signs of the times

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Though not really. He was more or less given a few days to come up with the final $200 of his rent, and he couldn’t do it.

He’s been here six years.

O. has been here for 6 years. This is the last of his stuff, he's gone now.

Just bought one of these babies for doing the laundry. You can re-use the wash water for maybe three loads and THEN drain it into your garden. Hot dog.

Also got a start on the hydroponics. Not AQUAPONICS quite yet but working toward that. Yard sale netted a nice little setup adequate for eight tomato plants [that's a lot of tomatoes; I might decide to diversify a bit on that] for $25 WITH the timer. Wahoo.

A town known for both its indigent population as well as preppy faction.

PS, people, I fixed the image upload problem, now it will work.

the large hospital my mother works for is facing severe budget restrictions. many patients have lost insurance coverage, often they utilize the emergency room for care, or sit in the hospital after their insurance has denied payment. this hospital will not turn anyone away for lack of funds or insurance.

recently, the top tier management took an 8% paycut. the next tier took a 4% paycut. open positions have been eliminated. today, my mother told me that 70 more people have been laid off, and more open positions have been cut.

anyone who does not work in direct contact with patients is at risk of losing their job. although the hospital’s goal is to lessen their deficit without impacting patient care, one has to wonder.

Matt called today and tells me that a friend of his had mentioned that she’s noticed that everywhere she goes shopping there are signs saying “NOT TAKING APPLICATIONS.”  

She’s going to start taking pictures of those signs.

I’ve become the traveling grandmother, spending winters on the East coast with my daughter, where my “rent” helps her with heating bills, child care, etc. and summers in Arizona with my son, which helps him with cooling bills and child care. Meanwhile, sharing food and shelter costs helps us all, and I get to play a more active role in my grandchildren’s lives. Luckily, my job is conducted over the net, so I can work wherever. I’ll be leaving New Jersey for Arizona soon, at the end of March. My son and I have some ambitious plans for setting up an aquaponics system in his back yard and getting a few chickens for eggs.

My intention, anyway. This spring I’ll be planting a bunch of veggies and hoping for them to grow. I’ll be in the desert, so that means growing in pots, but it can be e. Making my seed and supplies list now.