Today’s weather:  Itchy and restless…

Except for the trip to the Career Fair yesterday I’ve been cooped up for 6 days going on eternity.  God help me.  Both of the kids have been home trading their bugs since Friday night last week.

The oldest woke up with a temp of 102 degrees; she’s better when she gets a slug of ibuprofen under her belt, but only for about 4 hours.  She swings manically between wanly cheerful and morosely feverish.  The little one is just a crusty, nasty, goopy snot ball on wheels – his temp broke last night, and now he’s bent on terrorizing his sister.  Between them I’ve gone through a small pharmacy of over-the-counter drugs and a mess of amoxicillin.

I know all the lines to Lilo and Stitch by heart.  Disney Channel is verboten on my den television because it seems as if they only play the same six shows over and over and over and over again.  The “Little Monkeys jumping on the Bed” game?  It’s happening in my bed, my bedroom.  There are no monkey victims with broken heads -- it’s my bed that won’t survive.

And my spouse is gone out of town on business for another 24 hours.  There’s no reprieve.  None.

Add to this outside weather that’s colder than hell (a balmy 19 deg F/ -7C right now; it was only forecast to reach 10 F/ -12C today).  There’s no chance of taking these two out to stretch their legs – utter damnation.

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

There was one brief, bright spot, a set of videos I’d squirreled away for a rainy day.  I broke them out: a collection of Charlie Chaplin silent films.  Put the TV on mute, put in a video and presto!

My son stops his tattoo of torment and breaks into squeals of laughter.  My daughter looks so relieved.  No screams and threats for at least a half hour, the noise now a dull roar punctuated with giggles.

Not exactly heaven, but it’ll do for now.

5:41:39 PM    comment []

DharmaSurfing: another monumental waste of time…          

Those of you who know me well know I’ve been unemployed for a while now.  A little over six months.  Just another one of those white-collar casualties you read about as a percentage of overall unemployment, a slip of the digit off the payroll of one of the largest IT consulting companies.  A proverbial drop in the bucket.

It’s a pretty soul-sucking experience to have to grub and root around for a job in this market.  There are NO jobs for IT folks in this area, very few white-collar jobs.  The majority of the jobs are either burger-flipping or retail-grunting jobs; these kinds of positions don’t pay enough to cover daycare nor do they provide benefits.  The largest employers around here are still cutting and if they haven’t started cutting, they will be in 3 to 6 months; the handwriting’s on the wall.

I’ve even entertained starting a business, but because the capital equipment market is so damned soft right now, it’s not much of an option.

So when my program director at my alma mater tells me there’s a “Career Fair” for students and alums, I shake off the job-hunting-funk and dust off my navy blue business garb.  Arrange for care of my still-at-home-sick kids and head to campus.

What a f*ckin’ joke.  Not worth the gas I put into my car.

First, the employers.  Only the FBI really looked like they were a viable contender, actually looking for new employees.  The rest were just killing time. 

One major manufacturer (whose name I would love to cite but won’t for legal reasons), had two big dorks manning their booth.  I’m very familiar with this company, having family members and neighbors that have worked for them, friends that call on them for sales.  These two goof-balls were looking for entry-level sales and marketing people, but they couldn’t sell me on their company; they could say little about their local home plant, less about other plants, and were patronizing to boot.  They both looked like they spent waaaayyy too much time sucking down donuts; one guy’s stomach peek-a-booed out under his tie, his shirt buttons gaping.  I had all I could do not to start at this ponderous potbelly; how could this company send these guys to represent them?  Worse, they didn’t really know their industry or the economy.  Ugh! 

I ended up leaving my resume with an insurance company; it’s not glamorous, they pay lousy, but they do have an actual e-commerce department, probably have more technology at use than many local firms and they offer decent benefits.  I still felt like I pimped myself short.

Now for the students.  What in the hell is it with black suits these days?  I swear the place looked like a cross between an undertakers’ convention and a Goth conference.  “Men in Black” is a movie, just a gag in a fictional story, okay?  You look like hoods!  And guys, spend the time learning how to style your hair or take the time to see the barber/stylist before you attend one of these events with on-the-spot interviews.  The excessive use of gel on hair to hold it in place makes you look like a) you’re thirteen years of age and you haven’t figured out how to wield a comb, or b) like you’re a walking grease ball.  I beg you, please think about spray and not gel!  Chicks: we are not all of us Ally McBeal – very short skirts, overly high heels and tight suits do nothing in the business world for real women with figures.  As a former hiring manager, I can tell you that male hiring managers aren’t listening to you when they’re checking out your legs and female hiring managers will be wondering if you’ll take your job as seriously as your attire.

At least the school did have the common sense to refuse students to enter who weren’t in business attire; several were asked to come back once they’d attired themselves in something besides cargo pants, flannel shirts and athletic shoes.

I guess I did come away with something: validation.  The job market is very bad since the very big companies weren’t there (empty booths where they should have been) and mostly bottom feeders in the remaining space.  There were more students and alums in attendance than there were parking spaces, by a 2-to-1 ratio.  It’s bad when these students who would have been courted and poached a handful of years ago now have to stand in line to talk to the two big dorks and others like them.

I just don’t know if I needed to waste this much time and effort to get this validation.

12:25:57 PM    comment []

Visit Miguel Octavio's blog, Venezuela, for an authentic view of the Venezuelan crisis.

Watch for coverage in U.S. press and notice the difference.  Ask yourself why, then ask yourself what else you read and watch every day is as disparate.

11:20:00 AM    comment []