Saturday

So my last post was Day 2 of unemployment. Posting today, it has now been one year. January 2012 was when I was laid off of my job. I was reading the "stories of the unemployed" on Huffington Post the other day and totally related. Some days you wake up and think "this will be the day" and you attack your job searching tasks with eagerness and a positive outlook while other days are "why bother" and "I give up". The fact of the matter is you can't give up. This week alone I have applied to 14 jobs. Not a typo - FOURTEEN. What is crazy is that some of the ways that companies have you apply is a very, very lengthy process. What's worse, is when you take the 25 minutes to complete their complicated application process and then you push "apply" or "send" and it comes up with some internal error so when you go back, all information gone! What is really disheartening is when I do get an interview and the woman told me she received 117 resumes. Most companies don't even bother to respond that they received your application/resume. Oh, oh - here's something that you may not know - there are scumbags out there that prey on the unemployed! They post fake jobs, you apply to them, then they send you a great offer, and then try to steal your identity (not that my identity is worth stealing these days). I received one the other day (they found my resume on a job posting site like Monster) and said "we will pay you $300 a week to wrap your car in an advertisement." I Googled that and found out the scam was that they would send you a check for over the $300 (an advanced payment) as well as an additional payment for the Graphic Designer. You are supposed to Western Union the additional monies to this address they provide. You guessed it, the check is no good and you are out the money you sent. I Google everything that comes my way and found out that there are actually these people who think that the unemployed are great targets. So wrong, so very wrong. I have certainly re-certified my thinking of "you are NOT what you do, you are who you are" but today I figured out that this is who I am now (in no particular order): - the janitor - the maid (housekeeping, can I come in?) - the koi pond maintenance engineer (have kept those 3 suckers alive which isn't easy I tell you) - the dog trainer (Bailey - great, Lola - naughty) - the dog waste picker upper (I'm #1 in the #2 business) - contract negotiator (lawn man, I'm broke, don't come as often please) - swimming pool cleaner - swimming pool maintenance engineer - chef - fast food cook - dishwasher - errand runner - doctor - laundry lady - lawn maintenance engineer (with a Masters in weed pulling) - veterinarian (I even pulled a long, rope-like, waste cover thing out of a big dog's butt) - neighborhood watch person (hey, strange truck at your house) - package receiver (yea, they aren't home, I'll sign for it) I often wonder how all this got done when I left for work at 7:00 am and arrived back at 5:30 pm. I guess it didn't, or it was jammed into weekends. The biggest thing about unemployment is - it is very lonely. My conversations are with the pharmacist or the check out person at the grocery store. When Kyle comes home from school I beg for conversation with an update on his day but being a 17 year old teenager I get "fine", "okay", "I dunno". I think that I am a little surprised by my past work "friends". Certain relationships that I had there I thought for sure would stay and be more than the work friend. It was, for about one month after my job ended. I don't hear from any of them now, at all. The ones that I do hear from that check in on me periodically were the ones that I never expected to keep in contact. Who knew? Okay, so one year and counting. This will end very soon, let's all be certain of that. Something has got to give. Be certain though, I am on a tough road right now but it is not tough enough to stop me from laughing, singing, dancing while I clean, and appreciating a day for what it is. January I started my Grateful Journal listing five things I'm grateful for (periodically - wish I could say I do it daily but um, nope). I do it at a grateful journal site (it's kept private). I like it, it keeps you focused on what is important. If you read this (and I'm not sure who does anymore since it's been so long) I would love for you to leave a comment. Hey, contact is contact right? Keeping centered for now..love,love, love.