Wishful Predicting

As I have mentioned previously, I get my horoscope delivered via text message to my phone every morning at 7:00 a.m. There are a few days when I have not received it, which of course leaves me to wonder if that's a sign I should be concerned with. As if the universe decided it wasn't worth the trouble to predict my day ahead.

I should tell you that I don't build my life around these 'scopes. If they come true it's fun to think "Wow!" or "Ooooohhhhh!" (insert spooky music here) but most days I delete them as fast as I read them. This morning's was a keeper. It said:

"You have to find work. If you get offered a job, take it. You can always quit if it doesn't suit you."

Right away I thought "Hmmm . . . interesting . . . and then - but it's Saturday so I doubt any job offers will come rolling in."

Then I thought, wait a minute, shouldn't this have been my horoscope at the end of May:
a) When I did have to find work
b) When I did get offered a job
c) When I took it
d) skip quit for now
and
e) It doesn't suit me.

Four out of five is great odds isn't it? It would be five out of five if financially we were in a position that I could quit. If wishing were hoping and all that.

Maybe tomorrow's horoscope will simply read:

"You will win the lottery today. You can quit".

How sad that I'm more focused on being able to quit than winning the lottery?

Mighty Fondant Of My Profession

My husband and I like to watch some of the shows on TLC, such as Cake Boss, and right now we are watching a show called "Fabulous Cakes" with this episode featuring bakeries in Philadelphia.

These bakers, who are really artists, do amazing things with cakes and icing. And they all do it with a passion and an incredible love for their craft.

I have passion. I have a love of my profession (current position excepted). Like these people, I want to use my creativity, experience and skill to do something special. Do something cool. And I'm not sugar-coating it either.

I want to believe that an opportunity for me will arise like a cake in the oven.

There have been several new jobs posted over the last week that are the perfect confection for me.

Thank you and I'm here all week. Actually, I'm here everyday. Don't forget to tip your waitress and pastry chefs . . .

July 27th

Yesterday was a milestone date for me. July 27th, 2007 was the last day I worked at the job I lost when my company shut down. I knew it was coming as July sped by and I must admit it came and went with little fanfare. I acknowledged it to a few friends and life went on.

I realize now, a day later, that the reason it went by so uneventfully was not because I have a new job but because I am so caught up in survival mode that anything more than a nod to July 27th would have exhausted necessary energy to stay afloat in this Titanic of a job I find myself in.

Today is 8 weeks since I started the new job. My life has not been my own since then. I am on the road 70% of the time and when I am home I am on call 24/7, accountable to the whims and "strategy" of the clueless and disrespectful. (Whether "clueless" or "disrespectful" is worse is a whole blog entry unto itself.) I have no time to look for a new job and if I had the time, my exhausted self would not be at its best.

July 27th. What will my new unforgettable date be? The day I finally return to my career and my professional fulfillment with the balance of my personal life. I drove out of that parking lot on July 27th, 2007, and in the grand highway that is my life, I have been driving an endless road trip ever since.

I am out of gas Friends. I am at the side of the road, backpack in hand, thumb out. Someone pick me up will you? Take me where I'm supposed to be. Because broken down on the side of the road is not my destination. I'm as sure of this as I am that July 27th will roll around again next year.

Dear VISITPHILLY.COM:

I grew up and still live 40 miles outside of Philadelphia. Everyone in my family but me was born in Philadelphia. I visited frequently as a child and continue to do so as an adult.


I LOVE:

Ben Franklin, Ralph Archbold, Franklin Court, Elfreth's Alley (I go to Deck The Alley every December), Campo's Cheesesteaks, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Philadelphia Phanatic, Harry Kalas, the Art Museum, the Mutter Museum, the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia Zoo, the National Constitution Center (I can recite the Preamble to the Constitution), the Broad Street Run, the Falls Bridge, East Falls, Grace Kelly, Boathouse Row, City Hall (what a phenomenal display of architecture), the Spectrum, Reading Terminal Market, Bassetts Ice Cream, Betsy Ross House, Christ Church, Fairmount Park, South Street, Pat's and Geno's, the view from the upper floors of the Loews hotel, Penn's Landing, The Duck (I am so sorry for the tragedy but hope it returns), the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Rocky, Gimbels, Lit Brothers, the Enchanted Village, the John Wanamaker Christmas Light Show, "Meet Me At The Eagle", the Fourth of July Parade, local news coverage when it snows and I love that AMERICA STARTED HERE.

I also love to write.

Give me a call. Let me share my love of this city with the rest of the world.

Living It Up In the Hotel Calif . . . Wait . . . Where Am I?

I am on the road so much any more that I am basically living out of a suitcase and not knowing what town I am in on any given day.

I am living the life of a rock star.

Without the pimped out bus.

Without the guitar.

Without the groupies.

Without the sex.

Without the drugs.

Without the rock and roll.

Turns out I am NOT a rock star.

But I am Living On A Prayer.

And working on being Comfortably Numb.

Squish

I knew something was up when I heard the sound of a jet engine coming from the OTHER side of my hotel room door as I returned "home" tonight after another long, stressful day in this I'm-already-over-it-after-7-weeks job.

I opened the door and the picture above is what I saw . . . and HEARD.

I am not overly concerned with germs in my hotel rooms simply due to the fact that I try not to think about it. But the other day in the car ride to our destination for the week everyone was talking about it so last night I had socks on in my room and walked through a puddle in the rug outside the bathroom. The same thing occurred in my walk-in closet.

I am only here for 2 nights so I didn't want to make a fuss last night but this morning, before my all-day event, I stopped at the front desk to let them know. The industrial strength fan was what greeted me tonight when I entered the room.

I called the front desk and asked them to remove the jet engine fan and when I returned from a quick dinner, it was gone.

The puddles, I am sorry to say, were not.

More wet socks.

My Sources Say Yes

I was sitting watching TV last night, doing the job search on my company laptop (tee hee, tee hee) and I was finding no job opportunities. There have been no positions for several weeks now and it continues to be so frustrating and so discouraging. I was thinking how I wish I had a Magic 8 Ball like I did as a kid. I could ask it anything and find out what my future holds.

Then I realized it's 2010 and there has to be a "virtual" Magic 8 Ball and sure enough there is. It's not the same thing as holding my future in my hand, feeling the purple liquid inside slosh around as the magic dice revealed my fate, but it's pretty cool!

Of course the first thing I asked was "Will I find a great job I love?" and it said "Definitely". Woo-Hoo!

Got something you want to know? Click HERE to find the answer to all your questions.

I Can See Clearly Now, The Blur Is Gone . . .

Finally, the day has arrived. I got new contacts last night! You may be thinking: "Calm down, Sister Rain! It's not like you won the lottery."

Oh, but I have. I've reached that age (and for those of you who have reached it also you will understand and for those of you who haven't, I am sticking my tongue out at you) where the vision has begun to change and decline. I have worn glasses for distance since I was in 8th grade and over the last 2 years I have had to take them off to read something up close. I remember seeing my elders do that when I was younger and thinking it was both funny and strange. Aren't your glasses supposed to help you see? Well, yes, younger Sister Rain, they are. But something happens in nature when you turn that age and your eyes really are the first to go.

I was not able to be covered by my husband's insurance but now I have my own and I went to the eye doctor after a 3-year-sabbatical and today I got my first pair of bifocal contact lenses.

I am having a little trouble with the right one so if you pass me on the street and I'm winking at you, I'm either saying "Thank you for reading my blog" or I'm actually winking at you for what could be a number of reasons.

You youngsters out there should not take your vision for granted. You people of that age, do what you gotta do to see. Take 'em off, leave 'em on, wink away, buy the Walmart readers, whatever. If I was doing the happy dance being able to see the road signs AND my dashboard driving home from the eye doctor's, imagine what else I've been missing. Perhaps . . . MY DREAM JOB???

Green Eggs and Job Search

I have always heard that the best time to search for a job is while you have one. True, you have some financial padding while you are working, but as the title of this blog suggests, searching for a job takes A LOT of time. So now I am juggling my new job and all of its challenges (by "challenges" I mean ridiculous and unacceptable expectations), my home life when I am home which I never am because I'm on the road so much and when I am home I have other work to do for my company and the rest of the time I am doing laundry or collapsing from exhaustion, keeping in touch with friends and family (thank God for texting and IM and the almighty BLACKBERRY) and SEARCHING FOR A JOB.

I apologize for the long sentence but really, that sums up my life right now. One long, never-ending sentence of stuff that controls me instead of me controlling it. And in case you didn't know, I am a CONTROL FREAK. (I hear the sound of my husband's head bobbing up and down like a bobble head as he reads this.)

I am home today and tomorrow but hit the road again Wednesday night. It may not be the "best time" to search for a job as the saying goes, but have laptop, will job search.

In my house,
In the car,
On the road,
Maybe at a bar,
I do not like the job search scam,
I do not like it Sam-I-am.


P.S. DID YOU KNOW THAT DR. SUESS'S FIRST BOOK WAS REJECTED 27 TIMES BEFORE BEING PUBLISHED? PERHAPS THAT IS HIS GREATEST GIFT TO US ALL.

September in July

You may or may not watch American Idol. Either way, I'm guessing you've heard of Daughtry. I have been a fan since Chris Daughtry's audition was shown on Idol, when he was wearing the straw cowboy hat.

Even if I didn't find him sexy (my husband is aware), I think his voice is like warm syrup oozing all over . . .

Sorry.

His story is really something. He worked as a Service Advisor at a Honda dealership, auditioned for Idol and made it to Hollywood, quickly became a fan favorite, was shocked along with the rest of the country when he came in 4th. But we all found out that coming in second may be like kissing your sister, but coming in 4th can propel you into massive success.

Even if we knew none of this, the music would speak for itself. Click HERE to enjoy his latest song and video, September. You'll have to endure a quick commercial first, but hang in there.

It's not everyday you get to see someone live their dream.

Clicking My Heels Like Dorothy On Speed

I am the girl who never ever is ready to come home from a trip. Sure, in past positions, on a business trip, I'd get tired and need the kind of rest you can only get in your own bed in your own home.

But normally, I love to travel and am never quite ready to return to home. This week, however, let me tell you this.

There is no place, absolutely positively no place, like HOME.

Bubblicious

This is my third night on the road and all I can think about is getting back home tomorrow. It is inconceivable that it's only Wednesday night; it feels like I've been gone for 2 weeks! The hotels I stayed in the last two nights had no tub, just a shower. Big problem.

I am a bath fan. Love them, love them, love them. I know you either love them or hate them and I love them. I know even if you love them, as I do, you may not like the idea of sitting in a bathtub where many have sat before. Actually, now that I've put it like that, I'm having some issues myself.

But I can get past them. Because I can fill the tub as high and as many times as I want. And I can lay in that tub until I am one big pruney Sister Rain. I can take a drink and a book with me or just lay back and enjoy the bubbles. The bubbles are the first thing, by the way, that go into the suitcase.

There's no laptop or deadline or co-worker in there with me.

Just me, my bubbles and I.

Is This Gonna Show On My Hotel Bill?

There is something so inappropriate about sitting in a hotel room that the company is paying for, on a business trip, using the company laptop and the company wireless card, to search for a new job.

And yet it gives me great pleasure.

Is that wrong?

The Pearly Gates . . . Of Border's???

When I was helping my friend organize her house, we went to the Container Store. I told her, and I was as serious as a heart attack, that this was my idea of Heaven. Rows and rows of hard bins, the smell of plastic in the air, BLISS!

I'm going to have to amend my interpretation of the perfect afterworld. Over the weekend I was in Border's bookstore. I love, love, love to read and although I don't purchase many books -- I am a library girl through and through -- I love to see what's new and what's quirky and basically just check everything out. One of my husband and my favorite things to do on the weekend is go to Border's. We say goodbye at the door and eventually find each other later.

I needed a greeting card while we were there today so I headed to the card section. As I was walking with purpose in that direction, I noticed a display of books out of the corner of my eye and that was it for the card. I have heard people say they get distracted by something shiny, but my distraction comes from a pretty picture on the front of a book or a catchy, clever title calling out to me in a bold font.

I guess we all have our idea of Heaven. Luckily I don't have to wait until I die to experience mine.

No Propofol, Just Friday

DISCLAIMER:
TO ANY POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS WHO MIGHT BE READING THIS. I "EXAGGERATE" FOR MY ART, FOR MY BLOG. SHOULD YOU HIRE ME, I WOULD BE AN EXEMPLARY EMPLOYEE. NO MATTER WHAT THE DAY OF THE WEEK. EXCEPT THOSE ENDING IN "Y".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have decided that Friday's are like a numbing agent; like the topical spray the podiatrist uses on your toe before he digs out an ingrown. Or the Anbesol you put on a mouth ulcer. Hypothetically of course. No ingrowns or ulcers here . . .

Fridays take the edge off the work day and cause everyone to have a "devil may care" attitude. You know how hard you work to get everything done before you leave for a week's vacation? Fridays are the opposite.

If it's not done, it'll get done on Monday. If it's brainstorming and fresh ideas you're looking for, see me on Monday. Co-workers who have been snipping, glaring and complaining about each other all week can go to lunch with a group and not kill each other (no, I will not name names).

I normally go by the credo by the great philosopher, Tim McGraw*: "Live Like You Were Dying". But on Fridays, I live by: "Why do on Friday what you can do on Monday?"

Have a great weekend and if you don't get to it Monday, there's always Tuesday. Or Wednesday. You get the idea.




* By "great philosopher" I mean a philosopher who wears jeans like no other.

Good Morning Sunshine

This morning at the event I was working I asked a gentleman for his name and phone number at registration and he responded by saying:

"Are you trying to sell me something already?"

And this was the BEST part of my day . . .

TSD

Hello Friends. I promised to do better and post consistently so here I am. Tired, sweaty (yes the temp is still hovering around my goal weight) and discouraged. A job lead that looked good dried up this morning. I then spent 9 hours at an event, followed by an hour drive home, followed by more work on my laptop at my coffee table. I will be up at 6 a.m. tomorrow for pretty much the same day.

I was thinking about you all on the drive home and worrying that I might be whining too much. I apologize if that's how I'm coming off; it's certainly not my intent. I just can't help but believe that other people continue to be in my shoes; looking for a job they can do well and really get behind. And what I've found out in the last month is that one out of two doesn't cut it, no matter what the current economic situation.

So I will continue to keep blogging about my current job, my search for a new one and the quest for two out of two. I will try not to whine, but I can't promise I won't continue to suffer from "TSD" (tired, sweaty and discouraged), a condition brought on by Summer 2010 in Pennsylvania and the continuing search for a two-for-two job.

Lazy, Hot and Humid

Today it was 104 on our thermometer in the back yard.

That's my goal weight . . .

Don't Job Search After You Eat Or You Will Get Cramps

I have been coming to the New Jersey shore long before Snooki or the Situation. Truth be told, I am old enough to be Snooki's mother and at my Jersey shore a "situation" means your monthly visitor came early and you have to go to the drugstore for supplies. (Sorry male readers)

We've stayed in the same hotel since before I drove and used to come with family. We are not really shore pool people; why would you go to the hotel pool when you can sit and watch the ocean and fight for your tiny corner of the "public" beach? But today, it was so hot, I wanted to stay close to my air-conditioned room so I visited the hotel pool.

It was not crowded at all and as I swam around in the pool I realized I'd been swimming in this same pool for over 30 years! I survived high school, graduated, joined the work force (7 jobs and counting), dated, got married, bought a house, lost loved ones, made lifelong friends, learned to walk again after a bad ankle injury (long story), did a 3-year long job search and here I am. Almost back to 30 years ago when I wondered what my adult life would be like.

Like it or lump it, face it or deny it, work is a big part of our lives. And when this piece is out of kilter, at least for me, the rest of my life is out of whack. And if you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know it's been out of whack for a long time now.

Yes, I got a job a month ago. But I know it's not the job for me. I have money coming in, for which I am soooooooo grateful, but I am so unhappy and so disappointed I can't even tell you. Three years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, literally, and I land a job I knew from Day 1 was a mistake. Hard to swallow friends.

If I return to this pool in a few months or next year, will I still be out of whack? I barely remember that teenage girl who swam in that pool all those years ago, but I know she had hopes and dreams for her life. And they didn't include being in a job she didn't like. I've got to make it right for her and for me.

Everybody out of the pool . . . and back onto monster.com . . .

Happy Birthday America!

As I've mentioned in previous blog entries, I love this country and I love that its birthplace is right down the road from my home.

My new company is headquartered in Florida. I was given a laptop for work, and for security and bookkeeping purposes, every laptop issued has a number.

My laptop's number is "1776" and I am based in Philadelphia for a company whose home base is Florida.

I love it. And I love this country.

Happy Birthday America!!!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

I knew that when I got the new job and started immediately, with only 5 days between the offer acceptance and my start date, that I was returning to the work force in a rocket ship. But I don't think I realized the impact of that on me until today.

Today I read a book which I haven't done for weeks.

Today I walked three miles which I haven't done for two months after doing it five or six days a week for years.

Today I took a nap on the beach and I don't nap.

Wednesday I am back on the road for work.

Tomorrow I am back on the sand for me.

Sing Like No One Is Listening . . . Except Your Mom

I am SO SORRY I haven't written in a few days. It's unacceptable to me and I apologize. This new job has taken over my life and I am struggling to not only stay afloat, but awake! I follow blogs myself and it aggravates me when they are not updated.

Today my Mom and I drove to the New Jersey shore. Lately I listen to sports talk radio when I'm in the car but today I turned on some tunes. We've travelled to the shore together for over 25 years. My Mom has survived 80's music and even though she was raised a city girl, she found a love of Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw as it subconsciously seeped into her psyche.

As we were listening to the radio on our drive, I began to sing. I didn't notice it for awhile but then I realized I was singing and that my voice sounded foreign to me. I would ALWAYS sing in the car, since the moment they handed me my junior license. For it to be strange to hear my own voice saddened me in that I had lost something I did so naturally and so joyfully.

"Friends in Low Places" came on as we were driving over the bridge to take us to our favorite shore spot. And we rolled down the windows, breathed in the sweet salt air, heard the waves of the bay, I gave thanks that two of my friends in low places were right with me in the front seat of the car -- my Mom and my vocal stylings.

Hold on to your friends in low places and the things that give you joy. They'll chase your blues away. Garth and I guarantee it.