This morning's Telegram and Gazette job market report

The job market appears strong, if a bit repetitious, for foxes. Dogs seem to have given up the hunt.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette - telegram.com - Test for job market

QuickBooks Online - don't tell me you love Chrome when you don't

I decided to use the free trial of QuickBooks Online. After creating an account, I log in and see this message:

Great. I start up the Chrome browser, log in, and get ready to import my existing QuickBooks for Windows file.

After starting IE, enabling pop-ups, installing an ActiveX control, selecting the file, acknowledging the warning messages about deleting the old data, I finally reach success.

Sort of.

Broken local news

Doc Searls observed, "When the going gets tough, the tough use radio." He tells the hopeful tale  of how Vermont Public Radio (VPR) news has jumped into the -- and delivered important news about the floods that washed out the center of the Green Mountain State. VPR can do its job well because a) it wants to and b) it has repeater stations that cover the entire state. (AM radio, our traditional resource in emergencies, doesn't work as well among the granite hills.)
Folks in Worcester recall how well WTAG performed during the 2008 ice storm.. The oldest AM station in central Massachusetts, WTAG can reach all of Worcester County, even after dark when it has to reduce its power. (WCRN has a stronger signal, but it is aimed eastward and so is good if you need to listen to Michael Savage you're driving on 128.)
So, we turn to WTAG for local news this morning and hear the announcer pronounce Woburn as Woe-burn. The only Worcester-area story comes from the Telegram and Gazette. The rest might as well have come from Google News. We do get local traffic and train information. And then we get Jim Polito's screed about James Hoffa's remarks last weekend.
I spoke with Searls last night and heard more how he followed the Irene coverage and the Santa Barbara fires a few years ago. Local broadcast news (radio and television) is a decidedly mixed plate. Radio stations, with few exceptions, are pretty much relegated to rebroadcasts of national programs. Local television can still put reporters in the field and do so well. Searls noted that WTKR in Norfolk VA was one of the few stations to provide streaming.
At last year's Southern England Weather Conference, Bryan Norcross, President/CEO of America’s Emergency Network, spoke (PowerPoint presentation) about the risk factors facing emergency communications:

• There are fewer news stations and they have smaller staffs
• TV station personnel are untrained in emergencies, in general
• Technical restriction limit message details (small counties  lose out)
• Broadcasters fill perceived gaps in message, sometimes with wrong info

In a complex calculus, technological advances, FCC policy changes, economic pressures, and our own preferences for happy talk on television and  wingnuts on the radio, our local news has been replaced with high-fructose corn syrup substitute - sweet, flavorful, and without nutrients.

Jobs in suburbia (Labor Day 2011)

This is part of a series of jobs offered or sought on craigslist: worcester

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Television Show Casting Mob types (MASS)

Casting 20 Men and Women for a funny Mafia Reality series for TV.
We're casting for the "LEAST LIKELY" people to be in the Mafia, and a few that look the part!
To be considered for the reality television series you must:
1) MAKE A FUNNY MOBSTER NAME
2) Email Mobstercasting at gmail (dot) com a 30 secound to one minute video of yourself acting your part. (no real names please)
3) Tell us why you should be on the show in your own words.
Good Luck!

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Be a web cam model on the hottest sites on the internet (Central MA)

International Video Streaming is looking for models to preform on a web cam. Men, women, transsexuals, and couples are all encouraged to apply. Compensation varies on experience, but entry level starts at $72/hour. We can block users from a specific geographic region so your privacy is protected. Work part time, full time, or all the time. All from the comfort of your own home.

Email your name (as it appears on your ID) and date of birth to toptalent@yourteamsite.ws for an application. We look forward to working with you.

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Do you believe in life Everything happens for a reason? (Leicester Ma)

Are you a person who believes that everything in life happens for a reason... Do you often wish that your life could get better and better everyday?
I am looking for people with an open mind, people who are willing to do a little to get a lot, to for once look outside the box and embrace a wonderful gift of
Making A Living Living!!! If you are that person and you can spare 20 minutes I would love a chance to meet for coffee... This is not a get rich quick opportunity.
It is a lifestyle opportunity...
Make it a great day!

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Paid tranning!!!!!!! (Hudson MA)

LeafGuard of Boston is looking for motivated individuals to introduce our products to new clients.
Requirements:
A qualified candidate will need to be outgoing and have the ability to engage new people in conversation. Walking is required.
Paid training and GREAT bonuses!
Bonus plans have no limit. So, you decide on how much you can earn.
This is an entry level position.
Please contact Mike for the next available interview!!!!

Editor's Note: Urban Dictionary: tranning

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Deli/takeout help (Holden)

Fast paced and respected restaurant is looking for help with the deli and salad stations and possibly counter help. Applicants must be clean, organized, and have a willingness to work. Team players are a must if you can't be nice then you are not needed. Some cooking is needed but everything will be explained to the applicant. Not much experience is needed, just the right fit for our team. Email your resume with name and phone number and someone will contact you.

Editor's Note: Emphasis added.

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Someone To Tune My VIOLIN (Holden)

I have a violin here. I would appreciate it if someone could tune it. $5 is a good price for 30 seconds of your time. It's a good gig I've got running here... I may even give you a cookie.

The myth of local service

As many of you, we've had a construction project going on at our camp this summer. We've tried to shop locally as much as possible.. Price differences and even limited product selection are the lesser part of the problem. Mostly, it's been about service.
We've shopped for appliances and building fixtures at two owner-operated stores and in one of a two-store business.
When the delivery guys brought the appliances three weeks ago, they were apologetic that the mounting kit for our washer-dryer wasn't on the truck. The store would call us on Monday, they told us, to let us know when we could pick up the part.
Did I mention that that was three weeks ago?
Sandra had stopped by the store one recent Wednesday and discovered it dark and locked. She wondered if they'd gone out of business. When we talked that evening, I remembered that they were closed on Wednesdays.
"How did you know that?" she asked. "There weren't any signs with store hours or anything."
The owner had mentioned it during one of our previous purchases.

On Saturday, in spite of outward appearances, the store was open. We brought the receipt and repeated what the delivery crew had told us. The owner and the sales clerk were puzzled. The receipt didn't show a mounting kit. We repeated what the delivery guys has said, that they didn't have the kit, but that the store would call us.
"They don't know anything," said the owner. "They just do deliveries."
The owner told us that they didn't have the part.
"We need it so that the carpenters can finish the work around the washer and dryer," we said.
"What he meant," said the clerk, "is that we don't have it in the store, that we'd have to order it."
Uh, ok.
The owner and clerk went to check a floor model to confirm something. While we were waiting, we noticed that the Open sign was hanging on a bulletin board.

 

Thinking that they might have forgotten to hang the sign, Sandra took the sign from the bulletin board and hung it on the hook on the door, showing that the store was open.
"We don't hang that sign on the door," said the owner.
Sandra mentioned that she'd come to the store on a previous Wednesday and there was no sign.
"We're closed on Wednesday," said the owner.
They did have the part on a floor model, but they couldn't give us that one because then they wouldn't have one.
The part would be in on Tuesday (because of the holiday), after lunch. That wouldn't be good enough, though, because Sandra could only be there mornings. Wednesday? Wait, no, they're closed on Wednesday, remember?
The clerk was helpful. She gave us the parts catalog that contained the schematics, gently elbowing the owner off toward something else. The builder could use the schematics to get the final dimensions.
We know the owner at one of  the fixture store. Sandra went to the store and asked for the owner. He wasn't in and they weren't sure when he'd be in. Sandra left a note, asking for a phone call follow-up. The sales guy talked to Sandra for a few minutes. While they were reviewing items in a catalog, the sales guy went over to another customer and didn't return. Sandra left. We're still waiting for the phone call.
At the other fixtures store, we've learned that one of the sales people, Meaghan, is marvelous. The other does a good job of  making us ask for Meaghan. After an unpleasant go-round on a purchase that we learned, at the end of the sale, would take at least four weeks to deliver, we cancelled the order.
When we go to Home Depot, we have a pretty good idea of what we'll get. We find people who have been trained in the basics of customer service. Most  are knowledgeable or are willing to get help on something they don't know. Yes, there are people who are cranky or bored or just not cut out for the work. They don't usually last long. They aren't the only ones in the store. They won't argue with you. They won't walk away when you're ready to spend money.