Category: General

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What part of this don’t they understand?

In anticipation of loosing my job, I recently updated my resume on one of the big web search sites.

Within the site there is a field that says “Available Date” in that field I wrote 06/30/2011. That seems fairly straight forward don’t you think?

So WHY am I being bombarded with emails and phone calls describing “Immediate” openings? The  most annoying come from Indian (dot, not feather) headhunting agencies.

Frankly these “opportunity” emails are badly written, (Doesn’t India still have a British based education system?) and the voice mails were completely unintelligible.

I have some problems with these offshore headhunter agencies.

First, these people have no idea about the distances involved. The last “opportunity” was in San Francisco and was gasp! a 3 month gig.

So let me get this straight, these people think it’s reasonable for me to give notice, move 400 miles to San Francisco, rent an apartment, and work with no benefits for 3 months for less than a 1/4 of what I’m making now?

That is preferable to staying with my current employer taking my full pay, getting a severance package, and being eligible for unemployment if I need it HOW? I don’t have a business management degree, but common sense says hold onto what you have.

About 6 months ago out of the blue I got a call during my daily commute. This one was straight from Bangalore the young lady was very polite and explained a lovely opportunity.

She wanted me to be at the interview the next day and I was thinking ok what the heck? I knew my current job was probably going to come to an end, so I say sure whats the address? She very precisely gave me the company name and the address. The kicker was that the company in question was in Maine.

I asked her to repeat the state thinking I’d misheard. Nope! She wanted me to interview in Maine @ 8 am local time the next day. I asked if she had access to a map of the United States. She said she did, I asked her to locate Southern California she did, then I directed her to Maine. She found the state and said “Well it’s not too far is it?” I said no, only about 3000 miles… This also was a short term contract with no insurance. Needless to say I suggested she narrow her search to the North Eastern part of the United States.

I have other colleagues that have similar experiences. In general my colleagues and I are not responding to emails and phone calls from these folks.

It’s just too difficult to work with them and they seem to have an attitude that they’re doing you this great favor. Hey, we know the score… the headhunter places us, charges the company at least double for our services and pockets the difference.

When was the last time a prostitute thought her pimp was doing her a favor?
 When my colleagues and I say we’re not interested, many of these folks get really nasty. I was told, “This is why America is failing.” when I declined a 4 week contract in Chicago for $35 an hour.

Don’t take this wrong, for a real opportunity I’d relocate and I might even relocate for a sort term contract of say 6 months in another state. It would give me an opportunity to figure out if I liked the area well enough to consider moving there. But I’m not going to relocate for a 1, 2, or 3 month contract.

Perhaps I’ll reconsider when I’m actually unemployed but I don’t think so. First and foremost, I try to run my life like a business. As such I’m going to look at any opportunity from a “how does this benefit me?” position.

It’s nice to know that I’m apparently marketable, but I do wish that people would read the entire profile.

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Politeness

There was a a worker that showed up a while back.

I’ll give him 10 out of 10 for being on time.

But I’ll subtract 4 points for parking his truck across the driveway so that my vehicles were blocked in the garage.

This is not the first time I’ve seen this phenomena. Another worker did the same thing when he came up to evaluate my house for a big-screen TV / sound system install. He pulled up in a Volkswagen Bug and parked squarely in the middle of the driveway even though he knew I was meeting him at the house… I ended up having to park in the neighbors drive.

Mind you the drive way to my house is 2.5 cars wide. So why do these people think they can park diagonally?

I’ve seen the same thing at the BMW dealership. Someone will just stop in the service drive and go into the parts counter to make a purchase. This is the only drive OUT of the service area and people that are picking up their cars or their loaners cannot leave. Additionally, any of the mechanics who need to test drive a car are held up too.

So I find myself asking WHY?

Did courtesy, and politeness get tossed out during the rise of Political correctness?

Follow me here, if it’s inappropriate to hold a door for a lady, because you might offend that lady implying that she’s incapable of opening the door for herself, does it follow that folks in general narrow their focus to their own little worlds?

Why is it now just as “reasonable” for people to cut in front of you in line at the grocery store as it is for them to cut you off on the freeway? What is happening to us as a people and nation?

I wonder about these kinds of things. Of course I have too much time to think sitting on Southern California freeways so that may be part of the problem.

Is it that folks are so focused on their own little view of the world that they become oblivious to the other people in the world around them?

I’m constantly amazed and dismayed at how carelessly rude people are to each other and how surprised they are if someone points out their rudeness.

I’d like to see little ‘ol ladies and grandmothers shaking their fingers at people and reminding folks about the benefits and virtues of being polite and courteous.

The worker moved his truck and was most apologetic when I pointed out that not only had he blocked me in the garage… but that he’d have more room if my car WASN’T in the garage where he needed to work.

The TV installer people… well they lost the sale of the entertainment system and the 1500 bucks they were going to make installing it. Not because of his parking… but because the guy didn’t have a clue about the equipment or options that were available for that equipment. I couldn’t see paying these guys top dollar to install stuff, if I was going to have to be supervising the installation at every stage. Ultimately it took me an afternoon to install the system and I saved myself the $$$.

But I thanked them for their time…

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A Brief Introduction

Just a quick snapshot of my current state of mind…

You can take the boy out of the country… but cant take the country out of the boy.

I am capable of carrying on a conversation with someone that has a different opinion. That’s the art of conversation. I’ll even concede a well made point.

I don’t adhere to a strict Republican party line and I don’t automatically dismiss all the Democratic party line. I do try to be moderate.

Lets see if I can sum myself up briefly (pardon the run-on sentences).

I’m a constitutionalist.

A Liberal Red Neck, who believes in personal responsibility. I want freedom from overbearing rules and regulations designed to protect me from myself. I’m pretty sure about God, not so sure about Jesus but think either way what the guy tried to teach were very good lessons, I just wish more people worked harder to live by those lessons instead of using them to push agendas.

I’m kind of anti law. I think that the government is way too involved in our daily lives and that they really do need to get the hell out. I’d love to see us reboot all the law in this country and start again with the fundamentals.

I’m not advocating anarchy, or revolution, Im simply saying that we have 250 years of laws on the books, many of which are completely irrelevant and a large body more that are simply incomprehensible.

It shouldn’t require a law degree to read and understand a law. I think that when a law starts getting so complex that you need a lawyer to interpret it then you can’t say things like “ignorance of the law is no excuse”.

Since relatively few of the population do in fact have a law degree. What happens when someone uses “I didn’t know that was illegal” as a defense? Can you legitimately try and convict someone whose educational level precluded them from understanding a law as it was written? Don’t we end up on the slippery slope of mental incompetence at that point?

(I’ve been sitting in traffic too much. Too much time to think…)

I don’t want special laws on the books for gay marriage, or to permit inter-racial marriage. I think that Marriage should be honored, respected and extended to ANY TWO CONSENTING ADULTS, regardless of race, creed, gender, or whatever else, because Marriage (or partnering) is basic and fundamental to humans. If it’s allowed for one group… it by definition MUST be allowed for all. Religion really doesn’t enter into it in my opinion.

I contend that marriage is in reality nothing more that a contract between consenting adults that delineates ownership. No, not of the parties involved but of their possessions.

As I see it if I’m married to someone then the STATE prevents my relatives from taking my stuff away from my spouse when I die. This right of possession does not exist for a gay couple.

We’ve seen time and again where one of a gay couple dies and the other is fighting greedy relatives and the STATE to keep his or her home. This doesn’t happen often in the case of a male /female couple married or not. But it’s all too common in the case of gay couples.

Even if gay couples spent the money with lawyers to attempt to secure their rights, the legal battles often drain the estate to the point that the surviving spouse has to bear the burden of the loss and financial hardship. This is simply not fair and shouldn’t be allowed to continue.

I think since we’re in wars in the middle East we should fight them to win and establish prefectures in those countries, we should be honest about our intentions and admit we’re after the oil if in fact thats what we’re after and simply own it.

I don’t think we should give a damn about being “liked” globally, I hate the fact that we’ve been throwing money and food at broken governments and feeding people who ultimately will (or do) hate and attack us when our own people go wanting.

I think the UN should be asked to remove themselves to Geneva. The UN, like the League of Nations before it is a failure. The UN has the added attraction of being in my opinion horribly corrupt.

I’d like to see us CHARGE the UN and other Nations for our military intervention. If the world wants us to be cops… they should be willing to pay for our services. I don’t think the American Tax payer should have to bear the burden of cleaning up someone else’s mess.

I don’t want us to become more involved in Libya. I’m a bit annoyed that we’ve spent 100 million dollars on cruise missiles and that we will in all likelihood end up fighting a ground war there too.

I’d like to see our country STOP trying to impose morality and our form of government on the rest of the world. It’s none of our business if some tin pan dictator is abusing his citizens. In due time they’ll revolt and when they do they’ll be ready for a new form of government of their own design. It may be better, it may be worse but the people of any country should be the ones deciding their own fates… NOT US.

I don’t believe in gun laws. I can purchase an illegal weapon in about 1 hour in LA. Often the price is less than I would pay retail.

The big difference is, illegally there is no check on my fitness to own or operate the weapon and the illegal sellers will throw in ammo and extra magazines.

Legally, I’m subject to a 21 day waiting period, a background check, huge state and federal involvement and I have to prove I know what I’m doing with the gun.

Lets face it, the genie is already out of the bottle regarding guns. Draconian laws & excessive rules will not put the genie back in the bottle.

When I was growing up there were guns around the house, all us kids knew where they were, the guns weren’t locked up and nobody got shot by accident. I think that says something about there being no mystery about what a gun was or what it could … and could not do. As always education and training trump silly regulations.

Sexually, I’m not terribly sure what I am any more. I’ve lived the straight life, I’ve lived in the gay life, I’m not ashamed of either.

I honestly don’t think my sexuality is necessarily anybody else’s business except my close friends and the man or woman I’m sleeping with.

There was a time when I was exclusively straight and I enjoyed the heck out of being with women, but they rarely touched me in a deep emotional way. Men, on the other hand have touched me in a deeply emotional way, but it’s been somewhat transient.

I suppose that I’m happiest when I’m not being defined, contained, or labeled. At this stage in my life I’m more interested in getting back in touch with myself and not worrying about where I fit.

All of which is to say… I’m probably more conservative than liberal, More Republican, than Democrat. More about personal responsibility and common sense than laws, rules and regulations, but I’m willing to consider and listen to the other side. I’ll revise my opinions as I get more information.

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Opening Volley

First of all let me get a couple of things straight right up front.

I’m not necessarily a racist.(I could be one but try very hard not to be.) Yes I’m a white male… in some circles that pretty much means that I’m a racist by default.

I’m an adult, this is an adult oriented blog. I consider human sexuality a continuum, not necessarily black or white and as such will discuss sexuality and sexual concepts from time to time. This can include activities between two consenting adults regardless of their genders.

I’m not really political. Well I wasn’t… As time has gone on I’m finding that I disagree more and more with the establishment. This means that I may well skewer a scared cow or two. I mean no overt offense but it’s possible you’re going to be offended.

If you don’t like what you read here, then sorry. I’m not going away but YOU CAN. As in all other things in life if you don’t like the message… change the channel, or turn off the computer and go outside. Play with your kids. Those are YOUR options and your rights exercise them!

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Arrogant medical “Professionals?”

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I recently was in a doctors office reading the paperwork that doctors offices have you fill out when you’re either a new patient or you’re seeing the doctor for the first time in a calendar year.
There was an innocuous line that read “Emergency Contact” I thought oh that makes sense… then I noticed some fine print at the bottom of this “Emergency Contact” section of the form. The fine print said “We may contact this person if you fail to pay your bill, or we are unable to contact you and they will be held financially responsible if you are unable to provide payment for services rendered.”
WHAT?!?!?!?
So I left the contact blank. I’d rather end up alone and unconscious in a hospital somewhere than risk some BS accounting mistake (and they’ve happened to me) exposing my friends, or family to a collection agent.
The little front desk girl told me I had to fill out that box. I told her no. She told me that I couldn’t see the doctor if I didn’t fill it out. I told her fine and She’d be hearing from the American Medical Association,  the newspapers, ACLU, and my Attorney and if she really wanted to push the issue. Yes yes I realize that none of those people would give a rats you know what about it. The obvious solution was to find another physician but I was in a mood… So what? She let me pass and guided me into an exam room… I suppose it helped that there was a waiting room full of patients and she really didn’t need the conflict.
So now I’m in an exam room and this nurse? Administrative person? comes in and takes my BP and starts asking me questions of any medications that I’m taking. Apparently she had some difficulty with one of the meds and in heavily accented English asks me something that sounded like “Jawotuwtpil” my translation system strained, couldn’t find a match and I said, “what? “
Now she’s exasperated and she says something like “ifutakcloruhavatakwtpil!”
In my head this is going on. Translation running….. Parsing….. possible meanings in this context based on drug interaction ….
“If you’re taking potassium you have to take a water pill” further, “water pill” in this instance is the term for diuretic and if often used by people that are uneducated (ie your grandmother) and/or can’t say the word diuretic.
To which I say no I’m not taking a diuretic except for the light dose contained in one of the other medications listed there on the paper that I filled out 10 minutes ago.
Then she calls me a liar because I must be taking something else.
Ok now I’m really getting annoyed. I tell her that my GP is down the hall in the same building on the same floor and she can go have a chat with him if she would like to alter my prescriptions. Then I asked her “And you’re Doctor who????” She snaps that she doesn’t have time to go talk to my doctor down the hall and storms out.
An hour and a half later….
I get up off the little exam table having become throughly bored and by this time fairly pissed off. I’m looking up the number to the insurance company and dialing it as I open the exam room door and walk smack into the Doctor that I was supposed to see. I tell him that we’re done, I don’t have time to have 3 hours of my day shot to hell because he’s too busy to keep his appointment schedule.
Then it occurs to me that the office staff may have been playing games and since I’m here and he’s here we should discuss what I was there to discuss anyway.
So we have a nice discussion and he seems competent and he recommends that I have another diagnostic screening that will answer the questions definitively. Then he orders the staff to set up the screening and they all snap to work.
He and I will be having a conversation about his staff the first visit.