TIME BANKING: Make Ends Meet Without Money

By Linda Baum

When you have 5 minutes, read Yahoo article "We Make Ends Meet Without Money". It gives a great introduction to time banking and has personal accounts from people – busy people just like us – who have benefitted from being part of a time bank network in ways they never expected.

Monmouth Cares has been working to bring those same benefits to the Monmouth County community. A local time bank has been set up through the hOurWorld website. There is even a Middletown group within the network for persons who want to exchange services more locally.

You need an account to participate in the network. If you are interested in joining, email Ashley Lobbato at alobbato@monmouthcares.org or call her at 732-222-8008 ext. 118. You will be contacted about the application process or invited to an orientation or potluck.

You can find a short description of time banking ... HERE 

Yahoo Plans More Layoffs

New York Times -

Yahoo is planning a new round of layoffs, the first since Carol Bartz became chief executive in January, according to several people with knowledge of the situation.

The layoffs could affect several hundred employees and may be announced as early as Tuesday when Yahoo reports first-quarter financial results, said these people, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because the plan is confidential.

A Yahoo spokesman, Brad Williams, declined to comment, citing a company policy not to discuss rumors and speculation.

The cuts would be the third round of layoffs at Yahoo in little more than a year. The Internet company, which has been struggling for more than two years, laid off about 1,000 workers early in 2008. It cut 1,400 or so in the fourth quarter of last year, in continuing efforts to prune its sprawling online business and bring down expenses. It ended the year with 13,600 employees.

Read more >>>Here

Chesapeake watermen fear blue crab not coming back

One of my summer pleasures is to spend a day or two during crabbing season with my sons along the bay dropping crab pots into the water and seeing what are efforts return. This year however I have not been able to make it out. 

So when I saw this story online at  Yahoo news about how the watermen along the Chesapeake bay are struggling to make a living because it seems that the blue crabs are disappearing, I started to ask a few of my co-workers who also enjoy crabbing season how the local blue claw catch has been.

I was told that the crabbing is slow and what has been caught is relatively small for the time of year, much like what was mentioned in the Yahoo article. I certainly hope that this is not true. It would be a great shame and tragedy if the blue crabs disappear from our waters.

If anyone wishes to comment on their own recent crabbing experiences this summer i would love to hear from you. I am very curious to see if the crabbing in the bayshore region is as bad as what is happening along the Chesapeake.

You can click on the headline to read the story about the Chesapeake watermen at Yahoo