Unemployment

As most of you know, I have been unemployed for a little over a year.  Manipulation has been the key to survival for hubby and I for the past year.  I am constantly teased as a tight wad - I prefer to think I am most frugal.  It matters not as in the long run the unemployment has been uncomfortable without being unbearable.  I am cooking more and eating out less, which doesn't mean we are eating less at all.  ...and this smoking thing, I am down to half a pack a day \, but it is sure a struggle.  (My goal for next week is 5 cigs a day - that should really save some money, but hubby is going to have a heck of a time paying my therapy bill.)

It has become somewhat of a game with us to see where we are spending and not getting a return.  It is surprising the add-ons we will pay for and never use.  By cancelling unused subscriptions and services, I have manged to cut our monthly spending by close to $500 a month without giving up one thing that was being used.  When you have the extra to spend, it doesn't seem worth the effort to cancel or change your service package, but when your income is eliminated, it is a huge difference.  So, when I wrote the article (letter) to DirecTV, I was just venting against their interference in my savings game.  It still irritates me as I now view them as an adversary rather than a service provider.

I made one of my periodic trips to the unemployment office yesterday.  The lines are much longer than one year ago and the desparation in the faces of the clients was really a sad thing to see.  For every one person served, three more walked in the door, the line never ending.  The employment situation is getting worse for our area.  From the conversation around me most of the customers had been layed off from skilled jobs.  Hopefully some phase of manufacturing will see Griffin as a "Great and Growing" city. 

I would like to interject a huge "Thank You" to the staff of the Griffin Career Center.  These people were fantastic in their handling of the people requesting assistance.  Pleasant, efficient, precise in their directions, they waited on customer after customer without the first break in their demeanor.  Even the rudest and most demanding of customers received the same greeting and service as the most well mannered customer.  Even though the 20 minute task took almost two hours, it was through no fault of the personnel at the center.  There were around 30 people in line on my entering the Center and there were probably 40 when I left.  The system for handling the claims was the most efficient I have seen. 

Meanwhile, I will keep reading and writing and somewhere, someone will pick up my manuscript and say "This is just what I was looking for!" and I will get a call.  Until then,

Happy reading!

Belle