One Year Unemployed

I don't usually talk about my employment status because I've been laid off for a year now. I had to go through a requalification interview today to continue my unemployment and it was like they were giving me the run around because I worked a couple days on the load in/out crew at the Sovereign Center. It was like
Them "you worked there one day this year"
Me: "yes, if they need a lot of workers for a show, I am like 95 on the list"
Them: "and you're not working now because of lack of work?"
Me: yes, I guess. If they only called me once in a year, I guess they don't have much work.
Them: Do they intend to call you back?
Me: Maybe for a big show. I really can't say for sure.
Them: But you weren't fired
Me: No, It's like I'm a "stand by" employeee if they need a lot of people
Them: How much did you make? Did you make $3,000?
Me: for one day?
Them: yes
Me: If I made three thousand a day anywhere, I'd love that, but no.
Them: so you didn't make three thousand.
Me: no it was only one day.
Them:How much did you make?
(I was totally unprepared for this)
Me: I don't know. Maybe like seventy dollars.
Them: And are they going to call you back?
Me: I don't know
Them: Are you not employed because of lack of work?
Me: it was only one day, two months ago. I guess there's not a lot of work there. So I would say yes.
Them: and what about the week you worked for them last October.
Me: That was only two days. Maybe ten hours total.
Them: Did you make three thousand then?
Me: Um, no.

Holy Crap. And I've heard this called FUNemployment. It's not. It's torturous sometimes. Does anyone out there need a training manager. I'll work pretty cheap and I'm an OSHA authorized trainer..

HAHD Ezine Challenge

I am very pleased that I completed (and exceeded) the hundred original articles in a hundred days challenge on Ezine. To read some of my articles (or all of them) Click here http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Robert_Britt

You are a bridge

We are all bridges in life. Bridges for other people to get to where they need to go, or bridges for learning to help people learn what they think they need to learn, or maybe what you think they ought to learn.

Whether people appreciate you or not, remember that their success or failure was, in part at least, facilitated by what you did for them, and if, in your heart, you did what you did to help them, your efforts and thoughts will be rewarded. In the bible this is expressed as bread cast upon the water comes back tenfold. Or something of that nature. That's life.

Sometimes I feel like my efforts are unrewarded or un-noticed, and I have to remember that all things will come back to me in one form or another, and that I don't do things for the reward, but for the fact that they should be done and I am in the time and place and capable of doing them. That's all.

That is my beef with the christian heaven and hell concept. If christians (or religionists) do things because of the "reward" that is waiting for them in the afterlife, is that really behavior that is from the heart? It could be, but it is likely not. So if an atheist does a good deed for no reason but the deed was the right thing to do, is he more righteous than the person who expects reward in the hereafter? In the end it doesn't matter too much, just that the deed was done, I guess.

Stand-up Rob Britt

Here's a video of my stand-up. This was my first time doing this, and I was selected as the audience favorite. fun time.

Obama Landslide in 2012

It was no surprise that Barack Obama became a two term president, but the overwhelming support that was shown by his landslide victory gives him incredible political clout. Unlike the “political capital” that George W. Bush claimed after his narrow victory over John Kerry Obama’s large percentage shows he has the will of the majority. The Obama victory can be tied to two political events that altered the Republican party and aroused the sleeping giant of the formerly apathetic non-voting bloc. These were aided by a third voting group that was alienated by the conservative movement.

The first event was the formation of the so called ‘Tea Party Movement.’ A group of people who rallied around the cry of back to basics and an adherence to the principles of the founding fathers decided to ignore the “all men are created equal” statement by allowing racist overtones to invade their platform. The racism wasn’t initially a part of the movement, but the denial of the racist component and the fear of ‘minority’ empowerment degraded the initial intent of the movement.
The documented proof of this racism occurred during a rally in Washington DC where a subset of the “Tea Baggers” were heard shouting the “N-word” at several members of congress who were African-American. Representative Barney Frank Also reported that members of the group called him a faggot. Rather than address this internal issue and publicly denounce the behavior it was blamed on the media and ‘infiltrators’ trying to disrupt the movement.

The second trigger event was the passage of Arizona SB1070 in early 2010, which was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer. The law gave police broad powers to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. The demand for “papers” from anyone potentially illegal brought to mind events in Nazi Germany. The obvious racial profiling seemed to be condoned by many on the political right.

A third group, separated by the above two segments because they belonged to no particular ethnicity was the GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender) contingent. They also had, and have, continue to be pushed down by the far right Christian Conservatives who seem to have a death grip on control of the Republican party.
So this political entity, the Republican Party, allowed momentum of “anti-liberal” joiners to swell their ranks. But from those joiners the ranks became rank. Encouraged by the momentum that seemed to be building within the conservative movement there was no outcry at the radical elements who would have in other circumstances possibly been thrown to the curb.

A growing sentiment of elitism and racism within the party eventually united the people that they were trying to put down. The party of Lincoln (remember him) now was a group that brought racism into their fold, and from that empowered those people they felt would fold. The mistake awakened a sleeping giant.
African Americans make up 12.4% of the country. Hispanics make up 15.4% of the country. Non religious people make up 13% of the population. GLBT make up 4% of the population. 37% of the population are socially progressive white folks. Even with the obvious overlap this still makes a huge percentage of the population that isn’t buying into the hate.

Conservative media slammed ACORN for activism and registering voters who had been part of the oppressed minorities, but in the aftermath a purer voter registration group, the League of Women Voters saw a tidal wave of registration unlike any seen in the history of the country.

It’s OK To Brag. “Aw, Shucks, Little Ol’ Me” Doesn’t Inspired Confidence

Yesterday I told my daughter that she was beautiful. As a father I may be a bit biased on that, and I can accept that. But it doesn’t diminish the fact that she is beautiful by standards other than mine. Yet she doesn’t take a compliment well, and I think that is a problem with a lot of people, me included.

Somehow the rules of our society make it almost a crime to say that something you did is praise worthy. That is a load of bologna. (To people not familiar with that phrase, it’s a polite way of saying it is BS) It’s OK to be proud and to speak of your accomplishments. It’s not OK to run them in someone’s face or to talk about them as a way of hogging the spotlight or putting other people down, but you worked hard to accomplish the things that you have done and it is just fine to claim them as your own.

I graduated from college with a 3.92 grade point average. It was a lot of work to maintain that average and I bypassed many opportunities of a social nature to make sure my work got done and that my papers and tests deserved the scores that they got. I am proud of that work and won’t hide it, but some people don’t even want to admit they went to college when they get into a certain atmosphere. “Oh, you’re a college boy, are you?” was a line of derision on an old TV show I used to watch and that attitude still pervades the manufacturing community to some extent. Hard core blue collar workers (my co-workers at one point) would deride me for taking classes at night. I was somehow sucking up to the bosses by trying to better myself. I never understood that attitude.

Although I have used my personal experiences as examples here, this isn’t about me. It’s about being able to take pride in a job well done and being able to say “Yes, that was me.” You worked hard to get where you are and it’s OK to brag. Not an “in your face” brag, but a standing tall brag. You don’t go into an interview and tell a potential client or employer how unworthy you are so don’t go into the world like that. Hold you head up and be proud of your accomplishments and yourself.

Next time you get a compliment don’t shrug it off; thank the person and take the compliment to heart. Don’t deflect it by returning a compliment, just relax and enjoy the glow it gives you. Use your gifts to make the world a better place and enjoy your place in it. You are a gift to the world and never ever forget that.

Oh, also working on a new website - Britt-Marketing go check it out. Thanks

Flash Forward – Results and Fate

What would you do if you caught a glimpse of your future? This is the premise of a TV show called Flash Forward, and the people are caught up in a “is this fate or can I change things?”

Each of us has within us the power to change our future. It’s a question of whether you step up and deny the things that you are told are your future, if you disagree with them, or the steps you take to assure that future, if it looks good and agrees with you. What does this have to do with fitness, health and nutrition?

My father died of a stroke. His mother died of a brain aneurism, which is, simply put, caused by the blockage of blood to the brain, for one reason or another, generally having to do with fatty deposits in the blood stream. My brother, in his forties had to have heart bypass surgery. Are these signs of thing to come in my future? Do I sit back and call it fate or do I become proactive to try to bypass a bypass?

We see a sign on a pack of cigarettes: “May Cause Cancer” again, a predictor of potential future events, yet people ignore it. While walking people will not cross the street against the flow of traffic because the impact (literally) could be right now, but future impact is not so important. Ah, it could happen. It’ll never happen to me. I know of a guy who lived into his eighties who… Yet there are more examples of people in their fifties and sixties (and much younger) who have emphysema and cancer, but we’ll ignore those cases and focus on the anomaly.

Or you can choose to have a few drinks at a party and know that “I’m OK to drive, it’s only a few drinks” while not recognizing that the first thing to be impaired is our judgment. Prior to the drink we know not to drink and drive yet we do it. And I am not on some high horse here, or speaking from my soapbox, as I have been as guilty as anyone of ignoring these facts.

In the show, people are given a gift (or a curse) of knowing some small piece of their future. Some shrug their shoulders and continue doing what they were doing, or they had a glimpse of the mundane, so why would they drastically alter their lives and plans, but we who have only the future we are building and dreaming of should know that every step we take is one step down the path to that future.

Sometimes events happen in your life that really make you step back and re-assess what direction you are going, or what your goals are, but shouldn’t we be doing that anyway. Does a near fatal accident have to occur to make you appreciate the ones in your life that love and appreciate you? Beginning each day with just a few moments of gratitude can shine a light into what may currently seem a dreary world. Focusing on the positive things can make them grow. You never will pick up a idea that you don’t reach for.
visit my 'other blog' at http://www.Robertbritt.com