This is from 2 years ago. This year, not so much. Maybe next year we’ll be in a better position, and better mood to go all out with the costumes and such. This year, just having some quiet friends over + drinks + scary movies (do those still exist?).

I went to my first mandatory ‘unemployment’ training class last Tuesday - it was on interviewing skills. It seemed like most of the people in my class had read this blog since the class of roughly 40 people all kept relatively quiet and we were out of there in an hour flat. I go to the Toco Hills location and they actually run a pretty efficient operation it seems. Still. So this was the Interviewing Skills class. The instructor was more of a ‘motivational speaker’ or ‘corporate trainer’ - and he did a fine job - except you could tell that he hadn’t searched for a job in quite some time. 

He spoke with all of the passion of a Tony Robbins, with varied inflection and colorful vocabulary - but I know the exact point when I decided that he was out of touch with the current interview experience. 

One of the trick questions that they often ask now is that, “What is your greatest weakness?” - Now, before we go into right and wrong ways to answer, let me tell you what the instructor’s answer was:

“I am a passionate perfectionists.” 

Right. Granted, he delivered it with lots of verbage backing up the statement - all with the intention of ‘turning a negative into a positive’ and logically it works, except that it’s not a real answer and the problem I have with it is that it’s just garbage. 

WTF type of answer is that? If I was the person conducting the interview I’d probably burst out laughing - and I almost did during the class. Seriously? Yes. He said that his greatest weakness was that he was a passionate perfectionist. So he proceeded to mention how that ‘IS’ a negative, but then went on to highlight how it’s a good thing. Whatever. F’in lame answer is what it is. 

That’s like saying ‘I’m too awesome’. So from there I zoned out and starting thinking about fried chicken because that was more useful.

Oh. He also seemed to really like to dwell on that interview question, ‘If you could be any type of animal, what would you be?’ - to which he said a Cheetah - because it’s fast and nimble and whatever other adjective he could give that would also relate to business (fast, nimble, creative, agile) - which again, I don’t know what people he keeps interviewing with that would take to his over the top BS answers - even with his much too earnest delivery.

Don’t get me wrong, I know there’s a degree of talking that goes on during interviews - and much of it IS BS - but when everything that comes out of your mouth is hyperbole - it’s not hard to see through everything you’re saying. 

I suppose the real problem I had with the class is that he didn’t give these people real strategies for answering any of the example interview questions. Like what? - For example, that greatest weakness question. You obviously don’t say something REALLY damaging - but instead what you do is choose something neutral and something that isn’t a fundamental skill of the job you’re going for. Then no matter what you say is your greatest weakness, you make sure that you also give examples of things that you do to overcome that weakness. See? 

Not once during the class was any sort of basic question answering strategy given - while many of the people there did need some level of motivational lifting - they also probably could have used some nuts and bolts interviewing strategy and technique. Not just overhyped examples that would get most of them laughed at once the interview finished.

Filing. For. Unemployment. In. Georgia. How. When. About. Much. Tips. Mandatory. Classes. 

Okay. I know. I’m pretty late in voicing any opinion on the show The Real Housewives of Atlanta. But Leah watched an episode the other day (as I throw her under the bus on this one…) and while I was able to put my earphones on the 1st time, I wasn’t able to block out the show during the 2nd and 3rd time… so. 

While many people keep remarking about how outrageously unrealistic the show is and how it portrays both Atlanta and these women… I don’t really find much issue with the show. 

However, my biggest problems with the show are that none of them actually live in Atlanta + the idea that they are somewhat “Elite” - and not only Elite - but that they are in the “Elite Social Circle” of Atlanta. 

- Add that perception of “elite” with a statement made by one of them in one of the shows about how the upperclass/rich/elite society in Atlanta don’t really have any racial barriers and so you’ll see both black and white people together… it’s simply… completely incorrect. 

But the difference is the fact that these women are all New Money - and they move in Social Circles where nearly everyone is Also New Money - and their behavior reflects that. The REAL Elite Social circles in Atlanta is comprised of families of Old Money (White people) - and having volunteered at some of the charity events in which True Atlanta Social Elite attend (i.e. persons with 100’s of millions of worth as opposed to the single digit millions that these women have) - there is little chance that I would ever see any of the women from that show attend any of these events where it’s important to be seen by… whoever.

(oh, and obviously I’m not elite since the only way I can get into any of these events is… by working them for free.)

So although these women on the show feel like they are movers and shakers and some sort of big deal - they barely register on any real scale in any social circles of worth in Atlanta.

Of course - debating the reality of the show is pointless - because they are doing their best to make it interesting - and obviously at their own cost. Reality shows aren’t reality and everyone plays their part to make it watchable… well… watchable is different for each person.

Also - no matter what, it’s still kind of cool to see Atlanta locations on the show - and I would still be nice to any of them in person - because I’m sure it’s fun to have your own tv show for whatever reason.

In spite of the results so far… finding a job this time around has been quite difficult - and without falling into any form of woe-is-me statement… it is interesting, this whole not being able to find a new job. In fact, even though I was let go on August 27th, I’ve been searching for a new job since the middle of May, a few weeks after we got back from our April trip to China. 

So it’s been almost 5 months without any success in finding a new job. And sure, it’s definitely easy to fall into that trap of blaming other things like the economy and general state of everything - but apparently (and I already knew this) I’m not the only one. There are people much more qualified than I am, and in other industries that are having a considerably difficult time finding new employment. 

 

You’d think Michelle Brown could find work.

“I have a Master’s Degree and I do have some credits towards a PHD,” she says. Yet she’s been out of work for months.

“I’ve got a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Illinois,” says Chaz Mitchell, who also hasn’t worked in months. “I worked at Citizen’s Trust Bank as a financial service manager and also as a residential loan officer.”

Two executives with sterling resumes and solid educations, but they’ve lost their jobs and can’t find another. Brown can’t understand why.

“Between education, professional experience, practical experience and level of communication, it’s mind boggling ,” she says.

Brown worked as a controller at the Georgia World Congress Center before being laid off. If you had told her at that time that she’d still be out of work at the end of October, she’d have thought you were crazy.

“It’s very frustrating,” she says, “because, not only is it my story, it’s a lot of others who have the same story.”

Oct 27th, 2008 -Georgia’s New Unemployed - WSB News Radio

 

Reading all of those ‘tips’ that job sites and news articles print off are either redundant… or just get to the point of being… well they’re really annoying actually. Sure, okay, most of us can benefit from some of those tips - but that doesn’t make them any less annoying to read when you could feasibly do the best you can do during an interview - and something beyond your control keeps knocking you out of the running. Granted, some jobs I’ve applied and interviewed for were either beyond my true scope of experience and expertise - but I wouldn’t say that I couldn’t do any of those jobs well. I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t an absolutely viable choice for any of the positions I’ve applied or interviewed for. And even if I did have a job specialization instead of being some sort of Financial/Business Analyst with Database admin/analysis skills - I might actually still be in the same position. 

Yet there is some hope. With new interviews on the horizon and even set for this week - it’s always optimistic. Even after the general erosion of faith after the position disappears (due to the company not offering it anymore) or I’m simply not ‘right’ for the job - there’s still hope. Even if I don’t want to hear ‘words of encouragement’ from anyone else because they don’t make me feel better - and I would rather not have any mention of it when I see people in person - I still say it to myself. I fall back on that delirious voice inside my head that is sickeningly optimistic, but more importantly, not afraid.

* We took these ourselves. My point and shoot camera + Tripod + lots of running back and forth to press the button.

Since there are other things to write about - things much more pressing and definitely more important on my mind, but also much more… down - we’ll avoid all of those (at least until Monday) - and instead write about our target honeymoon destination. 

We have backup plans depending on finances - but this is our target at this point.

Basically a strip of land just off the coast - with barely a landing strip and a very small town… so completely different from our China trip - where disappearing wasn’t really an option since China is so heavily populated, and also, we weren’t anywhere near the coast. 

This time we’ll be staying at a resort on the island with modern amenities, instead of a travelers hostel (and actually, there aren’t too many all out hotels on the island at all - most of them are houses that are rented out) - and lots of beach so we can essentially do nothing half the time, and then check out everything else every other day - like flying back to the mainland to see some Mayan ruins, swim/snorkel the reefs, ride bikes around the island, and then of course, walk into the village.

You can easily get the size of the village from this picture and match it to the satellite photo above. Our resort is just north of this picture below and after the bend, so easily walking distance. 

Of course, our back up is one of those relatively popular all inclusive resorts in Costa Rica, or someplace else that’s not Jamaica or Cancun (I’m just… not so interested in either spot right now) - so this is the target. Just a far off place that isn’t crowded by tourists or even too many visitors at all… Oh. Here’s a video of the plane we’ll be taking as it lands on the island’s only airstrip.

Clearly. I need to find that next job very soon.

Nothing too insightful today - big concerns are happening so just this video right now.

Me eating bits of frog at a restaurant mid-way up the mountain at the Lonji Rice Terraces - not quite sure if they just buy bags of assorted frog parts and throw them into the stir-fry, but it did seem like I had most of a complete frog in there… well, I don’t think I had the head - but I did have legs, and body and most interestingly, the hands - and the hands weren’t cut up - more like they were cut off at the wrist and thrown in. So you could definitely seem the ‘hand’ shape and then feel the cartilage like bone move around in your mouth… actually, it was exactly like you would imagine eating a little hand, with the skin, ligaments and bones.

Still. You’ll see the relatively narrow pathways along the mountain and then I think you can get a good sense of the steep drop off sometimes… but when you’re up there… you don’t really think about that too much - you just… keep going up.

The video skips less if you let it fully load then play it.

Leah at Wang Fu Jing Night Market

So Much to do Today.

Whereas many people have trouble finding something to write about - I have trouble writing about other things when I have something to write about. Clearly we can’t write about everything on our blog - but since we don’t really adhere to any strategic format for getting regular niche readers (aside from… well, I guess aside from our real life friends - and the better online ones that we’ve met) - we write about everything that strikes us. 

I suppose we’re sometimes informational. For example: 

About Five (5) weeks after you start getting your unemployment checks here in Georgia, you have to attend mandatory ‘training/job classes’. Actually, you have to attend them on the 5th, 9th and 14th week. They’re about 1-2 hours in length, depending on how many questions your other classmates asks the facilitator - so you can help out by not asking any questions - unless of course… you actually have questions.

But mostly, they’re boring and if you’ve ever conducted your own intensive job search… most of the information is on careerbuilder or monster. But I suppose it’s a small price to pay for the unemployment benefits which if anything… help to pay rent - while the rest of your bills fall behind - unless you can find work that pays under the table or through some other person - I mean… I suppose that’s how you would do it. 

Because being on unemployment is the same as being on welfare - you won’t just take any job out there since any job you get obviously has to be worth it. You can’t just go work at Target - because you might as well just stay home and do ANYTHING else and keep your free time while getting unemployment checks. 

I will say that being unemployed this time around is very different than thought it would be, especially compared to how we felt when I was first let go back on August 21st. At the time, the idea of me being out of work + Leah being in grad school full time was… a bit more stress than we had planned on to say the least. But the fraction of severance + savings + unemployment + magic, has helped to keep us around. 

We haven’t drowned in bills and all of the worries that we’re dealing with are more of the ‘future plans’ nature. Like saving up for a honeymoon, or trips, or just general savings. We have slashed our ‘going out’ - but even still, as you can see we haven’t locked ourselves into oblivion, trying to save money. We’re getting by quite well. It’s… very surprising. 

Yes, there are days and moments where we both freak out and worry overcomes - but they pass. 

…. on a different topic - I am progressing quite nicely with my learning to play guitar. The callouses on my finger tips are coming along, and I’m getting better at switching from chord to chord…

I’m still fumbling with video/photos/editing and that’s kind of fun too. 

Recently I spoke with an old boss who had been on unemployment for a few months - she was a department manager over at EMC in Dallas and obviously her job was gone when they imploded - but we both agreed that being unemployed, and collecting these checks… was kind of fun once you were able to deal with the not having money to do much of anything, but also when you realized how much…  how all of a sudden many things open up for you. 

And they have. I haven’t written about many of them because I’m speaking of either ideas in my head, opportunities that I can’t speak of yet, or simple pipe dreams that really would take whole other leap of faith and cliff to jump from - but generally speaking - options that I wouldn’t have considered from the comfort of a daily job. Of course… that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t take one of the great jobs I’ve interviewed for recently - because I don’t interview for jobs I don’t want. Going to a miserable job everyday is not an option.

It’s been interesting these last few months - since this break was not anywhere in our plans. After coming back from China, we had a hectic May, June, and July. Wedding plans, school starting, moving to a new apartment, planning a honeymoon, saving, and everything except me being out of work. So this wrench has been interesting and it’ll be interesting to see how we recover from it once I do get my next job. 

Ever been lost? I’m not.

*******************************************************

Filing. How. Much. Georgia. Unemployment Post One

Filing. How. Much. Georgia. Unemployment Post Two

Filing. How. Much. Georgia. Unemployment Post Three 

The highway between Fayetteville and Belfast slid in a black tide beneath a dusty Dodge Dart with chipped paint and bald tires. Hewlett Pierce fought against the feeling that the road disappeared into him rather than behind him, slipping up inside his body like a cold metal rod.

It would be lost in the big freezing hollow between his breath and his soul. His heart was sleeping, preserved in ice. His eyes saw, but were connected to nothing.

- Jack Hunter Daves Jr.

Having been given this lengthy break from everything - from work and any form of a rushed life - it’s difficult to not feel as though I’ve wasted much more time than I should have. Even with the documented events laid out here before you and myself, I have a difficult time not regretting that I haven’t done more with these two months.

It feels as though my time is short and at least one of the prospects currently in the works will actually come to fruition - on any given Monday I’ll no longer be consumed by watching episodes of the West Wing, or taking mid day naps. I’ll be deep in a box space, wearing the office uniform and playing a politik game that I won’t win - but one in which I’ll always be on the winning side.

It’s silly that this anxious breath should creep into my core and fill me. 

I’m sure that I’m just out of practice. My rhythm is off and the background hum of hive activity isn’t present.

There is so much more to accomplish. This past week has been quite interesting but I’ve been locked in my own head for most of it.

So, I am a fairly hardcore Alanis Morissette fan.  Back in June of 1995, when I was 13-going-on-14, I heard “You Oughta Know” on the radio.  I had few real experiences of the world, but I was entering an intense phase of self-reflection and a growing awareness of the world outside my microcosm.  This was back when I was shy and quiet, unsure of myself and feeling like a total weirdo because it seemed like everyone around me knew how to interact with people and I just sat there and thought these really intense thoughts and read way too many books and longed for some drama and excitement in my life.

And then I hear this song on the radio, and it’s not like the soft rock my parents would listen to, or the dumb pop songs the girls at school liked, or the depressing grunge rock that I sort-of enjoyed but didn’t relate to… no, this was pure, raw emotion… it was sadness and rage and it made me sit up and listen.  This was back when curse words weren’t as common.  And that little, bleeped-out, F-word was dangerous and powerful to a young girl who knew she wasn’t supposed to say words like that.  The unapologetic expression of emotion was a new thing for me, too, especially at a time when my emotions were all over the place and had few ways out of my overstuffed head.  Alanis had guts.  She displayed a sense of courage I desperately longed for, yet didn’t know how to acquire.

I became totally addicted to that song.  And as Alanis’ album began racing up the charts, and single after single was played on the radio, I subsequently fell in love with all the other songs, as well.  I begged my parents to let me get the Jagged Little Pill CD.  They weren’t so sure.  But finally, that Christmas, Santa came through, and for the next probably two years I listened to that CD at least twice per day.  To this day, I can remember every lyric, every beat, every pause.

I’ve loved every album of hers since, even though they didn’t receive anywhere near the acclaim and radio play of her debut.  I’ve seen her in concert at least 9 times.  I still have a box of carefully-clipped magazine articles, photos, and ticket stubs that once wallpapered half of my bedroom.  But I didn’t listen to her latest album that much.  I’ve been busy.  I’m not in a car all that often.  Mark plays lots of other good music at home.  But when we went to see Alanis on Wed. night, it reawakened my deep appreciation of her music.  Watching her whirl across the stage, belting out lyrics that are beautifully honest and so familiar to me, I remembered why I fell in love with her music in the first place.  So the albums are coming out again.  Especially Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which I was thrilled she played a good number of songs from on Wednesday.  It runs the gamut of emotions and issues, and it’s tied with JLP as my favorite album of hers.

First! I spent this past weekend at the Stand Up for Kids National Conference held here in Atlanta this year. I took a couple of photos but I also video’d much of the conference. While it’s going to take some time to edit all of the video, adjusting sound and colors - at least animated photo slide shows are a pretty fast process once you upload all of the photos and press Go. 

I hope they weren’t too weirded out by all of the photos I was taking - since I rarely take posed photos and I don’t have a big camera - so I just look like some weird guy taking a gazillion photos.

Second! - Yesterday I finally made it over to Ann’s Snack Bar with our friends Tulie and Adam.

While I could go to the trouble of writing my own assessment - it’s way easier to simply post what others have already written:

This burger is the burger I have been craving for years and never found—a greasy spoon burger that doesn’t try to be fancy. This was a perfectly seasoned, messy, juicy, cheesy, and mouth-watering hunk of burger. I don’t care that the buns look like they came out of a supermarket—the burger is worth the hype.

- The Blissful Glutton

But the accolade that everyone mentions whenever they speak of Ann’s Snack Bar is from the Wall Street Journal:

…the outstanding hamburger experience I found in an odyssey of several months and thousands of miles was at Ann’s Snack Bar, a justifiably renowned little diner on a broken-down industrial stretch of highway.

Miss Ann, as habitués call her, is a woman of commanding style and ready banter. She works alone at her grill, patting each ample patty lightly as she sets it down. Her masterpiece, the “ghetto burger,” is a two-patty cheeseburger tricked out with bacon that she tends closely in a fryolator.

Observing Miss Ann in action would be enough of a show, one perfected over many decades. But while she demonstrates the extreme economy of motion of a superb short-order cook, she simultaneously carries on a running dialogue of lightly sassy repartee with customers she knows.

So on an apparent random whim, Adam suggested Ann’s and Tulie remembered that I don’t have a job - which means that I’m almost always just sitting at home procrastinating from doing homework. Fortunately we went on a Monday at 1pm - so we didn’t have to wait too long. I finished my ghetto burger but I had to strategically not eat any of my fries to make sure I had room. And while other people have no problem with taking photos while visiting Ann’s - I was worried that my camcorder would be a problem - she looked like she was more irritated than usual and I did not want to get kicked out before I got my burger. 

Several times during our wait at the counter, Adam made sure to let Tulie know that if she got kicked out for her own photographing that she was on her own and he would renounce their friendship right then and there. Here’s the video.

Ann’s Snack Bar from LeahAndMark.com on Vimeo.

Okay, people, we all know the BIG, HUGE election is coming up.  Some of you have voted already.  That’s awesome.  For those of you that haven’t, please know that while it is TOTALLY AWESOME that you got yourself registered and that you are definitely going to vote in this election, and while the big push right now is to get people to vote, just vote, no matter what… I’m asking that you go one step further.

Please, please, please remember that this election is not just about the President.  There are many other representatives to vote for on your ballot.  And I know it requires a good amount of effort and research on your part, but if you could actually read up on the candidates and make an informed decision about the ones you feel are most deserving to represent you at not only the Federal, but, just as importantly, the State level, then you will truly have voted.  Because blindly voting for all the candidates of X party, or voting for them because their names sound cool, or only caring about who becomes President and ignoring your state’s Circuit judges who might just decide to ban gay marriage or something crazy like that… well, I’d almost rather you didn’t vote at all.

Also, I’m fairly certain that most states have handy tools like Georgia does, where you can see a sample ballot and read up on each candidate.  And for all you GA folks, go here: Georgia Election Guide.

Yes.  It’s true.  I have a weakness for men of the Asian variety.  Some people like European fashion.  Some folks prefer American football.  I like Asian guys.  One, most especially.  But y’all already know who he is.

I also have a new love, and that’s my gold tooth.  It’s awesome.  I feel tough when I wear it.  Ready to hit the streets of South Bronx.  Well, maybe not quite that tough.  But I carry it around in a little plastic baggie in my purse and slip it on one of my front teeth when I need a little extra badass-ness to tackle the day’s tasks.  Like getting Mark to clean the closet.  Which he did!  Finally!  (Thanks babe, I looooove you!)

And shout out to Atlanta Photography for hosting a super fun photobooth at the latest Yelp Elite event!  Without their photo-taking and props, I might not have been able to enjoy an Asian man sandwich or discover my shiny new gold tooth.  Word.