Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Between Christmas and The New Year

I don't know how I feel about the period between Christmas and the new year. Most employers are not in the mood for interviewing until at least a week after the beginning of the year. It's going to be a strange time for me because I theoretically could load up my car and hit the road out of this town for good.

Here are some reasons I feel like I'm on the verge of walking away.

I have no debt. The only thing I really must wait for in the mail is my W2 from last year which should be easy because I was unemployed the whole time. It's just a matter of where to go and how to forward mail.

As soon as I hear from one of the myriad employers I contacted, I can start making some definite plans that will land me on the ground at my next destination.

If my own productivity leaves me with enough income it won't matter where I go.
I'm not currently bound by any mortgage or any rental obligation.

Places I thought would be cool to visit are now basically disasters of job shortage or drought.

I really just need to know that if I pick a spot somewhere in the world, I could find reasonable shelter there.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

My Christmas shopping is done

What do I do now? I would like a job, but right now everyone who is capable of hiring is dealing with banks who refuse to lend them money. While I'm bored I should do some thinking exercises.

The one thing that frustrates me is wishing I had done something earlier. I must force myself out of my short-term thinking process. One way to do it might be to imagine that an upcoming event is either moments away from happening or has already happened. I'm not sure if this method will work, but I'll give it a shot and see how long it takes to generate ideas that would normally not occur until it is too late.

It turns out that there is an event horizon of thought processes that affects nearly everyone. It's the threshold between long-term planning and short-sightedness. Everyone has short-term thinking, it's called "thinking in the box."

It's the time we tell ourselves "I wish I had done..." or "I wish I had thought of that earlier." You know, "Should have, would have, could have" and so on.

For example, some legislator comes up with the brilliant idea to cap malpractice liability claims at half a million dollars, the idea being to prevent doctors from fleeing the state of Illinois due to rising malpractice insurance premiums.

Unfortunately, the insurance companies caught wind of the idea long before its enactment, and the insurance companies raised premiums in advance, to a level based on the assumption that the law was passed.

Following the law's passage, the insurance companies had the luxury of flattening their rate increase for a period long enough for the politicians to proclaim that the law worked. A brilliant strategic illusion based on the assumption that the public's short-term thought processes would draw the same conclusion, which they did.

Insurance companies and credit card companies have all the experts that study consumer behavior patters, and specifically, the way consumers think in terms of short and long. Between the two lies the golden median, the big money-maker.

Yeah, I wish I had thought of it earlier, but It's one of those things that I would not have learned without spending enough time in my current situation.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

My blue card arrived yesterday

My Permanent Employee Registration Card arrived from the State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

The card says "The below named individual has met requirements for registration under the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security and Locksmith Act of 2004."

I waited for this card for over a month. I only got it because someone was interested in hiring me, but wouldn't interview me until I got my card.

I assume that by now they already hired someone else, I guess it wouldn't hurt to look into it anyway.