The Hunt

The concept here, is more or less guerilla job hunting. Land the job you want, when you want, at the salary you want. The idea is to take the guess work out of the job hunt, to place power where it firmly belongs, in the hands of the unemployed.

The first step would have to be to correct the attitude with which applicants approach the "hunt". Listen, it is called a hunt, so act like a hunter not the hunted, if you act like a shy lion you will get no respect from the deer. You will never see a lion jog after it's meal, it not out there running after deer for the exercise, you most act like you want it and that this is your last chance to get it. Plan your interview, like you are planning an attack on terrorists, take nothing for granted, and cover all the obvious questions. Why do you want to work here? What made you choose this profession? What makes you the right person for this job? Do you have a track record of being successful doing this?

Then there are the not so obvious situations. Like how will you react to different personality types at the interview table. If they are the shy type then don't push, if your interviewer is the aggressive type match their energy.

Apply the laws of supply and demand to your interview, you are in demand and they want your services as much as you want to work for them. To achieve this you most make them sell the company and the job to you. Ask questions about the job, the growth prospects, the hiring manager, why they have a vacancy. Make sure you come across as being interested in knowing if the job is as good a fit for you, as you are for it.

Go over your resume like you were going to hire yourself and see what questions occur to you. Try to have an answer for everything, if you don't know? Smile and say "interesting question" and then duck your head under the table (joke).

If you are being interviewed on the phone speak slowly and keep your answers short, remember the poor sap on the other end is trying to write down your words of wisdom as you speak. And if all else fails, just look them in the eye and say "blessed are the givers, for they shall receive much in return"(another lame joke, sorry could not help myself ). This could be interpreted as an attempt to bribe but if certain failure calls for desperate measures, a lame joke is hardly the worst you could do. Smile, you got this. 

Electorial College

The margin of error in this election is so slim that I am afraid that very soon it is going to come down to that single "swing voter". "They" (whoever "they" are) have identified swing states, counties and zip codes, I am sure, they know which houses within those zip codes are "swing homes" and in that swing home lives that final frontier of glorious indecision the aforementioned "swing voter". Despite 3 debates, two party conventions and one billions dollars in advertising campaigns, swing voters have not made up their minds. I say bravo, but we are not going to McDonalds together anytime time soon (the menu is too complex and I can't afford the cost involved in trying to get them to decide) here lies the true beauty of communism, it is either Lenin or after he dies Stalin, one party, one leader, and one choice. All not in support will be eliminated, their images and deeds erased from all the books, pictures and records. Now that is "gangsta" but thank God not true in this country. I know that the right to choose can sometimes be overstated, I mean, really, what is difference between the clogged arteries and heart attack that I will get from smoking a Marlboro Light and the one that I get from eating a whooper? But at least I get to decide which set of shareholders will share the blame for my failing health, while meeting their revenue targets. Let me be clear here, it is important to take as much time as you need to make up your mind when choosing your next pair of sneakers, if you make the wrong decision you will be stuck with sorry kicks for the whole summer and that will be a tragedy. So all you swing voters out there, please take your time and make right decision, if the time comes and you are still not sure, do what I do, flip a coin. As a last word here is a poem of unknown origin, from an author that never published.

“I don't want to talk
Wait, I feel like a chat.

I need to get up
But I want to lie down.


T-shirt or jumper?
I've change my mind I'll wear a shirt.

I want to stand up
No, I want to sit there
I'm even indecisive about the chair.

I've got myself in to a state
My life is ruled by a split decision.”

Say What!

A "lack of security" resulted in the loss of 377 tons of high explosives- (AP) How the &*%k, do you lose 377 tons of anything? It would take an F-250 60 trips to haul the whole thing away. I thought the whole idea of going to Iraq was to prevent this $#^t, from falling into the wrong hands, One guess who has the missing explosives? I cannot believe that we have armed these guys with enough bang bang to hold the July 4th fireworks display until the year 2010. I am hot, the level of incompetence with which we have run this whole caper…., right from the start, the reasoning behind the show was dubious at best, with "fill in" logic and "bend to fit" evidence. The whole premise for the war, was that the world without Sadam, was a better place. I am not so sure anymore, that sadistic heel might have been a nuisance, but he sure was funny. Dick on the other hand, has no sense of humor and he is almost as nutty as the former number one guy in Iraq. Here are a few quotes from the former Iraqi information minister "Baghdad Bob" made during the war even as Baghdad was falling to Allied forces, see if they remind you of anything presently going on with regards to the situation in the country and Iraq.

"Rumsfeld, he needs to be hit on the head." Amen

"I have detailed information about the situation...which completely proves that what they allege are illusions . . . They lie every day." Republicans on Democrats

"I blame Al-Jazeera." Conservatives about CNN

"Those are not Iraqis at all. Where did they bring them from?" People filing for unemployment?

"The American press is all about lies! All they tell is lies, lies and more lies!" self explanatory

"They are becoming hysterical. This is the result of frustration." Kerry/Edwards Campaign

Search for the truth. I tell you things and I always ask you to verify what I say." Just don't ask for proof

"The United Nations...it is all their fault." Current situation in Iraq

Once again, I blame al-Jazeera. Please, make sure of what you say and do not play such a role." The faithfuls at Fox network

"Nobody came here. Those America losers, I think their repeated frequent lies are bringing them down very rapidly…. Baghdad is secure, is safe." Just don't go out too often or stand too close to the windows.

In search of greater meaning

I am bored, interesting position to be in considering that I have not achieved anything world changing in life. You would think that with a life resume as thin as mine, that I would be busting with zeal to go out and conquer (well you can think it, but you better not mention it). The position I find myself in is an unusual one, I am young (relatively speaking of course), employed (definitely not a career job), good looking (in a chunky kind of way), healthy ( if any smoker can be considered healthy), and outgoing (sometimes). The problem would seem to be that a general dissatisfaction with the state of my affairs has led to a compounding sense of continuing malaise that manifests itself’ as well “boredom”. On the one hand you could blame a “lack of imagination” as the main reason my I cannot maximize my time to get the most out of life or you could state quite obviously that a refusal to accept things for what they are, a belief that somewhere, somehow, that i can do enough to turn my life into a rainbow of self fulfilling activities that would satisfy that hunger for something greater is leading me down a road whose various forks lead to unhappiness or at the very least despair. I fear that in the end I would look back on my life and it would not measure up to the dreams I had for it as a child. The hope and sense of adventure that is manifest in every child, if that could be bottled and sold to adults, we would all be the better for it. Much too often we die mentally before the body finally gives up. But all the same I think I have a simple solution to my problem, I will make plans and carry them out, the sense of achievement, the planning and anticipation that should keep me going even if the goal is as insignificant as learning how to snowboard. The problem I find, is not a lack of activity, but a lack of challenge. The push to overcome any obstacle is a motivation for the mind, the body and the soul. As long as I remember to free my mind, I know that the rest will surely follow.

Clutter your mind, it helps.

It’s Wednesday, that means that you survived Monday, the change in circumstances in one's life can be day to day or if you are a politician poll to poll. How many litters in a barrel, I wonder? I guess that, (of course) would depend on the size of the barrel, a barrel of crude oil now costs $54.00, with gas at $2.00 a gallon. Every time I fill up my tank I complain, yet I paid $2.09 for 24 ounces of beer and believed it was cheap. “Most oil-producing nations are also rife with corruption” this is from today’s news on yahoo, when crude oil production is the only viable industry in an economy, I guess it is kind of hard to stay clean, literally. (Reuters) – “J.P. Morgan Chase Profit Falls 13 Percent-the No. 2 U.S. bank, reported quarterly net income of $1.42 billion”. Hmm......Funny, I can think of a few countries that would be glad to make that much in a year. Makes you think doesn’t it, here is a bank that charges you $12.50 per month to hold your money, $1.50 for withdrawing your money and $1.00 for writing a check against the balance in your account, yet they declare a billions dollars net income! in a down quarter, no less!
Remember, let you mind wonder, there are places in your thoughts that you have not visited YET. That said, visit the link below.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/uclickcomics/cx_crbc_uc/latest

Truth and consequences

"The truth will set you free" somebody said that. I wonder who and why, for the true has never set anybody free, the fact is that “the truth” could cost you your freedom. If ever you feel the need to confess, without due prompting from the cops, your spouse or the boss (“due prompting” in this case could be defined as the threat of drastic consequences) remember the problems you will create might be more than the one (not ones) that you solve. The primary aim of a confessional is selfish, you want to purge your soul of guilt (Imagine how free you would be from your wife after you confess you wished you had married her sister). Now that we have covered the reason Bush cannot or will not admit to the problems In Iraq. I find it strange that everyday the polls have Bush up by 7 points and the next day tied with Kerry. Either they are polling Republicans on the days in-between or something else is making 5% of the electorate flip-flop every other day. Day one, welcome to my daily blog. Like most things American it would flow freely but not be free. Since I started watching politicians actively , I find I have picked up a few important survival habits, my boss asked me for a report the other day, I had not written the report but I promptly blamed the guy that had the job before me for not writing a prior report while he worked here and informed my boss that if he was thinking of hiring a new guy that he should consider that statistics show that new guys aren’t any good at report writing either. I have also learned that the most important part of your job is the “job interview” because if you don’t promise enough and fail to get the job, how will you then get the opportunity to break those promises? Remember, Regardless of the size of the holes in your resume, it is important to always point out the reason why hiring someone else would be a big mistake. That’s it for today, catch you on the next page.