Detroit News: Blue-collar workers hanging on by a thread
The Charlie’s Travels series for the Detroit News has this very sad look at the metro Detroit job environment today: Blue-collar workers hanging on by a thread.
A snippet:
Schaefer Screw is in an industrial section of Garden City north of Ford Road, about two miles west of Detroit.
My brother Bill Parker and his wife Kim work there. Bill, 35, made $70,000 shuffling subprime mortgages for Rock Financial in 2006. He used to wear suits and now he wears oily jeans making $8.50 an hour counting and cleaning screws. For Christmas, he got a $43.80 bonus and evicted from the house he wrote the mortgage on.
“Dude, I was making more than that in high school,” he said. Then he recited the new battle cry of a generation: “I’m just glad to be working.”
Continue reading Detroit News: Blue-collar workers hanging on by a thread …
From Monroe on a Budget.
Today Is the Day
Today is the day to tell your wife that you love her.
Today is the day to call your mother and chat with her for an hour.
Today is the day to send your dad a note.
Today is the day to get in touch with that friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
Today is the day to call up a special person and set up a date.
Today is the day to stop by your grandmother’s house with a sack full of groceries and make dinner for her.
Today is the day to visit that old family friend who helped you so much when you were younger.
Not Valentine’s Day. Not Mother’s Day. Not Father’s Day. Not someone’s birthday. Not Christmas.
The value a person has in your life is never really shown on a “special” day marked on a calendar and observed with a greeting card and a slickly-wrapped present. It’s shown with a few minutes (or an hour or two) of your time on a day when they don’t expect it. On a day when they’re merely in your thoughts.
Build those relationships now before the chance is gone.
Build those relationships now and they’ll pay dividends for the rest of your life.
Build those relationships now so that you can have someone to always share every exciting moment and success in your life with.
Build those relationships now when times are good so they’ll still be there when the times are bad.
I’m stopping right now so you can take the few moments you might have spent reading a longer post to instead do something to build a valuable relationship in your life, because it will often be those very relationships that are there for you when the chips are down.
Continue reading Today Is the Day …
From The Simple Dollar.
Today Is the Day
Today is the day to tell your wife that you love her.
Today is the day to call your mother and chat with her for an hour.
Today is the day to send your dad a note.
Today is the day to get in touch with that friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
Today is the day to call up a special person and set up a date.
Today is the day to stop by your grandmother’s house with a sack full of groceries and make dinner for her.
Today is the day to visit that old family friend who helped you so much when you were younger.
Not Valentine’s Day. Not Mother’s Day. Not Father’s Day. Not someone’s birthday. Not Christmas.
The value a person has in your life is never really shown on a “special” day marked on a calendar and observed with a greeting card and a slickly-wrapped present. It’s shown with a few minutes (or an hour or two) of your time on a day when they don’t expect it. On a day when they’re merely in your thoughts.
Build those relationships now before the chance is gone.
Build those relationships now and they’ll pay dividends for the rest of your life.
Build those relationships now so that you can have someone to always share every exciting moment and success in your life with.
Build those relationships now when times are good so they’ll still be there when the times are bad.
I’m stopping right now so you can take the few moments you might have spent reading a longer post to instead do something to build a valuable relationship in your life, because it will often be those very relationships that are there for you when the chips are down.
Continue reading Today Is the Day …
From The Simple Dollar.
Today Is the Day
Today is the day to tell your wife that you love her.
Today is the day to call your mother and chat with her for an hour.
Today is the day to send your dad a note.
Today is the day to get in touch with that friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
Today is the day to call up a special person and set up a date.
Today is the day to stop by your grandmother’s house with a sack full of groceries and make dinner for her.
Today is the day to visit that old family friend who helped you so much when you were younger.
Not Valentine’s Day. Not Mother’s Day. Not Father’s Day. Not someone’s birthday. Not Christmas.
The value a person has in your life is never really shown on a “special” day marked on a calendar and observed with a greeting card and a slickly-wrapped present. It’s shown with a few minutes (or an hour or two) of your time on a day when they don’t expect it. On a day when they’re merely in your thoughts.
Build those relationships now before the chance is gone.
Build those relationships now and they’ll pay dividends for the rest of your life.
Build those relationships now so that you can have someone to always share every exciting moment and success in your life with.
Build those relationships now when times are good so they’ll still be there when the times are bad.
I’m stopping right now so you can take the few moments you might have spent reading a longer post to instead do something to build a valuable relationship in your life, because it will often be those very relationships that are there for you when the chips are down.
Continue reading Today Is the Day …
From The Simple Dollar.
Today Is the Day
Today is the day to tell your wife that you love her.
Today is the day to call your mother and chat with her for an hour.
Today is the day to send your dad a note.
Today is the day to get in touch with that friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
Today is the day to call up a special person and set up a date.
Today is the day to stop by your grandmother’s house with a sack full of groceries and make dinner for her.
Today is the day to visit that old family friend who helped you so much when you were younger.
Not Valentine’s Day. Not Mother’s Day. Not Father’s Day. Not someone’s birthday. Not Christmas.
The value a person has in your life is never really shown on a “special” day marked on a calendar and observed with a greeting card and a slickly-wrapped present. It’s shown with a few minutes (or an hour or two) of your time on a day when they don’t expect it. On a day when they’re merely in your thoughts.
Build those relationships now before the chance is gone.
Build those relationships now and they’ll pay dividends for the rest of your life.
Build those relationships now so that you can have someone to always share every exciting moment and success in your life with.
Build those relationships now when times are good so they’ll still be there when the times are bad.
I’m stopping right now so you can take the few moments you might have spent reading a longer post to instead do something to build a valuable relationship in your life, because it will often be those very relationships that are there for you when the chips are down.
Continue reading Today Is the Day …
From The Simple Dollar.
Today Is the Day
Today is the day to tell your wife that you love her.
Today is the day to call your mother and chat with her for an hour.
Today is the day to send your dad a note.
Today is the day to get in touch with that friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
Today is the day to call up a special person and set up a date.
Today is the day to stop by your grandmother’s house with a sack full of groceries and make dinner for her.
Today is the day to visit that old family friend who helped you so much when you were younger.
Not Valentine’s Day. Not Mother’s Day. Not Father’s Day. Not someone’s birthday. Not Christmas.
The value a person has in your life is never really shown on a “special” day marked on a calendar and observed with a greeting card and a slickly-wrapped present. It’s shown with a few minutes (or an hour or two) of your time on a day when they don’t expect it. On a day when they’re merely in your thoughts.
Build those relationships now before the chance is gone.
Build those relationships now and they’ll pay dividends for the rest of your life.
Build those relationships now so that you can have someone to always share every exciting moment and success in your life with.
Build those relationships now when times are good so they’ll still be there when the times are bad.
I’m stopping right now so you can take the few moments you might have spent reading a longer post to instead do something to build a valuable relationship in your life, because it will often be those very relationships that are there for you when the chips are down.
Continue reading Today Is the Day …
From The Simple Dollar.
Today Is the Day
Today is the day to tell your wife that you love her.
Today is the day to call your mother and chat with her for an hour.
Today is the day to send your dad a note.
Today is the day to get in touch with that friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
Today is the day to call up a special person and set up a date.
Today is the day to stop by your grandmother’s house with a sack full of groceries and make dinner for her.
Today is the day to visit that old family friend who helped you so much when you were younger.
Not Valentine’s Day. Not Mother’s Day. Not Father’s Day. Not someone’s birthday. Not Christmas.
The value a person has in your life is never really shown on a “special” day marked on a calendar and observed with a greeting card and a slickly-wrapped present. It’s shown with a few minutes (or an hour or two) of your time on a day when they don’t expect it. On a day when they’re merely in your thoughts.
Build those relationships now before the chance is gone.
Build those relationships now and they’ll pay dividends for the rest of your life.
Build those relationships now so that you can have someone to always share every exciting moment and success in your life with.
Build those relationships now when times are good so they’ll still be there when the times are bad.
I’m stopping right now so you can take the few moments you might have spent reading a longer post to instead do something to build a valuable relationship in your life, because it will often be those very relationships that are there for you when the chips are down.
Continue reading Today Is the Day …
From The Simple Dollar.
Daniel Update and Christmas Reflections
Daniel Update
Daniel is fully back to himself. Every once in a while I hear a slight mid-word pause, but otherwise, everything has bounced right back to normal for him. Praise be to God.
Dan and I are still a little shaken up. Daniel doesn’t remember much of what happened to him, except watching a lot of Thomas the Tank Engine movies. We’ll never be able to forget, though. I have always enjoyed my children, but this has taught me to truly savour them. I am thankful for that lesson.
Christmas Reflections
I’ve been wanting to share some of my reflections on Christmas for a while.
Gift Quantity
Last year for their birthday, we got the boys a bunch of little gifts and individually wrapped them. At Christmas each boy opened only two presents. We saw much more appreciation for the two presents than for the bunch of presents. We’re going to stick to opening two presents from now on, or maybe three, but no more. We’ve seen a direct correlation between the number of presents that are opened and how much the kids enjoy and appreciate the gifts.
Adult Gift Budget
This wasn’t the first year I wasn’t able to spend all of my Christmas budget for myself. I’m going to work on picking stuff up throughout the year this year so Dan has more to give me at Christmas. We are also allotting 10% of the budget to a surprise gift, which is something we used to do but got away from.
Homemade
I’ve encountered a problem with homemade gifts. I’ve been bit by the homemade bug but my husband has not at all. We’re doing an experimental pseudo-homemade Valentine’s Day to see if giving homemade gifts to each other has a strong future.
The Christmas Tree
We chose to go without a Christmas tree last year. I admit, I was a little disappointed about it at first. As the Christmas season went on I realised I wasn’t as stressed. For me, the Christmas tree had become a constant visual reminder about the stress surrounding Christmas and all I had to do. We haven’t decided if we are going to have a tree-less year next year, but if we do, I won’t be disappointed.
You might want to check out my new comment policy .
Copyright Under $1000 Per Month, 2009-2010
Continue reading Daniel Update and Christmas Reflections …
From Under $1000 Per Month.
Cherry Cake
I was going through our archives yesterday while working on the new website and found this recipe which I thought might be good for Valentine’s Day. This would be a good one to tuck away in your Christmas files too.
Jill
Cherry Delight Cake
1 pkg. white cake mix
1 pkg. (3oz) cherry gelatin
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 cups whipped topping
1 can cherry pie filling
Bake cake in a 9×13 pan according to directions on box. Let cool. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Poke holes in cake with toothpick or fork and gently pour gelatin over it. Cool for 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. In bowl beat cream cheese and fold in whipped topping. Carefully spread on cake. Top with pie filling and chill for 2 hours.
Continue reading Cherry Cake …
From Living On A Dime Blog ยป Living On A Dime Blog.
Forcing Flowering Tree Branches Indoors: {How-To}
For Earlier Blooms
Want to bring springtime in a little earlier this year? Visit your flowering shrubs or trees some warm day late this month (January), and take a few branches. With very little trouble you can force many of them to bloom indoors, long ahead of their outdoor blooming date. The cheerful blossoms are a [...]
- Also See These Tips:
- Forcing Bulbs Indoors For Winter Blooms: How-To & Tips
- Forcing Paperwhite Narcissus For Winter Blooms
- Christmas Cactus: Houseplant Notes
Continue reading Forcing Flowering Tree Branches Indoors: {How-To} …
From TipNut.com.