As the mortgage world turns

...and burns. Sprout Mortgage closed yesterday, 7/6/2022. And it wasn't pretty. And it wasn't kind.

The way this company left it's workers out in the cold is what makes people run away screaming when someone says ' mortgage job'. Harry Santos trying to make amends to the I don't know how many countless people affected post on LinkedIn was commendable.

After 157 days self quarantined, I'm working in mortgage again... I got a job.

Working under a clerical contract as a supervisor for USCIS where there were people with 20, even 30+ years tenure more than me should have been a big, bright flashing neon sign that I wouldn't stay for long. I was a federal contractor there for two CAPS and three different employers and then the SCOSS contract flipped to new companies. Then I was hired back as a temp (in reserve for a supervisor position, but working for the senior analyst). I found another job before they gave me the boot at the 6-month mark.

And then Coronavirus struck. And they just started to implement the new seating arrangement when I quit on March 16th. And then my new employer said, "don't come in" and rescinded their offer.

I was out of work for a total of 157 days. It took me a month to get hired on at my new job. I started to look hard in July because I did not want to be without a job by the time my unemployment insurance ran out.

I'm working in a newly expanded post-closing department. The tasks are nothing new to me though and I'm getting to learn Encompass which seems to be a skill every employer is looking for these days. And the best part it's 5 miles away from home and it's a open schedule as long as I work 8 hours and get my work done.

Where's the money? Is it coming??

If you are unemployed in California...

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/unemployment-checks-with-600-boost-rolling-out-this-week/2272524/

So it's supposed to be your UI award plus $600 per week for four months.

My max award started on 3/22/2020.

About the federal stimulus check:

https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/economic-impact-payments

A one-time payment of $1200 for single status filers, no dependents. My son's father owes me back child support so his federal stim money is supposed to go to me, even if he considers himself disabled. We'll see how that plays out.

Today is day 26 staying at home with no job and I've seen no money yet. I mean, I'm marking it on my calendar each morning.

The countdown begins. T-minus three days and counting...

Posted on a friend's Facebook page on 03/17/2020 because he's a coder in WA who's been virus sequestered by his employer and is now working from home until further notice:

Greetings from California! 
It's all doom and gloom at the federal contractor job having to be reminded of COVID-19, the need for ritualistic hand washing and social distancing (and here society thought that we internet nerds got social isolation all wrong-now it's a positive thing and considered self-preserving, HA!) on CDC signs posted every 6 feet or so. Today, my employer issued a proclamation that we can take 10 consecutive days off from work if we or a family member gets sick with no pay and without losing our jobs. I don't know if I should be happy or sad about that, to be honest, but I don't care all that much because Thursday is my last day. I start the new job Monday. Three-day weekend - here I come!

---end.

I like this photo I found on the internet of the path through the forest and the sunshine shining through. It reminds me to look forward and to stay positive because something better is coming on my journey through life.

I previously told my bosses boss, "I'm not staying for this (working on reports for less than I was making before and on a temp contract with no union safety net like the other clerks.) That temp contract ends on 5/02/2020 and I was not going to be one to be laid off yet again. I did two years as a federal contractor as of March 15th and it looks like that's maybe the end of the road for me there because having so many with tenure there precludes me from being retained. Whatever. It's not the end of the world for me and I'll be happy not having to deal with 430-some odd peoples germies all in the same office space every day handling their paperwork. It's literally an incubator of sickness waiting to develop at a moment's notice. Even though not protected from the coronavirus, I'm so glad that this past year was the first year I got the flu vaccine in September and I haven't got sick yet.

Was training two more clerks to work on the reports on the PM shift and one more on the morning shift. Was joking with the reports analyst, "So it appears that it will take three clerks to replace me." Heh. 

Turning Left or Right?

Driving towards Los Angeles, if you take the 22 West exit with the intention of going into Long Beach near Alamitos Bay, the first exit is Studebaker to the right and then you turn left. At the end of Studebaker, you come to 2nd Street. You can't drive forward anymore because there is no more road. It's a fenced-off field of scrub, weeds and random palm trees next to the San Gabriel River Wash that leads out to the Pacific. In order to continue your trip, you have to make a decision: turn left or right.

And I find this is kind of a parallel story to what my life is like right now. I worked in finance and in the mortgage industry. I  took a road that was different, working in the file room as a contractor/Supervisor for a year and a half at USCIS, but it was at the end of that organization's five- year contract, really due to no fault of my own and just shear decisions to retain those with the more tenure, I came to its intersection in the last week of  November of last year when I was laid off for a brief moment.  I have to think that it was my boss that saved me from the unemployment rolls temporarily for another 6 months due to others retiring and moving on to other more permanent roles at USCIS in Adjudication, Naturalization, and Asylum. (And I'm not convinced in the least that his subordinate was enthused about any of these changes/decisions in the least. Which is an entirely another discussion I won't get into now.) I thought I was going to go drive down a different road turning left or right which I was OK with, but I  also came to terms with the fact that I knew my health was paramount, so work gave me this shitty narrow path with a significant pay cut and what I find out now is crappier health insurance coverage (worse than I even had when I paid for it myself on the CA Healthcare Exchange) to keep traveling on their path. Don't think that I'm not grateful, I am, I just don't like what I've become at this point and I have no control over it. My boss does. Until the end of the contract or until I get a better job, whichever comes first.

It's the beginning of March and I want this to be over on my terms and not be laid off on May 2nd. I've been applying to jobs that pay more than what I'm earning now just to have the satisfaction and be able to say that," I'll be O.K... my new job pays more than this place", and to build up my self-confidence knowing that I've made changes mid-career and have come back from being jobless before and I can do it again.

At this point in my life though, I'm fairly cynical and retrospective about work which doesn't really help and the economy is one that has tamped down on hourly wages hard. I've sat on the other side of that hiring desk trying to figure out how well that candidate can fill the role. Do you pick someone with a degree who had never did the role before and train or do you hire someone with experience and pay for it? The decision is out of my hands.

And I'm wary about recruiters. The last time I got involved with one of those,  I took a job in Simi Valley as a federal contractor to Fannie Mae right after Countrywide defaulted and Bank of America was buying them but not before the credit crunch of Oct '08. It was a strange time to be where I was and watch it all happen.

I've been contacted by no less than three recruiters. None of the first two seem sustaining. The third one is intriguing, but can I make that hard left turn and continue on?

Job Progress Report 3/16

I'm two weeks into a contractor position and I'm loving it. I'm back in to file room operations and supervision. The big project drops in another two weeks. It's what I was hired for and they allowed me to start early during to ramp up.

Earlier this year, a colleague reminded me that one of my goals was to become the county recorder. Isn't it interesting that others sometimes hold you more accountable than maybe you do yourself.

A Great Read: Poor Millennials

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/poor-millennials/

Touches on so many reasons and factors why we are where we are today.

I'm O.K.

Reading this made me feel a little bit better about my decision to quit AAG back in March. 

Serious Boss Advice

I'm not an expert communicator, but I felt something was wrong and that I needed to move away from that feeling. I'm glad I left.

My feeling better, less stressful, enjoying Good Friday because I quit my job yesterday life in Orange County!

There are ways to leave a job gracefully and then there are sometimes when you have to save yourself and just walk away. Yesterday, I quit after 6 months.

My accomplishments: I hired 3, fired 1, promoted 2, trained 3. I recognized gross risk issues surrounding safekeeping of original notes in case binders and had purchased fire-proof cabinets for storage. I wrote the compliance draft for safekeeping records... because they didn't have one. I suggested an electronic key card for the file storage room when I first arrived, but I was told it was too expensive. Once the new CRO was hired, it's back on the table, but with a wood door... to save money - so clueless. I started a collateral workbench project to take the #1 funder of reverse mortgages off of spreadsheets to track collateral prep between funding and shipping. I started the discussion about record retention and found out the table was out of date and they were sited for it at least once. BCP is out of date 3 years. I started to work on MERS 3 weeks ago after a visit from the relationship manager, and come to find out no reconciliation of the rejects, warnings, RI and RH reports have been done for years.( Probably since Margarita Harrison left the department. Last year, I found her at Carrington supervising a group of reviewers recertifying B of A Ginnie Mae correspondent collateral after B of A publically got slapped on the hand by Ginnie Mae for non-compliance.) I started to socialise the fact that they don't have to pay for registering mini-corr loans in MERS because the company not only has to pay the registration fee but puts them on the hook also for the MERS compliance. I organized the MERS project. I gained control over the MERS training and MERS production accounts. I set-up the security correctly and reactivated the secure questions. I created collateral qa check sheets for retail, wholesale and Advantage lines of business because again... they had none. I revised the hoc shipping desktop procedures. I ordered more carts to move files traveling through three floors of office space. My group took in processing collateral for the Wholesale group, including correspondent and mini corr (PA) loans. I enforced the clean desk policy in the suite. I gained control over the Iron Mtn account. I stabilized the file storage data and archived data for loan files stored at Iron Mountain. I collaborated across departments - with Facilities to promote safety and security, with File Management to reconcile workbenches and missing documents from the loan file, with funding to ID, log and deliver closing packaged and follow-up docs to the funders daily.

I learned what a HECM can do for 62+ seniors that have enough equity in their homes to access it, otherwise if short to close get nothing. After appraisal if their repairs cost money they don't have, get nothing. Many seniors are under the assumption that if they get a reverse mortgage, they don't have to pay taxes and insurance anymore, but that is not the case. Because HECM loans under their state's loan limit threshold are FHA insured, they pay upfront MIP a year in advance, plus recurring taxes, insurance and are required to keep up the home to FHA standards.Heirs can have the home if they pay back all disbursements plus high interest, otherwise it's sold and any work done to make it sellable is charged back to the dead borrower's heirs, because, hey, it's a violation of the terms of the deal.

What it came down to was I had a manager that hung her hat on quality assurance and knew little about the business and compliance side of post closing. She's never reviewed the custody agreements the team delivers to so she doesn't even know what's the right thing to do. She was excluded from new business meetings and didn't know or care enough to ask as it came down the pipeline, she sat on her hands before I got there and did nothing about the lack of department PNP, the MERS mismanagement, the need to secure original documents and the guidelines surrounding them until someone pointed it out to her. I even saw it in action in one of the record retention project meetings when before we got started, the discussion was about HUD petr reviews and she didn't know that the de underwriter would be dinged if the loan was deemed incurable, defective and uninsurable. She thought a broken loan is broken and just a loss to the company (period). She flooded the Santa Ana HOC with loans that didn't clear MIP and then they called her on it after I complained for two days. A strategic move she said. To see how loud and how many times I would complain about it because each one was landing on the reports my team was processing? Change management skills were minimal. She'd get a directive to change all of our collateral processes because one new warehouse wanted it a certain way. What? I called her on it and because she had called all of us in her office, I had to be tactful about it and come to find out I was right. And there was no thank you, how did you know, or empowerment over any of that. I described working for her as a white water rapid ride and every time I didn't get the information needed to do my job, I felt like I was getting bumped hard to the side of the boat almost being thrown overboard. It was a gut feeling, and I should of listened to my gut sooner, I should of stopped and thought that it was weird after the manager of the dept who worked under her up and quit and then I was called for a lesser role. Hind sight... She kept telling me I was slow to manage my staff and staff attendance problems. Well, slow just came to a hard stop yesterday. And I don't have to deal with it or her anymore.

W/e 03/20/16

My head is in a bunch of different places this Sunday morning.

I've received papers in the mail to execute in order to releave my obligation to the timeshare condo I bought and don't choose to maintain anymore. That's good news. It's value went from the high of $7k which was what I paid in 1999 down to today's assessor's value of $502. It's value is so low now, the county doesn't even bother to send the tax bill anymore.

I'm contemplating whether or not I want to stay at my job. I've gained ReverseVision, HECM, FHA, Ginnie Mae and advanced MS Excel experience in the seven months since I've started. There was a sobering statistic disclosed at the last Operations town hall which stated sadly only 33 percent of staff were there for over one year. An audible gasp came from the audience. Being #1 comes at a cost having to deal with the sheer volume which makes it hard to attract and retain employees, not to mention favoritism. So between now and June will be the time for me to either figure out where I fit in or find a new job. And the latter is looking more attractive. The stress is so palpable, my eyelids twitch just thinking about the place and I hate that.

So I'm really looking forward to the week's vacation I put in for even though it has it's own level of stress and sorrow built in. In 58 days, I'll be in New York with my family for Uncle Frank's memorial.

Last weekend, I bought supplies to build another two raised planting beds on my patio. I almost killed the tomato plants I bought drying them out without watering them for a week. they seem to come back to life after being drenched on Friday and Saturday. I have more coming up where they the cherry tomato plants were last year, now the where the peas are planted.

Use it or lose it

One of the perks of being a 4 year survivor... err someone with tenure at work is that I accumulate vacation time quickly. Which leads to the next question, "Where am I going to go for vacation this year?"

Last year, I traveled to Virginia to visit with my aunt and uncle. It seemed as though I came too soon because:

1) I don't call 40 degree weather a suitable temp during any vacation for me. I was sequestered to the house until it hit at least 50 degrees. I am no snow bunny.

2) Then come to find out that the major annual event for Winchester, "The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival" is near the end of the month and not at the beginning when I was there.

But no matter. I had fun anyway.

So now I have about a two week period to figure out where to go.

A Retirement Wake-up Call

I woke up really early this morning, my body anticipating the time change this weekend and to the noise of the TV being on to that Ed Slott infomercial about saving your retirement. I've seen it before. I'm sure I'll watch it again. But something struck me. 2012 went by so fast and I probably have about 20 more working years before I retire.

FACT: The three things you cannot live without are food, shelter and clothing. People will give you clothes and share their food with you as these things are relatively cheap but you have to maintain a roof over your head or eventually you'll die of exposure to the elements.

FACT: The single most expensive financial decision one will ever make is to buy a house.

I went to lunch the other day with my cheapskate lunch date (who is in retail loan sales) and somehow the conversation always turns to money. Previously, I discussed with him my need to refinance my home  because I currently have a Hybrid 5 year Fixed/6 month Libor Note that's been adjusting for awhile now. Since LIBOR rates are tied to the European economy and it followed the U.S. economy decline with the credit crunch and the housing market crisis, my Note rate dropped from the initial rate and has stayed low... but the economy is improving. Jobs are coming back to the finance market because even I've had opportunities to interview recently for what I do which is highly specialized and I'm not looking for a new job now. And with an improved economy, interest rates will start to creep up higher. And the interest rate I'm paying today for my home loan is close to market rate and I don't want to put myself into a situation where I have a high interest rate and may not be able to refinance in the future. I also know that my loan is owned by Fannie Mae and HARP Loans, that are easier to qualify for with a high LTV and that require no appraisal, are going away next year.

After getting back to work, he sent me this email:

"Your goal this week or next is to contact HR in order to open a 401(k) because retiring poor sucks. I have to turn down seniors all the time (for cash-out refi home loans) and it makes me sad."

I had a 401(k) before I was laid-off from my mortgage job (the company closed) and because it lost half it's value and I didn't know when I was going to get my next job, I liquidated it the moment I could. Almost right after my severance pay ran out, in February 2008, I was hired as a contractor to Fannie Mae for a year and a half driving 150 miles round trip for work each day to manage the default vault at 1800 Tapo Canyon (if your're in the industry, you know that address holds one of the highest number of mortgage loans on the west coast) of loans moving from Countrywide's safekeeping into my custody. I supervised the vault's growth to hold 325,000 files (who knows how large it is today). The stock market tanked in October. HBO produced an excellent movie called "Too Big to Fail" which is a portrayal of what happened in October 2008. I was sitting in the belly of the beast and the beast was required to be bought by B of A and the behest of the U.S. federal government due to B of A exercising a large repurchase of poor performing loans.

FACT: You only have about 45-50 years to save before you retire.

When you're in your 20's and busy establishing your career, home and family, you're probably not thinking a whole hell of a lot about your retirement. My cheapskate lunch date is actually the same age I am, mid-40's, and as he's also a Realtor,  he's put his money to work more than I have in the past so I have to give him some respect for the financial position he's in now as compared to mine own.

My parents, when they retired, didn't really plan for it. Both had to work after retirement because they didn't have homes to sell and live off of the proceeds or even homes that generated a net income from rent. They had no savings accounts, just checking accounts. Both had meager life insurance payouts. I was able to settle my father's estate, but my mothers???

She lived off of credit cards until the day she died. As I cleared out her apartment, I found many newly bought items and at the time, couldn't figure out how she could afford it. That is until I found a brown box in the back of her closet full of unpaid credit card bills which turned into charge offs. She couldn't afford it. She consulted with a family friend, a lawyer, that told her not to pay them after she was 75 and had triple by-pass heart surgery.

I took back to the store those items I could find receipts for and threw the contents of her apartment in storage because it was right before Christmas when she passed. I paid the final utility bills with the cash on hand and that refund money and also ignored those credit card bills. Because of the lack of her financial and retirement planning, I had to pay out of my own pocket for her cremation, her headstone, her funeral and the transfer of her ashes to New York where they were buried with her parents, my grandparent, as she wanted. It took me a year and a half to get rid of that storage unit, finally donating the majority of the contents to Goodwill after giving away some things to friends and I paid for that storage unit, too. I can imagine my story of not being able to settle my mother's estate multiplied by the number new retirees and the debt river that's coming.

So in essence, if the vast majority of people now have the lack of retirement planning, execution and savings like my parents had, you and I will be paying for it all the way through the period the baby boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) goes into retirement (2011 to 2029)  and subsequently passes away passing their unpaid debt onto the large financial institutions who will pass it on to the consumer in the form of higher fees and interest rates. That consumer is you and me.

Ed Slott says the biggest retirement killer are:
1. taxes
Tax free safety zone (life insurance and annuity)
Payouts from Life Insurance are tax free.
Roth IRA's conversions. You can get an annuity inside your Roth IRA.

2. risk 
You cannot rely on the stock market for a secure retirement future. Think about an annuity. It guaranties your retirement income for life.

3. saving money
Sometimes you have to spend money now to save money later. Buy life insurance. Seek out qualified financial planners.

4. uncertainty
No one will ever care about your retirement money more than you.

5. inactivity
Doing nothing will be costly because prices rise and taxes increase. Do something now when you can. If you want a secure financial future, you have to do something about it.

I emailed HR about establishing a new 401(k) blind-copying my friend and then I called and was qualified for a HARP loan all in the same day.

Lets see where I am this time, next year...

I'm not so perfect after all

To be honest I never was perfect. Nobody is. Perfect is subjective. At work, I have been auditing the data that goes into a database and it was hell as well as heart wrenching to find out that even with all my diligence, it's not right. I am but a conduit to the errors that come from other people in other departments. As my boss would say, "garbage in / garbage out". I suspected there was a problem. My mood was down-to-work and focused as much as I could bear without literary wanting to scream at the top of my lungs in order to release my frustration. Once it was turned in, I couldn't get it to signed off quick enough and then the client started calling me.

And then after I could clear my head of the most important self-audit I performed for work, then that's when I decided that there was no qualified candidate applying for the vacant supervisors position and dreading that I would have to either train a co-worker or someone from the outside who has had supervisor experience but that would be useless to the 'processors' in the department, I applied.

My interview was Thursday with HR. I left my competition in the dust. My resume is so linear and focused, pretty much any company who was looking for what I do would at least take a look at it. There is good and bad with any job that you do, but in this new role, I bring more knowledge, technique and experience than the sum of my competition. Besides, it would be easier to hire a business analyst to do what I do with that database  than clone me.

It could be considered mid to late January and now it finally feels like winter in Southern California. Supposedly, it's another "La Nina" year, so we are anticipating a lot of rain. Well, at least there were showers for the past two days.

2012 also has brought me a new role with the HOA... that of the Treasurer. Our past one just turned 90. 90! She was still making deposits of laundry money... rolls of quarters. If you don't do it once a week, that damn bag gets heavy. I have a canvas bag I sling over my shoulder for the task. Paying the bills are entirely another story. The president is a bore. Blah blah blah, no action, blah blah, rule breaker, blah blah blah. He doesn't do the walk throughs. He doesn't fix anything. The budget is screwed up because of the foreclosures. It's frustrating. I need to figure out ways to cut back because he surly isn't doing it.

More later.

What Color Means

CEO's and Color from USA Today.

My Results:

The Dewey Color System® is now the world's most accurate career testing instrument. This report based on your personality traits indicates your two most enjoyable day-day-day occupation skills. It’s a summary of the full report, the Color Leadership Evaluation 5.0.

“Studies indicate workplace enjoyment is the key to success. So as you read, consider only “Was I mostly having fun at work?” Disregard your present and past employer’s environment.

Best Occupational Category
You're a CREATOR

Keywords:
Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional

These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.

CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.

CREATOR WORKPLACES
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work best with your free-spirited nature.

Suggested Creator workplaces are advertising, public relations, and interior decorating firms; artistic studios, theaters and concert halls; institutions that teach crafts, universities, music, and dance schools. Other workplaces to consider are art institutes, museums, libraries, and galleries.


2nd Best Occupational Category
You're a PERSUADER

Keywords:
Witty, Competitive, Sociable, Talkative, Ambitious, Argumentative, and Aggressive

These enterprising types sell, persuade, and lead others. Positions of leadership, power, and status are usually their ultimate goal. Persuasive people like to take financial and interpersonal risks and to participate in competitive activities. They enjoy working with others inside organizations to accomplish goals and achieve economic success.

* Section I: You and Your Team
This personality overview section highlights your natural workplace talents—the tasks you pursue with passion. You'll learn how your natural strengths complement those of your coworkers and how, joining forces, you can resolve on-the-job dilemmas.

* Section II: Your Key To Success
Here you discover your capacity for dispelling disruption and maximizing profitability. Use this proven, beyond-self-perception advice to create a more positive career path free of detours.

* Section III: Managing Strengths and Weaknesses
Your evaluation's highest and lowest scores result in this section's recommendations for staying on-track in your career and reversing wrong turns. In focusing on your talents and missteps, you'll re-stoke your energy and enthusiasm for managing costly mistakes.

* Section IV: Leadership Power Moves
This final section identifies your "street sense," those power moves that turn obstacles into insignificant details. Here suggestions based on your color-ranked evaluations will guide you towards making the most of an interview or harnessing your fast-paced workday.

...now tell me something I don't know.

6:1

I just heard there are 6 jobs seekers for every job posted.

It feels like it.

No positive responses, just auto generated "We received your resume" emails.

Hrmmm.

The Digital Divide

When I was in my senior year of high school, I took a general aptitude test for military service not knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life at that point. The results were that I tested in the 99th percentile. The Army wanted me to go into computers and I basically laughed in the recruiters face. I wanted to fly and if they weren't going to offer that to me, I would not enlist. This was 1984. Fontana High School barely had a computer class located somewhere on campus in a temporary trailer and I didn't know what the internet was back then even though it was already 15 years old.

I did not even touch a computer of any kind until 1988 when I went to work for Wells Fargo. In 1995, in my third career by then, I bought my own personal computer.

Now, as I prepare to attend my 25th high school reunion, I'd like to reach out to my classmates and make sure they are aware of the event. So when I try to look for familiar names and faces of my past, I'm coming to this place called 'the digital divide'. Many graduates of 1983 somehow avoided the internet and computers either by economics, choice or career. A lot more from 1984 and beyond are on the internet. It feels odd to me to come across a person who says, "I'm not on the internet" in 2009. I expect this from someone my mothers age who is in her mid 70's, not mine.

Are people really that stupid?

Frequently, I find myself logging into Yahoo! Answers to pass the time at work. Let's face it, I'm a manager so I sit here looking important until there is a problem and then I spring into action once one is presented to me. I mean, today has been the most busy I've been all month. I had two issues to deal with, one fax to make and one conference call with my boss who is at a remote location. Whoopie!

So last week while trolling through the Yahoo! Answers careers section (I like to generally stick to answering questions about credit, careers, and housing - go figure... haha) there is this question from I think it was a guy who asked:

"Now that I have graduated from a four year university, what career should I get into?"

...something to that effect. At first, I felt this rage well up inside me as though I wanted to smack this person upside his head. Hey, ummm... aren't you supposed to have a career in mind BEFORE you go to college? And don't they have you declare a major while you're there as well? Most normal people have a career goal in mind or at minimum some sort of personal interests they want to pursue. Do you have a clue? Can you get one?

I'm sorry, but I sit in an office full of baby boomers that would kill to have a college degree in anything right now, me included. If given the opportunity to go back to school, I'd do it in a minute so that I don't have to look at another note, mortgage or title document again other than my own.

Then I felt sad that this yahoo ever went to school and wasted time filling a seat in the first place. Are people really that stupid?