Workers of the World, Surf the 'net!

While it's pleasing to note that one will not now lose one's job due to surfing the Internet (provided, of course, that such activities don't interfere with work productivity), I was a bit concerned about this part of the decision/ruling:

Choudhri was not fired, but Spooner reprimanded him in a letter that will
go into Choudhri's employee file.

Given, that the employee in question (Choudhri) was found not to have slacked off of the work he was expected to do while he was found to have been surfing the 'net, I don't even think that he should have been reprimanded, especically given the ruling of the case that surfing the Internet must be afforded the same status as any other personal activity that is allowed at the workplace.

Security Focus has an interesting article that, I think, portrays both the concerns of employers, as well as some of the reasoning behind why employees surf the 'net at work to begin with, and does a relatively good job at describing measures that various employers have taken either to limit or ensure that any employee Internet surfing won't harm the company's business.

QOTD

"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example."
Mark Twain

Osteoarthritis

Lots of people ask me why I'm in pain. I tell them that I have "osteoarthritis" and they go, "Oh." I get the feeling that they don't quite understand exactly what OA is. While I was on the Celebrex web site, I found a very useful page that explains most of what OA is all about, and why it causes pain. Maybe this will help people understand at least some of my pain.

Oh, by the way, I have very severe osteoarthritis in my right ankle, as well as severe diffuse osteopenia.

Update

So now that I find out, that in addition to being kicked out of my house by my uncle keith, I'm not even allowed to go to the house anymore.

So, I'm finally at my father's house. I got out of the hospital on Tuesday, and have been sleeping on various friend's couches since then. It's now Saturday, and I'm at my father's house. The first time I've been on a computer in about a month, give or take a few days. Internet withdrawal is not a fun thing.

I don't have any money .... I took all the money out of my bank account before I left the hospital (it was only a few hundred dollars) and gave it to my friend Mike, who's a mechanic and is fixing my car, because the part that my car needs wound up costing a lot more, because he had to resort to getting it from the delaership instead of the discount parts store where he usually gets parts. So most of the money went to Mike. The rest of it, well, I lost about $50 because I left my wallet on a counter in Mt. Vernon (which is basically where I was crashing on friend's couches) for a few minutes (my mind is kind of occupied at the moment ... I have a lot on my mind) and when I realized what I'd done, someone had already taken out the rest of my cash. So I don't have any money for my prescriptions.

Oh, when I got out of the hospital, I took a cab to the train station in Tarrytown, and wound up leaving the freaking wallet in the cab, with all the money in it. Fortunately, I was able to contact the taxi company, and the driver was honest enough and turned the wallet in. But I was already on the train and almost at my destination (Yonkers), so I asked the taxi company if they could bring my wallet down to me, and I'd pay the fare. I wound up paying a $40 cab fare, plus I gave $10 to the guy as a minor reward. I couldn't take the train back because I didn't have any money (I managed to pay the fare on the way down b/c I put the change from the cab fare from the hospital to the train station in my jacket pocket, not back into the wallet).

Hrm, what else ... so much has happened in the past few days I can't really remember. Oh, my niece had a few grand mal seizures on Sunday, and on Monday, she had a really big one and stopped breathing and began running a very high fever. They transferred her to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. The last I heard, they don't know what's going on.

My uncle is still at my grandfather's house.

I don't feel like writing much more ... I need to get my medications.

When I was in the hospital, the doctor there (who I like quite a bit, because she listened to me) started me on an anti-anxiety medication called Buspar, in addition to my anti-depressant (Paxil). While I was in the hospital, my doctor also allowed me to take Celebrex, and even gave me a prescription for it. I just wish I could afford it. :(

I just got out of the hospital. I'm feeling a little better. I'll do ok as long as I don't have to deal with uncle keith.

I'll be coming out of the hospital tomorrow. I'm starting to feel a little bit better, despite my uncle's attempts to sabotage my efforts to stabilize my life. Uncle Keith got my grandpa to give him permission to kick me out of my house.