Thankful?

I am sorry for the vacation in posts – a lot has been going on.

• I started running again.
• I had 2 interviews
• I had to work one day
• My car broke

This is not going to be a long post, just wanted to say that I am thankful for the family Santa Fe, which broke, but was easily fixed.

All hail the Eff-EE

'84 or '9 & '10

Back in 84, if you wanted to call someone, you looked them up in the phone book and then used an old phone with a dial – no touch pad. God help you if you had an area code and you messed up – it took a while to redial. Nowadays, you look up a persons address and phone number based upon their city. Then you plug that into another website, and find their business and possibly compensation. Last, you look up their LinkedIN, and find all their coworkers.

How times have changed.

I have several blogs: a running journal where this site was born, a professional portfolio, a blog offering editing services, my “dumb ideas” site, and this one. My baby is the portfolio site: I post a link to it for my business contacts, my applications, on my resume and cover letters as I attempt to get another full-time engineering job. The site has a counter and once a week, when I wake up to go to my part-time job, I look on my phone’s email, and I get a message telling me people have looked at my portfolio. Generally they are professionals or occasionally an errant search, but (and this is unfortunate) someone subscribed to it, and occasionally, I get a hit from the subscription service.

I know who this person is, and haven’t really talked to them in about 14 years this thanksgiving.

The accessibility that comes with life today can be rife with pitfalls such as this; I don’t want that person to see my site, but more importantly I don’t want to get my hopes up, just to see that it is another DUM(B)my hit.

What’s scary is that this can happen at anytime… if they know your name and the city where you live, they can pay someone to get your address and then send you mail.

Let’s be honest. I occasionally do research work for my job. I look up people’s addresses, home value, business information, and occasionally determine publicly disclosed compensation. The only caveat is that these people contacted my employer – just didn’t provide 100% of their info; I just fill in the dots, and I never pay.

As far as blogs go, I think they provide an outlet for thoughts and a place to hone writing. Bill Simmons, ESPN’s The Sports Guy, for example, started sports writing on what could be considered a precursor to blogs. Now he is an accomplished artist, columnist, sports authority, screen writer, and producer. He found his voice on the web – aren’t we all?

That being said, I appreciate readers, followers, and commenter. I like the independent readers as well as repeat readers – if no one is reading, why am I writing (I will answer that in another post)? Followers let me know that people actively read my content, and they want my content delivered. Commenters are the best as they help me to improve. My friend, if you will, is none of the above. I fear that I am delivered to an inbox daily, and at the end of the day, there is some connection felt on the other end whereby I am known better, and the two of us are closer.

Let’s be honest – I am a bitter, depressed, disillusioned young man – my friend cannot relate!

Just let this be a cautionary tale… if you allow your blog to be ‘open,’ you may let a little crazy in.

Homes should power themselves – kind of…

In Phoenix, Arizona, sunshine is bountiful. So much so that the nation’s largest solar plant is being built just south, near Gila Bend, and apparently another closer to Phoenix by the Salt River Project (SRP – an electric utility).

Salt River Project is planning a massive solar-power plant in the southeast Valley and wants to offer its power to customers instead of having them install panels on their homes to make their own power. AZCentral

Many older and newer homes have PV solar panes (photovoltaic) on their homes and solar powered water heaters. From personal experience, tap water in summer is about 80 degrees at 6 A.M., when it’s coldest. Summer natural gas bills in my home drop down to the $16 in fees I would get charged whether or not I use any gas. Oddly enough, while government rebates do exist, and solar is encouraged, the cities in the “Valley of the Sun” do not mandate solar power usage on residential construction, much less anything other zoning.

Generally, when a residential subdivision is built, streets are constructed within the subdivision and improved outside of it and utilities are extended – all typically at the developer’s cost, which in turn gets passed onto the eventual homebuyer. Hence improved lots cost more than non-improved lots. Additionally, development fees are charged, but this varies from state to state. In Arizona, these development fees consist of money to build police, fire, and educational facilities to service the new population. If the subdivision is big enough, and some got to be 4-sq. mi. (25,600 Acres), typically the developer had to construct all these facilities, to City specifications, on land that the developer had to set aside.

Let’s assume, on 640 acres (1 sq. mi.) you can fit 7 homes per acre (I think I am sitting on under a tenth of an acre), for a total of 4,480 saleable lots, with an average development fee/cost of $10,000 per lot, you’re looking at $44 mill in developer costs that is passed onto lot buyers.

I am not saying that this is wasted money, although, undoubtedly, some is; rather I am saying is that the home buying public, by and large, can afford to pay more. But the question is, “More, for what?” or where will this additional money go?

Since Phoenix was hit hard by the housing bubble, there needs to be a value-added service for any additional fees, so I say why not solar, and why not, more importantly, institutional solar? By institutional solar, I mean charge $10k per lot, and funnel that money directly to a solar power plant. Solar technology with external combustion, solar heat exchangers, and ridiculous solar concentrators are all more efficient than simple PVs.

One large power plant is more cost-efficient than SRP providing rebates to several hundred homeowners for their own solar-power systems [$30,000 to $70,000].

Now I have no idea what these things cost, but I am willing to bet that electric utilities, such as SRP, wouldn’t build anything without a 10-year or less pay-off (the sale of the power generated will pay for the construction and maintenance of the plant, as well as electricity transmission. within 10 years).

So if home owners would essentially buy into carbon neutral homes using existing technology on a large-scale while helping to build the infrastructure for the existing homes at the same time. Additionally, solar power built in this manner may become competitively priced when compared to coal, and the region would be better for it.

The [article's proposed] project is the latest in a series of new solar-power plants planned for the state as well as the latest in creative financing to pay for solar energy, which is typically more costly than traditional power sources.

Several companies now offer leasing arrangements or bulk purchases in Arizona, but the concept of letting people buy into a central power plant is new to the state.

Phoenix has sun… why there hasn’t been a mandatory solar power requirement on the books since ’85 is beyond me. This needs to change.

Maybe this would be cheaper and more productive than the stimulus.

Making Goals with B.O.

Obama’s social change agenda timeline has failed to live up best intentions:

“As a professor of constitutional law, Barack Obama gave his students eight hours to complete his exam—even though the exam was designed, he wrote in the instructions, "to be completed in three hours." Now that he's president, Obama could use that kind of cushion. Upon taking office, the president promised that the prison at Guantanamo Bay would close in a year. He now says it will not. He demanded that Congress pass a health care bill by August. It still hasn't. The president's promise to sign a health care bill this year has now been pushed into 2010. Obama was also going to announce his new Afghanistan strategy in early November. It may now come as much as a month later. There are also delays—some, of course, beyond his control—in seating judicial nominations and passing climate-change legislation.” Slate

The one thing that has steamed me, since January, is the general lack of bipartisanship; I thought Obama was going to put the Bush presidency behind him, move forward, and do what is right for the country. Instead we get a partisan ‘stimulus’ plan, a partisan health care plan, and a partisan climate change bill, - not that any of these are not important or un-useful, rather if he gets climate change and health care passed, he will be considered a great president. Unfortunately, and just look up “stimulus plan pork” for commentary, any bill will have pork, undoubtedly lopsided to the left/social side of things, and cost more than it should.

“Yet Obama doesn't like it when people point out that he's missing deadlines. He warns against judging him out of context. Obama rails against the media's and his critics' artificial deadlines—why haven't you ended the wars yet, he asks, mockingly. Indeed he has been busy. The problem with all of this is that it is Obama himself who set the deadlines in the first place. Even now, he's setting suspiciously deadline-like expectations on Afghanistan policy as other deadlines on other issues pass.” Slate

What amuses me is that Obama has either A., lost his grip on his constituency, or B., would rather do things right.

1. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), my political hero, holds listening sessions in every one of Wisconsins 72 counties each year. I think listening to his constituents and to those of the other Wisconsin senator (Sen. Herb Kohl (D)) gives Russ the ability to serve the state, and generally serve the nation’s middle in an fair and balanced way. Granted he may have voted pro Dem lately and tried to impeach Bush II, but when I was a Wisco resident I thought Him and Herbie did a good job. Yea to you Russ for feeling out the nation in ’07 and ’08, I thought it gave you additional insight to the country's needs as a whole.

“In late January 2005, Feingold told the Tiger Bay Club of Volusia County, Florida that he intended to travel around the country before deciding whether or not to run in 2008.[24] In March 2005, his Senate campaign staff registered the domain www.russfeingold08.com, as well as the .org and .net versions; Feingold will not face reelection to the Senate until the 2010 election.[25] On June 1, 2005, Feingold launched a political action committee (PAC), the Progressive Patriots Fund; launching a PAC is seen as an important step in running for President. A "draft Feingold" movement was established, independent of the senator's campaign.[26]” WikiPedia (referenced)

I am sure if Obama had talked to Feingold, Russ would have told him the Guantanamo base closure within a year was a great idea, but nobody wanted potential terrorists in their backyard.


2. Health Care, and the August Deadline

“Democrats had three reasons for concern. The director of the Congressional Budget Office warned Thursday that the legislative proposals so far would not slow the growth of health spending, a crucial goal for Mr. Obama as he also tries to extend insurance to more than 45 million Americans who lack it.

“Second, even with House committees working in marathon sessions this week, it was clear that Democrats could not meet their goal of passing bills before the summer recess without barreling over the concerns of Republicans and ending any hope that such a major issue could be addressed in a bipartisan manner.

“Third, a growing minority of Democrats have begun to express reservations about the size, scope and cost of the legislation, the expanded role of the federal government and the need for a raft of new taxes to pay for it all. NYTimes

With pressure comes decisions, and let us be honest with eachother, tight deadlines often are reached by either lack of quality control, or by establishing a system by which there are many checks and balances, but only one voice saying yea or nea. For example: as an engineer, working on private development, I was told to redesign the infrastructure for an 80 acre commercial/industrial building site within about 2 weeks – a job that initially took 2 months. I succeeded in meeting that deadline because of 2 reasons: the lack of detail required for that submittal, and my project manager having quality control say on the entire project. Later on when I added over 30,000 new plan items, spot grades, and details, there was a 6-month lead on the schedule, which was relatively easy. This time I did most of the quality control, and looked to a supervisor for final approval.

On the other hand, looking at congress, you have a chef who crafts the bill (in the Senate it’s Harry Reid), and then you have 99 other people adding spices to secure their vote. At the end of the day, your Chicken and dumplings look like Sunday Gravy.

Sunday Gravy

When you have internal deadlines, or partial submittals, it’s a lot easier to get things right for the final deadline. When you have 100+ people deciding what piece of legislation is correct, sometimes things get crowded and costly.

The SLATE article which was referenced first, seems to suggest that Obama would or should just get things done to protect his legacy and his party’s dominence. I would argue he should set more realistic goals and reach on both sides of the Aisle before legislating from the Oval Office.

Or could he just be arrogant?

There are times when my dog is my teacher

Looking at my dog, I can tell I am alive – I smile. He’s an awesome dog, sweet, loving, carefree, and dumb as a box of rocks. Yesterday my wife swears he looked at a wall from about 2 feet away, then head-butted it. Two seconds later he was chasing his tail, which invariably led to him cockroaching with all fours pointing to the ceiling. He then came to check up on me, licked my face, and then ran back to terrorize the cat and/or the Chihuahua. His movement, so fluid and yet carefree, is absent of any predetermined agenda or goals – he just is… maybe that’s how my writing should be?

Ok, so my writing may be lacking (or is it me being over critical?); it’s not carefree, points are slow to develop, and the pieces tend to be long and labored.

I think any writing should be considered – maybe not the first draft, but certainly the last. If one is lost while revising their own piece, how can be a reader truly develop an opinion? Even though I admit a lot of writing is lost of valid points, and some can even be considered a “guilty pleasure,” but eventually a reader either buys into or sells on the story, plot points, facts or agenda that a writer is attempting to develop.

From a technical report-writing standpoint, agendas are hidden in the thesis, “our client wants X, and this is how X meets all necessary rules and regulations, and therefore should be allowed.” A rule is made – you just claim to meet it and reinforce your claim with facts – but more often than not, the reinforcement facts are lost in bad fonts, poor headings, footers, bullets, and graphics.

In my editorials, I attempt to make a statement that is found interesting, attempt to make my case, occasionally with logic, and then use real-life examples to reinforce my position. This should not be a labored read.

At times, my wife thinks I cant read because of my aversion to books. It’s not that I don’t read, its just that most of my reading is of non-fiction, articles, journalism, and news pieces. I find a lot of prose to be labored, like “War and Peace,” beautiful, but a little drawn out, with a little too much detail.

I think in today’s culture, especially most of the youth culture, a lot of detail isn’t really necessary: a little dusting on top of character with a lot of the meat in the plot. The first 100 pages of W&P, at least to me, is like clubbing a baby seal with all the detail – not needed. Thankfully, I intersperse sports journalism, biased persuasive pieces passed off as non-biased political pieces, and other news stories. I find inspiration on how to weave information without treading on the story. This reading is hardly labored.

I apparently cant say this enough: at the end of the day, I want my pieces to be accessible, topical, informative, and have quality content. If all that flows as smooth as my dog goes from play to tail to friendship to play, well that’s gravy.

Am I going into the corn?

Who are your friends? Why do you keep some people as friends? Do you consider your parents friends?

As a kid, I had friends, people I knew just at school, people at school who I disliked, cousins, and parents. Typically, parents were, well, parents and cousins were family you had to be nice to. Friends were people to transgress my life in and outside of school, and well the other two groups are pretty self explanatory. Later on in life, and even today, while I do know a lot of people, I am not sure my friends really eclipse the number of fingers on my hands – maybe I am the exception and not the rule?

I know a couple people, however, who consider 20 or 30 people to be their friends, and I wondered how that many people can be so close to a single person, and how that single person could handle so many people, so close to their life. The answer was grouping. The grouping can define who the closest friends are (people that can go into the corn), people who are talented, smart, or can be depended on (people on a heist team), and finally, those who could be considered expendable but are kept for sentimental purposes (people who are essentially worthless).

People you can take into the corn: In many apocalyptic films, people are forced to flee population centers and learn how to live off the land; thus the meaning of “Going into the corn.” People useful in the corn are friends with an unhealthy number of weapons, mechanical skills, gardening or farming skills, construction skills, and hunting skills. These people are friends because they can comfort and protect you in times of need, apocalypse or not.

People on your heist team: these people generally fill the role of one of the 11-15 people central to the roles in the “Ocean’s 11” series of films. These people can also go into the corn, but it depends on situations. Imagine if you knew someone with an aversion to killing bugs, but is a very good con man. This person could help you pull off a heist, but he wouldn’t last long in the corn. These people are friends because they help you out of jams and it is much better to be on their side than be opposed to them.

Worthless people: this can vary from people that are despised in your life to people who serve no potential purpose on a heist team or in the woods, but are friendly otherwise, to people you have known all your life, but have no skills, talents, or other discernable abilities. Most office acquaintances in this category, and the idiots at the grocery store that think a jar of spaghetti sauce needs its own plastic bag. Unfortunately these people will most likely outlive us all.

The point of these groups is not to disparage, label or represent one group as better than another, but as a personal check of, “Who are my friends, and why?”

• Do you have too many people who drag you down?
• Do you have friends that help you out, but couldn’t survive on their own?
• Do you have friends who may be socially inept, but have skills that are extremely useful?
• Do you use these people unfairly (i.e., What category do you fall into)?

Whether or not you group your friends in to similar or non-similar groups, grouping friends based on talent can be an interesting exercise in determining why people are friends, and possibly determining why you keep them as friends.

My 10 friends, interestingly, could collectively pull off a heist and go into the corn… maybe having a few friends isn’t too bad.

Unbiased news opportunity in wake of Dobbs ouster at CNN.

I am not sure how you take your news, but I like mine without open pandering. I like the Lehrer New’s hour, Market Watch, Market to Market, Nightline, and NBC’s evening news. Of all of those, you could argue that NBC is fluffing Obama’s bed pillows with the whole, “following POTUS around the White House and his trip to ‘5 Guys’ makes for awesome television” thing, but I think Nightline, as well as the others, present skewed-but-generally-unbiased news pieces about various things.

The only thing I like about CBS news is that it owns a unique and generally accessible time slot, immediately following NBC’s world news, but because there is undeniably, a bias to the left that is garnered by Katie Couric, I refuse to give her my business. For that, like Wal-Mart, drives me to extremes to NOT watch that show.

My wife got me into documentaries. I think her view is that a good documentary tells a story without a moral or really an ending. Think the mouse and the elephant from the Aesop fable – maybe it’s just a story about a freakish mouse pulling a thorn out of an elephant’s foot, and not a “do unto others” allegory.

I recently watched, “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices.” Maybe it’s because I am skewed to an anti-WallyWorld place, but I liked the Doc, and I can honestly say it was definitely not impartial. “Man on Wire,” a doc about the tightrope artist who cabled and transversed the twin towers in NYC was a story done in a documentary format (or maybe it was just a theatrical compilation of photos and super8 film told in a riveting way). I think “The Office,” however scripted and portrayed, could be considered an unbiased look at office workers, if one ignores the fact that it is all staged; I don’t feel as thought I am torn to chose who is evil or good, right vs. wrong, but rather presented eccentric personalities in an familiar setting. Maybe a mocumentary works because it is generally unbiased, and, in when judged against my wife’s narrow view, is the truer of the documentaries.

What if the news only presented the story, facts, back-story, and characters, and did not have moral conundrums or a viable endgame?

I like the Weather-Channel-Model for news because it is exactly what the news should be – an impartial look at the happenings of the world. You’re not going to talk smack at the water cooler about a tornado’s politics (they hate poor people in trailers) vs. a Hurricanes (poor people on the coasts), and expect to be credible. You can say what has happened, what, is most likely going to happen in the future, and a statement on its current state.

Hell, even an expanded portrayal of Headline News, showing highlights of politics, anguish, and world events a la the impartiality of a sports game highlight.

All in all, I suppose you could say that there is no real impartiality. If a Jewish man made a documentary about World War II, I would think it would be near impossible to be fair and impartial, much less edit and direct a film that displays that impartiality. I think a similar situation happens in news rooms: reporter gets an idea, presents it to the editor, editor review, reporter tells story (most likely skewed to appeal to a large audience), editor reviews, edits and further skews the report, and finally report is presented, possibly independent of context, but sandwiched by context that further skews the story. In most news programs, the on-air personality is frequently in charge of content, a la the late great Jennings, the tilt-a-whirl Couric, Brian Williams, and probably John Stewart. These people are reporters, not just spoon-fed talking heads.

At the end of the day, I would like to think of my self as strongly opinionated, but open to the idea that I am wrong. Thus, I hope the reason you read my posts is because you like my writing quality, content, and can kind of relate to my sensibilities and not because either buy into my politics or because you hate what I say so much you are waiting to mess up so you can disparage me to your friends...

Humble Honor

Honour or Honor (from the Latin word honos, honoris) is the evaluation of a person's trustworthiness and social status based on that individual's espousals and actions.

Today I heard a sound bite from Coach K. (Duke University), who's last name I am not going to attempt to spell, talk about his civic responsibility to coach the Redeem Team in 2008 because he never had the honor of serving in combat. Coach K is a graduate of West Point and served approximately 5 years as an officer in the Army.

I was an enlisted member of the Coast Guard, one of the nation’s Armed Forces, and the only one that is not administered by the Department of Defense. In all likelihood, if I was in the service today (enlistment ended in 2000), I would not see combat, but be, again worst case, be patrolling shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf. I too, never had the honor, or the privilege to serve my country in the most meaningful way – by giving my life for those living under the umbrella of the United States’ Constitution.

Humility is a strong word for me, partially because I see my father as being humble. Though he never served in the military, as I reflect back on my life, I can tell that his job was to raise two children the best he could, so that one day we could stand on our feet and help our own families. When I think about what America means to me, I think of my most memorable work experience: being allowed to fail in order to succeed. Now almost 33, 4 years removed from the age my father restarted his life in mechanical engineering, I see this great nation for what it is – he brought himself back from debt and hardship to being a great father. So while, I have not died for my country, if I can love my wife, my dogs, and my extended family, I will be carrying on the legacy of my father, whom I believe was a great American.

Humility is what keeps me seated when asked to stand to be recognized as a veteran – I volunteered, and I did my job. I did not fight in a war, I did not serve in a hostile country, I did not serve in a more ballyhooed service like the Marine Corps. No, I served in the Coast Guard, a service that is oft forgotten, but well received.

While most military services are either at war or training for war, the Coast Guard is deployed every day. With a decentralized organization and much responsibility placed on even the most junior personnel, the Coast Guard is frequently lauded for its quick responsiveness and adaptability in a broad range of emergencies. In a 2005 article in TIME magazine following Hurricane Katrina, the author wrote, "the Coast Guard's most valuable contribution to [a military effort when catastrophe hits] may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit." Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska told the magazine, "In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself." (a referenced portion of Wikipedia)

Humility regarding my service is second nature to me. I was on a fire team when the Anchor Windlass caught fire on my 180-ft boat and I saved a man’s life by performing CPR in the water in Cleveland Harbor. I expected no recognition… I was just doing my job.

To me, I think this attitude that I learned from my father suited my entry into the service, and really most service men and women – they don’t feel they are heroes, they just do there job.

So, after a day to remember our veterans, say thanks again that they do do their job, humbly, professionally, and with honor.

Sam J., who is generally awesome, is a college graduate, a Midwesterner living in Arizona, and unemployed. He is a recreational runner, licensed Professional Engineer, an accomplished technical writer, as well as a freelance writer who currently writes for several blogs.

Top Stories

2 of the top stories on CNN.com on Tuesday, November 10, 2009:

Report: Fort Hood suspect asked military to give Muslims an out

Fort Hood, Texas (CNN) -- The suspect in the Fort Hood shootings gave a presentation in 2007 saying the military should allow Muslim soldiers to opt out of fighting Muslim enemies, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/10/fort.hood.shooting/index.html


New jihad code threatens al Qaeda

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- From within Libya's most secure jail a new challenge to al Qaeda is emerging.

Leaders of one of the world's most effective jihadist organizations, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), have written a new "code" for jihad. The LIFG says it now views the armed struggle it waged against Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime for two decades as illegal under Islamic law.

The new code, a 417-page religious document entitled "Corrective Studies" is the result of more than two years of intense and secret talks between the leaders of the LIFG and Libyan security officials.

The code's most direct challenge to al Qaeda is this: "Jihad has ethics and morals because it is for God. That means it is forbidden to kill women, children, elderly people, priests, messengers, traders and the like. Betrayal is prohibited and it is vital to keep promises and treat prisoners of war in a good way. Standing by those ethics is what distinguishes Muslims' jihad from the wars of other nations."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/11/09/libya.jihadi.code/index.html

Initially, these stories are connected by the wars that the US is fighting in Asia. Slightly below the surface is the complexity of why people fight, or more specifically, why people should fight for their countries or religion.

Take the Ft. Hood case. If the Major had a problem, hey, turn down your commission as a conscientious objector. Hell as volunteer service, as all US forces are, you don’t get to chose who and when, but rather are told. As an enlisted member of the armed forces, I once took the enlistment oath:

I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice [UCMJ]. So help me God.

Nowhere in it does it say, “except for those with similar beliefs as I do.”

In America, not only do we have the Oath, but also the UCMJ, a formal set of rules and regulations that is above and beyond civil laws. To read Islamists about attempting to create a similar structure, it’s interesting not only from safety of life concern for my country men, but also of those (seemingly) innocent people caught in the middle.

At the end of the day, as a volunteer soldier, you must come to your own place, mentally and spiritually, and whether it is coerced or not, this placation is helped along by a uniform set of rules that help define the position, goals, circumstances, and morals. But, once that placation is reached, and you volunteer to serve, you should not be allowed to be singled out and selectively removed, but rather be a member of the unified force you volunteered to be a part of.

Sam J., who is generally awesome, is a college graduate, a Midwesterner living in Arizona, and unemployed. He is a recreational runner, licensed Professional Engineer, an accomplished technical writer, as well as a freelance writer who currently writes for several blogs.

Life Strike

Imagine, if you will, that you are given a shopping list for 2 weeks worth of groceries:

Apples,
Lettuce
Potatoes
Onions
Burger buns
Granola bars
Fruit juice
Soup
Meat
Frozen pizza
Napkins
Milk
Cheese
Etc.

Now, imagine you just got out of your car and about to enter the store when you are told that you are to complete your list, but at any given moment you may be told to drop everything and get back to your car.

What do you do?

(stay with me, eventually my point will be revealed)

Objectively, I would consider you have an infinite number of choices that invariably boil down to 3 simple options
1. Try to get everything before you are told to leave.
2. Try to get one item and get out, then repeat as often as you can.
3. Try to gather a few items and repeat.

The folly in all of this is that you would never know when you have to stop, whether it’s right after you step in the door, or after you get milk and eggs and nothing else, or right before you pay for all of your groceries.

In a way, getting laid off is like this, never knowing when you will be recalled to a life that is more normal, with the “shopping list” consisting of a job and some other life goals, whether it means run a marathon, learn to play a guitar, or read 200 books a year, whatever. You never know when you will be told to stop, drop everything and return to a “normal” life.

I was essentially given a choice between finding a job and being better, and I chose the going for a job above all else (a one at a time method). Unfortunately pouring my heart and soul into finding employment thoroughly drains me to the point that I could probably write 3000 words a night and little to nothing else.

In retrospect, I believe this was right, but moving forward with my sanity, and my temperament being as important as paying the NetFlix bill, I am thinking of changing it up. I have recently decided to go for the whole list: run, read, learn a new skill, go to college for an M.S. or M.S.E., and look for a job.

I was listening to a Bill Simmons podcast (ESPN’s the Sports Guy), who was interviewing Seth Meyers, of SNL, about five weeks after the 2008 writer’s strike. Seth was talking about his life during the strike and how strange it was. He said nothing was accomplished, nothing was planned, he didn’t write, nothing, and he explained it away because the strike could end at any time; a scenario I find similar to unemployment.

Now, I know a lot of people are amazed by this concept –I have had 12 unplanned months off, why didn’t your life progress; kind of an abstract situation. Hell, my wife even talks about eventually taking 12 months off in light of my situation. In reality, it’s a crappy, pointless life when you don’t know if it’s going to end in 3, 65, 180, or 365 days. Troubling.

I know I will have the next month off… life begins anew.

Sam J., who is generally awesome, is a college graduate, a Midwesterner living in Arizona, and unemployed. He is a recreational runner, licensed Professional Engineer, an accomplished technical writer, as well as a freelance writer who currently writes for several blogs.