Jillonthehill

In an editorial about an article in the New York Times "Room for Debate forum on age discrimination" forum respondents claimed older workers in a nutshell, do not want to learn or embrace new technology. In the ever changing, fast paced world of the Internet, software programs, Iphones, Ipods, blogs, You Tube, social media and whatever else is on the horizon, how can anyone keep up? There are jobs that just encompass keeping up, look at Mashable, a great site for finding out what is what in this communication overdrive socieity.
Making it ones mission to understand all these communication tools is a challenging undertaking. But many attempt to do it.
Most of the tweets on Twitter I receive can be put in the category of "who cares" or "WTF" but on the other hand, someone out there is expressing themselves to the world - in 140 characters they prove they are alive. Gone is the 15 minutes of fame, it's now 140 characters, over and over and over and over. Yes it is lovely outside and I am so glad you could afford a double espresso latte with soy milk and whipped cream.
The learning curve is steep for those who do not embrace the new social media or computer programs such as Excel in the workplace. A respondent to the NY Times article complained because she was young, she had to do handle the computer aspects of the job. She should look at it as her expertise, not that her boss is lazy. She comes to the table with different tools. The older worker or boss, may operate only with a fork and spoon, where she completes the table by adding a knife or other utensils. We work together to utilize our strengths.
I have found, being an "older worker," younger workers have less understanding of the world and only draw on their 20-something years. The insight and depth of knowledge is lacking. Youth today are very bright and very articulate, but they need perspective. Experienced workers lend a team or staff diversity in thought, opinion and direction. Youth is not always a bonus. You may get a person who will work for less money, but you get what you pay for. If you find quality older workers who are willing to bend to new ways and add to their experience, why not pay them what they are worth and for their time of service to the company and society?
An editorial respondent states when you get older you should take less pay because you are not as productive. If a man or woman has devoted their life to working for a company for 20 or more years, then yes, they have been a stable force in the workplace and have helped the company maintain its longevity. Why would you not respect years of experience earned?
With experience, the "older worker" can see things coming down the tracks that can derail a relationship with a client or god forbid derail a company. Having foresight to what happens next is a benefit to a young staff. Older workers can catch things that fall between the cracks without missing a beat.
On the comments of looks, as we age we all decline in our appearance. This attitude has kept many a Nip and Tuck doctor employed.
But why is there a sudden wave of younger men wanting to be with older women? Dubbed "cougars," these women have life experiences and are past the petty jealousies and naivety of younger women. Many men on the other hand embrace the looks and will put up with the inexperience.
Being interviewed recently by a young staff, it was the first time I realized this is going to be a challenge to find the right job in this market. I kept thinking, "they think I am old." They rambled on with their cut and paste questions for the interview, never asking if I knew about the company, what I could do for the company or how I approach work. I was asked would you rather write or stand up and give a speech? I replied, write. To me this question was similar to "would you rather have onion rings or french fries?" Neither, thank you. I did not get the job.
The dynamics of working in a young office is an education. There are those who tell you how to do things like you are an idiot, or those who have to check to see if you understand what to do - if I don't I am "old" enough and not afraid to ask for guidance.
They forget one day their tattooed bodies will wilt and they will be the ones not understanding the hyper-kinetic energy of the next generation.
Older workers are learning about planned obsolescence for themselves. As baby boomers drop from the workforce, take the time to learn now from your older workers, listen to their experiences, hear about their trials and tribulations, you may be surprised. Age 50 is the new 30!
I have also found working in a younger office is a bonus. I learn so much, it keeps me young. I see the world through their eyes and have embraced new ways of doing business. Learning is the most important part of life and if you can find new ways to do things, then you are the better for it.
It is a two-way street in the new workplace. We all have something to offer each other.

Why is it a single cigarette can burn down a home and I cannot get hot coals, kindling and newspaper to light in a wood stove.

I would rather listen to the traffic report than the Grateful Dead.

Why is it men 35 to 54 are angry drivers and won’t let you into moving traffic from exits? I have seen it many, many times. Check next time you drive, who does not let you in.

Why did the Asian man in Arizona not let me get over into my turn lane? Did he have bad peripheral vision?

Why are some dogs so needy? Pet me, love me, feed me?

Why do dogs love us unconditionally?

Why do women try to make sure they don’t date men with their ex-husbands qualities? This is a good thing right?

Why can’t I act my age?

When am I going to meet Anthony Bourdain? Va va va voom!

Why are journalists so interesting, intelligent and deep thinking while the rest of world is filled with shallow Hal’s?

If they are intelligent, why did they let the newspaper die?
Return a phone call or two reporters and advertising reps you too! Learn to be competitive in the market – it is cheaper for advertising on radio, Internet and television. Adjust and tell the stories people want to hear, sell the advertising businesses can afford. Stop being full of yourselves.

USA Today killed the newspaper.

People have long attention spans, just entice them to read good writing and journalism.

What are we going to do without newspapers in the world?

Where will investigative journalism go?
Nancy Grace? Kaleigh or Haleigh this week? Dead or alive?

Can someone shut up Hannity and Rush?

Do 20-somethings really think they know it all? Give us experienced folks our due.

When did younger men being attracted to older women become a fad? Cougar anyone?

Why are there so many good television shows on Monday nights? I cannot DVR them all!

Why do sports figures get so much money for running, hitting a ball, throwing a ball, catching a ball, knocking down another human or driving a car?

Why do police, firefighters, teachers, social workers and people who matter, earn what one at-bat a baseball player makes?

Why do I pay $284 a month for health insurance, yet still have to pay $1,200 deductible. What are they doing with the money that I am giving them, while I am paying for my own health care?

Why do we care about Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Chris Brown or any of those so-called stars?

What about your own life? Live it to the fullest.

How come Bloody Mary’s are so good?

Why do evil people succeed and good people languish?

Why do we have to hear “you are lucky to have a job?” in these dire times. I think we know this ourselves.

Why doesn’t AIG get it?

Plant your own vegetables and herbs. Eat healthy and enjoy cooking your own meals. Teach your children to cook and enjoy healthy foods.

Why are there so many shows about mean and nasty chef’s torturing people over what or how they cook? Why do we judge so many people? Isn’t food about enjoyment and relaxing with friends and family to eat?

Competition is not always good.

Bankruptcy can cause suicide.

Why isn’t there a label on banks: Enter with caution.

Why do bankruptcy victims have the Scarlet Letter “B” for 10 years?

Can you learn to live without a credit card? I have.

Why do people live in cold climates? Brrrr. Give me sunshine, every day.

Why is there so much violence on television and in movies? Is non-stop murders, torture and blood and guts entertainment? In one, one-hour show I have seen two people die, one person shot, two people shot at and many cars wrecked. Entertainment?

Good night, sweet dreams.

There is a movie called "Groundhog Day"... today I feel like Bill Murray in that movie.
Everyday I wake up it is cold and snow... sometimes I even hear Cher singing "I've got you babe" in the background.

I can't wait for Winter to end.

Welcome to my blog.
Everyone has one.
My ex gets paid a gazillion dollars to espouse his thoughts on a blog.
I do it for free and for me.
Hopefully you will find this amusing, touching, sad, hilarious or heartening. But even if you think it is stupid, I am going to do it anyway!
I have a lot to say, as does everyone these days. There would not be texting and e-mail and IMing and twittering and well just letting loose all over the place.
So this is mine.
I chose Jill on the Hill, because all my life I have heard "Where is Jack?" or "How is it on the hill?" So this my view, from the hill.
This blog was set up by a dear friend of mine and I will forever be grateful for his efforts, for this makes me happy. I am free to do what I love most. Write.
Best wishes!

I have this gift of coming up with recipes in my head. I think the gene came from my father. I can look at the pantry, refrigerator, freezer and spice rack and come up with dinner in a flash. No planning, no formal recipe.
My latest creation came from leftover turkey and leftover chicken Rice a Roni.
Take the whole turkey and trim off the remaining meat for more leftovers! (Turkey sandwiches, turkey burritos, etc..)
I place the turkey in a bath of 32 ounces of fat free, low sodium, no msg chicken broth
Bring the turkey to a boil and then take off the stove. Cool the turkey and pick the rest of the meat off the carcass and toss the bones in the trash.
Putting the turkey meat back into the pot, I add:
1 14 oz can of Italian style chopped tomatoes
1 7 ounce can of mushrooms, including juice
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon minced garlic
dash salt
dash pepper
One sprig fresh rosemary (from my plant!!) scraping the leafs from the spike
And the leftover chicken rice
Stir and put on medium heat and let cook for 20 minutes.
Serves 4
Enjoy!

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. The decorating, present buying, cooking, baking and good cheer. Everyone is happy during the holidays. A time for frenzy that eventually turns into fun.
But this year was different:
The teenager was not feeling well, annoyed and nasty, the boyfriend was sick and the grandmother was tolerating the two.
It was going to be a lean Christmas, we all knew this. We all accepted our gift of being together, for better or worse.
Little did we know, it could actually get worse.
At 5:30 a.m. Christmas morning, I in my sweatpants, crawled into bed with the most beautiful daughter in the world. She snuggled briefly and fell back asleep. Moments later as I leaped from the bed and ran to the bathroom, my hopes of rejuvenating Christmas went down the toilet. There the ribs I had coveted for many years, the corn bread and the vegetables from Christmas Eve's dinner poured from my mouth in a constant rush and splash, splash, splash.
It had begun.
The stomach flu everyone was talking about. The one written up in the newspaper. How did I get this? Where did it come from?
I laid back in bed and felt the rush at another end and had to eliminate the prospects of eating anything on Christmas day.
As my daughter awoke and discovered her mother was ill, she text messaged her cousin saying she wasn't coming. She angrily yelled she wanted out of the house.
Unable to drive, the boyfriend, even tho not feeling well himself, took her to the place she wanted to be.
Meanwhile, a houseful of people were preparing to enter for Christmas family celebrations and food. As I talked the grandmother and boyfriend through the final preparations, I knew I would be barred from any social interactions that day.
Hours upon hours the visits to the porcelain god continued. Each sip of ginger ale left my body as quickly as it had entered.
In the other room I heard the eating, the laughing, the opening of presents, the thank yous and talking.
But I lie in my bed, quiet as a mouse.
Their meal was completed, the presents were opened, the visiting ceased. All was quiet.
The dishes were cleaned up, the food put away and everyone went to bed.
When the clock struck 12, it began again. The boyfriend ran down the stairs and relinquished his dinner. Over and over he suffered the same fate - wanting to die as I had done 12 hour before.
As the grandmother stood and shook her head, she knew the illness was one she would dread. For later that night, she felt the rumblings too and sat on the toilet and lost her cookies down the flue.
And there I was finally feeling better, with one in the kitchen and the other in the bathroom losing their fluids in dreadful fashion.
The phone call came and the boyfriend's sister was ill. She too had breathed in the beast.
Yes it was the holidays and all were sick.
Next year the Grinch-like disease will miss the family who tried so hard to have a Merry Christmas, for some of us will be on a beach sunning and forgetting that day.

NEWS RELEASE
Bankruptcy Filings Near Million Mark for 12-Month Period Ending June 30, 2008
In the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008, there were 967,831 bankruptcy cases filed, according to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. That is a 28.9 percent increase compared to filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2007, when cases totaled 751,056. Historic data on bankruptcy filings is available on the Judiciary's website under Bankruptcy Statistics.

Regulators Report Deteriorating Performance
New foreclosure filings fell during the latest quarter, but delinquency, foreclosures-in-process and real estate owned filings rose, according to new government data. An even more troubling statistic -- a deterioration in re-defaults on modified loans -- was led by investor-owned loans and sub-prime mortgages.
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The woman in the lime green suit jacket leans back in the chair and pushes away from the small wood rectangular table. Her eyes turn pink from the swell of tears ready to wash over her sullen cheeks. Her husband nods to the lawyer and then to the man who asked so many questions. She bows her head and walks out of the courtroom.
The balding man in the old-fashioned suit wrestles with a new file and the paperwork in front of him. It was time for another person to sit before him and respond yes or no to his questions.
The answers would determine, as well as the copious amount of paperwork, whether they would be absolved of their sins. Those in the courtroom prayed they would be.
Whether it was from lack of a job, a burgeoning mortgage payment, medical bills, missing child support, a business gone under, divorce or overspending, all the people in the courtroom were there for one reason. Bankruptcy.
And, as the lawyers assured their clients “an opportunity to start over.”
Those in the courtroom that rainy Friday morning became a statistic. Foreclosures up, jobs down, stock market down, economy down, bankruptcies up and lives turned upside down.
The old man adjusts his tie and begins asking questions. He pauses and aks, “Did I swear you in?” “Yes,” replies the woman into a microphone, barely looking at the inquisitor.
He returns to his line of questions and asks the woman if she has any assets. Not personal assets, like a winning smile, great eyes or a sunny personality. She did not matter.
Assets a bank or a creditor could take to pay the unfortunate mound of bills that had developed into a swiftly spreading plague. At first it seemed treatable, but then the late fees, the rising interest rates and the lack of funds could not sustain any hope of recovery. It was time to pull the plug.
And with it comes 10 years of the Scarlet Letter, “B.”
Future purchases, future jobs, future anything, to be determined by strangers who calculate dollars, cents and a credit score.
Not that you hadn't tried keep up with the infectious swell. You did. You went through thousands and thousands of dollars of retirement savings to try and stay afloat. But it all comes down to what is coming in, not enough, and what is to be paid out, too much.
The emotional toil money and bankruptcy takes on people is not seen in the statistics on television or on the Internet. The sleepless nights, the crying jags, the humiliation and the worthlessness you experience goes on and on.
The phone calls from the creditors telling you, “just $48, can’t you afford $48 this month?” Or others who say, “you aren’t taking this seriously.”
No?
Then why are we sitting here in a courtroom filled with very young couples, single divorced men, old married couples, single divorced women, old men and lawyers?
Is this not serious?
It will be a decade before lives can be restored and what had been built for years recovered, if at all.
No, this decision was not made lightly. It was thought out, it was researched. Jobs were changed, moves were made and nothing improved. An extremely tough choice was made.
“Don’t worry, everyone is going through it. You are not the only one,” says a creditor, attempting to make the debtor feel better.
That is the problem. There is a systemic reason for “everyone” doing it. It’s greed.
It’s the banks, the people who run the banks and us, who are to blame. We all want, want, want and some are able to get. The rest pay the price of trying to survive in a culture fraught with keeping up with the newest designer, the newest phone, newest electronic gadget, newest anything.
It all trickles. Trickle up economics. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer.
But hopefully since many have joined this growing fraternity sporting the disgraced letter “B,” the masses will rise up, be noticed and things will change. They will learn from past mistakes, take the time to discover what decisions will reap, and not spend, literally, the rest of our lives in poverty.

This is a test post to my new blog.