Me, I was laid off by Microsoft on Jan 23, along with 1399 others whose positions were eliminated.

I’m biding my time during the 60 day WARN period, during which we’re all on a paid leave of absense. I’m applying for other positions at the company, in hopes that I won’t ultimately have to leave it, but am also hedging my bets by discussing a couple possible business ideas with colleagues. Historically an entrepreneur, I may return to that for a while in hopes of getting some of this “printed money” for my own, when it starts getting handed out to people who want to spend it. My ideas involve relatively low overhead and at most a few employees to start.

If you were considering going into business now, vs. joining an established company, which would you do? In the early 2000′s, Microsoft was a safe haven from the chaos of the dot-com contracting world, but I’m no longer convinced that I’m more secure depending on leadership who makes decisions that seem based on very short term income statement criteria, than on my own ingenuity and willingness to work hard.

I also don’t think we need to junk our historically successful capitalist society in favor of socialism just because there has been trouble for a few months.

The folks in the 30′s decided with level heads the same thing when they rejected Communism because of a few bad years of capitalism

I also don’t think we need to junk our historically successful capitalist society in favor of socialism just because there has been trouble for a few months. How ridiculous.

He was actually critized for his calmness.

You may call it “calmness”. The media sold that word. I call it cluelessness, cowardice, and a lack of clear principles. It’s not like he had any executive or economic experience to offer. He’s never run anything. He was right to stay away since he would have been of no benefit to anyone. He went as long as possible before having to take a position he could be criticized for, as he typically does.

No one favors the CEOs and crooks on wall street who get rich without producing anything. They serve a roll but not by stealing and breaking laws.

It think your whole disagreement is semantics.

Read yesterday that JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are buying up gold as a hedge. That’s a sign of what they aren’t telling you during those hearings in Congress. Hyper-inflation, devalued dollars, and other nightmarish futures for the American people.

Good diary, Seattle Moss, I’ve read your comments with interest, and admiration. It’s scary, and it’s bad enough when it’s your financial security at risk; but I think for business owners of small and mid-sized businesses, where you get to know your employees, it’s doubly painful to know that you have a responsibility for their lives, too.

I’ve got good friends who are likely to lose their business, and it’s painful to watch them struggle over it. I can do nothing but sympathize and support. They weren’t paying attention to the signs, and now they’re paying a heavy price.

Thanks for telling your canary in the coal mine story, SeattleMoss. It’s good anecdotal evidence of what’s happening everywhere, and how people are dealing with it.

jeezus f-ing christ; the rich have never been richer, but you’re telling us working people who are taking pay CUTS (real and vs. inflation) all over the place that they aren’t rich enough, and if we would just give them a little more of our paychecks, everything will be okay???!!!

it’s “class warfare” to say “we’re being screwed by the aristocracy” but it’s not class warfare for the let-them-eat-cake crowd to screw us in the first place??? yeah, screw that.

Wait a minute,……… what was I thinking?

Nevermind.

Botox Nancy

Is that BO-tox or BOT-ox?