UPDATED — Campaign over, links removed.

Enough comics for the day. I’ll be back with more tomorrow. Now, for a bit of personal ranting.

As most of you know, I lost my job at the end of July and I’m still unemployed. Here’s hoping that FallCon brings in a few bucks. I’ve been making some comic book sales, which is always a good thing.

I’m trying to look for a job, too. For years, I’ve lamented that when applying for a job, everyone wants you to use THEIR application form. Even though it’s the same info on every single fricking application … name, address, school, jobs, can you supply three references, willing to take a drug test, sign and date … you can’t just come in with a pre-filled form, drop it off and go. No, you have to sit down, hand-write the dang thing in pen, trying to remember the phone number of a place you worked four years ago … all too often, referring to a form you’ve brought with you for that information but having to rewrite it so that it has their logo at the top of the form. I don’t know what kind of supreme executive power I’d need to change society, but if it were up to me there’d be a Standardized Form for all jobs and you’d be allowed to drop off your copy.

Well, that may have been true before. NOW every retail franchise now wants you to ONLY apply online. If you stop by Office Depot and ask for an application, they tell you to go to their web site. There’s something odd about all the modest-paying jobs requiring you to have Internet access to apply! (How you like that, all you people who hate my politics? My first kneejerk reaction is concern for the poor! Remember that!)

The nice thing about online applications is that Roboform will fill in all the basic fields for you. Saves a tiny bit of time.

But, off-setting that time savings is that every company now has a personality test that they make you take. It goes on for pages and pages asking you variations on the same question. Staples seems convinced that I’m a thief and asks me 20 different variations about how much in-store theft is OK. Best Buy has a 100-question survey, all of them about whether I get into fistfights and arguments with other employees and whether I’m a leader or a follower.

The worst part of the Best Buy application is that it only allows you to apply for two jobs total. I have no clue what positions are available, whether they need full time or part time help, etc. If I were applying in the store, I could just ASK them what people they’re looking for. How stupid is it to spend an hour filling out an application for a cashier position if they need help in computers and I’m willing and able to work in that section? What’s worse…if I want to apply for that department, do I have to take that fricking 100-question survey all over again? It won’t even let me apply for both full-time and part-time.

I’ve been applying for jobs, but at the rate these forms take to fill out, it’s very slow going. I’ve got to find something to help bring in some serious cash.

Which reminds me: The Acura campaign is ending in a week, and they just e-mailed me that I’ll get a nice bonus if I can round up only about 100 more UNIQUE clicks. That means it’s pointless to click the add over and over again, though I appreciate the sentiments. However, if you would all kindly tell your friends on AIM and ICQ and e-mail and… God help me … MySpace to just stop by and click on this link in this post, I would be ever so grateful.

I must admit… if I had the money for a new car, the Acura does seem cool. Here I put this Flash ad at the top of my web site to make money and all it’s doing is making me want the car.