Job outlook for 2009?

Provided by US Government Employment Statistics.  If I understand correctly, these are the 'in demand' jobs.
TABLE 2.  Detailed industry employment ranked by change between August and September 2008,
           and prior 3-month average change, in thousands, seasonally adjusted

                                                                        Current         Prior          Minimum         Pass
    Rank               Industry                              NAICS   over-the-month    3-month       significant     test of
                                                                         change        average         change      significance

    1         Ambulatory health care services                621         14.9            18.8           11.7           YES
    2         Support activities for mining                  213          6.9             6.5            4.2           YES
    3         Federal, except U.S. Postal Service            911          6.6             6.2            9.8
    4         Social assistance                              624          4.0             2.4           12.1
    5         Electronic markets and agents and brokers      425          3.9             2.7            6.0
    6         Transit and ground passenger transportation    485          3.8             2.0            7.8
    7(tie)    Hospitals                                      622          3.5            10.8            4.7
              Membership associations and organizations      813          3.5             2.3           39.6
    8         Food manufacturing                             311          3.4            -0.4            8.0
    9         Clothing and clothing accessories stores       448          2.6             1.3           12.0
   10         Credit intermediation and related activities   522          2.5            -4.5            9.5
   11         Repair and maintenance                         811          2.2            -5.8            6.7
   12         Motion picture and sound recording industries  512          1.7            -0.6            8.5
   13         Broadcasting, except Internet                  515          1.5            -1.0            2.4
   14         Oil and gas extraction                         211          1.4             2.1            1.7
   15         Primary metals                                 331          1.4            -2.2            2.8
   16         Rail transportation                            482          1.2            -0.9            0.8           YES
   17         Miscellaneous store retailers                  453          1.1            -1.5            6.8
   18         Personal and laundry services                  812          0.9             2.5            8.0
   19         Health and personal care stores                446          0.8            -1.8            5.3
   20(tie)    Miscellaneous manufacturing                    339          0.4             0.5            4.1
              Nonstore retailers                             454          0.4            -2.0            3.9
   21         Pipeline transportation                        486          0.3             0.3            0.5
   22         Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets      533          0.2             0.2            0.8
   23         Textile product mills                          314          0.2            -1.0            2.0
   24(tie)    Computer and electronic products               334          0.0            -0.4            3.9
              Monetary authorities - central bank            521          0.0             0.0            0.2
   25         Mining, except oil and gas                     212         -0.1             1.3            1.8
   26         Leather and allied products                    316         -0.1             0.5            0.7
   27         Scenic and sightseeing transportation          487         -0.2            -0.2            2.0
   28         Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles    525         -0.2             0.3            1.1
   29         Warehousing and storage                        493         -0.2            -0.2            3.9
   30         Waste management and remediation services      562         -0.3             0.5            4.2
   31         Petroleum and coal products                    324         -0.4             0.2            1.3
   32         Beverages and tobacco products                 312         -0.6            -0.7            2.1
   33         Other information services                     519         -0.8             0.4            1.1
   34         Data processing, hosting and related services  518         -0.9            -1.5            3.3
   35(tie)    Support activities for transportation          488         -0.9             1.2            5.0
              Accommodation                                  721         -0.9            -7.2           14.7
   36         Water transportation                           483         -1.0            -0.2            1.4

         See footnote at end of table.

creative signs

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The Running Bug

Last year I had the same feeling. The excitement from running the Twin Cities Marathon carried over for weeks, resulting in me looking into other nearby marathon events that I could do. I’ve decided I’m much more of an urban runner, so the small town country road type events (Whistle Stop Marathon in Ashland, WI today) don’t really interest me. But the Chicago Marathon is tomorrow, and Detroit Marathon is next weekend. In a perfect world where money is no problem, I could get to Detroit via direct flight in an hour. The drive? About 11-12 hours. I’m not sure I’d want to run it that badly. My other options are to look at 5k races closer to home, like Duluth Clinic’s Harvest Run next Saturday or the Thanksgiving 5k. Not as exciting as a marathon but no 12 hour car ride either.

I think the excitement about running now has to do with the knowledge that winter is approaching quickly, and I want to enjoy as much of the nicer weather while I can. If I can get that winter jacket that I want, hopefully I can spend a lot of time outside this winter.

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10.10.08 More Rain!

Duluth saw two beautiful days between days of pouring rain and darkness…my plans for weekend picture taking downtown to capture the fall colors might have to wait until autumn 2009, because most of those pretty leaves fell off the trees during all this heavy rain.

J (I hate to use his real name) is now in Spartanburg, SC and I’m not sure if he will return to Duluth. I’m thinking it would be a good idea for him to stay there because his family is so dysfunctional and I don’t see him getting on with his life with those variables here (convicted criminals, welfare fraud, nobody has any money, theft…). In order for him to start a new life he is going to have to cut ties (for now) until he can develop some life and work skills to move towards being self-sufficient. I told him these things today, and like always, he completely missed the point and thought I never wanted to see him again.

This is out of character for me, but I became very angry with this classic passive-agressive shit that he pulls. I let him know what I really thought (at 28, he has received SSI social security and there is nothing wrong with him). He has never- not once filled out a job application or even looked at the employment classifieds in the newspaper.  At 28.  He claims to have ADHD, OCD, anxiety and depression. In the ten years he’s been on this he hasn’t once been to a psychiatrist, therapist, taken medication or done anything that would suggest that yes, this person is emotionally disabled; seeking treatment for these conditions and actively seeking support to ‘get well’. It smells of a scam because the whole family (10 kids!) is on it, all are all no to low income, and switched to SSI after Minnesota enforced a five year welfare limit. What a coincidence! These kids were suddenly disabled right before the five years were up. I told him what nobody else has so far – he’s not disabled.  He is lazy.

He was raised by inept parents who didn’t have a clue how to raise kids (and should have never had them) and felt entitled to a lifetime of welfare, paid for by people like me (their attitude is ‘let someone else pay for it’). I told him that I’m sick and tired of all his excuses and I’m just about ready to call SSI myself and report him. He is someone who will only seek employment when he is dragged kicking and screaming; otherwise he will remain lazy and unproductive. I reiterated that I’m done with this hand holding bullshit of ‘why don’t you volunteer so you can get job skills or go over to MN Jobworks (another government program that WE fund) and work with a job coach so the transition won’t be so tough?’. Forget it.  He needs to do this the hard way: forty hours a week, get up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m., full time. No more SSI for a ‘condition’ that used to be called lazy and dumb. Lots of people have to work two jobs while disabled and are twice his age. In this time of economic disaster it absolutely makes my blood boil that we as taxpayers are funding these peoples lifestyles to sit at home and jerk off on the Internet all day or play xbox or whatever else. He and his parents should all be forced to be at the workhouse for however long to pay back all this money they’ve ripped off from the taxpayers.  I don’t give a shit that they are 50 and 60, have heart conditions and fibromyalgia.  My parents are 64 and 70, work full time, have high blood pressure, my dad had a triple bypass last year.  His parents haven’t worked a day in their lazy unproductive lives, except his mom laying on her back 10 different times with however many different men she had sex with to get pregnant with all these kids who don’t share the same dad.  These people need to get a goddamn job. Not in six months or six weeks. He needs to start looking today. I’m turning him in. I’m sick of these lazy people who think I owe them a living because getting an education is too hard and work is for other people (because, hey, I can’t get along with people; that’s part of my ADHD! I’m disabled!).

Bullshit.  Start taking the kids away from parents like these the minute social services sees red flags during the initial home visit.  Joe is screwed for life because at 28, with no work ethic, it’s going to be a lifetime of dragging him by the hair to get him to do anything.  

 

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Twin Cities Marathon 2008!!!

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So the marathon came and went; this had to be the hardest race I’ve ever done (mentally). The marathon is 26.2 miles, and from mile 3 to 13 we had straight, heavy pouring rain – relentless – by about mile 7 I seriously asked myself if this was really worth running, because I had never done much running outside in the rain (or outside at all) and I really got spoiled by working out inside at the fitness center everyday, with guaranteed good weather, and knowing what machines I’d be using that day. When you’re outside running 26 miles, anything can happen and weather can change. You have to be ready for the marathon rather than the other way around. The most challenging part had to be that..how would I be able to get through all this rain, puddles, wet clothes; all that training you did ultimately overrides the weather conditions because if you don’t run the marathon in spite of the rain, you’ll really wish you would have run it. I thought of that the whole time I got soaked and somehow stuck with it. There’s no way I can quit after starting! But the weather sucked. I’d have to say it was worse than the 90 degree heat of last year. Like I said to another runner, last year I had to walk so I could stay cool; this year I had to keep running in order to stay warm! Because it doesn’t pay to stop and walk when you’re cold, wet and your clothes are soaked. A couple times I stopped at the porta potty to literally get out of the rain and wring out my clothes!!

In the end, I’m happy I finished because I have a brand new finisher shirt and medal to be proud of.

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Twin Cities Marathon eve

Rarely do I get to leave Duluth; tonight I’m at my friend Rich’s condo in Minneapolis. I want to get a good sleep for tomorrow morning so I’m going to bed soon.

It’s nice to get out of Duluth once in a while, if even for a day.

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Raring to go

So this morning (Saturday) I was up and ready to workout at 5. Forgetting the fitness center doesn’t even open until 7, and the buses don’t start running downtown until 7:30. So I waited and waited, finally I got down there and got right to business. With the marathon (http://mtcmarathon.org) in a week, I’m trying to really ramp up the cardio and get used to that repetitive activity so my body will recover better. So I was on that elliptical machine for – get this – 2 hours and 30 minutes. Were my legs sore? No. My back, neck and shoulder blades were in agony from holding onto the sides of the machine. Since I have so much music and video on my iPod, I don’t really get bored in the ‘cardio theatre’ which overlooks downtown, but it tends to be my self-therapy session where everything bothering me or any kind of discord in my life is dwelled on. The nice thing is, no matter how negative or depressed I feel walking in there, two later I somehow walk out with a clear head and not feeling nearly as manic. I really think there is something mentally stabilizing about exercise that puts everything into balance. I do like to get there early so I can enjoy the place to myself.

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Friday…finally

So I made it through another week of waking up at 4:45 in the morning. Today was a return to summer – it was 82 degrees and so gorgeous out that I had to get out as much as I could. I’m getting more excited about the marathon, but I’m looking at Minneapolis 10 day outlook on weather.com and the day of the marathon (Sunday, October 5th) calls for rain and 60 degrees. I’m hoping that it’s still very early and a lot could change in 9 days. I want it to be a nice comfortably sunny run.

I’ve been feeling guilty and depressed over this relationship that really wasn’t and what I learned about myself over the past six months. I feel bad that I’m avoiding him by not returning calls; the truth is I don’t want to talk to him right now. I feel bad because I feel like a coward for not dealing with him but when I do ‘deal with him’ it brings me down and nothing is solved. Like I said before I saw qualities I wasn’t comfortable with and looking back I think I wanted a good friend rather than a lover, but I didn’t know how to say that. I’ve been trying to pinpoint what my problem – my block is against finding someone. The only thing I can come up with is…I’m attracted to very masculine, confident, rugged guys. Someone who is helpless, doesn’t carry himself like an adult man with confidence, and doesn’t have that masculine personality just doesn’t turn me on. Overly effeminate (or stereotypically gay) mannerisms do not turn me on. There’s nothing that can change that. I was really trying hard to overlook these things but sexually nothing was happening. For some reason I couldn’t budge. I didn’t want him touching me. The clingy stuff that I’ve waited so long for – I pulled away from. Again, my body rejected this guy. No matter how much I tried to convince myself to be more open minded the worse it got.

The conclusion I’ve drawn is this – being gay is a rotten life. You have 2% of the male population as a base to choose from. That’s not figuring in interests, attractions, mutual things; that’s only figuring in guys who like guys. The other thing is that about 75% of those gay guys act like the guy I just described. I say be yourself, but the sexual being that I am is terribly frustrated to see guy after guy who acts like such a queen. Hard part is some of these guys are such nice people in every other light, but I can’t make something happen sexually if I’m not into it. I don’t know if, when or how I’m ever going to resolve that. After being out for all these years and seeing only a few gay guys who are naturally masculine and sexy to me, it feels like a long wait with no guarantees.

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Beautiful fall day in Duluth

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The Fitness Center

Here is a picture of the fitness studio. So my days start out like this: wake up at 4:45am. Get ready. Head out the door, walk three blocks to Woodland Avenue, and wait for the first downtown bus that the DTA runs. I get to the fitness center, do my own workout (today was legs), then teach mid-morning classes and another at noon. Occasionally I have to come back around 5pm to teach another one. Now my endurance is pretty good, but there are some days where I’m just so damn tired and burned out. Something built-in seems to prevent this from happening; my body knows it’s limits and I’m starting to listen. I go to bed much earlier now so I’m not dead tired when I wake up. I don’t go for a lot of super long walks in the evening because it drains my energy and although it does help me fall asleep, depending on how far I go, I really don’t like waking up exhausted. If I could make a living out of teaching classes and doing personal training I don’t think I could ask for more because I’d be doing what I already love to do, as long as all of this somehow ties into a real position with a future rather than having luck that might run out in six months or a year, depending on whether a class gets cancelled or if people aren’t going for personal training as much for whatever reason.

I got a degree in psychology because I had planned on getting a masters in social work and ultimately a license. But I’m beginning to find out that I’m not as compassionate as I once was. There are certain types of people who seek out these services and totally exploit them, and all they do is waste everyones time. This whole experience with this friend I met who is only 27 and has been on SSI or disability for more than ten years and there is nothing wrong with him. I know that I’m judgmental. I have no time for these people who have no money and then go have ten kids. Then as a result of panic, they figure out some bullshit thing like ADHD or anxiety (any behavioral condition that is very hard to diagnose but very easy to act and fake). Then years later these same kids, now adults, don’t know how to work, never got job or educational skills, and believe that the goverment welfare programs are theirs to take advantage of for life. For some kids their lives were ruined before they even had a chance to realize their potential -making it almost impossible to get them to believe in themselves and develop a work ethic, partly because the parents should have never been allowed to parent from the first day social services made a visit to the house. And through this experience I have very little sympathy for people who want to live off of taxpayers, particularly those who are still working (because they have to) at 70 and 75…while at the same time we have people under 35 who have never done anything and almost make it a full time job figuring out how to scam the system, society, and don’t realize that there will be a day when there is no money left for social programs, or they get to a certain age where they won’t be hired by anyone, and they will look back on life (what have they done with it) and they don’t have anything to show for it. Nothing to be proud of. My conflict with this guy was wondering if I could accept that he was okay with what he was doing. It’s wrong. But to him that’s how he makes a living. And although he is a very nice person, he hasn’t accomplished anything. I never thought I would care about those things but it really shows what they’re made of, if they have goals and rather than just saying it – I needed to see him DO it. All I heard was his planning on enrolling here or volunteering there in a month or three months. I’ve seen this before, and I’ve seen months turn into years with nothing happening because they are hoping you’ll forget about it. If I see those traits in someone, I will not pursue them because I know it’s unlikely going to change. Not to be overly cynical, just realistic. Maybe I have learned a thing or two by 34 after all.

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