SNOW!!!!
Yes, snow is in the forecast. Per the National Weather Service, we can expect it to start falling in about 12 hours, and less than 1/2 inch is expected during the day tomorrow (Saturday) and possibly another 1/2 inch during tomorrow night.
The entire freaking state will go into a frenzy over it. I stopped on the way home to get milk, not out of fear of the storm but because we are down to about 1/4 cup of it left in the bottom of a gallon jug, I like a bowl of cereal in the morning and we both take milk in our coffee. I needed milk! And as the store was running a 2/$5 on gallons of milk, I bought two. Not panic buying, just smart and cheap. People in the grocery store were looking frantically for milk, bread and toilet paper, which all seem to go together in this state when a storm is pending.
This is one of those times when I wish I was born a poodle.
Time grows short on the job – we are scheduled to shut down operations in 5 weeks, putting our entire office out of work. While I’ll be entitled to unemployment compensation, that lasts just so long, and will be nowhere near my regular income. And there are no jobs. Oh, there might be something out there for the young, college-educated ones with a job or two on their resumé. But I’ve got almost 40 years of experience in a field that is about as current as dinosaur herding. When you’re closer to retirement age than you are to turning 40 (or to next Christmas!), you don’t stand a chance in this economy. I have over a year before I could take an early-retirement Social Security pension, but if I take it that early, I get SO much less that it’s not enough to live on. Not enough to pay the mortgage, basic utilities and groceries.
People say – Tighten your belt, and sure, there are places where we can pare our expenditures down. Crafts/yarn spending may be done, we can remember to turn off some lights, turn down the heat a bit more, reduce the cell-phone package or get rid of it altogether, and it’ll help, but not substantially, not enough. It’ll slow our descent, but not stop it. Some fool told me to go back to school!! I’m almost 61. No credits I earned “back in the day” would still be valid, so we’re talking about starting at Square One. Four years of school – yeah, right. Who is gonna hire someone 65 years old, with a brand-new ink-still-wet diploma and no experience in the new field? Any employer would figure that you’d retire or die before they even got you fully acclimated and trained. I certainly would think that myself about a prospective employee. (Let’s pick one that looks like she might live long enough to get out of the probationary period!) And yeah, they’re not allowed to discriminate against a prospective employee because of age; we all know that. So they say they found someone more qualified, or is more closely aligned with their objectives.
We all keep hoping that “the powers that be” will realize that this is not in the best interest of the entity we serve; that while it will save some money, the loss in service provided will be felt by many who depend on us. But serving people, helping people, giving back to those who have given so much doesn’t seem to matter as much as it use to. Apparently saving a few dollars here so you can piss it away over there is more important.
When we’re all this close to the edge, it’s hard to hold out much hope that something will come along and alter the course.