Pointers to employers, part 2

Two "phishy" e-mails in two days. I feel so . . lucky? The e-mail below was sent after I received three other e-mails almost like it. See if you can spot what makes this one a scam:

1) Be sure the city in which the job is located is spelled correctly throughout your e-mail (it's Glendale, not Glandale as stated in the first paragraph.

2) Grammatical errors make these sorts of e-mails smell "phishy". In the first paragraph, find ". . "

3) "Will an interview be required? No". Really? Is this the sort of job where a human resources staffer with mind reading capabilities just stare at me for 60 seconds to determine if I would make a good match? Seriously, perhaps the statement just means that the employer uses some other means of determining who to hire. If this is the case, it is always best to sell as an employer what you feel is a more positive screening process instead of saying what you will not do.

4). The section below speaks for itself:

NO EMPLOYER EVER needs one's Social Security number in full unless they are doing a background check (which is rare - other info should suffice) or verifying one's citizenship status. If that is what the employer wants to do, that is what they should say they are doing and it only should be given in person once you are sure the employer is making a legitimate job offer to you (for the background check).

Have a laugh when you check out the site from which the e-mail was sent (it is in the signature section of the e-mail). No head shots can be found, no names of owners, founders, CEOs, etc., could be found either. Perhaps you'll have better luck -- just don't give any of your own info.

I'll keep my eye out for any more of these types of e-mails. Please let me know if you spot one yourself.

Five days ago.

Thirty three days ago, I was fired from one of my two full-time jobs. It was the better paying job, monetary-wise and health care benefits-wise; however, the 2 1/2 hour round trip commute and time away from my life partner were pretty big drawbacks to that job. So, for the past thirty three days, I have been one of the nearly 12 percent of Californians actively seeking a job.

The percentage above is taken from a sample. The government explains it more clearly that I can. I am not sure how exactly one tracks the "underemployed". In all honesty, my math mind falls apart at the merest mention of statistics that are any more complicated than Earned Run Averages. And the financial industry and insurance worlds of numbers? Duh . . derrr . .

So this post isn't about numbers. Liberals like me turn to folks like Nate Silver to make sense of the data. Conservatives have their own statisticians, too, though I'm out of my depth going there in this post.

It's not even about the search for a new full time job with benefits. With a four-year college degree and over 10 years (I'm not saying how far over) of work experience, the working world is like an English Garden where I just need to root around for that one "flower" that connects to me and vice-versa. My resume is posted on all the big job search sites, I apply for at least one job a day (if I was Spanish language fluent, I could double or triple that rate. Sadly, I could not ask for higher pay for that added skill. Another post for a blogger with a better perspective, perhaps?).

I have had only one legitimate job interview to date. The job opening for which I was interviewed was brought to me through a friend. I also have another possible opportunity through a friend of a friend, though the contact is affiliated with a temp agency. Still, it's pointless to dismiss anything out of hand before the agency/employer has the chance to pitch the job to me and field my questions about the job.

This long and winding post is, instead, about the other two times in the last thirty three days on which I strapped on a tie, polished my shoes and strutted out the door with resume, smartphone and business portfolio in hand.

It's disgraceful to employers who post job opportunities to call these other two events "interviews". I'll describe the scenario and just how the experience makes someone with my business acumen feel afterward. I also write this as a cautionary tale to those who are called by these types of employers so that you are made aware of the difference between a standard job interview and the slickness I encountered.

Here's how to know you are walking into what is, essentially, a sales pitch.

1) When you walk into the office/suite, the music is played loud enough to qualify the space as a coffeehouse or a nightclub. Seriously, outside of retail outlets, who plays music through a stereo with speakers any more? Retailers only play music in their retail space for one reason - to slow and confuse customers so they may buy more of whatever the retailer is selling.

2) You have an appointment time, yet at least two other people are in the reception area completing applications and you are not sitting in an office rented by a temp agency.

3) You are introduced to more than two people working at the company, not counting the interviewer. This happened only at one of my two experiences and, for the most part, the "employees" confessed to having worked for the company for "only a short time". At the same time, steps 1 and 2 above continued for still more applicants.

4) The "interview" consists of 5 questions or less. When I interviewed people to bring into a Customer Service department or assisted a manager with hiring, I asked 10 questions minimum. I watched body language and eye movement, delay time between question and answer and whether the answer is spoken like intellectual conversation instead of community theatre rehearsal.

5) Your interviewer is watching anything but your body language, eye movement and or response time and tone to the questions asked. To be generous, perhaps the interview is just anxious to get to their "second interview" with "those select few" that the employer "feels are a best fit".

6) The second "interview" includes you and at least two other applicants.

7) The second "interview" includes a PowerPoint presentation, something that approximates an orientation movie or both.

8) In the presentation mentioned in items 6 and 7, the interviewer (oh, let's call him/her what they are -- salesperson) tells you all you could ever want to know about how the company makes its profit and how you drive how much you earn. While this sounds like the employer is telling you that you have applied for a sales position with commission, you are told when you are called for the "interview" that they are looking not for sales people, but people who are "customer service oriented".

9) You are told that upward mobility in the company is encouraged in the company. Also, part of that upward mobility depends on how many other people you can manage to "work under you". Managers at these companies receive a percentage of each employees' earnings for each widget made. Both of my experiences had to do with personal finances; however, the exact description of the service offered is not important to the post. However, if you have been in the work force even a few years, the challenge to see this arrangement for what it really is only mildly engages you.

Now, here is what I have not read much about: how the people "invited" to these "job interviews" feel after the above experience. The last one I went to was this past Thursday. I went to the "interview" only because my life partner got the call from the employer and he could not recall what type of position the employer wanted to fill. As it turns out, I had visited this employer almost two years ago and was treated to steps one through nine. As the first visit to that employer was "after business hours", the vibe was more nightclub than coffeehouse. I only needed to get within 20 feet of the front door before I heard the boisterous conversation through the drywall and realized what, for the second time, I was about to endure. I did something this past Thursday I have never done to any job interview before.

I turned around 180 degrees and quickly walked back to my car.

I then turned to a tried-and-true way of dealing with the feeling of being a commodity and not a person of worth: a weekday afternoon matinee at a neighborhood movie house. I stuffed the burn and disgust with a large popcorn and complicated, fantasy plotline. It took a few hours to stop feeling like an interchangeable cog in a massive machine.

It took me five days to write about it without all of the emotions I was feeling ending in a keyboard thrown through a screen or a pad of paper scribbled and torn to shreds.

Please don't let this sort of experience make you feel like you are nothing more than dollar signs to a faceless corporation. I went through it and came out the other side of that far wiser and just a bit more calloused.

Yet not defeated.

Lists

I spent a good chunk of my childhood obsessed over lists. Specifically, Billboard magazine's Hot 100. I had my favorite songs (this one -- audio only -- moving up the chart cracks me up. Enjoy!), but it was so very rare that a song I liked ever hit the top of the charts.

I've had two lists bouncing around my head until this morning. On the surface, what the lists say about our society is pretty disturbing. Just like the Hot 100 lists from years ago, a closer inspection reveals a few favorites that are sure not to bubble to the surface and a lot of other information which only shows one side of a much larger problem.

First, the injunction that's part of a "civil lawsuit proposed by the city attorney's office, 80 defendants, most of them gang members, would be barred from . . " the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. Some that are in recovery from drug abuse and live in the area seem appreciative of the potential break in the non-stop drug shopping mall. There was a small pocket of protestors outside the announcement of the proposed lawsuit -- upset about not enough done to build/remodel affordable housing in the area but I'd guess not upset about barring the gang activity involving drug deals in the Skid Row area.

Short of erecting an actual wall and a moat of some sort, if the injunction goes through, it doesn't stop the dealing -- it just moves it into the shadows and outside Skid Row's "boundaries". The key to ongoing recovery for drug addicts is making the conscious choice to not use, even if the decision is made hour by hour or minute by minute. A stronger network of support for those in recovery in the neighborhood as well as an increase acceptance of the presence of recovery groups and locations would be a big help.

At the other side of the world, another list that tells a larger story upon closer inspection, but doesn't tell the entire story. This list comes with pictures, so everyone's a winner. It is interesting to note that the assertion that the corporations in the list pay no income tax is like looking at a penny from one direction and saying there are no bumps or ridges in a penny. You and I know that's not true, but if you only stare around the edge and feel it with your finger, it's as smooth as copper/zinc gets.

Taxes get paid. Not necessarily paid to the IRS/U.S. Treasury, but paid somewhere. Perhaps a more united effort by the countries to which taxes are paid to demand the same percentage from corporations as the U.S. demands . .

Nah. That'd be like making Skid Row in L.A. a "drug free zone".

T minus six nights

As we get closer to the big award show Sunday night on the Boulevard, the preparations are in full swing. Either that or there's a Grand Prix planned for Hollywood. I didn't even realize that a temporary pedestrian bridge is installed to catch the overhead camera shots for the arrivals, but you can see what it looks like in this shot from late today:

Chain link fence now lines the north and south sides of the Boulevard and the organizers are preparing for possible rain showers on Sunday by installing clear plastic roofs.

And, if the slow creep of transformation from busy street to sidewalk theatre was not enough, there's a new controversy at the corner of Hollywood and Highland:

Look in the distance for the red, orange and yellow circle with the blue background for the newest "supergraphic" billboard. The advertisement doesn't move, sing or smell -- it's static. Compared to the lit up, in-motion billboards now cropping up around highways and main thoroughfares, this billboard-on-steroids is just one of many in the area. And yet, the building's owner found himself with a $1,000,000.00 bail!

If I may suggest, perhaps taking a second look at the tacky, busy street-corner strip malls whose garishness begs for arrests and big fines, if only to tone down the mish-mash of color and traffic-snarling overload of signage:

The other side of an e-mail campaign

Have you ever wondered, my fellow liberals, what it must be like to be on the receiving end of an e-mail campaign to get advertisers to stop advertising on a TV and/or radio program that makes our stomachs churn and offends our senses?

Colorofchange.org has been running a campaign to get advertisers to avoid Glenn Beck's daily Fox News program.  The count of big-name companies who are avoiding that one hour of programming on Fox News each day is up to twenty.

This, of course, does not mean that you won't find these companies' ads in every other Fox News program.  While voicing our opinions and putting economic pressure on the most irresponsible commentators is a most noble cause, this has the feeling of avoiding one rain puddle yet traipsing through 10 others to get from point A to B when all you have to do is cross the street and avoid puddles altogether.

Now, I'm not saying that this movement needs to come to a halt because of its futility.  In fact, if this helps to rally liberals behind one idea and cause it to move in the same direction, it will be nothing short of a minor miracle.

I have seen some of the e-mails that people have sent in to one of the many advertisers on Glenn Beck's program and, as a public service to those who want to continue their boycott and move it along to other programs who permit the most loopy/nutty notions to go out over the airwaves, I wanted to tell everyone what I see when I help filter out the "Glenn Beck" e-mails.  In addition, I have a couple of suggestions for catching the eye of those companies who you are trying to talk into joining the movement:

1)  While using the template provided by websites to gather your thoughts is a huge help (I've done this myself), copying the text verbatim or making minimal changes to the template serves to make your e-mail blend in to all of the others.  It also plugs a great big neon sign on your e-mail that says "hey, I just sent this because all of my fellow liberal buddies told me to".  It really fails to pack the punch you think it might.

2)  Please stop entitling your e-mails "Glenn Beck".  Some of the writers of recent e-mails have eschewed this generic subject line in favor of more emotional slogans (i.e. "Please stop wrongheaded advertising").  Instead of flagging a bunch of "Glenn Beck" e-mails and moaning about the mind-numbing volume, we readers have to actually read your e-mail to find out what you are talking about. Isn't that really why you are sending the e-mails so corporations have to read what you are saying?

3)  Spelling, grammar and punctuation count.  Though I'm as liberal as the next out gay man, I cringe at poor spelling, bad grammar, run-on sentences and poorly constructed thoughts.  If you are sending a protest e-mail, please read it through twice before hitting "Send". The more errors we find, the less seriously your e-mail will be considered.

Now that you know a little about what it's like to read your e-mails, I am now expecting more unique, better composed and overall smarter e-mails from everyone. 

Keep the cards and letters coming!

Tires, Shopping and Relish

I did something today I had not done in nearly nine months - had my car serviced.  As you might imagine, the car needed much more than an oil and filter change.  No, it does not mean that the car was running poorly; it was just overdue for maintenance and the dealership successfully found other things to fix, including removing air from the tires and replacing it with nitrogen.

Upon a few minutes of searching the 'net, it appears that nitrogen filled car tires makes a marginal difference in gas mileage but my guess is that it was of bigger benefit to the dealership.  So as to not sulk about my lack of all things automotive, I'll reclassify this experience as an opportunity to help an ailing industry and, more importantly, make at least a partial investment in America (or, at least, to Penske Automotive Group).

Out of a gloomy couple of weeks of bizarre weather, it seems the mall at which I wound up wandering as the car was getting serviced is, at least, holding its own.  At a time when our nation's economy is in some state of transition, it's all too easy to find going out of business sales, struggling industries and hesitancy in starting new businesses.  I found a department store that is, as well, investing in America (see the photo above), even if it is only building a new store to replace its existing store at the same mall.  The construction site still looked active -- no permanent work stoppage here.

I even stopped by a new-to-the-area burger joint that is familiar to recent followers of all things political.  If it is good enough for our President, it's good enough for me.  The vote on the burgers was mixed, though, in our household -- I could not tell what all of the fuss was about.  However, the place was busy this afternoon and the crew behind the counter working at lightening speed.

Yes, sometimes it's important to just celebrate the small victories.  Even if it's just with a double patty burger.

Adam Lambert may be the center of the universe

As a photographer, I make a very good blogger!  This is the entrance to the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood, CA.  The doors are set to close on Sunday.  Does this mark the end of an era in "brick and mortar" stores dedicated to selling music?

Well, sort of.

CDs are still available for purchase in your local low-cost big box department store and in your big box bookstore/coffeehouses.  While the storage units in the department stores are usually disheveled, there was a certain joy to rooting around the bins finding some lost treasure and running up to the counter to buy it before the album fades into obscurity.

In recent years, the whole shopping experience has gotten more and more tiring. More stores boarded up, more families wandering around aimlessly in the malls with strollers and toddlers in tow and a lack of anything of interest to me inside these cathedrals of commerce were all contributing factors.

Besides, why get in my car, drive somewhere to shop with strangers when I could find what I need here on-line?  I can even find other interesting things on which to comment.

For instance, what has Clay Aiken, Rob Zombie and a conservative blogger all riled up in recent weeks?  Surely, it's something that affects people all over the world -- maybe the state of the economy, global warming or the latest heartless dictator flexing their muscles for all the world to see?

Nah, it's just Adam Lambert.

I have never watched any American Idol episodes and can report I have never heard Mr. Lambert sing.  But, apparently, with makeup, loud costumes and a recent confession to being gay, he's making a wide variety of individuals a bit nervous.

I'll go with Rob Zombie on this as to why this is really much ado about nothing:

"I'm sure Adam can f--king sing 10 times better than Mick Jagger, but who gives a s--t," Zombie told me the other day. "He ain't f--king Mick Jagger. You know what I mean? There are probably a million guitar players in the world better than Keith Richards, but they ain't f--king Keith Richards!"

On the other hand, Idol has blasted the door of opportunity off its hinges for Mr. Lambert.  Now that he has the freedom to take the next step in his career, I can only wish him luck.

Does make me kind of wonder why anyone would be so critical of someone who's poised to begin a pretty incredible journey.  Jealous, maybe?

 

Metalhead's big day at Long Beach Pride

Every year, save one or two when I just was not feeling well enough, I have gone to the Pride Festival in Long Beach, CA. 

 The first few years I just went to wander around, check out the booths selling everything from belt buckles to gyros.  Music from rock to gospel, salsa to techno and always a country music line dancing tent are spread around the edges of the festival like the edges of a pizza crust.

In the last 10 years or so, I have gone to the festival on Saturdays (occasionally Sundays) and volunteered to work at one of the Pride sponsored areas.  Most years I sell tickets at $1 a pop for festival goers to take to Pride sponsored soft drink/water stands and/or beer stands.  Sometimes the ticket selling feels like wading into the midst of a slow running stream to fly fish and, on other years, the four-hour minimum block of time one can volunteer soars by with chatty, sometimes pickled patrons and easy-going fellow volunteers.

Every now and then, I've worked Security for one of the stages (either I'm too old or the music is too loud or the work too dull, but I'm not cut out for Security) or given soft drinks/water in exchange for tickets (I almost got a friend of mine connected with a dude at which he could not stop staring and drooling.  My friend begged and begged me not to do it and, at the last minute, I acquiesced).

This year, I volunteered for something new.  To say what it was would wash away any anonymity.  Suffice to say it was the least amount of fun I have had at any one of these events.  I'm thinking next year (and for years to come) I'll stick with beverage ticket sales.

I usually volunteer in the afternoons.  The festival has a fair number of attendees in the afternoons and, by the time my shift is over, the grounds begin to swell with partygoers and the whole atmosphere begins to change.  Sadly, by the time my shift ended, I had missed watching that same friend of mine from years ago at the soda/water booth singing on one of the stages for his first time.  I did get an photo of an interesting paring of booths.  One of the best things about the Festival is that commerce, social awareness and politics all exist side by side here.  

The effect as one walks past these booths with a funnel cake in one hand and a souvenir plastic mug of diet lemonade in the other can be a bit jarring; however, it's as an eclectic a mix as the festival goers themselves.

Just a few handouts passed to me this year. The gay bars/clubs, as usual, were in full force.  One of the most clever was a tiny baggie for a spa chain (the home page is tame, but I'd imagine going much further into the site would be "adults only") There is another word which I could use to describe this chain; however, I cannot bring myself to do it.  The baggie contained, of course, a business card sized advertisement for the spa that doubled as a coupon, a link to another side for "hookups", a single use fast-food style packet of personal lubricant and a condom (which, as the advertisement says in slightly smaller font than the rest of the ad, encourages use of by saying "Play Safe / Condoms are always FREE").

If you must frequent a place like that for activity it can suggest but not outright say, you might as well be properly equipped and fully educated.  And, if they hold true to their house rules, better still.

Cutest flyer goes to the South Coast Chorale.  I even took the time to enter into their drawing for two tickets to their next performance.  I have a little over a month into talking my better half into going - I'm a sucker for choral performance.

Best moment of my day in Long Beach?  I'd have to pick two though neither occurred on the festival grounds!  Thanks to my employer's metro pass, I had a free ride to and from Long Beach.  On the ride there, I was so amused first watching a infant boy, couldn't have been more than a year old, staring at me intently like I was the oddest thing he'd ever seen.  Later in the ride, I could not get over a couple my age with nine children, early teen to toddler, in tow. How they managed to keep all nine of them in line, especially with kids so often left to meander by their parents while out in public, was especially impressive.

Then, on the ride home, I could not resist playing (as did most of the riders in the vicinity) with a little girl who couldn't have been any older than three.  Her parents both looked exhausted yet the girl was ready, able and willing to carry on through the night.  Another man's sleight of hand and my silly version of "peek-a-boo" were all she needed to stay amused and she played right along with all of us.

I look forward to next year's Festival and hope that I may experience it then as those little ones on the metro yesterday saw their world - wide eyed, energized and anxious to see what's around the corner.

Better news for my budget / the next step in Afghanistan

Taking a new job that pays 30% less than my last job did, I am always on the hunt for ways to make a smaller paycheck go farther.

Nowadays, it actually becomes cheaper to use public transportation in the Los Angeles area (it wasn't always like this, but with gas prices just over $2 per gallon and my compact SUV getting 18 miles/gallon and a 25 mile one-way drive, a $5 day pass is actually a money saver when I add in less spent for maintenance and insurance).

My new employer is offering to pay for monthly passes in full if I continue to use the public transport.  It is the first time in over 17 years of working full-time that an employer made this much effort to encourage employees to use public transport.  I found out from HR today that about 100 out of 300 of the company's employees use the passes.

For the incredibly low price of $0.00 per month, I'm actually going to spend a little less on the car now than I did when I had to drive 5 miles one way to work.  I'm even getting full-day parking passes for 2 days a month at the employee parking lot and a $20 gift card to a nearby discount department store.

**********************************************************************

It is tempting to jump the gun regarding tomorrow's scheduled announcement from the President on the increase in troops going to Afghanistan.  

Articles posted today hint at a military/civilian strategy.  I'm pulling for "more civilian, less military' plan, but even I know well enough to leave my rose-colored glasses in the case.

More on that tomorrow.

Just for a laugh - make your choice

While there are plenty of serious things happening, I'm finding myself drawn to things that make me laugh.  Here are three things I heard today that made me laugh out loud.  Enjoy one, two or all three stories!

Chick's are becoming Dick's . . sporting goods.  The radio ad I heard on my way to the store had me giggling fits all the way there.

Someone is apparently going to get paid for writing about something for which that someone is now enmeshed in legal trouble.  Choose to laugh rather than having your head explode.

de facto:  Merriam-Webster defines the adjective form of this phrase as: being such in effect though not formally recognized.  The exchanges between a certain talk radio host and the head of a certain committee are just hilarious, especially when the committee head uses the phrase to refer to himself.  The meltdown continues.

Homework - Frontline

I'm watching the latest report from PBS' "Frontline" entitled "Inside the Meltdown".  Though I followed the news of large financial companies hemorrhaging cash in the last few months, "Frontline" is doing a great job sewing all the pieces together and getting interviews with many within those finance companies and some in government who had oversight and/or involvement with this disaster.

With this perspective, another piece of advice I heard so many years ago keeps bubbling up: Diversify!  Do not invest all your money in just one thing. Don't even invest the majority of your money in one thing, especially with unknown risk unless you plan on holding on to it in the long term (20 - 30 years).

I keep forgetting I cannot scream at the TV, especially since all of the mistakes have already been made and our country is now tasked with cleaning up the mess with risky mortgages.

If you missed last night's airing, it's available for viewing on-line at your leisure.  I tried the link to DVD/Transcripts and, while there appears to be no charge for the transcript, the link to the transcript appears to not yet be set up (as of 9:25 am pacific on 2/18/09) . . should be available later today, I hope. 

The meaning of it all

Just a few minutes now until the President's first prime-time news conference, set to be broadcast on multiple channels.  I'd better type a little faster than usual.

Though, this time, I'm letting this latest exercise in communication happen without my commentary.  For now.

I was drawn to a pair of articles posted by Newsweek.  The first one provided a cool splash of water to the face -- the kind I need most days in order to wake up fully and think clearly.  It's quite easy to surf the 'Net and despair over the state of the U.S. (and world) economy; however, the article cites predictions made over the decades that, by staying calm and by all of us learning from mistakes in the past, our country can survive this wave of bad news. 

The second Newsweek article, rather than discourage me, assured me that I am still on the right path to achieving the goal I set for myself in my first post.  I write about what not only interests me, but what ignites in me a passion to write -- whether I form opinions or just hold a mirror up to what is happening outside my home.

Finally, I read today's post from The Mudflats about how a virtual media infrastructure (blogs, print media, TV/Radio) when connected to a nationwide news medium like CNN, can solicit immediate response, outrage and support for those in need.  I loved reading that their next goal is to ensure those who live in remote villages have a means for the remainder of this winter and winters to come to support themselves, as they have done in the past.  Better still, all of this was done without assistance from any city, county, state or federal government intervention.  This new construct also continues pushing to hold government responsible for its lack of action and pressuring government to get involved in actual future infrastructure to avoid what happened this winter from happening again.

I have no idea if this blog will lead to the change witnessed in rural Alaska.  I also face this uncertainty in my job hunt, spiritual journey and in the relationships I have built and maintain.

I am certain that if I don't pursue my bliss/passion, nothing will happen for me.

Can't wait to see how Obama's pursuit of his own passion this week will turn out.

Go, Joe, Go. No, really, Go !

Perhaps the most famous political, er . . I'm not sure what, of the decade, Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher, is on the move.  

He did spend 10 days in Israel, as promised, filing reports/interviews with his boss about his experiences there.  And, later this week, he's taking his new found confidence and skill to Washington D.C. to try and talk to a legislator, any legislator, about the Economic Stimulus bill now in the Senate.

Mere text cannot do justice to the Joe-the-Plumber-tude that . . uh, well . . just check out the free 8 minute video at PajamasTV.com (free with registration.  Perhaps it's just me, but that is the best 90 seconds I ever spent registering on-line for something.  It ranks right up there with registering at job posting websites).

And, fresh on the heels of news from PajamasMedia about the demise of its Media Ad Network for conservative bloggers (I was wondering why I hadn't seen something similar for political bloggers on the left side of the aisle . . and now I know.  Talk about your progressive thinkers -- they were already so far ahead of the curve they've apparently not even thought of starting their own Media Ad Network.  Good thing I've already got that primo top dollar job . . oh, nuts, that's right, I'm starting month four of Unemployment. . .), Mr. Wurzelbacher has gotten even more industrious.

Yes, now you can take in as much Joe as you can handle by visiting Secureourdream.com.  Check out the link to Joe's sponsors (um . . sponsor.  Just one.  For now, anyway.  It's one more than I have, so yes, I'm a little jealous.  The fact that the sponsor is most likely the same group that designed the website is just happy coincidence).  Shop Joe's Store . . for Joe's book, which has a co-author. You can also buy the co-author's book there . . or go to barnesandnoble.com and buy it there for less.  It's how I read what I saw on that page.  Then again, I don't have a "Shop Tinsteelandrust" page here.  I also don't have a book ready to publish and know next to nothing about e-commerce, except maybe buying the occasional ViewMaster reel from E-Bay.  Still, compared to me, Kudos to Joe for the entrepreneurial spirit!

Visitors may also want to check out the We The People section and scroll down to the bottom to read "How do I (the visitor) make a difference?"  Basically, register to the site, go to the Joe the Forum section and offer ". . solutions to the problems we face in this country and we welcome content suggestions and investigational support from members.  This site is not about complaints, but about people coming together with alternatives to socialist government solutions"

Now, I just have to choose between the free "We are Joe Membership" or, for $19.95 (I assume that's per month) become a Premium member which gives me "Total Access to Joe The Forum where (I) may chat directly with Joe" and "Blog with Joe on Joe The Blogger" along with other . . oh, please, my budget these days is pretty much "If it's free, it's worth it!"

So, I'm now signed up, along with 22 others, for Joe The Forum.  I can already sense the sheer entertainment/educational value I'm getting even though my account is still "in moderation".

Helping out

Rather than post a rant, complaint, a piece of snark or a diva-licious melt-down over Macy's closing 11 of its stores (first Mervyn's, now Macys? . . oh, yeah, I promised myself I wouldn't do this . .), I want to give you a link to a blog post that serves as a challenge and a website that may be of help to someone.

I read Obama's speech from earlier today to my partner, then went to Huffington Post to see what range of opinion had been posted.  Instead, my eye was drawn to a post by Ms. Huffington with a video-creation competition.

Having not had my post published on her site, I think a 90 second video of myself will most certainly be included in the montage.  OK, maybe I need to meditate on that a bit longer.  This does not mean that you don't have a winning idea for a video, so I say go for it !

AND

I opened the latest print issue of the Advocate (which is now a monthly mag, but we'll still get the same number of issues in the subscription we have remaining).  I found an advertisement for a group I did not know existed for everyone: www.GLBTNationalHelpCenter.org.  It's not just for teens or for those who are asking questions about their sexuality -- it promises to provide "supportive peer-counseling and information to tens of thousands of people struggling with coming-out issues, relationship concerns,and safer-sex questions".  

I don't know anyone who could not benefit from a visit to that site.  Note to self:  visit the site later on.  

Another note to self: keep an eye out for someone who could not benefit from a visit to that site

A DUH moment: AMP Motorworks

Was watching BBC America World News just now and they interviewed a man named Steve Burns from a company called AMP Motorworks.  Mr. Burns is in Washington DC at the moment trying to get a meeting with Congress to ask for a loan from the government.

Click here to read a summary of what AMP Motorworks does.  From what I saw in the interview, I see just a couple of hurdles to clear.  First, the conversion of a Saturn Sky's internal combustion engine to an electric drive train costs $25,000.00.  That price is steep for most car owners.  For those who can afford the cost, once the Sky is brought into their shop, the conversion takes all of two days.  Mr. Burns told the interviewer that he actually has a waiting list to get cars converted.

The other hurdle to clear is for apartment dwellers like me who do not have electrical outlets in the parking lot -- there is no where to plug in the car!  However, if enough people with electrical outlets in their garages and carports demand this conversion, perhaps apartment home owners can be convinced to wire parking lots for electrical outlets.

So, for just how many billions is Mr. Burns asking?

$20 million

Yes, twenty million dollars. All of 0.13% of what was offered to the big 3 American car companies.

I'm ready to make that loan.

All around the blogosphere back to my world

There's a lot of interesting things going on in our great big world today!  Here are three articles that caught my eye today:

HuffPost Readers Blog The Meltdown.   I posted my story here. Though it has not been posted, the stories posted today helped me feel grateful for what I have and that my situation could be much worse.

Dennis Leary firefighters show to tackle 9/11 conspiracy theories.  I'm a big fan of Rescue Me. It's mostly soap opera for men with little bits of comedy improv.  It is also one of the few shows that has managed to make me laugh and cry within the same episode.  Can't wait to see just how the show handles this.

Why doesn't ABC News just become a blog and get it over with?  A well made case for bookmarking and reading multiple sources if you want to rely on the Internet for news on a regular basis. 

And, finally, I did some Christmas shopping at a local mall earlier today.  My list is now down to just my life partner. I have visited this mall for nearly twenty years and it is now at its least busy and least occupied that I can recall.  Two of its five anchor stores are either closed or are soon to be closed with about one in four retail spaces left unoccupied.  

While my need to buy gifts, clothes and the occasional soy latte will not soon end, perhaps the decline of the mall is really a blessing in disguise.  America can only have so many Wal-Marts, so the decline of the mall really means switching in shopping habits back to mixed neighborhood venues (stores on the 1st floor, living quarters on the 2nd/3rd floors) and a build up of on-line shopping outlets. Both of these means fewer drives to the stores and, perhaps, a refocus on shopping for what you need instead of shopping for entertainment's sake.

Now, if only I could somehow order that soy latte on-line, I'd be ready for the commerce revolution.