high heels

Yeah, I have this... fetish I guess?... for high heels. I don't mean just any high heels either. Man, I'm such a girl. For years, I always scoffed at women with a million pairs of shoes. I always had 2-3: running shoes, hiking boots, and something casual (Dr. Martens). For special occassions I had a few pairs of heels I shared with my sisters, but they were conservative. For some reason though, I have this newfound love for high heels.

Maybe cuz they show off my legs? Maybe because I'm taller?

Or maybe it's just cuz I think they're HOT. So I bought a new pair today, it's the 3rd picture on here, it has black upper and wooden sole. Believe it or not, that picture of the 6 inch heel is the most comfortable pair I have ever wore. No kidding. Wore them for hours to a party; needless to say, everybody wanted to try them on.

I love ankle straps, which I why I bought the other pair I have a picture of on here, but it's not very comfortable. Woops. Maybe I'll sell them to someone with a fetish on ebay.

There's two more pairs I am really digging right now, both at Victoria's Secret. One is another pair of black heels that you tie around your ankle, and the other pair is a casual khaki colored wedge with an ankle tie also. Can't decide between the two, but I know I will end up buying one. Maybe both, now that I have a job. I don't blow my money on many things, but my willpower is  no match for hot shoes.

makes me feel a little better...

Well, according to this, Michigan is the 3rd hardest state to get a job right now.

Phew, that makes me feel a lot better (sarcasm).

Not much else new, had a fun evening of skunked beer and intense conversation last night, then was happily greeted by a big red salt truck on my way home. Had to stop and chat of course - which probably looks pretty odd, my little green focus parked behind a plow truck, just sitting there with our lights on but not actually moving. Marc is such an ass but he's still fun anyway. Sortof.

I might be heading out to Chicago this weekend. It's a lot of driving for just one night, but it's worth it - I haven't seen Brynn or Casey in a long time!

Well gotta go feed my shoe fetish - I need a decent pair of buisnessy type heels since all my shoes are slutty stilettos or strappy vixen sandals. Hee hee. Too bad Victoria's Secret has some hot new ones that lace up the ankle. Meow, baby!

living off of "potential"

well, i said yes to the job after drilling him on the details.

at first, there won't be benefits, sick days or vacation days. so i tried to negotiate and see if he would pay a higher hourly wage to make up for it. he refused and said he wanted to start me at $12 and see how it works out, a "probationary" period. i can take sick days and vacation days but they will be unpaid for now.

however i was very persistent about benefits and how i need to be able to make enough money to support myself. he was understanding and is "very open to  negotiations as things get underway". he said that the company will not provide benefits, but in maybe 6 months or so we can negotiate a higher salary to cover the costs of benefits, or maybe get some paid vacation and sick. I guess it all depends on how well I negotiate. ;)

I wasn't going to accept the job, because the thought of having a "career" that lasts forever but doesn't have benefits makes me nervous. however, he told me straight up that as the company grows (he just got a bunch of new jobs from
wayne county and the city of detroit that will last years) he wants me to be his right-hand (wo)man, and he anticipates in 3 years, we will be so busy that we'll
have to hire a secretary to take over part of my job, while I get more into the consulting end of things. He kept saying that the "potential is unbelieveable" and
that he promises I'll make lots more money as I am taken under his wing.

Well, maybe I'm gullible but that's good enough for me. I'll give it a try. If I get offered the zoo job, I'll tell him I need a pay raise or benefits, or I am
walking. ;)

In the meantime, I need to figure out what is "business casual" for that conference in Grand Rapids. Fortunately, my everyday work outfit is jeans and anything I can get dirty while playing in the greenhouse. :)

another twist to the job game

Mood: Confused

So I's calls this guy up, see, and I says to him "Hey man, who you think you're jimmyjackin'?! This independent contractor shizzat don't go down wit me, yo. It's my way or the high way, bizzatch!"

Not exactly, but close enough. I called and left a message saying that this whole contractor thing won't work for me and I regretfully decline the job. He calls back and talks to my mom and tells him that that's fine, he wants to hire me on as a real employee! A real life employee! With sick days and vacation and everything! Well not quite everything, I doubt benefits will be included but I have to call him back to figure it all out. Phew! So I guess I still can celebrate. Too bad I still want the zoo job, and a bunch of great jobs just opened up - a few wildlife positions with the State, another landscape job that's more labor than phones (a good thing in my eyes), and a few fed jobs. I still want the zoo job though. Look at me pout. What a baby. "I wanna feed the big kitties!"

independent contractor??!!

Well, so much for my newfound "employment".

He wants me to be an independent contractor working for him. All fine and dandy, I thought, until I spoke to a few friends of mine who were contractors. The truth is revealed about what it really means to be an indy contractor...

He wants to set my hours, teach me how to do things his way, and train me. I am supposed to work for him indefinitely, and go out to his office to work. For all IRS/government purposes, that makes me an employee. But by making me a subcontractor, he gets to avoid lots of paperwork and save money, and screws me out of many things. Supposedly subcont'rs get paid more because of the fact that they have no sick leave, no paid vacation, no benefits, nothing... but I don't think I'd be getting paid enough.

All around, it just sounds like a shady deal to me. To be subcontracted, it is generally expected that I am really good at something and have my own tools, methods and knowledge so I can seek out work from others on a project basis. Ummm... no, there's lots of training involved for me, and I am essentially his secretary. I mean, the other employees are self imployed for good reason - they are landscape architects and engineers. And the fact that he bad-mouthed another applicant to me for 15 minutes is unprofessional - and that's pretty bad coming from me!

Now I'm sitting here trying to think of a graceful way to decline the job, so that he will have another story to tell the next applicant about how much I suck.