NO NO NO!!!! I'm pissed and going to rant, beware!

Recently my library system decided that, we are in the middle of a recession. Shocker, huh?

At a meeting management unleashed their new plan to deal with budget issues. Included with this was the termination of ALL part time staff. That's right. All. This is close to 150 or so people. There will be about 40 or so part time jobs that will be open in the next fiscal year. Current part time employees have been invited to apply to gain these positions. When trying for these positions, seniority will not be a factor.

Can you say "popularity contest"? I can.

Many attended this informatory meeting, few survived. However some of the employees caught the tidbit thrown in the middle of the speech about how everyone was special. This tidbit mentioned that they had been looking at this problem for over a year.

OVER A YEAR folks.

While this current plan will allow the library to survive - barely- let us take a look at how the management has handled things for over a year in response to this growing crisis.

Management has been continuing to hire, and promote, tons of new employees. Almost every week or so we received news announcements saying to welcome a new employee, or that that employee was promoted to a position that was not there before. Such as extra clerical positions.

Management received bonuses during this past year, and pay increases... they were doing such a great job, they deserved them.

Management sent employees to an expense-paid conference near San Diego, at an exclusive resort.

Management encouraged employees to go here, there, and everywhere for trainings that were nice, but not vital to the library system.

This year of increased expenses, when they KNEW what the next fiscal year was looking like makes no sense.

Why not do a hiring freeze last year? Reduce some library hours? Limit promotions? Start cutting non-essential staff positions in light of budget cuts.

What are non-essential staff positions, you might ask. Here is a list:
1) Librarian trainees- These are trainees for librarian positions that we are not going to create. 40K a year each.

2) Our P.R. manager. Public relations is nice, but since we now have no budget for many programs and activities, do we really need an 80K a year P.R. person to send formulaic calendars, that will just say when our remaining storytime hours are, to the printer? This job could be done by a secretary or another manager. 80K could help a lot of others keep their jobs.

3) Payroll & accounting. Our staff is getting slashed. How many accountants do we need to process payroll? How about going from 3 to 2?

No, all of the above positions are remaining. Part time employees who are "lucky" enough to come back will be given anywhere from 10-20 hours a week, maximum. Not the 30-35 that they need to survive.

This includes a woman who has worked for the library for 25 years, and who has a daughter to support.

A young woman, and dear friend of mine, who has worked for the library for several years. Her husband is getting laid off from his job.

Another dear friend who works her butt off, and who has a few cats and a new puppy to support.

College students who are paying for housing.

A husband and wife, in their late teens, who just got married.

These are some of the people who are being displaced, who make factions less than non-essential positions... while the library has been tossing money around for the last year. Their jobs could have been saved by just being a little bit frugal.

Does this affect your dearly beloved Berserker? Well, my job is safe. But it does affect me. These are my friends. My extended family. These are the people I share everything with. Yes, this does affect me.

My friends, I love you all. I want to grab on to you and say "Don't go. Don't leave me." I'm selfish. This hurts, so very much.



NEVER SAY GOOD-BYE

The thought & fact that you’re going
Is something I will never believe,
To me this is all a joke
Like someone is playing a game with me

At times we could not stand each other
But yet I still loved you
So now that you’re leaving me
What shall I ever do

Being here without you
Is something I just can’t see
Life, period, without you
Is just not right to me

I know there will be no on like you
No one with your unique style
You are so special to me
Now who will keep me from going senile?

I have connections, baby! Yeah!

A good friend of mine has a younger sister.

Her younger sister has a friend named Erika Lujan.

This friend, Erika, was recently caught with a small arsenal of stolen firearms.

Erika, and a few friends, were involved in a robbery of a gun collector. They stole a van full of guns, intending to sell them, and nearly got away.

A note to thieves and gun-runners. When you have an SUV full of illegal weapons, drive carefully. It seems they crashed, and flipped over while on the freeway. Guns went everywhere.

My friend is a bit disturbed that one of her sister's friends was doing this for extra cash.

Personally I think it is kind of funny. In a roundabout way, I have some serious connections! Plus it makes me feel a bit better about my freaky family.

If you would like to check out the story, here is the link.

Not much else to say

Here is a link to a post I just read from a friend of mine. 'Nuff said.

If you feel like a little Italian...

Okay, I am going to take a moment from my Disney memories to share some important information.

On Saturday a few of us got together for dinner and a movie. It was a welcome home bash for a friend of mine. He had been gone for a while to get some training down in So. Cal. Actually he was staying in a hotel about 10 blocks from Disneyland. A company paid-for hotel room down near Disneyland. Some guys have all the luck!

Anyway, he got home on Friday, and the bash was Saturday. We decided to play it by ear and see what happened.

This was, after all, supposed to be a cool outing. A celebration! Finally we decided to go to the Garlic House in Oakdale. We roll up only to discover that the location was no longer a beloved establishment, but was now Bocelli's Restaurante.

We decided to give it a go. We walked in the door of this little hole-in-the-wall eatery, and entered an extremely elegant Italian restaurant. The restaurant was charming, the staff on the ball and cheerful. And the food.. out of this world! If you have the good fortune to enter this realm of fine dining, I highly suggest trying the chicken linguine with goat cheese. Don't be put off by the cheese.. this dish is completely amazing. Other dishes, such as the lasagna and seafood raviolis are also fantastique!

Seriously, this place could give any of the nicer restaurants in the area a serious run for its money.

This is a place you want to take someone to impress them. It's a little bit of a drive, but totally worth the time! Besides, on the way back, you can catch a movie at the Riverbank Galaxy theatre.

Check it out and enjoy!