CLOSE UP by Brian Rudnick

IBEW pickets Cathedral Village/St Mary's flea market

Muriel Anderson, a very contented ten year resident at Cathedral Village in Roxborough, was helping raise money at the white elephant table at the St Mary's Church flea market. (St Mary's is located on Cathedral Grounds)  Meanwhile, Business agent Ray Della Vella ,  and members for  Local Union 98, I.B.E.W (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) handed out free canvas bags, literature and frisbees at a table next to their trademark "rat-mobile" protesting Cathedral's use of a non-union contractor, Haverstick-Borthwick. "DO NOT RENT HERE" signs lined all adjoining streets.

Watch video here.

Inky photographer happy to have job

Ed Hille, a staff photographer for the Philadelphia Inquirer was at the Allens Lane Art Center on Wednesday April 3^rd taking photos for a future story about the “Vision through Art” program for the blind and visually impaired. 

WHAT’S GOING ON AT THE INKY THESE DAYS? “We can’t talk about that, sorry. Everything at the Inky is, we’re up and running and we’re still publishing and we’re all happy we have jobs.”

Watch video interview here.

 

Sheet Metal Union pickets Chestnut Hill College

The Sheet Metal Workers Union has been protesting Chestnut Hill College’s use of non-union, Delaware-based contractor DJ Wagner. Eddie Guinan, a sheet metal worker who is manning the picket this day, says Chestnut Hill Hospital, down the street used union workers [for its recent renovations] and that Chestnut Hill College should do the same. The police were called one time and he thinks it was the college’s way of letting the union know that they don’t like the picket.

Guinan believes that a college that is charging students $41,000 a year naturally wants the best educated teachers and should also want the best educated- that is, union- workers. Union standards and wages, he says, protect his ability to pay his bills and take care of his family. He contrasts that with non-union workers who may only get only 32 hours, not 40 hours of work a week and without benefits. Guinan works in heating, ventilation and a variety of specialty projects but work has been difficult to find in recent years. He credits the Republicans with doing their best job in the last four years of crushing the unions.

Watch video interview here.

NOTE: A comment has been received that the non-union work is being done for the Sisters of Saint Joseph (who run Chestnut Hill College) at their convent.

Waves down cars for Liberty Tax Service

With a shiny turquoise gown and spiked Statute of Liberty hat to match, bearded Tom Humphrey waves at cars passing by on Ridge Avenue in Roxborough to drum up business for Liberty Tax Services. “It’s a fun job,” and he gets to meet a lot of people and see his neighbors, says Humphrey who works four-hour shifts, morning, noon or night, depending on his schedule. Some “wavers” who work other shifts are not so keen on the rainy, sleety or snowy conditions that, he hints, don’t faze him. According to Humphrey, this is Liberty’s signature and effective way of advertising, as the company does not advertise on radio, TV or in newspapers. Watch video here.

 

Secrets of Prolific Writers

In her book, “The 7 Secrets of the Prolific, the definitive guide to overcoming procrastination, perfectionism and writers bloc,” Hillary Rettig offers many insights and tips for authors and others on how to become successful. It’s not laziness or lack of discipline that keeps people from moving forward, Rettig says, but dis-empowerment, meaning they have temporarily lost access to their skills and strengths including their capacity to write. Perfectionism is the biggest constraint according to Rettig. She says that perfectionists set impossible standards and then punish themselves when they don’t achieve them. Along with offering insights into the barriers that writers face, Rettig offers strategies in line with her philosophy of “compassionate objectivity” like managing one’s relationship with one’s writing. One technique is doing timed writing exercises and giving oneself little rewards upon completion, whether it be a good stretch or a little treat and appreciating what she or he has done by engaging in the process. Rettig, who also authored “The Lifelong Activist” has practiced her philosophy and techniques in her own writing . She gives workshops on perfectionism and time management online and in other places. Her books are available through Amazon and other retailers or through her website, www.hillaryrettig.com where she offers free information and useful articles. Watch video interview here.

Can you give her a couple dollars?

Personable "Flower" accosts passersby for money to get something to eat while sitting on the bench at the bus stop on Evergreen near Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. She lives alone in nearby Mount Airy, has a mental illness, has some social supports and gets some income. Flower would be able to do filing, stock work or security work. She says she would rather not be panhandling.  "I gotta do what I gotta do," she says, to not be hungry and stay alive. Watch video interview here.

 

 

Laying concrete sidewalk

Watch video interview here.

In Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, where many sidewalks become buckled or broken because of large tree roots , Bill Hackett of Husky Masonry, Perkiomenville, PA sawcuts a seam in old sidewalk blocks that he is preparing to replace with "3/4 inch two bit" concrete aggregate. This modern blend is preferable to mixtures with round stones or cinders used in earlier times because they tended to break up more easily. To give the newly laid concrete an aged look so it blends in with the older adjoining sidewalk blocks, he sprinkles powdered dirt, which he has taken the extra measure of sifting more finely, onto the newly poured concrete. The biggest challenge of the work, Hackett jokes, is not getting hit by cars.

NCCC Raven team plants trees

Raven Team members from the National Civilian Community Corps (AmeriCorps) based in Maryland plant sugar maples and other trees to restore the understory in Carpenters Woods Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. The effort is in conjunction with PhillyRising Collaborative and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. These college age youth college, from high school to college grads, spend ten months traveling to four different sites in the Northeastern U.S. working on projects as diverse as cleaning up back alleys in North Philadelphia's Swampoodle section to weatherizing old homes in Maine. Above: High school grad Sam, planting a tree. Watch video here.

HIs work: sucking up shit

 

Darryl Leonard services portable toilets for Royal Flush Portable Restrooms, a company owned by his uncle. The company does work for special events like regattas on Kelly Drive and for the Phillies and Eagles. Royal Flush provides a  variety of toilet options - stand-alones like this wheelchair accessible one shown on Northwestern Avenue near Forbidden Drive in the Wissahickon, flushable ones and trailerfulls. Leonard may vacuum out one to two hundred toilets a day into his truck which holds 1500 gallons and work from 5:30 in the morning to 9 at night. A downside is when he has to come out and clean up after someone has tipped a booth over. Leonard wasn't complaining about the job, however. "It is what it is." Watch video here.

Quiet fallen firefighter played "Prince Charming"

Bishop McDevitt High School Admissions Director Christopher Seifert smiles recalling the memory of former  schoolmate Daniel Sweeney. The  young Philadelphia firefighter  died from injuries suffered battling a blaze in a vacant building in the city's Kensington section. Sweeney, a junior when Seifert was a senior, was so quiet around school, that Seifert was surprised when Sweeney assumed the lead role of Prince Charming in the musical Cinderella they were both acting in. Sweeney's mother still teaches at the school and his  youngest sister  just graduated. There will be a memorial service at the school with the family in the next month. Wyncote, PA. Watch video interview here.