Announcement

They finally reached agreement on pay…. we get a 3% pay cut as of 1st June. Managers (1 level up from me) get 5% cut. But we do get an extra 6 days holiday, of which 5 will be fixed dates to be announced by the end of June. BBC report How do I feel about this?

1. Glad to still have a job

2. Glad that no one has been sacked (lets not mention those who supposedly were leaned on to take the deal offered…)

3. Glad that production is still due to start 1st June

4. Glad of the extra holidays

5. Narked that the 4 months which was supposed to be quiet for us and a chance to get some stuff down has been so manic

6. Annoyed that we didn’t get any of the time off, when people who were off all the time banked most of the hours but got 120 hours written off – essentially 120 hours extra holiday.

7. Annoyed that busy as we were we still got pulled off to decorate the mens locker rooms when there were people sat at home being paid to sit at home.

8. Still annoyed that we had to work those snow days, and we even got pay docked for being late when the police were advising people not to travel.

9. Worried about manpower levels and how we are going to cope when production restarts – there is no way we have enough people to do this…

10. Tired.

‘snuff

Formula One and other news

So we are selling the F1 team. Good. It’s a huge loss of face for our President, but has to be seen as the right thing at this time. The money is far better spent keeping the factories going than on persuing a dream round and round in circles (both literally and figurtively!) spewing out lots of carbon emissions…. given that I’m not that keen on F1 I guess that that is the expected reaction, but even those collegues of mine who do enjoy it agree that it is a necessary action. And it gives me hope that the management are concentrating on what needs to be done not on just trying to save face. There must be some sensible and good people in them!!

Auntie Marina came to stay yesterday, and has just gone home. We seemed to go through a huge amount of glitter in the course of 36 hours….. most of it spent asleep! We look forward to seeing other aunties as soon as they can make it over.

Nathalie had a concert last night – it was good I think!

Now, what to put in the Christmas letter?!

Honda, cars, and not selling them

I suppose I should use this to keep people up to date about the whole Honda thing. Things are obviously not very good. There are 80,000 Swindon built cars sitting unsold around the world, gathering bird poo on their bonnets. And no one is rushing to buy them either. So yes, we are stopping production at the factory for Feb and March 2009. I’m sure it’s the right thing to do. It should help to clear the backlog and mean that our customers don’t end up buying old vehicles. I however still have to go in to work!! Yes it’s no rest for those of us in the offices at all. I do get the extended Christmas break though – which I aim to make full use of, and may yet take a couple of (unpaid) days before Christmas that have been opened up for people to take if they want to. (However a friend of Isla’s has Tonsilitis at the moment so I may yet have to take unpaid leave for other reasons so I’m delaying the decision on that for a bit!!)

Although the longterm outlook is uncertain, what is clear is that Honda is better placed than many of the other car manufacturers to ride out the storm. we are leaner and meaner and more efficient certainly than the US “Big 3″. Of course what happens to them will affect us too – all manufacturers share suppliers – but so far it looks like we will hang on in there, although it all depends on how long we have to hang on for.

Please do pray for wisdom; for international leaders, Honda management, Union staff, and all the workers. And lets pray that the global economy that emerges from this is fairer and more equitable, and less damaging to our beautiful world (and yes I do work for a car factory!)

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers

Nathalie

Links and things

Thanks to Yoshi-Sensei for pointing out the photo links had broken – they are now fixed. More to follow when I have a moment – it all seems to be one mad rush to get ready for going to Japan with the normal Summer social events such as weddings, failed camping trips, (ever heard the one about 3 tents, a family of mice, and gale force winds??) family visits and the like to fit in.

Since I last posted we have had Auntie Yuko to stay (which was fun despite the weather and tents) Grandad and Akiko (fond memories of bat and ball and picnics in the forest) choir concerts (next one tomorrow – don’t miss it if you are in the area!) and a trip to the Opera all filling our time.

I passed my VMWare exam last week as well, which was good news, not least for Neil as that was one lot of stress out of the way!

Next weekend we have a day trip to London to meet with various cousins, Aunts and Grandparents at the zoo (which promises to be great, depending on the weather!), and we become proud Godparents of Joel Newman.

then we have a weekend camping trip with our friends Albertine, Mike, Linus and Alex to look forward to, rapidly followed by a Church cell group BBQ, a visit of Uncle Robert (Hartley), and another church BBQ, the children’s Summer music concert (come and here them playing their recorders – ear plugs optional!) and then a much needed holiday.

I should also add that I am a very proud sister of Marina and Yuko who have both been awarded 2:1 degrees this week. Well done girls!! Now if Jenny doesn’t work toooooo hard we’ll make it a full house with all of us the same!!

I will try to get more photo’s up this weekend – honest folks!

All sorts of things

It’s been a bit extra-manic recently. Granny and Auntie Marina came to stay (which was lovely), and we had lots of fun with them. Including Isla’s birthday party. 14 children in our house, and no permanent damage I think has to be a good thing. Lots and lots of fun was had, Isla got so excited that on the Sunday night she was sick, meaning that she couldn’t go to the child minders the next day. Even though she was as fit as a fiddle by then!

Sadly, on the Sunday night, my Step-Father Giichi’s Father died. After 2 and a half years bed bound and 92 years of age it was hardly a surprise, and it was about as good as these things get lying at home with an oxygen mask surrounded by one’s family. For the record that’s how I’d like to go please! Love and prayers to the family…. and a good holiday to my Aunt who looked after him for many years, and gave up her job to do so. She still has my Grandmother to look after, and we hope and pray that she will gradually find a new lease of life in the same way that my Maternal Grandmother did, and we are looking forward to seeing them both in the summer.

My Mother and sister left on Tuesday, and we had the normal busy week at work, culminating in 11 people for Sunday lunch today. We had our vicar and his wife, a friend Ruth, and John and Jo Parsons and their children Hannah and Isaac who founded and work with the Turning Point Trust in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. It was lovely to catch up with them and the fantastic work they are doing – read the web site and be inspired.

I ought to add that it snowed over night last night, so we managed to build a snow man and have a snow ball fight before church.

The bed rooms are gradually coming together, and this means that we finally have a spare room. Isla can fit on the floor in Callum’s room and that leaves her room free for visitors. We’ve even moved Isla out of the cot bed and in to a proper bed so that visitors can sleep in it, and there is a put up bed underneath it. So couples can come and stay!!

The tickets have been paid for to go to Japan in the summer – so we are finally off. There’s so many people we want to see over there goodness knows how we will fit it all in without collapsing exhausted.

My sister Jenny comes to stay this coming weekend, after successfully hitching to Morrocco for charity. If you wish to donate, please see Link Community Development.

Photo’s to follow when we have found the cable…! Though I might get some up from the phone I suppose…

Good things and bad things

We now have Callum’s bed in the garage in bit’s. That’s a good thing. We’ve sorted out the travel insurance for going to Japan in the summer. That’s a very good thing. And the 2 other members of my new team at work are likely to be leaving Honda in 3 weeks. That’s a BAD thing. It’s Friday night and I’m just about to have a large G and T. That’s a VERY GOOD thing!

Cantores

Don’t forget the choir concert on 15th March – that’s a week on Sat – at Cirencester Parish Church. I have tickets or they will be available on the door. For more information see the Cantores Web site

Today…

Callum had his pre-school jabs, and Isla got a pillow for the first time! Well – I thought I’d share it with you!

More importantly, I ought to share with you what we were doing on valentines day – we were at the licencing of our friend Janet as Vicar of Box Ditteridge and Hazelbury, near Chippenham. We had already been to stay, but it is great because it is only 40 minutes from Swindon – a vast improvement from Taunton! The service was splendid, Nathalie sung a solo, Bishop Lee preached, and the Church was full Wahay. See a photo on the Monster blog linked to the right. We look forward to seeing much more of them now.

Concert information

Last ditched attempt to get people to come to my concert on Saturday. I know it’s a long way away but…. This Sat at Highnam North of Gloucester. Also to be repeated on March 15th in Cirencester – see the attached poster. Thank you and see you there!

New Job!

I’ve been promoted – well sort of! I’m finally getting out of the service desk, which though fun can be rather repetitive sorting other peoples problems out, and moving on to the infrastructure team to work on a rather scary and exciting project called server virtualisation. (Google it, but but spell it the American way!) It’s very high impact, cutting edge technology, and I’m really being thrown in to the deep end, but I am looking forward to the challenge. It won’t mean a pay rise (yet…!) but more hours which I suppose mean more money. Oh and a training course on the special software called VMWare in the first full week of Feb. Watch this space, and pray for my sanity!