You have to go right to go left.....

Ahem, yes, if you have been to New Jersey (in particular) you know whereof I speak...
This will never fail to amuse me, for the remainder of my life... it's what my boss called a "jug handle"... sometimes, in a few areas of the East Coast of the United States, you have to turn right to turn left... And, yes, that does sound very wrong.  However, having observed the amount of traffic and the general conditions of many of these areas, it makes complete sense, from a safety standpoint.  Haven't you ever driven by your destination, which would be on the left side of the road, and then turned around and gone back for the express purpose of turning right instead of waiting forever to make a left turn in a busy traffic area?  I have.  So, this sign is not really all that confusing: 

however I wish these signs were more noticeable in such areas where you have the "jug handle" situation. 

refer, if you will to this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jughandle

In particular I find this amusing because of a co-worker... he never would listen to me, and I really only talked to him if I had something really relevant to say.... for example: "sometimes you have to go right to go left...."  Naturally he did not listen to me, so we drove for about 20 minutes to make a 5 minute trip.... somewhere in New Jersey.  And I absolutely cound NOT laugh at all.  If I had laughed at all he would have made life very miserable for days, possibly weeks.  So, I had to be all serious and tell him that the next exit from the particular road we were on was about 8 miles distant, and that it would indeed take at least another 15 minutes to go the distance and return to where we needed to be.  As it happened we were quite early, so no harm done, except of course for the fact that mr. high and mighty had taken an ego blow.  Because I was able to refrain from laughing I then had the upper hand, so to speak, for the next few days.  ---not that I wanted to participate in the competition, but I digress.... I could write volumes about the conflict and issues of dealing with dr. jekyll and mr. hyde.....  Jug handles.... hehehe.....  😎

Bogus job offers (1)

I have been unemployed for 56 days. In that time I have received more bogus job offer emails than I have taken the time to count.  After the first few, and 4 hours wasted on a bogus interview, I now simply delete any emailed job offer that demands I sign up for Google Hangouts or Skype without so much as a phone call.

Here is what you need to know about any job offer:  research the company!  Do some in depth research, and, if possible, email the company and inquire about the person making the offer, or simply ask if such a job is available.  The best company websites will have some sort of “current jobs” link to click on, so you can simply see if the job you are being offered actually exists.

I have done such research. What I have found were some very impressive websites, for actual companies.  But, going that next step, I have found that these “work from home for now” administrative assistant jobs do not exist.  I don’t even want to work from home! If I cannot visit a real company, in person, and meet the people I would be working for and with, then I am not interested.  Not that there is anything wrong with working from home, but being able to do so, as an administrative assistant AND still make over $20 an hour, full time…. Seriously? I don’t think so.

Two of the companies I researched do not have offices in the United States, at all.  How do I know? I emailed them and asked!  I received polite replies telling me that the job I have inquired about is bogus, and the person I was contacted by is unknown to the company in question.  They are not recruiters; the jobs they are offering me are totally bogus.  It is fraud.

I actually got on Google Hangouts with one such “recruiter”.  We went back and forth for over 4 hours.  He described a job, and all of the duties, and even the benefits package.  This person claimed to be in Madison, Wisconsin –only an hour away from me, but stated that there was not yet an office to go to.  I would be working at home “for now”.  He actually had someone mail me a check ostensibly “to purchase a laptop, and all necessary office equipment and supplies” for my use at my home.   ….They actually mailed the check while I was still on Google Hangouts, chatting with the fake “recruiter”.  …. Here is what happened with that:  in my mailbox was a notice from my local U.S. Post Office, stating that I could pick up a piece of mail at the local postal facility.   I went to the local postal facility, and the postal worker went to get the package from the back.  He returned to the counter with the package, a postal express envelope, with a note on it.  The note stated, “FRAUD”, just like that, in large letters.  I immediately dropped my hands to my sides.  “I am not touching that.” I stated.  The postal carrier told me that the postal inspector had stopped the package, notated it, and would I fill out a form and sign, stating that I was refusing this package.  Absolutely- I filled out and signed the document.  The postal worker explained that this “may be mail fraud, involving a fraudulent check, or a check cashing scheme.” 

Here is the lowdown:  these people are trying to gain access to bank accounts.  Bank accounts of unemployed people.  How despicable is that!  Identity theft.  They want to steal from people who are down on their luck and looking for a real job. 

I wish that this was publicized widely, but it is not.  I tried to contact the local media about this, but received no replies…. So: PLEASE SHARE THIS BLOG POST. 

If someone sends you an email, offering you job, but also demanding that you set up a Google Hangouts  or Skype account and add them to your contact list --         DO NOT REPLY IN ANY WAY, delete the email – mark it as SPAM.  If you think you know how they got your information report them to that entities fraud department.   If there is not to be a live, in person, interview, if they don’t have a local office that you can visit…. If there is anything at all that makes you suspicious….

And please, be suspicious of any “work at home” job offer.  Be careful out there!

You Can Be More (02/17/2017)

I understand that today is "Random Acts Of Kindness" day.... okay, but I practice random acts of kindness on a regular basis.  All you need to do is hold a door for someone, or say "thank you" when someone does something for you -even if they were just doing their job.

Frequently, when I am grocery shopping, people approach me to ask a question -they mistakenly think that I work in the store.  Usually I have no idea where they get that impression, but I take it in stride.  I inform the person that I do not, in fact, work for the store, ...but, "what are you looking for? perhaps I can help anyway."  This never fails to astonish the person with the question, but - what the heck? If I can help why wouldn't I?  Seriously....
I have noticed that I am sometimes wearing a shirt or a vest that makes me appear to be an employee of the store I am in.... I have to be careful about wearing certain shades of blue or red.... and, in the wintertime, I wear a vest with a lot of pockets (instead of carrying a purse).

Often times the person accosting me with a question is elderly.  That makes me want to help.  You see, my aging mother lived at my house -I had to help her for years....  I have empathy, therefore I offer to help people who have asked for help.
I remember one woman, in the baking aisle, who was trying to find yeast. I knew approximately where to look for yeast in that baking aisle, so I helped her search.  Turned out that yeast was on sale, so I bought some myself (yeah, I don't really bake, but you never know....).  But I got a charge out of the delight on the old woman's face when we located the yeast --not a big seller, and truly tough to find in that particular store.

That's the thing -- I help people, and my reward is seeing how pleased they are to find what they need..... or just how happy they are that someone acknowledged their efforts with a simple "thank you".

There is NO money!

It's a giant pet peeve of mine... family members who think that others in their family are "rich".  It is a fact that my Dad hosted a huge family party every year at Christmastime.... I do not know for how many years this occurred, I only know that it ended when I was 4 years old, for a variety of reasons.  I do not even know all of the reasons...
Anyway, ever since I can remember, all I have heard is "when are you all going to host a family reunion?"  Well, I am not.  A family reunion would cost a lot of money, especially since I do not own a home large enough to even consider such a thing.  Plus, I don't even know where my Dad's side of the family disappeared to! I know where to find 4 or 5 of my paternal cousins, but I digress.

The point of this article is that some members of the family seem to think that my Dad was rich,...like Rockefeller rich,  J. Paul Getty rich, (google them if you don't know what I am talking about)... that simply was not the case.  My Dad had a little bit of money, he owned his own business, and it was still lucrative when he retired from it.  But my Dad also paid cash for everything! Cars, homes, and the multiple surgeries he had in the last few years of his life.  I am not going to name numbers for anyone, but when my Dad died there was not a great pile of money left.  There was enough to provide for me until I reached "majority", which was 8 years.... that was everything: housing (read property taxes), clothing, transportation, food, and a few minor extras (park district classes, piano lessons).  When I turned 18 there was a tiny sum in a money market account, and that is long gone as of this writing.

It has been suggested that my mother gave money away, which is simply not the case.  I know for a fact, by the way we lived, that there was a limit to the money.  One example is that neither of us liked the house we were living in, but we remained there until it was in a condition where improvements were called for (it was not at all unlivable), timely things that needed attention, but we did not have any money for home improvements, no matter how necessary.  We lived in that house that neither of us liked for 17 years after my father died.  We drove cheap little "economy" cars.  There was no money for extravagance.  I went to community college for under $500 a semester, even though I had been accepted by a major university, and I worked part time in the school library.

The thing I am trying to say is that, unless Uncle "Boo" lives in a mansion, with a butler, and has 4 or 5 automobiles, you do not KNOW that Uncle "Boo" is filthy rich.  The younger siblings do not really know if their older siblings paid their parents back on that loan, because it was none of their business.  There are very few rich uncles out there, most of us do not have rich relatives who are going to leave us a pile of money.
So, if you think that I am going to invite you out to eat, and that I will pay for your meal(s), you had better think again, my friend!  Because I live from paycheck to paycheck, and right now (as I write this) I am unemployed. Think about that. If you are waiting for that invitation from me, then get over it, or die waiting, because my Dad was not rich, and I am far from rich, and even if I won the lottery -at this point I would go find some homeless people and buy dinner for them before I would feed relatives whose homes are paid for and have retirement savings.

I apologize if that comes off as angry or hurtful, but I am just plain tired of the nonsense.

Flashback 1973

Yes, Mother was a Pack Rat... possibly the queen of the pack rats, and excelling in the art of hiding it all, like the lining of a nest........  Taking Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to new heights.... 

Anyway, here is an article from January 13, 1974, by Jack Mabley, who was a popular Chicago Tribune columnist at the time:

Wow, 7% mortgages, Spiro Agnew, Watergate (Haldeman & Ehrlichman), and $1.50 for a gallon of gasoline. Imagine that!  It was a glorious time to be alive, 

but we didn't realize it at the time.

Crazy predictions for 1974.... I am not going to look any of that up --Google it yourself!

Milk for $2.00 a gallon!

.....oops! the town we lived in did build a new city hall and later discovered that they could not open the windows..(but that was around 1980).....

and it ends with a quote from Yoko Ono, the great prophetess of 1973....  

😏😏😏

Clearly no one had a crystal ball, they could not even imagine what would be going on in 2017! 

It boggles the mind... 

....oh, the humanity!

The technologically challenged (those who are without...)

It is hard enough to be without Internet at home, but I am also saddled with a primitive phone.... you know, the kind where when you are trying to send a text message you have to press the 7 four times to get the letter "s"...   And I really don't remember how to get a capital "s" without having it be the beginning of a sentence....  Plus, it's what is known as a "GoPhone", meaning that it costs 25 cents a minute to talk (20 cents per text)... yes, I pay $25 quarterly to keep the phone active.  People who know that are afraid to call or text me. 
When I lost my job a month ago the GoPhone account had 1,200 minutes on it...a week later, thanks to automatic replenishment it added 100 minutes more or less.  I have done well, there are over 800 minutes left after 30 days... 

The bigger problem comes when I try to conduct any kind of personal business.  It's still 25 cents a minute when I am on hold, for interminable lengths of time, with the hospital billing office, or my mortgage lender.  Or, worse, I get in to a telephone answering system that wants me to type in a persons name to get that person on the phone.... no letter keypad.... major frustration.

I have spent a lot time trying to explain to people that I have no Internet at home.  And inevitably they say, "what about your phone?" This is what is known as a "candy bar" phone:

It's small, has no internet capability, and (obviously) no keyboard.  It is historic, primitive, ....prehistoric....  

For over 9 years my employer provided me with a cell phone.  And as advances were made in the technology we got better phones.  I had the equivalent of a Samsung Galaxy X5 phone, right up until the moment I was fired.  I had a separate wifi device as well.  

Those days are over.  Plus, being unemployed, I am not all that anxious to run out and start spending upward of $45 a month for a cell phone with hot spot capabilities.  

So, I spend a lot of time frustrated, trying to communicate with people via email, even though that means that I must go to the library every single day it is open, because they have free wifi.  I have advanced a little bit though, I can now say that I have Skyped, and I have been to Google Hangouts.  I prefer Skype, and it's great when you are on free wifi at the library.  None of this is helpful to me when I am at home, looking to communicate, or simply to get a weather forecast.  (FYI: I cancelled television service 8 months ago, I do not have an antenna, and I have yet to find a local radio station that gives the kind of weather forecast I am looking for.)

Anyway... the moral of this story is: be grateful if you hold technology in the palm of your hand, and have it available for use 24/7.  And please,...please be mindful of the other guy, who has very limited technology and may not be in touch with the world for the larger portion of the day.

AFTERWARD

Here I must make a few acknowledgements.... primarily I want to thank my niece Bev for giving me her old Ipad... I am not Apple inclined, but I have found this device not only easy to use, but invaluable for use on Skype, Google Hangouts, and to surf the internet while waiting for my sometimes extremely slow OLD laptop to catch up.  (so, so slow)

I want to thank friend Anna, for calling me on Skype to help me establish that I had a good, working connection, and can actually talk to people, not just message everything.  Plus my ancient earphones work with this Ipad.  Also, thanks to Anna for directing me to a local Re-Employment networking group.  (It is good to have a chance to chat with others who are looking for work. - I am not alone.)

And thank you to those who have contributed prayers, cash (R, and V), or taken the time to get together with me for a meal (LW, GS, KBQ).

A childhood icon: remembering Mary Tyler Moore

"Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? Well it's you girl, and you should know it With each glance and every little movement you show it Love is all around, no need to waste it You can have a town, why don't you take it You're gonna make it after all You're gonna make it after all How will you make it on your own? This world is awfully big, girl this time you're all alone But it's time you started living It's time you let someone else do some giving Love is all around, no need to waste it You can have a town, why don't you take it You're gonna make it after all."


Wow. She's gone. Mary Tyler Moore died this afternoon. May she Rest In Peace.
My heart is broken.

We did not watch The Dick Van Dyke Show when it originally aired.  I was a wee tot, and Dad controlled the television.

But, when I was 9 years old, The Mary Tyler Moore Show premiered on CBS. Every Saturday night thereafter I spent that half hour with Mary and company. Oh what a delight they were! Always funny, always entertaining.  Mary, Rhoda, Phyllis, Lou Grant, Murray Slaughter, Ted Baxter, Georgette Franklin, and Sue Ann Nivens.....what a crew! What hilarity ensued.

The theme song,... it just takes me back to that living room of my youth,.. the red swivel chair, the tv -a tube television, on a metal cart.... and the warmth and comfort of my parents suburban home....

The lessons we learned from Mary and company.  The first television program about a truly independent woman, making it on her own.  "You're gonna make it after all."  Such hope in that.

We were there for all of her trials and tribulations, and hilarity.  Who can forget Chuckles the Clown? (may he rest in peace) Mary simply could not keep herself from laughing at his funeral.  I always thought Chuckles the Clown would have appreciated that --after all his life's work was making people laugh.  And that episode wholly endeared Mary to us -she was so very human.

Thank you, Mary.  You were an inspiration to the girls who first watched your show.  Thank you, and Rest In Peace dear lady.

https://youtu.be/kuuYvQsN-ak