Job Applications

    I’m not sure if any of you recently had to find a job lately. I find that it is a real pain in the ass lately. I remember when I was younger all you had to do was go to the company you wanted to apply at and request an application. You sat there and filled it out or you took it home filled it out and brought it back. If you were lucky you were able to see a supervisor or someone from Human Resources at the time you handed it in. Otherwise, they gave you that canned line “They will review your application. If they are interested, they will give you a call.” I was ok with that. I would always follow up in a few days to check the status of my application.


    Now it is more “convenient” to fill out an application online for most if not all companies. Sure, this is convenient for some. You can sit around in your jammies and fill out a ton of applications rather than traipsing around town to many places wasting your gas.

    I myself find online applications to be a big time waster. To fill out a paper application probably takes about 20 minutes depending on how many pages there are. I have been trying to find a second job for about a month now. Out of all the places I have applied online, the fastest one I finished took me about 45 minutes. Finding a job is a part-time job and I don’t seem to have time to do this with a full-time job.

    My favorite parts of the online applications are the “survey questionnaires.” Are they kidding me? They ask at least 50 questions about yourself and what you would do or not do in certain situations. Your answers are supposed to determine what kind of person you are, your personality. Most of these questions are repeats of the previous question three pages back, just worded differently. And it seems as though some of those questions are double negative questions. For example: “I almost never always get the job done neatly.” Really? Then they ask this about 15 questions later: “I always finish my work in a neat and timely manner.” I get a headache by the time I reach question 25.

    I myself would rather meet the prospective employee in person to determine if they have the qualities I am looking for in an employee instead of some stupid ass questionnaire. Anyone can lie on that. Do they, the companies, actually believe that people are answering them honestly? Do they think that by asking the same question but wording it differently will throw off a liar? Sounds like a game to me. With so many people out or work and needing jobs, that is a very rotten game to be playing.

Bill Collector

   Ahh, we all love to pick up the phone when these people call. I myself look at the caller ID and decide whether I am in the mood or not. You see, I have them calling all the time. It seems that divorce has left me with some unpaid bills, and unforeseen medical procedures for my son have left me with a hefty bill.

   I really can’t afford to pay them anything at this time. Putting food on my table for my family is my priority right now. I am sure they don’t understand that. If I have a bit to spare, I will talk to them and make arrangements.

   I have decided that when I am all caught up with things and am able to pay them more, I am going to call them. I am going to call them at lunch time, since they call me at dinner time. I am going to call them every three hours to tell them I am going to make a payment. I will call them many times a day to tell them this. Heck, they call ME many times a day to see when I am going to pay; I figure I would give them the same respect they give me. I have also decided that I am going to tell them up front that this call may be recorded or monitored for training purposes. If they ask who I am training, I will say my dog. End of story.

Happy Birthday Dylan!!!

 

   My baby turned 7 October 14th. It is hard to believe that he is already seven. It only seems like yesterday that he was born. I bet every mom says that. There are some days I wish he would stay this age and there are other times I wish he would just grow up already. I love the fact that he needs me so much and pretty soon he will not need me as much anymore and that makes me sad. Sure, he will always need me in some way shape or form, but it is a different kind of need. When they get older, it is more of a “want” than a need. I have two teenagers and it seems that the only time they talk to me is when they need a ride somewhere or they need money. Dylan will join them soon in that aspect.


   Right now he needs me to wash his clothes, help him with his homework, sound out words when he is reading and the occasional butt wipe. He is still dependent on me but at the same time learning his independence. He is my little man.
  
   Saturday, October 23rd I will be throwing a birthday party for him. He has given each student in his class an invitation. So far there are many kids coming. When I go down the list, I notice that there are a lot of girls coming. I teased him about this and then he reminded me that there are 13 girls in his class and only 7 boys.

   He is very excited about his party, and I am excited that he is still young enough to want a party. According to Dylan, I may just be the BEST mom in the whole wide world and universe! Lucky me!!

Dollinger’s Pumpkin Patch

   Last weekend my daughter, son, and I went to Dollinger’s pumpkin patch. Not only was this free to get in, parking was free as well. It was also very conveniently located minutes from my house. I was quite impressed upon arrival. I have never been there before, and did not know it was so large!

   We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day as far as the weather was concerned. The sun was shining and there was just enough of a breeze to waft away the smells of the horse droppings.

   We started with a walk around the place just to see what was around. There were a lot of tents with real life characters from the Civil War and the costumes were stunning. There was a reenactment of the Civil War, but we did not see it as it cost extra money. I am thankful that the breeze that was in the air did not take away the smells of the wood burning fires. I absolutely love that smell!

   We strolled past the food area. Mmmm, it sure smelled good! I kicked myself in the ass for not bringing enough cash with me. I managed to scrape enough cash to get a Lemonade Shake Up which I never did get a sip of. I really wanted a funnel cake, but I let Lauren have her cheese fries and Dylan have his nachos. I am considering buying a funnel cake maker.

   We continued on trying to decide what to do first. We stopped along the way to pet a few horses and I took many pictures. We decided the first thing to do was to take a ride on the steam train. The cost of this was reasonable, only $3.00 per person. If you are like me, cost is a factor these days. The train was definitely not for adults. Instead of sitting in one of the regular cars that are open on top, I decided I wanted to ride in the caboose. Bad move. I had a hard time entering and an even harder time exiting. Being as short and small as I am, sitting in the caboose sure made me feel bigger!

   Next on our agenda was the hayride. This was reasonable in cost too, only $4.00 per person. It was a bit uncomfortable on the behind, but that is expected. During our ride, we were entertained by two employees telling ghost stories and silly jokes. Lauren was the official photographer for the day.

   I would recommend this place for anyone with or without kids as it was a nice time. I will definitely return.

A cruise to remember

    I have been invited to take a beautiful cruise to the Greek Islands. I will be traveling early spring of next year. I will be going with four wonderful women in my life. I feel honored and very lucky to be taking this once in a lifetime trip.
    
    I have been doing my research and am trying to learn the language. There are so many differences and they are challenging to learn. If anyone out there has any pointers, hints, suggestions, or any information that would be helpful to me, please feel free to post.

    The picture above is one of the Islands I will be visiting. Santorini. Just beautiful!

What is a date?

 
   Everyone has their own ideas on what a date is. Men’s ideas are very different that women’s ideas. I don’t think there are any special “rules” when it comes to dating, but I am going to list a few “rules” that I, as a woman dating, have. Sometimes if these “rules” are not followed, they can make or break a second date. Listen up men, because I may not be alone on this.



• Always pick the woman up at her house. (Unless it is a blind Internet date)

• Always go to the door to greet her. Don’t beep and make her walk to the car. And most of all, DON’T text her from your car and tell her you are there.

• Open the car door. Yeah, we still like that.

• Open ALL doors throughout the night. Yeah, we like that too.

• Pay for the dinner.

• She orders first.

• Don’t pull my chair out. I am not sure if I trust you at this point yet. You may not push it back in when I am ready to sit down.

• Dress nice. No matter where you are going, shave, wear cologne, and comb your damn hair. We take the time to make ourselves look good for you, you can do the same.

• No white socks with black shoes. And, no black socks with white shoes either. Your socks should match your shoes. And please, oh please, NO socks with sandals.

• Please have clean hands and finger nails. Yes, you may be a mechanic, but you can scrub that shit out from under your nails before you see me. Anyway, your nails should be properly trimmed so that should not be an issue.

• At the end of the night, walk me to the door to make sure I get in safely. Even if the date did not go well, that is the polite thing to do.

• And lastly, just because you did all the above, DOES NOT MEAN I WILL HAVE SEX WITH YOU.



Those are my “rules.” I don’t ask for much. Respect and cleanliness. Oh, and flowers the day after a date is always nice.

Shhhh......Be Quiet

In a busy loud world, we all need some peace and quiet. It gives us time to gather our thoughts and to just reflect on the day’s activities. I myself love the quiet times. I take advantage of them when I can. I have three kids and quiet time is rare. In the morning when I drive to work I enjoy that quiet time because I know once I get to work there is no such thing as quiet time there. No, I don’t work in a busy or loud atmosphere. I work in an office and sit in a cubicle all day. The noise in fact comes from a co worker who just does not understand how to turn the volume down on her voice.


She has been told numerous times to tone it down. In fact, she has had her desk moved several times since I have been here because everyone complains how loud she is. She has no regards to anyone else here but herself. What makes this person so unique is her ability to complain about other people talking too loud and disturbing her. Really? Is she kidding?

What is even more annoying is her ability to talk about everyone else as if they are idiots. No one is as smart as her, according to her. Of course, when she is talking about someone else, all you hear is whispering. It’s actually kind of funny though because she really thinks she is normal. Poor, poor girl. I wonder how it feels to go to work everyday knowing only two or maybe three people actually like you. But then again, she probably has no clue.