Pacificapocalypse

Jim Kunstler on the recent ‘economic unpleasantness’ and possible fall-out and the future; he’s a little hyperbolic and I’m not completely convinced about all the doom and gloom, but still and interesting take. I might have taken this with a slightly smaller grain of salt if he hadn’t recently penned a fiction novel that falls right in line with this prediction.

In the meantime, however, millions of Joe-the-Plumber types will have gotten their pink slips, slipped helplessly into foreclosure, watched the repo men hot-wire their Ford pickups, and eaten down the kitchen cupboard to a single box of Kellogg’s All-Bran (which had been sitting there for eleven years infested with weevils). They will be watching the official proceedings in the federal courtrooms with jaundiced eyes as they hunch in their tent cities, in the rain, sipping amateur-brand raisin wine bartered for a few snared rock doves. How long before the hardier ones among them venture out to Easthampton with long knives and matches?

I was joking before, but yeah, maybe I should learn blacksmithing and baking… you know, just in case this whole Mad Max thing plays out.
Or maybe I’ll just get another game for the Wii.

Avast ye scally wags! ‘Tis only two days until International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Still time to brush up on yer Piratical jabberin’ with such classics as:

• Avast, me hearties!
• Shiver me Timbers!
• Yo ho ye lily livered scoundrel!
• I’ll run ye through with me broadsword!

And of course, Yarrr!!

Say it once, say it twice, say it like a pirate.

Seriously.

Sidewalk graffiti at 18th and Dolores in San Francisco’s hipster-heavy Mission district.
(Photo by Melissa Gira Grant)
Via Valleywag

And I think I saw a tumble weed blow by.
Ok seriously it hasn’t been that nothings going on (re: the lack of recent post activity) but that I’ve actually been otherwise occupied. First I had a nasty summer cold that I’m *finally* seeing the last of, then while that was going on I made a lateral move from one department in my company, to another, and have been relatively busy training and such.

Much more later.
Promise.

In addition to the weirdness from last week and over the weekend, the body count continues from the buyout offer from management. So far 25 people have opted for the buyout AND they’ve pushed back the final filing date from August 22nd to the 29th. Does that mean that they have a large number of applicants or that they don’t have enough? No ones sure.
Of the three people in my department that I’m sure were taking the buyout, two were told that the offers had been accepted and their last day was Monday this week. Holy crap! Gone! Poof! Just like that.
Three more that I know of are on the fence… it’s an odd feeling, the sense of uneasiness. There’s talk of just disbanding the department but they need local people who know the marketplace, so I highly doubt that’s going to happen. I’m guessing we’ll be downsized ( christ I hate that word ) to the minimum number of staff and be done with it. Time will tell. Life goes on, blah blah blah, but coupled with the break-in, this is making me very uneasy.

It’s been one hell of a week.
First and foremost - our house was burglarized on Wednesday last week. Two laptops stolen (with personal data on them both, which of course prompted frenzied password changes and financial information that had to be secured - seriously, do you have your browser store your passwords and login information for all your personal sites? Email? Banking? Insurance? Hell even your social sites, Netflix, Facebook, etc? Well not anymore.), Jewelry, cameras. The list goes on.

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*sigh* ok so the score is now officially three people from my department are taking the buyout; two more are considering it and I learned yesterday that the remaining supervisor has put in her request, which, if she gets it approved, will leave the department with no management at all.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. I see the department being reduced to no more than five people in the future and eventually folded into SFGate.com which makes sense to me.
More later.

Ok, look, I’m all for activism, social change, inclusiveness and public demonstration, but this is just plain stupid.

From today’s issue of the San Francisco Bay Guardian in the Alerts section:

Freeze and chant? It’s like the joke when the robber stick the gun in the victims face and says “Don’t move! Put your hands up!” “So wait, do I not move or do I put my hands up?” And I *despise* flash mobs and their associated nonsense; they’re annoying and no longer the unique occurrence they were once upon a time. That time was a Tuesday afternoon, for about 20 minutes, in late 2002. Just ask this girl if they’re still a good idea.
These guys need to take a clue from Improv Everywhere.
Now they know how to do a public scene.

So the fallout continues; another person in my department is taking the buyout; she’s been with the company for 15 years, so again, it sort of makes sense. That’s two definite and two maybes.

What other fresh, disturbing revelations shall the day bring?

Yeah I wasn’t going to post about this but…
We received a company wide email announcing a buyout program starting today, Monday, August 4th.

Dear Chronicle Guild Members:

As you may already know, Hearst management intends to reduce staff by about 125 positions through voluntary buyout packages. The packages will be similar to the last round of buyouts and will include: 2 weeks pay per year of service, with a minimum of 4 weeks to a maximum of 52 weeks; COBRA commensurate with weeks of service, with a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months and members can cash out COBRA if they choose; and uncontested unemployment benefits. The 3-week offer period is from Monday, Aug. 4 to Aug. 22, 5 p.m. Once you sign, you have 5 business days to rescind. End dates will be worked out with your supervisor or manager, but all must be finalized by the the end of the year.

This reduction will affect all departments and also include management. We will hold meetings on Monday, Aug. 4, at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in the third floor Guild Conference Room at 433 Natoma St.

We know that this a difficult time and will assist you in any way possible. Please check mediaworkers.org for the latest updates.
I wasn’t too concerned (I being an absolutely integral part of the Hearst Corporation’s long term financial plan) but today is weird, people are huddled in small groups in cube farm intersections speaking in low tones. There are these odd wondering, sideways looks from people: who’s taking the buyout? Will they get enough volunteers to avoid layoffs? You can smell the fear and desperation.
Or is that lunch? Anyway, there’s a strange vibe in the office and I don’t know which way people are going to jump. Certain managers have already indicated that they might take it, leaving the department in even more precarious straights.

Time to polish the resumé.

Stayed tuned for further developments.

UPDATE: Wow, one person in my department is definitely taking the buyout and two more are seriously considering it. All three of them have, on average, been here 20 plus years, so it makes sense.
Dame this might be serious.