For Whom The Bell Tolls

“Friday at 3:10 PM in our carpenters shop our Operations Department Director will be updating us on " proposed budget reductions that will directly affect the maintenance department and staff". I have heard the axe being sharpened for a while. The cuts go into effect July 1 2002, nothin' like gettin started early. At least this time those being "reduced and affected" will find out about in person. Last time they found out while watching a school board meeting...

tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock ”

“That sucks we are down to a 5 man crew....:(”

“yikes.”

“In my district we need to "restructure" to the tune of $5 million dollars. Thats a LOT of " restructuring".”

“Times are tough everwhere.Ya know what I mean?”

“No doubt! You can imagine how high morale is this week.”

“I know I have to think things are going to get worse before they get better.....:(”

“I thought this was gonna be a Metallica thread.”

“Being forced is not always bad. Sometimes you move on to better things, something that would not have happened without the nudge.

A friend of mine moved up fairly rapidly to the number 2 spot in a company. Then one day his boss surprised him by suggesting that he look for another job. He explained, I'm the owner and the boss, and I'm going to remain so for a long time. You have nohere higher to go in this company. So he looked, found and departed to new and greater adventures. (a true story)”

“Good points slimmer.

I prolly wont be affected. My only concern is that this can potentially muck up my apprenticeship which is 1/2 complete in 8 weeks. My time (4000hrs) cannot be transferred to another employeer which would mean starting over or accepting a job in our custodial dept (which I would do) and continuing my schoolin and move from there. I have been told not to worry but my employers dont instil much confidence in me.”

“Our state legislature has been called into special session to deal with a more than billion dollar deficit rearing its head in Wisconsin. The Republican plan is to freeze everything, budget levels, levies (both mill rate and assessment amounts) for all units of government, state, county, local, tech college districts (that's me), school district, UW system. Unfortunately, tough economic times means our enrollments are starting to soar, which means we need more staff and facilities, not the same or less. We are starting contingency planning for worst case scenario.”

“I don't whats going to happen but the goverment better do something.”

“The government needs to stay out the way and let free enterprise take care of it self...Crazy Mike sounds like you need a mommy to take care of you...”

“Hey birch-
Is it a union shop?I am not familiar with your story or where are you from-”

“Joshman, I work in a union shop. I havent been a big fan of my union in the past, lots of really unethical sh!t but I do enjoy a bit of seniority (7yrs). The problem is that my boss will decide which sub-department the cuts will come from and I am low man in mine. I wont be unemployed and my wage wont change.It would however be a major blow to my personal life as I would go on an afternnon shift with Sass and this would necessitate baby-sitting.

If I am "cut" the plus side would be getting away from the yahoo whom I must work with. I just hate seeing this stuff happen......

"its a recession when your neighbor gets layed off and a depression when its you"”

“I'm depressed!”

“I hate that for you,we have never had union carpenters here in
middle Tennessee-I can assure you that your skils are far greater than most of what are termed sub-contractors here.7 years experience would land you project manager status on most jobs.
Keep your head up.I have respect for the true guilds.
Can you pick up side work?”

“Actually Joshman I am an electrician. I do a bit of side work but not too much it cuts into my full time job...husband and dad.”

“Well, my school board approved a buyout package for teachers nearing retirement last night. That's good news for the young guys - like me.

I found out today that our superintendent makes $200,000 per year. That is amazing. He's on his way out. I think I know where we can do some cutting.”

“10/4 birch-
It holds true for electricians here too-but not to the degree of carpenters-I was confused by the carpenter shop.The electrical union is probably the strongest behind Teamsters here. The UAW has been defeated every time it has come up at the local Nissan plant.
I'm with you 100% o the dad & hubby issue-They are the most important.”

“Oh, I'm also updating my resume and refreshing my contacts. It's always best to prepare for the worst.

It's stiff upper lip time. Go down fighting!”

“Careful Birch...I believe the reference is...

"Do not ask for whom the bell tolls..."

Wish you the best. I got downsized in '93, and have been much better off because of it. (And I had three children and two on the way, at the time.)”

“Actually 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' is an appropriate term for sharing thoughts on difficult times. Before it was a Hemingway book title it was part of a John Donne sermon, as you know. It goes (this is from memory and not word for word): 'No man is an island. If a clod of earth falls from England, Europe is the lesser.' and ends: 'Do not ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.' Hemingway used it for his story of the Spanish civil war because many believed (and were proven right) that it (the war) was a rehersal for the inevitable struggle against Europe's fascist dictatorships. Keep a stiff upper lip and good luck.”

“Thanks Gremlin. I did know it was John Donne before it was Hemingway's novel, but I didn't realize it was a sermon, I thought it was just a poem.

I was just being facetious in my post...since "it tolls for thee" is the conclusion, and none of us wants the bells to toll for Birch at his job.”

“We just found out what's going down in my district. We will be basically be moving some students from one building to another. It's a long story, but the good news is that with what we are doing, we will be able to offer Spanish at our elementary schools, offer advanced classes at our middle schools and the best part, not cut any jobs. birch/Reformed - If you are interested in what happened, remind me the next time we are together and I'll explain.”

“Who said,

""I go, and it is done; the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell."”

“I thought the sale of lottery tickets was supposed to end all the education budget shortfalls.


(TIC)”

“Macbeth.”

“(I don't know Shakespeare. I did a search.)”

“Hey Fritz, thats cheating! Ok to research it, but then to post the answer does spoil the fun, doesn't it???”

“You're right. The guilt was too much for me. I had to confess.”

“Lottery sales were supposed to suppliment education spending here in Florida too.

In reality they slashed the education budget and used lottery funds to replace what was removed.”

“Sheesh, and I was going to say Macbeth from memory. Just how ashamed are you?”

“leSubtil - Yea, that's what we all thought. I haven't met one person in the 9 years I've been in education that could tell me what the deal is with that. One big a$$ snow job as far as I can tell......”

“Birch--

Sorry to hear it. As a banker in the northeast I went through several downsizing efforts and many bank consolidations. I lived through them all but finally got out of the large banking environment. With every merger the game became more and more about the corporate agenda and less and less about the clients and the job.

Wondering for whom the bell will toll, even if it is not thee, is still stressfull. Living in(working in) the aftermath is stressfull too. Good luck.



PS: Flyguy, I was gonna guess MacBeth soley on the basis of "Duncan". I couldn't have actually told you from where in the play it came or what was going on.

Quick. Without a GOOGLE search. What were the THREE signs from MAcBeth.???”

“I don't remember much except "Duncan" and "Out damn spot". Weren't there three witches?”

“I think I have Hamlet and Macbeth hopelessly mixed up in my memory.”

“The plot thickens... my boss who cannot handle stress and goes home when sh!t gets messy left at 9 am today.

Thanks for the kind words all. It means a lot for real.”

“Birch --

SOrry to co-opt your thread and talk about MacBeth .... sincerely.

Uhm . . .wasn't Duncan told by the witches that he couldn't die unless three things happened??? ANd that caused him to act all kooky because he thought the three would never come to pass???
This is challenging my memory from senior high school some 18 years ago.

Don't read on if you want to guess on your own. I know two:











1) that the woods of "burnham" must "move" (his enemies soliders cut branches and used them as camoflague);

2) that he would die at the hand of a man "not of woman born" (he believed that could never happen, but was killed by someone who was born by ceasearian section),


and . . ..WHAT WAS THE THIRD PREDICTION???







DOn't read on u”

“If our college budget gets frozen, as the Republicans in Madison are threatening, we will have to find $700,000 to cut so "contractual obligations" can be met.

The wrangling in the state capitol will soon resemble the action in MacBeth's castle. The witches are stirring the pot and looking for omens. Backstabbing and blood-letting are surely not too far behind.”

“WOW!

We had our meeting. It was pointless. Our boss didnt want to give specifics so we will wait till March, unfortunately no news isnt necesarily good news.”

“I hope that everything turns out. Waiting....... is .....the ...hardest..part.....”

“The third was that Duncan (actually it was Malcom in real life) that would supply a line of kings greater than MacBeth. Apparently, when Shakespeare (he spelled it without the final 'e') staged the play shortly after the ascension of James VI to the English throne, he had a look-a-like of the king as the last of the series of kings that was revealed to MacBeth after the banquet.”

“Birch, is it safe to assume you still have your job?”

“He's safe for the moment! But it's not looking good for a lot of others.”

“Smiley, I dodged the bullet this time. Thanks for asking.”

“Glad to hear that. I'll keep my fingers crossed!”

“Good luck!

I got "downsized" from General Motors in 1982. In my case I think it worked out to my benefit. I had three small children when it happened.

In Calfornia we are blessed with "Gray-out" Davis as governor. We went from a $8 surplus to a $10 deficit in one year. They are talking budget cuts but they want our university system to take more students. It remains to be seen what is going to happen.”

“birch....

i hope it works out ok for you....i know how much it means for you to complete that apprenticeship....

uaw is recruiting big time here at honda right now.... they have rented a big warehouse just up the road and are at all the plant entrances and exits handing out union materials....

i am not anti-union necessarily, but we have had record sales and profits month after month while the big3 are laying off and whining....why mess up a good thing??”