It seems to reason that when the new health care plan is fully implemented, there will be some arbitrary decisions. I dare say certain sick or elderly people will only get the care determined by a yet unknown part, because, after all, these are the ones it costs the most to treat. Sarah Palin was chastised for pointing out "death panels" but how can it not be something like this?
     It seems there is a similar bias going on now in the world, and many companies would deny it. There is blatant age discrimination in job hunts, but proving it is almost futile. Companies want younger, more tech savvy people who theoretically will cost a company less. But often, they don't ask what a 50+ person would want in a salary.
     Surely those of us over 50 have much to offer - experience, contacts, etc., but the options for us who bear the label "older" are limited at best. The trick is convincing companies first they ARE discriminating and there are good, employable people who can help their business.
   

      It's amazing how God works in our lives. I've been on the career hunt for many months now, trying to find myself. Although I'm still a ways from nailing down the next career choice, God has given me a vision, that while vague, ironically gives me a direction to pray. Right now I'm writing down the brief vision and developing thoughts as if to advise others on what God is doing in this vision.
 I realize that the one being advised at present is me.
       For now, I'll keep the details of the vision to myself, and perhaps a select few. The vision is one that shows open-ended potential and as I'll be praying to see how to best fill and fulfill the potential God wants me to use.
     

What will it take to wake people up? There is wide-spread drought in the country - post-Isaac rains notwithstanding. There have been numerous serious wildfires. Last year there were several serious tornadoes. There always seems to be an earthquake somewhere, which sometimes also brings a devastating tsunami.
    Outside of these disasters, there are world-wide economic problems, and solid values that are being changed.
     Folks, God is trying to get our attention. He's calling for us to repent from our wayward ways and turn to His holy ways. God is patient and forgiving, but his patience will only last so long. Don't test it to see how long it will last. Turn to God's leadership and eternal hope in Jesus Christ before it's too late.
    Unfortuantely, things can - and according to the Bible - will get worse. Now is the time to secure a future with God.

I have not been able to see as much of the Republican Convention as I hoped. The little bit I've seen has some impressive words - from the speakers. However, why doesn't the national media go ahead and just come out and endorse the candidates they want? You really aren't fooling many people. One network I've watched sure doesn't seem unbiased. As this is the Republican Convention, none of the speakers - in the national media reports I've heard, has been good, properly informed, correct, dressed well enough, or presented themselves in the right way.
    With the exception of Fox - who I have not watched in months - we can guess that the next convention will be stunning, spectacular, and the speakers hit every issues correctly, in the eyes of the national media. I suspect if you gave two speakers of opposing political parties the same speech, the networks would swoon over their side, but the other guy was just short of being a loser.

I was just watching some Rachael Ray this afternoon. She was cooking up a modern day tuna surprise, or as she called it, a grown-up version that includes mushrooms, and wine and all kinds of stuff. I guess I haven't watched many cooking shows before, or maybe it just happens with heres, but as she was naming some of the ingredients - tarragon for example, the audience started applauding.
     Now was the crowd really that excited about tarragon? It's a fine spice and I've used it in some of my amateur cooking, but I never thought about applauding it. Maybe the crowd was still giddy about the use of wine (which as I recall also drew applause). MAybe they were just tickled to se RR in person
   And now a disconnected thought. RR is the same initials of the character played nby the late Gildna Radner Roseanne Roseanandanna.
   Is it right to applaud the mention of spices and ingredients at a food cooking show? Is it wrong? What am I missing. On by the way, I made homemade bread today, and one of the ingredients was brown sugar. Yes, thank you. I hear your applause.

Having been active in job searches for months, here are some of my general comments on job searches:
• Skills seem to be more impotent than where you worked in the past.
• However, if you are looking for a new job, you generally will need to have experience in the business to be considered. This makes career changes difficult, when people want to go a new way.
• There is a disturbing trend of pay by commission,without inclusion of a base salary. Even the best salesman doesn't sell to everyone and it can mess up a budget.
• In an effort to sound impressive, many job titles have been upscaled. This makes it difficult to find about the job responsibilities.
• Equally frustrating are companies that list 10-20 requirements and then add something like "other tasks as requested." It seems in this down-sizing mentality, companies want employees that can do everything in a company and be willing to work for minimum wage.
• There are so many applications that are time consuming - time wasting if you aren't hired.
• Government requires the W4-, I-9, and other forms, and many ask the same information. Isn't there a way these can be standardized and simplified?
• It's harder to keep the SS# private, since so many companies require it. One can only assume the reader of every application and form is legit and honest.
• For on-line applications, applicants generally have to impress the computer instead of the HR at the company with matching words in the job description. One can only guess some of those skilled at doing this that really aren't cut out for the work assigned, but have matched computer selected words.

Maybe it's just MacIntosh computers (Macs) or maybe it's other computers, too. I don't often use PCs so I can't judge. Sometimes I hit the back space and I get a message that says something to the effect of  "Are you sure you want to do this? If so another form will have to be sent." It almost makes me feel guilty, like I am inconveniencing someone. Surely a personal computer hasn't become that personal that  it takes it personally when I back space to a previous page. Anybody else have a comment on this (or the other blogs).