about state/government employment, that is. There’s an article in today’s Strib about the pending budget forecast, and many of the comments on the article (usually something to stray from, as it makes me quite concerned about the people I live near, seemingly so ignorant and angry all the time) talk about “fat” in state government and employment practices. So, having worked for the state for the last six years (and for city government for three years in high school), I thought I’d set a few thing straight without getting into the Republicans vs Democrats argument, just for my own conscience. Let me note first that my bias should be obvious, that I’m a state worker, and that my future career is in education, where I will continue to be a union member. So if you feel the need to write off my opinions/observations because of that, go right ahead.

In my experience, which is only with one agency, there is very little “fat” or “pork” in government. Minnesota has been on a hiring cool or freeze for the entire 6 years I’ve been here, which is why I have almost no seniority (I’m sixth from the bottom, and the last two are part-time employees). Add to that all of the people who could retire (age-wise) but aren’t because their retirement funds / investments aren’t doing well, and that doesn’t bode well for job security at the moment. Also, when I started here, we had nine support staff at the administrative office. Today, we have five. We cut 7 admin positions a few years ago (out of 40), and continue to pare down and only hire when absolutely necessary, all across the state.

State agencies have been asked to trim budgets practically ad nauseum over the last few years. That monthly meeting I no longer have to go to? Budget update in every single one of them. It should be noted that most of our money is federal money, but that we have to have state money first (called “match”) to pull down the federal dollars (approximately 1:4), and the federal bill that provides our budget is under a continuing resolution for the last several years, because it’s not “important enough” for legislators to spend the time on to reapprove or reauthorize.

I was amused by the people calling for dismantling the public employee unions. Not gonna happen. As someone else said, the state is one of the largest employers in the state. There’s no way we’re giving up our union voluntarily, and I’m pretty sure that it’s a legally protected right to unionize that our predecessors fought tooth and nail for. One of the more amusing statements was that “unions are what’s killing our economy.” Really? Exactly how?

Someone asked about the return on investment for state programs. I don’t know what it is like for other programs, but for ours, for every $1 we spent, approximately $4 goes back into the economy (because we get people off or state aid and into jobs where they become contributing members of the workforce).

Several people think that we get raises all the time. This is true and false. State employees do get an annual “bump” that’s a reward for continuing to work there. It’s about 1%, give or take, and is merely meant to keep people in the job (which is hard to do - people often leave state employment to go work in the private sector because they can earn much higher wages there, even in a field like mine where wages are pretty low all over). Our contracts are negotiated every two years, and this last time (for the 2007 and 2008 years) we did get raises, because the Governor wanted to thank us for all our hard work, or something to that effect. Prior to that, there were no raises in at least two contracts (four years), if not longer, which means that the 2% (or was it 3%) annual raises didn’t come close to making up for the increase in cost of living and rising health care premiums. There is no way that our salaries are actually keeping up with the cost of living or inflation. It should be noted that this is probably the same for most employees everywhere, not just in the public sector. I’m pretty sure that raises are few and far between these days, and that no one is keeping up with the cost of living.

There was the glorious suggestion of getting rid of health care and retirement plans for state employees (both current and former). The ridiculousness of this suggestion, as well as all that it would mean, I can’t even comment on. Do people not think anymore?

Additionally, it was said that no one is “balancing the checkbook,” referring to the idea that government didn’t see this coming. That is just bunk. Like I said earlier, there are budget projections being done all the time. I work across from our budget guy, and he, along with our other numbers guy, work out that stuff weekly. So do the higher ups. What hit everyone like a surprise (though no one is really surprised) is this recession, which severely changes economic situations quite quickly. Think about it - a year ago, our house was worth $30,000 more than it is now, and the houses we’re currently interested in are approximately $50,000 less than they “should” be. Changes like that affect government budgets in ways that can’t always be predicted, and even when they can be, we always like to hope for the best (but plan for the worst). Trust me, there’s a lot of balancing the checkbook, at all levels of the government.

There were also several comments about schools that I’d like to mention briefly. One was that we should get rid of the extraneous classes in schools like violin. Several other people noted on the article that this poster was obviously off of his/her rocker, because most schools don’t have things like that. It should be noted that the schools who do have provisions such as smartboards and violin tutors are in very wealthy areas and are funded by property taxes supplemented by state funds. The majority of schools barely have bands, and when they do, parents and students have to do fund-raising to provide uniforms.  Someone also suggested that schools should get “back to the basics” which is an admirable suggestion that I’ve probably made myself once or twice. However, it fails to take into account that most of the extraneous programming in schools has been demanded by parents and community members. The moment things like that are cut, people start complaining, and parents really know how to complain (and soccer moms scare me, so I don’t really want to deal with that).

Lastly, my favorite suggestion was cut state employee’s salaries 0.5% each month of the recession, followed by balance the budget and then cancel the legislature for two years. Why is this my favorite? Because it’s quite possibly the most narrow-minded, selfish, and ignorant comment of them all. Why would you intentionally punish state workers, who are NOT the cause of the recession, in such a way? Just so we’re clear, after one year, salaries would be at 56% of their current rate. After two years, 30%. That’s a 70% decrease in salary. That means that before the end of two years, you’d have to stop decreasing salaries because you’d hit the minimum wage law. And since many predictions think that the economy won’t turn around until 2010, it’s not an exaggeration to talk about 2 years of cuts. Let’s also remember that the Great Depression lasted 10 years, and this idea, if it ran to fruition and there weren’t minimum wage laws, would mean that sometime in the 5th year my salary would drop to under $1/hour. Also, do you really think it’s possible to balance the budget that quickly? That’s laughable in and of itself. I’m pretty sure that argument takes the entire year, sometimes longer, to work itself out. And our local legislators don’t actually make that much money (for the most part).

Now that I’ve bored you all to tears, or angered you in some way, I have to leave to go to class. Lest you think I’m leaving my cushy state job for a paid afternoon of education, you are wrong. The state isn’t paying for my education, and I make up the hours that I’m gone by working longer hours every other day of the week. I will, however, enjoy my employee benefit of a relatively cheap bus pass to get to class. Of course, the student bus pass is a fraction of what I pay, but I figured we could afford to pay the higher rate and let someone who needs the cheaper bus pass have it (there are limited numbers that the school could afford to supplement).

popularity: 1%

I cleaned up a bit more on the blog, behind the scenes, in the same lines of cleaning up all my bookmarks. I went through the 30+ drafts that I had and deleted most of them. They were quotes that I was saving as “inspiration” that no longer inspired me, and most I could barely remember why or when I’d first seen them. Definitely out of date and needed to go. I’m down to eight. Plus, it was good to know that drafts don’t count in my “total” posts number, which is actually just the total published posts, so I’m still on track to get to 3,000. Note: I’m at 2,335 right now.

And then, when I get home, after making dinner, I’m going to actually clean house. We had a showing today, very last-minute (the office called at 1:45 for a 2:30 showing), and the house was not very presentable. Thankfully, it was just a Realtor wanting to see if it would be a good match for his clients, so the fact that it’s not clean was OK. But, to be safe, cleaning should be done tonight. To be fair, the floors are clean (having vacuumed several times in the last week) and there aren’t any dirty dishes in the sink ( loaded up the dishwasher this morning, or maybe it was last night). But, the kitchen table is covered with boxes of Christmas decorations, the rug in the living room is coated in cat hair, and upstairs is very cluttered (the exception being the bedroom, except that I have two baskets of folded laundry sitting on the floor that I still haven’t put away). It’s not that we don’t try to keep the house clean, but that we have had so few showings, its hard to stay motivated and feel the need to keep it absolutely pristine 24/7. Plus, has anyone noticed that it’s nearing Christmas time? That means decorations and parties and, personally, cookie baking and crafting. Those are all messy things, right? [Editor's note: it should be said that I don't actually have any holiday parties to attend, nor do I think I'll be invited to any other than family functions, but that doesn't really mean my house is any cleaner because of it.]

But, my desk at work is very clean these days. I’ve managed to get rid of all the paper clutter that people like to thrust on me, and things are quite slow these days, so when projects come in, they leave quite quickly as well. I’ve re-organized my two minimalist filing systems, and since I’ve gotten rid of that one work task/chore of the monthly meeting, that means one less set of files I have to maintain. My email inbox is pretty clean too, which always makes me happy (or less stressed, at least). My work email, that is, since in Gmail I’ve got about half a dozen emails to respond to.

Today, the phone-answering system seems to be working. I answered this morning, and haven’t had to all afternoon. Let’s hope for another day like that tomorrow, which starts with a cavity filling at 8 am for me.

popularity: 3%

Some things I’ve bookmarked recently:

• Dealing with complainers who resist your help - CNN.com
• Higher Education May Soon Be Unaffordable for Most Americans, Report Says - NYTimes.com
• It Yourself : Recycle Old Earbuds into DIY Speakers : Planet Green
• Deep Sleep Naturally this Stressful Holiday Season : Planet Green

popularity: 3%

Some things I’ve bookmarked recently:

• Turkey Technique: The Dry Brine (The Food Section)
• betz white: skirt tricks

popularity: 4%

I managed to take pictures this weekend of some of the craft projects I’ve done, even though the sun wasn’t shining and so these were all done in bad lighting in our kitchen, of all places.

My goal was to finish all 10 ornaments (the embroidery part, that is) for the swap by Friday. I finished the last one on Saturday night, so that was pretty good. I’ll only show a few pics here, because I’ll make up a nice mosaic when they’re all finally done (I still have to put felt on the backs and attach a hanger).

There are also two non-reindeer ones:

All were done using DMC perle cotton, which is much thicker than regular embroidery floss. I kept looking at it in the store thinking it was lovely, and I really wanted to stitch with it. Well, it is lovely, but terrible for doing detail work. I probably would have liked this project more if I had used the regular stuff. It’s OK, though, because all of these are leaving our house, and I’d like a set for myself, so next year I think I’ll make some up for us, using the regular stuff.

I also finished up the first towel for for Christmas. It turned out really well.

And Sunday, I made a pincushion for a swap on Craftster. The pattern was in Pretty Little Patchwork, and was not very nice in some aspects (my first attempt failed miserably), but after a modification, I made it through.

I finally got around to taking apart my first attempt last night - I’m not sure if the pieces for the star are salvageable or not, but they’re from the only charm square I have in that print, so I’m going to try. I’d like to make one for myself, only much shorter (the flowered band is 2″ tall, which is a bit big for me).

Also, though I don’t have photographic proof, I pieced together the “back” of ’s quilt (which means that I put borders on the center panel, and then cut out and appliqued on the large G). Then I laid out all three layers and pin-basted. Hopefully tonight will help me draw out the grid pattern, and I can start quilting it. asked on Saturday, “how soon can it be done?” When I told her I had 10-20 hours left on it (because I have no idea how long it will take me to quilt it, and the only binding I’ve ever done has been on small projects which take 2-ish hours), she was shocked. Yes, darling, while this quilt isn’t terribly complicated or difficult, it still takes time to complete. I am pretty sure that she will love the end result, though, because the “back” (which, the more I look at it, is really the front) is quite darling, with the green plaid and the large G.

The new phone duty schedule at work was working really well until about 2:15 today. Yesterday morning (my turn), I answered the phone promptly and politely, knowing that it was only for the morning. Coworker B stopped by at 11:45 and said she was going to the gym, but would be back by 12:15 (when it was her turn). She answered the phone all afternoon and I barely had to think about it. (Coworker C was out sick, but she doesn’t have scheduled duty on Mondays, though she did have other tasks for a big event today that I had to complete.) This morning, Coworker C answered phones, and this afternoon Coworker B did (I don’t have to answer phones on Tuesdays or Thursdays - yay!). However, Coworker C came over at 2:15 and told me she wasn’t feeling well and was going to go home (fine, is gone and Coworker B is answering phones anyways), and did I want to take a break first. I declined, thinking it was odd that she even ask. A few minutes later, I walked over to where the other two have their cubes, and lo and behold, Coworker B has left for the day, without telling me. Seems she was allergic to her phone duty or something. So now I’m here, stuck without any backup, to answer phones for two hours when it’s not my turn. Boo on that.

But, on the bright side, tomorrow is the monthly meeting that I normally have to go to, and I’m not going, for the first time, because it’s no longer my responsibility! Hopefully things will go flawlessly, and I won’t have to deal with it any more. So that’s a big “yay!”

In the mean time, I’ll leave you with this reindeer, who’s doing what I’d like to be right now:

popularity: 6%

Some things I’ve bookmarked recently:

• Napping: Napping Better than Caffeine in Many Ways
• 5 Easy Steps an Energy Efficient Hot Water Heater : Planet Green
• Five Former Slaves Who Are Changing the World
• 3 Scenic North American Train Routes Should Know : Planet Green
• Get Recession Ready: More Biscuits : Planet Green
• Start a Green Potluck Lunch Club at Work : Planet Green

popularity: 5%

[Editor's note: later on today I promise that I'll post something with pictures of crafty things I've done lately, to make up for the boring-ness of this post.]

Yesterday, I discovered something that, well, I’m probably the second-to-last person on the planet to discover. I know I’m super late in the game, but… I just discovered Google Reader. I know, I know. I think I’d actually tried using it before, and couldn’t make it work for me. But now, by George, it does. And I think it’s made my life easier, or at least a little less complicated, and I’m pretty sure it’s made Firefox happier*.

If you took the time last week to check out my updated links, you noticed that I have a lot of blogs that I read regularly. 84, to be exact. 51 of those were in my daily reading, and 36 in my “weekly” reading (which, when it’s particularly boring at work, I check daily also, I just have lower expectations as to whether or not they’ve been updated). [Editor's note: the numbers don't exactly add up because a few of the blogs on my list didn't have feeds, so they're probably going to get dropped soon.]

Well, now there are 84 subscriptions in GReader, and I just have to open the page and scroll through to see the sites that have updated, and can either read the new posts right there, or click on the title to read it on the original site.

Another thing that I like about GReader is that it totally changed how I was using another bookmark folder, “Today’s Blogging.” I’d throw links in there to articles I wanted to blog about (”today” meaning “sometime in the future, probably never, because there were a kajillion links in there and it was just too unruly), new products that caught my eye, funny quotes, craft projects I’d like to make, etc. And I almost never did anything with those links, other than let them grow into an unsightly mess (there were over a hundred last time I accidentally opened them all - a mistake I didn’t make again).

But, with GReader, I can make “notes” and share articles/links with others. Add into that Amazon’s new “universal wishlist” feature (OK, so it’s a few months old, whatever), and there are now a whole two links in my “Today’s Blogging” folder (neither of which can be added to GReader, otherwise they would have been). [Editor's note: it must be said that there are still 4 folders inside that TB folder, one of which is recipes I have bookmarked to share with y'all at some point, another of which is other kitchen-y things to share, a third a list of cookbooks that might make good gift ideas for my father-in-law, and one of patterns that I actually need to move elsewhere. So, it's not entirely cleaned up, but it's getting there. I do have a system. In fact, this afternoon, after mailing a letter for someone, I'm going to get rid of those last two folders, because I can do that.] I haven’t figured out the best way to actually share articles with people - I’ll try out a few things, preferrably through this blog, over the next couple of weeks. The one bummer so far is that while I can tag articles, they’re only visible to me, so that isn’t very helpful for sharing. Plus, the shared page (linked to above) isn’t customizable at the moment.

*Note: how did I manage to read so many blogs before using an RSS reader, you ask? Well, simply put, I stored all of my links in two folders, “Daily Blogs” and “Weekly Blogs.” Then I just used the link at the bottom of each folder that says “open all in tabs.” I think Firefox will be much happier now that I won’t ask it to open 50 tabs each morning, simultaneously.

It should also be noted that there are 13 blogs I’m currently trying to read through the archives of (all of which I’m already reading daily), and 24 in my “Blogs to Browse” folder, assuming I ever get to the point where I need more blog reading. I figure that GReader should definitely help with this problem. Soon, I’m going to figure out the “Discover” feature in GReader, which will only mean more blogs to explore. (By “figure out,” I mean “try.” It’s just a link. I’m pretty sure I can figure out what to do with that.)

popularity: 6%

Some things I’ve bookmarked recently:

• WordPress › Add to Any Share/Save/Bookmark Button « WordPress Plugins
  

  Great WordPress plugin if I ever create a more professional/focused blog.

• Flat Belly Diet Foods - Prevention.com
• 5 Reasons to Write Down Everything You Eat For a Week | Dumb Little Man
• one hundred push ups
• Go from couch to 5k in 6 weeks.
• How To Lose Belly Fat - Stepcase Lifehack
• On-the-job weight gain - CNN.com
• The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating - Well Blog - NYTimes.com
• Walking a little can go a long way - CNN.com
• ikea hacker: Cats
• Heart of Mary: TUTORIAL: Zippered Wristlet/Pouch Made Easy
• SouleMama: Feelin
• twelve22
• Mary Engelbreit
• With Heart and Hands: A Quilting Journey: Free Quilt Patterns
• Tanglewood Bag Sewing Pattern
• happythings: Scrap X Quilt — Kisses kisses smooch and smack
• Craftzine.com blog: Firefly LED Baby Booties
• happythings: Scrap strips squares quilt / tutorial
• Easy Breezy Wrap Pants Tutorial « Laupre

popularity: 9%

Some things that have caught my eye in the last week, from other Flickr members. Click on the above to go to the Flickr page for proper credit and links to all of the above images.

popularity: 8%

I finally (finally!) updated my links (aka blogroll) on this site! It was woefully out of date, and I had to add about a bajillion new blogs to the list. But, if you’re looking for something new to read, I highly recommend checking out some of the ones I’ve listed. And yes, I actually do visit most of those sites (70-80%) daily, and the rest weekly (or as often as they update). There’s probably 10% that I rarely visit, and a few that haven’t updated in months, and I should probably remove those, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Do you know what the problem with staying hydrated is (aka drinking a lot of water)? You have to go to the bathroom a lot. It’s kind of annoying.

And for a work update, has finally drawn up a schedule for answering the phones and circulated it to my co-workers, so the three of us equally share phone duty each week. Yay! So now I have the responsibility Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and afternoons on the second Friday of the month. (It’s complicated, and there’s a schedule, and I’ve printed it out and posted it in my cube so I don’t forget.) I found it amusing that after the email was sent out, one co-worker immediately emailed back, “sounds great!” and then about half an hour later went in to tell that she could answer phones every afternoon if that would help. Do you think she knows she’s been a slacker, and is trying to cover her butt? Methinks so. However, this newly found interest in answering the phones does not apply to today. The schedule starts Monday, and my co-workers have decided to not start until then. Boo on that.

Lunch today is an apple with Nutella, followed by a decaf Chai. The work I have left for this afternoon will take probably 8 minutes, so I’m going to stretch that out as much as possible. Perhaps several bathroom breaks will help.

popularity: 17%

Today I’m thankful for…

…water, and remembering to adequately hydrate myself (something I don’t do well).

…quiet days in the office, even if they are a bit boring.

…pants that fit much better than yesterday’s pair.

…cute (and comfortable) shoes.

…indecision about what cookies to make tonight - there are so many good cookie recipes out there!

…remembering to do all my month-end stuff ahead of schedule.

…completing yet another ornament last night, totaling 6, and making it halfway through another. Perhaps I’ll be done by Friday?

…having Christmas gifts figured out for almost everyone (just figured out, not bought).

…last night’s massage, which was a bit rough but that was probably good for my muscles.

…the new bridge they built in our town that crosses over 35E, so I don’t have to make multiple left-turns to get from the bank to the  massage place / Home Depot / Goodwill / Michaels area.

…respite from answering the phones, even if it is just that one call that just came in.

…two bags of winter clothes to sort through that we picked up from storage over the weekend.

…a husband who hasn’t yet complained about the mess I’ve made on the dining table / kitchen counter.

…a husband who is not only much better than the horrible ones I’ve seen on TV lately (last night’s Law & Order: SVU about abusive husbands), but is generally wonderful and a good companion to boot.

…hot cocoa weather.

…the chance to see ’s smiling face on Saturday (hopefully he’s smiling a bit - he’s taken up the habit of saying “no” to everything and everyone lately, in preparation for his second birthday in a few weeks).

…Monday’s anniversary, seven years since I moved to Minnesota, one of the best (though perhaps most traumatic) decisions I’ve ever made.

…Flickr. It’s great entertainment, and a good way to meet new people too (who needs Facebook or MySpace?).

…the phone call I got last night from Metro State, when my advisor realized that I’m a post-baccalaureate student and not an undergrad. Now there are some things to figure out.

…the chance to multitask some of my favorite things tonight - baking cookies, embroidery, and watching television.

…good health.

popularity: 15%

I found this on a blog I was reading, and had to have some fun myself. Introducing my Simpson-self:

popularity: 16%

Today I’m thankful for…

…a cold that left quickly (I’m just tired today, no sniffles or congestion!).

…getting to yell at a telemarketer last night (it was immensely satisfying, as were the two more complaints I registered with the Do Not Call Registry, making a grand total of 7 for this company).

…Hershey’s Symphony bars.

…a massage scheduled for 7:30 tonight.

…being halfway done with the Holiday Ornament Swap embroidered pieces. 5 done, 5 to go.

…getting recipes out in the mail this morning, just meeting the deadline for one swap and early for another.

…co-workers who appreciate the work I do for them.

…this coming weekend of rest and relaxation, as well as some crafting (one purse has finally died, and ’s quilt needs some serious work).

…the chance to read completely through the archives of some new blogs (completed two this week so far, and one Flickr group).

…realizing that, though my pants are quite tight today, it’s OK, because they’re 2s (it’s amazing I haven’t suffocated to death, really), and I’m currently a 6/8. That sure explains things (I thought they were 4s).

…staying caught up at work (about 95% of the time I’m caught up), still ready for the moment when the web people say “go” and finally let us get to work on our external site (and then I will be busy for 6 months straight, rewriting hundreds of pages).

…passing off yet another work task to a co-worker for that aspect of my job that I hate and no longer have to do (light at the end of the tunnel: 8 days till exit).

…a husband who gladly made dinner last night (even decided what we were eating) so that I didn’t have to think about food while (albeit mildly) ill. Also, he offered to go buy cake when I was craving some. I declined, but the gesture was really nice.

…a very light bookbag these days, since classes are almost over and I have almost no homework (many nights in a row without homework has been wonderful, though I still have 4 chapters to read by next Thursday).

…5 weeks off between semesters!

…more cookie baking this weekend (Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon).

…that my grandparents are living and well ( gave me an update on last week, and said Grandma had been asking about me).

…that our cats, while completely neurotic and annoying, are alive and healthy (disturbing conversation with the cashier at Bruegger’s this morning, who told me that his cat recently died).

…that last bite of Hershey’s Symphony (I can be thankful for it twice - it was that good).

popularity: 16%

In case you love the Mosaic Monday idea yesterday that I stole from another blog, you should know that there’s a whole Flickr group set up for them here. Enjoy!

popularity: 16%

How long has IE7 been out now? How long have I had this new template? I’m just getting around to finally changing my name graphics to reflect the fact IE7 supports transparent PNG files and that the background of my blog is not white. Whew! Not much changed. got older. A few people acquired kids in theirs (). lost the frog. But mostly, they’re pretty similar to the old ones (except now they all have transparent backgrounds). In a few cases I changed the font, or couldn’t find the original clip-art on Microsoft’s website (I’m surprised at how many I couldn’t find, actually), but really, things haven’t changed much around here. Except that something that was bugging me (the white-background images on the non-white background of the blog) is finally fixed. Yay me. I could have done a better job with some of them, but I do still have the original flash files so now maybe I will when I feel like it.

I’ve been avoiding the work that’s been given to me, mostly because I don’t want to do it, and partly because tomorrow is going to be even more boring than today, and I have to save myself something to do or I’ll go crazy. Crazy, I tell ya!

popularity: 17%