Beave's Brain

So I've grown up and left blogger behind like so many do... You can find me at http://jbeave.wordpress.com/

Quick FYI: I'm back working at the company that had laid me off. Although this is a quick fix to much greater issues, It's an amazing turn of luck. We were racking our brains on how to provide for ourselves, and we caught a break. And now we return to your regularly scheduled programming...

My pants have been crying, my t-shirts wheezing and to top it all off my scale doesn't give me a weight anymore it's just laughs at me and says "Error." Rugby season is around the corner and even though I may not be able to afford to play I am not even close to being in shape to begin with.

This is the first time I've gone to the gym for a full week since I hurt my knee in last years spring season. That's pretty sad, but good news is that after my day off I went back to the gym without hesitation. I also found myself able to run for half of my cardio which was one hell of an accomplishment for me at this point.

One of my best friends and I have decided to participate in Muddy Buddy 2010. The event will be on my birthday which will be a pretty cool way to celebrate. It's one part running, one part biking and five parts crazy obstacles and 7 miles in total. So if I don't keep it up I will not only let myself down but a friend as well. This should give me the extra motivation to get my butt in shape. I'll make sure to post pictures after the event.

I've told you of my departure from my last gig. Although it's not my wisest decision, it was one of my proudest. I saw blantant racism and stood up for something I believed to be wrong. When I found that the corporate mentality of "reverse racism" to be more worried about lawsuits than about justice, I stood up for my beliefs and quit.

Now I've been working for a small poorly managed security company that pays minimum wage since it's the only place I could find a job. This company has been loosing more accounts than it has been bring in due to it's sub par sales rep. So now I am once again unemployed with no real opportunities in sight.

Normally I wouldn't let this really get to me but V is also unemployed and it's possible that neither of us will find anything anytime soon. This is one of the only times in my life that I have been truly worried about what may happen.

I may go back to school full time if I can get a cost of living loan. I may try to find a gig bouncing at a club again. I may even go wait outside the Home Depot with the rest of the workers trying to scrape by. I will go to the IDES tomorrow to file for unemployment. I will do everything I can to keep V's and my spirits up. I will find another job and so will V. I will be fine.

Ties... Lol

My post today on ties is about the tie or noose that technology has around my neck. I'm sure y'all can relate at least a little.

I want to start with a story about this blog to prove my point. At the beginning of the month I got excited about the possibility of blogging more due to the abundance of time I have at my current job. So I started writing and writing and writing; it was like I couldn't stop because the muse was with me. This lead to an abundance of blogs. So I set them up to be distributed throughout the upcoming week and was excited that I may keep up this month's NaBloPoMo. I let the blog sit, relying on Google's technology to properly post my blogs. Much to my surprise I got a comment with a wonderful note about not being disheartened about not making NaBloPoMo and to keep up the writing. I became furious that all that work just sat there and I had failed due to my complete reliance on technology. (Fear not Andi I will keep writing.)

I let technology rule my life 24/7. I set my BlackBerry alarm to wake me up every day even though I have an alarm clock right next to my bed. Everywhere I go I check in on foursquare. I Twitter, I FaceBook and now I Buzz. My laptop travels everywhere in my car with me. Someone says they are unsure of a fact, BAM! I Wikipedia it. Someone talks about a restaurant in the area but can't remember the name, BAM! I Google it. I just can't help not knowing when the answer is easily available. I have turned around after being halfway to work (a 45min drive) because I forgot my phone, and what the heck would I do WITHOUT MY BLACKBERRY!

My wife suggested I give up texting for Lent this year and I laughed at her because I don't really text that much. I know it looks that way but I'm almost always checking Twitter or FaceBook, leaving comments, emailing, tweeting, posting pictures and sometimes even blogging.

Everything I do, everywhere I go there is some form of unnecessary technology that grabs me. I really don't think I would have a quality life without these things. Maybe it's because I am an attention whore, maybe it's because I have an addictive personality or maybe it's just because we live in an age where all this is possible and I want to take advantage of it all. Whatever it is, I just don't want to be without my BlackBerry or an internet connection.

When I read that February's topic for NaBloPoMo was going to be ties my mind automatically went to politics. For those of you that know me, that's not a far stretch by any means. And being from Chicago, my mind ultimately goes straight to Mayor Daley. So today I want to talk about the ties the politicians hold around us.

When people talk about Illinois or Chicago they almost always stop at politics. They mention how corrupt our government is and how everything is tied to "Chicago style politics." Chicago style politics are, according to most, inherently corrupt and inept. My view is that it is not inherent but that they are made that way by the voters. The voters of Illinois like to keep things the way they even though they may complain about how bad it is. It seems that as soon as they are familiar with a candidate or politician they are ready to keep voting for them no matter what. If most of the population thinks Daley is corrupt and has only his best interests in heart, why is he still in office?

My only solution other than getting people to change, which is damn near impossible, is to impose term limits. Daley's been in office for 20 years now and can "buy" every election. Now I'm not saying he pays for votes or is doing anything illegal but he has so much money for campaigns he can probably run and win for another 20 years.

This opens up the issue of "career politicians." After 20 years in any position you begin to amass a ton of favors done and favors owed. We see this is trading votes in congress and we saw it with President Obama's seat with Blagojevich. If the political landscape continues to change we greatly diminish these issues as the "favors" become useless as the politicians leave office. Think of yourself in your own private life and all the people that you have done favors for and people that "owe you one." Now imagine if those people went away after 8 years. People would be more reluctant to do you a favor as they might not see their return. They would start doing things based on their own principles rather than what they could get in return for swaying slightly from them.

Just a few thoughts on our ties with "The Machine." Happy primary voting to all my fellow Illinoisans.