Real faces of unemployment

Do the three people flanking President Obama in this photograph look like bums, hobos or drug addicts? Those are some of the labels attached to jobless Americans by some Republicans in recent months.

Certain politicians have no clue as to how difficult it is to find work in America in 2010. Talk about an out-of-touch political party. Whether you're 55 and looking to resume your career, or 25 and hoping to get a foot in the door with a good company, your odds are far worse than they have ever been in most of our lifetimes. It doesn't matter how many college degrees you have or how skilled you might be. There simply aren't enough jobs to go around. That is a fact.

As a result, the economy continues to stumble. Therefore, unemployment benefits must be extended for the people like the folks in this picture who have been trying to find work and who don't use unemployment benefits for illegal drugs. Instead, they use the money to feed the economy, to keep their homes, to pay their bills. That is all good for all of America -- those who are searching for jobs and those who are employed. Cutting the jobless off will only slow down the recovery, cause home values to crash even further and lead to a new class of homeless people. What's the Republican plan to deal with that?

Instead of longing for a 1950s world where everything and everyone was easily categorized, modern-day Republicans need to face some facts about the current economy and the people who are suffering the most. I believe if they continue to take out their frustrations on honest citizens looking for work, they will lose whatever momentum they had prior to their attacks on the unemployed. We all know the unemployed. They are our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. They aren't shadowy people standing on sketchy street corners. It is bad political policy to paint them as such.

I was glad to see Obama speaking on behalf of the unemployed and calling out those who want to halt benefits to the jobless while decreasing taxes on the wealthy. His speech in the Rose Garden today helped renew my faith that he hasn't forgotten about millions of honest, hard-working Americans who were cast out of the workplace during the recession and can't find their way back into suitable jobs, or the college graduates who are losing hope by the day that they will be able to put their education to good use.

Republicans in 2010 have a tendency to not acknowledge people who aren't doing well. They bend over backwards for those still on the top but rarely form policies to assist people who don't have a pipeline to the corner offices. They put up fences along the Mexican border without regard for how that may impact wildlife that needs to migrate in order to survive. They say "drill baby drill" even as the oil in the Gulf of Mexico is ruining life in that part of the country. We have a governor in Virginia who still thinks it's a good idea to set up hundreds of rigs off the Mid-Atlantic coast. Their arrogance is now off the charts with thinking that they can save a nickel on the backs of the unemployed. This is a party in need of a makeover, a soul. They can't just keep appealing to people's lowest instincts and fears and continue to win elections that way. Americans are getting smarter as more news and opinions are available. Facts can be easily checked. We don't have to accept anything that any politician claims as true anymore.

Despite the rhetoric coming from Republicans, most Americans still believe that those folks who are having trouble finding work should not have their benefits cut off. Most Americans know that the trouble that is facing some of their friends and neighbors could easily happen to them in this shaky economy. And if it does, they wouldn't want to be without benefits that they helped pay into while working for their entire adult lives.

As I have said many times, the GOP argument against extending benefits doesn't hold water in any regard. I never stopped looking for work while I was collecting. Never lost motivation to find a job just because I was getting a small sum deposited in my checking account. Getting an unemployment check for most people is just a way to buy some time until they can land a job. A way to save their homes and feed themselves. I have no love for those who use their unemployment checks to take a vacation or to lounge around, not looking for work. But that isn't the majority of people. Not anymore. Not in this economy. So Republicans stereotyping the unemployed is not only rubbing salt into some serious wounds, but it is also an indication of how they don't even know what the problem is. How can they fix something they fail to even acknowledge?

Fortunately, it appears the U.S. Senate might now be able to approve funding for an overdue unemployment benefits package. As West Virginia's Carte Goodwin is sworn into office this week, it looks like the Democrats will have the votes to overcome Republican hardliners who still think it's a good fiscal policy to screw average people. Their masking their hatred of Obama (and thereby, unemployed folks) by pretending to be concerned about the deficit is a joke.

Second thoughts about an online presence

Blogging has not landed me back on a payroll. Nor has social/professional networking, a YouTube page or a Twitter account helped me find a job. As the jobless months drag on, I wonder whether all of this online stuff has actually prevented me from being hired.

The drill for most laid-off journalists is this:

Day one: Join LinkedIn.com
Day two: Get on Facebook
Day three: Start blogging

Then let it all simmer a bit and wait for the phone to ring.

Actually, there is more to it than that, but you get my drift. We're becoming a cliche and the results are the same. The phone rarely rings. The e-mail replies from employers are scarce. The job sites, like LinkedIn.com or CareerBuilder.com, yield tons of spam but no job offers. Employers who want to hire me can't. Just not enough pennies in the pot. The new online-revenue streams aren't very deep and advertising remains flat. Hiring, particularly for newspaper companies, is spotty at best. I sense some editors and publishers wanting to capitalize on my experience by bringing me on board, but there just aren't any positions available.

There is some evidence, more so in my gut than in any scientific poll, that suggests that life on the Internet isn't a cure-all and can actually do more harm than good when searching for work. Yes, all the media and some career experts say modern-day journalists need to be tweeting up a storm and posting text, photos and video on their blogs regularly to show they are progressive and tech savvy. I can do all of that with relative ease, but it's never set well with me. I feel it's self indulgent. I think it reveals portions of myself that may not come across the way I intended. It's too easy to be misunderstood here.

For instance, I am politically independent. Yet, someone reading this blog, particularly lately, might think I am leaning towards the radical left. If that someone is in a hiring position, I am potentially screwed, depending on their political views. One edgy post in a blog of well over 200 could lead to a snap judgment. The only snap judgment I want to hear at this point is "you're hired."

Is it better to put yourself out there and run the risk of being misread? Or is it safer to remain relatively anonymous and not interact in cyberspace? These are questions job seekers wonder about.

There is no foul language or bikini-clad women in this blog. But there are opinions. As a native-New Yorker, I believe debating issues is a good and natural thing. As a one-time newspaper columnist and editorial writer, I guess this stuff is in my blood. I would think that would be a positive quality to project, especially to media companies, but I can also see how one's image could be skewed through a simple Google search.

After many months of being relatively well connected online, I've never felt so disconnected from the working world. Unemployed journalists need to find a delicate balance between being engaged online while not blogging or tweeting themselves right out of a job interview. My blog posts, LinkedIn.com and Facebook profiles, rock 'n' roll YouTube pages or anything else that comes up in a "Mick Calvacca" Google search are not the total summation of who I am. In fact, my professional personality and sensibilities are considerably different than my online persona might indicate.

There is a lot to mull over about the value of blogging and other online activities. I blog to keep my brain working and because that's what unemployed journalists do, I guess. It helps me keep up with the news and I have learned a few technical tricks along the way that might come in useful at some point. Those are good things. With that said, there is very little evidence that there are any job-finding benefits to having an online presence. What I need to figure out now is whether I am doing more harm than good by sharing some of my thoughts and interacting in such a public fashion.

"Free agents" help some employers upgrade

Good news for seasoned professionals looking for work. Companies are finally discovering that hiring overqualified job candidates brings extra value to the workplace. Read more.

This is a great time for companies to upgrade their workforces at bargain prices. There are a lot of seasoned professionals searching for jobs -- "free agents" who could elevate businesses. Many of them would sacrifice salary and a fancy office for job security and quality of life benefits. The thought that these so-called overqualified candidates would grow bored or move on to a better job as soon as the economy improves doesn't necessarily apply to everyone.

For employers to be scared off by job seekers with vast institutional knowledge is to pass up an opportunity to upgrade their businesses. These are different times. The old rules and myths no longer apply. Employers who couldn't afford to improve their personnel two years ago might ago might be able to do so now.

Are we almost there?

The road to landing a job these days will mostly likely begin online.

As I sat in Starbucks today, a young man came in and asked a couple employees if they were hiring. Knocking on doors was a proven way of finding a job, particularly in retail or the service industry, in the not-so-distant past. I expected the Starbucks workers to give the young man an application, maybe sit down with him for a chat, but I was wrong.

I should have guessed it. They directed him to the company web site. Told him he can get information and apply online. He nodded sort of knowingly and departed. I know the look.

I have called human resource departments at universities and major companies a couple times to get information on hiring. I was quickly rerouted to their career web sites. I've also called top hiring managers at smaller firms. Same results.

Most help-wanted ads these days instruct job seekers not to call. Some are pretty darn hostile about it. And god forbid you show up in person with a resume in hand. You could find yourself escorted from the building by security guards.

It seems the web is the perfect method for employers to screen the many unemployed people looking for work in this recession. Just navigating through some company career sites serves as a way of making sure one has the technical skills needed in today's job market. If you can't do that you obviously won't be hired. Fortunately, I haven't had any difficulties creating PDFs of my resume or directing employees to web sites that feature my work or references. I am good at that stuff, but not so good at getting positive replies.

Most employers warn in their ads that they probably won't contact applicants unless they want to hire you. Just not feasible, I guess, with all the applications they receive. The lack of a human touch in this process is sometimes difficult to cope with. Some employers, I have found out after applying, withdrew the position for budgetary reasons.

I remember looking at Guitar Center's web site several months ago when I was considering finding a "fun" part-time job with a retailer just to get out of the house and bring in a few extra dollars. The music store went the extra mile on the Internet highway, actually having a mechanism for conducting the initial interview online. I didn't want to try selling myself to an electronic interviewer, so I passed.

No wonder it's so difficult to find work. Along with the high unemployment rate, the efficiency of web-based job applications is only efficient for employers who don't want to look beyond a few keywords that their computers identify in resumes. For employees, it's easy to get lost in all the traffic on the job-site expressway.

Yet, I offer a warning to those who seek back-road shortcuts or alternative routes. Proceed at your own risk. Most employers frown upon people trying to circumvent the process. You won't get any initiative points for not following the rules of the road in most cases. I've tried it and found myself right back on the Internet entrance ramp, trying to merge into oncoming traffic.

I suppose the best way to find a job is to know someone in a hiring position -- or at least it was a decade or two ago. I do know a few of those types of people in those types of positions. In fact, at one time, I hired some of them. In one or two cases I actually saved their jobs. Another story for another day. But now they tell me there just aren't any openings. No opportunity to return the favor, sort of speak. I believe them but still can't help feeling disappointed that we're now in an era where people who want to help can't. I am sure it's not a good feeling for them, and I know it's a rotten reality for those seeking work.

So it's back on the Internet freeway for me, trying to get noticed amongst all the other electronic applications and professional networking colleagues, hoping that one of these exits is the right one. Hoping the traffic subsides soon before my fuel gauge hits empty or the kids in the back seat ask yet again whether we're almost there.

Taking typing to a new level

I believe my typing skills have vastly improved in my year off from work. A modest silver lining to an otherwise humbling and difficult year.

As much as I typed in my job at USA TODAY, it doesn't compare to how I burn through a keyboard now. I am almost always typing. It's how I apply to 90 percent of the jobs that I seek. Employers generally loathe when you call or show up uninvited to inquire about a position. They will redirect you to their web sites with lightning speed. Of course, web sites weren't so prevalent the last time I was looking for work, so this has been a change for me. Thus far, a fruitless change. I've applied to 223 companies, some of them several times. That's a whole lot of typing and navigating through multi-layered job applications.

Typing is how I primarily stay in touch with long-distance friends and colleagues. I do the social/professional networking thing and blog when I have a few spare moments. I cover a lot of ground on any given day. There is a sense of efficiency in doing personal and professional business this way, but there is also a feeling of losing human connections.

Despite the speed and efficiency, technology has its drawbacks. For instance, I have pains in my hands that I never felt before, probably from overusing my laptop and mouse. Nothing severe. But nonetheless annoying. When I worked at the newspaper, I was behind a nice desktop Macintosh, writing from one of those ergonomic chair-desk combos. Now I am on an aging Dell laptop with a bad screen, sitting in a $50 chair at a desk that is way too high. My questionable posture isn't getting any better working this way.

When technology fails or a server crashes it can mean even more time in the chair, retyping a job application or refiling an unemployment claim, literally adding insult to injury. It's no fun losing your tax information because of a software glitch or having your cover letter zapped from an employer's web site just as you're putting a period on the final sentence. Universities and government employers have a particularly technical and grueling process for applying to jobs. Better hope your internet connection is stable before getting started.

I am not sure what my typing speed is up to now. I am guessing I'm at least 10 words per minute faster than I was last year. As an English major, I've always been comfortable behind a keyboard, but have taken my game to a new level lately. Instant messaging is particularly useful for building up typing agility. Of course, I am not looking for data-entry or word-processing jobs -- at least not yet. But if and when the time comes for that sort of employment, I will be ready.

Where will the "thresholders" go?

I learned a new term today. I discovered I am not simply a baby boomer. Folks my age are now being referred to as the "threshold generation" by career advisers. Watch the 25-minute video about the changing face of the workforce. (If that direct link to the clip doesn't work, you can go here and scroll down to the video). There is an interesting segment about folks in their 50s -- the threshold generation. These people make up an enormous segment of the population.

There is some good information in the video for job seekers. But I also think that the values, advice and good intentions of these experts aren't matching up with all of the current realities confronted by job hunters or how the recession has altered what employers are seeking. Until the mindset of employers changes and bottom lines improve, you can take all the Microsoft Office classes you want and "tweet" until you fingers fall off, and still remain unemployed or underemployed.

I am a big believer in all generations bringing value to the workplace. The best companies, in my opinion, have a wide range of ages all working together, learning from each other while growing the business. However, that is not how companies are viewing the workforce. I think it's a tragic mistake -- penny-wise, pound-foolish -- for companies to view older workers as fat that can be trimmed from the payroll. When I was young and breaking into the newspaper business, I truly enjoyed working with older editors who mentored me. I never would have learned as much as I did about journalism without their being in the newsroom. And to their credit, I think they appreciated my enthusiasm and energy. The companies that I worked for in the 80s and early 90s benefited from experienced employees mixing with young talent that could be cultivated. Those companies were family operated and seemed to be more likely to employ folks of all ages. Family-owned businesses, unfortunately, are disappearing.

A friend of mine who works for a major company that provides services to the Defense Department and Homeland Security watched some of his coworkers get their pink slips last week. The layoffs were mostly tied to pay rates. In general, the higher-paid people were let go. That was a real eye-opener. This isn't suppose to happen to the people who do the work that keep the country safe. That is allegedly an industry that is growing. It tells me that the recession is far from over and that once again older workers are being dismissed mostly because of their higher salaries, not because they can't learn PowerPoint. Many companies aren't even bothering to see if these higher-paid folks would be willing to take a salary reduction in order to keep their jobs. It's really quite ruthless and cold. I have to believe some bad karma is brewing. But more importantly, where are these "thresholders" going to go?

Thankfulness in gloomy times

I was preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday last year, going about my business while working at USA Today, and looking forward to a couple days off. It was announced a week earlier that there were going to be layoffs if not enough people volunteered for buyouts. We were under a similar threat the year before, but mostly older employees volunteered to leave in 2007 so no one had to be forced out. The buyouts in 2007 were more generous and there was no serious recession at that point. Some of the people who took the buyouts said they saw the writing on the wall and wanted to leave while they could. But 2008 had a different feel. Folks saw the economic firestorm that was coming in a business that was failing. So people were more cautious about volunteering to leave.

As I went into the holiday week last year, I was reasonably confident that I would not be laid off. My reasons seemed logical. First, I was there for 13 years and had performed well. Never received a reprimand, was a reliable and hard-working employee, etc. Always got my annual raises and so forth. I knew a lot of folks depended on me and that made me feel good.

Being that it was Thanksgiving, I was certainly feeling thankful I was in a relatively stable situation. Even with the buyouts and then layoffs, USA Today was not doing as badly as other newspapers. Gannett, the mega-company that owns USA Today, seemed well-positioned to navigate out of storm with its flagship newspaper in tact.

I worked in the graphics department but considered myself a complete journalist by trade, not just a visuals editor. Because other supervisors with a journalism backgrounds had left our department in recent years, I was the only manager remaining with diverse editing experience. In a department of about 60 folks, mainly photographers and artists, I figured my editing know-how, managerial seasoning and 16 years of journalistic background at other newspapers prior to USA Today made me a valued resource and would protect me from being laid off. Plus, I worked nights and was heavily involved with production of graphics on deadline. No one else wanted to work that shift, so in my mind I went into Thanksgiving thinking things would be fine.

About a week after Thanksgiving, I was laid off by the long-time managing editor of my department. It was disorienting to say the least. Only two people in my department lost their jobs. How and why I became one of them is still a mystery to me and many other folks. It seemed to defy all logic. The managing editor said little to me in the brief separation meeting. I try not to think about the possible politics or personal reasons that led to the decision, but it's not always easy to block out, especially as the job market worsens and various losses in my life pile up.

On a personal level, I was stunned by the lack of loyalty and empathy I felt as I was given the boot. My manager was someone I had broken bread with many times, had personal and professional conversations with. I was 51. He was about 10 years older than me. He had to know what being over 50 in a recession and coming from a dying business would mean for me. I thought, "why me and why not someone 25 years younger who had no particular attachment to USA Today or newspapering in general?" Why not someone who would have time to rebound when the job market improved? These were my prime earning years -- a gateway into retirement. Now I've shifted from thoughts of retirement to day-to-day survival mode. It's taken a toll on my spirit at times as I am sure millions of other laid off workers can relate to.

Layoffs can ruin lives as this unidentified protester's sign conveys, and I wonder if those making the decisions truly understand that. I don't believe layoffs are always just about business. I think it gets personal and petty at times. Far more people than me have been adversely impacted by my being laid off and by my extended period of unemployment. Trying to get back into a business which is struggling has been difficult. Trying to transition into another related field has been even more of a challenge as the unemployment rate worsens.

President Obama said yesterday that he "will not rest" until employers start hiring again. I sure hope that's true because as Thanksgiving approaches, it's getting real difficult for unemployed folks to feel thankful for much of anything other than perhaps their health and a few loved ones in their lives. Like for many people, unemployment is brand new to me. I worked 29 years without a break and turned down other jobs while at USA Today because I thought the national newspaper was a stable, somewhat-loyal employer. What I didn't see coming was that layoffs are not always driven by rationality or a sense of fairness. When GM stops making a certain truck model, a plant can close. It's not the fault of the workers, but at least they can understand the logic behind losing their jobs. No trucks, no plant, no jobs. I often wish I had that sort clarity.There is still a newspaper being produced 14 miles down the road from where I live. Still a lot of good people doing good work for a pretty vast audience. But it's getting hard living here, knowing I am no longer a part of that, and not quite grasping how I got to this point.

The quest this week is to try to find something to remain thankful for even in times where the future looks bleak. The challenge every day is to cling to some thread of hope that I can return to being a vibrant contributor to an employer that shares my values, ethics and workplace standards.

For millions of people like me, particularly those in their 50s and 60s who know that getting back into the workplace is extra difficult despite our experience and solid work ethics, these are some difficult weeks coming up. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's trigger many emotions. People take inventory at this time of year. Kind of assess where they are at in life. The holidays also coincide with when I was laid off, so there is that to contend with.

While 2009 was a time to try to make things work here by finding suitable employment in the D.C. area, 2010 might involve having to pack our bags. We are willing to go where the opportunities lie, but as of right now, I and many others are not sure where that is. Still, I am thankful things aren't worse and hope that by next Thanksgiving these struggles will be behind me and others who have been unemployed for the last year or longer.

Sunsets still worth seeing

We went to the National Harbor over the weekend to get away from the worries of my job search, finances, the recession and the general malaise of every day being more or less the same in the 'burbs of Loudoun County, Va. The harbor is just a few miles outside of Washington, D.C., on the Maryland side of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. It's a fairly new shopping/residential/entertainment area on the banks of the Potomac River. The massive atrium of the Gaylord Resort and Conference Center (pictured above, right) is the first thing to catch your eye as you cross the bridge. From inside, it's quite impressive. Parking is cheap, the scenery is nice and you can really stretch your legs walking along the clean streets and footpaths that wind through and beyond the harbor.

It was a fairly nice November day, with the temperatures hovering around 60 degrees. Yet, there weren't many people in the harbor. Stores were mostly empty. Some restaurants were about 50 percent full, but most had just a spattering of customers. This fairly new complex seemed to be in limbo, with many storefronts still unoccupied and parking lots barely a quarter full. Yet, what was in place and open for business was nice. The National Harbor is doable in an area of the country that is often impossible to deal with because of crowds and traffic -- far less cramped than Old Town Alexandria which lies on the other side of the bridge.

While we went to the harbor for a few hours of escape, thoughts of the recession came to mind with each empty store I saw. As I looked at the many condo buildings, I wondered how many units were unsold. I later investigated and found that as of mid-summer, 400 condos were vacant. In the D.C. area this would have been unheard of just a year or two ago.

There were billboards proclaiming Disney was coming to the harbor, but best I could tell that project is on hold, too. Apparently, Disney bought the land to build a resort right around the time the recession started.

If you look around, it's hard to not notice how much trouble our economy is in no matter where you go. Empty storefronts, undeveloped plots of land and abandoned homes are connected to real human beings who each have a story to tell. This is not some faceless catastrophe or just some problem that is a tax write-off for massive corporations like Disney. I am sure those jobs Disney would have created by breaking ground are needed in the harbor area. Yet, there are many people who prefer to live in denial about many things, including this recession and the lives that are being impacted in a very personal way.

As a side note, a small-business owner who I know recently shutdown her company for financial reasons. Not only did the recession hurt her sales, but many of her friends and acquaintances failed her in various ways through the five years she struggled to run her business. Since she announced the closing, only one friend expressed any kind of condolences. The support systems we sometimes think are in place turn out to be illusions when bad times arrive. I've certainly gotten to know more about people in my one year of unemployment than in my 29 years of working.

It was good to get away from Loudoun County for the day and to see something new, even if the harbor is only about 30 miles from where we live. We don't go far anymore as we try to save money, even on gas. Unfortunately, one can't run from the recession. You can't pretend away the afternoon.

Most of my days involve solitude and, of course, silence from most friends and former colleagues. So I have to force myself to get out now and then -- to see people and something other than the view from my den. I have to remind myself that last December was the end of a job, and perhaps a longtime journalism career, but not the end of life. I still have to continue to look for work no matter the odds or how unjust what happened to me at USA Today was by all accounts. I have to rub elbows with folks, even if in a mall or coffee shop. And while friends and former colleagues might continue to disappear, and storefronts could remain empty for a long time, there is still air to breathe and sunsets to enjoy from any vantage point.

Seeking the skinny on Florida

What's going on in Florida? Every time I explore the possibility of moving back to The Sunshine State, I learn of something new that squashes my enthusiasm.

Northern Virginia isn't a cheap place to live. And we're currently existing on one income since my layoff last year. This is suppose to be an area with a fair number of jobs, but I have found it very difficult to get a foot in the door in any industry related to what I did as a newspaper editor for 29 years. I've tried public relations firms, college communications departments and a host of specialty publications in an around D.C. Still, no viable offers that would allow us to continue to live in this pricey part of country for very long.

In the past, when the going got tough, I got going - to Florida - as I mentioned in prior posts. The sun, warmth and adventure of living near the Florida Keys and Miami was just what the doctor ordered early in my adult life. My brand-new townhouse in Homestead, Fla., cost a grand total of $39,000, so the mortgage was affordable, even with a skimpy paycheck.

But now, more than 25 years later, Florida doesn't seem so inviting. While the recession has dropped the price of housing, many of the homes for sale have been gutted by previous owners who were foreclosed upon. And there are a ton of foreclosure properties there, many of which are in a state of disrepair. Condo fees are through the roof because there are fewer occupied units to share the overall costs. Single-family homes are falling apart...at least the ones I could afford.

In addition, there is flood insurance to contend with. And in some areas, hurricane insurance (which is separate from flood and homeowner's insurance) would cost more than the monthly mortgage payment.

Renting isn't a great option either. Rents aren't that much cheaper than here, at least not in the bigger cities.

When I lived in Florida, alligators were mostly confined to the Everglades. Now they're showing up in supermarket parking lots and in people's kitchens on a regular basis throughout the state.

But the one thing that never changes in Florida is the crime rate. Gosh, even in relatively small towns like Lakeland, the crime stats are overwhelming compared to where I live in Loudoun County, Va.

Many folks on online forums say that moving to Florida without a job these days is death sentence. This is amazing since Florida had always been a place where you could go with a few hundred bucks in your wallet and eventually get a job, apartment and begin to build a modest life. Apparently, this is no longer the case and could land you on a park bench or homeless shelter in a hurry, particularly at my age.

Tampa, the area of the state I would like to live in, seems to have a fair number of jobs on web sites like Craigslist.com. Of course, with CList, you never know how many of those listings are actually legitimate. I have applied to a lot of jobs in Florida in the last year and not one has responded in a positive or informative manner. Most don't reply at all. I have also contacted real estate agents who never return my calls or answer my e-mails. Very strange. Florida is still attached to the mainland last time I checked on Google Earth.

Still, the lure of sunshine and warmth is mighty strong, especially when it appears that finding a decent-paying job in Northern Virginia isn't as easy as I thought it would be while another winter approaches. I like it here in the Commonwealth - went to college in the southern part of the state and worked at three different newspapers here - but am getting the feeling certain forces are telling me it's time to leave. Where to go is the big question right now. We like our native New York but can't afford the area around NYC. We enjoy states like North Carolina and Georgia but have been unable to find jobs there. We've heard that it's difficult to find work if you're applying from out of state. If that is the case, then we need to pick an area and try our best to find something once there. A risky proposition in this recession.

You can buy a short-sale house in Florida for the price of the average car in Loudoun County. (We have an inordinate number of BMWs, Caddies, Jaguars, etc. here.) I want to move to a place where I am relatively certain I won't be homeless by age 60. But without jobs, I am not so certain the low-cost of housing would be much of an advantage in Florida. It's great that Florida doesn't have a state income tax, but you have to have an income in order for that to be a plus.

I'd love to hear from anyone who might stumble upon this blog and who is living in Florida. Contact me if you care to share the real story about the current state of the state. Perhaps the picture I am getting is skewed by distance and online forums which tend to be overly negative. If there still are opportunities in Florida, I'd appreciate hearing about them.

Unemployment: A national emergency

I have hammered away on this blog about the seriousness of the unemployment problem and the lack of viable opportunities for the baby boomer generation. I have also told people face-to-face about how bad things are in the job market. Still, I don't get the impression most people understand what is truly happening in this country. On a more personal level, I don't think there are many people who can relate to the feelings of the unemployed or underemployed. Last night, my feelings were once again validated.

If you didn't catch PBS's Frontline show Close to Home last night, I would recommend you go to this web site and watch it: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/closetohome/. While at the site, I would also suggest reading some of the articles about how the middle class, and particularly men over 50, are being systematically eliminated from the workplace and not being permitted back in. This is no longer opinion. This is a fact. Baby boomers, for whatever reason, are being plucked out of the workplace at a time when they should be paying their children's college tuition or accelerating their retirement savings. What was once considered the prime earning years are now a financial wasteland for many families. Even folks getting by on one salary have to wonder what the future holds if the other spouse, usually the husband, can't return to work in 2010.

Maybe some employers view these older employees as too expensive to keep in bad times. But as someone pondered in Close to Home, would that commercial jet have landed safely in the Hudson River several months ago if a lesser-experienced pilot was in command?

Experience use to count. In my mind, it still makes good business sense to retain as much institutional knowledge as possible. But in the panic to throw people overboard in order to save money, companies are often cutting lose people who are least likely to find new work in a terrible recession. Perhaps some of these people have grown stale and haven't learned new skills, but most folks are more than willing to be retrained or have taken the initiative to stay current on their own. Many are even willing to take pay cuts in order to stay employed. Those options are only explored by the best of companies such as CF Martin Guitars, which I explored in an earlier post.

Why should you watch this show? Well, even if you're employed or young, you are probably going to know of someone soon who loses their job or can't get back into the workforce. Could be a spouse or a parent. Could be a good friend. If you want to remain in that person's life, you better understand what they are facing on a daily basis. It's not just being without a paycheck. It's bigger than that and it eats away at the inner fabric of what once made those folks productive members of society. Few have ever accused baby boomers of being loafers, yet many are collapsing under the hopelessness of the current job market. The unemployed are losing their identities. Empathy can help to a degree, particularly from close friends and former colleagues. Job leads can help even more, of course.

The unemployed are being silently cast out at an alarming rate. If you can't find a job, even though you've led a responsible life and are doing all the "right things" to seek work, something is wrong. The deck being stacked against the over-50 crowd creates individual and societal hardships. When their diploma and 30 years of experience are deemed as negatives by employers because they're too old or too overqualified, and when they get tired of trying to swim upstream or reinvent themselves, bad things can happen. There is a domino effect. Nothing as bad as this crisis happens without spilling over into almost every segment of culture and economy. Even businesses that are somewhat immune to the recession will face problems.

If my neighbor's house is foreclosed on, the value of my home goes down. We all have a stake in this.

When a 60-year-old man hasn't been employed in years, do you think he's going to be able to afford a proper funeral for his parents? Not even the classic, so-called recession-proof funeral home business is going to go unscathed if people don't get back to work soon, rebuild savings and pay taxes. As it is, teachers, once thought to be in short supply, are losing their jobs in cities such as Detroit and Washington.

The PBS documentary, filmed mostly in New York, is very well done. It tells the stories of the unemployed through the words of the victims and the hairstylists who come into contact with these middle class folks on a daily basis. People who cut hair tend to be like bartenders -- they hear it all in a very up close and personal way. They don't need unemployment statistics to understand how widespread this problem is becoming and what the ramifications are if things don't improve. In some ways, hairstylists have more empathy for the unemployed than the friends and former colleagues of layoff victims do. I don't think that is because friends and former colleagues are bad people. I just think the problem isn't on their radar screens every day.

At one point in the show, the film-maker follows a former human resources manager in his mid 50s to a support group for jobless people. She is struck by the overwhelming number of men in their 50s attending the event. These are mostly people who held white-collar jobs, which dispels the myth that this recession is mainly hitting the manufacturing sector in the heartland.

The film also makes the point that people who are being laid off today are well-respected, talented folks who did nothing to deserve being let go from their jobs. Still, it is hard to break the stereotype that anyone who has been laid off is somehow damaged goods or of lesser ability.

We're entering a critical time with this unemployment situation. Things are not getting better despite what you might hear on the network news, which itself has been hit hard by the recession and is of lesser journalistic quality these days. State benefits and personal savings are running out. Folks in their 50s are beginning to give up, or worse, get sick from the stress of looking for work. They spend hundreds of hours applying for jobs that they have no chance of landing because of age discrimination or application saturation.

Why are political leaders allowing this to continue? It seems we need a summit of sorts to attack this problem on multiple levels. Businesses need to be more fair in hiring and firing practices. That's not going to happen unless there is a mandate to clean up practices that have led us to this mess.

Where is the mainstream news media in all of this? The best reporting on the unemployment crisis seems to be on PBS and HBO, as well as some fringe publications and blogs. Everyone else seems to be trailing behind, like they did going into the Iraq war.

The documentary points out that the wealthy, in this case in ritzy Manhattan, don't really notice what's happening to the middle class yet. No surprise there. I would add that those who are currently employed, even at lower incomes, also don't have a full understanding of the situation. But with each passing day, more people are getting first-hand knowledge of the tragedy of prolonged unemployment. Even the rich will eventually feel the pain if no one is patronizing their businesses.

If those who are in their 50s don't get a fair chance to become reemployed soon, the next 15-20 years will transform this country into a sea of elderly welfare cases. Not a pretty picture. Those who are working will have to support the millions who haven't worked in years. The strain on social services and the deficit will spin out of control. There will be streets lined with senior citizens begging and living in tent cities - folks who once were tops in their fields. Close to Home profiles several people who are candidates for this sort of fall from grace.

President Obama likes to use the phrase "now is the time" when giving speeches. But it seems those were just campaign words. I don't see a sense of urgency in him when it comes to job creation or in enforcing age discrimination laws. Just enforcing labor laws alone would create a more level playing field for 50somethings. Instead, Obama seems to distance himself from the problems that are truly becoming a national disaster, maybe because he honestly has no viable solution. Or, like with other people of considerable privilege, any president would be too far from the problem to see what a hairstylist sees every day. If he really wants to give people hope, he must find a way to get people of all ages back to work.

The unemployment problem is moving closer to home each day. Companies need to do more to jump start business. They need to hire people and to give everyone a fair chance regardless of age. Government needs to play a role in the recovery, too, but not just by throwing around stimulus money. Small businesses need a break. This is a national emergency and needs to be treated as such. I don't have the answers. I just having a growing sense that more attention needs to be given to this problem so that millions of unemployed people aren't forgotten.

Like during the Great Depression, there are too many once-proud workers who aren't being given a chance. Companies are failing, stores are closing and tax rolls are declining. The American dream is turning into a nightmare for millions. The unemployed don't have ribbons or marches in Washington. But in terms of numbers and ramifications, I can't think of too many causes more in need of a cure.

NYT article shows job openings are still rare

For anyone who thinks the job market is getting better, or that employers are becoming more willing to hire people who want to make a transition from one field to another, read this New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/22hire.html

Unemployment statistics for the D.C. metro region were released this week. The numbers showed another slight increase in joblessness. Even in Northern Virginia, which remains relatively healthy compared with the rest of the country, unemployment was up. One has to wonder how long this will gone on before our entire society is transformed into something unrecognizable.

You can't escape technology

I like technology for the most part - particularly when it works. I know some folks my age or older stay clear of anything related to computers and can't even craft an e-mail. But I generally find technology to be just another creative tool at my disposal. Another way to communicate or receive information. As practical as a toaster in a sense.

Though I am far from the engineering type, I am fortunate to have always had an intuitive understanding of new software and various gadgets. While my budget doesn't allow me to buy every new thing that comes down the pike, my curiosity helps prevent me from feeling like I am ready for the glue factory and saves me some time when executing every-day tasks like job searching.

If, however, your comfort level with gadgets is limited to old 45-adapters (pictured), you probably aren't in a field that requires you to paginate a page or convert documents to PDFs. Or at least you shouldn't be.

There continues to be an ongoing struggle in many workplaces where older workers are resisting new technologies. That bothers me because folks over 50 are being painted with a broad brush as technical illiterates by young whipper-snappers who grew up with Nintendo controllers in their hands. In some cases, it's a deserving label. Everyone knows of someone who seemingly is always at war with their laptop or the printer. Usually, it's the old guy or gal in the corner cubicle, next to the coffee machine, with the foot-long calculator on their desk.

While technology can raise frustrations, it is also a huge time saver when used properly. That is very important in an age where companies need greater efficiencies with fewer employees. Unfortunately, some people never learn to use the scanner or the web cam. These folks tend to bog down operations because they insist on using "Stickies" rather than Instant Messaging. They want to scribble something you can't read on a faded message pad rather than send you an e-mail. And it gives all of us "baby boomers" a bad rep when it seemingly is always the people over a certain age. It's even worse when it's your boss! They don't seem to understand that their reluctance to enter the 21st century is making your work life miserable.

In an time when companies are looking for technical skills, it's good to know what an MP3 is or a JPEG. Having a skill like digital photo or video editing can open doors and it can also provide you with some pretty cool images of your grandchildren or your dream vacation. And all of this stuff is available to the "average Joe" on any home computer.

There really is no excuse not to be technically proficient. It doesn't mean you have to give up your vinyl records, but you should know what a Podcast is and how an iPod works if you want to stay relevant. These aren't cultural things like movies and clothing and other passing fads, which change with each generation. These are essentials of the workplace and items becoming as common as a 45-adapter was in 1965.

Now, some may ask, "What is a 45-adapter?"

Looking beyond the obvious when hiring

One of the most difficult things to do in searching for a job is to transition from one field to another. Even if professions are related, employers are less likely nowadays to give opportunities to job seekers wishing to utilize their skills in a slightly new venue. In this recession, employers can find exactly the skill-set and experience levels they want. They don't have to take a chance on someone outside of a particular field, even if that person appears to be a great fit.

I think that is a mistake for businesses. Without reaching beyond the normal borders, companies can tend to get a bit stale. Many journalists move from media to public relations. Because they have the communications and research skills, it's a natural move, and it benefits both the agency and the former journalist. But you don't see that kind of transition happening much anymore.

Going further back, to the mid-1900s, many folks made huge transitions. My grandfather was a farmer in New Jersey before landing a gig as a photographer for the New York Post. He got the job because he showed initiative in making a picture of a jailed organized crime boss. He sold the picture and himself to the Post. He didn't go to photography school. He just showed initiative and was handy with a camera.

My father went from truck driver to TV news cameraman. He did have to go to school for training, but doors opened quickly for him after he graduated because he was persistent and had a natural gift and personality for news photography.

I worked for an executive editor once who was a bartender for several years. He swore that that job helped prepare him for newspaper work better than any journalism school could have.

Old-time actors often tell stories of working as fast-food cooks or waitresses before making it big in Hollywood. They too were discovered by someone with a keen eye for talent and given a chance to blossom. No one was overly concerned about resumes back then.

While there are many opportunities in modern society, there is also a tendency for employers to pigeon hole people. I think this comes from laziness and lack of creative thinking more than anything else. The best companies try to seek talent in a variety of places. They also explore the various hidden skills and interests of people already on the payroll to see if they would be good candidates for a promotion or transfer to another office. If nothing else, this is good business. It keeps people motivated and productive.

Employers have a great opportunity right now to break out of the box in terms of hiring. There are many people looking for jobs who are eager to try something new, something they might even be better at than what they previously did for a living. New ideas and perspectives are also good for business. Just ask the "big three" in Detroit what the status quo can do to a business.

As we mature, we have a better understanding of ourselves and what we are best suited to do. For instance, many folks discover they are better at teaching than managing. But without employers giving people a chance, many folks will will go undiscovered. This isn't good for those individuals who are seeking work or for society as a whole.

Should I stay or should I go?

The Clash sang "Should I Stay or Should I Go," which in a recession takes on new meaning for many people. Unfortunately, this is no song. This is a profound question homeowners, and even renters, are asking themselves with greater frequency -- at least those who still have a choice.

Northern Virginia hasn't been hit quite as hard by the recession as other parts of the country. Unemployment figures are lower here. Housing prices haven't plummeted as steeply as they have in regions like South Florida or the Las Vegas area of Nevada. Northern Virginia benefits from being in the shadow of Washington D.C., where the federal government is a major employer and the private defense and technology industries keep humming along.

However, Northern Virginia has one major problem (besides traffic). The area is ridiculously expensive in terms of housing, and that is causing hardships for many more families than politicians and some business leaders around here care to admit to.

When I was laid off from USA Today last year, my immediate concern was how to pay the mortgage. My wife and I have pieced together a plan to keep us from losing our home for now, but there will come a time when we can only stretch our dollars so far and will have to move if I don't find a decent-paying, stable job. "Decent-paying" being the key phrase. The problem is, where do we move to if things do get worse?

There isn't an inexpensive town or county in this region. You can move out towards Manassas, Va., and probably pay a little less for a house or rental unit, but what you save by living that far out is wiped out by commuting costs. Most white-collar residents in Prince William County commute to D.C. or somewhere inside the beltway. The closest Metro train station to Manassas is in Vienna, Va., about 20 miles away, that often takes 90 minutes to get to because of traffic. Then it's another 45 minutes on the train to get into D.C. It doesn't make for a great quality of life.

We live close to Dulles Airport, on the border of Loudoun and Fairfax counties. There are plans to bring the Metro to this area, which will only drive up the cost of housing here.

If my wife and I are struggling to live here in recent months, in a modest townhouse, how does a young couple starting out afford a home in Northern Virginia? How do retires make ends meet in Northern Virginia? We would downsize even further, to a smaller townhouse, if we could save some money. But any townhouse or condo in this area would cost more than we currently owe on the home we bought in 2001. It doesn't make financial sense to downsize. Not here; not now.

There are good salaries to be made in Northern Virginia. That's probably why people keep coming to NoVa. Unfortunately, most of the jobs that are still paying well are in specialized fields. Lots of defense department contractors are hiring because of the now-constant threat of terrorism. Great if you have high-security clearance and a passion for that type of work. Not so great if you don't. The majority of other jobs, like school teachers, office workers, police officers and such, don't pay well enough to live comfortably in this area. Generally speaking, two incomes are required. And at least one of those incomes better be fairly high because two $30,000-a-year jobs isn't going to cut it in the Virginia suburbs.

Two doors down from us, a townhouse is in foreclosure. And another neighbor has taken in boarders to help pay the mortgage. A Realtor friend of ours has also informed us that there have been a lot of "short sales" in our area. That was news to us. Bad news. So even Northern Virginia isn't immune to this recession. And if these things are happening here, in an economically diverse area, I can only imagine how people must be suffering elsewhere.

During my job search, I have noticed a trend in which salaries seem to be going down. I have no scientific proof of this, but I believe more and more employers are paying entry-level wages to experienced people, or worse, not even hiring experienced folks. This might be OK in Detroit, where any jobs would be welcomed, but it won't suffice in Northern Virginia. In Detroit, you can buy a house for $10,000. No, I didn't leave off a zero. You can literally buy a house there for that price. In Northern Virginia, even in the worst areas, $10,000 wouldn't pay your rent for a year, let alone serve as down payment on a home.

The dilemma for anyone considering leaving Northern Virginia is that while they might be able to cut their housing costs by 75% by moving to Orlando, Fla., will they even be able to find a minimum-wage job once they get there? It seems staying or going have considerable risks, which is why many people are just trying to ride out the storm, hoping that clearer skies are approaching. I often wonder about that strategy and if it's delaying the inevitable. Just as people are leaving pricey areas in California, will Northern Virginians begin abandoning ship? Will the D.C. suburbs become nothing more than bedroom communities for federal workers?

Why blog?

By nature, I am not a self-indulgent person. Blogging, like other online social interactions, takes a degree of openness, which I have been accused of not always possessing. It requires exposing your thoughts about the past, your interests in the future and an array of other topics that might come across as either trite or fascinating, depending on your audience and the subject of the day. Blogging requires thinking what you have to say is of some importance to someone. It's an act that some call a waste of time while others paint it as essential in a technological society where new ways of connecting with each other keep us from becoming too isolated.

I began blogging for several practical reasons. I was looking for a job and getting involved in various social and professional networking sites as a way of expanding my search. Blogging was just another way of having an online presence so that employers would see that I am competent on digital platforms. I used digital tools in my years at USA Today. I can write and create visuals. So blogging seemed like a natural fit. It keeps me in the game, sort of speak. It's fun to see comments come in and for followers to join the blog. Being a journalist, it's almost mandatory to have a blog, regardless of what the blog is about. These are all good reasons, I suppose, to blog.

The downside to blogging is that it makes me feel too self-absorbed. My tendency would be to blog about heavy, meaningful topics that seek change, but I know no one would want to read those too often. Most people want to read happy stuff or be entertained or informed in some amusing manner. In general, they don't want to read about what I think Thomas Jefferson was saying when he spoke of the dangers of corporations.

I meander around on here, trying to hone my online-writing skills and looking for ways to broaden my audience in order to justify the time spent writing these posts. In a digital world, these aren't bad goals to have. All kinds of businesses are trying to tap into the powers of the web. There are opportunities for those who embrace online technologies. Information is power. Doors open for those who use these tools.

Still, with that said, it's a fine line for someone like me to walk. On one hand, a blog is what it sounds like. A crude stream of throw-away thoughts. On the other hand, to not blog or interact on Facebook is to limit one's exposure to various new opportunities. When someone "Googles" your name, it's important that something (preferably something good) comes up so that potential employers can get a sense of you and your willingness to take advantage of digital venues. I maintain my old band's YouTube site so that other musicians might get a glance into what sort of band I might want to form in the future. Again, it's a tool.

I suppose people have different reasons for blogging. Mine are to remain a player. To learn a few things along the way about posting video or creating polls. To tap into ideas and innovations. I dislike the feelings of being self-centered but recognize that those feelings go with the territory.

Odds and ends

My two picks to make it to the Super Bowl - the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens - are each 3-0 and won by large margins on Sunday ... After losing to the hapless Detroit Lions, I can only conclude that the Washington Redskins have far too many low-character players who are only interested in getting paid ... The New York Yankees clinching the AL East against the rival Boston Red Sox this weekend was sweet, but certainly not the ultimate goal for a team that has won 26 world championships ... My daughter and her husband were in Florida this weekend, attending an event at Disney World and sparking my memories of when she (pictured above) was a tad bit younger and living in the Sunshine State ... It appears that next week's episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm will start the ball rolling on the Seinfeld reunion ... Best German beer and brats in the area: Doner Bistro in Leesburg, Va.

Sunday, bloody Sunday

Sunday mornings are humbling times. It's when I and many other Virginians file our weekly claims for unemployment benefits. Apparently, even though my regular 26 weeks of payments have been exhausted, I have to continue filing in order to qualify for an extension, which is probably still weeks away. In the meantime, there is no money coming in and a lot of savings going out.

Unemployment takes a little bit of the joy out of everything. The opening day of the football season isn't quite the same this year. There are bigger worries than who wins the Giants-Redskins game to deal with. I am spilling my own blood, in a way, and am not all that enthusiastic about watching others on the gridiron doing the same. But I will watch the game, and it will serve as somewhat of a distraction, hopefully.

Sometimes the worries are on the surface, while other times they are just a dull hum in the background of my thoughts. It's like walking through life waiting on the lab results from a biopsy on a tumor. You don't know whether the tumor is benign and something you can live with, or whether it's something that may eventually kill you.

Being unemployed, per se, isn't the worst of it. Being ignored by employers is what really bothers and mystifies me. It defies logic, regardless of the state of the economy. It robs unemployed folks of hope. If I was at least getting interviews now and then, I could believe that eventually I would be employed again. Without those interviews, or even phone calls or e-mail responses, it is quite a leap of faith to think that things will turn for the better.

The confidence I once had that I would eventually find another job has faded considerably. I applied to the perfect job recently. Perfect in terms of matching up with my experience and skills to the work. It was a job in which I had every single qualification they required. And it was a long list of diverse requirements. Yet, I met or exceeded all of them. I really wanted to interview for this job, despite it probably paying half of what I previously earned. I made it clear in my cover letter that salary was not an issue for me.

The job was local, so I figured I would at least get an interview. But like with the hundreds of other jobs that I've applied for, I haven't heard back from the employer. I also have a way of determining whether this particular employer even looked at my resume. They didn't. I know I write competent cover letters, so why didn't this employer bother to review my resume? What did they detect that prevented from considering my qualifications?

It's a few hours until kickoff and the sun has returned to Northern Virginia today. I try to appreciate these simple things and live more in the moment, but I also know there is a dark cloud on horizon that is getting more difficult to ignore.

Every picture tells a story

I don't know a lot about this photograph. I found it on the Internet a few years ago.

I know that my grandfather, Anthony Calvacca, is the man pictured second from the right. He was the chief photographer of the New York Post, but is without his camera in this picture. I assume he's in the company of other newspaper folks and perhaps their spouses. Most everyone called him Tony.

Obviously, this group of people is on a boat or ferry, presumably somewhere around New York City. From the style of clothing and the apparent age of my grandfather, I am guessing this picture was taken in the late 50s or early 60s.

My grandfather, and later my father (a news cameraman for WNBC and WABC), were Big Apple-media guys, each with their own unique stories and colorful experiences.

My father, Michael Calvacca, was in Time magazine for getting in fight with another television station news crew during a union dispute. Another story for another day. He also came to the rescue of Mason Reese, while doing a story about the child actor. Reese evidently was being harassed on the street by a mean-spirited passerby. My father won an Emmy and was pretty highly regarded in New York City media circles. He was friends with on-camera personalities such as sportscaster Marv Albert. When he died, WABC aired a 90-second obit/dedication at the end of the evening newscast. That's a lot of air time to give to one of your own.

My grandfather was a newspaper guy in the grittiest, street-wise sense. His photographs often appeared on the front of the tabloid. He was fearless in making great images. He helped friends and relatives get into the business. It was an era when friends helped other deserving friends get a job.

I know a lot less about my grandfather's career, but I do remember that when he retired, Mayor Beame held a farewell dinner at City Hall for him. Not bad for a newspaper photographer without an education and who worked on a family farm in New Jersey early in his life.

My career in journalism has been a bit different. Less glamorous, among other things.

I entered the newspaper business about the time it was transitioning from sort of a blue-collar, rough-and-tumble industry, to a more corporate, college-educated profession. It was an adjustment for me because of what my first-hand view of what journalism was before the locker room mentality of newsrooms was cleaned up. During my time at newspapers, journalism became more corporate. Like in many other businesses, you got ahead by playing the game more than by what you knew or how hard you worked.

But there is one unfortunate thing I share with my father and grandfather. We all were laid off or forced to retire too early.

My father was laid off from WNBC after winning an Emmy. Television news reports were transitioning from film to video tape in the 70s. There was no longer a need for the artful cameramen who documented news stories in the field in a similar manner to the way classic movies were filmed. Any schmuck with a video camera could create images by simply pointing a camera at a burning building or any other news event. And they could do it for far less money than the film craftsmen. Of course, the creativity and quality of video tape couldn't compete with film. But film itself was far too expensive. Tape was a bargain. Plus, the bean counters calculated that the average TV newscast viewer probably didn't care about quality. Our culture was quickly moving to a fast-food mentality across the board. You saw it in music, movies and even the nightly newscasts.

Fast forward to 2009 and look at all the video on so-called news web sites. The quality and composition is horrible, yet everyone within the industry runs around patting themselves on the backs like they are all a bunch of Frederico Fellini proteges. There isn't anything artful or even journalistic about most amateur video streaming online.

So while the technology improves, the creative capabilities continue to get watered down. Maybe one day the art of visual journalism will return, but for now, we're stuck with "citizen journalists" with camera phones because someone in power has determined that that is what will make their web sites profitable. Those who once aspired to be National Geographic photographers probably should look into wedding photography gigs.

My grandfather was pushed into retirement, not because he couldn't make compelling pictures anymore, but because he was no longer the future. I don't recall how old he was at the end, but I sure know he didn't want to call it quits. I remember stories about the dishonorable tactics the new owners of the New York Post used to get rid of anyone over a certain age. Despite my grandfather's unbelievable work ethics and dedication, not to mention ability to make pictures that helped put the Post on top back in the day, he was sent packing.

I see my grandfather in this black and white picture, on top of the world, and rubbing elbows with New York City's movers and shakers. I don't know the exact context of the picture, but I do know what it feels like to have the respect of others in your field. I see respect in that photograph.

USA TODAY let me go at age 51. As I outlined in an August posting, the circumstances of my being laid off stunk and involved more than just age. I am in a fairly profound jam as a result of one or two trivial-minded people making irrational decisions at a time when it's not good to be without a job. I turn 52 later this month. I don't feel that old because I am still very much involved in everything from new technologies to blasting away on my Stratocaster guitar through my Marshall amplifier. But those are hobbies, not a career.

Predictions of employment continuing to climb are reported almost daily. The newspaper business is in trouble and other businesses aren't doing much better. I, like so many other Americans, am just fighting to survive one day at a time, hoping that someone will see the many benefits I could bring to their business.

When I say survive, I do literally mean survive.

My grandfather died a short time after he was forced into retirement. He once told me, with a certain resignation in his voice, that there is only so much golf he could play. In my case, there is only so much blogging I can do or rock bands I can form or join.

My father got cancer a couple years after his layoff and died in his 50s. His passion was golf, much like my grandfather's. It wasn't enough to keep him healthy during his period of unemployment.

You can imagine some of the thoughts that run through my mind as I try to get back into the workplace. But when I look at that photograph, I come to realize something else. Nothing lasts forever. Our time on this planet is very short. Our time on top of our careers is even shorter. The concept of fairness in the workplace is as obsolete as film in a news camera. There is no rule that says just because I went to college, had an outstanding track record during my career, that I can't end up living on the streets in five or 10 years.

Yes, 50something is too young to not be working. I have so much to offer now that I didn't when I was in my 20s or 30s. Seasoning, perspective, a mountain of skills and life experience to name a few. Assets that could help any company make money. Trying to convince employers of that is quite a challenge these days. When I was in my 20s and 30s, and didn't have much versatility, all I needed to do to find work was send out a few resumes. Boy, what an upside-down world.

I don't want to give up on journalism quite yet, even though some say I should. It's hard to walk away from something that has been in your blood. I don't like the trends I see in journalism, but rather than criticize them in a blog, I would prefer to be part of the solution in a job. Whether I get another shot or not remains as big a mystery as that photograph of my grandfather.

Jury is out on online networking

As Labor Day weekend winds down, I was wondering how many people actually find jobs via online social or professional networking. The first thing I was told to do when I was laid off was to get involved as much as possible with various networking sites. I joined everything I could and have participated in professional online discussions on a regular basis. Recently, I started this blog just to step things up a bit. Short, meaningless blurbs on Twitter just isn't my style. But I am truly immersed in this stuff.

Has it been worth it? Am I more likely to be hired or do I appear more tech savvy because of saturation networking? I think the jury is still out, but a verdict is nearing.

I am wondering whether online networking actually produces results for job seekers. Nine months into this and all I get for all my online interactions is the occasional "hang in there" or generic advice about seeking out freelance jobs. I also get a ton of junk mail now, mostly from insurance companies trying to get me to sell policies on commission. Even less reputable scams have filled my inbox since I have thrown my hat into sites like CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com. Those are job sites and not networking sites, per se, but they still seem as ineffective as the interactive, social sites. Even targeted job databases, like journalismjobs.com, seem fairly ineffective.

Yes, sites like LinkedIn are interesting and sort of provide a way to stay in the conversation through smart interactive options, but does anyone have any data on how many people are hired through networking on LinkedIn or any other site or database? Perhaps it depends on the field one is in. As a journalist, I haven't had any luck, but that could be because journalism is hurting right now. Yet, every media company nowadays demands that reporters and editors have web-savvy knowledge and skills. Having those things, however, is no guarantee that you will find or keep your job. You can seemingly get fired just as easily for spending too much time on Facebook as too little time on it. I often find myself wishing we could go back to judging potential job candidates on their work ethics, abilities, talents, intelligence and not on whether they know how to type with their thumbs or make smiley faces in messages sent from their iPhones.

You can Google my name and find out almost anything about me, from my musical interests to my vast professional experiences. You can find videos of my bands on YouTube. You can read my old newspaper clips and see which states I've lived in. You can view pages that I have helped design or read numerous professional recommendations of me written by my former colleagues. Yet, despite this significant online presence, I have not always felt that plastering myself all over the Internet has been time well spent.

Are social and professional networking sites truly benefiting anyone other than the people who profit from these things? Are some employers placing too much weight on whether you actively blog or have a MySpace profile? I guess as I continue to blog and interact on other sites, I will discover whether there are practical benefits to spending so much time online.

A good site for professional networking

For those who belong to LinkedIn.com, you know that there is a section on the home page that tells you how many people have looked at your profile. It changes every few days to reflect updated numbers, but reads like this:

"Your profile has been viewed by 11 people in the last 7 days. In the last 30 days, you have appeared in search results 11 times."

As a non-paying member, you aren't told exactly who has examined your profile. When you click through to the list, it will only show five or so various organizations or companies that these folks belong to, but won't name the exact people or show the complete, albeit vague, list of who took a peek at your stuff. So for instance, one of the people who might have viewed my profile will only be identified as "an editor at Gannett." Because there are hundreds of editors working at Gannett, that really doesn't tell me much. If the message says 15 people viewed my profile, it will still only list a handful of them and the organizations they are employed by or titles they hold. Still, it won't name them. Left to you to guess who the others might be associated with.

It's sometimes maddening because curiosity can get the best of you. Why is a "soccer coach in Brazil" or a "a health professional in Montana" looking at my profile? And who are these people? Long-lost roommates from college? Or might they have a job for me? Did they mistake me for another Mick Calvacca -- as if there are a lot of those in Loudoun County, Va. Most of the time you just don't know.

Still, LinkedIn is a good tool for networking professionals. It's better than most sites for job seekers looking to connect with folks in various industries. It will even suggest people you might want to have as a "connection" based on your profession and contacts you or they know. You can join different discussion groups, such as alumni associations, find former colleagues or connect with people who share similar occupational or educational interests. Despite the intentionally mysterious listing of who is checking you out, I would recommend this site to anyone who is seeking a job or is interested in keeping up with news from various companies or colleges. I would also suggest jumping into discussions now and then.

By the way, you can get a more complete list of the people who are looking at your profile by getting a paid membership. I haven't done that. I figure if someone wants to identify themselves and contact me, they know where to find me. My contact information, resume and references are on the site. I am very thankful to the nine former colleagues who posted their recommendations of me on LinkedIn. Having that capability is another nice feature. It allows potential employers to read what your former coworkers and ex-bosses have to say about you.