So what do you do when your laid off and/or there's no work to be had? Go to Disneyland!!
Seriously, that's one of the things that we did.
See, I ended up not having enough students for my Summer I class to make. We were still having trouble founding work for Michael. Our friends, Sara and Steve, were moving from California (where Sara and I met eons ago) to Charlotte. So, after much discussion and planning, we headed out there to help them pack up and move across the country. They flew us out. We spent about 2 and a half weeks packing their stuff up and helping them do a lot of other things.
The only thing we really did beyond that was go to Disneyland. Sara was able to get us free passes because one of her former co-worker's mother works there. So, it was a sweet day. Now Michael can say that he's been to both.
We drove their second car with their two dogs across country while they drove their SUV and trailer with their three cats. You can see why they needed help. Sure, you can ship a car but 5 animals in a vehicle? blech Only if it were big and roomy which theirs is not with luggage in it. They didn't want to keep opening the trailer so the options were a little limited. Plus, having us drive the car was about the same cost as shipping it anyway.
So, we got a little bit of a mental break. We needed it. Sara and Steve have a really nice house out there. They are renting it out right now until they decide what to do (whether to move east or what). Steve's job is back here which is why they made the move in the first place (he's a programmer). They are renting a house in Charlotte til they see if they really want to stay longer. Of course, they did pick one of the worst times as far as weather but, oh, well, that's what AC is for right?
As for us, still on the job hunt for Michael. He's been studying for the A+ certification and looking into earning others to make himself more marketable. I should start Summer II on the 6th. There were enough students the last time I looked.
Friends have helped us recently so we will financially survive the summer until I get back into the full semester swing. Yes, Michael now has unemployment but it isn't nearly enough. That is one experience I could have lived without doing. (sigh) Oh, and one other: no health insurance. This one sucks too because of my meds but. . .well, I'm looking into several things that should help. I've always been sympathetic but now I can add more weight behind it.
Anyway, just thought I would catch you all up on what we've been doing. Job hunt. House cleaning. Research. Hope all of you are well. Hugs.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
It Is Never a Good Time To. . .
Well, pollen rose up and kicked my ass for a while. At the height I sounded like a frog. Fortunately, I managed not to get a sinus infection from it like in the past. So, that is something. Still, it wasn't a good time to have it hit when I was dealing with a gazillion things the last month and a half.
I didn't write sooner about the health stuff because I had to be retested. My labs came back normal so Gaye (nurse practitioner) was skeptical about the accuracy of the December tests saying that my thyroid was off. So, I tested again and it came back high again so, yeah, something wonky. Are we surprised? She now has me on a very low dose for that and also for cholesterol. I gave up fried foods and pizza for Lent (just because) and my cholesterol level actually went UP! I can't win.
I got myself a pair of those new Reeboks. Let me tell ya, they do work the leg muscles. I just have to remember to stretch. Our kitchen looks like a gym because we have everything cleared away so we can use the treadmill and elliptical. Michael has been doing that for about three weeks and lost a couple of pounds. Now that I am out of school and no longer walking on campus, I will start up some kind of routine. All of that should help.
Today is reading day and finals start tomorrow. I have my two summer classes if they make. I really hope so because, well, this summer is going to be tighter than last year. See, two Thursdays ago (the 15th), Michael was laid off from work. The company let him and another guy go. Now, you have to understand that the company isn't that big to begin with but by letting him go, they lost the one tech who knows computers and remembers all the training like it was yesterday. The irony, of course, is that Michael had just done three service calls that day. But that has been rare since the new year started. Printing is very much affected by the economy. The timing sucks because of summer coming up and my not having as much work.
The only good news out of it is that he got a severance package -- one weeks pay for every year there (5). That also means that health insurance is still in effect for a little bit.
The first thing we did on the 16th after turning in his truck and cell phone (both company owned) is get him a new cell. Fortunately, I had kept my LG ENV from when I did my new every two a while back. Wanted it in case something should happen to my phone. So, we were able to get him hooked up with my plan with no fuss. AND we learned that because I work for USC, I get a discount so it all ended up just being $20 extra month. The connection fee is going to be waived, probably because no one had ever mentioned the discount.
Then we went car hunting.
The cracked out thing is that you have to have a job in order to get a car and in order to get a job you have to have some way to get there. We tried Carmax and Michael was not impressed. Neither was I but for the reason that no one approached us. Since all of the cars Michael has ever owned were way less than $2000, he figured that was the way we could go. Yeah, right, not happening when we don't have the ready cash for that. I suggested we go to the Nissan dealership just to look. Michael didn't like dealerships but we went.
Ended up being met by a really nice guy right off the bat. After looking around at a bunch of used cars, DJ had a good feel for what Michael wanted besides "it has wheels and will get me from point A to point B." We left the lot thinking about a few that were there though at the high end of our range when, as luck would have it, three possible cars came in after we left the lot. One was a Camry and the other two were 2007 Versas. We went back on Saturday after my class to see them. Neither Michael or I were enamored of the Camry, basically a smaller tan version of my Maxima. But he really fell for one of the Versas. See, this elderly couple had come in to trade them for just one car because the husband (a minister) is in the early stages of dementia. There was a white one (hers) and a silver one (his). I joked that we could trade mine in and having matching cars. Michael really liked the silver one and loved how it drove. In the end, we managed to get the car at wholesale cost (I had a coupon from the dealership that essentially balanced out the taxes). Our monthly payment is not outrageous and we can always pay more when get things worked out. So Michael has a way to get around AND we have a more fuel efficient vehicle for long hauls (like the one we did this weekend to Charlotte to see his mom).
We were very pleased. Michael came away with a better view of dealerships because they didn't try and screw us over with pricing (I had checked the Kelly price the night before). We are doing an extended warranty on the car (our choice) because with something like this (and 87000 miles on it), you want that extra protection.
This past week, Michael has been trying to figure out what he wants to do now. He's been considering a career change (getting out of printing) but, really, I think it's going to come down to what he can find. There are jobs to be found. I just hope that we can find him one he will like.
I didn't write sooner about the health stuff because I had to be retested. My labs came back normal so Gaye (nurse practitioner) was skeptical about the accuracy of the December tests saying that my thyroid was off. So, I tested again and it came back high again so, yeah, something wonky. Are we surprised? She now has me on a very low dose for that and also for cholesterol. I gave up fried foods and pizza for Lent (just because) and my cholesterol level actually went UP! I can't win.
I got myself a pair of those new Reeboks. Let me tell ya, they do work the leg muscles. I just have to remember to stretch. Our kitchen looks like a gym because we have everything cleared away so we can use the treadmill and elliptical. Michael has been doing that for about three weeks and lost a couple of pounds. Now that I am out of school and no longer walking on campus, I will start up some kind of routine. All of that should help.
Today is reading day and finals start tomorrow. I have my two summer classes if they make. I really hope so because, well, this summer is going to be tighter than last year. See, two Thursdays ago (the 15th), Michael was laid off from work. The company let him and another guy go. Now, you have to understand that the company isn't that big to begin with but by letting him go, they lost the one tech who knows computers and remembers all the training like it was yesterday. The irony, of course, is that Michael had just done three service calls that day. But that has been rare since the new year started. Printing is very much affected by the economy. The timing sucks because of summer coming up and my not having as much work.
The only good news out of it is that he got a severance package -- one weeks pay for every year there (5). That also means that health insurance is still in effect for a little bit.
The first thing we did on the 16th after turning in his truck and cell phone (both company owned) is get him a new cell. Fortunately, I had kept my LG ENV from when I did my new every two a while back. Wanted it in case something should happen to my phone. So, we were able to get him hooked up with my plan with no fuss. AND we learned that because I work for USC, I get a discount so it all ended up just being $20 extra month. The connection fee is going to be waived, probably because no one had ever mentioned the discount.
Then we went car hunting.
The cracked out thing is that you have to have a job in order to get a car and in order to get a job you have to have some way to get there. We tried Carmax and Michael was not impressed. Neither was I but for the reason that no one approached us. Since all of the cars Michael has ever owned were way less than $2000, he figured that was the way we could go. Yeah, right, not happening when we don't have the ready cash for that. I suggested we go to the Nissan dealership just to look. Michael didn't like dealerships but we went.
Ended up being met by a really nice guy right off the bat. After looking around at a bunch of used cars, DJ had a good feel for what Michael wanted besides "it has wheels and will get me from point A to point B." We left the lot thinking about a few that were there though at the high end of our range when, as luck would have it, three possible cars came in after we left the lot. One was a Camry and the other two were 2007 Versas. We went back on Saturday after my class to see them. Neither Michael or I were enamored of the Camry, basically a smaller tan version of my Maxima. But he really fell for one of the Versas. See, this elderly couple had come in to trade them for just one car because the husband (a minister) is in the early stages of dementia. There was a white one (hers) and a silver one (his). I joked that we could trade mine in and having matching cars. Michael really liked the silver one and loved how it drove. In the end, we managed to get the car at wholesale cost (I had a coupon from the dealership that essentially balanced out the taxes). Our monthly payment is not outrageous and we can always pay more when get things worked out. So Michael has a way to get around AND we have a more fuel efficient vehicle for long hauls (like the one we did this weekend to Charlotte to see his mom).
We were very pleased. Michael came away with a better view of dealerships because they didn't try and screw us over with pricing (I had checked the Kelly price the night before). We are doing an extended warranty on the car (our choice) because with something like this (and 87000 miles on it), you want that extra protection.
This past week, Michael has been trying to figure out what he wants to do now. He's been considering a career change (getting out of printing) but, really, I think it's going to come down to what he can find. There are jobs to be found. I just hope that we can find him one he will like.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Whew!
That word pretty much sums up the last month or so. Things have been hopping as usual. Classes are good. I like my students. This last week was only slightly frustrating because everyone was focused on this week (spring break). I couldn't blame them because I was looking forward to it too.
I have managed to get a little done on the dissertation and have more focus. This week is being split in two between cleaning and that. Michael took off today and tomorrow so that we could get stuff done and we've actually managed to take a good chunk out of things. We actually have an almost empty shed again. Made about $70 between the cardboard and metal scraps that we had stored in there. The former was from moving, etc, and the latter were from my old desk and Michael's projects. I found out that the Salvation Army on Fort Jackson will take a lot of the higher number of plastics so we are going to give that to them rather than throw it. So, everyone gets something. Makes us feel good.
On two down notes. . .Michael found out today that his company is cutting everyone back to a four day work week which means his pay will take a hit. We're not sure how much yet but it sucks. So, tonight I went ahead and did something we've talked about for a while. . .I contacted a group about consolidating our debt. My score took a beating when the credit changes went into affect so I really don't care that it will take another hit from this. Michael won't have it as bad since only one of his accounts counts and he shares one with me. The rest are all mine. And it's better than the alternatives. We kept one small one for emergencies and the one for the bed since that has a zero interest so long as we pay it off. All told we should be out from under in a little over 4 years which is a hell of a sight better than trying to do it as we have for the past few.
The other down note is that my doctor discovered that my thyroid levels are high. Oh, joy, one more thing to deal with. However, the good side is that would explain some stuff lately and it is relatively easy to manage. But I am so not looking forward to yet another pill. Bleh
Anyway, overall things are fairly decent. Michael and I figure that we'll just have to get creative on saving money and find ways to make more. He's thinking about part-time evening work since he'll have one extra day for "rest". So, we'll see.
Hope everyone is doing well. Many hugs.
I have managed to get a little done on the dissertation and have more focus. This week is being split in two between cleaning and that. Michael took off today and tomorrow so that we could get stuff done and we've actually managed to take a good chunk out of things. We actually have an almost empty shed again. Made about $70 between the cardboard and metal scraps that we had stored in there. The former was from moving, etc, and the latter were from my old desk and Michael's projects. I found out that the Salvation Army on Fort Jackson will take a lot of the higher number of plastics so we are going to give that to them rather than throw it. So, everyone gets something. Makes us feel good.
On two down notes. . .Michael found out today that his company is cutting everyone back to a four day work week which means his pay will take a hit. We're not sure how much yet but it sucks. So, tonight I went ahead and did something we've talked about for a while. . .I contacted a group about consolidating our debt. My score took a beating when the credit changes went into affect so I really don't care that it will take another hit from this. Michael won't have it as bad since only one of his accounts counts and he shares one with me. The rest are all mine. And it's better than the alternatives. We kept one small one for emergencies and the one for the bed since that has a zero interest so long as we pay it off. All told we should be out from under in a little over 4 years which is a hell of a sight better than trying to do it as we have for the past few.
The other down note is that my doctor discovered that my thyroid levels are high. Oh, joy, one more thing to deal with. However, the good side is that would explain some stuff lately and it is relatively easy to manage. But I am so not looking forward to yet another pill. Bleh
Anyway, overall things are fairly decent. Michael and I figure that we'll just have to get creative on saving money and find ways to make more. He's thinking about part-time evening work since he'll have one extra day for "rest". So, we'll see.
Hope everyone is doing well. Many hugs.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
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