In some areas of the country, well I won’t even continue.  Just read the article.

I’d rather make myself rich working for myself but for now at least I’m content making a living working for someone else.  It happens to be a big box, but in all, I am currently making more money than I would be had I actually finished school and received that education degree.  I have a LOT less stress and do a LOT less work too (that is of course a matter of opinion to some).  I’m happy having made a decision to work for a company that has provided me with advancement opportunities that do not depend on education but rather on performance.  Many people won’t ever be as lucky as me and sadly, because of the job market that exists, many people are having to lower their expectations of what they can accomplish at least in the short term.  It saddens me that Walmart is trying to capitalize on a huge problem however if those without work are able to put their ego aside and accept a job with an income (any income), Walmart (and many other Big Box stores) can offer a steady income and the potential for growth.  Never in my life did I ever think I would be a person to promote a career in sales, especially retail sales, but just as an example, when I moved up to TC  with Jirar 5 years ago, I had quit my job, I had no savings, and no prospect of a job.   Jirar had a job but it was no way, no how, going to support both of us for any length of time.  My economy sucked in much the same way everyone else’s did with a poor job market and slim opportunities.  It’s a matter of motivation and perspective.  Within a month of moving up here I had a part time job for minimum wage, within another 3 weeks I found a second job.  Within 2 months I was part time at Menards, within 6 months I was full time.  Within 1 year I was an assistant manager, within 1 1/2 years I was the department manager.  I went from an income of less than $100 a week  to a $45K+ a year carer because I was willing to put my ego aside and take a job I didn’t think I would like because I needed an income, ANY income.  I’d do it again too if I had to, and yes, I would work at McDonald’s flipping burgers if that was the difference between having a job and sitting around doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself all day.  Yes, the job market is bad right now but it would not be so bad if people would give up the “i’ll never do that” attitude and actually took a step to better themselves.  ANY income is better than none at all.

On a sad related note, we currently have a “begger’ loitering in our parking lot.  He sits out by the curb all day, every day with a sign asking for money to help pay for a surgery for his daughter.  A sad story indeed but worse, he’s been asked why he’s not yet come into the store and asked for a job application (he’s been out there nearly 2 months now).  We are in fact hiring people.  He needs the money and clearly he can commit himself to something since he’s been sitting on a bucket with a sign now for 2 months.  His response?  He won’t work retail because he’s got an education (spoken with a snotty condescending tone of voice).  Clearly that education is doing him a world of good sitting out there on the corner, in the snow, in the cold.  His problem?  He has too much of an ego, he’s too good to work for a company that takes in billions of dollars a year in profits and is the #1 Home Improvement center choice by consumers in the Midwest.  He won’t “lower” himself by doing work he think’s is beneath him.  Sadly, he’d be making more money with a job than he’ll ever get begging in our parking lot.  A good entrepreneur knows 1 thing.  Location, Location, Location.  Sorry buddy, our parking lot is never going to do it do you.  He ought to know better than to beg from the locals.  It’s the fudgies who have the money up here and they are all vacationing in sunny warm places right now.

So now, after that rather depressing post, I’ve got the weekend off from work and I think I may take a drive up to Northport this weekend with the dog and take some pictures.  I’ll have to see how the weather is.  Hope you are all doing well, sorry I’ve not written much.  I’ve been just too busy and too tired and it’s only going to get more crazy as we head towards spring.

Today I went out to the cottage and loafed around.  Not much going on out there (which is fine by me) and it’s nice to be able to just sit around and do nothing.  I let Gavin play outside with his doggie friends which he seems to enjoy greatly and he’s now sprawled out on my bed snoring and twitching as he dreams of who knows what.  I got back to town tonight around 6 and decided I needed to go out and finish up my Christmas shopping.  I’ve done 90% of my shopping this year on-line because there is nothing I hate more than standing in line at stores.  People smell, their children are loud and completely out of control, folks are generally just oblivious to everyone around them and most could care less if they ram you with their shopping carts.  Working in retail, I have to deal with crowds like that every day and honestly I just get sick of seeing it so this year, rather than waste hours of my time and my life in stores, I did my shopping on line.  There are always a few things though that you have to go to the store to get.  Toothpaste and shaving cream aside, I made a trip tonight to Walmart and Boarders Books.  As usual, Walmart was a zoo and the store was just trashed.  Screaming children running around everywhere, frantic parents at their wits end hollering at them, people on their cell phones yelling at the person on the other end…you get the picture.  I hate this Walmart because it is just such a trashy store and it generally follows that the store reflects the clientele.  Right, where I work is the same dam thing.  So I got a couple things, ran into a few co-workers (all out doing the same thing as me, looking for the quickest way out of the store) and then I stood in line for 45 minutes.  Blah.  Thank god I don’t have to go shopping every day.  I think I’d kill someone.  Then I went over to Boarders Books.  Slightly less insane there but still packed to the gill with last minute shoppers (like me) looking for stuff they don’t carry (like me).  Traverse City is nice in a lot of ways but it really sucks in a lot of other ways.  This town lacks a store with a decent music section.  Boarders has cut in half their CD offerings from what it was just a couple years ago and I’ve yet to find anywhere else in town that has a really broad selection of music!  Again, this is why I shop on-line.  Anyhow, I got what I needed and left.

Now the fun part.  There is one thing I just hate about Christmas and that is wrapping presents.  This was a skill I failed to pick up successfully from my mother who, being smarter than me, skips the paper all together and uses bags and tissue paper.  I should have followed her example.  I spent the better part of 2 hours tonight trying to wrap presents and managed to plow through 3/4 of a roll of wrapping paper doing so (a good wrapper might have used 1/4).  Gavin was amused and laid on his back watching me most of the time until he got some ribbon stuck to his fur which kind of freaked him out.  So, those of you getting presents from me this year, watch out for the tape.  I had to use a fair amount of it to make the packages look decent.

Tonight we are due for yet another big snow storm.  This has been a crazy winter so far for snow.  My hope is that this means we will get an early spring and a nice long summer.  Wishful thinking I know but I can dream right?  Sarah and Brain made it to Michigan without incident and are down state right now with Brian’s family.  They’ll be up here on Christmas day.  I’ll leave you with the following advice: