Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate » Mike

Appendix to cheap motels and a hot plate

Mike — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:53:07 +0000

The original draft of the book had the following appendix. We decided not to use it. An abridged version has been published at www.mrzine.org. Do you think I should have included it in the book? Read More

Alan Greenspan: Class Warrior

Mike — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:53:24 +0000

[Note: This first appeared in Counterpunch at http://www.counterpunch.org/yates10102007.html. It is based upon a story in the book.] Read More

The injuries of class

Mike — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:46:11 +0000

One of the themes of Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate is work. More specifically the theme is dead-end work, how there is so much of this in the United States. Work has always been something that has interested me; I taught about, and for years I scrutinized my own labor. Now for a few months, I once again have a regular job, teaching in the Labor Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Teaching a large undergraduate class has brought back memories of my thirty-two years of doing this at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Memories by no means mainly positive. I was asked by a colleague in the department to give a public lecture, which I will do next week. I decided to speak about work and the lack of it) in our economic system. I have titled it The Injuries of Class. It parallels and explores more deeply some of the material in the first two chapters of the book. Here it is: Read More

dining in Portland / Letter to Eric Asimov

Mike — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:17:31 +0000

Eric Asimov is the New York Time’s wine critic and a restaurant reviewer. Yesterday he wrote a glowing tribute to Portland, Oregon restaurants and some Portland chefs. Karen and I wrote him a letter, posted below, and followed by a restaurant review I wrote and included in my book. Asimov said the cheap real estate drew chefs from NYC and elsewhere. The Ken in our letter owns Ken’s Artisan Bakery in Portland. Mr. Paley’s restaurant, Paley’s, is featured in the article, as is chef Pascal’s bistro. Claudia Pepin is famed chef Jacque Pepin’s daughter. Read More

School Starts/Remembering Wyoming

Mike — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:29:15 +0000

I taught my first class this past Tuesday. It is a large lecture section of seventy students, in a course titled “Globalization and Labor.” It was the first time I was in a classroom like this since 2001. I was nervous about it. Lectures to prepare, exams to grade, hassles to deal with. The paperwork I have to do just to get paid is remarkable. Do this, fill this out, go here, get this. Then I am told it might take awhile for me to “get into the system.” I’m only here for five months, so I hope that first check comes before I leave. The University of Massachusetts seems to be a particularly bureaucratic organization, but maybe I’m not remembering how bad the University of Pittsburgh was. The class went fine, though. About seventy students, but I have two graduate assistants, the first time in my life I have ever had help for a class. Read More