June 2007 Archives

The job market sucks.

Now, I'll admit, I'm the goon that hasn't finished his degree yet, but really now, there has to be something in the way of a decent job in this town. I've been in the market for a new job for about the last year. The company I work for is not in the best shape, and I'd really like to be making more money than what I am, as doing so would let me do things like attend General Assembly. So I've been looking.

I found one. It's not glamourous, but it's money that's at less of a risk of disappearing than my other job (which I'm staying in for the time being). I'm delivering newspapers, between 2am and 6am in the morning. Today was the first day I did the route myself (With Tessie actually), instead of tagging along with someone else, and oh was it rough. The advantage I have is that the route includes the area that I grew up in. I know 2/3 of the route like the back of my hand. The DISadvantage is, the way I've been given the route to do is OBSCENE in how inefficient it is, so I'm at "work", redesigning my route for my OTHER job because there is no way I could do this route the way it is, and be assured of a high enough accuracy.

Event planning, geek for hire, customer service, call center... if you know of a job in ANY of those realms, send me a line hm?

The Redistricting Game is designed to educate, engage, and empower citizens around the issue of political redistricting. Currently, the political system in most states allows the state legislators themselves to draw the lines. This system is subject to a wide range of abuses and manipulations that encourage incumbents to draw districts which protect their seats rather than risk an open contest.

By exploring how the system works, as well as how open it is to abuse, The Redistricting Game allows players to experience the realities of one of the most important (yet least understood) aspects of our political system. The game provides a basic introduction to the redistricting system, allows players to explore the ways in which abuses can undermine the system, and provides info about reform initiatives - including a playable version of the Tanner Reform bill to demonstrate the ways that the system might be made more consistent with tenets of good governance.

I've spent a bit of time playing through this game, er, learning tool. It's actually rather interesting, and I think I'm definitely in favour of this "Tanner Bill" they've mentioned. It's a good way to blow off a couple hours of work. :-)

On Friday, Tessie drives up to the home of her genetic uplinks in order to switch vehicles with her brother, as he has a jeep and some extra space to move would have been nice this weekend. While she was up there, her mom let her take all the pop bottles that had collected in the garage. (In case you were unaware, Michigan has a 10 cent bottle deposit, so a geeks worth of Mountain Dew can buy you a pizza every couple of weeks.)

Saturday mairn'n comes about, and we're off to Meijer with a trunk full of pop bottles. I don't like Meijer, nor indeed most big box stores. One of the most wonderful things about our new apartment is the walking distance between it, the Food Co-op, the two Ypsilanti Farmers Markets, and the new Dos Hermanos Market, which not only reduces the amount of driving involved, and sustains my community much more, but also leads to a much more pleasant shopping experience all around.

Tessie is doing fine, but my bottles keep getting rejected. A bit of testing then determines that while the 20oz Diet Dr. Pepper bottles are being accepted, the 16.9oz (half litre) bottles are being spat out of the machines like Exorcist vomit. A quick trip through the soft drinks aisle confirms my suspicion that Meijer has gone completely off the deep end in regards to the idea of "we only take back what we sell", and is only taking back the EXACT SIZE BOTTLES they sell, not just brands that they sell (which used to be the norm, and indeed still is anywhere there aren't stupid automated machines).

We returned some of the bottles, then were so sick of needing to sort by size, we decided to cash out, and run down the street to Kroger, since that is the chain from which Tessie's dad buys all his Diet Dr. Pepper up north. Sure enough, OUR Kroger doesn't carry 16.9oz bottles either, so we're out of luck again.

So half our bottles couldn't be returned until Fathers Day when we retured the Jeep to the north country. I just have to say: Only taking back the same size bottles a shop sells is a bit ridiculous.

I'm not going to General Assembly. My work situation, along with my fiancee's has not been the best the past couple months, and as a result, finances are pretty damn tight. Good luck to you all, and enjoy! (and bring me back something to work on, I'm getting bored.)

As for the but... Look at these two pictures:

See the second floor there? Just above the restaurant sign? Thats my new apartment. See the neon circle? That light sits between my living room and bedroom windows. It's a lovely one bedroom flat, overlooking Michigan Avenue, on the same block as my favourite coffee shop.

So when so many are going to be at General Assembly, I'll be moving into 205 1/2 Michigan Avenue #1.

Today was a busy day. It's been a day of transitions for me, for others, and I've played a number of roles through it all.

Starting off, I went to a memorial service at the First UU Church of Ann Arbor for David Leland Dawson, the father of one of my best friends and UU coconspirators. I didn't know Mr. Dawson very well. He was Spencer's Dad, the good cook with the white beard that went out back after dinner and smoked his pipe. But, he meant a lot to Spencer, and I've seen how much my friend has learned from his father, and it shows in the work I do with Spencer, so I was there to celebrate his life, and support my friend. The service probably had one of the best selections of music of any I've been to (and that's over 100 funeral and memorial services).

I came home after the service and some mingling, and told Tessie to figure out what she was wearing to our friends wedding later that evening, again at the home of the Ann Arbor congregation. Now, I had originally not intended on attending said wedding. I didn't get an invitation, and I'm not one to crash weddings. In discussions, I found out that there WERE no invitations, and those attending were those who were local family, friends, those asked, and those who by word of mouth just HAPPENED to be going, so I decided to show up for the ceremony at the very least, and in the end managed to get dinner at the reception as well.

Well, the wedding was lovely, as they are wont to be. It was a bit of a reunion for a number of old Michigan YRUU leaders, as the groom was Michael Ohlrogge, who currently serves on the Commission on Appraisal, and has been a Heartland District leader for some years. He also managed to break down into sobs at two points during the ceremony, so if any of you readers are old Michigan YRUU folk, I'm handing o'er my mantle of "Most Tears" to Michael. Erika must have gotten all her sobs out at worship last week, as she was drier than a Mormon wake, but she looked gorgeous. If Peacebang gave out awards for "Best Thrift Store Purchase", Erika would win.

To round out the evening, I was asked to take part as a representative young adult in the Bridging ceremony the youth group has each year. I had no clue until a few minutes before the worship what was to be involved, as when I was a part of the group this kind of thing never happened. Note to self: work on the extemporaneous speaking, specifically for UU endeavors. What I said was well received (hey... I made some of them cry), but delivery needs improvement.

I was much impressed with the worship. It was both a bridging out for the seniors, and a bridging in for the Coming of Age class. It's the kind of bridging that I am learning is more and more important, showing to our youth that this faith is one they can belong to in all stages of their life, and that this faith needs them to stay. It's the kind of bridging I never had, that I have found I needed.

So today, I played friend, supporting another in hard times of grief at the loss of ones father, in celebration of the union of two souls, and in greeting those leaving their UU community for another. Not bad for 12 hours work. Whatever tomorrow has in store, Saturday, June 2 2007 will be a day I remember, for what it has taught me about how we work together through life's' transitions.