The American dream

When i took standard  grade modern studies i learned all about the punch bowl of America and it was called this because of the mixture of people who had gone to America to pursue their dream-the American dream

This segways nicely into the sound of music when the nuns sing about find your dream by  climbing every mountain and fording every stream. well you may not be able to do that for much longer not because  the americans have tightened up their border but  because the auto industry is in trouble in America. firms including Ford have gone to congress to ask for help. If they don't get any help before Jan 20 12.01pm they could be up the creek. i put the time because at noon Obama becomes president and he has promised to help them. 

If the car industry is effected then that would be massive for states like Michigan who rely heavily on the industry for employment for the local populous 

So when going to find their dream the immigrants will have to find new means because fords may not be around although to  " nissan" every dream doesnt go.

ways to keep fit

Health professionals have been encouraging people for years to start to take exercise and keep fit too cut the number of overweight people and to generally make people feel better about themselves and I agree as someone who goes to the gym regularly i feel great after i have been and am feeling the positive benefits of exercise.

The Credit Crunch is hitting the whole world at the moment as I know only too well. George Osbourne wrote in The Times on Saturday  that Gordon Brown could risk a run on the pound by spending his way out of the recession  i would argue this was just papering over the cracks of Tory Economic  policy- This is something that George Osborne should be good at as he is the heir to a wallpaper fortune. Because the Tories have repeatedly promised to match labour spending on health and education  and how would they do this....

So back to ways to keep fit. Mr Osbourne says there could be a run on the pound (is this like the great north run) I say instead of running on money I will stick to my treadmill thanks.

What might have been

Over the past few months since my brief encounter at being  a city slicker- and the lack of fun I have had since the summer  i often think what could have been. this time of year if i was working there  would be an office party abd i had a belter of a flat with a view of the O2 so i often think of the social side of the job which sounded so great.

I was in the pub today watching the Scotland  South Africa Rugby game  and saw scotland blow away their  golden chances to hit the big time. I just hope i havent missed mine.

transition and living in the shop

Earlier in the week Barack Obama met George W Bush at the White House which from Jan 20 2009 will be his home. I want to talk about this in my post today

The white house is a tied house- like 10 downing street. this means that when you stop being the occupant of the oval office you have to move. I have a lifetime of experience in living in tied housing as my father is a minister so the house comes with job so i have never lived in a home owned by me or a member of my family.

If my experience is anything to go by living in a place of work is hard if you are the one who works you cant switch off. in the days before mobile phones in my house there were six people  who could get a phone call at any time of the day- so there was a scramble when the phone went not knowing who it was for. Also being a minister means being around when other people are free to talk to you not the other way round so dad could get phone called lateish into the evening when people were home from work and were free to talk to him- when they are relaxing dad is still at work.

Apart from having to cope with the work side of living in a in "house of work" or that its not your own is that people can put things in thats is not to your taste- if you take them down you cant sell them because they arent yours

The hardest thing about living in a tied house is leaving it. this is because in a way unlike if you sell a house you have no control over who is coming in next because other people choose. Being in a tied house can also be deceptive i mean that people think the house is yours so if its big they think you are minted and my dad isnt despite living in a 7 bedroom victorian villa.

Transition out of such an enviroment is a very strange thing. In my case the thing thats different is the lack of phone calls(cue the violin music) if i was being lazy at home and going back to bed after breakfast i would only get an extra half an hour because the phone would always ring between 9 and 10. Where as now that i am on my own i just dont get up!  my point here is that the routine will change. For example George Bush wont have to always be switched on- although sometimes it appeared that he is never switched on anyway and think about his every quote.

In Britain when the Prime Minister loses an election they go through a very tough thing- the perks go immidiately Harold Wilson knew he lost not when he was told in the papers but he lost his police outriders half way on a journey. George has got 75 days to get used to the idea  he isnt President.

So living  in the shop may have its perks - ie out of bed at 8.55 am but it does have its downsides so Barak good luck!

some things just dont go

I survived the group session last Friday and came out of feeling exactly like i did before I went in -tired. The power point  kept me awake so it achieved something at least.The presentation in 50 mins was  a quick run through of the best way to find a job. prepare a CV ask your contacts etc. all of these points are valid but should be covered in more depth in my view. They are covered in more depth in getting back to work courses. I have been on such a course it was fantastic and although the course I attended was for people with disabilities i would recommend it to anyone. The course would be very helpful for school leavers or the unemployed or  students looking for jobs.

The Presentation was in my view what the TV industry call a " production pilot" - a preview of the full  show. If I was the government trying to solve the unemployment problem I would snap up the rights to that deal and roll it out across the networks to include the department of education. If i was at the DWP (department of work and pensions) i would send  people who are newly signed on to JSA to this PowerPoint presentation so that they know the support that is available to them straight away and not wait till they have been out of work for ages- although i have been unemployed for 13 months there was a break in my claim for JSA thanks to Lehman brothers so i may have been sent on it as a new claimant i don't know.

sorry for the tangent. so things that don't go are 1 me and Friday mornings.

The second thing that does not go with me is obviously me and a job in politics.  I am not talking here about me losing elections all the time- that's is along way down the road if i ever get there.   I was asked by a friend the other day what gets me up in the morning whats drives me up in the morning. The answer is belief, belief in my own ability. I want to use my skills and experience to help others.Yet the thing i lack in all the jobs i have applied for in politics is experience.  My ideal job if i could choose any would be foreign Secretary - not just to claim all the gifts due to airmiles.

 If i don't go down the elected politician route l would love to combine 3 things the gift of the gab my writing skills and my thinking. IE if you have seen the west wing i would love to be a combination of josh lyman and toby ziegler. the people who do all the work for the politicians write speeches find out stuff be creative. It doesn't have to be in politics. i  would thrive if SCOPE or Capability Scotland came a calling

so the second  thing that doesn't go is despite my wishes is a job for me in politics.

The third thing is the most important thing that doesn't go. is hot chocolate and cinnamon. I was starting  my Christmas shopping yesterday i have got to the browsing stage that's before i actually buy gifts. that bit comes on December 20th ish. Although I  have to not leave it to the last minute as my parents know live in the Shetland islands so i actually have to pay attention to posting dates this year. I went for lunch- very nice of pasta with salmon and hot chocolate. I am a big fan of salmon epically smoked salmon.  Try it for your Christmas dinner its divine.

On my hot chocolate i love cream and something to dunk in it. the  eatery put Cinnamon on it i tough fine i'll try it. In my opinion just like the chances of Aberdeen winning the SPL it just doesnt go

So if you want to be a success Dont work on fridays , dont try to work in a field you really want too and for goodness sake dont put cinnamon on your hot chocolate.

whats the point...

I have no been claimig jobseekers allowance for just under a year. On friday i have to go a group session on how to find a job. I have picked up that it invovles a powerpoint presentation. i have visions of AA meetings so dear readers i am being brave and confessing via this blog my name is mark cooper and i am a job seeker.