CAT CUTS JOBS IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS (oh, and the governor is boycotting his impeachment hearings)Well, I don't miss that Midwestern winter weather, and with the news of job cuts at Caterpillar I'm not feeling so bad about my own position here in Virginia. In addition to the hilarious escapades of Gov. Blagojevich, there's the more sobering news of CAT projections for 2009:
http://www.pjstar.com/business/x1278517331/Cat-has-record-quarter-and-year-but-forecasts-drop-in-2009
But I'm working these days. I started a postion with the floor maintenance team at my friendly, local Wal*Mart. Yes, the place where most Cascadians refuse to shop--I'm actually working for them. But I've abandoned many of my corporate prejudices in recent months, even patronizing the local Starbucks for hot coffee. In part, of course, because these places are nearly the only places to shop in town, and--when living on savings while unemployed--Wal*Mart does offer inexpensive prices on a wide range of grocery items. Also, the place reminds me a lot of Fred Meyer, and I've been enjoying the experience of working in the midst of a big grocery department, cleaning floors with a machine while stockers break open big boxes of canned & boxed food items while the folks in the produce department wheel in pallets of fresh fruit & vegetables. My wife loves mangoes, and I bring one home for her after work now & again, not for a bad price either; amazing, really, to be in the middle of Virginia in January, temperatures below freezing, with access to fresh tropical fruit. As a new acquaintence I made here recentlly said, "God bless Wal*Mart." (And since most Cascadians don't generally believe in God, I suppose they won't consider this statement entirely blasphemous.) Yes, I work for Wal*Mart, and I'm almost proud to make it public now. Really, I think a decade spent living downtown or in the Southeast side of Portland (west of 39th except for my last year when many proclaimed I had moved to Gresham while I insisted SE 139th was still, technically, in Portland)... well, considering I shopped for books at Powell's, went for coffee at the Flying Saucer & then when it changed to the Red & Black or at anyplace which served Stumptown (still my favorite roaster), I succumbed to the bohemian vibe in that part of town, spending my day after Thanksgiving not buying anything on principle, recycling everything in my apartment but the kitchen sink, eating Sunday breakfast out at the vegan diner on Belmont.... At first I felt ashamed for shopping at Wal*Mart, this when I first relocated to Illinois, but then I met a wonderful woman & we bonded over the shared feeling that we both felt something like relief to shop at Wal*Mart without shame. Now, a year later, I'm married to that woman & working at Wal*Mart. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut (I've been reading a lot of his essays lately): So it goes. But my new favorite quote: "We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different." So, the practical Cascadian in my mind tells me not to worry so much about the big picture; it's tough times, and it's important to remember I have a job. But there's still that annoying guy with the bullhorn wearing hemp shirt & trousers, yelling at me about submitting to the system....
http://www.pjstar.com/business/x1278517331/Cat-has-record-quarter-and-year-but-forecasts-drop-in-2009
But I'm working these days. I started a postion with the floor maintenance team at my friendly, local Wal*Mart. Yes, the place where most Cascadians refuse to shop--I'm actually working for them. But I've abandoned many of my corporate prejudices in recent months, even patronizing the local Starbucks for hot coffee. In part, of course, because these places are nearly the only places to shop in town, and--when living on savings while unemployed--Wal*Mart does offer inexpensive prices on a wide range of grocery items. Also, the place reminds me a lot of Fred Meyer, and I've been enjoying the experience of working in the midst of a big grocery department, cleaning floors with a machine while stockers break open big boxes of canned & boxed food items while the folks in the produce department wheel in pallets of fresh fruit & vegetables. My wife loves mangoes, and I bring one home for her after work now & again, not for a bad price either; amazing, really, to be in the middle of Virginia in January, temperatures below freezing, with access to fresh tropical fruit. As a new acquaintence I made here recentlly said, "God bless Wal*Mart." (And since most Cascadians don't generally believe in God, I suppose they won't consider this statement entirely blasphemous.) Yes, I work for Wal*Mart, and I'm almost proud to make it public now. Really, I think a decade spent living downtown or in the Southeast side of Portland (west of 39th except for my last year when many proclaimed I had moved to Gresham while I insisted SE 139th was still, technically, in Portland)... well, considering I shopped for books at Powell's, went for coffee at the Flying Saucer & then when it changed to the Red & Black or at anyplace which served Stumptown (still my favorite roaster), I succumbed to the bohemian vibe in that part of town, spending my day after Thanksgiving not buying anything on principle, recycling everything in my apartment but the kitchen sink, eating Sunday breakfast out at the vegan diner on Belmont.... At first I felt ashamed for shopping at Wal*Mart, this when I first relocated to Illinois, but then I met a wonderful woman & we bonded over the shared feeling that we both felt something like relief to shop at Wal*Mart without shame. Now, a year later, I'm married to that woman & working at Wal*Mart. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut (I've been reading a lot of his essays lately): So it goes. But my new favorite quote: "We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different." So, the practical Cascadian in my mind tells me not to worry so much about the big picture; it's tough times, and it's important to remember I have a job. But there's still that annoying guy with the bullhorn wearing hemp shirt & trousers, yelling at me about submitting to the system....
