unemployment in a down economy

I would think most everyone would warn against quitting their job these days. Would they still recommend that if they were asked to do more than one person could in their job. Is it easier or better to work multiple part time jobs doing the same redundant tasks or to be working one job doing so much at one time your eyes cross. Can a person be effective in either situation?

In todays working world, it seems that employers are asking more and more of the employee. The "job" description is shifting to cover more and more of the demands of a business. How do the employees adjust, how is it managed by the employer and when do you cross the line from being effective to just being a warm body? If you become so busy that you are not allowed the luxury of putting thought and effort into actions - are you truly benefiting the company? Also, are you a concientience employee? It is as if you are walking a tight rope carrying to plates of food and theirs a flying chef just hovering to load up on of the plates to unbalance your load.

Is this "the wall"? Or is the wall when you just drop the plates and step off the rope? when do you call when?

How is this stress transfered to your health? If you get sick, is the employer benefiting? There has to be a manageable medium to this situation. Can employers afford the time and money of resource load sharing in a way that is good for them, the business and the employee?

Add in the economic struggles happening in this market and it complicates the stress of this kind of situation. What do you do when you can not do anymore?

How does this ever end? How can it be turned into a positive reaction?

Bloggin along

My report on flying Air India. First the lounge, it was ok, clean but not well stocked unless you really like old pastries and Kellogg cereals. Luckily they did have heinken in those little tiny bottles. It helped because once I got the gate I needed those beers. The had a portable security check set up at the gate with it roped off down the middle. Once you went through it you were put into a cattle bin of 200 or so people all standing around mooing at each other. There was the lady listening to the knock off ipod and the absent stares out into space.

Now let's get to the flight itself. No welcome drink. Barely got a glass of water. Mind you this was in business class not in economy. I felt for those people. The plane was old and extremely dirty. My seat had some scare funky embedded in all the creavices. Glad I had some purell. Food was iffy and yet again nothing to drink with dinner or breakfast. I'm a bit dehydrated. Hate to fly and not have water to drink.

The seat I was assigned did not work in the way of reclining - at all. But the seat next me became free so I moved over. Only to have some large indian woman take it and snore next me for the next 6 hours. Again so grateful to have a wonderful husband that got me the noise cancelling headphones and ipod. They have saved more than once now. I had rented a movie from itunes and actually was able to watch what I wanted to watch on a flight - that part was great.

Landed in Frankfurt was told by the welcome agent to go to what I swear he said Gate B16. I then stand in line at passport control and go through security and get to Gate B13 and then B19...no B16. I ask some nice gate agent at B13 and she explains no it is gate B60 as in six zero. I have to back through passport control etc. I ask another gate agent wher the lounge is and he says back at gate B44 - I was like no I'm done seeing the airpot and just want to rest. My briefcase weighs a ton. So here I sit waiting out the 4 hour friggin layover our travel agent booked me and watch the people come and go. There is a strange irish men walking around in large green furry top hat and an irish flag as a cape. I suspect he is with a soccor team of some sort.

I did get a good cappacuino from the Mondo coffee bar from a nice german man that said maybe when we get a new president our dollar will be worth something again. I can not escape the political campaign anywhere. i explained we had to choose the best of two evils and he said yes it will not be better for a long time, but mean while he'd like to visit his uncle in the US while the euro was favorable.

I better check in the time has whiled away looking at how to force my wisteria to bloom.

Heavy Heart

I have always hated to see pain. Whether it was physical or emotional. Pain is a four letter word and it is one that has always been hard for me to digest. Especially when it is someone I care fore going through it. It weighs heavy for my heart to see anyone suffer. I take on their pain and ponder on it and visual it. It's a masochistic I know, but somehow my mind needs to wonder through this ritual. Maybe it makes me more compassionate to them, maybe it makes me squander myself away in bits and pieces. Either way it is exhausting. My own pain is rarely shared anymore. Those deep secrets of self destruction are kept inside, helping me fuel this digesting of others pain.

How can this be, to walk along through life and the every day carrying this around without someone seeing this disaster on my face? That my soul is yearning to free my friends from this agony that I have to suffer with them there in the trenches. My thoughts get consumed with their need for relief, so that I can recover as well.

Does this make some sort of freak or emotionally unstable individual or is this what friends do for each other? I would surely go through the pain for them so as to not see them suffer an ounce of discomfort. My heart bleeds their pain and it hurts. They deserve so much happiness and should never see so much sorrow or any misery. Some have had good lives while others continue to be tested and tried with these life hurts. Can't the happiness be shared? Isn't there some sort of option on the remote to disperse the pain and replace it joy?

They say that what does not kill us makes us stronger, if that is the case, I know Hercules and I know superman and so many other characters of steel.

Progress, Portions and Prosperity

The last few weeks have been challenging. Finding the combination of energy to apply to work, school and home life has been interesting. Work I've come to realize is something that needs a light mind, one where you are able to disconnect your blood pressure and heart and only your muscles are pulling the load. School is in the final push - only the capstone presentation this coming Monday and then a written document on the 3rd to finish. The modules are all done and complete. The team project is by far the hardest element as we have to really on others to get the professional certification grade. Home - well is a challenge to find the balance.

I continue to struggle with this self hatred issue. I know hatred seems strong but when you've been programmed to be something you can never achieve the weight of not being all that is expected turns to this morphist existence. I am doing ok and slowly seeing the light.

My garden is suffering and will the next week as we will be gone and not here to nurish it. The bright side is my worms are flourishing and I have provided them enough food from the crisper drawer tonight to keep them until our return.

Tomorrow we start our vacation - a visit to a national park and some time with my siblings. It will be a week of love and I hope my husband can keep up with the family.

Gorilla Gardening

The routine has become that the house cleaning is done on Saturdays and on Sunday's a I attend the holy house of dirt worms and the almighty flower. My husband allowed me to go to the local gigantic home improvement store alone and in his truck. A combination that should be avoided at all costs.

When I returned home, he looked in the bed of the truck and shook his head saying "you just had to go an over-do-it". I explained that he was at a fault for setting up the this paradigm that gave me the freedom to select large flats of annuals at one time.

The flower bed outside our bedroom door was a bit of "hodge-podge", so I decided to redo it in a style similar to the adjoining flower bed. A handful of Gerber daisy, some double inpatients and miniature cup flowers created this easy wild flower look that mimic the other bed.

Now the front of the house received two full flats of marigolds and flame flowers. My idea is to start to integrate the fall colors in so that come October all I'll need to do is drop in some gold and red mums where the current petunias are slowly fading out at to tie it all together. Throw some pumpkins on the steps and a wreath on the door and I'll be ready for those houndling trick or treaters.

I was excited to see lady bugs in the garden yesterday, this means I am attracting the right kind of bugs to the yard. The worms seem happy in their compost bin and they are enjoying the constant supply of fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchen.

Parking Garge Angst

For the last year my parking place has a stalker. I am a bit of creature of habit and I do appreciate a car with out dings or scratches. I park in the lowest part of the parking garage and had for the longest time the same spot.

I did ate least until the Red Honda with Texas plates showed up. He would get here before me and take my spot. This irked me. Some days we would arrive at the same time and I would take the spot. This dance went on for months. Then the wacko kiddos as the online video company next door started skateboarding in the parking garage. I then moved my spot further out. End spot third row from the wall. Our dear property management went and re-striped my spot out from under me. Another sad day. So I moved to the far back wall where NO ONE EVER PARKED.

Then I moved further away and now I get here a little later than before and MR. Red Honda took that spot too. Flipped me out.

So today I went to lunch with a couple co-workers. One of who also is a "away from everyone" else parker and has seen this saga going on with me and Mr Red Honda. We walk to his car and I notice that Mr. Red Honda has gone to lunch. I instantly moved my car into his spot.

If that Aholeyol keys my car, we are going to throw down.

I did nothing to him, other than want to park far away from him AND EVERYONE else. I did not single him out as he did my friggin parking spot.

Loco Moco Choca Laca

I am finally downloading the pictures from all my trips this year. My poor camera had 200+ photos on the disk. It's taken forever to get everything in the same place after moving.

It seems strange to see the pictures and think this was just from this year, and only so far this year. There are still a few more trips to do. We are planning two vacations between now and the end of year - one to Yellowstone and one to Vancouver. Both will be full of fun and finally some relaxation.

Tonight at dinner we talked about how people do not travel. That some guys that work with my husband have never left the area and they are in their 20 and 30s. To me this is just weird. How can you live in one place all your life and never want to see the rest of the world. There is so much to see, smell, taste and experience. This just boggles my mind that they have no desire for anything different.

For me the world has so much I haven't seen yet that if I am home too long I get out of sorts.

If I can figure out how to post the pictures here on the blog I will - Puerto Rico, Brazil, Seattle, Oregon, and of course the new house.

Worms Scraps Food and the mighty dollar

I am a bit of wanna be gardener. I mean, I spend time playing in the dirt trying to make things grow. Flowers are my preference, but I enjoy consumption item too. Our new house has allowed me to expand from being a "container" gardener to a more of "landscape" gardener. The catalogs of all the odd and unusual plants; will in fact, be my down fall.

I spent 20 minutes this morning watering before I left for work - that was only for what is around the patio. The upkeep will be time consuming. But the payoff of seeing things bloom is priceless.

With all that I want to become in regards to my Armadillo tendencies of burrowing into the zone of dirt and potting soil, I was researching where in our area that we can drop off old paint and found out that our city subsidizes a program to residents to buy compost bins at a very nice discount. I went with the deluxe model. It will arrive in the next two weeks. I hate to pay for compost when I know we throw away the ideal mix of odds and ends that could be decomposed down into some sort of glorious soil elixir.

I strive for glorious blooms at every niche and cranny.

I wait in anticipation for the yellow lilac tree to arrive from the mail order catalog.

A Stanley Thermos full of hot new england dinner

My life is taking all these twists and turns lately. From happily exploring the world through glasses fogged by jet lag in business class business trips to birthing a new house for us to live in.

The craziness continues as I read through other blogs - blogs with a certain culinary flair and wonder if I can tap into my inner betty crocker to to add in my own flair of recipe undertaking.

My lunch today was prepared by my husband. He made New England boiled dinner last night. To me it is kielbasa soup. To him it is comfort. A throw back from being at home. It was combined with corn bread sticks - back in the the little corn molds even. It has fresh corn stripped from a cob left over and new potatos. It's hearty and fills the soul with far off winter feelings and chills.

Pre-Fourth Office Dog

So we got over the whole home buyers remorse - took a knock down drag out but we cleared the air. Today was a new day so to speak. A truce was set to have us both were our "be nice to" hats. I think perhaps we have burned ourselves out on the new home owner ship thing and begun to take out our frustrations on each other. Several people have advised that this is normal. However, my husband is OCD and and I mean every capital letter of that. Our pantry has all the can goods alphabetized and labels forward. It is a bit like sleeping with the enemy but he has good points too - like bringing me coffee in bed every morning.

Today was Dott the four legged wonders first day to work with me since we moved to the new house. She enjoys all the attention she gets from the guys. The world was right for her = the ball was thrown constantly.

Our fourth of July will hopefully be relaxing and finding some sunshine and finish putting the bulbs in the ground.

While the idea of blogging for me is not new, it is hard to see how best to make it a readable space.

I will get wittier I'm sure. Perhaps I will do some flash backs to the past while removing the names of the parties involved. It could become an erotic mess of submissive panderings from a middle aged sex addict but then again it could only be more dog stories...

Home Ownership

After spending 5 years living a cramped apartment we finally bought a house. Yes, in this crazy southern California market, we bought a house. It's a buyers market for sure. He picked this house, I was ok with it. I'm happy with it but I did like one or two of the others we looked at much better. They required less work and had a look and location I liked. He however, liked the one we ended up buying. That is until today. He works hard and long hours. But for the last two days he's been home - alone. I received a text message from him saying "i'm very depressed and unhappy right now" . This cause great concern for me. This is not something I get from him unless I"ve done something wrong. So I call him and he says he's just depressed and sad about the house. That it's not perfect and that he can't turn the TV on and every where he looks he sees things that need to be fixed or changed or something. I can only say that I"m sorry I don't make it better for him only worse. I had hoped with the house that he would be happy or at lease happier with me. But it seems it is not better but worse. I am not equipped to for this. I do not understand this. The house is nice, it's clean and good shape, in a nice neighborhood. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.