I don't know if you all remember when Kathrin was interviewing for her job that she was "encouraged" to ask questions of the CEO and CFO of the company. One of the questions she posed was, "In a recession how can a diamond company continue to hire?" The response to that question was that generally their clientele is not affected by the small downturns in the economy. Well, this is no small downturn and their clientele (major bankers, wall street financiers, etct.) are not shopping for diamonds. Tiffany & Co. is hurting and so is the company Kathrin joined in March.
Today, along with some of the sales staff and one of the graphics designers they let her go.
She is taking it much better than I am, that is for sure.
I am so sorry! I hope she is able to find a new position quickly!
The best trime for me is after he last board meeting of the year when they pass my budget. The past few years when I'm there the first week of December is best. We're scheduled to be there Dec 6th through Dec 14th 2009...
I have a feeling between the economy and the work, that I'm only going to make one trip next year.
Stephanie, it sounds like we might see you next December!
Our dates will be Dec. 2-7 or Dec. 9-14 so we would overlap your trip by a little either way!
We are all checked in for our flight. Tomorrow at this time we will be in the air winging our way to Sunny Florida. We got boarding passes A25 - A30. Not too bad I guess. Of course I did it within seconds of being able to. The first attempt failed as being to early
I need to get ready as I get to do Art with Colby. He has already reminded me
Yay for boarding passes!
Another couple of observations about our economy:
1. Gas in our area has dropped again. At a local 7-11 I saw the sign change from $2.94 to $2.88 in the span of 20 minutes.
2. Our county school system is seriously looking at closing up to five elementary schools and middle schools here to try to balance their budget, which is in the red. The students would be moved to other schools which are not full. I tend to think there would not be room for all the teachers and support staff that would be left behind. The school board vote is to take place on October 28.
Gas around here is still $3.30 at the station by ballet. I paid $3 the other day but I haven't been past that station again so I don't know if it is lower now or not.
Well our school board has had it's second shortfall in two years 84 million this time and the super was so big to offer a 5% cut in his salary. That and let go 1100 teachers and support staff. How big of him and they have let him keep his job. Hopefully that will change soon.
I don't love Hinojosa, but we have quite a track record of crummy superintendents.
The issue with our district was that they hired a TON (750, I think) of teachers to reduce class sizes in an effort to boost test scores. BUT they "forgot" to add those salaries into the budget! Hello? Is there only ONE person who looks at these things? Shouldn't there be someone else reviewing it to catch things like that? Heck, even a basic computer program should be able to tell you that your budgeted expenses exceed your money by $64 million!
Duh! I don't even think the economy plays into it - it was just shoddy accounting and lack of supervision. There is also a shameful amount of waste in the district - district credit cards where nobody monitors the expenditures, renting facilities when district owned buildings sit empty, it's just a mess.
Our school is bursting at the seams so I don't think we lost any teachers. When DS was in elementary there were 900 kids there. Now they have built more schools and changed the zones so the school is down to about 350. And they moved the 6th graders out 2 years ago, so that dropped their attendance. One of the moms has a DS who is friends with my DS, and a DD in 5th grade. I was talking to her in carpool the other day and she said the 5th grade has a TOTAL of 27 kids! How do they justify that? That can NOT be an effective use of space, teachers, utilities, etc.
This economic change in our times is far-reaching, isn't it. Hopefully the money being pumped in from all over the world will jump-start a change for the better.
I hope so!
me too...her cross to bear is a heavy one. Her husband suffered a stroke....and while there are no outward physical signs. the stroke damaged the part of the brain that controls language, reason, personality etc. He is no longer able to work....virtually never speaks, has major bowel & bladder issues etc....and it will never get better. I feel bad that she will never have any so called "golden years" with this man
How sad! One of the nannies I know had a stroke 5 or 6 years ago and she has lost the majority of her speech capabilities. She has recovered reasonably well, but she can't really work. She does some part time work as a school crossing guard. Her poor DH has at times worked 3 jobs to try to support the family. They have 2 DD's in elementary school.
I am so sorry for your sister. Being a full-time caregiver plus trying to support her family must be very difficult.
how is pumpkin beer?
Jonathan has taken up brewing beer...and pumpkin beer is the current project.
Love pumpkin, hate beer, so I am no help. I am absolutely certain that if a dog ever pees in my mouth it will taste exactly like beer.
Liz just told me that she read somewhere on the DIS that you do not have to renew your AP to use your DDE card. It is a requirement that you be an AP holder or a FL resident at time of purchase, but they will not deny the discount after it is purchased. I am hoping that I can find more info about this!
I have never been asked to show my AP when using my DDE. I seriously doubt the DDE is linked to the AP in such a way that the DDE would be declined if the AP is expired. It sounds like one of those things where you will get a different answer from everyone you ask.
