Ben Wisdom

That is a nice reward. Good job!

That's great! It's your life! And Nora hasn't made it yet, because she's mostly being posted in pictures ... and everyone ELSE is saying "cute, adorable, cute, sweet, etc!".

I wonder how many of the "today"s are about her... since she's doing new things almost every day?

Merry Christmas, Ben

Poor thing. He needs to come up here this weekend!!!

What's funny is he's even barefoot!!!

Well, Jack might even try to be barefoot in the snow!

LOL -- we made a run to buy file folders yesterday for this very reason! Becca needed some outside stimuli. :)
Glad Jack is better.

5 out of 6 in one week. Who's next? Uh oh, daddy hasn't been bit by the bug yet. By the way, I hope he doesn't. Cleaning up after four "little" kids is enough.

At least us "big" kids can usually make it somewhere....
:)

So true!!!

I don't know whether to like or dislike this. ;-)

Yuck...that's no fun. Feel better!!!

Seems to be going around up here as well. Hope you and Jack both feel better soon!

well, it's good to know!!!!

Please explain to your doddering Grandma-you accepted a job, but the job search continues.:-)

Well Grandma, about a year ago they announced that my factory would be closing in early 2010 due to corporate consolidation. First my product line (A fuel injector made for a diesel truck) was going to be shipped off to be made in a plant in Newport News, VA, and I was going to move with it (and I wasn't sure that I wanted to). Then as the economy got worse, the corporate muckity-mucks decided that they were either going to sell my product line to anyone who wanted to buy it or ship it off to be made in Thailand.

All this year I have been out on the job market, pretty much finding locked or closing doors everywhere I turned. I have had one real face-to-face interview at a company in Roanoke, VA in the summer, and though they picked someone else (with twenty years experience) for the job, they have asked me to stay in touch until another position opens up. Stringing me along ever since, they told me to call them back in late January for the next update. This is harrowing but worth it, because it looks like a great opportunity, should it ever materialize.

With the factory closing date looming closer, I was gradually getting used to the idea of being laid off with severance pay, free to look for a job in earnest, instead of just all these furtive half-measures.... See More

The company that makes the trucks that we sell injectors to, Navistar, entered into negotiations to buy the product line, the factory, etc., and that deal was closed on October 31st. Navistar announced that they would be hiring back a majority of those already working at the plant (and I wasn't sure that I wanted to be).

They rolled out the offers this week, and by today people know if they will be working in January or getting laid off with severance pay. The problem is, they lowballed the job offers as much as they legally could -- 90% of base pay -- and NOBODY is happy about that. (The ironic thing is that those that are laid off get severance pay at 100% of base.) So I have a job through the winter, but as soon as I find a good exit ramp off this highway, I am going to take it.

[Now let's see if Facebook will let me leave a comment this long.....]

They did! A good summary of a long, harrowing year!

Whoah, wait a sec. 90% of base pay? I seem to recollect a meeting at the end of October where Navistar would offer the Conti pay PRIOR TO THE 10% cuts initiated during the past year....

God be praised Ben!!! WHOA....it is a good strategy to accept this job and look for another one in the interim. God be praised!

Thanks Ben, for the explanation.It is sort of what I thought, and your long post makes it very clear.I pray for you, that God will be honored by whatever happens.

Glad you've got an offer and some options, Ben. I was surprised to hear that they went the route of making the 10% cut essentially permanent. I guess they think they have a pretty captive audience or something (?)

Ben: please be careful with what you post on FB regarding your employer. It is discoverable in employment litigation and can and has come back to really bite people. Not assuming you would ever be involved in an employment dispute, but you just never know!

Duly noted, Jennifer. I will definitely be careful.

Keith, you always seem to come up with good words, and "captive" is a good word in this case. It may become more and more appropriate if congress continues to throw the marketplace under the job-killing omnibus. Traditionally, the American culture has produced people who don't take kindly to... See More such captivity, and that's what I was trying to say, at least in my own case.

Nevertheless, I truly am thankful that I have a job and especially health insurance in these troubled times. It could always be worse, and for many people it is. I've said it before and I'll say it again: send up a prayer and lend a hand whenever you can to those who want gainful employment but don't have it.

So, Ben... listen to Jennifer... Now that we all know your good news... can you delete this post, or does it saty "somewhere" forever? Jennifer?

This certainly was confusing. I didn't finish it because i couldn't understand what iit was about. For the record I am friends with Ben.

Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself.
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,
It should've been somebody eeelllllse...
do-do-de-do-doooo, doo-do-do-de-do-doooo....

Should we be worried if you show up to choir with a new perm and blond highlights?

I sang that song at karaoke last month! It was epic.

Yes, Holly, I WOULD worry, if he showed up like that! :)

Tom, I'm just imagining....

You don't have to -- let's find a place to do karaoke while I'm in town!

Um...

Oh dear, now I'm REALLY imagining!!!! :)

(Rachel) For the record, Ben's culturally illiterate wife has no idea what this is...

Believe it or not, I'm walking on air, I never thought I could feel so free-ee-ee....

Awww, yeahh! My man Patrick did not leave me hangin'! Okay, someone finish this thing off! You know you want to!

flying away on wing and a prayer.
who could it be?
believe it or not it's just me.

Don't worry Rachel, you're not culturally illiterate, you're delightfully innocent of 80's TV... :)

It can sometimes be difficult to visualize life without many conveniences we often neglect.

Ours is out now.

Every time something breaks I don't replace it, and brag on my low carbon footprint. Pretty soon I'll be using rock tools.

OK, "liking" this isn't good enough! She's adorable!!! :-D

too precious!!!!

I cant wait to see some pictures.

They're up there somewhere... click on Ben's name!

At about 12:30 last night, it was my turn to console Nora when she was crying, Rachel brilliantly suggested that I take her into the living room and turn on the Christmas tree lights. It worked like a charm. Everytime it looked like she was about to cry, she looked over at the pretty lights and then looked at me and sighed. How's that for a Merry Christmas?

Yes, that was "brilliant". :) I think it's fantastic that y'all console your children rather than "letting" (read: making) them cry it out. We do the same, and we are rewarded with happy, content, secure children.

Abingdon-on-Thames is where MGs (Morris Garages) were made. That's a wonderful part of the world in Virginia. Jack has a VERY serious and pensive look! ;)

Jack looks pensive because he is quite seriously listening to a bagpipe and drum group playing stirring Celtic tunes. Jack loves bagpipe music, much to Rachel's chagrine. ;)

Ach Aye! Good Laddie! Why chagrined? Embrrrrrrace the Scottishnesssss, Rachel! It's in the lad's blood. There's Irish in there too...a bit. Ask BJ! It's a powerful, primal impulse, like it or not. If he tends toward a vicious temper in a few years and uses his fists at a hat drop on bullies, you can blame me and not all the other relatives, if ya want. ;) It'll wear off around age 18 or so, unless it's not properly channeled. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Mushroom cloud??? Reminds me of Mario Brothers...

I'm with you, Rachel. What kinda hippie secular crap is he listening to?

Just so you all know, the song is Weird Al Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero"....
and Rachel better watch out, or she may just have to get her own FB account. :)

Well now I'm going to YouTube! Weird Al is cool.

yay - it's about time Rachel had her own account!

Funny. I just realized a lot of you never really grew up with such a threat. And many don't realize what the USSR was, other than history. This explains a lot. No really, it's funny...it's just...

Praying for you, Ben. (Carol)

Thinking of you

Yeah! I am terribly competitive.
I love to kick Stephen's butt at Anything.

Go Rachel!

Too cute!

So you are "available to the market" at this time? Will pray, but now you have to keep us all updated on FB... the price you pay. :)

Currently, it is between two companies: the one that bought my factory here in the Columbia, SC area, and a company that I interviewed with in Roanoke, VA back in July. Both have hinted that they will be extending offers to me in the very near future, probably next week, but of course neither is certain until I see it in black and white.

I have ... See Morebeen available to the market for almost a year now, and these anticipated offers will be the first ones of this long, strange year. Of course, I will let you all know something as soon as I know anything.

I will keep you in my prayers.

Praying, Benji, praying.

...and are being prayed!!

Well, ending up with offers from both companies is at least a good kind of problem to have!

HUGS! All will be well--God is taking care of you! (stuff you already know, but I'm just saying it again)

Of course we'll be praying!

Oh, no! Yup, I'm thinking the warranty is the way to go!

For next time!

And the camera probably has to be up where only tall people can reach it... I know, cramping his style...

Sams/Walmart has a Nikon "D20" for less than $100 that should be a good buy.

Hey....Ron dropped mine in the lake when he went after his deer. Must be a thing that guys of all ages do, huh? :) Ron got the camera back but it didn't survive the mud & I doubt Kodak would have felt it was their fault. I have a Nikon now & it takes AWESOME pics!

We have one of those made especially for kids - extremely durable. Fisher Price or something. A camera in a thick, rubbery-plastic casing. It has survived many abuses. But the quality is awful. They might be better now, though.

Grandparent Christmas idea....

Sorry mom, Rachel just bought one for Jack's Christmas present from us. We saw it in the Bed Bath & Beyond flyer that came in the mail today, and circumstances did not permit us to ignore it.

Thanks for letting me know! That's where I saw it, when I was looking for tablecloths... but I hadn't done anything about it! Great idea for it to be from Mom and Dad. then he can have his own camera, and yours can be safe! Up high!

Note to self: Photog Uncle photojournalism Major (wasted ed) for Future master photog nephew. The top end Canon Rebel SLR will be worth about $50 in a couple years...if my bank account is worth that much then. Buy now!

Good news! Target let me return the broken camera for a full refund! I used the refund to buy a Canon Powershot A1100, which was on sale for the holiday weekend (I got the last one they had in stock!). I had a Powershot a few years ago and it lasted about four years, so hopefully this one will last a while, too (especially if I keep it out of tech of the little ones.).

Hurray for good news!