Of humbleness, hubris and humility...

Here it is, almost the end of the year, with it being over a year since I first relocated to Washington.

I have realized, that through all my hard toiling and social networking, everything that I have accomplished has been rather much in vain. I find myself no closer to an actual job in my field in the design industry when I first ramped up my abilities to hopefully find a way into the industry. This comes after I had found out that I no longer qualified for emergency unemployment. Due to a technicality in relation to the hours worked in the state of Washington, paired with the fact that Wyoming has a lower unemployment rate, I was unable to qualify for additional emergency unemployment after the funds had exhausted.

And my extended vacation continues! Yay!
Without unemployment! Yay!
...wait, what?

And to further pour salt into the wound, after I've come to realized this, I have also been applying to other, as some may put it, mundane (not to belittle any employers out there, nor to cheapen the job) positions that I am overqualified for. However, these jobs that I've applied for thus far, as I am told, have already been filled by persons that have more experience within the area.

While I am rather irritated about the reasons (as it stands, I feel somewhat apathetic about them hiring people that are more qualified than my 10+ years of customer relations), I have a great deal of respect towards these hiring representatives. These representatives, more oriented towards blue-collar work, do not try to duck you by hiding behind secretaries and actually will speak to you if you ask for them by name, which is a great deal more than what I have with many of the design firms around Seattle, which already have an air of pretention about them, and utilizing such tactics only lends to that credibility. Even so, I still have to follow up with them in regards to the positions to see if they have been filled, even though they say they will follow up with me.

Wait a minute... my college diet had a lot more booze...

So, in the mean time, I have been living a rather sedentary lifestyle harkoning back to my college days due to my rather meager life-savings being rapidly depleted due to no regular income flowing into my coffers. As such, my diet has reverted back to my college days, consisting of many grains and starches. Granted, due to my vegetarian diet and food preferences, I've always been inclined to simple meals such as grilled cheese sandwiches, beans in their multitude of textures and sizes, and several pasta bowls (still haven't quite regained my taste for ramen).

But I have to say, I do miss the simple pleasures of a non-wage restricted diet, such as vege-burgers with toppings and condiments, fast-food french-fries and other deep-fried delicacies, an actual meal at a dining restaurant, or meals that tend to involve more than a light sprinkling of cheese. That's right; cheese. I have never considered cheese to be a garnishment, only ever a topping, an hors-d'oeuvre, or some critical ingredient in a full-spread meal.

For the record, this is not cheese.

And now for something that will blow the Millenial generations' minds: I remember when cheese was under $1 a pound when on sale. Yes, you read that correctly, a pound. Granted, it wasn't top-grade cheese, but it wasn't that imitation cheese slice crap either. Now, we're fortunate to find half the amount for three times the price I listed. At that same time, I'm sure some of you older readers are thinking aloud "Psh! That's nothing!". Conversely, I'm also trying to drive the point of how much the prices have been driven up by inflation within the last decade. As in, those prices were still around when you Millennial generation were alive. Anyways, the point being is cheese is fantastic.

Also, just as a side-note, does the game Candy-Land still use single-penny denominations? It's been a long while since I've seen penny-candy; inquiring minds that are too lazy to use the Google (me) want to know.

And I am sure there was something about you getting off my virtual representation of my lawn as well, but I'll stay my temper to bend your ear and get all ol'-folksy and wax nostalgic on you.

In the mean time, I have been catching up on the things that I've been putting off. I entered myself into NaNoWriMo again, and, not surprisingly, am already behind, but I am liking how my novel reboot is shaping up. While I might not make the November 30th deadline, I think I'll ply my writing expertise until I am happy with the finalized results. Who knows? Maybe the online community will enjoy it if I ever get around to publishing it. I know I am not the most succinct and exemplary writer out there, but I figure if my contemporaries are the likes of J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyers, and I do believe my arrogance in comparison to them, while unwarranted, is in check in regards to fictional literature. Rowling gets a pass as she was targeting a specific age demographic, but the vapid excuse of literary erotic tripe that was the Twilight series was awful and an affront to all fantasy-horror that came before. If you want decent vampire literature with a romanticized atmosphere, read Anne Rice; if you want werewolves, their fare is a little lighter in selection in regards to literature, but more than make up for it in regards to film.

Stephanie Meyer, for those
whom need to recognize
the enemy of the literary world.

Even so, if you want good traditional fiction and fantasy stories, I recommend Brothers Grimm, Arabian Nights (also known as A Thousand Nights and a Night), Anne Rice, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare, Homer, and pretty much every old folktale native to Scandinavian countries, and classics such as Brahms Stoker and Mary Shelley. You know, traditional monsters you would most likely relate to the Hellboy Universe (yes, traditional faeries were evil creatures, dwarfs were assholes and back-stabbing bastards, and mythical creatures like elves were less likely to bring you prosperity and more likely to eat your face or your newborn baby--or steal your child and raise them as their own... or raise them to be eaten... or eat them and then raise them as undead... each folktale is different).

Getting back on track, my writing of this blog is very rarely exercised with the same amount of caution and detail that goes into my professional writing, fictional or non-fictional as it may be. Something that takes me a few hours to write (such as these blog posts) usually takes me triple the time in a word document, as I tend to nit-pick, revise, and scrap and start anew if a paragraph does not meet my journalistic or literary standards.

And speaking of standards, we are currently upon the eve of a very important date. Those of us whom are more politically oriented know this as Election Day. While I do try to keep out of politics as much as possible, I do have to admit my fears, while still present in regards to this election, have been significantly dampened over the last few weeks. I would still prefer a popular voting system to be established rather than an electoral college voting system (which I feel is broken, debased, and corrupt), it looks as though Obama is going to win this election.

Quite frankly, I've become disenchanted with Obama over the legislation that he has passed over the last half of the election (such as his support of the NDAA, The PATRIOT Act, and the No Child Left Behind Act and some of his actions that he performed while under the umbrella of those and of other parts of the U.S. Constitution, and his wish-washiness regarding DOMA, PIPA, and CISPA) and how adamantly he has fought over the Affordable Healthcare Act (aka Obamacare) when he should have been reallocating funds and materials to help rebuild our country's infrastructure and throwing corrupt bankers into prison (not jail, prison).

However, I still look at his main competition, and recall that, even though Barack has not completely fixed the mess created by the previous Republican administration that caused the housing and bank bailout and the Great Recession (I call it the 2nd Great Depression, as nothing has been felt like it since the first Great Depression that were the result of the dustbowls, WWI and WWII and the general financial collapse). What I really hope Obama does, is actually revisit some of his previous policies he was hoping to enact when he first ran, such as the overhaul of our transportation infrastructure (though, considering he didn't even mention it during these past debates, it leads me to believe that it is beyond repair).

Unfortunately, this is not one of those times.

Even so, when I was able to actually vote in our four-year elections, I usually weigh the policies of what the candidates propose, and then I weigh that against their track-record (I do this for all candidates). If we were ever to break away from the bi-party system, I would actually vote either Green or Independent, and while several people may argue that I am throwing away my vote by not voting for the person I respect, I feel it is also my vote to keep the candidates I most fear out of office.

Right now, that is the Romney-Ryan ticket. To be fair, I weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each candidate over every election cycle. Though I was too young to vote for the 2000 election, my leaning was for Bush, as I regarded him as the lesser of the two idiots. 2004, I was divided amongst Kerry and re-electing Bush for four more years, as was most of the country in both the public and electoral votes. After being on the fence until the last month I finally decided to vote for Kerry not due to his policies, but through the insight that I hoped would flow through his wife and into his administration. Teresa Heinz-Kerry, though a part of the upper 2% (1%?), was very insightful of our economy and the predicament it was in after the dot-com bust and the massive outsourcing that came with it, and while part of the socially elite, had a greater understanding of the backbone of the United States. Perhaps it is my belief that behind every strong man (though that might be an understatement) there is an even stronger woman.

That last line being stated, that is one of the many reasons why I voted for Obama this past term. I felt that McCain flip-flopped too many time on his international policies, especially regarding war, terrorism, and torture interrogation for my comfort, and there would be a greater disparity from the top and bottom middle-income earners if he were elected. His running-mate, Sarah Palin, I felt was more inept than either George W. Bush or Al Gore. The two aforementioned still had their strengths in one or two fields; Mrs. Palin did not have the strength to complete her terms under several state-appointed government positions, which also led me to believe that her integrity as a Vice-President, as well as all appointed duties associated with the office, would be too much for her. In terms of McCain's war-mongering, and Palin's short-sightedness on foreign policy, I felt that this would not be a successful pairing. Additionally with the fact that there was a major uprising of hate-group movements due to the fear of we were potentially voting a black, Socialist, Commie, Atheist Muslim of questionable citizenry into office (yes, I know, this is for the current election term, but the argument remains valid... trust me, dig back far enough and there was even more vitriol in the 2008 elections), fueled mostly by the conservative majority and their cronies, led me to vote against the Republican Party.

That being said, I don't hate Obama for the same reasons specified above, but for his inability to do specific details of his job that we elected him to do as a world leader (mostly the reasons on the last few pages at the time of this writing). In all fairness, the current environment is not strictly Obama's fault, such as evidenced here, and here in the supporting links, and most especially here. I'm hoping that he revisits these policies and tells Congress where to stick it, such as what he did with Obamacare.

Now that I am currently in a more democratic state (both in name and applied principle), I feel I can vote according to how I wish and actually have it count (as opposed to Wyoming, which has the same electoral votes since it was first established as a state, regardless of the fact that one of the votes should be Democrat). Also, I don't have to worry (as much) about total nut-jobs like this guy being elected (in my opinion, anyways... Not going to vouch for his supporters that elected him into office). I additionally don't get representatives that change their opinions, or if they do, I at least have a likely replacement. However, almost all of the platforms (I haven't extensively verified this, but it looks fairly sound) stick to their moral compass and don't change. That being said and mentioned in a previous post, this is the first Primary election that I voted straight-ticket (not because I could, but the candidates I thought were most in line with my own beliefs were in the Democratic party), and I will most likely vote straight-ticket tomorrow after I verify my selections.

While I have pretty much made up my mind in terms of whom I am electing, that should not be an excuse for you to completely blow off your duty and privilege as an American to vote. Yeah, voting for neither candidate makes the point that you don't approve of either, but that means one less vote that counts for the candidate you like the least. I don't care who you vote for: Republican, Democrat, Green, Independant... so long as you get out and vote. And yes, the electoral vote is not truly representative of the public vote, but it is supposed to be, and helps determine how much the next President-Elect should be worried about keeping his job. And even if you don't get out to vote in time this election, there are still the following two and four year elections.

If this is your first time getting out voting, whether you just turned eighteen or eighty (or whatever age beyond eighteen), and have no clue where to go, this has information. Google can also help you find your polling location, but I would use the official channels first before doing things last minute (and if you are reading this on November 6th, 2012, things do not get much more last minute than this).

Anyways, have a good day, and best wishes to all of you out there!

Rick

Edit: 2:01pm November 6th, 2012: I actually wish to correct myself-- After assessing the candidates on my ballot, I decided not to vote for a couple Democratic candidates that did not match my core beliefs regarding a number of issues. I additionally did not vote for any of the Justices that did not have any form of platform that was readily available (such as a website, voting history, endorsements, etc.).

An Open Letter to Human Resources

Dear Human Resources Manager,

Of compromises and compulsory rage…

As I type here late at night, I am just returning from my visit to my family and some of my closest friends. Granted, while this might not be the best investment of money, as I am still searching for a job, I felt an obligation to return to my roots, in which the state of Wyoming and The City have been devoid of my presence for almost a full year.

I cannot say that I wholly missed it.

Of futile efforts, HR, hiring practices, and hopes...

In all my time of looking for work, ever since I relocated, I would have to say that this has been the hardest period of searching, and most trying for my patience.

Of Anniversaries, Awareness and Resolutions

I realized that in a few days, I will be celebrating my tenth anniversary of becoming a vegetarian.

So, about those resolutions...

Yes, I admit, I have been shirking my responsibilities a little bit, but I have been holding up to my list... Just not as diligently as I would hope to.

Of New Years Resolutions and Work...

I thought it would be entertaining to post a few New Year resolutions that I plan to stick to: