Weather in the Tries: 
Not as warm as last week, a chance or two of showers, hi 50s to low 60s with los in the lo-mid 40s. IF I trust the weekly forecast. It takes a tad bit to accurately forecast in March.

An economic fix to gender wage disparity:
Ever since I entered the workforce way back when, there has been a wage disparity between what men are paid and what women, who do the same job, make. And it hasn’t been in the female’s favor. Think I’m joking? Remember Carly Fiorina? When HP offered her the top job, she got a few thousand dollars less than her predecessor. There were “good” reasons, the company was making less, yadda, yadda, yadda, but I don’t think there is a single man on the face of this old globe that would have accepted such a deal. They would have upped the ante, demanded more.

Women have always been paid less than men for the same job. And there are always “good” reasons. Some I remember hearing: “You have a husband; you really don’t need this job.” “He  as a family, your husband outranks him. You’ll get the next open slot,” that one was when I was in the Military. We had to take a test for the promotion. I beat the socks off “Him” but I was a female, who outperformed the chosen male, ahhhhh. Some of the “We’ll spend all the time training you and you’ll just get married (and quit)/have a child (and quilt)/miss work every month for a couple days(and cost us more for health insurance)/always have excuses why you can’t work overtime”/and the list goes on. 

Of course, the biggest concern on making wages the same, is the cost. And yet, I argue, they will save money by making the pay the same. Hundreds of thousands, billions of dollars. And the fix is simple. I just don’t understand why businesses haven’t already figured this out. Why those high paid economists have come up with it. Why leave it to a numbers dyslexic person to figure it out. The solution is so simple, and it is staring us in the face.

Pay men the same as women.  There, isn’t that simple? Just think of the mind-boggling amounts of money that would be saved! (as an aside, there is an easy way of telling when traditionally held women’s jobs become well-paid enough for men to consider becoming teachers or nurses, etc. Yeah, when those women finally get some recognition, and some decent pay, suddenly, men realize they love children and teaching, or they truly are caregivers at heart. Yep, pay the men the same as women. Works for me!

Photo of the Week:

One of my friends, Roseann Ferris, had a very interesting, dare I say, “exciting”? life. While in college, she met and married the love of her life, an Iranian student. She followed him to Iran a year after he left. She stayed behind to finish her degree. Needless to say, when she followed him a year after their wedding, she went through some strange portal into a completely different culture where she knew nothing, including the language. Five years later, she was fluent in the language, and passed as Iranian from the north. And then the Shaw was deposed, and she lived through the Revolution until, finally, she and her husband, escaped to America. I haven’t yet read this iteration, but I read the earlier ones, and it is quite a story. Told from the perspective of an American who had every intention of making Iran her new home country. Both the paperback, and the electronic version are available where you normally buy books. Strongly urge you to buy a copy and read it. Here is the cover:

And here is Rosann, giving a talk just before reading a few pages from the book at her Book Launch, in Somer’s Middle Eastern bakery next door to my home 😉

I’m eager to read this final version. The earlier ones were fascinating. For a good read check your favorite bookseller.

from the desk of the big chihuahua;
not much going on. my human goes between the computer and sewing machine and reading a book. sometimes she comes in to lie down with me and let me snuggle for a while. never long enough as far as i’m concerned. but i takes all the bedsnuggles possible. they’re the bestest.