Bernard Haldane and Associates

Several years ago, I responded to a newspaper ad by Bernard Haldane and Associates. My then-employer was going downhill, and they claimed that they could help. So they invited me to come in to discuss their services.

Right from the start, something sounded fishy. First, their sales agent made a very disparaging (and rather tactless) remark about my resume, saying that they would have to rework it. He said something to the effect that they would never let it see the light of day. That alone sounded suspicious. I knew that there was room for improvement in my resume, but I also knew that I was a good writer and that I had done plenty of reading on resume-writing techniques. His criticism seemed to be a bit over the top.

Second, he claimed to offer access to a secret job market… job openings that were not available anywhere else. This raised the obvious question of how they came by these job openings. Were there really hundreds of companies that advertised exclusively through Bernard Haldane and Associates? That seemed doubtful; after all, if a company wanted to fill a job opening, why would they only use one channel — a channel that charged job seekers a hefty fee?

That was the third big warning flag. The fee that they would have charged was outrageous — at least a couple of thousand dollars, if I recall correctly. Another big warning flag.

When I showed resistance, their agent said, “I guarantee that we can find you a job.” So I asked, “When you say that you guarantee this, do you mean that I’ll get my money back if I don’t land a job through your service?” He went silent.

I later learned that multiple lawsuits had been levelled against this company in various states. I’m so glad that I decided to pass on these guys.

What a sad song

“I learned the truth at seventeen,
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
We’re spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen, I learned the truth”

Those were the words of Janis Ian in her big hit, At Seventeen. What a sad, tragic, heart-breaking song. As a guy who has not been in demand — who often been dismissed because of his looks, his height, his ethnicity, and his lack of coolness — I can relate.

Darn.

Dating and race: Some people just don’t get it

I was having a telephone conversation with someone regarding the struggles that Asian men face in the dating scene. I pointed out that Asian men are in relatively low demand, much moreso than most (if not all) other races.

This person objected immediately, saying “That’s not true! I know plenty of interracial couples. Why, at my own church, there’s this guy who married a Japanese woman….” She then proceeded to rattle off several examples of mixed-race marriages that she’s known.

After a while, I interrupted, saying, “Wait a minute. I think you’ve demonstrated my point. Every single one of the examples you’ve given involves a white man and an Asian woman. As I said though, it’s the Asian men who have difficulty in finding a mate.”

“Well, I’m sure that there are plenty of Asian men who have no trouble either,” she said.

Some people just don’t get it.

Clue Crew Sarah Whitcomb

Sarah Whitcomb is not a big name celebrity, but she’s on TV almost everyday.

Sarah is part of Jeopardy’s Clue Crew, and she’s a real cutie. She’s not one of these uber-skinny Hollywood types, but that’s a good thing. She’s cute, she’s articulate, and she has a sparkling smile.

Did I mention that she’s cute?

BBW

I’ve always felt that the BBW acronym (“big beautiful woman”) was kinda patronizing. It’s also a bit over-the top.

Can overweight women be beautiful? Certainly. That’s not the problem. The problem is that the term is used indiscriminately. It’s used even when the woman in question is not particularly good-looking, and that’s what makes it sound patronizing. Perhaps even a little insincere.

I liked this comment from an overweight woman that I read on the ‘net:

honestly, the thing about “bbw” that bugs me is that well, being big doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re beautiful. it’s as if people have to add in the “BEAUTIFUL” part. we dont’ have “spw-skinny pretty woman”. i am beautiful and i am a bigger girl, but they dont’ go hand in hand. it seems that the beautiful was added in there to help us out or something, as if we couldn’t be beautiful on our own, and that just drives me nuts!

Why not dispense with the over-the-top rhetoric? Why not simply say that you’re overweight but attractive (or if you wish, overweight AND attractive)? Let’s keep things real.

Cocoon: The Return

Okay, I just have to ask. Was there ever anyone as beautiful as Courteney Cox was in Cocoon: The Return? Absolutely incredible.

I wonder how hard the make-up artists had to work to make her look that glamorous. Of course, she already provided them with plenty of great material to work with. You just can’t fake eyes and cheekbones like that. Yow.

I wish I had a shot with a woman like that. I have a hard enough time as is.

Comparison of the ELISPOT and cytokine flow cytometry assays for the enumeration of antigen-specific T cells.

Here’s an interesting journal abstract that I came across.

Comparison of the ELISPOT and cytokine flow cytometry assays for the enumeration of antigen-specific T cells.
Karlsson AC et al.

The enumeration of antigen-specific T cell responses has been greatly facilitated in recent years by the development of methods based on the detection of cytokines. In particular, the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) and cytokine flow cytometry (CFC) assays have become popular. Since both assays are likely to continue to be in widespread use, it is important to evaluate whether their results are comparable. In the current study, we compared the results obtained in the ELISPOT and CFC assays using peptide pools corresponding to CMV and HIV-1 proteins in chronically HIV-1-infected individuals. Analysis of T cell responses to peptide pools indicated that the CMV pp65 and HIV-1 Gag CFC and ELISPOT-derived results were statistically correlated. However, the results obtained with each assay differed in important ways: the magnitude of the response was consistently higher in the CFC assay while the CFC assay was less likely than the ELISPOT assay to detect low-level responses. Furthermore, there was a lack of numeric agreement between ELISPOT and CFC results. For studies that require the detection of low-level responses, or definition of responses as positive or negative, the ELISPOT assay may be preferable. In contrast, the CFC has a greater dynamic range and allows for phenotypic discrimination of responding cells, making it the assay of choice for most other applications.

Sitting in an airport. Want to munch

I’m sitting in an airport right now, and I’m trying to resist the urge to buy some candy and munch away. I really have to avoid doing this.

I did buy some fruit during my trip; unfortunately, it’s packed away in my checked-in luggage. I wasn’t expecting this flight reschedule, so I didn’t think I’d have these inordinate delays.

And I could really use some sleep. Dang it.

When women are deceived

I have a female churchgoing friend. She’s very pretty, and she keeps dating these guys who, after dating her for a while, all of a sudden start saying things like “Oh, I want to try going to church with you.” She gets all excited about this, thinking “Oh, they’re coming around.”

No, gal. Always remember that men will say all sorts of things to win a woman’s attention. Chances are that these guys are only saying these things so that they can keep you around. Men do that sort of thing all the time. They’re great at lying in order to keep a woman.

Remember that the next time a guy claims to have taken a sudden interest in what you do. Don’t be quick to believe him, gal. Wait and see what happens in the long run.