employment
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: The Downfall, Hitler, funny, weird, silly, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, streaming video
It's a bad day for everyone! In this parody, Hitler finds out the devastating news just before a planned vacation to Southern California: Leno Is Moving Back To Late Night. The film used to parody the NBC Late Night situation is DOWNFALL starring Bruno Ganz. Essay below the jump is a brief blow-by-blow synopsis of Leno-O'Brien opinions on the matter.
A brief blow-by-blow synopsis of Leno-O'Brien opinions on the matter:
MONDAY
Jay Leno, monologue from "The Jay Leno Show" : "I take pride in one thing. I…
grrlscientist | December 18, 2009tags: Hamburger Make Up Artistry, food porn, Buy Me That, streaming video
This is another video in the Buy Me That series, which is designed to teach kids how to think critically about the television commercials they are constantly bombarded with. In this episode, we see some kids playing with a toy that turns out to be the opposite of what it is advertised to be.
Perhaps this video should be required viewing for all kids in the weeks before Christmas?
grrlscientist | December 11, 2009tags: Hamburger Make Up Artistry, food porn, Buy Me That, streaming video
This video is a segment from the popular series "Buy Me That." Featured is a "makeup artist for food," who provides us with this behind-the-scenes look at how burgers (and fries) are made to look their best for television.
This just makes you want to run out to buy and eat some fast food, doesn't it?
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009tags: science, research, postdoctoral fellowship, academic life, unemployment
[Reprise: originally published in 2004]
New York City (AP) - After an unsuccessful two-year-long search for funds to support two more years of research and living expenses, a scientist and freelance writer has offered to fund her research by selling access to her internationally televised death by electrocution and by auctioning all body parts on ebay.
GrrlScientist, an evolutionary biologist and ornithologist, uses DNA to research the evolution and historical geographic movements of parrots among the islands of…
grrlscientist | August 2, 2009While the economy is still performing CPR on itself, you may find yourself without a job. Worse still, if you are like me, you may not be able to find another one. In the meantime, here are 101 ways to improve your life (and take up some extra time) when you can't find a job no matter how hard you pound the pavement.
Here's my edited version of their list along with some of my annotations. Those activities I've done, or do, are noted with a red asterix.
*Catch up on all those books you've ever wanted to read through the local library. :: I go to the library nearly every day, thanks to MY…
grrlscientist | July 7, 2009
Image: Wookey Hole.
There are moments in a person's life where they sit back and ask themselves; was [fill in the blank] worth it? Was it really worth it?
I ask myself this question often, especially when it comes to job hunting. There's nothing like a bout of unemployment punctuated with brief bouts as a below-poverty-wages throw-away worker to make a person contemplate the meaning of one's existence. So when an employment opportunity like this comes along for a job that actually pays a living wage, it makes me think that I should do something dramatic, like changing my name to Hermione…
grrlscientist | June 11, 2009tags: worst job ever, massage therapist, humor, funny, employment, jobs, streaming video
This video is an interview with a man who is convinced he has the worst job ever. All I can say is this has got to be satire because I cannot otherwise understand his numerous complaints [1:06]
H/T: TravelGirl.
grrlscientist | May 12, 2009tags: homelessness, unemployment, poverty, NYC Life, social policy
A homeless woman eats dinner (it looks like "Sheba" brand cat food, doesn't it?)
Image: orphaned.
I awoke this morning at 5am, as usual, and one of the first things I heard on the morning news was Mayor Bloomberg, one of the richest men in the world, saying that the city is charging rent for the homeless to stay in a shelter. Blinking in the darkness, I thought I was listening to the Onion news report instead of NPR. Sure, I heard that Bloomberg was considering this, but never thought he was cruel enough to actually enact…
grrlscientist | May 9, 2009tags: employment, humor, satire, streaming video
A new Department of Labor report finds personal outsourcing is revolutionizing how Americans don't do their own work. [2:23]
grrlscientist | April 12, 2009tags: book review, memoir, homelessness, unemployment, Cadillac Man, Thomas Wagner
The homeless are everywhere in New York City. I run across them every day while riding public transit, while walking around the city and while using wireless in the public libraries. After a few conversations with homeless people, I've learned that most of them avoid shelters because of the risk of violent crime there. So where do they sleep? Where do they go to get a shower and clean clothes? Are all homeless people either crazy or crackheads? How did these people end up living on the streets in the first…
grrlscientist | February 17, 2009Since I am unemployed, I get these notices second-hand, but I am more than happy to share them with those of you who still manage to keep a job that actually pays money.
Dear Employees:
It has been brought to management's attention that some individuals throughout the company have been using foul language during the course of normal conversation with their co-workers.
Due to complaints received from some employees who may be easily offended, this type of language will no longer be tolerated.
We do, however, realize the critical importance of being able to accurately express your feelings when…
grrlscientist | January 6, 2009tags: frugal living, survival skills, unemployment, underemployment, financial crisis
I have been barely surviving living frugally for nearly all of my life, although I have been taking this to the extreme these past five years. But now that many of you are also having to either cut back on your living expenses, due to unemployment, underemployment or fear that you will become un(der)employed soon, I no longer feel I have to be so secretive about my own lifestyle, so I thought I'd share some of my own tried-and-true strategies for basic survival skills with you.
Life style changes:
avoid…
grrlscientist | November 28, 2008Well, that's it. I am in deep trouble now. The one employment opportunity in the world that I thought I could rely on as a "fall back" to pay my rent when all else fails -- such as working as a research scientist or as a pet care provider -- is now also experiencing a hiring freeze combined with a dramatic wage slump. What job is this? Prostitution.
Yes, my friends, it appears that the average American male is now so broke that he cannot afford a whore any longer. Horrors! What is the world coming to (no pun intended)? Do you suppose more (gasp) real relationships might develop as a result?…
grrlscientist | November 28, 2008tags: Hunger in America, food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, food stamps, poverty
Image: Orphaned.
One thing that the Thanksgiving Holidays has made clear: America, the land of plenty where holiday overeating is celebrated as a social good, is suffering from a food availability crisis. The Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture describes a range of food security categories, ranging from "food secure," which includes high food security and marginal food security, and "food insecure," which includes low food security and very low food security.…
grrlscientist | August 17, 2008tags: book review, economic insecurity, politics, social programs, insurance, poverty, employment, education, housing
What ever happened to the American Dream? Well, if you are like me, you will admit that your pursuit of the American Dream is like chasing after a mythical horse that disappeared out the barn door literally decades ago. For example, even though I did everything right -- staying out of trouble, staying out of debt, avoiding all chemical and behavioral addictions, postponing pleasure by working hard and sacrificing so I could earn a top-notch education doing something I love and…
grrlscientist | April 19, 2008tags: satire, humor, comedy, outsourcing employees, presidency
A friend sent me this hilarious story, which I rewrote and updated and share with you here.
"I just don't understand why no one likes me," exclaimed a confused Mr. Bush.
Washington, DC -- Congress today announced that the office of President of the United States of America will be outsourced to India as of April 20, 2008.
This action is being undertaken to save economically-challenged American taxpayers the cost of the President's $500,000 annual salary, along with a record $9.37 trillion national deficit that Mr. Bush…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2008tags: unemployment, humor, satire, streaming video
So, you all thought the Streetwalking Lawyers of Seattle video was humorous, did you? Well, after a quick trip through my time machine to the year 2009, I have found that streetwalking lawyers was prescient. [1:28]
grrlscientist | January 22, 2008tags: technology woes, humor, streaming video
Since you are all starting your work week after a wonderful football- and booze-filled three-day weekend, I thought I'd share this video of people who are really having a bad day -- thanks to technology. Music is "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter [4:16]
grrlscientist | December 24, 2007I was looking through my unread emails and found a list of modern euphemisms, which was sent to me by a reader of mine. Since many of you reading today are at work, but wishing to be elsewhere, and probably won't get much done today as a result, I thought that today would be the perfect day to post this for you to enjoy.
404:
Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message "404 Not Found," meaning that the requested document could not be located. "Don't bother asking him ... he's 404, man."
Adminisphere:
The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file…
grrlscientist | November 18, 2007Those of you who have been unemployed realize that businesses are always trying to figure out another way to punish you for committing the crime of being unemployed while not being wealthy, but hey, this has got to be the worst: one of our elected congresscritters is working on another way to further disenfranchise you. According to a news story that was published today, Senator Tom Coburn (a rethuglican from the proud goat-roping state of Oklahoma) is actively seeking to prevent people from protecting themselves from genetic discrimination. HUH??
Okay, let's just pretend that you have lost…