Day 92 — Sex, Drugs and the Internet
Wed, Jun 17, 2009
One of my favorite things about writing this blog is that I get to write about all my favorite topics—sex, drugs and the Internet—all necessary and addictive when you’re unemployed.
I’m not having sex. Who would come over when I live with my ex, even if I have a separate basement apartment? I don’t take drugs. Confession: I had my first Ambien (sleeping pill) the other night, scored from my ex (one of the bennies of living less than a floor away).
I know I’m addicted to the Internet. I took the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) to prove the degree to which I can’t live without my computer. I scored 61 out of a possible 100, which means I have “occasional or frequent problems” because of the Internet.
The IAT doesn’t define your problems. But I’d have to wager not having a job is one of them, combined with a lack of income and savings for my retirement. Certainly, the lack of a lover scores big with me. I had an on-again, off-again relationship with a guy I adored, but I don’t see him anymore.
That pretty much leaves the Internet. It doesn’t have to love me back, but my Internet connection can’t go dark on me, or I’d end up at the library. Do you know what happens to the poor saps who don’t own a computer and have to use the library to job hunt? Their time online is clocked by an activity timer. Once the timer expires, so does their Internet connection.
Sometimes, you can wait 2 minutes and log on again. When you’re cutting and pasting your job history into individual database fields, which for older workers can add up to a lot of fields to fill in, and the computer locks up, you have to start all over again.
That’s happened to me more than once, not at the library but at home. My Internet connection didn’t go down, but my computer froze, and I lost everything. It’s often enough of an annoyance to skip that one and search for another job to apply to.
I never finished an application for my ‘dream’ job because my computer cut out on me THREE times in a row during the horrible cut and paste portion. Eventually even a ‘dream’ job becomes worth skipping if it means you don’t have to fill in all those fields anymore.
What happened to just sending a resume anyway?
Right on! I also don’t see the point in cutting and pasting a plain text version of your resume into a big box after you’ve uploaded a formatted Word version. –Ann
Right on Blog! Everyone who has been looking for a job and spending too, too much time in front of the screen can relate to your every word!!! In my down time I finished writing a book 5 Necessary Skills to Keep Your Career on Track — even though mine wasn’t — ironic huh! My last check from my last consulting gig went to buy me an Apple — they don’t crash like PCs. Look luck – get out of the basement soon!!!
Haven’t you heard? De-age your resume. Only list the last 10 years. I look like I have only done one job, except if you apply for a low level gov job (recommended aging seekers), then show all 43 years of jobs to document ALL your skills via resume. Yes, I set up appointments for my boss back then (no matter that I set up my own appointments last year) it’s almost been a year for me now. I scrimped and saved and hoped to retire early – now my IRA is sick.