We won't strike

In December, the teaching assistants (and other members) voted overwhelmingly to give our union the mandate to strike. We had been without a contract since the end of the 2007-08 school year.

The negotiation team just reached an agreement with the university (details), and we won't be striking after all.

I'm not sure what a strike would have meant. Next week is "reading week," with no classes, but S.'s words ring in my mind: "Reading week is an undergraduate holiday." That was his advice last year at this time, and I'm sure he'd tell me again if I asked this year. So I'll be here, working. The only difference is that I won't be leading a tutorial. A strike would mean that I also wouldn't lead a tutorial, but that is such a small portion of my week that it doesn't have a big impact on how I plan my time.


This post's theme word: etesian, "occurring annually."

Flowers

The boy brought me flowers when I came back from California.He also brought me flowers when he came by to pick me up to go to the symphony. Black-and-white to match his black suit, white shirt, black tie. He cleaned up very nicely.
He's very sweet, or at least getting good advice on how to be very sweet. Keep it up, boy (who I know reads this) and advice givers (same)!


This post's theme word: espalier, "a tree trained to grow flat against a wall" or "to train a tree in this way."