I'm about halfway through reading "Nickel & Dimed, On (Not) Getting by in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich.

I think many people on this forum would be VERY interested to read this book. The author is a journalist and decided to see for herself whether it really was possible to live on minimum wage, so she sort of went undercover and took jobs as a waitress, nursing home aide, wal mart employee and cleaning lady to see what it was like.

It's REALLY eye-opening. And altho i've worked as a white collar middle income employee all my life, there are many things she describes in her book that i can relate to from some of my earliest jobs fresh out of college, including chambermaiding and factory work one summer.

People working these jobs are nearly invisible to the rest of society, doing the gruntwork that no one else wants to do. Even putting aside the low wages and impossiblity of living decently based on those wages, they're often treated in a degrading and humiliating manner by employers.

As CB mentioned in an earlier comment on this book, it's definitely going to make me tip more generously next time i eat out.

"She" meaning me, that is...

Online shopping is sooooo effortless. I dropped $114 on a set of 84" long, double-wide insulated curtains (color: linen) from Plow & Hearth. And I used my AAA membership to get a 15% discount, which basically came out to mean I got free shipping. They're double-wide, not cus i live in a trailer (ha ha), but becus they're intended for the set of French doors separating my living room from my family room. (I close off the family room in winter and all that cold, cold air is surely infiltrating thru the single pane glass.)

I ordered the expandable tension rod for said curtains from Umbra.com. The tension rod was a friend's idea, which was a really good one as i'd been worrying about doing conventional curtain rods which would require that i nail brackets in and possibly look wierd as the rod would have to go over some molding i have above the doors, and how would that look in summer when the curtains were down?

A tension rod was the perfect solution. I saw one i liked, first at JC Penney at $30 + shipping. I thought about going there in person. It's a 20-minute ride (I measure every trip now by the cost of gas), and I didn't feel confident this exact item in my color and the right length could be found after the Xmas hordes have already been unleashed. So i went to the manufacturer's website and was surprised to see that not only was the same item cheaper there by $4, but they charged nothing for shipping. So i placed the order right away at $26.50.

My Xmas shopping has been very modest, but that's what we've done the past few years. Now, to my surprise, when my mom asked my sister at Thanksgiving what she wanted for Xmas, she replied, "a digital camera." So the past few years, she practically didn't want to spend ANY $$ on Xmas becus she couldn't afford it. Understandable. So we scaled everything waaaay down. Now becus she wants the camera, does that mean we all have to "ramp up" the holiday purchases? I kind of like how we've been doing it of late. To be honest, i'm not planning on spending much more, and when i asked my mother if she wanted to go in with me on the camera, she didnt sound like she wanted to.

For my mother, who likes doing crossword puzzles, i got a simon & schuster crossword puzzle book. Also a sheet of real US postage stamps with her own art on them (zazzle.com if anyone's interested). For my sis thus far i got her a soapstone mortar & pestle for her to grind her homegrown herbs (nothing illegal, she's a farmer).Also got her a book on native american indians (free, at the library) which i think she'll find interesting. I don't usually exchange gifts with my dad and his GF, mainly becus we don't always see each other at the holiday. But i noticed when i saw him T-giving that he was doing crossword puzzles, too, so i'm tempted to get the exact same book for my dad that i got for my mother. But then that means i would need to get something for K. and i should, as she got me a very nice bracelet at T-giving for really no reason at all. Not sure what, but now she's got that dachsund puppy. Maybe something related to that. She's already got a closetful of doggie coats and vests. For my friend H. I am giving the fax machine from my office; they don't want or need it at my company, and since we're closing this office as of this Friday, i'm cleaning everything out. She had asked for it, cus she needs one, but i never let on that i'd be able to get it.

This Friday's my last day at this job. I've been surprised all along that no one is really monitoring what i'm doing. When we moved here 3 years ago, we hired a moving company to move all our stuff; this time, i have single handedly packed and managed it myself, hiring an odd jobs guy in town to help me move the stuff to the garage of the person i report to in a neighboring town. Wierd, i know, but no storage room in HQ. Odd jobs guy is delighted for the work. I feel somehwat unappreciated, though, and no one in the company seems to care much what's going on. Amazing. I've been laid off, and a more disgruntled employee could wreak havoc, i suppose, but i'm really not taking it personally as i already have a new job lined up. I'm taking a kind of philosophical approach to the whole thing. I enjoyed it while i could here, but now it's ending and a new chapter of my life is just about to start. Who knows what awaits?

I'm about halfway thru with Xmas shopping and all of it's been done online. Sweet. I hate crowds and fighting for a parking space.

Now that i finished reading "You Can Do It, the Boomers Guide to Retirement," I'm on to a new book which i picked up used for $2 at my library Book Nook. It's called "Nickel and Dimed, On (Not) Getting by in America." Written in 2001 and on the NYT best seller list, the author decided to try to see if she could live on minimum wage as all the politicians say that any job is better than no job at all. So she took work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, etc.

From the back cover: "She soon discovered that even the 'lowliest' occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety and surprising generosity - a land of Big Boxes, fast food and a thousand desperate strategies for survival."

It sounds very interesting but i haven't started reading it yet.

Miracle of miracles, i drove the 3 hours south to dad's for the holiday, and back, without hitting any traffic! Now that I'm really thankful for.

We had a very nice visit and lots of time to catch up on all the family news. Altho my dad and K. usually eat out and aren't much for cooking, they managed to drum up a very good traditional dinner.

And i got to meet the new addition to the household, a really cute dachshund puppy named Bailey. He joins 2 cats and they all more or less get along. He's really a ball of energy, though, loves to play and loves to chew. In fact he destroyed the heels of a nice pair of black leather shoes I carelessly left on the floor. My dad insisted on reimbursing me for them. the dog gets walked about 6 times a day, so hopefully this will translate into improved fitness for both my dad and K.

The trip cost me about $37. That's $31 for gas (pretty much a full tank needed for the round trip with my Honda) plus tolls. It was worth it. First ever Thanksgiving with my dad. I'd like to do it again.

Back at home by Friday afternoon, I wisely decided to avoid any holiday shopping that weekend. Well, i did make a trip to Agway as they had a sale on birdseed. On Saturday i celebrated T-giving, Part II, with my mother and sister locally.

Otherwise, i was quite content to continue raking leaves in the yard, do a 50-minute walk to pick up the Sunday paper, do my bird count and get the holiday decorations out. Nice way to spend a few days off.

I am thankful for:

My health/my family/my financial security/my new job/our country's democracy and stability/the people in my life.

Have a great holiday; here's to getting where we want to be, safely and sanely.

Last night was our last class of tai chi, and i asked my friend, who's in the class, whether she'd like to bag the tai chi and go see the $2 movie, Harry Potter and the Phoenix. She agreed, tho we both felt a little guilty about playing hooky. Well, the teacher already got paid, so he should be ok.

I'm about halfway through reading Jonathan Pond's (PBS) book, You Can Do It. The Boomer's Guide to a Great Retirement. He goes over all the basics of investing for retirement which i mostly know already, but it's good to refresh myself on them plus learn about a few new products i wasn't aware of when i worked in financial services 6 years ago. I think the key difference is his philosophy. He disagrees with the majority of retirement soothsayers out there who keep telling us we're not saving enough and there will be dire consequences. He feels many of us will do just fine and that planners overestimate how much we'll need to live on in retirement.

Anyway, he's got some good, practical info on how to decide what age to retire, when to start collecting social security and so on, as well as a number of helpful worksheets.

So the book has me thinking a lot about retirement (my favorite subject), and that's still years away for me. However, lately, i've had a new thought. Instead of selling my house and downsizing to a condo, I'm thinking lately it might be better to sell the house and buy a small ranch on a smaller piece of land than what i have now.

This has many advantages for me. By buying a small house rather than a condo as i've intended for the past year or two, i can still pursue a few favorite hobbies with a 2nd house that i might otherwise need to curtail at a condo...gardening and birdfeeding. I also retain maximum privacy and quiet, also important. If i want to pay someone to mow and plow, fine, but at least with the house i still have the option to continue doing it myself, or not. And mowing might not seem as onerous if it's a 1/2 acre or less; right now it's 1.5 acres that i mow with a walk-behind.

With a ranch house, it'd be MUCH easier to deal with maintenance, even house painting or getting on the roof/gutters, myself. Now, with a cape, i'm forced to hire someone to do these things. Now whether i'd really be inclined to be climbing ladders and such when i'm in my 50s is debatable, but i do that sort of thing now, so who knows? Self-sufficiency is in my blood, that is fer sure.

Anyway, the house would need to be on a level lot, preferably a quiet, dead-end road. One thing that worried me about the condo, aside from what i already mentioned above, is that those monthly common charges, which presumably cover lawn upkeep and snow plowing, would a) be permanent, b) go up every year and c) would certainly be a lot higher than what i'd pay someone to mow and plow if i was hiring them myself. I mean, the more control i have over my own expenses, the better i feel. Two of the larger condo complexees in my area charge, in addition to the common charge, a 'district tax' which i guess is needed to cover the adiditonal cost of maintaining an extended land area, at complexes that are large enough to be considered little villages in themselves. It seems unduly expensive.

The thing that got me thinking about the whole condo/house equation is that i keep coming back to the dawning reality that I really would be happiest if i remained in the town i live in now. The problem has been that there are very few condos in my town, and the ones that exist aren't the kind i care for. There are nice condos elsewhere, but many have stairs, outside, inside or both, and if i go to the trouble of moving, i'd want to move to a place (like a ranch house) with no stairs, just in case my MS acts up. Plus it's safer as you get older. I worry about my mother, who's in her mid 70s, with a double flight of stairs you have to climb to get to her main living area. I discouraged her from buying her condo 10 years ago due to that fact, but she didn't care about that. Someday it may be an issue, and not one easily fixed. The house i live in now has outside stairs to the front door, a flight of stairs to the 2nd floor, and another flight to the attic. Oh, plus the basement stairs.

I keep thinking about the little ranch house a neighbor of mine not too far from me lives in. She's a single woman in her early 60s, i guess, recently retired, and i have often done cat-sitting for her, so i've had plenty of time to look at her home, which is very comfortable and cozy, but still modest in size. It's got 7 rooms, which includes 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. Nice little yard, tho i think she has or has had some water problems in the basement. But the floor plan is very nice. I think at one time it included a 2-car garage and they converted one bay to a small family room, the 7th room. Some nice built-in cabinetry, neutral colors, a fireplace. The kind of place i'd like to live in. If it were within walking distance to town, it'd be perfect.

Sorry i couldn't come up with a more interesting headline! It's just my usual meandering musings.

Worked at the food pantry on saturday, but it mostly involved waiting around for the food donation dropoffs with about another 15 people, so i left around 1 pm as i had my own errands to do and figured there was plenty of help without me.

stopped at the health food store to pick up some oil of peppermint and wheat bran. The peppermint's for the mice, the bran for my cat. I'm going to dip cotton balls in the oil of peppermint and place these strategically in crevices above the sill plate on the back wall of my basement, where the mice are getting in. Mice reportedly hate the smell of peppermint, so soon my basement will smell like candy canes! I hate dealing with dead mice in mousetraps.

My mom dropped by Saturday to pick up oodles of office supplies i salvaged from my office. They don't think they're worth the cost of shipping them to our HQ, so they said i can help myself to all sorts of stuff. I took some, and saved some for my mother and friend H.

Not dating anyone these days, i spent my saturday night doing what i remember doing on and off for the past 20 years: watching Cops and then America's Most Wanted. I browsed thru Better Homes & Gardens during the commercials.

On Sunday friend H. and i went down to trader joe's, then hit 3 places before we found a place open for lunch. The Italian place we 1st planned on going to is so close to the mall, and it was mobbed (as was the mall). This surprised me, as we're still a week before Thanksgiving. Then on to a middle eastern restaurant, which was closed, then another spot, also closed. We settled on a diner type place where the food was quite generic, but by that point i was starving so I gave in. I had a tuna melt and fries.

Back at home, i was fighting the usual mid-day sleepiness, but still managed to do about an hour and a half's worth of raking leaves. Me thinks i'm the only person left on the globe who still uses a rake rather than a shrill-sounding, ear throbbing leaf blower. My neighbors will all be deaf one day, but at least they'll have tidy lawns.

Managed to vacuum the whole house, thank god. After about 3 weeks, you start seeing dust bunnies. Between my long hair and my cat's, we sure know how to make stuff grow in the corners of the room. Housecleaning is not my forte, altho if i ever have anyone coming over, the place is spotless.

Never got to use the free pair of concert tickets i had gotten. My friend, you see, had totally FORGOTTEN the night of the concert. Good thing i called him. No biggie, i had mixed feelings about schlepping an hour down there anyway. So i hit the town's book discussion club meeting instead, which i hadn't done in over a year. It was a very good discussion (about 6 women and 1 man), so i'm glad i went. Most of the people there were the same ones I'd remembered from a few years ago.

I just spent $84 on a caged, 3-tube bird feeder. Too much money, i know, but you've got to understand that bird feeding is one of my really big hobbies, especially when there's not much else to do in winter. And I've been doing volunteer research for over 12 years now. My 2 remaining single tube feeders are pretty banged up by the squirrels, tho still functional, tho this may be their last season.

The main problem is that they hold less seed and i find myself having to go out there to refill them every 2 days. After steadily feeding the birds in my neighborhood, often on a year-round basis, for many years, i have a healthy population of chickadees, titmice, red and white-breasted nuthatches, blue jays, mourning doves, cardinals, sparrows, finches, juncoes, woodpeckers, etc. Those are just the regulars. I've also seen orioles, indigo buntings, warblers, towhees, red-breasted grosbeaks...that's the thrill of the hunt. You never know what may show up.

With a bigger feeder I'll more than double my seed capacity so i don't have to freeze my butt off in the dead of winter, and i can still entertain myself and do my bird counts from the comfort of my (relatively) heated house.

I am also going to spend some money on a tension rod and insulated curtains for the set of french doors leading to my family room. The doors, since they're interior doors, are single pane glass, but each winter i close off the family room becus it's the only room heated by expensive electric heat and i don't use or need to use that room, so i put draft dodgers at the bottom. But i'm sure that glass still conducts a lot of cold, as that room is totally unheated and it sits over my unheated garage.

So i've been in the market for a nice decorative tension rod; there's not much to choose from online, most of them are shower curtain rods, but i saw something that would work at JC Penney. And i'm waiting for color swatches for the curtains. I'm thinking solid tan as my living room, which lies on this side of those french doors, has a lot of bold color in it already, namely purple. Getting this up will be one of my projects after my job ends.

I was reading something somewhere about a guy with an old house who was using 800 gallons of oil each heating season, which seemed like an awful lot, so i got out all my old oil bills and added it up. For the last 2 years, i only used about 380 gallons of oil to heat my house; last year i used about 70 gallons less than the year before. I think last winter was pretty mild, right, so that would explain it. I aim to be on track this winter with the same kind of low usage, perhaps even lower.

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving, though with the continuing spike in gas prices, i guess it's gonna cost a small fortune to drive the 3 hours down to my dad's in NJ.

This will be the 1st time ever that i'll be heading down his way to spend the day with him, his longtime gal pal, and whatever assorted offspring show up, possibly my 2 half-brothers and possible girlfriend's, plus my dad's girlfriend's 3 kids, tho one lives overseas.

I will do another T-giving dinner on Saturday with my mom and sister. I will surely be stuffed by that time.

Anyway, i'm planning on getting out of work a few hours early on Wednesday so i can do some cooking. It's got to travel well, so i'm planning on doing cornbread and a cranberry/grape relish and if i have time/energy, cranberry bars.

I'm bursting to tell you my big news but perhaps not in my best interests at the present time. I don't mean to sound so damned mysterious, but maybe later.....if you're really dying to know, send me a private message.

Back to T-giving, i hope to be on the road by 8 a.m. that a.m. so that would put me at dad's front doorstep at 11 a.m., provided there's no traffic which of course is a ridiculous thought.

was supposed to go to a country/blues/jazz concert featuring a 3-band lineup tonight. I had invited a friend who agreed to go a few weeks ago, but then when i called him last night to confirm it was a go, he couldn't talk and said he would call me back later. That was around 6:30 p.m. and i went to bed very early last night, taking the phone off the hook so i wouldn't be disturbed, as sleep is very important to me and i don't usually sleep well in general.

Anyway, once in the office here, i realized i don't have his cell number with me and i have no idea if he's remembered we were supposed to go to the concert tonight or if maybe some sort of family emergency came up or what. i sent him an email but i have a feeling he won't see it.

so i guess i'm not going to the concert tonight. i sure hope he's not waiting for me. But it's an hour drive down there and i don't want to drive it for nothing.

the concert would've been fun, but on a worknight it's a bit of a trek. I got the tickets free (valued at $70 each cus it was a fundraiser), after doing some PR for the guy who organized the event.

so now i'm thinking i want to go to the local library's book club discussion group which also meets tonight. Hamlet's Dresser is the book, and it was pretty interesting. (I read it.) But i'm not 100% sure about what my friend thinks. Maybe he thinks i'm gonna show up tonight, altho we hadn't talked about it since a few weeks ago when i first told him about it. I hope he's not upset when i don't show....