Friday, October 1, 2010

Just When You Think Things Are Going Great . . .


. . . you get slapped back to reality.  Big time.

My husband lost his job, I've been depressed and haven't felt much like blogging.  Or eating.  Or sleeping.  Or smiling. 

On second thought, belay that "not eating" statement.  It'll be a cold day in you-know-where before THAT happens.

Anyway, I'm slowly coming back to consciousness after he broke the news and already looking for ways to cut back on some pretty stupid heavy spending.

Sooooooo--no more thrifting, yard saling, antique mall cruising and ESPECIALLY, NO eBAY!  I'm sorry all of you that are still eBaying, but without me the site is in danger of going bankrupt.  I even removed the eBay app from my iPhone!  It was like going through heroin withdrawal.  I think.  I've never actually gone through heroin withdrawal but I hear it's pretty brutal.

I've reserved a 20x10 spot at the Slidell (Louisiana) Antiques & Crafts Street Fair on October 23 & 24 and will be offering incredible deals on a bunch of my stuff.  This pains me to no end but ya do what ya gotta do to get by.  I've already wrapped up five plastic bins full of my beautiful glass and pottery, bought an E-Z Pop-up tent at Sam's Club, and have enlisted my sister and two girlfriends to join me in two days of intense selling activity.  Since the booth is 20x10 and the tent is 10x10 I've got room to put out some furniture.

This will NOT include my Daystrom dinette set.  NO WAY--I will never ever ever find another one for $35!  And of course not my brand new Hey-Wake stuff since it's still sitting in the living room waiting for us to clear out the dining room (this weekend!  he promised he's really going to move his pool table out to his workshop!).

To tell you the truth, I'm just a big worrywart.  The husband is already putting out feelers and we're confident he'll be able to find something--he has years of experience in the professional diving field.  Note to our bankers: don't worry, you're in no danger of us defaulting on our loans (I doubt that our bankers even read this blog but just in case they do I wanted them to feel all warm and cozy and secure.  We went through hell to get that condo!).

It's just that, as several of you know, losing your job causes a major drop in your self-esteem, even when it's not your fault.  It's happened to nearly everyone I know over the years, including me, and you get over it and move on, many times for the better.    

And we're not blaming either BP or Obama for this.  Every time I tell someone, even perfect strangers, that my husband lost his offshore job they immediately bark, "Oh! It's that damn idiot in the White House!  We're kicking him and his commie friends out come November!"  Of course Obama's not going anywhere for another two years but hey, they're making plans.  A couple days ago I was sitting in a lab waiting room biding my time until it was my turn to have blood drawn and all of a sudden I started hearing rabid, drooling Obama hate spewing from the phlebotomist's mouth--something his patient said had turned on the spigot and he was literally shouting out stuff like, "Well, I don't hate anyone but if I did it would be that sorry asshole in the White House," and "Yeah, I hope the people who voted for him are happy with all this CHANGE," and "Can you believe he's doing things NO ONE HAS EVER DONE BEFORE?"

Look, I live in Mississippi and I was in Louisiana listening to this.  I was about to allow a raving maniac to stick a sharp needle into my arm and draw out a bunch of my blood.  I kept silent.

Well, until he slapped that little piece of gauze and a band-aid on my arm and told me it was ok to leave.  I stood up, walked over to him, and said (very sweetly), "Doug, I voted for Obama, I'm glad I did, I'd do it again, and I'm completely happy with all that hopey changey stuff."

Then I walked out into the waiting room and said to the waitees, "I'm sorry.  I just had to say something."  And you know what--one of the men gave me a thumbs up!

I realize that some of you don't agree with me politically and I really try hard not to use my blog as a political platform but there comes a time when we liberals in the Deep South have to stand up for ourselves.  There aren't many of us so we tend to keep our mouths shut even when people who are complete idiots (and even some who aren't) say things that are hateful and mean about our duly-elected-by-a-majority President.  Yeah yeah yeah, it's America and we can say whatever we want to because that's our God-given right blah blah blah blah blah.  Except that whenever I'd pipe up about Bush I'd get a steely-eye stare and hear the words, "When you criticize the President you're giving aid and comfort to the enemy."

Like the terrorists were just hanging on my every word.  Yeah.  Right.

OK, now I guess I've undoubtedly offended some of my readers and the next time I look at my Followers list it'll be smaller (it actually grew while I was away!).  I promise that I won't expound like this in the future (well, I'll try really hard not to) but I just had to get this off my chest. 

I do love each and every one of you, I missed reading your blogs, and hopefully when things get back to normal around here I'll be able to visit and say "hey!"

P.S.  Rest in peace, Bernie Schwartz.  Say hey to Janet and Marilyn when you see them.

11 comments:

  1. OH, it IS good to have the OLD, er... um... I mean 'vintage' (of course!!) Christine back!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. awww sorry to hear about this news. My dear friend of many years was laid off, and the company valued him so much, they waited until as long as they could to do it. There simply are not as many jobs for the company (it's industrial construction - mostly oil and energy related stuff).

    At his age (old) it really hit him hard. He had lost a lot in the stock market via the company because they had invested 401s in stocks, or whatever companies used to do when the market was strong.

    So he's looking to work for other places despite being with this company for a loooong time, and they are trying to find work for him, but he had to let one of his homes go. . . Walked away from it. =( He had two only because he lost the first one to a brush fire and everything he owned and collected for his whole life. So he got a second while the first one was rebuilt, but he was ripped off by a building contractor (as were many who all needed their homes rebuilt lost by the brush fire).

    So he's been through a real rough time, and the beat goes on...

    I guess I am saying all this to share your pain. Not very uplifting, is it? But sometimes knowing others have it as bad or worse helps a bit.

    Oh and say whatever you want about politics. I'm simply sick of the "us vs them" attitude so many people have. In my opinion, encouraging the deep division between parties is a strategic maneuver. Think of the power of a whole united people, here in america. We could actually picket and demand better things, and get them, if we were to unite. So the division keeps us all distracted.

    Whew, longest blog post I ever made lol...

    (((Hugs))) And courage, my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Christine I know it pains you to have to let some of your treasures go but you are right, gotta do what ya gotta do! Hang in there. Good luck with the sale. Oh and I voted for Obama. Not sure I'm completely happy with everything but this didn't start just with him. Oh politics I was making this comment about you!! Just glad to hear from you. As I kept saying when I lost my job over a year ago...It is what it is! Good Luck!
    Big Hugs,
    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aw sorry to hear your news, times are tough in the UK too. I thought the recession was on it's way out but we've just had the toughest 4 months and I know from other small retailers we're all the same. So I feel your pain!

    AND well done you, I would have voted for Obama if I'd been American!! Change is good, change was needed, I know it's painful and I'm glad he's prepared to stick his neck out and change things for the good, even if people can't see it's for the good at the moment and he's not worried if people don't like him for it, that shows a true leader. I'm not sure I could live in the Deep South ha ha!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You can expound all you want - and IF you lose any readers because of it, to heck with them!!
    I'm here to stay.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Man, so sorry to hear your hubby lost his job. My fingers, toes and other parts of my body are crossed that he will be employed again real soon.

    As for selling your stuff, look at it this way - once he's gainfully employed again, you just buy it again!

    I voted for Obama, and tho the change ain't coming quick enough, I do not regret it one bit!

    Big hugs, love and sloppy kisses to you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't comment often, but I do have to respond this...

    First, I am very sorry to hear that times are tough for you, and I hope that gets better soon. Good luck!

    Second, way to stand up for yourself! I had the same situation in the dentist's the other day... the hygienist was a conservative crack pot, but I didn't have the energy to respond.

    (Sidenote: I live in CO... a place full of wannabe cowboys and good ol' boys. Of course, there is a strong liberal presence in Denver/Boulder, but that is NOT the majority of the state. But I digress.)

    I have to the most annoying thing about the current political rift is like you were saying, all these people who badmouth Obama were the same who would be quick to chastise anyone who spoke ill of Bush... because, you know, presidents deserve respect. As long as I agree with them, that is.

    I voted for Obama and I would do it again! Yeah, it was no magic bullet but since when is war and recession something that is easy to fix?

    ReplyDelete
  8. P.S. Christine, for a while there, I was selling off a lot of my vintage treasures on eBay too. Most sold cheap. It was hard to do, but it's what I had to do, at the time. I found that when things got better, I simply got different and wonderful vintage things in place of what I had to sell. =)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm really sorry about your husband's job. That is the pits. I hope he finds something very soon. Thanks for speaking your mind. I voted for Obama and will vote for him again....and I'm proud to say so. Someone needs to inform the baggers that their backers,the Koch brothers, are not looking out for anyone's best interest except their own. Wake up people!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh no...I hope by now he has found another job that is even better.
    I didn't vote for President Obama, but he is now my president and I support him. I can't abide it when someone runs him down. He was duly elected..the people spoke. And he is the president for the free world!! You don't have to agree with him, but don't run him down!!
    I hope your sale does well.

    ReplyDelete