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🔒 ​Bapu's Random Thoughts For The Day


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On 3/25/2022 at 11:52 AM, craigb said:

Wow...  I hadn't touched a guitar for a few weeks but, when I played my roommate's guitar for a bit last week, I attempted to play only two songs (both poorly - LOL!).  One was Crazy Train and the other was Bapu's selection above.  It seems weird that both have been recently put in threads.

I've now cut the asking price on my custom guitar by almost 2/3...  Still no bites and still no help from Unemployment ($0.00 in nearly six months).  No interviews yet either.  I'm hearing that I'm "too experienced" on some jobs, "too old or over-qualified" for others and I've even been informed (illegally I might add) that I'm simply the wrong race for the job opening.

Fun times we're living in!  That said, I firmly believe that these weird times will be ending soon as people find out they've been lied to for a long time and great things are coming my way!

Been there, heard that. All of it. After I had an interview at Union Pacific one time. After the interview the guy yelled down the hall and called me back in and apologized for saying I was too clean cut for this job and said he was sorry and shouldn't have said it. It was a job picking up train engineers and taking them home when their shifts changed. You were on call 24/7 even holidays. Apparently they are a rather rough group of individuals. It's a shame because I know some really good "There once was a lady from France who hopped a train by chance ..." jokes.

I just noticed this post was from March only a couple pages back. Slow thread guys. Jeez.

Has this shituation changed for you? Fingers crossed it did.

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3 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

Has this shituation changed for you? Fingers crossed it did.

Oh yeah, the situation has definitely changed!  A couple who both worked (and still do part-time) for a law firm that was a major client for us got the chance to start a new business.  Because he's Mexican and she's from Nepal, they qualified to become subcontractors on a huge transit project in the Portland area.  They keep the new bus stations clean (most aren't even open yet).  I've been helping them set up things and I work two to three days a week.  The kicker?  My hourly rate (to clean bus stations!) is more than my best rate as an IT Help Desk guy over the last 15 years!

I'm REALLY enjoying only working a partial week and having time to catch up on other stuff.  I've gone from being six months behind in rent to three in only a couple of two-week paychecks.  Good thing too, since I couldn't sell anything even at low prices...

Oh, and I DON'T need to use any gym membership!  The work brooming, shoveling, leaf-blowing and picking up trash with a grabber is definitely getting me back in shape (albeit by almost killing me!  LOL.).

Yay-Success-Kid.jpg

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2 hours ago, craigb said:

Oh, and I DON'T need to use any gym membership!  ...... getting me back in shape (albeit by almost killing me!  LOL.).

I understand totally!! I just went back to working out fours days a week (after not working out for yrs) for over two months now and good greif!!! I was out of shape... bad!!

But I am totally surprised at how fast it is all coming back. I just got to keep myself from getting excited and overexerting myself again (read= hurt myself!!).

Good luck on the new job.

Edited by Grem
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6 hours ago, Grem said:

I understand totally!! I just went back to working out fours days a week (after not working out for yrs) for over two months now and good greif!!! I was out of shape... bad!!

But I am totally surprised at how fast it is all coming back.

I've been hitting the gym hard the last month. I hadn't gone in almost a year iirc. I was just telling Craig in another thread that I did 15 .11 miles on the rowing machine Friday. I rowed 11.25 Thursday, and 7.25 Wed. I freaking gained a pound. Stuck at 256. I weighed myself this afternoon after getting out of the shower after mowing . . . 251. My goal is 250 by the time I go home to NJ next Friday. Had a huge steak for my cheat meal today and could barely finish it. It's hot here and I lose my apatite when it's hot. 

Good job getting back to the gym. It's always very hard for me to get started once I've stopped for a while. But then it almost becomes an addiction again and I feel guilty if I don't go.

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8 hours ago, craigb said:

The kicker?  My hourly rate (to clean bus stations!) is more than my best rate as an IT Help Desk guy over the last 15 years!

That's so sad actually. It's a messed up world we live in.

I've been getting emails from my last employer asking me to come back. They even offered to let me run as many or as few service calls as I wanted. Come and go as I please. There is no amount of money they could pay me to do that job again. Mike Rowe should pay a visit to some of the places I've been. Laying on my back in wet moldy basements replacing motors underneath a 1970's washing machine some poor sole got duped in to putting a maintenance agreement on that we had to fix. Cockroaches crawling all over you.

I have some heavy duty decision to make here soon and I'm scared to death. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I'm terrified.

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19 hours ago, craigb said:

<...snip...>

Oh, and I DON'T need to use any gym membership!  The work brooming, shoveling, leaf-blowing and picking up trash with a grabber is definitely getting me back in shape (albeit by almost killing me!  LOL.).<...>

We schlep gear around. Don't need no stinkin' gym membership -- we got "Speakercise"

We tell people we play for free, and charge them to move the gear around.

Notes ♫

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2 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

we got "Speakercise"

LOL!!!

I went in the storage unit the other day and saw the size of the speaker cabs we use to lug around! Man I was in good shape back then!! 

More surprised I don't have back trouble today!!

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On 5/15/2022 at 11:26 AM, Grem said:

LOL!!!

I went in the storage unit the other day and saw the size of the speaker cabs we use to lug around! Man I was in good shape back then!! 

More surprised I don't have back trouble today!!

I remember those "Voice Of The Theater" speakers we used to lug around.

 

 

am2vl5gaeby3z2qsibes.jpg

 

The only thing heavier was a Hammond B3 organ.

 

Notes ♫

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20 hours ago, Bapu said:

The second studio I ever recorded in was in Redondo Beach, CA and the guy used two of those in his mixing booth (which as about 8'x20'). 

OUCH. Can he still hear?

But, since I was in a road band, leaving them in the studio sounds like a better idea than schlepping them every week or two.

Notes ♫

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On 5/14/2022 at 8:48 PM, Shane_B. said:

I have some heavy duty decision to make here soon and I'm scared to death. I have no idea what I'm going to do. I'm terrified.

Yep the job market is really not a friendly place.  My wife just applied and attached her resume and the software automatically filled in data fields and then she had to correct the mistakes it made. She said why even use a resume if I'm going to have to fill-out this whole on-line application anyway.  Funny/sad thing is this process really necessary as it was her former boss calling her out of the blue saying we have on opening that would be perfect for you.  So we shall see how it goes. My wife got along well with this boss and now they would be equals in this position.  The nice thing is if my wife gets the jobs is she will be provided with a laptop and will be able to work at home several days a week.   It is actually for the same big company but in a totally different line of work.

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