I’m still underemployed (thank you, Obama, for making that term official), only not as much.

Today, I start the second of two part-time jobs.  I'll be working at the baby brother of a larger grocery chain, both marketed as healthy and organic alternatives to the basic supermarket. … Read full post »

I'm not as lucky as Grif who lives in a beautiful setting with a backyard! But I tried to capture a few shots from my part of the world - New Jersey!

Beautiful Stone Wall.

 Snow Bridge

Winter Stairs

 Stream… Read full post »

I'm working (or in my case, playing, since no one is paying me for the writing I'm doing) at the computer,  and I glance at the time on the cable box and, Holy Kee-Rap, two whole hours just disappeared! Pfffft!  Gone!

What the hell is that, I think?  Have I just… Read full post »

My Addiction doesn't involve substances or obsessive behavior...much.  It's just that I'm driven to...

Keeping track of bogus “cancer causing agents” often widely disseminated by hoaxers yet thoroughly reported by the media, blogs, and forwarded emails I keep getting from my fri… Read full post »

What does it say about society when a teen-age student comes in to my Big Chain Bookstore, asking for a book about Hannibal the Carthaginian general, and the Book Search program lists Thomas Harris' "Hannibal" first?  What does it say about ME that the only thing I know about Hannibal the… Read full post »

What is UP with this unemployment thing?  It’s spreading like a fast moving rash.  Everywhere I look I see people who just got pink slips rubbing their backs against trees like Black Bears with shingles.  Why, just yesterday I read that 12,000 or so people lost their jobs in the… Read full post »

I am a female NFL football fan.  A hard-core fan, though I don’t paint my face or strip to the waist, waving beer bottles in 9 degree weather.

I have been subjected to a great deal of skepticism regarding how serious I… Read full post »

Because my nickname is Eyore, I couldn't help but respond to the glorious photo-ode-to-joyous  spring, warmth, dancing about in shorts and flip-flops that Chris posted.   This is my bleak, miserable picture of today's cold, nasty weather.  Today, I am not feeling very smug about b… Read full post »

I’ve had my bookstore job for a little while, now.  I’m still suffering from sticker shock, but I’m hanging tough. Most importantly, I’ve zeroed in on a couple of facts I had never noticed before in my life as a consumer.

Retail is essentially about two things - sore… Read full post »

Having declined to do the actual math of what my pay might be after a 40 hour week at my part-time-almost-full-time-job-but-without-the-benefits, I was stunned when I received my first paycheck.  I sat in the break room and stared at the dollar figure hoping that at any moment it would sprout a… Read full post »

This is the first time I’ve ever submitted a recipe.  I don’t cook, and I store my sweaters in my oven, so I’m ever so excited! 

Yummy Chicken Gizzards Prepared for a Remarkably Spoiled Dog 

A simple dish, I learned to prepare this delicacy when looking after my 84… Read full post »

I took a part-time-almost-full-time-but-without-the-benefits job at a large bookstore chain.  

This is my first foray out of the corporate world since…ever.   

To my mind, however, if I'm not getting health or dental coverage, I'm just killing time.  I'm/… Read full post »

American workers have a very bad habit.  It's nothing new and is, in fact, almost institutionalized. I'm referring to the way we Americans allow our employers and bosses to bully us about like we're the skinny kid in the playground.

Self-Serving-Self-Help-Get-A-Job Pundits actively encourage us… Read full post »

At this point in my burgeoning career as an unemployed person, I have spent countless hours on almost every major job search board imaginable.   

No matter what site I go to, however, I will ultimately come across the dreaded “Apply Now” Button.  A neophyte job hunter might/… Read full post »

Having been jobless for sumpety months now, I consider myself a bit of an expert on the benefits of being out of work. There are many constructive things a jobless person can do to offset the tedious, and demoralizing nature of job hunting. Here are a few positive things I do… Read full post »

Heard at 5:00pm in offices throughout the Big City:  "Woo Hoo! It's Friday!  Here comes the weekend!"

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  There's no joy in Joblessville. For us WOJers the weekend never ends.

"Wait!  What?"  I think, "It's Friday? Again?  Wasn't it just Friday?  Yester… Read full post »

Many books, articles, and How-to-Get-A-Job pundits addressing WOJers, (person WITHOUT a JOB = WOJ), suggest that there is a proper and fruitful way to greet yet another day without gainful employment. Here are the steps to be taken:

Go to bed at the same time you would as if you… Read full post »

Mondays suck!

It's not just the gainfully employed who lay awake on Sunday nights thinking about how much the hate their jobs and dread getting up on Monday to start yet another week of drudgery.

Then of course, you might love your job which makes you a total anomaly. You represent less… Read full post »

Recruiters (aka Headhunters or Flesh Peddlers)

Since everyone knows at least one decent recruiter, I'm not going to spend my time talking about the good one(s). I'm interested in venting about those people who would sell their own mothers down the river in a second if it meant getting a commission.

It… Read full post »

That question ranks right up there with, "What's that huge red thing on your face?"

'm not just unemployed, I was FIRED! I learned the hard way that there is a significant difference between being Fired and being Laid Off. First, there's that the look of horror that crosses people's faces when… Read full post »

I work as an Executive Assistant to Presidents and CEOs of big companies and organizations. People, as they say, At a Certain Level. Serious Movers and Shakers. Folks Who Make Things Happen. Oh yeah. That’s me, working in the Big Time with The Big Players whose names you might recognize. 

T… Read full post »