Very Late - May Reads

Book Club: Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood 

This is a collection of 9 short stories. I have mixed feelings about short story collections. I tend to get attached and then get really disappointed when they're over. The first three were a tied in that they were told from 3 different character perspectives reminiscing about the past. My pick to win - I would have read an entire book about it - was the short about a man who gave away shares of a book that he hadn't written yet in order to make rent and of course it becomes a cult classic. A very good revenge plot. A good recommendation for: indecisive people and maybe someone who doesn't have time to read a longer book. 

Bone Gap - Laura Ruby 

It was a magical realism story about a girl who goes missing from a small town where everyone knows everyone. Ehhhh...   I didn't like the over powering themes of beauty vs. ugly and made all men out to be sexual predators. It was supposedly empowering and feminist according to reviews I read. But mostly it was damsel in distress and a man comes to save the day. The man this time fitting a more beta-male archetype. A good recommendation for: Angsty teens who secretly like disney. 

The Residue Years - Mitchell S. Jackson 

A drug addict mother gets out of rehab and has to follow state protocols in order to free herself of the system - meanwhile her drug dealing son is trying to sell enough to set his family sailing in a comfortable way. Both of them struggle to look out for one another. I love that this looked at a broken system without pointing fingers and shouting "this is a broken system!" Jackson has a really strong voice and it was an enthralling read. The themes of addiction, family, consequence and cycle are tightly woven. A story gritty to the touch, a poverty - if you've been around American poverty, that rings true. This does contain drugs, sex, graphic situations. A good recommendation for: My old english teacher, Mrs. Hamblin. 

Yoink! April Reads...

My friend from high school, Madison, is an inspiration. More well-read than any person I've ever encountered. So stealing from her...

April Reads

Devil in the White City - Erik Larsen
Dipping my toe into the non-fiction waters. I was pleasantly surprised. Alternating chapters describing the competition, struggle and artistic collaboration that went into the Chicago World Fair in the late 1890's and the gruesome story of serial killer H.H. Holmes. Has some dragging bits, but power through, it's worth it... all the best momentum of the H.H. Holmes story is saved for the end. A good recommendation: for history buffs and people who like Dexter. 

A Fall of Marigolds - Susan Meissner 
Light fiction. I'm a sucker for anything NYC... but this one tried too hard to be emotional. Swing and a miss. It ties tales of a woman who lost someone in 9/11 and a woman at the turn of the century who lost someone in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. A good recommendation for: Mom and hopeless romantics. 

The Contortionist's Handbook - Craig Clevenger
I read this because of the great book review by Chuck Palahniuk. Again - a swing and a miss. A lot of repetitive description again. I appreciate the amount of research that went into researching how to steal identities in the 1980's... buuuut... I never thought I'd say this, but that's enough drugs, sex and drugs and pathological lying to last me a lifetime. A good recommendation for: a short read if you're feeling like reinventing yourself. 

The Chronology of Water - Lidia Yuknavitch
This was last month's book club book. Local Oregon writer delving into memoir. Great story in bits, great prose in bits, great contrasts and themes and then terrible name dropping. I think I liked her childhood self, but I'm not so sure if I met her in person if I would like her. Overall thoughts: maybe I'll try her fiction but I think I may have had enough of Grown up Lidia. A good recommendation for: lit students who pride themselves on being edgy and people who have a strong tolerance for sexual deviancy. 

Weekend Update

So it's been a while...

This Week...

• The work weight loss challenge went down in flames because my coworker thinks that it's "inaccurate." 
• I wanted to quit my job 3 out of the 5 days this week. 
• Portland passed law raising minimum wage to $15 an hour (Start date - ???) 
• Laura got me up to Seattle for a girl's weekend. 

Inaccurate?! Laughable. Upon prodding, she gave more details about her interpretation... that it's inaccurate to weigh in on different days and at different times during the day. I suppose that would be true if we were all weighing in on different days like... Girl 1 on Monday, Girl 2 on Tuesday and Girl 3 on Wednesday. But the fact that we are all weighing in on the same scale in front of each other means that we are all experiencing the same advantages and disadvantages. Let's also talk for just a moment about how on the road to losing 20lbs weighing in on a Thursday at noon instead of Thursday at 9am or even Wednesday at 9am... it doesn't make much difference. And if you didn't get to pee beforehand, the weigh in will be amazing next week. I mean, seriously these things even themselves out.

So, Inaccurate? Pssshhhh... yeah, right. I think this has more to do with her being dead last by more than a 5lb margin than inaccuracies. But to each their own, good accountability buddies are hard to find. The other woman in the office and I are going to keep weighing in on Wednesdays to try and beat down the holiday pounds.

I think I'm getting better at my job... but I also think I'm still so untrained and I still haven't fully gotten the rhythm of what I'm doing... and on top of that, I thought I was doing the daily deposit correctly for the past month and I was wrong. I've been checking balances with the wrong account ledger (but funnily enough, the imbalance was not my fault, a correction I asked for was miscorrected)... though still, I was not doing the check correctly so therefore I am to blame for everything. So I endured the wrath of office manager and office manager in training.

Wrath = silent treatment and red angry faces. Then the whole jargon-spouting correction. Then me looking back blank faced because really I don't know what was just said.... Repetition of the jargon. Then my request for a demonstration along with jargon so I can interpret. I seriously feel like I'm trying to understand a foreign language. I haven't felt this dumb for such a long time (form and analysis anyone?) So I'm thinking this may not be the career path for me. Of course I'm going to see it out and make sure it's not just me backing out of a challenge.

All that in contrast made it extra delightful to spend time with Laura and get out of the city for a bit. The train ride was wonderful. So much beauty out here with the undergrowth and the moss growing on naked trees... the whole countryside was still so very green. She and I went to dinner at Market Street and did the girl chat thing until 3am... the next day we brunched, went to the Snoqualmie waterfall and the Snoqualmie Casino (first time I've ever played the slots, and most definitely the last) and had dinner in downtown Kirkland. We watched The Fault In Our Stars - the movie adaptation of my favorite author's most recent publication. All in all a fun, action packed weekend.

Back to the grind though... Let's do another week... let's see if I can't turn this around... As that ever-damp camp counselor from BYU Young Ambassadors said... "One more time, without the suck!"

XO,
N

Insurance and a Weight Loss Challenge.

This Week's Read:

Brain on Fire - Susannah Cahalan Biography/memoir
New York Post writer has lost a month of her life. Literally. She can't remember a thing. Susannah contracted a quickly advancing disease that made her temporarily lose her mind. In this book she documents the research she's done to piece together her missing month of memory - schizophrenic episodes, seizures, inconclusive test after test trying to find the cause of her erratic behavior.

------------------------------------------------

WORK -

It's been a decent enough week. I'm getting the hang of my job a bit more. Enough that I've been spending a significant amount of time correcting my mistakes made this far. It has been a touch stressful - and I'm fighting some severe apathy. This is normal for me. Challenge - excitement - failure - apathy - quietly observing and learning without letting people see me fail or struggle to put it all together. That's my approach.

It is time for open enrollment at work for insurance benefits. I am feeling like a kid at christmas! Medical, Dental, Vision! OH MY! And much cheaper than the private market. The company is trying to push everyone towards HSAs so they don't have such a large expense. The number that HR was throwing around in the meeting was that Corporate is paying $6 million per year to insure 965 employees and their dependents. It gets worse before it gets better, right?

------------------------------------------------

HOUSEHOLD -

Mister is getting the bed put together. We are in the assembly phase. I am struck by two major things... 1) IT IS HEAVY.  2) IT IS STILL NOT DONE.

Making your own furniture - unless it is going to get dedicated 24/7 attention - will take forever and occupy half your garage and sometimes part of your kitchen (because it's less humid in there which is better for the wood).

-----------------------------------------------

PERSONAL -

The girls at work and I have started a bet. Whomever can lose 20lbs before 12/31 gets a visa gift card paid for by the losers. The gift card is either $30 or $1 for every pound the losers are away from their -20 goal - whichever is more. We weighed in on Wednesday last week. I've been back to tracking calories on MyFitnessPal.com. I haven't jumped on the work out train again yet. But food is 75% of the battle.

I spent the weekend cooking again because it was really nice to not have to grocery shop and cook last week. We picked up some odds and ends and I made a couple more soups (really great for the fitness challenge) and some meatballs again. I feel confident in saying I've got 3 more recipes under my belt.

-----------------------------------------------

UPCOMING -

Mister's parents are coming for the Thanksgiving weekend. They're staying in a hotel downtown. I'm nervous of course, because I feel the need to impress and entertain. I kinda wish we could have put them up in the house but alas, no couches, no extra beds, no kitchen table/chairs... it's kind of limited entertaining... but the food is always good!

Training, Novels, A Friendly Visit and A Marathon

I've been training at work. Prior to my official arrival as warranty administrator, I got about 6-8 hours of training with the previous admin. AKA: Not enough. This seems to make sense. Rarely have I stepped into a position with a gracious amount of training. 

So the past two weeks has been a lot of "I'm sorry, I'm new, can you explain..." Which is good and all, people have been mostly receptive. And I'm making fewer stupid mistakes (though there is the occasional flare up). 

This is the most complicated work I have done in... well... ever. Turns out nothing is simple in the automotive industry. From paperwork, to car sales, to financing, to parts, to service department, to warranties. It is convoluted and everything is an exception. In fact, there are more exceptions to the rule than actual instances that follow the rule when it comes to the warranty billing. 

My boss, well, the big boss man of the store, turns out to be a very avid reader. He's the son of the son of the guy who started the business... so it would seem that access to the family fortune would be through participation in the family business. But prior to being the general manager, he focused a lot of time on writing for film and stage. That being said, I feel it is going to be an important component in relating to him. Everyone sort of walks on eggshells and treats him differently. I guess he can be a pretty terrifying commander when he is in a bad mood. I haven't seen that yet. 

We (the office staff - 4 women) and Boss Man went to lunch earlier this week. "He'll get mad if we don't talk enough. But if we bring something up, we better know a lot about it or he gets mad that we can't converse on his level." That was the warning I'd been given. "The problem is he's a GENIUS. You can't just talk about a movie you enjoyed, you need to know who directed it, who starred in it, what the symbolism was and how they used the cameras." 

Bring it on. 

We sit down to lunch and the ladies settle into their quietude... buried in menus trying to make decisions. Boss Man is criticizing the slow service. Which, in his defense, was ridiculously slow. I start the "so what are you thinking about ordering" question around the table, trying to prevent any fireworks. Boss man was going to order the same thing as me. I would look like the sheep. I can't have that. He's the boss man. No one asked me, so I had time to change my order before the waitress came. 

"Ladies first and Ashley, you have to order in Spanish," Boss Man jokes. 

Knowing full well that no one would step up to the plate, I place my order. "54. Pechuga de Pollo." We slowly make it around the table as the ladies order. Ashley did not order in Spanish...  Boss man... "Pechuga de Pollo." 

I mutter "copy gato" playfully under my breath. The woman who laughs at everything guffaws, in turn making the girl who laughs at nothing snort on accident and Boss Man is wondering why he's surrounded by nervously laughing women and none of us can tell him what is funny... at this point "copy gato" wouldn't be clever so I just keep my mouth shut. 

In true form, the table goes quiet. Just like they warned me. I step behind the conversational blockage and try to give it a little shove. "So, How's training for the race coming along? What time are going to beat?" Boss Man takes the bait and things start rolling slowly. Much to my pleasant surprise, conversation is easy and light through all of lunch. All it took was asking questions - who are you bringing to the christmas party? - what have you be reading/watching lately? - when you're not at work, what have you be doing to enjoy yourself? - normal peanut gallery questions. Everyone participated. Boss Man even enjoyed himself and contrary to what I was led to believe, asked questions back. He was very interested in what everyone had to say. 

I can say that between my coworkers, he's probably the most well-adjusted and socially aware. He's a challenge. He's smart, young, in touch with life beyond minivans and car sales, and has a high standard for what he expects from those who surround him. I suspect he is going to be one of my better bosses. I'm excited about that. 

All that being said, every time he's popped into the office this week, he asks me what I've been reading. Without fail, it's usually something different or I can give a new plot point that's occurring. We sparred over favorite authors and I urged him to read more female authors. It got him thinking, now when he pops into the office he gives me one female author and a book he enjoyed by them. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Novels Read This Week: 

Random Family - A non-fic that follows the lives of two young women involved in a huge heroine ring that got busted in the 1980s. It sees them through prison, the birth of babies from different fathers and basically documents the complicated problem of urban poverty and it's relationship to violence, drug culture and family life.

FanGirl - Fiction. Twin girls go off to college. One extroverted and determined to become an individual, the other who tries to not speak to anyone, including her roommate - while she goes through classes and writes her fan fiction. The story is told from the hermit twin's perspective as she is forced into a lonely world without her twin (different dorms/social circles/classes) and is forced to grow beyond her comfort zone. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friendly Visit... 

My good friends Laura and Purujit came last weekend for a fun little dinner party at my place. Laura and I go way back. We met through a friend (Abby) in Pocatello when Abby's car broke down on the way to Lava Hot Springs on one of those -4 degree days in Idaho. We passed around a sleeping bag and waited for the tow truck and friends with cars to help us out. That was about 5 years ago. 

She moved to NYC - I moved to NYC. 

She moved to Seattle - I moved to Portland. 

We are destined to follow each other around the united states. It was great to reunite for our first time on the west coast. She reminded me of all the good times in NYC... the visit made me pretty home sick for the east. I interpret it as mourning... now that I've gotten past that, I'm ready to make the west coast home again. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I roasted my first chicken today. We're about halfway through the cooking marathon. 

We have been cooking like mad people this weekend. It is winter and I want comfort food. I also want to never have to cook or make last minute decisions or else I will fall into a vat of cheese and stay there all winter. 

On the Menu... 

• Split Pea Soup - Pea, carrot, celery & bacon. 
• Chicken Noodle Soup - Rice, roasted chicken, carrot, celery, zucchini and carrot greens. 
• Chicken Gravy
• Pizza Dough 
• Meatballs 

We tripled the soups, doubled the pizza dough and doubled the meatballs. It should last about 2-3 weeks. Mostly, I'm happy about not having to go grocery shopping for at least a week or two.  We only spent about $27 on ingredients. I'm interested in seeing how far it takes us... If it's satisfying... we can do this all month and really cut back on spending. 

XO, 

N 

The Written Word...

Welcome to the last day of  my working marathon. In 1.5 hours, I will have my first day off in 58 days. My big plans?

• SLEEP IN.
• Stay in my pajamas as long as possible.
• Take a really long meandering walk to the library and pick up the two books I have on hold
• Random Family; Love, Drugs, Trouble and Growing Up In The Bronx. - Leblanc
• Fangirl - Rowell
• Read at least one of those books in its' entirety.

NEW JOB -

Yesterday was my first day in the new position. I couldn't be more excited. It seems like I can step in a really make a difference. Plus the staff in the office upstairs is SO FRIENDLY.

It seems like we'll all make a good team. A-type personalities that take a lot of pride in their work at each different desk. We each are in charge of different aspects of the Everyone is quiet and helpful. It's sort of like previous positions in that I have to figure everything out. There is no comprehensive manual for the position - though I received a good bit of direction from the woman who left. But I get to play Nancy Drew and piece the warranty billing process together. Another fun puzzle! However, this time, I'm stepping into a functioning system, not into a giant mess.

My favorite part of the new job is that now I have a place to use all my colored pens. The same claim goes through about 3 processes. Assign each process a color and run!

BIRTHDAY -

We went out to Joe's Crab Shack for my birthday. It was lovely. Quiet. Jia took me out the night or two before and we went book shopping. Carin and I went out to the lounge down the street - best fries ever. It was a pretty good birth-week.

Still processing the fact I'm 28. Getting super close to 30... So I should probably stay at the Chevy dealership for a while and get myself on a "career track" or something, that's the responsible thing to do right? I haven't made my year 28 to-do list yet... but it is the VIP on the thought train right now.

My parents were extremely kind and sent a check for present getting. I totally loaded up on warm clothes. Sweater, Sweatpants, Hoodie... just stuff for staying warm around the house. I'm still living thrifty and we aren't using the central heating until absolutely needed.

Mister was sweet as can be and indulged my nail polish obsession - slime green, pumpkin orange and a nice satin blue. The makeup junkie in me can chill out and ride the high for now.

HEALTH/WELLNESS-

No sickness in our household. Mister is down 15lbs - the lucky duck. I have lost a total of 4 this month. Pathetic. The phentermine stuff is not very effective with the weight loss, but it's been incredible for my focus.

I'm trying to build up my trust in myself again and make some very easy goals that I can commit to and knock out of the ball park. Slowly, I'll get back to my old tricks. Portland, unlike NYC, gives me the perfect environment for getting back into the swing of things. I am ready to get and stay stable. Good job. Great location/house. Plenty of time for healthy recreation. Life is on track for awesomocity.

XO,
N

Photo Update!!!

 

This is my new friend, Jia, from Rentrak... She trained me as she was leaving. Now we're both coworkers of non-Rentrak life. co-lifers?

My roommate and I at Joe's Crab Shack - Happy birthday dinner!

This book I've been reading/following. It's filled with suggestions for helping you find your "Line" (like in writing; your "voice").

My fancy library card. Outside my fancy library. First borrow happens tomorrow. Cross your fingers... no fines this time around. NO FINES!

The backs of heads at the worlds most boring seminar about warranty billing.

The walking path by Rentrak (TV Place)... SUNSHINE - 3 weeks ago.

The view from the train window on Thursday... "winter" is here.

This exists... just outside of the massively boring seminar.

Celebration!

In my determination to have more fun this week...

• I got my Portland Library Card!!! 
• Ate some of mister's DELICIOUS meatballs. 
• We went out for pizza and pinball. 
• I made my weight loss post-it wall again. Gonna get back on this wagon if it slays me. 
• I made an enormous list of Portland-y things to do. 
• I re-organized my life and made a new planner with a space for everything. 
• Daily To-do list
• Work shifts/work tasks
• Bills to pay and paydays
• Something fun. I am required to acknowledge one fun thing I've done per day. 

I am going to reassign my stubbornness to making sure that I am enjoying life. Working enough to live. Playing enough to please myself. Walking fast enough to burn some fat.

I have been working two jobs a day for the past week while I'm finishing up at TV Work and starting my Chevy Work training and have still managed to have a good time and be somewhat healthy (drool... meatballs). It makes for 12 hour days but for a brief moment in time, I will be ahead of the bills game. It's the perfect start to the new job.

AND... Get ready...

Best news!!!

I will have a day off on Sunday, November 2nd 2014. It will be the first day off I've had in 51 days.

That being said...

 WAHOO!
Nanette

*drumroll please*

The Chevy dealership has hired me full time to be their warranty processor. I am not allowed to disclose my wage for a while (AKA: until the current lady leaves). But it's a step in the right direction.

I will only be working 5 days a week. Normal business hours 8-5 or 9-6 Mon - Fri. Finally... FINALLY...  I can now say that this stress is a universal relocation stress, not a specific to Portland, or specific to NY experience. I was looking at my budget books from when I first got to Brooklyn. Everywhere it's written "Do not panic. You are going to be just fine." Words to live by.

Now, it's still going to be tight wallet times. But the quality of life has skyrocketed.

- No crazy dentist issues + no more entitled manhattanites.
- Weekends off.
- Insurance (health and dental) for significantly less than the health exchange was offering.
- Ability to recalculate my student loan payments.
- Less time commuting (saving about $100 per month on gas).

Which means things are looking up for sure. I may actually have time to experience Portland and stop posting whiny no-money blogs... but actually upload some fun photos of places I've been going.

Speaking of fun places, I made it to Powell's City of Books. AMAZING. The selection is unlike anything else. It's even better than The Strand which boasts over 2 miles of books or something... or books to the moon and back. Yeah? Well, Powell's has an entire city block of books. They have multiple stories. And apparently it's a huge hotspot for book tours, author readings, book signings and stuff. THANK YOU. PLEASE TAKE ALL MY MONEY.

Mister and I have been greatly enjoying some of the food carts located about 2 blocks from our house, specifically Operation Wings and Unicorn Burger. This city also has a crazy obsession with Viatnamese cuisine. Everywhere you look it's Pho, Pho, Pho. Which is great, but how competitive can the noodle soup business be around here?

Also another interesting point to note... Portland comes in second only to Vegas for highest amount of strip clubs per capita. I swear, probably 25% of the female population earns money taking their clothes off here. And they've got something for everyone, live lingerie modeling, Vegan stripping (only serves vegan food and they only take off vegan clothing)... they even have plus-size strip clubs up in here. Keep Portland Weird indeed. I'm going to have to start keeping a list of all the terrible and hilarious stripclub names.

I will get out, find interesting things and report next week. Two more weeks of 7 days a week and then I will be a normal human!

XO,
N

Phentermine

Alright, Day 2 of Phentermine.

Yesterday was amazing. I had a great project at work that kept me running around. i was speeding through all of it. On top of it, it made me the freaking Hulk, I was carrying 20-40lbs of files back and forth from the service department and the front desk, then processing and going back for more (6 times).

Things I noticed...
- Sweating. Head sweating. Mostly because I was running around. Partially because my body temp was up.
- I felt electric. Like buzzing. I'm sure they call this "jitters" on the side-effect list. Normally I relate side-effect with negative symptoms, but this one was great.
- Increased focus on the task at hand.
- Decreased clock watching.
- Decreased food cravings.
- After eating, I was uncomfortable. Not nauseated, but it just made me feel so uncomfortable... like I'd eaten rocks. I could feel the food just sit there.
- Elevated mood. I felt great, bring it on! I can take on the world.

Today...
It is very similar. I am more prone to taking on activities at work because I feel better, more energized. Today I moved like... 8 drawers of files to make room for the rest of the year. I've thought about doing it for the past 2 weeks but today I actually did it. I figured, I may as well. It's slow and I was pumped to make a visible difference.

I got hungry for a second around noon, but I wasn't going to eat lunch that early. So I got into the next project and completely forgot about food. I wound up having a V8 around 3:40pm. My energy is tapering off. But I can still feel the medication in effect. This is how I normally feel at the beginning of a day.

Will thinks that my reaction to this medication, which is definitely a stimulant, may point to ADD, ADHD type of disorders. I can't believe the difference in alertness and focus. But isn't that what everyone would experience? I dunno. I've considered it before, as I'm a very distracted person and have a tendency to even interrupt my own thoughts. But that could also very much be normal. I have a hard time choosing to focus on stuff. Once I'm focused, I'm fine. But getting me to start the task is the difficult part.

More soon,
N

Job VS. Job

It was definitely a better week. I'm concentrating on the two jobs I have.

I applied to a handful of jobs at the beginning of the week. No calls back except for the sleazy payday loan place. Thanks, but no thanks.

Here's the update though...

TV company - Potential to move from Temp to Perm... in January. Pay increase: $12 to $15.

Chevy - Potential opening in the upstairs office. Moving from weekends to full-time. Pay increase: $10 - ??? (Anything less than $15.94 means, I would be taking a monthly loss).

Dentist - Offered my input on a potential new contract on Wednesday. No contact from her yet. I assume it means she's not interested. Which I am gloriously OK with.

So I'm approaching a decision in the next 2 weeks or so. Full-time at Chevy and quit the TV stats or keep my 5 days at TV stats and 2 days at Chevy while they hire someone else?

I've been comparing and contrasting...

TV Job Pros
- EXCELLENT health benefits fully paid.
- Excessive paid vacations (like Christmas - New Years).
- Happy team, calm environment.
- Clear expectations.
- Nice gounds for walking - though only allowed to leave the desk for 15 min walks 2x a day.
- Annual performance reviews and raises.
- Random perks like free drycleaning, yoga tuesdays, setting your own schedule.

TV Job Cons
- Must wait until January to get hired.
- BORING work.
- Nature of work lends to snacking and anxiousness.
- Twice as far from home as Chevy.
- Passive atmosphere.
- Big Brother company.

Chevy Pros
- Good health benefits (med+dental) with a nominal monthly fee ($50).
- Social environment.
- More active job (filing, stairs, finding people).
- Enjoyable work.
- Company promotes from within.
- Locally owned though still corporate/professional.
- Closer, shorter commute (save gas $$).
- Hiring NOW.
- Only allows eating in the breakrooms/Non-snacking environment.

Chevy Cons
- More stressful prescense of boss.
- Expectations are sometimes not clearly communicated.
- Harder to get raises without job description change.
- May not pay as much immediately.

It seems like I would be happier with my work and employment at Chevy. Sure the perks aren't there. But is that worth being bored - yet still busy - to tears 8 hours a day?

Also there's the element of patience... and how I don't have any. ANY. And Chevy is dangling this opportunity within the next two weeks.

So... maybe next week's update will have more Action News Now!!!

XO,
N

P.s. 31 days since my last day off. Still truckin'.

The day it turned around.

Today is the day it turns around.

Today I'm pretty sure that the contract with the dentist is over.

Today I made a friend in Portland.

Today is the day I start applying for only the good paying jobs.

Today is the day that I can shake all of the left over NYC sludge from my system.

Today is the last day of pouting and complaining.

It has been another rough week. It is day 23 of working without a day off. But I'm tired of that being the weekly update.

This week I spent time with Lindz, an old friend from college. I gained a new, quiet walking partner at work, Anne. And made a friend with a client at the chevy dealer, Dexter.

This is a picture of Nanette getting social.
This is a picture of Nanette working less.

Financial stress be damned. I am going to find better work. Someone is going to see my worth in the interview process and snatch me up. I'm sure of it. Until then, I'm still employed.

Game plan...

Tonight - Revamp the resume and cover letter.
Tomorrow - Send resume to 8 - 10 postings, post it on monster.com, post it on indeed.com
Monday - Start going to work earlier so I can do afternoon interviews + find 10 fun, free places to go/things to do in Portland.

XO,
N

Rojo The Llama

Therapy Llama Rojo came to the TV Job.

I was very kind to this animal. But the look in his eye says he knows I ate his cousin in Peru.

shhhh...

Temping week 2

Okay, so the temp job is getting a little bit better. So far I've just been doing catch up work. But now I'm getting a better grasp of what is "abnormal," I'm going to be getting my channels next week. The staff has been really kind. Though there is this awkward undercurrent of stuff that goes unsaid.

Meanwhile at the Chevy dealership it's F*** this and F*** that! and "I don't know what's worse, the Italians or the Gypsies." I mean, so much of it is absolutely offensive and biggoted. But also hilarious when you take two steps back from the situation and watch it like TV.

Then Dr. G... oh the doctor... she's pulling her end of month crap again. Where she tries not to pay me and I have to get all huffy. Soon we'll have a confrontation, she'll pay me like... 2 weeks late and we'll continue in this little cloud of tension until the contract ends. Because it doesn't seem like she's going to fire me because I do have a lot of specific knowledge regarding her accounts. And I'm not going to quit because I feel obligation to see all of my contracts through.

I hit meltdown yesterday when I found out that Dr. G was trying to hide payments from me (my paycheck is dependant on the payments, I get 5%). I'm working 7 days a week. I come home from my jobs with their regular hours and I sit down and do 2 -3 hours of billing, while Mister makes dinner and keeps me company. I wind up with a good 2 hours of "Nanette Time" each night before I have to go to bed... because without sleep, I will really meltdown. Like non-functioning, skip work kind of meltdown.

So I made it two weeks and two days. Pathetic. I'm just feeling pressure to take care of all of our expenses since Mister's job isn't paying as much as we'd hoped. He's having a hard time getting hours since he's the new guy. Low man on the totem pole.

It's just stress. It's not the good kind either. It's the yucky, give-you-grey-hair stress. Normally, I handle stress 3 different ways.

1 - Eating.
2 - Shopping.
3 - Socializing.

1 - I'm kinda bummed out about my weight so this is not an option.
2 - We aren't making enough money to finance any fun shopping trips.
3 - I HAVE NO FRIENDS IN THIS CITY YET... And I've been too busy working to make any... but before that I wasn't meeting anyone because I didn't have a job. Are we seeing the cycles here?

And last night I had my first overwhelming feeling of "OMG. I'm almost 30 and I've done nothing with my life. I can't believe I'm not settled into a career path. I don't have my master's. I am making $12 an hour. I made more than this in college. My life has peaked already."

I've gotta have a major attitude check if I'm going to adapt to this transition. I need to remember what I'm grateful for. I need to remember that I don't have to spend money to be happy. I need to remember that exercise can be a great decompressor of the giant demands that life makes and will help me reach my goal. You don't need a nap, Nanette. You need a nice long walk around the neighborhood.

We are humans. We have an incredible capacity for coping and adaptation. That's why we're biologically one of the most successful mammals on earth. So it's time to evaluate and trim the fat (literal and figurative). It's time to get back on the job hunt even though I'm already doing full-time temp. Let's see if I can get into a nice locally owned company as a front desk manager/receptionist/catch-all for $17 an hour that also has nice health benefits (a girl can dream, right?!) That's what I want for our little house.

If not, we can squeeze by with what I'm making and I can push to get into the TV place full-time afterwards if they'll have me.

You know... if there is one lesson that the universe keep slapping my face with... it's PATIENCE YOUNG GRASSHOPPER. I want it to all be good RIGHT NOW. I don't want to wait and see what happens. I want to rest assured that our needs are taken care of.

Oh and this week I got to pet a llama. Photos soon.

TV Guide

So this new job is the most redundant and mind numbing thing I have ever done. The company is a TV statistics company pretty much.

Simply put, my job is to compare 3 different TV guides and make sure the title, episode, date and time are correct. The guides are in different formats. And we check each day 3 times - a day in advance, a day in review and then another check by a different team member. Each team member is given 30 - 50 channels/clients to review daily. Then you do the third check for someone else's channels.

What this job does is feeds ACCURATE information about what was on to different TV stations so they can overlay data like viewers, cost, advertising with our statistics and see how they coordinate. We work for both national companies and local stations. I am always so pleased to see something like "Logan, Utah" on my list or "Chubbuck, ID." It increases my interest in the job 1000-fold for the briefest moment.

I did NOT know this job existed. I thought they just got viewer stats from somewhere like we get stats from blogs and they figured the rest out on their own. But I guess that's not accurate enough for the billion dollar industry that is television. Heh.

I'm not melting down over my work hours yet. I'm melting down over how little they are paying. I have interviewed all my fellow staff members. I'm getting $12 per hour as a temp. The company hires entry level at $15. So I may get an instant raise if I can handle continuing after the contract is over. They are also very generous about paid time off/vacation/national holidays and the insurance is pretty epic. It would definitely pay for lapband. It covers acupuncture and chiropractic. If it doesn't, I will be shocked.

But I don't have to worry about that decision until the contract ends in another 2 months and 3 weeks.

Still working for Dr. G. Still struggling with team-wide communication. But ultimately, we've ironed out another $10,000 in the last month or so. Some of that is my work. Some of that is my office manager's work. Some of that is insurance payment that finally came through. Unfortunately, Dr. G just signed another loan because her build out is going to cost an additional $150k. So she's feeling the financial pinch and taking it out on the rest of the staff. I'm billing for work already done. My contribution to expanding the practice is trying not to piss anyone off. heh.

The Chevy dealership is golden. I am finding out a little bit more about things like management style here. The sales team is ruled with an iron, fear-motivated fist. However, the admin team is absolutely amazing, calm, but motivated, very Matter-of-fact.

Health-wise, things are going better. My ankle is healing. I'm 90% walking like normal. The EKG is $250 for the appetite suppressant meds and then they'll give me a 22% "full payment courtesy." Can't say discount in healthcare.

We'll see what this next week brings. More updates then.

More Pee, More Jobs..

I got another phone call this week. I went and peed in another cup. I have another job. My work week has filled up. But the projected budget looks amazing.

I will be working 7 days a week.

Mon - Fri for a data entry/TV statistic company on a 3 month temp contract.
Sat - Sun for the Chevy dealership permanently
Mon - Fri for Dentist but only an hour or so per day until March.

Dentist - $1000 per month.
Chevy - $519 per month.
Data Entry - $1440 per month.

Yeah, I'll probably meltdown at some point. Maybe the dentist will even terminate the contract early? Or I may terminate the data entry position early? Or I may just love it all and let myself calm down and let time wash over me while I concentrate on not being a fatty. I did 3 weeks of no day off in NY and I was on my own. Now I have Mister who will help with dishes and laundry and the odds and ends that get left behind so maybe I won't feel the pressure of everything piling up while I'm otherwise preoccupied.

I had a Doc visit today. Just renewing birth control and establishing that I would like to be considered for bariatric surgery (lapband) early next year. They insist you have a certain time frame of paperwork. She suggested some appetite suppressant drug that I haven't properly researched yet. But I'm into it. I'll try whatever that can assist me with behavioral reconditioning.

Granted... I won't be able to go back for 3 months because of my work schedule. But the doc can call in a prescription if my tests come back okay today. Just gotta determine that my heart is good. Which it is... I have excellent internal stats... aside from the F _ A _ T. It looks like I will have to take a partial shift off for an EKG before she'll put me on the suppressant.

Mister and I have been prepping for this whole 3 month thing by dividing up chores, creating a calendar, buying tupperware for lunches, buying ingredients for lunches. It's going to be an adventure. I am choosing to look at this as "going to school" each day. School they pay me for and that the work is kinda redundant and pretty easy.

I've gotta come up with a project I can do on the Chevy weekends though. It was so slow last weekend that there was hardly any action in my position. I've been promised that will change tomorrow. It will pick up. More phones to answer. "Hello! Thank you for calling. How may I direct your call?"

Can I tell you how much I love that my responsibility is just putting the calls to the people with the answers? I don't even have to KNOW the answers. Just hand them off to Sales, Office, Service Dept or Finance. EASY. (she says... without knowing the hell about to rain down on her.) But really, I suspect this job is just way easier than I thought it would be! Hurrah!

More soon, but for now...   Let's see how long it takes before MELTDOWN!!! Any bets?

XO,
Nanette

Photo Update!

Just the downtown area. I love the contrast of nature, space, sunshine and colonization. Dear New York friends, remember what sidewalks look like when they aren't spattered with black gum spots? 

Out for a little cappuccino. Still haven't found the replacement for Mister's favorite espresso bean back home.  

Anyone can eat here! 

"serving the american dream" didn't work out too well. Now the american dream is for lease. 

work work work work - selfies at work. 

You're Looking At Her...

Who is the local Chevrolet's new weekend receptionist?

Yup... You're looking at her. I passed my pee test (all that studying paid off?) and I start tomorrow... even though I don't get trained until Wednesday.

I was also able to get in touch with my dentist for my billing job and I hate the job about 75% less now. We have established a communication plan so I'm not battling the terrifying Manhattan parents without support.

Also... in the first week I've earned half of what I earned last month doing that billing job.

Things are looking up. I feel like I can breathe. I don't function well being unemployed.

I am so excited to be out of the house on a regular basis... talking to people aside from Mister and the cashiers at Costco, Harbor Freight and Trader Joe's. I am also excited to pick up the social dynamic of Portland. People are friendlier than Manhattan, but less likely to tell you about their grandkids or their personal problems like in Idaho - no offense Idahoans, I find it absolutely charming. Juts a different balance.

I did another interview today for a commercial refrigeration company. They are 8 months behind on paperwork (yay.) and I am a shoe-in, but won't know for another week. They may pick a different person. That means they picked the wrong person. I'm the queen of catch up, the queen of fast tracking new organizational systems. Observe, Assess, Make 10 lists, Cross things off the lists and Schedule routine tasks.

So... Commercial refrigeration company... if you're reading, I would like to apply some positive peer pressure and encourage you to make a smart choice for yourself.

At home, we got another chair! It is a lovely chaise lounge in a tweedy cream and cool beige color with little buttons that make it tufty. Mister and I each have our respective thrones. Tables next... Tables and bookshelves. And maybe that painting from my college apartment by Jordan Clinger. You should check him out... good colors, sense of humor... especially "The price is righteous" and "Pepto Fett." I've had my eye on them for a while, but not the disposable income and plus, I already have one made for me. I'll post a pic if I can get mom to ship the painting to me.

XO,
Nanette

Huntress Log: Moondate 9/2/2014

Okay... I'm still jobless. Disappointing. But not conquering...   I had a really great "working interview" with a dental office last week with MUCH positive feedback. Everyone was very kind and the work day went by in a flash. They paid me $125 for my time. Which was also nice.

Game: Apple Juice or Urine? Don't let the apple fool you. 

I am also going to go pee in a cup for a car dealership tomorrow morning. Hurrah! Pee! It is a tiny job offer where I'd only have to go in on Saturday and Sunday. It sounds low key, low responsibility. Which would be kind of nice since I have had enough of that for the last 2 years. I'm ready for a smaller bite of the life sandwich.

I keep sending emails and going on interviews and getting responses. There have been a couple instances of knowing the job would be mine if I took it. But unlike New York, I'm not going to take the first one that offers. I am going to look at the work to pay ratio and the atmosphere... and see if I can actually stay happy in a place for a good year or two (at the least) and not get all antsy pantsy. 

Mister and I went berry picking on Friday. During which I promptly twisted my ankle in a gopher hole. It took all of 10 minutes and then rest of the pick I was gimping around with my bucket. We still managed to get a hefty amount of berries... and pears and tomatoes and honey. They had a nice little farm stand as well - for all your produce needs. We've been living in a very delicious house for the past few days. We are going back for more berries on Friday, hopefully, so we can "freeze them for the winter." (Awww... my city boy is talking like a farmer!) 

We have also been working on a bedframe. Okay... I sanded a bit one day and he has taken it over from there. Soon we will have our SECOND piece of furniture - first being a slipper accent chair. 

I am hereby swearing that if/when I get this dental office job... We are going to a thrift store and buying three things... 

1) a book shelf. 

2) a table. 

3) a bicycle for this lady. 

My kingdom for some furniture!!! 

Thems the haps. 

Nanette N. 

Nanette - Wild Huntress

So, we got a house in about a week. Which is an accomplishment in my book. We did not have to extend the courtesies of my brother beyond their limits, nor did we have to pay for any weekly hotel stays and Mister's allergies, while terrible, did not kill him.

I am already employed. I do a little part-time billing gig with the dentist I worked for in Manhattan. It is typically only 2-3 hours per day and while I was estimating $1500 a month... It's looking a bit more like $1000. Which is scary. That's not enough to cover my portion of the bills.

I began my panicked job hunt this past Monday.

This week I have done 8 phone interviews, 4 in person interviews, signed up with one temp to hire agency, have one job in the bag and I am waiting to hear from the job I really want.

Blah blah blah... The important details.

Potential Job #1 - Dog Hotel Front Desk (20-32 hours @ $11). It is my stand by in case everything falls through. Very similar to Kidville work. Low conflict job. Being insert into a well-oiled machine that already is working wonders.

Potential Job #2 - Front Desk/Exec Admin for a burgeoning contractor (30-35 hours @ $17). It is my first interview, my pick to win... I would be walking into an administrative hurricane and gigantic data mess... just like I am used to and upon proving myself useful, there would be opportunity for raises.

Potential Job #3/4 - Through the temp service - they typically only have people in their employ for approximately 90 days before they are placed - they have a state job that pays $22 an hour as Records Assistant - basically this place only has one HR person who has been trying to do everything and she is drowning. I would love to be on board with that.

OR a university job for some chiropractic/massage therapy school as an office admin that would pay in the ball park of $15 - $20 Depending on Experience.

SOOOOO...  I am a mighty huntress. Able to beat jobs out of the woodwork and select the most prime game for the chase and conquer.

Dear Portland,

New York was hard and from that I have learned.
Manhattan took 2 months to find lodging. Portland, a week and a half.
Manhattan took 3 months to find a job. Portland, I'm giving you two weeks.

Pony up,
Nanette N.