I guess that is what this could be called - walking the line, trying to find that balance between good health, a proper physique, and still being mushy enough to be considered a good cuddler.
213.4
The line is a thick one!
Work Stuffs Can Stuff It
Two weeks ago, literally 3 days before the email notification that my contract will be ending this month hit my manager's desk, he provided me my first official "name plate" for my cubicle.
It sat on my desk for about a week and a half, and I hadn't put it in the holder hanging on the outside of my cubicle wall. He came by my desk the other day with a rep from a different department to talk to me about something that needed to be done, that I had already done, but apparently other departments are too lazy to look at, and notice it was done, when he noticed the name plate (loosely stated - it's a piece of gray paper with my name printed on it) sitting on my desk. He exaggeratedly said, "What?! You haven't put it in it's holder yet?" and then proceeded to put it in the holder.
I gave him little to no response, because in my mind I was thinking, "I've been here for over 6-months, on my 2nd contract here. I believe you, and other managers have maybe come to my desk to discuss something about 4 times in 6-months, and not once was any discussion about what do I need, or want from this position. Considering I don't matter, and the name plate didn't really seem to matter, why would actually putting it in its holder matter?" Honestly, it might be there for another 2 weeks, and they could decide to not extend my contract, and let me go. At that point, does it matter?
Back to the previous note: the conversation with that other team rep. We've had ongoing issues with network functionality, nothing that can be solved from a device level, which is my focus, but things that have to be looked at from an engineering level. So all of the tickets that had come to my desk, I moved to their desk, since it is their team that needs to resolve the issue. Of course, they don't like this, because in his words, "They're not incident focused." So he wanted all of the tickets assigned to a parent ticket (which they already were), meaning, when that one ticket is marked resolved, all the associated child tickets will also resolve. He also tried to argue that I should own the tickets, which, in my role I get called out on the carpet for the number of tickets I'm holding weekly because no one looks at individual situations, just raw numbers. So having another 8 tickets in my queue just means my number is increased, and looks worse, despite the fact I can't do anything about it.
I believe I won the debate on that stating if I can't fix it, I shouldn't own it, and then pointed out all the tickets are already organized, and were prior to sending them to the other group.
Honestly, if anyone has any leads on a full-time position that isn't in IT, let me know!
Buffalo Pride Parade
Buffalo Pride Parade kicked off Pride week, and it was an amazing event, as it always is. Many more corporate sponsors joined the festivities this year, which is good, and bad. Good, because I know that's the influx of money the Pride Center needs for their activities, and to serve their communities. At the same time, it gets frustrating to see celebrations continuously become corporate, or government advertisements. That's what almost every other parade represents to me: capitalism on display. The advertisements of businesses, politicians, and government agencies. Here is your local town, rolling your tax dollars down the street, and some corporate sponsors who paid for the organization of the parade.
Pride is about people. Individuals, and communities. People who have been denied freedoms, and equality. People who have been oppressed, and discriminated against. People who have been made out to be abnormal, and something less than human by our society, our governments, and our institutions.
In most ways, the parade is still that - a celebration of humanity, and our unique differences. Of course, we still see narrow minds, and ignorant views allowing themselves a platform to disparage the people, and the event. There will always be those people. The people that can't see beyond the norms that society instilled into their views to see a wider view of the world, and be more accepting of all of those differences. Over time, I've grown to appreciate them more. I've grown to appreciate the people more. I've grown to appreciate the concept of simply spreading as much love as we can. It can be our armor against a world that shows too much hate.
Photos from the parade will be up in the Events section of my Portfolio soon, or relatively soon as time is measured in my life.
But to all of you out there who cherish what Pride brings to our community, know that there are those who cherish what YOU bring to our community, and want you to feel comfortable being who you are.
Red Party to end Period Poverty
Also in the recent Buffalo Rising archive, my article on the Red Party.
No, the Red Party isn't our local communists. Let's be honest, most communists are only called communists because that's how the conservative right wants to define anyone with socially altruistic ideals, and demonize them for it. This Red Party is about raising funds for local organizations that provide services to underrepresented populations in Buffalo, specifically women in situations that may prevent them from being able to afford, or procure sanitary products when necessary. This is actually a major problem for many populations, whether the women are members of refugee groups that make it to America with little more than the clothes on their back, homeless women trying to get by, or women escaping domestic violence relying on the help of others to figure out where to go next.
It is a serious social issue, and for women in these situations, it is a matter of healthcare, and dignity.
Red Party accepts both monetary donations, and the donation of sanitary products. The event will take place at Resurgence Brewing Co., 1250 Niagara St., on Sunday, June 9th at 3:00PM. $20 at the door gets you drink tickets, and 10 raffle tickets. Donations will earn you even more raffle tickets.
Last year the event raised over $500, and brought in more than 5000 products for distribution to six participating charities. This year's goal is to double last year's results. See my article, and my interview with founder Stephanie Frary about the event, and the organization, in my article on Buffalo Rising.
