The Job Shop at the Main Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library had a short run earlier this year before the August flood put it out of commission. However, it reopens today (11/9), just after unemployment hit a 26-year high in October.

At The Job Shop, job seekers can take resume writing classes, browse job listings, get assistance from trained staff members, and access computers, fax machines, and printers. The Job Shop also has a blog with job news (More Information).

This week, Metro Government officials announced plans for Light Up Louisville 2009. Light Up Louisville is an annual holiday event that features the first lighting of the Louisville Christmas tree in Jefferson Square, a Christmas parade, and an indoor Christmas workshop for kids, among many other day-long activities. Light Up Louisville 2009 will be held on Friday, November 27 from 3-10 p.m. Visit the Metro Louisville website for the complete schedule of events.

Black Friday 2009
Photo Gallery of Light Up Louisville 2008
More Louisville Christmas Events

Some of you, I'm certain, look forward to cooking or going to your grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Some of you don't necessarily look forward to cooking but enjoy making your family happy by preparing Thanksgiving dinner. For those of you who don't fit into either of these categories, you can still have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at one of Louisville's amazing restaurants. For the list of restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinner, check out my article on Louisville Thanksgiving Dinner options.

Bliss Gallery, a new locally-owned art gallery in Westport Village, is celebrating its grand opening this weekend. The ribbon cutting celebration will be tonight (11/6) at 5:30 p.m., and the gallery will be open extended hours all weekend: Friday, November 6 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, November 7 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, November 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Bliss Gallery is owned by regional artist Julie Diehl. The gallery features original art as well as handmade and unique gifts and fashion accessories. If you're out Christmas shopping this weekend, stop by and check out what they have to offer.

They were replacing the Halloween decorations with Christmas decorations at Wal-Mart yesterday, which means it's almost time for one of my favorite days of the year--Black Friday. While you could wait until Thanksgiving to look through the Black Friday ads and plan your route, it would probably be more efficient to find the ads and store opening times as early as possible. Lucky for you, all of that information is updated as it becomes available in my Louisville Black Friday Tips article!

The following jobs have been posted on the websites of various Louisville employers in the week prior to November 5, 2009:

Lecturer in Graphic Design - IU Southeast
PT Hourly Office Service Assistant - IU Southeast
Financial Aid Counselor - IU Southeast
Director of Special Events - Bellarmine University
Adjunct Instructors - JCTC
Combustion Engineer - GE
Range Sensor Development Engineer - GE
Design Engineer - GE
Refrigeration Sealed System Engineer - GE
Senior Design Engineer - GE
Washing Machine Design Engineer - GE
Washing Machine Design Engineer - GE
Washing Machine Design Engineer - GE
Senior Structural Design Engineer - GE
Advanced Development Engineer - GE
Advanced Development Engineer - GE
Advanced Development Engineer - GE
Finance Interns - GE
Area Manager 5 - GE
Physicians Office Market Sales - GE
Program Leader, Employee Health & Leave Management - GE
New Products Introduction Purchasing Program Manager - GE
Application Solutions Architect - GE

Louisville Metro Public Health will be offering swine flu vaccinations on November 11 and 12 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. These doses are reserved for individuals in high-risk groups: children aged between 6 months and 4 years, healthcare workers, emergency responders, pregnant women, and children aged between 5 and 18 years with chronic medical conditions. The shots are free, and TARC service will be provided to Cardinal Stadium from many different locations. See this Louisville Metro Press Release for more information.

Halloween may be over on Sunday, but that doesn't mean that we don't have anything to look forward to until Thanksgiving. The Churchill Downs Fall Meet starts Sunday, November 1. So, once sneaking candy out of your kid's trick-or-treating stash gets old, head out to Churchill Downs for the last races of the year. It's fun even if you don't win, but hopefully you'll have better luck than I usually do.

I'm excited today to tell you that again this year seven local performing arts groups in Louisville are offering tickets to their performances at $10 each throughout the rest of the 2009-2010 season. To get these tickets, you have to show up on the day of the show to purchase them at the box office. The number of tickets and location of seats varies by performance.

Some of the highlights are Of Mice and Men presented by the Kentucky Opera, Busytown presented by Stage One, Hansel and Gretel by the Kentucky Opera, Miracle on 34th Street by the Music Theater of Louisville, and the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre. To see the entire listing of shows and dates or to learn more about Arts Rush 09-10, visit the Kentucky Center website.

Discover More Money-Saving Tips

When you're a Friend of Lou, you're the first to find out about interesting things going on in the city, you're the first to see the latest city promos, and you're among a group of almost 20,000 of your neighbors who delight in living in Louisville. If those aren't reasons enough for you to join the Friend of Lou gang, the Galt House is giving you another reason: anyone who registers to be a Friend of Lou between now and the moment when the 20,000th Friend of Lou submits their membership request will be eligible to win a really fabulous weekend prize package.

The weekend prize package is designed for two people and includes two nights in a premium waterfront balcony suite at the Galt House Hotel, dinner at RIVUE, passes to the Frazier International History Museum, tickets to KentuckyShow! at the Kentucky Center, and passes to the Muhammad Ali Center. To become a Friend of Lou, simply fill out this form and submit it. There's a counter on the site that records how many Friends of Lou are currently registered, so you'll know if it's less than 20,000 you'll still be eligible for the prize package when you sign up.