Happy Trails

Well pilgrims... it’s time to mosey on down the trail. For me, it’s been a great semester hanging with all you young pups and wish each and every one of you a great future!

Had a great few weeks learning some great new writing techniques that should help me with some future projects. Who know where this will take me… maybe write a book or a magazine articles…

Short on words today – ENJOY and keep on blogging !  

Entry 7 All About Men

Dumb Men Stupid Men and Male Bashing in Commercials. Exposing the Stereotypes of Men in Advertising.

I think there is a lot of humor in many of these “snapshots” BUT it’s hard for me to grasp that many of these men that are shown on this site exist – or that their kind do.

I was born when men seemed to be men- yes we had a good chuckle here and there but now days it seems like quite a few men have lost their MAN card.

I think many of these videos shown are things that should have been done by males before moving past the 8^th grade?? John Wayne and Clark Gable would be removing “man” cards.

Sorry if my tone is serious but I am hoping this type of male DNA will be something of the past and not some future frat party where every guy is this stupid. 

BLOG 8 WHILE MY CAMERA GENTLY WEEPS

The year is almost over and my camera has a light layer of dust. Normally it’s not the case, but this semester it seems like I have been busy with classes and other things.

Normally I carry a bag with two cameras, assorted lenses and a tripod or two. I like to shoot abstract or landscape and quite a bit I have been up before the sunrise or have chased down a sunset as it fades to west.

Many of my photographs are stories of what I see. Last year at the Arizona Fair I took a photograph of some kids on a ride. What I was trying to do was capture the innocence of having fun. I was honored to receive first place last year in GCC’s yearly magazine called the traveler.

Two more weeks before the semester end and I am hoping that time allows me to capture the world as I see it!

Blog #10 Walking Through the Amazon

Today I am very tired- and I must tell you why I am vey tired! I just finished an 11-hour shift trying to make a few extra dollars for Christmas.

I had been told how great it is to work at Amazon at one of their many warehouses that are located here in the valley. Well the word “great” slowly dissolved when I first applied… let me share with you the process!!

I had applied through ISS, which is one Amazons recruiting facilities. I walked in one Sunday morning and was greeted by a door clerk who told me that I must start my application on a computer. Well that is true, but you must go through a series of computers- up to four as they try to vet out bad apples. I was greeted by one person who talked to me for a mere 5 minutes. She told me that they had an evening swing shift- I accepted.

Orientation was at Plant 6. This facility is LARGE and was told to arrive an hour early to get parking. Well who in their right mind comes to work an hour early.  When I arrived I saw a massive traffic jam for people arriving mixed with people leaving. I thought arriving and leaving a Cardinals football game was a chore.

Orientation lasted 4 hours and I am not sure I even heard one word from the many representatives that spoke. The orientation was in the actual warehouse and where the noise level was very high. They have people who wear blue vest that are called ambassadors and I am sure they mean well, but I felt like I was being trained by kids that have been with Amazon for the years that they have toiled there and not by people that are professional trainers.

My actual first day was sitting in the parking lot for three hours waiting for a badge. I am sure Jeff Bezos would be glad to know that he wasted some money on 26 of us just kicking back.

I finally am in the mouth of the whale. This place is massive and I am told I might walk up 25 miles a day on a 12-hour shift. I never heard much of the floor instruction from our trainer, as the environment was loud. I finally got a challenging approval from the trainer to be set free on the floor.

It might seem complex but the system is vey easy to maneuver.  Sections are numbered and alphabetized. I hand scanner tells you where to go and what to pick. You have a rolling cart that you put the item in and when it is filled, it gets put on a conveyer system. I think I am doing ok for the first day, as my hour average count is 58 items- YEA!! BUT I am told in a few weeks it should be 153 items an hour…. Sorry Mr. Bezo, I do not think I will be around that long.

 

So- I stated that I am very tired! I think I actually walked 125 miles last night and I felt it in the 11^th hour. Wish me the best as I walk into day three of the belly of the beast!!

Entry #9 Media Synthesize

It’s all around us- tons of news and a galaxy of information that seems to never stop.

Lets start with news! In the good old days there were three television networks (ABC, NBC, & CBS) that informed the public of news stories.

News was usually for an hour in the evenings and the stories started with national, local, weather and sports.

Most stories lasted thirty-seconds to minute- rarely did a story last a few minutes…and that is how news was presented a few decades ago…

Sometime in the 90’s four major stories changed the way news was presented- O.J. Simpson chase and trial, the Gulf War, Rodney King and the Los Angeles Riots. CNN was reporting news 24/7, but these stories would be told and analyzed over and over again. Soon, the three major networks followed along with non-stop news whenever a major news item came along.

Today, it seems like every news story, good or bad, is picked apart, analyzed and scrutinized. I think we as the public, can blame ourselves for wanting the shared information.

This week in San Bernardino, CA, we had a shooting from a couple that killed and injured multiple people. As the public we wanted to know every, who-what-when-where and why. And within a few days the media was allowed to enter the house that the couple lived in. The manager had placed their items in some presentable way for the media to film and share with their viewers. For me- it seems like this seems to be the norm- to get to every level of detail, regardless if its level of news worthiness.

I think its great to be aware of world wide events, but for me I can not fathom how some will sit for hours or even days glued to a news feed sucking it all in. Three days later the same old-same old of what happened in a Southern California neighbor hood plays on- and as we see over and over again, another BIG news story is just around the corner.