The Bush Tax Cuts for the Rich

I nearly lost what is left of my morning to a Twitter argument with an ardent supporter of the GOP's policy of fiscal douchebaggery (more money for the rich, no money for the poor, no school lunches for the poor, no extension of unemployment benefits for those lazy bastards, blah, blah, blah).

Rather than spend my day attempting to convince someone who's clearly not even open to a differing opinion, I thought I'd blog it up here instead.

The Nightmare That Is The EDD

I got laid off from the school district more than a month ago, actually almost six weeks ago now. I have yet to get a single unemployment check from the EDD despite the fact that I registered the day I was laid off. I got a bunch of paperwork to fill out, I got a phone interview scheduled (a month after I filed my claim) that lasted all of two minutes, and now, when I call in to check the status of my claim, having to redial at least six or eight times to get through, I stumble through their stupid maze of a phone tree only to find out that no goddamned check has been cut yet.

The most annoying part of all of this is that it is all but impossible to get a live person on the phone. There's the automated useless-info line that's always busy and gives no useful info. Then there's the main line where you have to navigate another annoying phone tree system that threatens to disconnect you if you try to jump ahead and requires you to listen to the same bullshit time-wasting messages before being allowed to try and connect with a live person.

Only, and here's the truly infuriating part of it, you're told there might be a lengthy wait and then immediately told that there are too many other people already waiting and you have to try again later. Then the fucking computer hangs up on you.

I have yet to get to a live person to find out what the fuck is going on and where is my goddamned unemployment check and why in the fuck it has taken so ridiculously goddamned long to get me some damned money and that I had damned well better be getting checks for all the fucking weeks I've been off work since I filed for unemployment immediately after getting laid off specifically to avoid getting stuck six weeks later still waiting for some assistance.

I'd trade each of those checks for a chance to kick Governor Meathead right in his shriveled up steroid drained nuts. Maybe not all of them but at least a couple of them.

Here are some ways to improve the "service":
1. Hire more people to help man the phones. A thousand would help.
2. Cut down on the forced messaging. I know them by heart and it is incredibly irritating to be forced to listen to them each time.
3. Recognize that people need to be able to get through to a live person to sort out their claims. There is simply no possible way that there can be too many people calling all day everyday to keep the phones blocked up from the start of the day to the close.
4. Send me my damned check. I got laid off fair and square from my job, I paid my UI dues while I had my job, at this point the state is engaging in fraud for taking my money and not paying me my benefits. I'm tempted to sue.

The whole thing is one giant stinking clusterfuck of bureacratic asshattery and I'm thoroughly sick of it. I cannot wait until our Kyani business takes off enough so that we no longer need to rely on the state for anything whatsoever. Because they can't seem to find their own asses these days.

You Call It Budget Cuts, I Call It Retrenchment

It isn't quite official but it might as well be. My position in the school district will cease to exist on July 1st and my employment in the district along with it.

Which is to say, hit the bricks, punk.

While there are aspects of my employment that I am going to miss, I'm already seeing a bit of a silver lining (stupid optimistic streak!) in that a return to the private sector means more money, merit (not limp seniority rules) raises, bonuses and alot less chair-fillers (the losers who get into a bureaucracy and then do almost nothing but occupy their chair).

I would have stayed if I could have. Despite growing misgivings about the state of education in California and my personal issues with the office manager at one of my schools (who pulled another total asshole move today that had pissed me off before my meeting with HR but doesn't matter in the least to me now that I know its not my fight). I would have stayed despite making about two-thirds of my pay at my last job. I would have stayed despite the communications chasm within and without my department.

But that choice has been taken away from me and now I need to pick myself back up and get another damned job. One upside is that, by taking the bull by the horns and setting up the meeting with HR, I know alot earlier than I would have and can start working my employment cycle earlier.

The severe downside is that there are an awful lot of people who are also out of work and looking.

Its time to start thinking about what kind of job I would like to have next, the kind of people I want to work with (not apathetic bureaucrats) and I can look forward to making substantially more money again. All of which are good things but the process is a drain, financially and emotionally and I was looking forward to not having to do it again for some time. But that's no longer up to me.

Time to sharpen up my resume, dust off my LinkedIn profile and start working my business contacts to get some movement going. Know anyone who needs an exceptionally creative visionary PR/marketing guy who can also fix computers, plan conferences, shepherd CEOs and basically kick ass at any job he's given? Drop me a line.

Next step?
What industry do I want to work in?

Oh yeah, maybe I'll take a drive up to take a big steaming shit on the sidewalk in front of the Governor's office.