Here We Go

Here's a hello from Western Oregon.

So it didn't all work out exactly as planned. I did the collegiate thing, even a bonus year or two in there for good measure, but came to the conclusion that a generation is collectively awakening to: a bachelor's degree is the new High School diploma. I've even heard "college is the new GED". I sort of believe it. Certainly if I had a bachelor's from an Ivy League school that might be something different, but we're talking standard-issue-Bachelor's-from-a-state-school here. From prestigious Ball State University, that is.

But this blog is no (direct) commentary on Higher education, though a running commentary on the sad state of that institution will inevitably bubble to the surface. The real purpose of this site is to document - both for posterity and my own sanity - the perils of trying to find a job that will pay the bills and satisfy my quirky 'actualization' needs enough to keep me from jumping off a bridge. In a town where the odds are periliously against me.

This might all be easy enough in an average city, in an average ecomony. 2009 is no normal year, and Corvallis is no normal city. Depending on what statistics and conjecture you believe, Corvallis is a ridiculously f'in educated place. The first day I lived here I listened to my gas-station attendant tell me all about her college education. I enter this journey under-equipped, and with the deck of cards stacked against me...that and no real CV to speak of. My string of fantastic employment since graduation in 2006 has consisted of streaks of tenure at S———*s coffee, F———'s Records, G——— Books&Music, and G——— magazine. I have never made more than $11/hr in my life, no more than $12,000 in a year. And I got fired from my last job as Advertising Coordinator at G——— because I sucked at sales, not selling a single ad in Q4 of last year. More on that later. *=Should I put fake names here? Or you likey dashes? Let me know -ed


All the aforementioned education this town generally possesses would be well and good if there were some sort of good jobs outside of a gilded few here that are tricky to get. Interviews for. So here I stand at the precipice of unemployment insurance and bad AM television. I pledge to you, reader, that blog will never resort to lazy "what did I do to deserve this" pity posts. I do hope to document the truly insane jobs marketplace, and what it exactly takes to find something of substance in a town with thousands of transplants and only a handful of employers. Expect digressions on the nature of work, people's concepts of value for labor, and how panic inducing it can be when you've got plenty of money going out and none coming in.

The other main character involved: my wife. The best thing I could ever hope for; a highly intelligent, driven woman who puts up with my humor and under-realized career potential. See also: bouts of ADHD-insanity, arguments about money, and the inevietable battle that will develop concerning the question, "did you look for work today?" I've already got a list sitting here waiting for me to take care of.

I stick by the supposition that working a job sucks, but looking for one is much worse. Over however long this process takes, expect it to be dissected in earnest here. And since I have only in the last few years realized the importance of networking and nepotism in the workplace, I'm totally not above using this thing as a vacuum for potential job leads.

Wish me luck. Or folly, I suppose that would make this a more interesting read.