Top Secret Company

One thing I am finding that is obnoxious is company's who don't put their names out there when they are advertising for help. I've seen some interesting jobs I might like to apply for, BUT they say the company is confidential. I'm not sure why they do this. I want to know where I applying to. Does this make sense to anyone else? Just say, no phone calls. But I want to know how far away the company is, to see if I would be willing to drive that far or not and to be able to familiarize myself with the company.

Doing my sending resumes dance

I've had a good friend read over my resume and give me suggestions for improving it. And now I'm ready to pull the trigger. This is a precarious thing. This is now the first chance for me to be either accepted or rejected. I'm trying to prepare myself for what being rejected will feel like. My ego has taken a beating and it's starting to feel somewhat normal at this time. I mean I haven't sat in front of the TV during the day at all this week even though Martha Stewart (don't be haters! she is fun to watch) and Oprah call out of me at 11 and 4 p.m. And my mind is much clearer for what I need to do. Now I just need to do it.

So wish me luck.

Resume Strategery

I know that I need to make my resume match the job I am applying for. The hard part is that I am looking to change my career away from a support function. I have the experience from within my previous job, but the title just doesn't match. It's all strategery (Saturday Night Live reference). I have been reading up on what I need to do to show that I have experience but that my previous job title might not say that.

I know you only have one time to make an impression so the resume and cover letter are so important. Especially since there are so many people out there looking for jobs.

All I know is I need a job, I can't take being home so much. I'm going nutty. I am keeping the TV on just to hear people talking. It's only been a week. Oye.

Oh Poop

While taking my 2-mile walk at Lake Seminole Park a bird pooped on me. Yes, I said it, POOPED on me. Now, I really think I have been pooped on enough for the past week. And this is my 1-week anniversary of being unemployed. Not sure if there is any meaning to it being pooped on or if I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The First Monday

The end of last week was like I was on a long weekend. This morning felt very different. I have decided I need to have something every day that forces me to get up and out of bed - besides the fear of running out of money - something that keeps my sanity. So it was off to daily mass and then to a walk in the park for exercise and then home to the job search.

It is so quiet at home and the cat isn't great for conversation. I think just the loneliness might push me.

Anyhow. On to Tuesday.

Day One

Wow. Thanks to all my family and friends for their support, kind words and offers of help. I can't thank you enough. Today I am processing. So there wasn't a ton of action. I got signed up for unemployment (you can do it on-line did you know that?) went grocery shopping and have spent the last 3 1/2 hours taking traffic school on-line. I am waiting for this current section's time to run out before moving on to the last section and then the final exam.

Not a ton, but something. Tomorrow I hope to read my termination paperwork and call work with any questions. And I have to rework my resume. I submitted one in haste yesterday out of desperation and I'm sure it's not up to snuff. But thanks to some good friends I have folks who will give me pointers.

I do have to say, it is weird waking up on a Thursday and having no workplace to go to. No real purpose. I know, finding a job, has now become my job. And I think I have to continue to write here. It is a release and it keeps me writing. It's easy to get real rusty, real fast.

Whew...well, time's almost up on the other web page I have up so I better finish this darn class up. I can't come back tomorrow and expect that I will remember all the stuff I have crammed in my head. Right now, my brain is on the mushy side as it is.

Unemployment Reality

Wow. I can't believe I am typing these words. I lost my job today. I was laid off from Progress Energy due to budgetary reasons. I am am in shock to say the least. Not sure what to say, how to feel, how to stop crying. I took a lot of pride in my job and thought I did it well. Since I have no children my job had become my identity really and now it is gone.

I'm numb. My mind is racing...wow.

Ethanol: Part II

It's interesting that someone from the ethanol industry, I assume this since they choose to be anonymous, responded to my earlier post. I am interested being I monitor blogs for my work and we are in the process of figuring out a social media policy for when to respond. I would argue that I would have liked to know who is responding, so I can go an research the group.

I still disagree with ethanol being pushed on Americans. It is a a process that expends a lot of energy to create something that is less efficient and you can't argue, using farmland that used to grow other grains and crops to corn causing worldwide increases in prices of those crops including wheat.

I know it is a bridge to the next technology that we will use to replace oil, which is an imperative, but I don't believe it is the panacea that some are saying.

What America really needs a change of attitude. We need to make some difficult choices. And conservation is a must. We need to curb our usage of energy. We can't continue on the same path. Some of it is very simple, others will require a little more discipline. But the stakes are high. How can we not act?

Ethanol - what a joke! And other randomness

Why the heck is America investing so much of its resources in ethanol? We are using land which used to produce food, which not only was feeding us, but people around the world, and now producing a crop that the government subsidizes almost exclusively and producing fuel that is inefficient and added to my car, actually causes me to get LESS gas mileage? Does this sound like a wave of the future? No, it sounds like a sham to me.

America, we are all about our creature comforts. We can still have them, we just need a new way of doing them. It's called innovation people. For so long, America has been the most innovative country in the world. Our technologies have been amazing. Why aren't we unleashing some of that innovation on one of the largest issues facing us. Energy independence that is clean, dependable and in sustainable means. That it's about thinking in a new way.

Look, Henry Ford came up with the Model T and the assembly line, changing America and the world FOREVER. People, that was 101 years ago - 1908. The technology really hasn't changed significantly.

This is a chance for America to change the world if we take the lead. There is a chance for businesses for make a lot of money. It's time for America to be smart again. If not, we're giving this up to other countries and you have to wonder, if America is in decline at that point. It's a battle for America to be great and this is the one we should be looking at. It is our chance to shape the world. Our chance to help countries that are developing and skip over our mistakes.

Ok, I'm getting off my soap box - for now.