My Pay and It's all crumbling down
So through some paperwork mishap I've come into some very interesting information. When I went to interview at this temp agency I asked them how they made money by placing people in jobs. They gave me an answer I can't remember, which probably means it wasn't a very direct, straightforward answer. They probably gave me the ol' run around.

But today I found out that, for every hour I work, they are getting paid 22.75 dollars. I, on the other hand, am getting paid 13.00 dollars an hour. So they're almost making ten bucks for every hour I work. For what? For doing the grunt work of finding a low-level employee?

Maybe I should start my own temp agency.

Crumbling down

Today I was on the phone for like 10 minutes. This and the tie issue made me start to kind get the crawlies all over. I was asking myself how much more I can take. It's not as bad as they make it out to be on TV and in general conversation (working where I work, "corporate america"), but today is just one of those days.

I hope this doesn't make me a yes-man


add phone - interaction DC

Dress Code
So I decided not to wear a tie to work today and was told that there was a dress code and to wear one tomorrow. I kind of guessed that was the dress code, I had done it every day except for Fridays (I correctly assumed casual Fridays were the norm), but I never really knew. No one ever told me, specifically. So now I'm walking around thinking everyone is looking at me like I'm a rebel greaser or something.

But I'm not.

The whole communications aspect of all this seems important enough to warrant some words, but I don't feel like it. Suffice to say that here in corporate america people just like to let you assume things instead of telling you how and why things work.

I want to focus on the tie. Why the hell do we wear ties anyway? They're uncomfortable as hell and it's really hot today (not in here, where it's freezing).

Here is why:

The history of neckties dates back a mere hundred years or so, for they came into existence as the direct result of a war. In 1660, in celebration of its hard-fought victory over the Ottoman Empire , a crack regiment from Croatia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), visited Paris. There, the soldiers were presented as glorious heroes to Louis XIV, a monarch well known for his eye toward personal adornment. It so happened that the officers of this regiment were wearing brightly colored handkerchiefs fashioned of silk around their necks. These neck cloths, which probably descended from the Roman fascalia worn by orators to warm the vocal chords, struck the fancy of the king, and he soon made them an insignia of royalty as he created a regiment of Royal Cravattes. The word "cravat," incidentally, is derived from the word "Croat."

And:


The tie was initially born as a piece of material worn by Roman legionnaires around the neck for reasons of hygiene or climate and was called a "focale." Centuries later the French wore this "handkerchief", borrowing in their time from that which was worn by Croatian mercenaries during the Twenty Years War. In 1661 Louis XIV instituted the position of "tie maker" for the king, a gentleman who was assigned to help the king arrange and knot the necktie. Nine years after 1661 the Duchess of Lavalliere, favorite of the king, was the first woman to wear a tie. In the 19th century her name would be given to the most graceful of masculine ties. In 1925 the American tie maker Jesse Langdorsf patented a long tie, less crumpled and more stable, sewn from three pieces of fabric and cut to a taper. The modern tie was born.

I wish I was a warrior, I'd even wear a tie on Fridays.

Skiles gone???
I am shocked. Reinsdorf is an asshole.

Although this brings up an interesting question about money. My own opinion, having followed the season and so gotten to know Skiles through this year-long trek via the newspapers and TV interviews, is that he isn't about the money. He's about feeling wanted, feeling respected with the manner in which the negotiations take place.

God, now what?

Religion Poll
Interesting results.

What the NFL needs
A really eloquent player that will step up into the spotlight and debate the issue surrounding the whole T. O. debacle. There is another side to the story and the argument is a LOT better than anything these players are saying so far. Stupid shit like "It's for my family," or "I'm the best in the league," or "The owners are greedy" just doesn't cut it if you want to be in the fans' good graces.

We don't want to hear that shit.

Now, if I knew anything about the NFL and actually followed it, I could play devil's advocate and create a little press release right here. A simulation type of thing. But I'm not real familiar with the way things work, so I can't.

Maybe something about the way players are treated once they stop producing, how they are viewed as pawns in a chess match and not as people.

Something, and it has to be well spoken, eloquent, that will allow the fans to see the other side. Because it is there, and it's a lot more sophisticated than "I love me some me."

Sports Blog?
Lately I've been noticing most of my posts are sports-related, which kind of worries me. Where are the philosophical reminisces of everyday life?

I guess that tells you where my mind is at...at ease.

Guatemala Loses to Mexico
0-2 on Saturday in the World Cup Qualifying. Big game coming up on Wednesday against Costa Rica at Costa Rica. This is the biggest game, probably, as it will start to define who will take that 3rd place spot.

Yahoo Discussions
Go to the Yahoo page and click on any news story, it doesn't matter how bland it is. Then go to the bottom and click discuss. Take a look at how people waste their time - it usually comes down to conservative- or liberal-bashing.

Some of the really ignorant stuff is really funny though, you only have to read the subject on most of them.

The line
I think there is a line that divides those people in their mid-thirties who are single and those who are married. It's really simple though, I think. The people who are married went ahead and did it, for whatever reason (love, pressure, broken condom, etc). The ones that haven't, however, don't feel like they have to. At least this is how they feel. But, to be honest, it wears on their mind. They think about it a lot. It's just the way it is. I may be one of them, who knows, only time will tell.

But my point is that those who aren't married are just standing at the edge of the diving board, looking down, stalling. Some will turn back and climb the ladder back down, in shame. Others will simply say, "Enough is enough," close their eyes, pinch their nose with their fingers, and jump.

That's the line. People who keep stalling simply haven't gotten to the point where they say, "Ok, enough, let's do this thing."

I think it has less to do with romantic notions of love or the perfect person or "the one" or any of that. It's just that it looks so high up when you're up there and they get scared. I can understand that.

Paris Olympics
Looks like they're gonna get it.