Whine and Cheese anyone?

[mitica100]

OK, I'll keep the whining short.

We were just informed that the management (our Symphony Orchestra's management) will seek cuts in our salaries as well as some other ways to cut expenses. Health care and dental care come to mind...

Arrrrrrrrrrrgh!

That's it! I'm done!

[Chris of Arabia]

Looks like you might have to hope the coffee trade is good.

[LaFoto]

Oh dear!
Yes, I was told it is not a profession/vocation to become a millionaire being a musician in an orchestra. Actually, so I hear, making good money is pretty tough from the outset.
And there are more and more reductions being made in the cultural sectors of our society.
So lets hope that many people will have their coffee at yours ... and it is such a dream of mine to ONCE be one of them!

[Terri]

I'll never understand it. For me, it is the arts that keep us human, and it seems to be the one thing that is devalued first.

Now, if you could throw a tight spiral football, you'd be a millionaire. :scratch:

Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best, Dimitri. :hug:

[MissMia]

I'm sorry to hear that D. I hope everything works out. :goodvibes:

Corinna - I hope you do get to have coffee at the Buzz. It's the best! :coffee:
If I didn't live 50 mins away, Dimitri would be sick of me!

[Aggie]

D. I too work for a group that is cutting back majorily. Only thing is I'm non paid to begin with so a salary cut is not effecting me. Hubby works for IBM. They did away with bonuses that they had been giving as part of the retirementplan. We have also been told that there will be a freeze for the next few years on any kind of raise. Dan since we live where IBM deemed he made more than the average, has not had a raise in 8 years. The economy here since Fortune magazine claimed St. George region was the number one place to live in the USA for 2 years, thinks the prices of everything should be the same as if you lived in Beverly Hills Ca. The crappy badly built houses here that are a bare 1200 sq/ft, cost over 300K with no frills. Those are on a .08 acre lot. Doesn't matter that most are now in foreclosure. The rose colored mantra around here is that it is going to better in 3 months, and the stupid Californians will be bck playing the flip game before the next quarter starts. OK no whine, but a big rant. it is crazy out there. I wish I could help. Even the Utah Shakespearan Festival is now switching as much as possible to canned music instead of real live muscians. We can be comforted in that there will be a high speed non stop mag lift rail system built from Los Angeles to Vegas as the major part of the stimulus (porkulus bill that congress enacted. Will help both our areas????

[Antarctican]

That's terrible, D! I don't know what else to say...it's terrible what's happening all over. Here's hoping the recovery is quick and everything returns to 'normal'

[spiffybeth]

im sorry to hear that :(

[PhotoJet]

Sorry to hear about the symphony and the situation with you guys, too, Aggie. As for the alleged stimulus... don't even get me started on THAT giant pipe dream! :batterup: :puke:

[Tangerini]

Oh no :(
:hug:

[mitica100]

OK, so we heard from our Management as to what they want to cut. They want to take away 1/3 of our weeks and spread the active weeks of the season around so we get 'black weeks' when we don't get paid. They want to slash also 1/3 of the musicians.

It seems like we're going back to the times when The Phoenix Symphony was just a Regional status orchestra (we are considered a 'Major Symphony') and we'll even only work at night so we can find work during the day.

It sucks!

[Terri]

:shock: That's harsh. It DOES suck.

I feel for ya. I like to believe this is only due to the recession, and once things turn around, people will head out more and you'll be back at the level you once were.

In the meantime.... :hug: I'm sorry!

[mitica100]

:shock: That's harsh. It DOES suck.

I feel for ya. I like to believe this is only due to the recession, and once things turn around, people will head out more and you'll be back at the level you once were.

In the meantime.... :hug: I'm sorry!

Thanks Terri... Time to look for another job.

Well, it's not only the recession that caused this crisis. It's the Association's poor judgment when it comes to programming works that demand a lot of extra expenses. Money not well spent.

[Seefutlung]

Sorry man ... the best thing I can say is to be pro-active about this ... if daytime is open ... use it to your advantage or to the advantage of the community.

Gary

[mitica100]

Sorry man ... the best thing I can say is to be pro-active about this ... if daytime is open ... use it to your advantage or to the advantage of the community.

Gary

Oh, definitely! I'm not going to shed tears in my beer (or coffee, to be more realistic). I have to do something to make money. Not photography, since the market is well saturated... I'm looking into going to UTI to learn how to be a mechanic for Harley Davidson cycles.

[PhotoJet]

Come to Milwaukee & take classes at the factory. :)

Sorry to hear about this turn of events. :(

[mitica100]

Come to Milwaukee & take classes at the factory. :)


Would love to!

[Antarctican]

Dammit, sorry to hear of management's plan, Dimitri. What a double whammy, to slash the number of musicians as well as have unpaid weeks. :(

[MissMia]

OK, so we heard from our Management as to what they want to cut. They want to take away 1/3 of our weeks and spread the active weeks of the season around so we get 'black weeks' when we don't get paid. They want to slash also 1/3 of the musicians.

It seems like we're going back to the times when The Phoenix Symphony was just a Regional status orchestra (we are considered a 'Major Symphony') and we'll even only work at night so we can find work during the day.

It sucks!

I'm so sorry to hear that! :hug: This is not an area where they should cut back!

... I'm looking into going to UTI to learn how to be a mechanic for Harley Davidson cycles.

We've known a couple people that graduated from there and are HD mechanics. They were only able to get paid minimum wage for the first couple years. It was quite a shock to them.

I know something great will come your way! :goodvibes: