Stephanie, I think you have to work two FULL quarters. Though usually if you can prove previous employment in another state (...not sure if Puerto Rico counts) it adds up. There's usually timelines and stuff--like, when I got laid off here in Washington, I hadn't worked two quarters in Washington, so Maryland (where I HAD worked previously) was paying in to part of it.

But yeah, they also would likely contest it, because it will make their unemployment insurance go up, especially if they just fired that other guy...

Maria, lots of decision~ma, eye-sight~ma, health~ma and coping~ma to you.

{{Stephanie}}. I'd be in tears by now. Good luck with the stupidity.

Again, thank you all. I'm now gonna email one of the well known bloggers in Israel who's an excellent web designer, with a suggestion to start a Hollaback blog for Israel. It's not about the type of the assault I experienced (and damn, why is it so hard to say out loud that I was attacked - as if I can't be both strong and getting attacked) - it's about giving some agency back to unreported situations like this which are staying unreported because police won't do anything about it. My only problem with this site is that it might use as an weapon of "see? the streets are dangerous and you shouldn't go out there on your own/dress like this" example, which is precisely the opposite of my intentions.

And just to reinforce Typo Boy's word - yes, there's a fight on women's right to use public space in Jerusalem. There are bus lines, mostly for the ultra-orthodox crowd, on which women are supposed to sit on the back. There are streets on which women are supposed to use one side of the sidewalk, while men use the other. In Israel, 2010. When I waited for the bus to take me home, a Birthright tour stopped and a group went down from it (I have no idea what TL stands for in America, but that's where they're from). I wanted to stand in front of them and shout "you thought you're coming to an advanced, peace-seeking country, right?".

Oh Maria, all the good thoughts in the world for your mom.

As a recently confirmed diabetic with a PVD in each eye, you can believe I empathize. These aren't serious, I'm told, though the space aliens make life interesting. But any minor change is worrying.

Wishing her clarity for decision-making and peace with her choice, and if that is to go ahead with the surgery, patience, fortitude, and complication-free healing.

Maria, all thoughts are with you and your mom.

In much less important news, the Insomnia Fairy can bite me. Or, alternately, it did and I am unpleased.

Seriously, I am streaming Hidden Palms on NetFlix trying to bore myself to sleep. And the scenery is pretty, I admit it is someplace hard for me to live all of the time but the desert there is still kinda home. But, damn, the stories are WB.

OK, I'm really gonna start this Israeli hollaback blog. I just tweeted asking for help (I need another admin, legal and security advice, and some web design if I want to do it right). I think I found the perfect name for it, taken from Genesis 18, 20-21: "And the LORD said: 'Verily, the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and, verily, their sin is exceeding grievous. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.'". "Whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it" became a single word expression in Hebrew, which translates modernly into "is it as bad as she screams it is?" (Haketze'akata).

That's what you get for angering a feminist.

I sorta' see the book of Job as saying, "You wonder why God lets bad things happen to good people? You might be better off not knowing."

"Yo, God! Dude! Katrina?! What the fuck, man?"

"Lost a bet."

"Whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it" became a single word expression in Hebrew, which translates modernly into "is it as bad as she screams it is?" (Haketze'akata).

That is awesome and perfect. (And the answer? Yes, it damn well is.)

Shir, you are awesome.

My phone adventures are not nearly as colorful as Joe's were, but this one just made me say, "Well spotted."

"Good morning, [Agency]. This is Aims."
"Hi. I am pregnant and I'm female."

Eye~ma for MFN's mom. Scary stuff.

Shir, definitely keep us posted!

I had the weirdest comment I've ever had from a stranger this morning. I was walking to the bus stop and a guy also walking the same way said, "Hey, nice feet!" I said, "What?" and he replied, "Oh, I just like it when a woman has nice feet." Please note, I was wearing my sport sandals for my commute. We ended up talking at the bus stop and on the bus, and he seems like an okay guy (which is good, since he's my neighbor), but wow. So random.