Will Work For Food!

Firstly, congratulations to all of the graduates this 2012th year after Christ's birth!

Im sure its exciting to some graduates, but for some graduates it's terrifying.

Enter the Real World! 
Student Loans!

If your parents kick you out : a place to live!

Food!

Fuel!

Clothes to keep up with the Jones's! (whoever they are)

& Etc. Etc. Etc.

When I graduated college, I searched for a job for two weeks, and the next thing I knew, I was living in a hotel for 28 days a month in Womelsdorf, PA. I was just happy to have a job in the field I studied. Within those two weeks of my unemployment, I was on the road like I had two full time jobs. Below, I just want to give you a few tips if you're in the market for a job. It's a tough search now-a-days, so don't expect to find a job on the first day of your search. Let us begin!

1. Plan Plan Plan
My mistake in my job search was not planning before I graduated college. Some people are fortunate enough to have a job waiting on them before they even enter college. Its all about connections now-a-days. Its less about your GPA and your work experience and more about knowing someone who can get your foot in the door. If you don't have that connection, you can expect to grind a little bit harder to make your dream job a reality. Internships are also a great means of getting your foot in the door of a business. In most instances, you will work for free in your internship, but if you show your employer a great work ethic, you can expect a job waiting on you after you receive your diploma. If you've had your eye on a specific company, give their human resource department a call and inquire about paid or unpaid internships.

2. Internet and In-the-streets!
You have plenty of websites that employers post job openings on. You have your www.monster.com, you have your www.careerbuilder.com, you have your www.job.com! My favorite was www.indeed.com. Indeed.com takes almost every job search engine on the internet and combines it into one. Just type in your job description and location and your bombarded with results. If you limit yourself to just internet job searches, you can expect to wait even longer for a job. Sometimes a job position has already been filled by the time you find it on the internet. Your best bet is to call the employer directly to see if the job position is still open. If they say it is, I would take the opportunity to get dressed up and make an appearance to their office to drop off your resume personally. This may seem like a waste of gas when you can just email it, but an employer will take note of the effort you show. An employer usually receives thousands of emails and faxes everyday with resumes. To stand apart from the competition get off your butt and make yourself known. Also, visit the GA Dept of Labor (or whichever state you live in), and speak with people who can point you in the direction of some good opportunities. I've never been this desperate, but I've seen people who just open the phone book and visit every company that looked interesting in the white pages dropping off their resumes to their addresses. You never know what you may come up with. Last thing! Get off your butt early! Don't wake up at noon, play xbox until 3, watch Jerry Springer until 5 and then start job hunting. You need to be up at 7 a.m. at the latest with phone in hand catching a human resource department rep as soon as he or she sits down to start his or her day.

3. Merry-Go-Rounds
Its time to go to the fair and not the junky one in front of Food Depot in Conyers, but a job fair. This is the best opportunity to meet several employers and show your face.
One summer when I lived with my dad in Atlanta. I looked in the AJC (another good way to find a job), and I saw that there was a job fair with corporations like Racetrac, and Waffle House, and other big names. My hopes was to work for RaceTrac because there was one right up the street from my dad's apartment. I showed up to this big convention center in Atlanta in khakis and a collared shirt, and I saw a long line of businessmen and women in their finest business suits with briefcases and such, and I didn't even have a resume. What I thought was a job fair for summer jobs, was a job fair for corporate positions. I still made my way through the line, and spoke with the RaceTrac booth and explained to them my confusion, and they called that local branch and got me a job (even though I quit after a week or so, because my step-dad got me a job with his company). The moral of the story is do research about the job fair before you arrive, dress your sharpest, and have plenty of resumes readily available.

4. Don't Get Discouraged
When I first left college in Pensacola and arrived back home to GA, I felt like I was the only one looking for a job. I applied to jobs online and just stared at my yahoo account waiting on a reply from an employer. The replies never came. Its easy to hang your head and just apply to the McDonalds up the road. There is nothing wrong with McDonalds, but if God has called you to something greater, than you need to put forth effort in order for God to provide that blessing! I like to call it planting seeds. In those two weeks after college while I was looking for a job, I planted so many seeds that after I already started my job traveling to Pennsylvania, I was still receiving calls for a month or so after. Getting a job can be a long process, but you have to be patient and persistent! If you want a job really bad, you need to stay on that employer everyday until they get so tired of you that they have to give you the job. Maybe you're fresh out of college and the job you want requires so much experience. You have to learn to work what you learned in college to your advantage. Tell the interviewer that I don't have the experience in a workplace, but here are examples of me gaining that experience through a college project or internship. Maybe you've been laid off of a job, and when you go apply for a new job, you're told that you have too much experience or that you're over-qualified. In that case, just give your potential employer a sob story saying how you've reached the bottom and that you just want to work your way up the ladder again.

Just stay focused and dedicated and prayed up! Don't settle for spam when you have steak around the corner! Hit me up on twitter or facebook, if you need more tips!

Signing Out,

Fatdreek

Pam Giles-Jones

My mother, Pangerla (Pam) Giles gave birth to me on 7/27/1984.

She was 20 years old.

Sometimes I feel like I ruined my mom's plans:

College. Entrepreneurship. Leadership. World Domination.

Abortion or Adoption would've been the route for some, but not for Pam Giles.

She raised me on her own. My father dropped in here and there, but never enough, leaving a young female in her 20s to take on the roles of mother and father while working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

It was just my mom & I growing up. I remembered living in Towne Pointe Apartments near Olde Towne and then moving in with my grandmother on Rena Ct. in Conyers as a kid. I was a pretty good kid. Never talked back. Never sold drugs. Did what I was told. Grades were horrible, but good enough.

My mom is the epitome of hard work. I've never seen her receive a hand out. Not a food stamp. No child support. Just made it happen. No complaints. Excelled at every job she worked! I remember one Christmas, that I wanted to get my mom a Christmas gift really bad, but I had no money. My mom looked in the newspaper, and found us a weekend job delivering yellow pages in Downtown Atlanta to all of the businesses. This gave me Christmas money to buy her something (which I don't remember) and it instilled in me a work ethic that I just can't shake.

She married Reginald Jones in 93' and gave birth to my sister Raven. We moved to the other side of Conyers to Sugar Hill. It was during this time that me and mom grew apart. Conversations got shorter. Beatings got longer. I spent more time at Velo's and Jack's house than I did my own. I never questioned our relationship growing up. Sometimes I felt unwanted at home which really led to my heavy involvement with Belmont Baptist Church. As I got older, I realized that Mama was doing what she had to do to make me a man. It's a cold world that I was entering and being the lovey-dovey Brady Bunch mother would do me no good in the world.
We never used the "L" word growing up. I'm not sure why that is. I love her to death and she knows it. She loves me to death, and I know it. I guess when something is so evident, why verbalize it? I know it may seem weird to some, but it works for us!

The sacrifices that she made are ones that I could never repay (even though I will try). I never wanted for anything. I always had food on the table (obviously). She kept decent clothes on my back. I always got what I requested for Christmas. She got me braces when she could have purchased a new car. She helped pay my way through college when she could have been traveling the world. I screwed up plenty of times and she never spared the rod and for that I am thankful. I respect her more than anybody on this planet. I wouldn't trade my mother for the world!!

Love you Mama,

Andrickus Giles

Men are from Earth! Women are from Earth!

Sometimes I cruise down my facebook timeline and all I see are women (or should I say girls) posting how much they hate men and how there are no good men out here in the Earth and that all the good men are married or gay. In my eyes, women that make these statements all of the time have low self-esteem and need to do some soul searching.

I agree, there are some dead-beat men out here! They all can't be Dreeks, okay? The key word is "some". If you believe that all men are dead-beats, you might as well kick it with the Ellen crowd!

If your previous boyfriend was a deadbeat, then just say that! Don't categorize all men as deadbeats, because you picked a loser. A great guy could read your statuses and write you off as cuckoo, and your theme song will be "Single Ladies" by Beyonce for the rest of your life.

Stay positive!! God blesses positive thinking! You should get 2 weeks to get over your past boyfriend (If you were married, I'll give you 2 months)! After that, you gotta move on! There are plenty of fish in the sea, and I know that is just a saying, but think about it! There are PLENTY of fish in the sea! Some fish are lazy. Some fish are not trustworthy. Some fish likes to swim with other fish. But there are fish that are loyal, hard-working, handsome and whatever other attributes you look for in a fish. If you spend all of your energy focusing on the bad apple that you bit into, you will be exhausted when "the one" comes off the tree.

 & another thing! Don't be out here looking for Mr. Perfect! Unless you plan on wooing Jesus into marrying you, you're going to have a tough time finding the perfect guy. Some girls I grew up with would go on one date with a guy and say that they've found the perfect guy! This is where the error lies. You can't possibly get to know a person on one date or two dates or three dates. So you get serious with a dog (not knowing he's a dog) too quickly, and as time goes by the dog comes out and now all men are dogs to you? How about, getting to know a guy before getting too serious with him?? That will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Now let me touch on a particular person. I'm talking to the female AND MALES TOO who are the bitter single individual, who instead of working on bettering themselves they would rather approach their friends who are happy with their significant other and throw salt in the game. (To my white readers: throwing salt in the game means sabotaging. In this instance, the bitter person tries to bring down their friends to the same miserable valley that they are in, even if their friends are on mountain tops). Please cut it out! This will only leave you single and without friends. If the only thing you can think of is to start hating on your friends' significant others, then you should just go to the library and hang out by yourself for a while, until you get the hatred from your heart!

Men and women are from the same planet. Women dont need to think like a man. Men don't need to dress like women. Just be yourself, and I promise that if you trust God, that He will put the perfect person in your life. It maybe tomorrow. It maybe in 10 years, but stay patient and be thankful when that special guy comes along!

Signing out,

Fatdreek

NBA PLAYOFFS ARE HERE

My favorite period of time of all my years have been the NBA Playoffs (except for the entire NFL season). I've had ups and I've had downs. I have seen my Hawks get murdered every year, and I've seen my boy Kobe fill up a hand worth of rings! The 2012 NBA season was sort of a joke with the whole lockout situation, but nonetheless, I was happy to see some exciting games this short season. Below are my picks for the 1st round of the Playoffs....

*WESTERN CONFERENCE*

                                        VS

        San Antonio Spurs VS Utah Jazz

I really like the Jazz in this matchup. Al Jefferson, Paul Milsap, and Derrick Favors are all talented big men, and San Antonio only has an old version of Tim Duncan. I also like Raja Bell on the Jazz. The reason I won't pick the Jazz is because of Devin Harris' inconsistencies! If Devin Harris can give me 25 pts and 13 assists per game, and turn Tony Parker into a jump shooter and not a driver, the Jazz will win this series in 6, but Devin Harris won't do that so the Jazz will lose in 5!




                 


             VS






Memphis Grizzlies VS Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers would win the whole playoffs if this were a get the most dunks contest. As a team, I am not too impressed. Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan have a lot of learning to do. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph are seasoned NBA big men and I see them exploiting Lob City by getting Blake and Deandre in early foul trouble and I see Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo, and Mike Conley scoring often! Memphis in 6!





                      VS


Los Angeles Lakers VS Denver Nuggets
The Lakers losing Derrick Fisher and Lamar Odom was huge. They were vital to their championship runs a few years ago. With the addition of Ramon Sessions and the emergence of Andrew Bynum, I don't see the Lakers struggling too much with the young Nuggets. Kobe is still the greatest scorer in the league, and I think  he learned a valuable lesson last year getting embarrassed by the Mavericks. Lakers in 4!






        VS




         
Dallas Mavericks VS Oklahoma City Thunder
If Dallas would've kept Tyson Chandler, I would've given them a repeat for the title, but getting rid of one of the best defenders in the league is going to be devastating to their chances to beat the best run and gun offense in the league! Dirk is still one of the greatest, but he'll need a MJ type series if he wants to get past Durant and Westbrook! OKC in 5! 

*EASTERN CONFERENCE*

                     VS






Chicago Bulls VS Philadelphia 76ers
I don't see any competition in this series whether Derrick Rose is hurt or not. I dont think the starting 5 of the 6ers could compete with the bench of the Bulls. Chicago sweeps the series!

      VS                                                                                           

Boston Celtics VS Atlanta Hawks

I will try and be unbiased as possible! These Celtics are just washed up! Rondo is the bread and butter. If we can keep him out of the paint, and Joe plays good Defense on Pierce, let Ray Allen do what he does, and get KG ejected because he always hating on ZaZa. The only fear I have is that ZaZa and Al Horford are hurt now, and I'm afraid we may get rebounded, but the Hawks have too much young talent. Jeff Teague and Rondo will be a great matchup. The Hawks' bench is one of the deepest in the league with Willie Parker, T-Mac, Vlad Rad, & the young Pargo. If the Hawks can get out of the 1 on 1 ball, its hard to stop us! I think we will win in a long series, because of home court advantage. Hawks in 7! 

       VS

                    Indiana Pacers VS Orlando Magic

In my eyes, the Pacers have been the surprise of the season! Their athleticism is top notch. Though I don't see them getting past the 2nd round, I do see them in some finals in the near future as they mature. The Magic without Dwight Howard is like the internet with www.Fatdreek.blogspot.com. U get my drift? Pacers in 5!

                                                       






      VS

New York Knicks VS Miami Heat

What can I say? This is what the playoffs are all about! Lebron Vs. Melo. The Knicks haven't benefited from the short season with their team-chemistry. They definitely have the chess pieces to win it all, but sometimes what looks good on paper doesn't look that good on the court. The key to this series is Chris Bosh! I don't see Wade being too much of a factor with Shumpert on em. I think Lebron and Carmelo will wash each other out. If Chris Bosh can drain those mid-range jump shots and play decent defense on Amare, the Heat have a great chance. The Knicks with the addition of Tyson Chandler and JR Smith really make this series interesting. The Heat have a horrible bench, and this may hurt them in the long run! With the Knicks lack of chemistry, I have to give the series to the Heat in 7! 

Fat Dreek's Oscar Picks 2012!!!

I know the Oscars was a while back, and it always seems that the weirdest movies always win the big awards! (i.e. The Artist ( which I haven't seen yet, and don't think I could sit through it), The Kings Speech (I fell asleep, after just waking up from a nap), The Hurt Locker (a couple of cool explosions), Brokeback Mountain (no comment)

So now, lets hear it for the 1st Annual Fatdreek Oscar Picks, and I'm not going to go through the crappy awards like Sound Mixing and Short Animation Film, but the awards that mean something. If you haven't seen these movies, please go pick them up!



Best Movie : The Ides of March



I love acting over explosions and laughs any day. When you put Clooney, Gosling, Hoffman, and Giamatti together,you can expect perfection. At least I did, and that's what I got. Really digs into the political arena  and all of the crap that goes along with it. Definitely my favorite movie of the year!





Worst Movie : Tree of Life


I've never been so angry to waste 30 minutes of my time to watch a movie. I'm thinking Brad Pitt and Sean Penn don't ever associate their names with bad movies, but boy was I wrong. I can't even tell you what the movie was about, because after about 30 minutes I hit the eject button so hard, the blu ray player almost fell off the fire place. If I were stoned, it probably would've ended up as the best movie, but Fatdreek is Drug Free!








Best Comedy: Crazy Stupid Love



I usually think Steve Carrell is a one track actor, and this movie definitely proves it, but the screenplay was brilliant, and everybody in the movie did a great job acting in it. Ryan Gosling is going to be around for a looong time!












Best Action: Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol



Its the same premise! The world is going to end unless Tom Cruise saves the day, but the action in this movie is great and leaves you on the edge of your seat. Jeremy Renner from Hurt Locker fame is a great addition, while Paula Patton was hot yet horrible.









Best Actor : Michael Shannon - Take Shelter





This movie was definitely slept on. It wasn't the greatest movie in the world, but Michael Shannon's performance was one of the greatest I've ever seen!









Best Actress : Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn




Michelle Williams has come a long way from Dawson's Creek. Marilyn Monroe was not a good actress at all, and Michelle Williams nailed it spot on, which shows how great of an actress she is!









Best Supporting Actor : Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Ides of March



There wasn't a huge amount of competition in this category this year. Christopher Plummer won the Best Supporting Actor at this year's oscars, but that was only because he played a gay man and kissed a lot of dudes. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is one of the greats, and he added to his catalog with a great performance in Ides of March.








Best Supporting Actress : Amara Miller - The Descendants




I usually dont like children actors, but she did an excellent job as the young defiant daughter of George Clooney's character. Dealing with a mom's death is hard, and she did a great job in portraying those emotions.









Best Director : Alexander Payne - The Descendants


Filmed in the beautiful state of Hawaii, Payne did a great job capturing its beauty and capturing the emotions of every character brilliantly.




Best Original Screenplay : Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris 







I don't really care about adapted screenplays, so the best original screenplay award goes to Woody Allen. This was the only category that me and the Oscars agree. There was a lot of thought and time that went into this screenplay. If you're a big fan of literature, then you will love this movie!








That's it! I'll try and be quicker next year with the Oscar post! Keep enjoying movies and give me feedback on where you think I picked wrong!!

Fatdreek

Whatever # 2

2012 is flying by. Speaking of flying... U hear about that crazy pilot going HAM on the plane to Vegas??? I would have grabbed him in the aisle and DDT'd him.

Speaking of DDT, George Zimmerman got DDT'd into jail last week. Doug Fox told me to not jump to conclusions, so I'm just going to wait until more facts are revealed.

Making a slight change in our travel plans. We planned on going to NYC for my wife's birthday, but now we're going to Jamaica mon! If you've been there or are from there, hit me up and let me know what to do over there! We're still going to Vegas in July, and might try and squeeze NYC in during the fall. Went to get my passport photo yesterday, and they said that I can't smile when I'm taking the picture. What's up with that? Our society is too depressing!

Sometimes I hate being a homeowner. I got landscaping to do! the A/C needs to be replaced. House needs pressure washing! I wish I could just call maintenance, but gotta love that homeowner's equity!

Done with taxes! I owe Uncle Sam a few dollars. Thinking about evading the guy like Wesley, but I'm too pretty for jail.

Im currently looking for a home church. I have a few options, but need to find that home base. Leaning toward my grandmother's church, but the preacher talks too fast. I like another church's pastor but the congregation is too huge. I like another church's pastor but the congregation is too small. Pray for ya boy!

Weight loss is happening slowly but surely. Make subtle changes to an over-eater's habits can be drastic, but I'm overcoming. I won't be adventurous as my girl Leah and post my weight on here! Let's just say....weight loss is needed!

Race issue of the week! My boss asked why does black people go to black barbers and white people go to white salons, and why are black people buried at black funeral parlors and whites at white funeral parlors. The answer to that question is : nobody knows you like your own! In high school, my youth pastor Dr. Neal Jackson gave me a haircut. I was laughed out of my high school. He was the last white person to touch my hair. I don't think you're a racist or prejudice if you don't want a black person to do your hair if you're white. I don't want to see white girls with dookie braids and black girls with bouffants (thanks Alex for that help).

I love you all! Thanks for everybody that reads my blog and thanks for the positive feedback that I have received. I have a lot of thoughts and opinions, and I'm glad technology lets me capture it on my own blog. God bless you!

Negativity Killed The Cat

One morning on Facebook, my great friend Danielle said that she was going to delete all of her "friends" that posted nothing but negative statuses all of the time, because she wanted nothing but positive people in her life. Sorry to say this Danielle, but if you want to be around positive people all of the time, you may need to go to Mid Town Atlanta and hang out with the gays!

I understand where she comes from though! Negativity is super contagious. If someone that is close to you is having a bad day, you can guarantee that you're going to have a bad day as well. Some people have bad days everyday. They wake up, and make sure that they have a bad day. If they won a million dollars, they would give it away, just to pass the joy to somebody else and to continue their bad day. Their family tree has negative roots and brings forth negative fruit in the spring time. If he or she was a gardener, they would purchase beautiful flowers and pour gas on all of them, just so they can loathe in self pity about how their flowers are dead. If they were a pitcher in the World Series and the score was tied with 2 outs and a 3-2 count and the opposing team had bases loaded, he would intentionally hit the batter in the leg with the ball to lose the game, just because he loves negative publicity. I'm getting a little overboard I know, but you know who I'm talking about. We all have one person we know who just goes through life with the dark cloud hovering over them all day. 

I'm not saying that if you ever have a bad day that you're a horrible person. We are all humans and life is a roller coaster. You have some good days and bad days, but to be wrapped up in so much negativity can block blessings that Lord maybe trying to send your way.

Having a negative attitude can be controlled. I know people who are worth millions that have the attitude of poor people, and I know poor people who live life like they're Donald Trump. It's all up to you! We all get screwballs thrown our way, but its up to us if we're going to let those screwballs effect us. Just roll with the punches and thank God for the blessings, because I'm sure there is somebody out there with a lot more on their plate than you!

Signing out

Fatdreek