Day 152

One week down… only 22 left! Today we had our first big(ish) snowstorm of the season, and as usual, it brought out the stupid irrationality of many people. Unlike a lot of other people, I found myself begrudgingly partaking in my commute to work this morning in my 2 wheel drive Accord, making it to work safe and sound. Calling around to local businesses though, my work was almost entirely fruitless, as nearly all local entrepreneurs had shut their doors at the onset of what has been appropriately tagged by the media as “Pre-Thanksgiving storm” (Very creative.) Needless to say, when noontime hit, my quest for lunch – which is usually simple and mindless –  turned into a life or death journey across an arctic tundra. Cursing my employer for having the audacity to stay open during this driving nightmare, I went back to work but only after getting stuck in the parking lot as I was pulling in. The publisher must have heard my prayers at about 1:30, when it was announced that we would be closing at 3:30. Twiddling my thumbs for the next hour and a half and spending more time pretending to be busy that actually BEING busy, I was permitted to go home a bit earlier… at 3:00, after the storm had dissipated. Now safe and sound in my cozy bed at home, I’m greatly anticipating tomorrow’s feast and good company. The roads will be cleared and today’s unnerving terror of being on the roads will no longer exist.

Day 154

Finally, a relief at work. After the most exhausting week of my life (last week) which was filled with early deadlines, grumpy customers, and wrong ads published, it’s over. The paper has already been printed for this week and now my next round of ads don’t have to be printed until December 1st, which feels like an eternity. As a person who works the best under pressure, having a deadline that is so far away encourages procrastination. However, today I was able to buckle down and secure some ads for December 1st, as well as log some of my customers who run on a weekly basis. As queen of the procrastinators though, this does not come natural to me and during my spurts of productivity I am tempted to check the very addictive Facebook or catch up on the latest bath salts story in the BDN. The thing is, I have always been the type of person who does everything at the last minute. I did a four month internship and wrote my reflection paper in three hours… while sitting in a parked car in the middle of a construction site. Even though so much weighed on that one grade, I was amazingly nonchalant about the procedure of writing the paper, and this holds true throughout other spectrums of my life. While I might be a crazy, stressed out, on edge person, I refuse to EVER plan anything in advance. Life would be no where near as fun if it wasn’t done in a fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants manner. While it’s important to make sure the essentials are taken care of (housing, food, job, etc.) other things can be put on the back burner. Just procrastinate and chill out, maaaannnn.

Day 155

Day 156 was spent at the every classy barnyard of Bangor. With a few more ass slaps to my name, a bruised foot, and a hang over to deal with, I would consider this trip achieved its goals of sketchy, crazy, and fun. Today however, I paid the consequences… dearly. However, there really is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than being lazy and I achieved this goal as well. Catching up with a friend and power walking off a lunch of fatty (but delicious) proved to be a pretty amazing day for me. So far so good….let’s hope I keep up this positivity/distraction thing for 155 more days!

Day 157

I think it’s time I bid my farewells to the iPhone I once loved dearly. As with all new things, they grow old and lose their sheen. My iPhone 3GS, once fast, state of the art, and capable of taking clear cell phone photos is now a thing of the past. Adding to my desire to upgrade is the fact that I am now eligible to buy a phone at the contract price – a definite perk. But upgrading comes at a moral cost. Is it okay to discard a phone that is in (relatively speaking) perfectly good condition, a luxury that many people could never fathom affording? I’m the one who judges couples on getting divorced after the first few years of marriage, criticizing them for dumping their spouse once the honeymoon phase is over. Really though, this is what I’m doing with my phone. It still does everything I ask it do, just at a much slower rate of speed, producing somewhat grainy photos and not responding well to the multiple dropping incidents I’ve put it through. As weird as it might appear, I almost feel guilty looking at other phones, like I’m cheating on my iPhone. Apple amazed me with the iPhone technology, and now I find myself going gaga over the HTC Vivid. I can guarantee that once I find a new phone, the honeymoon stage will wear off after I have thrown it a few times and sworn that I will never use AT&T ever again. If my iPhone continues to give me a guilt trip though, maybe I’ll continue to stick things out with her until she finally decides to sputter her last few breaths of battery life, who knows. Hopefully my upcoming trip to the AT&T store will provide some insight on this big life decision I might possibly be making.

Day 158

I think it is fair to say that the typical person does not look forward to their next awkward social interaction. I for certain don’t, but today it was inevitable, as I attended my very first chamber after hours event. A glorified bragging event, each month a local businesses will hold an “after hours” event at their establishment, displaying their facility and innovative, if not state-of-the art services. Snacking on only the most common finger foods and mingling amongst strangers (or better yet, faux friends) is not exactly my cup of tea. I instantly revert back to the days of the middle school dance; a place where it was okay to group in clusters against the wall and chat with friends. However, this was not the case for me tonight, as networking was the name of the game. After all, my degree is in communication, so how hard could it be to communicate with my fellow chamber members. Simple answer: very. Trying to make small talk with people who I share little in common with proved to be a challenge. Hell, getting people to even talk to me was difficult enough. As soon as it was socially acceptable for me to leave, I dashed, leaving a wake of people who were probably astonished by my awkwardness. Lesson learned, in the future I will try my hardest to latch on to people I know and coerce them into occupying me for the whole evening, thus avoiding any potential wallflower situations that might present itself. I cannot honestly understand why such an event is held though, as I can see very few people kicking up their heels and enjoying the raucous camaraderie that the chamber makes after hours out to be. While my social life might be limited at this time, I do not ever see chamber after hours as a function that I will greatly anticipate, as I think clipping my toenails would be far more enjoyable of an act.

Guess Who’s Back. Back Again.

After a ridiculously long sabbatical (if that’s what you want to call it) I’m back and committed to maintaining my blog. Really though, the only reason why this is occurring is circumstantial. My boyfriend (and here it gets blah blah journal like) left for a job training program that will last for six months… half way across the country. Upon his completion of the program I will be joining him… half way across the country. For the remanding six months though, I will be spending nearly all of my time thinking of ways to preoccupy myself during the incredibly long and dull winter in Maine. Thankfully for my boyfriend though, he will be in a MUCH warmer part of the country. Needless to say, I am less than thrilled, but life is never easy. It’s necessary to update anyone who is reading that my job status has changed again. In the last year, I have been a student, water quality researcher, nursery worker and now, advertising representative. As a child, I always dreamed of working at a newspaper and now I finally am. While selling ads to sometimes pompous business owners has it’s own ups and downs, it is head and shoulders above the days of misery back at the nursery. Ask me this in a few months, and I might disagree but for now it’s tolerable. Out of all the “occupations” I’ve had though, I would most definitely rank student as the best. Where else can you live so carelessly, drink during the daylight hours and consider a night of wandering through the snow with friends successful? Unbeknownst to the eternal college student, there is a life outside of the dorm (and classroom if you went.) Upon graduation the eminent 9-5 doom looms overhead like a vacuum cleaner waiting to suck you in to the never ending monotony of corporate America. I anxiously anticipate a day when I escape the accurately termed “daily grind” and make a difference in the world, doing whatever it takes to satisfy my work needs. For now though, I pay the bills. And I wait.

It’s Been A Long Time

I have easily been the most horrible blogger ever lately. Juggling my life in the real world proves to be a challenge, and one that I am neither willing  or excited to accept. Quite frankly, I am jealous of everyone who is gearing up for the impending school year which will be upon us within the upcoming weeks. With that being said, quite a bit has happened in my life since I last posted. Although I try to avoid making this blog any sort of diary (as I feel that to be a tasteless and tacky way to use such media), it goes without saying that I wish to update my readers as to what has been going on. Since the middle of July, I have been employed by a local nursery (baby trees, not children) as a clerk. Certainly not the most rewarding career choice I had in mind, but one that pays the bills and occupies my time, however boring that might be. This is certainly not a permanent position, though. If all goes according to plan, I should be moving to Texas either next Spring or Summer. Due to certain employment circumstances, my boyfriend has found himself tentatively hired for a position that will take us to south Texas. Ideally, this is not the place that I would like to be, but I am excited for the adventure. I am hopeful that a geographic change in location will increase the likelihood of me finding a  job in my field. Right now, being a clerk at a lackluster nursery is very dull and I feel that my skills and talents are being underutilized. As I write, I am currently at work. A rainy day in a month notorious for lagging sales, there are little tasks to be accomplished and I sit at my post, waiting anxiously for the customers that never come. While I should be thankful for a job in such a poor economy, I can’t help but feel resentful towards the college degree that is doing me little good at the moment. On a side note, my beloved grandmother is currently being hospitalized for gallbladder issues and it is difficult to see such a typically vibrant and spry woman lie cooped up in a hospital bed. Acknowledging the immortality of human life is hard, but this illness is one my grandmother will come out of. I promise to be a more diligent blogger from here on out, as it is important to remain dutiful to a hobby that brings me so much pleasure.

I Need A Job!

I’ve been a terrible blogger lately. No job, nothing to do, yet I still can’t seem to find time to sit down for 20 minutes a day to jot down a quick few thoughts. Needless to say, my sedentary lifestyle has been reasonably lately. Prior to graduation, I knew that finding a professional career path upon graduation would prove to be a challenge, but one that I was excited to engage in. Now that I’ve been looking for jobs for nearly a month now, I think otherwise. With 10+ applications sent out and not even one interview to speak of, the process gets discouraging. Finally, I have decided to contact a job recruiter to aid me in my seemingly fruitless job hunt. Tomorrow I have an interview with said job recruiter which will be the first interview I have had upon graduation. After being told by one employer that my college degree and five years of retail experience make me unqualified to sell cell phones, I was extremely discouraged. Everything happens for a reason though and it seems that waiting for good things to happen is a recurring theme in my life. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this opportunity  will work out for me, I need to get to work soon before my money sources are totally depleted!

My Life As A College Grad

Saturday marked my graduation from the University of Maine and since then I have allowed for two days to slip through my fingers. With no job and certainly no school to go to, my life is rather boring. It is my goal to put out a job application a day and hope for the best, but in an economy like the one we’re facing, it’ll be interesting to see where I end up. It’s absolutely terrifying to think that I am now considered a “grown up” in the “real world” and with $34,000 of debt looming over my shoulders, I need to secure a way of making money soon so I can hopefully move out of my parents house before the time I’m 40. Last night at a bonfire I attended, people were sharing what they plan on doing now that they are graduates. Most had already secured high paying jobs and one was traveling to Europe during the months prior to the beginning of her employment, with many new cars parked in the driveway as graduation presents. Feeling like a failure at life, I have absolutely no plans whatsoever – short or long-term. Right now, I can’t even move back home because my bedroom is in a state of renovation and since I’ve graduated, I’ve been doing the exact same things I did as a student. Eating cold pizza, sleeping in until 10:30, turning to my mom in times of distress, struggling to find a decent man and drinking beer around campfires: maybe this is how my life will always be. Better go work on the cover letter now, though. Don’t want to be laying in my bed at 11:00 in the morning with nothing to do forever.

Implications of Outsourcing

In a sluggish economy with many Americans struggling to find jobs, we must search for the reasons behind this growing problem. Leading the issue is corporate America and the push towards outsourcing of jobs to countries like India and China where labor is cheap and readily available. With the United States and other North American countries gaining increasing dependence on countries across the globe for basic services, more and more companies leave their operations on the home front only to hire foreign employees for a fraction of the cost.

The prime offender in this travesty being Walmart, there is little that can be done to stop this global monster. With more than 8,000 stores around the world, Walmart is the world’s largest retailer, grossing more revenue than any other company and helping reduce the costs of goods by buying in bulk. However, this comes at a cost. Walmart currently imports a majority of their goods from China where labor is cheap and the incentives are high for mass production. At the expense of manufacturers based in the United States, we are now importing more goods than we export, accruing debt to countries like China.

While it might be easy to point the finger at corporate giants like Walmart, our own government is outsourcing jobs to India. When you receive a call about welfare benefits or medicare subscriptions, it’s likely that you will be talking to not a fellow countryman, but an Indian. Indians are now filing tax returns for U.S. companies as well, and the trend has been increasing in recent years as the Indian economy adapts to learn and develop to the principles of American government.

Not only is the outsourcing of jobs a concern to Americans who find themselves unemployed as a result of the movement of jobs overseas, but there are implications for those people who take the jobs in the call centers and manufacturing plants popping up all over Asia. Due to their service to North American consumers, most call center employees work throughout the night, leaving the close-knit traditional families embraced by Indian culture to take a job that offers prestige in the community. Forced to make a decision between family values or an opportunity for career advancement, many young Indian adults are put in a tough position in regards to their future life plans.

On a corporate level, outsourcing may appear to be nothing but beneficial. However, it is expensive to set up a reliable call center in a developing country. In a country where power grids are often down, it is important to bring in a phone system that will not falter in a time of need. Also adding to the expense is the buildings themselves – large, air-conditioned structures that house various workers as they go about their workday. Taking jobs out of the United States, however lucrative it might appear to corporate business CEO’s, has many detrimental effects. In America, it is likely that ex-employees will have negative perceptions towards a company who laid them off and thus will lack enthusiasm when purchasing products manufactured by that company.

Before seeking out the nearest Walmart to pick up a notebook for a project or a CD to rock out to in your car, think about the potential outsourcing involved in the product that you are buying. It is quite possible that the Dell computer you might be purchasing has a call center in India, providing technical support to users which was once a service provided on the home front. Your neighbor across the street might have very well lost their job due to your simple purchase of an iPod at Walmart.

Call me paranoid, but outsourcing is a huge problem with not nearly enough attention focused upon it. With cheap labor threatening our domestic employees, we need to take the steps needed to ensure that at least some jobs stay in the United States. Although it is incredibly difficult to avoid corporate giants like Walmart and our budgets might not always be able to support local business, it is the right thing. Be conscientious of all purchases you make and think about the implications involved when buying products.