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I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday
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Jake



Joined: 02 Mar 1999
Posts: 4963

PostPosted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 9:34 pm    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

That's great that you've got the job! Now I'm the only unemployed Hardboardian hopefully.

Though I do have a test tomorrow to see if I qualify to work Homeland Security. Wish me luck!
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 10:09 am    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

Thanks Jake and good luck to you.
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JGunnz1



Joined: 15 Sep 2000
Posts: 896
Location: Minneapolis

PostPosted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:08 am    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

Funny thing is.. a lot of companies SAY they are testing, but it is just a formality. Fact is, the tests cost a lot of money and for them to test EVERY employee would be expensive. I had a friend that got tested in order to work for a major electronics chain in the US. This was in college and he was smoking weed up to the day before. He still got the job. If they didn't catch weed, then they really didn't submit the test at all.

The other thing testing agencies do, is to pick what tests they will pay for, based upon what they feel the highest likelihood for a positive would be. Therefore, they may only test for the presence of a small number of drugs. Figuring that that is the most likely drugs to catch someone with.
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 3:26 pm    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

Published on Friday, January 9, 2004 by Reuters
Job Searches in 2003 the Longest in 20 Years
by Jonathan Nicholson

WASHINGTON - The year 2003 was the most difficult for U.S. job hunters since 1983, as they faced the gloomiest job market in years, according to Labor Department figures released on Friday.

The unemployment rate was the highest since 1994, and the search for a new job was the longest in two decades.

According to Labor Department data, the average spell of unemployment lasted 19.2 weeks in 2003, or almost five months. That was the longest average duration since 1983, when the U.S. economy was emerging from the worst recession since the Depression. Then the average spell was 20.0 weeks.

As a percentage of all the unemployed, the long-term jobless -- those out of work for 27 weeks or more -- made up 22.1 percent in 2003, the highest annual number since 23.9 percent in 1983.

Democrats have called for renewing a federally-funded extension of unemployment benefits offered through states to deal with the problem. They revived their attacks on Friday after a weaker-than-expected jobs report showed only 1,000 new hires in December. Measures of long-term joblessness improved slightly in the month, though.

While Bush administration officials have continually repeated that they will not be satisfied "until every American who wants a job can get one," it has yet to support a renewal of extended benefits, a move many economists say would help blunt the economic damage of the rise in long-term unemployment.

In early December, Treasury Secretary John Snow told Reuters the administration had yet to decide if it would support extending the program for a third time.

According to the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about 80,000 to 90,000 workers will be exhausting their state-funded benefits every week by late January, after the program's eligibility ended in December.

"Unemployment is the Achilles' heel of this administration and Congressional Republicans, and they cannot continue to ignore it," said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, of Maryland.

Lee Price, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute and a former Clinton-era Commerce Department official, said the long-term jobless numbers show how difficult the labor market remains.

Extending jobless benefits again would stimulate the economy by putting money in the pockets of people not getting paychecks, Price said. "Almost 100 percent of that is going to be spent," he said.

Copyright © 2004 Reuters Ltd

###

Published on Friday, January 9, 2004 by Knight-Ridder
Job Creation Anemic, Signaling Lack of Confidence in Economy
by Ken Moritsugu

WASHINGTON - U.S. job creation ground to a halt in December, casting doubt on forecasts that faster economic growth this year will create jobs.

The unexpectedly weak report was bad news for President Bush, who is counting on a jobs revival to boost his re-election campaign.

The number of jobs nationwide grew by a scant 1,000 last month, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent from 5.9 percent the previous month, but that was because more people gave up looking for work, and official statistics don't count them as unemployed.

The unexpectedly weak report was bad news for President Bush, who is counting on a jobs revival to boost his re-election campaign.

"Neither business nor potential employees have confidence in the economy," said Sung Won Sohn, the Minneapolis-based chief economist at Wells Fargo bank.

The jobs data sent stocks down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 133.55 points to 10,458.89, shedding much its advance from earlier this week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index finished at 2,086.92, down 13.33.

The report renewed questions about whether even the healthy economic recovery expected this year will be sufficient to overcome the caution of business owners and finally spark some hiring.

Job growth, which had risen to 100,000 jobs a month in September and October, fell to 43,000 in November before all but drying up last month.

Some temporary factors, including a California supermarket workers strike and weak temporary holiday hiring, may have depressed payrolls the last two months.

Still, analysts had expected the job market to rebound in December and add about 125,000 jobs.

Overall, the economy shrank by 74,000 jobs last year, an improvement over declines of 463,000 in 2002 and 1.8 million in 2001. The trend suggests that layoffs have eased, but new hiring has yet to pick up.

Rapid gains in productivity - a measure of the output per hour of labor - have slowed job creation as technology and other advances have allowed companies to produce more with fewer workers. That has driven up profits, rather than increasing wages or new hires.

"Firms, not workers, have captured almost all of the recent productivity gains," said Jan Hatzius, an economist with Goldman Sachs in New York.

Heightened competition from abroad has also driven firms to hold down labor costs or move jobs overseas, a trend that could affect the economy for many years.

"There's real concern (that) changes in the economy are going to suppress job growth for a longer period," said Sophia Koropeckyj, who tracks labor markets at Economy.com, an economic analysis firm in West Chester, Pa.

Democratic presidential candidates quickly jumped on the report to criticize President Bush.

"What further proof do we need that George Bush's economic policies are a failure for working Americans?" said former Vermont governor Howard Dean.

"President Bush can't sweep under the rug the fact that more than 8 million people are hunting for work and there just aren't enough jobs," said another challenger, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

Bush, in an appearance with small-business owners at the Commerce Department, focused on the drop in the unemployment rate.

"I'm optimistic because I see things happening," he said. "Unemployment dropped today to 5.7 percent. That's not good enough. We want more people still working. But nevertheless, it is a positive sign that the economy is getting better."

He called on Congress to make his tax cuts, due to expire by 2011, permanent, saying such a move would boost job creation.

Economists said that the rate of unemployment fell not because more people found jobs but because many people stopped looking for work, contributing to a decline in the labor pool by about 300,000.

Including those who have given up looking for work, the total unemployment rate would be close to 7 percent, said Ian Morris, the New York-based chief U.S. economist for HSBC, a British bank.

The unemployment rate for blacks was virtually unchanged at 10.3 percent, while the rate for Hispanics fell to 6.6 percent. The teenage unemployment rate was 16.1 percent. Unemployment for whites was 5.0 percent.

"In stark terms, when recession hits, African-American unemployment is nearly double the rate of white unemployment," said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, a New York-based group that promotes African-American advancement.

Stores, factories and financial institutions cut jobs in December. Retail jobs fell by 38,000, despite a strong holiday shopping season. Factory employment dropped 26,000, including 3,000 fewer jobs at textile mills. Financial services declined by 12,000 jobs, as higher interest rates reduced applications to refinance mortgages.

Those losses were offset by gains elsewhere, including 30,000 more temporary jobs, 14,000 more construction jobs and 21,000 more jobs in health and education.

Some economists believe the job market is not as bad as reported, because the monthly Labor Department survey typically doesn't capture all the job growth in the early stages of a recovery.

The survey, based on payroll records from 160,000 businesses and government agencies, misses some job growth at small and start-up companies.

On the Web: The Labor Department's December jobs report at [url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm]www.bls.gov/news.r elease/empsit.toc.htm[/url]

Copyright © 2004 Reuters Ltd

###

Published on Saturday, January 10, 2004 by the Baltimore Sun
Falling Jobless Figure Deceptive
14-Month Low Reflects Hundreds of Thousands Giving Up Search for Work

by Bill Atkinson

The nation's unemployment rate dropped sharply to a 14-month low in December, but underlying that positive number was grim economic news - only a handful of new jobs were created and hundreds of thousands of discouraged people dropped out of the work force.

"It's frustrating, to say the least," said William Holland, a 50-year-old, laid-off steelworker in Baltimore who has been unemployed for nearly three years. "I don't give up. I am sending out resumes, I am on the Internet, I am trying every avenue."

The report was a shocker, to say the least. It is almost impossible to understand what is truly going on.

Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors
Holland shares his frustration with 8.4 million others who are looking for work. The search hasn't been easy because companies are barely hiring.

Although unemployment fell to 5.7 percent in December, down from 5.9 percent in the prior month, only 1,000 jobs were created, a shockingly low number in a recovery, according to the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What's more, the work force, which typically grows when the economy advances, shrank as 309,000 people stopped looking for work.

The withdrawal of these work force dropouts from the job market pushed the unemployment rate down, despite the economy's failure to generate a significant number of new jobs.

"Ultimately, the real issue is job creation," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pa. "That is where you get income, that is where you get demand. The report was a shocker, to say the least."

Naroff expected 100,000 jobs to be created, or at the very least 75,000. "It is almost impossible to understand what is truly going on," he said.

John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp., a Charlotte, N.C.-based banking company, had expected 150,000 jobs to be created in December.

"I was clearly disappointed with this report," he said. "This has to be a concern. It may be a one-month fluke, but I have to treat it as a concern. When do we catch up? I don't know. We may not catch up later."

The December numbers are a continuation of a long period of inadequate job creation.

The economy has lost more than 2 million jobs since employment peaked in February 2001, and gains in recent months have been minuscule.

The stock market reacted poorly to the news. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 133.55 points, or 1.26 percent, to close at 10,458.89.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 10.06, or 0.89 percent, to 1,121.86, and the Nasdaq composite index, which is dominated by large technology companies, lost 13.33 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,086.92.

Despite all that, President Bush lauded the economy in a Washington speech before women small business owners and said he is optimistic about its prospects: "This economy is strong, and it is getting stronger."

He noted that unemployment dropped, but he said the decline wasn't good enough.

"We want more people still working. But nevertheless, it is a positive sign that the economy is getting better," he said.

Treasury Secretary John W. Snow underscored the president's remarks, saying the administration "must continue our efforts to strengthen the environment for job creation."

"The fact is that while an index of manufacturing orders is at a 50-year high, construction spending is up, housing starts are at a 20-year high, retail sales are solid, and GDP [gross domestic product] growth is strong, the administration will not be satisfied until every American who wants a job can get one," Snow said in a release.

Creating more jobs is seen by experts as key for Bush's re-election effort.

"Politically, it [job creation] is obviously critical," Silvia said. The administration "can't rely on just tax cuts alone" to win voters' support.

Silvia said that if the economy creates 100,000 jobs a month on average, Bush could be unbeatable this November.

"I think the economy is still a plus for President Bush," said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Minneapolis-based Wells Fargo & Co. "I think the Bush administration will try to emphasize the jobless rate and the economy. He can put together a pretty good story that the economy is doing pretty well."

Bush's goal of providing a job for everyone who wants one won't be an easy one to meet, especially because companies have been reluctant to hire. It still takes 19.6 weeks for the average unemployed person to find a job, and 22.3 percent of unemployed workers have been looking for 27 weeks or longer.

Holland, the laid-off steelworker, has gone back to school, earning a degree from a technical college.

"I have got extensive computer skills and office training," he said.

Holland gets up about 5:30 each morning and by 6:30 a.m. he's hunting for work, either at the Goodwill Industries in Baltimore or at a career center in the city.

And Carol Fletez, 57, a computer database specialist, has been out of work for nine months, despite sending out about 500 resumes.

"It is tough to survive," said Fletez, who lives in Columbia, is married and has a grown daughter.

Three years ago, companies stopped investing in technology, she said, and jobs have been scarce. She used to earn more than $100,000 a year, but she has worked more recently for half that amount when she has found a job.

"We struggle to keep a positive attitude," she said.

The lackluster job market isn't confined to one or two segments of the economy, according to the BLS report.

Retailers, including sporting goods, music and book stores as well as gas stations, trimmed 38,000 jobs in December, surprising experts because companies typically add workers during the holiday season. Leisure and hospitality industries cut 4,000 jobs, and government trimmed workers, too. Manufacturers, which have lost 2.8 million jobs since July 2000, lost an additional 26,000 jobs.

Many economists expect hiring to pick up.

Ken Goldstein, at the Conference Board, a New York-based research group that tracks consumer confidence, predicted that by springtime 100,000 new jobs a month will be "normal."

"We are probably going to get back to at least 50,000 in January and 100,000 in March or April," he said.

"That is where we are going."

Holland and Fletez hope that Goldstein is right and that they will find work as hiring increases.

This week, Fletez received three phone calls about potential jobs, so she is optimistic that something good will happen soon.

"I'm very hopeful," Fletez said. "You use those kinds of things ... to make yourself feel better."

Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun
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Just an average joe



Joined: 08 Aug 2002
Posts: 148
Location: Grand Rapids Michigan

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 6:16 pm    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

The whole piss test thing is amuzing. I just had a friend who "resigned" from being a Hooters waitress because she couldnt pass the random piss test they gave her. How the hell can you not handle giving someone their beer and wings the next day after smoking a fattie...hell i could do that stoned to the gills
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2004 6:46 pm    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

Well,the first day went pretty well. In fact,it's actually verrrryy laid back there,and there doesn't appear to be much responsibility. Everyone was super nice too. In these regards,it's pretty different from my previous job which was often very stressful. Christ,one of the guys was playing Grand Theft Auto when I walked in! [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] Lotsa people in blue jeans also. Very casual.

The only gripe I have about this job is that it's way out in the boonies. It took me almost 2 hours to get home.

I'm also dead tired since I hardly slept a wink last night due to "first-day jitters".
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Tue Jan 13, 2004 6:57 pm    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

Day 2-Well,the place almost seems too laid back now. The guy that's training me is very flip about everything and doesn't seem to take his job seriously at all. Nothing seems to get done either. Commute was a little better today. Having mixed feelings about this place. My job search will continue.
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live4metal



Joined: 12 Jul 2001
Posts: 1057
Location: El Segundo,CA.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 6:23 pm    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

Congrats on the job Warrior.And here is the bottom line on drug testing from a pro.
First off,I'm a pot head,have been for over 15 years.Never once failed a drug test.I've asked Dr.s why I always pass and their responce is that these tests are mostly looking for hard narcotics.Heroin,Speed,Opium,$hit like that.Second,Pot is much harder to detect in urine than those other drugs mentioned.So flushing your system with water helps alot.Which is something I always do B4 testing.A blood test is needed to get a clear reading.That will tell if you've smoked in the past six months.
I've also passed poly graph tests( lie detector) for employment while lying through my teeth.Fortunatly those are illegal to give to perspective employees now.
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 8:15 pm    Post subject: I Had To Pee In A Cup Yesterday Reply with quote

quote:
I've also passed poly graph tests( lie detector) for employment while lying through my teeth.
They used to give those to potential employees? [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]

Btw,thanks.
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