What am I Anyway?

It's almost that time. That's right, I got my little package in the mail a few days ago reminding me that it's almost time to vote once again. I decided to mail in my card and vote "absentee" this time around. I usually go to the polling place directly, but being that I have no idea right now where I'll be work-wise, I figure voting by mail is the easiest route.

I'm actually debating over whether or not to change political parties. I'm registered as a Democrat, but I have been seriously discusted with our government. To be completely honest, when I registered as a Democrat, I didn't really put much thought into it. I was 18 at the time, and I just registered with the same party as my parents. I didn't know a thing about politics, and frankly I didn't care. At 18 being able to vote was just the "cool" thing to do. Hey, I'm an "adult" now, I can vote. Whoopie!!

Just for the fun of it, I took a quiz to see what party I "should" support. The quiz labeled me as a Republican. I personally feel like I don't entirely relate to either the Democrats nor the Republicans. I sometimes feel like I'd best be called an anarchist. I don't really care for government control, though I do understand its need.

I sometimes think about what I would do if I was the president. What would I do differently? Obama's campaign focused on what he would "change". What I would focus on is how I could effectively listen. What do the people want? Isn't this country a democracy (by and for the people)? I wouldn't try to change anything unless the country wanted something changed. Why fix what isn't broken?

Everything's Coming Up Roses!

I thought I'd take a few more pictures of my roses before the summer heat comes along and they vanish. The rain we got this winter really helped out all the plants. Warmer weather is upon us now. It's been gorgeous lately, but I remember the last two years having 90-100* days in May. Summer officially isn't that far off either.

Learning to Lie

It is now May, and as disheartening as it is I am still out of work. I've been asked to really scrutenize my resume and ask what can be done to make it stand out more. I've been asked to ask myself what is it that makes others' resumes catch the attention of recruiters. I think I've found the answer.... I'm not a good liar.

Let's be honest for a moment (ha ha! See, here I go again with the honesty thing). 95% of what goes on a resume is pure bull in my opinion. Potential employees are expected to display what they've accomplished and how it can benefit the new company. Does anyone know an ordinary Joe who really "exceeded the company's expectations and helped bring in 100 new clients"? How about the person who "delivered extraordinary customer service by magically solving the problems of 50 irrate customers in one setting which resulted in an increase of customers the following year"? Yeah right! The highlight of most peoples' days are photocopying the weekly meeting notes and answering never-ending questions in emails. I hate when asked what I accomplished. An honest answer is that I was there on time regularly, rarely missing a day's work, I did my job, got along with my co-workers, didn't draw attention to myself or raise issues, and went home about my business. I never kissed butt to be something amazing. I'd like to be recognized for being hard-working and dependable, not being the suck-up.

Perhaps I was raised to be more modest than necessary. I really frown upon thinking so highly of oneself. In the corporate world, I suppose that's what is wanted though. It's such a fine line between confidence and conceit.

Just Call Me Oscar

In case you didn't notice on my Facebook, I'm very sick and grouchy today. I'm eating applesauce while I'm typing this, because it's the only thing I can swallow right now. I've had the sore throat from hell now for 2 days. I don't think it's strep, because I've only had a low-grade fever, but it's definitely miserable. On top of that, I had to go to the dentist for a filling this morning. I hate going to the dentist on its own, but while feeling sick, it's twice as annoying. Of course my dentist had no intention of being gentle, so now along with the sore throat, the lower left side of my jaw is aching too.

And, yes, I'm feeling highly depressed about my work situation (or lack there of). I still haven't gotten a check from unemployment, I've applied to 23 jobs with no response from anyone, and I'm feeling discouraged and beaten. All I want to do is earn enough to pay my bills. Is that so bad? The current unemployment rate for Contra Costa County is 12%. So where are the other 88% of people working? And, why don't they want me? I've revised my resume, sent out personalized cover letters and even included copies of my college transcripts. I'm not quite sure what people want. Maybe I should do like the girl in Legally Blonde and print my resume on pink scented paper. My next idea is to write out my resume on sticky notes and mail them all off in a big envelope with a cover letter explaining how detail oriented I am and how I make sure to note everything. LOL! I'm kidding! I'm kidding!

Hooray for Spring!

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring (or the Vernal Equinox to be technical). The weather certainly couldn't be any more beautiful. As I'm typing this, it's 7:02pm and the current temp is 75 degrees. I love weather like this. I took a walk at lunchtime today, and it was just perfect. If only I could have smelled the blossoms on the trees. My nose is still pretty stuffed up from my cold, and I have a lingering cough. Thankfully the sore throat is gone though.

I was hoping that Phil and I would be able to get to the Amex Travel office tomorrow to exchange money for our trip, but we'll probably have to wait at least another week for Phil to heal some. Wednesday night Phil had a sore throat and headache, so I thought for sure I'd given him my cold. Yesterday after stealing my ibuprofen, he felt better, so he blamed everything on allergies. Just when I thought he was doing ok, Phil called me last night to say that he sprained his ankle at work. I really think he should get an x-ray just in case it really is a break, but he is stubborn like me and won't do it. If it truly is a sprain, he may be hopping around for a week or two. **I just hope it's better before our trip. It will be hell to try to walk around through airports and city streets in pain. Maybe I should order one of those "Hover-round" things. Ha ha!

At least if we don't get out and about tomorrow, I can sleep in. I've been having a hard time adjusting to the time change. I don't know why. Normally it doesn't bother me, but lately I've been going to bed around 10pm, waking up around 12:30-1am, and then not being able to fall back asleep until nearly 4. Then I have to get up at 5. This isn't working! Last night (or really this morning) I ended up getting up and watching "The People's Court" at 3am, because I could't sleep. How sad is that? Oh, and then I watched an infomercial for the Shark Steam Cleaner. There's some great tv viewing at these hours! LOL!

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

It is now officially March. The saying is that March is supposed to come in like a lion. I can't say that was the case. Another storm is headed our way, but today certainly wasn't bad. It got cloudy, but that's about it. Maybe this is just a tease before the really bad weather comes. We have had a lot of rain this winter, but no one storm that was particularly horrible. I remember one year when Phil flew out from Houston to San Francisco in February, and the rain and wind was nearly like a hurricane. There were fallen trees everywhere, highways washed out and homes under water. It's been a little soggy this year, but nothing nearly that bad. I think the lion took up residence in the East this year. The East Coast has had record-breaking snow. I can't imagine dealing with the digging and scraping every day. I'm happy to brave the elements with my trusty umbrella.




Detailed Local Forecast: Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low around 50F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Tomorrow: Rain. Thunder possible. High 58F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Rainfall near a half an inch.
Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of light rain later at night. Low 47F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Wednesday: Rain likely. Thunder possible. High near 55F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Thursday: Cloudy with rain. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the low 40s.
Friday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the mid 40s.

Where has the Time Gone?

I can't believe February is almost over. I know it's a short month, but it really seems to have flown by. I realize I haven't posted anything at all on here this month. I'm long overdue.

Not a whole lot has been going on. As you probably know from Facebook, we had new windows put in our house on Thursday. We had the original single-pane glass from when the house was built, so a replacement was definitely needed. Next steps are to get the exterior of the house painted and to (hopefully someday) get central heating and air put it. Right now winter is ok with our space heaters, but summer can be unbearable if it gets over 100. The new windows should help some, but I'm sure that they won't be able to block all the heat that we'll get. Last year we didn't really have that bad of a summer, but I do remember that we got about a week in July or August that hit around 112-115. It was horrible!

I've found that the bad thing about having a house is that everytime we do an improvement, there's always something else that we want. While looking for windows at Lowe's, we came across decorative exterior shutters. They serve no purpose whatsoever, but they looked nice. I've been looking at them online and I've already decided what style I like best. **No, I haven't ordered any. As much as a sickness that it is, I've been able to resist giving in so far. I do really like them though. :) **(No, I'm not considering the green shade of the ones in the picture below)

In other news, I took the CA notary exam on Thursday. The passing score is 70% or above. I hope I passed. If not, that means that I have to sit through another 6 hour class and pay another $20.00 for a retake. I'm desperately praying that that won't be the case. I was surprised at how many people were taking the test. There were 67 of us! I won't know the results of the test for 3 weeks, but I should be able to find out online.

Phil should be starting work at its new location the first week of March. His company (here in Concord) consolidated with the branch in San Jose. They're both moving in together into a new warehouse in Dublin --Dublin, California that is. :)

The commute won't be bad, since Dublin is only about a 20 minute drive from here, but the thing that sucks will be his hours. He'll be working from 2pm to 10pm on average. Some busy days, he might be working until midnight or after. I work from 7am to 4pm. I'll be asleep when he gets home and will already be at work when he leaves. I'll only get to see him during the weekends. I'm going to feel like the dog and the coyote in that cartoon where they're punching in and out on the time clocks. "Good morning Ralph." "Good night Sam."