here in L.A. since the housing crash(before actually. it seems this winter for a lot of us started in the fall of 06) it has become a nightmare of days off and minimum payments on maxed out credit cards. it has become so bad that i am hauling ready mix to make ends meet. oh how the mighty have fallen. fortunately i work for a man who owns both pumps and r-mix trucks. still, i have found the taste of humble pie to be unpleasant. i cannot wait until this winter ends and i am back to working 60+ weeks.

i know the feeling  i finally pump concrete for the 1st time in a few months and like you i'm having to go back driving a redi mix truck

yeah, unfortunately for me i'm not going back. never did it before this last month. oh well. gotta get paid.

on a good note; i may be getting something back from my previous employers. i'll keep you apprised of the situation. this is especially newsworthy for union operators in so-cal.

It's a vicious cycle........in 1975 in San Antonio, Tx..in 1980 with Merli..LA, 1988 with American Standard...LA, in 1994 with Conco, Sacramento area and again now....2007..it will happen again, you have to prepare for it. When you start to getting 70-80 hour weeks on end.it's a sign. Watch out.

It started in Summer of 06 in AZ and it's been a long winter here as well. The Feds were too slow on recognition of the extent of the melt down and should have responded quicker to cutting the interest rates. Todays 1/4 point cut was just another slow reaction by the Fed. The retoric from the Feds on sub prime is designed to help the banks due to the highest foreclosure rate in history. The Feds also allowed several banks to loan out 75% more money on same depositary reciepts. That money has not moved into helping the consumers and businesses it is merly for the banks. Time for a revolution.

well lessons have been learned for sure. when you are working 50 to 70 hours a week, live only off of what you would make were it 40 hours only and put the rest somewhere you can't touch it unless there's an emergency.

it's somewhat difficult though when one year you pull in 80,000 plus and the next you're pulling barely 40 or 50,000. it makes a huge difference.