October 15, 20219:57 AM MSTLast Updated 21 days ago

World

China’s Xi will not attend COP26 in person, UK PM Johnson told -The Times

Reuters

LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the COP26 climate summit in person, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been told, The Times newspaper reported.

Britain, which hosts the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, in Glasgow on Oct. 31-Nov 12, is seeking to get big power support for a more radical plan to tackle climate change.

The Times said British organisers fear that Xi’s decision to stay away could be a prelude to China refusing to set new climate change goals amid an energy crunch. (end quote)

The Russian president did not attend either.

In the years before I worked as a teacher, I worked as an insurance claims adjuster. A large group of claims we handled concerned some contaminated toothpaste that was manufactured in China. More research into the trouble revealed that the factory manager had been cutting corners to make more profit for himself and the factory.

In response, members of the Chinese government came to the factory, grabbed the manager, took him out back and hung him from a tree.

Wow! Well, that is not usually how we do things in the US. That said, it is probably safe to say there is little pressure/effect we can bring to bear on the Chinese. However, what can we do? As already reported in this blog, a majority of US manufacturing, especially with clothes and shoes has been moved to China and other locations.

China’s current green gas emissions are 27% of the world’s emissions followed by 11% in the US.

If every person who buys one pair of shoes marked ‘Made in China’ writes one letter to the manufacturer (American) about how well you do or do not like the shoes. Add, it’s too bad they are made in China, the largest producer of green gas emissions. At the rate things are going, our children and grandchildren will have no geographical place to live or jobs to support themselves due to extreme weather caused by global warming.

We can’t change China but we can put pressure American businesses that are cutting costs and leaving us all out to hang.

cw

Death in HR – Part IV

                                                            ####

(Vi – HR Manager at High Tech has broken up with her boyfriend, is fighting with everyone at work and drinking more than usual. Her life is about to change.)

Later, that day, Vi took off early and told Robin she had a doctor’s appointment. She really had an appointment with the gym. Needed to work off some steam.

Vivian was restless, and her gym workout still wasn’t enough. She decided to go to Golden Gate park to walk it out.

Fuming about the remarks from her grandmother, she didn’t notice the sun was setting. The path was darker when she saw what looked to be a small red fox dart across the path.

She stopped. Was that a fox? In Golden Gate park? Am I seeing things? Maybe someone’s dog that got loose. Did they bite?

She seemed to remember something about them being biters. Shaken but not completely frightened, she decided to turn around and go back the way she came. Back to the parking lot and lights.

Walking back, a little breeze picked up, her head jerked when she heard a soft cackling sound behind her. She jerked around. No one was there.

“Hello?” Nothing.

She picked up her pace and started to run. There was that sound again, louder now.

Vi started running full out, sweating. Thank God, she had been going to the gym on a regular basis and wasn’t out of breath.

The parking lot was ahead, and she sprinted toward it. The cackling sound got softer behind her, but she could still hear it. She dove at her car and pulled the key out of her fanny pack. Dropping it, she almost sobbed.

Snatching the key up, she jammed it into the lock, and jerked the door open.

She sped out of the lot just as the attendant was closing up his guard shack.

“I think I saw a fox back there,” she spat out.

He gazed at her blankly.

“I said a fox,” she shouted at him tersely. “Do you know what a fox is, you idiot?”

“Yes, ma’am I do,” he was finally nodding his head up and down. “But, fox? There haven’t been any foxes in this area for years and years. You sure it wasn’t a dog, ma’am?”

“Of course, I’m sure. Do I look blind?” she screamed. Finally, she pushed the button and rolled the window back up. Speeding away she thought, moron! Waste of time. But in her heart of hearts, she wasn’t so sure.

Vi sped home, made herself a double martini and downed it in two gulps. She closed all the shades on the windows and sat on her sofa. She pulled a big comforter around her shoulders and sat, shivering. 

At work the next day, she parked in the underground lot as usual and came up to the front door. The old bum was poking through the trash can again.

She walked up to him and got close to his face. His reek washed over her. She stood her ground.

“You’re not supposed to be doing that. This is private property.”

“Just doing my bit for ecology, ma’am.” He laughed a little and kept poking.

She got a little closer this time. “Get out!” she screamed in his ear.

He grabbed his ear and looking frightened, scurried away, dragging his bag of cans with him.

The security guard saw the tail-end of this encounter and hurried to open the door for her and hand her a paper. She ignored him and the paper and walked straight to the elevators, turning her back to him.

He straightened his tie nervously.

Upstairs, Robin was waiting with her coffee. Vi grabbed it without comment and went into her office. She bent over, pulled a small bottle of vodka from her purse and put it in her bottom drawer. Closing the drawer carefully, she sat up and looked to see if anyone was watching. 

Picking up the Starbuck’s, she took a sip and gagged. Coming out of her office, she plunked the coffee back on Robin’s desk.

“It’s regular milk, not soy. Can’t you do anything right!”

She turned around and went back to her office, slamming the door.

Shaking, Robin pulled a ten-dollar bill out of her purse. She put a sticky on outside of her cubicle ‘Back in five minutes,’ and went downstairs to the mail room.

She grabbed one of the mail clerks and handed him the ten.

“You know where the Starbuck’s is, on the corner?”

He nodded, confused.

“Get over there right now and get a regular coffee with soy milk and get back here. You got it, soy milk, not regular.”

The kid nodded nervously at her.

“Go!”

He ran out the door.

                                                            #####

Avoiding the park now, Vi took to running in the early morning hours. The top of an aqueduct reservoir was close to her apartment and she liked going there. There was no one there in the morning. Good, I hate talking to people anyway.  The path was covered with a loose, fine gravel which usually didn’t bother Vi in her expensive Nike trainers.

One morning, when she had done her mile and a half, she was bending over to catch her breath. The summer mornings in the Bay area were still cool and little breezes played in the air.

Damn these fucking headaches!  She thought savagely to herself. Four Tylenols and orange juice and it wasn’t any better. She had a mother of a headache, plus, she couldn’t shake the feeling someone was following her. The feeling had followed her the entire run.

She heard a growling sound and jerked her head around. That same red fox was behind her. It looked bigger. She screamed. Before she could turn and run, it pounced at her and went through her legs. Its long fuzzy tail wrapped around her ankles.

Screaming again, she tottered and lost her balance. Tipping over, she fell down the cement side of the reservoir. There was a thunk sound when her head hit the cement followed by a crunching sound as the cell phone in her pants pocket was crushed as she rolled. The fall was onto the side away from the street; her body hidden from passersby.

Later that day, when Vi was not at her desk promptly at 7:30 am, her administrative assistant began asking discrete questions around the office. Wouldn’t do to have the boss think she was being gossiped about. Would be worth her job. Getting a negative response to all the inquiries, Robin went back to her desk with a fresh cup of coffee and kept glancing at the clock. Still, no Vi.

At 9:30 am, Robin carefully picked up the receiver of her desk phone and called to her boss’s cell phone.

“Hello, Vi. This is Robin. Um. Not sure if you remembered or not, but you have a 10:00 meeting. Just wanted to remind you.” She hung up the phone quickly, her palms sweating.

At 10 am promptly, Robin went into the conference room and found Jeremy Bright, one of the corporation’s other HR bosses. She whispered in his ear.

“Not here? Well, where the hell is she? We have an important meeting!” He glared at her like it was all her fault. Robin shrank back.

“I’ve called her several times, sir. There’s been no answer.”

“Well, Jesus. Keep calling!” He waved a dismissive hand and Robin tucked her head and scurried out of the room.

She slumped back into her desk chair.

There are days when the corporate salary just isn’t good enough. Christ, why didn’t I become a kindergarten teacher like my sister? Screw the money.

Scowling, she jabbed the buttons of the phone again. She had the number memorized and was desperate to reach Vi and figure out what was going on.

Read more of Courtney’s writing in:
https://sites.google.com/view/webbywritercom/page-5?authuser=0

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(Vi – HR Manager at Hi-Tech Industries has just gotten dumped by her boyfriend of two years. She’s not taking it well.)

The two young guys fumbled for the keys and finally grabbed a set. The younger guy set off at a trot to go get the car. Vi waited, fuming, arms folded across her chest.

The young man pulled up with the car and she jumped in just as Stanley was coming out the door.

“Vi . . ..”

She hit the accelerator and sped out of the parking lot.

Hot, angry tears poured down her face making it difficult to drive. She was speeding through traffic and ignoring the honks from other drivers. Her car seemed to know the way. She was going to Oma’s home. Her grandmother’s place.

Although Vi rejected many aspects of Eastern culture, like using chopsticks, she still liked to visit her old grandmother. She loved a hot bowl of bim-bim bap soup or the special spicy octopus soup Oma sometimes made.

While she loved the food and the atmosphere, she did get tired of Oma’s nagging about no husband.

Vi rang the bell at the front door next to all the names.

After a minute or two, an old gravelly voice said “Yes?”

“Oma, it’s Vivian.”

“Vivian? Let me push the button.”

The buzzer rang and Vi pushed her way into the apartment complex.

She sat for forty minutes crying her eyes out and Oma listened quietly.

“Let me get you some soup.”

Vi had about three bites of Kim-bap guk but couldn’t eat anymore. She stared down into the dark green leaves floating at the bottom of the round ceramic bowl. They reminded her of the past.

“No more. I got no appetite.”

“Sweetheart, I told you a long time ago he too young for you. He not ready for marriage. Not for a long while.”

Vi waved it away; her head down.

“Are you going to go back to work today?”

“No, I can’t. I’ll just call work and say I’m sick.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Why don’t you lie down on the sofa and take a rest? I watch TV in my bedroom.”

Vi let her grandmother nestle her into the sofa with a large blanket placed on top. She made a quick phone call to Robin to tell her she wouldn’t be back, then, promptly went to sleep.

When she woke up her grandmother was puttering around in the kitchen.

“I make us some tea.”

Oma brought out the tea service and they both drank the hot liquid. The amber liquid smelled faintly of flowers. Vi was calmer.

 “Hum, I know,” Oma brightened, “I’ll read your tea leaves.”

“Oh, grandma, not now,” Vi held her head with both hands. She had a terrible headache.

Oma sorted the tea leaves from Vi’s cup and stared at them.

“Hum.”

“What is it for Christ sake? Don’t do that and then not say anything.”

“These readings are not so good. Strange things. I don’t know. I don’t like what I see. It is . . . what is the English word, ominous. Yes, that is it. Ominous, I don’t like it.”

Vi leapt to her feet. This was all she needed. Bad tea leaves. Damn it to hell!  Frightened, she knocked the cup out of Oma’s hand and stormed out of the apartment.

She turned to leave.

“And I never want to read tea leaves again!” The door slammed behind her.

Saddened, Oma carefully picked up the pieces of the now broken Ceylon green cup and put them in the trash. She went over to a little shrine of Buddha and placed some broken cookies in the offering tray. Lighting one small candle she said a silent prayer for her grand-daughter. Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

Then she went and turned on the TV and sat back to watch her favorite Korean soap opera.

Vi sped away from her grandmother’s apartment and was making a turn when she slammed on the brakes. What looked like a big red dog with a bushy tail was calmly walking across the street and she just missed him. Is that a fox? She thought to herself. She could almost swear he looked at her, grinning.

“Jesus, I am losing my mind,” she said to the air and hit the accelerator.

Back home again, she made herself a double martini and sat down to look at old pictures of herself with Stanley and cry.

                                                  ####

The next day, back at work, Robin told her Jeremy had been by the previous day.   

“Um, Ms. Lee, I gave him the printout that was in your printer. He was very anxious to get working on the report.”

“Jesus,” Vi screamed, “I’m gone one afternoon, and the place falls apart. Christ, I’ll do it. Get out of here and for God’s sake will you get that look off your face?”

Robin blushed a furious red color and backed out of the office. She didn’t trust her voice over the phone, so she walked over to Jeremy’s office.

She leaned in the door. “She’s back and working on the report.”

“Oh, good. Then, I’ll just go over . . .. “

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. She is in a rare mood. In fact, I’m even thinking about going out for lunch.”

“Wow, that bad huh. Well, want company?”

Robin let a little smile slip out.

“No, thanks, Jeremy. I think you have other plans.” She nodded to the picture of his fiancée on his desk.

“Oh, that. Well, yes.”

She nodded and left.

After storming around for two hours and pounding the keys of her computer, Vi ripped the report out of the printer. She stomped over the Jeremy’s office.

“Here it is,” she threw it on his desk. “And, don’t be snooping around my office when I’m gone. I know what you’re up to.”

“Touchy, touchy, Vi. Thing with the boyfriend not go too well? You seem a little upset.”

“Fuck you, Jeremy.  What would your little heiress Caroline ever do if she knew about us, huh? Might put the damper on the old wedding bells, huh?”

Jeremy’s face colored an ugly shade of red.

“You keep Caroline out of this, you bitch. You have a few secrets yourself.”

“Yeah, like what?” she spat.

“Like a certain relationship with a certain CEO of this fine company.”

She got up close to his face.

“You keep your comments to yourself, you little bastard or I might do a relocation on your ass.” She turned to go then turned back. “Unless, I kill you instead.”

“If I don’t do it first, sweetheart. If I don’t do it first.”

She turned and stomped out of his office. Robin was gone when she got back.

“Fine.” She slammed the door to her office and closed the blinds. She needed a nap.

Continued Part IV

Read more of Courtney’s writing in:
https://sites.google.com/view/webbywritercom/page-5?authuser=0

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“I am sorry, Mr. Lovell. The figures are in. Your supervisor has been very diligent in keeping records. Your results have been consistently falling behind for the last year. Not a day, not a month but an entire year!” She held both hands out expansively. “What did you expect us to do, nothing? You have been talked to about this.” 

She crossed her slim legs and rocked a bit in her leather swivel chair. 

The big man hung his head with a guilty look. 

“It’s true my hands aren’t what they used to be. Not as fast and so forth. A bit of arthritis you see.” He looked up at her for a little sympathy. “And then, the foreman is having me train all the new guys and it slows me down more and affects my productivity.”

“That would be, of course, only what we would expect from the Senior employee on the line. That you would be willing to train newer employees,” she replied, her black eyes glittering at him. 

“Well, of course, of course. I try to do what I can. But then the company put in that new digital computer analyzer and when I needed help with that, no one would help me. Why, one young guy just laughed at me and said an old man like me couldn’t be expected to understand it! Plain disrespectful.”

Vi tilted her head to one side and kept shaking it. 

“We have tried, Mr. Lovell, we have tried.”

Lovell looked close to tears. 

“If you let me go now, I get reduced pension and none of the medical benefit package that was promised. My wife has cancer, Ms. Lee and every little bit counts.”

“Aren’t you entitled to Social Security and Medicare pretty soon Mr. Lovell?

“Well, yes, we are. But that doesn’t cover much and her treatments are expensive!”

“Look, Mr. Lovell,” Vi was glancing at the clock, she had a lunch date, “I will personally look into it and do everything possible. You know better than I do what a bear that CEO is.” She laughed and he laughed.

“Don’t I ever.”

She stood up. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. Lovell.” She started walking to her door and he followed.  

Like an old circus bear, she mused to herself. 

“Thank you, Ms. Lee. Thank you very much. My wife and I, we appreciate all your help.”

She smiled warmly and gave him a little pat on the shoulder. He finally left. 

“Jesus,” she mumbled to herself, “bloody hearts and flowers. Thought he would never shut up!” 

She grabbed her bag and bolted to the door. Her boyfriend of two years, Stanley, had called out of the blue and wanted to do lunch. His treat. Wow. Maybe he was going to pop the big question.

“Robin, lunch,” she flung the remark over her shoulder as she scooted to the elevator. “Might be a little late coming back.” 

Robin opened her mouth to say that she had forgotten her lunch that day and needed to go out and get a sandwich. She shut it instead. The deli on the corner would deliver. Just a slight fee for the service. What the hell, it’s just money, right? She thought bitterly as she picked up the phone to place her order.

Just as she was replacing the receiver, Jeremy Bright, the other HR manager, came walking through with a sheaf of papers in his hand. 

“Where’s Vi?” he asked without ceremony.

“Lunch,” Robin replied. 

“Shit, we need those figures on that Talent report, ASAP.” He stared out into space a moment. “You don’t know where they are do you?” Jeremy leaned his lanky 6’ 2” frame over the little partition in front of Robin’s desk. He gazed down at her a long moment. She blushed. 

Jeremy was an extremely attractive, married- well almost-married-man. Dark hair and blue eyes, he had been sticky fly paper for many women in the company. She didn’t want to become another. 

“I . . . I will look on her desk, Sir. I am almost certain she was working on the numbers this morning. Let me get back to you on that.” Head down, she was speaking to her desk. 

Jeremy rolled his papers into a tube. 

“Yeah, right. Do that, Robin. Fast as possible, ‘kay?”

 He tapped the paper tube against the partition and turned to go back to his office. Jeremy was striding back to his office and remembered the brief affair he had once with Vivian when she was new. 

I used to think she was cute, with her sassy black eyes and black hair. No makeup to speak of, very different from my usual blonde co-eds. She was cute then. Now, he let out an involuntary shiver. She’s hard, cold and I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her. Good thing she still holds a candle for me, hoping we’ll get back together. Geeze, I hope Caroline never finds out. 

Little did Jeremy know that Caroline, his fiancée, had known about the affair for a very long time. Ever since a company party at Christmas one year when Vi had made it her business to tell her all about it.

                                                            #

Vivian screeched into the parking lot at the Jardinière restaurant and slammed on the brakes, making the valet jump. She got out and threw the keys at him. 

“Back in an hour,” she barked. 

She whizzed into the ladies’ room first. She had a pee. In the mirror, she checked to see that her very red lipstick was in place. Both hands smoothed down the double-knit dress. Little cap sleeves showed off the definition she had been getting at the gym with the new trainer. The shiny black bob was cut to perfection with no hair out of place. She wanted this day to be perfect. 

Although Stanley was younger than she was, twenty-eight to her thirty-six, they had been dating steadily for two years. She had definitely felt that something was coming. She was ready to say yes. A hulky, good looking Australian, Stanley was over here making his debut into commercials and hopefully, TV and movies one day. Vi had successfully connected him with a few of the right people and with those green eyes and blonde hair, he was off. 

Stanley was waiting for her at their table and stood when she showed up and graciously pulled out the chair for her. 

Ever the gentleman, Vi thought to herself. Not like these American slugs I have had to deal with. 

“I ordered you a Chablis, your favorite,” Stanley smiled at her. A dark blond curl fell forward as he leaned toward her.

Oh, I love him so much. We will have beautiful children, she thought.

“Aren’t you having a beer? Your favorite?” 

“Naw, got a shoot right after this and got to be on me toes you know. Directors!” He grinned and perfect teeth showed in a tan, handsome face.

They both laughed a little. Vi sensed a bit of tension in the air as she was looking at the menu. 

The waitress came over and Vi ordered her usual Chinese Chicken salad with cashews. 

“Stanley, you’re not eating. What’s the matter, my love?”

Stanley smiled briefly and looked down at the table and started twirling a fork. Long lashed. Rushed his cheeks.

God, I just hate it when he does that. A most annoying habit.

Vi laid a hand over his hand, to reassure him, of course, but mostly to make him stop the twirling thing. 

“What is it, Stan? You can tell me.” She smiled her warmest smile. 

“Vi . . . Vi . . .”

“Yes?”

“I can’t go out with you anymore.” Finally, the words were out, and he looked up at her, pleading in his bright blue eyes. 

She pulled her hand back from his like she had been burned. What? She couldn’t be hearing this. Her head started to swim. 

“. . . told you at the beginning this wasn’t serious for me. I thought we agreed to that. And, now . . . feel like you are wanting more and more from me. . .  not ready for marriage. . . focused on my career. . .”

All Vi could hear was blah, blah, blah. She couldn’t focus. The waitress brought her salad and it sat on the table, untouched. He was still talking, she couldn’t listen to another word. 

“Immigration,” she spat out. 

“What?”

“Immigration. I can tell those people in immigration that your documents are faked. There is no uncle in upstate New York. It’s all faked, he’s just some Aussie buddy helping you out. You’ll lose your work visa.” Her eyes glinted maliciously. 

Stanley looked at her blankly. His enormous muscles strained through the thin cotton shirt. 

‘Vi, look, I know you’re upset. But, really, you wouldn’t do that.” He pleaded like a little kid.

“Upset, upset!” she laughed. “I have wasted two years of my life on you. Set you up in the business, got you contacts, and this, this is how you repay me!” She stabbed the tablecloth with her fork. 

The waitress came back and stood hovering to the side. 

“Not now!” Vi screamed at her. People from other tables turned to look. 

“Vi,” Stanley put his big hands out. “I’m sorry. But, you’re making a scene.”

“Scene. Scene!” she screeched at him. “You’ll be making a scene when you see what I do to you!” She practically knocked the chair over backwards in her hurry to stand up. 

“You better rethink this thing, Stan. Like a marriage, a ring, pre-nups and two point five kids. Or, think about your next conversation with ICE.”

He stared her blankly. 

 She grabbed her purse. “You bastard. You absolute bastard!”

Stanley put his head down and Vi stormed out of the restaurant. Flinging open the front door, she stomped over to the valet desk.

“Red Miata.”

“Sorry, Ma’am?”

“Miata! Red. Can you speak English?”

The two young guys fumbled for the keys and finally grabbed a set. The younger guy set off at a trot to go get the car. Vi waited, fuming, arms folded across her chest. 

The young man pulled up with the car and she jumped in just as Stanley was coming out the door. 

Continued to Part III

Read more of Courtney’s writing in:
https://sites.google.com/view/webbywritercom/page-5?authuser=0