So last night with only two hours before the deadline was up a new labor contract was negotiated to avoid a strike of the four largest grocery companies in the region, which includes the company I work for. To say everyone is relieved is an understatement though the 30,000 member union was ready to strike and customers had been making runs on the stores since Friday getting ready. With growing up in Texas I never had any part in a union before my employment here (I'm a wine and liquor clerk though for the past few weeks and until further notice I'm also the acting department manager- and just like last year when the position opened I'm being asked by coworkers whether I was going to apply for the job) so previously when I heard any kind of talk regarding unions is was because they were going on strike.

Anyone whom had talked with me this month knew I was apprehensive of the strike occurring- largely because my household finances would take a tumble, particularly when they have been improving quite a bit for me the past few weeks due to all the overtime I've picked up regarding my acting position. I spent most of Sunday in a frustrated and pissed off mood over it all as it looked to be a no-win situation for me (I worked out that even working the picket line, getting food stamps, and cutting all nondiscretionary or nonnecessary budgeting the household would be unable to pay February rent and my savings would be exhausted). Granted the likelihood of the strike going that long was unlikely but the last strike in '89 did run almost 6 months. So yeah as I told a friend Sunday- watch I'm going to be all pissed off about this and it's going to turn out they real a deal. And even though we still have to vote on this new contract it seems that, unlike the US Federal Government, we probably won't have to deal with this again until the end of the contract in a few years.


I forgot to mention this in my last post but I went to the awesomest movie theater in the world while down in Texas at the Palladium (a Santikos owned theater http://www.santikos.com/). It's not so much a movie theater as it is an entertainment center around a theater. We didn't even see a movie there and we could have easily blown an afternoon just hanging out there. There is nothing even like it that I know of here in the Northwest and the prices are what you'd find at any regular nonfancy place. Seriously I'd give someone's arm and leg to have a place like that.... within reasonable driving distance since everything is so spread out up here.