KirstenL4W

I finally got that mix CD made for the exchange I’m participating in. Here’s the list of songs I came up with:

1. A song from the year you were born - Free Man in Paris by Joni Mitchell
2. A song having to do with your favorite color - Turn Back Time by Aqua
3. A song that mentions a place name - Gulf of Mexico by Cameron Dezen
4. Up in the air and beyond (sun, sky, atmosphere, moon, planets, outer space, etc.) - Blue Sky by Patty Griffin
5. A food or mealtime song - Pizza Cutter by Letters to Cleo
6. A cowboy song - A Common Disaster by Cowboy Junkies
7. It’s about time - See #2
8. A song about music - Mix Tape by the Original Broadway Cast of Avenue Q
9. A song about the weather - Listening for the Weather by Bic Runga
10. Pick a name, any name - Susan by Aimee Mann
11. It’s getting dark - Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest
12. Something imaginary - Imaginary by Evanescence
13. A song by a singer/band from a continent you don’t live on - Going Home by Sophie Zelmani
14. A pretty ugly song - Beautiful by Joydrop
15. Don’t just sit there, get moving! (a song about some sort of action/physical activity) - Push and Pull by Nikka Costa
16. Money – either you got it or you don’t - Dealer by Chantal Kreviazuk
17. Seasonal songs – a song either mentioning a season or having to with certain seasons - Season of the Witch by Donovan
18. Hello/Goodbye - Big Exit by PJ Harvey
19. The animal kingdom - Smelly Cat by Chrissie Hynde and Phoebe Bouffay (found this one by accident on a music search of a different flavor - I don’t think there’s an official release of it.)
20. Wildcard – put on a song just because you want to include it - ‘Cuz I Can by P!nk

That’s ready to mail out to Saturnine, i just have to go to the post office tomorrow and do that. I like the mix exchanges, they’re fun to do and even more fun to get the CDs with new music on the. On my iTunes player, I created a playlist called “Mix CD Repository” where I dump all the music from these things on there. It’s great to put it on shuffle and just have it playing while I go about my chores.

I also managed to vacuum my apartment yesterday and get the piles of laundry done. I feel so much better now with those things out of the way.

In other news, lately I’ve not been feeling too inspired to post. I feel like my postings have been a bit trite, simply reporting on my daily happenings and such. I need to get my inspiration back. Dr. A has been going through a blog block lately, and seems to have resolved it with a video post. You aren’t going to get that lucky here, as I hate being on camera, especially video. So, I’ll need to find some other way to resolve my blog block.

I suppose I should get going now. I need to eat something and get back to bed (I slept all day). Tomorrow is another day, and I do have to go to work.

I don’t know who started it, but there seems to be a trend going around the blogosphere. People are turning off word verification. I’ve done the same, because I know I hate it when I try typing in those silly letters and I have to do it again because something didn’t compute. I know I can read, and I know I can type, so having to do that a second time is really annoying.

I’ll still leave comment moderation in place, because this is my blog and it’s still a great way to avoid having spammy comments. But yay! no more wonky words!

Well, things at Security job have settled down a bit. For one, I won’t be working my graveyard dispatch shift as long as I’m in the office during the day. So getting some sleep is a distinct possibility. Second, I’ve decided not to take the director position. I’m not a director. However, I will be staying in that chair in an administrative capacity until they find a new director, and with me there, they have time to find someone competent. After that, I’ll be moved back to graveyard dispatch, but full time.

Today was payday in the office, which is normally a mad zoo. Dozens of guards come in all at once to get their paycheck, and usually most of them have some problem or another with their pay. Considering the situation that I got thrown into, I was prepared for the onslaught. I think I only saw about 6 or 7 people for payroll problems. I was told that it was the easiest payday we’ve had in a long time, so for that the kudos and high-fives were flowing freely, all in my direction. That felt good, not only that I did that good a job but also that I was recognized for all my hard work. As long as I’m in the office, I’ll have a bump in pay. I’m kinda hoping that I can stay in the office on a longer term basis, because now that I have the hours somewhat regulated I can handle it, plus it’s day hours, which I can do for a much longer period than graveyard shift.

This weekend I’m looking forward to having some time to do laundry and clean my disaster area of an apartment. It will feel so good to get some personal things tended to, and to have some time off. If we get all the shifts that are open for the weekend filled, and can clean up the scheduling boards a bit, then I should be able to take the weekend off. So looking forward to that!

And it’s just about out. I can’t do what I’ve been doing at security place long term. I’m just not cut out for that stuff. Like I’ve said before, I’m a paper person, a clerical worker. I mean, I know a lot of what I’ve been dealing with this past week stems from the disorganization of previous problems and the fact that I’m doing it pretty much all by myself without a clue as to how, but still. Will it get better? Somehow I don’t think so.

Yesterday I went into the office to finish payroll, and was there from about 12:30pm to 5:00am. The business being what it is, I had so many distractions and was sidetracked out of the office not once but twice - once to bring a guard to a site just to get it covered, because I couldn’t arrange transport with another patrol driver, and the second time to drive over 30 miles one way to help a patrol driver who had inadvertently gotten himself locked out of his truck. And of course trying to finish up payroll with all the knowledge that the two-minute tutorial I got has given me. And we can’t forget that I am a very conscientious person, so I wanted to make sure that everything was correct to the best of my ability to ensure that payday (which is typically a mad zoo) goes as smoothly as possible. Grrr.

I have heard that the director’s position has been offered to me. That’s news to me, since no one has come up to me and said, Gee, I’d like to offer you the position. If that’s a taste of how good the communication is in that place, then I don’t want it. Also, being a huge proponent of efficiency and organization, I just don’t know if I could do it without screaming in frustration on a regular basis. I’ve known since the first minute I walked in there that efficiency and organization were not strong points that this company has. So, can I do the job? Yes. Would I be good at it? Most likely. Would I be happy? Probably not. Especially since I’m sitting home today, still burnt out on the place, avoiding it with everything I have. And I’m not even officially a director yet.

When I did go in yesterday, Dispatcher Guy, who is still trying to get me into the company he works for, asked me where the heck I have been. Apparently HR has been trying to call me and not getting through. I only have my cell phone, but it’s on all the time. I never ever turn it off unless I’m required to by say, a flight crew. Other than that it’s either on or just silent. And I have no issues getting voice mail, unless I’m out of range. Living in a large city such as this one, having no signal is not something I encounter on any regular basis, so getting messages is not something I have an issue with. Heck, I always get messages from my mother, and she’s in the middle of nowhere, New Hampshire. But yeah, I’d like to get into that company. It’s a large company, the pay is great, the benefits are great, and I hear it’s just an all around great company to work for. So why would I want to kill myself at security when I could have something better, even if the title isn’t as high?

Another reason for not wanting that job? It’s a black hole, as I’ve previously mentioned. Over the past month, mainly the time since I’ve been hired there, I’ve barely had time to do laundry, clean my house, or really do anything at my house except sleep, and even then I don’t have the time. I need to take care of me. I’m not getting any of that lately. Sure, I do have a social life - but that’s part of me holding on to my sanity as much as I can. But ME time? That I don’t have. I’m the kind of person who enjoys being able to come home and just chill. When the fuck was the last time I did that? I also know that I need a regular schedule, not this all over the map shit I’ve been doing lately. I need the same hours, and the same regularly scheduled time off. I’m so burnt that I haven’t had time to go grocery shopping, and as a result I have about 4 sheets of toilet paper left. I must go get toilet paper today.

I’ve also not had time to take care of things that really need doing, like my traffic school and fine stemming from the citation I got in September. The traffic school I can do online, which I am doing now, and that needs to be completed and the fine paid by 7:00am tomorrow. That’s 15 hours from now. No way in heck am I going to work tomorrow. Of course, I’d get this shit done a lot faster if I were not required by the fucking timer to spend so much time reading a certain page. The chapter I am on now is making me spend 41 minutes on it. I had it done in 4.1 minutes. All I can say is thank goodness for Firefox and tabs, so I can catch up on blogging at least.

Right now I just really need to withdraw, hide, and take some alone time to recuperate. I’m just feeling sick over not having that at all lately.

After working way too long on Friday, getting too little sleep and then hanging out with some friends on Friday night (gotta keep my sanity, you know), sleeping in way too late on Saturday and not getting into the office until dinnertime, I spoke with the operations director regarding some ideas I had to make at least part of the place run more efficiently. He suggested I write it up as a formal proposal and if it’s good he’ll bring it to the owner. I stayed there too late writing it up and put it on his desk before I left. He also had heard that I had expressed an interest in the vacant director’s position. I don’t recall actually expressing an interest, but I am interested in a full time steady job that pays me enough to live on.

Anyway, here’s what I know about working at security place:

• I’ve been getting quite a few pats on the back this week for jumping in and keeping the standing room going while the director is on vacation
• They like me, they really like me
• I’ve developed a decent rapport with the guards that I have had contact with, which goes a long way since good rapport = happy workers = happy company
• I’ve only officially been employed there less than a month, yet a director position seems very likely
• My proposal for co-directors in the standing guard room will make that room run much more efficiently (read: increased revenue) than two separate directors doing their own things

So, assuming the proposal I wrote up in my severely sleep deprived state makes any sense and is coherent enough to sound like a good plan, then I will know by the end of the week (how many times have I said “end of the week” lately?) whether or not I will be getting a promotion at work - at a job that was only intended to be temporary until I found myself a full time day job. But, it would be a more challenging position and a huge step up, which is what I said I was seeking, right?

Anyway, while I may not know exactly what I want as far as a career goes, I do know what I want right this second: sleep. I need to get a few winks, because I have to get up early for church in the morning before heading into the office to make sure payroll is done, because with the director on vacation, that’s about 150+ guards who won’t get paid if I don’t get that done. Gosh, I love having that kind of power!

I was doing fine working my 2 nights here at security doing dispatch. Then a director went on vacation, and the other director in that room, well, let’s just say that desk has a revolving door on it. So I’m filling in here. I’m getting nowhere near enough rest, and there’s so much work to be done. I’m not a scheduler, or manager, or anything like that. I like clerical work. I’m a paper pusher. But I’m getting sucked in more and more here. Now, tonite, from one of the guards (one who is not usually a reliable source of information, I might add) says there are rumors that they want to make me a director. No way! This place is eating me alive and I’ve not even been here that long. I must get out!

I contacted my friend at the day job that’s been on/off/unsure, and she still wants me there, so she just needs to make sure that it’s still available because she thinks they may have hired someone else for her, but she would rather have me in there. The other job, the one for the company that Dispatch Guy works for, is being slow in its hiring process, so I don’t know how long that will take or if I can wait through the whole process. We shall see. I need to return to some sense of normalcy as far as my schedule goes, because doing this crazy hours thing all the time is killing me. If I have a regular schedule during the week where no one bothers me, then I can handle crazy hours on weekends only, part time until I get ahead with my bills.

Anyway, yeah, must get going because the black hole is calling.

I found a place here in Vegas that could be a good source for selling some CDs. I miss my beloved Newbury Comics, so finding a similar place here to unload music would be great. My first round of CD unload saw me uploading all the songs I had that I wanted, but bought the CD for the one song. I uploaded those single songs and sent my music home to trade in at Newbury Comics when I was visiting. Now, I want to upload all the music I have just to have - you know, that stuff that’s supposed to be essential to all good music collections - and get rid of the physical CD. I still use CDs in my car and such, but I notice that I stick to a select few dozen or so. So, I’ll keep those ones and sell the rest. That means I’ll also be able to sell the CD rack that I have, and I have a friend in mind who might be interested in purchasing it. But first, I have many, many hours to spend in front of the computer uploading music.

I also think that I might purchase a pro account on Flickr. I want to keep things organized, and not only do I have to get them organized on my home computer, since my photo organization leaves much to be desired, but when people are looking at them online I want to have them nice and organized there too. A pro account to create more photosets would accomplish this. And it’s not expensive either, so why the heck not?

And, I’ve had a Palm Z22 for almost a year now, but only once have I synched it to my computer. I need to update that and sync it again, and I ought to start using it more regularly for other things as well. It’s an amazing little electronic device, so I should be taking full advantage. Even so, I don’t think it will help me find the time to get all this stuff done.

Ah well, the list never ends. Despite having all that to do, the main priority right now (besides sleep and work) is finishing the traffic school thing online and paying my stupid traffic fine by Tuesday of next week. Stupid Nevada traffic court system. I am so determined that there will not be a next time regarding any traffic issues, but at least I don’t have any points on my license for it. Yeah, well worth the money, sure. Still a major PITA, but at least they take credit cards and I can do traffic school online when I have a chance.

So I worked last night, and was up pretty much all day Sunday, so by the time I left work I had been up for something like 24 hours. I was exhausted. I went home and went straight to bed. I woke up around 10pm, after 12 hours asleep, but I have to go into work at security (currently my only job) for 9am Tuesday. See, one of the directors didn’t work out, and another director is going on vacation for a six day weekend or something like that, so the standing room won’t have any director at all. The mobile room director is also the operations director, so in addition to his stuff he has to run the whole place. Yeah. So, to fill in, I’ll be helping out the standing director with help from the night director. At least I’m getting some hours there, but I’m starting to feel like Security job is a big black hole that will suck me in and no one will ever see me or hear from me again - sorta like what happened to F. Now that I see how it is there, I’m wondering how I ever even met him or got to know him. Anyhoo, at least I have some work for now.

Since I’m up for a little while, I’ve been catching up on some blog surfing through Bestest Blog and all I can say is Bobby’s been busy! Lots of new blog submissions for the new year, and for the past 2 weeks there are 227 new blogs. I usually just open a bunch of them at a time in new tabs and go from there. Once in awhile I find one that I actually want to add to my list and read regularly, so it’s worth it, I think. I get quite a bit of traffic from there myself, so the link exchange was a great idea. My only gripe is that I am listening to my music, stuff I like, thru iTunes right now, and too many blogs play music automatically which bugs the shit out of me. You know who you are. Why on earth do people think that I want to listen to their music? If I want to listen to it, tell me what it is and give me the option of listening or not. But the so-called radio wars I do not like. Anyway.

I still have a lot of catching up to do, mostly in the form of computer stuff. Not catching up necessarily, but just things I want to do. Good thing I surf with a notebook on my desk, so I can write down stuff I want to visit or check out. Then, as I find the time, I go thru and hi-lite the ones I liked and will visit again, and cross off the ones that aren’t worth it. Not the most efficient method, but it works for me, and it keeps me from having tons of post-its on my desk.

Ok, enough middle of the night blabbing. I’m going to blog surf a bit more then get a bit more sleep before going back in to work in the morning. So much for laundry. I still have stuff I can wear, but hopefully I’ll be home tomorrow evening and can get some laundry done then. I hate not having a washer and dryer in my apartment, I tell ya. Next time I move, that’s on my list.

Still no progress on the job situation. I’ll be following up on that big time this week, because I really need to get that settled very soon. However, I am done at the shoe store. If I’m picking up more hours here at security, and the day hours interfere with my current schedule. This leaves me open to pick up more shifts at security, and when I get a day job, I know I can change my hours here at security on short notice to weekends only, so the shoe store won’t get in the way when I need to change my schedule suddenly. So goodbye shoe store, hello Sunday afternoon naps.

And even though I should be picking up some shifts here at security, I also have a lot of things I need to get done, so a couple days off will be really nice. I have boatloads of laundry to do, plus I need to do the annual vacuuming of my apartment. I forgot to run the dishwasher today before I left, so that needs to be done. I also have a few other cleaning things to do, and I’d also like to get a bunch of stuff done online. And music, I need to finish the mix exchange I committed to, and I’d like to start ripping a bunch of my CDs to iTunes so that I can sell them. I’m in a lean mean cleaning mood, so I’d like to really get some of this done and feel like I’ve accomplished something. Anyhoo, yeah.

Hooray! My new checks came today. That means that no more worries about my accounts and precarious financial status being compromised. Woohoo!

I also got some new pictures of baby Mia today, and as soon as my sister learns to use Flickr instead of that stupid Kojak service I’ll get them on my Flickr page so you can all see. The way it is now, if I try to right click and save a picture I only get the teeny tiny thumbnail version, and that’s no good. I want it big! So I sent it to VegasRic to see if he could do it for me, since he was able to last time Sis sent me pics. Anyway.

Time for me to get off to work. Another fun night for security patrol in the Las Vegas valley. Joy.