Shut down!
I don't know how much my national friends have followed this story, but as of July 1st, the Minnesota State Government has shut down. A quick summary: this is because we have a House and Senate controlled by Repubs with a large number of frankly very ignorant and stubborn Tea Party types, and a Democratic Governor. Republicans ran on absolutely no new taxes, Gov. Dayton ran on no cuts to services that we all love and value. They could not resolve a budget plan, so until they do, the State is shut down. All State workers and those on State contracts are now furloughed (barring some essential employees: prison guards, state troopers, the courts, food support workers, etc). That includes all road construction, rest stops, services for needy folks (chemical dependencies, disabilities, battered women/families, homeless), motor vehicle offices, offices to renew hunting licenses, boating licenses, liquor licenses, historic sites, tuition reimbursement for many groups, employment services, racetracks, the lottery, day care for low income families, etc. That also includes me, as I work on a contract with the State-run Vocational Rehabilitation Services offices.
So yeah. Unemployed! Ok, technically furloughed, as I am receiving a call back to work once this is resolved, but meanwhile, on unemployment. And this could draaaag on, since publicly, neither one of the sides is budging.
I'm sure I'll be updating lj with news of my newly unemployed life. I've never ever been unemployed since I started working at age 15. In fact, other than a month of so of sick time when I got bronchitis and pneumonia back-to-back freshman year of college, I've never taken more than 2 weeks of work off in that whole time! Wooooo. Funemployment time!
I'm an unmarried person with a tiny amount of rent to pay, no mortgage, no kids, no family to keep on medical insurance, no student loans, no high expenses, and plenty of savings. Unemployment with cover all my bills and even some fun money, provided that I don't buy any new clothes or go out to eat/drink all the time. And hell, some of my expenses are even lower now, as I probably won't have to fill my gas tank every 5 days, and probably replace my make-up less often and not worrying about having to keep myself in vaguely respectable clothing for work.
I'm trying not to be too silly about it, though. I have coworkers who are freaking because they can't live on their unemployment, and meanwhile probably have kids in daycare, and you can't just pull them out of daycare and still keep their spots (the shut-down could potentially end tomorrow, or three months from now, who knows). I totally get that not everyone is going to be having an orgiastic drunken fun party summer, and that unemployment is NOT actually very fun. But for me? I'm making the best of it.
So far, it's been all drinking with friends and running around and doing what I want, but then again, this has basically just been a long weekend so far. We'll see how I feel if this drags on a few months!
So yeah. Unemployed! Ok, technically furloughed, as I am receiving a call back to work once this is resolved, but meanwhile, on unemployment. And this could draaaag on, since publicly, neither one of the sides is budging.
I'm sure I'll be updating lj with news of my newly unemployed life. I've never ever been unemployed since I started working at age 15. In fact, other than a month of so of sick time when I got bronchitis and pneumonia back-to-back freshman year of college, I've never taken more than 2 weeks of work off in that whole time! Wooooo. Funemployment time!
I'm an unmarried person with a tiny amount of rent to pay, no mortgage, no kids, no family to keep on medical insurance, no student loans, no high expenses, and plenty of savings. Unemployment with cover all my bills and even some fun money, provided that I don't buy any new clothes or go out to eat/drink all the time. And hell, some of my expenses are even lower now, as I probably won't have to fill my gas tank every 5 days, and probably replace my make-up less often and not worrying about having to keep myself in vaguely respectable clothing for work.
I'm trying not to be too silly about it, though. I have coworkers who are freaking because they can't live on their unemployment, and meanwhile probably have kids in daycare, and you can't just pull them out of daycare and still keep their spots (the shut-down could potentially end tomorrow, or three months from now, who knows). I totally get that not everyone is going to be having an orgiastic drunken fun party summer, and that unemployment is NOT actually very fun. But for me? I'm making the best of it.
So far, it's been all drinking with friends and running around and doing what I want, but then again, this has basically just been a long weekend so far. We'll see how I feel if this drags on a few months!