Four Texas counties were evaluated in a 359-page audit released by Secretary of State John Scott on Monday, two weeks before he steps down as chief election official.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo “Four Figures on a Step,” c. 1658-60, oil on canvas. Image courtesy Kimbell Art Museum Fort Worth.
I am an art person. I love visiting art museums and galleries in order to immerse myself in the beauty and history of the works on view. I recognize that I am a rare breed. I have many friends that do not find the same allure. To them, much of what they see at museums is old and, worst of all, irrelevant. Therefore, I love to highlight exhibitions that are novel, innovative, or responsive to the moment we are living in. Murillo: From Heaven to Earth may not fit that criteria at first glance, since it is a beautiful exhibition of genre and portrait paintings by seventeenth century Spanish painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. The centuries that separate current viewers from the works can serve as a barrier to deep connection and appreciation, but learning more about the context in which Murillo worked and the issues he addressed can serve to bridge that gap.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, “Two Women at a Window,” c. 1655-60, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Widener Collection, 1942.9.46.
One of the elements of Murillo’s style that’s so captivating is his invitation to viewers to participate in the scene. Two Women at a Window is a prime example. In this painting, a young woman longingly stares out a window, towards the viewer, as an older woman stands behind the shutter, covering her own grin with a rag. We are invited to speculate on why the woman is laughing, and it is tempting to crack a smirk at the fun of this work before gliding on past this window to the next painting. However, this is where I argue for slowing down and taking a closer look in order to understand how viewers of the artist’s day would have appreciated these works.
Murillo’s contemporaries would have understood this scene as a commentary on modesty and virtue. This young woman is opening herself to the world, marking her transition into womanhood. However, it is left to the viewer to wonder what path she will choose in a society filled with contradiction. Seville, Spain was a devoutly Catholic town, yet vices like prostitution (subtly suggested by the woman’s presence at a window) were ever-present. This is where an exhibition of Murillo’s secular works is most intriguing. He does not shy away from depicting the real life challenges facing everyday people in Seville. As in the present day, young women faced immense pressure to fit into molds of “good” and “virtuous” womanhood. However, these women had limited control over their financial futures, especially if they were from the lower classes. As Murillo would have wanted his viewers to consider this young woman’s choice, I also think viewers today should pause to consider the forces that would have shaped her choices. How did she see her future prospects? It is in this attempt at perspective-taking that we might find a little of ourselves in the exhibition.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, “Old Woman with a Hen,” c. 1645, oil on canvas, Bayerishe Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, inv. 608.
A great starting point is Old Woman with a Hen, a work in the first gallery of the show. This oil on canvas painting focuses on an elderly woman with a gaunt face and missing teeth who is standing in a tattered shirt. She faces the viewer, presenting a hen that’s clearly prized for the many eggs filling the basket on the woman’s arm. To the hurried visitor, this painting is an attempt to solicit sympathy for a poor, elderly woman. However, Murillo’s works are filled with symbols that would have been easily read by his contemporary viewers, but may be less subtle to us in the present day. In this particular case, the hen is a symbol of fertility and motherhood. Yet, we see a woman who stands alone in rags, with no one to care for other than her hen. She did not become a mother, and now suffers the consequences in her old age. Murillo intended this work less as a call for sympathy, and more as a cautionary tale.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, “The Toilette,” c. 1655-60, oil on canvas, Bayerishe Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, inv. 489
As a counterpoint, we find The Toilette. In this domestic scene, Murillo depicts an older woman tending to a young boy who rests his head on her lap as he enjoys bread and plays with a dog. She leans over him, removing the lice from his hair. While this family is by no means wealthy, we can see they have a comfortable home with their basic needs met. In devoutly Catholic Seville, this woman is representative of “good” Christian womanhood, caretaking for children. She is also representative of the “good poor,” an ideal that is explored further in the exhibition. This painting lets me lean into it personally, letting me find areas of resonance with life today: How are women today still subjected to societal pressures and judgment over their choices regarding motherhood? What are the expectations of women to care for others? How are women who choose other life paths, that do not include rearing children, set up for judgment or ridicule?
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, “Invitation to a Game of Argolla,” c. 1655-70, oil on canvas, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London. Bourgeois Bequest, 1811, DPG224
Returning to ideals of morality around poverty, several of Murillo’s genre scenes regard poverty and temptation, like Invitation to a Game of Argolla. In this painting, a young boy sprawls across the foreground in a reclined position with bare feet and a bare shoulder as he plays argolla, a game similar to croquet. A basket rests on the ground behind him, indicating he is an errand boy who has stopped his task to focus on recreation. What is most striking is the mischievous smirk on his face as he looks up at another young errand boy carrying a jug and loaf of bread. This boy knows he has work to do, but is confronted with the temptation to play instead. A dog, standing at his side, awaits his decision along with us viewers, eager to snatch the boy’s bread if he pursues this distraction instead of making the “good” choice to continue with his work.
Installation view of “Murillo: From Heaven to Earth,” on view at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.
Murillo is setting up a contrast here, and invoking some harmful stereotypes about poverty. We see a dichotomy between the “good poor” and “bad poor.” For Murillo and his contemporary audience, the “good poor” are those who work hard, maintain a nurturing home, and seek to better themselves despite the station they were born into. The “bad poor,” on the other hand, are lazy and susceptible to temptation without regard to improving themselves in a Christian fashion. It is important to keep in mind Murillo’s intended audience; in seventeenth century Seville, an artist created commissions for the Catholic church, wealthy aristocrats, and merchants. It served their purposes to look at poverty as reflective of personal morality rather than societal failings.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, “Portrait of Don Antonio Hurtado de Salcedo y Mendoza, Marquis of Legarda,” c. 1664, oil on canvas, Colomer collection, Madrid.
Viewers are treated to a glimpse of the successful men that comprised Murillo’s audience of patrons in the portraiture section of the exhibition. In Portrait of Don Antonio Hurtado de Salcedo y Mendoza, Marquis of Legarda, Don Antonio looms large in front of a beautiful landscape with a rifle steadied in his fist. At his right, a servant hunches down with hunting dogs over the haul of partridges Don Antonio successfully hunted. Here, Don Antonio truly is master of all he surveys: his lands, his servants, and the animals, domestic and wild. If Murillo’s genre scenes show “good” and “bad” poverty, his portraits show “good” aristocracy. There is also a strong element of paternalism in this work. This man embodies strength, vigor, and most importantly, control. He is fully in control of himself, and can thus attempt to control those in his service, making them choose a more virtuous path. Murillo’s contemporaries would have received the message that this servant is not off facing temptation, but is actively working hard for the betterment of Don Antonio and himself.
Admittedly, these ideals continue in the present day and in the United States. There are many harmful narratives that persist as a result of the long-lived misconception that this nation is a pure meritocracy, meaning that if one works hard enough they can achieve the American dream. There are ongoing, divisive debates about the role of structural and systemic inequality on poverty, as it is far easier to cast aside the problems of others by blaming their lack of personal responsibility. There is often an insistence to focus support on those in power (tax cuts for companies and the wealthy to stimulate trickle-down economics), rather than extending direct aid to those truly in need. Thus, I look at the works in this exhibition not as the moralizing tales that Murillo intended, but an indictment on society for how we frame poverty historically and presently to avoid truly confronting the structures that perpetuate higher rates of poverty for large groups of peoples.
Unknown artist, “View of the Alameda de Hercules,” c. 1650, oil on canvas, Abelló Collection, Madrid.
This exhibition provides viewers a wonderful opportunity to briefly enter Murillo’s community and seventeenth-century Seville. There is diversity, inequity, conflict, but there is also hope. With the right choices, a better future can be had. The question handed down to us is what choices we will make. We have the benefit of looking to artworks like these and the past they represent to decide if we continue the course, or radically reframe our views. In any case, I think all can benefit from taking a moment to sit before exhibitions like these to ponder our own relationships to the ideas captured.
Murillo: From Heaven to Earth is on view at Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth through January 29, 2023.
It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are four updates from past letter-writers.
There will be more posts than usual this week, so keep checking back throughout the day.
I was the resigning employee whose boss told me “it wasn’t very Christian of you” to quit when they were short handed and busy.
First I wanted to respond to some of the commenters who may not have read my replies. For starters it was construction and most of the employees are Christians including myself but my boss is very conservative and I’m more progressive than him or anyone else in the company.
Now the update! So I was hired by a competitor to learn service work after doing installs for 4 years. I have been struggling with Crohn’s disease that got really bad after having Covid in August. Well, a week before I was due to start, the owner called me to tell me that their install project manager was leaving and they wanted to offer me the job!
I eagerly said yes! And I just have to say it has been wonderful! I’m having some culture shock of being in an office after 15 years of blue collar work. It’s been exactly what I needed! My Crohn’s disease has been more manageable partially due to changing working environments. The culture here is way better and very pro-worker. No guilt tripping workers who call out sick. It’s been a little awkward for me to move into management, but at the same time it’s partially come naturally. I credit reading your blog for years but I also know what my installers are facing daily and they know I have done the work and I have their backs.
I have another week and a half left with the leaving project manager but it has really been a wonderful first three weeks. My advice to everyone out there: Whatever you’re doing even if it’s working in a warehouse or digging ditches, have a good attitude and be friendly. Making connections really does pay off. Four years ago I was delivering to this company and now I’m their project manager.
I keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming!
I asked if it made sense for me to mute texts from one of my coworkers. She had been sending daily barrages of extremely long texts asking how to do simple tasks to my personal cell phone. She and I had been at that workplace for approximately the same amount of time, were hired with the same job title, and neither of our jobs included training or supervising anyone. I did end up muting her texts, after I warned her as you suggested, and it did not affect my standing at that job at all. I suspect it would have been difficult for her to explain to our boss that she was not using the printed procedures materials and did not know how to do most of her tasks.
After 6 relatively peaceful months, I decided to change fields. I completed some continuing education and certifications and started working with a temp agency. All of my previous work experience and education were in my old, cramped field, and I wanted to get a hands-on feel of what was available to me in my city. I continued reading Ask a Manager, kept my resumé up-to-date, and actively worked to reorient my expectations around healthy workplace culture.
As of now, I have been with my current company for 2.5 years, and I have received 2 title bumps and 3 significant raises in that time. Ironically, my current job is entirely centered around training and I love it! I was originally so happy to help my old coworker when I thought she needed it, but by the time I wrote in, I felt that she was more interested in pushing any and all tasks onto my plate, rather than learning to do them herself.
I truly appreciate the work that you do, Alison. Your work has helped me through countless tough conversations at work so I don’t have to resort to muting, and has given me the confidence to remove myself from unhealthy work dynamics when necessary.
So I spoke to my manager about being on the spectrum and how hard it is for me doing icebreakers and being called on like that is extremely stressful. She promised to stop and just didn’t. The very next day she called on me again for a “fun fact about you” so I decided to really make myself heard. My fun fact ended up being that I’m autistic and video chats and ice breakers are extremely stressful for me. The meeting ended very quickly and she then insisted on video chatting with me to apologize, still not recognizing my stated desires to communicate via email. She has slowed with the ice breakers and rarely calls on people now but still seems to think that she can change me. Ableism just seems to be her bread and butter, if she just ignores disability it won’t exist.
The sleepwear ultimately did not turn out to be an issue at all. I discovered on arriving that the plan was to have me share a two-twin-bed hotel room with the two other guys attending. I was not happy with this (I had literally never met one of them before), and managed to talk my parents into helping me pay for a room of my own. I did not end up sharing a room with anyone, so clothing wasn’t an issue. I will do my level best to persuade our faculty advisor to at least give everyone their own bed for next year’s trip, and if that’s not an option, I will make the situation clear to everyone before they commit. (His take is that I should have known we were going to fit as many people in as the fire code allowed. I can understand the budget issues, but we can at least warn people.)
I was a year old when this book was published. That makes it 47 years old this year. I’m all for holiday craft books for kids, but this one is old and tired. There are giant chunks of pages falling out. Some kid, probably 47 years ago, colored on many of the templates in this copy. That kid probably has these hand-made ornaments on her tree to this very day, and her grandkids think they’re sooo old and weird, but dang it, she loves them. Especially the Christmas frog (see below).
Argentina defeated France in penalty kicks to win the 2022 World Cup, marking the first time since 1986 that the South American nation has won the title. What do you think?
I am the letter writen who wrote in in the middle of a divorce from my boss, who left me for a younger employee. Firstly, I want to thank both you and the readers for your compassion and kindness. Neither you nor the readers gloated or said I got what I deserved, and I am so grateful for that. Your compassion and kind advice showed me that I was reacting normally to an utter unteneable situation: you restored my sence of normalcy and my confidence, and I am so grateful.
The one and a half years since my letter was printed has been eventful, to say the least. To start, I work at the same company in the same position. As I wrote in my original letter, I wanted to stay in the job because my young adult daughter was seriously ill and in psychiatric treatment, and needed the insurance for her treatment. Furthermore, I am a top specialist in a very narrow field with few job opportunities, so a change of job would mean moving to another part of the country and I could not bear to leave my daughter behind without the support of a parent, and my ex-husband is not what I call a parent.
Half of my original problem is solved, as my ex-husband resigned as head of department a few months ago, to my immense relief. However, the time after my original letter and until his resignation was bonkers. As expected, my ex-husband/boss started belittling me and questioning my qualifications in meetings with me and my collegues, he started withdrawing my funding, and he started placing very important project meetings on the exact days and times he had sent me on jobs outside the institution. I believe his plan was either to force me to resign, or to make sure I had so many stress-related sick days, that the institution could fire me.
In the same period, two collegues, both excellent specialists, resigned (and resignations are very rare here), in protest of my ex-husband/boss’s ´treatment of them. Both of them had meetings with the director, where they documented the ways in which my ex-husband/boss was a terrible manager and explained that they left because of him. The director did absolutely nothing with that information. One commenter remarked that “a fish rots from the head” and that is certainly the case here: In our only meeting, the director stated that the indepencence and autonomy of the head of department (my ex-husband) was his first priority, so he would not put a stop to what he called the “alleged mistreatment” and that his second was to make sure that I conducted myself professionally towards my ex-husband/boss. He said that my objections to being managed by my ex-husband during a divorce process showed that I was overly emotional, because he had complete trust in my ex’s abilities as a manager. In my country (not the States), employers have a legal obligation to create a safe work environment, so he was breaking the law as well as being a jerk. I had to call in sick after that meeting.
The end came when my boss/ex-husband and the director in secret fostered a plan to get rid of me and another colleague. My ex/boss stated that I and the colleague, our most excellent senior specialist, were getting too old and needed to be replaced in a short number of years (we are 15 and 17 years away from the official retirement age). The solution should be to hire completely inexperienced recent graduates, order me and my colleague to train them to our specialist level, and then have them replace us while we would be fired because of “budget cuts.” To make matters worse, all senior specialists receive no funding from the department budget, but have to apply for our funding ourselves from external sources. This has been a long-time point of contention. My ex-husband/boss had for years stated that the institution was much too poor to fund even the slightest bit of the senior staff (and especially me). Now we learned that these new employees woud be fully funded by the institution. My boss/ex and the director fostered this plan and kept it secret in order to have it sustained by the board, but we got wind of it. The secrecy and the plan did not go down well with either us nor the other senior specialists, who would of course be the next ones to be deemed too old and fired on the flimsiest of pretenses after having trained their successors.
I asked for a meeting with my boss/ex in order to discuss the plan and if possible avoid a big blowout at the next department meeting. That meeting went badly: my boss/ex said I was being paranoid as usual. (The “as usual” refers to an incident that took place in private a year earlier; I then confronted him having learned from a colleague that he was having a long-time affair with another of his employees. That affair apparently started while my mother was in hospice care 5 years ago.) Asked about the issues with funding, he stated that “of course the senior staff would receive some compensation for the time we used on training our (fully funded) replacements.” I still don’t know how i managed to refrain from tellling him exactly what he could do to himself.
The next department meeting was dramatic, to say the least. All senior specialists opposed the plan, the funding, and opposed the way my ex-husband/boss had handled the process, and the mistrust towards him was palpable.
My ex/boss resigned from his position as head of department and took a demotion a week after the meeting: apparently he and the director realized that the only other choice was to fire 10 renowned specialists, which would lead to very bad publicity.
However, not all is well: Upper management still suck and is not going to change. the director has hired a person with absolutely no prior management experience to fill the now vacant position as head of department. And of course, the “generational transfer” is going to come back. Management is even talking about “re-integrating the ex-boss into the department again ” — good luck with that. Morale in the department is at an all-time low, and upper management is working overtime to free themselves for responsibility for the dumpster fire they have ignited.
The good part is that my daughter is doing much better. In six months, perhaps a year, she will no longer need the level of support she does now and then my institutions will see my dust.
I realize that this update is tragicomic and the whole process seems grotesque. However, being in the middle of it felt like a nightmare, as I fought my way through an acrimonious divorce from an emotionally and financially abusive husband/boss while my work life was under attack from said husband/boss, who was given free range by a director telling me I was “overly emotional” for even suggesting that I did not trust said abusive boss/ex-husband’s ability to manage me while divorcing me. At that point I seriously questioned my sanity. Thank you for coming to my rescue.
As Alison has pointed out, toxic environments can twist your sense of normalcy, and I am so grateful to Alison and the wonderful readers for giving sound and sane advise, kindness and compassion, that restored my sense of normalcy and my confidence and put me in a place where I am finally ready to move on.
This is an update to the Christmas bonuses determined by poker with a promised grand prize of a used Hummer. I wanted to know if it was legal, or if my husband had any recourse. The advice was helpful, though it was disappointing that we were quite limited in what we could do. Regardless, the story that shook down is moderately fun to tell. Spoiler: my husband quit.
I sent the email while my husband was hard at work gambling, so there wasn’t much we could do then. He came home with a $25 music gift card. The boss’s number two talked him out of buying the used Hummer. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, which resulted in the boss being prickly all evening about his employees not appreciating such a great opportunity that they missed out on. My husband saw that as the nail in the coffin of many other issues, like the poor compensation, and started to job search. We thought that was the end of the Christmas Bonus Sequel.
With a new sunrise brought a new great idea. The boss decided it was so much fun that they should do it again! In a month!
At that point we began studying the comments people left on the poker post. A few commenters suggested my husband begin using his work time to study poker. It was tempting, but my husband was responsible for upcoming deadlines and couldn’t swing it without leaving the company in the lurch. (And he still needed the job, at least for the time being.)
Another group of commenters mentioned looking at whether there was disparate impact among protected groups and whether or not there were accommodations for religious people, for example. Mormons doctrinally do not believe in gambling. We know because my husband and I were in the process of leaving the Mormon church.
We were tempted to play the religion card because the boss thought my spouse was still Mormon, but the boss actually had access to check and influence the worthiness status of my husband if anything seemed off because of his leadership position. The boss was quite disapproving of people leaving, and of course, much worse religious discrimination happens where we live in Utah all the time that goes unchecked. So we aborted the mission.
My husband decided the night of gambling part three he just wasn’t going. The boss was very upset, and tried to make my husband feel bad by sending videos of matchbox races for money. The regret we must have felt!
The cherry on top: my husband had started interviewing and accepted a new job before the third gambling night. The job didn’t start for another 10 months (big 4 accounting), and my husband appropriately waited until the final two weeks of work to give his boss notice.
It. Was. Glorious.
The boss freaked out. He sent via text “name your number and we’ll pay you whatever you want.” My husband politely declined. The boss then repeatedly called and asked him if he was a bad boss and said he just felt so insecure with my husband leaving. My husband had been working max 10 hours a week the past year to finish his work, left ample documentation, and still, his boss did not know how to hire someone to file this particular simple tax form. It was a moment of sweet comeuppance.
As a side note, I am also the wife in the playroom from the surveillance post in 2020. Readers may be happy to hear that I am only a year out from graduating with a 4.0 GPA and a degree in science communication and chemistry. After that, I will begin writing and illustrating science themed children’s books. I frequently read the comments on my first update post to remind myself that internet strangers liked my writing and motherhood doesn’t have to be my entire identity. It is a source of inspiration and motivation to me, so thank you for the virtual support, Alison and co.
Cheers from a person who now occasionally enjoys an alcoholic toast! May your year be merry and full of bourbon-fueled bonuses.
After a contentious town hall and a series of negative news stories, House, Hoppman and other district administrators held a non-public meeting with a handful of special education parents on Dec. 6.
The forecast is now pretty well locked in for this week: We’ll see wet conditions today, followed by three cloudy and not too cold, not too hot days. Then on Thursday, likely during the afternoon or evening hours, temperatures are going to plunge as a very sharp front whips into the area and causes temperatures to plummet. Precautions for a hard freeze, including protecting exposed pipes, plants, pets, and people should be taken ahead of time.
Monday
A coastal low pressure system is helping to drive rain showers across the metro area this morning, and these will continue on and off throughout the day. These should be more nuisance showers than anything, as accumulations are likely to be fairly low, less than 1 inch for most areas. Otherwise, expect highs in the low 50s with mostly cloudy skies and breezy conditions out of the east at 15 to 20 mph. Rains should mostly end by sunset as the system moves off to the east. Lows tonight will drop into the mid-40s.
NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Wednesday. (Weather Bell)
Tuesday
This will be a mostly cloudy day. We will start off with a very slight chance of light rain and fog, but most people should stay dry. Otherwise, expect a high in the mid-50s, with chilly northerly winds gusting up to 20 mph out of the north. Lows Tuesday night will drop into the mid-40s.
Wednesday
Another cloudy and chilly day, with highs in the mid-50s.
Thursday
Skies should start to clear out some, and for areas closer the coast where there is sunshine, we could see high temperatures jump up into the 60s, or possibly even 70 degrees. But this will be a mirage, as a strong front will be dropping down toward Houston with very strong winds, and extremely dry and cold air. This front looks set to reach the metro area some time during the afternoon or early evening hours, after which time temperatures will drop 30 to 40 degrees within a few hours.
Forecast for maximum wind gusts on Thursday night. (Weather Bell)
By around sunset, or shortly afterward, I expect much of Houston to be in the 20s, with wind chills making it feel much colder. (Winds will be gusting up to 40 mph, likely). Bottom line: you will not want to be outside on Thursday night. Lows for actual temperatures by Friday morning will likely drop into the upper teens for much of Houston. The very dry air should preclude the possibility of precipitation, which is a good thing as it should keep our area roadways dry during the hard freeze.
Low temperature forecast for Friday morning in Houston. (Weather Bell)
Friday
Although skies will be sunny on Friday, temperatures should remain in the mid- to upper 20s for much of Houston, with the coast possibly seeing a brief blip above freezing. Another hard freeze is likely on Friday night, with lows dropping into the low 20s for the Houston metro area. Area roadways, and those across much of the state, should be dry for Friday and much of the holiday weekend, easing travel concerns.
Saturday
We should see more sunshine on Saturday, and this should help drive area temperatures into the upper 30s to 40 degrees. However, lows on Saturday night still could drop into the mid-20s with the Arctic air mass hanging around.
Christmas morning will start off cold for Houston! (Weather Bell)
Christmas Day
After a cold start, highs on Christmas Day should warm into the mid-40s with partly to mostly sunny skies. A light freeze is possible on Sunday night.
Next week
After the hard freeze, next week looks much warmer, with highs rebounding into the 60s during the early part of the week, and back into the 70s toward the end of the week. After today, rain chances look fairly low for awhile.
A message from our partner, Reliant
We’re glad to be a longtime supporter of Space City Weather and its mission to keep us informed about seasonal weather – without the hype. With colder weather coming just in time for the holidays, Reliant wants to share a few easy ways to prepare for dropping temperatures, so you can stay in control of your electricity usage while staying warm.
With some simple preparation and by following these tips, you can keep your heating system from working harder than it needs to and avoid unexpected winter electricity bills.
• Check your thermostat. If you have an electric heater, keeping your thermostat around 68 degrees can help you save energy. For every degree above 68, you can typically expect a 3-5% increase in heating costs. • Weatherstrip exterior doors and windows. With minimal effort and cost, you can seal out the cold and save up to 10 percent on total energy costs. • Let the sun in. If the sun is shining, open blinds and shades during the day and remove any solar screens to naturally warm your home. Close them at night to help block out the chill. • Close heat escape routes. Keep the chimney damper closed when not in use and be mindful of how often you’re opening entry doors and using bathroom or utility room ventilation fans, as heat can escape through these outlets. • Get a programmable thermostat, like the Google Nest. This can help you save up to 12 percent on heating costs without lifting a finger. • Get an annual heater tune-up. Make sure your air filters and furnace or heat pump are clean and in good working order so that your system can run as efficiently as it should. • Protect your pipes. Shut off exterior faucets, drain water from outdoor pipes and insulate them if a hard freeze is expected (28 degrees or lower for an extended period of time) to prevent them from bursting.
For more ways to get your home and vehicle ready for the cold and additional tips to lower your winter electricity bill, download the Reliant Winter Prep checklist and visit Reliant.com/WinterTips. As always, we’re available 24/7 via phone at 1-866-222-7100 and online chat to support customers. Happy holidays!
The final votes are in, and I work at Twitter — or rather, that person’s boss, Elon Musk — won the Worst Boss of 2022 Award, with 53% of the vote in the final match-up.
It appears that Twitter has become a hotbed of hate speech and megalomania—a stark contrast to the welcoming hub of enlightened discourse we’ve known it to be.
The veil has been lifted. In the unprecedented fall from grace that shocked us all, Twitter now stands as a cesspool of delusional, attention-needy hackery at best, and dangerous hate speech at worst.
And so, in a move that will undoubtedly shake all thirty-seven of my cat-eared followers to their cores, I, Craig Warner, a.k.a. @dr@gonP3ni51993, have decided to quit Twitter.
I know it pains your tender hearts. Trust me when I say that no one mourns more than I do.
But this life choice, this sacrifice, gives me pause. It gives me a moment to think and reflect. It gives me plenty of time to cook this pot roast.
Now, I no longer doomscroll. I no longer administer hot takes, serving due justice to the criminally incorrect. I no longer threaten to dox people who disagree with my flippant, tangential views.
No.
Now, I halve onions. I peel carrots. I heat up a dutch oven, turning the gas range to medium heat.
Now, I live.
I could be paying attention to the words of a delusional billionaire or a mentally ill rapper. But I am not. I have left that life behind.
Instead, I feel the grit of coarse sea salt, of fresh black pepper on my palms. Now, I rub the roast gently on all sides. Now, I caress it like a lost lover.
I could be thinking of my follower count. I could be agonizing over my follower-to-following ratio. I could be retweeting relevant people in some hope that I can get a drop, a little taste, of their glorious 12K followers of Twitter fame, tasting the likes as spattering pan drippings, small and pungent, but nevertheless fleeting, on my tongue.
But I am not.
Now, I am placing halved onions and carrots into sizzling olive oil. I’m smelling the sweet, slightly bitter scent of caramelizing onion as it wafts in the air. I am flipping to reveal the brown, circular-singed tree-ring patterns left behind. I am placing the onions and carrots on a dish.
I am setting aside.
I could be fixating on the latest hashtag. I could be trying to boost engagement. I could be scrolling through poorly filtered avatars and opinions of people who all read the same Medium article.
But alas, I am not.
Now, I am thriving. I am becoming self-actualized. I am preheating the oven to 275 F.
Now, I am browning the roast on all sides, lightly searing until it must sear no longer. I am lightly browning the garlic. I am deglazing with red wine and beef stock, swirling a burgundy tide that washes away the fond.
I hear joy. I smell love. I watch my woes swirl like steam from a dutch oven, float out my window, and dance with the rain.
Now, I live in sprigs of rosemary; I laugh in twists of a pepper mill; I love in each crackle of a split bay leaf.
I cover the pot. I place it on the bottom rack. I let time persist; it flows in a glorious, quiet analog. I light a candle as the roast slowly cooks.
I wile away the hours.
There are no meaningless popularity contests, no endless scrolling, nobody named @BeYoNcE_Taint94 informing me that I am, in fact, a soy boy.
No.
It’s only me, only the smell of herbs and wine, only the long-lost beauty of small moments.
And with the sound of rain and simmering sauce, it all seems to whisper, with a note of tiny triumph:
I’m on vacation. Here are some past letters that I’m making new again, rather than leaving them to wilt in the archives.
1. I dated a coworker, and another coworker is posting about being “the other woman”
I starting dating someone I work with over a year ago. There’s a woman who also works with us from time to time who has shown obvious interest in him. I should point out that she used to work at my location full-time, but has since moved to an on-call position. She texts him frequently and brings him coffee. Despite vocalizing my frustrations to him numerous times, it still seems that they have some sort of relationship. I recently broke it off with him, and her social media behavior before and after my breaking up with him has been questionable. She keeps posting about “being the other woman” and things like that. I don’t want this to affect my work because, relationships aside, I really love what I do. How do I handle the passive aggressive behavior and the fact that I still work with my ex?
Impeccable professionalism. She’s doing the opposite of that with her “other woman” posts. You can stay above any fray by treating her and your ex with perfect professionalism. Be utterly civil and polite. There’s no need to call either of them out on what’s going on and you no longer have reason to be invested in anything either of them might be doing, so just aim to be pleasantly detached. Anyone watching this play out will see you behaving perfectly, and that can be deeply satisfying when there’s drama around an ex.
2. I cried when my coworkers gave me a birthday cake
I had a crying meltdown at work and it was so bad that I had to go home, and I still felt like crying the next day and even now when I think about what happened. I didn’t cry because anything bad happened. I cried because my coworkers and boss got me a birthday cake and a card. You see, I was in the foster care system as a ward from my birth til I turned 18. I lived in 27 different homes and I don’t have a family or anyone who adopted me.
I never had a birthday cake or celebration. No one said happy birthday or sang to me or did anything for it ever. So when it happened, I was just so happy and surprised that I couldn’t help it.
I don’t know what I should say to my coworkers and boss. I am really thankful for them surprising me and doing something for my birthday. Someone told me they do a birthday celebration once a month and that month mine was the only birthday. I don’t want them to think I am upset or unbalanced. I want to have a good relationship with everyone here. They were nice enough to give me a chance when I never worked before and am still working on my GED. How can I explain to them why I had such an emotional reaction without looking stupid? None of them know that I was the first time anyone celebrated my birthday.
Oh my goodness, of course you had an emotional reaction! Anyone who knew what you explained here would understand in a second why you reacted the way you did. (I’m having an emotional reaction.)
Are you willing to share that with them? You certainly don’t have to — you have every right to keep your history private if you prefer to — but if it is something that you were comfortable sharing, I think it would really move people and make them feel really great about having been able to do that for you (and it would make your response make perfect sense).
If you’d rather not, that’s fine too! In that case, you could say something like, “Hey, excuse my emotional reaction to the cake the other day — I was having an oddly emotional day!” Say it breezily, and I doubt anyone will dwell on it.
3. Does “I don’t understand why we’re doing X” really mean “I don’t like that we’re doing X?”
Is it commonly known that saying “I don’t understand why we’re doing X” actually means “I don’t *like* that we’re doing X,” or is that just someone being passive aggressive?
Some context: I manage a lot of process improvement, and when we’re rolling out a New Thing to employees, I often hear “I don’t understand why we need New Thing.” I usually assume they are asking for clarification, because they *want* to understand. So I’ll try to be helpful and explain the problem we’re trying to solve, or why we decided to do X instead of Y, and they just repeat “yeah but I don’t *understand* why we’re doing that.” Sometimes I even try to explain again, being careful to be more clear or use better examples or whatever. But then I realize that they don’t really want to *understand*. They just don’t want New Thing to happen at all, but they don’t want to say “I don’t like the way that we’re doing this New Thing.”
It’s happened enough that I have to wonder if the problem is me; I’m a pretty direct person and also not great with subtext, so this might legitimately be one of those subtle social cues that most people understand but that I’ve never been great at picking up on.
Yeah, “I don’t understand why we’re doing X” often does mean “I don’t like that we’re doing X and don’t understand why someone thinks it’s a good idea.”
Not always. Sometimes it genuinely means ““I don’t understand why we’re doing X and would like to — can you explain it to me?” Often you can tell the difference by the tone the person is using, or by the rest of the conversation. (If you explain exactly why you’re doing X and the person is still saying they “yeah, but I don’t understand why,” there’s a decent chance that they mean “that reason doesn’t make up for my dislike of this change.”)
In some cases, you can say, “It sounds like you’re saying you have concerns about the change. Do you want to tell me what your concerns are, and I can make sure we’re trying to account for them in our planning?”
But this is a big thing when you’re working on process improvement; it’s not uncommon to get a lot of push-back. Sometimes that’s based on general dislike of change, but sometimes it’s based on legitimate and important concerns. So in most cases, it’s worth drawing people out about what their concerns are; you may not be able to change things to please them, but sometimes you’ll get crucial perspectives you wouldn’t have otherwise had. Plus, change usually goes down better when people feel they’ve had an opportunity to give feedback and truly been heard.
4. Paging a coworker with his first, middle, and last names
We have a paging system at work that we constantly use to page coworkers to locate them on the floor. I recently paged a coworker by his full name — first, middle and last. I then got in trouble with my manager and was told it was unprofessional. The reason we know his middle name is because he has told us. I was really confused when I was told not to do it and got reprimanded. Can you shed some light on this for me?
I’m guessing your manager assumed you were joking around (since that’s what it sounds like to me), and doesn’t want the paging system used for mirth.
I’m fairly new to my job, and if I’m being honest with myself regarding my situation, one of the lowest in the hierarchy at my workplace. It’s not an ideal position for me, but I’m trying to make the best of it.
One of the things that I’ve found makes my work far more enjoyable is using pens that I like, i.e. nice gel pens (not fountain pens or Mont Blancs or anything crazy). I buy these personally, and have never asked a workplace to supply them for me, it’s just something I invest in for myself. I’m a fairly conscientious person and take good care of my belongings, so it’s worth the expense to have a decent writing instrument handy.
The problem is that I’m not the only person around here who enjoys good pens. I just had two walk off — one my direct supervisor borrowed and never returned, but for diplomatic reasons I was willing to let that one go. But today I saw one around the work ID lanyard of a coworker that definitely was just taken off my desk. (Yes, the pens are distinctive enough that the chance is very remote that he would suddenly have the same one right when mine disappeared). How would you recommend addressing this for the future? Should I invest in the pen equivalent of a locked lunchbox? :)
People are so used to thinking of non-Mont-Blanc-quality pens as communal office property that you’re going to have an uphill battle with this one, but I’d at least try keeping them in your desk rather than on your desk. It’s rarer for people to open someone’s desk and take things out of it.
And if you happen to spot one with someone else, exclaim with the same pleasure you’d use upon spotting your lost dog, “My pen!” And then reclaim it.
If America is going to be a Christian nation, you sure as hell better get the day off. Here’s what to tell your boss if they ask you to work on Christmas day.
Former President Donald Trump is being mocked over his “major announcement” that he’s selling $99 limited-edition digital trading cards featuring himself depicted as a superhero and astronaut among other characters. What do you think?
Kiryu is a hero of the streets, selflessly guaranteed to swoop in to your rescue, unless you look like you have a lot of money, in which case Kiryu will bully you mercilessly on sight.
Argentina beat defending-champion France in the final. It's the third World Cup title for Argentina but the first for Messi - the only trophy he hadn't won in his storied and remarkable career.
Good afternoon, everyone. We are now only about four days from the start of a massive chill down that will plunge the Houston area into a deep freeze. The forecast has not changed substantially since Matt’s update on Saturday, but we wanted to provide you with the latest thinking we have on timing and intensity. The bottom line is that we all need to be prepared for a hard freeze, and this includes taking the following precautions:
Pipes and plumbing: Exposed pipes and plumbing needs to be winterized to prevent damage. Sprinkler systems should be shut off and drained. If you will be leaving Houston for the holidays, you should consider turning off the main water supply in case the pipes in your home burst.
Outdoor vegetation and plants: It will be difficult to fully protect tropical plants due to the deep nature of this freeze, but providing some cover may prevent them from being killed. Plants in pots should be brought into the home or garages.
Pets and livestock: Because the temperatures will be so low, and for many areas will remain below freezing for longer than a full day, animals should be brought into warmer spaces or they may be killed by the cold.
We know that readers have a lot of questions about the ability of ERCOT to keep power supplied to the state given the hard freeze coming into much of Texas. This is beyond the scope of our ability to forecast, but state officials have expressed confidence in the grid, and we do not expect statewide temperatures to be nearly as cold as experienced during the Valentines Day freeze of 2021. So things will probably be OK. But we can offer no guarantees.
Temperatures will fall off a cliff on Thursday evening. (Weather Bell)
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
We will continue to see high temperatures in the 50s this week, with nighttime lows generally in the 40s. The big story for the start of the week is widespread rain showers on Monday, which will probably bring 0.5 to 1.5 inches of rain to much of the area. It looks like these will be primarily daytime showers, with chances ending around sunset or shortly thereafter as the disturbance pushes off to the east. After Monday, we can expect mostly cloudy skies to prevail until Thursday.
Thursday
On Seinfeld, Frank Costanza created the “holiday” of Festivus to be celebrated on December 23. Among the holiday’s activities was an “airing of grievances.” Well, on Thursday we’re going to get an airing of frigidness. Daytime highs may get into the 60s or possibly even 70 degrees near the coast on Thursday ahead of the front, which will sweep through the region rapidly from northwest to southeast. In terms of timing, I think late-afternoon is most likely for the front’s passage, but some wiggle room remains.
After the front’s passage temperatures will drop into the 30s quickly, with very strong northerly winds, perhaps gusting up to 35 or even 40 mph. While precipitation is probably not a concern, these winds will very quickly sap any heat if you are out of doors. Conditions overnight on Thursday are just going to be nasty outside. Temperatures will bottom out on Friday morning across the region. I think it is possible that even areas south of Interstate 10 briefly drop into the teens.
Forecast low temperatures for Friday morning. Subject to change. (Weather Bell)
Friday
This will be a very cold day. It is possible that some areas reasonably close to the coast will briefly climb above freezing, but much of the metro area is going to remain in the upper 20s to 30 degrees despite sunny skies. Lows on Friday night will still be very, very cold, but should be 3 to 5 degrees above those on Thursday night.
Saturday
Christmas Eve will start out freezing, but with at least partly sunny skies daytime temperatures should reach the mid- to upper-30s for all but far inland areas. We can’t entirely rule out some light precipitation, but right now this period looks dry. This should make holiday travel across the region, and much the state, easier.
Christmas Day and beyond
After yet another freeze, Christmas Day should see highs in the 40s. It will be almost balmy!
Right now most of next week should bring a warming trend, with highs eventually climbing close to 70 degrees by Wednesday or so.
Can you get an A in Taylor Swift? In the fall 2022 semester, the University of Texas at Austin is offering a course on the megastar’s discography. With so many fine Texas musicians around, why does Swift, a native Pennsylvanian, merit academic attention? As English professor Elizabeth Scala told KXAN: “I want to take what Swift fans can already do at a sophisticated level, tease it out for them a bit with a different vocabulary, and then show them how, in fact, Swift draws on richer literary traditions in her songwriting.”
Brownsville
Texas Parks and Wildlife folk are raising the alarm about invasive creatures with enormous claws lurking in the pond near a Brownsville apartment complex. On the plus side, the supersized Australian redclaw crayfish look and taste like lobster. But they also reproduce at a frightening rate—enough to displace native species, as Click2Houston.com reported. As tempting as it might be to boil up and douse these critters in cajun seasoning, alert your friendly ranger instead!
Chisos Bason
No wild buffalo have roamed Big Bend country for decades, yet locals and tourists kept reporting encounters with a bison bull near the Chisos Basin in August. The bull, some say, is possibly an escapee from Bruce Ranch, a family-owned outfit with domestic herds near Marathon, the Big Bend Sentinel reported.
Round Rock
Night sky-watchers reached for their cell phones on September 1 and recorded strange lights near a site called Cat Hollow. Round, bright lights appeared and disappeared and at one point seemed to fly in formation. “It was mesmerizing, honestly,” said Emily White, among those who sent images to Fox 7 Austin. A so-called “drone swarm” might be the best explanation: an organized group of dozens of people flying drones (likely illegally) late at night.
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Christmas Tree Crafts
