working for the man

My apologies for not having been able to post every day since I voiced my goal. I didn't think about the fact that I was leaving the country on Sept 30th. I went on a cruise to Bermuda for a week. I will post some pictures and a recap soon.

Today's post is about the instability in my job.

Being a contractor for the government, you never really feel completely secure. I've felt more secure than most because I've worked my way into a position that makes it difficult to eliminate me. It's not that exciting (I build and maintain databases) but they need me. I know too much about the research... that's my real security.

Last week, I started working for a new employer. The government ended the contract with my old employer and moved me and a few coworkers to this new contracting agency. Sadly, in that move I lost a company sponsored 401k and 10 days of PTO. Hey, when you're asked by the government to underbid someone else, you've gotta cut costs somewhere... and you know it ain't gonna be from your profitabiliy.

Sadly, I used half of my PTO last week for the cruise... in my first week of employment with the new contractor.

Elsewhere in my employment news, the government has mentioned that they want to bring me on as a true full time government employee! I wish I could be more excited about this, but it's not the 1st time they've mentioned it in the past 4 years... nor the 2nd... not even the 3rd. So we'll see... until December... and I'm definitely not holding my breath.

There's been a hiring freeze in place since Bush took office, so instead of just hiring the workers, we're hiring them through another agency and paying more for each one. The same number of people are still working for the government, they're just not technically employed by the government.

So... anyone got any tips on which is the best retirement account for me to open up?

Armed Madhouse

Have you ever heard of an "investigative reporter"?

Seriously... have you?

Have you seen one on TV recently?

You've no doubt seen "correspondents" for all different areas around the world. But when was the last time someone was introduced as an investigative reporter (except on your local news when dealing with auto repair scams)?

Greg Palast is a true investigative reporter. That means that he and his team of investigators actually goes out looking for information about the topics he's going to write about. They call people, they confirm stories via the informant's sources... they verify everything that they write about. They don't just ask one person and publish that person's version of events.

Anyway, my point is that Greg Palast has been doing A LOT of investigative reporting over the past few years, and I'd be willing to bet that you've never heard of him and probably haven't had the opportunity to read anything that he's written.

That's because the American Media conglomerates won't utilize his stories. But the BBC does... all the time. Now you might ask why the US media outlets won't use him... well, basically, it's because his stories are so "out there" when compared to the "official word" that the organizations have been fed by whichever single source they decided to go with that they don't have the budget to actually confirm his allegations. Now, Greg Palast has already confirmed everything he writes, but since the American Media can't afford (it would cut into the dividends paid to share holders) to fact check the pieces, they are simply tossed aside.

So what can you do about this?

I suggest you go out and purchase the audiobook of Greg Palast's most recent book... Armed Madhouse.

Currently it's #23 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for paperback nonfiction. Of course, there's no review of the book since it distributes information that the current administration doesn't really want you to know.

I never read this book... BUT I did get the audiobook and listen to the entire thing twice. It's a GREAT book. But it's an even better audiobook. It's read by the author, who incorporates his sense of humor with the facts and figures... so he delivers all the humor as it was intended, something that is often difficult to do if you've never heard a person speak, but yet try to read their jokes.

If you're not that into audiobooks... fine... go out and buy the "paper version". You'll seriously learn a great deal more after reading that book once, than you would if you watched any and all American news channels for 8 weeks straight.

And after you've read it, I strongly encourage you to spread the word... encourage your friends and family to read it too... Hell, lend them the book (if you think you'll actually get it back) so they don't even have to shell out the loot.

Then let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book, the contents, or even the author...

Traffic Counter suggestions?

Anyone have any suggestions for a good traffic counter?

I've picked up one of the one's suggested by Google, but if there's a better one out there, I'm all ears... er, uh... eyes, I guess.

Also, if there's a traffic counter that you particularly DON'T like, let me know which one and why.

Thanks!