Chicken or Internet

So, my husband found the following stat regarding internet use in the EU:

Out of the people in the European Union who do not have Internet in their homes, 50% quoted the cause "remains the lack of interest in Internet".

This caused quite an interesting discussion between my husband and I. I believe that since the EU is geographically so close that many Europeans do not feel the need to have access to information in their homes (unlike Americans who almost need it since we are so isolated from each other both physically and culturally). He has different opinions.

Regardless, I'm interested in what you think. Post a comment.

Waiting for Godot...or at least feeling like it

Today a friend threw me a bone and gave me a small copywriting job. I'm thoroughly nervous- well, not thoroughly, but at least two cups of coffee nervous - about writing it for several reasons:

1. I'm not used to getting paid for my copy, thus, bar is raised internally

2. I'm not used to writing copy for someone I don't know. This leads into

3. I'm not used to having lag time between the starting of something and its completion. I'm currently waiting for said client to call me back so she can answer some of my questions. In education, you either get it done now or it doesn't get done. It's weird being on someone else's schedule.

However, this does expand my repertoire of copywriting. Hooray for expanding Chicago job options. I'm just ready for this first phone call to be over and done with; then I will have the worst part over and feel like I can come out of this thing successfully.

No more teacher's dirty looks: a eulogy

Chewed the rag with a fellow educator, lamenting the 40% increase Xcel has tacked on to its Denver customers. In the middle of this bitter-laced banter, my colleague informs me of her new technique to save money: walk everywhere. She proceeds to expound on her daily routine of walking - yes, walking - the 3.4 miles to her local gym, walking home, having lunch, reading (a feat in of itself for any educator), and walking the 1 mile to her friend's - who is on vacation - house to water the plants. I thought she was being a little overzealous in her battle against oil, but then she explains how she can't wait until October when her car will be paid off and she can start paying off her furnace. We made some kind of joke to sweeten the anger and fear of our economic situations. She said something we both laughed a little too hard at: "I just need to find a rich husband." We laughed because we knew the unspoken, somber ending of that sentence: "...so that I can keep teaching."

When did educators fall into poverty levels? Our union fought with sharp teeth this year, and although we got to keep our health insurance (which only covers us btw, not any spouse or children), we received less than a 4% raise. When Xcel energy is gearing up for battle by 40%, and I can only afford one bag of apples a month, 4% will not cover much.

As my friend and I continued on our conversation, we both talked about other people, in other industries who are able to ride out this dep...er...recession, our sad reality comes into focus: we may have to leave teaching because we cannot afford to stay. That reality depresses me greatly. We are good teachers who, if nothing changes, will be forced out of the classroom and into corporate America. I heard a rumor that for a family of for to be completely self-sufficiant (no government aid) in Colorado, the annual household income had to be above $60,000. What does that mean for my rambling buddy? What does that mean for me and my husband?

I fear I must dust off my resume.




(thanks to Chylinski Marcin for the pic of the pencils)

Summertime, or what you will

So, I'm starting to wonder if I could work a little extra money into the summer. I explained this to one of my students before school got out two weeks ago, and she said what I had been thinking for quite some time: "you'd make a great barista." Hazzah!

Now I'm left debating whether to apply for a summer job at Starbucks in Denver, or should I wait until we get to Illinois? Finances being tight right now - and us wanting to buy a house within the next two years - I will most likely have to get a part-time job to pay down (read: get rid of) the majority of our credit card debt. We can't have any credit card debt if we are to buy a house. It just sucks being so behind the financial times. I keep reading that we should be putting about 20% of our income into a retirement fund. Are you kidding me?! 20%?! Do these crazy people not realize that we are barely living month to month (proven by our debt). And we don't live extravagantly. We don't go to movies in the theaters more than once a month; we don't take huge road trips; what are we missing?

Ugh.

Regardless, the idea of working part-time at Starbucks is kind of fun. I should start applying now.

Job hunting sucks like a Hoover industrial vacuum cleaner.

I'm in the midst of trying to find a job in the Chicago area, and boy, it's a cumbersome project. I didn't realize how lucky I was to get a job only after three applications when I first got my teaching credentials. Part of me wants to just walk into these schools and say, "Can I teach for a day? Just so you can really see how good of a teacher I am?"

Ah well...

Off to spend some more time applying