Waiting For The Axe

Justin is still looking for a new home. He's sort of in standby mode, until listings pick up in the spring. He's seen just about everything in his price range that's available now. We don't see him much as he works 10 hour days and then hits the gym before he comes home. We know he sleeps here as the bed is messed up! Actually, I do see him for about a half hour before he hits the sack.

Ray and I are waiting for the sequester axe to fall on Ray's neck. Apparently, the union and the administration are haggling over exactly who, how and when. But we know it's coming. We are hoping Ray will be able to pick his day off, but don't hold out much hope for that. It looks like it will start on the first of April. For us, sequester means a 20% pay cut through "furlough" days, which are days off without pay. When he has 88 hours of furlough time, then he's considered part time for benefit purposes, which means we will pay more for our dental coverage (and medical coverage, if we had it), and they stop contributing to the retirement fund. If he hits 22 furlough days, he's considered laid-off. At that point, he will be able to apply for unemployment, which is of course, far less than we need to meet expenses.

A 20% cut is going to make things tight. At least we don't have small children at home, with all the expense that entails. We'll have to find ways to cut back. I don't quite know how, except for dinners out. One of my favorite things, dinners out. O well. Into each life some rain must fall, right?

Ray is not eligible for early retirement, or he'd be gone today, I am pretty sure. He's finding this last year of work a terrible pain in the neck. He's got short-timers disease already. It might not be so bad if that motorhome wasn't sitting there, beckoning. But it is what it is, and he has to work a bit longer so we can have a decent retirement and not have to eat dog food. All our toys are expensive to maintain!

We have been thinking about making a motorcycle trip to Glacier this summer, but now we've come across a very good price on an Inside Passage cruise to Alaska. So we're redeciding what to do this summer. Next summer and all the years we have after that we can sit in Glacier for weeks and weeks. No deadlines for us, except very vague ones. But this good price might not be around next year. And of course, there's that sequester axe hanging up there, like the pit and the pendulum.What to do?