Happy Thanksgiving to All and to All a Good Night!

Happy Birthday to my Baby Girl!

May you be smarter at 25 than you were at 24

Public Transportation

Oh the adventure. At least it isn't Monday.

Because I snapped last month and quit my job, I've been thinking about the next road. In the meantime I decided I could "temp" for awhile until things settled down. I figured the holidays are coming up, people want to be off. There is this huge scare about the flu - which funny now I'm not hearing about so much becuase of the senate health bill, idiot killers, etc. but I digress.

I got a job in town which means taking the bus and then subway or driving. Not driving, the traffic doesn't bother me but the $20 a day to park seems really wrong. Although I've been taking the train and that is costing me almost $9 a day, but hubby has been dropping me off in the morning and picking me up at night so it is still about an hour from home to office and we're spending some time together. Plus I've got 40 minutes of uninterrupted knitting time each way on the train - score!

So last night he says to me, I'm going to leave before 7 tomorrow, do you want to go in early or take the bus from the house? duh. So this morning I drove down to the end of the neighborhood since it is raining and I wanted to catch the bus at the main road so coming home would give more options. Got to the stop, bus came in less than 5 minutes, no stops to pick anyone up and we were on our way to the train station. Only got two rows of knitting done though. I haven't ridden the bus to the train station in almost 20 years. In fact I haven't worked across the river in almost 20 years. I remembered my first day here why I chose to work on my side of the river. But there you go. So any way, got to the station, looked around and oh my has it changed. I was smart enough to figure out where to pick up the bus this evening (lower level) but the couldn't figure out how to get to the subway entrance. LOTS of security at this location. Finally had to ask someone. Found my way, and lo and behold, there was a train just sitting there waiting for me :)

It was the wrong train. Oh it went into town, just that the first stop was at the other end of town. They use to have huge maps in each car at each door showing you the different lines, and stations. Now they have one teeny tiny map at the door of which you can't see because of the lady sitting in front of it and I didn't want to seem like a lost tourist or someting. Had to maintain that air of "i'm cool and do this all the time". Fortunately the next station transfers to other lines, so I got off, went down stairs and another train was pulling into the station just for me. Fortunately this time it was one that I wanted. Had to ride back 5 station stops, didn't knit for fear I'd mess something up or forget to get off.

I still got to work 25 minutes early.

oh well

The Art of Positive Thinking

I've been doing a lot of that lately. my 'tude has improved about a million percent in 5 days and things are looking up. Since I've decided to become self supporting - and that lead to a few sleepless nights, I've put feelers out for clients and gotten a few, I've ordered about all the stuff I need to work from home, and then I got scared and signed up at not one but two temp agencies to try and get a little outside income once or twice a week until I'm completely up and running.

Of course, this week was to be dedicated to getting set up, meeting with school counselors and just plain decompressing. But I got a call last night, can you work thursday and friday? of course I can. Oh, and they will want you next week too, probably, is that okay? Well of course. Now I'm scrambling and nervous and annoyed that I have to take both the bus and subway into town tomorrow in the rain, but there you go. The pay rate is better than I expected and whats a little rain?

I'll tell you. Today is nasty, I've been glad I could stay home, except I had to go to the market becuase I didn't go this weekend. And WHAT is with these women in the market in the middle of a rainy day? In the past I refused to step into the doors of a market on the weekends unless it was between 6 - 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. There are few people, no screaming badly behaived children and you aren't getting run over by impatient rude shoppers. Sundays are a wonderful time to shop. I found out Target that that time is good too.

So I'm thinking, meh, it is raining and cold, it is the middle of the week in the middle of the day so how bad can it be? HA! Well, I will say it wasn't crowded, but really women and yes it was women, old women (my age) not elderly I can make a lot of exceptions for women. Two tried to run me over, one kept coming at me head on no matter what isle I switched to. ack. they didn't even have children with them. Oh, maybe those little brats playing tag and hide-n-seek simultaneously were theirs.

So I'm back to my orignal plan. If anyone in this house wants food it had better be on my list by the time I leave sunday at sunrise. Or you can go to the stinkin store yourself!

Change is in the air

The times they are achanging, and it is looking good! Positive thinking is what we/I need now and we're off to a great start. Just hope I can keep up the momentum. I have faith, determination and necessity so onward!

This is a Test

Sometimes, I astound my self in my dumbassness. A few weeks ago, I had enough at work. I quit. There were words of course, I'd been there 6 years. We had become friends as well as employer/employee. I did it all in the office. I never complained, just did more. (see dumbass comment above) But I'm going back to school to finish my degree which is a very good thing. I've been working on it for almost 30 years on and off. Now the kids are grown, I've got the time and finally mostly the desire.

Employer spent more and more time either networking (i.e. "visiting") with clients and strangers or at home "working" While employer use to come to the office around 10 or 11 in the morning, now it is 2 or 3 pm. And that's okay, because it is employer's and employer can do whatever employer wants. But then I was being held hostage in the evenings. by 5pm I'm done, I get up early, work at home, get to the office around 8am and at the end of the day I'm ready to leave. Employer however parks in the driveway blocking me in. Every day it's I've gotta go, can you move your car? yeah, I'll be ready to leave in a minute. which turns into 30 or more minutes. not nice. and while I'm on my whinning streak, 6 years, no raise. grief if I take a few days off every 3 months (4 day weekend) to visit family. never call in sick. got a few bonuses the first 2-3 years, which made up for no annual raise, but then as the economy tanked, the bonuses stopped. With a vague "I'm going to take care of you if/when I ever sell the business. And we can retire and live together im my country home, won't that be fun?"

Well, in a work no, that won't be fun. I take care of you now, why would I want to do it when I don't have to? harsh? yeah, maybe.

But that isn't the test part of this. I've been sending my resume out looking for another job, one that will fit in with classes, be less stressful and appropriate for an old lady. I've sent lots of resumes out, not much response, which is okay, but I did go on a cold call last week. The lady was nice, said she'd be doing call backs this week. This morning at about 7:30 she called to say she wanted to interview me and one other person and was I still interested. Well, yeah. I'm not sure, but I haven't had any offers and I'm getting nervous although I shouldn't be, and what the heck, it will either work or not work. SO I said I'd be glad to come in, but I couldn't do it today, could we do it tomorrow morning? She said sure, she was interviewing the other person at 7:30 could I come in around 7? I said sure, I'm up at 5 and that isn't a problem, but maybe we should make it 6:45 so that she and I didn't run into each other. SHe said well, I'm here aroud 5 so that would be fine, and why don't we make it 6:30 so there is enough time. Absolutely I replied.

So, now I have to leave my home at 6:15 am for a job interview I'm not sure I even want.

I am a dumbass.

Yard work

I got up bright and early to rake leaves. I figured just the front today, we bought a new "toy/tool" friday night. Fancy schmancy yard vacuum thingy looks like a lawnmower. I was assured that it got good reviews on research . . . and the people who didn't like it just didn't know how to use it. huh? While I take people's comments about products with a grain of salt becausey, well yeah, sometimes they don't know how to use something properly, or as in my HD case, I know how it should work, don't tell me to read directions . . . . hrumph

So off I went. The wonder of yarn maintenance is crap. Oh, is sucked up the leaves well enough and I was pleased with that portion, but whoever designed the bag was a moron. It took three people to dump the bag into a bag. Well, yes if I'd gone out and bought some rolling dumpsters, it would have been easier to dump by one person, but I didn't. I shouldn't have to. I said no. This isn't going to work, take it back.

I finished raking the entire front yard by myself in about an hour. Yeah, lots of bending and dragging bags of wet leaves. Forgot to meniton the rain huh? But it was done. Next weekend I'll tackle the back, with my trusty giant rake, and be done in a couple of hours.