The Off Topic Topic

[Ideologue]

By the middle of the conversation I thought he was going to provide you with escort service.

No kidding.  I thought it was either a fix-up or a, you know, fix up.

[Syt]

Sorry...it is Lanugish though...didn't think it would be taken seriously.

thanks for the concern. Other than an intermittent pain in my balls I'm quite alright.

Because this *is* languish, it wouldn't shock me that "I'm dying " is how someone would announce a terminal testicular cancer diagnosis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv_Af_Rbi9I

[The Brain]

I work for an electrical contractor; I have spent 99% of the 3 years I have been there doing various projects/jobs at one large hospital/medical school.  I am currently in charge of one part of a very large project; they are completely remodeling 3/4 of 2 floors of the hospital.

One month ago the IT Project Manager for this project (my main hospital contact) sent an email to my immediate boss telling him what a fantastic job I have been doing.  My boss forwarded the email on to the company CEO and other bigwigs and gave me a hearty "Thanks for all you do!"  I wasn't expecting anything else, and until yesterday I was not disappointed.

Then yesterday one of the above bigwigs was wandering the hospital visiting all of our current job sites (we do 99% of the electrical work for a very large hospital with $$ coming out of its ears).  He found me, it appeared intentionally and asked to talk to me in private.  He mentioned the email from a month ago and thanked me and told em how much they appreciated customer feedback like that.  Then the awkward part of the conversation:

Him:  You're married right?
Me: Um, no.
Him:  Girlfriend, dating?
Me: Not at the moment, no.
Him: ...
Him: I want to do something for you, but we can't do gift cards anymore; you know taxes, corporate stuff.  I want to do something though, pay for a nice meal.  Maybe you could take a friend, a buddy, out to a nice steak dinner and bring me the receipt.
Me: (wondering if he now thinks I am gay)(not that there is anything wrong with that)  Yeah that would be great, I will definitely do that.  Thank you very much!
Him:  No problem, we really want to reward people who do such a great job and make us look so good. Thanks again.
Me:  Oh yeah, of course.  Thanks again.  I need to get back to work.

*handshake*

A few minutes later he sticks his head in the room I am in and says that it doesn't have to be food, I could go buy something for myself.  He specifically mentioned REI, and to make sure I bring him the receipt.

I am now in the weird place of deciding myself how much of a bonus I give myself.

Buy the 2016 election!

[jimmy olsen]

What a whinny bitch


http://exploringbelievability.blogspot.kr/2011/01/analysis-warhammer-40000.html

This can lead to two characterizations of the fanbase in general: the "meta" perspective ("this shouldn't be so depressing, why can't I have a fun, lighthearted wargame") and the "immersive" perspective ("look at how many people just died, how can this not be depressing?"). Both sides are complicit in the violence, at least in-universe, but one group doesn't want to feel bad about it, and the other group recognizes that war is generally unpleasant for the people involved in it. What bothers me the most about Ciaphas Cain is that people still die - it's just expendable extras instead of protagonists, and that means it can still be lighthearted so that Cain can make some wacky quip. This is not a perspective that I support.

[CountDeMoney]

I am now in the weird place of deciding myself how much of a bonus I give myself.

From REI?  Get yourself a nice blade, but don't go over $150.

[Ed Anger]

What a whinny bitch

Neigh

[Jacob]

What a whinny bitch

Neigh

Rein it in a bit, would you. No need to get hoarse from tackling Tim's main faults.

[The Brain]

A man called Arse.

[CountDeMoney]

Heh...precisely why West Virginia is and always will be West Virginia, deep in the heart of Dumbfuckistan.

Kanawha libraries prepare for layoffs
Move comes after voters' defeat of levy proposal
By Mackenzie Mays, Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County Public Library board members are preparing to lay off employees across the county after voters rejected an excess levy for the library and the county school system on Saturday.

The board agreed Tuesday to find a law firm with experience in employment practices "to carry out these reductions in an especially fair manner," said Mike Albert, the library board's president.

"Much of our budget is salary and wages. We are a service institution," Albert said. "We're not trying to hurt anybody. We simply must react."

The plan would be to lay off the fewest possible employees "in a manner that brings operations in line with the budget" over the next six months or other appropriate period, Albert said.

On Saturday, Kanawha County voters overwhelmingly rejected an excess levy that would've brought in about $3 million for libraries each year, along with more than $20 million annually for the school system. The levy would have increased property taxes for a resident with a $100,000 home and a $15,000 car by $125 a year.

The levy was an attempt to repair the library's budget, which was stripped by 40 percent after the Supreme Court ruled in February that Kanawha County Schools was no longer required by law to help fund the library.

The court decision ended a decade-long fight led by the school system to nix its mandated funding relationship with the library.

Now that the levy has failed, the library will have to make major cuts -- including potentially closing up to six of its nine branches -- while still pursuing new potentials for revenue.

Albert said Tuesday that a committee of board members will analyze potential reductions and reorganization of the library.

"We're obviously very disappointed [with the levy result]. We're going to pursue funding in every reasonable way. But we've got a fiduciary obligation just as well ... to live within the budget that we now have," Albert said.

"Many if not most of our current operations are going to be affected," he said. "We expect the public to become upset, but [we] need to live within our reduced budget. We will now begin the painful process."

Among the cutbacks being considered by the board are reduced salaries for librarians and other employees; reduced operating hours; selling property; and eliminating services that do not benefit the needs of all library patrons, such as library services offered to schools.

Alan Engelbert, director of the Kanawha library system, said Monday that the best solution would be for the Legislature to create a statewide funding solution for all West Virginia public libraries. But he acknowledged that legislators probably won't do that.

Library officials could seek another levy election, work to increase public and private contributions, and ask state and federal agencies for emergency relief.

They also could ask Kanawha County school board members to fund the library beyond a previously agreed upon date, "based on the services provided by the library to the students of Kanawha County."

After the Supreme Court decision, school board members voted to give the library nearly $2 million for the 2013-14 fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2014, to allow library officials time to devise a plan. Four of the five Kanawha school board members supported the most recent excess levy.

While library officials put another potential levy on the list of Tuesday's considerations, they can't do it themselves. The library is not a levying body and would need the county Board of Education, the Kanawha County Commission or the city of Charleston to sponsor the levy.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper told the Gazette Monday that he is not willing to put another library levy attempt on next May's primary ballot -- when the county's public safety levy will also be on the ballot.

"I've been a long friend of Kent Carper. He's an ardent supporter of the library. I frankly question his observation about putting us on the levy, but we're going to talk to him about it and see what his reaction is," Albert said.

"There was a significant reaction to the last levy. We've got to realize that coming back with another levy right away for us is going to be difficult. Whether we can convince somebody to do that for us -- that's something we'll look at."

Also Tuesday, library officials announced the consequences of one of the first cutbacks made after the Supreme Court decision: the cancellation of the annual West Virginia Book Festival.

The library continued its used book sale fundraiser -- which had been part of the festival in recent years -- but brought in only about $18,000 from the book sale last month, compared to $31,000 the year before.

[The Brain]

West Virginia Book Festival 

[Eddie Teach]

Somebody's gotta be reading those Left Behind books.

[CountDeMoney]

West Virginia Book Festival 

At least somebody there cared enough to try.

[MadImmortalMan]

I got a library card just to check out a couple books that were crazy expensive.

Actually, Mrs. MIM got me the card so she could check out two volumes at once.

We ended up paying some fines for having them too long and then we remembered why nobody uses the library anymore.

[Admiral Yi]

Yup.  Schlepping down there to return books sort of sucks the fun out of it.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

I got a library card just to check out a couple books that were crazy expensive.

Actually, Mrs. MIM got me the card so she could check out two volumes at once.

We ended up paying some fines for having them too long and then we remembered why nobody uses the library anymore.

I need to find out if one of the libraries has those.  I have been considering getting a library card for a similar reason, as the Dallas and Ft. Worth libraries have some very rare, very expensive engineering books in their collections.