The Ferris wheel must be broken.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm a complete idiot, and I have high cholesterol. Any advice?

I work at a university and we had to cancel our departmental career day because of poor showing from companies and agencies. I would hate to be a college graduate this coming summer!

@Rob Weddle: Advice on the idiocy or the cholesterol?

In either event, talk to your doctor. Don't have a doctor? My advice is to get one.

@Rob Weddle: Punch yourself in the face, take lipitor?

@gggtur: I graduated 6-7 months after 9/11...our job fairs were very dry then too.

@arikmoon: I actually finished undergrad in June '00 but didn't like the economy and job prospects at the moment...which is part of why I stuck around for grad school. And finished 3 months after 9/11. D'oh.

@downwithmonstercable: ...in that exact order.

Drat, there goes my hope of comparing offers between Safeway and Ralphs.

No, seriously. Why is a grocery store hosting job fairs anyway?

@arikmoon: I was doing law firm interview season when 9/11 happened. That was a horrific hiring season.

My take is that employee churn has decreased. People are hanging on to crappy jobs instead of looking for greener pastures elsewhere.

@Rob Weddle: I would excercise more, eat more garlic (but not greasy garlic)...I've heard lipitor is bad because it reduces your cholesterol, but makes the cholesterol you have more sticky.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, see your doctor before taking my advice.

@samyoed: looks like a small town. I don't know if that makes a difference

@Rob Weddle: Looks like there's a book out there for you.

@snowburnt: Austin's not a small town.

HEB has always had job fairs.

I'm offended by the mixture of emphasis application methods.

@MrsLopsided: agreed...the opportunity of greener pastures is not there right now.

@gggtur: I think it depends on the field. I have a few friends who are finishing their accounting degrees, and they can't go to lunch without getting a job or internship offer.

Does anyone know what surprised Katherine?

@purplesun: What luck!

But it's pink...

And scented.

I'm sad for the canceling... but I'm ECSTATIC that Liz and Lucky are back together!

Job Fair? More like Job Unfair!
Zing....

Back in the '80s I went to a tech job fair being held at a hotel in San Francisco. There were lots of people there looking for work. At the time there were not many jobs around and few hiring firms showed up. Instead of the keynote speaker, the organizer of the fair got up and told people "Sorry folks, but I got nothing for you. I wish you all good luck".
Boy, was that discouraging.

@samyoed: Grocery stores will have job fairs to lure people into a career there. I'm sure it's only gone downhill though since I worked through high school/college at Albertson's.

I'm going to be out of a job at the end of January and with the way the economy is going, it is way too difficult to find something or some place that is hiring. Hopefully the places I've applied to will call back. God I hate this stupid recession, thanks Bush.

@legwork: I don't know, but she looks evil and she scares me. I would be leery of surprising her too badly, who knows how she will react.

My clock radio is set to NPR, abd almost every morning when I wake up they are talking about the record-setting percentage of unemployment. It's depressing.

Note to self: stop waking up to NPR until this whole thing blows over.

@Rob Weddle: It took me about 5 min to catch this one. Smooth.

@Rob Weddle: Chiken Wings, Butter, Lots of Salt, maybe wash it down with some Melted butter or beer. If we don't hear from you again, good luck.

Heh, I saw this and thought, "How the hell did they get that picture off my phone?"

This is the store I work in. I'm in the photo lab to the right of the picture, underneath the big yellow wall. The photo lab that's closing at the end of this month.

Thankfully, the store does have open positions in other departments again.

@gggtur: @gggtur: @White Speed Receiver: Precisely why I'm working on my accounting degree right now.

@purplesun: I <3 HEB. Best grocery store I've ever shopped at for groceries.

When I saw that pic before reading the caption, I thought right away that was HEB...and a co-worker confirmed it. He was there last night shopping and saw those signs.

That's not a good sign at all if HEB has put in a hiring freeze. HEB is one of those stores in the area you can usually rely on getting a job if you live in Austin/San Antonio.

@Rob Weddle:

If you're considering statin drugs, PLEASE do yourself a favor and do LOTS of research. They may lower your cholesterol but they have lots of nasty side effects.

Also, this is just my relatively uninformed opinion, but some people just have naturally "high" cholesterol. I know a family of slim, athletic people who have genetically "high" cholesterol levels. Including a 97 year old woman who is in perfect health and still lives on her own. Their levels are off the charts, but they are healthy and their hearts and arteries are fine. It seems to be a harmless inherited trait.

Of course, people who are slothful and overweight and have terrible diets are certainly at risk of heart disease from high cholesterol.

But there are lots of things you can do with diet and exercise. Garlic, daily bowl of steel cut oats, etc.

@Rob Weddle: Looks like there are two books out there for you.

@Proz:

Well, the HEB website currently lists a couple dozen positions in the Austin area. HEB is one of the main reasons I would never want to leave the area. Their brand of products are *awesome*....mmmmm pre-seasoned fajita meat.....

@Segador: DOH! I just noticed also.

Fail for me.

@pollyannacowgirl: Look at the picture again. About half way down on the left side... green and orange... The joke starting to make sense now?

@bobcatred: D'oh. Double fail. (Fail to find joke; fail to be funny joke.)

I think this photo was taken at the HEB on 41st St. of Austin! I saw this about two days ago when I was there to pick up a few things.

@DrGirlfriend: SERIOUSLY! And during the summer it was "Oil is now this exorbitantly expensive"

@Sunny Yeung: You got it. That's my store.

@legwork: I believe that she disappeared for a while, was presumed dead by everybody in town (there is another woman who looks exactly like her and this is who died), and they held a funeral and distributed her assets to her heirs. So when she gets back to town, she will find she has lost all her money and her company. If there is anything else that will surprise her, I don't know.

@Proz: Word. When the job freeze hits HEB it's panic time.

When grocery stores stop all hiring (don't quite get the reason. people are still buying food, last I checked. In fact, they're buying more of it at grocery stores) I get a little noy-vous.

That being said, that's totally my HEB and this post is making me homesick (I'm overseas).

Did you know that "Serials" got the name Soap Operas because they were first sponsored by soap companies?

What the tax cuts are not working? Please say its not so.