I am Freakin Nervous

You think I wouldn't be because I took my interview class last week and this is the one and only interview that I "studied" for so you think I would be prepared and calm. Nope. I think no matter how prepared you are you are always going to feel apprehension. I was told the interview would be for 30-45 minutes. I have to talk that long and relate my experiences back to what the job is looking for? My brain is going to hurt after! *LOL*

On the plus side I am looking hot. I looked in my closet and didn't have any interview pants...I had a pair of dark brown cords but the were too big and were like mom jeans with a high waist. I commandeered Morna yesterday and I had a fabulous time shopping at Rickie's at West Ed. I have never had a bad experience with them. I think going during the day was better than weekend/evening because there weren't too many people in the store so I basically had a sales lady help me out/be my personal shopper the whole time I was there. She would make me try on different pants and different sizes and see what I liked best and go from there. I walked away with fabulous black dress pants and a beautiful emerald green top to wear today. When I get the job I'll go back and buy another pair of dress pants that I liked as well.

Anyways, wish me luck!

Say What?

So I locked my blog because I wanted to try to make changes to it...I tried and failed (as you can see it looks the same as before). Oh well. Someday I will be come adept in blog code and photoshop. Someday...

I've got some good news! I have my first (finally) interview from all the resumes I've sent. Woo hoo! It is for a position at NAIT. They called me yesterday and wanted to interview me on Monday the 9th but I will be in Mexico. I asked the HR lady that called me if I could come in earlier and she said she would have to find out. I spent the next few hours kicking myself in the butt because I didn't know if she would call me back with an earlier time or right then and there remove me from the candidate pile because I couldn't make the scheduled interview date. Obviously they did call me back because I'm going for an interview tomorrow at 1pm! I haven't yet started to be nervous. Last week at the career transition place I attended a interview technique class so I actually feel pretty confident in what I have to offer and what I can say. On my list of things to do today is do some more research on NAIT and the department I applied for and practice some more with interview questions I might be asked. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much about getting the job, right now I am trying to just be happy that I finally got a nibble on a resume and I don't feel like such a failure (it is kinda a blow to the self esteem to first get laid off and then to not have anyone call you for an interview). Now I can head off to Mexico next week not feeling like I'm wasting a week of job searching while I am away.

And The Saga Continues

So, they "lost" my paperwork. Lovely. They are processing my ROE today and I should get all the money (or the rest of what they owe me) on Friday. Now because of their screw up, I gotta make sure that all the information they gave to EI and what I gave jive. EI is pretty particular and I don't want to get into trouble!

Onto happier things:

- I applied for 3 jobs today! I applied for a couple last week too. I hope I get a phone call back soon. Every time my phone rings and I don't recognize the number I get a little excited.

- A and I saw Whip It last Monday. Going to a afternoon movie on a holiday is nice. It wasn't super busy and there weren't many people in the theatre. It was a good movie. I enjoyed it.

- I met up with Lisa S on Tuesday at TM to scrapbook. The scanner isn't working and I haven't taken pictures of my layouts yet to share. Sometime. I mean really, I've got time on my hands...

- Started tanning last week. So far so good. No rash or burn or anything. I'm keeping it at super small amounts so nothing will happen. I've done 14 minutes so far and I can already see a tan line. But really I am so pale already I would hope it wouldn't take forever to see results!

- I'm feeling kinda crafty today. Christmas crafty. Haven't managed to get anything done (the whole looking and applying for jobs thing) but I'm going to make some room this week and get projects that I didn't get done last year started (Hello Christmas Countdown Calendar).

- I got my haircut on Friday. It was so long and thick I was almost at the point of chopping it off myself. The only thing I hate is I get a haircut I like and you can never duplicate it. It is always a bit different each time.

- Had to go to Ikea twice this weekend. Saturday was to pick up a bookcase for A's parents and on Sunday it was to return it and get a new one (it's hard to explain what happened but they cut a groove for the back piece of the bookcase to high up and it was really visible). I know Ikea is cheap (well, cheaper than "real" furniture) but we have had some problems with other stuff before so I don't think I will be buying any big purchases or furniture from them any time soon. I'm going to do what my friend Gail Vox-Oxlade from Till Debt Do Us Part recommends and to save up and buy a nice piece of furniture something super nice that will last forever. Yes, that might mean my future house starts off pretty barren but it will be worth it in the end.

Are You Kidding Me?

So last week I had a question about my first EI claim so I called them. During the phone conversation I learned that they had not received my Record of Employment (ROE) from Suncor yet. All Suncor told me in their polite we don't need you anymore letter was that there were going to electronically send my ROE in. I called them today and I told them EI didn't have my ROE yet the guy asked for my name and employee number. He looked me up in the system and according to what his computer pulled up it still showed that I was on the payroll. Huh? Yeah, I've gotten some money deposited into my account by I thought it was my pay in lieu and vacation pay out (because it wasn't my regular amount I had always gotten). So he said he would investigate further and call me back. He calls me back a couple hours later and it turns out, according to what he could find out, that they got me mixed up with another employee or something and that I had not been processed yet. So I re-sent this guy my signed paperwork I sent way back on September 17 (!) that thankfully I had saved so I forwarded it on so he can see when I originally sent it in. According to Employment Standards I should have been paid what was owing to me within 3 days. It has now officially been one month. I called EI and they are putting in a request on my behalf and sending it to Suncor telling them to get me my ROE asap. From what I gather there isn't a "fine" that Suncor can get because they screwed up and have not sent my ROE in in a timely manner. Arg! Right now I am pissed. My voice is raw because I've been on the phone to employment standards and EI and my parents all afternoon. At this moment I am so pissed I was to hire an evil lawyer and sue someones ass off. On top of losing my job I now have to deal with this. Thank goodness I am not hard off and am not hurting and needed the money yesterday. But I really would just rather get it over and done with and move on.

Say What?

Just because I am unemployed does not mean my time is not valuable. I want to tattoo that on my forehead or make a big bill board poster and wear it around everywhere. I hate when I show up to an appointment and the other person is running late. How disrespectful! I made the effort to make it in on time, they should too. I'm having problems with the career transition people Suncor set me up with:
- My first appointment the lady I was to see double booked so thankfully I was able to see another consultant person and she was able to give me the this is what we do/offer speech.
- My second appointment she didn't double book me but was almost 20 minutes late and I didn't even see her for 30 minutes (appointments are usually an hour long).
- On my third appoint yesterday she was about 5 minutes late but I spent almost 2 hours with her going over results of a preference test that she got me to take and making up some cover letters for some jobs I wanted to apply for. Between my second and third appointment she was going to take a look at my resume and email me suggestions on how she thought I could change it. She never did email it to me but I got my "revised" resume yesterday. She didn't do anything with it! Well, except make some formatting changes that I thought were stupid and ugly (and if you are going to make formatting changes, make sure you format everything so everything is unified! (my anal side kicking in here)). One part of me is glad she didn't make too many changes on my resume, I worked damn hard on in last year. I got books from the library and researched online.
- and today I went in to speak with their financial guy to talk about investing and money and severance and all that jazz. He was 25 minutes late! I was a little snarky with him when my appointment finally started. And really after listening to him talk it was a big waste of time anyways. I already knew what he told me. Although he did give me some companies that I should research that might be a good place to get a job at.

So, I'm kinda in the mood that once a) I find a job and don't need them anymore or b) my 3 months free with them are up, I am going to write the company a politely worded email about tardiness. I will admit that my lady did help me out a lot with the cover letter writing yesterday(I suck at it!) and they have given me ideas/directions on where I want to go with my "career" but being late is one of my big pet peeves. Like I would ever be late for an interview! You can kiss that job goodbye.

Oh, another pet peeve is elevators. Please please please wait for people to get off the elevator until you try to get on. Enough said.

*ETA: I know not everyone is perfect and I have been known to be late before, but I really try hard not to be and if you a running a business you should try hard not to be either. Last week I was running late (I missed the LRT) for my shot appointment so I called them up and let them know. That's all it takes. Some consideration. Rant over. You may go back to you regular viewing program *grin*

What day is it?

You would think that since I don't have a job that I would be blogging all the time. Like five times a day with boring nothing to say posts like about what I ate for breakfast or something. I don't really have an "excuse" as to why my blogging has come to a screeching halt...I mean I'm on the computer all the time surfing the net and heck sometimes even looking for a new job *grin* The condo is super clean and A is getting lucky and getting home cooked yummy meals for dinner ready for him when he walks in the door after work. The days go by oh so slowly though! I am sorta trying to keep a schedule-ish but there is only so much I can do at home (I don't want to go out because I might spend money and without a job that isn't the best idea). I haven't been doing too much scrapbooking either because I feel uninspired (and I need to print off pictures but to do that I need money - hence a vicious cycle is created).

Anyways, A and I have been keeping it low key and staying in. Friday we watched the premier episode of Stargate Universe...some of us were more excited than others (*coughAcough*). On Saturday (what a gloomy gloomy day) we did a road trip out to Mundare and picked up some Mundare sausage and then on the way home stopped by the non ghetto Walmart in Fort Saskatchewan to pick up some groceries where I ran into Kara. Saturday night friends had a dinner at their new house that we attended. Sunday A and I headed over to Telus World of Science and caught a Imax film. We have yearly membership so it was only $7 to go watch Wild Oceans. We also caught a free movie in the Margaret Zeidler theater.

This week is another appointment with the career transition lady (we'll see how it goes because she has been pretty flakey so far and if I was paying for her services I would not be impressed at all). I'm hanging out with Morna on Thursday for a bit and on Friday I have a doctor's appointment - I have to speak to him about the sun and Mexico (and if going to a tanning bed before is a good idea). Then it is Thanksgiving weekend: dinner on Saturday with A's family and Sunday with mine. Pretty dull-ish but you know just chilling until I get that super fabulous job that will keep me super busy and pay me lots and lots of money *grin*

A Little of This, A Little of That

So much to say so bear with me as this is going to be a LONG post (you can just scroll down to see pictures if you want).

Tonight I went to my/John's going away party at Average Joe's in Sherwood Park. Originally it was just supposed to be for John as he is going away to Australia for 6weeks to play lawn bowling and since he is/was a contractor they just told him to not worry about coming back. After what happened last week, it became a joint party. I have never been to a going away party for other people I worked with and if I were still employed I probably wouldn't have gone to John's but I kinda felt obligated to go to my own *grin* and after the whole craziness of my leaving and me being upset I thought it would be good to see everyone on more happy terms.

I'll admit it was nice to get out and see everyone even though I was/am bitter/angry/upset still about everything that happened. They are all still employed (even though it has become a crappy place to work and once all the work is done they are probably all done soon after) and I'm not. I got some nice Petro-Canada gear (a bag, a notebook, a cup) that I joked I would go home and do a ritual burning of *smile* I was able to get a couple more contacts and peoples cards. Oh, I can't forget that I could barely squeeze my head out the door as I was leaving because everyone kept saying nice things to me *grin* It was really nice to hear though because of what happened last week I was feeling down about myself. To use Lisa K's word, I have being feeling glum. Glum, glum, glum. I know people keep saying "bigger and better things" and I know it can/will happen but right now it isn't just what I want to hear. That is what was nice being in Victoria, my friend Lisa is in the exact same boat and knew what I was feeling and we did a lot of talking about where we wanted to go/what we wanted to do.

Today I went to the career transition person. I am able to use their services for 90 days so I'm going to do just that. Today's appointment was just an introduction into what they offer and next Tuesday I'll be meeting with them to go over my resume. I will also meet with an accountant to talk about what to do with my severance (no matter how pitiful it is) and how to live on reduced income etc. I figured why the heck not. They talked about what I want to do/where I want to go so I have some thinking to do. I could go back into a job just like I had before but sometimes it was boring and there is obviously no room for growth. I could go back to school. I could take my severance and head to Australia or Italy for a few weeks. I could just take it easy for a while to figure everything out. Thankfully A and I didn't buy that house and while not having any "real" money coming in I don't need to make any decisions right away.

On to happier things. My trip to Victoria was just absolute perfect timing. Originally I went to visit my friend Lisa because she was having a crappy time but it ended up working out great for me. I was able to get away and take my mind off things. Lisa and I did a lot of talking about what we wanted and all the different options available to us. We both agreed we didn't want to settle. Victoria was GORGEOUS the whole time I was there. Blue skies without a cloud in site. Beautiful. This prairie girl is totally and completely fascinated with all the water everywhere and ferries and all that jazz. When we went to the beach one afternoon I was like a kid looking at the water and all the shells and weird clam shell things that burrowed into the sand when the tide was out and watching the tide come in.

Friday I landed around 1pm and Lisa and I went back to her apartment to chill. Sad thing is that her apartment is bigger than the condo. She lives in an older place downtown just blocks away from the harbor! We hung out at her place for a while then we went out and did some errands and bought some groceries. We came back and ordered pizza and took a walk to pick it up. We spent the night just chilling.

Saturday we took a ferry to Salt Springs Island. On Saturday's they have a Farmer's Market and on the Saturday we went there was a Fall Festival going on. The Farmer's Market was okay. A lot of overpriced stuff. I bought an apricot coconut ball and then Lisa and I tired a peach shortbread cupcake thing. The apricot coconut ball was good but you couldn't really taste the coconut. The peach cupcake thing was all right. Not very sweet and a nice texture but you could tell they used canned peaches. The Fall Festival was neat. A lot of cool things for little people to do like tractors to sit on and zucchini races (don't ask me what that is!). Lisa and I ended up waiting a long time to get some Henna done. I really like how mine turned out.

The ferry full of cars:

On Sunday we headed out Coombs (Goats on the Roof). On the way we stopped in Nanaimo and we picked up my friend Jenny who took the ferry over from Vancouver. It was super awesome she could come over and that we got to hang out together. We stopped at the Country Market and it is amazing! So much cool food/trinkets to look at and buy that are fairly cheap too. We ended up each buying little things from the bakery for lunch. I tried a mild chicken and a spicy beef pastry roll thing. They were just okay. I was kinda disappointed. For dessert I got an apple tart thing. Of course I tasted what Lisa and Jenny bought. Lisa had a veggie samosa and this cool yummy chicken salad stuffed into a head of lettuce. Jenny tried a thin crust pita with feta, tomato and spinach pizza thing. Super duper yummy! If we were heading home right away I would have picked one up for the next day but we weren't and I didn't really want it to be sitting the hot car all the rest of the afternoon.

We checked out all the shops around and then we went back to buy some yummy goodies. I bought a chocolate strawberry concoction covered in white chocolate and decorated to look like a mouse. I had one similar last time I was there. It was super sweet and yummy. I also bought an almond/cherry tart. I didn't eat that till the next day and if I would have know it would be so yummy I would have bought like 3000 of them! Not to sweet but super yummy.

Rubbing the Buddha for some good luck:

My yummy mouse:

My yummy yummy yummy almond/cherry tart:

Lisa and her ginormous ice cream:

Jenny modeling the bag we each bought:

After our shopping we stopped at the beach. I was a little freaked at the crunching of shells walking across the beach and those weird shell things that burrowed into the sand. We took some goofy pictures and the tide started to come in quickly. Prairie girl me was enthralled by the bubbles like a glass of pop happening when water crept up the beach.

Me jumping for joy (I have a lot of out takes!):

Me and Lisa:

Me posing:

Me and Jenny:

Monday Lisa had some appointments to go to so I had the day to myself. I walked to the harbour and spent a couple hours sitting on a bench reading a book. I also walked up and down and spent a bit of money at some of the vendor booths (I picked up some Christmas gifts for people). It was another gorgeous day and just super relaxing.

Tuesday, my last day *tear* was another gorgeous day. Lisa and I had lunch at the Macaroni Grill - yum yum! I tried the trio platter with lasagna, chicken parmigiana, and chicken cannoli. Then Lisa and I met up with her mom who I hadn't seen since they moved like 15 years ago and took the mini harbour tour and got to see float planes land and take off and take a closer look at the floating houses.

Rita (Lisa's mom), myself & Lisa (and some random boat driver) in front of our cute little boat:

Plane landing:

A floating house:

I came home late Tuesday night to the news they want to build a homeless shelter down the block from us. Next to the liquor store and bar. Yeah...here I thought they were trying to upgrade the neighborhood - expanding the road and building new condos near the LRT station and they want to build a homeless shelter. Cause we don't already have problems with riff raff. Arg. Life is loverly.