News Everywhere

What a gorgeous day! Sunny, warm, small clouds floating across the sky. It was also quiet here. Although it was a great day to sit out, tan and cool off in the pool, here I sat.

This week while discussing the Oil Spew via Twitter, I asked this question, "do you think that there is a relationship between oil drilling and earthquakes?". The person didn't know but another follower sent me the following information on the Kettleman North Dome Oil Field. Read the article from Wikipedia. It doesn't take much to put two and two together and get four.

Notes from the Home Front

I had won an online contest on Twitter from Grand Central Publishing, formerly known as Time Warner Books - name changed in 2006. The book I won is "Innocent" by Scott Turow. Personally, I had never heard of him before but will definitely give this a read. It is the sequel book to "Presumed Innocent" - guess I'll have to purchase and read that first. Thank you to @gcpeditor for the contest and getting the book out!

The review copy of the "The Lion" by Nelson DeMille hasn't been received yet. One of my tweets was seen mentioning reading Nelson's "The Gate House", and that is how I started following @grandcentralpub and @gcpeditor. Perhaps you should follow them too!

Something you may not know about me - I love freebies! Don't you? I was very surprised at the mailbox yesterday, in addition to the book, I received a nice recycled bag from Green Giant Foods. It was a big surprise as I forgot I even signed up for it.

As a shameless plug, you might want to check out Fees and Deals blog and podcast, see the link on the right hand side of this page. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, tune in via iTunes to listen to our FREE podcast. All comments are welcome and encouraged. We provide great information on all kinds of ridiculous fees that you want to know about and deals for those who love to save money.

National News

Arizona

Drug Cartels

During all that television watching, there is a National Park in Arizona that has been closed for four years due to drug and human trafficking.

The article - It Begins... Obama Gives Major Swath of Arizona Back to Mexico. Here is an excerpt from the article "Unbelievable! The federal government is now telling American citizens to stay out of three southern Arizona counties because of invading violent illegals. The Mexican cartels have essentially taken over US territory with violence and intimidation to ply illegal
activities and the Obamanation Administration tells Americans to not venture into the area for fear of offending the criminals." It's no wonder why Governor Jan Brewer is making her mark on history for her state.

Arizona Rancher Killed

It's my opinion that some, er, most, people are very trusting. Time to stop that people! Be suspicious! Watch your back!

Slain Arizona rancher told family illegal alien needed help - An Arizona rancher who was killed in March transmitted a radio message to family shortly before he was shot to death, according to a newly released report from the Cochise County Sheriff's Department. Read the full article by CNN's Anderson Cooper on his AC360 blog.

New York

I actually can't believe that this hasn't been addressed sooner but N.Y. Moves Closer to No-Fault Divorce. Read all about it!

Here in Colorado, if you want a divorce, and both parties agree, print out the paperwork from the Colorado site, pay $90 (that's what it was in 2003), and your divorce is granted within 90 days.

GLBT

By now most everyone knows about Proposition 8, that law that repealed the law that allowed Gays, and Lesbians marry - also known as "Same Sex Marriages". A "Proposition 8 Judge troubled by lack of evidence from defense" - will this finally give Californians back the legal rights to "Same Sex Marriage". Read all about it!

US Senate Proceedings

So many amendments on HR 4213, also known as the "extenders bill". I was able to catch Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) speak on how our government can save money.

Before I tell you his ideas, I would like to note here that I am not affiliated with any party nor do I privately endorse one party over another. From my prior posts, you should have figured out that I'm for the "person" and not the "party".

If you watched Senator Tom Coburn, no matter what party affiliation you have, you would have admired the job he's doing for his Great State of Oklahoma and on his ideas on how to shave down the federal deficit. He showed a poster with a list of places that need cuts. He explained that there are many many duplicate Federal Programs and while these are duplicates, no one knows exactly how many programs are funded. Duplicate programs with duplicate funding = deficit for the duplicate program. Senator Coburn went on to explain that the average worker in the United States makes approximately $42,000/year, while Federal Workers on average are making $78,000/year not including the differences in healthcare insurance. *Note* - these numbers are from my recollection of his speech. Did you know that there is a law that Senate has passed over and over again regarding empty federal buildings? Yes, there is. By all rights, shouldn't these empty buildings be sold? Yes, that's what I thought too, they should be. No, they just sit - another loss of revenue. Did you ask what happens to Air Force, Army, and Naval bases when one is closed? Yes, I think I hear someone - they are supposed to be to help house the homeless - surprised, huh? Is this done? NO! If memory serves me correctly, there is some law prohibiting that too. There is more the Senator Coburn pointed out, one item that was most interesting was that there is a high percentage of those federal workers making $78,000 and more that don't pay taxes - it's not that they are exempt, they are delinquent! It amounts to approximately $3 BILLION.

Surf on over to Senator Tom Coburn's website, give him an atta-boy! I did!

Local News

Is Colorado going broke? That should be a question to start conversation with anyone! It is my belief that because people who are still unemployed and have run out of unemployment insurance benefits, they have turned to the Social Services Department. The article - Colorado delays Medicaid payments - may just have proved me right. Read why this has happened.

(Un)Employment News

Does your resume need a new look? From the Infoployment blog comes this article - Ditch the Objective on Your Resume - This is 2010 and every hiring manager knows that you are looking for ‘A challenging and rewarding position with a growing company that utilizes your expertise and offers career advancement.’ Finish reading here.

Useful Information

Have you ever gotten dressed for a meeting or a date and had your dress or slacks become victims of "static cling"? Have you used WD-40 to loosen a tight bolt? Did you think that baking soda was only good for baking and killing odors in your refrigerator? Need to fasten something or make new clothes using your own fashion sense, duct tape is your answer!

Here are some links for more uses.

40 fantastic uses for baking soda

List of 2000+ uses for wd-40 - this is a pdf file and needs Adobe Reader to view

The many uses for Duct Tape .. some of these are humorous

Creative Uses for Dryer Sheets

My Senator Mark Udall Tweet of the Day

@MarkUdall #askudall #unemployment WHY didn't extenders bill not pass? How did YOU
vote? You're committing murder 4 unemployed if you said NO.

STAND UP AND BE HEARD!

REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER WHICH POLITICIAN DID YOU RIGHT AND WRONG!

Another Manic Monday

Well folks, the temperature got up to 75 today but again there is snow in the forecast for the higher elevations. Tonight, down on the "front range" we have heat lightning crossing the skies. It's really rather eerie.

Notes from the Home Front

So far, the replanted cucumbers are doing well. There are 5 new sprouts in the green pepper pot. I sat outside on the balcony today and started reading Nelson DeMille's "The Gate House".

Unemployment News

There is a website for signing a petition that will go to President Obama and Congress on the expiration of unemployment benefits. Please SIGN the petition here, write your own comments and personal note, read the comments of others.

I have signed it and as well, wrote comments and a personal note to both the President and Congress. The following were my comments and personal note:

where are these jobs supposedly created? In Colorado all I see is construction - I'm 53 y/o and unable to use a jackhammer! Where are the jobs? You know, I'll tell you - they are mostly GOVERNMENT jobs in and around Washington DC. Are you willing to write KSA's and give me a job? how about relocating me?

I've been unemployed for OVER a year. Where are MY 99 weeks? Why hasn't anyone corrected the percentage rate of unemployment to include people who have LOST unemployment benefits and are STILL unemployed? Why? I'll tell you ... because you don't want to give anything more except for spending where you don't need to! That's why! Well this will show up as higher welfare payouts, etc. WE WANT JOBS!

And to add insult to injury, if you call the unemployment line, you either get a recording telling you to call back at some other time, OR you get to be on hold for up to over an hour. As if you weren't stressed enough for being out of work.

For more information on unemployment, check out the blogsite of US Unemployed. Link here.

National News

New York Governor considering 10,000 layoffs. Read about this and how he wanted to furlough state workers here.

Colorado has been doing "furlough days" for about a year, perhaps more.

I attribute this "habit" to mismanagement of tax money and funds from the American Reinvestment Act among other funding.

Here in Colorado, Governor Ritter's administration, I believe it was his chief of staff, signed off on jobs last year that weren't "immediate need jobs". There was a check off box to show the immediate need for some jobs, most he didn't even check off. More on the travesties of Colorado, there have been government workers who were on administrative leave with full pay, while these workers wanted to return to their jobs, they were unable. WHY? Because the state hired "duplicate" workers to fill in at the same rate of pay. Resource - The Denver Channel investigations.

In other National News, there was another bank show down in Washington DC, on K Street. Live video was shown on the moveon.org website. To find information on that, click here.

Twitter News

I have "met" some of the most interesting people on Twitter this week and gained nearly double my followers. Mostly there is one thing in common - #unemployment, #recession, #jobs. I'd love to have everyone add some hashtags that you use when twittering. They could be anything - please list the hashtag and what you use it for in the comments section below.

Between applying for jobs, worrying about where my next money will come from, when I'll find a proper job, it's been an exhausting day.

So again, I'll bring this days blog post to an end.

As always,

STAND UP AND BE HEARD!

Manic Monday

The start of the new week brings many new items to view.

The skies are blue here, sun is out, trees continue to bloom along with flowers.

Have any of you started a vegetable garden? Do you enjoy planting flowers? I do! Since I live in an apartment with a nice but on the smaller side balcony, I've started using pots, potting soil and seeds from my local Dollar Tree to plant flowers and vegetables in my living room by the balcony door. So far, I have gladiolas, cucumbers and noticed a green pepper plant sprouting up today. I'll post pictures as soon as I take some. The cost to date has been $6.50. Of course, I'll have to repot the cucumber plants to separate them. $6.50 is a small price to pay for brightening up a day with homegrown flowers and vegetables which I will eat and share with friends. For those of you who like "organic", does it get any better than this?

On the unemployment issues, they continue.

Something bad, what is wrong here?

Here in Colorado, there was a bill introduced for spending money on job re-training scholarships. It was Senate Bill (SB10-039) which can be found by clicking here. This bill would have created scholarships for people to fund classes, certificates or degrees at vocational schools, junior colleges, community colleges, apprenticeship programs or 4 year institutions, in short. There are approximately 90,000 Coloradans out of work since November 2008. I seriously think that number is on the lower side of actual unemployed people now. I don't think that these numbers reflect the amount of unemployed people who no longer are eligible for unemployment benefits. While new jobs have been created, most people would need some kind of re-training or extra training to obtain them. Unfortunately, the bill was defeated in the House Education Committee.

Something good, so positive!

As pointed out to me by a VERY dear friend, one who I consider better than family, there was an article via www.consumerist.com regarding an Irish Pub Starting an Unemployment Aid Office. The full story can be found at this link. Although the story is based on a pub in New York, it sure does give the right message! Use what you have, help others! They don't guarantee that the people they assist will find a job but every little bit DOES help! As a proud New Yorker, I say "only in NY will you find something like this". Yes, there have been "meetup" groups solely started to help with resumes, cover letters and job searches but they come and go as fast as we can turn around.

It should be known that you can take this gal out of NY, but you can't take NY out of this gal"!

My goal is to network with as many people who are unemployed or looking for a career change as possible. Some of you might excel in resume writing, cover letters and other such items. Some might have skills in searching for that "hard to find" position. Wouldn't it be great to "donate a gift card" to these people for their assistance instead of paying "mega-dollars" for some company that produces thousands of resumes a day as a business? I don't know about you, but I like the "personal" touch opposed to "big business" handling my future.

One of my readers commented and gave a new website for job searching. It's www.jobdig.com, they have a good site. It's worth checking out!

This brings to memory something that happened to me about 5 or so months ago. One of my online "friends" who regularly posts 'entry-level' or 'very high end' job openings asked for my resume. After sending it, and receiving this "friends" review, I was solicited in the form of chat to have my resume redone with a cover letter for $125! Appalling!

In National News, this story written by CNN really breaks my heart. As if the devastation of Hurricane Katrina wasn't enough and yet years later areas are still in the same shape as they were days later - we now have other areas/states with flooding, heavy rains, and tornadoes. The article from CNN found here shows the damage. Can anyone comment further on what states and the government are doing to help?

Comments are ALWAYS welcome!