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What are people living on?

I attended a meeting today with several other local ‘heritage’ businesses – a tourist information center, a couple of local museums, that sort of thing. Hoping to pool our resources in, erm, trying times.

For one, we can’t get volunteers. None of us. They just didn’t come back after lockdown. Bless ’em, a couple of our best died (not covid, we’re just a terribly old organization).

But we can’t get paid staff, either. I gather this is a problem in all sectors, up and down the country. It’s like people got a taste of not working during the lockdown and decided they rather liked it.

Surely, though, everyone still has a mortgage and groceries to buy. How are they paying the bills?

That’s the silver lining if we really do have a desperate hard winter – at least we’ll all be able to get paid staff! Pollyanna, that’s me.


Please enjoy this picture of fat kitty that Uncle B took on Sunday. Yes, we still have some things in bloom, though looking decidedly tired. One day, he’s going to forget he shared access to his Google pictures account and hilarity will ensue.

See you back here tomorrow for Dead Pool Round 159.

Comments


Comment from Drew458
Time: October 13, 2022, 7:05 pm

What are they living on? Handouts. Mortgage default moratoriums, eviction cancellations, covid offset payments, on and on. No doubt the UK threw billions around left and right just like the USA did, and just like the USA, never bothered to check to see if they were being played. MANY billions of US covid aid was scammed by foreigners, tens of thousands made false claims and scored millions, and much of the aid that went to states was redirected for other pie-in-the-sky leftwing daydreams. I have not been bold enough to see if the pandemic additional stipend payments are still in effect, but for a long time those gave the unemployed more total money than they got from their previous jobs.

And then those that kept their jobs but got to work from home don’t want to go back to the office and the daily commute. Many of them have switched jobs or taken unemployment so that they can stay home.


Comment from p2
Time: October 13, 2022, 7:40 pm

I would so love to not have to work any longer. Even working from home would be an improvement, but I can’t park a Learjet in my driveway to work on it. Nice to see blooms, tired or not, at this time of year. All I have is snow.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: October 13, 2022, 8:37 pm

You work on jets, p2? That’s awesome.

Benefits in the UK are way overgenerous, and have been for a while. To the extent that you make more not working than working, at the bottom rung. That jacks up prices for things like gardeners and cleaners, who charge stupid money because they can.

But – hey ho! – I was given 80% of my pay to stay at home for 18 months, or however long it was, and I took it. My motto is screw everything out of government that you can, because the feeling is mutual.


Comment from QuasiModo
Time: October 13, 2022, 9:04 pm

In defense of the slovenly…a lot of places are still demanding the clot shot as well. I’ve just been living on savings until things improve myself…didn’t get any free money from anybody. The Canadian government gave people free money then they started clawing it back, lol…knew that was a trap…Trudeau is such a dickhead.

I would rather work from home anyway…who wants to work with a bunch of woke snowflakes who obsess on their pronouns? Or outright fascist HR departments? I did a little at home stint for a pipeline company a while back and they made me go through the employee onboarding online…the whole effing thing was how white males are evil and commit all the workplace violence…who needs that shite? Airplanes are gonna start falling out of the sky soon because the world is being run by idiots.


Comment from Armybrat
Time: October 13, 2022, 10:46 pm

What Drew458 said. And then some.

I was planning to retire late 2020. As a healthcare worker, shit got real early 2020. And then the shit kept piling on. Life in a big northeast city got shittier and I left months earlier than I had planned. I have been hounded, and that is an accurate word, since I left work, to return to work.

Dear GOD! I did 35 years in a profession that was hard work/ heavy lifting. I spent many $$$$$ over the years to maintain my license and knowledge across multiple states. In 7 days I will let my last license lapse. A tough choice…I’ve had it since I was 22. I worked damn hard for it. Once I let it go, there is no turning back. I had 5 calls today about continuing my license and “hey…would you want a job?”

Eff off! I’m done with alarm clocks, rude people, rude families, non-working supervisors and administrators, etc


Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 14, 2022, 1:06 am

Rice and beans, lentils and curry…oh wait, we started that before Bidinflation because one of us became a vegemitearian

I got a call to go be a COBOL instructor after 2_years of being retired and it was way harder to consider it than I ever thought it would be. I finally said yes, but the goobers probably found someone younger and prettier who had more experience with CICS and all the other IBM acronyms.
Actually now that I think they ain’t calling back I’m rather happy about it. 38 years of doing on-call plus at least ALL the reasons Armybrat gave. Including the family one since the last job was run by a group of polygynous South Africans.

Who needs that crap!

And Mrs D is keeping me in the manner to which I have become accustomed, without bitching at me for being a drain on society.

😋


Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: October 14, 2022, 1:46 pm

I wonder if we are going to see a trend of governments reducing benefits (or freezing levels -a defacto decrease given horrific inflation) and people therefore driven into the workforce again by the rising cost of living.

Shopping yesterday I saw a loaf of “Dave’s Killer Wheat Bread” for $7.99, and organic eggs for $11.99 a dozen. Regular eggs about $5.00. No, this was NOT at Whole Foods.


Comment from thefritz
Time: October 14, 2022, 5:35 pm

@somevegetable

I just bought a loaf of Dave’s
Killer bread at Aldi for $5.99.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: October 14, 2022, 5:43 pm

It hasn’t hit in quite the same way here, yet. Things are more expensive, but not THAT much more expensive. People coming back from America tell us it’s out of control.

Not counting energy. Energy in all its forms has started a rise and nobody knows the ceiling.


Comment from Jon
Time: October 14, 2022, 5:53 pm

A handful of people probably started online work that pays the bills much better than brick and mortar ever did. But the free lunch crowd is probably most of them.


Comment from LesterIII
Time: October 14, 2022, 5:57 pm

Hell
Handbasket
No rinse
Repeat

Costs here in the Midwest USA are going insane. My small industrial pump business is being squeezed from every direction. And ENERGY costs? Totally nuts.

Never was offered a handout: I own a small business with no employees. Applied for SBA low interest loans: denied. Keeping overhead low, operating very lean. Surviving…


Comment from BJM
Time: October 15, 2022, 1:12 am

Now that the hot weather is over I’ve resumed bread baking twice a week. I buy flour from Azure Standard. I received a 50lb order last week of their unifine Red Wheat bread flour…given that I use wild yeast, that makes a loaf about $1.60. Of course, the food-grade airtight storage buckets weren’t cheap but I consider that a sunk cost pantry-wise.

Azure is a fantastic affordable clean food resource, if they deliver in your area, give them a try. It’s kinda fun. You place & pay for your orders online and receive the date, time, and delivery address near you. Everyone turns up, and the truck arrives to dole out the orders…very buzzy and happy this group is.


Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: October 15, 2022, 12:55 pm

TXU – not the only electric provider, and not the cheapest, gave us an $0.115/kilowatt hour last year to a one year contract.

This year their cheapest rate went to $0.175 an hour and the rate plan I used to have went to $0.225.

But! For $0.235 an hour you can pretend ALL your electric power comes from green sources!

I personally believe people who choose the 100% green plans should be 100% cut off when they sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. Let them live their choices instead of making us subsidize their virtue signaling.

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