Red-Handed Jill

Wow - AMAZING work!!

What the heck. I did the last two. We did something very useful last year which helped a lot with the gift exchange. Each of us gave some general ideas about what we liked. It wasn't as if we answered a questionnaire or wrote a novel or some such thing - just a line or two giving a few ideas.

There's another side to this and it's the productivity issue. As a former email sysadmin, I had to spend a great deal of time blocking spam. Occasionally, the spambot would create a situation where our mail scanner became flooded by mail and would be pretty much shut down. Which meant our customers couldn't email us and vice versa. Were we compensated for this loss of productivity? Nope. And pretty much every company has had the same sort of productivity hits, all because someone wanted to advertise their porn and cheap spam. That's billions of dollars in lost productivity. Anyone else interfering with so many other businesses to that extent would be put away or at the least heavily fined. Why is the spammer any different?

I have to side with Red Cat on this one. One person's right of free speech ends where another's right to not be importuned begins.

I forgot I had so few pics of me that weren't far away or had me looking elsewhere - but I found some. Here's me at fourteen goofing with my mum (I think I weighed all of about 95 pounds at the time): Here's me at eighteen, also with my mum (yes, we both had perms by that point): Here's me in my mid-twenties - I tried to compensate for the flash but there wasn't a heck of a lot I could do. Still pretty skinny: And something incredibly rare - a recent picture of me not in garb and not hauling sails or throwing sharp objects. (Okay - so I'm getting ready to haul sails to go to the NorCal Faire...) If memory serves, I dyed my hair almost black for this event, which is why it is so dark. Over thirty years older, three inches taller and thirty pounds heavier than the first picture!

You could take a digital pic of them.

I have a plethora of sewing projects, plus some cabinetry work and at least two chairs.

There's a pretty good aviation museum right by where I live: Hiller Aviation Museum There are all sorts of interesting flying machines here, including a rotorcycle.

Hope you're having a good one!!

I'm partial to cutlasses - I currently have a Windlass steelcraft one that has served me pretty well over the years. The smaller size allows for more speed when fighting. In an edged weapons fight, speed trumps strength every time.

Bugger - I'm late! Hope you had a GREAT birthday!!

I received Kate's book from Patrick.

Yeah, but there are plenty of ranges in-between, just like there are many shades of grey between black and white.

That's why I'm SOOOO glad that I'm part Indonesian and North African. I've got my Irish grandmother's auburn hair but I don't burn that easily. In order for me to get a noticeable sunburn I'd have to forget to wear sunscreen and be out all day on the water. By comparison, Jack (who is Cajun with dark hair) burns fairly easily.

Tomatoes = chutney (at least for me. I make a couple of killer tomato chutneys.)

Hmmm.... not sure if I can post here. My hair is naturally a dark auburn - looks red in the sun, though.

Jack is good for a lot of things... And speaking of small towns, I don't live in one, but I had a "small world" encounter today. I was shopping at Trader Joe's and heard a small child say, "Pirate! Pirate!" Knowing that Trader Joe's sometimes incorporates pirate themes into their store, I looked around for the pirate decorations. But the kid was pointing at me. Apparently he met me at an event and was able to recognize me even in civvies.

I've had pretty good luck buying wooden boxes through eBay. Besides that one, I got one map box bound in brass, two medium boxes that Jack and I use for toiletries when we go on black powder rendezvous, an antique explosives box, a small box bound in brass for a friend and a sailor's ditty box for Jack. I've seen larger boxes similar to mine on eBay - sometimes it seems they show up in waves. Seriously - check out eBay. Here's one that's about to end soon. And another.

You could spend more time around the axe department... (Whups - it slipped!) This guy sounds like he enjoys making you feel uncomfortable. If you don't allow him to have that power and let him know in no uncertain terms that there will be negative consequences if he continues. Say something like, "I was taught to be gracious and polite, even under unpleasant circumstances. You had better know right now as far as you're concerned, I'm not going to be polite any more. You try any more of that crap and I will rip you a new one." If you're really feeling bold, when he gets too close you could yell, "Damn - that's the smallest penis I've ever seen!! Put that thing away before it gets hurt!" Or you could tell him that a friend of yours is writing a book about a$$holes and he would be just perfect for chapter 13.

Then definitely take his picture and tell him it will be posted on a very public and well-known harassment website. And don't worry about being polite. My guess is that he enjoys making you feel uncomfortable - tt gives him a sense of power. So take that power away from him. Personally, I'd keep a large blunt object handy and if he tried his usual tactics again, I'd promise him a world of pain. Or say very loudly, "IF YOU DON'T STOP HARASSING ME I'M CALLING THE POLICE!" Sometimes public embarrassment will stop these guys. Or, you could have a co-worker record this guy on their cell phone and then tell the guy that the recording will be sent to the police. And then send it. Let him know in no uncertain terms that you're not going to put up with his crap. And if management has a problem with this, remind them that creating a sexual harassment-free workplace is the LAW.

Happy Birthday!! Here's to another successful trip around the sun!

Does your boss know? You shouldn't have to put up with that sort of crap. That tired maxim about the customer being always right is absolutely wrong. An unreasonable or abusive customer should never, EVER be considered more important than a loyal employee. Smart companies nowadays are siding with loyal employees, since unhappy employees = less than stellar service. If this is face-to-face harassment, take his picture and tell him that you will be posting it to the hollaback.com anti-harassment site.

Anything a group of pirates can help with, even remotely? Send good thoughts your way, at least?

Yes, that does seem to happen. But yesterday was very unusual for the amount of people disregarding traffic signs, signals and right-of-ways, who just darted out into oncoming traffic or crossed into it, causing people to have to slam on their brakes to avoid broadsiding them. There was a noticeable increase in that behavior yesterday - it was unreal and very unnerving.