<p>I remember the only time I’ve ever seen my Dad cry- he has weathered multiple cancer Dx, heart surgery, my Mom’s cancer & heart things, etc., but the only time i ever saw him cry was 1973 when the big SoCal aerospace layoffs hit him and he lost his job at the sweet little company to which he could ride his bike. He went back to the big mega-company and was back in that car pool to LA for the rest of his days, so he got back into things quickly, but he was still devastated it could happen and so sad to have to get back on the big company treadmill.</p>
<p>I also feel like I have seen plenty of good times & bad times- somehow I never seem to rake in the big bucks in the good times but I do feel the pain in the bad times but I learned many years ago to make our basic life really safe.</p>
<p>Think about the early 70s, the early 80s, the early 90s, so many down times for different reasons. We work with no guaranteed salary, so our mortgage now is lower than it was in 1984 and we are trying to pay it down and off! Cars are usually paid for in cash and our basic survival costs are kept low. We have been at risk before and lost badly on assuming things would always be good, so now we plan to survive the bad times and do not extend ourselves. I am sure we have missed out on some opportunities to make money, but we have also missed some great chances to lose money :D</p>
<p>Anytime so long as we don’t talk strikes or politics. </p>
<p>My wife and I had a nice free night out last night going to see Chris Kimball of America’s Test Kitchen at the hated downtown Library. The library still sucks but he was funny and friendly. Got a bunch of free recipes too.</p>
<p>" at least he cleared out a bunch of crap out of the basement "</p>
<p>You see! Good things right in the middle of the bad. Seriously, I will keep you guys in my prayers. My BIL has been out of work now since May, and while that is different from a strike, the being home with no pay coming in is a nightmare. Perhaps he is weathering it a little better cause he spends his days sending out resumes, making phone calls, and going on interviews, so the “search” keeps him occupied and hopeful. otoh, getting rejected by 25 yr olds who say you don’t have enough “fast paced environment” experience is insulting if not demoralizing.</p>
<p>Being unfamiliar with union jobs, is the deal that you just have to wait it out? Are you allowed to take, say, a part time or temp job to help with the household expenses?</p>
<p>The library still sucks but he was funny and friendly. Got a bunch of free recipes too.</p>
<p>Chris Kimball with the bowtie?
I don’t have cable but I have Cook’s magazine- love it, what is it with guys and bowties?- Walt Crowley ( rip) used to wear one too. </p>
<p>I am rewriting my resume- but since it is spotty- trying to make it look like I am actually employable- plus- how do you get away with not actually saying how old you are?
I normally wouldn’t think about hiding my age- but I think since I look younger, I might as well withhold the info. </p>
<p>Also lots things are coming out of the woodwork, not just you guys on CC which really means more to me than I realized, but I am working on some additional funding so I can continue in school- and there are a lot of supports for students at this college, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to continue right now- despite everything.
My life has been very interesting- even though things could have been easier- I have always thought I have good karma- cause there are often surprises around the next corner.</p>
<p>I think for us- even though it is definitely hard- and I am gonna have to put our property taxes on our charge card-
not to mention I don’t see how we are going to be able to match my daughters savings like I promised so that she can do a short stay abroad -, ( let alone college <<<insert hyperventilation=“” here=“”>>>) but we have always scraped by.
We have oldish cars, instate camping has been our vacation and we have never even ever hired any work done on our 108 yr old house.<br>
( even though doing it yourself= doesn’t necessarily save time or money :o but H needs a reason to have accumulated all those power tools )</insert></p>
<p>But for instance we have friends- who a couple years ago, sold their adorable Greenlake bungalow and bought a much larger house on a double lot in Seattle. *much *larger house- which is gorgeous, but now this year their daughter will be applying to colleges/taking a year off to study abroad, they are looking for supportive housing for their older child with special needs & while they don’t take extravagant trips or buy expensive clothes ( it helps to work @ Boeing), I bet their house payment is at least twice as much as ours. ( and even with the downturn, lower taxes will not kick in for a while if ever) :p</p>
<p>I hope they will do well- as they are really very nice- even if they may seem a touch shallow- but small businesses everywhere are going to have a tough time.</p>
<p>Ek, yup they are. Especially if they have been spending their earnings and floating along on a line of credit. The rules for a small business are the same as a consumer… Don’t spend more than you earn!<br>
We several sets of friends who kept their businesses afloat by using credit cards. Bad idea!
We’ve been talking about ways to scale back our business overhead should the need arise and we have a plan much the same way your family has been careful with their finances. In the long run it will serve you well.
Just breathe!</p>
<p>I remember the day in 1970 when my dad was home early. He had been laid off from GE Aerospace. Engineers were being laid off in droves. It took over 2 years before he had a regular job again. He worked part time in an autoparts store and did photography jobs at weddings an bar mitzvahs and went to local fairs and took your picture and put it on a button. </p>
<p>That experience taught me to never take my job for granted and to always spend and save like I could lose my job at any moment. When I did lose my job (2 weeks after my son was born), I was devastated but not broke. I was out of work for 18 months and it took over 8 years to get back to salary I was making before the layoff. But I was never behind in any bills. Sometimes I can’t believed I raised my son for over 5 years on a salary of less than 20K. Medicaid, Wic, foodstamps, welfare. yes to all at during my unemployment and even when I started working.</p>
but I do feel the pain in the bad times 
but I learned many years ago to make our basic life really safe.</p>