Office Environment

I’m not sure if anyone one knows Dilbert; it’s a comic strip you could read in the news paper. Anyhow, I look back at some of the strips and you know it’s funny, but man, they are so true. The other day I was talking to a colleague and we were talking about some of the strips and how when you look around, where we work its scary but so true. Anyhow, sometimes I am sitting there at my desk working and its amazing at what you hear, I think people forget that they are in the middle of the room and they might think they are whispering or maybe they think no one is listening, but every so often things are said and my eyes pop out…WOW.

Ok, well the office environment might nit be for everyone, I have been told by family and friends that they would rather be working outside in the sun, doing hard labor…and the thought of been cooped up in a build all day long, looking though the blinds seeing the sun and blue skies, just would not be the thing for them…I sort of laugh and then I tell them of some of the things I hear and they smirk…hmmm…well then maybe it would be fun…NAH.

So, anyhow, the whole office environment sort of grows on you and actually you need to work with a special set of people in order for you to enjoy doing your job, now of course it is important to enjoy what you do, but of course having the right people working next to you can make a huge difference. I mean think about it, if you sat next to a quite, nerdy person that really did not get involved in office life it might make for long days, of course some actually enjoy the quite cubicle mate. Now, of course you have those neighbors that well…you know…yapp up a storm and pretty much share everything and anything with you…sometimes it could be sort of weird…but other times it really is funny…and you think you had it bad…well…just stop and listen to your cubicle mates you might be in for a surprise and realize your life is not so bad…LOL….only saying.

You know though, things have changed even in the office environment, people really don’t talk as much and are almost looking over their shoulder every second of the day, or wondering if the next day they will still have a job to come to; this makes for a very stressful office environment, but I guess the way you can look at it, is that hey…you have a J.O.B. doesn’t make it right, but you know the pot locks, the birthday decorations the special events, they have sort of disappeared form today’s corporate world…and people have had no real reason to socialize at work. Now, it seems that with the combination of the economy, extra work duties, finances at home, has led to more outside gathering that are mostly Happy Hours…people are taking to drinking to enjoy a peaceful moment and forget the worries of that they…even if for a few hours. But this can lead to many issues later in their life that could put them out of work…but it seems to be a norm…what can you say.

Talking about drinking and today’s youth; I have noticed a huge shift to Vodka as been the choice of drink…and the majority of consumption by the younger generation….I hear it everywhere, at work, online, forums, chats, emails, friends…everywhere…wow. I recall that a 40 was the big thing back in the day, now its Red Bull and vodka…LOL. So, what causes these changes, beside the economy creating stress? I mean I know we all have been through a generation of craziness, but what brings about the change, ok…well.I guess it could be the media, celebrities’, or maybe it’s just a new thing that catches on at school…weird. Anyways…so back to the Dilbert thing, once again if you get a chance read a few strips, I believe now you can find it online…nice…and see what you think…I am telling you…it is totally funny and scary true.

My perspective:
Work hard at work, but keep them ears perched, because you never know what you might catch. I know mom said never to listen in on other peoples conversation and never interrupt a conversation or only speak when spoken to…but come on…we need to keep on top of things and the office is a great place for NEWS FLASHES…lol.

So, I’ll cut it short here and try and be back again…I know I have been slacking on my posts, but I try and pick up the paste…you know I have so many thing son my mind…to share…I just need to start sharing…well…ok…I need to make time and start typing and posting. Till next time Latino Man signing off.

Hard Times – “2K Depression”

So, here we are another day, gone by and of course the market is nearing 11,000, so sunny days are here again, house prices are once again soaring, we all have 100K or more in equity in our house, no debt and well very low interest rates…what more can we ask for…Yah I mean we now have a great new health Reform that is here to help everyone…you…me…your neighbor…I mean come one…what more can be said…we are out of this runt…right.

Well, not sure where the news is getting their information, because my house is still under $85,000 and I just got my hours cut at work 6.25%, and the last raise I got was in 2008…so I am not sure where all this news about we are recovering is coming from…I mean the Banks won’t help anymore because, guess what…we are in recovery…so why would I or you need any help. We should all be happily employed, and happily making our low interest rate mortgage…right…well…once again…I don’t know where these guys are getting their numbers or news…because sooner or later, probably sooner I will be one of those many statistics of foreclosure…because as soon as they raise the those rates and you know that will happen since we are on the road to recovery and well we need to start making those bonds more interesting for our foreign friends…so let’s start raising those interest rate…and BAM…a myriad of new foreclosures…that’s what I see…hey…that’s what I believe is going to happen…of course I hope I am wrong.

But any how, you see, read and hear that the market is up, the economy is moving forward, companies are not laying of as much as they use to…but what is the truth…come on…I can barely afford to buy groceries, I mean…ok…I may not be at the worst position, but I grew up poor…there came a time in my young life…where I had to dumpster dive…oh yah…cold nights…no food…I have seeing oh many things…but one thing I have learned is to keep on fighting, but you know…as you start to get older…your body doesn’t handle those type of things as well as before…so I am getting tired and all this talk about Health reform, loan modifications…come one Loan modification…have you heard the statistics on that…only 3% of the outstanding loans have been modified…there are millions of people like you and me out there trying to get some help and all we do is fill out paperwork, and try to justify why I can’t make my payments, then you banks telling you what you need to do in your life…ok…no piano for your kids, cut back on the second cell phone, maybe you should not have cable television…or wait…shoes…you should maybe cut back on that spending as well…then well then you can pay the banks nearly all the same mortgage payment you were paying before…all they did was debt consolidate for you…using your money…there is no help in that. That’s why they want to know exactly where your money is going…if you send an extra 20 or 50 dollars to your credit card…stop, reroute that to your mortgage payment…you see they move things around for you…to buy time…and hope when your house has equity they can refinance into another loan and of course charge you all those closing costs…wait roll that into the new loan…yah…buying time is what I think that Banks are doing.

Anyhow, Many of us maybe did not see the great depression…and could not make comparison only read about it, but you know…I times are hard right now and we need to let our government officials know this…see this…before making foolish decision, that affect our lives.

In recovery…I don’t think so, just wait for it…you’ll see…next Commercial industry will fall…small business closing…yah…

My perspective:

Banks need to simply lock everyone to a 2% interest rate, eliminate all seconds…any new mortgages well that should be determined as it always has been, sorry to say…but buyers today are getting bargains…more house for their buck…so fair is fair…if I was new coming into the market…I would certainly be ok with paying the fair interest rate that I deserve according to my credit rating…simple…but for those that had perfect credit and build a life, and now do to no fault of their own their house is less than what they owe…yah…we should get a locked rate of 2% and have our seconds eliminated.

Thanks again for reading…Latina Man signing off…till next time.

Our Work Place – Our Economy – Our Lives

Welcome to another blog entry and another topic I believe is extremely hot these days. I would like to talk about our economy, but particularly on the subject of employment.

Now it’s all over the news, we hear it everyday or read about it everyday…yah ok…the media is pulling away from the subject of unemployment, but its still there lurking in the back…ready to pounce hard one day…soon. You see…I wanted to talk about what’s really going on, well, what I think is going. You see, after the real estate bubble burst in 2007-2008 …every aspect of every ones life changed. You see, not only did we see a drop in housing prices, but we also saw a huge up in gas prices…come on…oil commodity shot up to nearly 114 a barrel…and of course when gas prices go up…everything else goes…you know it, such as all foods, goods and well business costs.

Now as with many companies, lay offs was the beginning of things to come. You see unemployment up…high…and some states awfully high and well you see what I am talking about...its happening to everyone. Now, I wanted to touch on the job situation, you see at my job, I have seen three or four waves of layoffs and just recently a reduction in working hours…now that doesn’t mean the work load went down as well…you see…the people that are working now…have to take on many roles and do many more things in order to keep working and of course keep the company from laying off more people…so those few that are left has had to kick it up a notch…anyhow…the reduction in work hours as well as a freeze on raises…yah…you see…many of us…well….many of those that make a certain amount…had no raise in 2009…and now everyone this year 2010 gets no raise and a reduction in hours....so as I said I am not trying to jinks our way of lives…but I thinks that things will get worst before the get better.

Now, I have been lucky to have kept my job…the thing is I not only have a 8-5 job or wait a minute a 8-4.30 job, but I also am a license Real Estate agent and believe me there are only a hand full that are still keeping a float…I have seeing hundreds of agents just through up their hands and quit. I also have my Notary and I am running a website business…of course all those things…have gotten hit hard and well…many talk about hanging in there, but really how much longer can we hang in there before it becomes to much.

I am not trying to sound negative, but since 2007..its been a drive down hill and well…its not all fun when you are only headed in one direction, but yes I do keep my chin up for my family…kids…they don’t have a clue…they hear, but really don’t understand and I will keep it that way. Any how… wanted to share this, to let you know that you are not alone, there are many…many others like us out there trying to make it, some have it worst than others and we can only hope for the best. I certainly appreciate the time you took to read this and please feel free to share your story, you know I feel a bit better now that I got that off my chest.

Till next time, thanks for reading…Latino Man signing off