Music Store

There's not much that makes an old Product Of The Seventies like me feel younger than walking into a music store. Looking at all the guitars and equipment, hanging and BSing with kids having multiple piercings (that are visible), and listening to them play licks I couldn't BEGIN to play. Talking to the sales people who are mostly my age, probably making ten bucks an hour, but wouldn't trade the opportunity to be that close to music for anything. There's something about music that can bring the generations together.  I hope I never get too busy or self-important to remember that.

First Job

I've been out of work for 6 weeks now, and it's looking more bleak every day. I've always worked hard - it's what defined me. From the time I was 13 I had a paper route. I was a responsible kid when it came to work. But the money made from working hard was spent irresponsibly. Fast food, cigarettes, alcohol, weed - I never had a dime to my name. Still don't, relatively speaking.

My first real job was at a major roast beef fast-food franchise when I was almost 15, making $2.00 an hour. It was a cultural experience. My first day I watched a coworker I hadn't met yet stumble in the door, hung-over, looking like he hadn't slept in days. He pulled a pill bottle out of his pocket and poured the contents on the table. An assortment of shapes and sizes spilled out, he picked out a couple different ones, ate them dry, and went to work. The store was open late to catch the bar crowd, and a few hours before close someone would take alcohol orders. After close we'd sit outside and drink. Nobody cared that I was only 16 and drinking Sloe Gin, we were part of the team. The manager was a former pro baseball player, another manager was a hard-looking young married gal that liked to talk about her love life, another employee was so smooth he could pick up beautiful girls while wearing an apron covered with roast beef stains. I just took it all in. No job I ever had after was quite like that - I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.

Joined The Ranks Of The Unemployed

Finding myself out of work for the first time this millennium.  It's been 6 weeks, and I'm getting more than a little nervous.  Hopefully the effort going into job-hunting will pay dividends soon.  A friend jokes that they're only a few paychecks away from being homeless, and that's closer to the truth than I'd like to admit.  At least I'll have time to blog again.

Smoking

The last few weeks have been difficult.  The stress from work, combined with health issues loved ones are facing, have pushed me over the edge.


Last week I bought a pack of cigarettes.  My first since 1989.  I was climbing walls, and caved to the crave.  Since quitting, I've missed  cigarettes non-stop.  I lit that first smoke last week and it was heaven - there's not a drug in that world that could have equalled that.  Since then I've smoked 3 or 4 a day, and loved every single puff of every one.  My hands have been shaking lately, but after a cigarette I'm steady as a rock.  I hope this doesn't become a habit, but I sure love it right now.

People With Mental Health Issues More Likely to Be Uninsured

I wonder how much this study cost. How much actual effort did it take to prove this?

People With Mental Health Issues More Likely to Be Uninsured

What's it take to be insured? For most, a job. What's it take to get and hold a job? For most, a lack of mental health issues.

Work Goals

My son shared these, this was done after a motivational / leadership retreat he'd attended at the national headquarters of the company he worked for at the time. He said within 6 months he'd accomplished both. I'm thinking that accomplishing the first would pretty much guarantee the second.  Click the picture if it's hard to read.

The Hidden Business Cost of Mental Illness

The Hidden Business Cost of Mental Illness - BusinessWeek.

Here's an excellent article on the impact of mental health issues in the workplace.

It's hard to focus on your work when your child is hallucinating.

I've experienced this so many times - "please come home, he's very manic and throwing things around..."

This stigma extends beyond those directly stricken to family members. Parents of children with mental illness are often viewed as guilty by association, unfairly perceived as the cause of the illness—the source of harmful child-rearing practices—when the origin is mainly biological. Parents and other family members feel shame and a sense of failure.

Nobody knows this better than my wife and I. Having lost our adult son to issues associated with bipolar disorder, we tried everything, and heard every piece of advice when he was growing up.

This is a very real problem, but I don't see any significant changes being made in attitude or workplace policies.