Are You STILL Unemployed?!

For you 99ers out there who feel you can’t get a break from this economy, here’s good news: A recent government study may help you land a job.

On one of my too-few forays away from Moving Hell the other day, I noticed this headline in a newsbox: “Report: Unemployment High Because People Keep Blowing Their Job Interviews.” I felt duty-bound to report back to you.

Of course, the bad news is that this information hails from The Onion. Here are a few passages. They may not help you with that next interview (assuming you’re even getting any interviews), but they just might help you break a smile.

• According to the findings, seven out of 10 Americans could have landed their dream job last month if they had known where they see themselves in five years...
Hmmm. So back in 2005, how many of you saw yourself on the dole in 2010?

• Not asking where restroom is after interview could cut unemployment by 4%.
We all know good questions are crucial during interviews.

• “If applicants would just say yes when asked if they played softball or liked golf, we could add 350,000 jobs to the private sector,” Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris said.
Wow! Dishonesty works!

• The Labor Department confirmed their statistics don’t take into account the estimated 20 million citizens who were unable to get interviews in the first place because of formatting errors in their résumés, or cover letters that slightly exceeded one page.
Or the other 60 million who couldn’t even apply for the jobs because the online app program was flawed.

Did You Click Yesterday?

I hope you visit Lull every day if only to click on the purple button. When you do, there's usually a little rescue story to read, like this one:

After reading, your next click is the one that gets food donated to shelters. You get a warm fuzzy feeling and animals get to eat. Everybody wins! So don't forget to click.

Going . . . Going . . . But Not Yet Gone

Here are some pics we took of our Big Sale the weekend AFTER the first weekend we had it. The first weekend was claustrophobic—you could hardly move through the basement.

Yes, yes. I had intentions of photographing every shelf of books and plays and household decor so I had a keepsake of all we were giving up. But the night before our first sale day, I was still in the basement at 3:30 in the morning trying to price items. Never finished. Picking up the camera didn’t cross my mind.

Our customers frequently asked about “our store.” With such an eclectic array of items, surely we were liquidating a business. Were we going to open another store in Kentucky? One couple asked if they’d stepped into a theatre’s prop storage. Lots asked when our next sale would be.

Nope. Nope. And never.

We have enough left over to hold another sale, but we’re all saled out. We have some valuable items we’re trying to sell on Ebay and Craigslist, but outside of those, everything else will be donated.

If you know of someone (or an organization) looking for old film reels and canisters, or plays, or books, or camping equipment, or press camera accessories, or lamp bases, or vintage hats, or a Victorian pram, send them our way. Everything’s priced to move.

Mmm Mmm Good

I haven’t had a good watermelon yet this season, but it looks like these two found one!

[Pictured are Lark and Fiesta from the Rocky Ridge Refuge.]

It’s Been A While

I’ve missed you. Though I’ll try to post a little this month, there may not be much regularity until I escape this parallel universe I’ve been stuck in, a universe where . . .

Insurance companies reject me for coverage

The IRS loses one of the documents I’ve sent them and now says I owe back taxes and a fine

Before we’ve even had a chance to move into our new apartment, our landlord announces he’s thinking of selling the building

My husband’s insurance company has been sanctioned by the Feds and now we need to find new insurance for him

Mr. Slimy plots to get more money from us

We try to sell most of our possessions and learn that people want things for nothing

The people in the state we’re moving to have a curious habit of driving their cars across lawns to be as close as possible to the door of a building

Yes, I have much to tell you. But until I have time to write, I want you to have a long-overdue thank-you for reading Lull. I’d planned to have this ready in June, the one-year anniversary of Lull. But stuff happened. So here it is now: a little book called Lil’ Bits. If you know someone else who might like it, share this link:
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzrbFA_PWccHYTk3MDUwODUtNWM4MS00MDA5LWJkNGMtZDI0YWY4MTEyMzE4&hl=en&authkey=CMvf0YsH

Hope you’re well, dear readers.