Day 3

From my new job!

I really like the people I'm working with, and what's most exciting is the person I'm replacing is just moving up to an Analyst position and she'll be literally working right next to me. So the transition should be pretty smooth and I can have her right here for reference until it's second nature for me.

Lots more Black folk here than at my last job. Ok, well the five Black people on the floor I happen to be working with, as oppossed to being the only one at the last office. We definitely need to stick together in corporate Amerika. I see this as good trainer for the real bullshit schmoozing I'll have to do once I'm J.D. squared.

I'm pretty tired

I could update about my job, but who cares? Exactly.


I feel like I waste so much time doing shit for no reason, and I'm so tired of flaky people. I'm ready to go somewhere and be anonymous.

Hi Deacon

This is a post for you. Cool huh?

Soo...now you leave me a comment about my greatness below where it says comment. :)

When work comes....

update: we CAN eat the food. I repeat, the food is available for us to eat.

it pours!

I'm thrilled with the many job events I have now, so when I start bitchin' that I'm tired, remind me that I'll be able to reach my savings goal, thereby allowing me to have a money stress-free time in SA because I won't be worried about how my bills in the U.S. are being paid because I will have saved up. *whew, that was a lot to think about, let alone type*

I'll be working this weekend, 8am-6pm Sat and Sun at the Lexus car show, and of course my favorite part of the instructions are:

Lunch
All staff should be directed to bring lunch with them to the site each day as there will not be time to leave the property in search of lunch options and the food available at the event is not to be eaten by staff.

Wow.

The second part that ticked me off (emphasis mine):

Uniforms
All staff will be provided with the uniform shirts, and jackets when applicable. (Of which we must return on Sunday). All staff must wear BLACK pants. Shoes should be comfortable and black is preferred. Tennis shoes are not permitted.

Double wow. The no sneakers rule is annoying, because in subsequent instructions we are told that all staff should be aware that they may be standing the entire day. Let me get this straight, I'll be standing the whole day, approx. 10 hours, in comfortable black shoes that aren't sneakers? How about being realistic and advising staff to wear decent all black sneakers. Perhaps they'll be paying my podiatrist/chiropractic bills?

And the final wow:

You are not a registration clerk. You are an Ambassador. It is your job to greet each and every attendee with a smile, a good morning or afternooon, and a thank you for attending. Remember, you will be representing Lexus and we must provide the same impression and level of service that would be expected when walking into a Lexus dealership.

Ummm, anyone who's been to a Lexus dealership, can you let me know how one is treated? Perhaps I'll engage in some "research" and go to one such dealership/ I do remember when I went to buy my first car, the salesman approached me in somewhat of a scary and manical "friendly" manner. In fact, I wanted to report many of them for harrassment. So...act like a crazy stalker?

Those who know me well, and I think all 5 of you who read my blog would qualify, would be relieved to know that I'll be inside that air-controlled tent, using the computers to check people in. So I won't be forced to acted as stalkerish as the greeters and surveyers. I will, of course, report back.

Oh, and I got locked out my house today and my selfish brother thought it would be cool to galavant around Washington Heights and take an hour (rather than the short 15minutes) to get home and let me in.

Check out Astrocasters

I hope Ann doesn't mind, but I'm really excited about her new site. www.astrocasters.com Check it out!

Breaking News!

I just got off the phone with my temp agency, and I have a long term job, until the end of January, but could be extended longer. It's with the same company, new building, new job, higher pay. I'm really happy I have a job, it is a huge weight off my shoulders :).

A Brief Recap

The most memorable parts of my birthday weekend were the train rides I took alone to and from my birthday dinner. No one should be the guest of honor and commute alone to their celebratory event. I hadn't planned to ride by myself, but I obviously hadn't planned enough to ensure that I wouldn't be alone during those crucial times. While I enjoyed my friends and time spent with my family at the dinner, and I really enjoyed the fun in Brooklyn with Sandy and Tute afterwards, I found the solitary train ride bookends reflective of my overall loneliness at this stage of my life.

Friends and family members are quick to point out my "accomplishments", yet those achievements fell short as I gracefully balanced my birthday presents on my lap through the long 2am trip from Brooklyn to Harlem. I thought about another year gone by feeling less glamorous and more worn out. I consoled myself by envisioning my 24th birthday celebration on the beach in Durban or at a fun club in Johannesburg. Perhaps a friend or family member will visit, and then they'd have to commute with me because they wouldn't be able to get around SA without me. Or maybe, by my 25th I'd have met a "friend" who would be delighted to attend to my pleasures that night, overseeing the drinks, location and fun for a seamless night of debauchery. Hopefully by my 30th birthday I will have finally settled down in a city, began the establishment of a professional career and balance my work with the right amount of play. With excitement, I started to ponder the limitless joy I could have in the future. Now I dread a lifetime of birthdays always looking forward to ease the pain of the present.

Today is My Birthday and I have a lot to say! - updated!

So for lurkers who read my blog, feel free to come out and post! Although I presume that really only Ann, Sonja and Joy read it, and you've posted so no worries. update: Ana just sent me an ecard, she reads my blog, too! Hi Anita (who lives in D.R.!)

This morning I went to register at a temp agency and it went well. Hopefully I will be working next week. I'll be registering at more throughout the next couple of days. I also renewed my license until 2016, but the really exciting part was that I didn't have to take a new pic :) (I like my current one).

Amy and I are going for lunch and hopefully I'm back to posting about politics. Here we go:

I am very excited that Mr. Weiner stepped down to allow Mr. Ferrer take the Democratic primary. Although many feel Mr. Bloomberg will win by a landslide due to his popularity with both parties (I mean, I had to argue with my own mother about how a billionaire, ruling class mogul was NOT a good choice for dealing with the needs of the mostly poor and working class NYers), I think it's important to have a person of color in the mayoral elections. NYC has a need for a person of color to represent the residents of NYC, especially with regards to real estate and public education. Mr. Bloomberg fights to maintain and increase the money and power of those in the ruling class. NYC is built from and runs because of the working class, and we need a mayor who will put our agendas at the forefront for once, our priorities of cleaning up our streets, providing public school teachers with the resources they need to do their job, and providing a living wage, rather than a mayor who bogs teachers down adminstrative bullshit, campaigns to move the Jet stadium, or who provides stricter police security in posh downtown neighborhoods.

Speaking of another Republican who needs to get the hell out of office, let's talk about the fanfare surrounding the impeachemnt of Mr. Bush. Sugis has a great article today about it, one that spurred me to revisit my own post. Unless we plan to impeach Mr. Bush and pull him from office (which probably won't happen because his actions of lying during Katrina are in no way as severe as lying about receiving a blow job in the White House), then we need to shut up about approval ratings. Intead we should aggressively write our local State representatives, in Congress and the Senate about putting pressure on this adminstration to help the victims of Katrina.

Furthermore, I'm sick of these silly polls that dailykos blogs about that asseses the public's approval rating of Mr. Bush. That man does not give a rat's ass about an approval rating and seeing that the next Presidential election is a long time coming, his adminstration doesn't give a rat's ass either. I'm sure the smart, crafty Republicans will orchestrate a ridiculous "scare" or man made travesty that will assure voters put faith and trust in the American way of conquering all.

No one will disagree that Mr. Bush is done as a respected leader of this nation. But what we need to address is that he was always a tool of the rich, put in place to secure and maintain the interests of his class, and his time in office will come to a close in 3 years. Mr. Bush has always been set, and with a nice retirement check that we will pay for with our taxes, he ensures that his children and grandchildren can have a little extra pocket change to fund thier nights of partying and lawlessness without tapping into their own personal dynasty. I appreciate dailykos and the work on keeping us informed, but enough with the damn polls. Urge people to get out and vote, or better yet, to go and get others out to vote. Blog about writing, each blogger post the letter that you sent out to an official about your discontent with this administration. Polls mean shit when the rich are able to leisurely walk to the voting booths, or send in an absentee ballot while the working class are too tired to untie their shoes, let alone follow the hoopla and confusion of campaigning politicians.

But anywho, it's My Birthday! :)

NY Next Door

Rabiya and I went to Nobu Next Door last night. It was yummy, reasonably priced and was a bit disappointing in its normalcy. To be honest, Tribeca is so overstated, I don't know what to do with it. I've never really hung out in that part of town, and I have to admit, I gazed around in wonder, like a tourist, at the immaculate streets, high priced cars and overall ritzy whiteness of the place. It's kinda funny, cuz when ppl talk about celebrities in NYC, I've never seen the appeal. But I can see how the pop culture tourists/post college mannequins, like to move to NYC and hobknob with the other Non NY celebrities. I'll stay in Harlem.

Link to Uwimana Sisters

I would just like to link to the Uwimana sisters, Sonja and Solange, as my post for the day.

Officially Unemployed

Well folks, I'm back in the game. Looking for work again because I won't be treated like crap and given crap assignments with indefinite end dates at crap wages.

West Indian Day Parade

I went to the parade yesterday and it was fun. I just walked around with Tute and her friend, Didi. Hopefully I'll get some pics up soon, but don't hold your breath with my lousy promises. Either way, just wanted to give a quick update.

Write, Write, Write

You know, I think it's particularly gross the way the media is sensationalizing the pain of those affected rather than spending more time analyzing the decided ineptitude of the Federal Government. Let us not be fooled into thinking the government acted this slow because they are "dumb", "unorganized" or "ill-equipped" to handle something of this magntitude. The government acted slowly in a smart, strategic move to get rid of a couple thousand poor Black people and commandeer that land as the newest vacation hot spot. No doubt in my mind that the government was very aware of the redtape it didn't file until later in order to get the ball rolling. And the media's pitiful coverage showing the same two people crying and the same stories of horror while they ask stupid questions like, "Was it difficult to get help?", are just a way to keep us medicated, entranced, and unfocused on the global issues at hand. People feel, Give to the Red Cross and that solves everything. How about, write to your representative and demand governmental action, not just now, but in the long run. There is still a lot of work to be done, and the only way to get action is to demand it.

In the next couple of months, I implore us all to watch the rebuilding like hawks, and put pressure on everyone we can to assure that those who lost their homes will be able to afford to go back. Through supporting futuristic, long term organizations like Habitat for Humanity and writing to our Sentaors and House Reps to support federal aid for victims we can truly come together to help. How about we exercise our voices, as well as our pocketbooks and pressure our government to do something rather than solely relying on private organizations to handle the work? It would be nice to see as many letters sent to those who are employed to represent us, as money given to The Red Cross, who couldn't even get into New Orleans until days after the devastation.

Through Whose Vision and in Whose Interest Will New Orleans Rise Again?

With the exvacuation of New Orleans, almost done 5 days after the storm, I've found an excellent commentary at Radio BC about rebuilding New Orleans. My words: Well, it looks like the rich are about to steal from the poor again, and take that coveted land away from poor Black people. But thank goodness commentator Glen Ford can articulate it eloquently. Listen to his words here in Windows Media Player (it's only 3 minutes and 14 seconds). Or read the transcript. But this it the blurb I'll highlight to entice you (emphasis mine),

"[...] As we have witnessed, over and over again, the rich and powerful are very quick to reward themselves as soon as disaster presents the opportunity. Remember that within days of 9/11, the Bush regime executed a multi-billion dollar bailout for the airline industry. By the time you hear this commentary, they may have already used the New Orleans disaster to bail out the insurance industry – one of the richest businesses on the planet. But what of the people of New Orleans, 67 percent of whom are Black?

New Orleans is a poor city. Twenty-eight percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Well over half are renters, and the median value of homes occupied by owners is only $87,000. From the early days of the flood, it was clear that much of the city’s housing stock would be irredeemably damaged. The insurance industry may get a windfall of federal relief, but the minority of New Orleans home owners will get very little – even if they are insured. The renting majority may get nothing.

[...]

In place of the jobs that have been washed away, there could be alternative employment through a huge, federally funded rebuilding effort. But this is George Bush’s federal government. Does anyone believe that the Bush men would mandate that priority employment go to the pre-flood, mostly Black population of the city. And the Black mayor of New Orleans is a Democrat in name only, a rich businessman, no friend of the poor. What we may see in the coming months is a massive displacement of Black New Orleans, to the four corners of the nation. The question that we must pose, repeatedly and in the strongest terms, is: Through whose vision, and in whose interest, will New Orleans rise again."

The displacement of Black people was the foremost question in my mind. I'm anxious to watch the rebuilding of the city, and see how many can even afford to return to their home based on the high value that will be placed on the land and the expontential tourism that will flock to New Orleans to witness this "new" place. Ground Zero became the newest hot spot in this nation after 9/11, with many people going to "pay homage" in between Broadway shows and 5th ave shopping. I'm sure the Gulf Coast will become the newest vacation spot as the rich luxuriate in cities that "turned themselves around" after Hurricane Katrina.

Of course the displacement brings about another important issue: the influx of more Black poor into neighboring communities and the reactionstowards them. Already we are classifying victims as "refugees" while we reprimand them for thier courageous survival acts, and we know how this nation likes to treat refugees, immigrants and the poor. I commend Kanye West for having the heart to directly challenge us all and our actions immediately after this catastrophe. especially with regard to how we view the the poor Black in this nation as a whole. Mr. West speaks about the fact that he went shopping while people were dying, and of course, we know that he wasn't the only one. At least he has the bravery to tell the truth and correct his actions. We know that's something our rich government won't be doing.

What Can We Do?

NO Mayor Nagin says it best in his CNN interview. (emphasis mine)

WWL: [...] What else can we do?

NAGIN: Organize people to write letters and make calls to their congressmen, to the president, to the governor. Flood their doggone offices with requests to do something. This is ridiculous.

I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city. And then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count.

Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.

You can read a transcript of the interview or you can actually listen to it. It's powerful and talks about what's really going on.

Guess who's Back?

I want to design my own template and LJ would require I spend money to do that so...I'm coming back.

Race, Class and the Storm

Of course, I go to my source of news and commentary, The Negrophile, to find courageous voices that are discussing the obvious incidents at hand. As I watched the news avidly sensationalizing this disaster, the thoughts running through my mind were: why aren't we moving faster? Without a doubt, there's an impatience in the hearts of many of us who can't even imagine having to deal with this disaster, but that's not even a fraction of the impatience in the hearts of those living the disaster. Instead of reprimanding the many poor Black persons for "looting" and asking why they couldn't get out of New Orleans fast enough, why don't we talk about the cirumstances that brings about the desperation of hunting for marketable goods and the inability to travel. Well, I guess many of us have.

From the New York Times, to Slate, I'm excited about the discussion on the internet about the lack of discussion in mainstream news media. Here's a blurb (emphasis mine):

When disaster strikes, Americans—especially journalists—like to pretend that no matter who gets hit, no matter what race, color, creed, or socioeconomic level they hail from, we're all in it together. This spirit informs the 1997 disaster flick Volcano, in which a "can't we all just get along" moment arrives at the film's end: Volcanic ash covers every face in the big crowd scene, and everybody realizes that we're all members of one united race.

But we aren't one united race, we aren't one united class, and Katrina didn't hit all folks equally. By failing to acknowledge upfront that black New Orleanians—and perhaps black Mississippians—suffered more from Katrina than whites, the TV talkers may escape potential accusations that they're racist. But by ignoring race and class, they boot the journalistic opportunity to bring attention to the disenfranchisement of a whole definable segment of the population. What I wouldn't pay to hear a Fox anchor ask, "Say, Bob, why are these African-Americans so poor to begin with?"

I also direct you to Eric Umansky's article Left Behind, where he does some great research and summation of the various broadcasts. We've moved to categorizing victims as "thugs", who are so powerful that the government officials can't go in and help. Look at those Black ppl who don't even want to be saved, they'd rather shoot the hand that helps them, right?

Hurricane Katrina Disaster

I wish I was giving a link where people can go to help out. But right now, the government (YES THE GOV), needs to move fast and furiously to clean the place up, get out the debris and begin to fix the break in the brigde over Lake P. (Which is beautiful, I guess I'll finally be posting those New Orleans pics). Then we can move in through Habitat, etc. to begin to rebuild.

I think old TX military bases need to be opened and people should be housed there. I think massive flights (free) out of the city, to safer places should be first and foremost. Persons are literally trapped.

This is the time that government, state, local tax money needs to be used. What's this 72 hour bullshit that the government has for those who sustained losses? (Oh yeah, I read the blogs of ALL parties, especially the ones in power...know thine enemy). Those who sustain loses can register online for assistance...ON WHAT COMPUTER, WHERE! Or is this for those who have companiese in New Orleans (and surrounding areas) rather than those workers/livers who are stationed there. That's right, first move is to insure the loss of big corporations. Whatever.

So how do I know where to donate my money, I wondered? The BBB has this great site, Give.org that shows reports of all charitable giving organizations. Of course I looked up the Red Cross because that seems to be the only org that EVERY place is supporting. Check out their report here: http://charityreports.give.org/Public/Report.aspx?CharityID=679. The CEO's salary is $468,599. I guess when their expenses are over 3 billion, with 2 million of that for BioMedical, I think I'll look to Habitat for Humanity.