On Grad School and More on Food Addiction

I read Penelope Trunk's blog post on Grad School. I want to say I am inclined to agree with her. However, she misses one very important factor:

The job market is shit.
I have a job that doesn't even pay me enough to make payments on my student loans. I am not alone. Several friends are their, too. The idea of slogging in a bookshop or coffee shop, assuming they are even hiring, after slogging through four years of bullshit, doesn't sound fun for anyone.

And make no illusion, we need barristas and bookstore clerks. Somebody needs to pull the levels and oil the camshafts of society. Just ask Mike Rowe.

But that's not what people went to school for, now, is it?

Maybe it's a fools game, going to school for something less marketable than engineering. Might as well, I think, not even go to college.

Except for one problem: Ever apply for a job?

In this down-turned economy, only the shit jobs - the McDonald's, the Burger Kings, and the Subways, are hiring at entry-level.. And why would they hire someone with a degree when they can hire someone without one, and therefore no expectation of higher wage.

Every employer, including restaurants, want experience. But where the hell are you supposed to get experience if you don't allow entry level positions? Remember that job you had in High School waiting tables? That is actually more useful than your college degree in some cases.

Un-freaking-believable.

I read a job advertisement that asked for 40 years of networking experience. That was 3 years ago. That means you needed to work on computer networking in 1968

Yeah, I'm a part of the team that built ARPANET

News flash, companies. You don't need a degree to do 2/3rds the jobs out there. And for those of you say "but it teaches critical thinking and sticking to tasks.' So did High School, when I went there. And, 3 months on a job - the (0 day probationary period- will tell you if someone can do it or is a fuck-up.

I don't mean to swear, but running away from the job market may be stupid, but I contend "What Job Market?"

This rant is getting kind of long, so I guess I will just comment on that.

Go ahead, waste money on Grad School. By the time you are out, maybe things will look different.

I can't, I ain't got none to waste!

The world is changing. Work is no longer like our parents or our parents-parents. We are starting to work on project-based markets. But we still want these projects cheaper, unless you can market it with value-added services and subscription services.

Ugh. All that newsspeak made me vomit a little.

I realize this rant doesn't exactly belong here. I suppose it's about grad school.

Diet today:

Morning: Chicken

Fell Asleep, woke up in a diabetic fugue. Had an ounce of Olive Oil to cure it.

3 brats without buns

And... *sigh* 6 Little Debbie oatmeal pies.

I feel sick, but briefly it felt good.

If that's not food addiction, I don't know what is.

Anyway, I'll keep on keeping on.

I'll start the Flash Diet, where I photograph everything I eat, when I get a phone. However, shame doesn't stop me from eating like a Jackass, so I don't know what will.