The End of Coal. The End of West Virginia?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy in an article posted on The Charleston Gazette's website on September 27th, 2011, coal production in Appalachia will be half of what it was in 2008 by 2015.  Yes there is still coal in them thar hills, but it is getting harder to mine.  They have mined most of the thick seams in the state, and are left with the harder to reach and thinner seams.

What does this mean to West Virginia?  Well the last figures I saw said there were 15,000 miners in the state.  So about 7,500 of them will be out of work.  While this is bad, the worst is yet to come.  The state will be losing a considerable amount of coal severance tax.  They will need to plan now for the shortfall.

The smart thing to do is to plan to transition away from coal.  Coal has been good to West Virginia for about 100 years.  But the news that production will be cut in half should be a wake-up call to the people and businesses in the state.  We need to diversify our industries.  With the vast experience in energy and chemical production, we need to leverage that knowledge to move forward.  Renewable energy technology would seem like the best, most likely fit for the state moving forward.

And, it would be best, if the companies providing this technology were home-grown West Virginia businesses.  It would help to break the cycle here in the state of outside companies making money off of West Virginia resources and taking the money out of state.  With home-grown businesses, more of the money stays in West Virginia and benefits our state.

Click here to read the article in The Charleston Gazette.

Has It Been Eleven Months?

OMG!  I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted here.  Oh well,  so much has happened and yet nothing has happened.  My daughter finished 6th in the County Math Field Day 4th Grade Division.  Not too shabby.  My son has decided that he wants to get better grades and improve his reading.  He is a much happier boy this year than he was last year.

Me, I am still unemployed.  I have been looking and I continue to look daily.

I would like to work no farther than 25 miles from home.  I HATE commuting.  Working from home would be ideal.

This past spring, I took the kids to "ShepRoboFest" at Shepherd University.  Lots of cool robot happenings.  First Lego League Demo Competition, Firefighting Robots, and the favorite - Mech-Warfare.  All of us agree that they should hold it again next year.

Proud Parents

My 4th grade daughter was just chosen to be on her school's Math Field Day Team.  AWESOME!

Thunder in the Mountains

Over the summer I read Thunder In the Mountains: The West Virginia Mine War, 1920-21.  It is about the largest armed insurrection in US history.  About ten thousand miners rode, drove and marched from Charleston, West Virginia to Blair Mountain.  There they had an armed stand-off, with occasional gunfire, with about five thousand men made up mostly of deputized citizens and some State Police along a 10 mile line.  This went on for 3 days until the Governor convinced the President to send the military.  The miners disarmed and surrendered without a fight, because their fight was not against the US Government, it was against the mine operators.  

I grew up 10 or 15 miles from where this happened and I did not hear anything about it until maybe 10 years ago.  The book is very readable.  A lot of it is in short snippets of news stories.  It was very interesting to read things I did not know about the town I lived in and about a couple of people I knew.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes history, and specifically West Virginia History.

Write it When I'm Gone

I just got finished reading the book about President Ford.  It is the result of interviews given between 1974 and 2006.  It was refreshing to read about a genuinely good politician.  Part of the book talked about how civility in politics turned into the hyperpartisanship we see today.  While there was nothing quite earthshaking about any of the revelations, it was interesting to read about the Ford/Clinton phone conversation just before Clinton's impeachment trial.  I always felt Ford was underrated as President, and this book, at least for me, proves it.

I recommend it.  Pick up a copy at Amazon today!

One Year and Counting

Still unemployed after a year. But it is not for lack of trying. I have sent out at least 2 applications/resumes each week. Most weeks it was three or four. I have approached my job search in a very organized manner and sensible manner. I never blindly send out resumes. I always targeted them to either specific ads or specific companies which I research.
Now, I am asking you - the one or two people that still check this blog. Do you know of any jobs either in IT or retail sales. I would prefer the job to be somewhere in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia or in Central West Virginia (telecommuting would be great as well)

Please let me know if you know of anything.



Thank You!

Why Now?

--------------------
News Alert: Obama administration to order lenders to cut mortgage payments for jobless
06:02 PM EDT Thursday, March 25, 2010
--------------------

The Obama administration plans to overhaul how it's tackling the foreclosure crisis, in part by requiring lenders to temporarily slash or eliminate monthly mortgage payments for many borrowers who are unemployed, senior officials said Thursday.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com:
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/RRHKUP/VNWW4/Y8MD9X/TCCVB7/D9QZ5/UP/t

My question is why now?  Would it not have made better sense and helped people to do this when they were doing the Economic Stimulus Package.  This could have helped me out a lot (and it still may).  I am sure the mortgage company lobby will be out in full force on this.

Spys, Terror, Organization

I just read this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Of course it helps that I have an avid interest in the CIA.  I really think this book was underrated when it came out (My wife found a hardback copy for sale at Dollar General for $1).

Mr Tenet and Mr. Harlow have a good writing style.  The book flows from Administration to Administration and from each area of concern to the next smoothly.  I don't want to give away much about this book, but it did confirm some suspicions and theories I had.  In conclusion, I would recommend At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA.

Another Interview

I recently had another job interview.  This job seemed to me perfect - an IT job in an area I wanted to live.  My skill set matched the ad almost perfectly.  I thought the interview went well.  Then I was notified by email that there was another candidate who matched more closely what they were looking for than me.

Nothing like a kick in the gut to wake you up.  From now on, I will redouble my efforts to find a job, refine my interview skills, review old skills and learn new skills.  I really need a job.

Commericalized Space

Is anyone following what President Obama has proposed in the way of the space program.  Here is a good post from NASA.  I hope they are listening to themselves.  We need to get this right.

I have been following the space program since I was a kid.  In many ways it inspired me to be the best I could be even faced with impossible obstacles.  I hope for the millions of kids around the world that they get the transition right and inspire those kids as I have been inspired.

Still looking for work.

I am still grinding out my job search.

I am looking for something either in the IT, Database, or Web industries.  I would like the job to be somewhere in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

I am hardworking, loyal, and am very good at analyzing business processes.

If you are hiring, or know of someone how is hiring, please let me know.

The search continues...

Shoveling!

Well for the last 7 days I have been shoveling snow and shoveling snow and then shoveling more snow.  We officially got a total of 52 inches of snow from 2 different storms.  Who needs to go to the gym when you have snow. 

On the job front, I have put two applications out this week. It was really hard with all the shoveling.  (Did I mention I shoveled snow this week?)

The kids will be missing a total of at least 7 days of school as they have already called off school for Monday.  They have really enjoyed the snow until today.  I think they got burned out on it.  I guess it's a case of too much of a good thing.

I Have a New Laptop

I bought a new laptop last week and I now have it up and running almost to my satisfaction.  Now all I need to do is find a job I can use it for.  If  you know of any IT or database jobs either in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia or a telecommute job, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it.  Hopefully I will find something soon.  I am too good at what I do to be out of work for long. 

New Bloggers Added

Please look to the right hand column for new bloggers from Martinsburg, West Virginia.  Please go visit their sites.  If you are a blogger from Martinsburg (or anywhere in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia), leave me a comment or email me and  I will add a link to you.

If you don't want me to link you, let me know and I will take down the link.

As for my reading lately... I will update it very soon.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone is safe and warm.  It has been a few weeks since I posted here...  Oh well. 

I have been reading up a storm here.  I will update the books in the next few days.  Not that anyone in actually reading this on a regular basis.

I am still unemployed after 6 months.  I really did not think it would be this long this time.  I really miss work -- of any kind.  But I will keep sending out my resumes, cover letters, and applications.  I will keep going on interviews.  Someone will eventually hire me.

I hope 2010 is better for you and me than 2009 was.

BlogShares "Untitled" Contest

There is a contest in BlogShares - a game where blogs are tracked, given value, and shares traded - where there are over 21000 untitled blogs in the index. The goal of the contest is to either give the blog a name or find if the blog is dead. A blog is considered dead in BlogShares if there has been no post to the blog in the last six months.

I will be tracking the blogs I find here. I will be updating this post all week so watch. If you want to get in on the fun, come to http://www.blogshares.com/, register, read the rules, and join in.


Monday, November 16, 2009


http://ashleymathews.spaces.live.com/ - dead
http://untitledprongsspace.spaces.live.com/ - dead
http://dwang99.spaces.live.com/ - dead
http://kevinyiu.blogspot.com/ - dead
http://mefirst1983.spaces.live.com/ - dead
http://bethacat.com/ - inaccessible
http://www.journalhome.com/golfclub/ - inaccessible - suspended
http://naturedelusion.blogspot.com/ - Title Changed from untitled to "Shrouded in darkness;"
http://www.journalhome.com/scott/ - inaccessible - suspended
http://birdincage.com/ - inaccessible
http://popopanda.wordpress.com/ - autoreferal to http://skchoi.org/ - inaccessible - posts not on first page
http://tracy-whitney91.spaces.live.com/ - inaccessible - need permission to view posts
http://www.journalhome.com/thompson/ - inaccessible - suspended
http://www.6ul-dv8.com/ - Title Changed to Untitled because a title would imply quality
http://vociferate.net/chameleon - inaccessable
http://scotthost.tumblr.com/ - non-blog
http://kourosism.blogspot.com/ - dead
http://deryckak.livejournal.com/ - Title changed to "World of Sound"
http://untitled-1.spaces.live.com/ - dead
http://www.journalhome.com/safaris/ - inaccessible - suspended
http://idanasi.blogspot.com/ - dead
http://www.joechung.info/untitled - dead
http://www.journalhome.com/andreypolnikin/ - inaccessible - suspended
http://lafuhrer.spaces.live.com/ - dead
http://www.journalhome.com/haveahome/ - inaccessible - suspended
http://keverz146.blogspot.com/ - dead
http://www.journalhome.com/granniesguide2/ - dead
http://www.allforthelove.com/steve - non-blog
http://pulp.orangephotography.com/untitled/ - dead
http://shokboy.blogspot.com/ - dead
http://alvinisking.blogspot.com/ - dead
http://www.journalhome.com/opulentusoverseas/ - inaccessible - suspended
http://whatisonlinegaming.com/ - non-blog
http://www.journalhome.com/lilychan/ - inaccessible - suspended
http://alokranj.blogspot.com/ - inaccessible

Updates throughout the week!

I Love a Parade

This past weekend, my daughter was chosen to be one of the banner carriers for the Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival. It was cold and rainy. But she did a fantastic job. Only about 16 kids were asked and only about 12 showed up.

My daughter helped carry the banner the first half of the parade, then we dropped out and watched most of the rest of it.

Myths are Familiar

Just finished reading this book.

I read this book back in college as part of a Classical Mythology course. I wanted to read it again as I was curious to see how mythology fits in with modern day myths and storytelling. Unfortutately the only copies available from Amazon are from private sellers. I am pretty sure you would find a copy in a library if you are interested in reading it.

Baseball Book

Back in 1998, I received a book for Christmas. I did not get around to reading it until the last couple of days. I wish I had read it back then. Although it was a very enjoyable read today. The book:



Back then, I was heavily into baseball. I shared a mini-season plan to the Orioles and was at "The Yard" at least once a week. I wasn't an Orioles fan though, my allegiance was in the National League. I just wanted to see baseball live. The site, the smells, the game, and yes, the "Woo-Woo" Boys (ask me about them sometime). I loved the game.

Then life hit. I was in love, I moved away from a major league park, I had kids. All took me away from something I enjoyed immensely. This book brought it back for me. Maybe I will watch a game every now an then. Hopefully Jon Miller will be broadcasting.

Still No Job

I am looking. I am submitting applications. It is only a matter of time until some company realizes they need me.

In the meantime, I am keeping my computer skills sharp. Working with spreadsheets and databases at home.

I am also starting to cook and bake again. A few years ago, I was pretty good. I am a little rusty, but it is a lot of fun .