Still doing the job search thing.  Seems like not a day goes by you don't see more layoffs from one company or another.   At LexisNexis they first reduced the wage increase from 3% to 2% for 2009.  Then they made a recent announcement that due to the economy that there would be no raises at all.  They are still doing layoffs, a few more of my friends got let go. Under normal circumstances they would find new work in a hurry.  But now it may take awhile. So the outlook is still bleak.

 I may be eligible for job training due to my job being outsourced.  Becky is against me going for a masters degree.  So I guess that is out.  I may just take a few classes and enhance my technical skills. 

I am getting some stuff done around the house now that the weather has warmed a bit.  I am trying to make maple syrup.  The first batch is getting close to being done.  It just needs to boil down a bit more.  It tastes like sugar water right now.  I didn't realize how long it took to make.  No wonder it is so expensive in stores. 

 On the plus side Joe celebrated his 17th birthday yesterday. He had a few friends over and we did cake and ice cream.  Hard to imagine that our 'baby' will be 18 in a year and on track to graduate.  He really seems to like auto body at CTC and is glad that he decided on that as a career.   Interesting how both boys like cars.  I am a barnyard mechanic at best, so I am not sure where the genes come from for that.

Posted by christ77 at 6:25 AM EST

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Had an unusual sunrise the other morning. So I took a snapshot of it. 

May have a job in Cincy.  But it's a large company and so I a guess that it takes a while to get all the paper work done.  It's another contract position and there is the potential to be hired full time on down the road.  It's a hike to go to downtown Cincy.  But in todays economic climate - I'll take it.  

 Trying to decide what to do with the farm this year.  Buy calves and rebuild the herd, rent out the farmland, or maybe farm it myself.  I will probably rent out the farm land.  With things being so uncertain, I am hesitant to do much with the farm right now.  Now I did put some money in the stock market.  I am thinking that long term we will ride out of this recession.  And it is beginning to sound like the congress is going to try and work out something that makes more sense as far as a bailout.  The Dems were going to try and ram thru their package, but it sounds like they are getting resistance.  Too much Pork and too little stimulus. 

Joe is out running with Zack today.  Tried to leave him a vmx, but his cell is not working.  It would be a good day for him to work on his car, but instead he is running around.  

Vanessa got a pay raise and a promotion. So she is real happy about that and we are proud of her.  

Ron's hours are being cut at KFC.  So it is making it hard for her and Ron to make ends meet.  I guess the restaraunt business is slow too.

Chad has been running the snow plow this week.  Today it is in the 40's and so mother nature is taking a turn on the roads. 

Posted by christ77 at 3:53 PM EST

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Mood:  chillin'

Had around 9 inches of snow last night.  Plus some freezing rain was mixed in. Vanessa's work told her not to report and so she had a snow day.  She, Eric, and Elaina came out to go sledding.  They all had fun and warmed up by the wood stove with hot chocolate.  

 Am supposed to have an offer from Cincy - but the snow caused many businesses to close or close early.  I am waiting patiently.  I did find out that I can get free training from the government from my job being outsourced.  So I am thinking about doing that.  Either sharpening my programming skills or going for a masters degree.  Have a meeting next week so I will find out more then.  

Posted by christ77 at 6:56 PM EST

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Mood:  energetic

Looks like there is some action on the job front.  Got a call late Friday that I was selected for a position in Cincinnati.  Just have to formalize it, so I should be hearing back shortly with a start date, etc.  I'm not enthused about the long commute, but with the present economy - it is good to working. 

Timing is something else.  I got my first call to jury duty ever this week.  Of all times for this to happen.  How to explain this to my new boss if I have to sit on a trial.  Why couldn't this have happened a year ago, or a year from now?  

 Dayton may be going the way of Detroit.  NCR is following LN as far as moving their HQ out of Dayton.  The higher ups give the same excuse - we want to be in NY because that is where all of the other companies are at.  So they will also lose touch with operations and become focused on marketing.  The net effect will be marketing a crappy product.

Almost of the job contacts have been from Cincy, hardly anything from Dayton.  Oh and several companies are cutting back on salaries for white collar workers.   I know of a couple of companies that made 5 and 10% salary cuts across the board.  So even if you are working, you are getting hit by this.

 At congress it is business as usual. Obama wanted a package ready on his desk on the first day.  That did not happen.  Everyone is busy funding their pet project.  Museums, birth control, god only knows what all junk is being added to this bill.  And we will be paying for all of this for generations. The new goal is to be ready by presidents day.  Obama is finding just how much power the president really has... 

 All this turmoil and no one even knows how effective this will be.  It just seems to be a hodge podge of programs where the net effect is to just throw money at the problem. The first stimulus had zero effect.  I fear that we are making things worse for the present by sucking up money that could be used by private industry and leaving a mortgage that our children will need to pay off. 

Posted by christ77 at 7:02 AM EST

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Celebrated our anniversary last weekend with a meal at Jay's seafood. We both had lobster and had a nice wine - Cinnabar I think was the name.  30 years - had ups and downs, but stuck it out.  The first 3 years were fun, travelling around and seeing the country.  But as the kids started arriving, we had to put down roots and back here in Ohio is as good a place as any to settle.

Mr. Delong passed away this week. Nice guy. Gruff and vocal at times, but once you get to know him he was great to be around.  He coached both track and football. Helped a lot of young athletes.  And not just on the field, he gave advice about life as well.  A guy that will definitely be remembered by the mark he left on so many lives.

Cold weather moving in, temps below zero by the weekend. Time to go split some wood so that we can stay warm and cozy.  

Posted by christ77 at 9:09 AM EST

Updated: Monday, January 26, 2009 7:08 AM EST

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Vanessa had some work experiences to share.  She has to deliver medical equipment and sometimes has to share equipment with other UHS offices in the region.  She was running to Louisville and ran into ice. There was a vehicle that was in the ditch and everyone was slowing up to go by. Suddenly there was a loud bang to her left. A semi truck had ran into another semi truck in the lane next to her.  Fortunately, they did not get into her lane and she escaped unscathed.  But both trucks were badly damaged.

 Her work did not do a good job of screening their last new hire. The guy spent his spare time playing games on the internet.  And he also sent a picture of his male member to his female boss!  Not a correct thing to do in any universe.  I guess that if you are proud of something you want to show it off. Needless to say he got fired after about 2 months.  

Posted by christ77 at 5:09 PM EST

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Mood:  chillin'

Well 2008 is over.  What a year. Worst market crash since 1931. Politicians don't know what they are doing.   I start the new year unemployed but unbowed.  Have actually been thinking of starting a business with Eric - Distributing beverages to Convience stores.  Rob knows the industry from working with Ice Tea for so long, Eric knows how a wholesaler operates from working with Home City Ice for 10 years, and I can provide the capital and be the bean counter.  So that is something we are looking at this winter. I used to do Taylor Beef Jerky years ago to make extra money. So I have some experience with how it all works. 

 Christmas was great. The little ones had a good time - I helped them with their Christmas stockings and little Elaina kept coming back for more - reaching in the stocking for new surprise each time.  Cash was intrigued by a little truck he got - like father, like son.  The kids got me a little remote control helicopter. It was fun to be young again if only for a day.

Moved back into our home. I hope it is for the last time. The Apartment in Columbus was nice. Just me and Becky.  Low maintenance, low expense.  It was cozy and it gave us a chance to get a feel for what it will be like when the kids are all moved out. But I was focused so much on the job that I didn't work out as much. I know that I put on weight. Being back on the farm should make me more active and help to get the pounds back off. 

Posted by christ77 at 8:16 PM EST

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Well it is back to square one in 2009.  Got word from Medco that they are cancelling the project in Dublin.  So they are letting us go effective December 31st.  With the economy, we were worried that the first to be thrown overboard would be the contractors and we were right.  I liked working there and did learn some new stuff.  So it wasn't wasted time.  I am disappointed that it was supposed to be a contract to hire position, not contract to fire!

The disappointing thing is that I had some other job offers when I took the position. But I made a commitment and didn't want to work for a week and jump ship for another job. But as I have learned loyalty and hard work aren't criteria to be considered in the corporate world. It's all about making next quarters numbers...   No looking at the long term.  Which is why Lexis hired two new engineers in our group, then did layoffs 9 months later. And why our project was started up, then cancelled about 3 months later.

I am going to look locally in January.  Hoping that at least a few companies will be expanding in 2009.  By coincidence, I did get an email from a former coworker about a defense contractor that is expanding in 2009.  So I am following up on that. If nothing breaks by February, then I will expand my job search outside the area again. 

On the plus side, January is when new budgets are approved. But ever since the markets dropped, it seems that not a day goes by where some company or another announces layoffs. 

I told everyone that maybe I will build bridges for Obama if all else fails.  Chelsea said that she wouldn't drive across any bridge that I built! So we still retain our humor thru rough times.

It is worrisome the amount of money that the government is throwing around. Our national debt is going to be horrendous. Then add all of these projects and national healthcare that they want to do - it will have to be paid somehow. People don't understand that it's not magic. The money has to come from somewhere to pay for all of this.  I can see either income taxes going up, or maybe we borrow an idea from Canada and have a national sales tax. Either way the government is going to control more and more of our economy - a scary thing. 

The government acts like it knows what to do. But after passing the bailout package we had one of biggest market crashes ever.  Now they are changing the rules of how to use the bailout money.  Some of it may go now to bail out the car companies - reinforcing a bad business model.  What about helping circuit city - oh thats right those aren't union jobs.  Even during the worst of times, politics comes into play. 

Folks are acting like this is the first time something like this has happened. Open a history book and there have been panics all thru American history. And we survived them all. And there are some that say Roosevelts policies and growth of government in the 1930's made a panic into a long term depression.  So here's hoping that history does not repeat itself. 

Last weekend we had a snow and I was walking thru the bottom field. There were big flakes gently falling and it was like walking thru a post card, very memorable.  Saw where a fox was zigzagging thru the field looking for mice.  It is nice to be able to escape all the worries and just enjoy nature.

Posted by christ77 at 7:12 AM EST

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Took Joe out for youth deer season this morning. Saw 2 does in our back field, he took a shot and missed.  We didn't sight in his gun last weekend like we should have. So later when we shot at a target, we found that it was shooting low and to the right.  We took a break and went back to the house. He called up work and asked about his schedule.  Come to find out that he has to work today!  So he is off to McDonalds.  Should be back in time to go out at dusk. 

I am still getting used to having two homes. The apartment in Columbus on the weekdays. Here on the farm during weekends.  I joke to the guys at work that I go back to Dayton to my other life.  Slow learning curve at work.  It is like driving a 4 wheel drive up a muddy hill. You spin wheels, get traction, lurch forward, spin again, and slowly work your way up.  The other three guys say it is the same for them - lots to learn in a complicated system.  I did get some problem tickets resolved and completed a small project.  This next project is a little bigger, so it will take more effort.

Glad to be working though.  Still keep in touch with my former co-workers and about half of them are still unemployed.  Those that did get work, mostly got jobs outside of Dayton like me. Unemployment in Ohio is over 7% and I am sure that it is higher than that in the Dayton area. With the stock market in free fall, very few firms are hiring.  Even though we are in the health care field, we worry that because we are contractors that we would be the first to go if Medco would decide to cut expenses. Talk about having the sword of Diamocles(sp) over your head...

Chelsea is doing OK at school.  She is a part time cashier at Walmart. She says that it really isn't too bad. The managers keep the work environment friendly.  She did say that the volume is starting to pick up.

Eric got laid off from Home City Ice. So he is going thru the same thing that I did in August.  Business was really slow, so he wasn't making much anyway.  He thinks that he wants to move on and find something new - just not sure what that something might be. It will help to have him home for now.  Vanessa is taking some technical courses to help in her career as a medical equipment technician.  So he can help at home while she focuses on work and studies.

Chad and Co. are doing OK. He is ready for OT this winter driving the snow plow. He said that there is a salt shortage. Riverside bought most of their salt this summer. But if they run low, prices have more than doubled.  So if it is a hard winter, then a lot of communities could be hurting if they didn't stock up. 

Posted by christ77 at 10:08 AM EST

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Mood:  sad

This was certainly a somber sunday. First we went to visit Becky's brother in Indianapolis at Methodist Hospital. He had an abscess in his brain and had to have an operation.  It was the size of a golfball.  He is medicated, but was able recognize Becky.  He has difficulty speaking. Some phrases he says OK, but most times it is disjointed or garbled.  You can see that it is very frustrating for him.  Still has problems with his right side.  It is too soon to make a long term prognosis.  The nurse said that she has seem some patients that are back close to 100% in 6 months.  Other times they recover to a certain point and no more.  So we will have to wait and see.

 Got some bad news at the hospital.  Called home and spoke to Joe.  Turns out that his friend, Joe Kasserman was killed in a car accident.  A kid by the name Brubaker was driving and was going too fast.  He lost control and went of the road.  All three teenagers were thrown from the camaro.  Joe died, his older brother was kept for a day and released. The driver was named Brubaker and I guess that he is in bad shape.  Severe head injuries and a broken neck.  If he survives he may be paralyzed and impaired.

So Joe is very upset.  Kasserman and he were friends.  They stayed overnight and played computers.  Since our Joe has gone to CTC, they haven't seen each other as much since school started - but they still kept in touch.  I will remember him as a big friendly kid.  Gentle and caring, a big heart.  When Joe played football last season, the two mothers would sit together in the stands.  Such a tragedy for this to happen to a promising young man.

Posted by christ77 at 5:29 PM EDT

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