Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
barf bag
You ever feel like you should be carrying around a barf bag?
I can't believe it is only Wednesday. This has to be one of the longest 10 day stretches on record. Last Sunday my cousin Ann stayed the night with us. I woke up in the morning to find her slumped over her blackberry texting like a mad woman. I asked her what happened and she told me about AIG. Ann works for AIG as an environmental insurance broker. She stated she didn't think her job was in trouble directly but how would her potential clients have faith in light of the news? I should also tell you that the day before Ann placed 20th in a triathalon! GO ANN! To be honest I didn't really understand the magnitude of the AIG fall out but I'm an empathetic person so I was feeling for her. Over the next few days it became apparent that this was the beginning of a load of tension.
Friday my beautiful sister in law went into labor. You all have seen the product of her and Jason's love, Sam. I was feeling pretty anxious about Sarah and Sam's recovery. Also, I was worried about the future for their family. Sarah doesn't get paid maternity leave. I think that is a crock of crap!!! So again...feeling lots of empathy there for my family.
Flash forward to this Monday...We woke up to news of Wachovia. I'm not worried about our bank accounts (not yet anyway) but we have friends that work for them. It was a punch in the stomach. At work, I was preparing to start a construction project to expand our offices. I guess this project was making me feel somehow lucky. That maybe my butt was protected despite all the craziness in the world. I'm economically naive. As, I pulled in the parking lot with Matt driving (because he had no gas in his truck thanks to a gas crises) I smiled seeing the permit in the window. We started demo on the new space. I was feeling pretty good that morning...and it was my birthday. Of course I should be elated. The day was going pretty well but something else was happening...the stock market was in the toilet and the house didn't pass the bail out.
As I was leaving the office that day I saw a unsure look in my boss' eyes...
Tuesday/Yesterday, my boss sends out an e-mail..."Can everyone meet in the conference room at 11am?" 15 minutes away. So for 15 minutes I'm getting iChats that equate to panic. He pulled the plug on the construction project. He decided to take the project only through framing. Doing this allows us to keep our permit for a year. Here is the thing...my boss is smart. He is incredibly smart. He decided that we should wait and see what happens in the next few weeks or months before growing. This makes sense. Yet, I felt nervous and I can't shake it. He assured us we are ok...we will grow...just not today.
Last night, I hung out with my buddy. He works for Wachovia. He says things are business as usual but I could feel the stress radiating from him. It was like his whole soul was in a big knot. That just sucks!
Today... I found myself finishing up projects with nothing substantial in the pipeline. Then I get an e-mail, It's time for my annual review. What sweet timing to discuss a raise. Right? I'm truly not worried about my performance or losing my job. I'm just bummed I'm not going in for an evaluation during a boom time. Ya know?
I should also mention that my husband, Matt, runs a remodeling company. You know how difficult it is to get a construction loan right now? Well, It's effecting his business.
Why am I sharing all of this internal stress? You all have your own stress. I'm sure that those of you with kids have a ton more. Or how about those of you watching your retirement blow away in the breeze? Here, on humzOo I am seeing all of the stress of the current time we are living in surface. It is surfacing in nasty and trivial ways. I want to remind you that we are all in this together. This human condition..
So, lets try not to use humzOo as a barf bag full of misdirected stress.
PEACE
barf bag
You ever feel like you should be carrying around a barf bag?
I can't believe it is only Wednesday. This has to be one of the longest 10 day stretches on record. Last Sunday my cousin Ann stayed the night with us. I woke up in the morning to find her slumped over her blackberry texting like a mad woman. I asked her what happened and she told me about AIG. Ann works for AIG as an environmental insurance broker. She stated she didn't think her job was in trouble directly but how would her potential clients have faith in light of the news? I should also tell you that the day before Ann placed 20th in a triathalon! GO ANN! To be honest I didn't really understand the magnitude of the AIG fall out but I'm an empathetic person so I was feeling for her. Over the next few days it became apparent that this was the beginning of a load of tension.
Friday my beautiful sister in law went into labor. You all have seen the product of her and Jason's love, Sam. I was feeling pretty anxious about Sarah and Sam's recovery. Also, I was worried about the future for their family. Sarah doesn't get paid maternity leave. I think that is a crock of crap!!! So again...feeling lots of empathy there for my family.
Flash forward to this Monday...We woke up to news of Wachovia. I'm not worried about our bank accounts (not yet anyway) but we have friends that work for them. It was a punch in the stomach. At work, I was preparing to start a construction project to expand our offices. I guess this project was making me feel somehow lucky. That maybe my butt was protected despite all the craziness in the world. I'm economically naive. As, I pulled in the parking lot with Matt driving (because he had no gas in his truck thanks to a gas crises) I smiled seeing the permit in the window. We started demo on the new space. I was feeling pretty good that morning...and it was my birthday. Of course I should be elated. The day was going pretty well but something else was happening...the stock market was in the toilet and the house didn't pass the bail out.
As I was leaving the office that day I saw a unsure look in my boss' eyes...
Tuesday/Yesterday, my boss sends out an e-mail..."Can everyone meet in the conference room at 11am?" 15 minutes away. So for 15 minutes I'm getting iChats that equate to panic. He pulled the plug on the construction project. He decided to take the project only through framing. Doing this allows us to keep our permit for a year. Here is the thing...my boss is smart. He is incredibly smart. He decided that we should wait and see what happens in the next few weeks or months before growing. This makes sense. Yet, I felt nervous and I can't shake it. He assured us we are ok...we will grow...just not today.
Last night, I hung out with my buddy. He works for Wachovia. He says things are business as usual but I could feel the stress radiating from him. It was like his whole soul was in a big knot. That just sucks!
Today... I found myself finishing up projects with nothing substantial in the pipeline. Then I get an e-mail, It's time for my annual review. What sweet timing to discuss a raise. Right? I'm truly not worried about my performance or losing my job. I'm just bummed I'm not going in for an evaluation during a boom time. Ya know?
I should also mention that my husband, Matt, runs a remodeling company. You know how difficult it is to get a construction loan right now? Well, It's effecting his business.
Why am I sharing all of this internal stress? You all have your own stress. I'm sure that those of you with kids have a ton more. Or how about those of you watching your retirement blow away in the breeze? Here, on humzOo I am seeing all of the stress of the current time we are living in surface. It is surfacing in nasty and trivial ways. I want to remind you that we are all in this together. This human condition..
So, lets try not to use humzOo as a barf bag full of misdirected stress.
PEACE
I like how you indicated all the negative things that you have dealt with recently but show you have a good attitude to deal with it.
PEACE to you too.
http://bakingbites.com/2008/10/coffee-and-cream-rice-pu...
Have you watched 'Sicko'? It's strictly speaking about folks with health insurance who still pay large amounts of money in medical bills. But then Michael Moore takes a different tack, visiting countries such as Canada, the UK, and France with a more comprehensive social safety net than America's.
Anyway, the best thing is to find something to laugh about!! A photo of Copper sleeping in the bathtub (posted on Sarah A.'s site) did it for me!
Yes I watched Sicko. I can't believe that whole state of affairs. It's embarrassing.