adrift without a snowflake

I know at least a few of you are upset about LJ's latest changes (namely, there will be no new Basic accounts allowed, and EVERYONE will see ads all over the site, even those with Basic and Paid accounts). I don't post here much anymore - I mostly just use it to read my friends list - but I'm certainly pissed.

So, sorry about the somewhat-late notice (I just found out myself), but there is a LJ strike starting at midnight GMT tonight (aka 7pm central). The rules say no posting and no commenting for 24 hours, but I would extend that to say don't even log in. The idea is that the low usage stats would speak louder than people abandoning their accounts altogether.

More info is here, here, and here.

internet internet internet internet internet

That is all.

Saturday
5-5:30am: get up, get ready, finish packing
8-9amish: arrive at apt, dump everything inside
noon: hour-long drive
1pm: family "dinner" (no offense to the bf's family, cause I like them, but seriously, they knew we were moving today, so what the hell were they thinking scheduling it that early... even just an hour or two later would help wonders)
eventually: hour-long drive back
eventually + one hour: collapse in fit of sleep

Sunday
4:30-5am: get up
8am: work Vikings game
4pmish: leave
6pmish: pick up kittens, spend quality time with kittens
9:30pm: bf leaves for work; I'm by myself with the kittens
eventually: not sleep well, if at all, until 6:30amish

Yeah. Suck.

And, I'm not feeling well right now. I feel a bit better after resting and drinking some Maalox, but I still have a lot to finish, and I hate having to rely on Maalox most nights.

Back to packing clothes, then I think I'm done for the night. I can't deal with being awake/upright anymore.

Good news: pending a background check and final decision, it sounds like I'm pretty much employed.
Bad news: retail, seasonal, $7/hr, about 15hrs/wk
Better news: it's a craft store, and I was offered a potential supervisor position right off the bat

I was totally willing to take the 15hrs/wk, until I did the math later and realized that, after taxes, that's under $100/wk. Half of the rent is $400. Yeah.

So, I started looking for another job - one that was hopefully a better part-time (read: more like 30hrs/wk) and could work around other work schedules. Then I found a marketing company that's looking to hire an "administrative assistant" for what I'm assuming is full-time. The job title's in quotes because, although I would be answering phones and filing and all that normal AA crap, I would also be helping to create ad campaigns and working with the president of the company. Not only that, it's considered entry-level, with only a HS diploma required. I have a BS in marketing stuff, as well as some basic experience. Pleeeeease give me this job! I would feel bad about leaving the craft store, if I decided I couldn't juggle three jobs through Christmas, but the boss there seemed pretty understanding of my situation.

I think I could juggle three jobs through Christmas, though. I did it while I was at school. I can do it again.

Shit kinda sucks right now.

Yesterday I was totally launched into a bad mood due to some pondering, and the realization that this world is so incredibly fucking cookie-cutter. You have to look pretty and have money and be somebody in order to get somewhere in life. And I'm not talking about celebrities here. I'm talking about me. I'm talking about those of us who don't want to follow inane rules, when breaking said rule doesn't harm anyone or even break the law. I'm talking about those of us who made a choice to express ourselves differently than others - i.e. piercings and tattoos. I'm talking about those of us college grads who can't get a job in our respective fields, even though we're fresh out of college and have at least a somewhat decent GPA and a decent handful of related experience. In my case? I apparently can't get a job anywhere. I've applied for entry-level secretary positions and at retail establishments and coffee shops, and haven't received any response (or, occasionally, a short "sorry, we filled the position" email) Hell, those douchebites who pretended to like me for five minutes never even called me back to tell me they hated me.

Now what? Where the hell do I apply? I've thought about a part-time position at a shipping company, but as far as I can tell, they're pretty anti-jewelry (which, based on the warehouse setting, is understandable). I can handle taking my earrings out for a few hours at a time, but I tried taking my nose stud out for a while today as a test, and less than an hour later it had already started closing a bit. Maybe I could wear a hoop of slightly larger gauge to stretch the hole a bit? That is, if I even get the job. I've also thought about a position at a local theater... which is scheduled by events... which there aren't that many of. Like, once or twice a week. And then there's a volunteer job a few afternoons a week at a radio station, which would be wonderful, except that it's unpaid.

This whole job front just pisses me off. I don't care anymore if I have to work evenings or overnights or asscrack-of-dawn shifts. I don't care if I have to hold down eight part-time jobs. I want someplace where I can go in, be myself, not get stressed, and just do something. I don't want to be judged because I have tattoos and piercings, or because I'm working some entry-level job after graduating from college. I just want to work. That can't be too much to ask, can it?

I'm not even motivated to try anymore. It's like, why should I waste my time applying when they won't even take two minutes out of their precious time to connect with applicants in a timely fashion? I would love to hear "I will contact applicants for interviews next week after I review a few more applications" or "the person in charge of hiring is on vacation right now but I will have him call you when he gets back," or even "we already filled the position" or "you're not what we're looking for." (And, if it is the latter response, I expect a reason as to why I'm not good enough.)

I really wish I could just start my knitting business with what little money I have now and be certain that it will make tons of money. You can never know, though. The internet is damn finicky like that. And I need money to buy supplies. And we'll be without internet for about a week after we move. (Although, maybe that time away from the comp will give me time to draw shit out... stupid distracting internet.)

And, now that I've ranted for a while, I think I've run out of the brain cells necessary to complete any additional thoughts I once had. But I think you get the point.

Name ideas so far for orange kitty:

--Cheddar
--Wembley (problem: she's not a he)
--Cinnamon (what kitty's mom's owners have been calling her)
--Sushi
--Sashimi
--Tempura
--Totoro (problem: she's not grey/white)
--Catbus/Nekobasu/Konekobasu (friend of Totoro's)
--Tashanna (Domo-kun's friend)
--Neko ("cat" in Japanese)
--Tardis

Thoughts?

Okay, we're not moving until the 20th, but still, yay!

Also, I finished my hat.

Well, we were approved for an apartment. We're going to look at the one that's currently available tomorrow. Good news is, we should be able to move in on Saturday (yes, less than four days from now), so we get out of our houses and get the kitties in out of the cold. The potentially bad news is that it's a basement apartment, and we were hoping for one off the ground. We'll have to ask about potential water damage (they're currently replacing the carpet and tile) and see how the windows are set up, but we're starting to think that, otherwise, a basement apartment might not be too bad. It'll be naturally insulated, plus we won't have to worry about the cats sneaking out and jumping off the balcony. Not to mention that it'd be easier to haul furniture and boxes down half a flight of stairs rather than up one or two. (If we don't like the basement, it sounds like there'll be a second-floor apartment open within the next couple weeks.)

Job hunt continues to suck. I recently applied for a couple of secretary-ish jobs, one at an elementary school in my old district, and the other for a financial company where I'd basically be stuffing envelopes with marketing stuff. Haven't heard from either. So, I just applied at a coffee shop that's about a 10min drive from the apartment. The company seems to be pretty okay towards piercings and tattoos, and last I checked, you can wear pretty much whatever you want, so that's pretty cool. It'll be low pay, but there's tips (especially if I can get the morning shift I asked for), and if I can get close to full time I should have no problem covering my half of the bills. Add that in to any profits I can make from this knitting business I'm working on, and I should be set.

Speaking of knitting, it's cold, and I need to finish this hat I'm working on.

In other news, I'm watching LA Ink (shush, there's nothing else on), and I really want a new tattoo. *sigh* I need income.

We found an apartment that will hopefully give us the acceptance call tomorrow, but first, we found kittens! We can't take them until we move in, but here they are:



The one on the left/top (depending on how it shows up in your layout/browser) is a mostly grey cat with some orange spots that we're planning on calling Thaco (it's a D&D term). The one on the right/bottom, we're trying to decide between Wembley (yay Fraggle Rock) or Cheddar (yay food names). They're both six-week-old girls that still need lots of help from us - some bottle weaning, box training, etc. But they're adorable!

Also, those are the first pics I'm seeing full-size from my phone - my balance has racked up from lack of use, so I decided to finally email some pics to myself - and it looks like phone cameras have gotten pretty decent. Awesome.

A few hints for those of you who (a) have a career that involves staffing or (b) wish to someday have a career that involves staffing:

1) If you're interviewing someone who has a lot of questions, that's great. But if it runs fifteen minutes into someone else's interview time, that's when you say, "I'd love to answer all your questions, but I have another appointment right now; here's my phone number and email, shoot me these questions and I'll gladly answer them later this afternoon."

2) It's wonderful to take notes during an interview. But don't write "couldn't answer most questions" where the interviewee can see it. Especially when the interviewee answered all questions. There's a big difference between not answering and taking a few seconds to think and collect a decent answer. You're supposed to allow an interviewee time to think in the first place.

3) If using a personal cell phone is a major part of the job and an employee will receive compensation for work usage, it's not all that enticing to tell an interviewee with a prepaid plan that they may have to change their provider.

4) Don't respond condescendingly when your interviewee, in explaining why her cell phone is the easiest way to reach her, states that she half-lives with her boyfriend - at his mom's house.

Whatever. I don't think I got the job, but I don't think I want it anyway.

(All the following emails are paraphrased, not direct quotes.)

If

email1 = "Hi, we saw your resume on Monster and liked it, [list benefits of working for company here], send us your resume** if you're interested!"

**not that I understand the logic behind this in the first place - why do they need me to send them a copy of my resume when they already have it from Monster? - but whatever

and, in response,

email2 = "I'm not sure if this is the right job for me, but if you send me a job description I can decide for sure."

and, in response to the response,

email3 = "Thanks for your interest, but you did not attach your resume to your last email, please send another email with your resume attached."

then

will I send this company my resume, after they failed to listen to my needs?

NO!

Fucking morons. Why are the stupid jobs the only ones that are interested in me?

Hey all,

In an effort to find a career I enjoy, I'm starting a knitting blog. squishyknits.blogspot.com. At this point I just have a post introducing myself and the blog's [intended] concept, but there'll be more, I promise. It may contain knitting jargon, but it'll be fun. Go check it out. Please?

Oh, and I applied for a job today that involves online copywriting. I think I'm actually qualified for it. Woo!

Hey, I suppose I could update.

I guess it's now my turn to start bitching about my job search. I haven't done much up until now, except browse around and complain that there are three types of jobs out there:
1) I only need a high school diploma
2) I need 5+ years experience and/or a master's
3) I can get by with my bachelor's, but it sounds like a scam job
I was going to apply for that radio job I mentioned before, but then their job posting website was taken down to upgrade the system. It was supposed to be down for one day (a Sunday), but it was actually down for three or four. And, by the time it was back up, the job I wanted was no longer there. Grr.

So, I applied for two semi-management jobs at a retail chain. I spoke with the manager of one when I dropped my resume on Sunday, and after glancing at my resume she was willing to schedule an interview. The interview was the next day, but somewhere in that downtime I started having doubts. I just wasn't sure I was willing to commit to starting at under $9/hr or having a wacky schedule or just plain being a retail slave yet again. Which is exactly the opposite of what I wanted: yearly salary, fixed schedule, no retail (or, at the very least, no food). I started searching for other jobs before the interview, and ended up stumbling on a website where employees gave mixed reviews about their experiences working for this company. Yikes. I decided to go in for the interview anyway, though, because at least it's practice.

Anyway, the interview went pretty well, I think. The manager seemed to have absolutely no problem with my piercings/tattoos, which was cool. She did ask if she could consider me for some part-time positions she needed to fill, though, if she decided to go with someone else for the position I applied for. Once I found out that insurance benefits don't start for a year for part-timers, I was like, uh no. But yeah, she said that she had a couple other people to interview and that she would hopefully let me know by the end of this week.

While I was in that interview, I got a call from the other store I'd applied at, wanting me to come in. Heh. So, that will be Thursday afternoon.

Last night, I whipped up some cover letters and applied for a few ad sales-type jobs. Y'know, what I actually went to school for. This morning I received an email back from one of the companies, saying that the position was already filled. Grr. However, she also said that I had skillz and was confident I'd find a job elsewhere, so that's pretty reassuring. Unfortunately, the other two companies wanted at least three years' experience. Eek.

So, that's where I stand right now. I'm really hoping I can find something soon so I can get out of the house by September 1. Time to get ready to go eat Asian food and knit and game.

Just letting everyone know I'm okay. I was only a half mile away at the time, but I was at work. I don't personally know anyone who was out there (I don't think, anyway), although a coworker's mom was. She was airlifted and unresponsive upon arrival, and it's possible she's one of the confirmed dead (I saw her picture, and she looked like my coworker), although I really hope not.

The only reason the game still went on last night was to keep 20,000 people off the roads. Today's game was called off, but it looks like the weekend series is going on as planned. I'm glad I at least got one day off though, because this bridge thing really made me unable to concentrate on work last night. It's too surreal.

But yeah, just checking in.

On facebook, my about me section says "I have too many thoughts to put into words." Tonight I amended that to say that perhaps this is because I suck at blog upkeep.

Lately something's been nagging me to blog again. So, here I am. If anything, you all get to see what I'm up to. And hopefully I won't suck this time.
I did delete all my old entries, though. I'm not sure why. I guess I felt like I needed to start fresh again. *shrug*

I'm still looking for a job, a place to live, and a cure for this damn vertigo, though. I stopped by a "cheap" clinic for it last month and was diagnosed with a sinus infection that apparently never went away. The drugs I got helped... temporarily. And yes, I finished the whole bottle of antibiotics. That shit's not cheap, so I'm trying to scramble together an over-the-counter remedy.
As for moving, I'm still at the parents' house... kinda. Basically, whenever I'm not working a stretch, I'm at the bf's mom's house. I don't really feel like I have a home right now, and now that I've had a taste of nomadic life I'm not really a huge fan.
And then there's the job situation. I've spent my time since graduation browsing, and that's it. I've made up my mind that I'm applying tomorrow. There's a couple store management positions I'm looking at, as well as secretarial positions in my old school district and a radio gig I'm actually qualified for. I keep telling myself that I have enough experience to easily land a job, but then I also have to tell myself to actually do something about that.

But for now, bedtime. More updating tomorrow (maybe).