CraigsList Rant of the Day

Writing about Las Vegas presents a dilemma these days: what should I say about the Great Recession?

Comments and e-mails from my readers indicate that they don't want to hear about economic anything unless it's either a) unfailingly positive and supportive of elected officials (umm, sorry, but that's not going to happen); or b) funny. If the comments on the Sun's boards are any indication, my readers are not alone in their aversion to stories about the economy. Read the comments on stories like ‘I couldn’t believe that someone with my experience couldn’t even get a job as a busboy’ or "Working class bears brunt of Las Vegas’ decay," and you'll see what I mean.

But it feels dishonest not to mention the number one issue in Las Vegas in a blog dedicated to the city.

Readers may be united in their dislike of stories about the recession's impact on people, but the people on the other side of the equation--those who have lost jobs, their home, and their life savings--are equally united in their frustration at a system that seems to be broken. And there's no better place to read about their frustration than on CraigsList.

Job seekers who spend months digging through bogus online want ads, or who wind up with jobs that barely cover the electric bill, or who are simply at the end of that proverbial rope sometimes use CraigsList for a little therapeutic cyber-venting. I've been reading these rants for a while now, and I think the really creative ones deserve some extra screen time. I'm not sure that I classify these rants as funny--although they can be--but they're definitely interesting.

Today's CraigsList rant of the day was plucked off the boards yesterday before it was flagged for removal. This gentleman was so frustrated and angry that his words were leaping up and down on the page. And he had obviously pitched a few cyber-fits before, judging from his opening comments, which I quote verbatim: "Thank YOU!!! Flagging me, over and over. This does not anger me, it validated me! It gave me much happiness, if I can piss off just ONE crappy, dirty, business/man...."

Here's an abridged and edited portion of his rant, which in its entirety was over 1,000 words long:

"... I know this most likely applies to the rest of the job searching community from pick axe to CEO, as I search for months to find work. I am just truly amazed, as I see the qualifications required by 95 % of these employers ... wanting the best and the brightest but hopefully we are ignorant with money? Expect college grads, or people who have spent years in technical schools for nothing, providing they have 20 years’ experience by the age of 24 and a masters in fornication. [Yes, he said fornication.]

I MEAN REALLY AFTER ALL THE EDUCATION THAT YOU EMPLOYERS REQUIRE, AND THEN YOU OFFER $12-15 AN HOUR, DO YOU REALLY THINK, IF I AM THAT EDUCATED THAT YOUR MATH FOR COMPENSATION EVEN ADDS UP????????????? [If capitals equal shouting, I'm surprised this man did not break his keyboard at this point.]

I LOVE the “NEW” American dream....

I guess it is time to leave this town after 31 years here....

Oh, and when the economy does come back around to at least a stable snail crawl.... I hope ALL you shi**y companies out there that have played on people's desperation get what's coming to you!!!"

Bud Meyers, the bartender who was profiled in the Sun's article I mentioned above, has been blogging about his experiences, and getting a lot of media attention.

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Photo courtesy of Robert Couse-Baker.

This CraigsList ad was removed from the board the day after I spotted it. The title of his post was "Pipe dreams for less than un-employment (Lost Vegas)."

Las Vegas: A Tale of Two Cities

Las Vegas remains one of the world's top tourist destinations--and for good reasons. We've got plush hotels, critically acclaimed restaurants, miles of shopping malls, every kind of show imaginable, and hip nightclubs. You can see historically significant places, like Hoover Dam; ride roller coasters; or visit Vegas-only places like the Liberace Museum and the Atomic Testing Museum. For the visitor, Las Vegas holds an array of things to do and see that rivals any other city. I write about my hometown for NileGuide, and keeping up with all the things we have to see and do is enough to keep my at my computer late into the night.

Then there's the rest of the city, the Las Vegas beyond the Strip.

Like many well-known tourist cities, the Las Vegas that exists outside of the Strip has some serious challenges. You've probably heard about the crime in Atlantic City or the poverty-stricken favelas in Rio. If you've been following the news, you know that Las Vegas is one of the nation's leaders in foreclosures, that our bankruptcy rate is skyrocketing, and that unemployment remains high. Nevada has used only a third of much-needed federal highway stimulus funds (money that could put thousands of unemployed construction workers back to work), HUD has decided we don't deserve any additional aid for foreclosures (without offering much of a reason why), and Nevada's governor is thinking about opting out of Medicaid (when more people than ever need assistance). It's enough to make you nostalgic for the Mob.

While I was reading all those depressing articles this week, I remembered the mutterings of years past, when some Las Vegas residents wondered if Nevada would be better off being split into two states: North Nevada and South Nevada. While that's as unlikely today as when the idea was first mentioned, if Southern Nevada could have its own leaders in charge of things, perhaps we'd have a different set of circumstances. Highway construction funds, for example, might actually be put to use here instead of in Carson City. I realize that drawing a line across the middle of Nevada to make two states out of one is pretty radical, but right now we need some radical solutions.
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Photo by Justin Per at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/315978

Las Vegas Tells 2009 Good-Bye

Some years you savor the memories of the previous twelve months, and some years you're just glad for the hope a new year brings. For Las Vegas, 2009 falls in the latter category.

The economy shocked everyone in Las Vegas with its record-breaking drop in 2009. I hesitated to write about my own experiences until I realized I was far, far from being the only one. My wish for 2010 is that I won’t feel compelled to speak out about any collective financial hardships. For all those who were steamrolled by the economic collapse in Southern Nevada, I raise my glass with you to toast the end of 2009. Let’s look forward to better times in the new year.

What does 2010 hold for Las Vegas? Unfortunately, my crystal ball is in for repairs. I hope we’ll see a steady turn-around in the economy—more jobs, a rise in home values (hey, I’m an optimist), and a resurrection of our once-vibrant construction industry.

Tonight, Las Vegas does what she does best: put on a spectacular show. The Strip’s hotels will entertain the crowds with an awesome roof-top display of fireworks, and hundreds of thousands of revelers will celebrate in the street below. I believe New Year’s Eve on the Strip is evidence that while Las Vegas may be down, she’s not out.

Happy New Year, Las Vegas!
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Image courtesy of Billy Alexander at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1245823

From Las Vegas To Washington: We Need Jobs Now

My weekly hike has been suspended indefinitely since I’m once again hyper-focused on finding more work. Although I have one steady writing assignment, a weekly writing group that I facilitate, and a part-time retail job (all of which I’m incredibly grateful for right now), none of it can compensate for the near total lack of work for my hubby. It’s difficult to make up for a 75%+ drop in household income.

On December 3, Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce President Kara Kelley was the only Nevadan at President Obama’s White House Job Creation Forum. I guess Las Vegas’ status as the Detroit of the West simply isn’t enough to warrant more attention. Or maybe it’s more of the same attitude that we who live in Las Vegas are expendable, immoral, and unsustainable—despite the 37 million people who travel here each year.

In order to keep from bursting blood vessels or suffering from high blood pressure (especially since we had to give up our health insurance), I’ve had to stop thinking about the current unemployment quagmire that is sinking our city. I’ve instead chosen to focus on the fact that there are jobs out there. Maybe not as many jobs as we need, maybe not very many well-paying jobs, but jobs are out there. It’s like a treasure hunt, only you get to lose your home and live in your car if you can’t find that elusive Job With a Living Wage. In my case, I’m very lucky because I can look for jobs on two fronts: writing assignments and whatever is available in the brick and mortar category—writing is often in cyberspace and on the phone, while administrative jobs usually require you to put on make-up, look pretty, and appear in person at someone else’s office. I’m also working on finding a way to go without sleep, which will make working around the clock so much easier.

Of course, I’m not just applying for administrative and writing jobs. I’m applying for anything for which I’m qualified. That includes dog watching, taking inventory, and stocking grocery store shelves. I’ve discovered that being self-employed is a strike against me, that personality tests really do have right and wrong answers, that just getting a response from a job application is a major achievement, and that scammers and computer hackers are busily preying on job seekers these days.

So here’s my message to Washington and our leaders: We need jobs. Now. Not $8.00 an hour jobs; jobs that we can use to stay in our homes. Construction was one of Las Vegas’ major industries, and the housing and financial crisis blew a hole through it—a hole big enough that my husband could drive his idle Kenworth right through it. Unless something is done quickly, a second wave of foreclosures, loan delinquencies, and bankruptcies will sink even more people—people like my husband and me, who have managed to hang on for the past three years but who now are running out of resources. Do we really need more committees and forums to understand that? Here in Las Vegas, where the unemployment rate is 13%, how much more bickering do we need to have over highway projects and high-speed trains? Can we just form a committee devoted to bickering so the rest of our “leaders” can devote themselves to creating jobs?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to looking for work.
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Picture information: My husband’s Kenworth, which worked for about 20 hours last month.

Vegas Job Seekers: Beware!

Combine an unemployment rate of over 12% with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, and what do you get? You get a lot of scammers looking to take advantage of out-of-work people, which strikes me as being not too different from embezzling money from senior citizens.

Back in the olden days, also known as “pre-Internet,” people scoured the newspaper’s want ads on Wednesdays and Sundays. Today, almost all job postings have migrated to online sites like CraigsList. Even those of us who are accustomed to sloughing through CL listings (it’s a common way for freelance writers to look for leads), have noticed an uptick in the number of scams. Does it sound too good to be true? It probably is. Is the ad all in capitals and studded with grammatical errors? Another scam alert. Is the information about the opportunity and/or company vague or non-existent? Proceed with caution. Are you being asked to pay for job leads? Just say no. DO NOT give out your credit card information, or any other personal information.

Even with my cautious approach, however, I’ve still had several dubious responses. For instance, one seemingly normal ad I responded to was a gentleman looking for women to interview naked men. Now, maybe in the years ahead I’ll find that this was a perfectly legitimate opportunity that I let escape. I’m not a prude in any way, and at first it sounded like a odd but actual gig. However, as our conversation progressed, we went from interviews in public places to interviews alone to “Do you have any friends you can bring?”

I decided that signing up with an employment agency would help me weed out the real jobs from the naked interview jobs, but when I didn’t hear back from the first agency I contacted (which really disappointed me because they requested an extensive amount of information that took me quite a while to collect and submit), I thought I would try other agencies. I went to the sites that handle virtual assistants because they have work for both run-of-the-mill administrative work and “creatives,” as freelance writers are often known. I found that the VA field has a whole side industry of certifications and requirements. Some of the sites require that you attend their training sessions on a regular basis, which puzzled me. Training for what? If I meet the requirements to do the job, and I have over 20 years of experience, for what am I attending training? I also found that simply having a regular home office is often not enough for the VA sites. They want you to sign up for virtual fax by e-mail and virtual voice mail, and the sites I looked at charged for those services. These sites specified that having a stand-alone fax and a dedicated phone line were not sufficient. Why a dedicated fax line, high-speed Internet connection, and land line phone were unacceptable was not entirely clear to me, but perhaps I just didn’t read closely enough.

I did find one online job site that looked pretty straight-forward; sign up, upload your resume, and get job leads mailed to you. At least, that’s what I thought it was. I had noticed that in addition to the VA sites pushing their training, some of the job sites were promoting various online colleges, and this one was no exception. When I went through the job app, I de-selected the box for “Send me more information about going back to school!” Within five minutes of sending in my information, my phone was ringing with a telemarketer trying to get me signed up for college courses. I hung up on them. This morning, they called again. The girl gushed, “We see that you asked for additional information about furthering your education and going back to college!”

“That is incorrect,” I said. “I am not interested in going back to college right now. Please don’t call again.” I haven’t checked back with the site to see if there are any job leads, but I sure don’t have any in my in-box. Don’t get me wrong—if the time was right, I’d consider going back to college. However, with a homeschooled child at home, a household income that has been slashed by 75%, and college costs in the stratosphere, this is not the time. Besides, if I wanted to go back to school, I would have called UNLV.

A quick look at CraigsList shows that I’m not alone. On any day, you can read other job seekers’ frustrations over ads that ask for pictures, credit report information, and so on—just look at the “re:” listings. I liked this response from one annoyed person: “If you want to scam people, at least use proper English.” I agree. At the very least.

Update: In addition to telemarketing phone calls, I've also received two e-mails from an anonymous "HR Department" demanding that I supply information about my credit report to complete my application. The e-mails almost look like they are legitimate--they state that an applicant's prior work history and references must be verified, but the only item they're asking more information about is my credit report. Don't be fooled into clicking these links and giving these scammers your information.

On Sunday, July 19, RJ reporter John Przbys wrote about CraigsList scammers in the other (non-employment) sections of the site: "Don't play games with online scam artists." On August 3, RJ columnist Doug Elfman also wrote about CL: "Craigslist: A 21st century den of thieves, deviants, scammers."
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Photo courtesy of Carin Araujo at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/126593

Signs of Better Times Ahead

Last week I talked to a friend of mine who lives in Florida. The high-rise condo she bought a few years ago is worth about half of what she paid for it. She has a lovely view of a neighboring, unfinished, abandoned high-rise building. We compared housing values—my home’s value has fallen to just slightly more than what my husband and I paid for it ten years ago. Its value today is $150,000.00 less than its last appraised value in 2007, and over $250,000.00 less than its value at the peak of the housing craziness. “It will just take some time for things to turn around,” I told my friend.

“You really think things are going to turn around?” she asked me. “I’m not so sure about that.” She’s pretty sure the entire country is going to you-know-where in a hand basket.

I don’t think that things will return to the insanity of the housing boom, but I do think better times are ahead. As I told my Florida friend, supply-and-demand will come into play as more and more people start snapping up incredible deals on everything from homes to clothing.

Businesses are starting to slowly take over some of the empty buildings that dot our landscape. Near my home, Walgreens has taken over the old Rite-Aid building, Chipotle Restaurant occupies the former Blockbuster building, and a handful of smaller businesses have their “Coming Soon!” or “Now Open!” banners splashed across the faded names of now-defunct stores. Theoretically, this is the market at work—the old and failed businesses disappear, and the new and innovative step in to take their place.

What do you think? Can you see signs of better times ahead, either here in Las Vegas, or in the city in which you live?
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Photo info: My picture of the new Walgreen's at Fort Apache and Sahara.

The Interview

Times being what they are, I decided it would be a good idea to look into getting a part-time job. The Las Vegas recession-depression has hit most people I know really hard. My household is no exception. My husband’s construction-dependent trucking business has fallen to levels unlike anything we’ve previously seen. I’ve been self-employed as a writer for eight years, but freelancing can be unstable—and that was true even before so many publications started going out of business. When I saw a CraigsList ad for an evening or weekend receptionist at a retirement community, I applied. I manned a front desk for over ten years when I worked for Metro (and managed front counters and offices for another five years), and a great deal of my work as a freelancer is done on the phone. My writing group is composed of senior citizens, and I’ve been meeting with them once a week for seven years. I felt completely qualified for this job.

I know that to many people, “freelance writer” is synonymous with “creatively unemployed,” or to paraphrase one writer I heard speak, “another mother with a computer.” That’s why in addition to filling out an application, I’d also attached a resume and cover letter about what I’d been doing for the past eight years, with a specifics about my writing business. I’m not sure what the woman who interviewed me thought, but I got the impression she didn’t quite believe I’d written articles and press releases, despite my attachments. She asked me perfunctory questions about my writing, skimming over the first page of my application with a puzzled look and a disbelieving tone to her questions. She asked not a single question about my decades with the police department. She went all the way back to my college education. I last attended college in about 1992, 17 years ago. In my adult life after 21, I’ve had two employers: the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and myself. I thought I was a pretty stable-looking candidate. Of course, if she thought I was lying, that surely eroded the pleasant, experienced image I was hoping to convey.

“So, I see you were a Communications major. What happened there?” I was a bit taken aback by her question. We were going to discuss why I left college almost 20 years ago? What was next, questions about high school? Had she honestly not noticed all those years working for the police department? Perhaps she didn’t believe that, either. I told her that during my last year of college I was caring for an elderly parent and working full time, which had changed my priorities. She asked why I left my last job, and I told her it was to have work that was more flexible, since I’d had a small child at home (given that I was a Communications major, I thought it was obvious why I chose freelance writing). She looked at me disapprovingly, perhaps disbelievingly, kind of like I had just said that I left my last job to join the circus as a fire eater.

“Do you have any experience working with seniors other than your writing group?”

Other than leading a once-a-week writing group for seniors for the past seven years, which included helping three of them write books? Seriously? I smiled and politely said, “That would be the bulk of my experience.”

She had a lot to say about the importance of professional appearance, so much so that I wondered if I had something hanging out that I didn’t know about. The interviewee ahead of me had been wearing a denim skirt and hooker heels, and I was wearing a navy blue suit and white blouse. I thought I did look professional. Maybe Ms. Interviewer assumed that when I wasn’t out trying to deceive innocent retirement home directors, I wore Daisy Dukes and neglected to brush my hair.

I was doing my utmost to be honest, and since things seemed to be going so oddly (okay, badly), I freely admitted that it had been awhile since I’d been on a job interview. “My skills are a little rusty, I’m sure,” I admitted.

“The most important thing is to be yourself,” she said. Who else did she think I was being? That seemed to be the crux of the problem. Maybe she thought I was dishonest, or perhaps over-qualified, but whatever it was, I didn’t get a second interview.

The interviewer told me she had over 60 applications for her two positions, one full-time and one part-time. Apparently, I’m not the only Las Vegan out there looking for a little more stability these day.
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Image courtesy of Sundeip Arora at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1055976

The Disappearing Loan Trick

In the current economic miasma in which we find ourselves, I take consolation in one thing: we’re all in this big mess together. Whether you are an individual or a business, if you’re in Las Vegas, the odds are that you’ve been hit hard financially. And the entire country is angry about the draconian tactics of many banks, who have decided to continue squeezing credit during the middle of a depression-like recession—despite receiving billions of tax-payer dollars to do just the opposite.

Take the Fontainebleau, for instance. They sued their lender, Bank of America, after it decided it no longer found them credit-worthy and refused to give them money it had previously agreed to loan. I was happy Fontainebleau sued them.

How many people and businesses right now are in this same position, only not to the tune of $800 million? And how many middle class families are in a position to do anything about it? Many individuals and small business are using credit cards to get through these rough times. In response, credit card companies are slashing credit limits without warning (then charging over limit fees) and raising interest rates on customers who’ve done nothing other than use the credit they thought they had. Even consumers whose credit cards have no balance are seeing their credit cut. Jim Randel at The Huffington Post has a great list, “The Ten Sneakiest Credit Card Tricks,” about a whole host of credit card company practices that rob consumers of millions of dollars a year.

John Stossel speaks for the other side, the you-should-have-known-better side. Credit cards, he argues in his recent editorial, “Increasing Banks' Costs Makes It Harder for the Poor,” are preferable to loan sharks, pawn shops, and other similar institutions that loan money to the poor. He says, “Late and over-the-limit fees are unpleasant, but they aren't charged until a cardholder's conduct triggers them.” I’ve got no problem with common-sense rules and regulations, but a $40 late fee and a doubled interest rate for being one day late isn't unpleasant. It's usury.

In the Fountainbleau’s case, their strangled credit line has resulted in lay-offs, which means some of their unemployed workers will be looking to their credit cards to get by this month. When will our financial institutions get a clue? If we fail, they fail, too.
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Picture courtesy of Alexander Korabelnikov at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1136586

Where’s My Crazy Eight Ball?

A great deal of conversation around Las Vegas these days centers on one question: Have we hit bottom? Reading our local newspapers isn’t much of a help, really, because our economy is in uncharted territory. Last Thursday, the Sun reported that Mayor Oscar Goodman has declared that the Las Vegas economy is on the rebound. Pretty much no one agrees with him, but let’s give him points for his positive attitude. On the same page as the story about Mayor Goodman, we have “Shortfall looms large as fire union holds out.” When you’re squabbling about money for firefighters, times are bad.

On Friday, the RJ’s business section wondered, “Could the median price for existing homes in Las Vegas fall to $100,000?” Could that mean people will begin buying houses again? Personally, I think that would be a good thing. Along with the $100,000 question, the RJ ran “Reports cool off hopes of recovery,” “IGT forges ahead despite second-quarter loss,” and “Penn National prospers; tries to quell LV rumors.”

I started looking for my magic eight ball, so I could get some clearer answers, but all I found was a note on the shelf where it used to sit. “Ask again later,” it said. Good grief, for that I could have read the newspaper.
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Picture courtesy of Rodolfo Clix at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/957145

Keeping Those Vegas Vibes Positive

Finding positive things to write about Las Vegas these days requires concentration. Here are a few of the topics I considered for posts and then discarded as too dreary and depressing: “Dear Credit Card Companies: We Hate You, Too”; “The Bill Collector’s New Approach: Just Don’t Speak English”; and “CraigsList Las Vegas: The Scammers are Alive and Well.”

Before you conclude that the Vegas Girl is steps away from a tent on Foremaster Lane, let me assure you that’s not the case. I don’t actually hate all credit card companies, only the ones who have decided to penalize their best customers before those customers are even late with a payment. I don’t have any bill collectors after me personally, but I had to pitch a huge fit (on paper) to get one of them to understand that the person they were looking for is dead. (Which really hinders your ability to return phone calls and repay bills, by the way.) And the back-and-forth exchanges on CraigsList Las Vegas between unscrupulous would-be employers/scammers and ticked off job seekers can be entertaining.

What’s the good news around Las Vegas? Well, if you believe the growing trickle of we’ve-hit-the-bottom stories, that’s actually a good place to start. Buyers who have funds can get terrific deals on houses; heck, anyone who’s got cash or available credit can get incredible prices on just about anything these days. If we’re sliding backwards in terms of population, does that mean less ugly traffic? Since so much commercial space is open, can we get a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in town so I don’t have to drive to Utah? I admit these are very small points within a larger picture that still needs much improvement. But since we’ve got to start someplace, pick something: Shorter lines at almost every store. Vegetable gardens coming into vogue. Sunny weather. Come on, you can do it. Get your Vegas Vibe back on track.
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Illustration courtesy of jaylopez at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1108723

Edwards And The Economy

This post was originally titled "Why Edwards Make Take Nevada." As it turned out, Senator Edwards took only 4% of the vote in Nevada. Now, all the candidates have discovered the economy.

Although the mainstream media coverage of the Democratic candidates in Las Vegas could be called “All Clinton and Obama, All the Time,” John Edwards is running a strong campaign here. Polls show the race will be a close one between the three candidates. Almost every Democrat I know is planning to caucus for John Edwards. Why? For the same reason Mitt Romney is pulling ahead on the Republican side. It's the economy, stupid. In fact, if you look at the reasons this phrase was so effective against President Bush The First, we’re in a similar situation today.

Nevada has been hit hard by the housing crash. Now that people are finally starting to use the dreaded “R” word – recession – I’ve even read that the “experts” think Las Vegas already may be in one. Welcome to the party, people! With few exceptions, my friends, family, and business associates have been struggling for months as the Las Vegas economy has withered. Rite-Aide has gone out of business here. Z-Tejas is closed. CompUSA, Levitz, Tweeters – all going or gone. God help the poor people directly engaged in real estate – the agents and mortgage professional, like my cousin. They’re going belly-up faster than they can take the names off the buildings. If you do have a job, better hope it offers insurance. The only person I know who feels health care is just hunky dory is the one (1) person I know who still has an employer-paid plan. Energy costs have become heart-stopping. My husband owns and operates a big-rig dirt truck for a living. Can we say $700 for a fill-up? And while we’re talking energy, how about those $300 and $400 power bills in summer? Isn’t it such fun to open your power bill and immediately experience angina?

Edwards is the one candidate talking the most about these issues. Clinton and Obama aren’t ignoring the economy, but Edwards is talking toughest. I don’t agree with him on everything, but I like hearing someone repeatedly acknowledge how hard times have been for the middle class. I believe Edwards’ willingness to put the spotlight on the economic plight of the many may give him a surprise victory in the Silver State.

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Photo courtesy of Sufi Nawaz at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/865435