I get paid on a two week turn around.  This gives the shop time to contact the customers who special ordered things to come in and pay for them (I've been trying to convince the owner to charge a higher down payment for such orders for years) and it gives her time to move some of the shop designs I bring in.

I point this out only to explain how very broke I am.

I took half of July and most of August off.  Oh sure; I went into my office a few times a week and dripped some paint but not enough to last between paychecks.

It's taken until now to feel the crunch.  My last check was fine but I had to pay the whole thing out to Target and Visa the day I got it.  I've put off visiting Sam's club this week because I really don't have enough to buy an $8 bag of chocolate chips or a $6 tub of blueberries.  So I've done without blueberries this week.  Not exactly a hardship.

None of it is a hardship; Jay could pay for the groceries if he had to, but I don't want him to.  And I wouldn't dream of using household money to upholster a needlepoint chair or buy running shoes.  Those frivolities are why I work.

I currently have several Christmas ornaments that I worked last winter piled up in my office awaiting the gauzy future when I can again afford to get them finished.  The large Christmas runner I did last winter is up there too.

So I'm glad that I have orders and new designs orders awaiting me.  I really hope the Christmas designs get people to fork over a little of their hard earned money.

Not only do I have a Target bill and a Visa bill coming next month, I've run out of one size of the canvas I work on and I need new brushes.

I would love for someone who thinks our president's economic ideas are good to explain to me how a $4000.00 tax credit for hiring new employees is going to help the needlepoint shop.  Joanne doesn't need any new employees, she needs customers who have enough discretionary income to plunk some of it down on something as frivolous as customized needlepoint. 

Theoretically, she could hire someone, qualify for the tax credit and get $4 grand removed from her tax burden but how is she supposed to pay that employee next month?

Small businesses hire people because there's work to be done.  With no customers, there's no work and folks get laid off.  You really can't bribe an economy back to health.

Especially when the one doing the bribing is not only broke but deeper in debt than any entity has ever been in the history of money.

Just think of that; I have sixty bucks and my bills are paid.  That makes me 14,000,000,000,060.00 richer than the federal government.