I’ll need to talk to my boss, Scott Hendrix, sometime over the weekend. We kept trying to find time to discuss a few things about what I’ve dubbed “the responsibility shift” but either I was busy or he was busy and we never got the chance.
When I walked out to get the mail today, I was greeted with an envelope declaring itself as having something to do with jury duty. Turns out on the ninth of next, Amanda’s got to show up downtown for her first jury duty ever. She’ll be compensated $12 for her trouble, and $12 for the next five or so days, should she need to come back. She was ever so excited. I was in college the first time I was summoned for jury duty, and since I was called in Durham but was going to school in Greensboro, I was excused.
Amanda also got a fifty-cent raise today, which is nice. Karen Mercer, Amanda’s mom, asked what it was a fifty-cent raise per, and Amanda told her it was per year; that she got a fifty-cent per year raise. Karen was speechless, probably trying to pick out her words, which doesn’t happen often. Then Amanda laughed at her.
After Amanda got over her impending jury duty we went over to Anna and Barry Frazelle’s. Anna was doing really well. She’s wearing a brace and sometimes needs help being pulled up, but she was walking around and everything just great. Some friends of theirs had brought some salmon over, but we didn’t know how much there would be (and I don’t like fish besides) so we stopped at the Chick-Fil-A near Mayfaire on the way over. While we were eating, Scout, the Frazelle’s King Charles Spaniel, managed to nab the top of Amanda’s sandwich. The way he ate it you’d think Anna and Barry never fed him. He does look like he’s lost some weight lately….
After everyone ate we watched The Ring 2, but as usually happens on Friday nights when watching a movie in a dark room, I fell asleep for most of it. I tell ya, the Frazelle’s have got one very comfy couch. In fact, they call it the comfy couch. I asked if the matching, oversized chair that Anna was proped up and surrounded by pillows in was called the comfy chair, which it is. I found it amusing in that it reminded me of the Spanish Inquisition Monty Python skit in which they attempt to torture a man with the Comfy Chair.
Amanda and I came on back and she got ready for bed pretty much right away. Bruce apparently missed us while we were gone because he was very affectionate when we got home. In fact, after Amanda got in bed and I came to start typing on this, he ran into the office and waited for me to look at him, then ran back into the bedroom when he knew I was following. I lifted him up onto the bed and stayed there to pet him for a minute or two and while I was doing this he was licking me more than usual. After I left Amanda said he was licking her a lot.
It’s ridiculous how much we love that dog.
In news I forgot to mention yesterday, legislation has passed to increase the North Carolina minimum wage to $6.15 an hour. I have mixed feelings about this. One thing that I don’t agree with, in regards to people who are against it, is the argument that companies should be able to set whatever wages they want, and a person can demand the wage they’re worth. If we left it up to companies and corporations, we’d still be making a dime a day. And when you’re working the jobs that pay minimum wage, generally no to low skilled jobs, you really can’t demand anything because even if you are the best hamburger flipper or box packer in the world, there are plenty of people behind you who can do it just as passably who won’t raise a fuss about their pay per skill level.
On the con side, small businesses will likely cut hours and possibly lay people off. On the pro side, the minimum wage hasn’t been raised since 1997 or so, and living prices have certainly shot up since then. I’m not sure how much good raising the North Carolina minimum wage does, but I guess people need to at least be able to maintain a standard of living, even if it is below the poverty level.
Zach Dotsey