Re: Unemployment compensation and self-employment (was Re: Laid Off)

[beelia <beelia -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Thanks, Keith,

We've had quite a few exchanges over the years, and from this one, I
realized that I thought you were in Canada, not Texas. Am I confusing you
with another Keith?

I was only in Texas once - Cisco sent me to Dallas for a couple of days,
and I wasn't crazy about it because it was really hot. But Houston is
apparently the hottest job market in the country, it's probably a great
place to work. I've considered Oregon and Nevada because of state taxes and
the cost of real estate in the Bay Area, but I really like the weather
here. I'll probably be in a mobile home forever, but at least it's a nice
mobile home.

Turns out there is no place to camp at EDD, there are no local offices at
all except the related CalJobs ones. Don't know if the main one in Sacto is
even accessible. But I'm going to take your and Lauren's suggestions and
write snail mail to all of my reps, even my congresswoman, and see how that
turns out. I'll let you know how it goes.

I loved your reference to your preference of carpentry over high tech.
Don't know that I'd be a tech writer for the last couple of decades if Art
History (BA and MA) had been a viable career path for me. High tech
corporate culture is where I've had the worst bosses and the most stress,
so I'm hoping my next job is in a nice friendly startup.

Cheers

Bee

On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 3:16 PM, Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:

> My sympathies and I hope things improve for you.  If you can, move to
> Texas.  Our system here isn't the best in the world but the last time I
> dealt with them it was a lot better than what you describe. We don't have a
> state income tax and the cost of living here is somewhat lower.
>
> I know I'm in the minority but I think your posts have been just fine as
> far as politeness is concerned. I firmly believe you have much less to
> worry about on that score than you may think.
>
> Any time you try to send a message to a politician, send a physical mail
> rather an email.  They know there are a lot of bots that make one sender
> look like a thousand.  A sack of mail holding 1000 envelopes is more
> impressive because it is still more difficult to produce than 1000 emails.
>
> If I were you, assuming it's possible, I'd invest some time in taking a
> laptop and a book and a pillow, and physically camping out on someone's
> desk in the EDD office for a few days.  What have you got to lose?
>
> And to those of you who warned me about my email address and name being
> available, I knew that. I guess I should thank you for your apparent
> concern over my future marketability. Thank you. But please, don't bother
> mentioning things like this to me in the future. I decided many years ago
> I'll worry about something like this the day after hell freezes over.  I've
> had jobs that tried to kill me working for people who really hated me and I
> returned the feeling with interest, and this is not large enough to
> register on my concern radar. I am as diplomatic as needed with my boss, my
> parents, the cycle cop, and the judge, but I refuse to censor myself out of
> worry over what *might* be some nameless, faceless stranger's likes and
> dislikes. And after dealing with some of the tech people I've met over the
> last 23 years, if I could make a decent living as a carpenter, I'd never
> touch another computer again.
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* beelia <beelia -at- gmail -dot- com>
> *To:* john -dot- x -dot- posada -at- us -dot- hsbc -dot- com
> *Cc:* techwr-l-bounces+john -dot- x -dot- posada=us -dot- hsbc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com;
> Techwr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, January 22, 2013 11:16 AM
> *Subject:* Re: Unemployment compensation and self-employment (was Re:
> Laid Off)
>
> Thanks, everyone. I hadn't googled myself in ages, so just for laughs I
> tried it. I found only my Linkedin and Facebook profiles, several other
> people whose names contain or resemble mine, and even a couple of
> obituaries that clearly aren't me. I'm less worried now, though I'm going
> to try to continue to be polite.
>
> However, it's becoming more difficult since this morning, when I got up at
> 7:30 to try to get through to EDD again. By 8 AM I had dialed every one of
> their lines, and they are no longer letting anyone through at all.
>
> The main line that they tell you to call - to talk to a human - just plays
> an informational message, gives you menu selections that only go to the
> automated services, and hangs up. I even tried the Spanish and Vietnamese
> lines, since someone on the Facebook site said they got through that way.
>
> I did send messages to my state assemblyman and senator, but haven't
> received a reply yet. But this is a bureaucracy that is showing
> characteristics of becoming a black hole, and I wouldn't be surprised if
> those guys just got sucked into it like the rest of us.
>
> I have a hunch that I am going to have to forget about getting unemployment
> benefits and just live off my savings. Fortunately I have some, but I don't
> know how long they are going to have to last.
>
> Dosvedanya!
>
> Bee
>
>
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