Upbeat and beat up

I've heard that looking for a job is the hardest job. I've been going at it for awhile now and am reasonably assured that I have enough irons in the fire to result in me getting hired. While I am optimistic about the job hunt, I find it to be all consuming. There is no such thing as half looking for a job, because it won't happen.

On a web analytics note, there are about 20 heavy readers of the blog, which I think is good. Slow, organic growth of views is good for websites, especially a blog about whatever it is I am thinking about. From the onset it has been a case study of Entrepreneurial Cognition.

Goals:
I) Pack up all my stuff in Miami and sell most of my furniture
II) Get Hired and Relocate
III) Work and play
VI) Go back to school

The first three are something I hope to accomplish within two months;  Going back to school seems very appealing to me. Although life is a continual learning process, Higher education is something I aspire to.

Closed-Loop Cronyism: Contemporary Examination

Labor unions in the 50's 60's and 70's wielded tremendous power. With this power came money, and of course organizations like the Teamsters. This organization basically built Las Vegas and padded the pockets of those behind the scenes. For more evidence, watch Casino directed by Martin Scorsese.

To enter a labor union, you have to "know somebody." In Corporate America this was not always the case. The best and brightest are recruited and compensated adequately to prevent thoughts of leaving the company. However, Cronyism still exists in the cubicles and HR departments. Am I suggesting that it is rampant or anywhere near levels seen in organized crime, no. I'm just saying that you still need to "know somebody." Especially in an economic climate where a net of 18,000 jobs are produced a month.

Cronyism isn't the only factor in a closed loop job system. After sifting through thousands of position openings I discovered that the requirements that must be met can only be met by certain candidates. For example, in order to get a local job in Electronic Medical Records, one must be Epic certified.  In order to be Epic certified, you must have worked at Epic or be grandfathered in at a hospital that adopted Epic Systems. So these high paying jobs within the local community are not even offered to local individuals due to the exclusionary nature of the job requirements. Closed Loop System..... Bummer.

Thesis: Blogging + Being Busy = Inverse Relationship

I find that being busy has an inverse relationship with blogging; aka the busier one is the less they blog, being that I have been busy I have tested this on a small scale. It is true. Having just gotten back from Atlanta for the 4th, I am not busy and therefore blog. As it was a holiday weekend I eavesdropped on some very interesting conversation pieces

Strange and random quotes from drunken strangers:

I) "Yeah, I don't really think the Mormons know what they're talking about. I think Jesus was actually a space alien, think about it. (Bryan Chuckling in background) Ascending into heaven..... sounds like a tractor beam to me."
The Mythbusters guys actually tried this one and its most definitely busted.

On my road trip I attended an Irish wake. I don't know how many of you are familiar with tradition but basically everyone sits around a dead body and tells stories of fond memories and how the person was great. After the burial everyone is invited to eat a meal and beverage where old family stories are told.

My Great Aunt passed away at 91. She was an extremely nice loving person who was ready to pass on to the hereafter and did so peacefully last week. So after we left, my Mom calls up my Grandma and tells her about the funeral and then briefly mentions that they found a mattress full of cash; summing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and left it at that.

My mother felt bad, called back and said all the other stuff was true except for the cash mattress but I didn't get a chance to really break down what happened until 5 minuets later.

Jargon Summery: "Hey, your sister died. It was a beautiful service, everyone is doing well, she passed peacefully and she left you a million dollars........JUST KIDDING! HAHAHA..... Oh, yeah but your sister is still dead."

Messed up practical joke....

Preview for next blog post: Lessons in morality and hilarity.

Heat vs. Dirk

Dirk Nowitzki is having the NBA finals of his life, even though he is running a 102 degree fever. You don't see many players in their 13th year finally hitting their stride. I mean that whole Dallas team is older than dirt in NBA years.

If this guy were coming at me I'd be a little afraid also. 

It really is the Heat's series to lose. Although anything can happen in playoff basketball, second to an act of God, or Dirk, I don't see it going any other way, just a question of how many games will the series go to. 

Everyone hates the Heat because their team was "bought."

I'm not really sure if anyone was paying attention but these players actually took a pay cut to play together.... so that is a misconception. Second, who hated the dream team when they won the Olympics year, after year, after year.
I like to root for the underdog too, its always great to see a Cinderella story.
But after recently taking my talents from South Beach, my prospects aren't exactly those of the Heat. We'll see.

Now Serving Hot $&*^ Sandwiches with a side of WTF: 9.1% Real Unemployment

The monthly unemployment report came out a couple days ago putting unemployment now at 9.1%, Jobs created in May were about 1/3 less than expected, yet one remains optimistic.
Some people are glass half empty people, saying that the economy isn't going to get better. This is not beneficial according to new study done by UMiami saying that economic recovery is faster in more optimistic states.

http://bus.miami.edu/news-and-media/recent-news/kumar-mood-economy.html

While I was on the board for UMiami democrats, I'm not one to blindly follow a party over who I believe would be the best candidate at the time. Mitt Romney seems like a better candidate to deal with the economic decline our country is in and would do a better job on that side of things.

A lot of my democrat friends would put me to the rack for this, but I'm willing to put party lines aside for the sake of American prosperity.

I am recently privy to information regarding a job that was created in May, the identity of the persons and company have been changed to protect me from getting reprimanded. But lets just say "Kelly Jones" just graduated from "Panhandle University", submitted resumes with falsified addresses and got a job within four weeks. Well, unfortunately for "DiscountMailOrderBrides4u.com", the company that hired Kelly Jones, she's "a little nuts."But they have time to find that out and I suppose that's what pink slips are for anyway.

Back to my perpetual optimism; Due to my recent use of Google analytics I can see statistics on various traffic on the website within the US. Those readers outside US boarders need not worry, Google hasn't figured that out yet. Traffic is up, return rate is way up, content quality is down, which is what I need to work on. Funniness. I have work to do but the next couple updates will be that of comedic gold. So begin waiting with bated breath.

The Times They Are a'Changing

James Brown was one of the best showmen that ever existed. Watch him on youtube, he was 50 and moving so fast the flash would have a hard time keeping up with the foot work.

Yup, that man certainly was a sex machine, just ran out of gas.

James Brown

(May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006)

I digress.... I wanted to partake in some post rapture looting, unfortunately that didn't pan out. I guess there's always 2012. 

I digress again, I suppose the question on everyones mind, or all 36 of you that read my blog, how do I know that times are a changing for myself and the free world? Estoy contento. I don't need anything, wants are there but the sobering truth is no matter how bad the economy is or how hard the job search is, the fortuitous string of fortunate events that have led me to this place and continue to occur (albeit less slowly than my impatient self would like) on a daily basis. 

Bette Middler would say God is watching us from a distance, Religion is a highly personal thing, and who am I to tell you what to believe blah blah blah blah. A better question is fate vs. free will. I for one believe it is 100% free  will, but the world is such a small place and our interpersonal places, habits, or "rounds" as I occasionally refer to habitual and ritualized frequenting of different locations for social interaction. 

Regressing.... fortunate events, I feel it in my bones that a big change is coming for me. It doesn't hurt that I'm loading the odds in my favor and the chance of change. Plus the fact that is is an eventuality doesn't hurt either. I mean I'm not going to live in Naples for long, I mean there's definitely a fire lit under my ass. Also regaining my fighting spirit, got the wind knocked out of me and while its something I don't like to admit its nothing to be ashamed of. Everybody hurts, sometime....

Man whats up with this, it seems that every post has a theme, and this one is music, but mostly bad. This must be remedied.

Beatles- Everyone's favorite band. 

The Doors

(I tried to replicate Jim Morrison's fashion sense)

*SERVER ERROR*

Oh well, you get the point.... Also check out The Black Keys, my new favorite. 

Do I use my blog as a podium: Yes, it is my digital soap box. If you don't like it, why have you read all this? Am I trying to make the world a better place: yes, I was asked that at work by a guy that is in the army studying to be a doctor. He looked at my brochure and asked me if I was trying to save the world. Yes, one step at a time.  The brochure is being printed by NCH and distributed as well as translated into Spanish and Creole. 

I can feel it in my bones, a big change is coming. 

Epic Systems Fail.....

No it wasn't the 2K computer crash, or the web 2.0 bubble popping in everyones face, it was my  notification from Epic Systems that my employment opportunity was an epic fail. This would be of little recourse as I have been actively seeking employment for some time, and received hundreds of rejections, some from employers, some not, but I've also been on the dating scene for a couple years now so that doesn't phase me. However I had gotten the farthest with this application process.

Employee reviews here:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Epic-Systems-Corporation-Reviews-E35163.htm

Oh! The figurative dagger through the heart, and I was growing fond of the idea of Wisconsin winters and writing about health informatics. Alas, must reboot the system. I am going to be doing some work integrating NCH's ElectronicMedicalRecords or EMR system with the Women's Health Foundation which will get my feet wet.

Applying to Arthrex, a local joint manufacturing company, this isn't California so I must be talking about Hip replacements. They are growing and as a reasonable individual I wouldn't believe it to be outrageous to think I would be employed there. However, I really really really want to get out of Naples/Ft. Myers/Estero/ Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale and don't want to go anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line.

Philly seems like a nice city, I have family and friends in the area and a really cool potential roommate if I want to move up there in August.
Companies headquartered around Philly include but are not limited to Accenture, Deloitte, Adelphia, Shire Plc. and many others. It would be a welcome change, but I've found the more plans I make the less they materialize. So I suppose the plan for the immediate future is continuing the job scavenger hunt. Hope I land a good one.