First, the good news: I still have a job, and the company is not announcing new layoffs. We had a challenging quarter, and earnings were down compared to same quarter last year, but we didn’t lose money. That’s the good news.
Bad news: All sorts of money-saving measures to keep as many employees as possible. No more 401k matching. ESPP will be on end-of-cycle, not lowest of beginning or ending of cycle, basis. Whee.
What hits hardest for me is two-fold: first, they’re getting rid of my car allowance. They decided that even though I travel a lot, I don’t spend a lot of time in my own car. This is fair, but it’s a loss of a serious monthly chunk of change. They’re replacing it with a higher per-mile reimbursement, so those folks who DO live in their cars for work will be treated fairly.
The other hammer fell this morning: 5% pay cut. Like I said, I’ve been hearing of 10% around the ‘nets, so it could have been worse.
Now, here’s the rub: Taken together, these two reductions represent an 8.17% in NET pay. It still could have been worse, but it’s still going to hurt. A lot.
Okay, bait and switch may be a bit harsh. I am at my parents-in-law for the weekend, and they pulled out this movie to watch last night. Nobody really had any idea what the movie was about, but I guess they heard about it through friends or whatnot.
The movie starts out normal enough, though the first thing I noticed (and I’m not one who usually catches on to this) is just how badly this movie is acted. The main character is played by Kirk Cameron, and he’s okay, but the others… wow. As things go on, and before the real intent of the movie is known, one starts to wonder how a major release can be this bad.
As it turns out, it isn’t just a regular old movie. One look at the DVD cover reveals the copyright to be held by the Sherwood Baptist Church of Albany, GA. As it turns out, this movie plays like a Evangelical Christian Marriage Counseling video thinly disguised as a movie with a commercial for the Love Dare Book thrown in for good measure. If they had left the Love Dare Book out of it, I could forgive the movie entirely and pass it off as good intentions on the part of the Evangelical Christians, but having it in there puts this movie in the realm of the pathetically shameless.
I was nice. I sat and watched the whole thing. There are some funny parts that have nothing to do with the main plot. But these pale to the issues above, as well as the borderline-racist treatment of the non-whites in the film.
I’m glad I was with my wife and parents-in-law when I saw this movie. I probably wouldn’t have been able to sit through the whole thing otherwise. It was just that bad.
Apple’s iPhone App Refund Policies Could Bankrupt Developers
Apple’s iPhone App Refund Policies Could Bankrupt Developers
Apple iPhone Devs should read the fine print.
Apple Adds Still More DRM to iPod Shuffle | Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Read it for youself. As much as I like Apple for its computers, doing this kind of thing is only going to further ruin their already tarnishing reputation.
