SPOOKTACULAR

Ladies and gents it is time again for the Halloween Party where legends are made. I love costume parties, and the Spooktacular is well worth the trip back to Maine to prepare and partake in. I always have a bit of trouble deciding what to be as way to many ideas fly around my brain to just pick one. Over the past several years I've been Sonny Bono, the Verizon Guy, a Blueman, Clark Kent and Superman, and Super Mario. My goal each year is to be something really simple and leave others kicking themselves for not thinking of it. I've ever spent more than $20 on a Halloween costume and this year I didn't pull a penny out of my pocket. It is great when you can pull things out of your closet or borrow something from a friend to complete your look. Besides boxed costumes are LAME!

I'm really looking forward to going back to Maine and reconnecting with my friends. It'll be the last time for a while as Candace and I plan on moving soon. Plus let's face it leaving California for ice and snow of Maine during the winter months is the definition of masochism. Even I'm not that sick!

Yosemite and Radio Work

I went to Yosemite for the first time last weekend and to say the place is beautiful is a drastic understatement. Mountains, waterfalls, art, bears, deer, snakes, hawks, camping, and hikes, Yosemite Valley something for everybody. I can think of no other spot in the world where giant redwood trees are dwarfed by enormous glacier carved granite cliffs. In fact, the view from just about anywhere is spectacular valley floor all the way up to the top of Nevada Falls or Glacier Point which are the highest points we reached during our visit. Often when I leave a place I immediately think about going back. A return trip to Yosemite will certainly be a reality.

On the job front, I had a phone interview with KALW, a San Francisco public radio station. It went well and I am going in to meet part of the news team tomorrow. I'm excited to finally meet some radio news folks on the west coast and possibly get my hands on recording and editing equipment again. Plus as I have learned since being out here, there is no substitute for big market experience.

Happy Columbus Day

I know not everyone is exactly thrilled with celebrating the accomplishments of Christopher Columbus. By most accounts he wasn't the world's greatest guy. There is strong evidence that he wasn't the first European to make the voyage to the "New World". But today is a great chance for Americans to embrace something we have way too few of in my opinion, a day off.

I was reading an article today about how a labor union representing California State workers told the today was a holiday, while the state doesn't recognize Columbus Day as a true public holiday. We have too few real public holidays. It seems like the only days most people have off are Thanksgiving and Christmas. And for folks who are in the retail business, you better be at the store the day after. I think its a slap in the face to the American worker that more stores aren't shuttered on other public holidays. There aren't many of them if you think about it. New Years' Day, Martin Luther King Jr., President's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, The 4th, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veteran's Day. Certainly most companies can afford to close down and give their employees a little extra paid time with their families on these days. I know this to be true because in most other countries it is the case.

A CNNmoney analysis of countries shows paid time off for full time workers in America equals that of Taiwan...

http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/12/pf/vacation_days_worldwide/

We're in the same league as Indonesia, Hong Kong, and the fore mentioned Taiwan, while countries like Lithuania, Slovakia, and Israel enjoy 15 more days off than we do every year. Maybe I'm just grumpy because I have to work today and for the first time in my life I will not be spending the Holidays at home. What individual wouldn't enjoy a few extra days off though?

The Importance of Pants

I recently lost more than 35 lbs which is great, clothes that I haven't felt comfortable wearing in months fit very nicely. When I go back to Maine my friends and family tell me that I look skinny, and even people at work remark on my new found svelteness on occasion. Aside from the hours of sweat and toil in the gym, the hardest part of dealing with the whole inflation deflation thing for me is finding a good pair of pants.

Pants are the first things to go when I gain weight. It was hard to bend and get stuff out of my pockets when I was filling my trousers a little too much. In fact, I gaged when to get rid of my pants by when I felt my wallet and cell phone protrusions needed an explanation. The embarrassment was magnified when I came to this realization in the field as I was interviewing Senators Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins or even Governor Baldacci.

Spring is the time of year I usually take stock of how much weight I packed on over the winter. That's when my wallet cell phone migrate from the inner pocket of my coat to my pants. The past couple years I've needed butter and a jack hammer to force them into their summer home. My brother is one of those people who can eat just about anything and keep his rail thin physique. Needless to say he has become the beneficiary of many of my hand-me-down slacks. The ones that were too big for him or that I wore out either went to good will or into the trash.

So now I have 1 pair of comfortable dockers, a nice pair of jeans, and a single pair of dressier pants. Some of my bigger britches that I've kept resemble parachutes. leaving me a single stain away from being way too dressy, abnormally casual, or Hammer Time! Good thing I work at a department store.

Developing an Online Persona

I went to a meetup yesterday dedicated to the idea of building your brand online. The list of things you can do to boost your online presence is enormous. Luckily I'm not starting from scratch. I already have my blog, twitter (http://twitter.com/brianpelletier1), linkedin (http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianpelletier), and facebook (http://www.facebook.com/brianpelletier) accounts. I'm working on linking things together in an effort to create a united front for networking, meeting new friends, and eventually finding interesting and fulfilling work. This proves my theory that working on finding work is more difficult than actual work.

On a side note BRAVO to the Ken Burns National Parks' Series on PBS. A very well done 6 part series which you can still check out here...(http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/about/)

I'm really excited to go camp in Yosemite next weekend!

Small Town thinking in the Big City

The SF Examiner had an article today about the City and the 49ers trying to figure out their transportation issues as the team decides whether to move to Santa Clara (about an hour away from the city and off the peninsula) or stay on Candlestick Point. According to the article, the city doesn't want to make the effort to secure federal funds for roadway and public transportation improvements if the team already has one foot out the door. The 49ers, on the other hand, want the improvements promised before they decide to stay.

I say why not move the stadium from Candlestick Point to the Northern Portion of Bay View? The neighborhood is already home to UCSF, and AT&T park. Its close to Cal Train, as well as Muni bus and light rail lines. The neighborhood is closer to downtown and undergoing a serious face lift. A new stadium there could share existing parking facilities with AT&T Park and possibly UCSF creating less of a need to build your own parking facilities. The better location would promote alternative uses to the stadium on non game days, concerts, fairs, and festivals, maybe even college and high school sporting events. If Dallas can put together the financing for a titanic sized stadium for the Cowboys, SF should do the same for the 49ers. Besides teams with stadiums in cities they are not named after are sooo lame!