Strikes, Newscorp City, and other bits

Yes, I’m at work. Yes, there’s a transit strike. I took the LIRR from Woodside this morning, and then walked up from Penn Station. Took perhaps twenty minutes on the train and then another half-hour to walk—I was ten minutes late because several trains passed us without stopping, but no big deal. And not such a horrible walk—it’s in the low 30s today, sunny, and I’ve got my heavy winter coat.
So, yeah. Still working. I’m actually glad the transit workers are striking. They deserve to be crushed, and Bloomberg will do it. Every year they threaten to pull this crap and every year before this the city has caved to their ridiculous demands. Time to show them they can’t get away with this. I’ll happily walk for a few days if it means breaking their stranglehold.
Went to the company party on Friday—Newscorp City, as I call it, because it’s all of Newscorp, literally thousands of people, and takes up the entire third floor of the big Hilton on Sixth Avenue. It was fun—the food was decent (the desserts excellent) and I went with a bunch of my co-workers, so we wandered through the various rooms (each with a different theme) and then hung out in the hall (which is wider than my house is long, just to give you an idea) and chatted with other friends and co-workers as they wandered past. I stayed until 9pm, about three hours, and then headed out with a friend and my boss and her husband, since we all took the same train at least partway home. Our gift bag this year consisted of a copy of Jack Welch’s Winning (a novel we already have), a calendar, and a copy of the Fantastic Four DVD. I figured it would be FF this year, and that’s fine—I thought the movie was okay and I’m willing to watch it again at home but I hadn’t planned to pay for it.
Not a whole lot else going on, actually. Still waiting for the baby, who should be emerging any day now (possibly any hour). I’ve got a short week this week, next week, and the following week, and I’ve still got a few personal days saved up, so once he does pop I’ll be taking at least a week off. I’m on hold on my one writing project (waiting on a long-overdue contract) and don’t have anything else urgent right now, so I’m actually taking it easy for once. We’re working our way through the first season of Veronica Mars on DVD and enjoying it immensely, even the ones we’ve already seen. And I’m spending time with my pregnant wife, with my delightful daughter, and with our good friend xochitl42, who has kindly agreed to stay with us in case we need someone to stay with Adara at night while we rush to the hospital.
And now I’m back to work. Where, btw, I make less than many transit workers (despite having not only a college diploma but a graduate degree) and have to contribute to the costs of my benefits, and can be held accountable when I screw up.
Maybe we should strike.