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!