Early Birthday

In 2006, we went to Hawaii. Right before we left, the factory's stock price became unstable. People started talking about Hammerslag and John Deere in the news. I was in paradise, but glued to my computer as the news of our acquisition materialized over the next few days. Every time I think of the state house in Honolulu I remember the sunny day when I sat on the capitol steps, facing out to the Archives, and received the blow-by-blow of the announcement on my Nokia 6310. My colleague at work relayed the whole thing, and my not being there on one of the most important days in the company's history still bugs me.

Over the last few years, our department has been hit hard but has done so well. We had layoffs after Covid hit. Hammerslag made a small number preemptive staff cuts, but one third of them were in our department, which is now really small for the amount of work we do. One of those cuts made my life much better. I was in a years-long slow motion battle with someone who was laid off. I have not cried at work since she left, and I am in love with the team I work in now. They are amazing.

So here I am, going to Hawaii next week. Things are looking up. We've been working so hard, have taken so many special assignments (tributes to fallen co-workers, extra publishing projects, exhibitions), and really done a great job with them. We've gotten a req. for head count and...a Friday afternoon announcement that JD is having targeted layoffs. I am going to do my best to ignore the news while I am away, but SHOOT! I'm feeling nervous, and worried for my factory, and worried for myself.

Here's crossing our fingers that none of the cuts hit terribly close to home. It would be a shame if I had to go, cause I really do love the place. Example: I love reading obituaries and we put up our annual ofrenda for departed employees a few weeks ago, and today on my first day of vacation, I found myself looking up Hammerslag on Legacy.com to see if there are any people I've missed adding to the ofrenda. And it's all that I can do to stop myself from logging in to my work computer and adding to my spreadsheet. I'm such a dork.

Anyhoo, I got a beautiful early birthday present for myself this week -- I bought an Akebono tegata on ebay. Can't wait to frame it and put it in the half bath. What you really don't get from looking at photos of them online is the depth of the pigment. I always thought that the handprints were inky, but on this one it seems more like tempera paint -- and it's a little messy. I like that lack of perfection. I showed it to mrguy and of course he had to see if his hand was bigger. Surprising that a guy who is 6'7" doesn't have a bigger hand.