the Elevator at work

The major new thing about switching jobs late in life is that you have to get used to new things. Having to ride elevators is the major new aspect of my life at work. I do it frequently during the day and it is always educational.

People talk about the usual things on elevators. Their children, their grandchildren, their pets. Why their bosses are lousy administrators. Why they work harder than their co-workers. I also hear a lot about retirements, grumbling about the furloughs, and kvetching about the weather.


I have also learned about entirely new things on the elevator. Last week I learned about foster dogs. I never knew there was such a thing. I now know the good things as well as the bad, sigh, about volunteering to take a foster dog.

A teachable moment

If there is a teachable moment in the Gates incident, it is that it is never a good idea to mouth off to cops. They are usually hot tempered and can get mean real easily. I know kids mouth off to their parents, their teachers, and when they get older, their bosses. But mouthing off to cops is still not a good idea.

In my mission of keeping my thousands of followers up to date on the latest cultural events, I can recommend a new show, Long Distance Relationship. It is on hulu and each episode is five minutes long. Even people with ADD can enjoy this show. The girl is cute too.

The coalition of the swilling

Buried deep in the Stimulus bill is a provision that the White House will attempt to create memorable items and phrases that comedians and columnists can use to create funny bits. This August two new stories have been produced with this aim in mind. The beer summit and the Cash for Clunkers Program will always come to mind when we remember 2009. The 2059 high school reunions will make references to these two events.

Britain has a system whereby union leaders gather at the Prime Minister's office for beer and sandwiches. Perhaps this is the American equivalent. Obama, an Anglophile, modified the time worn custom and changed the sandwiches to honor peanuts, a product of the American South. The Cash for Clunkers program has been wildly popular, but unfortunately, underfunded.

There is the problem of how to keep the Obama White House from being dull. The Clintons always had their bickering and his girlfriends. The Bushes had their fun loving daughters to bring levity to their administrations. For Obama, there will be the occasional media event with catchy names.

Editor's note: The title of this blog is stolen from the Slate Political Gabfest.

Nude bathing

A recent article in Time magazine talks about how nude bathing is no longer in fashion in France. This article awoke memories for me about my first experience of nude bathing. I was going to Rutgers and I met a lady who lived in Ridgewood, New Jersey, a bastion of old money, or at least what passes for it in New Jersey.

My mother was very impressed with me dating someone from Ridgewood. "Mr. Mustache is moving up in the world I see", she remarked.

So I drove to Ridgewood and met my female friend. We chatted and what-not and then went to the friend's house that was having a swim party. "I brought my bathing suit!" I proclamed.

"Uh, you won't need it". I won't need it. I was about to discover life in New Jersey's wealthier suburbs.

There was a rather loud group of young people in the pool. All naked as cod fish. And they were playing volleyboall or something. We bravely entered the cool waters. After a while, we retreated poolside. A joint was being passed around. The parents of the hosts were toking up along with the younger set.

I learned then that life among the wealthier classes can be different than life among the rest of us.

Paris Fashions

Well the Dow is over 9,000. Looks like rich people are going to recover faster than working Joe's. So what else is new. Just looking at the latest fashion show in Paris, the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. Really? Who would wear those things? The woman with the shaft sticking out of her head would be really popular in a movie theatre. I can see one or two at play dates but some of the dresses might be hard to find a correct venue for. After all, award shows are hard to get into.

Of course, I consider myself to be an expert on fashion since I watch Ugly Betty and saw the Devil Wears Prada.

Switching break rooms

Since starting my job a few years ago I have always used the small refrigerator. It was closest to the coffee maker and the most convenient. Recently new employee use and the recession has made the refrigerator over crowded and recently, smelly. The other break room has a less crowded refrigerator. The higher ups use it but recently the other break room people invited people to emigrate to fix the Dickens like conditions in the small break room.

I have taken them up on the offer and moved to the large break room and it's refrigerator. Yes it's a better class of lunches now and the refrigerator has more room. My lunch gets to share it's space with leftover coq a vin instead of Bologna sandwiches. I have gone upscale. Still I have a sense of guilt in leaving the old break room. You can never go home again.

Artsy French movies

When I was a young college student I discovered artsy French movies. Truffaut, Renoir, Cocteau, and Goddard movies were the big thing at that time and I remember seeing them in a small room with a noisy projector at Fairleigh Dickinson University. There, a young man would show movies on Friday nights followed by erudite commentary. Everybody enjoyed their cigarettes while watching the movies.

Today in Trenton, one can re live that golden age of artsy movie viewing, without the cigarettes of course. The locale is Cafe Ole on Warren Street in Trenton. The movie this week (July 15) is the Malle film, Murmur of the Heart. You can drink coffee and eat pastries and there is a discussion afterwards. 7Pm. $5, sponsored by the Trenton Film Society. Oh for a stale Galousie.

Afterwards:

Well it was fun. We had a delay because the person with the film was late because her train was delayed in Philadelphia. The film had subtitles. One thing I noticed was that a man in the front row kept laughing during the film when there were no subtitles on the screen. He must have known French.