Nothing to see here...

Not much going on in my life right now.

I'm still living off taxpayer money... (no job in sight)

My father did get me a spiffy new smartphone though! (my first one)

I'm trying to get a new RPG started. (Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, it's fun!)

The latest season of 'The Walking Dead' ended. (But 'Game of Thrones' new season started.) :)

Anyway, I'll try to keep a more regular cycle of updates... (yeah, right)

It's all over but the... port removal.

Good news. On October the 2nd I had a second to last visit with my Doctor and I am now officially cleared of the big C!

As the title suggests I still have to go to the hospital to have the port they installed in my chest to administer the chemo removed. But that is an outpatient procedure and I don't anticipate any difficulties. Then there is one final follow up visit to see the oncologist and then I'm free!

Technically the cancer might return in the next year or two and that would be particularly bad but it's not incredibly likely. It's better than the small chance that the cancer could have caused organ failure before they could get things under control enough to actually attack it with the chemo in the first place. A fact that my Doctor didn't inform me of until our latest visit. (Under the theory that it would worry me unnecessarily. It would.)

Unfortunatly that's it for the good news part of this entry...

I'm still unemployed and it's hard finding someone who will hire a 46 year old with no real documented skills. Did you know that Avis car rental requires a fricking Bachelors degree to work their customer service desk?

Bad News

It's been a little rough over the last two weeks.

I'm still undergoing chemotherapy every three weeks for the cancer.

I learned that my position at work is being eliminated.

I was involved in a major road accident last Wednesday.

Now the silver lining. My treatments are going well and I expect them to be completed by early September. I am getting a small severance from work and will be eligible for unemployment while I search for a new job. I was not injured in the accident (a six car dust up on the highway - not my fault!) even though several people were taken away in ambulances.

My father is also taking this opportunity to get a new family car (primary user: me!) which is nice. He's getting a Ford Fusion. It's red but I still like it.

Poor Widdle Me...

I had to work all day Sunday again! It really sucks, our 'short' hours are from 10:00am to 8:00pm. I have to work a ten and a half hour shift, while my friends get to go out to the movies. (They saw the 'Planet of the Apes' movie.)

A more reasonable Sunday hours would be from 11:00am to 6:00pm, or even noon to six! That gives everyone plenty of time to get their 'emergency' shopping done (usually just returning junk they know they shouldn't have bought in the first place, but that's another rant altogether.) and I get to go out while the sun is still shining, maybe I'll even have time to have a little social life... one can dream.

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Now playing: Julie London - Blues in the Night
via FoxyTunes

Buyers Remorse

Buyers Remorse is that feeling that you may have made a mistake by purchasing that last useless widget that you simply 'had' to get when you were at the mall...

I hate this. PLEASE! if you bought an item and you realize that you may not truly need that thing or whatever, own your mistake. Deal with it, learn from it, and move on with your life. DO NOT RETURN IT! As a sales associate I can attest to the cold feeling in the pit of your stomach when you see a customer approaching your store with your logo on their bag.

"I'd like to return this item."
"What seems to be wrong with it?"
"I just don't like it..."
[AAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!] (this is me screaming inside my skull)
"... but, it's a radio. it tunes in radio stations, surely you knew this when you bought it..." [begins weeping inside]

I don't mean to say never return an item to a store. If the item does not work properly or isn't what you intended to buy; make that return! or better yet exchange it for what you do need. But I hate when someones reason for driving out to my store and bringing back a perfectly good device is that they didn't think their actions through or just can't be bothered to learn how the damn thing works.

And why does everyone think Sunday is a good day to return stuff?

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Now playing: Robert Johnson - Milkcow's Calf Blues [Alternate Take]
via FoxyTunes

Pain!

For a week now I have been in terrible pain. I have had back problems before, but this is truly a horror. What usually happens is that I sleep in an awkward position or spend too long playing video games/watching TV with my legs dangling over the edge of the bed, and my back gets compressed wrong or some such and all the muscles get tight and I get shooting pains down my right leg. Then after a couple of days of care and sleeping with my legs elevated everything is back to normal.

This time seems different. I have been going through Ben Gay and Ibuprofen like they're free, and it's more than a week now and I can just barely sit in a chair long enough to write this entry. Although I feel much better and the shooting pain is gone from my thigh, I still cannot sit very long without some pretty extreme pain when I try to stand.

At least I can function at work pretty well, I just have to be careful not to twist the wrong way or bend too far.

Your back is one to the worst things to loose the use of, right after your legs themselves and right before your teeth.

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Now playing: Ren & Stimpy - Log Song
via FoxyTunes

Ed

Ed is a friend whom I work with at, and met through, RadioShack.

I take pictures of many of my co-workers. Ed believes himself to be particularly unphotogenic. But he likes this picture...














I think this is a good picture as well...














And just to alleviate the homo-erotic vibe...



















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Now playing: Eurythmics - I Need a Man
via FoxyTunes


(whatever)

Firehouse

Today, Ryan, our AT&T representative, took Weston, my new manager, out to lunch.

They went to 'Firehouse Subs'.

They brought my co-worker, Kevin, a sandwich.
(he sells a lot of phones)

They brought me a plastic hat.
(I sell many fewer phones...)



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Now playing: Buckcherry - Crushed
via FoxyTunes

Oy!

There was an accident on Thursday night about 7:30pm or so...

No injuries, thank whoever, but there was some pretty serious damage to two of the four cars involved. And some less severe, but still somewhat serious damage to the third vehicle (mine). The fourth got away with a little dent and some paint exchange...

I was working at the time and the accident happened in the parking lot. The story, as it was related to me, was that a fifteen year old girl was trying to listen to the radio in a parked van and reaching to change the channel (or some such) inadvertently put the vehicle in gear and lurched forward in panic as she attempted to apply the brakes but instead hit the gas.

All I get out of it is that someone who should have known better was horsing around in a car and caused several thousand dollars worth of damage to three different cars.

The van ran into my co-worker Kevin's car and that car then slammed into mine, and mine was shoved into yet another. (see pics) The van and Kevin's vehicles were taken from the scene via wrecker. My car's wheel well was bent so that it scrapes the tire with only the slightest provocation, and the wheel itself is out of alignment. (I drove it home anyway, staying below 30mph and cringing every time I hit a dip in the road and heard the scraping of the car body against the tire.)

The girl responsible for the accident was an emotional wreck, Kevin was slightly less so (he has an excitable personality) I and the driver of the fourth car were basically calm throughout.

In the morning we speak to the insurance people!

Here are the pics(click for bigness):

Kevin's car will probably cost more to repair than replace.

You can see by the parking spaces how much the cars were moved around.

Doesn't look too bad until someone sits in the car and you get about a fingers width of clearance and realize the wheel wobbles now...

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Now playing: Holly Golightly - Walk a Mile
via FoxyTunes

Blueophobia

I work at RadioShack, which you may say is bad enough... but wait! There's More!!

Beginning today blue is off the approved colors list. Previously employees of 'The Shack' could wear black, white, blue, or red shirts to work. Now for no reason whatsoever blue has been replaced on the list with (get this) the exciting and dynamic color: gray.

Why would anyone do this? Is gray a color that says; 'buy cellphones' did someone do a big marketing survey and find that blue was too threatening?

I just don't get it, I like blue, I have a lot of blue shirts. I have no gray shirts. (I bought some black shirts for this job) should I go and buy gray shirts? Or will they just change the rules on me again?

In 'protest' I wore only blue shirts for the past week and today I wore all black in mourning... just like Johnny Cash! I'm such a rebel.

I hate this job.

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Now playing: Johnny Cash - Hurt
via FoxyTunes

New Post

Sorry, it's been two months since my last post.

I have no real reason for this, time just been getting away from me.
On the assumption that anyone is still reading this (if, indeed, anyone ever really was), I will try to bring you up to date.

I have a new job! I am a Radioshack Sales Associate. It sucks, but no more than any other retail job. And I get to watch TV when it gets slow. I just hate having to push the damn cellphones so much.

My friends and I haven't been doing any Role-playing games lately, you gotta budget time for those and we just can't seem to get together regularly. We have been substituting online sessions of HALO 3 late at night. (it's not the same.)

Sadly there is nothing else of note just now; I go to work, play video games, spend too much money on semi-frivolous things, eat, sleep... and wait for death.

(that sounds more morbid that I meant it to.)

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Now playing: Akira Ifukube - Godzilla's Rampage [From Godzilla 1954]
via FoxyTunes

Gone

Sad news people. This past Monday the stress just got to be too much for me. I resigned my position as a 911 operator. I just couldn't handle the stress of all my decisions being potentially life or death...

I really don't have a lot more to say about that, just a lesson: when stress is affecting your health it's time to get out.

Communications Officer I

I must first appologize for the extreme tardiness of this entry. As regular readers will remember I was applying for the position of Communications Officer I here in Virginia Beach. (re: Please sir. I want a job...) Well I finally got the job!! (yay me.) It has been quite a grueling training regimen, and it's only about half over... Then I get to go for supervized On-The-Job training. If I continue to do well, I will eventually be released as a 911 call taker.

I will be the voice on the other end of the line when citizens of our fair city are having the worst day of their lives, and cry out for succor. Hopefully I will be able to get them the help they need so that it isn't the last day of someones life...

As a result of all this training (which is stressful in itself) and the more normally stressful parts of my life I have sadly neglected my duties as a member of the blogosphere, again I submit my humblest appologies... ;)

It all finally shakes out

I forgot how much effort goes into living a real life.

During my six+ months of unemployment I got used to sitting on my duff all day (and all night) screwing around on the internet or watching TV. It is convenient to surf for job oportunities but reinforces a lazy attitude about scheduling...

Now that I am once again employed, I find myself with too few hours in the day. And this is only a part time job, imagine if I were trying to live around a real career!

The good news is that I am now beginning to get back into the swing of things, and manage my time better. No more pointless internet surfing (or at least not as much) ; )

Of course I am still supposedly looking for that 'career' job, but just now I feel there is enough on my plate. I never was one for thinking about the future.


Maybe I should think about that?

Work Sucks

Irony, people! Can you dig it?

What really sucks is that my employer runs on a two week payment cycle, and I was hired at the beginning of the cycle. This means I have been working for two weeks already and we have just come to the end of the pay cycle... and administrative delays result in the actual payday being on the 5th!

That's right - two more weeks (about) before I get my first paycheck!!

Nothing like working for a month without pay...

JoyJob!

I have finally achieved the glory that is Gainful Employment!

I have been out of work for about six months, but that is all over now. My place of employment is actually the very same Library I was working in as a Student Worker. I technically took over the job of my old supervisor, even though the position is now part time...

Well it was part time when she started too, so maybe I'll be able to turn it back to full time.



And meanwhile ANYTHING is better than unemployment.

Out of time

I owe my first payment on my student loans near the end of this month. I am, however, still unemployed!

This sucks, as you may imagine. I also have credit card bills which are accruing interest as I sit here applying for one position after another...

In the realm of good news; I am going to have another interview this week. This one is at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. I would be working in their campus library. It sounds like a very similar job to the one I had whilst a student, therefore I am particularly confident. It only pays a little more than what I was recieving then, but it is a full time position, so that's good.

Here's hopping!

Please sir. I want a job...

I am currently in the application pipeline for a Communications Officer I position here in Virginia Beach. I have already passed the preliminary testing (can you hear, can you type?) and today I went before the interview panel. The panel was three senior Communications Officers and they asked me a series of questions about my attitude and qualifications for the job. I believe it went well, but I wont find out officially until the begining of April! If I am hired I will begin employment in mid May!! (life at the speed of government...) There will be 10-12 weeks of official training then a year of probationary on-the-job training, but pay and benifits begin right away.

The board went well. My zen-like calm exuded a level of confidence which was almost entirely fictional. I didn't come up against any questions for which I had no answer, but I did think of a killer answer to one of them on the way home... Hopefully my reaching/weak answer wasn't a deal breaker. I tend to ramble and move off on tangents in conversation but I think I shut myself up early enough durring most of the questions. The board was scheduled for a maximum of one hour and I took about a half-hour. (is that good?)

I honestly do look forward to getting this job, and not just because it is the only job I have applied for which has deigned to grant me an interview. I don't think I could be a cop, firefighter or EMT but I do like the idea of helping people.

Going on the Dole

As my English friends say...
AKA welfare, or more accurately Unemployment Insurance.
I have decided to apply for money from the government. This is not going to be very much, if I even qualify. It should be enough to keep me in bath soap and hair cuts and keep me from needing to sponge off my friends quite so much. I got the paperwork today and should easily have it sent back in my Monday.

On another topic I recently saw the movie "The New World". I did not expect to like it, but I did. The direction is very odd; the film consists of a series of establishing shots and transitional shots interupted by a sparce sampling of 'scenes' - some of which contained actual dialog! All that being as it is the film is enjoyable to watch, not least because of the sheer beauty of the vistas presented. The story is also well served by the languid pacing and the heavy use of narration by the characters. It gave me the feeling of being truely privy to the 'inner lives' of these people.
Once again it is an unusual but unexpectedly enjoyable film.




(I seem to be turning this blog into a movie review site...)