Many of us who are still manning stations are doing the one armed wallpaper hanger routine as we cover for reduced headcount. On the related topic of "lagging indicators" I fear we need look for NPOs to experience even worse times...

“The absence of any US-Iran bilateral channel...may have the perverse effect of reinforcing Iranian interest in progressing in the nuclear realm so that the US will be forced to take it seriously and engage it directly." ~ Richard Haass

Yes, i'm underemployed considering my education, experience and intellectual ability. But i'm underemployed by choice. The area in which i live is not an economic powerhouse, so "good" jobs aren't easy to get. That being said, there are compelling reasons to live here and i willingly make the trade. It's also possible to live in relative comfort here without a "good" job.

My underemployment also contributes to my mental health, which is more important to me than a fat paycheck. Fresh air, exercise, and horticulture is one of those fields where it doesn't matter how much you know...there's always more that you don't know. (so in that respect it is intellectually stimulating)

But my underemployment is tangible work; it is honest, value-added work; and when my fair city is decked out in its summer splendor or people are discussing the delicious fruits of their garden labor i have the pleasure of knowing that i was a huge part of it.

Maybe it's easier for me to cope because i turned down the State Department; that is, it's a matter of choice for me. I worship in the house that Peterbilt because i want to do so, and an honest day's labor holds more value for me than status or a paycheck. I feel no shame in my blue collar or red neck; hell, i'm proud of them.

Then again, i don't slave away for a corporate master. My surplus labor value goes to people i know and like, it spoils grandchildren that i goof around with. And i know that my labor is appreciated because i'm told so while being looked in the eye and having my callused hand shook by another callused hand.

Good god, i sound like a damned John Cougar Mellencamp song...

...but only after an exhaustive 5 1/2 month search, and taking a 15% cut in pay vs. my last job. My next-door neighbor has been out of work since last December and is becoming increasingly terrified of losing her condo once her UI benefit runs out. I noticed serious ageism (I'm 47) in some job listings, and she's about 55, so it must be even harder for her.

It's been tempting to splurge a little, maybe replace my old car, but being out of work that long and living on UI and savings with no debt taught me a hard lesson. THe new job is great and all but nothing's secure anymore, so my wallet remains closed until the real economy improves (stock market != economy). Yesterday's unemployment numbers were horrific and this thing is NOT over no matter all the squee and yelp from CNBC and other whores.

I live in the largest city (20,000...29,000 when the students are in town) in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, tucked against the shore of Lake Superior. Winter is brutal, but my five mile commute hugs the lake shore and serves as a constant reminder that nature is bigger than humanity.

Honestly, i stumbled into my current life. And it took me a long, long time to realize that sometimes the opportunities presented are more rewarding than all the grand schemes and plans put together. Shit, i was lucky to escape university with no debt and even luckier to spend half a decade living outside the US. (which allows me to live without having to pay back my education and not dwell too much on what could have been)

Against the exhortation of my family, i've always found physical work more rewarding than "career" type work. It took me a long time to let go of what i thought life should be and accept what it is and i am.

My grandfather has always told us, "Develop hobbies when you're young so you don't end up like all the old men living around me: bored and pissed off." I was just lucky in that i found a way to make one of my hobbies into a paying gig.

A lot of it is about giving up on the "American Dream", and that's easier when you have to drive 3 hours to be a serious consumer. I'm good with a 23 year old pickup truck and a relatively simple life. I was raised in a UAW town, and looking back i can see that those guys didn't have "great" jobs. What they had were jobs that provided the necessary security and jobs that ended when they punched out; their fulfillment came outside of work.

That's a lesson that i think America has forgotten. If we're looking for fulfillment in our career, it's going to be hard to not feel under employed. At certain times of the year i am married to my work, but then i take a walk around the neighborhood and get to see that work...and it makes people happy, so there's a reward.

I don't have a step-by-step, like i said i stumbled into this life. But i think that the first step is to figure out how to be true to ourselves; establish our priorities based on that; and be willing to persevere. My priority was sanity. I tried a lot of shit that didn't work, then i sort of gave up and found the sanity i was looking for.

I've got a few simple rules of life: live where other people go on vacation, use my library card, and stay the fuck away from corporate America.

That probably wasn't very helpful, but that's all i've got.

Recently another 5% pay cut and yet my productivity as a technologist has risen; where in the old days it took days to write and debug a simple piece of code today takes an hour because of better tools computers etc. Yet I work hours longer each day.

We need a NATION WIDE STRIKE for Real healthcare reform

Hey, Sean Paul. Where's the category for all us self unemployed writers, artists and singers of songs? :)

Just made it before all this _________ hit the fan!

is reporting the real unemployment number at slightly above 22%.

I did inhale.

as employed? Ask me again in 6 months and we'll see how my answer has changed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=185HKE2c5Gg

When the real solution to the employment problem will be dicussed. Efficiency in industry will require a shift to a 32 hour work week which would provide full employment and allow industry to continue becoming more efficient. Europe has been expanding the lower hour full time worker for some time. However it does require a healthcare solution.

This was a systemic decline in employment not cyclic. You cN tell because productivity has exploded. Technology is removing the need for as many workers.

The other thing is to begin taxing energy and materials but not labor. This wl have to happen within the next six years.
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