What's that obnoxious cliche that everyone uses when reality is no longer what they remember, "the times, they are a-changin" ? Indeed. The economy is continuing to go from bad to worse to unbearable, even though our new president has already taken steps to fix us. What had me mildly concerned as of last post has me in a state of near-panic at this time. Things at work have not improved; just the opposite has happened. Mere days after my last post it was announced that the company would be implementing Stage Two of the contingency plan. Our 401Ks were no longer going to be matched by the company, salaried employees saw pay cuts of varying percentages and all hourly employees had their workweek slashed from five eight-hour days to four of them. Do that math, it comes to only 32 hours a week and an instant 20% pay-cut, if you want to look at it monetarily. I did the only thing I could do to soften the blow and I went back to working the night shift so I can receive the extra pay. So all those things that would only happen if things got "really bad" were implemented in a matter of days from the very first announcement of the pay freeze. That was about three weeks ago. On Monday the big-wigs announced that, basically, all of us taking it in the ass wasn't enough to keep the company afloat so, for the first time in the history of the company, it has come to pass that there will be LAYOFFS. Enter mass hysteria.

Everyone is worried that they're about to lose their jobs, and some of them should be worried. A lot of dead weight has accumulated in each shop over the past two years. In my shop five people have been fired in the past year and there are still plenty of people who shouldn't be there. The decision will be passed down on March 9. So in the remaining 2+ weeks, we will all be looking at each other, assessing, comparing ourselves to every person in the shop wondering, "would management keep me or him?"  What a wonderful place it will be.

In other news, the cake I mentioned before turned out fantastically. It was a huge hit. I am inspired anew to continue following my crazy idea that I could actually make money playing with my food. 

So back to Change. It s the big theme of the new administration, so it's only fitting that something major occur in my own life that will change everything forever. Shaun and I are engaged. Officially, there's a ring and everything. No date set as of now, I'm smart enough to realize that not only will I have to shoulder the majority of the burden of paying for it, but also that weddings, no matter how DIY they are, cost a shit-load of money. So everyone get excite, it's going to be quite the party.

Also, I hate my upstairs neighbors. They have NOT changed. I wish they'd change their address. Maybe to someplace in Russia.