Happy Memorial Day!

Source:  penniwigs

Nothing much to talk about today.  Not much going on but I always post on Monday's so I didn't want to not do it today.

My neighbor mowed my front yard last week which made the back yard look awful in comparison so I caved and mowed it all this morning.  While doing so, I came to the conclusion that if I ever move to another house, I'd be quite happy having a small front yard and little to no grass in the back yard.  My little chi's can play in the dirt!  I'm really not one for yard work and will try to delegate it to others when I can.

Afterwards, I took a shower, dressed in a different outfit and went outside to admire my work.  There was a little gray bird out front with a long, thin beak.  It let me go up fairly close to it while I watched it walk around the yard checking for worms.  It was such a pretty little thing!  Then I got a little too close, I guess, and it flew away.

Half Full Friday and Blog of the Week

It's time for Half Full Friday!  If you want to participate, head on over to Eyegirl's and spend the day with Mr. Linky.

I'm happy my neighbor mowed my front yard for me!  I'm sure going to miss him when his house finally sells.  I doubt my new neighbors will be nice enough to do little things like that for me.

I'm happy the snow from Saturday melted by Sunday!

I'm happy one of my rosebushes has lots of little buds on it!

I'm happy my violet has one tiny little bud on it! 

I'm happy I figured out how to change my password after someone hacked into my email account!

I'm happy that even though it was a chilly week, the sun still managed to come out here and there!

I'm happy I finally figured out how to get my pictures to post where I want them!

source:  bing

It's been a chilly week here filled with rain.  I actually don't mind the rain for the most part because it means I don't have to water the lawn.  I'm hoping it warms up and stays dry though for tomorrow at least beacuse I have a yard sale to partipcate in to help raise money for the community project I work with.

I have idea how or when I found this week's Blog of the Week, which is actually a website.  I just know that it's always an entertaining read whenever I seem to have too much time on my hands.  (Which is frequent!)

Emails from an Asshole

The originator is John Lindsay and the oldest email I could find is from June 2009 which makes this site just about a year old.  It seems like I've been reading it for a lot longer and maybe I have, I didn't do a very extensive search of this site at all.  It's updated about every couple of weeks.

The premise of this site is a collection of emails sent to people who post classified ads.  The ads could be for anything - looking for a roommate, someone selling a car, another person needing a specific service, someone else who is looking to purchase a specific item, etc.  John's goal is "to mess with them, confuse them and /or piss them off."  He does an excellent job of it!  He says only about 10% of people respond back to him and I can see why.  He also says he changes the names to protect the innocent.

He posts the original ad along with the string of emails to and from him and the person who placed the ad. Warning:  If you are easily offended, this is not the site for you!  It's hard to describe the emails without actually showing them to you so to read the most recent one, click here.  It never occurred to me that some of these emails might be made up until I read the comments.  Some people seem to think they're fake and maybe they are but I still enjoy them.

If you visit the site and decide you love it, there's a book which is available on amazon, an online store and you can also follow them on twitter and Facebook.

If you have any blogs or websites you'd like to suggest I use to post a Blog of the Week, please feel free to suggest them.  I'm always looking for new blogs and it would be fun to see what you might find too!  Or even if you want me to post about your blog, just let me know!

Wordy Wednesday

May you forever Rest In Peace, Sweet Max!

You will never be forgotten

March 12, 2000 - May 24, 2010

Pictures posted with permission of MaxMom, Caryl Moll.

Looooooooong Overdue Award Posting!

My heart goes out to Maxmom Caryl and her family.  Her sweet Max passed over the rainbow bridge today.  I truly had come to love him as if he were my own dog so the loss feels just as devestating.  My heart also goes out to Cocorue.  She and her sister, Tiffane, lost their human daddy recently.

Waaaaay back in March, Fiesty Three were kind enough to pass on an award to me.  Only I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong and how to paste the code correctly and stuff so I didn't post it.  And now I've FINALLY figured it out!  Yay me!

Thanks to the Fiesty Three and I hope you didn't think I was ignoring it or had forgotten about it!  Shiver is quite the fiesty little guy so this award is most appropriate for him.  Chico is the sweetest little chihuahua that there ever was so Shiver'll have to give him a few lessons on fiestiness.

Mr. Spring decided he was a little too busy visiting other parts of the country on Saturday, I guess.  Either that or Mr. Winter came along and bribed him 'cause Mr. Spring was nowhere to be seen!  I woke up to a rain/snow mix.  A little bit later, it turned into big flakes.  And then it turned into itty bitty flakes which quickly began to pile up.  I was not a happy camper, y'all's!  (See how I did that whole double contraction thingie there?  Yeah, they don't teach that shit in school, you gotta be really smart to know how to pull that off!)  After awhile, the rain came along to wash it all away.  And then it snowed some more.

Friday was a really bad day!  About 12:30 or so, I got a call from the title company telling me that I didn't get the job.  Basically it all came down to experience.  Or rather, my lack of.  But seriously, how are you supposed to get experience if nobody is willing to hire you?  So after a good cry at the devastation of losing a job that I sooooooooo desperately wanted, I hopped in the car and drove to the post office.  As if I wasn't already feeling bad enough about myself, I got a rejection letter from another company I'd interviewed for.  My self-esteem was at an all time low! 

I've applied and applied and applied for jobs.  Some of the jobs I was aware that I didn't have the experience for, yet applied anyway.  In some cases I got an interview and in other cases I didn't.  In those instances I was ok with not getting an interview.  But I've applied to several places where I had all of the qualifications listed in the ad and yet my phone never rings!  Yes, I realize there is an economic recession going on right now but if I have all of the qualifications, I don't understand why I'm not being considered!

After much crying and soul-searching, I've decided I'm really going to do everything I can now to get into school.  Apparently the skills that I have are not what employers are looking for right now.  I've already applied for financial aid so I just have to wait to hear back.  I'm praying that this will work out and that I'll be able to just focus on school without having to worry about working (since I can't get a job as it is) and still be able to pay my mortgage.

One of my new favorite bloggers, P, likes to create lists of things not to do.  I'm going to kind of follow her lead today and make a list for employers of things TO do.

*Call me back after I've left you voice mails!  I've never had a job where it was ok for me to just ignore phone calls from people.  I realize you're busy so I only call twice.  I call to follow up on a lot of jobs and almost always have to leave voice mails.  99% of the time, I have to leave a voice mail and 99% of the time, those voice mails are ignored.  It really makes me lose a lot of respect for you when you can't be bothered to make a quick 2 minute phone call to me.

*There's no need to be condescending towards me in an interview!  If I don't have the experience you're looking for, you should already be well aware of that fact just by looking at my resume.  Being rude to me not only let's me know that I won't be getting the job but it also let's me know that I wouldn't want to work for you anyway.  And just so you know, I'm going to tell my friends and family about the poor treatment I received from you.  Not only does it reflect poorly on you, it reflects poorly on your business as well.

*I'm expected to do a little research prior to the interview, you should too!  Some of the interviews I've been to have just shot one question after another at me and I barely have time to breathe, let alone think, in between questions.  And others - well, the employers hardly ask anything at all.  I don't know if this means you're just not interested or you just aren't very good at interviews.  If you really don't have much to ask, consider doing some research online about what to ask.  I'm expected to research your company ahead of time and ask questions, you could research a few questions.  I hate really short interviews because I can never really get a good feel about how it went.  But then again, maybe that's the whole point?!

*Don't schedule me for an interview and then not interview me!  This has happened to me twice.  In both instances, the employer found someone they wanted to hire before they finished interviewing all of the candidates.  One called and told me before I came in, the other did not.  I don't understand why an employer wouldn't want to interview ALL prospective candidates.  You've already got the interview scheduled and who knows, I may turn out to be a better fit than the person you've hired!  Only you'll never know because you didn't bother to interview me.  (This hasn't happened recently, but it has actually happened to me!)

*If you say you're going to call everyone you've interviewed to let them know one way or the other, then do it!  Almost every single interview I've been on says they'll get back with me either way and yet, the vast majority never do.  If I really want the job, then I'll call to check and usually have to leave a voice mail which is usually ignored.  A letter will do if you don't want to make that dreaded phone call!

Some things not to do if you're a friend of someone looking for work, especially if you personally make over $3000 a month after taxes:

*Not understand that I can't survive on minimum wage.  And then proceed to ask me if I can't cut some things out.  Like what, power?  I have exactly one luxury item at the moment which is satellite tv.  The reason I haven't given that up is because even if I cancelled the service, I'd still have to pay a cancellation fee along with my regular monthly service fee until the contract is up so I might as well keep it and just avoid the cancellation fee all together. 

*Don't ask me if I've gone shopping, out to eat or seen any good movies lately.  I'm not sure where you think I'd get the $ to pay for such things since you're very well aware I don't have a job!

*Don't ask if I have any money to lend you.  You make over $3000 a month after taxes!  And you're single and childless!  I don't know what you do with all that money or how it's possible that you never seem to have any but I've lived quite comfortably on considerably less and didn't borrow from you!  Yes, this was a one time occurrence but you know I don't have a job and that I just barely make ends meet every month.  And then don't make me feel bad about it when I tell you no!

*Don't give me unsolicited career advice, especially poor unsolicited career advice, and then try and make me feel bad when I don't follow it!  I'm not going to apply to any and every job I see regardless of the pay, whether of not I have an interest in doing that type of work and whether or not I have the experience.  I cannot afford to live on minimum wage so I'm not going to apply for those kinds of jobs.  I'm also not going to apply to become a plumber if I have no interest in that profession and I'm certainly not going to apply to work as a doctor if I don't have the medical training!  Yes, some places provide on the job training but there are certain jobs, such as a doctor, where you MUST have some schooling first!  NO SELF-RESPECTING HOSPITAL IS GOING TO HIRE SOMEONE OFF THE STREET TO BE A DOCTOR WITHOUT THEM FIRST HAVING SOME KIND OF VERIFIABLE MEDICAL EDUCATION!!!!!!!  (Yes, she and I had this argument once!)

*Criticize the way I choose to conduct my job search.  Just because I might not do it exactly the way you would, doesn't mean that I'm doing it wrong.  Yes, I choose to do a large portion of it over the internet but that's not the only way I look for work!  Contrary to what you might believe, I also look in two separate newspapers, I ask around and yes, I even go into stores and apply sometimes!  You prefer online dating and while I would never consider doing that, I don't criticize you for it!

That's enough lessons for today!

Half Full Friday and Blog of the Week

Another quick week.  I think it was so quick just because I had somewhere to go almost every single day.  I kind of like that though, it keeps me from being too bored!

It's time for Half Full Friday!  As always, if you want to join the fun, head over to Eyegirl's and spend the day with Mr. Linky.

I'm happy for the beautiful weather we had this week!  It's supposed to snow this weekend (ugh!) so I'm enjoying the sunshine while I can.

I'm happy my parents did some pretty major yardwork for me on Saturday while I was gone!  I knew my dad was going to come fix my lawnmower but I didn't know my parents were going to do any of the yardwork for me.

I'm happy I had another interview this week!

I'm happy I finally got around to getting a library card!

I'm thrilled that this is Max's 104th Day of Grace!

I'm happy that I filed for financial aid for school yesterday!

I got a call Tuesday afternoon asking if I could come in for an interview on Wednesday.  Of course I said yes!  I couldn't find much information on the company on the internet so I was a little leery going in but I got there and everyone I encountered was really nice.  I'm pretty sure I was the first candidate interviewed which doesn't exactly work in my favor as they didn't take notes so they may not remember me when it's time to make the final decision.  But -- they did say that I had a slight edge over another candidate who might not have seen recorded deeds of trust, mortgages, UCC's, etc., just because I used to work with them all the time.  I soooooooooooooooooooooo want this job.  I really, really, REALLY want it!!!  Like I'd be willing to pay THEM to work there!  I'd be starting at the bottom but I'm ok with that since it would be an excellent opportunity to learn.  The position is with a title company which is exactly what I want to do but can't seem to get in with one because I don't have the experience.  But how do you get the experience if they won't give you a chance?  After the interview, I went home and immediately wrote out and mailed a thank you note.  It hasn't always helped in the past but it has gotten me a little bit further sometimes than it might have otherwise so I'm hoping it makes a good impression this time!  Oh, and I found out at the interview that this company actually does have a website; I apparently just didn't search very hard for it.

Edit:  I didn't get the job.  :(

This week's Blog of the Week is from an article I found on AOL this past week.  Reading it just made me want to cry!  This blog was started on Feb. 20th.

Katy Is Strong

 On Feb. 10, 2010, 41 year old Katy Hayes gave birth to her third child at home, a daughter she named Arielle.  She was in a lot of pain after the birth.  It was an eight hour labor with no drugs and an almost 10 pound baby so some pain was certainly to be expected but when it just kept getting worse, her husband Al took her to the hospital on Valentine's Day.   There, doctors confirmed a diagnosis of invasive group A streptococcal disease, a rare variant of the bacterial infection known as strep throat.  But while the latter can be successfully treated with antibiotics, the type of infection Katy suffered from is far more dangerous and, if left to develop, much harder to treat.

Within hours of arriving at the hospital, Katy suffered massive organ failure.  On Feb. 15, she lapsed into a coma.
 
Her doctor's told Al that she had a less than 5% chance of survival and that no one comes out of this because once the snowball effect of happens of organs shutting down began to occur, there would be nothing medical science could do to reverse it.
 
The only hope of survival would be to remove not only her uterus but all four limbs as well!  After conducting some research on his own with doctors all across the country, he came to the conclusion that in order to save her life, he had to do the unthinkable. 
 
This blog is Katy's story.  She's home now as of May 18th but needs round the clock care.  She was self-employed previously as a massage therapist, a job she will never be able to return to.  She is unable to do the most basic of things for herself or her baby and will likely have astronomical medical bills for many, many years to come.  There's a link to donate to towards those bills should you choose to do so.
 

The blog is maintained by Al and it amazes me just how upbeat he is with each posting!  He, of all people, has the right to be angry and depressed and he may very well be, but he never lets it show through.  He and Katy and their three children have a very long road ahead of them and I wish them well.

Wordless Wednesday - Hands On Edition, Part II

I Am The Freakin' Rice Krispies Treats Queen!!!

source:  bing

I have waaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too much time on my hands sometimes!  I made Rice Krispies Treats a few weeks ago which turned out beyond yummy so today I decided to make them again, only this time with strawberry marshmallows.  And these are even more beyond yummy!  Each bite reminds me that I am THE BOMB.  And then I swallow it and the feeling goes away.  LOL  

Yesterday I went to a fish hatchery.  I'd never been to one before and consequently, had never seen so many fish in one place before!  There was a special section where you could feed them which I liked the best because there were a wide variety of fish all in one place.  The fish food reminded me of dog food, it was the same hard consistency.  I got to see several pelican birds there too which was kind of cool.  Had never seen one before.  The real purpose of the trip was to the go to the alligator farm so we (my parents and I) went a little further down the road and discovered it's closed on Sunday's.  What a disappointment!  I've never seen an alligator in person and although I have no real interest in them, I really wanted to go to the farm for some reason.  So we went to see some waterfalls instead!  They were breathtakingly beautiful and I wish I had a camera with me to capture the moment.  All in all, not a bad way to spend the day.
 
Last night I dreamed I was shaving my legs of all things! I had a bandaid on one leg (I really do!) and was trying to figure out the best way to shave around it without having to remove it. WTF?!

This morning I went to my meeting at the Department of Labor and actually got somewhere this time!  The woman I met with asked me why I was there.  She remembered me from the week before but didn't remember asking me to come back.  I used that to my advantage and told her I was there for information on educational assistance programs which she gave me.  I have to do some research and get back to her but they actually have grants which they use to help pay for education!  I really wish that they would advertise this!  Part of the reason they're even in existence is to help people find a job!  What better way than to help people get the training they need to get a better job and not be a drain on the government?!  They won't pay for all of the training so they encourage you to apply for financial aid too but any little bit will help.  Now I just have to figure out what I want to do, what school I want to go to, what it'll cost and get the info to her.  That's the fun part!    

Question:  Is it just me or is anyone else having issues posting pictures exactly where they want them in their posts?  Mine lately want to seem to always post at the very top of the post.  Every once in awhile something will want to post in the very center.  Soooooooo annoying!

Half Full Friday and Blog of the Week

Another quick week!  How is it possible that life is passing me by so quickly?

Eyegirl's out of town this week so she's not hosting Half Full Friday but I have nothing better to do so I'm still gonna participate.

I'm happy my irises have finally bloomed!

I'm happy I had another interview this week!

I'm happy I got to spend Mother's Day with my mommy!

I'm happy to be guest posting over @ Eyegirl's today!  If you decide to check it out, please forgive the bad grammar.  The Grammar Police were supposed to look it over before sending it but it turns out it was their day off so they didn't do it.  Yeah, a little embarassing!

I'm happy I got the new Stride Gum Mystery Flavor!  I'm kinda diggin' it!

I'm happy I finally got around to mopping my kitchen floor this morning!  It looks so much better now!

My interview was a little intimidating.  Three attorneys stared me down and asked almost nothing!  I'm kind of thinking that this was maybe a pre-interview?  Like a first round of interviews and they'll conduct a second set after meeting everyone and deciding who they liked.  Seriously, this interview did not even last 15 minutes.  I tried to ask a lot of questions to show I'm deseperate for a job interested.  So we'll see...

This week's Blog of the Week is one I found on some random person's sidebar list of blogs they like to read.  The name of it intrigued me because I used to watch Unsolved Mysteries a bazillion years ago and then watched it again with a new host on a new station.

Kidnapping, Murder and Mayhem

The blog originator is Robert Waters, a true crime writer.  He's authored 4 books in addition to writing the blog.  His header pretty much explains it all: 

"The KMM Blog features true crime writer Robert A. Waters’ analysis of cold unsolved cases and commentary about modern and historical crimes. Kidnapping. Murder. Mayhem. They're as old as human history, and as fascinating."

The blog was started in 2008 but I didn't start reading until about a year ago.  It's updated about once a week.  The majority of the posts are murder-related, although some of them are book reviews and some discuss missing person cases.

Most of the posts are by him but he does have a few guest posters whom he gives credit to.  What I find interesting is that not all of the posts are about current events.  Some of them are but some go back as far as the 1950's.  (Some may go back further but that's the oldest that I remember reading.) 

I wanted to help promote this blog in some small way as you never know who might hold the final clue to cracking a case wide open.  Sometimes the smallest detail can provide the lead investigators might be looking for.  You just never know!

2nd Annual Doggone Dog Swap

The deadline has arrived and you should've received your swap partner's information by now.  Please let me know if you haven't gotten it yet and I'll resend it.  Remember, it's coming from a different email address than the one you sent your information to.

Here are the ground rules, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

1. The maximum you can spend before postage is $30.  You don't have to spend that much but you can't spend more than that!

2. You'll need to let me know when you sent your package and when you get yours.  If I discover that you received one but never sent one out, you'll be outted and blacklisted from participating in the future!

3. You must post about the swap once you receive your package.  I want to see what you got!

4. You have until June 12th to get those packages mailed out.  That gives you one full month to go shopping and to get it in the mail.

5. This is the most important rule - HAVE FUN!!!!!

Want to know who else is playing along and who they're partnered with?

Meeko - Meghan  
Amber - Katie

Wordless Wednesday - Hands On Edition, Part I

Monday, Monday

I'm a little sad today.  I just read this post announcing that Digby has passed over the Rainbow Bridge and am having trouble fighting back the tears.  I hadn't been reading for very long but I grew attached quickly, as I tend to do.  My sympathies are with his family.

I went to my appointment with the Department of Labor today and came away very disappointed.  I was under the impression that they had an educational assistance program but all we talked about was what I've done to look for work.  I mentioned that I'd contemplated maybe looking at going to school for medical coding and she said that she knew personally of several people who are in that field and are having trouble finding work.  She also said that a lot of doctors are now doing that kind of thing themselves.  I don't know, I kind of think it's just going to be the same kind of thing the other job assistance place did and that was of no help at all, really.  They looked over my resume, I showed them a list of places I'd applied each week and they just kept encouraging me to continue applying to more places.  It was nice to talk to someone supportive but honestly, I can get that from my mom!

The lady at the Department of Labor asked me to email her my resume (I didn't bring it because I thought we were going to discuss educational opportunities) so when I got home, I sent it to her and asked if I could get some information on the educational programs they offer.  I meet with her again next week.  Hopefully it'll be better and I can get more of the help I'm looking for rather than someone just telling me to keep up the good work and apply, apply, apply.

Thank you to Tiffany, who was kind enough to create a button for my Dog Swap. 

<BR></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://butterfly-wyldechylde.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Doggone Dog Swap @ Wyldechylde" src="http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww127/BenAndLex/Blog%20Graphics/DoggoneSwapbutton1.jpg" /></a><BR></P> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">

Also, thank you to Meeko Fabulous for blogging about the swap. Much appreciated!  There's still time to participate for anyone who is interested!

So that's pretty much everything happening here.

Half Full Friday and Blog of the Week

This week flew by in a blur!  It's a good thing I wrote down all the things I'm happy about for Half Full Friday or I might have missed it!  Seriously, it's like I blinked and the week was over already!

As always, if you want to participate, head on over to Eyegirl's and hang out with Mr. Linky for awhile.

I'm happy my hip is feeling a lot better this week!

I'm happy the seeds I planted have already started to sprout!

I'm happy that my Rice Krispy Treats turned out so yummy!

I'm happy I have an appointment with the Department of Labor to discuss their educational assistance programs next week!

I'm happy I have another job interview scheduled for next week!

I'm happy I finally got some participants at the last minute to join my 2nd Annual Doggone Dog Swap!

I'm glad we didn't get snow this week like some of the other nearby towns in my state did!

For my last Wordless Wednesday, I got some comments that kind of gave me the impression that you might think the deer pictures were from my personal collection.  They were actually taken from an email I got a long time ago.  That's where I get the majority of my Wordless Wednesday pictures from.  If I see a picture I like, I save it and use it later.  I don't have a digital camera (boo!) or you'd be inundated with pix of my chi's every single day!  LOL  Hopefully I can get one someday!

I'm actually looking forward to talking to the Department of Labor about what kind of education assistance programs they have available.  I've been kind of looking into schools a little bit this week and even though I haven't made any final decisions of where to go or what to do, it's been fun!  And a little overwhelming too!  I just wish I knew about the assistance program earlier.  Someone else suggested I look into what else they might have to offer but I didn't because I live in a fairly small town and honestly, I didn't think they'd offer much.  Usually they just refer you to the website and leave it at that.  But I've gotten to be kind of an acquaintance to a guy who works there which has kind of helped work in my favor in that he doesn't seem to be in as much of a rush to get rid of me.

This week's Blog of the Week is actually another website.  I got another email with pictures from this website a couple of days ago and it kind of reminded me of People of Walmart website.  I look at these pictures and sometimes I don't know if I should cringe or laugh!  Or maybe a little bit of both!

Akward Family Photos

I've been receiving emails of pictures from this website on and off for awhile now.  I was too lazy busy to do much research but I found an article from Time which indicates the website is actually only just over a year old! 

This quote comes directly from the article:

It all started a month ago over lunch.  Childhood friends Mike and Doug (who'd rather not divulge their last names) were swapping typically cringeworthy stories about their relatives when it dawned on them:  there's something universal about the awkwardness of family.  And, as Mike recalled thinking, "What better way to show that than through the family photo, something everyone can relate to."  So the men trekked back to Mike's house and began Googling in earnest.  "Doug found the one with the family on the tree.  That was it," Mike wrote in an e-mail from his Los Angeles abode.  "It was so beautifully awkward ... That was the moment we realized there might be something here."  Thus, AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com was born.

Here's the picture that started it all:

I like these too!

Thank You!

Just a quick note to say THANK YOU to Andrea, Tiffany and Katie who have all posted on my 2nd Annual Doggone Dog Swap.  It really meant a lot to me that they'd help me out like that. 

Tiffany posted about it on both of her blogs which you can read here and here.

The date to join has been extended. If you want to participate, you MUST get your information to me no later than May 12th!

Wordless Wednesday

Post #100

I made to it all the way to 100 posts!  Yay me!  Actually, it's probably more like 150 but I deleted a bunch of old posts which I regret doing now.  Some people hold giveaways to celebrate but I'm not going to do that.  Not one single person has signed up for me Second Annual Doggone Dog Swap so I don't know that anyone would be interested in a giveaway either. 

I had interview #6 on Friday which went well.  I was disappointed because the job was advertised as being in one city when it's actually in another city about 20 miles further out which would mean a good 65 mile drive for me each way.  I asked if there was a possibility of starting the job there and then moving to another location in the future (this branch has several locations) that wouldn't be as much of a commute and was told, "This branch is where the position is for!"  So I'm gonna take that as a no!  There were two woman doing the interview and one of them mentioned possible educational opportunities.  I asked if that's something the company would be willing to pay for if I opted to pursue them and this seems to be where the tone of the interview changed.  She said yes, they'd pay but that they wouldn't be willing to pay for someone to take a week long class, for example, on how to do the job because they're looking to hire someone who already pretty much knows what they're doing.  It just seemed to kind of get chilly in there after that.  Not the temperature but the tone.  I don't know, I didn't get a good feeling walking out of there.  Whatever happens, happens.  One of the women conducting the interview had a big hickey on her neck.  Very professional!

My old employer has been advertising for new employees lately.  I'm wondering what happened to the ones she had.  My old boss probably fired them all.  She gets on firing sprees sometimes!  I'm gonna have to get in touch with my gossip contact person from there and find out what's been going on over there!

I actually saw one of my old co-workers yesterday.  She didn't even acknowledge me and there is NO way she couldn't have not seen me.  There were three people that I dreaded seeing from my old job - one was her, one was my asst. manager and the other one is my old manager.  I've seen two of the three now.  The rest of my old co-workers I actually liked, for the most part.  The one I saw yesterday, I'm pretty sure she was a bully in school.  She's not the nicest person so I'm glad she pretended not to notice me. 

I found out that the Department of Labor has an education assistance program last week.  I called and left a voice mail on Friday and called back again this morning.  The lady said she'd have to call me back because she had someone at her desk but she didn't get back to me.  Hopefully she will tomorrow because I'm anxious to feel like I'm finally doing something for my future, whether it's to get another job or go back to school. 

I've decided I'm going to make myself a great big batch of these for dinner this evening to celebrate my 100th post!  And maybe I'll even eat them all in one sitting! 

Don't be jealous, go make your own!