348 replies to this topic

[Mark Olivarez]

Thank you for apologizing.

[Josh500]

Don't worry, Steef.

Well, maybe this took your mind off of your girl a bit...

[Stefancos]

[deleted]

[Melange]

in a time when this place had not yet turned into a living gutter of paedophile apologists.

[Josh500]

Calling people pedophile apologists is not nice.

Didn't you just apologize?

[Melange]

Didn't you just apologize?

This comes to mind

[Blumenkohl]

Calling people pedophile apologists is not nice.

Didn't you just apologize?

Steef is sort of the Jeremy Clarkson of this board. You can't take him too seriously.

[Stefancos]

[deleted]

[Blumenkohl]

Being the slightly obnoxious temperamental person I am...


If I weren't tall, and were suffering from a horrible mid-life crisis as well I'd say Richard Hammond.

Speaking of which, isn't the show coming back next week or so? There you go, something to enjoy while the lady is away!

[Stefancos]

[deleted]

[Blumenkohl]

Yeah, the last couple of seasons have been a little too forced my taste. But it's still a great show.

[Stefancos]

[deleted]

[Melange]

still have a bottle of Ouzo that should last me for a few days.

Mmmmmm. Ouzo

Becoming annoyed at the state of the house,

Perfect to sip that ouzo, fire spit, dance to the above video, then spin plates on sticks

[Stefancos]

[deleted]

[king mark]

Good lord, are we close to keyboard malfunctions?

[Mark Olivarez]

Wow......

[Jason LeBlanc]

2 shots of it, but not drowsy. I guess the bottle will go faster then I thought. She asked me if I was looking for a job today. Doesn't she know I look every day? I wonder what's more degrading? Soliciting for a job and then being told you don't quality. Or soliciting for a job and never even get a damn respons... If American banks did not give mortgages to Mexicans immigrants who could not pay it back, then the Ecomic crisis might have never happened and everything would be ok. So who do you blame? Mexicans and other lower class citicens who wanted a house they can't afford? Or bankers trying to make easy money selling loans to people who cannot afford them?

Why do we care so much about money anyway? What happened to the world that having a certain amount of small pieces of paper in your wallet means you are happy and successfull?

My girlfriend has been applying to jobs for about 3 months now. She sends out about a dozen resumes a week and so far she's had exactly 1 place contact her back. What's worse is that the process is being dragged out crazily. It seems they really like her, but want her to come in for a THIRD interview. Not easy when you work in Cambridge, live in Waltham, and the new place in in Providence.

Anyway the point is, the economy still sucks. Hang in there.

[Koray Savas]

My friend told me that when he worked at Best Buy, there was a guy working there who graduated and had a law degree, but couldn't find a job and had to settle for Best Buy. I know plenty others in the same situation. Jobs are scarce.

[Melange]

Well in my area, a 'permanent' job is an archaic concept that was of some lost age.

Most companys (from manual unskilled work to skilled work, office admin etc) in my county of England tend to be taking people on for 6 month contracts at the 'most' at the moment.

One of my mates is in that position now of being back in work but on a six month contract (once that passes,they may keep him longer or may not) after him being out of work for year and on a job seeking allowance system. But it has to be said, for that year he had been very picky about what he wanted to do and kept dodging several openings of work that 'did' come up but which were dire and very low payed even though he wasn't in a position where the pay would not have sustained him. He has no family or other ties. On the one hand,at times it had seemed to me that he was keeping himself out of work because he was being unrealistically idealistic. Yet he persisted,was stubborn and managed to 'eventually' get something with a reasonably good wage and job satisfaction. Myself, with a few exceptions I've always been going for whatever work that came up, no matter how poorly payed or terrible hours or what not. He wasn't getting as much money coming in during that year of course, but staying out of work payed off for him in the 'long run' in the form of him eventually getting a higher wage and something closer to what he would like to do.

It makes you wonder who the fool is. Is it the one who remains on benefits for months or a year holding out for something better before he/she enters work again?

Or is it the enthusiastic practical one who goes for the scraps lying around but ultimately ends up in dead end jobs with low pay?

Older politicians love people who follow the old fashioned ~ "Get on your bike and find work".

Lots of people who have had fairly good jobs, are out of work now and may claim there is no work. Often (but not always) that's a bit of a lie. It would be more honest to say they're attempting to shoot a mosquito from a distance,rather than at a moose where the surface area is far larger. Like my mate,they're holding out for something better (understandably) either because the most important thing to them is job satisfaction, or the wages offered in the more available but dire jobs is laughably low and simply cannot financially sustain a man with a family for example.

Saying that, like Koray mentioned, more and more people are being found in kinds of work they have never ever done before.

During my various stints in warehouse orientated jobs for example, in the last couple of years I've been working alongside ex-executives to artists to lorry drivers to all manner of people who were not in that kind of work a few years ago. Some of them adjust well, others have found the switch to being on their feet all day, or lack of variety too much of a shock.

Guys of the previous generation in my area,don't quite understand how things are outside the door, but are starting to understand now.

Many of them have told me that when they were in their 20s or 30s, if you lost your job one day you could usually walk into another the very same day in the same area, there was that much work around. And some of them have been with companys from 15-30 years at a time. It's a lost world, and John Williams had no part in scoring it.

Interesting times, for sure.

Or soliciting for a job and never even get a damn respons...

Centuries back when the plague ravaged the area,applying itself to all equally,the peasants ended up in a better position in the long run because they could now demand better from the landowners for their much sought after services. Essentially they had the so called 'elite' by the balls for a change. At the moment,it's the complete opposite scenario. Europe has a vast surplus of people looking for work, less work around,and companys can now have everyone by the balls if they so choose to milk this situation for every drop (some are doing it, some are not as ruthless).

Melange - Is not concluding that we need another plague

[Mark Olivarez]

You gotta do what you need to to pay the bills.


If you have a law degree and have to flip burgers at McDonalds to feed the family, then you do it.

[Blumenkohl]

You gotta do what you need to to pay the bills.


If you have a law degree and have to flip burgers at McDonalds to feed the family, then you do it.

Exactly. Unemployment is no time for pride.

[Melange]

You gotta do what you need to to pay the bills. If you have a law degree and have to flip burgers at McDonalds to feed the family, then you do it.

Agreed generally,and that comes naturally to me as I'm not someone for whom certain jobs are beneath me when things have to be done.

[Elmo Lewis]

You gotta do what you need to to pay the bills.


If you have a law degree and have to flip burgers at McDonalds to feed the family, then you do it.

Absolutely. But it is dangerous to live too strictly by that philosophy. In my definition of professional success (I put personal fulfillment above big checks), risk-taking is absolutely necessary. I am a vocational journalist and I have turned down high-paying job offers that would have gotten in the way of my journalistic career. Now, thanks to precisely that mentality, I am relatively well-paid freelance journalist and I make a living out of writing about what interests me. I refuse to allow fear of bankruptcy dictate my life.

That being said, I am still in my twenties and I have no family (I do, however, pay for my mortgage every month) or pressing financial needs. That's a big factor.

[Mark Olivarez]

And I'm not saying you have to continue to do it and just settle for that but if you have to stay with it for a year or so to get things under control then so be it.



It's getting tough and it's going to stay that way. Companies, brands and jobs are disappearing or no longer needed in today's society. We haven't even resolved the mortgage / housing issues either.

One of the main problems in the USA is that too many people feel they should start any job making $50,000 a year. No one wants to start at the bottom of the pole anymore. So labor gets passed on to immigrants or people who wouldn't get hired to begin with.

But I hesitate because this subject is touchy and can head into areas forbidden by the board's rules.

[Blumenkohl]

You gotta do what you need to to pay the bills.


If you have a law degree and have to flip burgers at McDonalds to feed the family, then you do it.

That being said, I am still in my twenties and I have no family (I do, however, pay for my mortgage every month) or pressing financial needs. That's a big factor.

Yes...yes...I used to think like you as well. Once the family bit starts creeping in, it completely changes your perspective.

[Melange]

Once the family bit starts creeping in, it completely changes your perspective.

Don't get married or have children. Problem avoided

Of course, the human race would die out but still.............problem avoided

[Datameister]

The money issue has been weighing on my mind a lot lately. I'm a (very) recent college graduate with a B.S. in cognitive science (similar to psychology), and right now, I'm just working an entry-level position at a theme park. Granted, the theme park is owned and operated by a company where I could see myself having a professional future, but it still sucks to be making 9 bucks an hour and getting scheduled 20 hours a week. I may not have a family now, but I want to have one at some point, and it's hard to figure out where to find the balance between doing what you love (or at least tolerate) and doing what will bring home the bacon. Even if, as in my case, you're going to be putting the bacon in the fridge for later.

[Jason LeBlanc]

Enjoy your summer working at Disney, having fun and being social. Once fall comes around, immediately look for a full-time job. You want to be working 40 hours a week, not 20. Even if the only jobs you can find are temping, and not being directly hired by the companies, its a great way to get your foot in the door at places. You can easily continue to look for jobs in your field while you are working at other jobs, but you want to be working full time and hopefully getting health benefits, etc.

[Datameister]

Well, the 20 hours thing should be improving somewhat before too long, but yeah, it's still not enough. Blech...

[Stefancos]

[deleted]

[Melange]

You want to be working 40 hours a week, not 20.

Sorry, couldn't resist that one

On a serious note, yep I agree. 40 or so hours a week is what most of us end up in.

temping......its a great way to get your foot in the door at places.

Mmm,it 'can' be and I'll agree it certainly 'used' to be. I got my first full time employment in that way (kind of) through entering a workplace as a sort of youth trainee.

Later on I used to get offered full time jobs when temping in some places too. But my experience here in Britain at least now, is that fewer and fewer companys are taking on permanent staff and their dream is to replace many of their staff with a new workforce on temporary contracts for that disposable factor. For example,in my last workplace the last time they took on a permanent employee was 6 years ago. In more than a few companys, the dream is to replace a huge whack of their workforce with disposable staff on temporary contracts and the far lower wages they can offer to new ones coming in. Once the old generation on quite high wages and protected contracts retires,the world of work will be fundamentally different for people in this and coming generations.

[Datameister]

Just keep trying. You can be anything you want to be!

Don't be afraid to follow your dream!

Great, now I have to go call Custodial. Thanks for the mess, Steef!

[Koray Savas]

Life sucks and then we die.


That pretty much sums it all up

[Datameister]

All joking aside, that's not gonna cut it for me. I don't expect life to be perfect or anything, and I try not to forget how incredibly fortunate I am in the grand scheme of things...but being genuinely happy with one's life is a totally reasonable goal, I think.

[Koray Savas]

What is genuine happiness? I don't think I've ever seen it. For me it would be those moments where you're happy and having fun with, here comes the cliche, not a care in the world. But then those moments pass and reality settles back in.

Escapism, really.

[king mark]

Once the family bit starts creeping in, it completely changes your perspective.

Don't get married or have children. Problem avoided

Of course, the human race would die out but still.............problem avoided

I've resolved to going this route

[Datameister]

What is genuine happiness? I don't think I've ever seen it. For me it would be those moments where you're happy and having fun with, here comes the cliche, not a care in the world. But then those moments pass and reality settles back in.

Escapism, really.

I'm sorry to hear that. =/ I've definitely felt it before, sometimes for months at a time. Not that everything was perfect during those months...far from it...but it wasn't really escapism. There was just a sense of general satisfaction with the direction my life was taking and with who I was. Unfortunately, it's hard to hold onto that sometimes, but when it comes to selfish goals for our own futures, I can't think of anything better than that. Fortunately, there are a lot of pretty happy people in my family, so I just need to get better at making use of the genes I got from them.

Anyway, sorry we've been hijacking your blog, Steef.

[Stefancos]

[deleted]

[Quint]

Me heart bleeds for yer.

[Melange]

Me heart bleeds for yer.

Ruthless......but a funny video

It's all I have left

No,there is another. Always two there are (couldn't resist)