Family Man brought up something I’ve been thinking about for a while: adding links so new readers can start with Episode 1 and just click to the next one in line. I’ll be doing something about that shortly. Too bad I didn’t have the extra day now…
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Smart Move
The four-day, 36-hour work week was a smart move, and the Department of Labor really got smart and slipped in the announcement at the end of a Friday to make sure the right-wing spew-bots jumped on it. That’s called managing the press. All of a sudden, all the spew-bot callers have stopped screaming about rationing and started chatting about what they’re going to do with a three-day weekend. The only people I hear complaining are hourly workers losing 10% of their paid time, and they usually stop complaining as soon as they realize they’ll be getting overtime if they have to work more than 36 hours. And Shotgun Sam was sounding a little frustrated last night; nobody wanted to talk about the latest manufactured scandal.
They’re giving businesses three weeks to make the adjustments — starting August 24, the three-day weekend begins and everyone gets Mondays off. All the Monday jokes will have to be changed to Tuesday jokes, but other than that? Most of the minor holidays like President’s Day don’t become Tuesday holidays, probably to placate some business owners. It’ll save some energy, for sure — if all the offices are dark all day Monday, maybe people will have enough electricity to run their A/C once a week.
I’m not sure how it’s going to affect me personally, yet. Monday has been one of my physical-presence days, so if the boss doesn’t have to have me in the office two days out of four, I’ll be down to one commute day a week. Otherwise, I don’t see a lot of change for me. The battery rig I’ve got set up here takes care of my telecommuting power needs, and the solar panels that I have on order (if they ever show up) will keep it charged up — so that’s eventually going to be off the grid anyway. I can see one downside: Mrs. Fetched is already planning my Mondays for me, starting with the chicken houses first thing.
continued…
Saturday, August 04, 2007
8 comments:
Comments are welcome, and they don't have to be complimentary. I delete spam on sight, but that's pretty much it for moderation. Long off-topic rants or unconstructive flamage are also candidates for deletion but I haven’t seen any of that so far.
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I had to re-read this one over and over to make sure it was the story and wasn't for real. For awhile I was wondering why I hadn't heard about the 4 day work week. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning me up top. The more I think of it, I'm wondering if I should become a consultant. What the heck I would consult on, I'm not sure. But it has a nice ring to it. :~)
Keep those stories coming.
You're just as good as Heinlein at this Future History transcribing, FARf.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until they show up in print at Borders!
Hi guys. Thanks for the compliments, they really *do* mean a lot!
ReplyDeleteFM: a 4-day work week would be a step backwards for you, no? I thought about you today when I saw a kid with a "Big Dog" t-shirt. The dog was in a hammock, and the shirt read "Get 'Er Done - Tomorrow." I figure if you don't have one of those already, you need one!
KB, I wouldn't mind being compared with Heinlein, as long as I don't have to adopt his politics. :-D As for Borders… it's possible. I need to get some more down, and write down the story arc, and get an agent, and, and....
I know, his politics and sexism were a little much. But, he had a deep commitment to public service. And he's a Kansas City native.
ReplyDeleteI liked his style of science fiction. So it WAS a complement.
(also looking forward to the Cubicle Cooking book0
These always sound so real! And if not real, then all-too possible.
ReplyDeleteHey Nancy. Unfortunately, I think it's fairly likely that the premise — if not the particulars — will turn out to be pretty accurate.
ReplyDeleteKB, I didn't realize that Heinlein was from KC. A rusty synapse creaked to life just now, and I remember something about Missouri. I guess since Kansas City lives on both sides of the border, we could both be right? What kind of public service bits was he involved in?
FM, I went ahead & added some links to the sidebar and put "continued" links at the bottom of each post. Maybe that will help new readers, or people wanting refreshers. Thanks for the suggestion…
Both right? He grew up in or near the area we would call "Midtown" these days. He went to Central High School in Kansas City, MO.
ReplyDeleteI think he left Kansas City at a fairly young age when he joined the military and never came back to live.
(Putting him in the same category as Ernest Hemingway and Walt Disney who also left just about as quickly as they could.)
"Both right," as in you said KC, and I remembered Missouri. Hemingway & Disney were from KC too? Stuff that I never knew (or having heard, forgot).
ReplyDeleteI do remember hearing someone say that the Great American Novelists were the rock stars of their day. Reading Grapes of Wrath earlier this year, I boggled at the stuff that I thought would never be discussed openly in the 30s. Then again, I wonder if Steinbeck got away with it because he was John Steinbeck.