And the band played on...

Or rather, 'And the search dragged on'. Because I called today at 10.30 promptly and was told that she had two other people she had to interview, but would get back to me by Tuesday. Basically the whole thing about calling today was just to make sure I was actually interested in the job. Argh... So that was disappointing/frustrating. And I spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing. Well, that's not strictly true, I did a fair bit of fiction-reading. I'm gradually working my way towards Winston Churchill's volumes on WWII, but I'm holding that off until the end of the fiction.

I did find out that if you add enough garlic, paprika and salt to tomato soup, it can in fact be edible by itself as a lunch. Although I'm still not terribly fond of it. The only way I like it is in relatively small quantities with copious amounts of grilled cheese sandwich...

What else? Daily dropped in today for a short visit- her ride stranded her high and dry (there aren't many other options in FR proper) in town, so she was stuck with us until Avrilyn and THE Joe took her over to her brother's house.

And Mom called today. This event precipitated an unscheduled Holy Hour- I definitely needed to chat with Jesus for a bit after that. So that was nice.

Even nicer- coming home to housemates who made steak (with mushrooms and onions!!) and served it with chips and dip too!:D After nothing but tomato soup, it was _really_ good! I wonder if they've started a secret society to see that I don't starve... One bad thing about a common pantry is everyone can see that my supplies consist largely of chicken broth and oat bran...

Now, the dishes await me...

Tomorrow- I'm applying to Subway, going to the bank, and returning some library books.

Nothing gets people to shut up faster than the simple phrase...

"Tell me about yourself."
Seriously, I hear that simple phrase, and every carefully put together thought in my brain heads for the mass exodus at the ears. But it came up today in my interview and I managed to blunder along after a prompt or two.
The end result was a tour of the print shop and being told to call back around 10.30 if I wanted the job! Now, normally I would say that this is the job offer, end of story etc, well done (and now I can go dye my hair). But what confused me greatly was the lady saying that then I would need to schedule a time for an interview with the Big Boss in W___. This confuses me. Have I or have I not got the job if I call tomorrow morning at 10.30 on the nose and say "Yes, I would really like to take this job." Is my job contingent on yet another interview?
Oh- and I forgot to mention- at the truly ungodly hour of 8.30 I got a call from one of the people who works at the gas station- calling to see if I a. Still wanted the job b. was old enough to hold said job (Yes I'm *&(% old enough darn it!) and c. had any experience. He seemed pleased with my answers. I still dunno what to think of that job, but hey, income is income.
I'm not going to count my chickens before they're hatched. I'm going to wait until I've filled out the employment forms for the print shop _before_ I start looking for housing in town. Because at the end of the month, I will need to be somewhere other than here. Things are looking up, but I refuse to get overly optimistic about it, if at all possible...
And now for something completely different:
Ambassador to Hungary
As if further proof were needed- as if my mother could ever forget (and yes, she could) that I attempted to do my 10th grade research paper project on the 1956 Revolution in Hungary, I have further proof of my interest in said country from the tender age of 19. On BOL, Draper started a Foreign Office, with the intent of all its contributors being 'ambassadors' to the respective countries they selected. These ambassadors would write original reports on said countries and post updates and interesting news from them when appropriate. Four years ago (appropriately enough on the feast day of the Protomartyr Steven (26 Dec.) who is the patron saint of the patron saint of Hungary named Steven), I wrote:

Katholish, could I please be ambassador to Hungary?

For those of you who require further demonstration of this proof, please visit:
http://www.boredonline.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=15737&p=434705&sid=2bf7acf885fb73e2c6e8f0cf03d6969e
You might have to be a site member to see it... I dunno. But anyway. I did write that, and it has a date and everything, so this is further proof that my interest in going to Hungary is, at the very least, long-standing.

And in other news, Gaiaonline has started to rot my brain insidiously. Hopefully as soon as I'm gainfully employed I will spend less time on it...

Revelations and Job-hunting

So, further job hunting today. I swear my life at present could sometimes double as a dark-comedy. Anyway. I went to St. J's office and I found out why the lady gave me a funny look when I wanted to advertise on the back of the newsletter- apparently that's a thing they do by _year_, not month, which seems incredibly dumb to me, but I guess it made sense to someone. Having done that, I proceeded to almost get run over as I went to check out a place my housemates suggested. They didn't know what it was but thought it might be worth my time. It wasn't. It was a training center for people with physical handicaps, so they can get jobs... So yeah.
Then I stopped in at a restaurant I applied to- no dice. The person I could talk to if I felt like it wouldn't be in for another half hour. I decided against it and walked home.
On an upside of sorts I got a phone call about an interview for a tutoring center. The woman seemed really thick. I know that's not charitable and I have no right to call anyone thick when I don't even have a job right now, but she didn't seem to be able to get it through her head that I could walk anywhere in downtown FR and I'd be willing to walk a bit further if necessary. She said "But what if it rains?"
I actually said "I won't melt."
... I'm bad, aren't I. ;)
For lunch today, SuprNico made an omlette and it was wonderful. After that, ZMas (who was visiting), SuprNico and I all played a game of Scrabble. We were interrupted repeatedly by cellphones and the house phone going off, and out of all of this, one good thing came. I got a call about an interview tomorrow with the print shop!! When I submitted my application I was told that there were about fifteen to twenty applicants for the job. I'm wondering if they're just being methodical about crossing people off the list, or if it's possible that I'm actually remotely ahead of some of those fifteen to twenty people. For my own selfish sake, I hope it's my good qualifications. Anyway. When I have a job, I can worry about finding a place to live. Funnily enough it was the opposite way around for this month/last month. Does that make any sense? I'm a bit tired..
Anyway. Now to the revelations.
Today I learned that I am housemates with not one, but two former BOLers!! SuprNico (of only three posts, but hey, I'm counting her anyway) and Avrilyn. Well, no need to search for a blogname for Avrilyn! Wow... And her boyfriend is _THE_ Joe! Previously I had thought of him as 'That nice if somewhat weedy guy that Avrilyn hangs out with.' Now he will forever be THE Joe... Wow... I'm still kind of in awe about that.
Oh, and for those who didn't know, I'm apparently Ambassador to Hungary. Hehehe... I will explain that in my post tomorrow. Until then, I will leave you on the edge of your seats or whatever other edged items you happen to have handy, because I am tired and my head hurts. I think I'm dehydrated. Anyway, consider that your incentive to check back on this blog tomorrow! And pray for my interview! It's at 2PM.

Debts, phone calls and random advice...

WTF?? I just read this article here about debt and stress:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080609/ap_on_bi_ge/stressing_over_debt;_ylt=AjPtLrEy741g3jVZt5wsDapv24cA

And I quote:
"Indeed, the survey found that upwardly mobile, middle-class families were among those who had the most debt stress. Others were women, couples with small children, low-income working families, Democrats and those who graduated high school but haven't taken college courses. Those least likely to be stressed from debt include men, retirees, empty nesters, college graduates and Republicans."

HAH! They obviously don't mean _recent_ college graduates. Yeah, you guessed it, still no job. And two rather disappointing notes in what was an overall dud sort of day- one, the tutoring company won't consider recommending me since I'm in FR and their big selling point as a company is 'in home tutoring'. What a load of carp. I mean they say on their website that tutoring can take place in other places, besides people's houses. I thought the local library would be just fine for that. And two- a previous casual employer was chatting with a friend of mine and mentioned her concerns about the speed I worked at, since she paid at an hourly rate.
Multiple things make me unhappy about this.
1. WTF? The work I did for her varied each time. I worked as quickly and as efficiently as I could. I was methodical and made sure I got things done right so they didn't have to be done twice.
2. Several times she would stop by and talk to me as I worked. That certainly wasn't improving my speed any.
3. Said other friend is a little ADHD- constantly active to the point of wearing out people who are watching her. By comparison, any performance of mine would suffer.
4. And most importantly of all- why didn't she address this concern to me at the time when I was working for her? Granted, I was a substitute worker, but she could have said something. I came over often enough that if she really had a concern, she should have talked to me. I'm mad about that. I don't see how I could have possibly worked any harder or faster, but I wish she had enough respect for me to mention her issue to my face.
Argh.
At least it was casual labour, not a job I actually have to put on resumes. I still kind of can't believe it- I usually fault myself for being not friendly enough as a generic job failing. I never thought the speed at which I worked would be the issue...
Argh. Meh. Whatever. She's one person. She's an ex-employer, I can't work for her right now and I shouldn't give a flying flip about what she may think of my speed while working.

In other news... following in the wake of many conversations about penny pinching, I forthwith list my tips.
Tips:
1. Don't spend money. Don't carry money with you anywhere unless you absolutely have to buy something. Freeze your credit/debit card in a bowl of water in the freezer.
2. When shopping for food, check price by volume, not by container. Though it's a bigger container and you might think you save more, sometimes it's cheaper to buy the two smaller ones. Weird, ne?
3. Borrow laundry detergent from other people until they tell you to knock it off.
4. Don't use your trackphone at all if you can help it.
5. Take anything you're offered free.
6. Actually use those coupons you cut out of the paper, but only use the ones for things you actually need.

Things I have Learned From Having NO Income
1. The charity of others is never to be scorned.
2. Potatoes taste really good when you haven't eaten all day.
3. Your housemates probably won't let you starve as long as you're entertaining.
4. Don't take yourself or anyone or anything too seriously.
5. It could be worse, but don't tempt anything by saying that.

Oh, and the phone call mentioned in the title was a very frustrating phone call I had today with my mom.
Don't want to talk about it right now. It could have been worse, but I'd rather not think too long and hard about _how_ it could have been worse.
Wish me luck on the job search tomorrow- we'll see how it goes...
The best part of today was my Holy Hour. I read a good bit of a Fulton Sheen book. He is teh awesome.

Shakespeare Sunday

So today I got up late-ish. Why is it that living so close to your church has the effect of making you lazier about when you get up? I guess it's because I think I have more time than I actually do... Still, I haven't been late yet- I tend to get there on time thanks to the departures of my housemates cueing me in to what time it actually is.

Mass was wonderful as usual, though I admit a few times I got slightly sidetracked... I can't even remember on what now, which just goes to show that it wasn't very important... Argh.

Then I quickly walked back home to borrow WoodSmith's car to pinch-hit at KMelt's babysitting job.

I discovered something important today- I have difficulty dealing with autistic children. Granted I have had zero training, so maybe I shouldn't be too hard on myself, but there were times when I was seriously ready to count the minutes before the parents got home. Dealing with a two year old mind in a six year old body is not easy. There were moments where she'd look at me, focus on me, and look for a moment like she was thinking on her age level- or at least seriously processing something. And those little clear moments were so nice- but so far apart. Watching her take her toys out of their bin and announce what each one was, then at the end put them all back in was also educational. Sometimes she got them wrong, but in a few cases there were genuine grounds for her confusion. She had a baby doll that she kept calling 'bear' and she took it out and put it back several times before I realised she was saying 'bear' because the baby doll was wearing a dress with a bear on it. Likewise she kept calling her stuffed Elmo 'Tubby'. Elmo is the same size and colour as her red Tellytubby doll. It was educational. I also found out that screaming temper-tantrums can hurt. I have four or five bright red scratch marks on my arms from her nails. I just thank God she didn't get a chance to pull my earrings- I wore dangly ones today, like a complete idiot...

Anyway... Her parents are cultivating heroic virtue, if you ask me. I can't imagine dealing with that sort of thing every day. I felt like such a wimp- I have a BA and am 22 years old and I don't know what to do with this small child, other than watch her carefully and make sure she doesn't hurt herself...

Thankfully that was just pinch-hitting. Hopefully I'll nail down a job that does not involve child-care, and soon.

So I got back for Shakespearean Sunday somewhere in Act 2 of King Lear. That was fun. I got to be the Fool again!:D The Fool has some awesome lines! And my strawberry pie was voted a success. I also got a bunch of bicentennial quarters today at the gas station. Any other new news? Well, despite all the effort/thought that went into making the strawberry pie yesterday, I forgot that I did it and bought a dozen doughnuts for the party refreshments. Clever, ne?

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print for tonight.

Rejection Letter and A Review!

So the bad news first:

I got a rejection letter today. I really think that was a bit excessive, but the Womens' Shelter felt the need to let me know that a. the position had been filled and b. my application would be kept on file in the event of another job opening. Hmph. Oh well. Nice try, I guess. I don't know. I want to know why I wasn't hired- lack of experience? Bad interview? What did I do wrong? There was no constructive criticism in that letter, just a 'not it' sort of note. Oh well. I guess it's not that big of a deal.

Yardsale today was stupendously uneventful. I helped drag a sofa and a printer out of their respective hideyholes in the closest thing this house has to a back-end of nowhere. Argh. Thankfully I didn't get printer toner all over my clothes, but we did nearly drop it twice- why was it so freakin' heavy? Oh- and the sofa was really annoying. It wasn't that heavy but it was a really awkward sofa shape and hard to actually get a grip on and keep from dropping it- so I looked like a real wuss trying to carry it for about five feet and dropping it frequently. Hated that...

So I laid out all of my stuff (winter clothes, beanie babies, VHS tapes, random uniform items) and we waited. And waited. In the heat. I gave up after a while and went inside and Guadalupe and WoodSmith guarded the sale. No one was beating down our doors to buy our stuff. KMelt thinks we overpriced things. I think they just didn't want to be bothered. We had the right stuff for our age group, but our potential customers (all... three? of them) were middle-aged women looking for... I don't know what. Apparently furniture.

Because lo and behold, I called a good one. I said "We'll have to pay someone to get rid of that awful sofa." The sofa and the carpet were the only things that sold today, for a net profit of $40, not a penny of which goes to me.

The goodness on the money front is that I have a babysitting job tomorrow, and provided no one's dead at the end of it, I get $20. Well, $15 after I comp WoodSmith for gas for her car. But anyway.

Tomorrow, I will think about featuring a list of "Things I have Learned While Having Zero Income".

Tonight, I will give my much anticipated (hah!) review of Kontroll

Plot/Theme:7.5

Characters/Acting:8

Cinematography/Music:8

Overall: 8

SuprNico and I stayed up 'til nearly one AM talking about this film. It moves at a leisurely pace for the most part, with some intense, very fast parts. Allegorically I found it very satisfying, though I realise that's because of my own interpretation and I'm definitely not ruling out other interpretations. The setting is interesting. This is definitely a movie that makes you think and think again. It's hard to avoid spoilers in a review for this film. It's dark too, but at the end you don't feel unsatisfied. The use of both appropriate music and silence are very good- I really noticed it in a way that complimented the movie. The main characters aren't white-hatted heroes, but you can sympathise with them and they do hold your attention. This film does a great job of drawing the viewer in, making you curious, and even taking you to the point where a lame joke has its intended effect of lowering the tension- not just on screen, but amongst the viewers. A thoroughly fascinating, multifaceted film. If I could change only one thing about it, it would be the swearing.

Sorry, this wasn't a very long review, but I'm tired and I don't want to put in spoilers for those of my audience who haven't seen it...

Applications and Dinner. And drinks.

Today I walked to the dry-cleaners' and applied for a job there. They didn't speak very good English. I'm not terribly hopeful about that job. We'll see though. I also walked to the library, where I found I'm not allowed to post an advert unless it's a not-for-profit organisation. That stinks. Grr. Darned not-for-profits... why do they need to advertise at all? Where the heck else am I supposed to advertise tutoring besides St. J's and Martins? Really... I applied to a tutoring service too, speaking of tutoring. And for a job as assistant manager of a Pizza Hut. Again, I don't think I'll have much luck, but I am still trying.

And when I got back from doing all this walking around in insanely hot/sticky weather, I and my housemates (SuprNico and Guadalupe) were wondering what to do for dinner. We've had potato pancakes for the past two days and while they're good, there's only so much potato one can take before everything starts to look/taste like potato.

Then KMelt called and invited us out for quesadillas and margaritas and we didn't put up much resistance, despite the fact that it is/was Friday. We got cheese quesadillas and margaritas. KMelt bought mine, which was exceedingly nice of her- she said I'm a very cheap date! :) My margarita was pretty good- it was peach and you could hardly taste the tequila, but I felt it a while later when we were watching a movie at KMelt's house- the Prairie Home Companion. I'm afraid I can't exactly recommend it. There were some really funny parts/jokes, but overall it was... like watching paint dry? Like watching a Flannery O'Connor short story done as a movie and waiting for something more interesting to happen- for there to be a main point, or even some decent allegory. There wasn't. But I made snarky/witty comments in my head through almost the whole thing. Definitely the tequila talking. Or snarking. Or whatever...

Anyway. Movie review eventually. Really. I promise.

Tomorrow (insanely bright and early) there is to be a yard sale, and I have stuff to sell. We'll see how that goes. I don't anticipate having much luck, but we'll see...

Goodnight, dear readers, goodnight...