LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

They laid off 12 at the C-P today, so I’m a bit blue.

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I caught wind of the rumors last week, so that’s why I haven’t been very bloggy. I’m blue because I thought this was all behind us.

And yeah yeah, I’m thrilled to still be employed. Or am I? I can’t take much more of the uncertainty and dodging bullets. I have to DO something about this hot mess.

Or, take it this way – at the end of the day our HR dept sent out “helpful” pdfs about supporting your laid off coworkers and coping with your own survivor’s guilt.

I read the guilt one because I struggle with that a lot. The anecdotal woman in the article survived round after round of layoffs. I shit you not…this is how the article SENT TO US BY HR ends…

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Every day for months, real estate agent Beckstrom wondered when the end would come — and crossed her fingers that it wouldn’t.

Just before Thanksgiving, it did. Bank officials foreclosed on the ailing housing project and Beckstrom and a few final employees lost their jobs.

“People from our home office came and packed up all our stuff,” she said. “It was very, very emotional.”

Now she’s working with headhunters, trying to figure out how to keep her home — and to explain to herself why she stayed so long. (emphasis mine)

“With all your heart, you just cling to that hope that something will happen,” Beckstrom said. “I was really clinging to that hope.”

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Okeydoke. Message heard. Yeesh.

Photographer: sloopjohnb via stock.xchng

Ew.

I turned where I always turn for girly advice (the internet) and apparently I’m supposed to use a base coat under dark colors. Good thing Fairy Teal has a base built in. Which didn’t work. Well, now I know. In the meantime I’m leaving them polish free and trying to hide my Statue of Liberty fingernails.

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The dogs don’t eat unless I’m home. Even on the days that WM isn’t subbing and is home with them all day, they only eat when I’m there. I guess it’s a pack thing – that they’re not comfortable unless all of us are together. In any case, the “Mom’s home, let’s eat!” mentality is a bit disturbing. Charlie, on the other hand, eats constantly.

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Here’s a newish pet peeve of mine: When somebody wants you to do something for them (or more likely instead of them) so they stand in front of what needs to be done and announce it. Now this is acceptable if the human is a child…

Young child: “Oh! Oh! The phone is ringing!”

But what I mean is…

Grown-ass adult: “Oh! Oh! The printer is beeping! It says it needs paper!”

Hey! It’s Friday and time for the Friiiiday Five! This week’s subject is Bloom’s Taxonomy. Did I learn that once upon a time? Sounds familiar…

According to Wikipedia, Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of learning objectives within education. Ah…a teaching term. I’m the daughter of a teacher and the girlfriend of a teacher so it makes sense that the term is buried in my brain. Oh hey, here’s a list of verbs. Wonder what this has to do with these questions though…

1. What did you do this week? (knowledge)

This week I worked hard, mostly scheduling ads and trying to make sense of how our classifieds are displayed online (very poorly, imo). I attended an exercise class. I ate like absolute crap.

2. Why did things turn out the way they did this week? (comprehension)

I ate like crap because I worked hard and I quit biting my nails (again again again). Working hard stresses me out. Apparently I need to chew on things so if I can’t chew on my nails, I’m chewing on crackers and chips. Our classifieds are displayed poorly because I neglected the system for so long (it’s never been a priority) that categories have been added and deleted and the site hasn’t kept up. And it’s really dark.

3. How will this week’s events affect next week’s, both positively and negatively? (application)

Negatively: The scale, baby. Since the wedding I’ve been eating all the delights I missed out on this summer.
Postively: It might not be next week, but I’d love to see a better-designed classifieds section before year’s end. Like most of my projects, I can only work on this 10-20 minutes at a time.

4. What were this week’s pivotal moments where things might have happened differently and changed everything? (analysis? synthesis? Buh???)

Yesterday I decided to let a delivery truck have the right of way in our parking lot. He had the stop sign but chose to ignore it until he was halfway through the intersection. Since “Delivery Truck vs. Saturn” would end poorly for me, I decided to be smart and stop. That could have changed the week. Plus, I keep forgetting to buy the winning lottery ticket that’ll let me give a 2 week notice at work.

5. How was your week? (evaluation)

I’d say I completed the workweek with about an 90% proficiency. Then again, I’m writing this at 7:30am. We’ll what today brings.

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Moment of cattiness: The Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News have been re-re-auctioned to their creditors. There are 3 people there whom I’d love to see pouring me a latte at Starbucks if they get laid off. Wait, scratch that…that’s mean. I wouldn’t wish their incompetence on the good people of Starbucks.

Moment of clarity: People who didn’t vote for President Obama (hi!) aren’t all Tea Party members. We clear? Sheesh. I think you’re a hoot, Vice President Biden but you’re wrong. (Click that link for the best Biden “I’m sowwwwy” face ever.)