Vegas or bust.

Feeling generally funky today, not a good funky either. The current economic tsunami is hitting home. We announced last week that the parent company would be “evaluating staff levels” at all affiliates. Everybody knows what that means so now as a member of HR I either get the fake friendliness or people try to avoid making eye contact with me. It’s going to be a rough couple of months until decisions are made, actions are taken and the dust settles.

The decision to announce that you are considering downsizing is not an easy one. If you do it then the workplace is understandably disrupted. If you don’t announce it you take people by surprise and that’s just not good. We opted to give people the heads up and suffer the general sense of skittishness that will become the norm around here. Having been on both sides of that table I can tell you neither side is pleasant. Firing people is generally easy because people did something to deserve losing their jobs. Nobody deserves a layoff. It just sucks all the way around.

On the home front I am faced with a son who despite our best efforts is struggling a little bit to grow up. Off on his own now at school he is making some bad decisions and letting some important things slip. He is learning the hard way that being an adult means facing the adult consequences of those bad decisions. I try to remember that I really didn’t find my own way until my early twenties and made some bone-head decisions of my own. But I don’t have a crystal ball so I just have to hope that he has an “ah-hah” moment like I did and straightens up. He’s a good kid but I really don’t want him living in my basement when he’s 30.

Just trying to hold out until the 19th of this month. Flying off to Vegas to spend four days with my favorite women in the whole world (sister, aunt, cousins, cousin’s daughters). Noticeably absent will be my mother, daughter and nieces but they will be there in spirit and I am sure we will have a round of drinks in their honor.

We Lauchstaedt women have to get together every so often just to laugh and enjoy each others company. We are all crazy in our own unique way. We understand that and we really don’t give a flying f*** about it either. That’s what is so great about our get-togethers, no pretenses, no acts or shows. Just let your hair down, act goofy, have fun. I can’t wait. And since it’s in Vegas I get to play blackjack until the wee hours of the morning. Woo hoo!