Hello!

Hello everyone well as you know it has been for ever since I have posted anything. I suppose with all things considered things are going well. There are ups and downs. I think life always seems to balance it self out what I mean by that is I am content about different parts of my life now then I was say 2 or 3 years ago. My happiness has shifted from one part of my life to the other. This last year to year and a half as far as work has pretty much sucked. I did my 2009 taxes and as it turns out my income for 2009 was as low as it was in 1996. I know I know don't look a gift horse in the mouth be thankful you have a job well and I am. But that will only get you so far. When taking into account for inflation I am making far less then I was in 1996. And to be very frank I don't see things with this economy getting better anytime soon the administration for sure is not helping things.


There is an up side in all this negitive talk..... There is a marriage coming this summer I am very much looking forward to spending the rest of my life with the woman I love I could not ask for a better woman. We also just got back from a vacation to Georgia and then to Florida to spend some time with my mother and father. And although in Florida it was COLD! We still had a good time and it was nice to be able to relax a little bit.

And while we were in Georgia we had some pictures taken some of you have seen them but I thought I would post a link here take a look if you are so inclined. Amy's sister in-law is a professional and has her own studio.

Amy and Dan's Pictures

Mike Rowe Speaks About Our War On Work

I don't know if any of you watch discovery's Dirty Jobs or not but you really must take some time (about 20 min.) and watch this clip. It is Mike Rowe (The Guy Who does Dirty Jobs) talking about our attitudes towards work.

Am I afraid of losing my job? Answer........ Yes!

By FOXBusiness.com

Last week the Labor Department reported the nation’s unemployment rate jumped to 6.5% in October and this morning weekly jobless claims spiked to the highest level since September 2001.

With layout headlines coming fast and furious, we want to know, are you afraid of losing your job?

So this question is from a Fox News poll.

I have to say for the first time in my life that YES I AM afraid of losing my job. There have been other times in my adult working life that things have been tight. I have been through one company closing. Also one company take over that resulted in me taking a demotion (only for a short time) However both of these times in my mind I was NEVER worried about not being able to find a job if I needed to find a new one. I have only drawn unemployment one time in my life and that was when I got laid off from a company that closed its doors. Even then however I only drew benefits for about 3 weeks and in all reality had a job lined up almost as soon as I got ditched.

This time things have changed for me...... You see this time if something happens and the doors close. No one is hiring I have no prospects lined up and everyone I know in my industry is struggling to make payroll. Even some of your big "chain repair stores" Are in trouble.

My boss who has been my boss as well as a good friend for the last ten years is a very wise businessman. We (because of our close relationship) talk almost daily about where our company is and what kind of shape things are in. So that helps keep my mind at ease some what. Don't get me wrong we are in NO danger of closing at this point.

With that said we are fast approaching a 30% loss over last years sales. I predict that by the close of this year (Dec. 31st) we will be down an unheard of 40% in sales over last year.

And for the first time in my life I have no place to go if something happens. So to answer the question one more time...... YES I AM SCARED!

Yay Its Friday.

Some times I am so glad it's Friday & this happens to be one of the weeks. While the last two weeks has not been so bad here at work. It becomes more and more depressing to come into an empty shop where for most of the day you have nothing to do. I mean after all I can only do so much playing on the internet and starting political fights. :)

We had a good run starting with about Monday October the 20th then by about Wednesday of this week things started to slow down and Thursday we stood around talking and looking at each other most of the day.

We are down in sales so much that looking at figures only serves to make me cry and yes I do mean cry that's how bad it is. You know a week or two of good days here or there will not make up for a year to two years of sales losses. I have been doing this for about 15 years now and have never seen a down turn in automotive repair like I have seen with in the last year to year and a half.

We have been on a steady decline since the gas prices first spiked about two years ago.

It is very depressing and makes me very uneasy. I have never had to worry about finding myself a job but. I think if something were to happen to my employment now that I would end up being out of work for some time! I know of way to many people in this industry both friends & people I know just by name that are out of work and NO ONE is hiring!

Worried would be an understatement! all I can do is hope we can hang on.

With that said I am glad it Friday!

Everyone have a good day!