Idle hands are the Devil's Tool

It is often said that Idle Hands are the Devil's Tools. In softball over the years players with idle hands and nothing better to do have made my life miserable by asking me stupid questions like :

• http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2010/05/most-obnoxiousselfish-sb-question.html
  

• "Does the umpire decide during the game"


• "What's the score ?


• "What's the inning?


• "How many outs?"


• "What field are we on"?


• "Who we playing?"

OK but that's softball and that's expected b/c of all the characters around, but you would think "The Man" would have something better to do than ask stupid questions. Well he doesn't. You see the devil http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/06/91-is-real-humbling-enemy.html has a tool in Unemployment "UI" Hell for the idle hands of it's 9.1% occupants its called Internet job sites questions.

Albert Einstein said"the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Einstein is right as seeing that I probably got a couple of screws up in my head loose because every fucking day I and the rest of the LOST 9.1% UI souls take our idle handles and go on the internet and look for work. Some examples of the sites I use include:

• http://www.careerbuilder.com/
  

• http://www.indeed.com/


• http://www.efinancialcareers.com/

and everyday I answer the same stupid fucking questions designed just to collect my resume and add it the bottom of the pile. I do this madness just in the hopes of getting called for a job but the reality is that the UI traffic jam and competition is too stiff and my resume will usually never get looked at. To make matters worse, I feel like a loser and guilty if I don't spend time doing this bullshit. Pathetic

McAffe and Taleo are devils system henchmen that make up & design these painfully generic UI busy work website questions to torture me and the rest of UI nation. Well I'm sick of these sites all they do is annoy me and deep down I'm sure me and the 9.1% (millions) of us out there just like me wish we could give honest answers and destroy them. The only difference is I got the balls to blog about it and if you feel like I feel here's the antidote for on-line website idle hand rage as I've attached some examples of the goddamn same stupid repetitive questions I answer every fucking day, the professional response I give, and most importantly the real world response I want to give.

Question 1. Are you legally permitted to work in the country or a Citizen of the country for which you are applying for a job?
Professional Response : Yes

Real World Response I want to give : No I'm trying to start an invasion stupid. I don't stand in front of Home Depot looking for work either moron. Do you have a job or not?

Question 2. Do you currently serve, or are you planning to serve on the board of directors or as an officer or partner of any company devoted to profit-making?

Professional Response : No

Real World Response I want to give : Really? Head of the Board of Directors? Are you fucking kidding ? I just got laid off stupid. What do you think?

Question #3 Do you have a signed Non-Compete with a previous or current employer?

Professional Response : No

Real World Response I want to give : Those assholes just laid me off, I want to run them into the ground. Fuck them

Question #4.Do you now, or will you at any time in the future, require visa sponsorship to work in the United States?

Professional Response : No

Real World Response I want to give : Born in the USA baby. By the way didn't you ask this before.

Question 5. Have you been convicted of a crime or offense?

Professional Response : No

Real World Response I want to give : I never did a crime that I didn't have to do.

Question # 6 Are you able to present the proper documentation of employment eligibility upon your date of hire?

Professional Response : Yes

Real World Response I want to give : This isn't Cuba stupid of course I can.

Question #7 Are you currently employed by or have worked for xxxxx firm?

Professional Response : No

Real World Response I want to give : I just gave you a thing called a resume that tells you my work experience. Why don't you trying reading it instead of shoving it into a database somewhere. By the way, how dumb can you be not to be able to check internally if I worked at your company before?

Question #8 Are you currently employed by or have worked for xxxxx or a predecessor company?

Professional Response : No

Real World Response I want to give : Didn't you just ask that? My god. My god

Question #9 Are you related to anyone currently employed at xxx firm or any of its subsidiaries ?

Professional Response : No

Real World Response I want to give : I wish I had a relative who worked there that way I could get hooked up and wouldn't have to be on-line and fill out this stupid application. By the way, you smell.

Question #10 . Do you have any commitments or agreements with other employers that might affect your employment with xxx firm or any of its subsidiaries ?

Professional Response : No

Real World Response I want to give : I committed to making those asshole sorry for canning me

Now I know some of you are thinking "Man Ricky maybe you shouldn't write this maybe some firm might read this". Your kidding right? First of all, most of these companies are like critics, half of them can't even stomach me and the other half doesn't even read my resume, you think they read my blog? To Fight the Power you have to sometimes be a little out of your mind and proud of it, otherwise you fall into the Man's Trap and become a pawn in his game. More importantly, You think I give a damn about a them, finding work now is all about networking and connections, these site questions are evil and just idle hand work for the suffering unemployed. I have more respect for someone who doesn't know what inning we are in than them.

Go West Young Man

After shocking me on Sunday

• http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/06/wild-west-ending.html

NY West manager John Sheppard helped me on Monday

by sending NY West players Jimmy Meyers and Guby West to Jersey City

www.jerseycitysoftball to play for West NY

and thank god he did as we rallied from 4 runs down to improve to 4-0.

No game ending triple play this time. Thank God

Softball Diary: June 7th PPWSL - In a League of Their Own

Today it was my duty and pleasure to officiated a game in the Prospect Park Women's Softball League (PPWSL). Where the Talented Titans defeated the Extraordinary Excelsior 7-5 in an excellent and exciting softball game. The hustle, sportsmanship, enthusiasm, determination, teamwork, preparation and heart displayed by both teams made officiating this intense affair an honor.

These ladies are truly in a league of their own.

9.1% is the Real Humbling Enemy

In the past I've blogged about Softball enemies:

• http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/05/ozzie-is-to-twitter-as-ricky-is-to-blog.html
• http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2010/04/790-mudslinging.html
• http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/02/sb-ponzi-schemes.
• htmlhttp://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2010/0/consumer-alert-reverse-psychology.html
  

but these softball fiends are nothing compared to ultimate villain Unemployment.

It's often been said that baseball/softball is a humbling game and one of my favorite quotes is from Hall of Famer Goose Gossage when he stated

"Those who have not been humbled will be soon be humbled".

I have humbled in softball many times, but nothing is more humbling than Unemployment

Nothing

As of April 29th, 2011, I became unemployed and quite frankly it's frustrating, sucks, and is worse than any error, slump, crooked league, or umpire that I have ever encountered. I am now part of the 9.1 % May unemployment rate statistic. Unemployment makes you feel powerless, frustrating, and truly humble. In the past, being unemployed had some sort of stigma attached to it like you were dumb, lazy, and a loser. However, with the economy in it's current state it is so prevalents and common place that it is accepted and understandable. Crazy.

Unemployment does not discriminate
and higher oil prices
the cost of living
depressed housing market
and companies tightening their belts by cutting jobs are holding back the economy. The recession is like a bad traffic jam
with everyone trying to squeeze their way
to the same job location. It's enough to drive you made and make you want to sit on top of a rock in solitude
and think about where everything went wrong and where is help coming from.

The short run reality is that not much help is coming from Uncle Sam b/c he's focused on debt reduction and slashing spending. Common sense tells you that when your in a budget cutting and cost saving mode that public sector job growth ain't happening.

Unemployment is a unmerciful, relentless and possibly overwhelming enemy that can only be fought with hustling, networking, creativity, and humbling yourself to do the little things needed to survive. Ironically, those are the same qualities you need to survive in baseball/softball.

America and baseball fans loves a comeback, especially from fallen/humbled figures.

Time for a Comeback

Wild West Ending

West avenged a game 1 loss to the Rangers by turning a SHOCKING game ending triple play
to secure and hang on to a wild 4-3 nightcap victory. The triple play was made in large part thanks to West's manager John Sheppard's "All In" 5 infielders strategy. Up by one in the bottom of the 7th, the Rangers two fastest base runners led off the inning by reaching safely and experienced all fields hitter Gilberto Gonzalez was at the plate. Sheppard decided to get aggressive and brought in OF Gubi to play second base and shifted second baseman Dino Oliveras to the up the middle slot. Then as if on cue, Gonzalez lined a bullet in the air to Gubi (out #1) who threw to Dino at second (out #2) who threw to Angelo at 1st (out #3) and the SHOCKING triple play went down to end the game.

Shocking... just fucking shocking.

To compound matters, the triple play was on the heels of a furious 3 run Ranger 6th inning rally that was squashed with poor base running. Shocking

Asked about the last 2 innings Ranger Manager Jimmy Bitros said "It was like watching like an accident that you couldn't stop. "

Shocking

There are no such things as devastating June losses, but this ending does prove that shocking losses can happen at any time.