I'm not sure why I get my hopes up, anymore.  Afterall, this past year has been full of disappointments, when it comes to the job search, so why should right now be any different?

This coming Thursday, I was supposed to leave to begin working my new job.  Not really crazy about the idea of leaving my family for 3 1/2 weeks, I accepted this task to start bringing in some money.  Maybe even have a little money set aside for when I came back to pick my family up and bring them to our new home.

For some reason, I woke up, this morning, with a very bitter taste in my mouth.  Something just isn't quite right.

I e-mailed my soon-to-be boss, asking for a verification that there is, indeed, work waiting for me when I arrive on Thursday.  It was mentioned that the main job I will eventually be doing is not quite ready, but there will be some interim work that I can do to carry me over.  But, nothing was ever presented in writing.  No details were spoken.

That e-mail has been read - and ignored.  So has the e-mail I sent a week ago asking the same question.

My suspicions raised, I called a mutual friend.  This friend confirmed that there is currently nothing for me to do.  No real work that needs to be done.  No paycheck to be had.  All of my hopes for nothing. 

My home is up for foreclosure, soon.  Perhaps even this week.  My family has nowhere to go.  I have failed them.  The people that mean the most to me out of any other people in this vast universe... and I have failed them.

I have no idea what to do, now.

+ruined

The only thing I like more than stirring the crowd with my unpopular opinions is stirring my creativity.  In the past, my creativity has been limited to music.  One might say that creating music is my life.  Without it, I would simply cease to exist.

Something that has always held my interest, but I have never been able to afford to pursue is photography.  I have a great eye for composing shots - be it portrait photography, still life, or macros.  It's just, I don't have the cash to get into it.  Especially with digitals running as expensive as they are.

With a stroke of luck, I ran across a Canon EOS Rebel Xs (body only) on E-bay.  With only 13 seconds remaining in the auction, I threw my bid out there.  Time expired with me as the high bidder.  At the completely reasonable price of $10.50, I am now the proud owner of a good quality SLR camera! 

A camera body is useless without a lens, of course.  That said, I threw an extra $40 (earned by selling my old cell phone) toward a 35-80mm zoom lens.  This should be a good basic lens for taking portraits.  That'll start me out, at least.

In the coming days, if I take a pic worth sharing, I'll throw them on this blog.  I'm anticipating some good shots.  I just hope I can live up to my own expectations.  In the mean time, I'll share some very poor quality shots I took with a circa-1970's camera.  The exposure meter was broken, so it was hard to estimate the brightness.  The shots ended up over exposed... but still good memories were captured!

(my youngest daughter)

(my older daughters - very over exposed, but not bad for such an old camera)

More, better quality shots on the way in the coming months.  Stay tuned...

By the way... if anybody has any Canon EF-compatible lenses they want to donate or sell to me on the cheap, let me know! ;)

+ruined

On March 18, 2008, I signed a recording contract with a new, digital-media-only label.  Apparently, they had only been around for 2 weeks when I signed on.  They had already signed two other bands to the label, so I took comfort in knowing that I would not be the first musical artist they had dealings with.

Apparently, this recording label had a contract already drawn for their bands to sign.  Everything appeared to be very well organized and in order.  I signed the contract with great expectations!

Among the bands signed was a female-fronted electronic band.  Very good sound.  Highly creative.

It seems the founder of this record label was really interested in this female-fronted band, as he apparently though it would be a good idea to make sexual comments and advances toward her.  The problem with this is both, the label's founder and the female lead of this band are both married.

She did not take well to these advances.  In retaliation, the founder of the label decided to void the female-fronted band's contract.  The contract, however, did not have an exit clause for either party.  To avoid breach of contract, the label's founder sold the company to his wife... for $1.  All of the old contracts were nullified and the new owner of the label could pick and choose who to re-sign.  Of course, the new owner chose to re-sign all of the previous bands who had contracts - except for the female-fronted band.

Not wanting to be part of a label who thinks it good practise to sell the company and void contracts every time a band and the label have a problem, I chose not to re-sign.  But, this is only after I created an $800 web site for the company and sent all of my music covered under the contract to them. 

I have sent a letter through Certified Mail that I demand written notice that my contract is null and void and I demand return of ownership of all of my copyrights, as well as all music masters that I sent him.  I also demand the destruction of any copy of my music and artwork they have, be it on physical media, or in digital form.  They have until May 15 to comply.

If they fail to comply, I am considering suing them for the return of my music, as well as the $800 for the web site I created for them (by their request). 

All-in-all, this deal has screwed me out of a lot of money.  All because the founder of the label couldn't keep it in his pants...

+ruined

It has been happening for some time.  The US Dollar has been slowly declining for several years.  Even in the real estate boom, the stability of the dollar was being questioned.  Now that the real estate bubble has popped and we have no real platform to base consumer confidence on, things look bleaker, still.

Things are looking so bleak, in fact, that Iran - the second largest representative of OPEC - has turned its back on the US Dollar and will no longer trade oil using the currency.  To Iran, the dollar is a "worthless piece of paper".

Now that the US Dollar has dropped to such a low value level, I would like to hear what you think.  What is the future of the US Dollar?  Will the currency be replaced with some other currency?  If so, which currency?  Will the replacement be an existing currency, or will a new currency be developed?

Your opinions would be very interesting to hear...

+ruined

I received my Letter Of Intent To Hire from the bank job in Connecticut.  This is good news, as the state of Michigan has a grant program that assists newly employed people to help them with moving costs, security deposits, first month of rent, or any other moving-related expense that may arrive.  So, I submitted my Letter of Intent and all other paperwork needed to apply for this grant.

The reception to this paperwork was disappointing, if not completely sickening.

The lady who is responsible for accepting this paperwork met me with extreme doubt, an attitude appropriate for a 4-year-old - not a State Employee - and extended her lack of professionalism to my new employer.  She bombarded my new employer with demands for added information.  She went as far as calling Connecticut information to get phone numbers for the business involved.  This may sound like typical research, but the "research" was so extensive that my employer contacted me... ANNOYED.  It appeared as if he was getting slightly annoyed at me for having the State of Michigan calling him every 5 minutes to ask him to verify information.

I received another e-mail from my new employer... this time saying that there is now a demand for all of the information already obtained... this time on company letterhead.  In response, I sent the State Employee the following letter:

Hey everybody... it's been awhile.

To get back in the swing of things, I'd like to point out a serious problem.  This is a problem that has affected me for nearly a year, now.  That problem is unemployment.

Unemployment is one of the many sad symptoms of a sick economy.  People aren't spending money, which means jobs are being cut.  Those jobs that were cut means less people spending THEIR money... which means more jobs being cut.  It's a very, very vicious circle.

President Bush went public, today, laying the blame on Congress.  The Republicans are pointing their finger at the Democrats.  The Democrats, in turn, pointing their fingers at the Republicans.  All the while, all of us unemployed people are watching the tennis match wondering, "Do you politicians remember us?  Or are you even in touch with the country you are leading?"

Instead of playing the blame game, how about actually coming up with a plan... a REAL plan - not a bandaid in the form of an "economic stimulus package" that is bound to not do much good... let's figure out a REAL plan. 

Some ideas I have...

• Give companies a REAL reason to keep jobs on shore, rather than outsourcing to cheaper, less skilled labor.
• Hold oil companies accountable.  There is no reason for us to pay $4.00 for gas and through the nose for other oil-based products while the oil companies are raking in BILLIONS of dollars in profit.  There is something wrong there... find the problem and FIX it!
• Grow corn for food... not feul.  The corn that is going for fuel is creating a food shortage, driving prices through the roof.  Since we have no money left after we fill our tanks, how do you expect us to be able to afford the rapidly rising cost of food?

If the government will take a time out from playing Point The Finger and wake up to the real causes of these issues, maybe then we can get somewhere in fixing these issues.  People will gain confidence and start spending dollars, again.  This will create jobs.  Maybe even one that I can get hired to do.

+ruined

What caught my attention was that the audience in attendance reacted in a very - in my opinion - inappropriate way. They gasped... then they cheered. CHEERED? Why the bloody 'ell are they cheering because a fictional character is gay? Would they cheer if they found out that he was straight? To test that question, I would like to announce in full view of the public... I AM STRAIGHT!

What? Where's my applause? Is there nothing to cheer about concerning my heterosexual-ness? Why not? And what is there to cheer about concerning Dumbledore's coming out? If ANYBODY can explain this with a level of intelligence, please do. The floor is yours.

+ruined

See, I have been unemployed for about 5 months, now. On a weekly basis, I've been cranking out 40 resumes to various places... just hoping to find a position. In my job search, a common and annoying theme I run into is an ad similar to the following:

NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR:

Entry level position! Must have 20-30 years of experience in the following: hardware break/fix, programming in the following languages - C, C++, Basic, Visual Basic, Visual Basic For Applications, Visual Basic Script, JavaScript, Java, Decafinated Java, Mocha, Hot Chocolate, Pascal, Fortran, and Sanscrit. Must love people, must have patience, and must love long walks on the beach by moonlight. Experience with building nuclear reactors a plus. Salary between $5.50 and $7.50 depending on experience. Reply by e-mailing clueless_manager@bigbusin ess.blah.

I'm serious about this... they claim it's an entry level position, but yet they expect you to have a master's and a life time worth of experience, expect you to have thorough knowledge of everything from hardware to how to program, and they want to pay you pennies.

Note to managers... if you want to hire talent (or want to keep the talent you have on staff), get a clue! Open the wallets, understand that most people have specialties - hardware or programming - and rarely know how to do both with a high level of expertice. And if you are a manager who can't understand that, perhaps you should try managing something a little more your speed. Like Taco Bell.

+dharvell

I created Screw The Giant, originally, to battle big tech companies like Microsoft, but it has become an outlet, for me. A new area for me to blog without the hassle of rules and having to follow certain protocol. Stop by and visit me, sometime. I'd love to hear from you all! +ruined Over and out...

Hey all... long time no post.  I've been busy finishing up recording and finalizing my new CD.  The new CD is called, "Human Analog".

Now, what you may or may not know is that I have been out of work for more than 3 months, now.  Money is tight.  That said, I've decided to release the CD without a record label, as I want to keep all of the profit to put food on the table... not line the pockets of the record label.  In order to put the new CD out, I'm looking for people who would like to pre-order the CD, to help offset the cost of production.  I need 7 more people to pre-order, in order to make cost.

If you would like to pre-order the CD, please contact me by going to my website and contacting me through the CONTACT form on the site.

I appreciate those of you who can pre-order the CD.  If you CAN'T pre-order the CD, please help out by spreading the word.  7 more orders isn't a lot... but it sure would help!!!

+ruined

That said, I've held some conversations with fellow future co-workers who currently live in Connecticut. Apparently, a few of the guys have started a computer consulting company to tie themselves over until the multimedia company we're waiting for opens. They're making some good $$$ in the process. They want me to head out that way and work for them as I wait for my permanent position to open. That actually opens a few good opportunities. First, of course, some income to tie us over. Sweet. Second, these people are also musicians, so we'll most likely work on getting some music together. That's exciting, as music is my first passion. More than computers, even.

My goal is to get some of my music contracted with some movies or networks. I hear there's some good $$$ in contracting songs.

Either way... wish me luck.

+ruined

I am so sick of this crap.  Plain and simple.  The anti-war group whines and complains that we're fighting for nothing in Iraq, because there are no terrorists there.  So, tell me then, how is it there were arrests made - IN IRAQ - of suspects related to the 7/7 terrorist attack.  Pretty impressive, seeing that there are no terrorists in Iraq, hmm?

Tell me also, why the news media didn't bother printing that the US/Iraq Forces coalition just attacked a terrorist bunker killing several terrorists and arresting 20 more.  20 is a whole lot more than zero terrorists, don't you think?  And I'll TELL you why the news media didn't bother reporting it.  Because it would completely blow their agenda.  The liberal media only reports what will promote their ultimate goal of making our current administration look like idiots.

Futher, explain why national media failed to report an attack that happened 7/4 in New Jersey.  A lunatic peace protestor left a suicide note in his home saying that he was going to kill a member of our armed services, then kill himself to protest the war.  He succeeded in his final mission.  However, the news only made it as far as the local level.  Why?  Because it would expose extreme peace protestors as the "bad guy" and that would be harmful to the media's ultimate mission.

Wake up, people!  Stop protesting the war, because it's the popular opinion to be against it.  Have the balls to think for yourselves.  Stop letting the media make your minds up for you.  There are terrorists being brought to justice in Iraq.  The war is not the lost cause the media tells you it is.  Before you go on protesting something you know nothing about, take the time to learn the facts.  They may surprise you.

+ruined

You can download the radio show from their website. For the impatient, my song starts around the 5:28 marker.

Download it and give it a listen!

+ruined

Time moved on. Last year- about this time, in fact- the neighbor guy barged into our house, uninvited, without knocking on the door. He just walked right on in. The reason? Our dog barked and he wanted it quiet. Never mind the fact that it was noon. Middle of the day.

Over the course of the past week, the noise-complaining idiots have thrown TWO very loud parties. The one that was thrown last night went on until 2:00 in the morning before we decided to return the police call favor. The police had absolutely no problem shutting down their party, at all.

Thank you to their party (which they held outdoors during a complete downpour, by the way), my family got no more than 4 hours of sleep, last night.

I hope they're hungover, this morning. That would make my day.

+ruined

Get it HERE

For Pastor Dave's benefit, following are the lyrics to "Love And Murder"

Hatred
The disease that plagues my mind
Torture
Twists down my spine
Failure
Defines my every breath
Control
Slips away

There's a fine line between love and murder
How I want to be your martyr
Blood washes over broken skin
To crucify the filth within

Hallelujah
I claw my eyes out as I search for the key
I come up empty
What do I believe?

Hatred
The disease that plagues my mind
Torture
Twists down my spine
Failure
Defines my every breath
Control
Slips away

Lustful urges what cannot be
To erase this part of me
Putrid tongue tells terrible tales
Of past attempt if but to fail

+ruined

A few of these visualizations, I've kept my two older daughters awake to witness the station flying overhead. As they are only 8 and 6 years old, I attempted to explain to them that people actually live in that little dot that's in the sky. Not only that, but for the past 2 weeks, the space shuttle is also docked on the Station, so we're actually seeing that, as well.

Tonight was a treat that made the space shuttle being up there more real to them. The shuttle pushed away from the Space Station earlier today. As the Station flew overhead, this evening - this time at 85-degrees elevation (nearly right over head) we didn't see the single flying dot that we normally would see... we saw TWO dots flying overhead. The first (and brightest) dot was the Space Station. The second, smaller dot was the shuttle. What an awesome thing to actually see both! And so high in the sky, this time. This time, as they were so close to directly above us, the Station and shuttle were only around 210 statute miles away from us.

My girls went to bed feeling that they just witnessed something amazing. And really, if you think about it, they did. Two human-enhabited space vehicles flying above us in excess of 17,000 miles per hour. Pretty cool, indeed.

+ruined

Why is it, presidential candidates can raise millions of dollars to put themselves in office, but once they are elected they can't raise enough money to even put a dent in hunger and poverty, or for building defenses against domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual predators, and the like?

Are our candidates so self-absorbed that all they care about is raising enough money to get their name on the Commander In Chief plaque? Looking at the money they raise for themselves negates the entire list of "issues" they claim to support.

The candidates are all about themselves. Self-centered and completely focused on one thing - furthering their name and giving themselves a page in the history book. To hell with the rest of us.

+ruined

In the mean time, I no longer work at my old System Administrator position. If you put one and one together, you could probably come up with the answer of "I am currently out of work."

To make matters worse, my wife's one and only daycare client called to inform her that her children would no longer attend, because the mother took a second-shift job. Add that to the equation and you come up with "absolutely no income, what-so-ever".

Tomorrow, I am meeting with the people at Michigan's "Work First" program. That scares the crap out of me, because most of the jobs they have include sitting on an asparagus picker, working in the fields all day. What a waste of time, when I could be out there looking for a job that will actually make a difference for my family!

This whole situation has me nothing short of pissed off. I'm trying to keep a good attitude about it, but my whole situation has just been turned upside down.

I wonder how many Darvocet pills it would take to put me in a nice sleep...?

+ruined

Tracks are $.99 US per download, or entire albums are available for $9.00. The store is available on my MySpace profile, or on the official website. Or, you could simply use the music store I conveniently placed on the right side of my blog.

Spread the word, buy the music, and enjoy!

+nullfactor

The first graphic I'm going to show is from a video of a small aircraft that violated a NASA no-fly zone. Notice the button under the picture of shuttle. Talk about giving your readers some real power!

The second headline is actually two headlines from unrelated stories. But... it just says it all:

As they say, "And that's all of the news fit to print!"

+ruined

Just under 6 years ago, we were attacked by commuter jets smashing into buildings in New York City, collapsing our symbols of financial power and our feelings of security, alike. The political Left immediately started on the warpath, slamming our administration for failing to "connect the dots" with the intelligence they had to work with. To avoid future mistakes, the administration put into place various methods of gathering intelligence so it would be easier to connect those dots, to avoid future attacks. Now, the administration is being slammed for invading the privacy of the American citizens.

Sorry, but there seems to be a double-standard, here. Do we gather intelligence to avoid these attacks, or do we sit on our thumbs and pretend that there aren't any plans being made within the borders of our country as I sit here and type this?

To me, it seems to be a case of damned-if-we-do-damned-if -we-don't syndrome. Myself, I believe we should do everything we can to ensure our safety... even if it means giving up certain amounts of freedom. At least I can rest assured that my family and I can live in safety.

+ruined

In other news, Microsoft is on the rampage, again. This time, claiming that Free and Open Source software infringes on over 200 patents owned by the software giant. Interestingly enough, Microsoft failed to give even a single example of exactly WHICH patents have been violated and how so. To me, it looks like more smoke and mirrors to give themselves the advantage. Afterall, if anything even comes close to threatening their monopoly status, what recourse do they have but to litigate? Of course, they claim that they would rather LICENSE the patents to the open source community, rather than litigate, but looking at their past record would tell you otherwise. They are rather lawsuit happy.

Well, with a full tank of gas and a laptop full of Ubuntu Linux - the best of Open Source - it is off to the races for me. Enjoy your Tuesday.

+ruined

Ubuntu is also a distribution of Linux. A very good one, at that. It brings a sense of Ubuntu to Linux, you may say. The support community that surrounds this distribution is better than many closed-source software package.

Ubuntu Linux is an easy to use operating system that ships with so many software extras that it becomes a complete solution. These packages include graphics editing software that gives Photoshop a run for its money, a complete office package that has high compatibility with Microsoft Office, and a customizable interface that can change with your mood.

This release is so powerful and easy to use that I have ditched Windows Vista in favor for Ubuntu. The incredible thing is, I don't miss Windows, at all. In fact, remember how much I hated my new laptop when I got it? I actually enjoy it now that it is not running Vista. This is actually an enjoyable computing experience!

You can check it out, yourself, at Ubuntu's Website

+ruined

First off, oil companies have assets ranging in the hundreds of billions of dollars, if not more. Why would a day's losses of not even a billion dollars hurt them. That is just a drop in the bucket in the overall view of things. They would miss that about as much as a person would miss the quarter that fell out of their jeans pocket and into the couch cushion.

Not to mention the millions of people who commute to work on a daily basis. How understanding do you think your boss would be if you called one day of work with the excuse of, "Sorry, I couldn't fill my tank today. I'm boycotting the oil giants." Something tells me your job would be the only thing being lost, that day.

Boycotting the gas tanks simply isn't enough. Most of our home's energy comes from petroleum-based sources. That would mean that we would also have to turn off our electricity for the day, as well. Not to mention cooking... gas or electric, there is most likely oil involved in there, somewhere.

How about the use of everyday materials? Plastics are oil-based. A lot of the bathroom products we use are oil-based. Just about everything we put our fingers on would be non-existent if oil was not used somewhere in the manufacturing process. You know those plastic keys your fingers are resting on attached to your computer keyboard? Oil-based.

If you really want to stick it to big oil, what we need is an alternative. Alternative energy. Alternative manufacturing materials. As of right now, though... face it. We are under their spell. It is time the developed world wakes up and starts putting some major resources into finding ALTERNATIVE resources. Only then can we put the drain on the oil companies.

+ruined

+ruined