One of Those Nothing Days

Which works for me, because I won't have another until March-ish, and there's a festival in Cantha this weekend.

Don't be too confused, Cantha is a land in Guild Wars, and I need to spend today farming some Lunar Tokens so I can get prizes. I do have something to do tomorrow, but I'll still be able to attend one or two of the finale events. Weee!

When Morons Speak

When I came into work this morning, WAM was speaking with Adolf about how a 5% paycut isn't going to be that bad because it's just like what we were making before out last annual raise, and that she didn't understand why some people were making a big deal about it.

Sure, it won't be that bad for WAM, who is more than forty years old and still lives with her mother. It won't be that bad for Adolf either, who also still lives with his mother and younger brother. These people need to shut up.

If nothing has changed in your life since the last time you were at this salary, like it has not for these two, a paycut isn't a big deal. However, if things did change, like me moving out of my parents' home or LDS having a baby (and her unemployed partner having one too), a paycut of any size is a big deal.

I'm quite thankful that WAM didn't come to me with her point of view. I would have told her off, loudly. As I was listening to her, I was thinking of what I would have to say to make it very clear that she knows nothing about living. She knows nothing about the situation of others and needs to stop making judgments about people she knows nothing about.

I wish I didn't spend most of the morning angry about her insensitive and ignorant words. It's better now since the chances of her approaching me with that same topic are decreasing with every hour.

This Or A Pink Slip

We just got back from a meeting that was all about where OBC is now in the current economic crisis and what the company has to do to keep us afloat.

What they have to do is a 5% pay cut across the board, and no more 401k match. I'm still young, so I can deal without the match in my retirement plan for now, but I'm already struggling to keep bills paid.

And I can barely wrap my mind around poor LDS's situation. Her partner, henceforth called Sqwerl, is currently unemployed, and they have two babies. I worry about how my friends will make this work, even more than I worry about how I will.

But, it's either take a pay cut, or more lay-offs, and therefore no pay at all.

Not Too Bad

I was only fifteen minutes late in the ice, and that was just because it took longer to clear off my car than anticipated.

Some people took all day, or more hours than they really needed to. The ice wasn't bad, the main roads were clear, and if you moved slow enough, you could get to them without much trouble.

If I still lived with my parents, however, coming in to work today would not have been possible. I guess that's one of the prices I pay for living closer to work now. It would have been nice to have a day off.

Slip-Sliding

From my new desk, I can clearly see the turn-in for my office building. It started to snow in the early AM, but it's been so cold that nothing really melted, it's just been snow.

It's been light powdery snow which is deceptive. See, people will drive on that and notice that it's not so bad, until more and more people drive on that. That packs it down, and creates friction which melts the snow, but it's so cold that it freezes. Ta-da! Near-instant ice.

The little group by the windows where I am have been trying not to laugh too hard at the people who slide while trying to turn onto the drive.

Someone just came by to plow the drive, so hopefully that means it won't be too bad by the time we're all leaving. Though, no one has plowed the access road to the drive yet. Maybe it will be done by quitting time. Of course, that's also when the snow is supposed to turn to ice.

I just hope it doesn't mean I'll be stuck here all night!

Welcome the Ox

Happy New Year!

This little guy took me all day, but totalled about four hours of work. He is made from red yarn, red being a color of fortune, courage and happiness. May you have all those things in this new lunar year!

Bye Bye Tree

Phoenix and I took our holiday tree down today. We should have done it a while ago, really, but we liked it so much. The room got slightly re-arranged, the sewing machine got re-attached to the sewing table, and the punching bag got inflated. A fine way to spend a day.

Another Challenge

It was not in so many words, but I couldn't resist. I bought a book in the fall that has a pattern of this in it. My technique is very different than that of the author of this book, but I was able to use it as a guide. I give you: the great Cthulhu!


I didn't time the creation, but I'm pretty sure it was in the three hour ballpark. I used Simply Soft acrylic yarn in lime green, poly beads for weight, polyester fiberfill, and safety eyes. The beads make this not suitable to give to children, but I just made it for fun anyway.

So, other than stocking my store, what's next?!

I Must Admit

Moon told me that she sometimes buys yarn at Walmart. She doesn't like supporting that particular corporation, but must admit they have the best prices and a good selection.

Now, I hate that store. I rarely go into one that is not overly crowded and feels dirty and unorganized. The store in Daytona wasn't so bad. Some of them around here are better than what is near my parents house, but still filled with too many people and not feeling very clean.

I am slowly running out of the color that I use for my gnomes' faces. I've checked two Michael's, a Jo Ann's, and an AC Moore. It seems that they're just not selling it anymore. I needed to go to Target, and there is a Walmart right nearby. I decided to check for the color that I need, and surprising enough, they had tons of it. I must admit, the evil Walmart came through. And it seems it would be a good idea to check there first.

Sad, but true.

Value

Even though last week's threat turned out to be just that, it was still taken seriously as it should have been. Some coworkers reported that they were first told to shut down their computers, gather their belongings, and go outside. Those same coworkers were told almost right away to forget about shutting down the computers and just gather their things and go outside. My group was told to lock up, take what was important and go outside.

Truly, it seems like the fifteen minutes it took to evacuate the building was a long time. Even with our instructions, we filed out without urgency and, at least, without panic. WAM, who only grabbed her coat at first, commented that she didn't hear there would be a drill. I told her I didn't think it was a drill, and she rushed back to her desk to get her bag. Some people were not allowed to go to their desk even for their coats, let alone personal belongings. One of those people is pregnant, and many stood there on the coldest day of the year without coats so she could have theirs.

In our dilatory march to the cold top of the parking garage, people were talking about how strange it was that we were ordered to do so. More than a few had expressed relief at having remembered to take their car keys, cell phones, and iPods.

That strikes me as an odd value to put on an mp3 player. Our safety was threatened, but at least we had our music. One of my coworkers couldn't live without her book. One of my friends could live without her cell phone. I chose to take my purse (containing keys, wallet, and cell phone) and my craft bag. I almost left the craft bag; it's really not worth my life. However, it had things in it that I would have to replace if something really happened. I guess I was thinking that my soon-to-be store was like my livelihood (it won't be, I'm sure) and therefore related things are important. It wasn't hard to stuff my small purse into the craft bag so it wasn't a burden to bring it. Also, inside that bag was a thumb drive that had a story I've been working on in downtime on it. That was a lot of the importance of that bag. I've lost stories before and it sucks. Sucks isn't a big enough word for it.

Still, that was what had value. If we were told to leave any faster, I either would have picked it up first, or I would have left it. I do know it's not worth my life. Just as the crystal on my desk, or some of my favorite origami models, or my impressive rubber band ball, or even the fact that my iPod was safely in my purse didn't get a thought.

Maybe things would have been different if evacuating was a bit more urgent. There was a fire alarm that went off not too long ago. I remember failing to grab anything for that. That's also why I remembered my purse (with keys) this time. No matter what people brought with them, the ability to get away in expensive property was important across the board. I won't argue with that.

Even so, it's interesting how minds work sometimes.