Archive for the ‘hard times’ Category

unemployment

August 5, 2011

My husband is unemployed. Though he got employee of the month twice in the past 6 mos., he was laid off. He was a remote recruiter for a medical management program at a university in Missouri. New management decided to do away with all remote employees. And that, as they say, was that.

We live in SC. Filing for unemployment here in SC, where he worked from home and paid South Carolina state taxes, they say the university never paid any money into SC unemployment. This is not surprising, since they only had one employee who worked from home in South Carolina: my husband. However, it is not our fault, and we should not have to suffer, due to their negligence or ignorance or ineptitude in handling THEIR financial affairs. Of course, that is not how things work. We are suffering, because neither South Carolina nor Missouri will take the responsible step, and give us an unemployment check.

We do not have the ability to wait it out while they fight over who pays the unemployment check to ONE employee who happened to work from home in one state for a university in another. This is the technological age, the 21st century. He is not the ONE SOLITARY EMPLOYEE who worked remotely from home this past 2 years. But we are dealing with the government and bureaucracy of the state of South Carolina.

At this point, he has been without work for 6 weeks, and there is no unemployment check in sight, while they do an “investigation” of his employment at said university. We are letting our bills accumulate to being 2 months due, and then things will begin getting shut off. Thank you, great country and state, for looking out for the working guy, for putting people first, for caring.

I am saying my prayers and begging God for money. Yup, no qualms here. All I want to do is pay my bills. I figure God knows that. There is one job prospect in the near future and if it works out, we may expect a paycheck in, oh, let’s say a month. But that is only a hope at this point. So what we have right now, is a hope & a prayer.

summer projects

June 16, 2011

Well, I just started writing this entry and my computer decided to update itself and shut itself down. NIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE.

I have these left for summer projects, each one being something that could take the entire summer:

1. Finish research and write a journal article, sending it in for publication. 🙂 

2. Prepare for Fall semester. I always look forward to Fall because these are classes I love and this will be the 4th time I have taught the main two. Social problems I teach every semester so I am prepared for that already, though there are a few changes I will make to improve it this time. Social Theory– my FAVORITE, and students are usually all sociology majors who need to write a 10-page paper. Stratification we have fun with.

3. Think thru Criminology and Criminal Justice, one I taught last semester and One I will teach next Spring. For all my classes, I plan to get them down to the day in planning, with lecture, film, guest speakers, assignments, tests and class activities.

4. Put together my booklet of 15 Children’s class lessons on Virtues. Organize my children’s class materials, which are vast and totally disheveled right now in various containers and boxes. 15 lessons = 1 weekly lesson for a semester. They are virtues lessons with a base of spirituality adaptable to children of any faith background, incuding my own, the Baha’i Faith, which has a universal viewpoint.

5. Do more work on the mystery man, James Agnew, my great grandfather, more work on Family history, including some more on the Black’s, my husband’s family. Maybe copy pictures I have for siblings.

6. Find a few more gravesites for those looking for their family history gravesites, from findagrave.com.

Family vacation 1 week in July.

Meanwhile, my husband just lost his job. He earned employee of the month 3X in the past 6 mos., but he is laid off. Some new man in charge decided to make a name for himself by getting rid of all remote recruiters, even tho’ my husband has been doing this remotely for the past year. THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANKS!! Thanks a bunch. If we have to live on my salary, we are screwed. I really don’t want to move again. I could get a better paying job in my field, but for now, we’re cutting expenses as much as possible and seeing how it goes. He is 59 and unemployed.

Besides that, I am having some other serious problems I won’t mention here. All I know is, wihtout prayer and trust in God, I’d be a goner. WITH those things, we are always winners. There is nothing that can harm me if I have my Lord’s love and guidance. This is all I can count on right now.

Our house is once again childless, quiet and empty. We miss our grandkids who were here, but at the same time, we are older and they do wear me out. Glad to have time once again for reflection, prayer to myself, quiet walks out in the nature of South Carolina. I have restarted my 3-mile daily walks. But I have not yet been able to go to the pool without them. The kids in the pool will make me sad my grandkids are not there as well, saying, “Grandma! Watch this!”

Agnew connections

April 9, 2011

Recently a relative from my dad’s side contacted me out of the blue. It is a new link to another side of the Agnew family I am extremely happy about. Brother to my grandpa Agnew was her great grandpa. When God closes a door, He always opens a window. Count on it.

Other than that, life threw me a curveball last week I am still getting over. Learn to always do your best, Know that it’s not good enough for some people and that is their problem. I know my best is good enough for God, and that’s good enough for me. The rest is piddle.