Anyone got an answer?

No matter how much we spend, we've got enough bucks for bombs. Healthcare, job creation, or education of our children---not so much.

Oh, and there's enough for prisons, too . . . . .

Quote for the Day (Homer Simpson Division)

Don't quit your day job, whatever that is. - Homer  Simpson

Out with the old, in with the new:

Okay, one more chance to post in 2010, so here it is:

I gotta say this year on balance sucked, both personally and in general. I am willing to admit that acceptance is the key to being satisfied in this life, but it felt like the more I would accept, the more that was doled out. But it wasn't ALL bad.

DADT got shit canned (about time!), and some other morsels were thrown to the masses. But we seem to have a President who spends more time negotiating with the pols who hate him than listening to the ones who supported him. I mean, I'm all for compromise when it is necessary, but aren't there SOME principles that shouldn't be bargained away?

I lost a job after being employed almost two years (after being unemployed for two years.) Then, almost immediately, I found another job in the midst of some of the highest unemployment this country has seen in a long time. So yes, I am grateful.

Banks and the people who own them seem to be in charge of the country now, though think that probably wasn't what the Founders had in mind when they started this Republic (just the opposite, actually.)

I hope to see some more positive stuff happening this year. Hell, I'd like to be prosperous enough to tell my credit card companies to go fuck themselves, too. We'll see.

Anyway, Happy New Year. Let's stay optomistic until we learn otherwise, eh?

Hit and run driver gets a break cause he's rich:

(Via Metafilter)

EAGLE, Colorado — A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job, prosecutors said Thursday.

Martin Joel Erzinger, 52, faces two misdemeanor traffic charges stemming from a July 3 incident when he allegedly hit bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo from behind then sped away, according to court documents.

(SNIP)

Milo, 34, is a physician living in New York City with his wife and two children, where he is still recovering from his injuries, court records show.

Milo suffered spinal cord injuries, bleeding from his brain and damage to his knee and scapula, according to court documents. Over the past six weeks he has suffered “disabling” spinal headaches and faces multiple surgeries for a herniated disc and plastic surgery to fix the scars he suffered in the accident.

“He will have lifetime pain,” Haddon wrote. “His ability to deal with the physical challenges of his profession — liver transplant surgery — has been seriously jeopardized.”

(SNIP)

Erzinger, an Arrowhead homeowner, is a director in private wealth management at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Denver. His biography on Worth.com states that Erzinger is “dedicated to ultra high net worth individuals, their families and foundations.”

Erzinger manages more than $1 billion in assets. He would have to publicly disclose any felony charge within 30 days, according to North American Securities Dealers regulations.

Milo wrote in a letter to District Attorney Mark Hurlbert that the case “has always been about responsibility, not money.”

“Mr. Erzinger struck me, fled and left me for dead on the highway,” Milo wrote. “Neither his financial prominence nor my financial situation should be factors in your prosecution of this case.”

Hurlbert said Thursday that, in part, this case is about the money.

“The money has never been a priority for them. It is for us,” Hurlbert said. “Justice in this case includes restitution and the ability to pay it.”

Hurlbert said Erzinger is willing to take responsibility and pay restitution.

“Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger's profession, and that entered into it,” Hurlbert said. “When you're talking about restitution, you don't want to take away his ability to pay.”

“We have talked with Mr. Haddon and we had their objections, but ultimately it's our call,” Hurlbert said.

This is where our society is heading, or maybe where it already is. Justice will be enforced according to your assets. Those who are rich get the consideration of their status. What if this guy had been a poor fast food worker coming home after a double shift? Would the DA have been so understanding? After all, he might lose his job too!

This story stinks! Welcome to the plutocracy, with the best justice money can buy.

Leggo my ego!

For the nearly two years I was out of work, I thought that I'd been given this chance to begin living the dream I've had for most of my life. I have been going to voice over school, gotten an agent, and begun auditioning like mad. Surely, this is a gift from the Universe to clear the decks for my big break, right?

Well, now that I've returned to work to keep my head above water (no mean feat in these days of unemployment, downsizing, and dozens of applicants for each job), I'm reassessing my thoughts a bit. Oh, I'm grateful to have work, and at a good job with nice people. But that niggling little ego voice at the back of my head wants to jump up and down and scream "You'll never make it! I knew it wasn't going to happen!"

Well, shucks and pshaw! I'm not going to stop heading down the path of realized dreams, nor am I getting off at the exit of lowered expectations. But, I'm having to dredge a little deeper in the energy pool to work and make the dream happen. And that dream is going to come.

And my ego can just kiss my ass.

Where are the posts?

Yes, my infrequent posts are a symptom of aligning myself with my new status as a working stiff. It was so long I had no employment that the chunk of time I now devote to a job is almost unbelievably different. I have worked much more during my life than I have been out of work, but it was very easy to grow accustomed to having most of my time to myself.

Anyway, posts will still be coming. I'm trying to figure out a way to change the format a bit and get a little more personal (now that's scary!!!) We'll see where this all winds up.

No sympathy for the devils!

(Via Alternet)

"I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down." via Op-Ed Contributor - "Dear A.I.G., I Quit!" - NYTimes.com

Like a lot of people, I read Wednesday's New York Times editorial by former AIG Financial Products employee Jake DeSantis, whose resignation letter basically asks us all to reconsider our anger toward the poor overworked employees of his unit.

DeSantis has a few major points. They include 1) I had nothing to do with my boss Joe Cassano's toxic credit default swaps portfolio, and only a handful of people in our unit did 2) I didn't even know anything about them 3) I could have left AIG for a better job several times last year 4) but I didn't, staying out of a sense of duty to my poor beleaguered firm, only to find out in the end that 5) I would be betrayed by AIG senior management, who promised that we would be rewarded for staying, but then went back on their word when they folded in highly cowardly fashion in the face of an angry and stupid populist mob.

I have a few responses to those points. They are 1) Bullshit 2) bullshit 3) bullshit, plus of course 4) bullshit. Lastly, there is 5) Boo Fucking Hoo. You dog.

Am I really supposed to feel sorry for the investment bankers (until 1999 a contradiction in terms) who are losing "bonuses" that they were getting regardless of their companies taking a nose dive? With I be made whole for the thousands of dollars I have lost in my IRA during this debacle? Is Wall Street really still thinking they can call the shots about how to fix the economy they have ravished?

These guys are at best idiots, and at worst con men. They deserve contempt and derision for the mess they have made, and even a look at criminal charges for some of them, not just Bernie Madoff.

Fuck these clowns.

When is a crisis not a crisis?

I've been out of work for over a year now, losing a job due to some political machinations at a nonprofit I worked for, and in the interim the job prospects have gotten more and more bleak. Lately, any job I have applied for, including the barest of part time ones, have 30 to 50 applicants. It is bleak out here, and it seems only to be getting bleaker.

With employment reaching levels not seen in over two decades, and all elements of the economy in a tailspin, at what point does the situation become dramatic enough for ALL the elected representatives to stop dicking around and start looking for some solutions? A good start would be real assistance for people who truly can't find work in their fields. It's not that we're not looking, it's that the jobs aren't there.

Instead, we have a class of political animal in denial about just how bad it is. And believe me folks, the stock market is not the indicator of how things are going for the average guy on the street. Bailouts for the AIGs and Citibanks don't reach the folks who are scrambling to make ends meet.

A rant:

Looking for a job right now is like buying a lottery ticket. ANY job, even very minimal part time jobs, have 40 applicants. And I'm talking about where I live, which is a pretty small, rural location. I've been looking now for quite a while, and it is just getting worse.

So what's a fella to do? I just keep looking, sending off resumes and making calls. But, here's the deal: they keep saying on the various punditry shows that things MAY get worse. Dudes, things are already worse, they are going to get DIRE. It is so indicative of how isolated the commentating class is from what life is like out here in the real world. The bubble that surrounds the political animals of this nation (we know THEY haven't got a clue) has grown to encompass the various mass media types who shovel the manure on TV, in the papers, and in magazines.

And ya know, except for the times around elections, they really don't even pretend to listen to the general citizenry any more. Be they "journalists" or "elected officials", they are all the same. And we don't matter.

If I sound a bit bitter here, I am. I think these lyrics from the Rolling Stones' Salt of the Earth still apply:

Raise your glass to the hard working people
Let's drink to the uncounted heads
Let's think of the wavering millions
Who need leaders but get gamblers instead

Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter
His empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows
And a parade of the gray suited grafters
A choice of cancer or polio

Blogging about why I haven't been blogging

The last refuge of a blogger who hasn't blogged in a while is to blog about why they haven't been blogging. I am there!

I have been extremely busy lately, job hunting, doing dribs and drabs of work here and there, taking my voice over classes, working on sound design for a local play . . . BUSY! Still, I will try to blog as I can.

Gratuitous philosophical tirade for the New Year---a week into it

Yes, new years do normally signify new beginnings, and I certainly hope this year holds that for me. Last year seemed so full of struggle and nasty surprises, and I am really ready to have a sense of progress towards better things. I did get some resolution to some of the problems I was facing, and the political changes of 2008 seem to hold some promise, so I'll let them run their course. But for me, I am taking some ACTION towards the things I have been trying to achieve in the last year.

Part of my new year's re-solution is to find a more positive attitude to take as I move forward. At times over the last months I have felt utterly bereft of good thoughts—there has been a sense of impending doom that just undermines everything I am wanting to be upbeat and happy about. I know in the truest sense of understanding that such attitudes tend to be self-fulfilling, and yet I have indulged them as I gave in to worry, frustration, and fear.

The path towards our dreams is seldom easy, but it doesn't have to be laden with anguish and despair either. If it is, how could it possibly be worth it? If the important part of and journey is the journey itself, not the destination, it's time to appreciate each step along the way.

The gift of Christmas present

Thia is my absolutely favorite gift from Christmas: the Blue Snowball USB mic with shock guard. As an aspiring voice artist, this is an incredible tool that gives a fantastic sound for something you just plug right into your lap top. 

My wife totally nailed my desire with this one!!! Wooo-hoo!

Blah blah blah blog

I think I have posted less posts during December 2008 than any month since I started this little blog a few years back. Heck, I didn't even do the semi-mandatory "Season's Greetings" post. (I hope you had a nice one, by the way.) I spent a few days visiting the step daughter and grand daughter over Christmas, but otherwise, I have been around mostly. I did book my first voice over gig, which was an incredible experience, and I have been doing a little work for the local food bank.

I am not one of these bloggers who is going to let this thing eat my life. I post as I can, and as I feel moved. That being said, I am still here, still ranting or raving occasionally, and I will keep trudging along.

Still here, a bit frazzled . . .

I've been dealing with a labor dispute lately, so posting has been sparse. I'll be back at it soon. One thing I'm learning, there are no friends when it comes to the workplace . . . . See you on the other side!

I'm still here!

My posts have been very sporadic (some might say spastic) lately, as life has been extremely busy. I an doing some work for a local film festival (having bee laid off from the local music festival), as well as web design for an art auction and ad sales for the local theater company. I gotta tell you, I am tired of working for non-profits! The name of the type of business they are ALONE is enough to tell you the problem, but underlying the facade of being a business (which is, after all, what non-profits are), there is an attitude of entitlement that extends to the people who are employed there that you should be willing to work like a slave even if you are paid a pittance.

I have said in the past that I'm taking training to change my career, and it seems to finally be bearing fruit. I am signing with an agent to be represented in the field of voice over work, and that is the next step into a new adventure for me. I am so grateful and amazed that after three years of classes and practice, I am going to be given the shot at this. It has been a dream of mine for a lot of my life, and to stand on the threshold of this change is exciting, scary, and awesome!

I am also experimenting with a new blog engine (WordPress). I'm not sure what advantages it has over blogger, but I'm checking it out. I may migrate at least some of my posting there in the near future, but for now whatever posting I do will be here.

Remote posting

I am down near the city to attend classes to move into a new field of endeavor as my career. Being here in a much more populated area does make me appreciate the place I live in so much more. I can see the attraction that a more urban environment has for people, and I do appreciate the offerings of the area I am in as I visit it. But I miss the redwoods and the ocean views that are a part of my daily experience at home.

Change is hard. It requires effort, focus, and hard work. I am going to make this change, and I am really, willing, and able to take the steps it is going to require of me. And as I walk forward into the change, I give thanks for all the strength and experience that has been given to me from my life along the way.

This is the great fact of change: it asks us to make the effort necessary, and rewards us with results. I may not know exactly where it may lead me, but I trust that it will be where I am supposed to be.

On my laptop

I'm on the road again, taking another class towards my career change. Today I'm actually at the dealer where I originally bought my car to get some of the regular service work done. It's always a little unnerving to see what the mechanic will say, whether it be "Everything's fine" or "We found something . . . ." Ah, the waiting times of life.

I'm also preparing to make a trip in the next few weeks to my place of origin; Maryland. An old friend there offered me some of the miles she had built up on one of her credit cards from her travels, and it's pretty hard to turn down a free ticket. I'll have a chance to see some of my old friends, many of whom I haven't seen in quite a few years. They say you can't go home again, but we'll see.

It's been quite an adventure in my life since I lost my job. I seem to be moving in the direction of being a student and self employed person, rather than just jumping back on the "grab any job I can get" treadmill. It's a new adventure for me, but I'm feeling like it's time for this change. Life opens doors of opportunity, and I'm going through this one. It's scary, exciting, and about time. I have to trust the process here, which is something I've struggled with in the past. All I can do is make the leap of faith, and see where I land.

Geronimo!!!

Weekends don't mean quite the same thing when yer out of work . . .

Being unemployed as I start the New Year is quite a trip. I'm trying to figure out just what the next step is, though I gotta say that my days definitely fill right up. Today I did the house- husband trip, clearing out some of the wreckage of the holidays and vacuuming cobwebs off our twenty-five foot tall ceiling. We're supposed to get hit with a major storm over the next twenty-four hours, so I did the ol' batten down the hatches thing, too.

I also mailed off a claim to the State Labor Board due to what I understand are some irregularities in how my salary was handled when I worked over the last three years. I'm not sure what will come of it, but I am doing the footwork. I may have been shorted a good chunk of change, and if there's a chance to right that wrong, I'm going to do it.

Otherwise, life is very different for me right now. I'm learning to slow down and be in the moment more. My schedule is much more flexible; even more natural. I guess this is what it's supposed to be like, though I can't say I've had much experience with this type of living.

The job situation is not very good in our area right now. Winter is not a good time for a job search around here, and the economy is not very stable. I've also applied for unemployment, so maybe that will give me a bit of room for a more productive search. Anyway, the days are so different when I haven't given so many hours over to a job. I'm exploring it as a positive thing, and that's where it's at right now.

The end of 2007

Here is the last day of the year. What can be said about a year of such personal and societal upheaval? While the BushCo fascists shred the Constitution (if your safe, you don't need all those messy freedoms, right?) with the complicity of the Democratic so-called opposition (who fold more often than a road map), the Middle East goes further to hell (just as predicted when the Cheney-ites started this worthless and immoral war) and our media utterly loses interest in the real issues of our society (2007 was the deadliest year for American Soldiers in Iraq, though they seem to think no one cares) to focus on Paris, Brittany, and Brittany's little sister.

Meanwhile, I am ending the year unemployed and at loose ends. No telling what 2008 will hold, but I'm ready to open up a brand, spanking new year and look forward with hope and faith that things will get better. After all, this IS the year that G Dubya will be flushed down history's toilet, and that right there feels good. It's like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer for eight year; it feels so good when you stop.

Anyway, I wish everyone who may occasionally read this little blog a happy and IMPROVING new year. Wherever you are, whoever you may be, let's all look forward with humor and generosity, and give this sucker another chance, eh?

Long time no see!

Well, that has to be about the longest time I've been postless here at the birdhaus blog. As I said previously, my job position at the nonprofit where I work was abolished, so I am now looking for new employment. I'm not sure where I will land, but I do feel some relief, along with the requisite anxiety. It's odd. I feel compelled to really assess my direction here, and not just jump at the first possibility for employment that looms in my path. It seems important to me to look for the true path I NEED to be on, and not just grasp at straws. I am striving to see the opportunity in what at first feels very adverse.

And I did get a new computer. (What do you do when you lose your source of income? Buy something!) I purchased one of the new series of iMacs, and it is such a quantum leap forward for me from my five year old G4 iMac. The Intel processors definitely make a huge difference speed wise, though I haven't gotten any of the memory eaters like PhotoShop or Final Cut to really test its mettle yet. I am hoping this is a part of my new start in finding a way to make money with my talents, instead of just selling my time to some business entity which doesn't really give a rat's ass about me.

We'll see. For now, I'm looking to the future with hope, uncertainty, and faith. An odd combination, but one which is just a part of being in the midst of change. So it goes . . . .