Mitch Gann’s

A couple weeks ago, it was rumored that General Motors might sell one or more of its divisions — possibly including Buick — in order to survive.  Given my family’s history, I found this disheartening.

But the corporation came up with a different plan. It is keeping Buick, but canceling my mother’s health insurance coverage at the end of the year (along with that of all other salaried retirees 65 and older).  GM announced the plan on Tuesday, and Mom received a confirmation letter from the company today.

Tomorrow, a weekend-long celebration of GM’s 100th anniversary starts in Flint.

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Friday, July 11, 2008

Chicago, IL.

Big delegate & guests reception tonight out at the end of Navy Pier. Finger food. Open bar. Music. Sat outside with two guys from Guam. 23 hour flight. Put our train ride into perspective.

Mob scene in Grand Ballroom. All 3,000 delegates seemed to be in line for hot food. Still, Amelia emerged in no time with a plate of Buffalo wings & flat bread pizza.

“People weren’t paying attention,” she said.

Only way to find friends at the party was to call them on cell phone.

Each delegate to the AFT National Convention receives this handsome tote bag.  I heard one woman refer to it as a “purse.”  It is definitely not a purse. You could carry a laptop in it.  Now, a laptop would be great swag, but the bag is nice.

I walked up Wacker Drive to the Hyatt to catch the convention shuttle bus.  I timed it perfectly, got right on the bus, and rode over to Navy Pier.  There was a good crowd in the Exhibition Hall, but no line at registration.  Michigan locals had two booths; naturally, I went to the wrong one first.  It looked like half the registration booths were serving a single local — #2, New York City, the United Federation of Teachers. Somebody told me the UFT had 600 delegates at the convention, out of a total of 3, 000.  Not coincidentally, the incoming president of AFT is the current president of the UFT, Randi Weingarten.

Our delegation is six members strong, and I am apparently the first to arrive.  I went to a new delegate orientation, and then returned to the hotel, tote-bag over my shoulder.

Amelia was drinking wine in the lobby. “It’s free,” she said.  I grabbed a glass of Merlot and joined her. I showed her my convention swag and told her about the woman who had called it a purse.

We were sitting in winged-back chairs next to an older woman who sat behind a small round table.  “Sir, I was telling the young lady that I am available here each evening to do palm and tarot readings, as well as handwriting analysis, for a nominal fee. Please let me know if you are interested.”

“It’s twenty dollars,” Amelia whispered to me. “Not so nominal.”

“You’re the ‘young lady’? Amazing.”

Amelia smiled.

“Nice purse,” she said.

I am attending the American Federation of Teachers National Convention at Navy Pier in Chicago this weekend. But you will not find “Mitch Gann” in the official list of delegates.  I am attending under an assumed name.

Do not tell the AFT. It lacks a sense of humor.

My posts are being written in long hand on whatever paper is available. They will appear late. Or not at all if I lose the scraps.

The train arrived at Union Station an hour and fifteen minutes late.  Not bad. I like the romance of train travel. Plus, it’s only a five buck cab ride to most downtown hotels, depending on what route the driver takes, which hotel you are going to, and how much traffic there is. Also, whether or not the city has authorized a gas price surcharge on all cab fares, which it has — one dollar.  Still, it’s a shorter and cheaper ride than the ride in from O’Hare, which is a flat $22.

When we got in the cab, I gave the name of the hotel and its address. This prompted the cabbie to say, “Oh, sir, are you a professor of hotels?”

Travel tip: always buckle your seat-belt in a big city taxi-cab.

A jack-hammer was busting up the sidewalk outside the entrance of our hotel.  This is seldom a good sign, but our room is on the far side of the building and we hear nothing.   For security reasons, I won’t mention the name of the hotel.  Nor the real name of my traveling companion.  Call her Amelia.  She wants a gold fish for the room. The front-desk is sending one up.

I am off to Navy Pier.

“GM reportedly considering job cuts, brand sales” (MarketWatch):

Facing steep vehicle sales drops amid soaring gas prices and plunging consumer confidence, the Detroit giant is likely to present job cuts and other cash-raising steps to its board of directors in early August, according to the Wall Street Journal.

These potential measures are part of a broader re-evaluation aimed at returning the company to profitability in 2010, the paper reported, citing internal projections.

GM recently put its Hummer division up for sale and could soon put one of its eight remaining brands on the chopping block, saving billions in development costs for vehicles that have trouble moving off the lots, like those from Buick, Saturn and Saab.

My father worked at Buick’s Plant 10  in Flint most of his adult life.  He started out an hourly rate and ended up a foreman — a company man.  Before that, his father lost four fingers of his right hand building a Buick.   Both men died before GM shut down its Buick operations in Flint and bull-dozed the giant factory complex (which at one time included the largest factory under one roof in the world).

My parents bought a lot of GM stock over the years, and never sold any of it.  My mom kept buying Buick coupes even after Dad died and the Flint plant was razed.   If the corporation has to sell off the Buick brand in order to survive, then it should.  It’s just business.  There’s no room for sentiment.

But it makes me sick.

Scientists in Israel have been researching the health benefits of red wine — a great gig if you can get it — and have discovered a new explanation for the benefits, says an article in Science Daily.  Researchers have known for a while that anti-oxidants called “polyphenol” are responsible for wine’s protection against cancer and heart disease but weren’t sure how.  The human body does not easily absorb polyphenols.  So how could polyphenols be protecting us?

According to the new study, the answer is that polyphenols “thwart formation of harmful substances released during digestion of fat.”  Thus, drinking wine with a fat-laden meal offers the most benefits.

At least it works that way in rats.