Happy birthday, Kate!

If the fun you have today is equal to the goodness you dole out on a daily basis, then your birthday should be epic.

In mememe news, remember how stressed out I was yesterday afternoon and whining about having to work at the bookstore last night? Well, I got there around 6:40, put away my purse, and then went into the bathroom and started tearing up for no particular reason. I got myself under control and walked out into the hallway to clock in, passing the manager and assistant manager who were chatting in the doorway to the breakroom. The manager looked over, said hi, and then mentioned that they had only sold one membership card that day, "So you know what to do!" I looked at him and burst into tears, as in sobbing so hard I couldn't catch my breath.

He got this horrified look on his face, obviously thinking, "What have I said?" and I just waved my hands around, saying how stressed out I was and that I just don't do this, crying in front of people! They got me into the break room and were both very sweet about my meltdown. I did work the whole evening, but they made sure to get as much of the store clean before closing as possible so I wasn't going to be stuck there too long.

I thought in CA they could fire without reason.

CA is an at-will state, but it doesn't mean some people won't be ass-weasels and try to make you quit instead. Plus, I think if someone is just let go, they can file for unemployment, but if they quit or are fired for cause (hence a paper trail), they cannot file. I think.

Allyson, I'm really sorry your cow-orkers are such asshats.

In happier news, the Muppet discussion was timely - F.A.O. Schwartz is opening a Muppet Whatnot Factory! Muppet Whatnot Creator (Warning: Sound.) For $90, you can create your own Muppet! Awesome.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE P!!

Oh man, Kathy -- you really need a day off. Do not get yourself into the position of a friend of mine from college who literally threw herself down some stairs because she could not face another double shift of waitressing.

Sarah Palin is blaming gender bias for the controversy over $150,000 worth of designer clothes, hairstyling and accessories the Republican Party provided for her, a newspaper reported Thursday.

"I think Hillary Clinton was held to a different standard in her primary race," Palin said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune posted on the newspaper's Web site Thursday night. "Do you remember the conversations that took place about her, say superficial things that they don't talk about with men, her wardrobe and her hairstyles, all of that? That's a bit of that double standard."

AAUUUUUUUGH.

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Happy Birthday, Kate!

I am worth 3K less than the college freshout they hired to take my office manager job while I put together their safety, doc review, symposium and a host of other processes.

No. As others already said, you are WORTH considerably more. That's what they want to pay you. Reminds me of when one of DH's boss pulled the same move on him. He quit and a month later found a job that paid him more than double their offer. Meanwhile he found out the consultants they hired to do only PART of his old job charged the company over $100,000. Which trust me was way more than they offered him.

Yeah, on Monday I'm going to ask my boss here at my office job if I can take the whole day on Tuesday off, and I'm also definitely going to be giving my notice at the law firm on Sunday. I'll help the lawyer out if he wants by putting a note up at the bookstore to see if anyone there is looking for a little extra cash (just about everyone there is good with people, which is what they want for the front desk at the firm).

Huh. Billy Beane, the A's general manager, has an op-ed piece in the NYTimes (coauthored with Newt Gingrich and John Kerry) advocating changes to the healthcare system similar to the stats revolution in baseball.

I do agree with him, and it's odd that insurance is so stats driven and healthcare isn't. I remember when Oregon first put together it's statewide healthcare program one of the things they did was to prioritize statistically where the least amount of money would have the greatest effect. (Which turned out to be treating bacterial based pneumonia. The cost/benefit there was the biggest bang for the buck.)

I heard on the news that Ted Kennedy is working on a massive universal healthcare bill, to be introduced early in the next Congress.

My job is kind of funny. I made what I think of as a pretty significant error, and no one seems to mind. Granted, it is the kind of error that results in a delay not a disaster, but still. I'm all ready to beat myself up, and everyone else is like, "Well, shit happens!" Um, OK...