I've always liked John McCain, but I voted for the other guy and I'm standing by him. Aside from being legendary drunks and sourpusses, once we Welsh make up our minds, that's it. Besides, W and the Republicans really, really messed things up.
Our new President (which, by the way, is ALWAYS capitalized) is young and inexperienced, that's true. And it's all a very serious business and he's already made some mistakes and he's probably going to make more mistakes and the economy sucks and the deficit is now bigger than the Sun and his poll numbers are tanking and people are yelling at each other about health insurance and .. and .. OMG!
Calm yourself. We have far more pressing matters:
Ellen is the new judge on "Idol"!
Diane is replacing Charlie!
Microsoft is now actually advertising Windows 7!
Hallowe'en is just around the corner!
Leno's new show starts next week!
My BFF just posted on FaceBook that he's had a long day!
See? None of that other stuff really matters to us average Americans. We have our broadband, BlackBerrys, Starbucks and trucks. We're fine.
We have hope.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
TO A DEGREE
Finance-311 wasn't really such a bad course; it's just that I was 23 and cruelly distracted. You've heard the saying, "Life is what happens while you're making other plans." So it was with me.
I was pursuing a degree in business administration and English. I needed gas and food money, so I took a part-time job. It turned out to be an exciting job and I was getting good at it, or so they told me. I got hired full-time. So there I was, going to school and working. I kept telling myself that even though the job was fun, school must take priority.
Then one day I decided to skip Finance-311. I hadn't studied for that day's class and, feeling guilty, sought solace in the student union building. I spotted a classmate at a table with a foursome playing pinochle.
"Glad to see you," he said. "You ready for class?"
"Nah," I said. "I'm gonna skip."
"Good," he said. "You can take my place here." He introduced me to his pinochle partner and the other 2 players and left.
I sat down across from a wild-eyed platinum blonde with dilated pupils. Great, I thought. I'm about to play a card game I've never played before, and my partner is high on marijuana. She looked me up and down and said, "Follow my lead and don't **** up." We won. And we won all day.
Apparently I was clueless even then, because my classmate from Finance-311 told me the next day that the blonde likes me. I took her out for a Coke.
"First," I said, "why are your pupils dilated? Are you high?"
"It's a hereditary condition," she said. "I don't use drugs."
"Listen," I told her. "I'm trying to finish my degree and working at a new job and you're a nice girl and all that but I don't have time for a relationship."
"I understand," she said. "No problem."
We were married six weeks later and I dropped out of college. That was many years ago and we're still married.
The career has had its ups and downs, and right now it's down. The recession recently ate my job. There are a lot of us searching for work these days and boomers in particular are having a hard time.
Among the skills I have honed over the years is writing, rewriting and editing -- vital to my industry but increasingly ignored everywhere. I've applied for various positions that rely on such skills, confident that I could perform well, but there have been no takers. A friend the other day explained: You don't have a degree. Resumes are scanned for certain keywords, and those without degrees get tossed immediately. Pressed about it, HR people say it's policy: no degree, no follow-up, no job.
That's misguided. Well, okay: dumb.
I was pursuing a degree in business administration and English. I needed gas and food money, so I took a part-time job. It turned out to be an exciting job and I was getting good at it, or so they told me. I got hired full-time. So there I was, going to school and working. I kept telling myself that even though the job was fun, school must take priority.
Then one day I decided to skip Finance-311. I hadn't studied for that day's class and, feeling guilty, sought solace in the student union building. I spotted a classmate at a table with a foursome playing pinochle.
"Glad to see you," he said. "You ready for class?"
"Nah," I said. "I'm gonna skip."
"Good," he said. "You can take my place here." He introduced me to his pinochle partner and the other 2 players and left.
I sat down across from a wild-eyed platinum blonde with dilated pupils. Great, I thought. I'm about to play a card game I've never played before, and my partner is high on marijuana. She looked me up and down and said, "Follow my lead and don't **** up." We won. And we won all day.
Apparently I was clueless even then, because my classmate from Finance-311 told me the next day that the blonde likes me. I took her out for a Coke.
"First," I said, "why are your pupils dilated? Are you high?"
"It's a hereditary condition," she said. "I don't use drugs."
"Listen," I told her. "I'm trying to finish my degree and working at a new job and you're a nice girl and all that but I don't have time for a relationship."
"I understand," she said. "No problem."
We were married six weeks later and I dropped out of college. That was many years ago and we're still married.
The career has had its ups and downs, and right now it's down. The recession recently ate my job. There are a lot of us searching for work these days and boomers in particular are having a hard time.
Among the skills I have honed over the years is writing, rewriting and editing -- vital to my industry but increasingly ignored everywhere. I've applied for various positions that rely on such skills, confident that I could perform well, but there have been no takers. A friend the other day explained: You don't have a degree. Resumes are scanned for certain keywords, and those without degrees get tossed immediately. Pressed about it, HR people say it's policy: no degree, no follow-up, no job.
That's misguided. Well, okay: dumb.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)