The Plan

So, I am moving out of my apartment by the end of the month and moving back home with my parents. We'll be figuring out the logistics as the weeks go by. I figure it was the best move considering that I have one paycheck left for March and I have no idea how long it will take to get my first unemployment check. In good times, it's usually 2 - 3 weeks but now that millions are unemployed, it might take longer.

I got a bunch of packing boxes today from Public Storage and am shredding all my miscellaneous paperwork this afternoon. I have no idea what to do with all the stupid knickknacks I have - they are a pain to pack and I don't even know if I'd want them in the future. I'm also going to sell/ give away a lot of my stuff.

Luckily, Rasputin can come to my parents with me. I would be heartbroken if I couldn't have him along. He's going to have a lot of fun moving from a 4 room apartment to a 3 bedroom Colonial house. He's a whole other set of logistics to figure out.

It is kinda sucky at age 32 that I will be living with my folks but it could be worse and I'm not the only one who has been forced to move back home thanks to the crummy economy. Plus, I'll be getting a dishwasher, 1.5 baths, and off-street parking so that's a pretty sweet trade up from my current digs.

Laid Off AGAIN

My agency laid me off today because they haven't been able to sell me to a company for two weeks. I am in crisis management, list mode right now. I knew sooner or later I would get the ax but of course I hoped for later. More later

Two Day Work Week

Apparently it is a tough job market out there even for contract workers. My last day at my recent assignment was Feb. 13 and in the week between, I was "on the bench" or using "bench-time". I took online courses through my agency's website and I came into the office a bunch of times for customer visits and general face time. I still get paid for my weeks on the bench but my weekly rate is 37.5 hours. Since I am relatively new at this, I don't know how long my company will employ me on the bench. I knew one guy who was benched for 8 weeks. So, this isn't la la la happy vacation time, necessarily. There is some anxiety.

This week I was offered a special project assignment at my old company but not under my asshole abusive boss, just under my nice supportive boss. That worked for me and the possibility that it could be spun into a longer assignment was there. It was nice starting a new assignment at a familiar place. But the special project I was supposed to work on was training my replacements. Yup, you heard me. I had been doing the work of two men thank you very much! The training went well and I was in my favorite position ever - the all-knowing guru (I'm an oldest everything, it's my calling). Sadly, today I found out that this assignment wasn't going to be spun into anything longer. So, I just worked Wednesday and Thursday. Tomorrow, I am meeting with my agency to plan a strategy (and hopefully not be laid off). If your company or a company you know of, might need a contract financial analyst, drop me a line!

Taking the Piss

Today, I had an appointment at my staffing agency and the stayed for a little while doing online training. In the middle of my training, someone in the office noticed a guy peeing behind a car in the corner of the building's parking lot. This gentleman then zipped up, walked around his Mercedes and then put on a jacket. Ugh, I feel sorry for the next person he shook hands with!

I figure two things either he was drunk or is living out of his car. Because seriously it is not that hard to find a public restroom! I wish the story had ended with seeing him filling out a job application in my agency's lobby, but it didn't.

Ow

I was walking to my car Thursday night when my right knee suddenly started killing me. I tried to go about my activities as usual but by bedtime Thursday and Friday morning, I was in horrendous pain. So, I have been RICEing my knee all weekend and had to cancel any plans I had.

I ironically, this is the same problem I had last month but with my left knee. Sudden stabbing pain underneath my kneecap - towards the bottom. I really hope it's not my ACL and just a meniscus issue. Hopefully, I'll get a shot and will have to modify my workouts after my doctor's appointment Tuesday. I have started taking glucosamine chondroitin daily. So far, the knee is okay but unstable.

Concentration Hell, A Wasted Day

Since I am between assignments, my staffing rep is working like a mad-woman to get me work. Today, she took me along on the crazy train ride. I met her at her office this morning at 8:30 thinking that I would be going through rounds of meeting staffing reps who could help me.

What actually happened I was stuck at a computer doing my online training courses in the middle of a busy phone bank. Very noisy, distracting, and I learned absolutely nothing. Then, we went out on a client visit where the client had no interest in hiring me so I just sat there silent for 2 hours. And finally we have ended up back at the noisy phone-bank for me to continue with online training courses (which I could be doing at home in a comfy chair, in silence, and with a fiber optic connection).

Luckily, tomorrow looks like it will be more productive and I asked if I could bring an iPod so I can actually learn from the online courses. Thank goodness for the weekend!

Ze Weekend

Friday night, I celebrated my last day at my job assignment by a couple gin and tonics. Ugh, I think I had 1 too many. I had the hangover from hell for 24 hours. I don't know what it is with me and gin. When I go overboard, it is very bad. Like vertigo and throbbing headache bad.

Saturday, I made it through a morning personal training session by joking how I was probably sweating gin. Then, I had my hair appointment. Man, I am so glad I will never be going back to that salon! My neck was wrecked by an over-exuberant hair washer. Why do they make those sinks so darn uncomfortable? I'm a brunette now. The color is okay but I bet I could get something better from a box which is 1/20 of the salon cost.

Sunday, I saw Frost/Nixon. This movie is soooo good! I was completely enthralled and somehow felt a twinge of pity for Nixon. Yeah, the big political catch-all monster of my babyhood! Some day, I will have a political nerd night - watch Oliver Stone's Nixon, All the President's Men, Frost/Nixon and Dick.

My Monday holiday let me sleep in and do a bunch of cleaning around my place. This is my week off from job assignments aka bench-time. So, I am planning on taking some online courses to brush up my skills. Anything beyond that, is up in the air since I need to be ready to interview for my new assignment. Now, it's off to wash dishes.

Happy Valentine's Day

For all the single ladies...

Awesome News!

My last day is either Friday or sometime next week!

Another Crummy Work Day

Yup, it's a Tuesday and I have screwed up a report which means I get to be my off-site boss' verbal punching bag. There is nothing more lovely than having my intelligence, choice of career and work ethic questioned in a condescending manner. Do I ever get compliments when I do something well nowadays? Nope!

What made today extra special dark awful was that my onsite boss caught me in the aftermath of the dressing down. I had kept it together on the phone and of course when I had to look someone in the eyes, I lost it. Not in a wailing embarrassing way but tears did slip and on-site boss sat down and asked me what was wrong. I told him that I find off-site boss abusive and demeaning and I am having trouble working for him. He suggested I take some time to compose myself and we'd talk but magically my tears dried up and I told him that I was fine. He listened and offered to talk to my boss. He also told me that off-site boss is under a lot of pressure. Gee, shitting on others is a really mature way to handle stress, huh?

Another aspect of the horror is that I found out today that I'm not covering a maternity leave like I had been lead to believe. So, I have no idea when this assignment will end. I gotta admit, at my low points I am tempted to self-sabotage. But, that would end badly and I'd like some references from here!

Again, I feel dumb complaining. I have a job, unlike others. I am really lucky. Usually, I love this type of work. I have been through a lot worse and come out the other side. But this is my current struggle and blogging helps. The weird thing is my off-site boss used to love me up until the new year. He was really nice, complimentary and polite. I have no idea what has happened recently and I'm pretty sure it's not my work. Hell, I went 2 weeks with no major attention to detail snafu!

How Much Do I Love My Cat?

My cat, Rasputin, is a 22 month old male Mainecoon. At his last weigh-in, he was at 16lbs. When I get home from work, he is sometimes sitting in the window waiting for me. I can see him meowing. If he isn't in the window, the second he hears me enter the building hallway, he starts meowing.

When I first step into my apartment, he rolls around at my feet while I get settled and sniff the air. If there's a stinky cat poop smell, I know I have to take care of it since he has probably been delaying using his litter box until I cleaned it. No smell, Rasputin just does his constant meowing like he's saying, "Hi! Hi! Hi!" He has to sniff the mail as I put it down.




Then he leads me back to my bedroom so I can play with him or restock his climbing unit with toys. Sometimes, I find a surprise in my bedroom. Like dish gloves dragged from the sink or a winter hat he thinks is his dead mouse. And, of course, he puts some toy in his water bowl. Once I discovered that he had broken a wine glass I had stupidly left out on the counter and carried a huge piece of glass to my bed.

Once he is settled down, I replenish his food and get dinner for myself. He is interested in all human food. Oddly enough, Ras loves bread. I have to make sure all my bread products are safely put away in cabinets. I cannot count the times I've woken up to a half chewed through loaf of bread and a trail of crumbs in my bedroom.


If I spend the rest of the evening on my computer, he sits on the printer next to my computer and occasionally strolls around my laptop. If I watch TV, he gets annoyed but ultimately winds up lying on the couch next to me. He is so used to the going to bed routine, he just lies on my bed waiting for me to turn everything off. Rasputin loved watching me wash my face and brush my teeth. It's the whole water and faucet thing I bet.

As I lie in bed and flip through stations, he curls up against me and falls asleep. It's so cute feeling his breath against my arm. I try not to disturb him but I'm such a restless sleeper, he winds up sleeping at the foot of my bed. If I fall asleep on my back, he likes to use my ankle as a pillow. Around 5AM, he gets sick of my sleeping so he gets meowy and starts pawing my face - luckily with no claws. If that doesn't work, he plops down on the pillow next to me and licks my nose, forehead, hair, and chin. When I get up, he has cleaned off his food. So, I feed him, open the window blinds to let him have nice perches, and I get myself ready. Even though I know he's a cat, I always say goodbye.

Awesome, Huge, Exhausting, and Standing Ovation

Last night my chorus had our annual huge ass concert at Regis College. It went really well and we got a standing ovation. Today, I am completely exhausted.

Rehearsing with hundreds of teenagers was definitely a challenge. You had the kids who acted like chorus is a prison sentence. Isn't chorus an elective? Why join if you want to waste everyone else's time? Then you had the uber serious music kids who were focused and quiet. I love those kids. I was those kids. And the cell phones were completely ridiculous. At our Sunday 5 hour rehearsal, 2 sopranos near me sat the entire last hour texting while the rest of us stood and sang. And one kid tried to sneak a cell on-stage last night. But since we're the grown-ups, we get to be the chorus law. It was so fun seeing this kid be told, "Put that away or I'll take it."

As a side note, I have really noticed the benefits of my personal training sessions through these long standing sessions. In years past, my back, knees, and feet were in tons of pain and I usually spent some time recovering on my couch popping Tylenol. This year? I outlasted kids half my age in standing tolerance - even in heels! One of my tricks is that I noticed that as I fatigue, I tend to bow out my back. So once I feel that happening, I focus on using my abs to straighten out and give my back muscles a break.

The Facebook Conundrum

I just got into Facebook over the past couple of months. At first it looked like just a glammed up Myspace (minus the pedophiles). But then I realized that a ton more of my former friends were on Facebook. So, for those first couple of months I went crazy adding friends and tagging photos. It was nice catching up with people and seeing everyone's babies. It was also nice to watch along with Facebook during the election season. Some of my favorite status comments popped up during debates.

However, I think I came down with some kind of disease that stemmed from Facebook. It's like nostalgia causing amnesia. I hereby coin "Nostesia" as the term to describe this situation. Amidst all the catching up, I forgot that there might have been a very valid reason why certain people fell off my radar. Particularly, a very toxic former friend from college. Basically the only reason why we were friends was that we liked to read and both worked in the city after college. Beyond that, we got on each others nerves like poison oak. After the initial first contact, I noticed the same old victim mentality in her Facebook comments. Then she kept posting a bunch of Right Wing propaganda as news articles. I could ignore them of course but the vitriol and frequency amped up after the inauguration.

The tipping point came last night. Apparently, Ben Stein pulled out as being UVM's commencement speaker due to controversy over his views on evolution. Of course, Right Winger victim friend used the opportunity to bash academia. No, you do not do that if I call you friend, even lame Facebook "friend". Both my parents are professors and I see first-hand how hard they work. Plus, I have been to college and appreciate what I learned and the people who taught me. That white tower of academia argument doesn't hold water with me. Plus, defending Ben Stein? Seriously? The same Ben Stein who links Nazism to evolutionary theory and the Nixon dittohead. I knew I had to do something since I was still fuming while I did the dishes last night. Click - unfriend.

Hair on a Budget

Do you know how much it costs to keep my hair blonde, highlighted and styled short? $250 every 6 weeks. Doing the math, that is 8 hair appts/year so that would total $2000 per year!

I have decided to go back to my natural color (see below) and grow my hair out. I'm hoping for 6 inches in a year. I know I will look pretty funky and shaggy for my in-between growing phase. But, saving $2K, is worth it. Plus, I miss ponytails!

How Much Did I Hate Bush?

About a foot's worth or a whole bookshelf. These are all the books I bought between 2000 and 2008 to help me deal with the reign of Dubya. I had a couple favorites:



This is a book version of the propaganda remix project. The vintage posters date back to WWI and there is some seriously twisted humor! This was my favorite coffee table book for years.


I was an absolute wreck after the 2004 election. Luckily, I wasn't the only one. Just looking through this gallery helped me feel like I wasn't the only sane person in the mental ward so of course I had to buy the book.

The Right will probably have the same outlet of vitriol for Obama. But I don't think the Fundy Righties are a book reading bunch. Except that one book (and only certain passages in there).