The New Employment Environment

I am totally taken back by the new Job Market that we are facing these days. I've been looking for a job for about a year and the old days are dead and gone. Now I have to have a Linkedin page, search for jobs on sites like indeed.com & monster.com, read Craigslist ads, Email my Resume and then possibly get a one on one job interview, but more often than that, a Telephone interview.

Not only are employers checking for drug abuse, they have access to your Credit Scores now and search the Web for any Social Media you participate in. What ever happened to my "Time Off" being my business? I'm rather outspoken on occasion, does that make it a risk to be myself online? I am now to be judged by my Social Media conduct and not just my ability to perform the job in a Professional manner now?

Computing has come a long way toward making everything more efficient, but we hit the point of diminishing returns in regards to employment. When an Employer is able to access your out of work habits and thoughts, it really starts to get to the heart of how Social Media is changing our lives at a pace that outstrips most everything else. We might as well get on with the whole implanted RFID & GPS location devices at this point. Oh wait... Too late... Your new fancy American Express Blue card uses RFID and your phone has a GPS locator built into it.

Does anyone else find this scary?

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Sad but not unexpected news

Sad but not unexpected news: http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-news/2011/07/23/amy-winehouse-dead-at-27/

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Car Crashes

Traffic Accidents Collisions...

There is NO such thing as a Traffic "Accident"... I don't know where people ever got that term from, but when your vehicle collides with another, it's called a "Collision". There is nothing "Accidental" about driving into something else, it's preventable.

Did that car "Accidentally" change lanes and clip somebody else's bumper thus causing an "Accident" or was there an impatient lane diver with poor judgement piloting the vehicle? What about the Drivers that txt, put on their makeup, read (yes read, I've seen this, it's scary), fiddle with their radios, dig around for a CD, mess with their GPS, etc... Isn't that "Distracted Driving"? So if they HIT something, it's not accidental because they could avoid a collision by NOT doing any of the above, right??? So it's NOT an accident when you hit something, it's a collision and chances are that the driver did something foolish to cause it!

What about aggressive drivers that weave in and out of traffic? If they hit something shouldn't it be called an "Intentional" because they were driving like boneheads? How could it be an "Accident"? They're driving super stupid and hit your car... The only accidental thing that happens is when your fist lands upside their head... OR, better yet, you can say you were bending over to tie your shoe, stood up and didn't realize how close they were standing to you when your head breaks their nose... That's an "Intentional Accident" with a smidgin of pre-meditation, where your head "Collided" with theirs, thus the loud and satisfying crunch you heard and it darn sure was no "Accident"!

What about the person that cuts you off when you are obviously too close for them to do it safely? And then they simply DIE right in front of you. This usually happens to me when I'm in a rush to get some place, but I think the rate doubles when I'm on my Motorcycle. If you lay into the horn, they still ignore you and proceed on their brain dead journey. Now if I hit them, it's because either A) I saw the possibility that they might cut me off and didn't slow down. B) Slowed down too fast and skidded into them (wet or dry), so I was going too fast in the first place. C) I needed a new car and if I can hit right at the front fender, the Insurance is going to pay because it's their fault!

The way I see it, when a Collision occurs, both parties share part of the blame. That can range from 50-50% to 99-1%, but there are always ways of preventing a collision. If you get cut off and you hit the person, YOU didn't take into account that the idiot would really do it and slow down to allow the idiocy to stream past the front of your vehicle.

If you have a "Lane Dodger" coming up behind you (if you failed to see them, it's your fault for not looking), and they hit your vehicle cutting you off, it's your fault for not slowing down a little bit and leaving them enough space to hang themselves. If it's a collision at an intersection, chances are: A) Lack of understanding on just what "Yeilding the Right of Way" means or B) I bet a good part of the time, lack of using Signaling Devices...They even make vehilces with optional Directional Signals now too! I swear, I see them around here all the time! The only exception to this is if you have a collision with a Cab in my area... Then it's 100% their fault!

So in conclusion, my take on Car Crashes = Traffic Accidents Collisions...

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Passing Time

Does anyone else hum the Jeopardy song while passing time waiting for something?

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Comments about Nancy Grace on Twitter

WARNING: I'm not sure if you like Nancy Grace or not, so if you do, DON'T follow this link, you won't appreciate the humor.

While I do believe her initial involvement in the Casey Anthony Case was genuine, she turned it into a Trial by Media and made, I'm sure, a killing in ratings with a good chunk of the female audience following this case IMO. The Hollywood Reporter posted some rather funny Tweets about Nancy Grace's reaction to the Verdict, here's the link: Casey Anthony Verdict: See the Best Tweets About Nancy Grace's Reaction. 

Some of my Favorites: "I hate the idea of someone who's clearly crazy & dangerous going free, but that's apparently the deal with Nancy Grace," & -- "Remember, folks: in America, you're innocent until Nancy Grace spends every night for 3 years saying you're guilty." writes satirist Andy Borowitz.

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I Scream Over Ice Cream!

OK, I have to ask myself: "How many Ice Cream trucks does one town need???" It seems like we are constantly being bombarded by Ice Cream trucks all day long into the early evening. On the weekend, there seems to be a concentration of these loud, obnoxious vehicles and our house seems to be ground zero for ALL of them!

What ever happened to the Good Humor trucks with their jingly bells? I remember as a kid, hearing those bells from 500 feet away, dashing to the house, begging the Parents for $, selling my soul with promised chores and racing after the truck to get my treat. Then we had the Mr. Sofie truck that had this very nice musical melody playing in a calliope-like manner. They always came in the evening, after dinner, with their soft Ice Cream offerings. Once they announced their arrival, out of respect, they would turn off the music and start to serve the long line of eager young faces scrambling for position around their truck.

Skip forward to present day... What the HECK is going on with these new Ice Cream trucks? There's no subtle bells or brief music any longer. They patrol my neighborhood like sharks and play all kinds of music, appropriate or not, in a steady stream that destroys any possibility of sanity! It's like they all got together and figured out who was going to play what type of music to assure total and complete utter cacophony should their trucks overlap on their daily routes!

I did a double take the other day when I heard XMas tunes coming from one truck. Another played music for about 30 seconds, paused, then this annoying, Valley Girl type voice goes: "Hello?"... These two rocket scientists came down my street following each other in direct competition, shattering the peace and quiet of a Sunday afternoon. As if that wasn't offense enough, these two genius's then stopped to have some sort of discussion side by side for about 5 mins and didn't bother to turn off the racket emanating from their respective trucks. Visions of Bazookas, Wire Guided Rocket Launchers and Shot\Machine Guns were rattling around my mind as this assault on my Musical Last Nerve was taking place!

On average, in a single day, I would say there are at least 9 Ice Cream trucks that visit my neighborhood in Summer, on a Daily basis. On a Sunday, I have counted between 12-15 visits, sometimes by repeat offenders, in a single day. At what point is this considered noise pollution, disturbing the peace or flat out harassment? I'm all for free enterprise, but surely there has to be some sort of ordinances that protect the residents from this constant assault?

Why are these trucks allowed to stop and "Stand" directly in front of my house while the customers throw their garbage out on the street rather than use the garbage slot on the truck 3 feet to their right? I remember our old Ice Cream truck people telling us not to litter and to use their can. This newer generation of trucks don't seem to care at all about their impact on a neighborhood and are only intent on sales of their products...

So let's predict how much longer it's going to take before I lose it... Before I break down and start screaming at the Ice Cream trucks, chase them down the street swinging a baseball bat at their Speakers to kill the awful music spewing forth with a handful of litter in the other hand that was deposited on my front lawn with no care from the vendor???

Place your bets folks, place your bets before you miss out and the event is over... In case I owe you money, if this does occur, you will probably be able to contact me in the local Jail. I'll pay up once I can raise enough cash to bail myself out.

I can't be the only person that's experiencing this...
Uggggggg! Enough said...

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JUST A BIKER

Reposted with permission from another forum:

JUST A BIKER:

I saw you hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.
But, you didn't see me, put an extra $10.00 in the collection plate last Sunday.

I saw you pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk.
But, you didn't see me, playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you change your mind about going into the restaurant.
But, you didn't see me, attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you, roll up your window and shake your head when I drove by.
But, you didn't see me, driving behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children.
But, you didn't see me, when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.

I saw you, stare at my long hair.
But you didn't see me, and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves.
But, you didn't see me, and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to those that had none.

I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos.
But, you didn't see me, cry as my children where born and have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you, change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.
But, you didn't see me, going home to be with my family.

I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.
But, you didn't see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.
But, you didn't see me pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you, reading the newspaper o r map as you drove down the road.
But, you didn't see me squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you, race down the road in the rain.
But, you didn't see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you, run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.
But, you didn't see me, trying to turn right.

I saw you, cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in.
But, you didn't see me, leave the road.

I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.
But, you didn't see me. I wasn't there.

I saw you, go home to your family.
But, you didn't see me. Because, I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a biker, a person with friends and a family.
But, you didn't see me.

Repost this around in hopes that people will understand the biker community.
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