Public service announcement for the Unemployed

In the interest of keeping it real.

Helping my peeps.

Educating you on things you may not be aware of.....

I bring you tips I have learned while seeking employment for the first time since 1998.

Those of you that were in grade school in 1998 can kiss my grits and disregard these helpful tips.

If you are to young to recognize the phrase, "Kiss my grits", you may also disregard these tips.

1. If a company contacts you saying they saw your resume on XYZ website and think you are PERFECT for their organization. They are probably looking for a SALES person.

2. If you arrive at an "interview" and there are already 10+ people in the lobby and a steady stream of people come in while you are waiting, they are probably looking for SALES people or are a multi-level organization and you should run.

3. If they inform you that you will be attending a "Session or Presentation" that explains their company and or the position, they are probably looking for SALES people.

After several of these experiences, my DH taught me key questions to ASK when being set for an "interview" to avoid falling into one of these traps. These may seem logical to you but as stated above, I'm rusty at this stuff. Cut me some slack.

1. What exactly does this position require, ie: what will I be doing? The ad/job posting can be tricky.

2. How is the position compensated? NOT the same as asking what does the position pay. If they tell you COMMISSION, it's a sales job--NOT Customer Service like the ad claimed.

3. Where will I be located? If they say, In the Field.....it's SALES.

Like I said, most of this may be obvious to most of you but I've discovered the ads can be tricky and I didn't feel comfortable asking questions BEFORE the interview.

I now know better.

Trust me, when you are unemployed-you need to save gas. Don't go-if you don't know. Even if they represent themselves as a well known company, they could be a "Marketing company"...hiring SALES people for the "well known" company.

Marketing....another Buzz word to avoid.

You're welcome.

Til later.........................

Dinner and a movie

It was brought to my attention that I was fuzzy about the Dinner and a Movie plan. Add to that, the fact I never shared what we ended up doing and I'm sure you are all on pins and needles to be brought up to speed.

Are you sitting down? You may want to grab a bite to eat. It's a fascinating tale.


Seriously.

Well, not so much but it's a story my DH says will age well.

As you may recall, we had 2 tickets for a FREE movie and a BOGO for Ruby Tuesday. Well as it would turn out, the movie we wanted to see, Star Trek, has apparently left most theatres for a Galaxy far, far away. On July 4th it had limited seating/theaters where it was being shown. None matched our time schedule.

We decided to go to our local theater, PAY to see a movie and that resulted in us deciding to use a $10 off coupon I'd received for my birthday at a local restaurant.

Yes, those of you paying attention may realize that my birthday is actually in AUGUST not July. I'm not sure why the restaurant thought I had a birthday in July but I wasn't about to argue. Besides, we don't have a Ruby Tuesday near us or the local theater.

Hold that thought.

Soooooooooooooooo, we decided to go to the Matinee of our local theater and see Public Enemy. At the risk of offending some readers that I know have already seen the movie and LOVED IT, let me just say....Johnny Depp--great actor. Christen Bales--Ok actor.

Movie.....full of holes. At one point the woman behind us actually said--very loudly..."Oh come on!!". I must admit the same scene had seemed ridiculous to me too. I have a very high threshold for entertainment so was willing to let it slide.

Over all, I gave it a 3 1/2 stars out of 5 and my DH wanted his money back. LOL. If you knew his recent track record in picking rental movies, you wouldn't hold his opinion very highly so judge for yourself.

After the movie we went to the restaurant. My DH had his reservations when we pulled up and it actually said *****Restaurant and LOUNGE. He looked at me like--are you kidding? I offered to go somewhere else but he said, "No-It may have great food."

We walked in and as we were being seated we had to walk by the people getting ready to:

wait for it........

SING KARAOKE.

OMGoodness.

Now again, those that know me--know that wasn't a problem for me. My DH looked like he'd been shot. LOL. Not that he was afraid they would ask him to sing, just that he was going to be in the same room as people that were going to be singing.

Yes, this is the same man that LOVES the audition shows of American Idol but he doesn't enjoy Karaoke of any sort.

I know.....we are VERY different.

So once again I offered to leave before we ordered and he said no...he'd be alright. We ended up being there for at least an hour and he didn't fall out of the booth.

I'm not saying he will admit he enjoyed himself but at least his eyes didn't start bleeding. Of the four people that look turns singing, 1 was good...the others made us laugh behind our napkins. The best part was at the end when a 80+ year old blind man (I only say that because the waitress kept bringing it up. Didn't she ever hear of Stevie-Jose-Andre?) got up and sang two songs. He was really good. BTW, the food was good!

After surviving the restaurant we drove up north a bit, to the same parking lot as last year, and watched the local Fireworks. Nice!

Remember when I told you to "Hold that thought"? Guess what we passed on the way home from the fireworks?

Extra points if you said RUBY TUESDAY. Poop! The same Ruby Tuesday that we have eaten in before. Yes, I lost my mind.

There you have it,the fascinating-true story- of our 4th of July.

You may now resume your lives.

Til later....................

Butterfly Project

Just when a hint of worry crosses my mind, God sends me a reminder that I have a wonderful life and that this latest "situation" is just a bump in the road.

If you haven't already heard of the Butterfly Project, please go here. It's ironic (not really considering the source of ALL knowledge) that my DH is watching "Defiance" which is about the Holocaust, just as I became aware of the project.

I've always been touched by the stories of that awful time in history. I visited Auschwitz in the mid 70's and I swear the buildings that housed the ovens still smelled. I became so overcome with the "souls/presence" of the murdered, that I had to leave the tour and return to the bus. Last year I dragged the Boy to the museum in St. Petersburg. I tried to get him to read The Diary of Anne Frank but he never would.

Please consider contributing to this project or support your local museum. Go, take your family, discuss and help those events never occur again.

Til later................

If you need more proof that your life is precious and never as bad as you think, read this. (read all the comments too-you never know who you will see there..HI Loretta!!!!)

Another beautifully written post by the CF husband. If you still have not read his blog, you MUST go to the link on my side bar, take a few minutes (hours) and read the story of Gods love in these amazing people.

Happy 4th and other thoughts

So I said, when I was laid off, that it would mean more time for blogging.

Apparently, I lied.

It's not that I don't have alot of "time" now, it's just that I feel like I should be spending my time seeking employment.

I enjoy having a roof over my head.

I have spent time running errands and visiting with former co-workers that are still my friends. I went to CVS yesterday and enjoyed getting $30 worth of products for $6 OOP. Just like the old days. I've watched TV with my DH. I haven't really slept in, I still wake up when the sun comes in my windows

I've spend hours getting my resume updated and posted on various "employment" websites. I'm hoping the non-responses received is due to the Holiday weekend and not my lack of appeal.

ON paper , I'm very appealing.

I found a great "interview outfit" at my favorite thrift yesterday for $6.25. Best thing is that it was half of that because it was "Red". It fits nice and will also make a great outfit for my SLAH convention.

Today we are going to keep our "tradition" of seeing a movie-having dinner-then going somewhere to watch Fireworks. We'd planned to do it for super cheap as I have a coupon for BOGO dinner and 2 free movie tickets. Problem is, the movie we want to see isn't playing very often near the restaurant we have a coupon for. Our quaint little local theater has another movie we are interested in but no free tickets for that location. The BOGO coupon is for a restaurant we don't have near that theater. I did get a FREE meal coupon (for my upcoming birthday) to a local restaurant we've yet to try, so we'll use that. We'll end up playing for the movie but it will be OK. That leaves us tickets for another night.

What are you doing today? Take a moment to thank your stars (I prefer to thank God) that we live in a country that is FREE. I may not have a job at the moment but at least my country is a billion times better off than most. I will find a job or figure out a way to legally make enough money to cover our needs.

God Bless the USA.

Til later.....................

End of Catalog Sale has started

Southern Living at Home has two catalog a year. When one ends, they have a great sale. The new catalog starts in August and the sale was just announced. Check THIS out and if you see anything you want, email me ASAP. Items sell out quickly so act soon!

Taking today to run errands and will be seriously looking for a new job soon. If you hear anything, let me know.

Til later....


*****I have set up an on line order to save time. If you see something you want and are local, go here, click on Our Products, How to order, Hostess and type in Cheryl H and you can order on line using the item numbers on the flyer. If you are out of the Tampa Bay area-place an order of at least $29.95--in NON SALE items and then you can order as many sale items as you want. If your order is over $75-I will pay the $10 Direct shipping charge to have it delivered straight to you. (Regular shipping & tax charges still apply)

More time to blog

Well it looks like I will have more time to blog.

I became a statistic today.

I was laid off.

Budget cuts and all that.

Nothing performance related.

Last hired.....first to be cut when money runs out.

Fiscal year starts tomorrow for the state so they had to swing the ax today.

I'm still in shock.

Not really sure what to think.

I'm trusting that this is a window to a new opportunity.

Anyone know a job opening for an Age experienced, English speaking, quick learner with a strange sense of humor?

Call me.

Til later...........................

What day is it?

Quick run down of the past week. You'll understand why I've been silent.

Monday.....Chiro appointment in the AM

Tuesday....Baseball game..between storms

Wednesday...Took the day off as the Boy had a appointment to check out his funky ankles. Apparently his ankles "Pronate" (stick out from his feet-on the inside), he is VERY flat footed and his toes turn inward as a result of the flat footedness. They said to try and buy shoes with arch supports but nothing else needed unless he starts having pain.

Karate

Thursday....Karate..learned about the death of two figures from my childhood/young adult life. Sad in so many ways.

Friday...........Chiro appt in am with a FREE MASSAGE. Sweet! They said they had a cancellation and were told to give it away to the first person in the door. Luckily I didn't sit in the car and read.

Game in pm...actually the first game of a JV tournament. It was STORMING all around the field but not at the game. Well, it was raining but not really storming. Well, it did start storming a little but they kept playing. What a dedicated mom, sitting in the POURING rain watching her son play. We won.

Saturday..today...game two of the tournament. No rain when we got there. It started sprinkling but luckily my DH called and said my hairdresser had called looking for me. (they won)

???? I had the appointment as in July before my SLAH convention. Apparently we'd changed it to today. Arg. I called and confirmed the boys dad was on the way to his game and once he got there I left to get my hair done. Touch up on the color and a cut. Much shorter but not all the way short. Looks good, I think.

A little SOCKS shopping....really hard when your DH wears size 12 shoes.

For the rest of the afternoon I've been reading magazines, watching Nascar and playing on the computer. Home shows tonight.

How was your week??

Til later..............