Who Really Cares, Anyway?

Merry Christmas To All

2011-12-24T15:46:00.001-05:00

...and to all a good night!

Unemployed? It's All Your Fault!

2011-10-21T12:19:00.006-04:00

Since 2005, I have experienced three periods of unemployment

There were those nine months between April and December, 2005. (My unemployment insurance ran out after six months, by the way.)

Then there was those other nine months after the dishrack factory lost the Bosch account. I received unemployment insurance payment for all nine months that time.

I was re-hired at the dishrack factory at a lower rate of pay for almost a whole year. Following weeks and weeks of being laid off for lack of order volume, the factory was shuttered earlier this year. That brought about another three more months of unemployment.

I figure I've experienced about two full years of unemployment during the last six years.

Now, there are those, like my erstwhile friend, who are so eager to spout their talking points that they would call me lazy, fat and happy for being out of work and collecting my unemployment insurance benefits.

The on-going narrative from the right wing noise machine is that the jobless simply are lazy and have chosen not to work for a living.

To this I must reply, "...and the horse you rode in on."

HERE is a link to an article written by Dennis Palumbo that expresses some understanding of what it is like to suffer through extended bouts of unemployment.

In summation, I will quote Dr. Palumbo:

What we–as a people, as a society–have to realize is that prolonged unemployment is a national disaster, like a flood or an earthquake. That its victims are no more responsible for the havoc that it brings than they’d be for the ravages of a wildfire overtaking their homes. That whether as friends and families, colleagues and neighbors, or politicians and mental health workers, we need to reduce the corrosive effects of blame—either of ourselves or others—and endeavor to provide instead support and solace, both pragmatic and emotional.

How do we accomplish this? We need policies that work, not sound-bites that inflame. We need the humility to understand that large-scale calamities are a part of the life of a nation, just as we need the grit to face the dilemmas squarely and honestly. We need to hold those truly responsible for the economic crisis accountable. Seriously, legally, accountable.

Moreover, we need to understand and accept the interconnected nature of the global financial apparatus in which we are all, each and every one of us, embedded. And to develop and set in motion the mechanisms that will lessen the likelihood of another such world-wide crisis in the future.

Will any of these things happen? I couldn’t say; the answer to that is above my pay grade. But whatever we do in the coming months and years to address our economic woes, unless we challenge the idea that unemployment is a character flaw, that the “blame” dwells either within ourselves or in some alien, dangerous “other,” we’ll remain divided and disheartened. Traumatized by long-entrenched beliefs.

It's October Already?

2011-10-09T20:50:00.002-04:00

Mariel says, Hi!"

Thanks, Tim. Thanks, Pete.

2011-08-23T04:58:00.004-04:00

Last month, I had a Nostradamus-like vision of pending economic collapse and moved my 401(k) funds to my IRA account.

You see, the same group of people who, ten years ago, cheered when their Vice-Deity Chaney said, "Deficits don't matter" are now cheering when Tea-Party Tim now says, "Defaults don't matter!"

So what happens when the remaining global superpower announces to the world that they will consider NOT paying their debts so that Tea Party Tim can defund programs he personally doesn't like?

As they would say on Jeopardy, "What is world-wide economic collapse, Alex?"

The Information Super-Dead-End

2011-08-21T05:31:00.003-04:00

In my previous entry, I had posted a powerful graphic depicting a "going out of business" sign.

But, you know, I am tempted to fold my internet tent and scrambooch out of here once and for all.

Why?

In a word, "connectivity."

In today's "powerful graphic" we see a screen shot of my internet status window.

Yes, I am connected at the blistering speed of 37.2 Kbps!

If you also note, when this snapshot was taken, I had been signed on for eight minutes and had sent and/or received a total of about 1.1 Mbytes. (That's less data than fits on one of those those antiquated floppy disks you can't hardly buy any more.)

Not shown is that in the simple act of signing on, going to dictionary .com and looking up one word, it had taken ten minutes for the definition to finally appear on screen.

The page kept loading and loading and loading...

At the thirteen minute mark I bailed.

It was still loading, even then.

I took an html course at the local community college ten years ago.

One of the main considerations in creating web pages back in that dark era was to make your pages so that they would load quickly.

Now, a decade on, the assumption is that everyone has a T1 internet connection and there should be no limit to the amount of java applets, media files and other digital albatrosses connected with even the most trivial of webpages.

My understanding is that there is an on-going concern about "net neutrality." The worry is that ISP providers would purposely slow down web traffic for certain urls, while allowing others to have faster service.

I now offer my own simple suggestion, which will cost nobody anthying and avoid an extra layer of regulation and oversight.

If you make YOUR webpage smple and easy-to-laod, YOU'RE the winner and your fancy-pants, bells-and-whistle competitor is the loser.

So, come on, programmers! Streamline your webpages. Enhance functionality and eschew life-shortening nerditity in your page designs.

After all, it is, and always has been, all about me.

Who, Indeed?

2011-08-13T07:45:00.001-04:00

Grounding and Bonding

2011-08-07T18:20:00.007-04:00

Well, what have we here?

This is called a "shelter" and it sits on the back of a Humvee.

Not the Mr. and Mrs. Yuppie-McMansion version that ferries Buffy and Chip to their polo lessons.

No.

I'm talking about the heavily armored tanks-on-wheels that we work on over at Fort Bragg.

Yep, I just completed my first full week as an "Electronics Helper" on base.

My job has been to do the "grounding and bonding" on the shelters that have been tricked out as communications centers and have been returned for maintenance.

My tools?

A few socket wrenches, a couple screwdrivers a dremel tool, commercial bathroom cleaner (Scrubbing Bubbles!) and a scotchbrite pad.

The deal is that I have to demount and disconnect the connector panels and antennas, clean them up shiny-new and put them back together.

We use the dremel to create clean grounding areas at various points on the panels. An improperly-grounded antenna is a useless antenna.

It's about that interesting.

But I needed a job and, by golly, I got me a job!

Thanks for everyone's support and well-wishes during my most-recent jobless period.

More random thoughts to come.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

2011-07-27T14:46:00.004-04:00

I start work tomorrow.

It's only a day awa-a-a-a-y.

Yep. I got the call from the team leader this morning. The shift starts at 6:30am and goes until "fifteen hundred hours." (That's how they talk on base - cute!)

I added some freon to my 16 year-old car's faltering A/C system. I also started working on replacing the radio.

I took a "test run" out to the fort, so there'd be no early morning surprises.

Turns out it's an eight and a half mile commute.

Buh-bye hour-long, 83 mile round trip job trek.

Hello, contract job!

The Post-Pity-Party-Party

2011-07-26T10:28:00.008-04:00

After boo-hoohing about my "special" 30 year anniversary (see previous entry) on July 22nd, I should also mention that I got a job offer that very same day.

Yep, that very same Friday I got the phone call that I have been offered that contract job at Fort Bragg! The lady at the contracting firm sent me an employment agreement to sign and fax back to her, which I did by lunch time.

"You will start on Monday, July 25th," I was told.

Whoo-Hoo! Christmas in July for Craiggy-boy!

The next step was for the on-base team leader to contact me so I would know where to go, who to see and what to do.

The phone rang at 3:00.

It was the lady from the contract company.

Seems there was a delay in processing one of the many forms I filled out and sent in.

I was told NOT to come in on Monday.

The team leader would (eventually) contact me once everything was processed.

Yarrgh!

Yet ANOTHER waiting game.

Deep breaths.

Think about puppies and rainbows.

Must resist the urge to pen a 1,500 page "manifesto" and then go on a holy rampage to right all the world's wrongs...

It Was Thirty Years Ago Today

2011-07-22T01:14:00.005-04:00

On July 22, 1981 I started working for Ohmtek, Inc. of Niagara Falls, NY. I was hired as a QC Technician to do final testing of the film resistor products manufactured in their brand-spanking-new plant.

Within the year I was promoted to QC Supervisor and kept failing upwards for the next 15-1/2 years until I was the "Manager of Environmental Testing."

Ohmtek makes ultra precision resistors with tolerances being spec'd out to 0.01% resistance ratios and 25 parts-per-million/degree C resistance change over temperature.

There were many demanding military and commercial customers that had rigid testing and performance requirements for their components. It was my job to ensure that the resistors produced met every last customer requirement.

Unfortunately, I was very unpopular when I had to fail a batch of material of report a poor yield at final inspection.

Also, many times there would be weeks and months of testing required and customers were NOT happy when the product didn't hit the lab until (or 'way after!) the delivery date.

Again, more unpopularity for yours truly.

There was no interest in these short-comings by either the sales department, engineering or manufacturing. The ass-covering, backstabbing and meeting-room gamesmanship always left me flapping in the breeze.

Eventually, the toll on my nervous system of always being wrong about everything pushed me out the door. In hindsight, I think I may have suffered a slow-motion nervous breakdown.

Like a person who experiences phantom sensations after a limb is amputated, the Ohmtek experience is always rattling around somewhere in my noggin.

I just can't help wonder where I'd be now if I had known enough to "play the game" and half-assed the stuff out the door.

Ah, well.

Happy anniversary to me...

Sorry, Calvin

2011-07-20T21:39:00.004-04:00

Thanks to a tip from one of my peeps at church, it looks like I might finally be rejoining the workforce.

Now, I'm probably counting my chickens before they've hatched, but I've filled out all the paperwork and did the physical today, so barring any unforeseen circumstances...

Looks like I'll be working at Fort Bragg as an "Electronics Helper."

My thirty-four year-old AAS degree in Electrical Technology is finally paying off!

From the job description I'll be doing things like preparing units for refurbishing, either by making/painting cabinets, installing name plates, tightening sockets, looking for obvious physical damage and what-not.

It's a one-year contract with Medical & Dental benefits. And it's a first shift gig, too.

Sounds like COTY and their promises of a three-to-six month second-shift gig is going to be filed under "thanks for screwing around with me all Summer."

Let's see what happens next.

Calvin And Me Part III

2011-07-13T21:18:00.005-04:00

Well, since I hadn't heard anything from the job pimp by lunch time on Monday, I sent him an e-mail asking about what I had to do to get the ball rolling on this contact QA gig.

He called back later in the afternoon with only a vague, "well that guy must still be on vacation" sort of response. (WHICH guy?)

Oh, how aggravating it is to sit around and wait for the phone to ring. I've even taken to keeping my cell phone turned on and within arm's reach, since he seems to like to call me at that seldom-used number.

This all makes little sense, given the fact that I've been told this position was brought about by Coty's three-month "busy season" that runs from May through July.

Um, hey guys, JULY IS HALF OVER!

This has been dragging on since April and my nerves are getting a little "tingly."

Calvin?

Call me, m'kay..?

Me And Calvin - Part II

2011-07-08T19:01:00.004-04:00

Guess what?

I had a second interview at the Coty factory back on June 24th.

I got a call at about 12:45 from "the agency" that I had to be out at the factory by 2:00 for another interview, this time with a Ms. Burns.

I peeled off my shorts-n-tee shirt, slapped on the shirt-n-tie and made a bee-line for Sanford, NC.

Turns out that this was an interview for a different part of the plant. Whereas the previous session had involved incoming inspection for packaging components, this jobs is for final inspection of product at the enamel (i.e. fingernail polish) line.

Ms. Burns didn't know that I had been out there a few weeks prior and that I already had a cursory knowledge of the plant layout and product lines.

A couple of highlights:

1. The position is as an inspector on the second shift, so she was concerned that I would be able to handle some of the drama associated with telling people when product is not to spec and corrections are needed.

What luck!

I just happened to have a letter of recommendation from a previous boss at the dishrack factory that stated:

"[Craig's] diplomatic and genial approach is very successful with both customers and suppliers. He is particularly adept at calming difficult situations."

(Thanks, Colin - I owe ya!)

2. The interviewer played the old, "you seem to actually be OVERQUALIFIED for this position."

Aha - I was ready for her this time.

The main concern with "overqualified candidates" is that once you hire them and train them they will bolt for a better job, more in line with their experience level.

I pointed out that since this was to be a temporary contract position for "three to six months" then it is already acknowledged by both parties that there is a finite time period involved. Putting on an "overqualified" person in such an instance is actually buying the employer "more bang for their buck!"

This morning , my wife turned on my cell phone and noticed that there were two messages in queue. There weren't any messages the previous night when I hooked up the charger, so I knew these were fresh.

Yep, it was the job pimp once again ignoring my request NOT to call me on my cell.

He said he had some good news for me and to please call him back.

I dialed his number at 8:45am and left a message on his voice mail.

Within fifteen minutes he called back to say that Coty was going to offer me the job.

HUZZAH!

I'll be getting more information about the particulars come Monday, or possibly Tuesday.

Oooh la-la!

A gig at a clean, air conditioned plant?

Come to Poppa!

Less Bummed Out

2011-06-19T22:32:00.004-04:00

Thanks, Mariel.

FWIW, Michelle volunteered on the day Mariel's class was working on their Fathers Day projects.

She noticed that several of the students addressed their cards to either "Uncle" so-and-so or just plain didn't have ANYONE to give their presents to.

I feel badly for those kids.

I'm glad Mariel was able to achieve such a canny resemblance to HER old man.

Bummed Out

2011-06-18T19:37:00.004-04:00

Just sayin'...

With any luck, a week of puppeteering at Vacation Bible School will cheer me up.

Is Calvin Klein My New BFF?

2011-06-16T12:52:00.010-04:00

Something that I do during my increasingly regular bouts of unemployment is to scour the careers.com & monsters.com offerings. The days of actually showing up at a plant and asking to fill out an employment application are, it seems, just about over.

Given my thirty-plus years in manufacturing quality control, I naturally tend to do keyword searches for "quality" jobs. If a job looks like it's close enough for reasonable commute I'll click the link and send my resume.

One such clickage was apparently to a technical placement firm which was pimping a Quality Inspector gig.

I received an email from a recruiter back on April 25th asking me to call him to arrange an interview time.

We had a couple phone interviews one on a Friday and another one on the following Monday. Then the phone lines went dead for about six weeks.

Then, in the early part of June, my recruiter buddy called back.

His client, a major cosmetics company, was interested in interviewing me for the position. That the pay rate would be one dollar more per hour than I was making at the dishrack factory really sparked my interest, let me tell you.

The recruitment dude told me he'd follow-up with all the details that Monday morning. He sent an email, which I will quote herein (emphasis added):

This is to confirm your interview for (6/7/2011) at 11:00 AM with Coty...

As you know this is a 2nd Shift Quality Inspector Role. It will be vital to sell your experience and skills with all that you meet. They will be interested in your previous quality experience. When asked questions do your best to avoid the yes/no answer … have examples prepared and are comfortable discussing these examples. If you see anything that you have questions with don’t hesitate to ask or do a little research online...

Craig… they are really looking for a positive influence to their team and someone who possesses a “Can Do Attitude”. They will not be interested in someone who might be able to do the job and/or pick it up in a couple of weeks …. They need someone who can walk in and make an impact day one. You have the skills and experience to obtain this position, so utilize the opportunity and tell why you are the man for the job.

One the interview day, I met with their quality engineer and was shortly joined by one of their quality technicians. I gave the interview of my life, taking great care to emphasize my extensive background in ensuring product conformance.

I scored bonus points for being familiar with MIL-STD-105 sampling plans. The engineer handed me an AQL slide ruler and asked me to tell him the proper sampling size and accept/reject criteria for a 10,000 piece lot sampled to a Level I, 1.0% AQL.

Now, I had never used a slide ruler for this calculation, but rather referenced the MIL-STD tables directly. Oh, well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Grappling with the ruler I determined that a 10,000 piece lot would require an eighty piece sample using a Level 1 plan. After he showed me how to line up the 1.0% AQL section I correctly reported that you would accept the lot if up to two defects were found and would reject on three or more.

DING DING DING!

He and the QI were duly impressed and, having been given a tour of their clean, air-conditioned plant was led back to reception and told, "we'll be in touch."

The recruiter-guy called me that afternoon to sound out how I felt I had done.

"Did you knock it out of the park?" he asked.

I did my best to play up my experience and also managed to impress them with my knowledge of sampling plans. So, yes, I felt I had knocked it sufficiently so as to be "out of the park."

The weekend following my interview, my ghetto TracFone suddenly stopped working. No biggie, since I generally use it only to make emergency calls and I usually keep it turned off and plugged into the charger.

Then it occurred to me.

My wife had given the recruiter-dude my cell phone number because I was away from the house on the morning he called to set up the interview. Now, I never give this number out as my primary contact point, but this fellow had called there a couple time subsequently.

Since It was now a week or so after my interview, I decided to pop out a quick email to the job pimp.

Number one: I advised him that my cell phone was out of order and he should call me at my home phone if there is anything further to report.

Number two: "Is there anything further to report?" I asked.

Sure enough the phone rang the following day and it was the man, himself.

"Yeah, Craig. I left you a voice mail and wondered why I hadn't heard back from you."

"Well, my cell phone is kaput, so I never got it. Any word from Coty?"

"Yes. Well. They're going to go with another candidate because they feel you are over-qualified for the job!"

(You saw that one coming a mile away, didn't you?)

The whole idea was to sell them on my past experience because "[t]hey will not be interested in someone who might be able to do the job and/or pick it up in a couple of weeks... they need someone who can walk in and make an impact day one."

Yeah.

Whatever.

My new scent is now Calvin Klein's REJECTION FOR MEN and it smells like failure.

I'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr.DeMille

2011-06-09T08:57:00.005-04:00

One of the big summertime activities here in Fayetteville, NC is VBS Season.

What's VBS?

Why, Vaction Bible School, of course!

Every year the churches host week-long "day camps" for their neighborhood children. I have participated a wee bit in past campaigns.

One year I played guitar for the music sessions.

One year I took a role in a skit.

But THIS year?

I am going to be a puppeteer!

And not just any puppet, mind you.

I am to be Scraps, the raccoon - the mascot of the "Shake It Up Cafe!"

I got the script and the raccon puppet a couple weeks ago, so I could practice. I'm giving Scraps a really bogus Buddy Hackett type voice. Here's a sample of the dialog:

Chef: Do you know anything about cooking?

Scraps: Ha! I'm an expert!

Chef: An expert, huh? Well, let's try a little test. What's in a PB&J?

Scraps: Potato butter and jelly, preferably on sourdough.

Chef: Potato butter?

Scrap: I'm allergic to peanuts.

Mariel, unsurprisingly, is simply nuts for li'l Scraps.

She's been helping me run my lines, by dressing up and ad libbing her own parts, as pictured below.

But since this is an all-volunteer church activity, there is always a "seat-of-your-pants" element to the organization and execution of it.

Turns out the fellow who had initially volunteered to play Scraps' mentor, Chef Basil, has had to back out for business reasons. A replacement has not yet been confirmed, so I don't know who will be Abbott to my Costello.

The skits require a cafe setting with a puppet stage built into it. Also, there are DVD and CD segments to be incorporated into the skits. It's turning into a "My Little Pony Live!" production, methinks.

I intend to come up with a way to cue the DVD and CD players as well as mike up our stage area. It'll take some doing, but I think we can pull it off.

Teh Interwebs

2011-05-06T09:06:00.006-04:00

Here's a pithy quote I came across:

"Twitter makes me like people I don't know. Facebook makes me hate the people I do know."

Well, I'm not sure about the first part of this statement, but the second sure rings true.

A couple of Internet anniversaries have come and gone here at "who-really-cares-anyway."

One: I quit facebook six months ago. The idea that I'm supposed to be co-opted into a community of people with tourette's disease finally got on my last nerve and I bailed back on November 1, 2010. Having one long-term friendship go down the talking-points toilet was enough to scare me straight.

Two: This here blog was started back at the end of March, 2006.

WOW! Have I really been at it for FIVE FREAKIN' YEARS?!?!?

Granted, my postings have slowed from daily to almost-never, but here I am blogging none-the-less.

Mariel was two years old when I started and she's currently finishing up first grade! Heck, I was still in my forties back then!

I was working at a local label printing company, then quit to work at the dish rack factory and was then laid off for nine months. Then the dish rack factory re-hired me and now the plant has been permanently closed and I'm once again SOL.

Hmm.

Do I even have a point, here?

I guess not, but that's blogging for ya!

Thanks for your support.

The Violent Tornado of Truth Tour

2011-04-18T12:09:00.005-04:00

I am happy to say that for me, there was some rotten weather and an inconvenient one-hour power outage at my house this past weekend.

I am happy to say this, as there are folks here in Fayetteville that are in dire straits thanks to a tornado that cut a wide swath through town:

At least 167 homes in Cumberland County were torn to pieces by the afternoon tornado that carved a three-block wide path across western and northern Fayetteville. Another 144 homes were damaged, 78 of them major, according to a preliminary assessment by county authorities. More than 50 cars were smashed or crushed, and nearly 11,000 homes still had no power going into Sunday evening. Statewide, the number of confirmed dead climbed to at least 17, including one person in Linden, four in Bladen County, two in Lee County and one in Dunn.

Our telephone was busy most of the day with people calling to see if we were OK - which we are.

The day before, there was a mention in the newspaper that former President Jimmy Carter was going to be in Pinehurst for a Stapleton family wedding this past weekend. I wonder if he made it, and, if so, did he bring his "Habitat for Humanity" tool belt with him?

Right now, I'm just killing time at the public library while I wait for my 1:30pm appointment at the Employment Securities Commission.

This oughta be good, as Nestaway opened claims for all their employees back in august, owing to the rolling layoffs there.

Now that the plant is shut down for good I'll find out if I have to open a new claim or what.

Yeesh.

Well, at least my house wasn't reduced to a pile of toothpicks this weekend and, for that, I am grateful.

Fifty-One Weeks

2011-04-15T19:35:00.003-04:00

Well, today was the day.

Let the record show that I was laid off from the dish rack factory for the second (and final!) time on April 15, 2011.

This is one week shy of a full year after having been rehired by said factory.

That this happened on "Emancipation Day" makes it all the more delicious, don't you think?

More..?

The Omega Rack

2011-04-02T09:43:00.004-04:00

Let the record show that the last dishwasher rack rolled of the Nestaway assembly line in Clinton, NC on Friday, April 1, 2011.

April Fools' Day.

The five remaining manufacturing employees were laid off and it remains for those of us "left-behinders" to perform mop-up operations so that the plant can be put into moth balls.

How much longer will this take?

Maybe a week.

Maybe two weeks.

My boss has a previously planned vacation (yet another cruise!) for somewhere around April 21, so my guess is no later than 04/21/11.

So what's next..?

KA-BOOM (Part 2)

2011-03-08T04:40:00.004-05:00

Did I mention something about stuff blowing up in my face?

We had a little meeting yesterday afternoon at the ye olde dishracke factory.

Seems that the "parent company" decided that operating three factories at a loss is bad business (duh) and that operating only two factories at a loss would be less bad.

Which factory to close?

Which one?

"Miss Hathaway, get in here!"

"What is it, chief?"

"Find out where that Davison guy works!"

"Why, whatever for, chief?"

"Because that's the plant we'll close! Mwah ha haaaaaah!"

Yep.

The dishracks we manufacture are soon going to be made elsewhere.

As soon as we build up enough inventory, the machinery will be yanked out of this plant and sent to one of our sister divisions.

This probably explains the four-week streak of actual manufacturing activity this past month.

Things do not look promising for yours truly, right now.

More to come..?

KA-BOOM

2011-02-25T23:02:00.012-05:00

Well, February has shaped up to be the "workin'est" month in quite a while!

The twelve weeks that started at Thanksgiving week saw a full EIGHT of them as lay-off weeks.

Yeesh.

But, with the exception of 02/07 - 02/11, The plant has been open.

During that first week, my boss mentioned that "some visitors" might be paying us a visit and that I should make it a priority to clean up the joint.

There are no custodians on staff, so the place can get pretty messy.

My first pass was to pick up piles of used gloves, filthy shop rags, soft drink cans, papers and assorted trash.

Next, I did some push broom pushing.

Then, I decided to use the electric floor sweeper. The one we have is very similar to the one shown above.

The sweeper is powered by two 12-volt car batteries, wired in series.

The sweeper was hooked up to the battery charger. What the maintenance men do is disconnect the the batteries from the sweeper and then connect the 24 volt charger across the series pair.

I needed the sweeper, so I unplugged the charger and disconnected it from the battery terminals. I attached the negative sweeper wire to the negative terminal on the one battery. When I touched the positive terminal to the post, however, the sweeper started running.

I pulled the cable away and flipped the unit's on/off switch. It felt kinda spongy; there was no hard "click" sound. I made sure the switch was in the off position, anyway.

Then I once again touched the cable to positive battery terminal.

What happened next?

I heard a loud BOOM like a truck tire exploding.

I saw the caps fly off the battery.

I felt something spray on me.

Yes, the battery blew up in my face!

Luckily, I was near the men's room. I peeled off my sweatshirt and gloves, yanked off my glasses and proceeded to throw lots and lots of water at my face.

Amazingly, I walked away from this blast with not so much as a scratch!

When I finally got back to the shop floor, I saw that the sides had blown out of the battery! This is probably where most of the battery acid blew. I imagine anyone who might have been standing on either side of the sweeper would not have been as "lucky" as I was, since I was positioned in front of the bomb when it went off.

The conclusion is that the mushy switch must have shorted the positive cable to the ground on the sweeper and caused a dead short which made the battery go "boom."

I thank God that I was spared from permanent disfiguring, or worse.

In reflecting on this incident some days later, I figured that maybe since I've had so many things blow up in my face lately, perhaps I've finally developed an natural immunity to it.

All for the love of dish racks...

So, How's It Going?

2011-01-19T12:11:00.008-05:00

Well, here it is January 19, 2011 and my last full day of work at the dish rack factory was December 17, 2010.

Yep, we were sent home for a two-week lay-off with orders to report back on Monday, January third.

On that fateful day, I arrived at the plant, but there was little noise coming from the shop floor. No machinery was running.

Uh oh.

Turns out the plant's air compressor went down and would not come back to life. That is a bad thing, because without our compressed air service virtually nothing in the plant can run.

We employees went about doing as much productive manual labor as possible, but by the 9:20am break all the hourlies had been sent home. I lingered for a couple more hours to work on a customer issue but was also off the clock by lunch time at 11:30.

We were told to report back on Monday, 01/17/11.

Great. Another two-week furlough.

At 4:30am on the seventeenth, my alarm went off.

By 5:30 I was showered, shaved, dressed and pulling out of my driveway for the one hour, 41 mile commute to the plant.

At 6:30 I pulled into the parking lot directly behind the Manufacturing Manager's van. The only other vehicle in the lot belonged to the Vice President of Operations.

"Um, am I even supposed to be here today?" I asked the MM. (CLERKS alert!)

"Well, no," he replied. "I guess I forgot to call you and let you know the compressor's still down."

Bottom line: The VP had me work some more on that customer issue and then sent me back home by 10:15am.

The last word was that I should wait for a call as to when we might be resuming normal operations.

Thank goodness for my unemployment benefits stipend and for Mariel's eligibility for the NC health plan!

Also, thank goodness for the Lakedale Church of God's food pantry outreach!

A co-worker told me about it last month and I was finally able to get out there this morning.

There, I met Pastor Rich who had me fill out a simple one-sheet document about why I was seeking their assistance. I gave my on-going lay-off situation as my reason.

In return, I received the three bags of foodstuffs pictured at the top of this post.

And, as a bonus, since I had a child living at home we were eligible for the meat package upgrade! Here's a break down of the vittles:

8-1/2 lbs. frozen Tyson split chicken breasts
2 lbs frozen steak
2 lbs frozen Jennie-O turkey and gravy
2 boxes of Special K cereal
1 box Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal
3 cans of Tuna
2 cans of chicken and dumplings
2 cans of beef stew
2 cans of corned beef hash
2 cans of mixed vegetables
2 cans of field peas with snaps
2 boxes of mac & cheese
1 jar of peanut butter
1 box of spaghetti
1 box of cereal bars

Thanks to Pastor Rich, his congregation, the pantry volunteers and donors! We Davisons are truly appreciative of this bounty.

And, with any luck, I'll be back to work by next month...

Whiling Away The Hours

2011-01-09T21:18:00.011-05:00

I have been laid off from the dishrack factory (with the exception of five hours worked Monday, 01/03/2011) since Friday, 12/17/10.

Oh, sure I've been scouring the employment sources and sending out resumes during this time. Heck, I want to work for a living, people.

I've started a little project this past week to help while away the time, though.

Owing to a modest post-Christmas windfall, I bought a few DVDs of silent-era cartoons on the (ahem) collector's market. I'm in the process of tweaking them using my computer's video editor so as to create yet another compilation DVD.

What that generally means is laying a music bed and adding sound effects, but can also include some minor re-editing and/or creation of new title cards, as shown above and below.

One cartoon looked like it was the result of pointing a camcorder at a movie screen. I tried to "improve" the image by converting it to gray scale monochrome and cropping it a bit:

Next comes the "fun" part: dropping in a music bed and adding sound effects.

The music bed isn't that bad, but synching-up all those boings, sproings, bonks and other cartoons sounds really takes a lot of time. In the above cartoon there were innumerable pool cue clicks and clacks to add in.

Ah, well, looks like it snowed out again!

Guess I'll get back to editing some more cartoons. Somebody come and get me if they re-open the dishrack factory, M'Kay?

Feigning Optimism

2010-12-31T20:26:00.002-05:00

Well, at least it's not an election year...

Boxing Day!

2010-12-26T09:15:00.009-05:00

I'm dreaming of a white (day after) Christmas...

Feast your eyes on Fayetteville, NC's December 26th snowfall:

Looks like I have the photo for next year's Christmas card covered!

Here's the back yard.

And here's Mariel watching the snow come a-tumblin' down.

We need 250ccs of hot chocolate, dammit - stat!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T20:50:00.005-05:00

Not exactly visions of sugar plums, but still...

Merry Christmas, bloggers!

You Lift Sixteen Tons...

2010-12-04T13:55:00.011-05:00

And what do you get?

Thirty years older and deeper in debt.

I received my "Social Security Statement" in the mail the other day and it kind of bummed me out.

Page three of this document laid out my Social Security Earnings by year, going back to 1978.

I really didn't start working, full time, until 1979, so I decided to look at the 30 year period between then and 2009. I felt the best way to make sense of this train wreck was to graph it. You may wish to click on the graphs to make them more legible.

A few notes:

I entered the manufacturing arena in 1979 as a QC Technician for the Carborundum company.

You'll notice my first big negative spike was in 1981. This was the year I quit that gig (in early January) to "run off and join the circus," so to speak. When that fell apart in March of that year, I remained unemployed, with no income, until July. That is when I started a 16 year ride at Ohmtek (now Vishay Thin Film),

I started, once again, as a QC Technician but kept failing upward until I was the Manager of Inspection and Testing.

You can see how thing used to work in industry. I would get performance reviews with pay increases dependant on on well I was doing. Like the first part of a roller coaster ride I went up, up, up until...

I was let loose from their payroll in early 1997.

(Here comes the scary part of the ride. Please keep your arms inside the car at all times.)

Owing to several bad-mojo factors (unable to find a permanent job, family health issues and the like) I relocated from North Tonawanda, NY to Fayetteville, NC in spring of 1998.

I snagged an Industrial Technician job at plant that made big valves and in-line strainers for the next seven years until I was shown the door in 2005. You can see the big dip in income for that year!

That was followed by two really low-paying years at the label-printing company, followed by my gig at the dishrack factory (see the big spike in 2008?), followed by being laid off in 2009 (see the dip?)

Seeing it all laid out on a graph put me in a rather depressive state.

Then it hit me.

The 1996 and 2008 earning were almost identical.

Maybe I finally made up for lost time!

Maybe I finally had turned it around!

Maybe once these rolling lay offs end and the economy recovers I'll be back to 1990s-style "prosperity!"

A little voice was heard to whisper in my ear, "Psst. Hey, Craig. Ever hear of the consumer price index? To get an accurate picture of where you're at, go back and calculate your earnings pegged to 1979 dollars!"

So I did:

See that lower line? The solid one? See how it has trended negatively over the 30 years that have been my professional career path?

OOF!

"But, wait a minute," that little voice said. "Why don't you figure your percent increase/decrease since you entered the job market? Just use the new data and peg it to your 1979 earnings."

Voila!

Ooh, baby!

Remember that "fat" year in 2008? The one where I thought I was turning the corner before the economy imploded?

If I convert that to 1979 dollars, then I only took a -4.2% pay cut since my very first full time gig!

I grew up always hearing about stuff like "peak earning years" and "America's middle class is the envy of the world."

My conclusion?

I'm screwed.

Happy Birthday, Mariel

2010-11-28T13:50:00.002-05:00

Mariel turned seven on November 28th.

What a weekend! Her Aunt Denise flew into town on Thanksgiving day and we all had the traditional turkey spread.

On Saturday, some friends came over for left-overs.

On Sunday, we had a house full of people for Mariel's party.

The little princess may have aged seven years but, somehow, I feel about twenty years older.

Happy birthday, my precious daughter!

Better Living Through Chemistry

2010-11-22T05:53:00.004-05:00

The telephone rang at about 5:45pm one Wednesday night.

"Is this Mr. Craig Davison?" inquired the caller.

Since this was the post-mid-term-election-era I didn't slam the receiver down, but instead confirmed that I was, indeed, Mr. Craig Davison.

"This call is to confirm that you have an appointment to take the DuPont pre-employment test this Friday at 3:00 at Bethany Community College."

"DuPont?" I wondered.

I had submitted an application there for... something. Must have been a Quality Control or technical position. The fact that I was once again in the middle of a one-week layoff from the dishrack factory made any such invitation only that much more welcome.

I confirmed that I would be there, with my picture ID.

A few days and 35 miles later I arrived at the testing facility. I was part of a group (thirty, or so, by my estimate) that was there to take this test. Another group was leaving as I got there. And another group would be taking the test after we were finished.

"Yeesh! Are they screening a hundred people for just one job?" I wondered as I handed over my ID and a copy of my college transcripts.

The first part of the test consisted of fifty math/physics/manufacturing questions. There were questions about weights, volumes, levers, etc.

That was followed by 100 "attitude" questions. We'd have to indicate whether we strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, strongly disagreed or had no opinion with statements like, "It is acceptable to steal from the company as long as I don't get caught."

There was also a brief "computer skills" portion where we had to write a brief paragraph in Microsoft Word, save it, print it out and then delete it.

Well, I guess I must have done well enough with these daunting tasks, because I have a "four to five hour" interview at DuPont scheduled for Wednesday morning.

And guess what?

Yep. I've been laid off from the dishrack factory for another weeks, so my schedule s once again clear for my new best friends at DuPont.

Whoot!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

2010-11-08T10:58:00.004-05:00

Why, lookie here.

It's my Hofner "Beatle Bass!"

As a bassist and an official Beatlemaniac it only stands to reason that this would be my most sought-after instrument.

As a teen, I took a book out of the library one day and started to teach myself how to play chords on my sister's low-budget acoustic guitar. It was a hand-me-down HEIT DELUXE with nylon strings. Rock and roll!!!

After glomming on to a $30 used Silvertone electric, I eventually set my sights on getting a bass guitar.

I ended up with a used $30 "ZIM GAR" fender precision knock off. It was actually a very decent instrument. That is, until I broke one of the volume pots. ARGH!

Of course, a violin-shaped BEATLE BASS remained my target.

I went through a couple copies, first.

There was a "KLIRA" version that played not so good.

Then I scored a "VOX" bass that was really good. Buts, still, it wasn't a real Hofner.

The local music shop, Kenmore Music, decided to change its name and become "The Power Supply." Their new emphasis would be on audio system rentals and sales. (I had bought my first Silvertone guitar there, for what it's worth.)

During the transition period, they were getting rid of those pesky ol' musical instruments that had been lying around.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear but a vintage Hofner Beatle bass hanging on the close out wall!

By this time, I had graduated college and actually had some discretionary income to spend.

I bought it (in a heartbeat!) and I still have it to this day, thirty-two years later.

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

No-No-November

2010-11-05T11:32:00.005-04:00

Geez, Louise! What did I say about, "Lather, Rinse, Repeat?"

After three straight 40-hour weeks of employment, the plant's going to be shut down all next week.

We're scheduled to return to work on the 15th.

Will there be another week of layoffs for Thanksgiving week?

Gobble, gobble...

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

2010-11-03T11:46:00.008-04:00

October, on the whole, wasn't as "bad" as August and September, as far as the dishrack factory went.

I "only" missed out on three days worth of work in October, so that was progress of a sort.

There seems to be an endless treadmill of layoffs, car problems, family health issues, computer issues, bank overdrafts, church issues, cat issues, et cetera, et cetera. It is almost as if my I've been infected with a computer virus I just can't purge from the hard-drive of my life.

(I guess nerds shouldn't try to wax poetic, huh?)

De-Faced

2010-11-01T11:48:00.002-04:00

The great facebook experiment is over for yours truly.

My sister, Amy, one day, e-mailed me a link to some sort of photo. It was in somebody's facebook album and the only way to see it was to open a facebook account. Oh, how innocent it all seemed...

Like so many others, I fell under the thrall of this myspace-on-crack "social network" soul-taker.

Oh, yeah, it was fun finding old neighbors, classmates, family members, etc.

It was very gratifying to find that so many folks even remembered me!

But I'm done with it now.

Does that mean a return to more long-form blogging here?

Time will tell.

Time will tell.

September Song

2010-09-23T11:10:00.003-04:00

In my previous post I had looked for silver linings and hoped for "a better September."

What can I say?

It is as if September was canceled and they added an extra thirty days to August!

Yep, there have been more car repairs (new brake lines for the family van), more bills (an ER trip for Mariel) and fewer paid work days at the dish rack factory!

Am I on a roll, or what?

August Angst

2010-08-29T05:20:00.014-04:00

Wow! Has this month kicked my butt, or what?

Well, every dark cloud has a silver lining, so let's do a month-end inventory and see...

Leading the suckage parade were some major lay-offs at work. The reason I was called back at the end of April was that our customer had reactivated two production lines and more workers were needed to meet the demand.

Well, their need for those racks has come and gone, so we shipped the last batch about mid-month. The lay-off meeting was held just after Michelle and Mariel returned from their Buffalo trip.

The Silver Lining? I haven't been canned - yet. I also have to remember that I was only promised a six-week "temp" gig and, four months later, I'm still on the pay roll. Woot!

Further bad developments came when the customer canceled a few shipments of the remaining product due to their own, internal issues. This amounted to my working two four-day weeks and one two-day week. The net result is that I've lost a full week's worth of pay this month.

The Silver Lining? I managed to score two extra days of pay by working on two days' worth of special projects at the plant. See? It could've been worse!

Of course what's diminished income without immediate major expenses? They go hand-in-hand, like Abbott and Costello! Like Leopold and Loeb! Like my groin and the toe of a well-aimed Army boot!

During my three-day lay-off this week, Michelle took our 16-year-old Dodge Shadow to an orientation class. Now, this is the car I've been driving 82 miles a day to-and-from the dish rack factory, folks.

Michelle got two doors down the street before the transmission turned into a solid mass of smoking metal.

I drove her to work in the family van and had the car towed to a local transmission shop.

"Good news," the mechanic informed me. "These old three-speed transmissions are relatively inexpensive to rebuild."

"Whew, that's great," came my reply. "So what're we looking at, here?"

"It should only run you $1,300."

I don't want to be a grammatical pedant, but I feel "only" and "$1,300" should not be used in a sentence this way. Especially since my savings account currently looks like the amount of loose change one might find in the cushions of a couch. (Did I mention this couch was in the lobby of a homeless shelter? Well, it is!)

Reeling, I told the man I'd have to call him back.

I've previously blogged about my hatred of used car shopping and transmission repairs. The last bout was three years ago and this was before my most recent financial Armageddon.

I looked at car that was for sale in my neighborhood. It was a 1999 Lumina with only 74,000 miles on it. The $2,300 price tag was appealing (though, I don't know where that amount of money was gonna come from!)

Upon closer inspection I found out the A/C was tepid, the FM on the radio didn't work, the glove box latch was missing and there was a crack that ran the entire width of the front windshield.

Upon reflection, it was concluded that I could either pay $1,300 to get my old car fixed or I could pay an extra grand to buy another car-with-issues.

Yep, I called the garage and told them to go ahead and fix the Shadow.

The Silver Lining? Well, for starters, the car broke down within 100 yards of our house. There is a very real possibility I could've been stranded miles and miles away from home, had I not been on a mini-layoff.

Also, the mechanic knocked $300 off the transmission repair to help sway my decision. Thanks, pal - there's a dozen donuts in your future!

Of course what's diminished income without immediate major expenses? Oh, wait - I said that already.

Just to put a cherry on top of the old by-product Sundae, the electric bill showed up in our mailbox Saturday afternoon.

An electric bill that indicates we had used consumed more electricity this month than we had in the previous six months combined! (See chart.)

An electric bill for $662.60!

The Silver Lining? The Public Works Commission stopped by the house this past Thursday to install a new meter. The old one, the technician explained, couldn't be read form the street. These things now have transmitters built into them, so the days of a meter-reader writing down the actual number have gone the way of rational political discourse. Obviously, there is a meter-reading issue here, so we'll just have to white-knuckle it until we can discuss it with PWC's customer service department on Monday.

HERE'S TO A BETTER SEPTEMBER...?

Let's Play LIMBA!

2010-08-28T13:49:00.010-04:00

Here is a prototype for a hot, new game that I hope will soon be sweeping the country.

Since the Tea Party movement currently represents 71% of all people who have ever lived, are currently alive, or are yet to be born, I figured I could cash in on the all-important "Ditto-Head" market.

I've done my market research.

Every extremist, reactionary, right-wing book that is published shoots right to the top of the New York Times' bestseller list, right?

Case in point, Glenn Beck's "The Trapezoid Conundrum" (or whatever the heck it's called!)

But I digress...

"LIMBA" is based on the old "BINGO" or "BEANO" concept.

It is simple and fun to play.

1. Spend three hours of your day, every day, listening to The Rush Limbaugh Show. (So what if he's on between noon and 3:00pm? If your boss is some sort of Alinksy-ite and tries to deprive you of your First Amendment Right to listen to the show, you shouldn't be working for such an America-hating commie in the first place!)

2. Every time you hear one of Rush's hackneyed, well-worn phrases, cross off the corresponding square on your card. (Note that the center square is the traditional "free square." If you don't hear the phrase "MEGA-DITTOS" at least a zillion times in any given show, then your radio is broken.)

3. When you get five squares in a row crossed off, either up-and-down, across or diagonally, you yell "LIMBA!"

Now, chances are you are listening to the show, alone, with the curtains closed, so step number three is really pointless. But that's the dirty little secret that Obama, Reid and Pelosi don't want you to know about!

So, place your orders now, my America-loving friends. 100% of the proceeds left over after meeting production costs (and my own greed is sated) will go to the Wounded Unicorn Foundation.

Or are you a Radical, Marxist, Business-hating, Alinsky-loving, Nazi, Islamist like the non-Supreme-Court-appointed "president" of the United States?

Well, are you!?!?!?

More Fun Fotos

2010-07-26T11:48:00.012-04:00

The Daddy-free vacation continues! On Sunday, Michelle & Mariel visited with my friends the Guercios of Tonawanda, NY.

Contemplating the koi pond in the Guercios' lush back yard. (Note to Mariel: No, you can't take one home with you.)

Mariel is "hip" to the latest in musical technology. Was that "The Third Man Theme" I wonder?

Dancing to the peppy sounds of Bill's Victrola. Hotcha.

Big bonus: It was the last day of the Canalfest on the Erie Canal! You know - the "mule named Sal" one!

Mariel Meets the new cats in their playpen.

Space Cadet Mariel! (Good thing its wasn't their litter box.)

Well It Looks Like They're Having Fun

2010-07-24T13:51:00.004-04:00

The family (sans Papa) are in the middle of a two week visit to Buffalo, NY and environs.Daddy didn't have any paid vacation time accrued, so he stayed behind to work in the dishrack factory.

Upon stopping at a motel for the night, the following exchange occurred:

Mommy: Mariel, what would you like for dinner?

Mariel: I want Cheerios - for GO power!

That's my daughter!

An Anniversary

2010-07-22T11:50:00.002-04:00

It was Friday, July 24th, 2009 that I was laid off from my job at the dish rack factory.

I was hired back as an "hourly" at the end of April, 2010.

Tomorrow is Friday, July 23, 2010. To commemorate this anniversary, I have been told to stay home (without pay) because the customer has changed their shipping schedule.

I've come a long way in one year, wouldn't you say?.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!

UPDATE: I actually ended up working on some "special projects" on Friday, so I actually got a full paycheck.

Whoot!

Wishy-Washy Words of Wisdom

2010-07-18T09:16:00.005-04:00

I've been reading "Schulz and Peanuts - A Biography" by David Michaelis.

As you might guess it is about cartoonist Charles Schulz.

There is a passage about an early job he had at a printing company that had some resonance for me, and I thought I'd share it here.

But [at] his next job... he noticed something powerful among the people who worked at the hardest jobs in the plant:

"At noon they would all gather down at the end of this room, and they would play pinochle, and eat their lunch. And you could hear them laughing, and having a wonderful time. When one o'clock came, they would go back to working again. These were the people who held everything together. It wasn't the boss and the other partners. It was the workers, with their common sense, who just seemed somehow to know what is right and what is wrong. I think it's what we call the great middle class. There are radicals on both sides, left and right, and the people that do strange things. But there are still people with the common sense that hold everything together." (emphasis added)

Isn't it the "people with the common sense that hold everything together" that we still count on?

Now, what constitutes "common sense" is open to debate, but shouldn't each and every one of us support and strive to be one of those people?

Now, excuse me, but I gotta go see a tree about a kite.

(A post for my brother who was asking recently asking about my world view.)

Feels Like 106F

2010-07-13T14:12:00.002-04:00

Why, yes.

Yes it does.

It's The Middle of June Already?

2010-06-13T16:31:00.002-04:00

Yep! I've been working my buns off, people. Overtime all week and 6am - NOON on Saturdays.

And it's been almost all shop floor work. Read: Sweaty, Greasy and Grimy.

But THIS TIME I'm an "hourly" so were talkin' time-anna-half for those 12+ hours of O/T each week.

It's been nice to be able to pay the bills again.

More to come..?

An Offer I Can't Refuse

2010-04-24T13:48:00.006-04:00

Just when I think I'm out, they keep pullin' me back in.

So there I was, feeling like a jerk for turning down the only full-time job I've been offered in the past nine months when my trac-phone starts ringing.

Now this is kind of odd for two reasons.

One, I quite often go days at a time without even having the danged thing turned on because...

Two, hardly nobody has my cell number.

"It's either Michelle, or a wrong number, " I mused.

It was my old boss, the Vice President of Operations, calling from the dishrack factory!

The good news is that orders have been picking up at the plant.

The bad news is, they're stretched so thin in the supervision department that neither he nor the Plant Manager can do anything but baby sit the production floor.

The bottom line is that Dave wanted to get someone back in the plant with Quality Control and Supervision experience that was already familiar with the product and processes.

Now, I don't know if I was at the top of hi list or not, but after taking a "pass" on the Caterpillar position, but I was ready to talk about it.

Looks like I'll be there as a temporary hourly employee for six weeks. The up side is that I'll be making $147% of what Caterpillar was offering and that I will get paid time-and-a-half for overtime. (And there will be overtime!)

The downside is that there is not assurance of a permanent gig.

At least not yet.

When / if that time comes, I'll put on my negotiating hat and see if I can finally get that raise they never gave me.

I'll have to set the old alarm clock so I can report the plant at 6:30, Monday morning.

The Thrill of the Hunt

2010-04-21T09:17:00.016-04:00

I was visiting my brother in Box Springs, Georgia when I got word that someone had received one of my resumes and wanted me to call them back.

The someone in question was a fellow from a "staffing solutions" service. Seems I had replied to an on-line posting for an "Assembly Technician" job at the Caterpillar tractor plant in Sanford, NC.

Could I come by their office in (I kid you not) Fuquay-Varina to fill out an application and take a screening test? Any day between 9:00am and 3:00pm would be fine, Mr. Davison.

I returned home and took the 45 mile drive to the staffing office in Fuquay-And-The-Horse-You-Rode-In-On-Varina. The joint was jumping as they were also looking to fill some temp jobs at a John Deer plant.

One woman was ahead of me for the Caterpillar gig, though. Once we finished filling out the application form the office manager handed out the screening tests.

We had twenty minutes to answer a series of questions relating to math, work rules and do-you-like-puppies style questions. I finished ahead of the other lady and turned in my test.

"Wow, that was fast," the office manager commented as he pulled out the answer key. "I have to warn you, that there's a 50% failure rate on this test. "

"Also," he continued, "That other applicant was here ahead of you. If she passes, she'll get to advance to the next step instead of you. You understand."

Well, I did, indeed pass the test, but the other applicant's paper hadn't yet been turned in.

The manager gave me a form letter and wished me well.

By the time I arrived home an hour later, Michelle had already received the call that the other applicant failed the test. I called the office and was informed that I should report to the Caterpillar plant the following Tuesday to take another test. This one would contain 100 questions.

Tuesday found me in the visitors' reception area, along with four other test-takers. We were walked through the plant back to a computer lab.

(Side note: This was the most gorgeous facility I have ever seen! There was no grime or filth; even the Plexiglas on a test station sparkled! What a contrast to some of the grease pits I've worked in.)

Once in the computer lab we were informed that we could not leave until after the testing had been completed. The lab manager read from a script to explain the process, sections, time limits, etc. She emphasized that she could not answer any questions after the testing had started.

Security was so air-tight, I expected the Cone of Silence to descend from the ceiling at any moment.

I plowed my way through the math, visual inspection and "work-related-attitudes" sections of the exam and finished, unfortunately, with time to spare.

I say "unfortunately" because I had to sit there and stare at the wall while everyone else finished up.

We were finally released back into what passes for civilization these days and I made the 45 mile trek home.

The next morning the phone rang promptly at 9:00am.

"Congratulations, Mr. Davison," a chipper voice piped. "You've passed your CAT exam and we'd liked you to come back to the plant on Thursday morning at 11:00 to fill out the new employee paperwork. If your drug screening comes back OK, you'll start May 11th."

"Wow, that's good news," I replied. "You know, I was kind of hoping someone would tell me what the rate of pay and benefits package is before I sign on."

"You don't know?" the puzzled agency lady asked.

"These are entry-level jobs, Mr. Davison. We pay $9.50 an hour with a fifty cent raise every six months to a maximum of $11.50 an hour. We offer a basic medical package. It won't pay for major surgery, but if you get the flu or need stitches, you'd be covered."

The idea of travelling 90 miles a day so that I can make roughly50% of what I was earning a year ago is not very appealing. The crappy-sounding medical package is just that much less icing on the old urinal cake.

And you know what? I could earn a dollar more an hour bagging groceries at the ALDI store that's only a mile from my house!

This is the first offer of full-time employment I've had in nine months of searching.

As much as it pains me to say it, I think I'm going to pass on this one.

Next..?

Note: I have re-enabled comments. I am trying out the "word verification" option in an effort to thwart the spam-bots. Will it work? Let's see...

Reading the Tea Leaves, or The Cult of the Echo Chamber

2010-04-10T18:52:00.011-04:00

UPDATE (09/27/10):

I am dredging up this phoney-baloney blog entry because I have finally "de-friended" my pal, Ian, from my facebook page.

He is firmly in the clutches of extreme right-wing forces via what he calls "self-indoctrination."

Sounds cultish to me.

Sound like self-administered brainwashing to me.

When I originally posted this back in April, I also amended the post with Ian's reply.

Life is too short to take on a point-by-point "rebuttal" to what he had written and I had hoped that not doing so would simply let these sort of things die a natural death.

Wrong.

The nice guy I once knew is now only interested in parroting his imaginary pals Glenn, Rush, Laura, Sean, Sarah and the "tea party celeb of the moment."

Ian, these millionaires don't know you, don't want to know you and don't care about you, other than what you can do to increase their power and wealth.

Best wishes to you, old pal-o-mine. I hope your tea kettle will keep you warm on those long, lonely nights.

ORIGINAL 04/10/10 post:

This past week I had a very disheartening Facebook exchange with a dear friend of mine.

He was born in Canada but loved America so much that he moved here about 16 years ago. He is also an enthusiastic early-adopter of the "Tea Party" and has admonished me for not listening to Rush-Sean-and-Laura to find out the "real news" that the MSM's leftward bias won't tell me.

His standard reply to anything that questions his echo chamber sensibilities now seems to be: "I know what your response is going to be - I am a racist."

We go back about 30 years (he was invited to my wedding, for Pete's sake!) and I am really worried about him.

This Dittohead-Noise Machine-Echo Chamber-Tea Party has become like his religion. No, it is more like some sort of Heaven's Gate Cult.

What are the characteristics of a cult?

Reference Link Here

Let's see how many characteristics I can check off, based on my observations...

[x]The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader[s] and... regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law. Check.

[x]Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished. Everyone must march in lock-step or face the ultimate scarlet letter: being called a RINO. Check.

‪[x]Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s). I'd say 9 hours a day of talk radio plus FNC plus endless echo-chamber net activity qualifies as such. Check.
‪
[x]The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel. Dittohead talking points with cookie-cutter opinions, anybody? Check.

‪[x]The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity). As much as the right wingers like to call liberals "elitist" and as much as they mockingly refer to President Obama as "The Messiah" the Tea Partiers are convinced that they and only they can "save humanity." Check.

[x]The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society. Tea Party demonstrations and Tea Party demonizations. 'Nuff said. Check.

‪[x]The leader[s are] not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations). Rush? Glenn? Fox News? The Heritage Foundation? Freedomworks? Check.

[x]The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities). ...or death threats, cutting propane lines, throwing bricks through windows, murdering gynecologists. Check and double-check.

‪[ ]The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt In order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion. I honestly am not sure if this one is applicable. Sure there's plenty of echo-chamber group-think that could be construed as "peer pressure" but I'll leave this one un-checked.

‪[x]Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group. This one really seems to apply in my own personal situation. My pal has gone from saying I have a "delightful sense of humor" to labelling me as an "immature name-caller" specializing in "ad hominem" attacks. Check, sadly.

[ ]The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members. Not so sure about this one. He insists the echo chamber exists only for already like-minded individuals. I'll leave it un-checked.

‪[ ]The group is preoccupied with making money. Not so sure about this one. I'll also leave it un-checked.

[x]Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities. Spent $300 for tea party sign-making supplies? He has admitted that his "activism" has contributed yo a 50% decrease in his on-line business. Big-time check!

‪[x]Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members. It seems to be coming to this. A "qualified" check

‪[x]The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group. I don't know about the second sentence, but the first sentence? Check!

Sadly, I currently feel uncomfortable maintaining Internet communication with my old pal. I hope Glenn Beck's glorious revolution is worth it for him.

Mega-dittos, Rush.

Mega-dittos.

Just when I though nobody but spam-bots visited my blog anymore, I received a response from my friend, which I will publish here, in its entirety. I'll post my response first,so that he may have the "last word."

Sorry, Ian, but when I felt I was being reduced to a straw man stereotype, then I knew it was time to put internet distance between us.

I was concerned for you last year when you stated that you were putting everything "on hold" to fight a "five alarm constitutional emergency."

Labelling me as an immature name-caller who proffers ad hominem witticisms and then saying that I would label you a racist was beyond the bounds of what I would expect from a friend, even during a misunderstanding.

You've made it clear that your every thought and action is to support the echo-chamber that you insist in no way dictates your opinions, world view or behavior.

Fine. We're both grown men, hovering around the 50 mark.

I have closed down comments on my blog because I got tired of deleting spambot postings (up to 52 in one entry, alone!) I will be happy to amend my posting to add your comments. I am heart-broken that the echo-chamber has come between us.

Hello, my name is Ian House and I am a Conservative!

I feel no need to hide my identity. Based on the description provided by Craig in his blog article, I am the friend being referred to therein. Craig, please correct me if this is in error ... but, assuming for now that this is true, I will defend my own honor and reputation, as follows:

Craig has no need to worry about his friend. But, he may have need to question his own practice of friendship.

If you had an honest and spirited exchange, face to face, with a friend of yours and then that friend went on to discuss, manipulate, exaggerate and mock your conversation with others in a different venue and "behind your back" (to the extent that you are not invited into the subsequent discussions), would you feel your friendship to be somewhat disrespected? Unfortunately, my friend, Craig, has acquired this habit. You are now reading just such an example of it (his update). Before I stumbled into this very public blog entry, Craig did not send me any prior notice of it: "Hey, I am going to write a blog entry about you, not by name. I just want to give you a heads-up in case you wish to respond to it or to defend yourself to my readers." Nope. I just checked my email inbox, answering machine and Facebook account. Nothing. And, my anonymity has been poorly safeguarded by my friend. Any curious party could simply click twice on Craig's Facebook page to defeat my privacy. This being the case, allow me to bring some further examples into this already public limelight:

1. In his update, Craig has stated:

"His standard reply to anything that questions his echo chamber sensibilities now seems to be: "I know what your response is going to be - I am a racist.""

This is a clear exaggeration. It is NOT a standard reply of mine; I wrote a similar sentence ONCE at the end of a single Facebook comment. Source (5th comment down)

http://www.facebook.com/ianhouse?v=wall&story_fbid=103422253032646#!/ianhouse?v=wall&story_fbid=103422253032646

My comment was meant to reference the media's manipulation and slander techniques. The Tea Party movement has been, on several occasions, labeled as "racist". One example (content warning: vulgar sexual language):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms45EzMR0f8

Craig, do you agree with Janeane Garofolo's assessment of me? As a Tea Party participant, am I a "teabagging redneck" racist? As a Conservative, am I now a part of the "white power" movement? Is this the friend that you have known? Have I ever exhibited ANY measure of racism in my life, ever?

2. In a thread belonging to one of Craig's FB friends (written, I assume, in response to a comment that I had made), Craig stated:

"Did you know that a 20% VAT has been instantly implemented to pay for the supposedly deficit-busting Health Care Reform? It must be true because that's what the echo chamber is saying!" Source (9th comment down):

http://www.facebook.com/ianhouse?v=wall&story_fbid=103422253032646#!/profile.php?v=wall&story_fbid=117938708216649&id=673554693&ref=mf

Again, it would be kind to call this a simple exaggeration, it reads more like an intentional distortion of my actual words. Why would Craig write "instantly implemented" if not to, purposefully, twist my meaning? Here are my actual words. Source: same thread as above (14th comment down):

http://www.facebook.com/ianhouse?v=wall&story_fbid=103422253032646#!/ianhouse?v=wall&story_fbid=103422253032646

"... and yet, they are considering a VAT that would add an additional 20% to most everything we purchase."

My statement is completely true. A VAT is being CONSIDERED as a way to pay for the entitlement spending. Craig, himself, provided evidence of this in one of his own replies: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6355N520100406 ... Why, on Earth, would he offer his own confirmation of my statement and then proceed to distort and, seemingly, ridicule my words elsewhere behind my back?

Sorry to chase you all around Facebook like this, Craig ... but, if I am to be your official "Tea-Party-friend-of-mine" mascot, then I request that my words are to be accurately quoted, without any unexpected flavorings.

I could fill another three pages rebutting all of the lies and distortions found in Craig's "cult list" bullet-points ... but, alas, for the sake of brevity, I will keep that reply for another time.

I am asking the readers here to simply make their own judgments based on my evidence. I have provided only two of SEVERAL such examples, closer to the surface, of my words being mistreated by my friend, either by intention or by sloppiness. Other examples are simply inaccessible to me right now, without a serious investment of my time, by virtue of their location buried deep into Facebook.

I would like the people reading this to know two things about me:

1. I am a Conservative. In fact, I would, proudly, call myself a "far-right" Conservative. I am a non-violent Conservative (who has never, in my life, even SEEN a real gun in person other than historical museum pieces) ... This means that I find the violent "extreme radical" or rudely racist elements of the extreme right-wing (state militias, KKK, etc) to be abhorrent and embarrassing in every respect. I completely reject and distance myself from their fringe agendas. I am as distant to that faction as I am to the violent extremists in the leftist camp (Weather Underground, etc) -many, I might add, who have had some degree of past or present affiliation with our current administration.

I have been a Conservative for most, if not all, of my adult life. In fact, I experienced an early definition of my values during my childhood. I was certainly a settled Conservative when I first met Craig ... and, a Reagan Conservative during the earliest years of our friendship together. My values have not changed in the slightest since that time. I cannot, however, speak for Craig's (meaning, I do not know). I will agree, however, that the expression of my values has intensified lately as a result of the current political climate, one that I feel, in my heart, is seriously detrimental to the country that I have always loved. I refuse to remain quiet. Also, technology has permitted such expressions to reach the light of day while no such opportunity existed a generation or two ago. I suspect that Craig and I may have one main political disagreement: I am NOT seeking the "fundamental transformation of America" through a new generation of social entitlement programs. I believe that Craig may be a supporter of these programs and a supporter of existing programs as well: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment. (however, I do not know this for a fact.)

For some reason, my Conservatism has become personally offensive to Craig. My passion and resolve, and my refusal to remain politically indifferent, in some manner, threatens our relationship; for whatever reason, I do not yet know. He chooses to stultify my words, as I have proven, on a regular basis and to paint over them with colors not true to my character.

2. Despite the impression that this blog entry may promote, I am not some sort of crazed fringe cultist. In the latest Gallup poll: http://www.gallup.com/poll/127181/Tea-Partiers-Fairly-Mainstream-Demographics.aspx , 28% of all U.S. adults support the Tea Party movement, almost as many who identify as either a Democrat or a Republican. Surely, such a large representation of the American adult population cannot simply be so casually dismissed as a "Heaven's Gate Cult". Is it fair to question such slander as being possibly inspired by a larger agenda on the Left, just maybe? Like millions of others, the Tea Party was my first experience in joining a public political rally. I am, by nature, not a joiner. I am a dedicated loner, enthusiastically so. I dedicated most of my free time in 2009 to the Tea Party movement while neglecting the development of my new online business. In 2010, however, I have returned the focus of my priorities towards my business. I have not yet attended any Tea Party meetings this year nor have I stayed current with any of their communication. If I was a cult member, why would I be allowed to wander so far afield from the pack for so long a period of time? Wouldn't I be receiving phone calls, emails, letters or frantic knocks on my door? "Hey dear brother, where have you been [insert cult name here] ? We haven't seen you for awhile. We're getting together on the weekend, you'll be there, RIGHT??!!"

Again, I ask my friend, Craig, for an honest assessment: Have I ever given you any reason to believe that I am in the clutches of some sort of mysterious cult? Have I ever given you pause or exhibited any past personality tendencies in this respect? Remember 12 Mercer Street, the address we both ran away from with our lives? ... And, if you DO seriously believe this nonsense for a single minute ("I am really worried about him"), as a concerned friend, why is it your first instinctive reaction to run to your Blogger software and not to your telephone, or even to your email account? You have my phone number. I have yours. [at least, I did until a month ago before my last computer abruptly died on me. Please forward by Facebook, if possible] And, I have used yours on several occasions (remember? "Sorry, dude, I heard about your unemployment") ... But, it's curious, you have never used mine in return, as far as I can recall anyway. I would think that you'd like to hear my voice just one last time before I sip the purple tea party Kool-Aid. (28% of all American adults will be getting together next weekend at our compound in Idaho.) Is this blog entry really an act of friendship, Craig, or is it just ... um ... well, a neat story idea to update your blog with?

Also, have I ever, in all the years, characterized your Christian affiliation as "cult-like"? You certainly can check off just as many of those boxes as have been awarded to me. Zealous commitment to leader: Check. I won't continue down the same list with my added remarks, I'll spare you that indignity. I don't believe in your deity but, it's funny, I don't ever recall having questioned your sanity or mental stability about it (or, in the very least, your impressionable vulnerabilities). Nope. I think, if you were to call up all the records, you'll find that I have shown you nothing but respect and courtesy in this regard. No teasing. No name-calling. No undermining. Just quiet respect ... Let me ask you this: Have you been given this same respect by your Progressive buddies over at Media Matters? Or, do they impugn Christ, your Lord, as much as they do Michele, my Bachmann, my Tea Party savior? (Just kidding, of course; there is no leader of the Tea Party movement, cult or otherwise.)
_ _ _

Craig, I still value your friendship. It's well worth saving. It has survived the test of time and, perhaps, it may need to revisit the backburner, yet again, in order to clear the next few hurdles. Or, we can offer each other our guidance towards mutual respect. If I have dishonored our friendship in some manner unbeknownst to me, I would like to know about it and, with your consideration, earn a chance at redemption. And, in return, in a moment of introspection, perhaps you can question your use of Blogger as our most appropriate channel of communication.

Your dear friend of many years, and still the same,

Ian

Fireproof

2010-02-10T09:51:00.007-05:00

I finally got the chance to see a movie called "Fireproof."

I've wanted to see this one since it came out back in 2008, but going out to the movies have ceased being an option since our daughter was born back in 2003. Aren't DVDs wonderful?

If I had to write a single-line poster blurb it might be:

"At Long Last - A Chick Flick For Guys!"

But, as with all sound-bite reviews, it really doesn't tell the whole story.

The film centers on Caleb and Catherine Holt, a DINK couple who have been married seven years, but are ramping up into divorce territory. Caleb's frustrations, blind spots and pain will probably ring true to every married man, as they did for me.

After one all-to-familiar-sounding blow up with his wife it finally appears that the rift between them has finally become irreparable. She want out and he wants peace.

As the chief of the local fire company, Caleb can't figure out why he can get respect everywhere but in his own home.

His Dad asks him to hold off on pursuing a divorce for forty days and challenges Caleb to work his way through a "Marriage Dare" program.

As Johnny Carson used to say, "If they buy the premise, they'll buy the bit."

As a Christian, I bought the premise, so I really was blown away by how the movie played out while Caleb snaps out of his stupor and learns about God's plan for what marriage is.

This modest movie is part of a "film ministry" run by the Sherwood Baptist Church of Albany, Georgia. My understanding is, that with the exception of Kirk Cameron, all the other actors are from the congregation. And, boy, do they do an amazing job!

All aspects of the film have a patina of professional polish and the story is laid out with great aplomb.

Are you married?

Were you once married?

Do you want to one day be married?

Check it out, says I.

Looky-Loo, I'm Fifty-Two!

2010-02-02T00:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday To Me

As Tenesee Ernie Ford once pointed out, "Another year older and deeper in debt."

The world keeps spinning, but it hasn't flung me off.

Yet.

Now, did that groundhog see his shadow or not?

Sgt. Daddy's Lonely Hearts Club Band

2010-01-21T09:16:00.003-05:00

Separated at birth?

YOU DECIDE!

Stay Sick!

2010-01-15T10:03:00.005-05:00

I had written an eloquent blog entry about screwing myself over by trying to find a new doctor.

It was full of warmth, humor and insight into the human condition.

I am certain it would have won the hearts of everyone in the internet community.

Then my computer froze up and it was gone.

Maybe some other time...

'Nother Cattle-Call

2010-01-12T10:15:00.007-05:00

Looks like there's another "cattle-call" for some jobs today and yours truly will be mooing right along with all the other livestock.

But, you know, we bulls are sensitive to red flags, and I see a few here.

First, the ad states that they offer "competitive pay" with "benefits available."

Available? As in, "If you want medical insurance be prepared to buy it out of your own pocket, chump!" I did the math and, assuming a 40-hour-work week, the medical insurance I'm maintaining through COBRA amounts to a $4.23 per hour usurpation of whatever pay rate they might be offering!

Also, THIS article in the local newspaper indicates that these are jobs that have been outsourced in the Goodyear tire plant.

More red flags!

Those particular salaried positions are being outsourced because Goodyear anticipates efficiency gains, said plant spokesman
Richard Evans in an e-mail.

"We will be assuming those folks and hiring them from Goodyear," said
Exel spokeswoman Stacie Noel, adding that hiring is contingent on background
checks. "They will be working inside the Goodyear plant alongside Goodyear
employees. It's just that they will be employed by Exel."

The change is tentatively scheduled to go into effect Feb. 1, and employees currently in those positions will have the chance to work for
Exel at the same wage levels, Evans said.

Uh-Oh!

Outsourcing to achieve "efficiency gains" can only mean having the same amount of work (or more!) done at less expense to the company.

Also note, that the outsourced employees will "have the chance" to work for "the same wage levels." That says to me "no benefits package" - or at least a greatly reduced benefits package.

I did a one-year stint as a salaried contract employee at a GMAC supplier back in 1997. It was $18/hour, but no benefits.

Ah, heck, who am I kidding?

I'm goin' to apply!

Another victory for free market capitalism!

E-Mailed Joke

2010-01-11T09:26:00.002-05:00

A man visits the dentist to have a tooth extracted.

The dentist pulls out a numbing needle to give the man a shot.

"No way! No needles. I hate needles" the patient said.

The dentist starts to hook up the nitrous oxide and the man objects.

"I can't do the gas thing The thought of having the gas mask on is suffocating me!" the patient replied.

The dentist then asks the patient if he has any objection to taking a pill.

"No objection," the patient says. "I'm fine with pills."

The dentist then returns and says, "Here's a Viagra tablet."

The patient says,

"Wow! I didn't know Viagra worked as a pain killer!"

"It doesn't," said the dentist, "but it's going to give you something to hold on to when I pull your tooth!"

Place Holder

2010-01-08T12:23:00.003-05:00

I've been noticing that if I don't post something here every so often my "comments" section starts to fill up with messages from Spammy McSpamilton.

There's not much to report, but there is much to write about.

I did get an email from a manufacturer that they will be calling me in for a second interview once some schedules are firmed up. And here's the sweet part - it's not from the meat packing plant!

Woot!

I'll be back soon (I hope) to post some actual stuff.

I Am a Media Whore

2009-12-22T07:00:00.004-05:00

The guy in the circle is none other than yours truly.

A company called Clean Burn Fuels is opening an ethanol plant in nearby Raeford, NC.

That morning, while eating breakfast, I saw an article about this company conducting a cattle call for job applicants that afternoon at 3:00.

According to the next morning's newspaper over 300 people showed up for the 41 available jobs. 300 seems about right.

I did manage to turn in an application, with resume, and have a brief job interview for the "Lab Tech" and "Office Administrator" positions.

Since the plant is slated to open up in January, if they call me back it will be in the next couple of weeks.

Here's hoping...

I also had a couple other job interviews this month.

One was at a window manufacturing company. They're looking for a production manager. That not exactly anything I've done before, but I emphasized my years of supervision and middle-management exprience.

I had a nice, hour-long talk with the Director of Operations. He stressed that this was only an initial interview and it would probably be after the holidays before any furth action is taken.

Yesterday, I had a total "Nightmare Alley" experience as I interviewed for a Q.A. Inspector position at Smithfield Packing.

If the glamor of working at a slaughterhouse wasn't enough, the 4:00am start time, temperature estremes from stultifying hot and humid (on the kill floor) to uber-frosty (in the refrigerated wharehouse) were just so much icing on the cake.

Well, what can I say but,

Merry Christmas!

A Couple Quick Quotes

2009-12-08T08:49:00.007-05:00

I read these two bits within the past twelve hours and I figured I'd share them here.

First up, is a passage from a book I am currently reading, "Always Looking Up" by Michael J. Fox. In a section titled "Faith," Michael describes being visited by some Jehova's Witnesses:

What followed was the standard pitch from which I could not sway them... You could say that my willingness to hear them out was an expression of my faith, my instinct that it's always good to give something when I can... It was unlikely that during those few minutes on the porch I could be coerced into surrendering my soul, so there was no reason why I couldn't surrender a few minutes of my time. This was an opportunity to hear their point of view, not defend my own. All I had to do was sit down and listen.

Listening to people esposue beliefs different from mine is informative, not threatening, because the only thing that can alter my worldview is a new and undeniable truth, and contrary to what Jack Nicholson says in A Few Good Men, "I can handle the truth."

(Empahsis added)

You got convictions? Great! Doesn't mean you can't do some spade work and understand an opposing viewpoint. I'm not just thinking about religion here, either.

And this is from the erstwhile Alex P. Keaton!

The "Letters To The Observer" section of the Fayetteville Observer sometimes gets filled up with "talking point" regurgitations to an alarming degree. One letter this week kept using the word "statist" over and over and over. Another missive kept ranting on and on about some unspecified "they" that was responsible for all manner evils, including the Ruby Ridge fiasco. (Code word alert!)

This morning, I was pleased to see the following letter printed:

Our president, duly elected and serving, is not, nor will he ever be the Messiah. I am as far on the right of the political spectrum as a person can be and quite frankly I don't know if I am more disgusted with those on my side or the other.

Right-wing friends, please quit referring in jest to President Obama as the Messiah. You, of all people, ought to know better. This man has never, nor will he ever, heal the sick, rais ethe dead, glorify God or walk on water. You are using the name Messiah in jest, yet you claim the commandment not to use the Lord's name in vain. Quit attributing in jest and mockery the name above all names to this ordinary man.

No, I didn't write this letter, but I am Craig D and I approve this message.

Unfortunately, in the final paragraph, this fellow writes, "Left-wing friends, President Obama is not the Messiah. Please quit acting like he is." It kind of takes the lustre off his first two paragraphs, but I still have to give him a thumbs-up for his rebuke to the buzz-word brigade!

I had a job interview this past Friday.

It went well, I thought. The Director of Operations and I chatted for an hour and he asked me to e-mail some professional references to him.

There won't be any further action on this until after the first of the year, though.

Fine, says I.

Keys To A Good Job Interview

2009-10-22T10:08:00.004-04:00

Something I've been hearing ever since the 'sixties is that America is moving to a "service economy." Manufacturing in this country has gone the way of the Dodo.

OK. Fine. In my thirty years in the manufacturing sector I have seen it shrink from a full-tilt, vibrant goods-producing enterprise to a burnt-out husk of vacant factories and goof-balls like myself walking the streets wondering, "Wha' hoppin?"

I just had a "service sector" job interview this morning.

Stimulus funds are being funneled to the Cumberland Community Action Program, Inc. for use in providing energy efficiency assessments and updates for qualifying homes in the area.

This programs has been around since 1976. From the sounds of it, they are ramping up from doing two homes to ten homes per week and are hiring personnel to handle this increase.

CCAP had listed a few job openings, one of which was described as a "Quality Monitor." A-ha! Quality is right up my alley, so I applied.

During the interview, I sold my Quality Control credentials and explained how it would apply to their program. Basically Quality just means ensuring that a product or service complies with the specified requirements.

The director seemed to be enthusiastic about that idea and admitted that she was creating a new Quality position to review projects to document that they have been completed properly. This way they can be closed out, money can be released and all the paperwork will then stand up to audits and various governmental oversight functionaries.

She indicated that she thought I would be the prefect candidate for this new position and that she would be calling on Monday to discuss it further.

Things went pretty good, I'd say.

In fact, the only niggling item that was less-than-good was when I locked the keys in my van just before going into the building. (See illustration, above.)

Yep. I'm typing this at the downtown library while I try to think of what my next step will be.

Michelle's working this morning, so I won't be able to call her until after lunch.

I really don't want the people in the office to see me trying to break into my van as it might leave a less-than-flattering final impression.

I suppose I could walk home (5 miles), but the house is locked and my keys are in the van.

I have two bucks in my wallet, so maybe I'll go get a coffee somewhere and weigh my options...

Update: My wife was able to pick me up around 12:30 or so. We went back to the CCAP office and the van was safe and sound (I was mildly worried it might have been towed or broken into.)

Now let's see if they call me back, as promised, on Monday.

Job Fair

2009-10-08T12:06:00.004-04:00

I joined a great big throng of ~~enthusiastic~~ desperate folks at the Fayetteville "Fall Into Work" job fair this morning at the Crown Exposition Center.

When will I ever learn?

Hardee's was a co-sponsor for this event, so what does that tell you?

I did get some information regarding a supervisor position at the local Maidenform (yes, that Maidenform!) Distribution Center. I'm reminded of the Seinfeld episode where George Costanza interviewed at a bra company.

The bulk of the representatives were from Sales (Mary Kay,Longerberger Baskets, Car Dealerships), Law Enforcement (city police, county sheriffs office state highway patrol), Health Care, Employment Agencies and the like.

I have never met anyone who got their job through a job fair.

Never, ever.

Have you?

When, indeed, will I ever learn?

Two Months On

2009-09-28T10:28:00.006-04:00

I couldn't find a suitable graphic for the word "disincentive" so I settled for "disinfectant" instead.

I've been out of work for about two months now.

The pickin's are pretty slim as far as employment opportunities go these days. The previous sentence is an example of what you might call "understatement."

But I just walked away from an employment opportunity.

A job, that at one time, would've been my "dream" job.

Sob.

Here's the 4-1-1...

I've been a "film nut" for over 40 years. I started collecting 8mm home movies in 1966. I really got serious about it back in 1979, when I bought a whole slew of films, projectors and equipment from an "old timer" who was liquidating his collection.

Many a night were spent winding, splicing, cleaning, labelling and projecting films. Assembling cartoon programs and then breaking them down again was pure bliss!

Well, I was offered a job as a projectionist at a new 14 screen cinema that will be opening up next month.

"Wow," I thought. "I'll finally be in the big leagues! I'll be setting up, breaking down and running 35mm on the big screen, Baby!"

Then, cold, hard reality kicked in.

I did some number-crunching.

They were offering 20 to 30 hours a week at an hourly salary that was about 40% of my last salary.

OK, fine. This is my "dream" gig. I gotta follow my "dream," right?

Reality can be very cruel, though.

Even if I worked there 40 hours a week, I'd be taking a 20% cut in pay versus what I'm getting from my Unemployment Insurance. If one figures in the requisite "payroll deductions, the picture becomes even less flattering.

I did some research, and i found that it is possible to have part-time employment and also collect Unemployment Insurance, but that would have limited me to a maximum of 9 hours per week before I started "losing money" on the deal.

I went in to meet with the theater manager to discuss my situation this morning and it was no surprise that my working 9 hours per week would not be suitable for their current needs.

One one hand, I'm disappointed I wasn't able to get my foot in the door via part-time employment.

But on the other hand, I'm trying to maintain a "career arc" and taking a McJob might just derail the whole process.

Oh, well.

Cartoon Nerd Meets Video Nerd

2009-09-16T11:07:00.013-04:00

I have been s-l-o-w-l-y working on assembling the components needed to import and edit videos. A few people I know have been creating cartoon compilations and this is something I've been wanting to do for about 20 years or so.

I always try to wring out every last bit from whatever low-end, trailing edge technology is available to me. For instance, my old band, MYSTIC EYES, actually released tracks that were recorded in my basement on a 4 track cassette recorder.

Well, now I'm flogging some low-end editing programs on my low-end PC to import, edit and burn some cartoon DVDs. While it is not exactly splitting the atom or anything, I've managed to suck entire days out of my life to create a few compilations of overly-familiar cartoons on DVD-R.

Yeah, the Nobel Prize folks'll be calling any minute, I reckon.

Here is the low-end MY DVD software that came with the external DVD-R drive I bartered for. (Kudos to Steve Stanchfield of Thunderbean Video!) This is the menu for creating, um, menus.

Here is the screen for the video file editing function. This is a silent Felix cartoon that I transferred from a Japanese Cartoon Network video tape. While I am not yet sophisticated enough to remove their logo from the upper right portion of the screen, I was able to remove the Japanese subtitles from the bottom of the screen. I also edited and re-sequenced some scenes to minimize some pre-print picture rolling. Finally, I added a new soundtrack created from editing a sound file of an early "hot jazz" 78 rpm recording.

In some cases, I either tweaked or re-created the main title cards. For "One Good Turn" I simply inserted the "Jacques Kopfstein" title card into the Felix proscenium background. I did this to make the title cards uniform.

In other cases, the title card was so crappy-looking, I simply replaced them with my own. This is the result from pulling videos from a wide variety of sources, e.g. VHS tapes, dollar videos, poor 16mm pre-print sources, etc. The fact that I like to fiddle with stuff also was a factor in doing this.

I've put together other silent cartoon pot pourris consisting of Aesop's Fables, Out Of The Inkwell and Alice cartoons. I keep learning and refining my techniques, such as they are, with each new disc.

Whether or not this is a wise investment of time, I can't say.

But my inner nerd is satisfied and Mariel seems to like them...

Axe Me Another

2009-09-09T21:26:00.010-04:00

There's a Unilever plant near Fayetteville, NC. I've applied for a few positions there, but so far garnered only polite rejection e-mails.

A friend of mine at church does, however, know somebody who works there. No, he didn't get me a job, but he did give me some free bottles of "AXE RE-LOAD SHOWER GEL!"

Man, look at this label.

If I follow a simple two-step process, I'll be living out "every man's fantasy!"

I wonder if Michelle knows about this?

I wonder if the second woman is someone from church?

Kudos, Unilever, for using promiscuity, fornication and adultery to market your latest liquid soap product!

So, how are things going with Mariel? Let's look at this powerful infographic, shall we?

Hmm. It appears that she still "doesn't like Daddy."

I had a pretty enjoyable interview last week for a possible projectionist job at a 14 screen multi-plex that's due to open here in October. They were pretty jazzed about my film collecting and such, and their enthusiasm was a nice ego boost.

Yeah, I got the call today that they had decided to go with someone else. Ah, well, if there are actual, experienced projection machine operators looking for work, who am I to take the bread off of their tables?

Nothing Special

2009-09-01T10:33:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I'll grab a sheet of paper and just doodle on it for a week or so. Here is such a sheet from this past week. Nothing special.

Mariel is working herself into the Kindergarten groove. I realize I'm an old fogey, but, gosh, I don't remember having homework in Kindergarten!

Getting the li'l one to do it is a new challenge. Both Mommy and Daddy have had their patience pushed to the max, let me tell you.

Mariel is very good with the alphabet and numbers, but she now has to learn how to actually print and she is finding it frustrating.

For instance, if you ask her how to spell her name she'll reply, "M-a-r-i-e-l" with no hesitation. But if you ask her to write it out, you get a heretofore unknown set of other-worldly lines and circles.

She's frustrated, but we know she'll soon "get it."

On the unemployment front...

1. The first two unemployment insurance payments have been received! I got a check in the mail last week and this week's check went in the bank via direct deposit. I'm also getting some sort of $25-a-week supplemental check. Fine.

2. I have a job interview today at 3:00. There is a 14 screen theater complex opening nearby and I put in an application as either a projectionist or a manager. I hyped on my 30 year history of 16mm film collecting and QC Management to get my foot in the door. I have no expectations of either high pay or show-business glamor, but at least I can get in some interviewing practice.

TTFN, folks!

NOTE: this posting received well over 40 gibberish spambot comments, so I have deleted ALL comments and closed this function.

Yeah, big deal...

Turn Around

2009-08-25T09:21:00.003-04:00

Today is Mariel's first day of kindergarten.

She's in Mrs. Brewington's class and apparently, she's superstar teacher that everyone raves about. (Personally,she gets high marks in my book for having a phonograph and some vintage children's records in the classroom!)

We dropped daughter dearest off this morning and she was really anxious for us to leave so she could jump right in.

Since we got back from Buffalo, Mariel has been exhibiting a more independent streak, which is a good thing. I think hanging with her cousins helped her.

Unfortunately for me, she has decided, "I don't like Daddy any more!"

Sometimes she'll be a little more sophisticated by asking, "Guess who lives in this neighborhood that I don't like anymore? Daddy!"

She'll also try to shoo me out of the room if she's doing something, i.e. "Don't you have to go upstairs?"

Ah, me.

Turn around and you're three,
Turn around and you're four,
Turn around and you're a young woman
Heading out the door...

A Couple More Flea Market Finds

2009-08-24T14:34:00.005-04:00

Here are a couple of add-ons to my Flea Market haul mentioned in the previous post.

Well, looky here!

Craig bought himself a "Big Little Book" that was published back in 1934.

Bonus points for the subject matter being a pretty obscure cartoon character: Scrappy.

The book is full of pretty neat illustrations that appear to have been supplied by the Screen Gems cartoon studio artists.

The story looks to be totally incoherent, though. Much like the original Scrappy cartoon series. Still, it was reasonably priced and it looks nice sitting on my shelf.

I had mentioned the Johnny & Jimmy Duo and "Dialing For Dollars" so I thought I'd upload a scan of the 8" x 10" publicity photo I picked up.

Co-host Dave Thomas is the father of current TV star, David Boreanaz Mr. Thomas was the also the host of "Rocketship 7" that aired just before "Dialing For Dollars." Johnny Banaszak from the duo also did double-duty as Dave's sidekick, Promo The Robot. This was pretty historic, as he was the first East-Side Buffalo Polish robot in space!

"A little Senior Cadet Birthday Space Log music, please, Promo!"

Buffalo Record Round-Up

2009-08-21T14:18:00.006-04:00

Unlike Fayetteville, NC there are still places to score cheap LPs in Buffalo, NY.

I had two opportunities to do so during my recent trip, and since I haven't blogged about my vinyl fixation in a while...

Stop #1 - THE GOODWILL

My unmentionable pal, Mr. X, guided me to a decent Goodwill store and we hit the record bins. At fifty cents, each, I picked up:

The New Yorkers: "Hello, Dolly Polka (And 11 Other Favorites Sung Polka Style)" This is a vintage 1964 polka LP by Buffalo's own "The New Yorkers." I've really grown to have an appreciation for this kind of music, thanks to my sound engineering buddy, Mike Brydalski. The big deal, here, is that the guys from the "Johnny & Jimmy Duo" were the accordionist and drummer, respectively, for Channel 7s "Dialing For Dollars" show.

Various Artists: "For A Musical Merry Christmas" Volumes 3 & 4. These are Christmas samplers that were sold at B. F. Goodrich stores in 1966 & 1967. Volume 3 has long been a touchstone for my wife's family and the discovery of volume 4 is a welcome addition to our Christmas music library.

The Three Suns: "The Sounds Of Christmas With..." We're big Three Suns fans here at Davison Manor.

Stop #2 - The Clarence Flea Market.

Ah, the Budget Bin beckoned, and I answered!

Various Artists: "Out Of Sight!" & "Where The Action Is!" These are two throw-aways that were issued by the Design Records label. The conceit was to gather ten tracks, re-channel them to ear-ache-inducing pseudo-stereo and plop them into the eighty-eight cent bin. Seems these folks would snap up early, pre-hit recording of popular artists and then try to pretend that they were current "happening hits!" For me, the big deal was finally getting an original pressing of the non-hit "Cycle Annie" by a non-group called The Beachnuts. This was a song written and sung by Lou Reed in his pre-Velvet Underground days. I transferred these tracks to CD-R and restored all but one track to mono. (The Lou Christie track actually was in "real" stereo!)

Various Artists: "No Title?" The Modern Sound label would collect older sound-a-like tracks from their "Hit Records" 45s and put them into albums. This particular LP is #MS-1028 and contains 10 tracks like A Sign Of The Times, Secret Agent Man, Time Won't Let Me & Love Potion Number Nine. The version here of Ain't That A Shame is a cover of the Four Seasons' cover of the Fats Domino song. Dude!

Tony Vincent And His Orchestra: "Greatest Instrumental Hits" The lure of this Diplomat Records knock-off was that I wanted to hear their versions of Walk, Don't Run and Raunchy. Not bad, but WDR seemed to be missing a few bars here and there.

Maynard Ferguson: "Boy With Brass" & "Two's Company" These are a couple of MF albums that weren't in my Dad's collection. The price was right, so I grabbed them with an eye toward make CD-Rs for my Pappy.

I also picked up what looked liked bootleg LPs of The California Ramblers and Ben Selvin & His Orchestra. These appear to contain tracks taken from old 78s. Good stuff! (I have ripped them to CD-R and have been using them as soundtracks for some old silent cartoons.) Bonus point for these LPs having been pressed on green vinyl!

Post-Vacation Blog Dump

2009-08-13T08:34:00.005-04:00

I have shuffled back from Buffalo.

Pictured, above, is a detail from the Kings Family Restaurant place mat extolling the virtues of their corporate mascot, "The Frownie Brownie!"

Take twelve of these pissed-off pastries and add twelve scoops of ice cream and you have "The Angry Mob Sundae!" No doubt they'll be attending various town hall meetings across the land this month to shout down representatives.

We encountered Frownie in Grove City, PA.

Yes, Aunt Denise bought Mariel the stuffed Frownie doll for $5.99.

Yes, there were snapshots of someone dressed up as the Frownie mascot visiting the restaurant.

More to come...

Pre-Vacation Blog Dump

2009-08-01T06:39:00.009-04:00

The whole Famn Damily will be heading North to Buffalo, NY on Monday. We're driving up with Michelle's sister, so there'll be four of us in a fairly new Honda. We all know the drill by now. A two day drive with a motel stop-over. A week camped out at the in-laws. Another two day drive back home. Check. Got it.

After hearing for years and years about how super-groovy iMacs are compared to Windows-based PCs, I have found out the following.

A seven-year-old can boot one up and totally destroy the operating system in less than one minute.

Mariel's play date did just that by turning it on and then wildly banging away at the keyboard. It is so easy to open windows and rename files and folders. The dang thing will no longer even boot up. It just displays a nearly impossible to read "panic" screen message.

I suppose I could re-install the OSX operating system, if I had the system disks, which I don't.

And even if I did have the system disks, I couldn't do it, because there is already a disk in the drive and Apple has, in their infinite wisdom, not provided an eject button for the drive. The only way I can eject the disk is to boot up the system, select iTunes and then click on the eject icon!

Apple, you suck.

There, I said it!

I had heard rumblings about this, via the on-line cartoon nerd network, but I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.

BIG LOTS, a low-end remainder discounter has been selling top-of-the-line Warner Home Video DVD box sets for $3 a pop!

Pictured here is the mind-roastingly excellent POPEYE THE SAILOR VOLUME ONE set with a $3 price tag on it!

I ran to the local outlet and picked up two of these puppies for some unspecified future gifting purpose.

The cartoon nerd network soon provided the answer for this "too good to be true" windfall:

"Studios periodically destroy excess DVD product, which consists of
unsold discs returned from vendors and defective goods. Here, WHV (Warner Home Video) says it entrusted the product to Cinram Distribution, which has a deal with Warners to handle excess inventory (and which, surprisingly, is not a defendant).
Cinram subcontracted with IWMB, which is alleged to have shown Warners
a "fraudulent certificate of destruction" before going out and selling
the DVDs and Blu-Rays on its own."

(Full story HERE.)

WHV has filed a $10,000,000 lawsuit with the shady subcontractor.

Now the race is on to scarf up as many WHV box sets as possible. This is a real golden age for those of you who really enjoyed seasons five and six of THE DUKES OF HAZZARD.

Side note: Our local BIG LOTS store had a light blown out on their electric sign so that it read "BIGOTS!" Now I know where to buy those discount klan robes.

My final paycheck went into my bank account yesterday, via direct deposit.

The severance and unused vacation checks have been mailed out from the corporate office as well.

Michelle received her paycheck from the evening class she taught at the community college, as well.

Bottom line: We should be (barely) solvent up through Labor Day.

With any luck one (or both?) of us will be employed soon. If not, the unemployment insurance checks should be kicking in right about when we'll need them.

We'll get by...

See you on the other side of the vacation, gang!

Contains 100% Post-Employment Content

2009-07-29T05:55:00.004-04:00

I've been working on signing up for unemployment. As it turns out, it can be done on-line.

Unfortunately, I've hit a snag. One section asks about payments I'm due to receive for unused vacation and severance pay. I have to enter the amounts and dates of payment; the html coding will not allow me to continue with the application process until this data has been provided.

In a word, "nuts!"

As I had mentioned in a previous post, the company had been somewhat bogus in their handling of the severance pay. Also noted was the HR Manager's refusal to help anyone with anything specific, i.e. "It was all explained in the single-page, purposely vague lay-off notice we handed out three months ago."

I decided to call the Parent Corporation in Carthage, MO.

I talked to a very nice lady there whose job title is "Director of Employee Relations."

By Tuesday she had determined the gross amounts of both my vacation pay (nine days' worth) and my severnace pay (two weeks' worth - the maximum allowed!) She's still working on determining the disbursment dates, though.

This is good news, as it sounds like I'll have five weeks' worth of pay once my final paycheck is factored in.

The Employee Relations Director mentioned that my paycheck will not be directly deposited into my account, though. It will be a "live check."

Since ye oldde mortgage is coming due next week, I decided that the best course of action will be to make the 82 mile round-trip to the dish rack factory to pick it up, in person. I need to deposit that puppy ASAP.

Why the rush?

I'm going on a road trip. The family and I are going to drive up to Buffalo with my Sister-In-Law. We'll be leaving Monday and the funds for the house payment had better be in place so that there's not a disposses notice hanging on the door when we get back!

Next task: Filing for Medicaid for my daughter.

...And Guess What People...

2009-07-24T16:30:00.000-04:00

"I am outta here!"
Unemployment, here I come...

In The Bunker: One Week Beyond The Last Day

2009-07-24T09:22:00.003-04:00

Could this be my last day at the dish rack factory?

I got a call from our remaining customer's Quality Engineer this morning. He wanted to know if I could come in and look at some line rejects. I told him I'd find out what my schedule is and get back to him.

When I bumped in to my boss on the shop floor he asked me if I could get him the passwords for the customer's website. (Spider sense is tingling.)

I told him that the QE wanted me to come by their plant to review product.

"Should I go today or wait until Monday?" I asked.

He wants me to go today. (Spider sense is really tingling now!)

Let's see how the day plays out, shall we..?

In The Bunker: Beyond the Last Day (Day 3)

2009-07-22T09:20:00.007-04:00

T-Shirt graphic from zazzle.com

You know, this plant was shuttered once before, back in the 'nineties. Yep. It actually came back from the dead and it could, I suppose, happen again.

In a rare employee meeting, the VP of Operations urged everyone to "hang in there" because the company would be providing "severance pay" for those who stayed put until they were terminated.

The veterans of the last shut-down remembered that they got one week's pay for every year of company service. Since there were people on the chopping block with ten, twelve or more years of service, this sounded pretty good. Heck, 12 weeks is three months of pay, right?

Folks who wanted an early out were told not to put their severance package at risk by quitting.

Well, the axe fell for the majority of folks and the severance package payments started to be handed out last week.

Guess what? They found out that the severance pay this time is being handled a little bit differently this time.

One week of pay is being awarded to folks with one to five years of service.

One additional week of pay is being awarded to people who have six or more years in with the company.

That's it. A maximum of two weeks pay, regardless of total years worked.

Since I only have twenty months in the plant, I am not expecting anything more than one week, so it is no big whoop to me, personally.

The bigger issue is how corporate was vague about the severance program and then kept silent while the rank and file jumped to their conclusion based on the last time such payments were made. Since nothing was actually said about the severance package details they have air-tight "plausible deniabilty."

Sadly, this is all too typical of the corporate culture, here.

I'm just waiting to see if Craigsy-Boy encounters some sort of nefarious screw-job from my beneficent corporate overlords.

The Wisdom of Englebert

2009-07-21T14:16:00.001-04:00

I'm still not laid off!

The boss says he wants me to come in tomorrow.

Note to employer: You're paying a Quality Engineer's salary to get minimum wage temp work accomplished.

"It just don't add up!"

In The Bunker: Beyond the Last Day 1

2009-07-20T09:45:00.004-04:00

It's Multitasking Monday!

I'm back at it, people.

Trying to cover for the missing inspector, handle production quality issues and get that guy on the phone about the Product Qualification issues.

Whoops.

Gotta go, go, go!

In The Bunker - The 11th Hour!

2009-07-17T14:47:00.001-04:00

I kinda expected this.

One hour before quitting time my boss asked me if I "had any plans for next week."

Gosh, its nice that he cares!

The 411 is that there are some coverage issues and unfinished business issues next week and he says he would appreciate it if I could be here Monday and Tuesday.

I told him my only pressing engagement was to file for unemployment, so it looks like I'll have a couple more days of pay out of this place, yet.

WOOT(?)

In The Bunker: The Last Days VII

2009-07-16T05:36:00.002-04:00

Yep.

This is me.
<---------

The HR Manager was here for two days but he did not speak to me. Not once.

At the end of March, a letter was handed out to the rank and file announcing the pending lay-off. There were some very vague generalities about possible benefits that might be available, with the last sentence directing the lucky ticket-holder to contact the HR Manager if they had any questions.

Seems like I heard this exchange more than once last week:

Employee [to HR Manager]: Excuse me, but how do I find out about (insert concern here).

HR Manager: Remember that letter we passed out three months ago? Look at that.

So, the letter says to ask the HR Manager and then the HR manager will refer you back to the letter. OK. Got it.

By rights, tomorrow should be my last day at this job. I have it in writing that my "permanent layoff" date is 07/17/09.

I should mention that a few of the people "permanently laid off" last week have been brought back as "temps" with no benefits to try to squeak out some product to our remaining customer.

Boy, is that what I have to look forward to?

Ah, well, the countdown continues...

In the Bunker: The Last Days VI

2009-07-08T11:35:00.004-04:00

Wahoo! I'm still employed!

And what this means is, because so many factory workers have been let go, I'm out on the floor doing whatever needs to be done.

I just spent the last two hours pulling racks from an overhead conveyor, cutting off the hang wires and placing them on the final assembly belt. It is not quite as glamorous as it sounds. I am drenched in sweat and my arms and shoulders are sure to feel it later on.

Oh, yeah.

The HR Manager is still here from the "home office" which begs the question, "Are they going to boot me out of here any time soon?" (Just about everyone else got axed a week prior to their posted termination dates!)

After lunch... back to the killing floor!

In the Bunker: The Last Days V

2009-07-07T14:18:00.002-04:00

Yep, that's what this place is starting to look like, a ghost town.

Most of the first shift was let go yesterday at 3:30pm.

We finished off coating and assembling the last stragglers to complete the final shipment of the final order for the contract this morning.

The HR Manager is here from the home office today, so I can only imagine what's going to happen now that the final shipment has been made.

To be continued, I guess...

In the Bunker: The Last Days IV

2009-07-06T09:59:00.002-04:00

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Back at work after the holiday weekend.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Will the HR Manager from Cleveland make an appearance here today?

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Just a matter of "when" rather than "if."

Tick. Tick. Tick.

In The Bunker: The Last Days III

2009-07-03T08:36:00.005-04:00

Well, I finished up with that big project, which was getting PPAP (Production Parts Approval Process) samples made and measured. I cranked out the Part Submission Warrants, filled out the paperwork and personally delivered the samples to the customer yesterday.

There are some issues that will need to be resolved before the prints and the parts are in perfect harmony, but that's how it goes sometime. I suspect I will no longer be an employee soon, so I hope the survivors, i.e. Plant Manager and VP of Operation, are ready to address them. They've been through the drill before, so no worries.

I was so wrung out, that I fell face-down on my bed at 7:30 last night and slept though until 6:30 this morning. Ah, sweet, sweet exhaustion!

In the Bunker: The Last Days II

2009-07-02T07:12:00.003-04:00

Well, the whole second shift was let go last night.

I found out this morning.

Above, is a quick note that my 2nd shift inspector left for us.

Tick. Tick, Tick.

In the Bunker: The Last Days

2009-06-25T09:00:00.006-04:00

You know, I've read about plant closures in the newspaper but this is the first time I've ever been in the eye of that particular hurricane.

Wowser!

Back in May I had two separate vacation day requests go unapproved by the VP of Operations.

"We really need you here," was his answer each time.

One of "my" employees took a previously-scheduled vacation day and the VP and Plant Manager both were querulous.

"Why would she want to take a vacation day?" they asked, mouths agape.

"Um, because it's an employee benefit that is part of the total compensation package," I knew better than to say.

Well, guess what?

With but four weeks left until my scheduled 07/17/09 permanent layoff date :

The VP has skee-daddled off for a week-long vacation this week, and...

The PM is taking all next week off!

Now, just to add a little battery acid to that gaping wound, the VP decreed that a certain project has to be completed before he gets back. The project in question appears to be ill-conceived and is currently being poorly executed. It seems highly unlikely it will reach fruition before the VP returns Monday.

The PM seems entirely unconcerned and disconnected from the mechanical and technical issues that are currently thwarting this supposedly important project. I guess I would, too, if I wasn't going to be here when the VP gets back.

Dang it, I've been doing as much as I can to get this thing moving, but it is outside of my circle of influence and expertise. (I spent a couple hours trimming wires yesterday because of the aforementioned disconnects.)

It is as if the captain and first mate elbowed all the women and children out of the way as soon as the Titanic hit that iceberg.

Is this why American manufacturing has gone down the tubes?

Has everyone lost the will to make stuff?

When did the stupid bomb go off and what is the half-life for the moronium-286 fall-out?

I'm trying to hang in there so as to get my "separation package" which is most likely to be one week of pay and all my unused vacation time.

Guess I'll have to try a little harder, eh?

A Fathers Day Classic!

2009-06-21T17:08:00.003-04:00

I think nearly every child has gotten so excited about giving Daddy a gift that they've managed to somehow "spoil" it.

This was Mariel as she crawled up on my bed around 6:55 AM this morning.

I remember saying to my own Dad, sometime back in 1963, "We got you something for Fathers Day and it smells real good and you put it on your face after you shave and it's a surprise!"

Ah, that's my girl!

A Maltese Falcon Moment

2009-06-13T07:33:00.002-04:00

So many guns, so few brains.

SCORE!

2009-06-09T20:52:00.002-04:00

Here is a picture of my Father-In-Law, Dennis, with a Marx train set he bought recently.

I don't really have anything else to say other than to note his blissful facial expression.

Thanks to my two Buffalo pals for making this moment possible!

Oh, by the way...

Congrats to our bloggin' buddy, xboxfornappyrash!

Vaccinated (Or Not)

2009-05-21T13:24:00.002-04:00

I had pneumonia back in 1985. There's a whole story about that, but I'll just summarize it by this was about the sickest I had ever been.

In 2005, when I lost my job at Mueller Steam, I ran straight to the Doctor's office to fit in one last insurance-covered check-up. The Doc suggested I get a "pneumonia shot" since I had already had it once and needed that extra protection against getting it again.

I didn't really want the shot, but I went along with it.

Yep, six months later I had pneumonia again. Not as bad as back in 1985, but I was pretty sick.

In November of 1997, I was offered a free flu shot at the radiator factory where I was temping. Usually, I pooh-pooh such things, but, like an idiot, I went for it.

Yep. I was sick from November, 1997 through April, 1998. I had never been sick that long.

Here is my conclusion: These shots may have not caused my illnesses, but they did not prevent me from getting sick, either.

Isn't there a saying that a definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and yet expect different results each time?

(This is a left-over draft that I had in my blogger folder, so I figured I'd throw it up here)

From Today's Headlines (to Tomorrow's Breadlines)

2009-05-19T21:53:00.005-04:00

From The Sampson Independent:

Clinton’s Nestaway plant is reducing its workforce, effective at the end of May. It will impact 75 production, administrative and management employees.

Employees were actually notified of the reduction on the last day of March from the management of Nestaway, LLC, a Leggett & Platt Incorporated company. The company is recognized as an industry leader in the appliance and housewares market. The Clinton plant primarily manufactures dishwasher racks. According to company officials, the reduction in force is the result of excess manufacturing capacity.

“We are certainly concerned about the reduction in the workforce at the Nestaway plant here in Clinton,” said John Swope, Sampson County Economic Development director. “ Any time you have a reduction in the workforce it hurts the local economy, but it hurts the employees even more. This action from the home office of Nestaway is not surprising given the current state of the national economic situation. We are very optimistic that the economy will soon be turning around and we will not see any more additional cuts locally.”

The press release from Nestaway indicated the decision to reduce the Clinton operation was in no way related to the abilities or productivity of the employees at the local facility.

The first reduction is expected to occur later this month. In accordance with the federal Workers’ Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN), employees will receive at least 60 days of pay and benefits from the date they receive formal notice of the plant closure.

Peggy Davis, manager of the Sampson County office of the Employment Security Commission, said her office will conduct an informational meeting with the Nestaway employees later this week to provide them employment and training opportunities that are available they enter the ranks of the unemployed.

Davis also stated that other agencies would accompany her to provide information on services that they may be able to provide. Those agencies include DSS, Sampson Community College; the Sampson County Health Department and WIA, (Workforce Investment Act).

In the memo released by Jim Trimble, manager, Human Resources, Nestaway, it reads, “The company is exploring several sources of outplacement assistance for employees, including job placements services available through various outside agencies.”

Outplacement activities for employees will be coordinated through his offices Any area businesses with employment opportunities for workers displaced by the closing are encouraged to contact Trimble’s office.

First, the good news: I didn't get a sixty day layoff notice at the end of March, as noted in the above story. The "effective end of May" part isn't quite right, either, as we should be going on at a pretty good clip past that date.

Now, the other news: I got my layoff notice today. I am pretty much guaranteed employment through July 17th, but after that, the crystal ball goes dark.

The sad thing is, I can't really blame this on the current economic fiasco. But that's all I'm going to say about that aspect of it for right now.

I guess I'd better cram in as many medical visits as I can between now and mid-July...

Chiropractic

2009-05-18T05:34:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned a while back, my neck and left shoulder blade have been bothering me.

And by "bothering me" I mean my spinal cord feels like it is chewing tinfoil while a rusty ice pick is being shoved into my shoulder blade.

Being a life-long devotee of chiropractic, I made an appointment at the Salta (pseudonym) Chiropractic Center. For various reasons, I have had to pick a new chiropractor, so this was to be my first visit.

I dutifully got there thirty minutes prior to my 4:30 PM appointment so as to fill out the "new patient" paperwork. One of the first papers shoved under my nose was one that informed me that they expected full payment, up front, for services rendered. By not doing any billing or insurance filing they could better serve their patients and keep their prices in line.

After filling out the papers I was escorted into a small room where I was shown a video explaining what Chiropractic is all about.

"Duh," I thought to myself. "I already know what chiropractic care is. Why do they think I'm here?"

The doctor soon came into the room and asked some questions about my history of back problems and my current afflictions.

"Well, Mr. Davison," the doctor explained, "what we will do today is take a full set of x-rays and then do a thorough examination. The cost of the x-rays will be $199 and the examination will be $79."

Two hundred and seventy-eight dollars? Yikes! I was thinking the first visit might cost maybe $125. I can't afford $278, not with with that week's mortgage payment!

"Does that $278 include my first adjustment?" I asked.

"Oh, no," came the response. "We'll examine your x-rays and use the results of the examination to determine the subsequent course of your chiropractic care."

Summing up:

I could pay $278 and have no adjustment and, therefore, no relief.
I could pay zero dollars and get the same level of treatment and benefits.

Yeah, I paid the mortgage.

My shoulder and neck are still problematic, but I guess you get what you pay for.

Or not.

Infographic: My Daily Schedule

2009-05-14T21:04:00.000-04:00

The work day includes the period of time from when my alarm clock goes off at 4:45 AM until my arrival back home at 5:45 PM.

Livin' La Vida Loca!

Men's Health

2009-05-10T19:33:00.000-04:00

I'd say Mr. Chodat nailed it.

TV Trouble

2009-05-07T16:13:00.005-04:00

It's here.

The day of reckoning that I have been fearing.

My fifteen-year-old television set is conking out on me.

The picture looks like this when you first turn it on. Then, after five minutes it straightens out. Then it looks like this again. Then it straightens out, Then... well, you get the idea.

I have already ranted and railed about these new-fangled flat-panel digital TV and I really, really don't want to cave in and get one. And forget about buying a new analog TV! They just aren't out there anymore.

What to do, what to do?

Then, I had an inspiration.

With everybody jumping on the digital bandwagon, there must be tons of perfectly good, used analog sets available through the local freecycle website!

Yeah, that's the ticket!

So I put a notice up on the local Fayetteville site stating that I was looking for an analog TV.

I short order, I got the following response:

Hello Craig,

We have a nice medium-sized (portable, not the elephant-sized behemouth kind), 19" SONY, hardly used and works very well.

"Yessss!" I though to myself.

I emailed back and indicated that I was, indeed, interested in picking up the 19" Sony Trinitron he had offered.

He wrote back with two phone numbers, asking me to call him to establish a pick up date and time.

I called and we agreed upon a Tuesday, 7:00pm rendezvous.

"But call, first, before you come over," he requested.

"No problem, " I replied. Gosh, with two phone numbers to choose from, how could I go wrong?

Yeah, you know where this is going...

Tuesday evening arrived and at 6:30pm I dialed the first phone number. After a couple rings, the grating sound of a fax machine blasted forth from the handset.

"Oh, well," I reasoned, "I still have the other number."

Of course this was a cell phone number and of course it went straight to voicemail. I left a message that I had gotten a fax machine on the other line and that I was on my way out so as to keep our 7:00pm appointment and hung up.

I arrived at my benefactor's address at the appointed hour. There were two minivans in the driveway, so I figured somebody has to be home. I went to the side door and rang the bell.

After a small pause a man in a gray terrycloth bathrobe came to the door.

"You the guy for the TV?" he asked.

"Yes, sir, " I answered.

"Come on in, " he said as he waved me into the house.

Suddenly, I was in what looked like Hannibal Lechter's kitchen.

"I though you were gonna call first," he said as he traipsed out of the room.

"Well, I did." I squeaked. "But I got a fax machine..."

"Oh!" came a woman's voice from down the hall. "That was my fault!"

"...and then all I got at the other number was your message box, so I figured..." I trailed off as the more fully-clothed TV donor re-entered the Kitchen-O-Doom.

"Well, the TV's out in the shed." he said. "Come on."

The shed was a nice workshop that helped me forget about the kitchen.

"Here it is," he said, hoisting a 20 year old Sony off the floor. "Lemme carry it out to your van."

"Well, I can't thank you enough, blah, blah blah," I spluttered as we loaded 'er up.

Once home, I pulled the old MAGAVOX from its perch on our dimestore "entertainment center." After wiping down a few melon-sized dust bunnies and attaching the proper wires I powered up the "new" set.

Of course, the picture was messed up. The top third of the image folded down on itself and jittered.

Bonus points for the blown-out speaker!

I put the ailing MAGNAVOX back in place and dragged the SONY out to the trash bin.

Well, it was free, and one shouldn't expect something for nothing, I guess.

I'll be hitting the yard sales and pawn shops soon in my search for some trailing edge technology.

Wish me luck!

Neck and Shoulder Pain

2009-05-05T07:26:00.000-04:00

That's what I have. Eee-Yowch!

A Mariel Moment

2009-04-26T05:50:00.000-04:00

That's my girl!

Worries

2009-04-16T09:32:00.001-04:00

A tip of the hat to Dale Carnegie and the Learning 2Share blog!

Oh, The Noise, Noise, Noise Noise!

2009-04-13T19:05:00.020-04:00

CAUTION: MINDLESS STRAW MAN CONTENT! TURN BACK NOW!

Gosh, but there is a lot of noisy noise being generated twenty-four hours a day by a lot of people who get paid a lot of money to stir the pot. I would go so far as to call these people cynics.

I grabbed three panels of a recent "Tom Tomorrow" comic as one illustration.

Right now, there are quite a few folks who can't stand the fact that "their guy" lost the 2008 presidential election. To them, the current fairly-elected head of state is evil, incarnate looking to forever ruin our beloved country. He is a hard-line Islamist/Socialist who (gasp!) reads his speeches off a TelePromTer and whose wife is out to make the previous first lady look bad, on purpose!

The whole "Tea Party" movement to protest phantom tyrannical tax increases smacks of some sort of phony grass roots movement. I remember these sort of things were referred to as "AstroTurf" back during the swift boat veterans for the truth era. (Get it? Artificial grass roots!)

But, you know, there are enough of these amazing media pundits out there so that it cuts both ways.

For instance: The Bush Theocracy. Wow! Remember when Dubya created The Church of America and punished those who did not immediately sign up? Yeah, me neither!

How about when President Bush ordered endless truckloads of arsenic to be dumped into the nation's drinking water supply? Oh, yeah. Um, it was more a matter of restoring the acceptable levels of allowable arsenic to what they were while Bill Clinton was in office.

Then there's the absolute and total ban that GWB enacted on all scientific research during his presidency. Oh, yeah. He simply didn't want to approve federal funding for stem cell research. And, gosh, there's not another private concern or another country in the whole world that could've continued stem cell research. Only through USA Federal Tax Dollars could this be done.

The "mainstream media" is selling us out!

I've seen both conservatives and liberals bellyaching about the blatant bias and distortions the "mainstream media" is inserting into each and every important news story. The liberal point of view is sensitive to things like the current financial melt-down being called "The Obama Recession" while the conservative point of view seems to be that the real truth is limited exclusively to the "talk radio" and "Fox News" outlets that beam into every market 24/7.

Is there any objective source of information anywhere?

I doubt it.

Now, excuse me while I tune out some of this racket.

Calgon, take me awa-a-a-a-y...

Rock 'n' Roll Confidential

2009-04-11T05:28:00.006-04:00

Our mailman, Cletus, is a very personable fellow. When he has a package to bring to the door, he'll invariably have a smile and will want to chat for a bit. Of course, I'm usually at work when the mail comes, but I'd encountered him enough during the weekends and periods of unemployment to have at least struck up an acquaintance with the guy.

I'm not sure how it came up, but Cletus asked my wife if I played guitar. Perhaps he was delivering a Musician's Friend catalog, I don't know.

Michelle gave him a run-down of my musical resume, which seemed to impress our happy letter-carrier no end.

"Do you think Craig would like to get together with some of my friends from the post office?" he asked. "They get together every so often and they're looking for another guitar player. They like The Beatles and sixties music."

"I he'd love that, Michelle replied. "He's been looking for some guys to play with ever since we moved here!"

"OK, I'll let you folks know when they guys are going to get together and maybe Craig can come on over."

The arrangements were made, and about a week later Cletus came by to pick me up so as to chauffeur me and my equipment over to his pal's house for the big "session."

Now, keep in mind my daily schedule has me getting up at 4:45 am, leaving the house at 6:00am and finally returning from work at 5:30 pm (under optimal conditions!) Also keep in my I'm 51 years old and my last gig was nearly 12 years ago.

Cletus and I arrived at his friend's house and we lugged the two guitars and my amp up to the door.

His pal, George, greeted us and and we went to his living room. He had a small PA system set up, along with his amp and the bass player's amp. George's wife (I'm bad with names) offered me a drink (water) and we set about tuning up.

"So you like 'sixties music?" George asked. "What kind of songs did you used to play?"

Now this is a toughie. I tried to explain the whole "garage band" concept and that my last group (MYSTIC EYES) did songs that were not hits that were recorded by regional bands that nobody ever heard of.

At this point the bass player, Rick, arrived.

A genial sort, the unpacked his bass and the wife brought him some JD and a shot glass. I am happy to report he didn't get blotto.

Again, the question about "what sort of music do you play" came up and I tried to offer some less obscure references.

"Um, do you know 'Little Black Egg' by the Nightcrawlers?" I asked while playing the song's main riff.

"Huh. No."

"How about 'Little Girl' by The Syndicate of Sound?" I played that riff.

"Ah, yeah! I know that one!" Rick replied. "Hey, little girl/ You don't have to hide nothin' no more..."

"Well, that sort of stuff," I said.

"Oh, man! I was a big fan of Paul Revere and the Raiders!" We stumbled through a few bars of "Hungry" and "It's Just Like Me."

We spent the next couple of hours slaughtering some Beatles tunes and "jammin' the blues." I'm not much on blues jams, but George seemed to like them.

I noticed a couple things during our two-hour music fest.

1. I started out the evening tired and worked my way into near total exhaustion by just sitting on the stool and trying to play guitar. These 13 hour work days can really take it out of you!

2. I am very rusty. You see, I tend not to play guitar unless I have a reason to. I'm not that in love with my own virtuosity that I can be bothered to sit and play on my own.

What about Cletus, you ask? He contented himself with sitting on the couch and drinking it all in. He and George's wife took a couple turns singing, but just for fun.

The 9:00 curfew came and we all shook hands and commented how nice it was to meet
one another. Cletus helped me load my junk back into his truck and we departed.

"Well, that was fun," he said. "Did George get your phone number from you?"

"Um, no, he didn't," I answered.

Guess I didn't pass the audition.

We arrived at my house and once again unloaded the amp and guitars. They now weighed about 200 pounds apiece by this time.

Cletus and I exchanged good nights and I flopped into bed, exhausted.

Yep.

It's official.

I'm too old to rock and roll.

Pine Cone Picture

2009-04-07T20:00:00.003-04:00

My sister, Kim, was visiting this weekend. She has a digital camera, so she snapped this pose of Mariel holding an authentic NC pine cone.

Jammin'

2009-04-02T21:38:00.000-04:00

Pictured here are a couple Hagstrom electric guitars.

When I can get a moment I'll fill in the rest of this post with a recent foray back into the land rock 'n' roll.

Right now I'm busier than a one armed monkey at an ass-kickin' contest.

(Have I mentioned lately that I am bad at analogies?)

See you soon, I hope...

A Defining Moment

2009-03-07T21:24:00.004-05:00

I have decided to become a vegetarian.

There are a lot of good reasons to be a vegetarian.

I understand that there will be a number of health benefits as a result of becoming one.

I expect my cholesterol level to go down, for instance.

An increase in "heart health" is sure to follow.

And, I have to admit, I look forward to a certain feeling of moral superiority to those who aren't vegetarians.

Of course, I have no intention of changing anything about my core food consumption habits.

In fact, I intend to continue eating meat.

You see, I feel that the definition of vegetarianism should be changed to include those who eat meat as well as those who don't eat meat.

You don't oppose this clearly logical approach, do you?

You do?

Boy, what a hate-filled hating hater you are!

I can't help that I eat meat. I was born this way. Ever since I was weaned from mother's milk I have craved and eaten meat. I have always known that I am a meat-eater. I shouldn't have to change the way I am or pretend to be be what I am not to meet "others" idea of how I should live my life.

I feel I should be allowed to eat meat and also have all the benefits and entitlements associated with being a vegetarian. It is unfair that only those people who "don't eat meat" should be granted those benefits.

And I don't see how I would be "spoiling it" for non-meat-eating vegetarians to allow meat-eaters who so desire the "vegetarian" designation to claim it for our own.

Maybe I should post a photo of Mariel clutching a "Please don't force my Daddy to stop being a vegetarian" sign on the web. Obviously that's what would happen if the meat-phobic hate mongers forced us meat-eating vegetarians to abide by their arbitrary, exclusionary definition of what constitutes "vegetarianism."

My unassailable, crystal-clear logic concludes that the portion of the population who are meat-eaters who want to be identified as vegetarians should be allowed to set the definition for what constitutes vegetarianism.

No rational, clear-thinking, modern human being could or should object to this.

Or are you some sort of logic-hating, minority, fringe hate-monger?

No? Good! I was hoping I could shame you into silence.

Now, let there be no further discussion or dissention on the subject.

I am a vegetarian.

HDTV What The..?

2009-02-23T06:24:00.006-05:00

Boy, I hope I don't have a need to buy a new television set any time soon.

But then again, you can't really buy a "television set" any more, can you?

I would have to buy an HDTV. You know, one of those high-definition flat screen thingies.

Sigh.

I see that Best Buy has a 26" "INSIGNIA" brand on sale for $400. 720p with a built-in DVD player. I guess that wouldn't be too bad, though it is about 3x what I paid for my last TV fifteen years ago.

Maybe I need one of those monster wall-mounted units. That's where the big money goes to die.

Forget about the $1,500 - $4,000 price tag for the HDTV unit. The real money is in the accessories!

The graphic here is a scan from this weekend's big-box retailer ad.

Yes, they are telling me that I am getting SUCH A DEAL by paying "only" $90 for a single four foot long cable!

And guess what? I can buy a sexed-up extension cord for "only" an additional $80!

And even more guess what! Yes, I can mount my TV to the wall for "only" an additional $200!

$370 on stuff that should come with the set?!?!? Stuff that allows you to plug it in and keep it from falling over?!?!?

Forget it!

I've owned cars that cost less than this!

Start the digital revolution without me, gang...

Atones '79

2009-02-14T19:37:00.005-05:00

Thanks to facebook, I was alerted to the fact that I had been "tagged" in a photo.

Sure enough, Marc Weinstein had posted some pix of THE ATONES, a band I was in with him back in 1979!

The top photo is a crude cut-n-paste of two photos taken of us during a gig at Hallwalls in Buffalo, NY. Left to right:

Rachel Weinstein - Organ
Tony Billoni - Sax & Vocals
Kenny Kearny - Guitar
Craig Davison - Bass
Marc Weintsein - Drums

For me, the big thing about The Atones was that, after years of playing cover tunes in a various garage bands, I was in a band of that wrote all their own songs!

Amazingly, Tony had never evidenced any particular musical talents but became the lead vocalist, lyricist and saxophone player. I don't know how, when, where or why he got a sax, but there you are.

Our song-list included titles like, Tree Surgeon, Spheres of Influence, Four Wheeler, Music + Dance = Party and I Like To Talk. Once, we did a free-form jam where everyone, except the drummer, played bass guitars.

Wow, were were arty, or what?!?

We only played a few gigs and the band fell apart when Marc went off to school in the fall.

After that I returned to the land of garage bands. My next band (Mystic Eyes) played both covers and originals so you can see how "The Atones Experience" was an important stepping stone.