Raising a Fist

February, 22

It has been a while since our last post. We have been very busy working on the inside of the house and those photos will be coming along shortly. First, I need to give you the latest on some political activity here in our state.

Unless you live under a rock or are maybe some of our friends from India, you have been hearing about and watching the events unfolding in Madison, Wisconsin. As you know the republican party is trying to strip the rights of labor unions to ultimately weaken the democratic party and the working middle class in the US. Well, being from a union family, my dad was in the sheet metal workers union his entire working life, I was lucky to have health insurance until I finished college because of that. He retired with a good pension. Nothing fancy, but enough to provide a comfortable life for him and my mom. We had some security for our family. The American dream, right?

The standoff taking place in the Wisconsin House of Representatives is now having the ripple effect across the Midwest. I went up to our statehouse in Indianapolis on Tuesday this week to join in the protest of our republican sponsored 'Right to Work' bill. Of course the bill has nothing to do with the right to work, it basically strips away all union rights and basically destroys the unions and the middle class. Being from one of the large Auto Workers Union states, we have a number of auto factories here, the fight is HUGE. It was invigorating to be in such a large group of real working folks who are very passionate about this issue.

Here are some of the photos:

Our state capitol (file photo)

My good friend Bob, who is a retired teacher, came along with me to the state house. The teachers unions and school budgets are also being completely destroyed by a whole list of bills in the house. The republicans seem to like everyone except their very rich big business partners to be uneducated and poor. Easier to manipulate that way. Here we are standing in the very long line to get inside.

Once inside, we were very impressed by the large crowd already inside by 10am.

We followed a huge crowd to the senate chamber where their session was just starting. The republicans have a majority in the senate, and as we stood outside the chamber windows chanting and yelling it could clearly be heard inside the chamber.

The hallway just outside the chamber windows

Here is a photo of the inside of the senate chamber taken through the window

They have speakers on the wall outside of the chamber so we could hear what they were talking about. Our democratic senator, Vi Simpson (D)Bloomington, spoke passionately about the issues being debated. After she spoke, she was the only senator who came out to the crowd and spoke in support of our cause. She said they could all hear us loud and clear inside.

We worked our way through the crowd down to the House of Representative member offices. Anyone could go in and sign up to speak with their representative. The place was packed. I'm sure they were all getting an ear full.

An AFSCME union member, Tim, who works for the City of Indianapolis as a mechanic, struck up a conversation with me about the issues on the table (AFSCME represented me at UC Berkeley and also does at IU). I loved hearing how educated he is about the issues. A lesson in no matter what a person looks like, one can't assume they are uneducated. This guy was absolutely delightful and a lifetime democrat. He even rides a Harley!

A huge crowd made it's way to the house chamber as they were getting ready for their session. This was the most passionate moment yet. The labor bills were written by the republicans in the house. As they were taking roll call we noticed almost half of the chamber was empty. We suddenly thought, oh my god!, the democrats have left the state in protest. Well, that is EXACTLY what they had done. They could not vote because there was not a quorum present. The crowd went absolutely NUTS! We found out our dems also went to Illinois.

The huge crowds, well over 1000, began to move to the main atrium and began a big rally with speakers from various unions making statements.

All in all, the protests have been taking over the state house since February 18 and plan to go on until the labor bills, as written, are defeated. The collective bargaining rights are the thing they will not budge on. As I spoke to various people from different unions, they all said they are willing to make some consessions - no raises for the next couple of years, pay more for their health care benefits, etc., but they absolutely will not give up collective bargaining. Why the republicans can't compromise too is unbelievable. They have been trying to create bills and then have a vote on them with less than 2 days for public comment. How can the people possibly have time to read and understand them in that short time. It is truly evil. This is why we protest and why the democrats have left the state. The people of our state, democrat & republican constituants, are now having time to understand exactly what the bills will do if passed. This is why the crowds are getting larger every day.

I decided I would take pictures of all the different union t-shirts I could find so you all could see how many unions are being represented.

My dads union

The United Auto Workers. My favorite tee.

And, we can't forget some of the teachers.

Be prepared because this issue will be coming to your state too.

What a time in our history. We won't give up the fight!

Auntie Em! Auntie Em! The Big Feeze

Feb. 1, 2011

WHAT A WINTER!

It seems like winter will never end. We woke up this morning to everything outside covered in ice. The mother of all winter storms seems to be headed straight for us. This has halted all work outside the house, unless of course we like to work in our ice skates. Here are a few photos of what it looked like outside the house this morning.

We were notified this afternoon that Indiana University has been closed and will remain so through tomorrow. Nearly the whole state of Indiana has come to a halt. Rowan was supposed to leave for a trip to Southern California for a conference tomorrow, but the Indy airport and Chicago O'Hare are already closed and most likely won't reopen for two days. They are expecting 20 inches of snow in Northern Indiana and the Chicago area. Our ice will turn to snow later tonight. I must say that as I sit here in the house blogging, there is an erie feeling every time we can hear the trees cracking when a gust of wind comes up. There are little pieces of tree that fall on the house. Lets hope the 60 mile an hour gusts that are expected later tonight leave us with our new roof intact! Good thing is we have a full fridge and freezer and plenty of fire wood on the porch.

Once we realized we may be stuck at home for a few days, I went out yesterday and got more paint samples for the interior walls of the house. We are still working away like little elves on the interior. Here are some photos of the interior work we have been doing the last couple of weeks.

I have put Rowan in charge of painting all of the high spots now. Just too much for my old bones to be going up 15 feet to paint the high bits. Here she is painting one of the kitchen walls for the second time (we ended up doing it 3x's!). Women have a right to change their minds, so that's what we keep doing :o)

Our dear friend Sally has also been helping us paint. Here she is painting the entry hall in its first trial color.

.....and Rowan again on the high bit in the living room for the 3rd and last time!

As I continue to cruz the internet to find more interesting stuff, new boxes keep arriving at the front door. Since Rowan is our fixture electrician, she has also changed the light fixtures more than once. What a dear! :o)

So, call us CRAZY, but we decided about 10 days ago to have a 60th birthday dinner party on Jan 29th for our friend Sally and had 14 people in our very not finished house for a sit-down dinner. Yes, I was about to have a nervous breakdown about this since I will also need to cook Thai food for 14 in my very not finished kitchen. Oh, and not to mention we have no new dining table to seat that many, oh yeah, and our dishes are packed away in boxes. Hmmmmmm, this is when I should have had a menopausal tantrum :o)....scare everyone into just going out to eat! But, NOOOOOO, we love Sally too much not to do this for her, so we borrow a table and chairs and soup bowls from our neighbor, I get the nicest Chinet I can find for plates and we are almost set. We borrow a truck to go get our couches (we suddenly realize we have nowhere for that many people to sit). We worked very hard to get some pictures on the walls, rugs down, etc. to make our new spaces look like a home.

We had lots of help from the cats to get ready. Lulu is always in the middle of everything and right under your feet or hands to help. Here she is helping put up the bookcase that will act as a pantry for the serving dishes.

Of course, Fergus, being the lump that he is, continued to use his mouse as a pillow while he napped!

Here are a few photos of

the house as ready as we could get it. Including paint samples on the walls.

And, just a few photos from our camera from the party(more will be posted later from other folks cameras).

Here is the royal Thai couple. There just can't be a Thai dinner without having them there (Seriously. Have you ever been in a Thai restaurant where you haven't seen their photo?). Our friends Marj and Jeri brought this to the party. Hilarious!

Rowan, Sally and Jenni. Sally doesn't look a day over 50 (isn't 50 the new 60?)

Amanda, Marj and Jeri trying not to pee themselves from laughing.

More photos of the others at the party - Suze, Mike, Bob, Kris, Nowana, Sandy, Charlie coming in the next post.

Now, here is how we will get through the impending winter storm warning.....

Stay tuned for more very soon from the frozen midwest......especially if we are confined to our house for the next few days. Brrrrrrrrrr.......