Yeah, I'm still outtie from BofA, but I have to get the stones together to do it.

Happy Birthday, Daniel! How are you healing?

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

And I'm doing better. I'll be seeing my PCP this Friday.

Also fighting for disability pay that's being withheld.

I got to spend a good chunk of my morning doing research on a company named ppstream.

eta: At least the name got the partner giggling too.

Arrrgggg. Noodle has had a habit of curling up by my neck and licking my cheek with the occasional move to my ear which then sometimes turns into a cat wet willy. Ok, annoying, but I've learned to distract her when she goes for my ear.

Today, she has moved on to my hair. I am not used to having a cat who loved to lick like this.

An interesting article on the legal aspects of how your non-work activities can impact your employment.

As Occupy Wall Street protests lingered in many cities, observers noted that a sizeable portion of employees feared that if they joined the protests and their employers found out, they’d be fired. That rumor piqued our interest in legal and employer responses to an interesting category—legal, off-duty conduct.

Who defines what’s permitted? We learned of a freelance broadcaster who (1) participated in a Washington, DC, protest, and (2) was told by National Public Radio (NPR) that her services were no longer needed. Perhaps NPR feels that all broadcasters should publicly display only a neutral face on political issues. But no wonder protesting employees worry about their employers’ reactions.

We asked Attorney Peter Gillespie, in Fisher and Phillips’s Chicago office, to walk us through some of the implications of off-duty conduct. First, he noted, many state laws specify that off-duty use of tobacco and/or alcohol is a protected right, because both are legal. Off-duty smokers are protected in 29 states, but not in the other 21. And, said Gillespie, eight states—IL, MN, MO, MT, NC, NV, TN, and WI—protect off-duty use of any legal product. Illinois goes further, barring employers from investigating or collecting records of any employee’s legal, off-duty conduct. Louisiana permits legal off-duty political activities.

But most remaining states have no provisions regarding any legal conduct, such as joining a protest march or sit-in, other than smoking. Gillespie notes that many states prohibit employers from including arrest records in prehire background checks. But what about a current employee who’s arrested? Often, in Gillespie’s experience, the worker runs out of PTO time, and/or cannot meet the terms of the employer’s call-in policy for absence. In such cases, the employer can terminate the individual for “abandoning” the job.

And if a state has no protective laws? An employee who feels that he or she was unjustifiably let go because of legal, off-duty conduct can sue for violation of the constitutional right to privacy or to free speech. And, based on the facts, an ex-employee can win such a suit.

I am not used to having a cat who loved to lick like this.

Mine loves to lay across my torso with her head up near my cheek, and she'll start licking it, usually ending with either biting my chin or my earlobe; that's when I pull my head away and tell her to stop.

Mr Peabody has fits of trying to lick all my exposed skin. Occasionally when I sit up on the edge of the bed, he frantically licks an ear. I have no clue.

I used to have a cat who loooved to lick. If I used a particular citrus-scented lotion after my shower, she would follow me around and lick my calves. If she could reach, she would lick my armpit after I put on deodorant. (Yeah, she was a bit of a freak.) She also loved to go at my hair. I think she was just trying to show me the proper way to groom myself.

My newest cat, Matilda, likes to lick, too, but on a much smaller scale -- just a few flicks of the tongue now and then. She licks herself most assiduously, though. In fact, she's sitting on my lap at this very moment giving herself a very thorough bath.

I think she was just trying to show me the proper way to groom myself.

HA!

Hey, recent UK-travelers! We are going to be going across the pond (uh, somewhat unexpectedly) next week and we are trying to figure out the best way to have phone/internet access. I have AT&T and a Samsung Android system phone. Also, if I can take the phone and use it, should I just buy another charger over there or can I used one of those adapters? I need to charge it pretty much every day.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

My old Koogie cat nursed my earlobe when he was a very young kitten. I think we got him before he was properly weaned, so I became he surrogate mom. He was obsessive about being near me, and he tended to knead my hair and drool. He died curled up next to me, which wasn't as horrible as I thought it was going to be.