I can still dream

While having my Monte Carlo maintenanced, I was waiting in the dealer's showroom and saw the newest Camaro. My brother thinks I'm crazy to want one with all the problems our economy is having. All I think is it's great to have a dream to reach for. I can think of no other reason to go back to work, other than obtaining food and shelter.

The 2011 Chevrolet Camaro

Men on the moon

Rest in peace Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis

(June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010)

Rest in peace Gloria Stuart

Gloria Stuart

(July 4, 1910 – September 26, 2010)

Some good news

I found out I'm eligible for Washington State extended unemployment benefits (EB). This buys me three more months, then I become a "99er"... no longer capable of collecting state or federal insurance benefits. It is still a day-to-day search for someone who will hire me. The state's worksource website lists 18,953 jobs in Washington. I have no problem finding appropriate work and I apply to them with very little feedback. I'm trying to stay in the Northwest, but I'd like to stay in my field, so I'll relocate for the right job.
Meanwhile I keep interested in my endeavors by reading (Stephen Hawking "The Grand Design"), listening to music (Neil Young "Le Noise"), and playing guitar. And watching a lot of tv.

New data brighten outlook for economy

Now it gets real

I'm proud to be an American

I am not ashamed to be an American because I can't find work. The company I worked 19 years for decided it couldn't survive economically if it didn't lay me off. I have drawn design scale maps from aerial photography for governments, developers, and engineers for 36 years. As of this date I have been out of work for 79 weeks. I'm not putting anything into a retirement fund... I don't currently contribute to Medicare. I had to liquidate my entire retirement funds to survive. I have applied to and documented 234 jobs I felt I could do to survive. I have had 2 interviews, one with a firm in San Diego that decided they would wait to see if the economy improves before hiring me. It hasn't. The other interview was in Ames, Iowa for their Department of Transportation. No reason given for not hiring me. But I haven't given up yet. That's the American way...
Rebuttal on 'The Ed Show' 08/23/10 - TV Replay

Cool summer night

It was a cool northwestern evening and the air was filled with rock and roll. Blacksmith made a triumphant debut. Seppi Hall didn't disappoint with their set of classic rock. Offtrack was definitely ontrack. Thanks to Charlie Pappas, real estate guy extraordinaire for providing the venue and great hospitality. Looking forward to next year... :-)

Pictures on Picasa

photos by David Schweitzer

New Seppi Hall lineup

With the departure of Ben Bolos as drummer, the gang recruited the renown Bruce Lewis. Their first gig will be on Saturday, June 12th at 10:00pm after the fights at Jack's in Auburn, WA.

They will also be appearing at the Buckley Firehouse Pub in Buckley, WA on Saturday, June 26th at 12:00pm for a couple of hours of music, then you can enjoy the rest of the Buckley Logger's Rodeo festival.

photos by David Schweitzer

Encouraging news

Employment numbers are up. This is a good sign things are improving... hope we can keep it up.

Whitehouse blog on employment situation in April

Signs of the Great Recession of 2009-10 (Update)

Flipping burgers?

The latest employment numbers indicate that only 36,000 non-farm jobs were lost in February. So, the unemployment rate essentially stayed the same at 9.7%. But many are coming to the end of their benefits. The underemployed and those who have given up pushes the rate to 17%. During the great Depression, the rate was 25% - one out of 4 Americans were out of work. There is an upside though. First and most important is the increased time that can be spent on personal relationships. As my presence on the Internets indicate, I have lots of time. Another benefit is the lack of time constraints. No time clock. I have read many books, one of my favorite pastimes. All this time has provided opportunities to become involved in the local music scene. And given me incentive to pick up the guitar a little more often. Although a honorable job, flipping burgers isn't in the stars.
MSNBC: Jobs data show signs of a turning point

Seppi Hall

Back: Shari Perkins, Andrew D'Sylva, Eli Winterburn
Front: Royd Seppi, Ben Bolos, Tracy Hall

Influences:
The Guess Who, Uriah Heap, Jefferson Airplane, Golden Earing, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Youngbloods, Buffalo Springfield, and many more too numerous to name.

Biography:
Seppi Hall formed under a different name in 2000 by Royd, Tracy and Shari, introduced by a mutual bassist friend, Matt. We began as, and still are, a three-part harmony classic rock cover band, with a few originals thrown in for good measure. We changed the name a couple years ago to avoid confusion with another band of the same name.

On Reverbnation

On Flicker

Facebook

Myspace

On Picasa

Seppi Hall website

photo by David Schweitzer

Sand Grains

"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here."
—Richard Dawkins

Bill Gates and his contribution to the evolution of man...

I've been following Bill Gates for many years now. I bought the first version of Microsoft Flight Simulator v3 that ran on MSDOS v3.3 in 1988. Over the years I came to learn a lot about computers and software because he had the foresight and wisdom to keep the knowledge of it's productive use in as many hands as possible. Capitalism at it's best. Thanks Bill... by the way, got a spare million?
Welcome to the Gates Notes
Bill Gates Twitter feed

Happy New Year

Can you believe another year has come and gone? Yeah, me neither. If I can't find work and the unemployment money runs out I may end up in Montana living in a cabin writing my manifesto. Although I own guns and covet the 2nd amendment, I am a pacifist at heart, so don't worry. I once lived in Great Falls, Montana in the early 60's and grew to love the big skys. As a family we would spend vacations in a hunter's cabin with friends of my father's. The cabin was in the mountains east of Lewistown. The dads would hunt deer. The kids would hunt blackbirds with homemade slingshots. We explored the woods and played in amongst the red rock sandstone boulders and cliffs. We would also play in a barn and hide in the hay. Avoiding skunks, porcupines and rattlesnakes was always on our minds. At night we'd snack on jerky, drink pop and the adults drank and played poker in front of a roaring fire. I became very good at Go Fish, but was lousy at War.

So, moving to Montana would definitely be within my sphere of possibilities.

Or... moving back to Hawaii!

Happy New Year everybody.