the unemployment line

I was recently laid off and like millions of others joined the unemployment line. I had been in charge of marketing and sales for a food and restaurant company for many years and now I find myself looking for work and on the dole.
This is a very new experience for me having worked my entire without a real break. I supported my family with my working wife and held a variety of jobs - from cab driver to writer to publicist to salesman to marketing executive. It has been a nice and somewhat fulfilling trajectory.
What I have found as I have gone out in the marketplace is that there are plenty of jobs...if I want to pay for them. That is, I could be working for any number of people and companies, all of whom want me to go out and sell their wares while none of them pony up a penny.
This is somewhat at odds with what I have heard about today's financial state. "Jobs are dwindling and unemployment is growing," reads the newspapers, online and otherwise. That may be true, but maybe the jobs are changing.
It does seem as if no one is hiring, a line I have heard many times already. They say they don't have the money as they tighten their proverbial belts. Instead, I have approached and been approached by company executives who would like me to sell their food, advertising and services on commission. That means that I spend my time and money and goodwill to go out and try to hawk their ideas for anywhere from 5 to 10 percent of the sale. Not bad if you can get it. But, not exactly what I had in mind. Not one of them has a desire to pay for my vast experience, contacts and energy.
And, why should they? The marketplace is shrinking, prices are falling, buyers are tightening up and fear is weighing down the optimism that once buoyed our thriving economy. There are seemingly more people on the streets looking than people buying.
It is hard to say what lies in my future. I have just hit the road, gotten the word out and revamped my resume. I am on Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter, and I am gmailing my hundreds of contacts. I have meetings almost every day with makers of eco-products, brownies, healthy foods and packaged desserts. I've met with the editor of an online newspaper who desperately needs sales and a newly-launched internet site directly focused on an emerging marketplace. One acquaintance even wants me to sell his swimming poolr services and write ads.
I am not waiting. I have set up a sales and marketing company to manage these new opportunities. I will tackle them individually and expect that I will succeed and instead of working for others, direct my own destiny. Like the economy, I have evolved whether I like it or not.
It is a new world and, while I may not be welcome to it, I am ready to take it on and get the heck off the unemployment line before before that first government check is deposited directly into my checking account.

obamaorama

I have read with interest and disdain the comments about our President...President Obama. But, it is with great shame that I have to comment about the racial bent of the most recent outbursts. While I am happy that the liberal writers and commentators are standing up against obvious but tethered racism, it is amazing that it should even be a topic. When people rose up against Obama's desire to speak to the students of our nation, it made me cringe...it made me sad. The guy from South Carolina, an elected Congressman, obliterates the common etiquette afforded the President and shouts him down. What the...? Is that some rhetorical device? Some political strategy? Or just plain bitterness and tasteless, gutteral emotion? And if it is the latter than what is it based on? Health care? Oh forgive me please. But am not sure the idea of "socialized" medicine would really create such an outcry.
So here we are back to square one. It had to happen in this mucked up country of ours. I mean no one shouted down Bush for his warmongering or ego-centric capitalistic desire to rid the world of non-Christians. Nope. That is an issue for Democrats I guess. They are too genteel. The Republicans are like rabid wolves foaming at their proverbial mouths should anyone say or do anything that they do not agree with.
The game is on. Obamarama. How will it end? How will it play out? Who will make the next move? Can anyone win?

my reusable bag

i have a new resuable bag called a Clothesnik. The company that makes it is Reuseniks. Funny name but it makes sense. I like to reuse. Niks are those who do things with a passion like a Refusenik or Beatnik. Anyways, this bag is great. It allows me to go to the dry cleaners and come home without any plastic bags. I just toss my dirty clothes in it and they come back in the same bag without any plastic on them. Really simple. I have no more plastic bags. There are other bags like this but they are all made of plastic or polypropelene or recycled stuff. This is all natural cotton. I love my Reuseniks reusable bag

Blogger Buzz: Show off your Followers

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no more rabbit ears

As we get closer to the deadline for going all digital, I have come to the realization that this is just one more thing created by moneymakers to make more money and damn those who are not on board. We will be OK, say the policy makers who have told us (warned us) that we have to be ready for the February '09 shift to digital TV; that our precious rabbit ear TV sets of yore will no longer work, the signal will no longer be sent and all you will get is fuzzy static if you attempt to plug yours in and watch it.
Currently, I have a great little TV set in my bathroom that gets me the Today Show in the morning and the occasional cartoon show or whatever basic programming I may want when I am shaving, showering, etc. I will have to buy a converter for $40 or $60 depending upon who you talk to in order for my little TV set to work again after Feb.
But, the other day all of my cable went out in my house. No internet. No cable TV. We were thrust into the prehistoric days of...rabbbit ear TV and radio. Aha! I said. I have TV that will work and I set it up at the foot of my bed, plugged it in, and joila! I got to watch the latest network shows and the 11:00 news and Letterman...I was saved.
Then it struck me. What will happen in Feb. What if my cable went out then. What if there is an earthquake (as there are in LA on occasion) and there is cable. Huh? What about that you good for nothing policy makers. We would be totally disconnected. And why? What for? So that some cable monopoly can make more buckos
Then I realized that those who cannot afford the $40 bucks for a converter and the monthly nut for cable TV will be completely without and completely cut-off. TV is a necessity. Not just for entertainment but for news. It connects us to the world. It is something that everyone should have. It should be in the Bill of Rights, the Constitution. Dictating digital is wrong.
I pray for my little Rabbit Ears.