Nekodojo.org is down for the second time in three days. Looks like it will stay down tonight and well into tomorrow. Poly readers: www.polyamory.org will also be down, as will any lists ending in @polyamory.org.

Yesterday: Connection went down Sat. night but I didn’t call them until Sunday, because I didn’t have the number. (It’s supposed to be found on the bill but all my bills are stored online as well :) Sunday, they had me change a bunch of settings, and then change them back, and then hold a long time, and finally it worked, after the tech fiddled with something on their end.

Today: The problem is the same as yesterday, but despite my insistence that the previous guy was able to fix it by fiddling with something on their end, the new tech believes that something is physically wrong with the line, and someone will have to take a look at it physically. Unfortunately, maintenance people are all gone for the day, and they will likely get to it tomorrow.

For now I am connected via dialup. If you normally check your mail at box3.nekodojo.org, you can try “nekodojo.no-ip.info” but it’s unlikely any new mail has come in. If you want to reach me in the meantime, try nekodojo at sbcglobal dot net. (ambar- if you are reading this, please check your mail… thanks)

Congress must establish an independent Katrina Commission, modeled after the 9/11 Commission, to unflinchingly assess the failures and successes of government responses to the disaster and make us safe.

If you agree with this, go here to sign this petition.

Personally, I don’t feel that the United States is safer since we sent troops to Iraq. It doesn’t make me feel safe knowing that a large number of National Guard, including Reserves, are in the Middle East.

To be fair, I don’t think the Bush Administration bears primary responsibility for devestation and loss of life in Louisiana and Mississippi, but I think it’s clear that there were supposed to be multiple safety nets, and every one of them failed significantly. If state and local organizations and facilities are overwhelmed, disorganized, or if they just plain fail, there should be federal resources to bring in.

I guess it’s clear how I feel about the “government should be as small as possible” mantra of the Republicans. It’s crap. It’s not-so-secret code for “Don’t tax the rich. You poor people are on your own.”

I wrote this as a comment to another friend but I wanted to save it here…
On managing your manager

I wrote the following in a comment to a friend’s journal, but I wanted to save it here too…

I had a conversation with someone recently where we talked about empathy, and how to develop and strengthen it. Something that has always helped me: I take my own “emotional temperature” very often, at least once a day, and in times of stress, sometimes a dozen times a day. Continue reading →