Reflection, layoffs and a dumb video

The past two weeks have been a time of reflection for me. Maybe it's because a girl I worked with in high school began a class of 90-whatever group page. It's sort of cool to see how infrequently most of my former classmates make it back to the city we grew up in. Hey, I've been back three or four times this  year and it's about a 90 minute drive so I'm no better than any of them. It's also interesting to see what became of them. It seems like the general rule is that most of my former classmates have two kids, are married and are gainfully employed. Ten years ago I never would have imagined that most of these people were capable of holding down a job and being parents. Hell, I can barely make it through some days but it seems like I am working two or three jobs some days. Not that I'm complaining.

And that leads me to my second area of reflection. A co-worker of eight years (he had been with our employer for 13 years) was laid off on Friday. I knew nothing good was going to come of us being called in to the conference room and I already had it figured out when I walked past my co-worker's cubicle. It's the second layoff in my department in two months. Layoffs are always brutal. This guy has a family. He has a house. He has financial responsibilities. He has a pre-teen daughter. He has a house. His wife owns her own business and was hit particularly hard during this depression (let's fucking face it, this isn't a recession, recessions end). I don't know how he's handling things. I plan on calling him at some point this week just because I'm quickly beginning to realize that my job could very well be the next and it never hurts to have a strong network.

It sounds bleak to say that and as much as I joked in a text to my old lady late Friday about running my family farm being closer than I had ever imagined, it's always our plan D. And plan D is close because we don't exactly have a plan B or plan C.

I could probably get more reflective but instead I'll give you an insanely annoying but addictive video professing one's love for farm equipment... weird.

April Fools of years gone by

Blah, blah, blah. Today's April 1st. More commonly known as April Fools Day. It's some sort of free pass where you can play lame practical jokes on your boss and co-workers. You can call your wife, screaming, and tell her that you were just in a terrible accident and veer off into a bunch of jibberish and convince her that you're dying. You know, fun shit like that.

I should know because one year I convinced my old lady that I had some sort of terrible infection, apologized profusely, and asked her what it meant if it burned when I peed and my pee smelled like rotten ham. She didn't laugh.

I also, a few years ago, busted out that key command in Microsoft Windows that rotates the screen. My boss arrived to find the display on her monitor upside down. A year before that I stole the arms from her chair. Another year I taped down the hang-up button (or whatever it's called) on her phone so when she picked it up to retrieve her messages there was no dial tone.

But I'm beyond that. I even pulled a few tricks here on my blog including me angrily quitting blogging, discussed how we'd soon be homeless, had people fire off guesses about a huge November event and even our impending divorce. (Wow, my pranks are rather mean) But not this year.

This yea is all business as usual everywhere including my photo blog - MinnPics. Just be a good citizen and spread the word.

Do you like your job?

As someone I know goes through a huge transition in their job, it made me wonder just how many people truly love their job? How many people spring up each and every morning and are eager to get to their place of business and feel invigorated with each surprise the day throws at them?

On the flip side, how many people reluctantly roll out of bed each morning, grumbling their way to their place of business because they have to? How many people do so because it's a means to an end? They have bills to pay and have simply settled? The job is far from perfect but cash is needed so you do it.

It's the reason I've heard over and over again in the past year or two: "just be happy you have a job". Is that what we've come to as a country? Should we be happy to slog through each day working for a company who uses its underpaid minions to fatten their own wallets while shortchanging those who produce the true results? Maybe those w ho wade through the daily bullshit will also be rewarded one day but having seen both good times and bad I am skeptical at best.

Maybe in the end it all balances out and those whose dreams were crushed, whose talents were overlooked and whose hard work was taken advantage of without proper recognition will prosper. After all, the meek shall inherit the earth, right?

If reading this got you down, check out the far happier MinnPics - it's full of stunning, mind-blowing photos from across Minnesota!

Hooray! The recession is over!

Well, if I read it on Slate, it has to be true. Or dripping with sarcasm. Which is exactly how I like things to be.

If this recession, which at times still has me scurrying for a box to pack up everything on and in my desk, is over does that mean that I will someday get back to working 40 hours each week for fifty-two weeks each and every year? Will the jobs produced with this magical recovery have benefits associated with them or will they be service-type jobs as the Home Depots of the world again needlessly expand into ridiculously small markets that even under the best of conditions would be unable to support them?

Or will the rich white guys whose pockets are never pilfered during a downturn wise up and bring jobs back from overseas? Has our love-hate relationship with cheap-costing but shittily-made Chines crap come to an end? Will we finally realize that you do get what you pay for? Will Americans realize that you don't need to have one of everything? Or would such a realization hold us back from a consumer-driven recovery?

Hell, I don't know crap about the economy but I will say that this downturn has produced some up-and-coming candidates for Dumpy Strip Malls right here in the south metro of the Twin Cities. Who could have imagined that a coffee shop every six blocks was unnecessary? Who could have ever guessed that the world didn't demand six auto parts stores all along a two mile stretch of highway? And dammit if I didn't see a surplus of beads coming. After all, beads make the world go round and if we can't have a bead store in every strip mall, the terrorists will surely win.

MinnPics is alot like the Energizer bunny,it keeps going regardless of what shape the economy is in because art of all formats makes the world a better place.

Have you been furloughed yet?

Furlough, it's a fancied-up word for unpaid time off. Before this year I'd only heard it used with military personnel. Maybe that makes me a member of the military. Okay, probably not. Whatever the case, my employer issued a memo about our mandatory week-long furloughs. Every employee, even managers, will be taking a week of unpaid time off. In the short run it saves money on staffing. It also, however, takes valuable revenue-generating folks off their beats and while their number obviously aren't that impressive lately, every dollar still goes toward that all-important bottom line.

I am glad that it's not just the "worker bees" taking this latest hit due to the circumstances around us but I also have to wonder how many more times this will happen this year and next year and the year after that? How long will it be until companies realize that most everyone is running negative numbers and that your employees are your most valuable resource? How long can even somewhat financially set "worker bees" take hits like this and continue to keep their heads above water. Do minimal cuts like these do more harm than good for the economy? Do they do more harm than good for the very companies making these hard, bottom-line decisions?

I'm happy to still have a job but I often wonder, even while trying to be optimistic as the stock markets begins to rebound and home sales start to improve, how long I will count myself among the ranks of the employed.

The power of positivity

With all the news about firings, layroof and shutdowns in the business world, it's hard to crack a smile on some days. Sure, the stock market has been on an upwards trend for a week straight but even a prolonged upward climb will take weeks, even months, to translate to actual improvement.

It's easy to fall into a funk. We know that the bad news never seems to end because it's alla round us. But what if we, as a society, began to focus on the positives and simply think positively. We ourselves are all at least partially to blame for this complete economic clusterfuck. Millions of Americans looked to make a quick buck in real estate because it had been climbing at unheard of paces for many years. What those same people failed to realize is that it was just one huge bubble. We spent wildly for the last decade or more, forgetting lessons learned in the 80s and 90s. Even those who invested did so expecting double digit returns every year. When the market corrected, investors reacted wildly. Many pulled money from companies they had invested in and expected those huge returns from leaving those companies extremely strapped for capital.

I don't pretend to know anything about the economy but an interesting topic was on the news last week. It boiled down to the power of positive thinking. Yeah, nothing gets better without action but thinking positively surely can't hurt anything, can it?



So maybe it's time to look again at your bullet-riddled 401(k) and take a percentage of what's left, move that cash from those ultra safe investments such as bonds and put it back into actual companies that show some positive potential. If enough people start doing this and have some faith (along with the belief that the billions of so-called stimulus/recovery money will be properly used) there could very well be jobs being created by year's end. If we focus on the good while not ignoring the bad, a lasting economic recovery may be here sooner than we expected.

It's all about cautious optimism.

I'm optimistic, too, that with spring just around the corner, MinnPics will experience a true rebirth full of vibrant, colorful photographs from across the great state of Minnesota.

The death of the Rocky Mountain News

Today marked the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News. For those unfamiliar, it was one of Denver, Colorado's two daily newspapers.

This twenty-plus minute video is a bit on the long side but also rather captivating.


Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

Many opinions were expressed in this video but the one that stuck with me is the observation that as life and technology and information moves at the speed of light, are we overlooking the small, tangible things such as the physical newspaper. Are we in danger of losing all things physical? Has the internet devalued everything and, in part, contributed to the current financial situation?

I'm heavily invested in all things online and live with all my technology. I've got more than a few feet of Cat-5 wiring running in my house. My cable modem is always on. My iPod and cell are nearly always on me during the work week. I spend many hours weekly online, not just blogging but also managing a multitude of tasks associated with my daily workflow. The advent on the internet and its rapid growth made my job both easier and more multi-faceted. I've taken on additional tasks, learned more skills than I ever thought necessary just a decade ago and have seen the entire advertising landscape change. Advertising, which drives our ravenous retail economy, recently collapsed on itself (in case you hadn't noticed). Everything essentially spiraled out of control and I think that the devaluation caused by the free online model is at least partially to blame. In inside speak, online journalism can be monetized. It can generate a profit and it can thrive and, in a turnabout, support the physical printed newspaper much as the print operations of today pay plenty of the way for the online presence.

But whatever caused the loss of just one daily newspaper, for some reason, really sticks with me. Everything lives and dies with advertising and another tangible product that had a strong virtual and physical presence was laid to rest.

Be sure to watch the video in its entirety as the seemingly endless credits roll. Those are the hundreds of people who, as of tomorrow, are unemployed because their employer had a rough ride for a year. Things don't turn around in a year. Things don't turn around without some faith in the business you run.

It's Inventory Reduction Clearance time!!!

Like anyone else, the economy is taking its toll on me. We've seen stores going out of business across the country. I took advantage of the Steve & Barry's in Burnsville, Minnesota shutting its doors to get my hands on 80 or so wooden hangers for 20 cents each. Earlier in the month of December I scoped out the bankrupt Linens 'n Things but found only odds and ends that they were unable to bargain on. Everyone's doing it. The jewelry store in Burnsville Center where my wedding band came from recently went out of business after about 6 months of inventory reduction/store closing sales. So much for them standing behind that lifetime warranty.

Even blogs aren't safe. I have a glut of inventory and no takers (or time) to move it out the doors. So I'm announcing today my very own inventory reduction sale. Every topic must GO!!! I've got old topics, new topics, odd topics, stupid topics. Express your interest in the topic(s) of your choice and I'll hand it over - no questions asked!!!

Is this the end? Will A Day in the Life be shutting its doors? Will this sale save my business model and pull me out of the dire financial situation I find myself in?

Whatever the case, MinnPics is actually adding inventory each day. Quality, American-made photos that you can believe in because they are hand-picked and captured by the best of the best. Visit today!

Reflective and optimistic

Have we now moved to a place in time where we can look beyond the fear about what tomorrow will bring and begin to work toward a better future? That's one of the positions I am taking away from Barack Obama's Inaugural Address. It's time that we should move beyond the greed and blind profit-taking that has gotten us to this place. As a country, reality tells us that we need to stop our damn bickering. Comedic prodding of our nation's leaders will always have its place but the outright negativity (which I commented on yesterday) that so many people listen to and believe in so vehemently needs to take a back seat. The divisiveness needs to end and apparently at least 2 million people are on board in believing that the nation's 44th president, Barack Obama, is just the man for the job.

Realistically, a lot of weight is being placed on the presidnet's shoulders and if we emerge from 2009 even a sliver better than many are predicting the economy, unemployment and people's perception of America's health and strength to be at that time then Obama may be viewed as a success. If even a shred of prosperity returns and a recovery of sorts begins, then Obama will be seen by many as a messiah. I don't envy the amount of pressure people are placing on this man's shoulders because with such lofty expectations, even the best of leaders would be set up for total failure. However, Obama is poised, by virtue of his cabinet choices, to unite all but the most extreme elected officials who run this country.

For once, even on a day filled with yet more media layoffs on the local front, I am optimistic. I am actually charged up to tackle things rather than sitting back and watching the world go by and go to hell in a handbasket.

What about you? What is your mood as we seem to enter a new era in America's history?

If you haven't seen enough coverage of today's Presidential Inauguration, check out MinnPics for the cream of the crop in presidential photos.

Sex in good times vs. bad

Sex is a constant in society. If it weren't for sex, none of us would exist today. Entire industries hinge on people having sex. It keeps the birthing wings of hospitals in business as well as the condom industry and pharmaceutical companies (birth control, penicilin for those pesky STDs) because plenty of people love the sex but not so much with the consequences.

My question is whether sex occurs more during bad economic times than good economic times.

Think for a moment how busy you are with your job. Remember a couple years ago having to work overtime just to keep your head above water at your office? Think back to last week. Did you even need eight hours each day to finish all your work-related tasks?

Sure, the economy sucks and you have far less money to get out of the house and go to a fancy restaurant like Arby's but what are you going to do to pass all that time you are spending at home like a damned hermit? You could seduce your significant other and get your sex on, of course. It sure beats watching repeats of The Real Housewives of Atlanta/Orange County/New York City/Little Rock/Des Moines and it is a hell of a lot more fun than just sitting on the couch... again.

So, are you or are you not finding yourself taking to cheaper options of entertainment such as sex during this, um, economic hiccup?

Sorry, sex-starved perverts, MinnPics is full of great photos but it's a family place so any photographs sexual in nature are strangely absent.