The Red Brick Times

Add me to the ranks of the unemployed. Yesterday at noon I was unceremoniously laid off. The reason they gave was because of budget cuts and the upgrading of the membership system, which ironically I oversaw, my position was no longer necessary. After ten years there.

I will be updating my resume this weekend and start a job search Monday.

One of the consultants with whom I worked to do the above upgrading was in the office when it happened. She followed me out of the office and gave me her card because two of her other clients who use the same membership software are looking for someone for a similar position as I held. So the job search probably starts there.

Michael

Posted 4:18 PM by Michael Hagedorn 0 comments

No challengers at the polls in Littletown, USA this morning. I got in line at 6:25AM with 20 of my neighbors who were talking about the obnoxious phone calling blitz from the Bush leaguers. One fellow boasted that he was never bothered because he had no phone. Well.

Two nights ago, I got to talk to a live human who called to Bush me into her way of thinking. She was using a script. We exchanged volleys. I questioned Repub. tactics of challenging 17,000 Ohio voter registrations to try and keep the unhappy people out of the process. She countered with "What about the Dems who register to vote 35 times? Is that how you want things to run?" I told her, "One Dem, one place, and, after all, no matter how many times he registered, he can only vote once." Besides, with all of the challenges, we may HAVE to register 35 times to push one through the flak. She responded, "I am just trying to raise a son in a moral environment, and I think Kerry is a bit of a 'sleaze'." Golly. Such cogent and incisive political analysis.

I told her about the USO director who visited our Kiwanis Club a couple of weeks ago and asked us to collect personal care items (shampoo, washcloths, deodorant, etc.) for the recuperating US Soldiers back from Iraq and in stateside military hospitals. There is no support from the Defense Department for basic niceties of life. Probably considered 'not necessary to the mission'.

The Bushy lady told me "Well I don't know about all those things." I told her that "all those things" were information that allowed her to be able to make good choices.

She may not have changed her politics, but she was a lot less certain when we finished.

The USO director also told us of the wife of a US Soldier in Iraq who had called him that morning. She could not contact her husband. She is pregnant with triplets. She was out of money for rent and for food and could get no response from the military to contact her spouse. The USO got some donations for her. I think they took money out of their own pockets. The USO guy told us that after about three years in the military, a Private makes about as much as does a school crossing guard. And the hazard pay for duty in Iraq adds a whopping $150 per month. This is the current Administration supporting our troops. But I am sure that Haliburton makes sure that there is enough gas in the HumVee so that the father-to-be can go and control the crosswalks of downtown Fallujah, Iraq.

Posted 9:54 AM by Andy Allan 0 comments

“40 Years of Me” Wins PFAW’s and Salon.com’s Flash the Court Contest!

Great jumpin' horny toads. Seems Tim (finally) hit the big time. Crank up your speakers and let 'er rip.

Posted 1:43 PM by whatley 0 comments