Different Day and Feel

I've been up since 4:30AM. It's a "hobble" around day with the knee. It's at times like this that I know the decision to have this knee replaced is the right one. Yesterday it operated as it should but today is a different day with a different feel.

I think it might be a ibuprofen day.

I'm getting ready to say adios to the warm temperatures. We are supposed to get temps of 18 degrees soon. We swing from a/c to heat from week to week. To say the least, this has been a strange winter weather year.

We just heard yesterday that Halliburton will lay off 5 percent of their work force. Halliburton is one of the biggest oil support services in the business so this means a huge amount of people will enter the ranks of the unemployed. This will be the start of the impact on the economy here.

Getting this knee replaced will prepare me for the possibility that should I have to reenter the work place, I'll be able to do that. Who knows? Best to be prepared for all possibilities. You may hear a long loud whine from me should that happen!

The long range goal of me getting a degree in the health field was the possibility of the oil industry going through another bust. I didn't factor in that the whole economy would go through a bust. Strange times. Unemployment now ranks with the WWII unemployment numbers and the talking heads predict we haven't seen the end and the unemployment will continue to rise through year 2009.

The university here has taken a large cut in their budget. This states' revenues have dropped drastically in line with the oil industry's' decline in prices.