Articles for May, 2009
Chumming the Snark Tank: Moms Worth $122,732; Dads Worth $0
I know people are going to bust on me for this, especially since it’s a few days before Mother’s Day. But if there is one thing that drives me crazy, it’s the yearly story (updated with new figures) that takes all the jobs a stay-at-home mom performs and then adds up the theoretical salary. Like so:
If a stay-at-home mom was paid for what they do, her annual salary would be $122,732. And a working mom would receive $76,184 in addition to her salary. A few of the tasks that salary.com included in a mom’s job description are housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, facilities manager, van driver, psychologist, janitor and chief executive officer.
Here are a few I would like to add to the list: nurse, chaos coordinator, referee, hair stylist, snack opener, bottom wiper and toy locator.
Moms do a lot, yes. No question. My wife does way more in our house than I do. And I appreciate her for it. I tell her all the time, and help out where I can. Women rock.
But — and here’s my point — working dads never get this story. (I’m a chauffeur, projectionist, DJ, gardener, janitor, toy bounty hunter, librarian, short order cook, etc., etc.) Stay-at-home dads, and I know many, never get this story. It’s tired journalism.
Mayor Leppert’s Mighty, Mighty Hands Commit a Class C Misdemeanor, Ctd.
As expected, here’s the return salvo from Mayor Leppert’s office.
The allegations that Mayor Leppert violated Texas election laws are patently untrue. Yesterday, Mayor Leppert was greeting voters at the early voting station outside Our Redeemer Lutheran Church on Park Lane. A close look at the photo clearly shows that the man is wearing an ID badge. He is not there to vote but is an election judge with whom Mayor Leppert had a conversation the previous day. Mayor Leppert had spoken with him and thanked him for his service at the polls. Contrary to the Crow group’s press release, there was no electioneering or harassing of voters involved and no violation of the law. “This is just another example of the anti-hotel group throwing out silly and distracting allegations and seeing what will stick,” said Mayor Leppert. “It is ridiculous that this accusation has been made. Fortunately Dallas voters are smarter than that.” When talking to voters Mayor Leppert says he makes sure he follows the state’s election laws and is mindful of the 100 foot boundary.
Summary: nu-uh.
Tim’s B-Day, Ctd.
My favorite part of today was when Trey got Adriana Bate to wish me a happy 41st on the air — which I thought was very funny. And all the e-mails wishing me a happy 41st have been hysterical. Every one of them.
As Eric and Trey both well know, I’m 39.
It’s killing me that it’s killing me that those two years matter so much to me.
[gunshot]
Tim’s B-day, Ctd.
An art-lovin’ FBvian asks a good question:
Was part of his 41st birthday present interviewing Anna-Sophia van Zweden?
Yes. Yes it was.
My Take On the Jessica Simpson Cover of VF
Hot. Sorry. Just speaking the truth.
Leppert: Referendum Turnout A Challenge
This morning Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert stopped by Jones Lang LaSalle’s new Dallas headquarters in Preston Center, where he helped JLL’s Paul Whitman and Roger Staubach (from left in photo) snip the grand-opening ribbon. Then the mayor submitted to a quick interview about the May 9 convention-center hotel referendum, saying he’s “awful happy with the trend line,” but concerned about voter turnout. “What it comes down to is this: May elections don’t have the excitement of a November election with presidential implications,” Leppert said. “So the turnout is the challenge. That’s what makes polling and all that very difficult.” Jump for the Q&A.
Mayor Leppert’s Mighty, Mighty Hands Commit a Class C Misdemeanor
This is really a bunch of noise about nothing. But the anti-hotel folks just sent out a release and the photo you see here, pointing out that Mayor Tom Leppert was HARASSING people. Sayeth the press release, in part:
DALLAS — During early voting, Mayor Leppert urged voters to support a half billion dollar, taxpayer-owned hotel — but unfortunately, he violated Texas Election Law and committed a class C misdemeanor in the process. As the attached photo indicates, Leppert confronted taxpayers entering Our Redeemer Lutheran Church and blatantly disregarded distance markers designed to prevent voters from being harassed within one hundred feet of a polling location.
Feh. The voter talking to Leppert in the pic doesn’t look like he’s terribly harassed. But whatever. This gotcha stuff is fun for blogging.
Staubach: Facility Collapse ‘A Weird Deal’
Jones Lang LaSalle’s Roger Staubach, who knows a little something about buildings–and the Dallas Cowboys–says Saturday’s collapse of the ‘Boys practice facility at Valley Ranch was “unbelievable.” Adds the ex-QB: “I’ve played flag football games in there, and it’s a monster of a facility. I just don’t see how it came crashing down like it did. It must have happened really fast. Everybody saw the lights swinging, and then, man, all of a sudden, it caved in. It’s fortuitous that there weren’t any worse injuries than what they had. It was a weird deal. It was windy, but nothing else in the neighborhood was really destroyed.”
Dom DeLuise, R.I.P.
The actor and comedian died last night in Los Angeles. The local connection? Well, it’s tenuous, but he did appear in Smokey and the Bandit II as a stranded Italian gynecologist who hitches a ride with Bandit, Frog, and Cledus as they transport an elephant to Dallas. Which is reason enough to mention it here. Oh, and to post this:
(I realize this is more of Eric’s beat.)
Leading Off (Cowboys roof collapse item), Ctd.
Update: The investigative bloggers at the DMN put up the docs last night that showed the Cowboys never got a required city inspection. Peruse them over lunch.
Let Me Say What No One Else Wants To Say: Your Looks Have Become a Problem
Meet the new Online Lead Developer, Todd Anstis. He is balder, buffer, hotter, nicer, smarter, and younger than I am. He is roaming the halls like he owns the place. Oh, and he is my eternal enemy. Yeah, I think we both know how this ends.
Months After Layoffs, TI’s IT Department Needs Troubleshooting
Dallas-based Texas Instruments laid off 12 percent of its workforce in late January, with most of those cuts affecting the company’s internal support teams—and it seems the cuts are causing big problems. According to an employee at TI, the situation is now so bad that if the IT department can’t troubleshoot within a few minutes, the ticket is closed and employees are told they can’t be helped. She pointed out a recent example: During a presentation by a TI employee, a call was made to IT for help. After a few minutes, the TI employee was left with one option: call Geek Squad, the computer support company best known for black-and-white VW Beetles and its affiliation with Best Buy. That doesn’t bode well for TI.
Tim’s B-Day
Three things now identified as being “41″: Me, George Bush Sr., and Timmy. Seriously, when is he going to just give up and shave that Hair Club for Men ad on his noggin?
[Boy, heh heh, I can just imagine what the commenters would have said here. RayRay would have jumped from his chair in the basement where he rocks naked while holding pictures of Tim in one hand, a butcher knife in the other, and let us know how much he "hates" Tim; Bethany would make an erudite, pithy, funny comment. Daniel would chime in. Spider Monkey would profess her love for him. So would Marty Cortland. Bill Marvel would wonder what the hell has happened to journalism. Wes Mantooth would have made me laugh. In between all that, we would have had about 40 penis jokes. Sigh. I miss the Internet.]
Leading Off (5/5/09)
1. Dallas and Tarrant counties reported no new confirmed cases of swine flu, and most of the cases reported so far have been mild. What is a “mild” case of swine flu? It feels more like Piglet flu. Thus ends my career. (Bow.)
2. The Dallas Cowboys never had Irving officials inspect the practice facility roof that collapsed after it was completed, as they were supposed to. Upon reading this, ambulance chasers across North Texas began searching for bigger houses.
3. According to Steve Brown’s story today, Dallas officials are excited by the announcement that we are moving downtown later this year. Not quoted are various employees who would have said something like, “But our cubes are too small and the cube walls aren’t high enough and what about parking and I know I should be holding onto my effin hat BUT I AM OWED SOME ANSWERS! [pause, holding breath] And my binky. I would also like my binky.”
Jim Schutze Covers Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks”
Not really — though that would be awesome. He just went down to the Trinity River after the cats-and-kittens rain we’ve had. What did he find? Murmur.
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