8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC #5

[PBader]

Somebody pass the rum......I promise to share with Shannon


Just got off a conference call where it was announced that we will be making a 23-25% force reduction. Within my organization that means about 350 people. No one will know until 'late April' what their employment status is. Some people will even have to take downgrades if they want to stay employed.

I've known for several weeks that we were restructuring. But this is the first time they put some numbers and timelines to it.

They say it's based on performance and skills. But I know from personal experience that is not always the case. I was one of the top performers when we went through this last year, but got targeted anyway. Luckily they found me another position otherwise I would have been laid off. I actually found out that some people's annual reviews were not even looked at in making the decisions last year.

I've been here 12 years. This is about the 6th time I've been through this.

Monica, we'll keep good thoughts for you. 6th time in 12 years--that's alot of additional stress to add to a job.

 

[PBader]

I

It's been a fairly stressful week and I'm beginning to relax a bit. FIL had open heart surgery last Friday and seems to be doing quite well. DH had further eye surgery this morning and we are hoping that is the last of it. He has been dealing with a detacted retina. Haven't found out yet what type of restrictions we'll be dealing with in regards to the TOAL. I had a bit of fun for a few hours with a quick trip to the mainland - complete with a pod of killer whales showing up beside the ferry. I went to see Mamma Mia with my DSis, DNiece and my DNephew's fiancee. It was really well done - then I had to head home back to reality.

I can't believe how quickly time is flying and soon it will be time for the trip. I'm having fun reading bits about the WB Repo planning and enjoying Andrew's Panama thread.

Off to attempt to do some work for awhile.

Hope you all are done with drs. and hospitals for awhile. Whales, how cool

 

[PBader]

I am in hiding now for DD's safety.
My Mom drives all the way across town (15 mins) most days to help Megan (11 yo DD) with her homework. My Mom was a teacher and is a major braniac.
Well today she says "Can you get Megan's regular homework done with her so I can concentrate on Science?" I say "Sure".
We get home from school after going to the post office and finding out my "Vital Statistics" forms are correct for the girls, and we start homework. Megan says immediately that she does not have much at all. Great!
I go Miranda's speling w/ her while Megan finishes up her homework. So far so good. Mom gets here and starts going through Megan's notebook and finds a TON of stuff not done. They will be at it for hours! I was SO MAD!!!! I tried calmly asking Megan why she did not tell me she had all this. "I forgot". A blatant lie. I told her she knew she had this and she screams and runs upstairs. Mind you she is in the 5th grade- not a baby!
She is pitching a fit and DH walks in and does not understand why Megan is in trouble and DEFENDS HER! He absolutely will not listen.
To avoid screaming at my DH in front of my mother- I decided to come in my room and ignore them both. Poor Mom is stuck dealing w/ Megan.

So.... Shannon- Today stinks for a lot of us!!

Monica- Please forgive my rant when you obviously have much more valid concerns. Best of luck to you!

Coral, have I mentioned lately I am so glad Adam is a senior. Graduation May 23rd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how many of those nights I have had over the years.

 

[PBader]

Yeah...

... it's incredible the changes we've had since the kids arrived.

My spouse and I had no idea (duh) that a child could "arrive" somewhat earlier than the due date. I mean the babay is due on so and so a date ... so i can write it into my calandar and schedule, right?

Amazing how they change our lives

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Somebody pass the rum......I promise to share with Shannon


Just got off a conference call where it was announced that we will be making a 23-25% force reduction. Within my organization that means about 350 people. No one will know until 'late April' what their employment status is. Some people will even have to take downgrades if they want to stay employed.

I've known for several weeks that we were restructuring. But this is the first time they put some numbers and timelines to it.

They say it's based on performance and skills. But I know from personal experience that is not always the case. I was one of the top performers when we went through this last year, but got targeted anyway. Luckily they found me another position otherwise I would have been laid off. I actually found out that some people's annual reviews were not even looked at in making the decisions last year.

I've been here 12 years. This is about the 6th time I've been through this.

Sorry to hear about your stress with this... hope it all works out well.

 

[PBader]

Something must have been in the air today with these children. DD8 asked if she needed a jacket this morning for school - I said yes, she said why? I said its chilly, put your jacket on. She says "I don't want to wear a jacket". (at this point i am not sure why she even mentioned the jacket in the first place). I say PUT YOUR JACKET ON, WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL. She goes and sits at the dining room table with her arms crossed - looks at me and says "You have 2 choices, I can either not wear a jacket to school or I sit right here and make you late for school/work". Well, then I went off on some rant about how she doesn't get to give me choices, I give her choices IF I CHOOSE to do so! I told her she had no choice but to gET HER JACKET and get into the car or she was grounded for a week with NO HORSEBACK RIDING. She starightened right up and grabbed a jacket and was waiting in the car for me

Can you imagine my 8 year old giving me choices - the nerve! I won't even go into the issues with DS12 - its SPT stuff that most of you are dealing with too.

Somedays you just HAVE to love them, don't you?

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

I am in hiding now for DD's safety.
My Mom drives all the way across town (15 mins) most days to help Megan (11 yo DD) with her homework. My Mom was a teacher and is a major braniac.
Well today she says "Can you get Megan's regular homework done with her so I can concentrate on Science?" I say "Sure".
We get home from school after going to the post office and finding out my "Vital Statistics" forms are correct for the girls, and we start homework. Megan says immediately that she does not have much at all. Great!
I go Miranda's speling w/ her while Megan finishes up her homework. So far so good. Mom gets here and starts going through Megan's notebook and finds a TON of stuff not done. They will be at it for hours! I was SO MAD!!!! I tried calmly asking Megan why she did not tell me she had all this. "I forgot". A blatant lie. I told her she knew she had this and she screams and runs upstairs. Mind you she is in the 5th grade- not a baby!
She is pitching a fit and DH walks in and does not understand why Megan is in trouble and DEFENDS HER! He absolutely will not listen.
To avoid screaming at my DH in front of my mother- I decided to come in my room and ignore them both. Poor Mom is stuck dealing w/ Megan.

So.... Shannon- Today stinks for a lot of us!!

Monica- Please forgive my rant when you obviously have much more valid concerns. Best of luck to you!

Coral sorry to hear that you had such a terrible day. Let me be the first to welcome you to the Pre-ST/ST years. There are going to many more like this in your future.

 

[goofyforlife]

It'll get better....you will take one look at Megan sleeping in bed tonight, looking like an angel, and all will be forgotten!

Mines in bed... i almost grabbed a pillow and ..........................

Nah ain't worth it....

 

[micmse2003]

Somebody pass the rum......I promise to share with Shannon


Just got off a conference call where it was announced that we will be making a 23-25% force reduction. Within my organization that means about 350 people. No one will know until 'late April' what their employment status is. Some people will even have to take downgrades if they want to stay employed.

I've known for several weeks that we were restructuring. But this is the first time they put some numbers and timelines to it.

They say it's based on performance and skills. But I know from personal experience that is not always the case. I was one of the top performers when we went through this last year, but got targeted anyway. Luckily they found me another position otherwise I would have been laid off. I actually found out that some people's annual reviews were not even looked at in making the decisions last year.

I've been here 12 years. This is about the 6th time I've been through this.

I hope you are safe again this time around!!!

Coral sorry to hear that you had such a terrible day. Let me be the first to welcome you to the Pre-ST/ST years. There are going to many more like this in your future.

To all of you having problems with Pre-ST/ST I give you strength.

Roger stated the truth, "There are going to be many more days like this in your future!!" I am sooo glad I can look back and say my children made it!!

 

[dahuffy]

When I spoke to Disney Cruise Line last week (to make reservations for a 3-Day cruise in January), I asked them about our GTY assignments for the EB cruise. I was told that they will be making those assignments around June 15th. We'll see if the CM was correct . . . I hope so!

Cool, day before our 29th anniversary!

 

[captaincrash]

DH apologized for being snippy with me when I explained how Megan has been acting so that is good. Megan is also in bed so peace in our house.

See....

I told you things would settle down and get better ....

... of course, now it's time to ...

GET EVEN!

Just kidding.... ​

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

I wasn't a math major (that and I have no clue what today's date is...) --> You are right

Well since I am incharge of Mondays and don't want to join Tom, I have put together the offical countdown.
....................Mondays left

4/15/2008--------18
4/21/2008--------17
4/28/2008--------16
5/5/2008---------15
5/12/2008--------14
5/19/2008--------13
5/26/2008--------12
6/2/2008---------11
6/9/2008---------10
6/16/2008---------9
6/23/2008---------8
6/30/2008---------7
7/7/2008----------6
7/14/2008---------5
7/21/2008---------4
7/28/2008---------3
8/4/2008----------2
8/11/2008---------1

 

[wheelerkidz3]

Happy Birthday Lauryn!

DD wheelerkidz3​

Happy Birthday Lauryn!

From your friend, Emily​

Happy Birthday Lauren (DD Wheelerkidz3)

Happy Birthday Lauryn!!!




Happy Birthday Dylan!!!

Happy birthday Lauryn!

Happy Birthday Lauryn!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Lauryn

​

Happy Birthday Lauryn!!!

To Lauryn!

Happy Birthday Lauryn
Happy Birthday Dylan​

lauryn says thanks for the birthday wishes!
and i say thanks everyone for your thoughts today! it was such a challenging day, but i made it thru. tomorrow is a new day, and it's gonna be a good one! lauryn had a talk with her dance teacher today about going to practice, and now she seems much better. i love her dance teacher! she is so great! lauryn is now super excited to go to the competition. they had a surprise birthday party for her during class. the cake had ariel on it...too cute! dd is doing a little mermaid song (part of your world) for one of her solos. she got to practice it tonite in front of her class in her costume, and she did great!
thanks everyone for the encouragement. i really needed it! i'm looking forward to tomorrow cuz my one daycare mom (not of the challenging baby)is having a csection and delivering her twins first thing in the morning...so it WILL be a good day!
here is a to the others that needed it today. TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER!!!!

 

[wheelerkidz3]

a quick pic of dd in her mermaid costume...it has really pretty "fins" on the bottoms of her pant legs...just not a great pic:

i can't believe i was so angry with her earlier today....she really is a good girl...and i feel like such a bad mommy!

have a good nite everyone!

 

[captaincrash]

I must be losing my mind...

But I can't remeber if I posted a Happy Birthday to Dylan & Lauryn yet... so...

Lauryn

 

[captaincrash]

Crash....I was starting to feel better but now you gave me a .

What did I do?

Well.... whatever it was...

 

[captaincrash]

That is one of my downfalls-I am usually to the point!
And don't get me wrong...this smarty pants can have LOTS of fun too!
...[ed]...

Chrissie

Chrissie ...

.... Oh, I KNOW you smart girls know how to have fun. I married a genuine Miss Smarty pants as Alicia almost always got better grades then I in college. And back in High School she was a "math-a-lete" on the academic squad for her school. Me... I'm just a another token sacrificial leader with a big mouth. I was varsity Debate team Captain.

Did I ever share the story of how Alicia met me at school? I was the President of the Asian Student Union and was conducting a business session with my officers and staff at a big conference table at school. the table consisted of myself and about 15 girls. many of them I'd count among the cutest in the organization. Alicia thought this loooked just a little peculiar - while I thought it was just business as usual.

At any rate - the REAL reason why my conference table was all female - was our little organization was more then just quasi-political.... more than just a conduit for Asian student interests ... it was also a bit of a meat market for meeting and making friends. Boys meeting girls and vice versa. So all the staff and officers knew I had a mysterious girl-friend who was off campus. And that I never showed ANY interest in any of the girls at our school for an unknown reason. Well... my reasons for this were "a" I had a nice girl who was a friend (not a GIRLfriend) whom I hung out with ... and "b" ... I never cared much for the gossip that arose from all the talk about he's with her ... and she did that ... or he was doing this... talk. The gossip was kind of the thing I tried to avoid... besides, we had so much to do all the time to keep the organization moving and productive ... so I sort of avoided any potential relationship - especially at MY school. So the girls thought I was "safe" and they just happened to populate all the organization "officer" and "staff" positions.

I was NOT a pimp.

And Alicia more or less qualifies in my eyes as another one of those "smarty pants types. So you've got a little "good company" of sorts with her on the ship.

 

[DisneyVegas1]

Happy Birthday Dylan (DS DisneyVegas1)

Happy Birthday Lauryn!!!




Happy Birthday Dylan!!!

Happy birthday, Dylan

​

Happy Birthday Dylan!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DYLAN

From your DL buddies Madison and Austyn
​

Happy Birthday Dylan!!!

Happy Birthday Lauryn
Happy Birthday Dylan​

'ing to say happy birthday! hope you have a great one!

ing the wishes. Hope you both have great days

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN!!

Happy Birthday Dylan!!!

[/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER][/QUOTE]


ing Happy B'day to you both!![/QUOTE]

I must be losing my mind...

But I can't remeber if I posted a Happy Birthday to Dylan & Lauryn yet... so...

Dylan & Lauryn

Dylan says " Thank You for the Birthday wishes" Wow , I still cant believe he is 16 now ....

 

[micmse2003]

What did I do?

Well.... whatever it was...

You forgot to give a math alert!!!!​

All is forgiven!!!

 

[DiaLady]

We were the same way. Our vacations growing up were always to Boston and we stayed with Nana. Alan & I married in '84 and we headed to Ft. Myers twice (stayed with friends) and once to Siesta Key. Took us until '95 to really start vacationing thanks to our DVC purchase. But it has really been in the last 7-8 years that we have been able to take some "nice" vacations.

(and Sk8mom, too)

We did a LOT of camping when we were kids. I'm the oldest of EIGHT (20 years between me and my youngest sister). We didn't start doing any travelling until my mom and dad split and my dad remarried . . can't say I can imagine my mom camping anyway. One of our first trips was to Disney World (when it just had the Magic Kingdom). I think I was about 12 yo. My dad only had $500 for the WEEK!!! Guess I was hooked for a lifetime.

I was fortunately b/c my first job (and next two jobs) required travel about 50% of my time. I LOVED IT!! (and I was single . . .no responsibilities!) I also discovered RESORTS. When I was growing up the only hotel we EVER stayed in was when my godfather got married in Cleveland. We stayed at a very scary hotel (even for the mid-70's). I thought all hotels were like that . . .at least that's why Dad said we camped. . .. LOL

I do know what you mean about traveling to visit family. For the first 12 years of our marriage at least one trip a year had to be back to the West Coast so my DH could visit his family. The last year we made 5 trips b/c his mom was getting ready to go on to heaven. Our boys have grown up traveling on planes (they have no idea how spoiled they are . . .LOL). We've seen a lot of the Northwest even up through Canada. Pretty fun for a some simple southerners

To help my kids NOT be the way up we thought the TOAL would be a good start for them. We've done a few other DCL, but there was something about going through the Panama Canal. Before the boys finish high school, I want to get them to Europe and to New Zealand (DH has family there). Since DS14 is starting high school next year, I figure I have 4 years to plan these trips (in addition to regular DCL relaxation trips . . .LOL). I always felt you could better appreciate studying European history when you've seen Big Ben, Notre Dame, Coliseum in Rome.

Okay, I am rambling now b/c I should be in bed, but missed sharing with ya'll . . .