h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, if I can I am going to go to school. I never really went to college to begin with, so I need to go there in teh first place...

Sorry to hear that Marv.

I quite liked the Hunchback of Notre Dame. In general French classics are well written. I liked the one work by Dostoyevsky I read ( Brothers Karamazov). never could get through War and Peace. I mostly know about Tolstoy as an anarchist.

Thanks for all your support of Marv. just remember that I actually live with him, and will have to put up with the depression, boredom and general ennui that is sure to follow. I am sure he will get another job, just not so sure it will pay as well. On the other hand, work has stressed him out so badly for so long maybe it's not such a bad thing.

Oh, marv, that really sucks. But you do deserve better, and you will get better, too, I'm sure.

Severence pay is taxed more highly than normal pay?

What kind of country do you live in for goodness sake?

I am sorry - but there is so much that I hear about the US that makes me thank the goddess I don't live there....

I really *am* sorry.

B

Ben, it's only weeks since you were threatening to emigrate to the US if they introduced ID cards here! You're running out of world, girl .

for Marv.

I'm off to the gym again this morning. That's four times this week . And the result of all this activity? I've put on 2kg this week . I've decided I'm not weighing myself again until the 15th.

I too think it is disgraceful that severance pay gets taxed at a higher rate. It would make sense for it to go as far as possible whilst looking for another job.

I'm off to the gym too for circuit training, sheer torture but it has to be done.

Decides to add more sympathy for Marv, good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Amy, do you think the reason you could be putting on weight is that you've gained more muscle? that happens after a while at the gym.

I need to get motivated to loose weight but i've tried so many times that I don't honestly think that it's possible with legitatmate excersise and diet means for me.

marv, maybe now's the time to make a move to here?

(I'm not going to stop trying, you know!)

the joke around the pit of despair now is that marv is unemployed, even though he won't be for another 6 weeks. I asked him about that at the club tonight, and he says to treat him like he's unemployed ! Hopefully this will motivate him to be agressive about finding another job. At least, that's the plan.. if anyone knows of job opportunities in the IT (Information Technologies) field, please let him know. As much as I would hate for him to move away, I'd rather see him happy and productive than moping around the house bored and depressed....

Marv, in a way I guess one could say the decision you maybe should have made yourself a long time ago now has been made for you - and it might turn out to be for the best! Think of all the opportunities available without anything to hold you back!

Z - motivation is the most difficult part of losing weight, IMHO - it has to come from you. No amount of nagging will work as long as one doesn't feel motivated (ask my mother). I know I simply got fed up with not looking good in anything, and when I discovered I was getting too close 100 kg (220 lbs) for comfort (3-digit weight? Me? NEVER!) I had had enough!

I can't help but think that Sweden might not be such a bad place to live in, but everything is relative, eh? I've been working full time so long for companies connected with each other that I'd be receiving full pay (regular tax) for 6 months - I'd have plenty of time to look for a new job.

Oh, incidentally, breaking news in my life...

three weeks ago, my sister informed the family why she's been so secretive the last several years. It seems she was baptized into the Mormon Church quite some time ago and was dating a man old enough to be her father ! She maried him in the Salt Lake City temple yesterday. Last night my whole family met his family for the first time at a local restaurant. It is a bit awkward not only because of the difference in age between her and her new husband, but because our parents are ex-Mormons. They are not particularly happy about her choice, but are resigned to getting along with all the new relations. Personally, i too am not happy with her choice. If I get the chance, i will tell her that if she converted because she really believed the message of mormonism i wish her all the best. But if it was a cynical choice ( she had to become Mormon to marry the man ) she is betraying all the values she was raised with. my family has always felt one must live by what one really believes, not play games to gain some advantage. So there it rests...

Thanks, all, for the advise and kind words. This is not the end of the world, but I really am already feeling quite depressed. I have never spent more than a weekend unemployed as an adult. It is strange to think that in a month and a half I will not be going in to punch a clock and work my cases. I think that I am going to take one week off after the the end regardless. I have not had a real vacation in over five years, and I need some time. But I really do either need to start school, or find a new job fairly quickly. I cannot stay dormant for long. It just won't do.

Marv, that sucks but at least it means you can start afresh with what you want to do, be it in IT or something else, SLC or elsewhere.
Take as long a break as you need to be able to get your head round what you need to do next. If you can afford it do the vaccation you've always dreamed of and get yourself destressed and ready to fight back to get what you know you should have (better job, more $$$, whatever ).
Not much else I can think of to say really, other than good luck and thanks for helping me out when I made the descision to jump rather than be pushed all that time ago.
You'll do it big guy, have a loobrush on me

*flops in to her armchair*

The circuit training routine was different this week and I had to ! ! for a whole minute!

I'm afraid, Amy, that you must have found the 2kg that I lost. If it happens again I'll try not to leave it lying around.

*sits on the wing of Caer's chair, grinning*

I knew it couldn't be my fault . I suspect water retention - which is why I'm going to wait a fortnight and then weigh myself again - but Z could be right too. I've been working on my front legs because my upper body strength was dire. The heaviest thing I lift most days is my toothbrush .

I am definitely fitter now than I was on Monday .

This afternoon I'm going to finish cleaning the kitchen windows. I started yesterday but half way through i discovered that I'd run out of both newspaper and vinegar. I made a nice job of the bars though . And just in case anyone was wondering, the bars are to keep out, not to keep me in.

Good morning, all. Marv, if you'd like to move to Joplin, I know someone who could use you. I don't know if they could afford you. They charge $95 an hour to send someone out, but I have no idea how much of that the tech gets. But the cost of living is lower here. So that has to be taken into consideration. And I'd be close enough to spoil you. (Empty nest - grandkids 1000 miles away - need someone to mother.)

Still no rain. We have a 40% chance tonight and tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Severence pay isn't really taxed at a higher rate here. It has to do with the way taxes are withheld from your paycheck. Typically, an employee gets paid every two weeks. When the last paycheck is issued, that employee would get the regular two weeks plus (in Marv's case) three weeks severence. That 5 week amount throws the employee into a higher tax bracket, so instead of withholding (hypothetically) 25% the rate increases to 30%. When the employee files their tax return for the year, the tax is based on actually earnings and the excess withheld would be refunded.

That's how I remember it anyway. Feel free to correct me.

* from flexing brain cells she hasn't used in a while.*

Seems today is another hot day - yesterday was hot enough, with a temperature of +32ºC (89.6ºF) in my living room and kitchen, leaving my bedroom as the only room with a bearable temperature...

...but, being in the middle of a computer game, I persistently stayed in my kitchen (only room in my flat with grounded(?) wall sockets) with sweat running down front and back *phew*

When my Dad was made redundant, he was given a choice between working his month's notice, or whatever it was, or leaving asap. They wanted him to do the later, but then that would have meant issues with taxes for him, so he worked the month. So I guess it isn't that different?