Relieve and let go

    I said breakdowns come
    And breakdowns go,
    So what are you going to do about it,
    That's what I'd like to know.
    — Paul Simon, Gumboots

The selection of blogs in the sidebar, which is the (slimmer) column on the left, is a list wisely constituted by our friend ml (who's casually reading more on the Web than Google's bot) at the start of this blogging enterprise. Blogs hosted by The Economist and the Financial Times (NB anything with a British accent is worth reading), The Wall Street Journal, and The Globe and Mail. Or Angst is the way, one of our favourites. And others. You are assured of that kind of quality writing (on a wide range of subjects) that you won't find in the (thicker) column on the right. (This is one instance where the left is emphatically better.)

Blogs come and blogs go (this one is, miraculously, still sort of hanging on), and we must replace the fallen. For instance, our recent addition of New Europe, "dispatches from Dow Jones writers across Eastern and Central Europe".

Another one, Laid Off and Looking, has been suddenly laid to rest last month, to the dismay of its readers. Outraged What's the Deal? poses the (implicit) question, then promptly provides the (explicit) answer in his or her comment:

"Here's the deal. Back when the recession started throwing workers into Dante's Inferno, being laid off and looking was very fashionable and, dare I say, chic. We were captivated by these exotic creatures (laid off white-collar workers). As the recession and economic fallout continued well over a year, there were just so many people that were laid off and looking. Somehow, the novelty wore off and, like all fads, the public and this newspaper lost interest. Still, if we exhume the casket, we find that people were buried alive. The problem has not been solved. People are still out of work."

(We'd like to remind readers that the nine circles of the Inferno include Limbo, Wrath and Sullenness, and Betrayal.)

The thing is, out of the 29 bloggers, twenty "have found full-time jobs, while several others are working on long-term consulting assignments." "Overall, it took these professionals a year on average to get back to working. These contributors, along with numerous career experts and guest writers, helped to create a dynamic discussion on the challenges of job hunting after a layoff in a down economy. They explored issues ranging from ways to network effectively and deal with unresponsive recruiters to how to stay upbeat after a long-search and what it feels like to finally get re-hired. [One] topic that sparked intense discussion was how age discrimination impacts the search."

The terminated blog (December 2008 - March 2010) is still out there in the internetic aether, in case you missed any dynamic posts. Or intense comments.

As replacement we chose, for now, a WSJ blog started shortly after the demise of the above. Hire Education is on a rather similar topic — the transition from the sweet life of university to the real, i.e., working, world. "We seek advice from recruiting and career-services professionals. And we go around the Web and around the world to bring you stories about getting a foot in the door."

We notice that there are no science or engineering students among the six bloggers. This might be either because these have a conspicuously easier time landing good jobs, or because they cannot are less inclined to write.

In all likelihood they're busy studying.

Badadadada-dada Thanksgiving

Earlier today, long weekend and whatnot, we spent some time talking to the guy next door. Turns out he's been laid off, for a while now.

After decades of hard labour and stress, he assures us he's having, at long last, a real great time.

Slow down, you move too fast,
You got to make the mornin' last.
Just kickin' down the cobblestones
Lookin' for fun and
Feelin' groovy...
Badadadada-dada feelin' groovy...

The slang is dated, the feelin' is current. He showed us an e-mail he sent to a previous co-worker:

I discovered I'm again enjoying the simpler stuff, even taking pleasure in, say, the occasional cleaning of old stacks of papers (or the basement), or doing the boring chores I've been dutifully postponing for years. I remember years ago (we were still in the old building), crossing the parking lot towards the bus station at the end of the day, I noticed a colleague walking ahead of me. She stopped, then stooped a bit to smell the flowers near the manufacturing building. [I was living in a cliché!] At the time I was sure she must have been a student (that age, when we are all romantic and everything). Now that I think about it, I'm inclined to reconsider — maybe she has also been laid off!?

Hello lampost
Whatcha knowin'?
I've come to watch your flowers growin'.
Ain'tcha got no rhymes for me?
Doo-it an' doo-doo,
Feelin' groovy...
Badadadada-dada feelin' groovy...

He worked (in and around the house) this entire Labour Day, last month. When everybody rested. Never having taken a real vacation in so many years of employment, or too many weekends for that matter (thanks to the on-line technology), he got into the habit of being a bit of the contrarian. And now that all that free time he's owed has been granted, in one big chunk, he allows himself the occasional transgression.

I've got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morningtime drop all its petals on me...
Life, I love you,
All is groovy...

Guy next door, not one to lay about, updated his skills scrupulously during this period. He's proficient now, for example, at catching fruit flies (mid-air), thanks to the garbage strike which provided Toronto with an abundance of these. He's having a riot every time he opens the credit card bill (the bills, sure enough, keep coming as if nothing changed — which, in a way, is reassuring), and reads the travel-protection inserts that seem to have started appearing the exact week he was, mercifully, let go. We are committed to offering you travel protection solutions that can keep you covered wherever you go. Does he need insurance for traveling around his own backyard? For dragging the garbage bins to the curb and back once a week?

He finds all the recent news about the end of the recession a bit alarming. If jobs reappear, and everybody gets working again, is miserable, and shops patriotically in support of the economy, will people's oh-that-poor-guy feelings of sympathy turn into plain oh-that-lazy-bum resentment?!...

For now, he's thankful. Doo-it an' doo-doo, Happy Thanksgiving!

Feelin' Groovy (The 59th Street Bridge Song): lyrics by Paul Simon. Simon & Garfunkel, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, 1966.

Employment in the US ain't getting any better

Highlights - initial claims for the week ended May 9, 2009

Initial claims for the week ended May 9 jumped to 637,000 from 605,000 in the prior week, while continuing claims through May 2 increased to another record high of 6.56 mln from 6.36 mln in the prior report.

The 4-week moving average for initial claims rose 5.3% to 630,500.

The 4-week moving average for continuing claims rose 3.2% to 6.34 mln.