Jesusfreak

I got the idea before I went to bed yesterday to write a letter for him to read at his leisure, and that's what I did. I ended up taking a half shift today, and the manager was NOT happy about that, but I think after he read the letter he was a little more okay with it. I ended up getting called into the office to talk about my letter, and he wasn't mad, but not thrilled either. Oddly enough, he said he thinks I do best in grocery, and that's why he puts me there. I think he's crazy, but whatever. I feel better now that I've expressed my concerns to him. Anyways, turns out that interview is more like two hours away - closer to camp than to my house! I know that with a drive that long, taking a full shift at work and getting three hours of sleep would be a bad idea.

Heh, my friends and I were actually joking about how I should tell him I like grocery. Luckily, there are two managers that alternate every four days. Unfortunately, this is the week I get the one I don't like for all four days. The other one is much nicer and likes putting me in stationary/crafts, which I enjoy doing. I'm tempted to use the "open door" policy to talk to the one I don't like about how I've been feeling, even though he likely won't care, and taking it to the store manager if it doesn't work. But if I get a new job, I'll probably just wait it out until I leave, and then write a lengthy note to the store manager about my thoughts (which include much more than the manager currently getting on my nerves).

We're well on our way to this. I've been posting here since my freshman year in high school, and now I'm....I guess finishing up my freshman year of the real world?

I really hope the interviews go well - today was another bad day at work. One of my managers has taken a liking to putting me in the grocery department, which I hate and am generally bad at. And even though he knows I never do well there, he always makes disapproving faces and comments about how I need to work faster, even though I'm doing the best I can. Today I asked him if I could work on Wednesday (they still have me on part time schedule), and he said he couldn't add people (which, last I checked, is an outright lie because he and other managers have done it in the past), and that he could only take hours away. With that, I gently inquired about taking a half shift tomorrow (because of the interview, though I just told him something came up at the last possible second, which is true), and he said I can leave early if I have to, but it would "count against me," whatever that means. I need to do the math on how long it's going to take to get to my interview and back, and see if I can reasonably work two full shifts in a row with that (I think it's like an hour and a half away, nearly in NY).

The dental plan is separate, and is a stupid plan in general, since you need to be paying into it for a year before it takes effect. The checkups and such I do plan to get done asap, which might be tough, because things keep coming up. On that note, interviews abound! The camp interview went really well, and it was strongly implied that I have a job this summer as long as my references check out. In the parking lot after that interview, I checked my voicemail to clear out the one my dad left me (not enough cell reception at the cabin to do that), and there was another voicemail from a charter school that wants to interview me on Monday! The charter school is interesting, I saw the post on the NJHire website, but you have to pay a fee, which I can't afford, to apply through the website. So I sent them an email expressing my interest, and included my resume. They called me up on Thursday as Shane and I were loading up the car to request some more information, and I guess they liked what they saw! The fact that they went out of their way to contact me instead of just using the people who applied through the website makes me think that they really need a science teacher, so that's a good sign for me. Tuesday is my interview for the subbing position. So three interviews in one week = awesome! Also, I got my new phone, which is adorable. It's a Kin OneM. Only problem so far is that the backup assistant that is supposed to move your contacts into your new phone doesn't work with it, so I have to take a trip to the Verizon store later and get them to do it. Or maybe I'll just ask everyone to text me with their numbers.

Has Haley been used yet? (Or Hale if it's a boy)

Just checked with their customer service, and yes, I'm covered! Now I can get my shoulder checked out, and get myself put on birth control! If I get the job, and it pays well enough, I'll quit Walmart.

Things are starting to look a little better for me. I have an interview this Friday at a camp that's right around the corner from camp (where I used to spend my summers, and will be spending this summer if I get the job). I only applied to it yesterday! I also got my insurance card from Walmart today, but I don't know if I can use it yet, since I'm still part time and haven't been there a year yet (unless someone changed it and didn't tell me).

Gosh, this sounds familiar. (For anyone who didn't know, this sounds almost exactly like how things ended with Phil.) MK, going through a breakup like that isn't easy. As things were ending with me and Phil, it threw me into an awful depression. My best advice is to spend time with other people, and distance yourself as much as possible. It sounds like your guy is very confused right now, torn between his mom and whatever feelings he may have towards you. It might be best to agree to take a break, rather than a breakup, so that he can sort out his feelings, and focus on his work as per his mom's request. From there, you can see whether you want to continue the relationship, or part ways. As for the cutting, try going for a walk or a jog instead, or watching a funny movie. As you may or may not know, cutting releases endorphins, and there are other, much healthier ways to do that. Try some of the other ways.

Oh snap, I've been away longer than I thought. I'm still alive, not much has really gone on, aside from lots of work. A couple of you tracked me down on the great book of faces, so you can always check up on me there, as I do check that every day. I had a job interview, didn't get the job. Did another session of Mad Science, which was fun. That 6th grade kid I was teaching started a new program, so that ended. I'm still stuck at Walmart, which is getting more and more frustrating, as they aren't allowed to put me back up to full time. Quite a few people have quit or been fired, and they aren't allowed to hire new people unless it's a "business critical need." So, they keep trying to do more work with less people. I'm no good at that. I prefer doing quality work, and am simply not good at quantity work. Last night they stuck me in grocery (which I hate), and in an aisle that I'm not familiar with, and my shoulder has been bothering me for over a week now. Then my boss walked by, saw how far along the aisle I was, and told me to hurry up. When I tried to explain that I didn't know the aisle and my shoulder still hurts, he just walked away. Some days it feels like they're trying to get me to quit (which I would gladly do, if I had a better option). I have another job interview for a subbing position on the 26th, so I'm hoping for the best. It looks like the district only pays about $75 a day though, and I don't know if I'd be guaranteed five days a week. It would come out about the same as Walmart, but with much better hours and working conditions. So, we'll see what happens. Still, it's been almost a year since I graduated college. I want my money back. Because of the student loan bills, I'm really stuck between a rock and a hard place. All the jobs that get me more "experience," are part time and/or temporary jobs that won't pay the bills. All the jobs that pay the bills don't get me more experience, or are apparently unattainable. Life outside of work has been pretty good. Shane was able to schedule his days off to be the same as mine, so I get to spend a lot of time with him, which is awesome. He loves me so much, and keeps me sane. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend. The weather has been getting nicer, which has meant good weather for going for walks on my weekends with Shane, and also lower heating bills. This summer, I plan to not have the AC on to save on electricity. So yeah, that's pretty much it.

Heh, it would be great to actually get an interview. I haven't gotten so much as a phone call. I'm pretty sure the dog is already neutered and has his shots, I'm more concerned about him being put down.

Our store on its down is actually doing awesome, but Walmart as a company is getting hit by the recession. I think the cut in hours was to compensate for the holiday pay that was given out for Christmas and probably New Year. I'm not sure when Mad Science starts, but probably February, yes. Some teaching jobs DO sometimes start immediately if they need you badly enough. I've heard of people getting called and asked to start the next day. I have no real prospects right now, but I have applied for a bunch of openings. As for my neighbor, I haven't heard from him. He doesn't have a car, so you can't tell when he's home. I know he's been going through a rough time, apparently he and his girlfriend split, though they're still friends (mom has said they've been sort of on and off for awhile). My guess is he probably had a little too much to drink at a friend's house or something. Either that or he's a really heavy sleeper.

So apparently, Mark (one of my main bosses) never put me back to full time in the system, so I don't have insurance right now like I was supposed to. In addition, my hours (along with everyone else's) have been cut. The good news though, is that Fred (the good boss, Mark's equal) is going to hopefully fix it. Then things get tricky: Mad Science wants me back, which means I'd have to go back to part time and lose my insurance anyways. So I'm hoping I can do one of two things: either stay at full time status and work part time hours, or get all my doctor appointments in as soon as I get insurance, and switch back to part time at the last second. Of course, I also have to check with mad science that they'd be okay with and able to cover me if I get offered a teaching job and have to quit. Last night when I got home for lunch, there was a cop outside my neighbor's house. Apparently his dog had been wandering around the neighborhood and barking at the door, and said neighbor was nowhere to be found. I tried calling his cell phone, but there was no answer. I hope he's alright, and that he can get his dog back (it was freezing, and I helped the cop get it into her patrol car to keep it warm until animal control could take care of it). On a better and less complicated note, I got my trash outside on time today.

I hope this picture better answers the "how much snow" question:

Okay STILL huge. Let's try this again....

Okay that's ginormous. Have a smaller one.

I was! I happened to catch it on my lunch break and got a couple decent pictures (they mostly all look the same, so I'm just gonna put up one). For anyone wondering, the trick was using a tripod, self timer (to prevent blur), and a longish exposure time.

Haha, oh my.

The airports around here were all shut down, and they cancelled hundreds of flights. As for walmart, I'm not dedicated to them so much as I am to my paycheck. It also made for an interesting challenge, I sort of did it just because I could.

Lol Shane lives 45 minutes away by car, so no, I can't really walk there. It's hard to tell just how much we got, since the snow got blown around a lot by the winds. Definitely close to two feet though. We actually did have some customers; all people with trucks that had four wheel drive. There were very few people though. I almost had to walk again last night, but my neighbor and his buddy with a snow blower came over and helped dig me out. What should have been at least 6 hours of shoveling took less than an hour, and it was awesome. My driveway is more clear than the roads are now.

Heh, I actually ended up walking to work, as it's less than a mile away. Less than 10 people showed up. I can't even see my car anymore, save for a small patch and the antenna and mirror. My road is not plowed at all. I have never seen this much snow in my life. It definitely made for an interesting walk though.

The ring thing isn't so much for me to have a ring as it is for me to fend off all the "where's your ring" nonsense, especially with my mom. My logic is that it seems much more legit to move in with someone you are officially planning to marry than someone you're just dating (which is why I hate calling Shane my "boyfriend," because he's so much more than that). When you live with your boyfriend, you get all the "what if you break up?" nonsense. When you live with your fiancee, it makes more sense to people because you're at that stage where you're already combining your lives to get ready to get married anyways, so moving in together helps that. Mad Science runs 6 week after school programs, which is what I was doing. They'll do another one starting around February, and if I don't have a better job, I'll probably do it again. As long as you're well-rested, night travel is probably far safer because there are so few cars on the road. The only thing to watch out for is drunks on weekends and holidays, but if there are few cars, they're easy to spot and avoid. Shane's parents were concerned that I was leaving their house at like 9pm to head to my house, it was kinda funny. I don't really do much cooking since I don't have the time, but it doesn't help that most of the stuff I had is junk. It's all my grandma's ancient stuff, or my stuff from the dollar store lol. So I figured that having good cooking supplies will make it easier, for both me and Shane (who probably cooks in my house more often than I do, he actually likes to cook). When I cook, it's usually something simple in the microwave. But, now that I have stuff to cook with, I can make cupcakes, pancakes, other cakes, pasta, fried burgers, smoothies, toast, and all sorts of things much easier. The handle was starting to fall off of the pot we were using for pasta. I was really surprised to get Christmas off because I normally work on Saturdays, and they said everyone would have to work because they needed people to change the store over to not-Christmas. I put in the request anyways, despite being told that they'd probably all get denied, and was shocked when I saw it was approved. It seems that they approved a few Christmas requests though, which is pretty cool. I think tonight will be a quiet night, what with it being the middle of a blizzard and all. My road isn't even plowed, so I don't know if I'll even get to work on time, if at all.

Hokay, so crazy stuff. @_@ Biggest stress is that my student loans are all coming in, and are bringing my expenses up to more than I make each month, so unless I get a better job, I'll eventually have to find some other way to live, probably moving back to CT, which would be really hard. Things with Shane are going well. We've looked a little more seriously at rings, though he can't afford them right now, as he's paying off the classes he's taking now as he goes, and that takes up most of his income. Mad Science is over, so I'm back up to full time at Walmart, which is kinda sad. Shane is done with his classes for the semester too. I got to go home for Thanksgiving and see some extended family, which was fun times. I got to meet one of my cousins' girlfriend, and she seems cool. Also, the best time to travel during Thanksgiving is definitely 3am. I was able to be home for Christmas! I don't know who approved my time off request, but if I find out I have to give them a cookie or something. So, being home was good. Everyone liked their presents, which was good. I got all sorts of cooking stuff, as requested. My sister requested cash for her trip to New Zealand. My dad got all of her cash in dollar coins, put it in a wooden chest that he made, and hid it in the woods. He took down the GPS coordinates and made a fake geocaching page. My sister's presents under the tree were two small boxes, the first containing small keys, and the second with the URL to the fake page. We all then took a fun walk in the woods over a very frozen swamp as my sister went geoCASHing and found her cold hard cash. She was thoroughly amused. Because of the impending blizzard, I left a little earlier than I planned last night, though I could have left later (I'm still awake and there's not really any snow yet). The forecast calls for like a foot of snow, so we'll see how that goes, as I have work tomorrow night. So, that's pretty much all the bigish news lately.

I'm still alive, things are still crazy. I'm at home for Christmas, things with Shane are good, things with my budget are not good (bills are now more than I make at Walmart since the student loans are coming in).

I'm still alive, things have been a little crazy lately.