linklings, too old for the factory edition

Another week goes by and another spate of bad job news. I’m beginning to suspect that I may be in the “old enough to be difficult to hire” category – many of the manager positions I’ve looked at quickly turn me down.  I doubt it can be my qualifications or me personally – since many of my applications don’t even make it to the phone interview stage – but perhaps they think “senior manager guy’s gonna want big money.”  Or maybe my last five years consulting on Wall Street don’t look as nifty as they did a year ago – hah.  I’m casting about for direction, and still hoping that one of the consulting contracts I’ve got very strong leads on will work out, so I can avoid reentering job world.  I don’t feel that I want to do it, and of course that mindset doesn’t help, either.

When you are moving, life drifts into a bit of stasis. A lot of ideas about starting this or doing that get paused and filed away with “I’ll get that done after we move.”  I’ve been meaning to start an LLC – but now I think I’ll wait until I’m closer to moving to Florida.  I’m going to pursue some sort of certificate education (teaching?  financial planning?) at one of the local colleges… down there.  I’m going to start a small business, hopefully, doing some kid’s party entertainment – but now I’m just researching and won’t get started.

Of course this is just procrastination. I could start all of these things today if I felt pressure to do so.  But with so many things to organize for the move these ideas seem destined for the shelf for the time being.  I doubt it’s a characteristic of a successful person, but then again maybe I’m just being organized and prudent.  Time will tell.

Some links for weekend reading:

My Tenant: “I’ve Lost My Job and I Can’t Pay You…”:   Words that would give any landlord a sinking feeling.

Can One Choose Not To Participate In A Recession?:  This is an interesting idea from the always-interesting (if not, in my opinion, always correct) Dave Ramsey.

Your Home Office: Ideas To Set Up Your Place of Work: Oh, to have a home office.  I know, I am wishing for more space and a bigger home, and I know that’s verboten in the personal finance blogosphere.  I sincerely hope that sometime in the future I’ll have a place with a room that can be devoted solely to work (and by work I mean blogging, writing and consulting).  With a door.  The door is key.  Having a computer in a corner of the open-floor-plan living area is in no way conducive to getting work done during the day or putting yourself in a work mindset.  My office, however, would not need to look like Gore’s.  Yikes.

How Long Does It Take Your Broker to Answer Your Call?:  I only have experience with three brokerage firms in the last 5-6 years.  TD Ameritrade (where I keep my retirement and brokerage accounts) is terrific.  They answer the phone almost immediately, and I have yet to have any trouble with my account (I say that while furiously knocking on wood).

Did You Miss the Stock Market Rally?:   I don’t think March was a real rally, to be honest.  I think we’ll see another dip, and I need to see one more strong runup before I’ll believe the market troubles are over.  And I have to vent on a pet peeve:  the market and the economy are NOT the same thing.  The economy’s going to be in the dumper for a while.  The market may come back long before the economy does – and by the economy I mean jobs, productivity, real estate and so on.

The 80/20 Rule and How it Applies to You:  The Pareto Principle is a great way of looking at almost everything in life – if you don’t know what it is (but if you read this blog, I am sure you do), check it out.

Taking Control of Your Life By Finding Balance:  I probably worry far more about balance than I should.

Poll: Generation X Feels Unprepared for Long-Term Care Costs. Are You Prepared?:  I’m not.  I’m one of those people who’s buried his head in the sand a bit on long-term care.

How to Save on Digital Services:  We drop a LOT on digital services, although much less than we did.  Probably the biggest waste?  A landline, which we need because of (a) a security system and (b) we use DSL, so it’s cheaper when bundled.  I’d love to have nothing but high speed internet and a Roku Digital Video Player.

How To Become An Expert:  It’s true that 10,000 hours of practice will make you an expert, I suppose, although I’d argue that you may not need to be an expert to be successful – these are two different things.  Practice does work, though.  I’ve been learning to juggle and after spending one hour mastering the basics, I’ve been doing it every day when I have a few free minutes.  10,000 hours will be a long time in the future, but the 5-10 hours I’ve put into practice have already made me a decent three-ball juggler.

And so it begins …:  Jacob is doing what a lot of us aspire to and “retiring” early.  Extremely early, hence the name of his blog.  Jacob’s blog is thoughtful and doesn’t focus solely on any one aspect of his life.  Although he takes a different approach than I would in many areas, I’ve found his blog thought-provoking, which is the best reason to read any blog.

Why Achieving an MBA is No Longer My Goal:  What? Don’t let too many people hear this – someone else decided that going into debt for a degree he didn’t really want or need wasn’t worth it because his real-life experience in building a company was – gasp – more interesting and more profitable.   My master’s degree in accounting is nothing more than a resume padder at this point – think that corporate income tax course I took in 1994 is worth anything now?  The code’s changed so many times since then it’s ridiculous.  I didn’t mind getting my master’s since I got a free ride (graduate scholarship and a teaching assistant stipend), but would I go $40,000+ into debt to get one now?  No way.  MBA’s aren’t worth what they were 20 years ago.

I Am Just A Blogger, Damn It!:  Amen.

4 FREE Videos for INO TV!: If you have any interest in trading actively – which I wouldn’t for retirement savings or the bulk of my investment accounts, but do engage in with smaller amounts – here are some free technical videos.

photo credit: TheeErin (great photo! — Steve)

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