So I interviewed with a TV station yesterday. They need a creative editor to help them open up a new production service for their clients. Sort of a one stop shop for ad buys. It looks like a great opportunity and located very close to home. I could literally walk to work. That'd be nice.

A buddy of mine has an open position working helpdesk at footlocker.com and another friend runs a little local coffeeshop with an opening for a supervisor. So I guess when it rains, it pours on this little job market.

And now, on to my desktop project:

I wrote the guy from my last posting and discovered the utilities he used as being konfabulator and NetStatInDock. There's a great article on konfabulator over at O'Reilly.net As a result, I bought my own copy and now you can see what my current destop looks like:

I just found this guy's really cool desktop. I want to know what utilities he's running.

Oh the lust of geekdom.

Dude, you're going to jail!!!

Benjamin Curtis, the 22-year-old actor who portrays "Steven," the Dell Guy, in those bothersome computer commercials, was arrested late last night (2/9) on a marijuana possession charge. Curtis, who lives in lower Manhattan, was charged with criminal possession of marijuana.

Lifestyles of the Unemployed
Marcus Nelson
sendmemail@mac.com
February 6, 2003

This is the documentation of one manís experience seeking gainful employment. Through his words you may see yourself, a friend or a loved one. If nothing else, it will give you a sense of where you donít want to be in an unfortunate economy. You may ponder upon these ramblings, talk about it with co-workers or even reminisce about your own experiences. But if nothing else, be thankful for what you do have and count your blessings one by one. ~marcus sendmemail@mac.com

My UI checks ran out last week. Instead of the customary $329 check, I received a check for $188. Why? Because that was all that was left in my ìaccount.î Itís certainly difficult to change oneís lifestyle to accommodate a drop in salary, but to turn around and say, ìOops. Weíre sorry, but you have no more Unemployment funding left.î Itís kind of a slap in the face.

Never fear, our governing forces have come to the rescue. Iíll have 12 more weeks of funding until it runs out again. Oh joy. George Bush said in his State of the Union Address that every American who wants a job should have one. I could not agree more. I want to work.

Having my daily life programmed between visits to various websites, rÈsumÈ sending, phone calls for leads, and afternoons with Dr. Phil and Oprah, is something my high school guidance counselor never really mentioned in our discussions for job preparation. He did declare that rÈsumÈs should always be followed up with a phone call. That approach no longer applies. Some places even tell you not to call lest your potential candidacy for the position be disqualified.

There is also a new technique in corporate America used by Human Resource offices using software to ìdiagnoseî your aptitude for success. These software programs are referred to as combers, or crawlers that search for specific words, or combinations of words that satisfy the companyís job requirements. The hiring manager tells HR what they are looking for and software does the rest, brushing through hundreds, if not thousands of rÈsumÈs filtering out buzzwords that fit the managerís description.

If your rÈsumÈ is not specifically tailored for each and every job application, then all of your efforts, as sincere and hopeful as they may be, are in vein. To receive a letter in response saying anything about actually seeing your rÈsumÈ is next to non-existent. And even if you do, there will be a small tag line similar to this one I received today, ìIf the position you applied for is not well suited to your background, we will retain your resume for thirty calendar days for future consideration.î

This is usually a sure tail sign that your carefully crafted depiction of your life and work history just hit the back side of someoneís rubbish bin, or got nailed by a simple keystroke; sending it off the precipice of binary abyss. These are the cherished lessons of job-hunting in the Twenty-First Century.

Six months have gone by since my last layoff. There have been a few contracts along the way, but nothing-long term. I live in Central Wisconsin and have been through three layoffs in my nine years in the Information Technology sector, and now I canít even land a Helpdesk position. My college buddies out on the west coast arenít fairing much better. Steve has been making jewelry since he was let go by Seibel Systems a year ago. Holly just lost her job on Monday at Wind River. Both are technically savvy, but expendable.

And so goes our modern economy. Gone are the days of life long careers at one company. Our parents dedicated forty years to a company because the company took care of them. Faithfulness goes much further than fat paychecks. Faithfulness of the company to the employee and from the employee to the company, history taught people to take care of each other. These are different times. Dogs-eat-dog. Bottom lines have driven companies to care more about shareholders than communities.

Thereís really nothing I can do about that. Itís a society issue now, but the golden rules should still apply, ìDo unto others as you would have them do unto you.î If the company canít afford to keep their employees, they should be responsible to make every effort to find them new employment.

Societal commentary aside, finding a job has always boiled down to one simple factor for me. Knowing somebody at the company. So maybe my problem is not really a case of writing a bad rÈsumÈ, being over qualified or something so circumstantial. Maybe the problem is more about not knowing enough of the right people to get to the companies I want to work for? That, or all of my contacts are just as unemployed as I am?

If this is for real, I would very much like to become a distributor.

I could make a fortune! The Fourteen-Minute Orgasm Pill