El Cercano Oeste

Las reformas económicas y laborales de los últimos tiempos están cambiando el panorama del trabajador en España, históricamente acomodado a tener sus derechos inherentes muy bien protegidos. Empieza a no ser así.


Hoy en la estación de Sants un maquinista dejó tirados al tren y al pasaje de Mora La Nova a Barcelona. A bote pronto suena a irresponsabilidad sumarísima suya, pero los responsables de RENFE que tuvieron que dar cara -sólo bajo obligación, porque el maquinista no cerró la puerta de la cabina imaginando que el relevo llegaría, y el público se metió y usó la megafonía del tren para reclamar- pusieron la más dura que tenían. En general, los trabajadores del sector público y privado están hartos de ser denostados y considerados como vagos y aprovechados a quienes se regala el sueldo. En las oficinas ya se hace horas de más sin cobrar, porque las plantillas de servicio son insuficientes y nadie les reconoce por ello; más bien, se externaliza o trae personal con contrato basura, para contentar por unos meses a algún gallito pendenciero o sindicalista. Ahora los cargos no se ven obligados a contratar a nadie más y, sin eludir sus serviles responsabilidades, fungen de caja de resonancia para la voz del amo, prefiriendo ahogar al currante para poder permitirse la tranquilidad de dejar campar a sus anchas a los caraduras.


La falta de presupuestos, personal, gestión y responsabilidad de los ejecutivos de la empresa española de hoy propicia, al amparo de lo que el presidente de gobierno se niega a llamar recortes, el abuso indiscriminado. Y el personal, claro, hasta los cojones de hacer favores todos los días por la patilla, aguantando a jefes impresentables que exigen mucho y dan poco a cambio, haciendo horas extras no pagadas, pidiendo vacaciones cuando no les conviene, o trabajando más horas por las bajas de compañeros sin que haya sustitutos. El maquinista del cuento no ha obrado bien, pero sería bueno conocer cuál fue su límite: eso es lo que se tiene que investigar internamente en RENFE, las circunstancias que han propiciado que este señor esté harto de su trabajo para ponerle grupas de esa manera. O quizás no se sabrá nunca, si ya le dieron el despido con la nueva y magnífica Reforma Laboral, y se la trae al pairo.

7 ego-reducing steps

http://www.examiner.com/article/wayne-dyer-s-seven-steps-for-overcoming-your-ego

Step 1: STOP BEING OFFENDED

We all know people who get offended by just about everything. When we’re around them, we watch what we say, because we know it won't take much to set them off. 
                                                          
So when you’re around people who are easily offended, realize that it’s their ego. Don’t be drawn into the drama by adding your own two cents or by trying to change their mind.
                                
If you’re the one who’s easily offended, work on changing the negative pattern. (And recognizing it is often the hardest part.)

By constantly being on the lookout for shortcomings in other people, you’re not helping to change anything. You’re actually contributing to the problem.
                      
Step 2:  LET GO OF YOUR NEED TO WIN
This is hard to let go of because winning is a sure way to get an immediate ego boost. But Dyer points out that you can’t win all the time. And how do you feel when you lose?

If losing devastates you, it’s because you're getting your identity mixed up with winning and losing. But the only thing that's been lost is how you think about yourself. In other words, the loss has occurred to the ego, not to who you truly are.

Step 3:   LET GO OF YOUR NEED TO BE RIGHT
 Why is being right so important to you? Because it strengthens your ego.

But what happens when you're right and your son or daughter is wrong? Or your husband or wife is wrong? Are you able to let go of being right then? Or do you have to prove you're right, even if it means proving that someone you love is wrong at all costs?

“I’ve seen people end otherwise beautiful relationships by sticking to their need to be right. I urge you to let go of this ego-driven need to be right by stopping yourself in the middle of an argument and asking yourself, Do I want to be right or be happy?” says Dyer.

Step 4: LET GO OF YOUR NEED TO BE SUPERIOR

“True nobility isn’t about being better than someone else. It’s about being better than you used to be,” says Dyer.

By being in competition with yourself, working to improve your way of being in the world, your focus shifts from lecturing and judging others, to improving yourself. (But don’t judge yourself, or it defeats the purpose!)

Dyer points out that “We are all equal in the eyes of God.” So if God sees us as equal, then how can we be superior (or inferior) to another person?

Step 5: LET GO OF YOUR NEED TO HAVE MORE

What happens when we always need more? We can’t appreciate what we already have because it’s not enough. In the end, our lives become shallow, unrewarding, and meaningless.

“The mantra of the ego is more. It’s never satisfied. No matter how much you achieve or acquire, your ego will insist that it isn’t enough,” says Dyer.

When we always need more, we can’t part with what we already have, even if we no longer need or use it, because the ego feels less when it has less.

But having more clothes, for example, doesn't make us better people. It doesn’t even make our lives easier. Having a lot of clothes that are too small, too big, outdated, or stained simply gets in the way. But the ego feels deflated when it looks in the closet and sees empty spaces.

Step 6: LET GO OF IDENTIFYING YOURSELF ON THE BASIS OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

Dyer urges us to let go of identifying with our achievements because alone, we don’t achieve anything. “God writes all the music, God sings all the songs, God builds all the buildings, God is the source of all your achievements,” he stresses.

Step 7: LET GO OF YOUR REPUTATION

This was probably the hardest thing for me to let go of. I always wanted people to like me and would be crushed if someone didn’t. I'd think, What did I do wrong? At the time, I didn’t realize that I couldn't control what others thought about me, no matter how badly I wanted to.

According to Dyer, what people think about you is beyond your control, so your shouldn't waste time obsessing about it. “Your reputation is not located in you," he says. "It resides in the minds of others. Therefore, you have no control over it at all. If you speak to 30 people, you will have 30 reputations.”

You can't twist yourself into a pretzel trying to please everyone you meet because no matter how hard you try, there will always be somebody who doesn't like you.

Dyer recommends that you do this:

“Stay on purpose, detach from outcome, and take responsibility for what does reside in you: your character. Leave your reputation for others to debate; it has nothing to do with you.”
  

50 reasons not to date a graphic designer

1. They are all very weird.
2. There are billions of them in the world, like colors on the screen of your computer.
3. They analyse conversations in layers.
4. You will spend days assembling IKEA furniture.
5. They drink and eat all kinds of weird shit just because they like the packaging.
6. They hate each other.
7. You’ll come out the last out of the movies because you have to see the full list of credits.
8. They cannot change a light bulb without making a sketch.
9. They fuck up all tables with their cutters.
10. They study the paisley pattern on your outfit rather than listen to what you have to tell them.
11. They will fill your house with magazines and whatever is out there that has drawings.
12. You never know if he or she is really an original or a copy.
13. They make collages with your photos.
14. They do not know how to add and subtract, they just understand letters.
15. They idolise people nobody knows and speak of them as if they were their friends.
16. They take pictures almost daily and all are cut in weird shapes.
17. They ask your opinion about everything but they do whatever they want.
18. Everything is left justified, right or center unless they arrive late.
19. They hate Comic Sans with the same passion they love Helvetica.
20. They use iPhone for everything, because everyone has one.
21. You can not decorate the house without consulting them.
22. They steal street signs.
23. They always carry their hands painted with something.
24. They buy dolls unfinished so they can paint them.
25. Everything becomes something other than what it really is: cards as tickets, beer cans as ashtrays…
26. When arguing, you will be nicknamed like the OS X spinning wheel (not affectionately)
27. They cannot dress up without checking the Pantone book.
28. They hate Excel.
29. They read comics.
30. They want to save the world with a poster.
31. You will spend the day brainstorming.
32. On vacation they will take you to countries you do not know exist which have no beach.
33. Museums are their second home.
34. They know more positions than the Kamasutra.
35. They cannot go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design.
36. They listen to music you have never heard of.
37. They cannot cook a normal dish, they always have to experiment with new ingredients.
38. They read rare books: stories of children, semiotics, etc
39. When they are going to tell you something, everyone read it before in their Facebook and Twitter.
40. They have owned iPods before you knew they existed.
41. The orgasm they remember is when they heard Adobe was buyng Macromedia.
42. They have their own shops just for them and they are the most expensive in the city.
43. They want to spend all their money at Apple Store.
44. You never understand their gifts.
45. They see ordinary objects and laugh.
46. You wake up in the middle of the night hearing them scream “when is the deadline?”
47. They see CMYK and RGB like Neo sees the Matrix.
48. They dream of the day nobody will make a single change to their designs.
49. They rather pay for a font than for a special birthday gift.
50. They are always sleepy because they work 24/7.


Enlace al original: http://abourbonforsilvia.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/50-reasons-not-to-date-a-graphic-designer/#comment-3411

Duele. Es el dolor humano, aquel terrorista que ataca por sorpresa y no deja pistas de su identidad porque tiene muchas.  Se esconde tras un gol de España a Francia hecho en Ucrania, tras los petardos de la verbena de San Juan, tras el aire sereno de las noches de verano mientras conduzco mi moto, tras las vistas del atardecer mediterráneo sobre El Masnou desde un tren. Nadie sabe que vendrá, nadie le espera; asoma la cabeza y ya se está quitando el disfraz, abriéndote fuego de metralla o de bomba de relojería; se inmola y te quiere llevar con él al infierno.


Pues te vas a la mierda, cobarde, que te he visto venir. Me sacas una lágrima y si puedes dos, pero no acabas conmigo. Alguna vez has logrado herirme y dejarme inconsciente un rato; se me ha tenido que curar las heridas cuando alguna otra me tomaste por sorpresa. Y en tus peores atentados supe salirte al frente, aún vendado y ahíto, hasta que te fuiste.


No puedes conmigo porque sabes que, al final, dueles porque eres fuerte, pero no logras hacerme sufrir. Volverás a intentarlo, y te volveré a ganar.