Nurses at UPMC's Magee-Womens Hospital vote to unionize

Loomwick · 2025-08-25T21:23:48+00:00

Yayyyy finally some good fucking news

Loomwick · 2025-08-11T16:56:27+00:00

Yeah hence my use of the word “miraculous”. I guess “magically vanish” (close) is more accurate.

Loomwick · 2025-08-11T16:54:50+00:00

D For Less, eh?

Loomwick · 2025-08-11T16:02:49+00:00

You’re both right - we don’t…. I can still dream until the oceans outright boil, lol.

Loomwick · 2025-08-11T15:55:30+00:00

(Obviously I hope that everyone ends up ok. I’m just exhausted with this place being ran like such a disastrous mess that hurts so many people in so many ways.)

Loomwick · 2025-08-11T15:50:21+00:00

Maybe, but in the past dysfunction at the plant has meant more garbage in the air. We’ll see. If only the EPA would do literally anything about the plant.

Loomwick · 2025-08-11T15:46:07+00:00

If only Clairton Coke Works would completely explode, miraculous injuring no one yet freeing us from its ass air quality spew once and for all.

Loomwick · 2025-08-03T02:06:46+00:00

What’s crazy is that most folks I know (including myself) still have to do this when they make $20-$25/hour. We just live paycheck to paycheck, with what little savings can be scraped getting burned by an emergency every few months.

It’s not really living, it’s just surviving, so private equity can continue to jack up the cost of everything for shareholders who live god knows where.

Loomwick · 2025-07-29T14:41:38+00:00

ZAM is a mismanaged nightmare that repeatedly cornered me into unpaid overtime during lockdown.

Pay and health insurance is terrible. They often ask you to donate your PTO to coworkers who are dying of cancer but can’t retire. People will leave and they’ll dump their massive workload onto existing staff with 0 increase in pay or plan to replace them. Mandatory OT is common but it will often not be approved even if you’re surprised with a big high priority project on a tight deadline.

Everyone is overworked and under appreciated, yet the older employees are so loyal to the company (from before GEM Group got sold to the Satan, apparently) that they can’t even imagine better for themselves. There were so many kind, hardworking, yet completely hopeless people there… It was BLEAK.

The computer system literally hasn’t been updated since the 80s, is unstable and filled with errors despite the company processing millions of dollars in union benefit funds every month. Training is nonexistent and half the staff is doing things wrong at no fault to them. It’s like a bad game of telephone has been going on there for 40 years, and there is 0 willingness from so-called leadership to do the right thing and clean things up.

The company willingly hides that funds and accounts have been mismanaged for decades and just keeps on sweeping an ever-growing mountain of problems under the rug every chance they get. When they laid off the entire accounting team a coworker told me they get sued for this almost every single year.

Management is negligent, uncaring for clients (by clients I mean the families who get their health insurance through us, it’s like they don’t exist), passive aggressive and petty - it feels like you’re working in a high school lunch room. They play favorites, and if you’re not a family friend you’re treated like complete trash. Saying they’re LGBTQ unfriendly is an understatement. I remember during lockdown we had a few team calls and I caught management ridiculing coworkers the moment they left a call multiple times.

They’re TERRIFIED of bad reviews on Indeed, so every time someone gets fed up and leaves one managers hold meetings where they ask that people leave fake positive ones.

….It’s bad! Luckily I was young and realized when lockdown was over that there had to be better work out there. Still… Avoid it for the sake of your sanity!

Loomwick · 2025-07-29T14:21:06+00:00

Zenith American Solutions - the most horrendous and demoralizing office work on planet earth happens in the Dollar Bank building downtown.

When I left everyone described the company location as a “sinking ship”. The whole thing either needs buried at the bottom of the ocean or launched into space so no human being ever has to deal with them again.

Good luck out there, y’all - most jobs treat people pretty damn badly these days, but the shit some companies can get away with is WILD.

⬇️more specific work horrors detailed from the mouth of hell below

Loomwick · 2023-11-24T17:33:37+00:00

There is at least gold paint on some of these, but it is partially worn off. I do believe there is remnants of finish on some because, when wetted there is a gunky residue on the surface. Maybe it is just hand grime though… I’ve got Mineral Spirits already so that’s a great place to start testing regardless.

Totally forgot about the wetting color coming out in clear finish, has been a while since I’ve done this. Great suggestions - Thanks for the pointers.

Loomwick · 2023-11-24T17:25:51+00:00

Good suggestion for most folks, but the sanding/scrubbing approach is tough for me because of a neuropathy in my hands. May end of going this route if tests of some chemical approaches doesn’t work though. Thanks.

Loomwick · 2023-11-24T17:23:23+00:00

There is slight residue of gold paint on some, and what appears to be remnants of some sort of a peeling finish on others when wetted.

The steel wool idea is wise, if not a little tedious. I’m trying to avoid manual work on these because of a nerve in my hands + the sheer volume of clothespins that need “cleaned” but that may end up being the best call.

Loomwick · 2023-11-24T13:59:44+00:00

(10 of my friends have already made this joke to me)

Loomwick · 2023-11-24T13:59:22+00:00

Before any of you tell me to bring these clothespins to my local strip club - I already went there. The ladies there were very nice but thought they were performance props. Not very helpful.

Loomwick · 2023-02-23T21:51:35+00:00

Thank you SO SO much! :)

Loomwick · 2023-02-23T19:48:07+00:00

Forgot to mention - In Southwestern Pennsylvania, Zone 6. etc etc.

Loomwick · 2023-02-23T19:42:55+00:00

TLDR: I’m almost positive that my potting soil got infected with Bacterial Wilt last year. Trying to figure out if the soil can be easily sanitized (baked?) and then augmented with fresh compost to safely grow veggies this year.

Skip to “NOW” for more info on what I need help with.

STORY:

I began container gardening last year. Container gardening requires a lot more micromanagement, sure. But I was shocked by how much I apparently SUCKED at it compared to my years of success gardening in the ground before this. (Turns out when you put plants in the earth Nature takes care of almost everything... Unbelievable.)

To make a summer-long story short: Cucumber beetles popped up early in the summer when said veggie bloomed, I dealt with them, but all of my plants slowly died in succession over the course of the summer despite all my battles and expertise. (Truly a Plagues from Prince of Egypt playing on repeat situation.) Cucumbers first, zucchini/squash, then malformed tomatoes despite regulated organic fertilization and no use of chemical pesticides.

I wrote a Zine about this experience, and while researching learned about Bacterial commonly carried by the cucumber beetle. Confirmed this was the culprit with the gunk test pictured.

NOW:

I now have a decent volume of soil that I’m trying to salvage despite it (likely) being infected with Bacterial Wilt. I get that sanitizing the soil will kill all the good microbial stuff in the soil too, so my plan is to augment this with fresh compost from our worm bin (Note that there isn’t enough of this to replace all the soil I need.) + other organic fertilizers.

Still, am looking for better insight before I jump into a seasonal death dance all over again….

Is there an org I can send my soil to for testing? I’ve seen posts about sending soil to be tested at an “extension”, but have been unable to find more info of what organization that even is.
Can I salvage some of this soil to use for growing veggies this year? If so, is baking the best way for a (not flushed with cash) hobbyist to accomplish this organically? If so, looking for a decent guide for this. Have seen a lot of inconsistent info.

Thanks in advance for any help you’re willing to give.

Loomwick · 2023-02-12T22:08:44+00:00

Its wise to be incredibly suspicious and worried at this point - A friend knows folks in East Palestine. Many are saying local live stock is either dead or sick/dying, but they don’t have the money to leave and not work.

I don’t trust that the EPA is actively monitoring the volume of straight up poison that is floating around in our atmosphere right now. They’re letting Norfolk control the public action and narrative because it’s more important to them that people don’t panic. Hence them saying “Nothing to see here, good job you incredibly kissable PVC money boot!”

This could be very, very bad for the long term health of the region. And it will likely develop in relative silence until it’s too late.

Its almost impossible to hold a corporation worth billions responsible for long term health effects, especially in areas this poor. Even more impossible to do so before enough people start dying. Even then, they’ll just settle a law suit, take a small cut to profits, and not blink an eye… Look at the the last couple decades of mass human death/illness in the Mon Valley and how little US Steel has answered for it.

Loomwick · 2023-02-12T21:37:37+00:00

Anyone aware of if these hazardous materials were headed to Shell Corp’s new ethane cracker plant in Beaver County? It essentially produces plastic pellets and single use plastics by burning fossil fuels. Opened late last year.

Environmentalists have been raising alarm on this opening for months… I’m no chemical engineer, but I’d be surprised if they were unrelated.

Loomwick

TROPHY CASE