I am about to do something I have never, ever had to do: apply for unemployment benefits. When I came back from the Peace Corps -- wiser and as broke as when I joined, I made ends meet as a temp slaving away over a hot word processor. When I finished graduate school and I was unable to find a job in that so in-demand field of international/intercultural administration,  I did temp work again. When I did get my first real job, I only could afford to live in a basement efficiency; I wouldn't be able to afford a car until almost 6 years later, and then only because of the generosity of my parents who passed on their used Honda.  I have always looked back at these events with some pride in that I actually worked my way up the ladders of life: school, job, home ownership.  It is probably why all the machinations of the Occupy Movement annoy me so much.  Even back when I went to college, I figured out that you don't major in anything ending in "Studies".  If you...(Read Full Post)