Another rejection

I got another email from West Valley Hospital that the position has been filled. This for the day shift as a Financial Counselor. I would have been interviewed by the same people, so I guess they just didn't like me. Disappointing, especially since I am over-qualified for any other position that I can apply for there, and they will use THAT as a reason not to hire me. I wonder what I did wrong.

Podcasts

I have just been going crazy listening to podcasts since I discovered downloading them to my computer and listening whenever I am home alone. I listen to Flylady and all her friends; I listen to Jonathan Roche for moral support on exercising; I listen to several knitting podcasts, several environmental ones, and just today I discovered a couple of quilting podcasts. A whole new world.
It has definitely cut into my NPR listening time though. I only get to listen to the radio when I am home alone anyway, so with the podcasts taking up that time I only hear news when I am in the car-again, alone.

Multi-tasking, NOT

I never was that coordinated, although I didn't really know it until I married Bill and he of course had to tell me over and over until it had obviously penetrated. Lots of things I never knew until he told me, but that is the subject for another entry.
Since I had started doing my Interval Training walks I have realized that I can barely walk and even THINK at the same time anymore. If I get to thinking too much, I fall down. I can partially blame this on the condition of my walking routes(very up and down), and partially on the fibromyalgia (causes increased incoordination), and partially on advancing age. But hell, it doesn't matter WHAT I can blame it on; it is very annoying to have to keep your mind on your feet in order to stay upright.
I have always complained about Bill refusing to keep walking while he talks, since that makes walks with him very, very slow (he talks a lot), and said jokingly that it was because he isn't very good at multi-tasking. But gosh, I didn't REALLY think that walking and talking at the same time IS multi-tasking. I guess I do now, especially since I realize that, for me at least, walking and thinking are multi-tasking.
This makes it even more important that I continue to exercise and lose weight, as I would be much less likely to get hurt if I fall down at a lighter weight.

Poor Robin

 


Poor little Robin has become incontinent on her latest round of prednisone for her eye inflammation. I phoned the eye vet to see if there is anything else she can take instead, but the vet said to go ahead and take her off of the pred and bring her in on the 16th as planned. I read about a drug called Medrol in the Pet Allergies book but I didn't mention it to the vet, as I want to investigate it myself first.
It did take us a few days to determine what was causing the incontinence, as we sponged Robin off and then dried her butt several times a day. We never said she was bad or anything; it was obvious she was leaking, and she continued to go potty outside like normal, but she was still sad and embarrassed about her wet butt. I only made her wear the underpants for a short time because they only kept the wetness against her. The floor wetness is easily mopped; I bless these brick floors constantly. I can't imagine why anybody would ever have carpeting.

NOT

I didn't get the job. They sent me an email that the position has been filled. I went and looked at the website, and they still have 2 day positions open, but no swing or the one I wanted. Darn.

AJ in AZ March socks


Here are a pair I made from leftover sock yarns, carrying them around in my purse to work on at odd moments. 2 on 2 circs, and I just worked from both ends of each little ball of yarn until it was gone. Its a simple generic rib pattern, so I didn't have to carry an instruction sheet with me too.

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Full-time work

I applied for a position in the admitting department at a local hospital, and had an interview a couple of days ago. When I filled out the online application, I somehow had the idea that I was applying for a 32-hour position, but research since then shows that the 32 hours was at a different hospital, and that one didn't call me for an interview. Anyway, I didn't think I was prepared to work a 40 hour week yet, or even ever. After all, my COBRA insurance doesn't run out for nearly a year.
But guess what, I was really impressed with the people, the place, and the job I was interviewed for. And ONE position has the most ideal hours I can imagine to ease me back into the full-time world. The hours of 11 AM to 7:30 PM would be just about ideal. You have the mornings pretty free, especially in the summer when we get up extra early, and you get off early enough to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I want that job, but the director says one of the persons already there is considering it. SHe works swing now and may want to transfer. The director asked if I would work swing full-time, and I said no, I didn't think we would love each other on that shift. So it mostly hinges on that other person, because I think the interview went extremely well. They have peer interviewing, which is SUCH a good idea. It prevents the situation of immediate hatred by one or more co-workers when you get hired, and seems like it would really ramp up everyone's interest in peaceful co-existence.
I did just start another block clerk job on Thursday, at the auto auction where DH used to work, and it was fun. 2 days at one and 1 day at another is ideal working days, but neither of them are likely to ever evolve into something with benefits. With 10 more years before I qualify for Medicare, I want something that I can count on supporting me.
ANd the money at the hospital job will be very good. 15 years experience in health care jobs, even though it ended 8 years ago, would get me a nice wage. I hope I am chosen.

Long time no write

The same excuse applies as always, I've been busy.  So has everybody else, but it doesn't stop YOU from writing, does it.

 

The job is still lots of fun but it is beginning to look like I will have to go get a real job and make some real money soon.  Actually, people are leaving the auction in droves as it becomes increasingly clear that raises are not forthcoming, even to the people who have been there since Day 1, in December of 2006. 

  I've only been there 6 months, but am beginning to look around and fill out some applications elsewhere.  I can keep my COBRA insurance till the end of this year, so I COULD take another part-time job somewhere, but would do better to get a 32 hour job at one of the hospitals within driving distance so I can have benefits and make enough money to pay for those benefits and still pay my bills.  That is not happening at the auto auction.

  Sale day gets me $100 flat fee but the other days are a miserable, miserly $7.25 per hour.  I even put in an application at the auction where Bill used to work, as they at least get yearly raises.  I don't know how eager they will be to hire me, though.  Kellie says she has openings, but she is afraid to fill them.  With things slowing down so much, she doesn't want to have to lay off the people she last hired, but they do need people on their sale day.  I may end up working on sale day at 2 auctions, for a while anyway.

  Don't get me wrong, we are doing OK; I just want a bit more reward for my efforts.

  The weather is wonderful lately. We got enough rain early this year to green everything up, and we may even get wolfberries on the lyceum bushes this year, for the first time since 2003.  Its already getting hot, though still quite chilly at night. 

  My baby chicks are 3 weeks old today and we keep the heat lamp on at night for them.  They are healthy and happy, and the hens are all starting to increase the number of eggs they lay, so I have plenty of eggs to sell, even at $4 per dozen.  I tried to stop selling them to the gals in my dentist's office, but they wouldn't have it.  So I increased the price by $1 per dozen to make it worth my while to go up there, and we made some other arrangements for when I have to work late every time I come to town.

  Sam doesn't show any Valley Fever symptoms, and it is only one more month till we do a blood titer.  It would be wonderful if he could discontinue medication then, but we won't push it.  At least he gets treated by the local vet and the cost is reasonable.  Robin has had to go to the  canine ophthalmologist again, and sure enough, she has a staph infection in her eyes.  Poor baby also has corneal dystocia, which is calcium or cholesterol deposits on her eyes.  We have put them both on a grain-free diet, and they feel great with less poop, and Robin doesn't itch so much.  I am not giving her an antihistamine anymore, but that is because she is on prednisone for the eyes.  We'll see how it goes when she is off the pred.

  The darn assessor jacked up our Full Cash Value from $150k to over $400k for 2009.  This is in a period when 94% of people had their FCVs lowered.  I guess the assessor needed to make it up with us!!  Anyway, we have engaged a property tax professional to try and get it lowered.  We don't pay unless he succeeds, so all we can do now is wait and hope. We can't freeze the value for 3 more years, when Bill turns 65.

Love, AJ

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"Wake Up & Smell The Rebate - Don't Buy It - www.SimpleLiving.net".

 

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February Socks

Here are my boring boring February socks, but those are the only kind my DH likes. The pattern is from the Nancy Bush book, Knitting Vintage Socks, and it is called the Madder Rib. I forget what kind of yarn, but I did 2 on 2 circs, sz 1 US.

Amazing Aussie temperaments

I was reminded again this morning of what wonderful temperaments our Aussies have.  My toy girl, Robin, stepped on a branch of pencil cactus (the kind with needles for thorns) brought in by the wind last night, and she stopped, just like that.  She is used to stepping on cactus periodically and she usually just waits with her foot up until somebody comes to pull it out.    

Well, this one was bigger and deeper than ever before.  She began to cry when I pulled off the big piece, but didn't try to get away or bite me, just cried.  I thought that was it, so I walked away.  She stayed still, with her paw up, so I went back and found another long thorn deeply in her pad.  I pulled it out and it began to bleed.  Again I walked away but she didn't.  One more time, and there was a long white thorn hidden in her hairy cannon bone (I forget what its called on dogs) She wanted to get away but didn't, although she did cry while I got hold of it.  I wanted to cry too.  As soon as I got that one out, she began to bounce around and lick me like I was the one hurt.  Gosh, I do love that dog!

 

AJ in AZ
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"Wake Up & Smell The Rebate - Don't Buy It - www.SimpleLiving.net".

Broomhuggers » Phthalates do affect us, says the American Academy of Pediatrics

 

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Quilting in the Desert

I attended 2 classes at QID in the last week. It is held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the classes are at Ottawa University, very handy to I-17 for commuters. Thursday I sewed at Sue Nickels class, Stitched Raw Edge Applique, and practiced her machine applique method. I think I will be using this method most of the time from now on, and Sue is a great teacher and a very nice person too. My block is less than 1/4 stitched, but I did finish the fusing on Friday and will stitch it as soon as I finish the hearts I have at the machine now.
Then on Saturday I attended Cristy Finchers class Suzie-Q, which is a large black-eyed susan using Sharon Schamber's(Cristy's mother)Piece-lique method. It is fiddly, for sure, but worth it if you are making something one-of-a-kind. I sure wouldn't want to do it if I was making 100 blocks! But look at what I made! DH asked what I am going to do with it, but I have no idea. Its enough right now to hang it up until I am ready to stitch it. It is just all glued together right now, as I somehow managed to lose my sewing machine power cord between Thursday and Saturday.
When I unpacked on Saturday, I just figured I had left it at home since I had to unpack and repack before the Sat class, but looked when I got home last night and its not here either. I must have left it Thursday at the first class. I will email Audrey to see if anybody turned it it, but I don't have much hope of getting it back. It shouldn't be too hard to find another (famous last words), but darn I hate losing stuff that way.

No surprise here. Try it yourself at home.

You are a Hippie

You are a total hippie. While you may not wear birks or smell of incense, you have the soul of a hippie. You don't trust authority, and you do as you please. You're willing to take a stand, even when what you believe isn't popular. You like to experiment with ideas, lifestyles, and different subcultures. You always gravitate toward what's radical and subversive. Normal, mainstream culture doesn't really resonate with you.

Are You a Hippie?

January socks


I really need to get a pair of sock blockers. These look very different on. I started with a published free pattern, then switched to a ribbing pattern because I wanted to work on these socks at work and can't be looking at a pattern all the time. The yarn is Tofutsies, from a Sock Club offering several months back, and I used HiyaHiya sx00 circs, 2 socks on 2 circs. I love the Tofutsies yarn and the yardage is incredible. I probably have enough left for 2/3 of another pair.


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Nasty cold

I am off from work today for my first ever sick day.  I could probably have gone, but just don't think I should be riding around in the bus coughing and sneezing to make everyone else sick.  After all, that is the way I got it and it pisses me off.  I haven't had a real bad cold for several years, and it has surely been because I have stayed out of crowds in cold season, actually pretty much anytime.  But those days are gone, as I have to earn money and good part-time jobs are hard to find.

Its raining off and on all day today also, and I can just imagine what the freeways are like, so I'm glad to be home. 

 

/

Thank you!

Why have people stopped saying "Thank you" to each other?  I'm not just talking about people who don't know any better.  I'm talking about people who WERE brought up to write thank you notes or at least make a phone call when they receive a gift.  Its gotten to where we are even grateful for the occasional email that casually refers to the gift, as that is the best we will ever get.

I rant about this periodically as I have found it to be the case even in my own family.  I can't pretend that it is only  strangers that completely ignore what we oldsters regard as the common courtesies.

Why do I bring this up now?  My MIL and I were talking just before Christmas, and she asked me what she could do about not receiving any thank yous or even acknowledgements of some very "nice" birthday checks she had sent to one of her grandchildren and his wife.  I (not flippantly at all, but wearily) said that she would probably just have to get used to it.  My solution has been to stop sending gifts rather than fret over whether the giftee even received the item.  If I have to know, I send a stamped self-addressed postcard in the package saying that it arrived safely.  Actually, that has gotten me some thank you emails for later gifts.  DH was horrified when I told him I had done that, but then he wasn't the one getting gut-aches from fretting about it.  My own niece has never even acknowledged her wedding gift, a quilt I designed and made myself in her wedding colors, although her mother said she liked it.

Excuse, everybody's busy.  Sure they are, but so is everybody else, and so has everybody always been busy.  People choose not to observe the courtesies or they choose to, no excuses.

I jumped all over one of my SILs because her kids graduated from high school before I even saw an example of their handwriting (as in a thank you note), but she was unapologetic.  She says she just does it for them, and that they will send a note if they REALLY like the gift.  And its true, they both did send notes for their graduation quilts.  But she doesn't seem to care that they have not developed any foundation for thanking.  Perhaps these values are obsolete; my DH says they are.

I don't even give handmade gifts to most people anymore, as they are not valued.  If they were valued, surely they would thank the maker.  I would love to knit socks for my grandchildren, but I have never ever heard from anyone that such gifts are wanted or appreciated.  I doubt if they even know such a thing as writing a thank you note exists.

I'd better quit.  Just getting myself all depressed.  I'll pet the dogs.  THEY are lovingly grateful for even a pat on the head, and feeding them calls for paroxysms of joy.  That'll do.

Desert Dog

Imagine if you will, my 13 pound Robin trying to keep all her feet off the wet ground and still go pee. DH came indoors laughing hysterically after taking her out. The only reason she consented to go out at ALL is that it was raining last night, so she hadn't gone since yesterday afternoon. When you make her go out when its wet, she stands on the stoop rug and waits and waits, picking up each foot in turn to try and keep it dry, until you and Sam come back and you can all go inside.

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Lazy day, NOT

I seem to end up working at something nonstop whenever I am home alone now, instead of being able to take some time to just laze around and enjoy being alone. I know why; its because I get so far behind with Bill home so much. I don't know why he can't schedule his days to visit his girlfriend on days I am home instead of going there on the same days I work at the auction. It is irritating, although I suppose I should be touched that he wants to spend the time with me. The problem is that he feels my time is his to dispose of but his time is also his. So I never get to do anything I want to do, and especially on the computer or sewing machine. He thinks it is his duty to keep me from spending too much time in the studio, and he thinks more than an hour per day is too much time. So, I have many other things to do today and I'd better go do them.
Robin is doing pretty well. THe vet says she does have a nice deep groove on her patella, so the trick is to put it back whenever it does out, and give her RImadyl to control inflammation. It does seem to work, and hopefully she will outgrow the slipping patella. Anyway, its not near bad enough to require surgery, yet.