Debating with myself

Okay, good job closed applications yesterday. Called them at the beginning of this thing. I have at least two or three people dropping a good word for me with the organization.

Here is the question, though. Should I call them again with a general, "Still really excited about the opportunity. Can I answer any questions you may have at this point?" spiel. Also debating the "I'm working for the Census now" conversation.

Job description was slightly different than what the position supposedly does in real life. Application was focused on what the stated job requirements were. All the employment/resume advice I've received so far points to making the call (networking is 60-90% of the employment market, need to show enthusiasm and interest for the position including research, and it all comes down to that 1% difference between you and the next person so followup, thank you notes, and contacts is what can separate you from gainful employment and continued unemployment). Employment advice also focuses on "keeping active" while on unemployment (I think working for the Census would apply here, so would the council stuff, editing/critiquing friends' writing, and rewriting the novel), and I don't think any of that shows through on the application.

So far, one against annoying the potential employer, and one for making a reminder call. What say you all?

Poll Dancing

Speaking of 15 years ago, and because it'll be of relevance to some of you, the Pew Poll on distrust, anger, and partisan rancor. Which reading it shows something slightly different than how it's being portrayed on the news shows. It's like all the news shows just read the headline and didn't get through the analysis (yeah, strange that). Related, a Gallup poll showing Democratic satisfaction numbers are up (which isn't a good thing for the elections, BTW), Independents are trending up, and Republicans remain the same (there's a link at the end for a fuller report, I haven't gone through that one yet).

Somewhat related, a Gallup poll on who people trust on the economy. I'm sure you won't see this one on Fox News. Basically, of all he people in some position of power to affect the economy, President Obama still scores highest (admittedly down over the year, but still higher than everybody else).

It's the talk of the town, the possible effects of the Tea Party during the midterms. (Pew Poll)

Of relevance to the current part-time thing, who maybe the hold outs on the Census. Your public education at work. First off, and we can't say this on the road, your participation is mandatory by law (hey, it's in the Constitution). Yes, and notice education and home ownership are the major differentiating factors here. (Pew Poll)

And, housing is looking up.

That other date on the calendar

I was working downtown Cleveland and had taken an actual lunch (instead of just going down to the McD's) to go get blades for my electric razor. Inside the Remington Store in the Arcade, there was a TV up in the corner above a display case of knives. On the screen smoke billowed from a semi-circular hole in front of a building. If it had been taller, I would have thought someone was replaying footage of the attack on the Marine's barracks in Lebanon. I didn't remember any helicopter footage of that scene, though. And the sunlight looked all wrong. Lunch, for me, was over.

The clerk rang up my purchase and I asked what was on the TV. I could hear a speaker behind the counter, but it wasn't loud enough to hear in front of the counter. He said it was something happening in Oklahoma. For a second I worried. I knew people in Oklahoma. And I didn't know where exactly they worked.

I had, however, heard about the Murrah Federal Building. A favorite target of nutbags West of the Mississippi (and some points East). The world wasn't nearly connected then. Sure, I ran back to the office taking the steps two at a time (the Remington Store was downstairs at the Arcade). Jogged through Tower City and then to my cubicle. CNN hadn't updated yet. Nobody knew what was happening.

And then the afternoon exploded. Most people had heard about Radical Islamic Terrorist by that date. The Blind Sheik had tried to blow up the World Trade Center with a Ryder Truck packed with an ammonia-nitrate bomb blowing a hole in the lower parking deck and killing a few people. Suddenly, and without cause, they all knew it had to be a muslim. I wasn't quite positive, but I was pretty sure it would turn out to be a "Amurican" of the disgruntled military variety.

Others didn't believe me. Surely no American would do this. It had to be foreign radicals.

Fifteen years ago today. Times haven't changed much. Except now we have the internets and Fox News which creates an even more intense echo chamber.

No rewriting today. Brain didn't want to work. A lot of paperwork got pushed. Food got eaten. Words, not so much written. However, I did update my portfolio. See, the good job closes tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be interviewing this week and that will be a necessary part of it. Also this week will see working on my own for the Census, and there's plenty to be read and get together. I'm sure I should probably have gotten a head start, but the government only pays for so much. But really hoping for the good job. Really, really hoping.

But I did get some recreational reading done. And below are two links from that.

And yet another reason why there should be little tolerance for mercenaries. Well, it's also an example of what happens when you mistake political ideology for a business plan. However, it should be noted, Blackwater ne Xee, was just a bad example of people who had political connection and cowboy bravado. You don't hear very much about Triple Canopy, which is about ten times as large and at least three times as old as Blackwater.

Going around the internets are links to a story that talked about how "great things were back in the 1880s" by a Jacob Hornberger. So far, this takedown on Kos is the one I agree with most. I don't read Kos, only when I'm linked to it (this is grokked from Jay Lake, whom I believe had it from someone else). This argument is the perfect example of what's starting to be called "the memory hole." There's plenty of that going on right now, people who forget just how far to the right this country has slewed since Reagan was elected President. So far that the justices now retiring are considered "liberal" when in fact they were (at one time) "center right" (a term that is now called "moderate", however the actual political position is now "center left", but only because the right has moved hard right) and they didn't adjust their positions that much. The money shot from the Kos article, on the libertarian "paradise" of 1880s, "You can reach this land of paradise with a couple of flights and a short boat ride. It's called Somalia." (Emphasis in the original) There are moderating statements, such as "... actual Libertarians realize that for individual rights to have any meaning, they require the presence of a body that can ensure those rights." What's happening, as the article suggests, is as "Republican" becomes tarnished in the same way they tarnished "Liberal", conservatives are hunting for a new label, and they are settling on "Libertarian."

And then there are the pictures of the volcanic eruption in Iceland that currently is grinding trans-Atlantic air travel to a halt. Wows.

WIPping in the wind

We have an extension, and I've been working hard on chapters this afternoon. Some major additional text, and a few "that don't make no sense," edits. Salt in some "but you said this over here which contradicts or repeats that" edits and we've done some work today. So we have an updated word count.

This morning we went to Lakeland Community College for "Free College Day." They have a few classes you can attend for free. Basically a big, "Don't you want to go/come back to school" advertisement. One class was on genealogies, I went to another on grammar (can't never get enough of that grammar stuff), and then to a class on radiology. It promised to have disturbing images, and a few people did have to leave, but I guess they weren't all that disturbing to me. One extra showed a major leg break and Bette and I said, "Hey, that looks familiar" (wasn't me, but it was close). Quite a number of "foreign object insertions" which were just wrong. Some things I'm sure would put some people off their lunch. There were a number of radiological students in that class (I took notes on some of the things they were saying).

I wanted to go to that final class to see if I had what it would take. And if I couldn't view the xrays/CRT/MRI scans without having a problem, then I might need to rethink my future plans. While there were a bunch of images that most people might go "oooo, ewwwww" (like one CRT slide with an enlarge aorta that's begun to weaken, and the next slide show it burst, or the conjoined infants), but it was the severed spine that affected me most. Probably because I recognized it instantly, and that it meant a snapped spinal cord.

Tomorrow I'll need to go through my book, also known as my portfolio and add in the latest pieces. That means moment of "I'm the greatest" mixed with "what kind of crap have I been passing off all these years?" Hey, it happens. I may look like a veritable fortress of confidence, but that just masks the insecurities that hide inside.

Week one down

First up, Colleen Lindsay with a real life example of what not to do when querying agents.

Very long day of training that culminated with fingerprint training. Not much fun today. Also, we were supposed to have a worker from our groups there today to also get trained. My person didn't show up. And have I mentioned that I have the largest geographical area within our group? Yeah. Looking like fun fun fun. Fortunately most of the area is very rural, and we get paid for mileage.

Will need to do a bunch of work next week and will probably expend a few phone cards before it's all over.

Long weekend up ahead. Better get to bed soon.

Another long day

Long day, and early day tomorrow.

Some actual design positions opened, but they're a wee far. Applied for them anyway.

Must go to bed so I can get up to go early. Weeee. Hopefully I can be more effusive soon.

Questions

Dear Gubberment,

Please, by all that's Holy to Brid, hire Instructional Designers to do your tests and forms.

Seriously.

Thanks for your attention to this matter,
Me

Tuesday Lite

Running all day. More anecdotal evidence of people being hired came in today. Hope it 1) Hits closer to home and 2) comes to my VIllage (as we could really use the increased tax base soon).

MacAllister Stone is interviewed about owning and running Absolute Write.

Much of the Census work comes down to, "Use common sense." And "I'm sorry, but I have to ask these questions this way."

That's it. Been a long day. Maybe got half a chapter done with rewriting. Not good. Hope your week is going better.

Monday in the Game

First up, fellow VP XIII'er, George Galuschak has a story up at Strange Horizons. Middle Aged Weirdo in a Cadillac. You should go read it.

Spent the day in training. Well, not all day. Most of it was walking through the paperwork. Tomorrow will be the major training part of it. And in a day and a half we'll go through the four days of training I'll need to go through with the enumerators. Right now the job looks like paper shuffling coordination. I think I was the only one in the class who hadn't worked for the Census before, making me the virgin in the room. And actually that created a buzz in the room.

On the plus side of the equation, before we got started there was a general bit of news. Seems like for this group of people, at least two people who were supposed to be there landed jobs and were able to call in to have replacements. And the "extra" person (who would be trained to cover in case one of us landed a job), called in yesterday saying they had a job offer late on Friday. So, the general feeling that at the end of March the job market changed continues. Of course, I wish I had been one of those three, but we do what we can.

One of the major problems for the current hysteria of anti-government fever and hard-core libertarianism. And that's just the roads. You really don't want to know about storm water, septic sewer, water, plowing, line painting,

Somebody is about have the regulations explained to them. Hey, Sgt Gary Stein, my guess is you're about to get a talkin' to, more so than you already have. That thing you stumbled over, yeah, that was the line you crossed. Just like those who opposed President Bush and served honorably, suck it up pal. Now, he is technically correct, he is not required to follow illegal orders (or orders that would cause him to violate laws performing them). There is already a procedure for that, including how to substantiate your claim and what actions may be taken against those who don't follow orders. I hope you've boned up on those regs, Sergeant. And just a reminder, politically disagreeing with the CinC is not an acceptable excuse for not following the lawful orders given you.

WIPped topping

Another chapter rewritten. Another extra hundred words done and out. This rewrite feels a little weird. There's not much cutting or restructuring, mostly extra words to clarify the situation. I'm hoping it because I'm in the area that I knew what was going on and what was supposed to happen.

I really hope I'm not missing something and that I'm doing the right course of action.

I just have a week to finish up edits and then submit the whole thing for critique. On the plus side of things, after that I can start some new things, at least until I need to start reading and critiquing everybody else's stuff.

Tomorrow we start the new job, so I need to get to bed early. Here's to doing something new.

The poll I've been waiting for

A Gallup Poll on who the Tea Partiers are. Very interesting. Would like to see what the actual questions were, but I'm good with the numbers. Also, the one question they didn't ask, or this doesn't show, is who are the ones showing up for the rallies, and which are just the sympathizers.