"Slant6" (slant-6)
03/20/2020 at 19:22 • Filed to: None
4
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"Slant6" (slant-6)
03/20/2020 at 19:22 • Filed to: None | 4
| 15 |
Was told I could work from home starting this past Monday. I was the only one that came into the office until today, first day it wasn’t optional. 1 day of working from home done, get a call from the boss. They’re shutting down the manufacturing side of the company, which means the company is now closed until further notice. It’s important to note that our closure is virus related, not economy related... yet.
Things could be worse. I’m not fired, they made that very clear on the phone. They actually went out of their way to say how fond they were of me, and they were proud of what I had accomplished in my 8 months working for them. They’re taking it week by week. Right now we’re only closed next week, but I think we all know it’s going to be longer. I’m taking their praises as a good sign that it’s not over. I have a pretty essential role at work, I’m the only person that does what I do and I know they couldn’t reopen without me, and I don’t think they want to.
Technically in my situation my employer is supposed to file for unemployment, we’ll see about that one. I have managed to save a good bit, so I’m ready to ride this one out, but I really don’t like the idea of watching my savings go away. I might be able to pick up part time work somewhere, or do freelance work, but the way things are going I don’t see demand for those going anywhere but down.
Yesterday I stocked up on food, so I’m good there, probably going to start rationing it more than I would normally. Also filled up the tank yesterday too. I can walk to several grocery stores, so I don’t really see any need to drive until I have a paycheck coming. I also have bicycles for getting around, maybe I’ll try selling one.
The plan right now is to just make the best of not having work, and take it day by day. I can probably last about 3 months before I run out of cash, which I hope I’ll be able to avoid. This first week I want to focus on planning and budgeting, but also enjoy myself. Reading, cleaning, bike rides. If I’m not back to work in a week (I’m optimistic, but I know how unlikely it is) then I’ll start seeking out next steps. I think I’ll fully invest in getting somewhere else if there is no work for one month. I don’t know these are all just first impressions. It also depends on what the boss has to say. They were really sad about it on the phone, and said to reach out if I need any help with anything.
The times they are a changin.
Simon and Garfunkel version because they’re more my style than Bob Dylan.
Stay safe out there Oppos.
ranwhenparked
> Slant6
03/20/2020 at 20:00 |
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Good luck, I’m going to be right there with you in around a week or so. The experts are saying this will be at least a year and a half, we just need to take it day by day. Somehow South Korea managed to turn the corner without shutting down their whole society, but the time for us to do that is probably already past. At least in certain states, I think there’s parts of the country that could get back to almost normal way faster, but we’ll see.
shop-teacher
> Slant6
03/20/2020 at 20:11 |
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I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m glad you’re in good shape to weather the storm. Don’t be too proud to accept unemployment. You and your employer paid into that, it isn’t a handout.
My father in law used to work at our state's unemployment office. He was always so sad when he had to turn away people who depleted their savings before finally giving in and filing for unemployment, but by the time they did they didn't have a recent enough work history to qualify for it.
Grindintosecond
> Slant6
03/20/2020 at 20:13 |
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Be careful with your plans. Where I live, outpatient work is verbotten. So if you break an arm on a bike ride, good luck getting looked at. It’s not inpatient, therefore go wait and they’ll get to you when they have a lull in new virus related cases. They made bike riding illegal in Italy last week for that very reason. Saturated hospitals don’t need recreational injuries.
Good luck. I thought you had to file for unemployment.
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Slant6
> shop-teacher
03/20/2020 at 20:20 |
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I will gladly accept any help. I’ve just been reading several news articles and several pertinent government websites that have lead me to believe that in this scenario, where one is not fired, but out of work or hours temporarily, the employers applies. I’m going to wait till Monday to ask my boss if they’re aware of this (government websites say it’s the law that the employer applies). I’d hate to mix things up applying myself, and I don’t want to have a knee jerk reaction and apply if that might make things more complicated. I plan on doing a lot of research this weekend.
It’s certainly a storm.
SiennaMan
> ranwhenparked
03/20/2020 at 20:21 |
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The problem is South Korea basically planned for this. They are conducting something like 1 0k test per day, with a capacity of thousands more and turning them around in 24 hours. That'd be like the US conducting 63,000 test per day and I don't think we've done even half that many over the last 10 weeks..
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shop-teacher
> Slant6
03/20/2020 at 20:23 |
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Gotcha. Best of luck to you!
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ranwhenparked
> SiennaMan
03/20/2020 at 20:26 |
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And even then, they’re still only covering a pretty small fraction of their population. We’re doing an even smaller fraction than that, and we’re also only testing people with symptoms , when we know that the majority of people who contract it never even show symptoms. Still, the bulk of symptomatic cases are still in fairly concentrated areas, most counties don’t even have one, most states have less than 100, in states that have big numbers, most are in a single metro area. It seems like we could still lock this down if we targeted the response more strategically.
Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition
> SiennaMan
03/20/2020 at 20:35 |
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That and S. Koreans don’t have civil rights to the extent we do here in the US. Here you would need a court order to to force someone to take test, there not so much.
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ranwhenparked
> Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition
03/20/2020 at 20:48 |
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Yep. See also our preexisting mental health crisis, which just got a whole lot worse.
gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> Slant6
03/20/2020 at 21:04 |
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“I’m leaving, but the fire still remains”
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SiennaMan
> Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition
03/20/2020 at 21:06 |
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I agree that that would be an issue, but we’d still be in far better shape if we really could have gotten a test to tens of thousands instead of hundreds..
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Slant6
03/21/2020 at 03:27 |
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hang in there.
SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
> Slant6
03/21/2020 at 05:53 |
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Now if you were living in the UK...the government would cover 80% of your wages until whatever this is is over.
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Slant6
> SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/21/2020 at 09:43 |
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Unfortunately here in the US it seems like stimulus is still being argued over.
RacinBob
> Slant6
03/21/2020 at 12:19 |
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This will blow over. The plant will re-open. They will probably be encouraging those near retirement to retire to cu t costs. I moved out of my office today after 40 years, I wonder if I’ll be back. Or want to come back given we don’t really have to work.
My guess is it may be 3 months before people have to go back to work. May I suggest some p riorities
1. Don’t get sick. Actively avoid people.
2. Keep in touch with your employer, they seem to like you and seem willing to help.
3. Conserve your funds, Buy only what you need for a 3 month hunker down.
4.
R
un up your credit cards, you deserve a bailout!
I t sounds like you are young so you should get a nice rebound.I hope so, somebody has to pay for Social Security!
One last look at the shop....
