Wolverine

Technically speaking, I don’t need a real reason to justify my trip to the movies today. (Well, I write ‘today,’ but by the time you read this, it’ll be ‘yesterday,’ actually.) I was watching “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and I liked it.

I could justify why it had to be “Wolverine.” I could mention the action sequences – which were great – or the special effects – which were also great – or the story – which was good, too, although a little foreseeable every now and then. But, being a woman, I basically could stop at two words: Hugh Jackman. And I like him a lot as Wolverine.

I’m not a specialist on “X-Men” (basically the ‘I’ve just seen the movies and maybe read one or two comics’ person), but the movie cleared up a few things for me. It tells about Wolverine’s past (starting at the point when he uses his powers for the first time) and shows how he became that ‘I’ve got a skeleton made from the hardest metal known to mankind’ guy. I have to admit I did not know he’s been born somewhat around 1835 or so (‘cause the movie starts in 1845 and I’d say he was about ten at that time – and I mean 1845, not 1945). It also presents Striker for the first time (you know, that military guy from the second movie who wants all mutants eradicated or at least imprisoned) and explains their connection. We get a glimpse of Cyclops before he becomes Cyclops and we see Professor Xavier actually walking. In addition, the end of the movie explains why Wolverine/Logan can’t remember his past in the first “X-Men” movie. And we learn why he chose to be known as Wolverine in the first place.

So, was the movie worth the ticket price? Definitely. I enjoyed it, although I’m not that much of an action fan, mostly. But the fights and action sequences in the movie are done quite well, the characters are believable in their actions (and I like Gambit’s fighting style, that guy knows how to use a cane to make an impression). I did not miss the stars the movie was supposed to be missing for some critics. But then, I don’t go and see a movie just because someone’s in it (except perhaps Hugh Jackman or Johnny Depp…).

There’s also quite a bit of story behind it. Some parts are quite foreseeable. Other parts are not. The story heavily relies on the dynamics between Logan and his brother, both as a team and as adversaries. It also relies on the fact that Logan is far older than he looks and thus has seen far more of life than an average person (and doesn’t like flying…).

And the action? Well, the movie displayed some quite novel ways to use those claws Wolverine is famous for. There’s explosions, there’s fights, there’s big buildings being destroyed. But the movie does not rely on them. That’s something I still find quite remarkable about the movie (it was remarkable about “The Dark Knight,” too). It’s a good sign if a story is good enough to make you remember the quieter moments instead of the loud and blazing action.

If you like action, fights and a good story – or Hugh Jackman (or all of the above) –, the movie is definitely something you should consider. It’s not very ‘comic’ – there’s no superheroes in strange costumes. It’s definitely not a normal story, either – not with people surviving falls from great highs or unsheathing claws from the backs of their hands. But it’s not something you need a whole canon of comic knowledge for. Just get in, sit down and enjoy. (If you’re a woman, get in, sit down and enjoy a completely wet and naked Hugh Jackman escaping a high security military instalment and jumping down a deep waterfall…)

Weekend Update

Yes, even though I didn’t write one post this week (I wrote a lot, as it were, but no posts), I have found the time to write this weekend update.

• DVDs to watch: “Lost Boys: The Tribe”, “St. Trinian’s” and “L’Auberge Rouge” (a French movie)
• Books to read: “Senk ju vor träwelling” part 2 and a book about mind reading
• Game to play: no real plan, probably “The Sims 2” or “Overlord” or some casual game

And, in addition, I will work on my story (nearing, as it were, page 100) and spent another week writing and relaxing.

Weekend Update

Surprise, surprise, there we are again with a weekend update! I’m getting my life back under control - or so it seems - and that means, getting this blog back on course again, too.

So, what am I going to do this weekend?

• DVD to watch: second season of “Psych”
• book to read: no real plan, but I’m browsing through “Telling lies for fun & profit” again
• game to play: “Overlord”, if I get to it ... I love being the bad guy

Mainly I’ll be writing, though. I’m on to a story and it’s good.

Surprises

Life is full of surprises, apparently. There’s the nice ‘expensive jewellery in your cupcake’ kind of surprise and the bad ‘poisonous spider in your shoe’ kind of surprise. (Also known as the ‘surprise visit by Count Olaf’ kind of surprise - sorry, I’ve been playing a “A Series of Unfortunate Events” custom game this weekend.)

I received a ‘poisonous spider’ surprise on Thursday - as I’ve already written. (I also received one of those on Sunday before Eastern, when my PC broke down.) Today I received the other kind, the ‘cupcake’ variety.

I basically went to work to tell my boss ‘I quit.’ Not that I don’t like my job - or my colleagues or my boss, they’re all okay. But I’m finished. I’m steps from a burnout syndrome, if I’m not already there. I thought that was the only way I could at least save some of my health.

My boss didn’t like it one bit, of course. He didn’t want to lose me - as I’m a good and reliant employee, it seems. Still, I was set on going through with it. Then I went over to the office in order to tell my colleagues goodbye. They didn’t want to let me go, either. And one of them had a good idea. They talked it over with me, then we talked it over with my boss and now it seems things will take a different course.

I stay at home this week, just as planned. Of course, it would have been better not to have had the stress I had with my decision this weekend. I’m probably going to stay home during the next few weeks, too - mostly on unpaid leave. I will recuperate, I’ll gather new energy and afterwards I will take it slower at the office for a while, go back to 30 hours a week, maybe 25. My boss will help me with this, as long as I stay.

This is a whole new experience for me. I’ve never worked in a company where I was appreciated like that. I was a call-center agent before. The bosses there basically give you the feeling that you should be honoured to work for ‘the coming thing’ - and probably bring money to work instead of expecting it on your pay check at the end of the month. It was a good feeling to see various people try their best so I could and would stay. And, of course, a great ego-boost, too...

The pest of temporal employment

We’re in the middle of a crisis and nobody wants to lose his or her job. That much is for sure. If that means drifting into temporal employment, then it has to be done. Really?

Even though I can’t say anything bad about my own temporal employment agency, I’ve had experiences enough. Usually, working for such an agency means lower pay than people who work directly for a company get. It also means being seen as someone lower up the ladder of the hierarchy. And it means, of course, that you never know how long you’ll be working somewhere.

All in all, working for a temporal employment agency is a rather uncertain affair. And it is something which more and more people in Germany get subjected to. In fact, there’s quite some companies which found their own agencies in order to put their workers into those agencies and then rent them back. That seems quite illogical, but it seems to work from a financial point of view.

At a time when the government wants more children, it makes the decision for people whether to become parents even harder. And politicians even claim that there is no other way...

Isn’t there? The global market just goes that far. There are jobs that can’t be taken to another, cheaper country. A lot of production has left Germany anyway. And some of them come back, because they realize that less pay might also mean less quality.

And there’s something we call the law. The government can make certain dealings of the companies illegal, if they decide it harms society. That’s why you create laws against something, because it harms society on the whole.

The German government could render any wages below the tariff contracts in Germany illegal. Then it would be punishable (by prison or a very hefty fine) to pay your employees less than the wages the unions and the representatives of the employers have agreed on. The government could render this ‘we found our own temporal employment agency and then rent our workers back for lower pay’-business illegal, too.

Admittedly, the employees could do more to fight for their rights, too. In France, our neighbouring country, trains will stand completely still if the employees of the transport company decided to go on strike. It’s not just a ‘this train station today, this train station tomorrow’-affair like they did it in Germany. We do not have a history for going on strike without any reservations - and the employers in Germany know that. Even that slightly half-hearted strike of the employees of the Germany train company was seen as a very strong threat against the employers - and the all-mighty employers broke down. (Because transport is indeed something you can’t outsource to China or Eastern Europe.) Imagine what would happen if employees in Germany acquired a reputation for going on real no-nonsense strikes to strengthen their position towards the employers.

But back to temporal employment. It an uncertain form of employment that harms - or at least threatens to harm - society. There are specific areas of employment where the temporal form has its use. As a replacement for someone on vacation - or a sudden sickness. As a boost during a very busy time. As a short-lived need for another employee. Or maybe, if it really needs to be, in order to preselect the applicants for a new job. But today, if you get a job via temporal employment, you’re going to stay in temporal employment. It’s not just the principle ‘we’ll find someone over temporal employment and after a while we’ll hire him or her for real.’ It’s the principle ‘we hire on temporal employment, pay the higher costs for it and will therefore be able to fire people at will - and it’s fashionable, too.’

This makes me so sick, I want to puke. Temporal employment the way it’s used these days is a pest, a disease that should be fought, not supported. But the government ignores it.

Post 801

Aw, come on! You must have known this post would come! After 800 posts you should know me well enough. I might have missed posts 700 and 750, but after realizing I was approaching number 800, I never would have missed that chance. Life has basically forced me to get the shit about my work off my chest first (especially as I would appreciate at least spending four more days recuperating before my talk with my boss, see the last post).

So, what other news, thought, ideas or plans do I have, apart from maybe being unemployed by the end of next week?

Spring has finally come to Germany. I meant to write a post about that since Thursday before last week. I didn’t get to do it, so I’ll write a bit about it now. After basically having a long winter until the end of March, spring has come with a vengeance. Within a week we were going from 5 degrees (Celsius) to 20 degrees (Celsius). It’s a bit quick for me, but I enjoy looking out of the window and seeing the sun and the fresh green of the plants.

We’ve had a fair two weeks ago and I took some pictures. I have not even had a good look at them, but at least the one I did of the Ferris wheel should be great. I’ll post them as soon as I get around to it. Don’t expect anything spectacular, though.

I would have taken some pictures of Bruchsal, maybe even of the palace, next week. That’s not going to happen, of course, but I promise I will do it one day soon.

I still have to complete the configuration of my computer. There’s still programs to install (I’m looking forward to something about two hours of reinstalling “The Sims 2” this afternoon) and I’ve lost a lot of save games from my casual games. I’m not going to reinstall them all right now, just those I feel I want to play again.

I had planned on reading quite a bit (finished “Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox” in a day this week). I’ve got a couple of DVDs (including the first season of “Supernatural”, the second season of “Veronica Mars”, “Kindred the Embraced”, the complete “Birds of Prey” TV series and a few movies) I wanted to watch. We’ll see when I get to it.

I need to get back into the mood for writing, too. My last story was running well before my computer decided to break down last Sunday. With it up and basically running again (it’s the fine tuning I’ve got to do now), I can continue writing.

This was post 801. I hope you liked it. And I hope there’ll be 800 posts following this one. I’m not done with blogging and I might bitch a bit in the near future.

I've reaced a decision

This is post 800, if I’m not mistaken very much. Normally, I’d be writing a joyous little piece about how long I’ve had this blog and how great it is to have written 800 posts so far. But not right now.

Between the time I put out the last post yesterday and the time I sat down this morning - after four hour of sleep, I might add - to write this post, I’ve reached a strange mindset. I’ve entered it once before, also because of work, but because of the last job I had before this one.

I might not have a job any longer before next week is over, because of the decision I’ve reached. But even in this crisis, it will be worth it, if it means I’m not going to run any lower on energy.

Fact is, currently I’m running on reserve. I’ve been running on reserve for most of this year since January. If I were a car, the alarm lights of the cockpit would be flashing. But I’m not a car and not everyone can easily see how low I’m running. I’ve been motivating myself to get up, to go to work, to do overtime by thinking about the fact that I was going to have two weeks for recuperation at Eastern. I have only managed to go on by concentrating on this thought.

Yesterday, after my boss’ call, I’ve almost had a nervous breakdown. Maybe it even was one, I don’t know, I’ve never had one before. I was crying and I was screaming and cursing for about an hour after the call. Then I wrote the last post, but I couldn’t let it go. I feel kaput. I don’t really know where I will get the energy from to get up on Tuesday, to go to work, to go on doing overtime.

So I decided to step on the brake. If the company cannot take care of me, of my health, of the rights I have as an employee, then I will do it. I’ll have a talk with my boss on Tuesday (and he’s probably going to hate me afterwards). There are quite some topics to talk about.

Why does one of us in the import department (3 1/4 people) have to keep up with the export (about 10 people), so she can step in ‘in case of an emergency,’ but there’s nobody from the export who can step in ‘in case of an emergency’ in our department?

Why don’t they get somebody as a replacement for my male colleague who will have to leave at the end of October? It’ll take at least six month to get a new colleague settled and ready to tackle at least the usual daily work on his or her own.

Why does my boss get four weeks of vacation and I can’t even stay at home for two?

I’m not in charge at work, I can’t take care of anything there. I’m not in the position to change anything. Therefore, I do not have the duty to take care of things, either. It is not my problem how they do get things done with one person being sick for who knows how long.

I can’t just call on Tuesday and say ‘I’m not coming,’ but I don’t have to do more than my contract (with a temporal employment agency, not with the company I work for) says. When I took the job, there was no talk of a regular early shift. Had there been something about that, I would have thought twice, maybe even three times, before taking it (during the job interview with the agency, I said ‘between eight a.m. and six p.m., maybe longer in the evening, but not earlier; early shift means being at work at seven a.m.). I have a 35-hours-a-week contract. There’s no way in hell they can make me work longer. If I can’t take off the overtime I’ve done (and, obviously, I can’t), then I’m not going to do any.

I’m not going to take any more considerations about the company. I will take off the 15th of May - I need to get my car through the TÜV at that time (you’re not allowed to drive a car that’s not been through the TÜV regularly in Germany). I will not be there for the seminar about import the Saturday after this. And I don’t care whether that means my colleague will be alone that Friday. All considerations are off - and I’m going to tell my boss this.

If they don’t get it going, if there’s no new colleague during the next month, if they don’t consider at least another part-time employed (we’re being paid for four full-time employees in my department), then I’ll be leaving. I’ve sacrificed my health for one company, I’m not naïve or stupid enough to do it again. No job is worth this, crisis or not. And certainly no job with a pay like mine.

And if my boss doesn’t like what I have to say, he’s free to fire me. I can be kicked out of the company within hours, as I’m not employed there. My employer, the people who pay my wages, is the temporal employment agency I’m working for. They might fire me right afterwards, but they can’t do it from one minute to the next. As far as I remember, a have a three-months-deadline for dismissal. That’s one of the few good things about working in Germany.

My life stinks!

I’ve just stated I had one more week of vacation ahead of me. Well, that was before my boss called and told me I had to be back at work on Tuesday - the day after the long Easter weekend.

I’m very angry about that at the moment. One of the reasons for this is my last week. My computer went on strike on Sunday and I didn’t get it back before yesterday - and I’m still working on it, not just using it for games or writing as I planned to.

Another reason is that I’m pretty much finished. I didn’t have a day of ‘real’ vacation last year, due to my webmaster course. I didn’t have time to gather new energy this year, either, due to not having that many vacation days. The last month was a nightmare, too, because one of my colleagues was sick and two people had to do the work of four. (The other colleague works part time and was on a forced vacation during the last week before my vacation started.) In January I planned those two weeks before and after Eastern without even knowing about what would happen in March.

My next scheduled vacation is towards the end of August. It would have worked out, had I had those two weeks in full. But I don’t get them. Basically, I’ve just lost four days of overtime, nothing more.

I do not blame my colleagues for that. The one who got sick surely didn’t do it on purpose - she’s very dutiful normally. The one who had to take a vacation didn’t do it on purpose either - she was forced to do so. I do not even really blame my boss for this situation.

What I blame him for, though, is not being able to find a suitable substitute for my male colleague who will be forced to leave the company in October (the German government is forcing him to do so). Had they found someone (and it’s getting pretty urgent now), there would have been enough people around to handle it without me coming back from the vacation.

I have made a decision. After I’m back at work, I’ll ask my boss for a talk under four eyes. And I’ll tell him one thing straight: if they don’t get going with that new colleague, I’ll be leaving at the end of October, too. I’m feeling bad already, out of energy and sick. I’m not going to ruin my health - or what’s left of it - for them. Even though I know it doesn’t look good, I’d rather face the crisis-stricken job market.

What a week!

Believe it or not, I’ve been on vacation since Saturday (theoretically, at least) and I haven’t had time to write anything since Sunday. Reason for this is simple: my main board croaked. Ever since Sunday afternoon, when I wanted to sit down and get some serious writing done, my computer didn’t work.

I took it to a computer shop which I really trust and got it back yesterday in the evening. That’s good news. I managed to migrate my email accounts and preferences for Firefox. Also very good news.

On the down side is this, though: I have to reinstall all my programs and games. That’ll take forever - especially “The Sims 2”. And most of my success in the casual games will be lost. At least, I’ll hopefully be able to keep the save games for the other games.

On the other hand, I’ll finally sieve through my games and only reinstall the ones I still play, at least for the time being. Also something good.

I have topics for at least five posts in mind, but no real time to write them all down with clearing off my old hard disks and getting everything up and working again. Well, there’s another week of vacation coming up.