JKane

I work in entertainment so I end up on hiatus or between projects fairly often... I'd suggest a hybrid approach that combines several ideas above. With the job market being what it is, you should decide what job you really want and where you'd like to live then start looking (and visiting the area you'd like to live if it's not where you are now). NOT applying for everything but be sure that you'd be aware if your dream job opened up. Also, networking. Whatever contacts you have anywhere near what you'd like to do, let them know you're available and interested if they hear anything. Get your resume in order and maybe go on a test interview or two just so you know what to expect and see how hard it is (or isn't) to get interviews. If a job you're indifferent about makes you an offer then have your rate be something that would make up for not getting the time off! It is much better to job search from a position of power than from one of desperation later on. But don't be a slave to the job hunt, and don't apply for unemployment right away. Save unemployment for if you need it, technically you're supposed to be looking and available for work. Your severance package would screw it up anyway and once you're on it you have to respond weekly to get their pittance. You'd rather be free and able to travel! You should look into how little unemployment is and for how short a period (pretty sure you don't get 99 weeks if you start now, for example) now though, so you're not surprised. Get a passport now if you don't have one. Look at flyertalk.com and take advantage of whatever deals you can (I've recently gotten 150k AA miles from two credit card applications!), especially if you still have some time at work before the event to line stuff up. If your dream job isn't knocking as soon as you're officially out then have some fun!! But don't spend like a drunken sailor, and I'd also suggest the couple months goal to 9-12 months. Once you settle back in and start looking it doesn't mean you can't have fun. Do some long-weekend trips (but during the week when it's cheap!), etc. Your schedule isn't set so you can take advantage of cool opportunities. The time will go *much* faster then you realize and you'll get a lot less accomplished then you imagine. It's way too easy and very common for people to get a big severance and coast for a couple years on it (then on their savings) and end up with expired skills, little appeal to prospective employers, and flat broke *as* they're supposed to be getting ready for retirement. That's the bitch of it... you have time, but until you know where your next paycheck is coming from there will always be the worry in the back of your mind and the anxiety about spending too much money. And once you have a job again you'll have no time to enjoy yourself! Sucks!

Sorry to hear! Hope you get better real soon Expat!

Dr. Kevorkian died peacefully in a hospital after a short illness, at 83. Have no idea if Ian Welsh's ordeal was in Canada, or he's just there now. But I can't imagine how you could immediately jump to the 'must be socialized medicine--that could never happen in our awesomesauce healthcare system' viewpoint. Of course it could, and does. Only real difference is that down here it would have cost his family hundreds of thousands of dollars / driven them into bankruptcy if they happened to not have insurance or had badly regulated insurance filled with caps and loopholes. What he was speaking to was more the typical medical megalomania probably exacerbated by a puritanical aversion to "overuse" of drugs--which makes me think it's slightly more likely to have been down here.

He simply can't bring himself to admit the pictured dick is bigger than his... who can blame him? Stewart's coverage this week was hilarious. But it's all almost certainly cooked up by the shading Brietbart-connected schmuck who was the only one to see the post.

I read this shortly after I'd heard he died, and while the guy who wrote it wasn't seeking death it certainly is a vivid description of why someone would. Fucking religious nuts, forcing people to suffer because their fairytale disapproves! I'm a huge fan of Dr. K's work and wish there was somebody continuing his fight to let people die with dignity on their own terms. But instead the law goes after a grandmother selling a bag you could use with helium if you felt the need.

That's what I love about British TV, it's designed to be a 'series' of several episodes then END. If it's really well received maybe they get around to follow-on series, but it's a much better approach then our "here's a gem of an idea, now let's assume it's enough for 22 episodes--and we have to leave someplace to go for years after too" approach. I turned off Dateline in disgust when it was revealed they rigged a car to explode to show how dangerous they were, haven't watched since.

You're the only person I've heard say something good about Borgias. I liked the idea but everybody said the were bored by the first couple episodes so I never bothered starting it. I finally got around to watching (BBC series) Luther, with the guy who played Stringer Bell on The Wire, it was damn good and quite an ending. Love the way the Brits do TV!

Good idea, but can the powers that be also wait 'till after Game of Thrones tomorrow?

He said the same on a great, in-depth interview with Letterman, below. That the choices are small, odd looking, but functional or decent-sized normal looking but little sensation. Watching these has started to give me a deeper understanding of trans people, and decide to simply get over the awkwardness and no longer have the behind the back discussions (much like this tone of this thread) with others about the trans people I encounter. They are the gender they say they are, and that's the end of it. While Chaz himself isn't my bag sexually, I've actually had two encounters off of Craigslist with FTM (female to male) trans people, both were pretty damn hot, I didn't seek them out but it was fun. The other way though (MTF) seems the worst of both worlds, to my tastes at least. But out of my bedroom they all have the right to exist and could even use some support to counterbalance the constant negative attention they receive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEJlP8XAx8U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPvEd5f5Ulw&feature=player_detailpage

AVG isn't a very good antivirus program, especially on Windows 7. Microsoft Security Essentials consistently ranks pretty high in testing and is FREE, without the AVG toolbar BS or nagging you to buy a 'full' version. I highly recommend it for anybody running Win7 or Vista (particularly 64bit versions). Link (Microsoft site).

And Austin has a crappy escort scene. Drugged-out hustlers.

The delisting sucks but I've continued to have pretty good luck posting as a generous daddy-type.

First I'd heard about this was maybe 20 years ago as a torture/brainwashing tool in a Tom Clancy book! That said, I'm eager to hear what you think of it!

I've often heard talk of some cities imposing a 5 cent charge per disposable bag, as much to keep litter down as for any environmental reason. Not sure which ones (if any) have implemented the fee.

That's the question. Supposedly, but there may be debate. Dead or Alive just had nothing going for it. Excitement of Rainbow Six and Clark was wound down, the wonder of Ryan as president is in the past, Jack Jr. seems a dud and too many conservative overtones for my tastes. The biggest disappointment for me though were the technical details. Long supposed to be on of Clancy's best attributes, I found many in my area of expertise laughably wrong. Then there's a whole lot of gratuitous brand names that made me wonder about product placement. Really makes me wonder how accurate his other details are.

I just read Clancy's latest a couple weeks ago, pretty disappointing.

This is great! For all the Brit. TV I watch many of these fine details were a mystery to me.

Thank you Keith Olbermann.

I'm surprised how badly Cooper is doing too, but then all of CNN is, so why not him? It's still hard for me to believe corporate interests axed a networks not-only top rated personality but one their very identity was based on! The one that gave them Maddow too. Usually Republicans hold their nose as long as they're making money on something, no matter how much it goes against their value$. Simpsons on Fox, for example... So what are they replacing him with? Forgot to look yesterday. I didn't watch him regularly and thought he sometimes went a bit too far, but I strongly feel the range and quality of debate is lessened without him staking out the equal and opposite position of Bill-o the clown.

Just noticed this after browsing Curbed by neighborhood... So they kicked Spotlight out to not build a hotel? Or is that another corner? Either way lofty plans for the area are behind it, I'm sure. But with redevelopment funds being seized won't it be worse for the area if places sit vacant?

I caught several of the episodes around when they first came out. Pretty horrific to think of humans doing that stuff to other humans--especially in the name of god.

I've finally been seeing some options in the LA area I consider to be worth their price these last couple months! Also stumbled across an interesting real-estate site, they have local editions for some other markets too: Curbed LA

Except that they have held things back at the request of the US Gov't and there are all those significant news stories in my post above.

What WikiLeaks revealed to the world in 2010

Nobody in this thread said a right-wing conservative--we said a tea-bagger nutjob. You suggest the two are one and the same? Let's see... fundamentalist Christians, flirtations with conspiracy nuts, and now tea-baggers... is there anything dangerous the Right won't embrace in pursuit of the all-important tax cut? What *the fuck* happened to the party of Lincoln?