Those of us old enough to remember the long, brave fight of the California farmworkers to get a fair deal with the grape growers, culminating in la Huelga, a long desperate strike, resulting in a contract with the now recognized United Farmworkers Union , know and honor Cesar Chavez. There are gatherings to honor him today, on what would be his birthday, particularly in his home state of California.
Here's the bust of Chavez that Biden put in the oval office almost as soon as he got there.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, honored him. Kamala Harris, Vice President, honored him.
Dem Governor Newsom has refused to meet with the Farmworkers today to honor Chavez. Long history of conflict. Wrong side of history.
Moving to other brave and besieged people, today is Trans Visibility Day.
Meanwhile ordinary life trundles on. The fencers were at work tearing down fences today. Here's the current view.
And another unwelcome view.
The control panel on my stove up and quit. No oven functions, no clock, timer, just burners working. Suddenly.
So I pawed through my files for information about the stove, such as where to find the model number, and searched for the people who repaired it last time.
To my amazement, I found their bill from 2012. I had asked the neighbor who put me onto them did she remember the name and number. Then I found them, and she said she had no idea, could I now tell her!
So they played loud music while they searched to check if the parts were still made and in stock. They seem to be, because next Wednesday they're coming to fix it. At least that's the plan.
Knitting required now. Handsome Son spent part of the afternoon here eating chocolate cake and being calm about my exciting week. He collected his bp monitor which I don't need for now. All being well.
Tomorrow is Misfits box and knitting group. All being well.
Chavez is a good figure in our history. I remember those days, vaguely.
ReplyDeleteHow I remember boycotting grocery store products in support of Chavez.
ReplyDeleteHere we go from one broken item to another, the latest, the heat pump, broken in some of the coldest weather this year. Not a quick fix either. Sigh…
ReplyDeleteMay Trans people be as successful in their struggle as Chavez was!
ReplyDeleteIt always seems like when you get one thing repaired then another goes out! I'm sure that was frustrating for you considering how much you cook and bake. I'm glad you had Handsome Son there for a while and I know he enjoyed your cake!
ReplyDeleteDave and I watched a TV show about Robert Kennedy and his support for the California farmworkers -- it was interesting. I can't remember where we saw it. (Netflix?)
ReplyDeleteAs the mother of a transgender child and the sorta mother of several others, I thank you for your tribute. You asked me once who Billy is on my blog and he is one of my beloveds who is transgender. He is now working for the Trevor Project which provides crisis support 24/7 for the LGBTQ community. I am so proud of all my babies.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about your oven! You will be fine without it for a few days but you will miss it, I'm sure. Glad they can fix it.
Billy chose his mother wisely. So many parents of transgender people have great trouble handling this knowledge. Billy's doing great work with the Trevor Project.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about cooking without an oven and realized plenty of cultures do all their food prep on an open flame, so I can too for a while. The oven doesn't have to be so vital after all.
All this high tech stuff has planned obsolescence built in. Can't make money if your product lasts 30 or 40 years like they used to. My washer and dryer are at least 30 years old. My repair guy keeps it going though some parts are no longer available. He says keep it going as long as possible as the new ones crap out after about 7 years.
ReplyDeleteGender and identity are so complex. I don't understand the hate religious people have for the other gendered. It's not like it's contagious or that how someone defines themselves has an impact on anyone else. Especially these so called Christians who claim Jesus as their guy who said 'love everybody'. One of the volunteers and I were discussing Biden's new administration back when and I said how much I liked that he was people across the spectrum to his admin. She replied something about except for the transgender woman. I told her that didn't bother me. Her reply was something along the lines of if you follow what the bible says. I just shrugged and that ended the conversation as we both had work to do. What I didn't say to her is that no where did Jesus condemn or even mention the other gendered.
Glad you can get your stove fixed.
ReplyDeleteSo many people who face prejudice. So sad.
I think your stove is pretty important to you, so hang in there.
ReplyDeleteYet another 'never a dull moment' at Chez Boud! Hopefully your stove is fixed sooner rather than later.
ReplyDelete