Back to Business

Finally - I am back on line! I wasn’t sure the cable company would ever get it right. But after three trips out we have digital cable TV, digital phone, and internet. We had to get a land line for the first time in years because our cell phone reception is so intermittent where we are.

I will get back to my regular blogging habits this week.

Work is going fine. We are in the midst of holiday shopping hours so we have early openings and late closings (8 am to 11 pm some days). We have a seasonal worker that is helping to fill the hours. Our snow days slowed down business at the mall earlier this week, but I can see it picking up on a daily basis now.

I’ve been reading (of course). My manager gave me two books by Barbara Ehrenreich: “Nickel and Dimed” and “Bait and Switch.”Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in AmericaBait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream

Both of these books were and interesting study on the American job market. “Nickel and Dimed” focused on the authors attempt to live on a minimal wage in three different cities to see if it could be done. It is not too promising.

“Bait and Switch” is about the workers making $50,000 or more but are now laid off or “anxiously employed.” Where are the corporate jobs? The author went out to find one, spent thousands of dollars on coaches, workshops, and networking and thousands of hours sending out her resume, reading job boards, going to job fairs, etc. All to no avail.

I could relate to both of those books, having lived in both worlds at different times. They are a great read. I recommend them.


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