SQUID FRY 05.16.19: Tie One On…

Tie One On… Squid’s not much of a dresser, preferring to blend in so Squid can comfortably ooze around unnoticed. Worn jeans, practical shoes, simple tops – nothing flashy, nor expensive. Squid saves Squid’s money for bling for Squid’s beloved English bulldog, Rosco P. Coltrane. Thus Squid has never shopped for the finer things made by Robert Talbott, Inc., though Squid has long thought it was pretty cool Monterey held onto a textile manufacturing facility for so long.

But then the company started trimming, and not just fabric. As of 2014, 110 workers in the Monterey factory stitched shirts, ties and pocket squares. Within three years, the workforce was down to 55. In November of 2017, the company issued 38 layoff notices. In March of 2018, they auctioned off sewing equipment, and just 17 employees remained.

Squid almost forgot they were even still around until May 13, when company President Bobby Corliss sent an email to staff to say, basically – sorry we can’t pay you. “The company is in the process of obtaining outside investment funds,” Corliss wrote. “Unfortunately, the company’s receipt of those investment funds has been delayed… effective immediately, we are placing you on unpaid leave, pending further clarity on the company’s financial bandwidth.”

Squid has a ballpark guess: It’s narrower than a skinny hipster tie.

Corliss’ email ends with a pledge to make employees whole and pay for uncompensated hours worked. Squid thought as a gesture Squid might buy them all a small token of appreciation, an accessory, but even the sale-price pocket squares start at $59.50 – beyond Squid’s budget.

Head in the Trees… Maybe it’s the never-ending dumpster fire that is politics these days, but Squid has lately been trying to get philosophical, reciting koans, Buddhist phrases and parables. What is the sound of one tentacle clapping? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it… what about if 27 trees fall in the urban forest that is Carmel? Surely lots of people will hear it, and surely they’ll react.

Squid is anticipating fireworks at the Carmel Forest and Beach Commission meeting on May 16, when Laura Overett is seeking permission to cut down 27 of 44 eucalyptus trees on her property. (According to her application to the commission, Overett lives in the oldest house in the city, built in 1846 – the nonnative eucalyptus grove came after, planted in 1850.)

Cue the high winds of the winter of 2018-2019, and the falling limbs, and now, a few months later, Overett’s request to remove the most hazardous. “If anyone is injured or killed by our trees or their homes are destroyed I couldn’t live with myself!” Not to mention pay whatever damages a court might order.