OoOoOoooH! Shiny!

Seriously, What?

You’re telling me that Wall Street executives recieved their Bonuses, even after shit got all fucked up? People can’t find jobs, can’t pay their bills and are losing their homes and these idiots got their year end Bonuses?

Meanwhile, the rest of us are still looking for employment.

pfft

There were various announcements yesterday that many corporations will be laying off thousands of people.  With thousands already out of work, jobs will become more and more coveted. The picture I have as my masthead above depicts a job line during the great depression.  Lets put things into perpective. Today, the best and quickest way to gain employment is via the internet. I would suspect that when a potential employer posts an ad and recieves over hundreds of responses within a few hours, that would be what I call a “Virtual Job line”

I’ve already been forced to lower my salary expectations to become more competitive in the job market. This will probably cause our family to have to seriously do without life’s luxuries for a while. While that ISN’T an issue, it’s just annoying. In order to continue to put savings away we will have to strip to bare bones. It sucks and it is tough, but hey—I’m willing to work. No one is willing to pay.

This is what I don’t understand. The economy is based on us little people spending money. Our country  make shit anymore and well–that’s an argument for another day. How do people expect us to spend when there are little to no jobs and the ones that are available aren’t paying enough for people to make our mortgages. This is NO LONGER people who took out vastly expensive mortgages and home equity lines of credit not being able to pay after their ARM adjusted. This is regular joes like you and me who could afford their payments, had some savings and now are in danger of losing their homes because they are no longer making the salary they once were. with their savings demolished and the propects of finding another job making the same amout slim to none, you have yet another person going into foreclosure and losing their home. They can’t spend anymore, they are forced to rent and still can’t recover from the hard times. Spending money on cheap chinese shit will no longer be an option for a long time.

Here is *MY* solution. Housing prices were so inflated that everyone who bought or refinanced a home within the last 8 years should be allowed to reduce their princiapal to match the current prices. If that happens, banks will be making money, people will saty in their homes and have a little money in their pockets to spend and invest in their 401k’s. the stock market will start to recover and people will be able to take credit out again in a more responsible fashion. This isn’t handing free money to some asshole in a wall street office. This isn’t handing over free money to some asshole flipper with 7 homes he can’t sell. This isn’t handing free money to *ANYONE*. This is a smart solution to a shitty problem. The lenders simply need to admit it, reduce the amounts and sstart over. It will benefit EVERYONE involved.

Of course–Lenders refuse to do it, assholes on wall street squawk that it’s “welfare” because they want their dividends on their shitty investments, and free market worshipers will poo poo it because they believe it’s not competitive. They all want their peice of the TARP. Problem is, We’re the ones paying for it.  Can I have a ride on that 40 million jet?

So far, I have been on two interviews. The first one was interesting as the man wanted an experienced person to jump into the position running. When asked how much I was looking for, my number was too high for him. The guy wanted experience and wasn’t willing to pay for it.  Imagine my surprise when I saw his ad posted again. He didn’t find the right person nor did he answer any follow ups. I’m half tempted to write a short note telling him that I’m still available. The question is, will I have to compromise on my number?

It’s really shitty when faced with deflation. Employers don’t have enough to pay workers or they’re simply being “Frugal”.  I don’t blame them. However, if you want to gain an experienced person, you’ll have to at least take into consideraton the amount of time that you would be devoting to training an individual. If it’s minimal and that person can hit the ground running, then it might be worth paying for someone with good skills. Waiting for that right person who has  reached maximum desperation will only result in a person who is stressed and unable to focus on the job. They’re primary focus might be saving their home. Think about the recent reasons that people have been laid off. It’s because a few people made some shitty decisions with investment funds causing this giant ripple effect that has now effected you and me.

Employers don’t even want to pay benefits. They want people to work for the peanut shells they throw at them and still expect them to pay thier bills. amazing.

I’m not at maximum desperation, but I want income. I’ll take below what I’m worth—but I won’t be staying at that job.

The one thing that really sucks about all this is the boredem. In order to conserve money, we have to cut back on the whole entertainment aspect, which means only one night a week out and it better be cheap and early. It sucks, especially when your friends are all out and the only thing left to do is watch tv. Being stuck in the house all week gives way to watching teevee so a past time that was once a relaxing becomes excruciating. I’ve never been home for more than five days and when I did that, I always had a good reason. Now, I spend the vast majority of my day sending out job applications, surfing the net, watching television and cleaning my house. There is only so much of that I can do.

I’m certain I will have a job soon and relaxing at home with an evening of catching up on the DVR list will become a relaxing and inviting past time once again. Until then, I will be in television hell.

Today I’m not sitting by myself hopelessly waiting for the phone to ring. Mister Fatman is sitting here with me. We have a few items to attack as the shitslide of 2009 doesn’t seem to want to stop falling on us. While I am scrambling for a job, our washing machine decided to go south. I know, right? When shit goes wrong—shit really goes wrong.

So, today I plan on having to spend money. Thank god I don’t have to spend a lot and we did plan for the worse.  Just a shame that we have to spend money that was once earmarked to fix up the house. *sigh*

Stay tuned for the announcement of the first Experiment.

Holy Buck, Fatman! was experiencing technical difficulty. I had installed the latest worpress upgrade only to be side tracked by the holidays and subsequently—unemployment.

Yup. I’m a statistic! WhooooHOOO! Happy FUCKIN’ NEW YEAR!

Anyhow, I’ve been home for little under a week and I finally got around to tweaking this thing. Problem is, I had to shitcan my database with all my old posts. Yes, folks, I have a back up. I thought about it, though. Yesterday ushered in a new era. We have a new President and like Taddyporter over at BitchPhd, I think I’ll do the same. I Started what eventually became HolyBuck, Fatman! in 2006. I bitched,moaned and called names. since my database was obliterated and it will take some time to restore it, I might as well just start anew.

With that said, I’m still going to focus on politics, economics and other delightful items. However, I’ll probably  mostly blog about what it is like to search for a job in a shitty economy and how to deal while doing it. It will keep me and my family sane. I’ll also be doing a series of experiements in between the job hunt. I’ll Show and tell (thanks Morgy) so you can  make certain i don’t try and maim myself while quietly groveling for someone to employ me.

So, hopefully you’ll stay tuned and keep reading. This will be hilarious, I promise.