And they say things are getting better. . .

[discouraged]

Isn't that the truth! I had a 6 month emp posiiton last year with the county and a job interview last week for another short term temp position with the city (I didn't know it was temp when I applied but at this point I'll take anything). When I called my old supervisor to give her a heads up for a reference, she said there was even talk about lay-offs at the county and that has been unheard of in the 30 years her boss worked there. They wanted to hire me last year but just as she was going to, there was a hiring freeze.

So, as you said, even secure jobs aren't secure anymore.

[packerfan]

I agree I think its a mixed bag depending on where you are..where I am things are getting worse not better (Cape Coral, FL and if you've read the news were #1 in the nation for the greatest increase in poverty levels our unemplyment went from 12% last month to 13.7 this month) We've spoken to friends and family in other states and they don't seem to get it..whille they have seen the downturn nothing along the lines of what we have seen..My entire neighborhood was pretty much taken out in foreclosures of course most of those homes are now occupied having been purchased cheaply..Very few jobs and what is out their is paying very low wages. Jobs that were once considered secure are no longer..

[tobee43]

GREAT one!! LOL!!!

If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you must call them and ask if they meant you or them.

my personal favorite!

[wnguyen]

I got a pre-declined credit card application in the mail.

I like this one. LOL

[discouraged]

I'm still laughing! Thanks Joe.

[ccsjoe]

ccsjoe-

Thanks for posting! I needed that laugh this am!!

You're welcome, glad to help!!

[onthefence]

ccsjoe-

Thanks for posting! I needed that laugh this am!!

[ccsjoe]

OK, a friend sent me this bit of "humor" by email. I knew this was a must post here, relevant to things are getting better an'all. Apologies in advance to whomever it may or not offend...just sit back and smile, it is not intended to offend you.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The economy is so bad that-

I got a pre-declined credit card application in the mail.

African television stations are now showing 'Sponsor an American Child' commercials.

I ordered a burger at McDonald's and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"

CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.

A stripper was killed when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies while she danced.

I saw a Mormon polygamist with only one wife.

If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you must call them and ask if they meant you or them.

McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America .

Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.

My cousin had an exorcism but couldn't afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her!

A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .

Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.

A picture is now only worth 200 words.

They renamed Wall Street " Wal-Mart Street ."

The Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas is now managed by Somali pirates.

Congress says they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh Great! The guy who made $50 Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 trillion plus disappear!

And, finally...

I was so depressed last night thinking about Obamanomics, Obamacare, taxes, unemployment, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, the wars, etc., I called the Suicide Hotline. I got a call center in Pakistan , and when I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.

[catleg]

If you're a business things are looking better. There are tons of Bernanke bucks sloshing around the economy and the labor market has no clout whatsoever, you have trouble with a serf, you fire him and hire another serf off the shelf.
As far as Bush vs Obama, come meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[msm859]

ROTFLMAO Someone's been drinking the kool-aid!

I take it from your inability to refute any of my observations that you agree -- FYI this is called a negative pregnant.

[discouraged]

Wow - $12 an hour to sign your life away? And, that is before taxes, health insurance premiums and whatever else would eat into the paycheck. Yup - that's a real incentive.

I,also, am willing to go much, much lower than the $40,000 I was making - because I've learned how to be extremely frugal (it has been an eye-opener at how frugal I can be!), but to sign my life away at the same time would be the breaking point.

Hang in there - the day will come when people rebel at the poor quality or lack of service.

[houston7]

Discouraged,
I think you nailed it. The poor quality is a result of hiring cheap labor. As far as I can tell, most managers aren't capable of seeing past the immediate month/quarter. It's all about the profits. They can't seem to connect the dots that you get what you pay for. I had an interview this morning and the owner of the company was telling me that he was having problems keeping the position filled with a good person/worker. The pay? $8.20 per hour.

Um, Mr. Businessman, exactly what kind of person do you think you are going to get for 8 bucks an hour? He looked at my wage history, ($48k per year since 2006) and was trying to figure out a way to pay me enough to keep me in the position.
His solution? He would offer me $600 a week for a 50 hour work week, but I would have to sign a long term contract to stay at that position. I have no problem taking pay cut to get off unemployment, but they are smoking some serious crack if they think that I am going to sign away my right to look improve my financial situation.

You know, that whole capitalism things that Republicans cling to.

It works both ways.

[Blueboy]

Exactly how is he worse than Bush? Has he taken a vibrant economy with a surplus and utterly destroyed it?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3015540/US-Budget-Deficit-or-Surplus-1960present

Has he started 2 unsustainable wars - 1 on false pretenses?
Did he approve the United States torturing?
Was it under his watch that we began the largest financial meltdown since the Great Depression?
What exactly should/could Obama have done different so far?

Well you didn't make a mistake voting for him -- your really didn't have much of a choice. Sadly we have little hope with the D's and no hope with the R's.

ROTFLMAO Someone's been drinking the kool-aid!

[discouraged]

I think some of the problem with poor quality is that companies are hiring 'cheaper' labor. I was laid off almost two years ago, had a part-time job for 6 months after that; wihch was supposed to become permanent but there was a hiring freeze. I'm finding that companies I applied at months ago are finally calling, althoug I have not received a job offer yet (possibly an age issue??). But these companies are finding that they are not getting the quality, I believe. Not sure, just a theory.

Sad, sad situation for our economy and our nation.

[angles]

I was talking about this to a co-worker this last weekend and he brought up a very good point. People are depressed, or getting depressed about the new economy. No one is motivated and no one wants to take risks to get ahead or to get fired from their job. And it makes sense. I see a lot of manufacturing companies that are very late on their deliveries and the quality is not that good. I would have expected the opposite in this economy, but not true. Also, lately I have been reading reports that worker output has been dropping. I think this is due to depression and a general sense of not caring about anything. Just to add with another example, when times were good I remember contractors working hard to finish the job so they could move on to the next but now I see them dragging their feet because they have nowhere else to go. Very depressing when you talk to them. So their view is the longer it takes them to build something the longer they remain employed.