Friday, December 31, 2004

Odds and an Ending for 2004 So 2004 closes out and we have a few random thoughts to wrap things up. December marked an explosion of postings to Notes. This is partially a result of some determination on my part to do so. I've also started posting interesting items without agonizing over whether it "fits." I'm going with first instincts now. I hope that proves worthwhile for those of you reading this. It's freaking 46 degrees Fahrenheit here in Wisconsin on December 31!! What's wrong with this picture? I will not get Tom Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas? finished by year's end, but close enough. It's a good read, but I don't think he's answered the question yet. I got it from the library, where there are other people waiting to read thiscopy. So I've taken care to read at least 10 pages a day to get it finished in three weeks. It has gotten me into a very nice habit of spending a half-hour every day not thinking about, or using, computers and software. This habit may well extend into the New Year; maybe even beyond! There is a half-truth buried in that last item. It's not like I spend 23.5 hours a day typing into my machine. It only seems that way. I obsess over spectator sports as much as any other TV-addled male in the US. I will spend a good chunk of tomorrow watching the Wisconsin Badgers lose their bowl game (Outback) to Georgia at 10 AM CST on ESPN, and checking in on all the other BCS bowls during the day. I have been searching for NFL playoff scenarios and trading observations with my brother-in-law this week. My alma mater, UW-Milwaukee, is 7-3 in basketball after beating Manhattan (i.e., NYC) in overtime last night. And we're only six weeks to spring training! After all this personal aggrandizement, here's something very useful, at least to some of us. Are you looking for work, of any sort? Spend a lot of time going from Monster to HotJobs to craigslist to DICE, etc.? Head over to Indeed.com right now. Type your search terms and (if you want) your location, and Indeed will display everything that matters from all those sites and more! "One search, all jobs" is the motto, and it appears to fulfill the promise. Now save that search as an RSS feed (plain, Bloglines and/or My Yahoo!) or daily email and you don't even have to think about the online part of your job search. It's in beta, so there's no advanced search yet. Patience. Try and find another way to contribute to tsunami relief. If nothing else, volunteer to help out at the blog/wiki. Celebrate in whatever way feels right. Happy New Year! See you in 2005. 3:44:22 PM    comment []