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 concientious 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 tomrrow. 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 severly 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 vaction, 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 shoestore. 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 shoestore won’t get in the way when I need to change my schedule suddenly. So goodbye shoestore, 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.

Living in the desert you’d think we don’t see much in the way of winter weather. Normally, we don’t. Averages for winter temperatures see us in the mid- to upper 50s during the day and upper 30s to mid 40s during at night. Right now, at 5:30am, it’s about 39 degrees Farenheit and dropping. Yes, dropping. Not rising like it should with the sun. We are officially under a winter storm warning. The weather people are all excited that we might see snow here in the Las Vegas valley, to the tune of 1-3 inches. Do you know what that kind of precipitation will do to a town that normally does not see any precipitation, frozen or not? All I can say is that the news will be very interesting, and driving will be precarious at best. Not looking forward to it. And before you say anything, yes, I will be careful. The last thing I need right now is another car accident.

The job situation still hasn’t moved at all, but there is the possibility of yet another offer in the works. So although things are stagnant at the moment, it’s a possibility that I will have a storm of offers all at once. Who knows. At this point I don’t really care much as long as something pans out. I need full time, daytime, regular hours so that I can live a life of sanity and be able to pay the rent.

Ahh well. Time to get going now, things will be getting busy here within the next half hour.

I got my bank statement in the mail today, so there’s that much personal information that has not found its way to the wrong hands. Chances are my check order has not been delivered yet, so hopefully I’ll have that by the end of the week. I also had the lock fixed today, so I’ll be getting all my mail in the future, if all goes well. And I still plan on looking into a private mailbox, because I don’t want to go through this again. Plus a private mailbox service can accept deliveries from any service, not just the post office, so that will be a plus.

I just managed to pick up a few shifts at security company for this week. That will help while I’m waiting to hear about a day job. I’m hoping that within the next week I’ll have that situation all settled.

Other than that it’s just a waiting game. I think I’ll vacuum my apartment in the meantime.

So I talked to Dispatcher Guy at work today about the job with his full time company. HR has my resume, and I had to fill out an online application to make it official that I was applying for a specific job. Basically, their website links to that creature-like online job board, so since I already have a resume on there, I uploaded it and was officially applied. He’s going to go to HR tomorrow and tell them that he wants to interview me, then I’ll get the telephone interview, which consists of those lovely behavioral assessment questions, and then Dispatcher Guy will be able to bring me in for a face to face interview. It’s sounding like I’m as good as in, so I hope something pans out for me soon.

As I’m leaving Security Company to go to a friend’s house tonite, I get a call from Sparkling Butterfly. I didn’t have to tell her why I hadn’t been showing up, she knows that with the insecurity of the job with her and the many other jobs I have to work as a result, it was pretty much impossible to balance it all. But, things have been getting better and better there, and she has had many meetings with the Big Cheese, and she is finally able to hire me full time. The pay rate at this time isn’t as good as what I’d make at Dispatcher Guy’s company, but there are plans for profit sharing and other great benefits in the works.

So it seems like I’m suddenly going from no job to 2 job offers. I swear, the way things have been going for me on the job front lately, I don’t know which end is up anymore. I told Sparkling Butterfly that I am in process with another company, so I’ll let her know by the end of the week. She’s a friend and wants me specifically for this job, so I know I’m not in any danger of losing the job if I don’t jump on it right this second. I have a few days to see how things play out.

As if I didn’t have enough things to worry about, I went to check my mail today and found the lock broken. I haven’t checked mail since Friday morning, so I don’t know what I might be missing, though I have received my current credit card bills and I believe my utility bills. I have a new check order that I’m waiting for, but they only shipped the other day, and by snail mail, so I don’t think they’d have arrived yet. There’s been no unusual activity on my account as of this writing, and I’m watching it like a hawk until those checks arrive. The apathetic apartment management wasn’t surprised when I told them, their response was, “Oh, you too?” So I’m guessing by that and the number of bright shiny new locks on the mailboxes that a lot of people got hit. Either way, I’m going to be looking into a private mailbox service asap. Oh, crap - my bank statement was probably in there. I usually have it by now. Yep, we’re visiting the bank tomorrow. Joy. And I already placed a fraud alert on my credit report, and keeping my fingers crossed that I didn’t have any tax stuff in there yet. That stuff usually shows up a bit later in the month. Grrr.

That’s about it for now. I need a drink, but my stomach is bothering me. Stupid acid reflux. I think I’ll have a cookie, some antacids and a glass of water instead.

No word from Hopeful Future Employer this week, but I did call my fellow dispatcher, who happens to work at HFE as a manager, said that one of his direct reports resigned this week, so he’s really pushing my resume through HR. He said I should hear from them by mid-week, and once I have an interview scheduled to contact him so he can coach me through it. Oh, I really hope I get this job! I hate job hunting, so networking is my preferred method of finding a job, and it usually turns out better than randomly applying for something. So yeah, definitely don’t uncross those fingers just yet.

In other news, the shoe store is starting its remodel tonight. The work will be done at night so the store can stay open during the day. I’m glad I’m not full time. I don’t know if I could take that much craziness. Today, we moved everything off the left wall of the store. Purses were done a few days ago, but we still had about a million shoeboxes to move. Ok, maybe not a million, but we had maybe 20-25 styles to move, and since they are going back into the wall in the morning, we had to keep them together by style and in size order, and of course out of the way of the construction crew. So there are shoes stacked everywhere in the store. But it will be great once it’s done, at least, once it’s done and we get a chance to get used to the new configuration. Rumor has it that we will have more space for stock on the floor, and I found out tonight that one of the doors leading to our stockroom will be going away, so this makes more space in the stockroom for - you guessed it - stock. Maybe there is hope after all.

So, that’s it for now. I’m gonna go over VegasRic’s to hang out and do nothing since I’ll be awake for awhile and he just had a couple pots of coffee. Fun never ends in this town, I tell ya.

And I don’t even drink! Don’t get me wrong, I like doing dispatch on the graveyard shift here at the security company. But is it a full moon or something? Maybe it’s just the rain, but things are insane here. I’ve been here since 1:00am, and the swing shift dispatcher was going beserk. It’s been crazy on my shift too, and it’s just starting to quiet down now. Of course, that means all my drivers will be out later than usual, so I’ll be here later than usual processing their paperwork. I just hope I can stay focused and don’t have too many distractions while doing it. It does start getting nuts again around 8:00am, and I’m here until 9. Then of course I have to go home, sleep a couple hours after that, and go to work at the store for 5:30. I know it will be busy there, too. We start a complete remodel of the store on Monday, and before that we have to move a ton of stuff around so the construction crew doesn’t have to work around it. Gosh I hope I get some rest this weekend!

Maybe I just need to go back to bed until Monday.

The CD exchange is going well. I have 15 people signed up so far, and after the weekend once everyone catches up on the boards I’ll do the match-ups. I’ll also use that time to start compiling my own mix, since I have no plans for the weekend. I wanted to post something on there, but apparently the website’s server is down at the moment, and decided to go down the minute I hit “post reply.” Darn it.

I haven’t heard anything yet on the job, but fingers crossed that I do soon. If I don’t hear anything tomorrow I’ll stop by the security office on Saturday to talk to the dispatcher guy to whom I gave my resume and see what’s up. If I don’t hear anything positive from him, then Sunday I get the paper to start cruising the job ads and peppering this town with my resume.

In other news, well, um, there is no other news at this time. Oh well. I’ll report when there is. I just wish things would happen already on the job front. This crap has been going on too long.

Still no word yet on the full time day job I applied for, but I’ll probably hear something tomorrow or Friday, I hope. Tonite I picked up some extra hours at the store, and I’m going into work to do dispatch in just a little bit. I was asked to pick up some more hours tomorrow during the day at the store, but there’s no way I can do that without some time to rest. I just really hope something comes through for me really soon.

In other news, I’m joining yet another mix CD exchange. It’s time for another one, to beat the post-holiday blues. Here’s the song list:

1. A song from the year you were born
2. A song having to do with your favorite color
3. A song that mentions a place name
4. Up in the air and beyond (sun, sky, atmosphere, moon, planets, outer space, etc.)
5. A food or mealtime song
6. A cowboy song
7. It’s about time
8. A song about music
9. A song about the weather
10. Pick a name, any name
11. It’s getting dark
12. Something imaginary
13. A song by a singer/band from a continent you don’t live on
14. A pretty ugly song
15. Don’t just sit there, get moving! (a song about some sort of action/physical activity)
16. Money – either you got it or you don’t
17. Seasonal songs – a song either mentioning a season or having to with certain seasons
18. Hello/Goodbye
19. The animal kingdom
20. Wildcard – put on a song just because you want to include it

If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to comment me. I love hearing other people’s ideas.

Time to head to work now, a fun night of listening to jokers on the radio and consuming mass quantities of caffeine. Joy.

Well now that I am done with my blogging vacation, I think I ought to list some of my hopes, dreams, resolutions and other things that I would like 2007 to bring.

The last week or so of 2006 was very busy. I worked at the security place a lot, worked at the shoe store, and attempted to work at the day job. I like the dispatch job, and I’d like to try and keep that in some way. I also like the shoe store, mainly because of the people. And the day job? Well, I said I’d be there now but I slept until 9. I haven’t gotten a phone call yet. I still have serious reservations about the stability of that job, and it’s really put a damper in my spirit as far as wanting to go in. However, while we’re on the subject of jobs, one of the new dispatchers at work and I were talking the other night. One of the first things he said to me was, “You seem like a reasonably intelligent person. What are you doing working here?” or something to that effect. He’s there part time, just for some extra cash. His full time job is at an excellent company that pays very well, and he’s looking to add people to his team. I gave him my resume and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’ll let you know how that turns out. If it does, I would be able to live off of just one job. One single job! And I’d still make more than I was making with 2 jobs. So keep yer fingers crossed for that one.

Of course I would also like to lose weight this year. Besides being so busy that I’ve had no time to work out (as if I even like working out), I think one of the main culprits is the Paxil. My doctor doesn’t think so, but my research and personal experiences from friends say otherwise. I’m not even going to give you a number, but let’s just say that I’m at my heaviest right now. Since there are physical effects of trying to go off Paxil, I’ve got a taper-down plan that I hope will work. Getting off that and a bit of healthier eating should help me shed the 30lbs I’ve gained in the last year.

There are lots of other things I’d like to get done this year, but they’re more of a to-do thing rather than a resolution thing. I’d like to clean my apartment. Reorganize my bookmarks. Get stuff done. You know, all the things I want to do but never get around to doing.

Most of all, I hope that all the job insecurity that fell upon me during the last quarter of 2006 will stabilize and that 2007 will be the Year of the Paycheck. Then I can visit home without worrying about the financial ramifications of taking a vacations. Perhaps I can even renew my passport and actually use it this year! That’s getting ahead of myself though. For now I just want to go visit my family and get to Florida to visit my sister and niece.

But first, I’m going to eat breakfast and play around online a bit more.