Friday, February 18, 2011

Waiting for the Rain

The day outside is blustery and gray. Big rain is forecast for this evening and into Saturday, so that's just another thing for which I'm waiting.

One to check off the to-do list: the patio is done. I know that was a couple weeks ago, but it just looks so nice, and we don't have to worry about getting water stains on the slate (since it's the soft variety). So here's a shot of the patio. You can kind of see the sheen on the stone, but it's not overpowering. Also here is a "before" picture when all we had was a cement slab. It really is an improvement.

The other thing I'm waiting for is a response from the places I've sent resumes. The Jim Henson Company has an opening in its creative services department, as does the American Film Institute, and I have resumes out to both of them (I'm giving up my jinx fears and talking). There are nine other places I've applied to this month, as well. I keep telling myself it's just a matter of time, and I only have to land one job.

I received a claims form from the Employment Development Department, so I did have one last extension left. It should take me into late April or early May.

For Valentine's Day, Steve got me flowers in a candy-kiss bowl. I designed him his very own Valentine's Card and got a couple filet mignons, which we had with artichokes and baked potatoes. It was nice and low keyed. (One of the things I like about Steve is he doesn't feel the need to give big or fancy presents; just remembering a birthday or anniversary is enough. I'm very much that way myself.)

And, finally, a nod of the hat to the demonstrations in Wisconsin: it's good to see that the state workers aren't about to have their collective bargaining rights taken away. I think they should realize, though, that paying more into their benefits is kind of a necessity, unless they want thousands of people tossed out of their jobs. If we had been able to take small pay cuts at the Reporter, we could have saved quite a few jobs, but corporate wouldn't hear of it: they wanted heads to roll and an immediate reflection of it on the bottom line.

The story is the same in the public sector, it just takes longer to run out of the money. Something needs to be done, and unions are there to give workers a say. But it's absolutely slimy of the Republicans in Wisconsin to write a union-busting bill and then call it a cost-saving measure. The Democrats walking out was an amazing move and I can't wait to see what happens next.

It seems like the people of the world are rising up and moving toward something. The authority to govern is derived from a mandate of the people, after all.

Some of our Christian neighbors and friends are saying it's the rapture coming, which is allegedly scheduled for May 21, 2011, (I've seen the biblical math laid out on an informative website; the entire thing dependent upon creation being dated to 11,013 BC. It's very twisty and turny, and makes some big assumptions to arrive at the date of the rapture as exactly 7,000 years from Noah's flood).

If this is true, I don't think I have any real problems: I won't need to get a job and my unemployment benefits will run out the week before.

I'm not banking on it, though. I recall similar predictions numerous times in my lifetime and they never came to pass. I think we're all here for the long haul, and we've got to face the fact that we're responsible for one another on this little planet; the only place we have in which to survive.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Life Under Construction

I just got my last EDD check on this latest extension. I believe there is one more extension left, as I have not yet joined the ranks of the "99ers," who are the folks who have gone through their entire 99 weeks of unemployment and federal extensions. I'm on week 82. I never imagined it would have taken this long to find another job.

But we're still in the black. All the bills get paid on time and we haven't had to touch savings or retirement yet. But we haven't added anything to savings or retirement, either. And any remodeling has been put on hold just in case that money is needed to cover essentials if I get the honor of joining the 99ers.

As usual, I have a half dozen or so resumes out and haven't heard anything back yet. There is one in particular that I'm very interested in, but I haven't heard anything from them (well, the job was only posted six days ago, and I sent in my cover letter and resume on Monday). No discussions on this one, as you know my penchant for fearing a jinx if I talk about it prematurely.

Also, I got an unsolicited call this morning from a recruiter in New Jersey who wanted to place me in a graphic design job in San Diego. I was on the toilet at the time (they always seem to call in mid-ablution) but he had also sent me an e-mail. I wrote back, explaining that I lived in Pasadena, which was about 140 miles from San Diego, and even Californians don't commute that far to work. It was nice to get the attention, though.

The sealing of the slate on the patio ended up being bifurcated, since we decided it was easier to do one half at a time instead of trying to empty out all the plants, tables and chairs and tackle the chore whole.

The process has be extended since a lot of drying time is necessary to do the work properly. First one-half was cleared and swept, then cleaned thoroughly with a jet spray (after this process, the grout takes about a day to dry). Then a first coat of sealant was applied and given three hours to dry. Then a second coat went down to finish the work. The surface needed at least eight hours to fully cure (which was functionally overnight).

This all being so, the first half took the entire weekend to finish.

Nothing was addressed Monday, since that is one of my job-search days and I had that special cover letter and resume going out.

Today, I moved everything to the finished half of the patio and swept and cleaned the other half (which was amazingly dirty after the recent rains). The jet wash was accomplished in the early afternoon and this evening the grout was still drying. Tomorrow morning the sealing process will begin, and by Thursday we should have the entire patio back for our outdoor enjoyment.

The whole process is rather like this post: tedious, uninteresting, and literally like watching paint dry. If you've read all the way through this and are still awake, I congratulate you: I fell asleep twice writing it.

Friday, February 4, 2011

C'mon, Corporate America

I keep seeing these reports on studies that show that 64% of companies are planning to add employees in the next six months, and I do seem to see a lot more jobs showing up online, but it hasn't translated into a position for me … so far. I'm still sending out four to eight resumes a week, and I plan to get a little more aggressive. I'm starting to send out resumes for copy writing positions, since I know I can do that, and I would be really good at it.

Well, here it is: the picture of the carrot cake. I was going to take a shot of it when it only had a couple pieces out of it and had a really Betty-Crocker look, but forgot. And, yes, it came out looking as sloppy as it seems in the picture.

The recipe was pretty good, except there were way too many pecans (it called for 1 1/2 cups; I'd say 1/2 cup would be plenty) and there weren't any raisins. Then there was hand-grating three cups of carrots (about six or seven large ones).

To cap it off, the frosting recipe came out really runny. I would have put it into the refrigerator to let it set up, but it was 12:45 a.m. by the time the cake cooled, and I wanted to slap the cake together and get to bed. Altogether, it was a good dessert, but I would have to work on it to make it more to my liking.

This weekend we get to seal the slate on the patio, since winter it taking its toll on it, and we'll be back into the sunny mid- and upper-70s, so things will dry in short order. I'm hoping it will look really cool when it's done, with the colors looking deep and not all washed out, like now.

That's all for now. I'm trying to focus on the fact that things are fine and not focus on the stress and anxiety of not having a job. Somehow, I think releasing all that angst around unemployment is going to be one of the keys to getting employed again: Sounds really Zen, I know, but I believe it's part of the equation.