Introduction

It has been a rough month at work. I work for the Department of Jobs and Family Services here in Ohio. Ohio agencies relying on state funding have seen that funding cut by around 25%. There's no easy way to cut that, and the pain has been coming down.

There's been a hiring freeze for awhile, so the number of staff has already been reducing. But two weeks ago the agency laid off 33 staff. In child support, we said goodbye to six more staff, all of them good at their jobs. A few years ago, we had 85 staff members in child support. Now we have 50.

And more cuts are needed.

Our director proposed that all staff take 10 unpaid days off over the next year. The union recommended rejecting the proposal because, apparently, they don't like the director. The vote to reject was 145 to 39. I was one of the 39.

The money's got to come from somewhere. I've yet to figure here from where. The biggest expense is personnel, and at some point, that's where the cuts have to come from. So now everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It's in this atmosphere that I have decided to respond the only way I know how: to write about movies.

I would descibe myself as a movie buff. In my failed attempt at a college education, I wrote movie reviews for the school paper. And given the turmoil of my work life, I need to add something I enjoy to my life.

Wish me luck.