OT: Anyone else worried about being laid off?

[Mrs. Gradenko]

Sockii have you had problems with people not paying their rent? One of our rental properties (well property managers of), we can't keep someone in there (and paying) for more than six months, then they ride out the free rent until we can legally toss them out. Then the cop always tries to make us feel bad, and talk us into letting them stay. Hey we have to pay the morgage on the property, can't afford to let people live there for free, you know?

Nah I'm not worred about being layed off, if I had a good job, I would.

[animal]

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that everyone makes it out the otherside of this mess without being badly affected.

[giovanni]

Bella, I know it isn't easy to find the right job, or even to find a job nowadays, but I usually sees it this way: everything can change from one minute to the other, in negative, but in positive as well!
Always keep your mind open to new perspectives, and the image in front of you will surely be brighter; sometimes it's a 'mind' matter; keep your spirit high and you will get the right feedback.

[sockii]

[quote="Mrs. Gradenko"]Sockii have you had problems with people not paying their rent?[/quote]

One of our tenants who just "left" was basically continually 2-3 months behind on his rent, and had to get his parents to bail him out to pay off the end of his lease before he left. So I wasn't too sorry to see him leave, especially as there was was some damage to the unit which will be deducted out of his security deposit.

*sigh* I generally don't have problems with getting rent on time except with the occasional cases like this one. But this was also a kid affected by the cutbacks in student loans - he basically lost his halfway through the semester, for whatever reason. Now I'm just scrambling to get the space rented again, and probably at a lower - not higher or even equal - rent than I was getting a year ago for the unit.

[Susan]

I'm not worried about my job at the moment, but I had started thinking "what if" and have an idea of how I'd manage (I could get a roomate, drop or cut back more on some basics, go into savings, etc).

Bella, have you considered part time school? I went part time at night and worked full time during the day until I needed to take certain classes that were only offered in the daytime. Email me anytime if you want to chat about how I managed it.

I think it was Dive or TOWOS who said they thought the media was partly responsible. I agree with this. Although I don't favor keeping secrets, I think some headlines are apt to inspire panic or "depression" not only in the economic sense but also in the psyche of the people. Yesterday (or was it this morning?) the headlines were all about the companies decreed most likely to go bankrupt next. Yes, how about the companies likely to do well? We have to figure that out on our own.

And, I am really tired of Wall Street overreacting to every little bit of news about one company or another. Citi reports 2 months of profilt? BOOM...up 300 points. Now if another bank or whatever has bad news tomorrow, what happens? We go back down 400 points?

[TOWOS]

"And, I am really tired of Wall Street overreacting to every little bit of news about one company or another. Citi reports 2 months of profilt? BOOM...up 300 points. Now if another bank or whatever has bad news tomorrow, what happens? We go back down 400 points?"

Amen. I wish I understood why the entire world economy has to rely on hearsay. I had economy professors, financial planners, money-savvy people, investors explaining it to me, but I always came back to: "Yes, but... why is this RELIABLE?". It is obvious that this regales the media with a tremendous power to manipulate the stock market.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

And the good news just keeps coming:

http://tinyurl.com/d7oo2c (link goes to Boston.com)

[quote]WASHINGTON - The federal agency that insures bank deposits, which is asking for emergency powers to borrow up to $500 billion to take over failed banks, is facing a potential major shortfall in part because it collected no insurance premiums from most banks from 1996 to 2006.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures deposits up to $250,000, tried for years to get congressional authority to collect the premiums in case of a looming crisis. But Congress believed that the fund was so well-capitalized - and that bank failures were so infrequent - that there was no need to collect the premiums for a decade, according to banking officials and analysts.[/quote]

I just have no words for this.

ETA: [quote]Bella, I know it isn't easy to find the right job, or even to find a job nowadays, but I usually sees it this way: everything can change from one minute to the other, in negative, but in positive as well!
[/quote]

You know, you just gotta love Gio.

Saw a cartoon tonight about a certain government figure standing by a figure of Uncle Sam in a hospital bed, fretting over how sick he was....To a certain degree, seriously, somebody's gotta start acting like they're more sure these measures are gonna stick. Or we're gonna be - well, we're already screwed, but we're gonna be REALLY screwed.

[Susan]

Not to mention a lot of reports consist of what is said in one AP or Reuters story; I know some folks here work in media and this isn't to disparage those who work hard to stay accurate.

BUT, just look at our own little world here and how "disaster gig" got repeated and distorted and exaggerated.

[Spec A!]

Thanks for the kind words- honestly, we're really not super concerned tho- we have a rather large emergency fund, live well within our means (which took moving to TX from MD 3.5 years ago- that's why I ask Bella), and the wife still does her old job from MD on the side at home most nights. The Houston area has felt the effects of the economy, but I think is fairing far better than each coasts. Financially we're in a decent spot, worst case if we somehow both lost our jobs (which can't happen, unfortunately there's plenty of other people in our company that would sadly get laid off before us), only I would have to find another job, even taking a major paycut we could still do ok. I'm fine with doing a complete 180 on career- certainly not married to my job.

This shizz is crazy tho- it's amazing how drastically different everything is now. I blame it all on The Police tho- think of the timing! Had they kept touring, none of this would have ever happened!

[DirtyMartini]

I'm on my way to bed but wanted to send best wishes to all. Hang in there, friends.

[Madgrad]

[quote="Spec A!"]
This shizz is crazy tho- it's amazing how drastically different everything is now. I blame it all on The Police tho- think of the timing! Had they kept touring, none of this would have ever happened! [/quote]

Dude, had they kept touring, nobody would have gone to see them!

I for one am thankful that tour happened when it did, because any later and I would have been lucky to get to ONE show! Hubby is still employed at the moment, but his company filed for Chapter 11 a couple of months ago, so that could change any time. Our plan had been for me to stay home until both kids were in school, but with things so crazy, I'm actively looking for a teaching job for next fall. The big thing is not wanting to get caught without insurance!

Hang in there, everybody.

[policerule]

I've been on the copping block for the past year, but I'm really worried now. I'm in new home construction and there is nothing selling right now. We only have 7 employees working now out of the 50 we had less than 2 years ago. I'm likely to be the last to go and I'm still very worried.

I haven't hit the job market in 18 years. Assuming there actually is a market to hit when the time comes.



Things are tough all over:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6X9W3_e ... re=related


and... hahaha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeCDnCcwfwU&NR=1

[smudge]

My heart goes out to anyone who feels that they are teetering on the brink right now. I'm ok for while, and I know that my family will have a roof over their heads even if we all lose our jobs. We're bloody lucky.

I work for a small high end travel company. The frustrating thing is that even people who don't have worries about their financial position aren't spending: there's a strange, almost puritanical sense that it would be morally wrong to do so when others can't. On one level it is a decent 'fellow feeling'. On another, it means that (rather more importantly than the welfare of myself or my colleagues) people in some of the poorest places on earth are losing their livelihoods (homes, decent food, school for the kids, and basic dignity). When I think about that, I get really mad at the 'masters of the universe' that created this global cock-up.

[TOWOS]

" 'masters of the universe' that created this global cock-up".

I think the Western world has to realize that capitalism is as over as communism was exactly 20 years ago. To leave entire populations in the hands of stock brokers, glorified loan sharks, and a rotten banking/credit system is just so sick.

Just finished reading an article on the New Yorker about credit card companies, and how they do not want people who pay in full, obviously. Only a year ago you received an offer for a new credit card in the mail every 2 days for having good or outstanding credit history. Not anymore...

[luddite lady]

My heart goes out to you all in these tough times. I'm lucky that my job is very secure. As long as people keep making kids, I'm pretty much set. However, I do worry about how well prepared my students will be to live and work in the world they will inherit. Many of them have everything handed to them by their parents and aren't held accountable for their actions and choices. When things get really rough, I don't know how the parents or the kids will cope.

Bella et al., these times call for creative, original thinkers capable of reinventing themselves and the way things work in the world. From what I know of you and most of the folks that hang out here, I'm confident that you all will weather this messed up storm better than most others out there.