employment!

Dude!

I got a job! And it's almost local!

Sitting there at the coffee shop with my yuppie caramel latte, reading my Peter Jenkins book and dreaming of my upcoming road trip I am going to take down south next weekend, I was startled when my cell phone started vibrating at 8:30 at night. Area code was from either north or west of here... who could it be? I let it take a message. It was the guy from the native plant nursery!

I had all but given up on it, since it had been a few weeks. Guess some fantastic guy popped out of nowhere to interview, then turned down the job and now it gets passed on to me. I'm really excited about the possibilities of this job. My title is "restoration assistant" but it's essentially 50% office duties, taking orders, marketing, etc and 50% nursery management for native seeds and plants and/or environmental consulting work, with lots of opportunity to learn landscape architecture and stuff. So I guess I get to do a little bit of everything. The only part I am a bit nervous about is the fact that I am not actually employed by the company - in fact, nobody is. All the employees are "sub-contractors", and I guess that technically makes me self employed?? No benefits but the pay is way better than being a smoke eater in Montana, with guaranteed hours that the fire job couldn't promise. It's weird though, since I am a contractor I don't get a W-2 at the end of the year, and they don't take taxes out of my wages - I pay them seperately or something?? Not sure, all stuff I'll have to get answered tomorrow. It also technically means there is no job security at all, but I always like living dangerously so that's no problem. HA!

Actually I have two reasons why I am nervous about taking the job. First, is what happens in 4-6 weeks if I get offered the zoo job? It's a tough choice, and I'd feel like an ass if I quit. I think I have a decent chance of getting the zoo job, too. Much better chance for me to make more money with the landscape job and more varied with duties, but then again how often do you get a chance to work in a zoo!? And I have to say I am very used to working for governments. My other problem is that it's located in the boonies, out past Ann Arbor and nowhere near any places I'd really like to live. Being a young, single female I need opportunities to stalk my prey (men) and there's not much of that going on in the farmland out near Manchester. It is very gorgeous out there but right now I'm too social to live by myself in a rural town. I could live in Ann Arbor but I was starting to get excited about moving to Royal Oak or Detroit, or even to Brighton or Walled Lake to be closer to Tara and Jenna. I need workout buddies! I know I'm just being whiny and picky but I'm nervous and that's what happens when I have to make a big decision.

Then again... I can finally move out! And get a dog and a nice bed and get to unpack all the crap in boxes in my room. Use my new deluxe toaster!

Figures that was actually getting somewhere with regards to a job with Outward Bound. I mean, not like I was offered a job or anything but there was positive karma! I think I'd really enjoy being a wilderness instructor, and maybe some day that will happen. Us crazy humans live a long time, so unless I kill myself doing something crazy and dangerous (sometimes i think it's not that unlikely hee hee) then i have plenty of time to do everything!

the whim of the day

I'm really starting to dig this new haircut! I was going to grow my bangs out but I always end up cutting them in the end (voluntarily or not). I'm hopefully going to be modeling for an art project for Heather this week and, even though it supposidly involves powder and cloth (?? Heather help me out here! what the heck are you going to do to me!?) and I get really dirty, at least my hair will look good.

Well, there was snow on the ground until a few hours ago. Will probably come back again tonite, since it's supposed to snow again. I hate this phase, where the ground is no longer frozen and everything turns to mud. At least I can trail run in the snow if I felt so ambitious. Still a few weeks before the mountain biking trails are good to go too. I've resorted to my old workout videos that I haven't touched since high school. Cardio Boot Camp, b*tch!

I've got to make some executive decisions soon. I haven't heard from the Montana fire guy yet, he was out of town but I thought he was supposed to be back by now. I did leave a message... I want to call to see what's going on, but then again I don't want to call because I'll have to decide whether or not I'm going. I'm leaning in the direction of no right now, because it's too sketchy not to have a guaranteed 40 hr work week on a $10/hr job. I mean, one week without work, and I might not be able to pay rent or eat! I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my job-hunting books from Amazon.com so I can figure out what I am doing wrong, and figure out what exactly I want to do. My latest plan has me excited - get a job with Outward Bound. I took the initiative and called them today, and the internships are filled (they only paid $300/month anyway) but they have various support jobs (dog caretaker for the sled dogs, cooks, logistics) and once you get in through that, you can eventually make your way up to instructor. Being a wilderness instructor would be wicked cool! Voyager OB is based out of Minnesota and Montana so that would be fun too. Also looking at jobs as a tour guide. I figure I like to travel, so maybe I should try a new approach to job hunting. A job also opened up at the native plant nursery in Ann Arbor, so I might put in for that too. I do like landscaping still too, and if Tim stops being a jackass then maybe I can find out if he wants me to help him out with projects this summer.

Thinking about beinga waitress. Yikes! Me, a waitress? Hell has not yet frozen over, because I haven't actually applied yet, but it is an option. I like people, and I know a lot of the guys that eat at O'Tooles where I might apply... the only catch is that you must wear a schoolgirl plaid skirt and a tight white shirt. But I've got "assets" that will help me get better tips <wink>. And Hooters is coming in soon also... Although I detest Hooters for claiming they are a family establishment (I would never take my kids there), I know how well those men tip! Chuck told me to try being a bartender somewhere - since I took a class - but ehhh maybe I'll start small and spill food on people first, before I start spilling bourbon and whiskey.

May be going up north this week or weekend, or maybe even see what kind of cheap flights I can get to southern destinations. If I could I'd go to Peru or Belize but I'll settle for Key West or anywhere close that I can just swim in the Ocean...

do it. do it. do it.

See Starsky and Hutch. It's funny.

So much for that warm weather. I was even wearing shorts on Friday! Now it's Sunday and, what's that I see, is that SNOW? Lots of snow. Fine by me, all this mud and grey naked trees and yellow dead grass don't do much for me.  I'm glad I got to play with the Novi boys for a bit on Friday, it's been too long! Great bunch of guys, too bad that if I do end up moving, none of them will ever be able to visit - wives don't usually appreciate their husbands visiting other women across the US.

Man, there are some great movies coming out soon. Like Troy. Ok, I admit, I have this thing for muscular men in gladiator outfits (coughcoughGLADIATORcough). Troy is going to star Orlando Blume and Brad Pitt. And then Von Helsing with Hugh Jackman, it's even got Kate Beckinsale for you men out there.

I was supposed to have a hockey game tonite, but I am just feeling so run down and tired, I can hardly speak correctly. Slurrringmywords. All for now.

late nite delirium

no surprise that i'm up at 4 am writing a stupid little journal entry instead of sleeping. for some reason, it made me smile to see that the goldfish was also up with me and that i am not the only nocturnal animal in the house. if there is one thing i look forward to about moving out - besides getting a dog - is getting my own nice big huge comfortable bed. i may own used couches and dressers and microwaves, but there will be none of that when it comes to a matress. i figure i spend enough time in bed, and have a history of sleeping poorly (tonite), that i am allowed to indulge in the best that my money can buy. one day, i will no longer have to envy jenna and her gourmet pimpin' bed!

yeah so this is what i apparently write about in the middle of the bloody night. someone needs to take this computer away from me; i might hurt myself with my own lameness. heh heh.

at least i was asleep and just woke up, and not like a few months ago when i had 3 weeks of the worst insomnia ever. and i've had it bad before. no matter what i did, i could not sleep any more than 3 hrs, if at all. i was not tired one bit, but it is so boring to be awake all night when the rest of the world is at a stop. it was really driving me nuts. i was apprehensive just thinking about having to try and go to sleep, because inevitably i would wind up with my eyes wide open, blinking at the dark ceiling and nearly to tears in misery. sleeping pills couldn't even help. man, that was miserable.

besides that, i'm happy i have great friends that are there to pull you out of a slump when you need it. i was pretty downtrodden about my perpetual state of unemployment and feeling pretty useless, but kirk and heather made me laugh until i was ready to throw up, and i think that's a good thing?? nothing like loud, politically incorrect ranting and raunchiness to perk me up! then the next night, had a fun time with the two steves, and tonite i got to play with my favorite novi boys. i think i'll take it easy this weekend; i can't really afford to do this anymore! but it was the pick-me-up i needed to help me get back on my feet and find a job.

oh, got a haircut. i feel so trendy and hip! i'm a little upset because she took off a bit more than she said she would ("let's leave your bangs long"...snip snip.... 2 inches gone...) and i like my hair really long, but i admit that it looks pretty hot. ;)

the next jeff corwin

Well, I'm exactly where I started 6 months ago - no hopes for a job anywhere in sight, unless I scrape my way by on $10/hr in Montana.

That's not to say that I don't think my interview went well at the zoo. On the contrary, my friends. It went fine. I went so far as to wear my nice interview pants and dressy professional shirt (not only do they look nice, but they also show off my T & A for the male bosses! If they can do it on the Apprentice, I can too!), filled my pleather interview folder with crisp new resumes on fancy hemp paper, and printed up a copy of the research paper I wrote on Colobus monkies in the zoo. "Lookin', smellin', feelin' like a million bucks-ah!" couldn't have said it better than Luda.

All this effort, to sit for 15 minutes and answer questions that are already on the fancy hemp paper resume I gave them (what are your last 5 jobs and what did you do blah blah blah) and then 3 little questions that had a tad more importance, and then told me how the hiring works: they rank people according to the test we originally took and how we rate on experience (i wonder if "charming" and "nice butt" count in that category?) and this ranking system forms a big fat list. From this list, they fill jobs as they open up. The good news, is that thay have 8 vacancies and plan on filling 4-6. The bad news, is that the soonest we will even be ranked is 4-6 weeks. Keep in mind I applied in Dec, took the test in Jan, and they said the job was going to start in March.

So either I sit and exhaust the rest of my unemployment and then take some crap summer job, or move to Bozeman and see how frugal I really can be. This doesn't even take into consideration that there is still some chance, no matter how slight, that I may get funding for grad school out there at Montana State. At this point I don't even want to do grad school, I just want to move dirt and carry heavy things. Screw anything that needs a degree!

Off to play in Ann Arbor! Maybe they can cheer me up. I also bought some bubble bath - I may be bored and miserable, but at least I'll smell good and have soft skin. ;)