Taken on my Virgin Mobile

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Sent from my Virgin Mobile

Interview update

This was a total waste of my time. I had completed an online app and gone thru all the assessment testing ONLINE. I went for the interview this morning as previously blogged, and they had me do the SAME things over again. Then they told us (there were 2 of us there) that the pay was $12.95/hr. That was LESS THAN what I'd been making. So I finished the damn tests AGAIN, and the HR *itch says, "I'll walk you out." Me: "That's it?" HRB: "We'll send you an email by tomorrow with our decision." It took me about an hour to get home and guess what was waiting in my email? You got it - an email telling me I was not being chosen.

I know there are no guarantees in this life, I understand if I'm not qualified for a job, but to not even do me the courtesy of a face to face interview??? Mind you, I was an employee in good standing when I was laid off, not on probation nor did I have any disciplinary actions open against me.

And sorry, but it took you LESS THAN AN HOUR to come to this decision and fire off an email? Something really stinks about that, does it not?

I also have a serious issue with this whole email shit, too. This is unprofessional. If you cannot be bothered to TALK to potential employees, what does that say about your corporate culture?

On the whole, I'm glad now that they didn't offer the job to me. I guarantee you I'll never apply for a job with that hell hole again and I'lll advise anybody who asks to do the same. Nobody deserves the treatment you'll get at this place.

Dilemma....

On a sado-masochistic whim, I applied for a job with my former employer - you know, the one that let me go in March and the impetus behind this blog. I filled out the online app and went thru an online skills assessment.

This morning, they emailed me, they want me to schedule an interview with them.

Ok, this job is in a completely different area than the one I was in previously. It's even a different subsidiary of the company. I'm thinking it's ok to do the interview, and if they make an offer, take it, but keep searching for another job. I know what to expect from this group, so I'm ahead of the game on that score. And it's the devil you know versus the devil you don't.

What was I thinking? Argh

Five myths about unemployment

Five myths about unemployment

I found this on the Opinions page of the Washington Post this morning. Ms. Shierholz's mythbusting makes a lot of sense to me. My dad was a railroad worker, and suffered through several lay offs in his time. The difference then was that he knew he'd be called back to work at some point, so unemployment insurance was just that: insurance that he could keep his family fed during the temporary down times. Full disclosure: my mom also worked full time as a secretary all her adult life, so maybe we were a little bit luckier than some. And it WAS different. I can remember my dad's boss calling him to see how we were doing and to give him updates on when he might get called back in to work. But going from 2 full time incomes - even in the 1960s - down to 1 full time + UI benefits was still mighty tough. In the current economy, there's little breathing room. The statistics consistently say that's there're more job applicants than there are available jobs. It seems pretty clear to me that for a lot of people, myself included, UI benefits are the only thing keeping us from living in our cars. For the time being.

I'm not sure that UI is a big contributor to the economy, but I'd wager it is a factor - on UI, it's a fraction of your previous wages so the full amount is going to be spent, not saved. It's gonna be spent on necessities, like rent and utilities and food, but it's gonna get spent.

The point keeps being tossed out that the longer people are on UI, the less likely they are to actively seek work, that long term access to UI makes people lazy. Sure, I'll concede that there are some folks who have a crummy work ethic. I've worked right alongside them for many years and know how frustrating and infuriating it can be. But if somebody is lazy to start with, they're gonna be that whether they're working or not. I resent being lumped into that category by some six-figure politician who has no idea how the real world works. A separate reality? Not from where I stand. It's the old haves vs. have-nots all over again. The middle class is disappearing, and that's tragic. We're on our way back to the Dark Ages, back to serfs and vassals.

.....Thus ends the Friday rant.....

I Write Like Raymond Chandler

I Write Like Raymond Chandler

Found this nifty thing on an erotic writers' page. Go to IWL@codingrobots.com, paste a few paragraphs of your deathless prose and it analyzes your style, word choiuces etc and then tells you who you write like. Give it a try. I did 3 separate times, with 3 different pieces and got back Martha Mitchell, Leo Tolstoi and Raymond Chandler. Huh. Who knew?

There are nice people still out there

I had to get some blood drawn this morning at the local hospital, to check cholesterol levels. I get called into the financial office e to do the paperwork and the lady asked me if I was still employed at Co."X". I said, no, sadly, I got laid off in March. She stopped typing and looked at me, and she said, "They did what?! Oh my God, I am so sorry! Are you OK?" I said I was fine, looking for a new job, etc. When she finished the paperwork she said, "Look, we have a new policy here that we're supposed to collect 20% of the coinsurance at the time you get the services." I must have turned white as a ghost, because lab work is expensive and I have an insanely high deductible, but she said, "But since you explained your situation, I'm not gonna do that. you can work this out with us later, OK?"

I'll still have to pay most of this bill, if not all, but it was a relief to my wallet not to have to pay it out this morning. Thank you, nice lady at the hospital!!!

Taken on my Virgin Mobile

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Sent from my Virgin Mobile

the loneliness of the long distance unemployed

One of the tough things that happens when you become unemployed is that you find out who your true friends are. Especially the longer you are without a job. I've noticed that people don't call as much, and even in the online forums (ie email, Facebook) they seem to be nonresponsive. That really hurts: unemployment is not contagious, or at least it's not spread thru human contact with the already-jobless.

At first, there's a lot of sympathy, people saying they'll keep an eye out for you or put in a good word. But now, after 3.5 months, or however long you've been on the dole, you're lucky if you get a one line email.

But the true friends, ahhh. They're the ones that will still invite you to join them for a drink, or return your calls or emails, and the first thing they ask is not "So, how's the job hunt going?" I hold these friends in my heart.

As for the others, well, for the time being I'm letting go. Maybe we can pick things up later, maybe not. But for now, energy must be conserved. It might be that they are really really busy, and I can understand that. But, as a teacher of mine once told me, when I was complainng about not having enough time to get things done, "All you have is time, it's how you choose to use it that matters. You make time for the things that are important."

Work Ethic?

I got a temp job at a local chiropractor's office and it's a neat job. Basically they have me taking the surveys they ask the patients to complete after treatment and turning them into a paragraph or two-length testimonial. Nice!

On my second day there, I arranged to go in at 10, after Wendy's vet appointment. When I walked in, the office manager lit up. She said, "I am so glad you came back today! The last girl the agency sent over never came back after the first day." She went on to tell me that the girl worked a full day, and when the office manager was trying to find the file she'd been working on, she realized that the girl hadn't saved any of her work. I offered, well, maybe she wasn't familiar with Word?

Ok, now maybe there was a good reason for this. I can't think of one, but who knows? What I find upsetting is the lack of professionalism, or just plain old courtesy, this other temp displayed. If she just hated sitting there drafting these things up, she could've (should've) let them know she wouldn't be back, rather than just abandoning the job. Really that's what the agency is there for - she could've (should've) explained it to them and let then deal with the client.

I've had jobs I dreaded going in to every morning, but unless there was clearly illegal activity, I would never just quit, abandon the post. It makes me angry to think here's a nice place, a neat job, and someone doesn't appreciate it. And that sort of casts other agency employees in a bad light: are they all like this? Can I trust this place to coem through when I need them?

Just one fo many things I just don't understand...

Tuesday Rant

Can somone please tell me why people need to listen to their crappy music at full volume? I've been trying to do some work on my resume and my neighbors have their damn stereo LOUD. What's a girl to do? I've complained to the landlord numerous times, and he's warned them, but it does not seem to matter to these jerks. Any ideas, other than speaking directly to them (they're a scary bunch) or moving?

Independence Day

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

This is not an orginal thought, and my apologies to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, but it occurred to me that in going through the loss of a job, we go through the same stages of coping as dealing with a diagnosis of a life-threatening disease:

1. Disbelief
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

They probably overlap - a lot! - but they're all there. It seems to me that it's important to go through them all in order to come out on the other side with a healthier outlook. If we let ourselves get stuck in any one stage, we're holding ourselves back from growth, growth that we need to have in order to triumph and go on to the next, better stage.

Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? - Page 2

Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? - Page 2

I know how the kitty feels...

New fiction on the writing page

Just click on the tab labeled "Writing", above, to get to the new story.

March On Washington, D.C | Survive Unemployment!

March On Washington, D.C | Survive Unemployment!

Join the march!! Let your voices ring out against this atrocity and in favor of extending UE and creating good jobs!!!!!