Mountain climbing, hiking, driving....homelessness

I really would love to know what it is, and also I kind of want one, so let me know if there's a reason I shouldn't.

I went round in circles trying to think what my action should be, but I'm a crafter not a bullet engraver. The most vicious thing I could see myself doing was sending threatening decoupage.

I landed on building community with my neighbours, and have started be giving homegrown produce (mainly kale and loofah), homemade bread and free childcare in my neighbourhood (just a couple of hours a week). I'm also just not spending money until I must, and being more conscious when I must.

The death of the united Healthcare CEO started me thinking, and made me take action. It's small action, but it's within my ability. What did it do for you?

(Pic: my photo but not my craft, I bought these fingerpuppets a long time ago, but of course now I have a fave)

Rather than paying a living wage, Broward college has decided to distribute food bags to their employees. 50 bags for 500 employees 👍

(They do regularly do this for students too)

This article does a great job of explaining people's frustration with having to vote for Biden again. It's long, so here are some quotes. They're totally cherry-picked, I'd recommend reading the whole thing (especially if you think the problem started with Biden, and that Clinton and Obama were ever good choices).

during the 1980s and early 1990s, fears of a relentless Republican juggernaut pressured those left of center to take a defensive stance, focusing on the immediate goal of electing Democrats to stem or slow the rightward tide.

Today, the labor movement has been largely subdued, and social activists have made their peace with neoliberalism and adjusted their horizons accordingly. Within the women’s movement, goals have shifted from practical objectives such as comparable worth and universal child care in the 1980s to celebrating appointments of individual women to public office and challenging the corporate glass ceiling.

Each election now becomes a moment of life-or-death urgency that precludes dissent or even reflection. For liberals, there is only one option in an election year, and that is to elect, at whatever cost, whichever Democrat is running. This modus operandi has tethered what remains of the left to a Democratic Party that has long since renounced its commitment to any sort of redistributive vision and imposes a willed amnesia on political debate.

I mean, you probably should vote Biden this time, because he's not all that bad, he's done some good things. And trump is so terrible, it probably will be the end of democracy and the victory of fascism if he wins. Right? But what about in two years time, or four years, or eight years?

This little guy chomped down on my pepper before burrowing underground.

Edit: Two years later...and, with no fanfare, internal communication or email to myself, my company has changed their policy to allow for working mothers to express milk during duty hours!

The policy is now in line with Frontier and United, however some airlines still do not allow the expression of milk on board the aircraft, or for crewmembers to delay a flight to do so. Bus drivers and other transportation workers are not currently protected by law. (Lamd of the free, folks)

What i have learned from my experience is that being a good little employee and working within the rules of the company to get policy change is time consuming and exhausting. If you are experiencing a similar problem go to a regulatory agency that oversees your company and lean into the safety issues of the current policy rather than how unfair it is.

For any of my issues with company policy now I go straight to the FAA (anonymoushotline complaint). A comparative example: some of our aircraft had multiple broken underneath seat containers for the inflatable life vests. A policy had recently been introduced that spread the responsibility for securing those life vests between gate agents, cleaners and flight attendants, three work groups that were reprimanded for not being on time. The result was that some flights had about 5% of seats without life vests. I complained to the FAA and within three weeks the company was testing new, more secure, underneath seat containers for the life vests. Rollout for these containers is now finished across all aircraft and life vests are no longer falling out.

What i would recommend: Always reach under the seat to check your life vest is there and always complain to the FAA/DOT rather than internal safety teams.

Sorry for bringing this one back from the dead, but it took that long for policy change.

Original post:

I'm a nursing Mum, USA, and my work (transportation) is not protected by the pump act. https://www.usbreastfeeding.org/the-pump-act-explained.html I was told via email from HR that they "do not make accommodations for crewmembers." Legally they don't have to, so I applied for disability. It was denied with some accommodations for my return to work that needed clarification, but I didn't expect much more. I then started my return to work process, including a medical return to work form for my provider to complete. The provider used the exact same, cut and paste, language as the original request for disability form. My return to work has been denied because they cannot accommodate me. Local unions advice: break the rules. So, yes, lawyer up, of course. However, that will take months or years (like the Frontier case https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/settlement-reached-frontier-airlines-pregnancy-and-lactation-discrimination-lawsuit ) and I am running low on my savings.

So, despite ten years with my company, I will now lose my $50~/hr pay, schedule seniority, union Healthcare, tribal knowledge, skills etc and go to another company. All because I wanted twenty minutes every four hours to pump for my baby - some coworkers take longer shits.

Regular pumping avoids mastitis and maintains flow. Breastfed babies have less health problems in early years. Nursing mothers have lower instances of certain cancers. Formula is a great invention, but costs money, and just isn't a good fit for my family. https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/features/breastfeeding-benefits/index.html