Secure

For the last couple weeks, there has been a cloud of impending layoffs at ZPJ's firm. Every couple days, word is whispered around that they are getting rid of 10%, 20%, who knows how many people. ZPJ felt like his job was relatively secure, but "secure" has a shaky meaning these days.

Yesterday his firm laid off almost 100 people, and he was not among them. It looks like he's stuck there for awhile more. I feel awful about feeling happy, considering so many other families had such a shitty day yesterday, but I am just so relieved. Seeing as I'm only working for another five or six weeks, and insurance is a pretty pressing matter at the moment, I'm not entirely sure what we would have done.

These days, the things that used to make us feel secure suddenly are revealed as being pretty inadequate. Savings accounts aren't actually big enough, investments are a joke, and homes can be lost so quickly. I feel lucky to have escaped trouble for a little while longer, and it makes all our other concerns seem much more manageable. So *clink*! Here's to the continuation of ZPJ's paycheck and benefits!

Before and After

We had a busy day today, finishing the last phases of de-officing the former office and beginning to turn it into a nursery. Still a long way to go, but it's beginning to take shape.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
And, just in case you needed your fill of "cute" for the day, here is Daddy putting together Baby's first crib...

Really?!?!

I shockingly realized today that I might be taking the side of congressional Republicans over the Democrats today, but seriously?!?!?!:

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Tuesday asked three committee chairmen, including Mr. Frank, to come up with legislation to recoup the bonus money, and suggested the House might pass a measure as early as this week.

But the reaction of another of the chairmen, Representative Charles B. Rangel of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, underscored the legal and political complexities facing Democrats as they scramble for a solution. Mr. Rangel, a Democrat from New York, objected to one of the most popular ideas being floated — a confiscatory income tax on the recipients. The tax code is not “a political weapon,” he told reporters. -New York Times

Since when do we get mad and create legislation that retroactively penalizes certain contracts? I'm mad as hell about those douchebags getting millions of dollars for crashing the world market, but maybe these are things we should have looked into before we just wrote them a blank check for billions of dollars! This company (and many others who got us into this mess) are full of tricksy, tricksy hobbitses who are used to getting well-paid to screw people over, and we shouldn't have thought for half a second that they wouldn't have pulled something like this.

Come on, Nancy and Barney. Just because you have your majority doesn't mean you get to turn into legislative bullies.

Unfair?

Yesterday I walked past a cop car that had pulled over and was ticketing a Drivers' Ed car. There was a very confused looking young girl in the car and an older man speaking irritatedly into a cell phone. This struck me because A) it isn't very often that New York's finest bother to pull people over for traffic violations, and B) I kind of thought that anything you did short of mowing down old ladies was fair game if you were in a Drivers' Ed car. I mean, that's the whole point, right? You don't know how to drive. That is why those cars are covered with signs that say "Student Driver". And it's not like there are lots of empty parking lots in central Brooklyn available for testing out your driving moves. It's pretty much sink or swim. So I guess that young driver sank.

Hank's Problems

On Monday, it snowed a foot. Even though it's March now and supposed to be springtime.This made Hank very, very depressed.
Then, four days later, it was sixty degrees and beautiful outside. This made Hank much happier.
Not as happy as he would be if he could go outside, though.