Saturday, November 22, 2008

hard times

So much pain these days even in my little world. Among people I am closely connected to, one person's business is failing and he may have to declare bankrupcy, another's husband was just laid off, another's husband is working for a month and a half without pay. Still no word on what is going to happen to the program I run. So far we have been hit with a five day mandatory furlough (leave without pay) for all university employees. There was a story in the Boston Globe last weekend (when I was there) about what a depression would look like in today's world. My daughter read it, wanting to know how she might be affected. I do hear that applications are up almost 5% at my university--students deciding to stay in state.

1 comment:

Joann said...

School started 8/2 for us, but the budget hasn't yet been released. We have no school supplies and don't anticipate any money being released anytime soon. We figure it's all going down the tailpipe of the buses. There are a bunch of other budget saving measures, but the one that effects me the most is that I can't use my own little refrigerator. They even have refrigerator police coming around and checking to see that we aren't using them. I have a lady that cleans my house (and other people's) because she was laid off from a state job. My outdoor gardening lady has patched together a bunch of jobs because she's out of work. Our state just tried to take the COLA from retired teachers, but that big 'ol 1.5 percent was saved. I see more and more empty houses around. If laid off, it wouldn't be long before I'd have to surrender my place. Very scary times. Hope that the five day furlough is as bad as it gets for ya. :(