Labor Day 2010

Above, Armand with his "third job." Photo by Amber Vaquer.

So today's Labor Day.

For many people, it isn't a day of celebration. The economy is stalled (some say it is getting worse). The latest unemployment figures had it inched up to 9.6%. The actual unemployment figure is probably 17-19%, which are people who have given up looking for work, those who have taken part-time work or jobs for much lower pay, etc.

The Obama Administration called this the "summer of recovery." Not much of a recovery, is it? This is the worst recession in my lifetime. Bad as it was, it was made even worse by congress and the Obama Administration. Now we're saddled with huge debt.

As for me, Labor Day is an opportunity to reflect on my job situation. I should be working full-time as an insurance claims examiner. However, since the insurance industry is so tied in with the financial markets of Wall Street, it is in the doldrums with very little hiring (some areas have no hiring). I am grateful that I have an insurance claims job with an independent adjuster, even though the work is sporadic. One week I can be socked with lots of work. And then I may get nothing in the following week. That's why I have to work in Malibu (can't complain about the scenery, though) as a security patrol officer (what I call my parachute job). That's to guarantee that my bills are paid and have a roof over my head. At least with the work that I am doing in claims, my adjusting skills are kept fine-tuned.

A few years ago, my claims supervisor used to wonder why I would go to the target range every six months to do my re-qualification shoot for my firearms permit (better security jobs are obtained if one has a firearms permit). I told him those permits are hard to get and it is better to maintain them because one never knows when it might be needed. He sees my point now. He got laid off a few months after I did.

Promoting and filling orders for The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan can be considered my third job. If I don't have any claims work to do and in my spare time, I concentrate on that.

The job picture is bleak. The order of the day is survival. I can't criticize someone who took a menial or "hamburger-flipper" kind of job even though they are qualified for a much more substantial occupation. Just be grateful to have a job, period!

I am, therefore, grateful for the sources of income I have. Even though I'm not exactly living "high on the hog," at least I am not on public assistance either. The next few months will be better as I will be getting income from the farm property I inherited.

The glimmer of real hope (not that phoney "hope and change" slogan that hoodwinked the voters in 2008) is coming up in the November elections. If the GOP re-takes the House and Senate, we may have a chance to get policies that will actually lead the country into real recovery. The template for recovery is the Reagan policies of the 1980s.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan in 1980:

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats lose theirs!

Happy Labor Day!