Thursday, January 22, 2009

lucky 13

I have been foolish, ignoring my instincts about my husband's employer (rhymes with "Pewlett-Hackard"). During the past year, their ignorant hack in charge most heinous capitalist pig so-called leader has been grossly dishonoring the memory of the company's founders by focusing solely on making as many pennies as they can instead of continuing to promote creativity & innovation in technology. Focusing solely on those pennies (to the tune of a $24 million bonus last year) has led He Who Shall Not Be Named to shut down most of the facility in our town, which means ending my husband's 13 year engineering job.

I do not mean to imply I begrudge corporate leaders their salaries, or bonuses or jets or any other perks they earn by running a lucrative business. What I find dismaying is those who are given such salaries et cetera at the expense of their workers' & companies' integrity. Which is why I refuse to shop at a certain soul-sucking store, but I digress.

I know many people have faced and will face far more dire consequences than we will; I pray more for Stu's coworkers and all the other families across our country losing jobs than I do for our family at this point.

Essentially, what I mean to say is - I should have been reigning in my spending and living more frugally & thoughtfully long before now, but here we are and here are my best ideas for us so far:
  1. Date night = Wine at the neighbors' (their wine, of course)
  2. Compensate teenage babysitters by editing & typing their research papers
  3. Continue skipping breakfast & lunch
  4. Alternative date night = Reading Willamette Week personal ads to each other
  5. Download all CDs to iTunes then sell discs to Music Millenium for cash
  6. Use CD cash for special date night at Chipotle
  7. Give the gift of my love & friendship for everyone's birthday [I'll throw in a handmade card]
  8. Fine students $1 for every "F*ck," "F*ckin'," or "F*cker" uttered in my general atmosphere
  9. Memorize free admission days to art museum, history museum, science museum, and zoo (and arrive at dawn to get in line)
  10. Total potluck/BYOB for this year's Oscar party; my love & friendship [plus handmade card] for swag
  11. Moratorium on children growing to next clothing/shoe sizes
  12. Raise our own cow for brie production
  13. Rally for Double Coupon Day at Whole Foods

Live, from my blog (and many others), it's Thursday Thirteen