Featured Post
Posted by Lizzie on Sep-5-2008
There’s a lot of talk about women’s issues this election cycle. Thanks to Hillary Clinton, and now Sarah Palin, we’re back in the spotlight. In that vein, Congress is pressing for a revote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which failed to pass previously. McCain has come out again it:
“I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what’s being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. “This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system.”
I’ve recently engaged in a half-hearted IT job search - in anticipation of my eventual graduation from the Tech program. There seems to be a little available, but I’ve heard that women are not treated favorably in the IT industry. It would please me, and thousands of other women, tremendously if this actually became law. Would I know that my male counterparts were making more than me? Probably not. But this act would give me recourse should I find out about a pay discrepancy after the fact. As a woman hoping to work in a male-dominated field, I would feel just a little better knowing I had a safety net.
There was some talk that this law isn’t necessary. I beg to differ. I worked with a company (unrelated to the tech field) that cut me a mystery check. When I inquired to what the purpose of the check was, I was told that it was to make up for a pay difference between me and my male counterparts. I had no idea that the men were making that much more per hour than I was, but there was a lawsuit and the settlement agreement was that this company would pay the hourly difference to each female for whatever period of time they agreed to (I think it was 3 months, even though I’d been there for over a year at that point). I left that company not long afterward, but my eyes had been opened. The reasoning for the lower pay was that women are mothers and so are prone to miss work because of their sick children. Men, on the other hand, are more reliable and should be rewarded. Really?
At a time when a major political party has nominated a self-proclaimed “hockey mom” to be vice president, there should be no more “she should get less because she’s a mom”. This woman is seeking a job while parenting 5 children (and potentially helping parent a grandchild) so the reason listed above would apply to her and her pay should be cut significantly. Right? No. Wrong. Her husband will be able to tend to the children while she runs for office and he can tend to the children while she continues to govern Alaska (except that he’s got a full-time job plus an extra job on the side in the summer, but that’s not this issue). It’s only fair that the rest of American women enjoy the same equality in pay as the women who govern them.
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Archive for December, 2007
Dec
13
Posted by Lizzie
Are you blogging on a self-hosted WordPress blog? Have you taken a glance at the code that makes up your theme and thought you were looking at another language? Well, the fact is you are looking at another language and if you don’t know what’s being said it could have disastrous results for your blog. Messing with one line can do a lot of damage but that’s not the only reason you should recognize what’s in your theme files, especially your header.php.
There are a lot of “free wordpress theme” sites cropping up. But not all of them are safe to download and use. Some of the owners of these sites include malicious code in the header.php (or, actually, any theme file, but for these purposes we’ll concentrate on just the header.php). The code that’s place can open a “back door” to your server which can allow hackers easy access to yoru site. From there they take over and give you the boot. That means a lot of headaches and maybe even a lost blog.
There are some tutorials on the WordPress Codex that will help you get started, but those too can be in a language not meant for the average blogger. Have no fear! David, from Devlounge, put together a nice tutorial for folks like us.
In that article you’ll see what most of that mysterious code means and why you need it for your theme. You’ll also get a feel of what should be in that file so you’ll know what to look for. You might even start to understand some of that foreign language that lives behind your blogging world.
Regular readers of Devlounge feel that the tutorial is to basic. I feel like it’s just right for beginners and can help more naive theme downloaders prevent attack from malicious coders.
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Dec
10
Posted by Lizzie
It’s finals week and that means much studying. Not much time for fun and games.
I tried to get my pain meds refilled but the pharmacy thought I was a drug seeker. Ha! Anyway, I had to call the doctor’s office to get permission to get my meds and they said “Well, you should have told us you were going to run out. We need to change your prescription again.” Um, the doctor changed my prescription the first time, not me, and I didn’t know I was limited on when I could run out. No one told me. Hello, I’m the patient, if I’m going to have to beg for my pain meds then please tell me in advance. Thank you. P.S. I am not psychic.
I’ve also noticed that some of my SEO experiments are working. I’m getting some really good organic results. I don’t know what that means in the long run, but it’s looking pretty good for now. I have a definite idea of where I should focus and how I should focus and blah blah blah. It’s all very boring to write about. I’ll just do it and keep you up-to-date with the results.
Some of my recent ventures haven’t paid off like I’d hoped. Christmas is right around the corner and I’m kind of hanging in limbo right now. I’ll be able to kick it in to high gear after Thursday, though. That’ll be good. Still, I’m annoyed with all this dancing I seem to be doing.
Also, I’ve developed some new symptoms that I’m slightly worried about. Ok, I’m really worried about them, but I’m loathe to make yet another doctor’s appointment. I just can’t stand doctors anymore and will probably wait to go see another one. I’m wondering if these new symptoms are a reaction to the vitamin I’ve been taking. I haven’t been able to find anything online about it, so who knows. I go next month to see my rheumatologist again. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
One last thing. This is for people that want to leave a snipey comment somewhere, but haven’t got the courage. Come on! If someone is attacking your friend and you’ve got the most greatest idea for a comeback EVAR, then write it. Sheesh! They’re attacking you too, you know. Don’t just say in the forums where the commenter won’t see it. While you’re at it, quit thinking everything is roses and sunshine. Welcome to real life.
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Dec
05
Posted by Lizzie
I’ve been keeping track of my mood and cognitive functions for the last week. I’ve been taking the mega doses of Vitamin for two weeks now and figured after the first week I should start feeling some results. If, indeed, this is my problem. I still don’t trust doctors.
The good news is that a lot of my memory issues have gone away. At least they seem to have gone. I don’t find myself lost in thought a million miles away from whomever is speaking to me. I haven’t had problems finding the right word. And I’m pretty sure I aced my last math test (I’ll find that out tonight). All if this is happening just in time for final exams. Yay!
It hasn’t stopped the pain though. That would suck a lot worse if I wasn’t becoming used to being in pain all the time. I forget what it feels like to not be in pain. I was talking to my husband the other night and told him that I wish I could be normal again. He says "You are normal". Um, no, I’m not. Normal is not knowing what chronic illness is like and assuming that the sick person is faking. That’s what "normal" is according to me. This definition would then include my husband.
I’ve gotten over the crap that happened last week in math. I have no use for people like that anymore. My psych professor was talking about Panic Disorder (which I have) and agoraphobia (which I don’t have). He mentioned that many agoraphobics don’t like to go outside of their homes because they’re afraid they will have a panic attack and humiliate themselves. To a certain degree I can understand that. For a while now I’ve been worried that when I speak I’ll forget how to speak. This has happened a couple of times, usually ending up with me stuttering and sounding like a complete ass. The thing with those women in math certainly didn’t help in that aspect and now I know that people notice that I walk differently. I shouldn’t be bothered by any of this, but I am. I think about it. And I thought about it a lot last night after class. Could I potentially become agoraphobic? I doubt it. But I’m certainly a lot less social than I used to be. I’d much rather not go somewhere that will include meeting new people. I try to fight that and do it anyway, but I always make an ass out of myself. So…
Back to the Vitamin D. I want to say that it’s definitely working, but then I don’t want to get my hopes up and end up falling back to where I was. So, I’ll leave it at it’s easing my symptoms and really making my life better. I feel improved, even if I don’t "look" improved. So, that’s something. Here’s me keeping my fingers crossed.
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