28 Weeks Later

Actually, I was thinking about the whole economic meltdown and I realized that the best analogy to this whole thing is a zombie attack. Some zombie bug broke out in the housing market which, in turn, infected the financial sector which, in turn, infected people throughout the world and now there's zombies loose everywhere. Some people are safe and secure in their homestead and don't have to really worry about zombies, some people are safe but lost a lot anyways, and then there are some of us in zombie land in survival mode hoping that we don't turn into a zombie or run out of supplies or lose a loved one. Right now, I'm in Zombie land, barricading the doors and stocking up on canned foods.

And, what the heck-- to take the analogy further, Obama is the young, brilliant scientist put in charge of the zombie infection but nobody knows if what he's doing will work and when it will work and every day and thousands and millions of people keep on screaming at him "Save us from the zombies!" and then whining when he doesn't. Conservatives, when they're not denying the existence of zombies, are busy complaining that any attempt at fighting the zombies is some sort of combination of socialism and facism (facialism). Their solution to the zombie hordes-- cut taxes. As for Obama's fellow Zombie Eradication Team, they're either still trying to figure out how to profit from all of this, screaming that Obama should also try and fend off vampires and werewolves while trying to fight zombies, or thinking that eradicating Zombies is great but it would be best if we didn't spend that much money doing so.

There's No Way Out of Here

I had a phone interview today. Not just a phone interview, but two separate interviews with the same company, something that I've never experienced before. That could be considered a somewhat good sign but this isn't normal times and it probably means absolutely nothing.

For those of you wondering what it's like being unemployed, I keep on thinking of the Fall of Saigon. It's like we're living in this world of utter chaos that's falling quickly falling apart in the seams and there's only one way out-- an airlift as it were-- and we're all banging and screaming to get into the embassy to be let in and escape. Get on the airlift and you're saved, miss out on an airlift and it's eating top ramen for lunch and dinner and blogging in candlelight. Having an actual interview is being told by somebody that they might be able to get you onto one and getting a second interview is like being actually let throw the howling masses into the embassy. But, in order to make it through, I still have to my papers in order, be given a number to see if my number is called, hope that there's enough helicopters to take you out that day and if there is enough, that it either doesn't get shot down trying to land or trying to leave. Except getting a job in today's environment is harder than that.

I'm a Creep

Apparently, former Chicago Governor and noted felon Rod Blagoivech somehow got himself a job as a morning DJ. Throw in the apparent financial success of Octomom and the bonuses thrown at hundreds of financial heavyweights who lost billions of dollars and it appears that my major problem in my life is not that I'm a bit of a screwup but that I didn't screw up enough

Back to the Future

Today I started the process of doing something I had long feared-- dealing with temp agencies. Remember the scene in "Empire Strikes Back" where Yoda sends Luke into that tree to face his darkest fears? I just went into the tree.

I went to a place where I was signed up years ago, a place that actually did me right and got me one of those golden temp jobs-- not too bad and long-term (it was doing data entry for months at a time). As much as I hate temping, it's worked out somewhat reasonably well in that I'm still here so had somewhat high hopes-- I still have mad-typing skills and I boned up Excel and Word before I went in. But this, however, is a different time and a different place than when I last temped and things are different now. The office that I went to was bigger than I remembered, but it was also kind of run down looking. Even more noticeable was that the large office was primarily empty, with tables everywhere and absolutely nobody working at the tables-- there weren't even computers at the table. When I walked in, I didn't see anyone who looked at all like a recruiter and didn't even see the receptionist. The waiting room, or whatever it is they called it, was full however. It looked like a doctor's office in there. Finally the receptionist/recruiter assistant came running in to check me in, or at least acknowledge my presence, and told me to go wait with everybody else. For the next few hours as I sat in the room-- waiting and filling out forms and a whole host of other fun things-- I saw her run around at light speed, answering phones, handing out forms, setting up people's computer accounts. For the longest time, I wasn't sure if there was anybody else in the office.

Unfortunately, the company was supposed to send out an automatic email with the forms you were supposed to fill out, but the email never got sent out so everybody who was in there had to go to the computer and fill it out themselves. Thus, I guess, part of the reason why there was a wait. While I was waiting to get started, I also noticed a few other people just sitting there waiting for the receptionist to come by and give them instructions (one guy even sat there and did nothing but check his blackberry) but she was too busy to handle everyone.

Finally, it was my turn and was set up at the obviously ancient computer to enter in my information. I stumbled right out of the gate in that I was asked why I was there, what kind of job I was looking for, and what skills I have that would make me a great candidate for a position. Somehow, I don't think the answer of "I just need a fucking job right now" as well as the listed skill set of "not an idiot" was what they were looking for. So I filled it out, question by question by question. Once that was done, I was given about twenty pages of forms I had to sign asking me to agree to all sorts of things that I've never had to agree to (credit reports?) and when I filled out all that stuff and was able to hand it into the receptionist (she was busy handling several people who had just basically walked in from the street with a resume in hand) and up came my next, very important step-- the instructional safety video.

I was set up at one of the computers, given head phones and the receptionist hit a couple of buttons so I could watch the video. For twenty minutes, I sat there, being instructed to not do things like stick a knife into a busted photocopier machine but to make sure I hold onto a hand rail when I walk down the steps. If I had to add it up in my head, I have now seen something like this video at least ten times, although some of them were shown somewhere for the express purpose of having people laugh at them.

After the twenty minute video, I was given a test-- yes, a test-- to see how much of the safety information I had absorbed. I had about twenty questions about stuff like how I should pick boxes up or whether or not I should leave a file cabinet open. The test was multiple choice too so I'd have to choose from four different answers and select the best one. For example, here's the one for what you should do to make sure you don't fall down the stairs:

1)Wear comfortable shoes and hold onto the guardrail
2)Carry boxes down the stairs that impede your visibility
3)Step in every wet spot seen on the stairs
4)Jump down several steps at a time.

And this one-- what to do in case of a paper jam at the photocopying/printer machine:

1)Tell your immediate supervisor to let them know what the problem is
2)Walk away and forget about it
3)Grab a knife or letter opener and shove it into the printer to see if you can fix the problem
4)Use another photocopier

This is actually a difficult question because as anybody who's worked in an office knows, if the photocopier/printer machine breaks, the first thing anybody ever does is go to another one. Of course, you're supposed to tell somebody but if you told somebody, you'd be known as the idiot who busted the printer. Also, why tell somebody something when you can just go down the hall?

Anyways, you'll be glad to know I got 19 out of 20 questions right.

Finally, about two hours after I got to the agency, I finally met up with a recruiter. I guess a recruiter actually did work there. Now, the agency is known for sending out admin people. Admin type jobs are, well, not the most difficult in the world but apparently you still need to have something on your resume that shows you can do admin jobs. So, the fact that I'm 40 and have close to twenty years of professional experience does nothing to prove the fact that I can answer the phone. Nor does it prove I can do filing or basic accounting. The recruiter and I kept on going around and around the fact that I claimed to be able to do something (ie answer phones) yet did not have it listed on my resume as I just automatically assumed "having some sort of desk job" would imply that I was, at one point, able to handle the phone. For some reason, the argument "Jesus, lady, I'm 40. I think I can fucking do admin work. My cat can do admin work" doesn't quite cut it. The end result to all of this is that I have to redo my resume to make it look more admin-y and less non-remedial like. In other words, stretch things out a whole bunch. Like the fact that I punched the numbers into a phone to set up a conference call is now going to be featured prominently on my resume, much more than running an online store or being an editor of a blog.

With that being done, I was asked for a list of references for them to call to check up on me. And not just check up on me-- typically all people can ask is if I really worked there when I said-- but to ask them all sorts of things about me. They even wanted to call my previous supervisors at my contract gigs, something I'm not sure they're allowed to do and something I'm not sure I want them to do for various reasons, not the least of which is everyone is way too fucking busy to tell somebody at a temp agency that I'm not a fuck up. And they want more people to call than just every boss and coworker I've had over the past four years. They even want to call a friend. Again, all this for an admin job. All told, they're going to do more background checks on me than places that actually wanted to hire me.

During the interview, I stalled. I'm not quite sure I want them to call everyone I worked with because I'm not sure I want it broadcast out to the people who I've worked with, hired me, or wanted to hire me that I'm now laid low enough to ask them for references for temp work. I know...recession....depression...what have you...I just don't know if I'm feeling desperate enough to go through all of that just yet.

Slainte

I may be unemployed but I'm still living rather well right now. I still go out to dinner on the weekends, for instance, and I still have cable with every movie channel available that I watch in hidef and record on my dvr. Of course, I'm living with somebody now so I'm actually paying less for cable than I did before and my package is bundled in such a way that it's actually more expensive to get less channels, but still. I hear and read all these horrible stories about people these days and I feel guilty that I'm not suffering more. Shouldn't I be eating only ramen these days or working at Safeway 60 hours a week to get by like everyone else? Instead, I spend my days surfing the web and watching History Channel documentaries (I'm making my way through the Barbarians right now).

Since I really do need to cut down on some spending, I decided that maybe I should cut back on happy hour and/or drinking related activities. I've done enough of them in my life (seriously) to not feel the need that I need to do more of them and I know as well as anyone that just one beer inevitably turns into another beer which turns into another beer which turns into a late night dinner and very often an expensive cab ride. So when plans were made to go out for St. Pattie's Day, I decided I was going to stay in and not spend the money.

That morning, a friend called to say she had called in sick and that she, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's friend from Ireland were going to a pub to grab a pint and watch a soccer match. Naturally, of course, I ran out the door as fast as possible to meet up with them.

Drinking at night is bad, of course, because it's an activity that's done frequently enough and doesn't necessarily need to be done at all. Drinking during the day, however, is okay because it gets me out of the house. Plus drinking at night is no big deal while drinking all day is always fun.

And, yes, one beer led to another beer which led to another beer followed by expensive (but amazingly yummy) dinner).

Make This For What You Will

But I was emailing back and forth with a recruiter about a temp job last night between 10 & 11. Somehow I have a feeling that in normal times, recruiters usually spend their late nights either asleep or watching tv.

Dying Celebrities and Career Advancement

As I'm sure y'all know Natasha Richardson, mainly known for being blonde, hot, and Mrs. Liam Neeson, was in an accident over the weekend and is pretty much a vegetable today. This, of course, means that WE MUST CARE ABOUT HER. Already, the news of her accident is all over the internet and a bunch of celebrity rags are putting her on their cover. This, again, despite the fact I'm guessing nobody really knew who she was until all of this.

Just further proof that if you're a relatively unknown or untalented celebrity, death is your best career move.

I've always hated the fact that whenever some celebrity is either crippled or killed, their lives are suddenly magnified into something much bigger than their lives really were. Christopher Reeve, for instance, was famous mainly for playing "Superman" and not very much else as he wasn't all that talented. He gets paralyzed (doing equestrian events, I might add) and all of a sudden he is a true, American Hero. That dude the crocodile hunter from Australia gets killed and his death is made to be a tragedy on par of the Kennedy Brothers. And I'm not even going to bring up Anna Nicole Smith.

I guess what I'm saying is I could really give a fuck about Natasha Richardson and I don't see any reason why I should feel any differently.

Fuck You Monster.com

Earlier I mentioned the difficulty I was having in applying for an actual job through Monster.com, something that doesn't come that frequently because rarely does one actually find a decent job through Monster.com. The problem was that I couldn't log into the site to send my resume despite the fact I was already logged in. I finally figured that one out, something which unfortunately was my doing in that after using the same password for six years I had to change it a month ago and forgot that I had a new password, and then went through the rigamorale of actually sending out the resume. I posted a revised resume, wrote out a carefully thought out cover letter, hit apply and was sent to another screen asking for more information, information which I pretty much already had filled out. Fine. I'll fill it out.

At the end of it, though, they ask me for my email address and my password again. This despite the fact I WAS ALREADY LOGGED IN. So I re-re-entered my information and was told that I can't proceed because....ahem...my account information was already in use and that I need to create a new user name and password to proceed. This despite the fact I WAS ALREADY LOGGED IN. To sum up: I can't send out a resume because I have to create a whole new account even though I'M ALREADY LOGGED IN.

This, of course, pissed me the fuck off, especially as I spent about half and hour or so trying to figure out what was going on. After much cursing and pillow throwing, I decided to call Monster.com customer support mainly because I really wanted to use the words "retarded," "bullshit," and "you fucking suck" to somebody who was not my cat. After talking to the person and using all those words I wanted to say, plus lots more, I was told that basically, they couldn't figure out what the problem was either so they'll have to contact their tech support people to find out why I can't apply for a job though a site for which it's main purpose is to HELP PEOPLE APPLY FOR A JOB.

Chez Casserole

Because I'm a man with a plan, I have two brilliant ideas for restaurants, restaurants for which I am willing to hand over the propertiary rites to for a small fee and a percentage of profits which I am sure will come as the ideas are fairly brilliant. I, of course, won't actually be starting these restaurants as I have no money, don't cook, and am lazy.

Restaurant #1- a Casserole Restaurant
There's two ways this restaurant can work. One of them is where you have a menu of about 30-40 things and you yourself get to decide what goes into your casserole. So, you can choose from a variety of cheese (like a selection of camelbert or swiss or Kraft American), meats, noodles, fish, and vegetables that you would like to put into the casserole. Like, say you want a tuna, macaroni, broccoli casserole with havarti cheese and bacon bits? Done.

The other way is that there would be about 15-20 different kinds of casserole you can order. Like, you can order Hamburger Helper but it'll be of higher quality than the stuff you can buy in a store. And, of course, you'd be able to control certain things like how you'd like your burger cooked.

Naturally, the name of the place would be called Chez Casserole

Restaurant #2- A Dipping Restaurant
What does everybody love to do the most when it comes to food? Dip something into something else. Who doesn't love to take some naan and dip it into a masala sauce? Or garlic bread into spaghetti sauce? Or french bread into pretty much anything? Well, that's the idea of the restaurant.

Now, most of you might be saying to yourself, isn't that fondue? Yes, it is. But this place will offer a variety of things to dip (naan, garlic bread, french bread, crackers, onion cake) into a variety of dipping sauces. Like masala sauce or teryaki sauce or any other sort of yummy, yummy, yummy sauces out there, and, yes, that includes fondue. Or, for those of you who think fondue is a bit too much, yummy, yummy, yummy melted cheese, the kind they put on nachos at the ballpark.

Of course, this leads to the problem that there won't be enough protein but you could also get things like chicken strips or pieces of turkey or steak or torfu that you can put on a fork and dip into the sauce.

Anyways, if you want to open up a restaurant, that does either of these things, you can email me at hoorayforanything@yahoo.com. I have a couple of other brilliant ideas too but these are the best of the bunch.

Today's Adventures in Job Hunting

see more pwn and owned picturesSomething surprising actually happened thanks to Monster.com, I found a good job. Funny little thing about the job, though- I can only apply for it through Monster.com but Monster.com is having some sort of technical glitch where I can't actually apply to it.

It's pretty funny too. See, first I have to login to Monster.com to get to the job listing. Then, to apply for the job, I have to login again, despite the fact I've already logged in, but this time Monster.com kicks me out.

Best part of the whole thing is that the company is actually owned by Monster.com which means that Monster.com is hiring somebody but nobody can apply to the job at Monster.com because Monster.com is fucked up and won't allow anyone to apply.

LinkedIn

I've found another problem with LinkedIn, one that I just realized, mainly that a lot of people try to add you to their network despite the fact you barely know them or have only worked for them for a short period of time. Now, I might be wrong about this, but I thought one of the main points of LinkedIn is to help you find a job and that works by having people you know who would recommend you recommend you. The thing is if you don't really know the person, why would they recommend you or help you in such a way? If, say, I only worked with somebody for like a month and barely at that, why would I even think of contacting them or having them say something to help you? Or am I just assuming that everybody on my contact list will automatically help me because I know them slightly? Or is this just me reading way too much into all of this and should go with it?

I guess what I'm saying is that so far, LinkedIn has been useless.

My Boredom has Outshined the Sun

I've been trying to get through the days by making sure I'm productive in doing something, whether it be looking for a job or writing or what have you. Today I'm having a problem in that I feel like I should be productive but don't know what to do to be productive. There's no job postings out there, my resume is posted, and all those things on my list of things-to-do just don't sound very appealing today. So I'm feeling like I should do something but don't know what and don't feel like doing anything about it anyways.

That brings up something I've been noticing this go-round: the best parts of unemployment are in the morning when you get up and realize you don't have to be anywhere so you can go back to sleep and at night when you realize you don't have to be anywhere the next morning so you can stay up late. The rest of the day consists of figuring out what to do to fight off boredom.

Right now, it appears that the only response my resume postings have gotten me is emails about various scams, either "work from home!" type scams or fake job board scams. Today I got my first phone call spam when I got a call from a company saying they'll provide me job listings. All of which means it appears that the only growth industry right now appears to be job board scams.

Let's Go Anywhere!

For whatever reason, I'm not sweating my lack of employment right now, global financial meltdown be damned. Part of it is because having spent a large portion of my adult life unemployed, I know that all things will pass and this will pass too. At some point-- maybe not this decade-- but at some point, I'll get another job. And part of it is because there's not much I can do about it anyways. This thing is so huge and so massive that I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to get much of anything for awhile. Everyone is saying that the recession/depression/clusterfuck is probably going to take a year to a year and a half before some sort of normalcy arises and considering I haven't gotten a nibble on my resume in months, it's probably going to take awhile before I'm even going to be able to getting anything going. From what I've heard, even places that could be hiring people aren't hiring people because nobody knows what the hell is going to happen and nobody wants to hire anybody until they make sure that we don't wake up one day to discover that we've returned to Feudalism.

So knowing all this and knowing that I could be looking at at least a year's worth of unemployment, I might as well settle into it and accept it and even enjoy it. See, the one good thing about the global economic crisis is that everyone and everything is affected and so everything is much cheaper these days. Like plane fares. Or hotels. And considering the Euro is in the toilet and dropping faster (Europe is about to collapse any minute now)... well... you see where I'm going. I have all the time in the world, I have little debt, and things are cheap so what the hell, might as well go travel. Carpe diem and all that

And, so, yes, it'll mean leveraging the future and putting myself in debt for some instant gratification but what harm could that do?

Time After Time

I think that if I were able to figure out the methods of traveling through time, I'd start a band, and then go back in time and record every great rock song there is before it was released so I'd get the credit for writing it. Like I'd release my Zep IV in 1970 so I'd get the credit (and bucks) for Stairway to Heaven or I'd put together a bunch of songs from the next few years and record it myself. Like take a little from Who's Next and a little from Brown Sugar and Exile on Mainstreet and maybe some Neil Young or what have you. That way, I'd go down as being the greatest rock star/musician in the history of music.

BSG Rules

This past month or so, Sci Fi has been airing the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica, a show that really truly is as good of a tv show as there ever was and if you don't believe me, your lame. In a past life, I was able to watch the shows when they aired, usually at 10 PM Friday night (and what a stupid time to air the show too) but I can't quite watch the shows like I used to, especially one that airs on a Friday. So I DVR them.

Since the season started, I've been having a dilemna on how to watch them. Should I watch them sometime right after they air, all Old School like, or should I treat it like they're dvds and watch them in bunches, like watch two episodes here and two episodes there. The benefit of watching them every week is that I keep up with the show as it airs so I can join in on the online fun. I also actually like the week-long wait between watching shows because it gives you something to look forward to and makes the experience more meaningful. It's the same reason why football is fun-- the game is on Sunday, then you have a whole week to discuss the previous game and think about the upcoming game. On the other hand, it's nice to watch them in bulk because it's easier to submerge yourself into the show and live in the world. The shows that I have watched quickly on DVR- Veronica Mars, the Wire, and Friday Night Lights-- I really enjoyed doing it that way. Friends and I once debated whether it would be better to watch Lost as it airs or wait until the end of the season and then watch all the episodes back-to-back-to-back on DVR. The conclusion was that you'd probably get more out of it by watching it on dvr but who the hell can wait that long?

So what have I decided to do? Still haven't figured it out yet. I watch a single episode one week, then don't watch until a couple of weeks go by and then have a long debate in between weeks to decide what to do. With only three episodes left (!), I figure I should probably make up my mind soon as I'm already a couple of weeks behind.

Life is hard sometimes.

What's Up Doc?

I was really late to a doctor's appointment today, like about twenty minutes late. The reasons why are almost comical in ways because it was like every possible thing was thrown in my way to make sure I was late, from accidents to street construction to getting stuck behind a biker and dealing with an overcrowded parking garage. As I was scurrying around panicked that I'd miss the appointment, I wondered just how bad it is to be around twenty minutes late to see the doctor because as we all know, whenever you go to the doctor's, they make you wait about twenty minutes or so anyways. So in being late to the doctor's, I could actually show up on time. That is if they allow me because as George Costanza discovered, doctor's get touchy about all that. Luckily, my doctor said she was able to see me.

Going to the doctor when you're 40 is a whole different experience. Doctor's offices, of course, are always depressing because they're full of lots and lots of old people, all in various stages of being feeble. When you're in your 20's, seeing old people isn't as scary because you're not as acutely aware that one of those old people in a walker could be you in a few years. The other thing is that my doctor is younger than me, probably by about 4 or 5 years. Not that I don't trust her because she's young (and kinda cute, actually) but it always makes you feel older when somebody in a so-called position of authority is younger than you. Hell, look at all the coaches that are being hired in sports these days-- they're all younger than me. Yes, I'm having that feeling these days.

The good thing, though, about being 40 and going to the doctor is that you're old enough for check ups to start mattering but young enough that you're still in decent enough shape to be told everything's fine. The tests count now And, of course, in being 40, I'm still young enough not to have gloves put in places I'd rather prefer gloves not being put.

Oh, I'm fine. I've even lost quite a bit of weight recently and between being told I'm fine and that I've lost weight, I'm totally eating nothing but bacon cheese burgers, pasta, and pizza all weekend.

More Adventures in Job Hunting

The amazing thing is that for all the times I've been unemployed and looking for work, which we all know has been a lot of times, there's always something that comes up that I've never experienced before. Like today's interview.

This morning, at 9, I was supposed to go meet a recruiter in North Beach for a meet & greet to talk about possible jobs he had out there. Funny thing, though-- he forgot to mention that it was supposed to be a phone interview and not an in-person interview. This meant I got up early (which is a big thing when you're not working as it eliminates one of the best parts of being unemployed, that being be able to sleep in), threw on my good clothes, walked all the way to North Beach only to find out I could have gotten up at 8:55 and done the interview in bed. Instead, I did the interview on the street right in front of the office.

I knew something was up when I got to the office of the recruiting company. It was 8:50 and there was nobody in the office-- not the receptionist, not the recruiter, not even another coworker. It was completely locked and the lights were turned off. Unless everybody in the office is a late riser and it's one of those places where nobody rolls into work on time, that was a little on the weird side. The recruiter told me over the phone that they lease the office these days, something that makes me wonder if they're doing so as a way to save money as I'm guessing the recruiting biz ain't doing so well these days.

The guy was pretty cool, though, and realized it was his boo-boo and not mine and apologized over and over again for it. This might be a good thing in the end because not only will he always remember who I am, but he owes me one.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

I realize that a lot of people are getting killed in the stock market these days-- including both parents-- but the whole wailing over it kinda bugs me. It's not that people follow it everyday as if it's a baseball season (OMG, it's down 200 points against the Nikkei Stock Exchange! Let's Make a Trade for two-hi tech companies and an industrial company to be named later!) it's just that it's become such a huge thing that it's as if the entire point of government and economics is to make the stock market go up. It's like it's some Baal-like creature that we have appease in some way, like we have to do something that make it happy and if it eventually involves the ritual sacrifice of virgins, well, so be it.

If you've followed the stock market even a bit, and I mean only a bit as I don't really own anything that's involved in it, you'll see that whatever actually happens in the economy has no bearing whatsoever on the stock market. Bad news has gone on and yet the stock market has gone up or good news happens and the stock market goes down. And for whatever it does, the experts and the traders and the analysts all go on the air to pontificate why it did what it did even if the entire reason why it went up could just be some coked up trader getting a manic over eager on a certain stock and causing a bunch of people to be caught up in his coked up mania. People are sheep and the stock market appears to be rather sheep like.

Which brings us to my main point, that the stock market has, for whatever reason, become the only indicator of how our economy is doing. If it's above 10,000, people say we're doing fine. It doesn't matter if there's higher levels of poverty or the infrastructure is crumbling or people seem to think Dancing With the Stars is something to care about and so people go about ignoring such things because the stock market is high.

But isn't that what got us into this mess in the first place? That everybody's so concerned with jacking up the stock market that nobody's cared one way or the other as to what is jacking it up? One of the things that should be obvious about this whole economic mess is that one of the reasons why the stock market has been so high is that while the country has long since lost the ability to create much of anything other than iPhones or Guitar Player or Facebook, we don't actually create anything tangible. And those things that we do, like iPhones or Guitar Player are built elsewhere. The entire economy has, since probably Reagan, has been fueled by nothing but bubble after bubble after bubble. None of this has actually added to the country in any sort of way. Instead we've created this jerry-rigged financial system built on the proverbial house of cards that's finally fallen and the worst part of it is that any attempt to try and fix the jerry-rigged financial system is met with disapproval by the stock market because the people who jerry-rigged see any attempt to fix it as an attempt to keep them from jerry-rigging the damn thing further.

To help us get out of this mess, we're going to have to do either one of two things:

1)Accept and understand what got us into this mess, lower our expectations, and rebuild a foundation for which the country can grow in a real and meaningful way
2)Quickly find another bubble. And FAST. And if that is the decision, I suggest blankets with sleeves.