In which I'm officially hired!

After three and a half months at my job, I was officially hired this week. They said I've done a great job, I work hard, I learn fast, and no one has ever had any complaints about me. I've given this job a lot of myself so it's nice to be appreciated. Sadly, it's still hourly, and the pay is not what I was hoping for. When I have a more in depth meeting with HR on Monday I'll have to ask if raises are a possibility in the future. I really hate the idea of job hunting again any time soon.
The job is an ESOP. They also do a vested stock program. So in five years, I can cash out my automatically accrued investment in the company and quit, or continue there. For now, I'll stay where I am, and hope for the best. I'll post more about it later. I just wanted to post some good news.

In which I'm ready for spring.

And by ready, I mean really ready. The last few months, since the beginning of June really, have been pretty rough not just for me but for my immediately family and some of my friends. We're all due a break. Hopefully the nicer weather will be a catalyst for change. I'm glad that the storm moved north. Now we're just getting rain, maybe a couple of inches of snow.

In which I fell off the wagon

That would be the blog wagon. Got you there. Seriously though, I'm not a good blogger. My life gets a bit busier and this place is the first thing I stop dedicating my time to. And you know, I'm okay with that. I like connecting with people around the world in a different way. However, I don't enjoy feeling like I have to. Since I don't have any actual commitments to do so, I won't That's why it's been so long. I do plan on making more of an effort in the future however, as I want a place to look back on, and keeping a paper journal has never worked for me. I hope with some outside feedback I can stay more in tune with writing here.
I've been at my job for a little over 10 weeks now. It's considerably more effort and stress than I had originally thought it would be. Everyone there wears multiple professional hats, so it's not just me who feels this way.
We've also had some unfortunate family drama that I just don't feel like getting into right now. Hopefully things will look up soon in that regard. So, that's all for now. I'll add more again soon.So thanks for checking in again, if you're in my circles. Or a new hello, if this is your first read.

In which I slack off and return

Yeah, I sucked at blogging for a while. No apologies, I just didn't feel like it. I started a new job on December 18th. This was the day after my mom got released from the hospital after getting her gallbladder out and contracting pancreatitis. With all that going on, I was just very tired. Now I've been at this job a month, my mom is doing better, and I have a bit more energy. It's a demanding job. I expected something a bit more strictly secretarial. I was wrong. It's a secretary, mail room, accounts receivable , consumables purchasing, office go-for role. So I'm busy. And I'm very much still learning. It's a pretty steep curve. Hopefully I'll keep up better with this blogging business. That's my catch up for now.

In which Winter is hard

I've never been a winter person. I hate the cold, wet, always dark outside weather. I'm not particularly into the holidays. And I have cold urticaria, which means I have a cold allergy that causes hives when I get too cold and/or wet in the winter. It sucks just as much as it sounds like it does. I've had in my whole life, and I was hoping I'd grow out of it. No such luck, though.
I'm still at my new job. I'm hoping as I get used to it, I'll enjoy it more. I wish I had a job I liked, but maybe that'll happen someday. I can't afford to be picky right now, so I won't.

In which I'm back

Okay. I was away for a while. I just didn't feel like posting. My mom being in the hospital for most of a week was a really draining experience for the whole family. Thankfully she's doing much better. She needed to have her gallbladder out. The main duct was clogged and infected so she had a stent put in. Due to some of the infection leaking out, she ended up with pancreatitis. Luckily her numbers went down quickly enough that she could have the gallbladder out soon after the stent procedure. She'll need that out in a month or so but it's a very quick out patient procedure. She's still a bit more sore than I expected, but she tends to heal slower than most people so I'm not surprised.
I also got a job. It's an hour away for crap pay, but beggars can't be choosers. It's a temp to hire position, so I guess I'll see. If I don't get a raise when I'm not through an agency anymore, I'm done. I use up most of a day's pay on gas a week.
So that's the quick and dirty wrap up to where I've been.

In which my mom is home!

It's a long story, and it involved surgery. I just don't feel like typing it out right now. Long story short, she'll be okay.

In which my mom is hospitalized

It's been a rough few days here.My Mom got very sick Friday. She couldn't move with out extreme pain and yelping. It got so bad she couldn't even talk. The doctors finally discovered she had a blocked bile duct. She went for more tests and it turns out she needs her gallbladder out. They cleared out the infected duct and put some stents in. Due to the infection, she ended up with a case of pancreatitis. Now she's stuck on compete bowel rest while her numbers clear up. Hopefully she'll be able to get her gallbladder out Tuesday or Wednesday, and she'll be home the day after. She has her pain managed, and is able to move with her walker. Hopefully the pain continues to improve as they can't send her home with the heavy narcotics she's on. So now we wait, and hope for good news. Hopefully she'll be back Thursday at the latest.

In which my mom is sick

She's been doing pretty crappy for a few days. Last Monday she had to go to the hospital because she had horrible intestinal problems. She's had a partial intestinal blockage before, so we were very worried. She refused to go for three days, which pissed me off something awful. She finally went, and it was her IBS acting up in an extreme way. They hydrated her, and she was doing much better. The next day her back slipped out a bit, but was fine by that night. Sometime during the night it went out again. She didn't do anything and hobbled around a tiny bit yesterday, but she can't stand up at all or bear her full weight. She finally went to the hospital this morning with my dad because she's totally immobile without help, and she now has a fever. Now I wait for news, and hope they don't just pass her off as a whiner.

In which I need to be more productive

I'm incredibly proactive in my job hunting. I've been applying online, through temp agencies, and networking with friends. However, I'm not productive in terms of other aspects of my life. My social like is in shambles as most of the people I actually care about are hundreds of miles away. Those that aren't are often busy. And, in all honesty, when I'm not working, I don't feel like going out. I don't feel as though I can contribute much to the environment when I can barely drag myself out of the house anymore.
I also really need to get better at cleaning. I'm great with laundry, but not other basic household tasks. I try to keep a schedule, so it doesn't get so overwhelming. This really doesn't work. Any suggestions are welcome.
It doesn't help that it's cold, cloudy, and often wet this time of year. I hate winter.

In which I don't get the jobs

I didn't get the job I applied for last week. I also had an interview this morning and found out a few hours ago that I didn't get that either. I had two other interviews as well, no luck with those. What the hell? How do I get experience if no one will hire me? I've lost track of how many interviews have turned up nothing. Happy fucking holidays.

In which I hate Mondays

No, I don't hate them for the typical reason. Quite the opposite. I hate them because it's another week starting without a job. Another start to calling all of my temp agencies and massively applying to jobs online. Don't take your job for granted. Hate it? Use your lunch hour to find another one. Go home and look for a new one. But don't just bitch about it. Be thankful.

In which I'm getting tired

I had another interview today. It's just covering a two week vacation as an administrative assistant, but I have to try for what I can get. I should hear about the job I interviewed for yesterday some time next week. That's the one I want. It's not great pay to start, but there's a lot of room for advancement, and it's full time with paid vacation. I'm really hoping to ring in the new year with a job.
With a potential ice storm coming my family cleaned out our gutters and put the driveway markers up. A bunch of geese and crows came by. They seem to have left before the bad weather hit.

In which my dog is okay!

I took my big guy Riot to the vet today. His lump was just a fatty/oily bump. No questionable cells in the aspiration at all. I'm so releived. Now I can stop checking it every day or so.
I also had my interview. I think it went well, but I've felt that before. Hopefully I hear back one way or another sometime soon. I hate waiting.

In which I'm worried

One of my dogs, the almost 7 year old, has a small lump on his back. Today I noticed it was bigger. Tomorrow we're off to the vet. I'm very concerned. I'm hoping it's just a fatty lump. Other than that, he seems fine. I also have a half day of envelope stuffing, an important interview, all before the vet,so it's going to be a long stressful day.

In which I work a few days and have an interview

I got a job for today, tomorrow, and part of Thursday stuffing envelopes. Yep, it's as exciting as it sounds. I'm just doing it to keep a good relationship with this temp agency. I have another interview at the insurance company I've been trying to work for on Thursday. It's a different position this time. Fingers crossed.

In which I write things I've learned from scary movies

I have watched a lot of scary movies. These are movies from all sorts of decades, genres, budgets, and countries. They all run to pretty similar formulas, but I enjoy most of them. Just for shits and giggles, I thought I'd write down some of the things I've learned.

1.  Decide to go into the creepy house, abandoned summer camp, cave, train, plane, town to begin with. If your instincts are saying "bad idea, mate" they're probably right. That's why we have instinct. So when are inherent curiosity is piqued, we don't die. Ignoring that isn't brave, it just means most/all of your friends are gonna die.
2. Never, ever split up. First off, it's a bad idea. Clearly, something unpleasant is happening. People are getting scared, nervous, or just confused. So, rather than stay in a group, where people can watch each others back, they split off. Sometimes they pair up, but it's still a bad idea.
3. If you're a couple, particularly the main couple, you'll probably be okay. You'll have increasing horrible things happen to you, and at some point you'll almost definitely be separated, but you'll live. During this separation you'll either be convinced your partner is dead, or so sure of your love that you'll blindly throw yourself into harm's way to be reunited. Now just because one half of the partnership truly must be dead based on what's happened doesn't mean they should be counted out. Oh no. When all is lost, they'll probably appear wielding some off camera scrounged up item, attacking the terrifying force. Unless the body count hasn't been high enough. Then the guy must die, dramatically saving his gore smeared love.
4. Black people are gonna die. It's the rules. Unless they're famous. Like Samuel L. Jackson, Busta Rhymes or L.L. Cool J. Although Samuel did die in Deep Blue Sea, so sometimes things get shaken up. If there are multiple black people, sometimes they make it to the end. Not often though. I can't think of any horror movies where the black couple survives. Feel free to correct me.
5. Everyone's cell phones will die. Verizon can't hear you while you're desperately seeking help. Sorry. Or, if they're in a slightly more populated area, no one ever seems to break out the landlines. If they do try, the killer will have cut the power, the creature will have thrown  a power company employee into the wires, there will be a natural disaster occurring that shorts out the power, etc.
6. No matter how fast you run, the evil you're running from will slowly catch up to you. This will be for a myriad of reasons. There's always the good old standby of the attacking simply tripping, then there's the one safe place being locked, a car has no keys or has been somehow destroyed, you separated from your friends and now no one can help you, your friends are already dead. Depending on how important you are to the plot line will decide how you magically escape, at least for the time being. If it matters whether or not you survive, there will be something handy to strike back with. Reach around. There's probably a pipe, road flare, giant piece of glass, or sometimes a handy quickly eluded to early in the movie item nearby.
7. If there is a "troubled" character, they will have some really handy skills Say they've just gotten out of prison, or they're from the wrong side of the tracks. Bingo. They probably know how to hot wire a car, or build a wealth of MacGyver level weaponry. These characters are often the main male interest, or barring that, the black sheep relative of one.
8. Most movies exist in a realm where they must have never had a horror movie genre. If they did, perhaps more people would look at these situations, realize continuing was a terrible idea, and just go home. Or if they do mention horror movies, it's usually just one person who points out this is a terrible situations, and everyone else ignores them. Knowing they shouldn't continue doesn't seem to stop the one sane member of the party to actually leave.
9. It's important to completely ignore the old people in the old towns you pass. They must just be inbred and crazy when they day you shouldn't keep going. I mean, you know better, right? You're young and the world is your  soon to be blood covered oyster.
10. Shortcuts are never, ever a good idea. Now that we've entered the GPS generation fewer people read maps. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't turn around and try to find a main road. Continuing farther into the creepy back woods with no cell phone service never ends well.
11. The more "depraved" you are, the quicker you die. As a general rule anyway. If most of your screen time involves, drugs, drinking, sex, loud partying, or all of the above, your death will come quickly. But hey, you died having fun.
12. Try to make it to morning. More often than not, those left standing at the break of dawn will generally be the ones to survive.
13. If someone has a mysterious past, never go off on an adventure with them. When there's no help to be seen, and the body count starts to add up, you'll start getting bits and pieces of the ghosts in the reclusive person's closet. Interestingly enough, the one who brought down the terrible events will usually be one of the few survivors, if not the only one.  

These are just a few of the things I've learned. I'll add on more as I think of them.

In which I feel deflated

I had an interview yesterday. I took time away from my family to go to it. It was nearly an hour one way. When I got there the interviewer was late, and never apologized. As he was walking me back he asked about the drive but I could tell he wasn't paying attention. He quickly told me about the job, asked a few questions, mentioned that he's interviewed a lot of people several times, and sent me on my way. On the way out he again asked how my drive in had been. This was a 6 maybe 8 minute interview. In that tiny amount of time he'd forgotten he'd already asked me that. What a waste of my time.
I don't know why the news keeps saying the economy is looking up. If I can't find a job, then what am I doing wrong?

In which I wish you a happy Thanksgiving

I hope that wherever you were and whoever you were with, thank this Thanksgiving found you well. Even if you hate the day, and wish we didn't celebrate it, I wish you well also. And if you're going out into the cold for Black Friday, good luck. Don't get trampled. They won't find you to New Year at this rate.

In which I get ready for Thanksgiving

Honestly, I'm not in a festive, holiday mood. Not one bit. But I am incredibly grateful for my family, and I love them dearly. So Thanksgiving dinner it is. We are just doing immediate family this year. It's what we prefer. No dressing up, no avoiding religion/politics with one another. I don't have to leave my dogs with someone. So, tomorrow we'll stick our precooked turkey in the oven, heat up some sides, and start stuffing our faces.