Published on October 2, 2005 By Spc Nobody Special In Humor
I'm back.......my computer's been down with the sickness. Some kind of a Trojan (now that's going through my head.....Trojan man!!!!!) but it's all better now.

Not a damn thing going on here. Still looking (unsuccessfully) for work. It's very frustrating, I've always been able to get a job by pounding the pavement, but everything that pays anything around here is run by contractor services with headquarters elsewhere. Even if you get in to see anyone, it's "oh, you've got to go to our website." So far, with two thousand people getting out of the military and entering the workforce here, plus hurricane victims, it's been six weeks of throwing my resume into the internet verision of the black hole of Calcutta.

So now I'm running out of money, and my choices are coming down to either
a: be a trucker
b: work two jobs for around minimum and put in about 90 hours a week
c: try to find someone that's hiring for less in construction where I can put in a lot of overtime.

I think I'm going to try c. I hate to go back in the general labor pool, but although I've got a billion odd skills, I'm not certified on crap. And I'm getting depressed from not working enough that I've been starting to think of d: the yummy flavor of a twelve gauge sandwich. Mmmmmm, tastes like eternal tranquility..............

(Shhhhh. Don't tell anyone.) Whoops. Oh well, my wife thinks I'm a manic depressive, but I know better. I'm normally manic and I've been suffering from bouts of depression for the last few years. (thank you Army)

Construction never lasts, and the benefits are crap, but what the hell, it's someplace to start. And I might be able to make more, after I've been there awhile, and can prove I can do other stuff. i.e. carpentry, lay pipe, drywall, some masonry, some welding, drive/fix anything with wheels, etc. Or maybe I'll find a real job (not that construction isn't, by any means, but it's not really what I want to do for the next twenty, thirty years, ya know? and I really would blow my head off before going back in the army again.)

Blech. I haven't even been able to do anything with my metal working lately. Too broke to fix my propane stuff, or build a proper forge so I can keep my coke burning. The best I've been able to do is work on a knife blank I'm making. (the metal part of a knife, that's fitted to the handle)

That's the latest, now back to you Bob. And now that I've cheered all of you up, I'm gonna grab my cat and go collapse into bed after trapping him under the covers for the sheer malicious thrill of watching the bump in the blankets as he wanders around the bed for twenty minutes trying to escape. It's not as cruel as you think.

It's a game that he enjoys the hell out of, as long as I don't do it too often. It's up there with laying three or four paper bags on the floor and watching him go from one to the other for a couple of hours. And yes, we are easily amused here.

Comments
on Oct 02, 2005
my computer's been down with the sickness


Good line.

I'm sorry to hear about your trouble finding a job. Are you guys tied down to where you're living now or can you relocate?

You could move here and become a hanai with a homeless family. Live in a tent on the beach. Drink beer. Barbecue. Swim. Kinda like Castaway only replace Wilson with some loud, chubby Hawaiian people and add some food.
on Oct 03, 2005
Even if you get in to see anyone, it's "oh, you've got to go to our website." So far, with two thousand people getting out of the military and entering the workforce here, plus hurricane victims, it's been six weeks of throwing my resume into the internet verision of the black hole of Calcutta.


Brother, I feel your pain. It took me almost a healthy 18 months to get a full-time job here in Northern Colorado when I moved out here in the beginning of 2004. I too was met with the "Oh, we don't take walk-in resumés, you have to submit it online". Yeah, take a number, now serving #12, your number: 375,410. You might try the local Craigslist if you're around a large metro area, that's actually how I scored my current job. I completely understand your frustration. At one point I was considering criminal activity (marijuana garden) to supplement the absolute pittance I was making at my 10-hour-a-week $20/hr. job.

Hang in there man. Sometimes you gotta hit the bottom before you work your way back up. At least you have your coke.

-- B
on Oct 03, 2005
Even if you get in to see anyone, it's "oh, you've got to go to our website." So far, with two thousand people getting out of the military and entering the workforce here, plus hurricane victims, it's been six weeks of throwing my resume into the internet verision of the black hole of Calcutta.


I, too, know what this feels like to an extent. When they lifted the stop loss the first time (before you were here? First mission), my ETS date moved up six months... so I was six months behind on getting ready to get out. (I really wish I had, but not as much because of the Army as you might think.) I put in some resumes (not enough!) and waited, wondering if I should reenlist. I got my first response almost two months later, the week after I reenlisted.

I really feel that getting out was the right thing for you, and that you should consider doing the construction work. I know it's not ideal, but it should help you get out of your funk for awhile. Keep plugging away at teh intarweb sights; those seem to hold the things you are searching for.

I'm really sorry you didn't get that teaching gig. Oddly, I think you would've done quite well with it.

God bless. Take care.
on Oct 03, 2005
The First time I was laid off, it took me 4 months to find a job, and then it was way below what I had been making.  But it did offer some OT, so I did ok.  Hope your search turns up something soon.  It was not the lack of money that was the killer.  It was just the not doing anything (and I know looking for a job is a full time job, but it is not the same).