Update: I'm unemployed again

There has been a change in my situation effective today. My temp assignment as a customer service rep at DHL ended Friday, which means I am now unemployed. I have also left the downtown YMCA where I have been staying since last July and I am in a Knights Inn in Mesa as of this afternoon. I will be here all this coming week and most likely next week. Where I will go next depends on how much money comes to me in the next 7-10 days, from work or the generosity of friends and/or strangers.

Immediate needs: If I can raise enough money to stay in this new hotel room for the rest of February that should be enough time for me to find new employment or figure out what else to do. The temp agency I worked for has said they will keep an eye out for new assignments, but I have nothing lined up, and this is after sending out several resumes over the last few weeks.

One job I did have an excellent and promising phone interview for about three weeks ago was placed "on hold", apparently for budgetary reasons. Very disappointing as this would have been a nice opportunity for me.

Money for food and mass transit is critical this week and next. I am short on cash immediately because of the new hotel. I have enough for some groceries to get me through the week, but that's about it.

I owe an outstanding balance to the YMCA based on their allowing me to stay there during this past fall when I was in between jobs and unable to pay weekly rent; management has indicated they are no longer willing to work with situations like mine going forward, and I decided it was better to leave and be in slightly better accommodations if only for a couple of weeks. I have one paycheck coming next week from the DHL job.

What I really need are clients willing to commit to my designing their brand identity and willing to accept my payment structure, which involves a limited-time royalty period of a small percentage of gross revenues. My website explains everything in detail.

And what this nation needs is for a stronger job market and a stronger social safety net. I've discussed this at length in previous posts. I'm getting very tired of having to struggle to survive, and equally as tired of hearing about people experiencing worse hardship than even myself. All for no good reason. The economy needs to provide a decent living to all citizens. No excuses. That's our fundamental human right. It's hard to not be in support of strong social programs and "progressive" political policies when you are directly affected by this ongoing recession, and adversely so.

Five things the US can do right now to improve the economy

The following are all hypothetical situations that do not really exist, but they are sorely needed, critical to the long-term success of our economy, and can be passed by Congress Monday morning and on the President's desk by Friday to sign.

1. Repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and implement the United States National Health Care Act (HR 676), to establish a universal single-payer health care system in the United States. Estimated savings: $500-600 billion per year, compared with the current system dominated by the private insurance and the pharmaceutical industries.

2. Implement a 15% federal value added tax (VAT), levied by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), on most goods and services provided by businesses in the US, and some goods and services imported from outside the US; exceptions can be made for food and childrens' clothing items (0%) and services like hotel room rates (10%), and for sales of books/magazines, admission tickets to cultural events and travel within the US (5%). This is intended to replace and/or reduce state and local sales taxes as the localities so designate, with the IRS and US Treasury reimbursing the states/cities accordingly on a percentage basis. Estimated revenue: $750-800 billion per year.

3. Implement a financial transaction tax as proposed in Congress by Tom Harkin, Bernie Sanders, Peter DeFazio and others. Estimated revenue: $50-100 billion per year.

4. Raise the federal minimum wage to $11.25/hr, and require the US Department of Labor to make a cost-of-living adjustment to the minimum wage each year based on the federal Consumer Price Index. If a state minimum wage is higher, that higher state MW still applies, but must be pegged to the CPI.

5. Expand eligibility for unemployment insurance (UI) to anyone who has worked at least six months in a 12-month period, and at least 80 hours per calendar month, and becomes unemployed regardless of the reason for separation. Benefits shall begin at 80% of income earned in the immediate past position for an initial period of 42 weeks, with extensions granted on a case-by-case basis, and automatic extensions in cases where the national economy is poor or the federal unemployment rate is above a specified target level. UI recipients will still be expected to actively seek work and be willing to relocate to another city if necessary to find work (there should be federal financial assistance given to such people relocating to seek work). UI recipients shall also automatically qualify for and receive SNAP benefits if not already.

More things to do after that:
1. Require all public four-year universities in the US established under the Morrill Act, including the related branch/sister campuses of university systems with historical roots in the Morrill Act, to eliminate in-state and out-of-state tuition, as well as certain fees, for admitted students. The US Department of Education will provide block grants to these universities (and also to HBCUs).

2. Require all community college districts in the US to eliminate tuition and fees for all students admitted and enrolled in programs intended and designed for university transfer.

3. Implement fines and other civil and criminal penalties for employers of any size who terminate, penalize, threaten, intimidate or otherwise prevent any or all of their employees from joining a labor union or organizing in large numbers to join a union. Companies who choose to shut down or close a location in response to union organizing efforts will be fined, and if they received economic development benefits in the form of tax incentives, such agreements will be considered nullified and the taxes retroactively assessed to the date of signing of such agreement.

4. Implement fines and other civil and criminal penalties for employers of any size who refuse to hire an applicant on the basis of a consumer credit report or credit score, if the position is not specifically within the financial services industry. If the position is within the financial services industry, the company must not discriminate on the basis of credit score if the position does not involve direct handling of currency and/or confidential customer information.

Note to Phoenix: Here's something you SHOULD copy Texas on (free holiday meal)

Today, Christmas Day 2013, I attended the annual Salvation Army Christmas dinner for needy families and the homeless today. It was an OK experience - I have attended this event before - but after experiencing the H-E-B Feast of Sharing at Fair Park in Dallas (legendary and beautiful home of the State Fair of Texas) for 2012, just before my return to Arizona, the Phoenix event, which has been held in the South Building of the Phoenix Convention Center for decades, could use some help.

If the organizers of the Phoenix event could simply travel to Dallas or Austin and observe how H-E-B does things, it would greatly, greatly improve the "fan experience." The biggest issue I have always had with the Phoenix event was the long wait to be seated at the beginning of the event; the doors opened at 9:30 am and everyone is basically waiting until the 11:30 serving time. How boring and inefficient. There are lots of children's activities such as games and a massive coloring book table to help pass their time, but a more efficient beginning procedure and a longer serving time could help speed things up and actually move MORE people through the event FASTER:

1. In Dallas, patrons entered the (95,000 sf) Centennial Building through a single main entrance. They could come in at any time between 2pm and 7pm. No massive line to get in and no waiting for two hours before everyone clusters in massive, confusing lines to be seated for the meal. In Dallas, the main walkway was lined with several festively decorated tables manned by various community groups giving out information on DART public transit (I still have the DART keychain ring, pencil and plastic ruler) to free health screenings and various educational opportunities.

2. As patrons approached the main seating area, they were immediately escorted to an open seat. NO WAITING. The actual distribution of the meals was handled in a manner similar to the existing Phoenix event (handled mainly by volunteers, many of them kids). There was ample seating for all families and single people who came. And because the event lasted longer, there was less of a scramble and massive cluster.

3. Live entertainment was ONLY in the main hall, performed by a professional band, and MC'd by one of the local news anchors.

If Dallas could get this done in a 95,000 square foot space, Phoenix CAN do better because the South Building is 144,000 square feet.

1. BETTER YET: Consider moving the event to US Airways Center or Chase Field; the Suns and Diamondbacks can score HUGE points by being co-sponsors. In Houston, the United Way recruits and trains all the volunteers (about 800) and two organizations associated with the NBA also help out (NBA wives and retired NBA players). Major League Baseball NEEDS to have a STRONG presence at this event because pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training here in Phoenix in about 45 days!!!

2. One idea for a Chase Field event: serve all the free food at the regular concession stands and have people sit in the stadium seats to eat; live bands can perform in a concert setting and holiday movies such as "A Christmas Story" can play on the JumboTron screen.

2a. Open TGiFriday's restaurant and the Arizona Baseball Club to the event as well; prioritize their use to couples and single people coming with no children (it would be absolutely awesome to have a free holiday meal at the Arizona Baseball Club).

3. Pepsi can sponsor the free sodas and juices that can be served at the event. The H-E-B events served various Coca-Cola soda products with the holiday meal; the Phoenix event only offers coffee, water and Shamrock Farms milk.

Links to where I'm posting things

Haven't posted on here for a while...but catch me in a few places:

www.linkedin.com/in/micmac99

twitter.com/micmac99

twitter.com/msreeddesign

www.quora.com/Michael-Sheldon-Reed

msrdesignmusings.quora.com

Best wishes for a good holiday season.

Update: new job and new crowdfunding campaign

Starting my morning about to go to a new job. The last couple of months have been a little on the rough side, but I've been hanging in there. In addition to promoting Michael Sheldon Reed Design on LinkedIn and making my YouTube video which you see here, I am seeking help from the internet community and have established a crowdfunding campaign on FundAnything.com.

FundAnything.com is an interesting website, a little different from the other crowdfunding sites, as it has some pretty big names associated with it: John Ratzenberger from Cheers and Toy Story; Adam Carolla, who raised over $1 million for his independent film; Penn Jillette; and The Donald himself, Donald Trump, who is promising to review all campaigns that raise a minimum of $10 for possible full or partial funding. Take a look at this when you get a chance:

https://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/starting-a-new-job-soon?col=-30052

And again, we wait: an update (and request)

It has been now a little over two weeks since I was forced to quit my part-time call center job due to child support garnishments. Money is tight to say the least.

The original company I interviewed with turned me down after a rather long recruiting process whick frankly left a horrible taste in my mouth - of sour grapes. I will NEVER be a customer of this company in the future as a result, nor will I recommend anyone else use them. The company is called Shutterfly and they have a sub-brand called Tiny Prints. I'll have some things to say about the whole process in a future post.

I am actively looking for work and interviewed with two companies in the past two weeks. Both interviews were upbeat and positive and I expect to hear good news from one or both in the coming days. I'd be very surprised if neither hires me (another candidate would have to have been unavoidably awesome compared to me).

Primary needs right now:

1. Money to pay at least one month in the room at the YMCA residence hotel where I am staying; YMCA staff have been gracious thus far in allowing me to remain here while I am looking for work, even though I am unable to pay. I am not sure how long I can keep this arrangement.

2. Money to pay for a bus pass for one month. Without that I won't be able to attend interviews (or report for work once hired) not within walking distance of downtown.

Wish list:
1. a new Macintosh notebook (MacBook Pro or MacBook Air) as this machine is 10+ years old and can no longer be upgraded to run modern software, including modern web browsers.

2. Clients, clients, clients: startups willing and able to afford my fees and pay a royalty for brand identity design solutions. https://sites.google.com/site/msreeddesign2/

Good news and bad news: an update

The bad news: I just quit a job today.

Here's why: I am currently staying at the downtown YMCA residence hotel here in Phoenix. I have been here since mid-July. I was working a part-time call center job, which, as part of the recruitment process, was promised to eventually move to full-time. Full time never happened, and I have been at the job since the end of June. Well, I discovered that child support payments are JUST NOW being deducted, after almost three months of employment.

Which leaves me unable to pay my weekly rent.

I sent a resignation letter this morning. It makes little financial sense to keep this job. I need full-time hours, and the company cannot do so immediately.

Which leads me to the good news, or at least promising news...

I interviewed last Friday for a graphic production job, in the same part of town the call center job was located in, with a different company, at full-time hours and at higher pay with mandatory overtime during the Christmas holidays, which is their busy season. The company is doing a massive staff-up for the holidays. The position is seasonal, but I'm confident that when I get in there and do a superb job, they will keep me after the holidays, and if not, I'll earn enough to be able to hang in there while I look for something else - even if child support is deducted from these paychecks. (My son turns 18 in December.)

It's not a done deal yet, but I am 97% confident this firm will hire me. The interview went as smoothly and as positive as the best I have been on in the last five years - and it seems to be a matter of the company actually having a real demand and relatively immediate need for people with my skills.

I was headed for this anyway, as my food stamp benefits, which I have had for nearly a year (including extensions while I was homeless) expire after October. My income MUST increase NOW, and I was not able to wait for the call center to promote me to full-time status.

Bottom line: I was backed into a corner and I had to make a fast decision with little information, no advance notice, and only a promise of a better job - NOT an iron-clad offer. (Not the first time I have done this as readers of this blog know!) Now I have to work something out with the YMCA so I can remain in my room while I wait for my new job.

There may be light at the end of the tunnel. I will keep you posted. I could hear something on the new position as early as today.