The Last Day of 2008

December 31, 2008

Today is the last day of this year. And what a full year it’s been. Joe’s plant is closed, so he has been off work since Christmas, although he has to use his vacation days to make up the time. These past 3 days he’s been taking me to lunch. We ate at Bellini’s Monday, La Baguette Tuesday, and Mamasita’s today. Italian, French, Mexican. Over all he spent about $100 just on those lunches, and I told him he didn’t have to take me out again until Valentine’s Day. I’m the one who is all up in arms about spending money eating out. This week was a special occasion though; it’s not very often we get to have lunch together. He said the next time he’d get to take me to lunch would be Good Friday. His plant has the day off; we don’t. Last year on Good Friday we ate at Café Do Brasil.

I like taking Joe to restaurants he’s never been to before. And that pretty much includes the whole northside.

What was this last day of 2008 like? It was cold, in the 40s-50s, not like yesterday, which got up into the high 60s. Sunny. I woke up to the radio before 6:00 this morning, after dreaming I was engaged to Johnny Depp. Why do I keep dreaming that I’m dating these movie stars? One night it was Emile Hirsch; another time it was Robert Downey Jr. I hardly ever dream about Joe. Weird.

I should have gotten up at 6:00 this morning but I so didn’t want to. Joe has been staying with me this week so I would have MUCH rather stayed snuggled up next to him. Of course, I can tomorrow (New Year’s Day), and the rest of the 4-day weekend. I finally got up at 6:40 and made it out of the house about 8:05.

Joe walked me to the car, as he has done each day this week. The workday was uneventful; I have spent most of my time this week on the “financial statement analysis” that our boss wants us to do each month after close. That is, it’s not something he checks on or asks for, but we’re encouraged to do it. And, I wind up being the one to do it, which is fine, because it forces me to look for relationships and patterns in the numbers. Premium this year is almost matching last year’s (last year’s was about 7% below the previous year’s) but receivables have gone up. Not a good sign, but it’s to be expected in today’s economy.

The company’s investment portfolio is doing OK, not outstanding, but we’re holding our own considering the recent crash. Overall, business is still good in spite of the rising unemployment rate, which is 6.7% nationally but just 4.7% statewide. I mention that because we provide workers’ compensation insurance, which is dependent on employers’ payroll. If unemployment is up, payroll is down, and down goes employers’ need for WC insurance.

And that’s all I have to say about today, Wednesday, December 31, 2008!