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15+ Employees who got fired for odd reasons: '[He] fired both me and my boss on the spot'

Posted by Remy Millisky

https://cheezburger.com/43674117/15-employees-who-got-fired-for-odd-reasons-he-fired-both-me-and-my-boss-on-the-spot

Getting fired from a job is rarely a pleasant experience for either the boss or employee, but sometimes it's a necessary step.

In the good old US of A, bosses can easily fire most employees for almost any reason, no matter how silly the reason may be. If they want an employee gone, they can easily piece together an excuse to lay them off. Downsizing, restructuring, removing the role entirely… the list goes on. Not to mention that most employers don't bother giving out severance checks, either. Employees are just left to fend for themselves after months or years of having a reliable paycheck.

These people got fired for some interesting reasons! Some stories make it obvious exactly why that worker got sent packing. But other people clearly just had bosses that had it out for them, and would give any excuse to get them to leave. For example, one worker was scolded for sitting down, even when there was no one else in the store. Their manager told them to stand in order to look professional… to which the worker retorted asking why that manager was sitting in their back office all day. Zing! Got him! And they also lost their job for that. Sometimes the joke is good enough to cost you a job, and hopefully that witty individual found something better soon after.

https://cheezburger.com/43674117/15-employees-who-got-fired-for-odd-reasons-he-fired-both-me-and-my-boss-on-the-spot

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Three-Part "Messiah" Podcast

Making Messiah on Freakonomics. There's a transcript as well.

The podcast does have some advertisements.

Micah Aaron Tajone Kalap Obituary

Micah was a co-worker at the theatre. He was the sort of person who becomes a front of house manager by age 18.

Micah Aaron Tajone Kalap Obituary

As it happens, the bridge nearest the funeral home was just torn down. As a result, access looks like this...

(Buses are even worse)

Boss fires employee on sick leave after they refuse to answer her calls, then claims the employee re

Posted by Bar Mor Hazut

https://cheezburger.com/43670277/boss-fires-employee-on-sick-leave-after-they-refuse-to-answer-her-calls-then-claims-the-employee

How does your boss treat you when you tell them you have to take a sick day?

Apparently, having a boss who respects your need to recover while you're sick is somewhat of a privilege. Even though you are not physically present at the office, managers think they can still demand whatever they want from you. They don't care what caused you to take a sick leave; they don't want to know how you are feeling. All they want is the job to be done.

The employee in the story below was not having any of that. They took sick leave and refused to answer any of their boss's calls while they were recovering. They expected their boss to understand when they texted her about their inability to work, but instead, the boss sent them a single text in response: "Your resignation has been accepted effective immediately."

This left the employee confused and frustrated. All they wanted was a day to recover, and suddenly they were out of a job. Not only that, but they didn't even know if they were fired or if they quit…

https://cheezburger.com/43670277/boss-fires-employee-on-sick-leave-after-they-refuse-to-answer-her-calls-then-claims-the-employee

Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Co. reopens with consolidated staff and building

Posted by Nollyanne Delacruz

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/los-gatos-coffee-roasting-co-reopens-with-consolidated-staff-and-building/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12370222

The only indication that Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Co. is on a long road to recovery are the large posters covering the doorways that once connected the cafe to the espresso bar side of the establishment. Otherwise, the coffee shop is almost as busy as ever almost two weeks after reopening.

The cafe side of the shop was smashed by a speeding car on Thanksgiving night. The driver was identified as Karl Horst Klemmer, a 90-year-old resident of Los Gatos. The collision ended in a misdemeanor arrest. Klemmer was transported to the hospital in serious condition before dying on Dec. 7 from complications of multiple injuries to include pelvic fracture, according to the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office.

Coffee Roasting Co. Founder Teri Hope and the Los Gatan newspaper set up a GoFundMe to raise money for employees who were affected by the business’s unplanned closure and support the coffee shop’s reconstruction.

The initial fundraising goal was set at $40,000, but has since increased to $52,500. As of press time that goal was surpassed, and supporters raised a little over $53,000.

“The generosity of the community has been deeply touching and meaningful but not surprising given the wonderful community of Los Gatos,” Hope said.

The espresso bar side of the shop reopened on Dec. 5. Hope said she wanted to reopen quickly to get as many employees back to work as possible and restart their cash flow so they could stay in business and provide “a sense of normality” for the business and the community. Before the espresso bar reopened, Los Gatos town employees conducted a structural inspection and allowed them to continue operating out of that side of the business. The cafe section of the building was sealed off for cleanup and assessment of damages. Meanwhile, the cafe and retail coffee bean departments were consolidated into the undamaged espresso bar space.

Barista Isabella Hurtado said she had heard about the damage to the coffee shop in a group chat with other employees the day after the crash. Hurtado has been working at Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Co. for around six months and was one of the employees who couldn’t work during the week the coffee shop was closed. What initially started a summer job at the coffee shop she frequented for studying became an income stream that helps support her education at Evergreen Valley College.

“It was super surreal,” Hurtado said of hearing about the incident. “It’s just like, somewhere that you go to every day and could not imagine it in that state.”

Hurtado said she sympathized with Hope, adding that the business’s cozy atmosphere made it a “second home,” largely due to Hope’s efforts to personalize its aesthetic. Hurtado said one of her major concerns about working in the shop after it was damaged was how crowded the espresso bar became after the baristas and cafe workers were consolidated into the space, which led to fewer tips for each employee since more employees had to share the pool. She also wondered if people would come to a smaller space, especially since they expect to have construction on the damaged side.

But that didn’t seem to deter regular customers. Karen Vincent and Noreen Clark were having one of their regular chats on Monday at a table in the coffee shop. They’ve both known Hope for decades and said her coffee shop is the place where they’ve met everyone they know. They said they want to continue supporting the business because of the support Hope has given to the community, like organizing Jazz on the Plazz, contributing to the high school and helping unhoused people.

“We give back to her because she gives so much,” Vincent said.

The two women were shocked when they heard about the cafe’s destruction, but Clark said she was glad that Hope could reopen part of the business. Vincent said Hope has been wanting to update the cafe side of the business but couldn’t find a reason to close it, so she hoped something good would come from the incident by allowing the business to modernize.

Hope said she is working with their insurance carrier to assess the damage and recover the cost of the extensive repairs. She also said no decision has been made about taking any legal action related to the collision.

Jonathan Knowles, a 65-year-old Los Gatos resident, serves with Hope on the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Foundation board and organized Jazz on the Plazz with her as well. He recalled taking several meetings at Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Co. in front of the piano on the cafe side.

Knowles said that although the incident was “tragic,” Hope has the ability to turn it around, even if it will be different from the community hub that people have come to love.

“To me, this is the soul of Los Gatos,” Knowles said. “This is the closest thing we have to a place where the people of Los Gatos come to do this, to do that, to their own thing, all the things that you see around here. And it’s been that way for decades.”

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/los-gatos-coffee-roasting-co-reopens-with-consolidated-staff-and-building/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12370222

Montalvo Arts Center to be closed for construction

Posted by Nollyanne Delacruz

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/montalvo-arts-center-to-be-closed-for-construction/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12368768

Montalvo closure

Montalvo Arts Center is closing to the public for construction from Dec. 20 to Jan. 5. No cars, pedestrians or cyclists will be allowed to enter the grounds. However, people who are attending ticketed events at Montalvo will not be affected.

Saratoga alumni in Hollywood

Saratoga High School alumna Mikaela Burton was recognized by The Hollywood Reporter as an up-and-coming Hollywood executive this year.

Burton was included in the news outlet’s “Next Gen 2025: 35 Rising Hollywood Executives Under 35.” She is a programming executive on the domestic team at Apple. She oversees the creative development of several major TV projects, including “Shrinking” and “Pluribus.” She evaluates pitches for new shows, supports the strongest concepts, read scripts, provides creative notes and helps guide projects throughout the process to make it to the screen.

“It’s a wonderful acknowledgment and truly reaffirms the work I do,” Burton said in a release from the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District. “This industry is incredibly competitive and demanding, but I get to collaborate with some of the most talented people in the world. I feel very grateful.”

Burton was one of the first students in the Media Arts Program at Saratoga High School. She aspired to be a TV and film executive and created short films and music videos and participated in theater while she was a student.

After graduating from Saratoga High School, Burton majored in creative producing at Chapman University. She interned at Paramount, AMC, Sony and “The Late Late Show.” In her early career, she held positions at Paradigm Talent Agency and Lionsgate. She has been at Apple for the last eight years.

She encouraged current high school students to take advantage to all the opportunities available to them.

“Take advantage of this time to hone your skills,” Burton said. “Immerse yourself in everything. Watch Sundance films, pay attention to who writes them, study French New Wave, watch Scorsese. What you absorb today will shape your creative voice tomorrow. Your taste and perspective is your value.”

Bond measure spending

Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District will be refinancing a decade-old bond that could save local taxpayers around $1.2 million.

The money comes from the District’s 2014 Measure E, Series B bonds. The ballot measure allowed the school district to increase its debt by $99 million through issuing general obligation bonds in that amount, according to Ballotpedia. The revenue from the tax was used for maintenance work, equipment and classroom updates and construction of new classroom buildings.

The financing costs will be paid from bond proceeds rather than the general fund, the school district said in its newsletter. Although projected to save taxpayers about $1.2 million over the life of the bonds, the school district said these savings are still subject to market conditions and will be finalized when the bonds are sold. They expect the earliest opportunity to lock in rates in early 2026.

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth will be providing specialized legal services for the school district to finish the refinancing and support any future bond measures.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/montalvo-arts-center-to-be-closed-for-construction/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12368768

Entry tags:

f: ballet

Ballet Experiences

In an effort to actually get some wear out of my formalwear, I have decided to take up going to the ballet. Here are the first two.

Carmina Burana (Paris Ballet Theater, Choir & Orchestra of Budapest)
I caught a matinee (16:00) at the Palais de Congrès and was basically the only person who was dressed up at all :'D Ah well. (Achivement unlocked: overdressed at the ~~opera~~ ballet in Paris.)

I reserved the tickets knowing absolutely nothing about what I was getting into, beyond "high culture", so I the fact that it was a ballet was a, uh, surprise.

Anyway. I loved it! There were basically two prima ballerina roles, and the music was great. More ballet should have a choir on stage. The, idk, multimediality? of having a soloist singer sing an aria while the dancers danced a pas de deux or variation was cool. All the drama was on point. I think this is a good production, and they're touring in the rest of France + neighboring regions, so if you can, I rec going!

I also bought the programme and basically everyone named, from production to roles, is from East of the Iron Curtain. (The one exception, The Temptress, is from Italy.) It's noticeable in how the style of dance is much more Vaganova/Russian school, with open shoulders and an engaged back. The same corps is putting on a Swan Lake in March/April that I will catch.

Notre Dame de Paris (Paris Opera Ballet)
This one was at the Opéra Bastille, and people did dress up! (Not all tho; I spotted several people in jeans and t-shirts, puffer coats, or sweatpants. Also a random old lady told me I was truly magnificent.) Sartorial observations below.

This ballet didn't end up working for me. Some of it was synchronization issues (several in the corps de ballet, but also one in a pas de deux between Esmeralda and Quasimodo), some of it was the costuming (all the women were in microskirts and the styling made them look at most 15), but mostly it was I think the fact that it's a French production.

You see, the French style of ballet is all about clean lines, exact positions, control, #chic, #cleangirl. It is fundamentally incapable of adapting Notre Dame because it is fundamentally incapable of depicting horniness. Phoebus and Esmeralda both lost their shirts during a pas de deux and it was not horny, Frollo was just an evil sorcerer who had a stick up his ass in an unhorny way, the prostitutes were unhorny and so was Phoebus dancing with them. I have seen hornier Swan Lakes. Everyone needed to go on a vision quest to find their inner Odile. The Quasimodo & Esmeralda worked, because that's based on innocent sentiment, but the Phoebus/Esmeralda and Frollo -> Esmeralda didn't come across properly at all. Also Frollo came across as sympathetic (99% sure unintentionally) because there's something just that pathetic about having a dude solo dance one half of a pas de deux while two people are dancing the actual pas de deux.

Esmeralda, in a microskirt, being not at all seductive.

However, this does choreographically give the entire corps de ballet (in fact, everyone but Phoebus) some movement stuff to do that's usually reserved for jesters, so this is the production to put on when your corps de ballet has jester envy.

Not super impressed with the company, but I guess I'll catch at least Romeo and Juliet in Apr/May before giving up. Also kinda want to see La Bayadère in Jun/Jul because I've never seen that before.

anthropological observations on clothing
The average Frenchwoman is rail thin, but more of a pear/spoon type – not much beneath, but even less up top, if you will. As such, the "dressy" clothing seems to be elevated pant + elevated shirt + nice scarf. Any dresses are cut incredibly straight in the skirt, at max a very drapey A-line. The goal is to look ~effortlessly put together~, i.e. spend an hour of effort to look like you simply pulled out the first two items from your elegant, curated closet and put them on without thought.

(The person sitting next to me was wearing an actual nice dress with a pleated skirt. Then her similarly dressed friend turned up and turns out they're Russian.)

(By French standards, I am tallish with a broad ribcage. I also objectively have broad shoulders, and an amazingly athletic butt and thighs. There is no way I am able to give the same vibes as the locals lol. Anything I wear will look more playful, intentional, and/or dramatic.)

‘Please don’t do this to us’: Saratogans ask city not to allow short-term rentals

Posted by Nollyanne Delacruz

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/please-dont-do-this-to-us-saratogans-ask-city-not-to-allow-short-term-rentals/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12370515

The Saratoga Planning Commission recommended on Dec. 10 that the city not allow short-term rentals.

Planning commissioners also voted 6-1 to recommend the City Council approve hefty fines for violators and requested staff put in place a clear process to enforce punishment for illegal rentals. Commissioner Badrinath Sridharan cast the only dissenting vote.

There are several properties in the city listed as such on on the travel websites Airbnb and VRBO. City staff put together a draft to provide guidelines for allowing short-term rentals following the City Council’s decision in October to have the planning commission hold a public meeting on the subject.

City staff’s draft ordinance, which is based on Los Gatos’ short-term rentals policy, would allow 5% of the city’s housing stock of around 11,500 homes to be used for short-term rentals. Homeowners would have to apply for a license to rent out their primary residence. When asked how the rules and tax collection would be enforced, community development director Bryan Swanson said that the city and consultants who work with travel booking websites would be in charge of making sure that revenue is collected appropriately and that visitors are following the rules.

Swanson acknowledged that the main benefit of permitting short-term rentals would be to increase city revenue through transient occupancy taxes and possible ancillary spending by visitors, particularly with the Super Bowl and World Cup coming to the Bay Area in 2026. Saratoga is expected to face a structural budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year.

“Saratoga is a beautiful community, but we rely on residential property taxes,” Swanson said during the meeting. “We have really wonderful businesses here. We’re thankful for those businesses. They do produce a revenue source, but we are seeking additional revenue sources that will help us.”

However, every person who spoke during public comment was against allowing short-term rentals in their neighborhood or in the city at all. Several residents complained of issues caused by neighbors who rent out their houses via Airbnb or other travel booking websites, like loud parties, too many cars parked on narrow streets and cul de sacs and trash piling up. A few residents said that allowing short-term rentals would create a bureaucratic process that’s not needed in the city.

“Please don’t do this to us,” said one man over Zoom.

Some residents on private streets asked for the law to not apply to their area. Other residents even proposed paying higher taxes to avoid allowing short-term rentals in the city. A man who has lived in Saratoga since 1985 said allowing short-term rentals “changes the character of the neighborhoods that we live in.”

A couple residents even accused short-term renters in their neighborhoods of committing property crimes, like theft and burglary.

“We got enough people in the neighborhoods that shouldn’t be there,” said a man during public comment. “We don’t need to bring in more.”

Commissioner Sridharan was the only person to speak in favor of allowing short-term rentals in the city, suggesting that the percentage of housing allowed for that use could be lower than 5%.

“A blanket ban doesn’t sound like California,” Sridharan said. “This is an innovative state. We do lots of cool things. We need to be able to try things out in a safe manner.”

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/please-dont-do-this-to-us-saratogans-ask-city-not-to-allow-short-term-rentals/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12370515

Where do California homeowners stay the longest?

Posted by Jonathan Lansner

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/where-do-california-homeowners-stay-the-longest/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12358267&preview=true&preview_id=12358267

California’s grand geographical divide – the distance from the Pacific Ocean – shows up in numerous economic statistics.

Consider one yardstick of homeownership longevity: the time since sellers purchased their residence, as measured in the third quarter. The Attom study examined 114 metropolitan areas, including 27 in California.

In the 13 metros near the coast or San Francisco Bay, the median length of ownership was 11.8 years, compared with 10.5 years in the 14 inland metros.

It’s not a new trend. Looking back a decade, the gap was 9.5 years coastal vs. 8.7 inland.

But this longevity spread is widening. The length of ownership has grown by 2.3 years on the coast since 2015, but by just 1.8 years inland.

Affordability likely drives the divide. First, the historically cheap mortgages of the pandemic era make relocation financially challenging now that rates are near historic norms. And for those lucky enough to have huge gains from their homes, tax challenges arise when considering relocation.

Plus, the coastal markets have pricier housing, so moves to or within these areas can be prohibitively expensive. Meanwhile, the more affordable inland metros have been where Californians have been moving to, especially into newly constructed homes, moderating longevity.

What’s clear is that Californians, no matter where they live, own their homes longer than the national norms – and that duration is expanding faster.

The median ownership of the 87 metros outside the Golden State was 8.7 years in the third quarter. Non-California longevity was up just 1.1 years from 7.6 years in 2015.

Here’s how sellers in the state’s 10 most-populous metros compare on ownership, ranked by longest stays …

San Francisco: 13.1 years, No. 2 of the 114 U.S. metros – up 3.4 years.

Ventura County: 12.6 years, No. 9 nationally – up 2.6 years.

San Jose: 12.5 years, No. 10 nationally – up 2.8 years.

Sacramento: 11.2 years, No. 27 nationally – up 2.4 years.

Los Angeles-Orange County: 11 years, No. 31 nationally – up 1.9 years.

San Diego: 11 years, No. 32 nationally – up 1.9 years.

Stockton: 10.9 years, No. 33 nationally – up 3.1 years.

Fresno: 10.7 years, No. 35 nationally – up 1.4 years.

Bakersfield: 10.2 years, No. 39 nationally – up 2.3 years.

Inland Empire: 10.2 years, No. 40 nationally – up 1.8 years.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/where-do-california-homeowners-stay-the-longest/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12358267&preview=true&preview_id=12358267

Worker finds a 4-foot blinking artificial Christmas tree taking over her desk, calls HR to get it mo

Posted by Etai Eshet

https://cheezburger.com/43634181/worker-finds-a-4-foot-blinking-artificial-christmas-tree-taking-over-her-desk-calls-hr-to-get-it

Office holiday cheer takes a weird turn when a four-foot blinking Christmas tree shows up on someone's desk, and management decides the solution is not to move the tree, but to move the worker.

The tree eats half the desk, pushes the computer into a corner with no legroom, hijacks the power outlet, and literally displaces work documents. Decor here is not subtle, nor is it about decoration. It's a squatter's rights situation with ornaments. The acting manager admits she put it there without asking, acknowledges the inconvenience, then basically says productivity can relocate so morale does not have to. Translation: the staff's feelings about their craft project matter more than the person whose actual job happens at that desk.

The funniest part is the fake compromise. Instead of moving the tree two meters, the worker is supposed to bounce between empty desks and share a computer like it is 2004. All because last year, when the computer was broken and the desk was useless anyway, she said yes once. In office logic, one temporary favor magically becomes a lifetime consent form. Suddenly, using HR to enforce basic workspace function is treated like some kind of anti-Christmas attack, complete with coworkers pouting because their tree got demoted to a less central spot.

So, as it turns out, calling HR wasn't going overboard, it was the only language management actually respected.

https://cheezburger.com/43634181/worker-finds-a-4-foot-blinking-artificial-christmas-tree-taking-over-her-desk-calls-hr-to-get-it

Nick Reiner had tense exchange with Bill Hader night before parents were found dead: report

Posted by Vivian Kwarm

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/nick-reiner-bill-hader-obrien-party/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12371151&preview=true&preview_id=12371151

Nick Reiner is said to have stormed out of Conan O’Brien’s holiday party after a tense moment with Bill Hader, the night before his parents were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home.

At Saturday night’s annual event, the 32-year-old Reiner — who now faces murder charges in connection with the slayings — allegedly interrupted a conversation Hader was having, an insider told NBC News.

The source said that after Hader informed him the discussion was private, Reiner appeared to freeze and stare, before abruptly “storming off.”

Hader has yet to publicly address the incident.

Another source told the outlet that Rob and Michele Reiner were upset and embarrassed by their son’s behavior, which also made other guests feel uncomfortable, and voiced concerns about his well-being.

During the party, the younger Reiner was allegedly “freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous,” according to People.

TMZ reported that Nick Reiner also got into a “very loud argument” with his father that same night. Rob and Michele eventually left the event due to their son’s behavior.

The couple had reportedly been at a loss over how to handle their son’s ongoing mental illness and substance abuse issues, saying they’d “tried everything … but his struggles are so deep.”

The afternoon following the party, Rob and Michele, his wife of 36 years, were pronounced dead after being found with multiple stab wounds in their Brentwood home. Their bodies were discovered around 3:30 p.m. by the couple’s 28-year-old daughter, Romy, according to People.

Nick Reiner was arrested without incident at approximately 9:15 p.m. Sunday near Exposition Park and the University of Southern California campus, about 15 miles from the crime scene.

He has been charged with first-degree murder, with special circumstance for multiple murders. The charges are punishable by life in prison without parole or the death penalty, which L.A. prosecutors said they’re not ruling out at this time.

Reiner is currently being held without bail at the Men’s Central Jail and has been placed on suicide watch.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/nick-reiner-bill-hader-obrien-party/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12371151&preview=true&preview_id=12371151

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Princess Jellyfish, volume 1 by Akiko Higashimura

Can a community of otaku save their apartment building from gentrification? Should a community of otaku save their apartment building from gentrification?

Princess Jellyfish, volume 1 by Akiko Higashimura

no more heresy comix!! instead: RESPONSIBILITY COMIX

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4417


archive - contact - sexy exciting merchandise - search - about

how can i be REsponsible if i haven't been sponsible yet even once

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December 17th, 2025

December 17th, 2025: EXCLUSIVE TO "CONTACT LINK" TEXT READERS: Dogs, no - but whales... MAYBE??

– Ryan

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4417

Entry tags:

Good Job: My coworker’s emotional support animal is causing me emotional distress!

( Read more... )

Coworker calls in sick to "recover" from her concert the night before, forcing employee to work with

Posted by Ben Weiss

https://cheezburger.com/43625989/coworker-calls-in-sick-to-recover-from-her-concert-the-night-before-forcing-employee-to-work-without

These coworkers ultimately feuded with one another over something that proper management could have easily avoided.

These two women, who worked in an emergency room, were often on the same schedule and were therefore partnered together during long, 12 hour shifts. However, it seems that the author of this anecdote harbors some frustrations that, although understandable, may have been directed at the wrong individual.

The author's coworker had been planning on going to a concert well in advance and requested two days of paid time off for this event: one for the day of the concert and the other for the following day so she could sleep in and recover. Management approved the first day but did not approve the second.

Now, the coworker also had plenty of sick days left that she could use, so she told all her friends at work that she was going to use one of those days for her "recovery" day. No one seemed to take issue with this, except for the author, as it meant that she would likely be overwhelmed and left all alone during her shift.

Keep scrolling below to find out what happened when the coworker did ultimately use that sick day, which quite frankly, she was perfectly entitled to use.

https://cheezburger.com/43625989/coworker-calls-in-sick-to-recover-from-her-concert-the-night-before-forcing-employee-to-work-without

Anheuser-Busch job loss total in Fairfield officially tops 200 workers

Posted by George Avalos

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/anheuser-busch-jobs-economy-fairfield-work-layoff-beer-brewery-solano/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12370873

FAIRFIELD — Anheuser-Busch has formally told state officials that more than 200 jobs will be erased by the shutdown of the iconic beermaker’s plant in Fairfield, a decision that emerges as the company consolidates production.

The brewing company has decided to eliminate 238 jobs at its plant at 3101 Busch Dr. in Fairfield, according to an official WARN notice filed with the state Employment Development Department.

“Anheuser-Busch Commercial Strategy intends to wind down and conclude operations at the Fairfield Brewery,” Jessica Crisp, the brewery’s general manager, wrote in the WARN letter the company sent to the California EDD. The decision came about after a “thorough review,” Crisp stated in the WARN notice.

The job cuts are scheduled to begin on Feb. 9, and the brewery will wind down operations over a two-week period that will end on Feb. 22, Anheuser-Busch stated.

All of the job cuts will be permanent, the company told the EDD.

“We will support the full-time employees currently working at the Fairfield facility by offering all of them a full-time role elsewhere in our U.S. operations,” the company stated in the WARN letter.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 896 represents some workers.

“For employees that choose not to accept the offer to transfer, we will provide severance packages and other resources,” the company said in the WARN notice.

Anheuser-Busch has struck a deal to sell a brewery in New Jersey. Besides the Fairfield plant, the company will also close a brewery in New Hampshire.

Production affected by the closures of the three plants will be shifted to other Anheuser-Busch manufacturing hubs elsewhere in the United States.

Anheuser-Busch embarked on the staffing reductions despite a wide-ranging endeavor to revamp its American factories.

“Over the last five years we have taken steps to update and modernize our U.S. manufacturing operations, investing nearly $2 billion in our 100 facilities across the country,” Crisp wrote in the WARN notice.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/anheuser-busch-jobs-economy-fairfield-work-layoff-beer-brewery-solano/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12370873

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book log: reading wednesday

Reading Wednesday

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

Entry tags:

Life lived in dot points

The damn things continue to overlap

surgeon appointment: nothing new, but the margins on what was removed aren't big enough, back in surgery - that's my Friday.
the next step in the candidacy paperwork was in fact not my responsibility, and I now have an email to say I've passed that hurdle (here it is called 'Milestone 1').
Last Monday rehearsal of the year was this week; I tried bowing for one line of very long/slow notes and ow, nope, not yet. Was, however, good support for the other viola player, including singing some of the bits where the viola has the melody. We had a new violin player! I hope they come back, they seemed to be having fun.
Today was my last day on campus for the year. I will be working some over the shutdown, because I'm supposed to have my ethics drafted by mid January, and I still don't know what I don't know. Treated myself to curry and a fizzy drink for lunch.
Finished Building a second brain (Tiago Forte), which I've gained some useful ideas from. Recommended if you are needing a way to organise the information that is coming in to your life; not elsewise.
Youngest went bouldering with co-workers on Monday, and is learning yet again about not relying on hyperextended elbows to do the work (their grip strength isn't, and their forearms hurt "weirdly")
have woken up twice this week having done Something Stupid in my sleep. Monday it was the right hip not quite in the right place (went back in during rehearsal, I staggered in looking awful, I gather) and today it is something with the muscles of the right shoulder and halfway down the back -- I could barely move the shoulder this morning, and it has settled down to 'about half the time one or more muscles are spasming'.

Entry tags:

Wednesday Reading Meme

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

Kate Seredy’s A Tree for Peter, which the library catalog listed as a Christmas book although it has actually just one (admittedly pivotal) Christmas scene. Little Peter lives in Shantytown, a miserable poverty-stricken slum. But his life changes when he meets a tramp, also named Peter, who gives him a red spade and promises to plant a tree for him if he’ll dig a hole for it. Peter does, and on Christmas Eve tramp Peter plants a spruce tree all decorated for Christmas. The candlelight draws the other residents of Shantytown out, and in the warm glow they see that if they worked together to clear out the junk and enlarge Peter’s garden and make the drafty shanties air-tight, they could make this a pleasant place to live… A classic 1930/40s story about common folk banding together to improve their lives.

I also read Ally Carter’s The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, a romystery that is two part romance to one part mystery which is, unfortunately, the opposite of my preferred mystery-to-romance ratio. I also found it annoying that ( spoilers )

Sadly I think I need to accept that Ally Carter is simply not for me. I’ve tried a bunch of her books and I always come away with the same feeling of “too much boyfriend, not enough spy school and/or mystery-solving.”

By this time I was getting frankly a bit tired of Christmas books, so I took a semi-break with Agatha Christie’s What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! (4.50 from Paddington outside the US), which just barely squeaks within the parameters of the Christmas book challenge because What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw is a murder in a passing train at Christmastime as she is on the way to visit her dear friend Miss Marple.

My first Miss Marple! I’ve been kind of meh on Christie in the past, but I really enjoyed the experience of reading this one although I found the final solution to the mystery somewhat unconvincing. However, I am not reading mysteries for the solution! I read mysteries for the journey and if the journey happens to end in a convincing solution, so much the better.

What I’m Reading Now

This week in Ruth Sawyer’s collection The Long Christmas, a story from the Dolomites about a town of rich, greedy, gluttonous, selfish folk, every single one of whom refused to give shelter to a traveler on a cold Christmas Eve, for which sin the town flooded and became a lake. If you stand on its shores at Christmas Eve, you can still hear the bells ringing for the midnight Mass.

This story is centuries old and therefore not intentionally a parable for global warming and/or the crisis of global economic inequality. However, if the shoe fits…

What I Plan to Read Next

My hold on J. Jefferson Farjeon’s Mystery in White: A Christmas Crime Story has arrived!

Oakland school board approves $103 million in cuts, but details still unclear

Posted by Molly Gibbs

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/oakland-school-board-approves-budget-cuts/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12370176

The Oakland Unified School District approved a $103 million budget plan that includes vague cuts and hopes to boost attendance rates to generate additional revenue, in an effort to repair its bleak budget hole.

If the district is unable to pass a balanced budget by June or runs out of cash, Oakland Unified could return to state control just months after exiting it

The district’s board of education approved the cuts by 5-2 margin at last week’s board meeting, which was plagued with board member in-fighting and finger-pointing. Board members Mike Hutchinson and Patrice Berry opposed the budget plan.

The plan includes $12 million in cuts to special education — but doesn’t outline how the cuts will be made. It leaves up to schools, rather than the board, about $32 million in cuts to school campus budgets — trims that could hit athletics, clubs and library services.

Brought forward by interim superintendent Denise Gail Saddler, the plan also proposes slashing central management staff, reducing overtime, consolidating academic programs, delaying non-critical campus and technology repairs and reducing academic internships and apprenticeships.

To fill the budget gap, the district also hopes to bring in $20 million by increasing attendance — 2% for this year and 2% for the 2026-27 school year — since schools in California are funded based on the number of students who attend each day. But the budget scenario doesn’t include how Oakland Unified plans to increase attendance both years. It’s a challenging goal given that schools across the Bay Area, including Oakland Unified, are struggling with declining enrollment and chronic absenteeism. To further increase the number of students, the budget scenario also proposes expanding transitional kindergarten for an additional $1.5 million in revenue — another change that would likely require additional staffing.

Oakland Unified board member Hutchinson said the board for failed to “bring forward any plan to address the financial crisis” in a social media post Monday. Hutchinson was critical of the approved budget scenario, which he said was impractical and doesn’t address the fact that the district is currently overspending and has more staff than it can afford.

“Eighty percent of our budget goes to staffing. So if we are going to address a budgetary shortfall, probably 80% of how it’s addressed is going to be staffing,” Hutchinson said. “That’s why their so-called solutions are not legitimate and are laughable because they don’t look at where we spend our money and they’re not real plans. That’s why we still don’t have a plan to address $100 million.”

The plan comes amid several months of financial crisis for the district, which was once projected to run out of cash as early as this fall, and two months after the school board was expected to deal with the budget crunch. The cash-strapped district’s once $78 million budget deficit for 2026-27 ballooned to over $100 million. District staff warned that without significant cuts and quick action, Oakland Unified faces bankruptcy, would once again need an emergency loan and would be subject to the same state receivership it was under for 20 years.

Last month, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Alysse Castro warned that Oakland Unified will “almost certainly” fail to get through another school year without significant financial changes and criticized the board for coming up with numerous plans to “make a plan” instead of taking concrete action to repair the issue.

The proposed budget solution comes amid the departure of two key school officials — the chief of staff Dan Bellino and the chief business officer Lisa Grant-Dawson.

Board member Hutchinson confirmed Grant-Dawson resigned Friday and that Bellino was fired. Hutchinson compared the staff changes to the ousting of former Oakland Unified superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell, who was unexpectedly removed last April after nearly 10 years leading the district.

Oakland Unified School District did not respond to a request for comment. Board vice president Valarie Bachelor posted on social media Monday, saying she appreciated the service of the staff who were leaving and wished them well.

“Leadership transitions are never easy,” Bachelor said. “I stand with our interim superintendent and her need to develop a senior leadership team that can support our district through the next phase of the work.”

https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/12/17/oakland-school-board-approves-budget-cuts/

https://www.mercurynews.com/?p=12370176