomrrow. just gotta figure out how to wear my hair (any suggestions on places in SF or castro valley? any suggestions for the hair in general?), decide on hairpiece vs veil (and if so which one), pick up my boots (knee high, black patent lace up platforms for under the dress - can't go all serious now!), and get my alterations done.

budget/jorb/union - rumor is the dems are going to agree to arnold's proposed budget. hello permanent cuts! goodbye job!! good thing is, i put together a resume last week. bad thing is, it's in the old fashioned style (job title/company followed by bullet points of duties) (heh, duties) and would love to have the new type (list of cool stuff you've done and want to highlight, followed by list of jorbs) but have no idea where to start with that. anyone wanna help a girl out?

spent my morning break with about 40 other union members from our bldg, marching in a circle, yelling "Value Us! No Pay Cuts!!", and clapping till my hands were raw. i know it doesn't change anything and that asshat up in sacto will still cut me to $6.55 an hour tomorrow, but it sure felt good hearing our yells echo down through the bldgs.

they've announced it - the SROA (aka "surplus employee") list for our agency. i'm on it. happy early birthday to you too, governator.

the good(ish) news is it is unlikely that i will actually be laid off. they have to put double the people on the SROA list that they actually need to lay off. the governator has told us to lay off 17 people. i'm "low risk" so i'm probably past 17, the token person from the public education unit so the other units don't think management is playing favorites. this is all just an annoyance really.

if layoffs did occur, they would happen mid october. that's just great timing with the wedding in early november. bah! if anything this will get me motivated to try for the exam to get a promotion (which will have to happen sooner rather than later if we ever expect to buy a house) or at the very least make that move back to a larger agency that i've been contemplating. i'd just rather do all of that when it was convenient for me instead of the no new taxes governator.

One of California's most popular specialty license plates depicting the tail of a Pacific humpback whale rising out of misty waters could soon become as endangered as the mammoth mammal.

Robert Wyland, the artist who created the pale blue image and gave it to the state more than a decade ago to help it raise money for marine programs, is now demanding 20 percent of any future revenue for his art foundation. . . .


the Whale Tail plate pays for most everything the public education program does here at the commission, not to mention a ton of other things through the whale tail grants program.

my friday was spent with 1200 kids on ocean beach, encouraging them with a "good job" while they cleaned the beach and rescuing them from "sharpies". there's nothing cuter than a group of kids standing over a microscopic piece of glass with their arms crossed in front of them yelling "SHARPIE!!!!". afterwards i herded them down to the other end of the beach where they formed this:


go to www.oceanday.net to see the rest from around the state.

the coastal commission denied the toll road project!!! yay! :)

A few people have asked me for info about the sewage spill in Marin County. It seems to have been buried under the election news. This article sums up the story. . .

( Read more... )

also today is going to be one of the biggest hearings in california coastal commission's history. the whole day is devoted to the toll road issue in socal. they're expecting 3000+ people to show up (usually there's maybe 100 for a "big" agenda item). the meeting is streamed live on our website if you want to watch the drama unfold!

Bush exempts Navy from environmental law

By PAULINE JELINEK Associated Press Writer

Article Last Updated: 01/16/2008 07:27:26 AM PST
WASHINGTON—President Bush exempted the Navy from an environmental law so it can continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the California coast—a practice critics say is harmful to whales and other marine mammals.

The White House announced Wednesday that Bush had signed the exemption Tuesday while traveling in the Middle East.

The Navy training exercises, including the use of sonar, "are in the paramount interest of the United States" and its national security, Bush said in a memorandum.
( Read more... )

this poor pied-billed grebe was photographed on sunday. the coastal cleanup day coordinator in berkeley sent em to us. poor thing! we've let the local animal control know so hopefully he'll be found and freed.

take care of your plastic bags people! or better yet, don't use em at all! you can get a free cloth tote bag for groceries by taking the coastal stewardship pledge.

i typed this in response to an aunt about why plastic is such a problem on our beaches. thought it was worth reposting. . .

The biggest thing you can do to help is reduce your plastic usage (buy things with minimal packaging, keep reusable tote bags in your trunk for grocery shopping, get a Kleen Kanteen or other reusable bottle for water, and use a travel coffee mug). Even "paper" Starbucks coffee cups have a plastic lining. Our modern "disposable society" doesn't realize that that individually wrapped slice of cheese is wrapped by a piece of plastic that is not biodegradable (plastic only photodegrades) and will be around forever. Some winds up in landfills; some winds up in the ocean. The reason marine debris is so bad now is because in the last few generations plastics became widely used for everything. Our grandparents were more likely to reuse a glass container than we are with our plastic "disposable" one. On top of that, plastic floats. That's why our beaches are covered with litter that has washed out from landlocked communities and that texas-sized garbage patch exists in the Pacific gyre. Even in Missouri, the Mississippi and other rivers make you closer to the ocean than you may think.

between vacation and coastal cleanup day i haven't been on lj that much. sorry guys - did ya miss me? i swear this ccd is going to be friggin huge - all the media attention and public inquiries and hits on our website have at least doubled from last year. sorry for the last minute post about this. . .if anyone in the bay area wants to come out tomorrow i'll be at ocean beach, stairwell 19, bright and early! sunrise yoga starts at 8am, the cleanup itself starts at 9am and goes til noon. ocean beach will be nuts with a "green market" of vendors from whole foods pimpin their shite (free samples!), sees candies, peet's coffee, a dj/mc, and some live music. LA peeps can hit up santa monica beach for a similar show, including sunrise yoga. there are plenty of other locations in california and internationally.

i swear i'll come out of my hole next week when all this calms down.

The California Coastal Commission is now accepting entries for its 2007 Annual Amateur Coastal Photography Contest. Up to five photos may be submitted depicting scenery of the California coast, native coastal wildlife, or people using the coast. Postmark deadline is August 25, 2007. Entry is free and excellent donated prizes include tickets aboard a yacht cruise and free admission to Disneyland. For an entry form and full contest guidelines, see the photo contest link at www.coastforyou.org or call (800) COAST-4U.

glad i wore the caustic shirt today. . . it's definitely fit the theme for the day.

tomorrow i get to go with mom to the doctor to see if she needs to get her other hip replaced. whoopie.

had my follow up appointment for my worker's comp thing yesterday. wait, did i mention all that in here? dequervains tendonitis? nerve flossing issues? yeah. . . it sucks. she added carpal tunnel to that list yesterday but thinks that my main issue is the tendonitis and muscle strain/sprain/etc and that the nerve issue and carpal tunnel is a byproduct. now if only that made it hurt less. . .

illiterate potential boost mobile customers keep calling us at 1-800-COAST-4U. i get at least 10 of these calls a day. one person finally told me they were calling 1-800-BOOST-4U. i patiently explain to everyone that "boost" is not spelled "boast". out of curiosity, i called 1-800-BOAST-4U to make sure it is the right number. . . turns out it's a sex line. bwahahaha

i looked it up. . . the real number is 1-888-BOOST-4U.