Day 46 to 47 - HOT!!!!!!

Storm came in last night and our AC unit stopped being cold :_(

WHY DOES CRAP BREAK ON THE WEEKEND?

It seems when something important breaks in our apartment, it is on the weekend. Needless to say, right now (as of this posting) it is 87 degrees in my apartment. Since it was Saturday when I called them about the issue, we were screwed. As noted, unless we had a medical condition on file for our apartment noting this would be an emergency, we would have to wait until Monday.

This unit is a POS as it has broken down 3 times since we moved in 3 years ago. It always seems to be the damn compressor in this Heat Pump. Yep, you read right, our AC unit is a Heat Pump. Talk about taking the cheap route for an AC.

On a side note related to job hunting, I got an email for a job I applied to. They sent me 9 questions in reference to my experience, why I want to work for them, what my salary requirements are and other normal interview questions. I have never (even asked my wife) had someone send a email instead of call someone to ask these. I guess they are wanting to have something officially on record in case I am lying - seriously this is lame. But as you know, I will answer these with a fan behind me.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 45 - Another Job Interview

Another Job Interview and another possible job opportunity

JOB INTERVIEWS

It seems the only jobs for me are in Frederick. The last 3 interviews were in this city and all near each other. Today I actually interviewed for a job where I used to contract at. It was funny being back in the same building and talking with people I had helped via email.

It was only a 1/2 hour interview and not your normal type. They had specific questions that were situational. I answered each with an example and hopefully did a good job explaining them.

I did met up wit a couple old co-workers and hashed out what they were doing and what happened to the department. I miss working with them and the fun we had. I did get a couple calls/text messages from some who were out. They knew who I interviewed with and they were going to put a good word in for me.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 44 - Roller Coaster from Hell

Have a possible job - all depends on my completing the Security+ certification

WHY SO MANY HILLS AND VALLEYS IN LIFE

Summary: Received a job offer, a job rejections, a job interview and my Dad could pass anytime.

I got a job offer for a future position (hire date open), but I must pass a Drug Screen, Credit & Background check, Government Security clearance and pass the Security+ exam. The last item is all on me and may prove to be hard. Out of the "+" test, this is the worse one and I have not ever taken the other ones. Have a book and internet videos that should help however :D

One job I was really hoping to get into sent me a rejection letter. I can only assume it was due to my previous salaries which were 1/2 what I was making in Florida. It may of scared them off - over qualified sort of issue.

I have a job interview tomorrow with the company I used to contract for in another department. It will be an FTE position and not contract which I want. Not sure it will be a good idea as my wife really doesn't want me there. She has heard horror stories from others that worked for them. Still, it may be a good start for me to get back on my feet.

I did also apply to a position for a Cross Dock (Warehousing). It has been several years that I have no been in that environment, but I know I can do it. I really like working in the warehouse as it was busy and physically demanding. I think it would be good to lose a few pounds.

The cherry today for the sundae was the fact my Dad is not doing well. His heart is operating at 18-30% and he is having issues breathing. It is an issue that has been haunting him for a while, but this is the first time a doctor said - we have done everything we can.

FML times Pi

Almost forgot, I was up to 3am working on my computer and still at it this morning. Too many software and updates to count with so little time.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 43 - Computer Upgrade

Computer and some software came n today. It is not all Roses however.

COMPUTER SETUP AND UPDATE

I got in my new computer from Microtel. Kind of wacky as the computer had a part moving around in it, but I will get to that later. When I reviewed this, the graphics card was suppose to have 2 DVI connections for the monitors. Both mine have DVI connectors (better video) and this was a necessity.

After a few calls and back and forth crap, we came to the conclusion that I will send back the Graphics card and get a $110 refund. I can then purchase a new card myself that is designed as needed. I am not waiting to get the card in however. I have decided to move forward with setting this up.

I did install my secondary drive into this with no issues (SATA). Needed to make a bit of a change to the power supply, but worked. The 'extra part' bouncing in my computer was not needed. It seemed that they must of 'lost' the original part and replaced it with a backup. So I now have a backup 4pin speaker connector for my motherboard - WTF.

I am now in the process of adding all my software and updating it. I did run Trend Micro Internet Security 2012 software on this before installing anything. Came back clean which was what I expected.

Oh, I did get a job offer - pending I pass the background and security screening. I also need to pass Security+ as well. Sucks as I haven't been able to study much with all my computer chaos. If I fail the test, I am out of a job - just ducky. I guess more on this to follow after I see the offer letter.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 42 - Family Time

I usually spend part of Wednesday with my son doing stuff. Since it was super nice today, I moved it up. He was happy to go to Grand Dads, but not to happy when we had things to do.

HELPING OUT FAMILY

What should of been some Grand Father, Father, Son time at the Park, was anything but. I went over to find that my Step-Sister was trimming the bushes and needed help. I of course dragged my son into this - none to happy either.

We clear the bushes, loaded his truck with the debris and they went to the dump. I in turn started fixing a busted light on a pole out back. This required some carpentry and electrical skills. Both of which I have thanks to my Dad always being a handy man. We went to lunch first before I completed this.

Lamp Post back up and running for my Dad. Still need to place some sealer around the base to insure it is water tight. He couldn't find any, so will revisit on another day.

Tomorrow is the day that my computer will hopefully arrive. Which means that day will be taken up by reviewing the specs to insure it has what I ordered. After that, I will be installing software which should take FOREVER.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 41 - No Jobs

Where have all the local Tech jobs gone???  

NO AVAILABLE IT JOBS TODAY

 I tried to look for some tech jobs on all my search sites. It seems that the pond was over fished as I couldn't land anything. I decided to take a different route and look at Retail positions. Not sure anything will bear fruit as I have been out for a long time. But it is like riding a bike and once you get your feet on the pedals, it all comes back.

I found that PetSmart had a boatload of open jobs at my local store. Decided to try to apply and updated my resume to showcase my Customer Service/Sales experience. I was re-directed to their website to fill out an online application. no biggie, but what drew my attention was that they noted it may take 10-50 minutes to complete - WTF!!!!

I went ahead and started filling out the application. I signed my life away like usual and started their online test to insure I would be a good fit. 11 minutes into this thing and I get hit with a question that stopped me cold. It was about appearance and I could only have ONE earring per ear. Now, i can take out my plugs which would get me close, but I have 2 hoops in one of my ears. This would mean that I would need to take one hoop out. Not a big deal, but if I forget to replace it, I would get a closed hole after time. Since I could not honestly answer this as a yes, I just stopped dead here. WHY THE HELL wasn't this part of the beginning - DAMN IT!!!

In the end, I hit up the Alison Training site and got certified in Outlook 2010. Only downside, is that these are not 'Microsoft' certifications.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Days 39 to 40 - Weekend Again

I totally forgot about about posting yesterday - Doh!

WEEKEND AGAIN

It was a bit busy for me this weekend - especially Sunday. I should start with Saturday as I was pre-occupied with my Dad. He just got back from 2 weeks in Florida with his sister. He is not in the best of health and shouldn't be over-exerting himself. it seems my Step-sister who lives with him can't grasp this. I am going to review with my Dad and then her to get this cleared up.

Sunday was an all  day affair at my wife's friends house. They have a pool, so we went their to have a pool party and escape the pressures of unemployment. I met some of their friends which were a nice group of people. We had fun and I probably got too much Sun, but I need a bit of color on my pale white complexion. Now I am back home and catching up on my blogs, emails and social networks.

Tomorrow it is back to the daily gind of job searching and Security+ studying - oh joys!

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 38 - Call Backs

Almost took down a wall to answer my phone - LOL.

CALLBACK

I have been awaiting a call back on the job I interviewed for this week. They mention that they should be making a decision and calling back before the end of the week.

When my phone rang, I was hoping it was them, but it turned out to be for the other job I interviewed for. It took me a minute to switch gears so I could remember that one. It was actually a follow up call as they were hoping I had gotten my Security+ certificate.

I have not tested out on this yet as I was still studying/prep-testing for it. I was surprised by the call as I did not get a return to my "Thank You" email I sent. I was under the impression that I would need to get that certificate before they could even consider me for the position. I guess they actually did want to hire me, but until I get this Security+, I am not able to. Something to do with a 70-85 rule with the government or something to that.

Due to my main computer crapping out, I have been a bit behind with my prep testing and studies - FUCK. It is really interesting when you are going full steam and then you find the tracks end. Really sucks as it is putting me a bit behind, but will start up fresh soon on my backup laptop (which is a snail).

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 37 - Early Prevention Workshop

I spent the majority of the day at a mandatory workshop provided by the Maryland Unemployment. The good news was that is was that this counts as my required 2 jobs searches a week. Though I have already applied to several of them this week already.

EARLY PREVENTION WORKSHOP

I will not go into the gritty details of the workshop, but it was informative. It went over everything you needed for getting a new job, what resources are available and who to contact. They reviewed everything from Resumes to Interviewing. I will need to update my links page with some more helpful info they provide. In all we got 3 different handouts which I think will be extremely helpful.

One piece of info I will share now is the Western Maryland Consortium.Along with the normal job search help they can provide, the also offer training. You can bone up on certificated for some of the popular Microsoft programs. They also can provide up to $4500 (pending qualifications) in funds(Federal Funding)  for any training.schooling that will offer a certificate or licenses within a one year period. I already turned in my application and hope to hear from them soon.

What was interesting was the variety of different jobs that people used to have in this class. We had people who were Data Entry, Warehouse, Customer Service and all the way up to an HR Executive. It seems this economy is taking its toll on everyone in any occupation.

It did remind me that I needed to send out a 'Thank You' email to my Interviewer.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 36 - Sit Down Interview

Today I had another face-to-face interview.

LIVE INTERVIEW

This is for a jack-of-all trades tech person. It is right up my alley after working at my job in Florida. This is in Frederick, so I have my wonderful daily commute if all goes well.

It was a very long meeting and they showed me some of the training rooms. it seems my ITIL background will finally be of use. It seems that they have ITIL background as well and is looking for someone that understands that. It is a mix of Technical writing and Service Desk. It is something that I have experience with in spades.

There is a background financial and criminal check - but know that is not an issue. I had to do that for another company and passed no issues. I also have to get the green light from the Federal Gov't, but again, no issues as my wife passed hers :D

We had a great talk and I went over some examples and hopefully this will be my job soon.I ended it letting them know that it will be a pleasure to work with them. News of the job should be before the end of the week and I know I GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!

Positive Thinking !!

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 35 - The Day the Computer Dies

What a day for a computer to crap out. My computer would not boot today to even let me into the BIOS. I was hoping it would be a power supply issue, but that proved to be not the case. I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy as I no longer have access to a lab. They hooked up a known good Power Supply (700wt) and it beeped (mine never beeped) and they tried again with the same results.

Issue was the motherboard on my almost 5 year old system. I luckily have all my data on a secondary hard drive. However, due to system upgrades of late, it means I will need to purchase new software unless I can find my old disks.

I am currently running on an old laptop for now and will be researching new systems. My only immediate need is to get an external drive reader for my SATA drive. This way I can access my files at least.

Good news out of this chaos was I got a second phone interview. They liked what I had to say and now will be physically interviewing tomorrow. Here is hoping something comes of all this so I can actually afford a new system :D

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 34 - Phone Interview

I had a phone interview today that may bear fruit. However I have to go through another tier of the Staffing Company.

PHONE INTERVIEW

It was set for a 1/2 hour, but really only lasted 15 minutes. It was not what I expected as the questions were fairly easy and generalized. I was expecting more questions and the call was kind of awkward. I don't think the person interviewing was ready for the call from me. It seemed like it was something they had to do, but wasn't really something they felt was needed.

The job is for an Administration IT person which is covering a vast area of responsibilities. You have to be a jack-of-all-trades as it covers a bit of tech writing, tier 1 support and administrative. I can't think of an Admin to someone having to be a tech writer and support person to boot. I think they are trying to cram as much skills as possible into this which is quite odd.

I guess we will see what happens with the other group if they want to speak to me or not.


They did offer some advice for me in reference to my resume. I have ITIL certificates, but the certificate numbers are not listed. I will have to dig into my stuff and find those numbers so I can add them.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 33 - Happy Father's Day

Hope everyone has an enjoyable Father's Day today. Maybe I will stop by the grocery store and pick up some things for a Bar-B-Que or something.

Get some Hamburgers, Potato Salad, Beans, rolls and all the condiments we don't already have. I could get some sausage as well to grill which may be good.

btw - our grill is a mini-George Foreman table top one. Not the same, but you get the cool lines on the burgers.

Can't say it will be all happiness and joy, but we need to break the 'Cloud of Doom' here in the apartment. At least I know that I won't get some damn tie or other crazy thing from my wife or son - LOL.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 32 - Insomnia and Shoes

What a freaking way to 'celebrate' being unemployed for a month now. It is not something I want and was really hoping to land a job before this. Hopefully with 2 interviews pending next week, something will happen to break this spell.

INSOMNIA

I have already had issues with sleeping and got some pills from the doctor a year ago. I was taking them extremely sparingly as I don't want to get addicted. I usually could get to sleep by 12:30 or 1:00am, but now it seems to be later and later. I can only assume it is depression with not having a job. It is getting harder and harder to fall asleep before 2:00 or 3:00am now. The worst night I was up until a little after 5:00am.

It is an emotional issue as I know that once I wake up, my daily routine is crap. No longer do I get up and make my way to work. It seems that I don't have purpose and am now a dread on society. I have been working consistently since I was 15 and this just doesn't seem right to be home jobless.

I know others would not agree and be happy to be home during the summer and enjoying the weather. I can't as I am always thinking about bills and praying nothing seriously happens to any one while we are both unemployed. If one of us was working, I would feel better. With both of us out of work, the stresses are just crazy to deal with . . . . . in silence.

SHOES

My son came home and said that his shoes no longer fit him. These were $55 USD shoes my wife got for him a couple month ago. OMFG - already they don't fit!!!

Not that we have a lot of money, but clothes are something everyone needs. We went to JCPenney's as they had some good prices for shoes. Me and my wife do need some shoes as well (my casual shoes are way over a year old and sadly need to be put down). My wife needed a pair of brown heels for her work clothes that she never found.

We actually all got shoes and the final price came to $83.74 (or about $28 a pair). Can't argue with that price and I told my son - DO NOT JUMP IN PUDDLES with your new shoes.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 31 - Tech Proofing Editor Needed

Good News ~ Got a phone interview for Monday and hopefully another one later next week.

NEED TO FIRE THE PROOFING EDITOR

Found some issues in my last 2 chapters of CompTIA Security+ SY0-301 Authorized Exam Cram (3rd Edition) book. Seems some one needs to get a new Proofing Editor as they messed up. I guess the later in the book you get, the more harder it was to write.

In Chapter 12 ~ Cryptography Tools and Techniques, they screwed up 2 of the Cram Quiz questions. OMFG - I paid $$44.99 plus tax to prep for a test and YOU SCREWED UP THE MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWERS - SERIOUSLY!!!

On the first Cram Quiz (page 323), Question 3 reads "When encrypting and decrypting an email using an asymmetric encryption algorithm, you ______________."

The answer was 'D', but it is actually not correctly phrased. The issue is that C and D say the same damn thing ("Can use the public key to either encrypt or decrypt"). I know A & B were not correct, but also that this statement above is wrong as well. I am going on a limb here, but I am assuming that D should of read "Can use the public key to encrypt only".

On the second Cram Quiz in Chapter 12 (page 337), it was an instruction issue with question number 4. The question was "Which of the following algorithms are examples of an Asymmetric encryption algorithm? (Choose three answers)".

The problem here is that there are ONLY 2 correct answers (A & D) as the other 2 are symmetric examples. If you actually reviewed this, you knew there wasn't 3, but why the confusion.

As for Chapter 13 (page 340), it was at the beginning with the answers to the CramSaver questions. The answer to the first question noted 'certificate policies' twice in components required.

Thanks people for fucking with my head and tempting me to answer wrong. Makes me wonder if any of the two 100 questions prep tests are screwed up or not.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 30 - Job Center Program Notice

I got a notice in the mail yesterday that I had to show up at the Washington County Job Center.

EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM

I have actually been waiting for this letter to arrive. It was something that I expected to get sooner or later. As being unemployed, the State wants to get you back into the work force as soon as possible. I get this as it will be helpful to hear what they have to say.

It will be a long day as this class is from 9:00am to 3:00pm with a 1/2 hour lunch break. At least they are paying for any parking costs, but lunch is on me :P

Nothing says loving like a threat now a days if you don't attend. See this little statement below as it says it all just as it was printed (Caps and Bold):

"IF YOU DO NOT ATTEND THIS WORKSHOP, IT COULD RESULT IN THE DELAY OR DENIAL OF YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS."

Nothing like a little scare tactics to get you to come to this meeting. I think everyone should attend it as it goes over 8 different points to getting a new job.

• Coping with Unemployment
• Planning your Job Search
• Resume and Cover Letter Preparation
• Completing Employment Applications
• Telephone Contact Techniques
• Effective Interviewing Techniques
• Available Community Resources
• Occupational Training Opportunities

I am most looking forward to the last 2 of these. Do you have anything like this in your area if you are unemployed?

Jobless Cartoon Movie of the Day

Day 29 - You've been OUTSOURCED

I got some bad news from people I used to work with. It seems it would be better for the Big Bank to outsource their jobs.

OUTSOURCING

I got a text message from my old co-worker at the company I was contracting at. It seems they were all notified today that their jobs will be gone by the end of Summer. It seems that someone up to 'chain of command' decided that both the departments could be liquidated. This included my department and another one. The will only be keeping 2 people on for escalation issues (wow). That is about 14 people (including Managers) that will be a statistic if they can't re-locate to another department within the company.

I can now see why my contract was not extended another 6 months.

This means that if they can't find a place in the Frederick office, they may need to move to another City/State to stay with the company. I am not sure how much this is feasible as the company doesn't seem to give a shit about them now. They even told the Managers they needed to start looking for another position. That is seriously cold as some of these have people have been with them for  many years. Some even got their 10 year pins not too long ago.

I guess there isn't any company loyalty like is was in the old days.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 28 - Coupons

When you have a little cash to spare, what can be done to save as much money as possible?

COUPONS

Seems that we are checking out coupons more than ever. If we want to get something, we see if we have a coupon. This however doesn't always mean savings.

When we go shopping, the coupons are looked at first, but we also check out the others. It is still sometimes cheaper to get a 'no name brand' item over one with a coupon. This sometimes is not best however as you really need to check out both labels. The cheaper brand may have more sodium or calories than another. It could also be a taste issue. I personally do not like the taste of generic Coke and will get Regular Coca-Cola when I can. Usually it has to be on sale however :D

The reason I bring this up as my son wanted McDonald's for lunch after I went to return a book. I did have a coupon for a new McDonald's that we could use. I just had to buy a Value Meal and he got a Happy Meal for FREE. Though eating out is no longer the norm for us,  I decided to go. I got the cheapest Value Meal possible (2 Hamburgers) at the Medium size and he got his Happy Meal.

They are showcasing the Madagascar 3 movie toys for the Kids Meals. He however ended up with a Madagascar 2 movie toy. Found it funny that even the major food chains are re-using old product to save money ~ WTF!

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 27 - Applying to more Jobs

Another Monday and another start to the Job Hunt work week. I applied to this one company in Chambersburg PA for a Service Desk Analyst 1 position. I figured this was an introductory start and a possible foot in the door. However, with the pre-assessment quiz, I may not even be considered which is really sad.

I don't have a A+ or a HDI certification. This is just crazy that a couple pieces of paper could be keeping me out of a job. I guess experience and OJT doesn't mean a hill of beans any more. Once I am done with the Security+ Training (and pass), I guess it will be time for more fucking testing and $$$ for exams. Seems I have to spend money to make money, but they really doesn't add that much $$ to my total pay.

I also decided to take a look at a job that was running the 3rd shift (or as I call it- Dead Man Shift) for Tech Support.. It was running 11pm to 7am or 12am to 8am. Figured it would be a start to get back into the work force and was local. It is not a shift I would enjoy, but anything would be better - right? Well, after looking at it, there was no per-qualifications needed. Then I looked at the wage - $11-12.hour. No wonder they are looking for recent graduates.

Are you seriously only paying that for a 3rd shift???? I made more money as a Call Center Rep 2 years ago ($12.50) and that was day shift work.

OMFG ~ will I ever find anything that will actually pay the scale needed to support my family?

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 26 - Bug Infestation

SUNDAY - SUNDAY - SUNDAY

Always like saying that as it reminds me of the ads for the Monster Truck shows.

Have to wait another week before I can update my Unemployment Insurance noting what I did and am still unemployed. It is a 2 week cycle after the first one is done. My wife did finally get her UI Card in the mail on Friday. Since it is the weekend, we can't transfer the funds over to the checking account yet.

Oh, and the ticks are a bitch this year. My son found one on his shoulder while sleeping early this morning. Since the only way to kill them is by flame, I microwaved the damn thing. I heard a POP, but still have it in a sealed container as I want to make sure it is dead. May add it to my son's bug collection.

Gotta love Western Maryland. Never had this issue in Florida and sucks we have to deal with it here. My son is now having issues sleeping thinking he will get another one crawling on him - FML.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 25 - Another Weekend

If I were working, the weekend would mean more to me. Being out of work, the days just jumble together into one. I want a job so I can get back to a normal routine again.

Still have my chapter study to do for my Security+ stuff, but that may be it today.

My Dad is having a bar-b-que and invited us over. It seems that most of my Aunts and Uncles on my Dad's side will be there. None of their kids however, so no one to talk with but old people - LOL. Like I am much younger in my mid 40's. I am sure to let my son bring his DSi so he isn't too bored being there with us 'old folks'.

It should be a nice day, but a little hot, so will probably stay inside the house. 

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 24 - LinkedIn Security Breach

If you have not heard on the news or from LinkedIn, they had a security breach this week. Funny how I am learning about this with my Security+ Training.

SECURITY BREACH

If you have an account, I would suggest changing the password even if you do not get an email (see below) from LinkedIn.

Here is a copy of the transcript sent to me. Once I heard about the issue, I immediately changed my password. It was nice of them to send this, but several days after the fact is a little late. Please note that this is how they formatted it as well with no paragraph breaks - sloppy if you ask me. Yes, you need to get this message out ASAP, but you also need to be professional about it.

"We recently became aware that some LinkedIn passwords were compromised and posted on a hacker website. We immediately launched an investigation and we have reason to believe that your password was included in the post. To the best of our knowledge, no email logins associated with the passwords have been published, nor have we received any verified reports of unauthorized access to any member’s account as a result of this event. While a small subset of the passwords was decoded and published, we do not believe yours was among them. The security of your account is very important to us at LinkedIn. As a precaution, we disabled your password, and advise you to take the following steps to reset it. If you reset your password in the last two days, there is no need for further action. 1. Type www.linkedin.com/settings directly into your browser 2. Type in your email address and press Sign In, no password necessary 3. Follow the on-screen directions to reset your password Note: Do not reuse your old password when creating your new password. If you have been using your old LinkedIn password on other sites, we recommend that you change those passwords too. We appreciate your immediate attention to resetting your password and apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you, The LinkedIn Team"

Now if you note, they said that if you already changed it, no further action is needed. However, when I signed in, it forced me to reset it once again. Nothing like having to update a password all over again. WTF

Now to add insult to injury, it seems that I am now getting botcalls to my phone. Why is it a botcall, well, once you answer the call, it immediately rings back to a person. The number being used is 8877777888 which is a false number. They are trying to say they are calling on behalf of the government (in a really bad and broken accent) that I have a $7000USD grant available.

Seriously, how dumb are people now a days to fall for this stupid shit - oh wait - several if they are paying people to take these calls.

Thanks LinkedIn for the security breach that is causing more headaches than just password resets.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 23 - More Studying and Prep Testing

Still working on my Certification for Security+ and researching prep tests and stuff. I am also still working on my Training Links Page and that is not up yet.

I was able to get the other 2 pages done for Job Searching and Maryland Unemployment. These links should prove helpful for anyone looking for a job, especially in Maryland.

I am up to Chapter 7 in my CompTIA Security+ SY0-301 Authorized Exam Cram (3rd Edition) book. It is not easy andI am working with some other avenues as well. I was able to find a link to someone that is doing an online training course for this. They have 12 chapters, with the last one in the middle of July. I want to have my testing done sooner than this, but may hold off. I want to insure that I can pass this the first time.

I even found a free Prep testing by ProProf on their site for Security+ [link]. It has some other areas that you can check out for other lessons and testing. This is going to be a big step for me as it will get me a job that much faster with that company I interviewed with.

My wife is working on getting an A+ certification. If all goes well with the Security+, this will be my next certification. What sucks however is that if you have either of these prior to 2011, you are grandfathered in for life. Now when you get certified, you have to take a new test every 3 years to be certified again. What a crack of shit this is for me.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 22 - Reality of a Pay Scale

Storytime ~ the reality of having a possible job, but not at a pay scale that would matter.

My wife received a call yesterday from a Recruiter. They had a couple of jobs that she may be interested in and wanted to review them with her.

Job One was for a Call Center Customer Service Rep, paying $11.41/hr but was 30 miles away (Frederick). When we drove to our last jobs in Frederick, it cost us about $55 to fill up the cars each week.

Job Two was for a Data Entry position, paying $9.50/hr and about 5 miles away.

Both sounded extremely easy for her to do since she was a Data Manager, but way under her experience. Now to put things into perspective, our unemployment insurance (UI) payments are at $10.75/hr ($430 / 40 hrs = $10.75). Just off of that, these jobs really don't pay much and are not worth even considering. Not to mention that Minimum Wage is a fucking joke at $7.25/hr. Seriously, this is only jobs for High School kids and even to then, this is cheap labor.

Now on the flip side of that coin however, is benefits. Currently we don't have any health or other benefits right now with UI. With either job she would have benefits, but that of course is taken out of your base pay.  You then have to weigh the expense of the job vs the benefits it poses.

Unemployment makes you face some damn ugly choices in life.

btw: WTF does AFLAC call you each time you update your resume on Monster wondering if you want a job as an Insurance Saleperson????

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 21 - UI Card Arrived

UI stands for Unemployment Insurance

I finally got my card in the mail and it came in this lovely envelope you see here. It had my wonderful Visa Prepaid Debit card which will now have my UI payments loaded into it.

Well, I don't want them on this card as I have to make payments to my landlord, car loans and other misc bills. The good thing is that you can actually setup your payments to go directly to your bank account.

What sucks is that you have to wait until you get your card to make any changes. It is through Citibank which you can actually call. Once you get your card, you will also need to setup you 4 digit PIN number. I was able to setup my Direct Deposit and even have it recurring so I don't have to worry about it. Only draw back is it will delay my payments for 2-3 business days.

You can call them at 800-582-4910 or go online at www.mduibenefits.com. Either way, you will need to provide some information to get this all started. Remember, you have to have your card in hand before you can start the process.

Now I need to track my payments and taxes that were not taken out. I don't want a SHOCKING SURPRISE at the end of year when I have to pay taxes on my UI payments. You still get taxed even on unemployment insurance payments.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 20 - Blog Updates

I decided to take some time today after my studies to update the blog. I am in the process of adding 3 additional pages to help my fellow Jobless Peeps.

I am working on getting the pages setup as resource material to help those so they don't have to spend all day on the computer searching for this crap like I had to. Some may not be ready as this is posted, but will be completed in the next couple days.

The first one is specific to my state, Maryland. This will cover most of what links you need to claim unemployment benefits, keep them coming and what other services are offered in the state.

The next page will deal with job search engines that can be used by anybody anywhere they happen to live. I will try to include the major sites I use as well as some you may not think of.

The final page will be in reference to training. This may be more specific to technological training, but it will have others as well that I have found.

If you happen to know of any links that may be helpful, please drop a comment or email. I will review your suggestions and add them if they would help. I am not open to anyone trying to plug their own site or some crap site as I will weed them out.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day