165 wivesbehavingbadly

i had shrunk into a depleted figure  huddled on the sofa ." .
that ptece of information was a gold mine for clacking tongues . do you know where he died ? with first wife . it was unlikely to reamin secret .
"roger has talked to rose . he rang her after he spoke to you . he's going to see her this afternoon ."
"but not coming here ?"
"i'm here ." she raeched over to put her mug on the tray .
" you know cutting roger off is not going to raise nathan from the dead ."
"no ," this exchange was superflous because at that point nathna did not seem to be dead . he was there , in the sitting room , because i could feel him very strongly .
gisela continuted ." let me advise you . don't ignore roger's offer of help . you will need it ."
the remaining marmite soldier sat  an angle on the plate , and i adjusted it " nathan was the reliable one . he was a man who tried to be the person who never left you in the lurch .
but it was all too much for him , leaving roger , marrying me . vistemax . he couldn't keep the bandwagon rolling . his body protested ." i was beginning to feel very odd in the region behind my eyes ." am i making sense ?"gisela was wearing one of her blindingly  while blouses , with three - quarter - length  sleeves and tucking acoss the breast . it was french and of exquisite cut . a rope of large pearls circled her throat and matching ones were in her ears . she was hunched for ward on the chair , her body language spelling pity ., pity ." i don't expect you to make sense ." she pulled a notebook of her bag , erote something , an tore out the page.

164 wivesbehavingbadly

she let me into the sitting room , and eased me down onto the sofa ," sit there intil i come bck ."
the morning light streaming into the room was so bright it hurt my eyes , i looked out of the french window . the lilac tree was unfurling its buds and , in the neighboring garden to my right , a magnolia had unleashed tiers of porcelain - cup blossoms .
"spring is cruel ," i said .
"yes ," gisela had returned with a tray . she put it down on the coffee table , reached into her handbag , and switched off her mobile .
" goodness ," i said ," it must be serious ."
\the sun lit a patch of carpet that years of exposure had changed from dark gray into a lighter shade . i heard nathan , so clearly , so very clearly : no , we can't afford a new carpet .
"minty ...." gisela picked up a finger of toast spread with butter and marmite ." eat ."
" i never touch butter , gisela , waistline ."
" you do today ."
i took the toast and chewed . the tang of marmite wa not disagreeable , and the tae was hot and strong , gisela sipped from a second mug ." terrible tae . what is it ?"
"ordinary stuff , i don't know ."
" lapsang is better ."
cross out : " ordinary stuff "  on weekly shopping list , and substitute " lapsang ."
from her vantage point , gisela appeared wise and budhalike . she was filled with substance and purpose while overnight .

163 wivesbehavingbadly

unlike the pain i must inflict on lucas and felix . should i call an expert who could tell me what to say ? experts had formulas at their fingertips . daddy has gone on a long journey and won't be coming back . would do that ? or..... daddy is watching over you but he can't actually be here .
the doorbell rang , and there was instant , welcome peaace . eve clattered out into the hall .
it was mrs . austen : the craby mrs . austen ." eve /. we've just heard . here is soup . my tomatoes , feed it to them ."
then minutes later , the doorbell sounded again . this time it was kate winsom from across the road ." this is so awful ," i heard her say as i cowered in the study ." look , i'm off to the supermaket . can i do the shopping ? tell minty i will be in touch at a more ...at a more appropriate time . unfortunately , i have to fly now . the children.....
for the tenth time , i attempted to make a list . but what good was that ?
the dooebell - oh , that doorbell - rang and i pressed my face hard into my fingers . the next thing i felt was a light touch on my shoulder . gisela said ," i came as soon as i could ."
i reared my head ," you knew wht roger was going to do and you didn't tell me ."
"would you have expected me to ? what would you have done ? but i was going to drop a hint at lunch ...." she did a finger onto my pulse and felt it . " have you slept ? and when did yoiu last ear ?"
my hair  felt hot and heavy , and i pushed it back ." cup of tea . i don't know , gisela ."
she bent over me and spoke eith an urgency i had never heard ." you will need your strength , minty . you have the twins to think about . i am going to get you some more tea and some toast .

162 wivesbehavingbadly

the phone rang ." i don't know what to say ."
"you don't have to say anything , roger ."
"i assume it was his heart ."
i put down the phone , which rang back almost immediatly ." if there is anything we can do , it shall be done ," said roger ." please , will you let us know when the funeral is ? minty , i recognize that this is the most tragic , intolerable situation ."
was this the moment to point out that roger had made such a mistake in dismissing nathna 's accumlation of experience for the sake of change ? should i also mention that he had almost certainly driven nathna to his death ?
"i know you will have mixed feelings...."
"no, roger . not  mixed feelings . very straightforward feelings .
"we were doing what was best for vistemax ."
"peter shaker ? really ?"
there was nothing mopre to add . roger was a businessman , and i was a widow and , however much i might long to connect , there was no no chance , again , i terminated the conversation and took the phne off the hook . not a moment too soon  , for it was almost too much , and i could not let go . not yet perhaps never  ?
the vacuuming drilled into my skull . i called out ," eve . could you stop that ?"
she appeared  out of the sitting room ." you need clean house , mitny  . people will come ."
would they ?
" you look bad , mitny . i get you cup of tea ."
i sat at nathan 's desk , holding the cup and wondering how long my fingers could stand the pain . that was easydeal with -

161 wivesbehavingbadly

for me to swing into action . it would have beeen a field day for lists . low-cholesterol spread , green vegetables , vitamins , an exercise , 7:00- 7:30 AM  breakfast , 7:45 ....
the enormity of nathan 's solence was an excruciating reminder of how silent we had been during his life . i had failed to comfort him . i had not stroked his check . we had not waited stoically together in a doctor's waiting room .
nor had my phone rung ths morning , and i had not picked it up to hear him say : " minty , i've got something to tell you ..... it will be a shock ."
so he never got to heat my reply ." vistemax sucks . have you rung the lawyers ? nathan , this is not personal , you know ..." especially , nathan never haerd me say ." nathan , hold on , i'm coming ovr to get you  and we'll talk this through ..."
nathna had chosen to bury his anguish in solence and then , to seek out rose .
but nathan was dead .
i felt to my knees by the filing cabinet , placed my hands onth open drawer , for it held the facts , the hard facts of which i was so fond , og nathan 's life .
i bowed my head and finally , i wept .
it was three-thirty in the morning , onthe first day of my widowhood .
at nine A.M  the following morning , i sat at nathna 's desk in his study . the boys had already gone to school and eve was vaccuming the next-door room . the noise drilled into my skull .

.HP Cắt 27,000 Người, Hostess Cắt 18,500; Cali Cắt 93,000 Người Thất Nghiệp Quá Lâu, Sẽ Thêm 100,000 Việc Nhờ Luật Cải Tổ Y Tế

(05/24/2012) (Xem: 1476)

WASHINGTON -- Nhiều tin bất lợi cho thị trường lao động Hoa Kỳ hôm Thứ Tư 23-5-2012.

Công ty Hostess Brands Inc. -- nổi tiếng với hiệu bánh mì Wonder, bánh Twinkies và Ding Dongs -- cho biết nếu không giải quyết được gánh nặng tài chánh xuyên qua Chương 11 Luật Phá Sản, công ty sẽ giải thể.

Công ty Hostess đã gửi thư thông báo cho toàn bộ 18,500 công nhân khắp Hoa Kỳ, cảnh báo rằng công ty có thể sẽ bán, có thể sẽ co cụm và có thể sẽ giải thể. Trường hợp tệ hại nhất, sẽ làm 18,500 công nhân mất việc, trong đó có 900 công nhân tại California.

Trong khi đó, tiểu bang California cho biết cuối tháng này sẽ phải cắt bỏ tiền bảo hiểm thất nghiệp liên bang đang cấp cho 93,000 người thất nghiệp ở California vì đã lãnh hết 20 tháng gia hạn của liên bang đối với người thất nghiệp dài hạn.

Tính khắp Hoa Kỳ, sẽ có 230,000 người thất nghiệp bị xóa sổ vì đã lãnh hết hạn.

Trong khi đó, công ty điện toán Hewlett-Packard nói hôm Thứ Tư là dự định cắt 27,000 công nhân, tức là 8% tổng nhân lực toàn cầu, vaò năm 2014 để tái cấu trúc.

Cắt giảm như thế sẽ tiết kiệm cho công ty HP khoảng 3 tới 3.5 tỷ đôla/năm vào cuối năm 2014, trong khi công ty chuyển hương tập trung sản xuất thiết bị di động và máy tính bảng.

Chỉ có 1 tin lạc quan, nhưng chưa xảy ra: cải tổ y tế sẽ tạo ra gần 99,000 việc làm mới tại California, theo bản nghiên cứu của Bay Area Council Economic Institute.

Bởi vì Luật Chăm Sóc Y Tế  Giá Hợp Lý  thông qua năm 2010 trong các năm tới sẽ bơm 4.4 tỷ đôla vào nền kinh tế California.