Good week for Jon

Last Thursday he got a promotion at work and Friday the girls arrived so it's a week for the books.

After the Christmas rush, Inkley's had to reduce his hours.  He was the last hired so actually in line for layoff when the store slowed down so much.  He could have collected unemployment then he could be rehired when things picked up in a couple of months, but they gave him a choice and since they had hinted when he was hired that they saw a future in him, more than just working retail at this small store, he said he preferred to stay on.  It turned out that to make that happen the Bountiful employees liked him so well they volunteered to all cut their hours so Jon could stay on part-time if that was his preference, in hope for a better position eventually.  It was so nice and such and unselfish thing to do.

Finally the district manager approached him and offered him the studio photographer job at the Salt Lake store -  full-time!  With such a weak economy, this was a welcome change.  Money's still not great but better than what he is getting now and you take what you can get these days.  They wanted him to start this week but he said he couldn't since the girls were only here for this one week so he starts next Tuesday.  At least the job outlook is picking up a bit here in Utah.

The downside is they had bought a gas-guzzling Suburban for the "move" to S.C.(in place of their Civic) and now he's stuck with that.  It's a good car but his commute will gobble up a good portion of his wages.  At least he'll be doing what he likes, though Bountiful was such a cozy, friendly little place...

The other downside is that he had to sell most of his photography equipment for the "move" and when he does weddings offsite he has to use his own equipment.  This means he will have to rent equipment from the store and the shoots that don't pay that well to start with will bring in even less income, but we can't complain. I think this requirement is because the equipment is at risk when taken on location.  This year has been a tragedy from a financial standpoint. (His photography books are still in S.C. too). Jon is resilient, however, and he'll make it. I am really proud of the way he has handled this adversity and he still has friends and family, just misses his children like crazy.  At least he has been able to retain his own integrity through it all.