OddTod Laid Low by the Law

nickynicky9doors writes "The International Herald Tribune has a NYT article on the recent woes of Tod Rosenberg who started 'Laid Off: A Day in the Life'. Mr. Rosenberg started www.oddtodd.com to tell the tale of a laid off guy who spends days watching TV and eating chips. Oddtod became so successful Mr. Rosenberg reaped cash donations and national TV exposure. Unfortunately it also brought the attention of the Department of Labor who have explained the catch of having to be actively looking for work while collecting unemployment benefits. Another dot com bust."

Comments

Re:Looking for job on TV?

[richie2000]

Found some mildly interesting links on the topic while smurfing the net:

www.slackers.net
www.slackers.com

slackers.org couldn't even be bothered to respond. :-)

Compared to UK, you are lucky

[nwetters]

That's $8580.00 to last a year.

Compared to around £50 (c.$75) a week in the UK (with higher cost of living in London than in most US cities), this sounds great.

Quit moaning.

Re:Unemployment bullshit

[jred]

I got burned by that a few years ago. I *should* have applied for unemployment. Instead I took a "temporary" job delivering pizzas. I barely made enough for rent & food, at least until my car was repo'd. I've almost gotten my credit cards & whatnot paid back, but I wouldn't have been nearly as bad off if I'd gone for unemployment instead of underemployment...

Re:Mcdonald's

[Anonymous Coward]

Working at McDonald's is not an option for an adult with a high standard of living. Especially a person who's skills are way in excess of thise needed for that job. He would be losing money working at a job like McDonald's and tying up the time that he should be using to look for work.

I think the EDD is way out of line. I think creating a demonstration of your skills that you would like to get hired for is an entirely appropriate way to look for work.

Re:CA unemployment myths vs realities: my own stor

[Robotech_Master]

Myth 3: You're better off getting a job at Wal-mart or something.

Reality: A "good" basic job might pay the same as the unemployment, but it'll also eat 40 hours a week of job-hunting time -- and management at that McJob isn't going to let you go on interviews every other day, either. Even if the McJob might pay a little more, it may hinder your ability to get Work In Your Field, which is a net loss in the long term.

What's more, almost no Wal-Mart or K-Mart or any other retail store is going to give you a full-time job. You'll be stuck at 25 hours a week, maximum, because if they let you work any more they'd have to pay you benefits--and they'd rather have twice as many half-time workers and not pay the benefits.