Yay Bird's and Mike's teams!

LSU survives Arkansas comeback bid, 33-30 in OT

Williams, Hokies run past Virginia, 42-13

We are very happy that our teams won! We are especially glad that Mike's team learned from their mistakes and figured out how to read the clock and make it stop. We hope Buzz's team (Georgia Tech -ed.) wins next week so that Bird's team doesn't have to go to Atlanta again and maybe (in my dreams -ed.) they play here in the sugary game instead.

Uncle Jam wanted to talk about CavMan's team needing a new coach so we will stop talking. -Bird and Mike

_____________

Every newspaper in Virginia already has their piece ready for when their coach, Al Groh, is fired. Much as I liked seeing them lose, football at Virginia Tech would be even better if their principal rival were competitive, so I make the following statements as constructive criticism.

There are a few inherent disadvantages that make it difficult for UVa's football team to succeed in the long term, no matter who the coach is. Tonight at the hotel where I work I ran across one UVa fan who blames everything on UVa not wishing to make any exceptions in their academic admission standards to accomodate athletes.

The nearest parallel I could draw to schools that have a structural difficulty recruiting some athletes were the service academies. I think that UVa could overcome their limitation most easily if they went away from a pro-style, athlete-vs-athlete approach to playing and adopted a "college" strategy-vs-strategy method. Paul Johnson showed at Navy and now at Georgia Tech that a disclipined ball-control offense can make up for having fewer star athletes. Since he's presumably not available I'd go after Navy's new coach, Ken Niumatalolo, who has at least kept Navy up to the point where they were able to drive the decisive nail in Charlie Weis' coffin.

Hallelujah indeed!

Silent monks and the Hallelujah chours

HT: Symphony Chorus of New Orleans blog, though they show a different group

This week's Economist stories

Since you all liked the story from The Economist about the mayor's race I put up last week, I've decided to start linking to a few stories from them every week. They spit out their RSS feed on Thursdays.

We are all Belgians now
If you thought it was difficult to build a coalition to govern in this city, imagine the mess of the European Parliament.

The retiree's autopilot
A useful reminder of why only government entities and unions have pensions anymore, and a novel way that one group is trying to make people's plans for retirement match what they do in their 401(k) plans and the like.

Camden's crisis: Ungovernable?
A reminder of what can happen in New Orleans if we don't get things right.

Loathing Joe Lieberman
Get to know #60.

The job search stops after 30 days!

Apparently my handwriting was good enough! I start my trial period tomorrow (yes, Thanksgiving) evening at the hotel. As an added bonus, this is the night shift so I can still sing in the chorus and even do taxes when the time comes.

Thanks to everyone for their support during this time.

Introducing my alter ego

Allow me to introduce you all to my nephew HokieBird (or just Bird for short). As you can tell, he is an incredibly cute stuffed Care Bear-like version of Virginia Tech's mascot. He lives with his mommy (my sister), his cousin Mike the Tiger, and several other stuffed animals up in Virginia.

Bird and Mike have wanted their own blog so they could talk about football and other things that interest stuffed animals with the minds of ten-year-olds. Unfortunately, they have a hard time using a computer, since Bird can only type with his beak and Mike chases the mouse because he thinks it's an actual mouse. When they found out I finally started my own blog they danced like in the Charlie Brown cartoons! When one or both of them want to say something they're going to tell me and I'll type for them. With that said, it's time for me to turn the proceedings over to Bird!

Hi everybody! I'm glad I get to talk to all of Uncle Jam's friends now. I actually got to say something on the Internet a few months ago, when the New York Times previewed my team. For that I had to learn Pig Latin. Next year if I do a preview there maybe I'll move up to real Latin. Anyway, Mike and I are sorry that Mike's Coach Hat acted like a poopyhead at the end of their game last week. We know a lot of Uncle Jam's friends in New Orleans like Mike's team so we try to watch them whenever my team isn't on.

Anyway, I also wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! But please, don't eat turkeys like me; but feel free to eat ham from pigs like the team Mike plays this weekend.

Volunteer opportunity on Thanksgiving

Each year, the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office sponsors a Thanksgiving dinner at the Morial Convention Center. The announcement for this year's event is here. I called the office and the person answering the phone said volunteers were welcome.

If you wish to volunteer, free parking is available across from Hall I; a shuttle will then take you to sign-in at Hall D, from whence you will be assigned to a station as needed. The OPCSO asks that volunteers check in between 9 and 9:30; the meal itself lasts until 1:00.

Hope to see you there.

My handwriting? Oh boy

I went earlier this morning to interview for a front desk/night auditor position at a French Quarter hotel. This was actually the second time I had interviewed at this same place, having done so for a part-time position while I was still at the law firm. Just basically a short conversation, and then the manager asks me to write down my name and phone number, even though he already has it!

What can this mean? Most likely he's checking my handwriting/printing skills. Oh boy...

What's your council district?

With the mayor and city council elections coming during the spring, it's a useful civics lesson to remind yourself what council district you live in. Thank goodness we don't have to worry about assessor districts anymore! A map of the districts (borrowed from the city council's website) follows:

As an aside, I'll be quite interested to see how these districts get redrawn after next year's census. Just a guess, but probably:

• District E goes all the way west to Franklin Avenue
• District A gains District B's space between Carrollton and Broad
• District D takes District C's Marigny, FQ and Treme sections

The Economist on the mayor's race

The Economist discusses New Orleans' mayor's race here. One thing I didn't mention the other day was that New Orleans has a rather stringent residency requirement: you have to have lived here five years in order to run. That disqualifies the otherwise good possibilities of James Carville and Brad Pitt. Yes, Brad Pitt. If I don't have to vote tactically in the election, I'll write his name in anyway.

Not great on the job front, but...

...if there's still nothing after Thanksgiving, it looks like the tax place will take me for training. It'd be only 4 months of work at best, but oh well.

If it's November, Mitch must be running for something, and what I want for the city

Mitch writes on the Chicory is this post that he received a call asking about whether he would consider voting for Mitch Landrieu should he run for mayor. Unless he plans on being lieutenant governor the rest of his career he needs to run for something else now; he can't accomplish anything else where he his. Every Democrat with a pulse is looking at Joseph Cao and saying "open seat", so there will be less competition for this mayor's election than any other in recent memory.

All I want for this city is for the same vendor who has the traffic cameras maintain the crime cameras; at least the former are working.

This week's job hunting

Job hunting is never a pleasant thing, and I figured one thing that would spur me along and actually follow up on leads is if I let everyone know what I'm looking for as I'm searching.

Last week I had a second interview with a company that was looking for inside salespersons; I got a rejection letter from them yesterday.

These leads all came from the 15 November edition of the Times-Picayune:

A job fair for veterans on Tuesday, 17 Nov
Websites for openings at a staffing company, two local colleges and a television station
Data entry clerk, alarm dispatcher, and timekeeper positions for which I am to email my resume
A phone number referring to a tax preparation firm
A retail location seeking entry-level management

I'll be using other tools such as craigslist and Monster and, of course, word of mouth. Wish me luck.

Me in summary

Allow me to introduce myself. If you have any good leads please let me know!

James O. Wicht

816 Arabella St. Apt. B, New Orleans, LA 70115

jameswicht@gmail.com

facebook: jwicht

Objective:

I wish to obtain a paid position in the greater New Orleans area consistent with my skillset that is suitable for a person who has Asperger's syndrome; alternatively, I wish to volunteer my time in order to obtain new documented skills such as Web publishing, QuickBooks, mentoring, teaching, or management so that I can later obtain a paid position in the above fields.


Skill Set Summary:
Typing (50-55 wpm); computer software including Microsoft Office, AS/400 emulators, and relational databases; PC, printer, and small server hardware maintenance and installation; software installation; IP phone system administration; supply and file clerk; customer service call center.


Education, Training and Certifications:
Limestone College, Gaffney, South Carolina (BS in Liberal Studies)
US Navy Sonar Technician (Submarine) “A” School
A+ Certified Computer Technician

Experience Summary:

Goins Aaron, A Professional Law Corporation
New Orleans, Louisiana (Nov 2008-Oct 2009)
Performed a variety of tasks for the firm, including but not limited to serving as an on-site information technology assistant, cataloging and keeping track of file locations, data entry, search and retrieval of existing file data, physical preparation of briefs (i.e. copying and binding), court running, and document retrieval in court record rooms.

Home Automation Inc. (HAI)
New Orleans, Louisiana (Jul 2006-Jun 2008)
In a call center handling customer service and technical support for everyone on the supply chain from employee sales representatives to wholesalers to homebuilders to homeowners. Call data and resolutions were catalogued and analyzed. Member of team which created an online database of solutions based on call content and feedback.

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems
Avondale, Louisiana (Nov 2005-Jun 2006)
As electronics technician was assigned to the interior communications systems of a ship under construction. Duties included troubleshooting, repair, electrical installation and blueprint reading. Also communicated with outside contractors and other departments involved with Northrop Grumman.

Other previous experience
Computer technical support – 2 years as contractor for IBM; 1 year as contractor for then-BellSouth
Retail sales – 3 years as a grocery store cashier; 1 season as a tax preparer; insurance agent for AFLAC
(Recipient of Fast Start award at AFLAC)
US Navy – Submarine Sonar Technician (Received honorable discharge)

References will be given upon completion of an interview.