Managers, workers prepare for refinery strike
– Houston Chronicle2
With just hours to go before labor agreements expire at 11 area refineries and chemical plants, workers and company officials were making preparations Friday for a possible strike.
Union members put together picket signs, and companies prepared their plants and management teams for possible work stoppages.
If a new agreement is not reached by 12:01 a.m. Sunday, 30,000 energy and chemical workers nationwide, including 4,200 in the Houston area, could walk off the job.
Union negotiators Thursday night rejected the latest contract offer that would have raised wages 2.5 percent each year for three years. The proposal also offered a one-time $500 ratification bonus and $250 a year to workers for their unreimbursed medical expenses, if they completed an unspecified health and wellness program.
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Footnotes
2 = article may expire in a few weeks.
News
The Smithsonian is looking to drag “the world’s greatest museum complex into the current century.” The Smithsonian 2.0 project sounds really interesting. Read more at the Houston Chronicle.
Many people are discovering the joys of substitute teaching as a way to ensure a job in today’s tough market, reports the Houston Chronicle. “In Houston and across the nation, school districts are reporting a spike in applications for substitute teaching jobs.” Interesting.
The GraveyardBook wins the 2009 John Newbery Medal. More info everywhere, but here’s the article at the Houston Chronicle.
And the Houston Chronicle has once again published the Houston Independent School District bonuses.
News
The Smithsonian is looking to drag “the world’s greatest museum complex into the current century.” The Smithsonian 2.0 project sounds really interesting. Read more at the Houston Chronicle.
The GraveyardBook wins the 2009 John Newbery Medal. More info everywhere, but here’s the article at the Houston Chronicle.
News
Houston’s PBS Patricia Gras gives us “40 Tips for a better a life.”
The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Army is reporting that Army suicides are at a 3-decade high. Not the info I want while my brother is over seas.
Health
Copyblogger gives us “14 Foolproof Proofreading Tips for Bloggers.”
The Smithsonian is looking to drag “the world’s greatest museum complex into the current century.” The Smithsonian 2.0 project sounds really interesting. Read more at the Houston Chronicle.
News
The Flip Flop Shops are coming to Houston, reports the Houston Business Journal.
The City of Galveston is preparing for Mardi Gras!, according to the Kids Activity Queen blog.
And the Houston Chronicle has once again published the Houston Independent School District bonuses.
The Houston Business Journal is reporting that Chase will close 36 WaMus in Houston. The cuts continue.
News
Study: Houston to shed 43,800 jobs this year
– reported by the Houston Business Journal
A report prepared for the U.S. Conference of Mayors forecasts that Houston will shed some 43,800 jobs in 2009, a decline of 1.7 percent.
The report also anticipates that the local unemployment rate will rise from 5.3 percent at the end of 2008 to 6.6 percent at the end of this year.
[snip]
News
One of the hardest decisions you can make (or that I’ve had to make) is when to call it quits. Either deciding that you have a cancel a project because it’s going to be/is a failure or making the decision to stop a relationship, it’s never easy. When do you do that?
I’m re-reading The Dip in an effort to get someone else’s perspective on when enough is enough. So far, I haven’t read the secret yet. I’ll let you know if that happens.
The reason this is especially poignant today is that I’ve been stood up/canceled on by a long-time friend… again. Out of every plan or appointment we make to get together, I realize that most are initiated by me. And of those plans, she cancels more than half (sometimes just failing to show up).
Today I had even turned down other invites (since most of us have the day off) since I had already committed with her for lunch. I feel kind of silly sitting along in this hotspot, catching up on email, when I could have been doing a shopping day out with family. Yes, my friend once again canceled on me, via text message.
She does this like my time isn’t important, like the commitment was
nonexistent, or just like I don’t matter. And, yes, that irks me a
great deal.
I am calling it quits. If she wants to invite me out, she’s welcome to do it. But I don’t think I’m going to be initiating plans any more. And I’m sorry to make that decision, and voice it to myself. I’ve known her forever and it feels like quite a loss, somehow.
I’m not quitting the friendship. I’m not saying that I won’t meet her for lunch or coffee in the future (though if she continues to stand me up I may have to do that too). What I’m saying it that the ball is in her court now.
General
