tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64748093113543704162024-02-20T00:33:40.940-05:00Random Thought StreamUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-70603674223355599632014-01-12T16:33:00.002-05:002014-01-12T16:33:32.523-05:00From Staff Expert to Unemployment Statistic<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am 32 years old. Both of my parents have died from cancer within the last 4 years. My brother, and only sibling, still struggles with drug addiction and only calls when he needs money. I persevered through unimaginable adversity over the course of a decade to get my B.S. degree so I could get "a real job;" have a career. That's what everyone said for as long as I can remember, "education is the way," "you got to get a college degree." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although I graduated when unemployment was nearing double-digit figures, I remained optimistic because I had graduated with honors so I was sure that would set me apart. I landed my first "real job" as an entry level software tester 2 years later. By the end of my first year I had become the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for testing mobile applications. Only 4 months away from celebrating my second anniversary the company announced that contract negotiations to outsource all test execution activities were complete and, just like that, my position was eliminated. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I received a severance package based on my years of service, but it did not last long because my untaxed unemployment benefit is literally half of what my net income was when I was employed. Not only did my income drop by half, but my medical expenses have increased significantly since I lost health insurance coverage when I could not afford the ridiculous COBRA rates. For instance, an injection I must get at the doctor's office every 12 weeks went from a $25 co-pay to $124.50 -- 498% increase. On the upside, I've learned that I was paying more in premiums for the health insurance coverage than the insurance company was paying out to the pharmacies and doctors' offices.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've had a number of interviews and many calls from recruiters, but no offers because "they decided to go in a different direction," "not the right kind of experience," or "not enough experience." </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ironically, the expiration date of the Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits program was also the 6 month mark since my layoff. I am 1 of the 1.3 million Americans who started the new year with the sole resolution to find full time employment, but without an income.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On top of the usual stresses of looking for work, I now worry about how I am going to buy food or pay the electric, rent, and water bills. I am deeply saddened and shocked by the thought that I would be better off in jail or dead, but it seems to be true. In jail a person has shelter, clothing, food, and even medical care, all provided while serving out his/her sentence. As the days become weeks waiting on the government to act, the</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">instinctual</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> need to survive will override civility and obedience to society's laws.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-11403340127603181052012-08-13T20:00:00.001-04:002012-08-13T20:17:30.153-04:00Corporate Culture: Should I fit in or get out?I had my mid-year performance review with my manager today. Overall, it went well. There was only 1 "Needs Focus" item: Improve knowledge and skills on corporate culture and work environment. "Sure thing, Boss"<br />
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: bold;">Understand the goal.</li>
<ul>
<li>Improve knowledge -> research corporate culture</li>
<li>Improve skills -> implement knowledge gained from research</li>
</ul>
<li style="font-weight: bold;">Gather data and information.</li>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Corporate culture is a term used to describe the collective beliefs, value systems, and processes that provide a company with its own unique flavor and attitude. (<a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-corporate-culture.htm" target="_blank">wiseGeek</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">The different aspects of corporate culture are values, language, expectations, rituals and stories. </span> </li>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Values are instilled into corporate culture by the decision and actions of the organization's leaders. This aspect of corporate culture influences the attitudes, motivation and decisions of employees. </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: cyan; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">The <u><b>understated</b></u> values are just as influential as the stated values.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> These values include time management, cost savings, amount of space, and work performance. </span> </li>
<li><span style="background-color: cyan; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Expectations for employee behavior</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> are an aspect of corporate culture that </span><span style="background-color: cyan; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">can</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> either foster or </span><span style="background-color: cyan; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">hinder creativity</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> and acceptance of new employees onto the team. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"><u><span style="background-color: #cc0000; color: yellow;"><b>Management should make clear to employees its expectations</b></span></u><span style="background-color: white;"> of how they should behave while at work to avoid confusion and create a positive working environment. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">It is especially important that new employees be briefed on office </span>etiquette<span style="font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> and general rules of the organization.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> (<a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-aspects-of-corporate-culture.htm" target="_blank">wiseGeek</a>)</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">Above and beyond organizational and procedural factors, </span><span style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: left;">corporate</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-align: left;">culture</span><span style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"> is </span><span style="background-color: cyan;">further</span><span style="background-color: cyan;"> </span><span style="background-color: cyan;">informed by the attitude of everyone involved with the organization.</span></span> </span></li>
</ul>
<li style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Droid Sans, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Identify areas for further investigation.
</span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Droid Sans, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Current culture - </span></span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Droid Sans, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Stated: Acquire and retain talent, flexible work hours, autonomy, "open-door" communication policy across all levels of organization</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Droid Sans, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Understated: Etiquette, working hours and environment, performance expectations, effects of using any "open-doors"</span></span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">They say they want to emphasize creativity, flexibility, and innovation by being</span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">based less on control and organization than on freedom and creativity. However, the last few meetings with my manager included these statements:</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">"Do not compare yourself to those around you. You have not proven yourself."</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">"Do not [socialize] on breaks." </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">"Do not get personal during meetings."</span></li>
</ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Droid Sans, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">I'm pretty sure I've heard every variation of those sentiments since I started school. Some things are just part of who I am.....which is not a robot :-P </span></span></li>
</ul>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-35024387031494382112012-07-29T10:01:00.000-04:002012-07-29T10:01:02.228-04:00GrrrrrLife makes less sense with each passing year. It's getting harder and harder to want to keep going through the cycle of work-to-pay-bills-to-survive in the hopes of MAYBE someday actually being free before death.<br />
<br />
I worked so hard to get the education that has gotten me a really good job, but, as usual, circumstances (involving other people being unwilling to work as hard as I did) prevent me from enjoying my accomplishments. I guess it's my own fault.....why should they have to work as hard when they already reap the rewards?<br />
<br />
When did not being able to provide, at least for oneself, stop being shameful? What happened to having pride and honor in building one's own life? When did it stop being rude to expect others to accommodate your needs...acceptable to expect someone else to come and "make it all better"? Do people not understand the word "impose"?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
LIFE IS NOT ABOUT GETTING WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU WANT EXACTLY HOW YOU WANT IT!!! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE EASY!!!!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-41017871148696484602012-06-11T20:44:00.001-04:002012-06-11T21:27:02.304-04:00Abortion Debate<br />
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<div style="line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">I don't really even understand how this is even a debate. It seems rather simple to me: </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Abortion became illegal in the late 19th century. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">As quoted from an article on 19th century abortion in Women's Health Issues magazine, "<i>There were plenty of agents and materials available to induce abortion... Yet many proprietary potions did not actually terminate pregnancies. Women often resorted to using </i></span><span style="background-color: red;"><span style="color: yellow;"><i>SHARP INSTRUMENTS, WAX CANDLES, PENHOLDERS WITH ATTACHED WIRES, GLASS RODS, HAIR CURLING TONGUES, STICKS, SPOONS, KNIVES, and CATHETERS</i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">" (</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spring 1992).</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many of the women who had to resort to the crude methods mentioned above inadvertently died in the process or not long after when infection set in. The fact is that these women could not bear the thought of carrying the pregnancy to term and were so determined to abort that they risked serious injury, illness, and death (by unintentional suicide) to rid themselves of the parasite.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a teenager in the mid-late 1990s, I heard about girls throwing themselves down stairs, punching themselves in the gut, and even starting a fight in the hopes of getting beaten badly enough to cause a miscarriage. All just so their parents wouldn't find out they were sexually active. </span></div>
</div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A few questions to consider:</span></h4>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How does it make sense to provide medical treatment to an addict on illegal drugs (a problem caused by the person suffering from it) and NOT to a woman who has been raped (a problem caused by someone other than the person suffering from it)?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What about all of the unwanted children that are already here?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What about the men creating these children with no intentions of supporting or raising them? Shouldn't both parties involved in creating the person be held equally accountable for their actions?</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">It's like the "pro-lifers" seem to believe that making abortion and/or contraceptives illegal will accomplish all of the following:</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">stop the unmarried from having sex</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">make the world a better place with more children in it</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">end rape and violence</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">re-establish the traditional family unit of a Mother, Father, and 2.5 kids</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">unite all people under Christianity </span></span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The FACTS: </span></span></h3>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Human beings have sex for pleasure, not just reproduction.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Most animal species do, too.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Regardless of how long the human lifespan is, the natural stages of development do not change. Puberty has always begun around age 12 and ended in the early 20s. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Our attempts to lengthen childhood by keeping children naive (often misrepresented as "innocent") only serves to create unprepared teenagers that inevitably become ill-equipped adults.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">If sex is only permissible between 2 adults joined by marriage, then the penalties for purchasing the services of a prostitute AND committing adultery need to reflect a zero tolerance policy for the extra-marital activities historically pursued by men.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Equality is when everyone agrees to follow the same rules. </span></span></li>
</ol>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-38915541081111784062012-04-30T17:37:00.001-04:002012-04-30T17:37:04.359-04:00How To Do All Pindrops Tutorial Official Video<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ixsb3U-WVD4?fs=1" width="480"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-74236119540739884072012-04-29T14:05:00.001-04:002012-04-29T14:05:34.639-04:00The best dancer in the world<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TUabufMBBwE?fs=1" width="459"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-49169144407486309922012-04-28T18:50:00.001-04:002012-04-28T18:50:45.612-04:00Jabbawockeez - ABDC HipHop Evolution 7<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4Uq1ASYI984?fs=1" width="480"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-80124405170121961232012-04-28T14:30:00.001-04:002012-04-28T15:48:50.445-04:00K'NAAN - Wavin' Flag ft. will.i.am, David Guetta<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/amXeJrA-wDc?fs=1" width="459"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-88165250591021171532012-04-28T14:18:00.001-04:002012-04-28T15:51:27.235-04:00Drake - Take Care (Explicit) ft. Rihanna<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-zzP29emgpg?fs=1" width="480"></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-80843069942720484232012-04-21T17:16:00.000-04:002012-04-22T00:15:31.202-04:00Saturday Cleaning<br />
<center><table><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><img border="0" height="95" src="http://nierocks.areavoices.com/nierocks!/images/SPRING-CLEANING.jpg" width="200" /></td> <td><img class="middle" src="http://www.thetirechoice.com/SiteAssets/image/blue-check.png" valign="top" /> Clean Puppies.<br />
<img class="middle" src="http://www.thetirechoice.com/SiteAssets/image/blue-check.png" valign="top" /> Laundry.<br />
<img class="middle" src="http://www.thetirechoice.com/SiteAssets/image/blue-check.png" valign="top" /> Rearrange bedroom.</td> <td valign="top"><img border="0" height="107" src="http://crazytownmayor.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Clean-house-messy-apology-quote.jpg" width="200" /></td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6474809311354370416.post-45790573059453404312012-04-20T18:02:00.000-04:002012-04-21T23:22:17.444-04:00Happy 4-20<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://whatstheissueagain.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.careerhubblog.com/main/img/post_it_blog.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Moved to <a href="http://whatstheissueagain.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Happy April 20, 2012</a> page.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0