A 24 Hour Vacation

I actually took a full 24 hours off, something I never do, unless I am sick. I did no dropping, no blogging, no email, no ChaCha, no housework, cooking, or any other work. I just relaxed, and enjoyed a whole day. I took Caitlin shopping to spend the rest of her birthday money. Then we went to visit my mom, and had a great time, with just the girls, no boys allowed HaHa. While we were gone, there was a bit of excitement back home. My husband called to inform me that a wicked thunderstorm came through, and a tree fell next to the drug dealers house. Yes you saw that, the drug dealer. I am not being slanderous that is actually what he is. The town knows he is there, and all they say is they know he is there, and they watch him. The joys of living in a small town. Anyway the tree missed him, his car, and his house, no offense but he must be the luckiest SOB. So today, I play catch up, and work my fingers to the bone, both online, and housework. But that 24 hours was so nice. I am probably a bit too high strung, to do that very often, it did pretty near kill me, not doing anything. One more note, my husband and I watched the Simpsons movie last night. It was very disappointing, and I was glad when it was over. Have a great Sunday, everyone.

Five Warning Signs That You May Be Laid Off

I found these, warning signs, in my local Sunday newspaper. Whether or not they are accurate, they are certainly interesting. My husband, and I decided last week, for me to cut back two nights a week, at my job, as signs were indeed pointing to me being cut anyway. As I am only per diem, and they have cut everyones overtime, and hours, I felt it was only soon to be my turn. I have seniority, and is probably the only reason it did not happen sooner. We figured we could easier plan for the money loss, ahead rather than just having it dumped on us all of a sudden. So here are the 5 warning signs:

1- Others are losing their jobs. Here in Florida, I do not see where jobs are ever stable, unless you are fortunate enough to get a state job. I have blogged about this before, but with the economy in Florida as terrible as it is, more jobs are being lost every day.

2- Hiring Freeze- I work in the medical industry, so a hiring freeze, is not really pertinent, but they can cut back their staffing to the bare minimum that is legal, and yes they have done that as have most medical facilities.

3- Training budgets cut, projects slow down- Ha that is laughable, this company does not offer such luxuries, but I do know Construction is basically at a stand still in Florida, and companies are cutting their benefits left and right.

4- Office gossip- I am not quite sure how this is a warning sign, as there is always gossip, at least as long as I have been in the work force.

5- Company is missing targets- The company I work for only has one target, to make money and spend the least amount of money. I am pretty sure they have met this target. However there are a lot of companies that have not. They are hurting for sales, especially in construction, auto industry, retail, and dining out.

They do say, that if you think you will be laid off, it might not be a bad idea to try to work out something with your company. Maybe an incentive package, that could hold you over why you look for another job. Plus going back to school, and getting a trade in some of the areas that are not hurting right now. Personally I am not sure what those industries are, so I can not help there.

There is only 24 hrs to get in the contest to win the 10 dollars, and free 90 text link. I have had tons of entries, way more than I expected, and have decided to use Random.org to draw the winner. It would take me forever to write up, and tear tiny pieces of paper, for the number of entries I got. Thank you, and good luck to all of you that entered.

Lesson Plans for 10/29/08:

One note, my husband seems to have thrown out the balloons for the paper mache pumpkins, so they will be done later this week.

Writing: Write about the adventures of a Scarecrow
Reading: Write book report for Mummies in the Morning
Social Studies: Halloween themed unit, Idaho
Math: Money, division, multiplication
Language Arts: Phonics review, verbs past and present
Spelling: Lesson 9 write each word, and circle the consonants
Vocabulary: Lesson 9, think of a Synonym for each vocabulary word
Spanish- Food and utensils