In January, P and I moved into the large bedroom at the back of the house, and GM started working on our home. I had tried to get our contractor who installed the kitchen cabinet soffet to stabilize it as it was sagging on one side, but he wanted to charge me again for it. G stabilized it, and also fixed the laundry room and pantry doors which were neither installed correctly. My assertion to the contractor that I had already paid him to do that work didn't matter. G says that he does lots of working fixing work done by contractors.
Then G installed a new shower in the bathroom off the master bedroom, replaced several doors, put overhead lights, a chair rail, and prepared the walls for wall paper in the master bedroom, prepared the walls in the master bathroom and the guest bathroom to be painted, and painted the master bathroom. We also bought new windows for the front room, a new sliding glass door for the master bedroom, and installed new flooring in both of those bathrooms. So we think we've done our part to help with the economic downturn.
The fan in the guest bathroom was very weak, and I installed a new one. It took a couple of days to do everything—it involved modifying the existing vent to the roof, electrical work, and sheet rock work. G did the taping and texturing. After those two days of vacation and taking a Friday for stake temple day, I finished my 2008 vacation.
Getting new wallpaper was an experience. We chose a related suite of papers, but found that the border we wanted wasn't available, so then we had G install a chair rail. Then the factory indicated that one of the other roll types wasn't available. We then found some other wallpaper that would work, but then a week later the factory indicated that they only had two rolls left of one type, so we were back to the drawing board again. We found another type that would work, but when the order came in, they had the number of rolls of each type backwards, so we've got to re-order again. Evidently wall paper is out of vogue now, and most wall paper manufacturers are now in Canada.
The economic downturn is affecting IBM, and we have had layoffs and cost-cutting measures. But I did get my performance bonus, and it was very nice. I had been prepared for a “because of economic conditions we can't give performance bonuses this year” message. Other companies are discontinuing their 401K match program, but ours is still intact. I moved 1/5 of my portfolio to a stable money market fund, and I've modified my contributions so that they're also going to that same fund, thinking that once the market hits bottom, I can move the funds back into more volatile funds. But we never know what the bottom is, but I believe that we're not there yet.
Congress is working on huge packages to assist the economy. Obama is trying to make this a multi-party effort, but the Republicans are just digging in their heels. It appears a gambit—if the package works, the Republicans will be largely irrelevant; if it doesn't work, the Republicans can say, “It was the wrong thing to do, and we knew it, etc.”
I've had some health issues this year so far. I threw out my lower back twice and they're running some tests on my gall bladder. Old age is definitely setting in.
For Rodeo Day, we were going to Phoenix to see The King and I, the zoo, and to tour the ASU campus where S will be attending this fall. At the last minute, I needed to work in order to get our product out the door before the end of first quarter. It's good that they think I'm so indispensable.
I read The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. It was interesting in that the author had lived in Tucson for many years and had much of the story occurring here. As she described the city, the customs, the weather patterns, it was very familiar. It talks about compassionately about illegal aliens, the evils of abuse, the marginalization of women, the worth of friends, and other social issues.
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