So the economy strikes again

I hate the fact that a lot of my posts relate to unemployment or layoffs.
2 years ago my company was very prosperous with 178 employees, today we're down to 56 employees, losing 15 more critical employees this week to just balance the books. Those that are left take a 15% paycut, insurance increases aren't any fun either.



Rick

I'm not a perfect prepper, hell; I'm not even good.

My raised beds still aren't cleared of weeds, and only 3 are planted properly, all but one of my rain catchment systems are still working and the yard looks more like field.
I claim to be tired, working full-time plus, for a company struggling to survive. I add time for volunteering to the police department, Search and Rescue and then being dad, and don't even consider all the IT support questions I field.

You do what you can do everyday, If you can't do today; do better tomorrow.

Rick

Some thoughts on unemployment and planning ahead

Oregon's unemployment numbers hit 9.9% - Link

We're running at close to +%1 a month here and while I'd like to point out how bad it is, it's not the highest in the nation; Michigan and California to name but two, beat us consistently.

I'd be willing to bet this average rate will continue for atleast 6 months even with the 'stimulus' package. Keep in mind that the Great Depression lasted about 10 years and if this is a similar condition we might have a little ways to go before it turns around.

I don't think I can put back 10 years of income as a cushion, 10 years of food are pretty much out of reach as well. What can I do for 10 years worth of a depression? Skills, knowledge, seeds, contacts, potentially some transportation. I can't expect my job to last 10 years, I'd love it to last 2 in this climate. I can continue with my volunteer work, which will let me buy some preps that I can justify writing off on my taxes (but if you don't have money how can you buy anything?), I can write off some mileage/gas/repairs, I might even be able to be paid occasionally for a shift.

Prepare now, it won't be long before you'll be using your 'preps' or sharing them. Even if you're unemployed and on some form of financial assistance you need to continue to prep, it's only going to get worse for everybody. There will likely be a time in our near future when there isn't any government money for health care, welfare or unemployed citizens. If the money is there, it's likely to be so overshadowed by inflation that $400/week is only worth sending to your creditors as it's not enough to by a sack of groceries.

Rick

No man is an island

In 1624 John Donne wrote a rather short poem which has effected me since I first read it as a child.

When I first read this simple verse at the age of 12 or so I related it the Boy Scout's motto to do a good turn every day, I suppose I still consider it valid. Give something back to people in need.

When next I read it, at 16 or so, it was required reading/memorization for an English class, and I was told what it meant, and who I was, how I mattered to the rest of the world. Honestly, I felt pretty small at the time and figured somebody was blowing smoke up my nether regions.

Many years of my life had passed, work, responsibility, even just general life and then I read it again (I must have been early 30's). This time; I read that 'No man can only be an island' a minor point, and perhaps unintended, but that's what any art requires; interpretation.

Since that time I've found my own ways to give back to the island, to the whole. I'm not looking for kudos so don't send them, I'm just giving examples. I 'spent' about 1000 hours to become a unpaid solo reserve police officer, I 'spent' 300 hours to become a certified search and rescue volunteer, add in hours for man tracking, a few other dozen topics, training, teaching and other concepts and I feel happy with who I am. At the same time these obsessions, if you will,
took time away from my wife and 2 boys. I just hope my service teaches them what I should have been there to show them.

So now I finally get to the point of the post. Damn that took awhile, carefully digging through this mind of mine.
No man is an island and neither is our economy.
I'm not stupid, but I guess you figured that out or you wouldn't have read this far. Until recently I really haven't bothered to figure out how my job relates to others, I guess I just like my check and as long as people are getting paid it's cool.
But how does your company effect the local economy? We've lost half of our work force over the last 16 months and it really does have a huge impact on the economy beyond what happened to the people we laid off. While I want to point out their losses I'm going to skip that for now so you can see what it means beyond them even though they are really very important to me).

The tire company only get's 1/3 of the re-treds we used to ask for. We sent back 1/8 of the forklifts. I canceled the AC maintenance company we've used for several years. We've gone from three days of cleaning to 1 day, all the employees need to empty their own trash and wipe their own desks. We'll use spare time to cut the lawns with a mower we have in storage. We trained somebody to resharpen all of the saw blades we use.
They don't seem like major issues but when you consider the full impact, do you see how many jobs have been lost, just by my company cutting back to stay in business? It's not just accumulative, it multiplies losses 3-5 times when you think about it. We're one fairly
small company of (originally) 150 people, consider what a company like Intel with 15,000 people have cut back on.

No island is just a man, or a group of men; every island is a part of the whole. Should one island or a portion of an island fall so to will all other islands fall and then the men with them.

Never send for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee... it tolls for us all.

Rick