Practicing For Retirement

Lay Off - Day One
Here I am at home on a Friday, a day I would normally be working.  There was no last minute budget resolution, so the State Of Minnesota is basically closed for business.  Troopers, prison guards & other people essential to the safety of Minnesotans are still working, and there is a skeleton crew of MNDOT people to take care of road safety issues such as pavement blowups which will most certainly occur today as the temperatures move into the mid-90s again.  There was no last minute Lights On Bill to keep the state running for a few more days.  The Governor had said he would not go that route because it would only postpone the real problems, and he was as good as his word.  The Republicans vowed there would be no tax increase, not even for the wealthiest Minnesotans, and they did not back down either.  So the rich will continue to be rich, and the middle class and under classes will continue to get poorer.  Such a sad state of affairs . . .

Our office has been under an enormous amount of stress recently as so much needed to be done to prepare for the lay offs, in addition to all the training and testing required for the new accounting system which was to have gone live - today.  All the contractors sent in up-to-the-minute bills as they often need their payments to meet their payrolls.  So much paperwork to be done in notifying all the state's vendors and so many payments to be made.  In my area we had a number of large upcoming condemnation actions that required payment during July, and and those had to be taken care of (just in case) and even yesterday I was making payment for parcels in the Central Corridor Light Rail project.  Payments would have been due in August, but who knows if we would be back in time, and the Central Corridor project continues.  All regular road construction is cancelled for now, but not the Light Rail which is a Metropolitan Council project (but we purchase the right of way for them).

I thought I was ready for this and would enjoy a "vacation" but when I turned in my badge, put prepared messages on my phone and computer, when I made arrangements for my office plants, rechecked to make sure I had everything completed, and packed up any personal items I might need at home, I felt sick.  As if I had been kicked in the stomach, and perhaps in the heart.  This kind of thing should NOT be happening in a civilized country.  In a civilized state.  When did things get so crazy?

It was a pretty glum evening too, but this morning I am OK with everything.  I feel so bad for the people who will be affected by this much more than I will.  I have some savings, and will be able to collect unemployment which will help, and I've never had a REAL vacation at home as I normally use my days off for dogs shows, and generally just a few at a time.   Like most of the rest of my office I NEED a vacation, a chance to get my head together, and get caught up on my sleep before the new accounting system goes live. 

Lots of projects lined up, but first - breakfast!  No more peanut butter toast breakfasts for me.  Today we are starting with an asparagus, onion, red pepper & tomato omelet.

The giant blue Hosta does not fare well in the heat

Then off to set up a sun tarp to protect my gorgeous blue Hosta which really suffers in the hot sun.  The sprinkler is already running in the alley garden and the rest of the flower beds need watering.  Then I'll take a look at the multi-page To Do List.  Yep, I plan to make the best of this, and yes I will make a point of doing a blog entry every morning.  No excuses now!