Job Not Hunting, Crappy Economy

Whatever happened to Monster.com? It's not friendly. The apply here buttons are gone. Searching for jobs isn't easy either. The list opens up in weird windows. I can't pick multiple categories anymore. No wonder people are drifting away from it. Could be not compatible with Firefox.

Careerbuilder at least, is still usable.

Craigslist is the best in terms of ease of use.

The jobs are paltry right now. Still, my business starts tomorrow as in working for a customer, so see what happens. There's a high level of general scam out there too for job hunters. Must be our wonderful economy. Self employment may be the only option.

It's not going to be a good year, or years. The dollar is turning into toilet paper as the Fed lowers the interest rates. The real estate market keeps on not trucking. Fuel keeps on going way up. Our clueless gummint keeps on putting band-aids over major wounds. Duck and cover, duck and cover......

A Very Boring Post

The Economy

More adjustments in the real estate world. According to Google news and Bloomberg, at last count, 900 plus mortgage employees laid off. Couldn't happen to more deserving people......

Consumers still spending but not like last year. Hires are up, probably due to our exports and the service economy is still growing. Service economy always did suck unless one was a manager or better though, can tell you that from observation and experience.

Job Hunting

Might be close to a job, don't know yet. We shall see.

Speaking of jay oh bees, this just popped into my mailbox........again.

Hi, My Name is Ray Rizzo.  I came across your resume while doing a field search.  Your resume matched my search criteria (none) for a sales and leasing consultant's position at Johnson Hyundai.  Some of our best make well over $100,000.00 Per Year! You may have limited experience, or no experience in auto sales, and that's OK. We will train you on everything you need to know.  Many people's first reaction to this is, "no way", and some are "sure I've thought about it."  Well, this is an opportunity to for your to enter into a six figure potential income!  You should come in for an interview and at least see if it's right for you.  We are recession proof, the second largest industry in the world, and everyone I know including myself continues to make higher income each year! My first Year in auto sales I made over $80,000.  My second year, $97,000, and on my 3rd year, I broke $100K! All the while, making friends, and helping people!  For us, car sales is about building relationships, value, customer satisfaction and personal wealth for our family, and future! In addition, we'll help you get off to a great start with cutting edge training techniques that will apply to many aspects of your life, not just sales.  All the tools you will need will be turned over to you this week. BUT, you have to get through this first interview for the doors of opportunity to swing open.

You will receive dynamic training; a professional and respectful work environment, guaranteed training salary net commissions, the opportunity to grow with the fastest growing Automotive Family in North Carolina, medical and dental benefits, great bonus plan, 401 K, and paid vacations

I will be conducting interviews in the Hyundai New Car Showroom on Monday October 8th and Tuesday October 9th ONLY from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.

No appointment is needed. Please show up dressed and ready.  If you have any questions you may call my cell phone at 609-879-9188, or Email me at: rrizzo@tkworldwide.com.  Otherwise, I will see you at the interview. I look forward to meeting with you soon.

INTERVIEW LOCAITON: Same spelling error!
Johnson Hyundai
Hyundai New Car Showroom
5000 Old Raleigh Rd
Cary, NC 27511

If you need directions you can go to mapquest.com

Sincerely Yours,

Ray Rizzo


P.S. If you are curious how much the AVERAGE employee makes at a dealership in North Carolina.  Go to this link below, and click on "employment and payroll" and scroll down to your state.  You will need acrobat to read the file, but it's a free download, and almost all computers already have it.  Remember, theses are only averages, and they're still pretty high, just multiply that number 50 weeks, and you'll see what I mean.  Here is the link.  See you at the interview!


link to NADA page data here. 

I'll be at the interview.... in my next lifetime. Notice, same format as the last message, just an automated script that plugs in the names of the "messenger", a local dealer and time. Spam, spam, spam, and just canned "ham".

Some light amid the dark

Poly (Many) Ticks (Bloodsuckers)

For the Democrats, Hillary still way out in front, Obama a near second, and Edwards is getting closer but still no cigar, cigarette, or pipe. The Republicans still have no clear front runner yet. Both parties extremely ticked with states moving primaries up early.

The Economy

The economy seems to be doing better because of the weak dollar. According to the Wall Street Journal (Best biz news ever), this summer we reached a new high in exports. Also, the weak dollar means less imports. Well, somewhat less. It's still hard to compete with someone working for a buck an hour or less. Yet another North Carolina furniture maker, Henredon, has thrown in the towel and is moving it's production offshore. The upscale guys are doing better though. Agricultural exports are up as well, as we had a decent growing season and some of the rest of the world did not. Combine that with a weak dollar and our farmers will get some coin too.

The subprime crisis is not as bad as I thought it would be. Houses will still need upkeep, and if people will be living in their domiciles longer, will want to keep replacing and upgrading fixtures and what-not. Also, the funky loans are no longer being made and the foreclosures will gradually work their way out of the pipeline. Some subprime loans may be replaced with regular loans as some buyers refinance, especially those who had good credit but got "taken". Housing prices are starting to go to a more realistic level. Some big builders and developers cut a hefty percentage and managed to move some product. My investments have recovered fully and are slowly increasing in value as we speak.

The war is pushing the economy by being four percent of GDP. It may not be much compared to other wars, but it gives us less margin and resiliency when yet another crisis happens. If the war can be scaled back or eventually ended, it could help make up for the other pressures, such a weak dollar, imported illegal labor, and higher energy costs. Homeland Security is helping a little bit by trying to crack down on illegals. Only problem is, is that they tend to slack off when public attention turns elsewhere. Still, illegal immigration is going to be a hot topic as long as the economy remains sour.

My own personal economy is hanging in there. My investments are up, the townhouse is still worth....something (well after the chimney gets fixed), and no health issues.I cut way back on spending and utilities, and managed to repair some equipment that would have had to be replaced...so happy.

I'm still on the fence about being a business but can get the license for very little and decide to activate later. Liability insurance is affordable as well. Benefits, less so. Health insurance companies only want young-healthy, not old-healthy, and charge accordingly. Yet another reason for single player, single payer like in Canada. Go Hillary! Might be the only reason why I'll vote for her, and that she is as mean as a junkyard dog. The biz doesn't go until it's all legal though....thats a given. No under the table for me. I still want to have a job as it simplifies bookkeeping and cuts out that pesky quarterly estimated income tax. Still, see what happens.

The Townhouse

I painted up three pieces of siding and gave one to my neighbor. The plan is to finish up the flashing on the chimney and just do some caulking and touch up.

Painted with Kilz primer, good for oil or water-base. Backprimed as well, something most builders don't do here.
Plan to stain that deck someday.... Olympic exterior paint, the good stuff. The color is called Sheffield Gray.

Yet another use for a Baja that Subaru never thought of.......

Worm's Eye View of the Economy

Something my boss told me...."55 percent of all people are self-employed in the United States.". I tend to believe this. I have a worm's eye view of the economy, much less an exalted view then from some marble and ivory towers. I'm self-employed. I wouldn't mind working for other people and might land a job sooner or later, but a cat's gotta eat, to quote someone who I forgot.

Doesn't look good on the resume to be self-employed to some, but I'm not going to lie about it. There's the official unemployment rate (4.4 percent to 4.6 percent) and then there's the unofficial unemployment rate (12 percent).

Two links, one the official, the other, the unofficial:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
http://www.exponentialimprovement.com/cms/unemploy.shtml

More later, gotta go work on a house.