The Personally Discovered Joys of Being Unemployed

[Wyatt earp]

What a bum

Lol, I have worked for 42 straight years until I slipped TWO discs in my back.

IF you think that makes me a bum, you are a moron.

Wait, I thought your company downsized or something.

No, I slipped a disc the T7-T8 and couldnt sit up at a desk for any length of time before my back would cramp and cause considerable pain. Then I got run off the road a year later and hit a curb and that ruptured my L4-L5. The pain in my back was intolerable if I sat for any length of time, more than half an hour or so, so I was taking pain killers which kept me from focusing much.

After the back surgery in September I have very little pain any more, just muscle cramping from an injury I got while I was in the US Army.

Now I *can* work, but no one apparently wants to hire a 58 year old engineer with a questionable back coming off of 2 years of disability.

thank you for pausing long enough to get the facts now.

I actually feel for you hitting 51 , I know from here on out if I ever quit my Job I better have another sure thing lined up and I can't burn anymore bridges.

No one likes to hire over 55 years old, fucking H.R. bitches.

 

[koshergrl]

What a bum

Lol, I have worked for 42 straight years until I slipped TWO discs in my back.

IF you think that makes me a bum, you are a moron.

Wait, I thought your company downsized or something.

No, I slipped a disc the T7-T8 and couldnt sit up at a desk for any length of time before my back would cramp and cause considerable pain. Then I got run off the road a year later and hit a curb and that ruptured my L4-L5. The pain in my back was intolerable if I sat for any length of time, more than half an hour or so, so I was taking pain killers which kept me from focusing much.

After the back surgery in September I have very little pain any more, just muscle cramping from an injury I got while I was in the US Army.

Now I *can* work, but no one apparently wants to hire a 58 year old engineer with a questionable back coming off of 2 years of disability.

thank you for pausing long enough to get the facts now.

I actually feel for you hitting 51 , I know from here on out if I ever quit my Job I better have another sure thing lined up and I can't burn anymore bridges.

No one likes to hire over 55 years old, fucking H.R. bitches.

Walmart needs greeters.

 

[Wyatt earp]

My last job (a few years back) I was the plant operations manager. The owner and I got in a huge fight when I wanted to hire this guy over 60 years old, He told me I couldn't hire any women or old guys, I told him to fuck off and quit



.

 

[JimBowie1958]

My last job (a few years back) I was the plant operations manager. The owner and I got in a huge fight when I wanted to hire this guy over 60 years old, He told me I couldn't hire any women or old guys, I told him to fuck off and quit
.

Age discrimination is like a secret pervasive type of discrimination that most people dont have any clue about as it gets no publicity at all.

I could not do anything to prevent the two discs herniating, but still I get no responses from scores and scores of applications.

I have warned my kids; be ready to be your own boss and own a business when you get into your late 40's.

 

[charwin95]

Did he get fired, or did he quit? I thought he just lost his job but now he's saying he slipped discs..in which case, is he capable of doing the job now?

Bet he's applying for disability.

What a hateful individual you are. You seem to be enjoying his problem. I imagine that you would have been knitting in front of the guillotine.

No, that would have been you. I would have been smuggling people out and protecting them from the mob.

You pray that you don't get sick or get hurt like Jim. See how fast you can get up on your feet.

 

[charwin95]

What a bum

Lol, I have worked for 42 straight years until I slipped TWO discs in my back.

IF you think that makes me a bum, you are a moron.

Wait, I thought your company downsized or something.

No, I slipped a disc the T7-T8 and couldnt sit up at a desk for any length of time before my back would cramp and cause considerable pain. Then I got run off the road a year later and hit a curb and that ruptured my L4-L5. The pain in my back was intolerable if I sat for any length of time, more than half an hour or so, so I was taking pain killers which kept me from focusing much.

After the back surgery in September I have very little pain any more, just muscle cramping from an injury I got while I was in the US Army.

Now I *can* work, but no one apparently wants to hire a 58 year old engineer with a questionable back coming off of 2 years of disability.

thank you for pausing long enough to get the facts now.

I actually feel for you hitting 51 , I know from here on out if I ever quit my Job I better have another sure thing lined up and I can't burn anymore bridges.

No one likes to hire over 55 years old, fucking H.R. bitches.

Walmart needs greeters.

What do you mean greeters? I Don't go to Walmart or groceries but what in the world they need that for?

 

[Care4all]

You've got 20+ years experience with computers, and you can't find a job?


Check with Best Buy, other stores that sell computers. Your knowledge in the field would put you on the floor with no problem.

Don't want that?

Start your own company, computer repair, analyst, etc..

Or get in with an established company doing that kind of work.

they pay minimum wage, maybe a dollar more.

and?

how could you even ask that question with a straight face?

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

People are in for a rude awakening for sure. It's not gonna get better. The decimation of the middle class was no accident and carefully constructed by the Club Of Rome, an offshoot of the U.N that was full of rich globalist socialists like Maurice Strong that saw a healthy and affluent middle class as a roadblock to their plans for global government thus the "Zero Growth" plan that was introduced in 1972. Using environmental laws, taxes, fines and fees, they slowly dismantled the steel factories, the ship building industry. Then they used unfair trade agreements to kill the textiles and car industries. They used price controls and debt to kill the family farms and then having their major corporations come in and buy them on the cheap....the list goes on and on. Poor people are easier to control and leave less of a carbon footprint. The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer is not a result of greed insomuch as it was in the cards because they planned it that way.

I feel for you....I really do. It's easy to tell someone to pick themselves up by their bootstraps when they are not facing what you are....hang in there.

Finally someone who understands the workings of the new world order.
Get ready to be ridiculed.....

 

[EverCurious]

I really like VPA quite a bit, been following them for a while now. Their website is appallingly useless, but at least they have FB. They have some good plans and their presidential candidate this year sounds great, I just hope they can get their ducks in a row to get him on the ballot everywhere; they're hitting the streets hard for sig's.

 

[Rustic]

Your post is funny and I was going to enthusiastically cheer you until you blamed free trade and Republicans for your jobless state. McDonald's is always hiring, get your lazy ass to work.

So the glories of Free Trade for 58 year old American software engineers like me get to look forward to is working at McDonalds?

If that is the best you Republicans can do, then the Republican party needs to die. We dont have room for such a lame ass party in a duopoly like we have here in the USA. Bye. So long. Enjoy the Ash heap of history.

And yes, Free Trade is the culprit as software development companies are indeed hiring people, 50% foreign workers (H1-Bs) and the rest mostly new kids out of college after they have been looking for a job for TWO FULL YEARS on average.

This is the kind of tone-deaf stupidity that the GOP is engaging in with Free Trade. What is the purpose of Free Trade if it is not to help the whole country, every one of us, to achieve the American dream? We should have FAIR Trade, not Free Trade if this is the GOPs idea of what Free Trade is, and I know now that it is.

All it seems to be doing is fattening the wallets of corporate CEOs and giving folks fortunate enough to still have a job cheap shit from China.

Socialism is to blame, no future in it....

 

[Never3ndr]

If you really cannot find a job with 20+ years of experience in software engineering...I'm going to go ahead and say you are probably too spoiled. Either you are unwilling to move, unwilling to take a pay cut in whatever your previous salary range was, or unwilling to look outside of the specific software / programming language you are comfortable with to find a job. ...
You are unemployed out of choice rather than necessity.

You really are a complete and irredeemable fool.

Age Discrimination against older software engineers is rampant and well known.

Silicon Valley’s Dark Secret: It’s All About Age

The harsh reality is that in the tech world, companies prefer to hire young, inexperienced, engineers.

And engineering is an “up or out” profession: you either move up the ladder or face unemployment. This is not something that tech executives publicly admit, because they fear being sued for age discrimination, but everyone knows that this is the way things are. Why would any company hire a computer programmer with the wrong skills for a salary of $150,000, when it can hire a fresh graduate—with no skills—for around $60,000? Even if it spends a month training the younger worker, the company is still far ahead. The young understand new technologies better than the old do, and are like a clean slate: they will rapidly learn the latest coding methods and techniques, and they don’t carry any “technology baggage”. As well, the older worker likely has a family and needs to leave by 6 pm, whereas the young can pull all-nighters.

Age discrimination: engineering’s dirty secret

Florida man sues Google for being too old to work

Median age at Google is 29, says age discrimination lawsuit

Tech industry job ads: Older workers need not apply

Critics have long accused the technology industry of ageism. Public comments by top Silicon Valley executives and investors help fuel to the perception. “Young people are just smarter,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said on a conference stage in 2007 when he was 22. (He’s now 30). Vinod Khosla, a prominent venture capitalist, once said “people over 45 basically die in terms of new ideas,” although, like many in Silicon Valley who make such statements, he’s since rejected that view.


Age Discrimination?
Indeed, the case, that older software engineers continue to remain unemployed while businesses claim a shortage of tech workers. In a recent article atTech Crunch the claim is made that tech companies will only hire youth. The idea being that young means cheap labor, willing to work long hours and able to be more quickly trained.

I’ll give you the first two—younger workers are cheap and more easily pressed into service, but while a younger worker may learn quicker, the older worker has years of experience to rely on to make that learning easier. In the end, the time difference will be statistically insignificant and the older engineer’s background will lead to a deeper understanding of the new material.

Which professions are less prone to age discrimination than software engineering? - Quora
About 2% of software engineers are over the age of 50.

You linked me articles instead of answering the questions I asked you regarding what YOU HAVE DONE in order to remain relevant in today's constantly shifting technology industry. How much content have you created while unemployed to show employers that you are still viable in today's market? Have you learned new programming languages? Are you willing to move? How many applications per week do you send off? How many seminars / workshops / certification courses have you attended? How have you expanded your knowledge base and kept it up to date? How much social networking do you participate in?

I won't confirm or deny age discrimination in the tech industry. I will say that, in such a large and growing industry, there is absolutely room for you...as long as you remain relevant. The day you stop keeping yourself up to date by producing content, learning the newest languages, or keeping in contact with people in the industry is the day you need to start looking at another industry.

You also failed to show how you are disqualified from being a highly sought after consultant, professor, or teacher.

Again, the most likely answer here is that you have failed yourself.

 

[JimBowie1958]

You've got 20+ years experience with computers, and you can't find a job?


Check with Best Buy, other stores that sell computers. Your knowledge in the field would put you on the floor with no problem.

Don't want that?

Start your own company, computer repair, analyst, etc..

Or get in with an established company doing that kind of work.

they pay minimum wage, maybe a dollar more.

and?

how could you even ask that question with a straight face?

because it is not him.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Socialism is to blame, no future in it....

That is hysterical.

'Socialism is at fault' has become a one note symphony for ideologues on the right.

 

[NoNukes]

None ofthem are positive, but only the kind of joys like the joy of discovering that your spare tire is as flat as your new flat on a cold rainy night on the interstate.

I have had the joy of learning how irrelevant I am. Apparently our society does not need 58 year old software engineers with 20+ years of experience if the corrporations can have 23 year old 'geniuses' right out of Hyderabad for half the pay.

I have had the joy of discovering that my cat is losing his little kitty cat mind.

I have had the joy of learning that my conservative friends think I am being lazy because I cannot magically force software companies to hire me.

I have had the joy of learning that 'cabin fever' is not just a movie plot device.

But there are some real good things so far.

My wife and I have learned what is really needed as we slashed our budget of every item and expense we can do without. This is how consumer economies are destroyed.

We have also learned that we could consolidate much of our debt and reduce our monthly bills.

I have learned how to tell myself 'no', to everything from stopping on the way home to grab a bite at a local restaurant after chasing down items on a Honey-Do list to getting that new computer that is so fast. Again, not good for the economy, but it can no longer be helped.

I have also seen a glimpse of our 'jobless economy' in the not too distant future, and it sucks. Royally sucks. I have not been so angry in all my life and let me tell you Republicans something you can take to the bank; the voter rage that is coming if your party continues to push Free Trade idiocy is going to be like a Tsunami.

Sanders is only the ocean receding, not the real wave, trust me on this.

Hang in there, most of us have been through some tough times like this. Try to enjoy your time off if you can.

 

[JimBowie1958]

You linked me articles instead of answering the questions I asked you regarding what YOU HAVE DONE in order to remain relevant in today's constantly shifting technology industry. .....
Again, the most likely answer here is that you have failed yourself.

The links answered your questions that deserve being answered.

As to the rest of your condescending bullshit, shove it where the sun dont shine, moron.

 

[Iceweasel]

What a bum

Lol, I have worked for 42 straight years until I slipped TWO discs in my back.

IF you think that makes me a bum, you are a moron.

Wait, I thought your company downsized or something.

No, I slipped a disc the T7-T8 and couldnt sit up at a desk for any length of time before my back would cramp and cause considerable pain. Then I got run off the road a year later and hit a curb and that ruptured my L4-L5. The pain in my back was intolerable if I sat for any length of time, more than half an hour or so, so I was taking pain killers which kept me from focusing much.

After the back surgery in September I have very little pain any more, just muscle cramping from an injury I got while I was in the US Army.

Now I *can* work, but no one apparently wants to hire a 58 year old engineer with a questionable back coming off of 2 years of disability.

thank you for pausing long enough to get the facts now.

That's quite a bit different than the immigrant/out sourcing/GOP meme you started out with. How can you reasonably expect a company to assume that kind of liability? Your best shot at an income is offering your services as an independent contractor to whoever needs the services. Many have smaller jobs that need done and don't want to hire somebody with all the associated expenses.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Hang in there, most of us have been through some tough times like this. Try to enjoy your time off if you can.

I am trying to think of this as a business opportunity; to get my own business going.

Though I have never liked how so-called conservatives have reflexively responded with 'Get a job' type nonsense to various folks in trouble, it is particularly jarring when you know damned well your self that you have done everything you can do to do exactly that and they still respond with that kind of thoughtless ignorance.

But God is just and one day they will have their turn at discovering how things are when the corporate economy has no use for them as well. But of course, we all know it cant happen to them, lol.

It is likely one of the chief reasons suicide is so high among elderly white males.

Elderly White Men Afflicted by High Suicide Rates
While suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, with 11 suicide deaths per 100,000 Americans, white men over the age of 65 commit suicide at almost triple that overall rate.These men are also eight times more likely to kill themselves than are women of the same age group, and have almost twice the rate of all other groups of male contemporaries.

I have dealt with my particular demons and they can have a few rounds for themselves when it comes their time. It is difficult to find a new purpose and self confidence in life when you have been raised to believe that your job and income reflect your value to your family and society. I didnt realize how deeply that had been driven into me until a couple of months ago as no job offers or even requests for interviews came in.

 

[JimBowie1958]

That's quite a bit different than the immigrant/out sourcing/GOP meme you started out with.

The immigration factor is part of the problem, the other is the age and health issues. Back in the 1990s that would not have been a problem and I would have been hired by contracting outfits, but they are not asking for interviews either.

How can you reasonably expect a company to assume that kind of liability?

If I am not using their insurance, why would it matter to them? MY corpse might clog their drain? lol

Your best shot at an income is offering your services as an independent contractor to whoever needs the services. Many have smaller jobs that need done and don't want to hire somebody with all the associated expenses.

I have applied to companies I know that use independent contractors.

Nothing has panned out. They have no need for 58 year olds with a bad back when they can get 25 year old geniuses straight out of Hyderabad; why hire folks like me?

But immigration needs to be reduced if older Americans are going to be given a fair shot at getting work in the future, especially the H1-B visa program. Personally I want it ended completely as we have over 3 million un/under employed STEM people here in the USA already.

 

[JimBowie1958]

To the GOP from over 50 white males everywhere in the USA, lol

 

[dannyboys]

So you just want the importation of cheap labor to stop taking jobs away from legal Americans right?
You need to go talk to Obama. That 'cheap labor' is being allowed by Obama to take away millions of jobs from hard working construction workers. Obama has turned his back on illegal immigration for 100% political reasons in order to further his Socialist agenda.

Again Peanuts.
Again - not that there should not be anything to curb the problem - and it is a problem...but in comparison to jobs lost by corporate mergers and off shoring jobs?...peanuts.
An estimated 8 million illegal aliens have jobs, most paying minimum wage or LESS.
In contrast, according to Associated Press, over $15 BILLION dollars in wages per year have been sent overseas, nearly all were high paid manufacturing.

Just sayin...unless you work part-time jobs working minimum wages or less...an illegal alien didn't take your job.

Yes lots of formerly secure good paying jobs in the manufacturing and tech industries have let the US forever.
That's a big problem that IMO is never going to be reversed.
The other very serious issue is that many millions of low to middle income jobs in the US are done by people who will never get any further education wise or skill wise than they are now. 100% of these jobs can be done by illegals who are willing to work for less than half of what the legal employee is earning. That is flat out wrong.
The employers who get involved with this bullshit ought to be very heavily fined.
This phone call is happening thousands of times a day now across the country: Legal carpet layer: "Hello. Hi Mr. Lee. So you're telling me you don't have any work this week? But you'll call me next week? That's too bad. Goodbye".
Mr. Lee just picked up three illegals off the street corner to lay the carpets in the dentist's office. Mr. Lee sold the dentists some used 'like-new' carpet he bought for fuck all. Mr. Lee is getting paid cash. Mr. Lee is paying the illegals cash. The legal carpet layer who has been working hard for Mr. Lee for three years doesn't have money to buy food for his kids.
This scenario plays out tens of thousands of times a day.
Is it any wonder the legal carpet layer is going to vote for Trump?
Which political party is attempting to stop illegals from entering the country and taking away the legal carpet layer's job?
Which political party is turning it's back on enforcing the existing laws for 100% political reasons?
Which party doesn't want an effective wall built? Why wouldn't they want a wall to be built to help enforce existing laws?
We can do literally nothing to stop globalization from sending skilled jobs to other countries.
But we can do something about what's happening to the unskilled/low skilled jobs here at home that are being literally stolen by people who have broken the law to get here and are taking away our jobs.