Forgetful Fairy

Whoops tooth fairy forgot to visit.  Or as I told my little one “she must take Sundays off”.  There was only some minor disappointment as she has heard of other incidences of the tooth fairy being rather forgetful when her sister has lost a tooth.  

With E it had become easy to forget tooth fairy duties as it felt like she had been losing teeth forever and it was quite clear she knew exactly who the tooth fairy was. She knew just who to blame if the tooth remained under her pillow in the am. After hearing “someone forgot about my tooth last night” with eyebrows raised and that sarcastic lilt to “someone” it kind of tipped me off. She lost the last one a few months ago and I actually contemplated just handing her a toonie in exchange for the tooth.

It seemed the safer option as I always seem to find a toy or object by smashing my foot directly into it when attempting to be stealthy. The result of which is to end up doubled over trying desperately not to start yelling obscenities into the darkness.  It seems the quieter I try to be the louder I actually am.

I don’t really see the need to make a big production out of it.  I know of a few parents who give what I consider obscene amounts and go as far as to create elaborate setups to prove the tooth fairy has come but I’ve never made a huge deal of losing teeth after all it’s a part of life and growing up.

I’ve cheered for them when they lose a tooth, they have a special tooth pillow but I’ve never given more than a toonie and have always felt that was doing enough.  And to be quite honest the special tooth pillow has a hidden agenda. It keeps me from having to try and get a teeny tiny tooth from under their sleeping heads.  For some reason I would always find it under the very last bit of pillow I'd reach. It should come in quite valuable for A as she is a very light sleeper.   

I’ve already dug through the change jar in search of a toonie to replace her tooth with tonight. I managed to come up with a loonie and 4 quarters so she’ll be even more excited by that.  I still haven’t quite got it through to her that 5 pieces of change don’t always equal 5 dollars.  

School stuff

I was planning on getting a start on school supplies this weekend so I hope I can get most of it done this weekend.

I always forget how much actually needs to get done before the new school year never mind how much it all costs. Even though it is still a little over 3 weeks before the start of school I should really get started on everything.  I always like to make sure we are ready ahead of time.

I also need to get them slowly working towards normal bedtime and wake up times again, summer holidays result in bedtime becoming rather obsolete.  Routines get broken and it really can be a struggle to get back into those routines too quickly.

I also have the mile long lists of school supplies to get. This year it is getting pretty lengthy for E.  I’m not looking forward to buying her a $50 dollar scientific calculator when she has yet to hang onto even a basic calculator for a full year.

Usually pretty much everything with the exception of dictionaries and verb books aren’t in good enough condition to make it through another school year.  Being in French-Immersion they tend to need a few more books than their English only counterparts so being able to keep them in good condition for multiple years is important.   Still trying to decide whether purchasing her band instrument or renting would be a better option

I also have to figure out transportation for E as junior high students no longer qualify for busing from the school division.  It really isn’t too long a walk in good weather but during the winter months it may be. 

Oh well lots to think about and a busy weekend ahead.  Should be beautiful weather so here is hoping it won’t all be spent on school shopping.

Picture Day 19

Downtown Winnipeg from atop Fort Garry Place

Suppoprt Verizon Workers.

After speaking to my brother, I was compelled to do a post about the Verizon worker strike which started this past weekend. I spoke to my frustrated and upset youngest brother yesterday after he had spent a couple of days on the picket lines. C is a member of the local IBEW and his frustration, combined with the information (or lack there of) in the media, made me decide to do my (small) part in getting the public to understand what is really at stake with the strike.



It happens that a story written by Tayrn Luna on boston.com better tells the story:



Claudia Slaney did something that many people would consider unthinkable in this economy: give up her paycheck.



She did just that on Sunday when she walked off the job, joining about 6,000 Verizon Communications Inc. employees in Massachusetts after the unions and the company failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. The strike is unusual in its size - 45,000 people nationwide and one of the largest in a decade - and for its timing, during a period of historically high unemployment and concerns about another recession.



“It is a tough situation, but it would have been a lot harder if we didn’t do it,’’ said Slaney, a 41-year-old mother of four who made $1,200 a week as an administrative assistant. “If we gave in to their demands, we’d be without a job the next day.’’



The unions - the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Communications Workers of America - are fighting to keep employee pensions, affordable health care benefits, and a clause that makes it more difficult for Verizon to lay off union workers. If that job security is wiped away, union members fear they will lose their jobs and the work will be outsourced overseas or shifted to company facilities in other parts of the country. A Verizon spokesman contends that would not happen.

Since Sunday, hundreds of striking workers have been picketing the downtown Boston building where they worked. They hold signs that read “IBEW Local 2222 on Strike Against Verizon’’ and chant slogans like “What do we want? Contracts!’’



Passing drivers have been honking in support, and the strikers respond with cheers. Other workers have picketed Verizon offices and stores throughout the region - even on Monday when the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 634.76 points.

If the strike lasts more than two weeks, CWA members will be able to tap a half-billion-dollar strike fund and receive $200, and then $300 each week after. The IBEW doesn’t have a strike fund.



That didn’t matter to IBEW members Kenneth and Lynn Caruso. They have been preparing for this day since the ink dried on the last contract in 2008. The couple, who met at Verizon, started tucking away $100 from each paycheck into an account they dubbed a “strike fund.’’



“Every time our contract comes up, there’s always that possibility of a strike,’’ said Lynn Caruso, 38, who is a service representative, while her husband is a central office technician. “We just want to have something to fall back on.’’

The Quincy couple said they started adding $150 to their strike fund a year ago after they bought a house; the Carusos, who have a 2-year-old daughter, pull in $1,600 a week. Their fund will cover two months of living expenses, including their mortgage, but after that they will have to tap into their 401(k) retirement accounts.



Other striking employees like Dennize Denton of Boston wish they had done more to prepare.



“The economy has been so bad you can’t save,’’ said Denton, as she picketed the downtown Boston Verizon building on Monday.



The 43-year-old single mother of three said she started applying for other jobs a few weeks ago and tried to pay off bills early. But with her son’s college tuition payment coming up, she realized even a day without pay is too long.

“If we get to two weeks, this line is not going to be as peaceful as it is now,’’ she said.



Tensions are already rising, with Verizon saying that service lines have been sabotaged in more than a dozen instances and that some nonunion employees have been assaulted by union members. Meanwhile, the unions reported that members in Amherst, N.Y., were hit by a car as a replacement worker attempted to drive through the picket line.



Verizon and the unions have been negotiating since late June. The big sticking points in the contract have been health care benefits, and preserving employee pensions and a layoff protection clause.



Gene Carroll, the director of the Union Leadership Institute at Cornell University, said Verizon’s contract proposals follow a 25-year labor relations trend of diminishing job security for the average worker. Some of the things the Verizon unions are asking for are no longer standard benefits in America, he said.

“Striking is not a common practice at all now,’’ he said. “It’s a risky strategy on the part of the union, and it’s also very courageous.’’



Don Trementozzi, president of CWA Local 1400 in New England, said the unions went on strike to force the company to negotiate on their demands.

“I don’t think this contract was going to be won by the bargaining team,’’ he said. “I think it was going to be won by the strength of our members, and I think Verizon underestimated that and the unity of the unions.’’



Verizon spokesman Phil Santoro said the company is looking for concessions because the recently expired contract was negotiated at a time when the landline division was faring better. The striking employees work for the landline division, which oversees the company’s telephone, Internet, and television service.

The number of landline customers has dropped nearly 60 percent over the past decade, to 26 million last year. At the same time, the number of cellphone customers grew to 94 million, according to Verizon figures.



Santoro said Verizon seeks to remove the layoff clause because it limits the company’s ability to reassign union employees to other cities when work shifts. Because of the contract clause, there have been “no layoffs of union employees in many, many years.’’ He added that fears that jobs would be outsourced are “baseless.’’



Passersby who watched the parade of workers surrounding the Verizon building in the Financial District shared mixed emotions about the work stoppage.

But Stefanie Archer, a 34-year-old Brandeis University MBA student, was impressed.

“It’s important that these [strikes] are organized well to show a threat, because big companies don’t get easily threatened,’’ she said.



Chuck Miller, a 32-year Verizon veteran who provisions circuits, was part of the 1989strike that lasted 17 weeks over similar issues.

The Charlestown man said his wife left the landline division after that strike and now works for Verizon Wireless. He fears the current strike could go on for months - even though both sides continued negotiations for the second day in a row yesterday.

“It’s tough,’’ said Miller. “I didn’t think we’d be here again, but we can’t go back.’’



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