The weight of what I’m going through, and collectively what we’re all going through just hit me. At least it did so on a Saturday morning in my home, with only my cat’s purrs there for support.
It is too easy in a time like this to lose confidence and hope in who you are and what one tries to achieve. This year of 2020 has tested us like no other time in most of our lives. It makes the trials and tribulations of 1968 pale by comparison.
As for me, I might wind up a bit better off. I have an interview on Monday for another full time job opportunity that can be done remotely. Doors are still opening when doors are closing, so there’s that at least.
I will plead for you all to go vote on Tuesday, no matter your choices. I will also plead for there not to be violence despite the outcome or what it might appear to be.
I still believe in our country and the prospect of a new world a few mornings from now.
I’m beyond frustrated right now – as I had to let go of the new job I was to have at Datalot.
There was a problem with the training process that I was having that wasn’t getting addressed in a timely manner. They gave us a training manual for how to run their computerized system that wasn’t the same as the one the trainer had. To paraphrase, it was like giving a quarterback a playbook that had the pages missing that contained the plays that a team would mostly likely tun. It was 95 percent the same – but not completely the same.
How was I supposed to represent this company not knowing the exact procedures to be deployed? I asked for the correct guide after the training, and I was promised that I would get it. The following morning, it’s still not there – so I ask for it again. With an hour left before training, I finally get the correct manual.
I felt by that point, damage had been done – and I chose to discontinue the training. I had to stand up for myself – nobody else was going to. The trainer E-mailed me and basically said the procedures were guidelines, and I didn’t even respond to it. As a trainee, how do I know that to be true?
So now I need employment, I need it fast, and I need it bad. Thank you, Datalot. Thank you ever so much, he said sarcastically.
It’s two hours before my first training day at Datalot. My commute is seconds, not hours – feet, not miles. I do all of the work on a home computer I already own.
They only give me the USB headset I am to use. As it turned out, it was the same make and model of a headset I already had!
It’s my hope this all works out, but you never know. I just hope I have the wisdom to do what’s right for me.
A couple of months ago I had mentioned my license renewal at the local DMV didn’t go well.
Today, I officially turned in my license and replacing it with photo ID. The path of taking a few PSTA buses was a little different – walk here, ride there, walk some more. But I got it done.
Tomorrow I start a new chapter at Datalot. Maybe my life and health improve to where I’m someday driving again – and who knows how far we are from a time when all the driving is automated.
For now, my eyes and feet are still working, but not at the level they need to be at to function normally. Better for me to realize this than to be the cause of an accident.
It’s been a crazy week in my life – but these days, whose life isn’t been or hasn’t been crazy?
Regretfully, I started another GoFundMe in an effort to raise funds for the whatnots life brings. If you want to contribute to it, feel free. I also set up a CashApp account to raise funds – that’s available at $PaulBlom.
As soon as I set that up, I wound up getting a job I can do from home with Datalot helping people with insurance problems of all sorts. I start training on that Tuesday, then I work weekdays for five hours a day from 12p, to 5pm – perfect for what I need at the hourly rate they are offering.
And oh yes, the Rays are in the World Series – as I type this, three wins away from a possible World Series championship. I have no ill will for the Dodgers – another fine squad that’s played astoundingly well the past few seasons. Personally, I think the Rays play with house money now. If they win, they are the best – if they lose, they lose to the best.
There are 24 days left until the 2020 US elections that may very well change the history of our country. It is very difficult for the average American to discern how is the best candidate for their respective needs. The purpose of this blog entry is not to tell you who to vote for, but to ask: what can we do in future years to make the political process more transparent and to make it work better for us.
First, I think the voting process for the Presidency must change. I would be in a favor of scrapping the Electoral College with a simpler format: each state gets one vote, going to the winner of the election within that state. The winner of the election must win a majority of states (in the present case, 26 out of 50) – and should that not happen, the combined popular vote would then determines who wins.
Secondly, the debates preceding the election must also change – which you are more or less seeing now with the political corruption being exposed among who moderates the debates. My suggestion would be that any party who gets one percent of the vote or more in the prior election for the presidency gets a debate seat. I’d have one debate for the vice-presidential candidates, followed at a later debate with the presidential candidates.
Smaller debates (such as debates among the two leading candidates, for instance) would be encouraged – but the debates must follow a rigid format. In turn, determined by a coin toss or a random draw, each candidate asks a question of their own choice to a specific candidates or to the candidates as a group if there a multiple entrants. Once the agreed upon time limit concludes, the next candidate gets a turn – and all candidates get to ask an equal number of questions before the debate concludes.
Thirdly, there should be either term limits or no term limits on the Presidency, Senate, and the House of Representative collectively. I don’t care if we wind up with term limits or not, but the decision to have them or not must be the same across the board. Personally, I’d like to see a single-term limit for each office – once the term is used up, that’s it. Move on to another office or move back to where you came from.
Personally, I think these three fixes would go a long way to ending the era where the political realm is viewed upon as intellectual pornography. Who knows, we may even get better candidates out of the deal.
As of the moment I write this, the President is back at the White House, having survived his COVID episode as the odds would seem to dictate.
The media didn’t seem to enjoy the President’s recovery, the way his every move was criticized by them in the days of his hospitalization. Whether you like the man or not, the media more or less has lost its way regarding who they are partial to.
If Mr. Trump beats the odds again four weeks from now, then what? Unless the constitution changes, Trump can’t run for a third term. Then you have a “jump ball” for 2024 where either side could likely control the Presidency.
With 2020 being such an off the charts crazy year, what does that entail for the four years ahead if DJT wins? Will the Democrats cease their constant resistance? I doubt it.
On this October 2nd, we are reminded that 2020 is a gift that keeps on taking from all of us.
President Trump and the First Lady tested positive for COVID and are quarantining. It’s too early to say who else also caught it who has been in the President’s circle as of the moment of this posting.
I’m sure there will be a ton of second guessing on many fronts. I will merely wish the President and Melania well for now, and hope you will join me in those wishes.
A Slice Of Big Pauly 