Christmas is Over, Back to Work Everyone!

Christmas is over, Audient is blogging once again, and I am sitting behind my desk waiting for the next "big event."

Christmas saw the return of Union Workers to their jobs, it saw me getting a picture taken with Bill and his Wife Gates and receiving some yummy coffee!

Thank you to all of you who made my Christmas memorable...most notably, Amy - because I am really trying to stay on her good side through the new year.

Also, I pledge to improve my blogging skills throughout the new year, as I received (or bought is a better term) a new IMac G5...I have gone to the white side. Once I get the hang of this, I should be able to create some fun stuff - but then again maybe I will get fired and not be able to pay for electricity and thus be without a computer.

The War May Be Over

Well, it looks like the threat of throwing the Union Leader, freezing all of the MTA Union workers bank accounts, and threatening to throw the workers themselves in jail has just about worked.

The latest reports have it that the negotiations will continue while the Union workers return to work and at last the city can return to normal. It will be interesting to see what happens, but I hope that this does not happen again as long as I live in the city.

I am not a woman

According to Kate Ann Brennan's blog, thanks, I am not a woman but in fact a staff toting man with white hair who wears a dress.

Another Day Another $4

The City of New York has created contingency plans to help "strap hangers" adjust to life in the city without subways and busses. That contingency plan includes gouging the commuters, who have no choice but to pay to get to work - just to make enough money to pay to get home. It is a ridiculous cycle. However, luckily my ride is not as horrid. It is a pain, but I can imagine having it worse.

Luckily my secretary, Mary - the one who hosted my mother and I on Thanksgiving, agreed to allow me to stay at her home out in Queens. She has to commute just like me, but she has a car. So last night we took the LIRR (Long Island Railroad - $4 each way compared to $2 each way on the subway) for a 25 minute ride out to her neighborhood. Keep in mind that the train station is 15 minutes from her home, compared to a 2 minute walk from the subway. This still sounds like a good idea, but then you realize that there are 50,000 people all trying to take the same trains that you are. Those of you who know about NYers, you know that NYers do not like to wait - they like to PUSH! So imagine being in the center when all the people move - you are going wherever they go.

However, like I said at the outset, I could have it worse. Had Mary not agreed to host me for the foreseeable future, I would have had to walk 40 blocks to the 59 Street Bridge (at 6:00am), then walk across the bridge to Manhattan and then another 24 blocks to work. It would not have been fun.

The TWU Union is BRILLIANT!

I think that it is a brilliant idea to shut down the subway. I think that it is a brilliant idea to prevent people from being able to get to work. I think that it is brilliant to take advantage of the system and break the law.

The picture on the right is of my street (Madison Ave) looking towards the Bronx. This picture was taken at the intersection of 38th and Madison. Normally there is traffic up and down with no place to go. However, on this day (at 12:00pm nonetheless) there is nothing but a postal car, people walking in the road, and rollerblading. Maybe this strike thing isn't all that bad at all! I was able to get a lot more work done today because there was no noise.



This is a view down Madison Ave towards Manhattan. As you can see, the police are at every intersection preventing people from driving down Madison Ave. What a great idea!

Last I heard, the Union has offered 3, 4, 31/2 percent raises (annually) for each of the next 3 years. In addition, they are asking that new hires pay 6% of their salary to the pension plan (2% is required right now). In addition, the MTA has agreed to give MLK day as a paid holiday and also to keep retirement at 55 years of age.
For current MTA workers, this will result in NO CHANGE! Oh yeah, in addition, the Union wants less numbers of disciplinary proceedings brought against its members. It will only effect new hires. However, the Union NOW wants 4, 4, 4 raises, the retirement age lowered to 50 and no more money added to the pensions. WTF!

I must say that I would love the idea of retiring at 55 or 50! I would work 5 days a week, 40 hours a week, make 40k with full benefits and never having to worry about being fired in return for a pension...then I would go to law school and start my 2nd career.

I know I know that I am not pro-union, but come on! This is not fair bargaining. You can say what you want about Unions and about Management. The reality of the situation here is that the Union is breaking the law (The Taylor Law) and hurting those people who are struggling the most to make it here - those of us who commute from one of the boroughs.

My Career: A Woman?

Here is what Christie's Career Test told me:

Your Career Type: Social

You are helpful, friendly, and trustworthy. Your talents lie in teaching, nursing, giving information, and solving social problems. You would make an excellent: Counselor - Dental Hygienist - Librarian Nurse - Parole Officer - Personal Trainer Physical Therapist - Social Worker - Teacher The worst career options for your are realistic careers, like truck driver or farmer.

What's Your Ideal Career?

Jason's Johnson and Kristen's Boobs

I had gym with Jason;

I like Kristen's boobs; and

Rome was big.

So Little Time

Kristen, Dave and Hilary...I am sorry that it has taken so long to update this.

I never thought that anyone actually read this, until Dave pointed it out to me.

So many things have happened, I just figured that I would catch up with everyone around Christmas and New Years. I booked my flight a few weeks back and I will be around Cleveland for Christmas, flying back to New York on Monday and then flying back to Cleveland Friday before New Years. With the low cost of flights, I was able to do pretty well on the price and figured what the heck.

Since last I posted, all sorts of things have gone on. I got sick in the subway, saw a woman being carried off of the subway because she was THAT drunk, and saw a woman's purse get stuck in the subway door and taken down the tunnel. There are also other things that are going on that may require me to leave my "lap of luxery," but I would rather not jinx it.

Also since I last posted, I had the honor of meeting Jason's woman (Bree) and I have subsequently tried to figure out how he could get such a great woman to fall for him - then I remembered what he was like in High School and it all made sense (he has a big penis).

Must go back to work now because the boss is trying to figure out why I am typing so much - since I am supposed to be dictating.