Biolife

Today I went in and donated, and as I was heading to the holding area, which is the area that you go to before they give you one of those really nice almost beds, the assistant manager asked if he could give me the initial interview (after the phone call) after I finished my donation. After my donation I had the interview, and things seemed to go well. He gave me the typical questions that they ask in interviews and told me a about a few of the details that are part of a medical historian's job, and made sure I could handle stress. I assured him that after working for three years as a cashier at meijer, stressful situations weren't a problem for me.

I got the impression from the interview that he liked me and would speak favorably about the interview with the manager. I now look foreward to recieving a call about the third interview. I wouldn't be surprised if when I go in for my Wednesday donation they ask if I can interview after that. Here's hoping things continue to go well.

Movies and Jobs

I think I've been watching too many movies as of late. Thanks to Blockbuster, I can now take the movies that I rent from online, and return them at the store for a free rental, and free up my que right away. I've lost count of the number of movies I've seen in the last few weeks, and couldn't begin to remember the names of all of them.

My current employer continues to schedule me only once a week, so I'm going to be quitting this week as soon as I find a seasonal job so that I can continue to eat, buy gas for my truck, and pay my bills. You know, the luxeries of life.

Monday I'll be heading in to Biolife for the first of my twice a week donations, so I'll see if I can talk to the Manager that hires people while I'm there. My interview with the bank in Maryland the name of which escapes me still went well, and I will likely get a call back from them at some point, though I'm hoping to stick around Michigan for a little while longer.

Another Possible Job, This Time No Girlfriend

I recieved a call from Biolife, which is a company that pays people to come in and donate plasma. I had been interested in getting a job there, and turned in an application about a month ago, but never heard from them. Today during the 4 o'clock episode of Friends, they called me and did an initial interview, and will be getting back to me about coming in for an interview. Pay starts at $10 an hour, so it would be a nice job if I could get it full time.

Looks like I might have to make a decision or two in the future. It'd be nice to have options for once.

The common cold

If you're going to get the cold anyway, you may as well make out with a girl that has it. Unfortunately, all I did was sit across from her.

A Job and a Girlfriend?

My mother has conspired with her friends at the bank she's a member of to set me up with a job there. There also happens to be a single girl who works there, and they've also conspired to get us together. I visited the family in Maryland for Thanksgiving, and also turned in the application for the bank. The girl was on vacation, so I didn't meet her, but I did meet my mother's firends, and they seem very nice, despite their teasing me and all agreeing that the girl would like me. I flew back home later that day, and after I landed in Michigan, I recieved a phone call from my mother that the bank had called, and wanted to know if I could come in for an interview that night. I'll be flying out to Maryland again this coming week, for the interview.

In other news, strife with the manager continues, as he only scheduled me one day this coming week, and its a Tuesday PM shift. I'm not happy about that, but atleast I'll be able to go swing dancing right after work.

Ravencroft is lame.

Actually, he's not really lame. I just felt like being inflamatory. Although, analyzing his name I can't help but picture his head on Laura Croft's body... and that scares me.

Figured I'd post at random here, since Mesuir Ravencroft was so kind as to update. I actually can't find the last post I made here, so it must have been forever plus a day ago. Anywho, on with the post.

I believe I had mentioned here before that I was selling Aflac insurance. I had a really rough start with it, but I've actually improved as I've been going. Trouble is, the money is not coming in as fast as I had hoped or needed. Although I've seen people make good money and do well at this, I'm not going to be able to continue doing this full time any longer. I've started refreshing my resume and looking for a job, but all is not a loss. My speaking skills have seen a decent improvement, which happens after a thousand or so approaches to businesses. I'm also better organized than before.

Because of the situation, it does look as though I'm going to need to sell my house and move back to the city (Dearborn). It's really odd just driving by homes in the city and seeing the backyards. Now I'm not in the country where I'm currently living, but I could probably fit my house 4 times on my property and still have room between them. I'm not sure I could fit a house in the city twice on those lots. Another odd adjustment will be the noise. After living in Caro for 5+ years, I've become quite accustomed to the quiet. My mom lives about 4 blocks from the freeway, plus Metro planes fly overhead occasionally and that's just freaking loud! I don't quite remember it being so damned noisy.

So for now I'll just have to hope that things work out. It's going to be rough if we have to move everything and everyone back. Plus, I won't have my own home again. Trying to stay positive though, but it's not always easy.

Issues with a Manager

This week, I decided to go home for Thanksgiving, so that I could be with my family. In order to do this, I had to take time off of work. When I first started working for the company, it was established that I wouldn't be working Tuesday PM. The days I asked off for were Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (11/22-11/24). My parents then set up my flight for me, which had me flying out of Grand Rapids on Tuesday. When I recieved my schedule for the next week, my manager had scheduled me Tuesday @ 12 pm.

I sent an email the day I recieved my schedule (it comes via email) and then called on Friday when I hadn't heard back from him, and he told me that he hadn't gotten my email, but that he would work things out. Today I recieved an email reprimanding me for not also asking for Tuesday off. In the past, he had scheduled me to work Tuesday PM, and since I didn't have anything I needed today, I worked the shift and then rescheduled the things I did that day to other times. I then sent an email reminding him that Tuesday PM I wasn't supposed to work.

Everyone says that Mike is a great boss, is my definition wrong?

Moving

Well, it looks like I'm going to be joining the rest of my family. Currently I'm the only member of my family that is north of the masen-dixen line. Trying to find a decent job in Michigan (that pays well with good hours) is similar to trying to find a virgin in a house of ill repute. By the looks of things I'll be heading to Maryland, which is located close to a few other states, and the capital of this great nation.

Last Day Fun

So I figure enough time has passed (two months), and I can share this now.

On my last day at Meijer, I had a lot of fun.

The first thing I did was arrange in advance that I would be on U-scan. This is where the fun begins.

As a cashier, I'd been running the U-scan for two and half of the three years that I worked for meijer, so I learned a lot from the guys who would come and fix the machines. One guy didn't like to be called all the time, so he gave me the username and password, as well as showed me how to do some basic maintenance. Also at my desposal are a fair amount of computer skills.

By searching through the files on the computer at U-scan one day, I came accross network connections, and noticed that all of the lanes are connected to eachother through the U-scan.

On my last day, while at U-scan, I had previously called a radio station and requested the song: Take This Job And Shove It as well as arranged with a coworker in the back to set the radios to that station, and then broadcast it over the PA when the song came on. I waited for the song to start up over the PA, and then proceeded with my plan. I went back through the computer and located the network connections button, and then proceeded to shut down the network. I watched the expressions on cashier's faces as computer after computer started to malfunction. I then walked off the job. The service team leaders still aren't sure what happened.

No Longer a Moderate

I used to consider myself a moderate, because there a some issues where I take the left's stance, and some where I take the republican view. However, with this election campaign, the left has just been ticking me off.

Their defeatist attitude about the war in Iraq, the fact that they can't give a straight answer to any question that matters. Rather than take responsibility for their mistakes, they blame it on anyone or anything that had even a remote connection to what happened. Rather than talk about the issues, they run a smear campaign against their opponants, forcing them to respond. In one instance, with the governor race here in Michigan, Granholm keeps pointing out how DeVos laid off a lot of jobs in Michigan and invested $200 million dollars in China. Well, first of all, it isn't DeVos' job to give people jobs. It's his job to make sure that the company he's running does well. Second of all, if he had kept those people here in Michigan and didn't invest his money in a factory in China, the company would have ended up having to lay off even more people, or might have failed, which would have placed more people in unemployment.

So if I'm not a moderate, what am I? I'm a conservative. I vote republican. I am pro-life, anti-control (pro gun education), for lower taxes, for the death penalty, and proud of it.

How can I be against abortion and for the death penalty? Easy. An unborn child hasn't killed anyone. When you have the intention to take someone else's life, and you act on that intention, whether you suceed or not, you forfeit your own right to life.

Michigan, and why I'm still living here

I had been trying to figure out why I remain in Michigan when I don't really want to be here in the first place. When I think about it, there isn't anything really going for me here. I have a job that I like, but it doesn't give me enough hours, and I'm starting to hate my boss. I have a few people that I call friend, but none of them are close enough to me that it would be a good reason to stay. I spend the majority of my time by myself, and I like it that way, I don't need to be surrounded by a lot of people, and when I am, I switch to observation mode. I don't have any romantic interests, and I constantly long to just take off with no set destination in mind.

So why remain here? I stay because there are some things in my life that I need to figure out, and it feels like it would be running away if I left. If I had a career waiting for me if I should leave, that would be a different story, but right now I don't, so I can't leave without feeling like I'm giving up. One thing I've never done is give up (unless refusing to do so would violate my integrity in other areas).

The Haunt

Last night I had the chance to check out one of Grand Rapids fall attractions, The Haunt, with friends DJ, Bethany and Joel. Its basically a haunted house, and I gotta give the people credit for doing an amazing job with decorations and costumes. However, I can't say that I found it scary, so I was a bit disapointed by that. The highlight of the night was that I knew one of the guys that worked there, and he either already knew who Bethany was, or I had mentioned her when he asked if I was planning on going to the Haunt (he got me VIP tickets for $10 instead of $20.) So I think Bethany got pretty weirded out by that. DJ didn't catch on to it until the guy mentioned his name as well, or atleast he didn't seem to. Another good part was where they had a platform that you had to walk over to get through a revolving tunnel, which completely messes with your sense of balance. It was a funy experience, but I was really hoping to get scared. I guess part of the fun is taken out of it if you know that you won't come to any harm. Maybe they could change that in the future . . .

Swing Dancing and Work

So my job with 7up is very physically demanding, as is swing dancing. On days where I don't have both, I can easily handle one or the other. Today my body is very sore and fatigued, and I'm going to be attempting work and swing for the next couple of days, so by Friday, I likely won't be able to move from my bed. I owe myself atleast 48 hours of make-up sleep, but we'll see if I manage to pull that off . . .

I'm Sorry! Really I am!

Its been a two month unnofficial hiatus. I really did mean to post sooner than this, but I kept putting it off. I'm going to have to start writing stuff at home, burn it to CD, then bring it to the library I guess. I'm going to try and make up for it now by sharing an addictive game with you:

the game is called line rider, and the concept is simple: draw at a downward angle, and then press play to watch someone ride the line. Then add jumps, try for backflips and front flips, try a loop de loop (harder than it sounds) then show it off to a friend.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40255643/?&q=line+rider&qh=boost%3Apopular+age_sigma%3A24h+age_scale%3A5


Swing dancing has been going great, and I've begun teaching novices the basic steps, and the flips and airials that I know really well. If you're ever in Grand Rapids, come downtown and check out the swing club at 800 Monroe.

7-up

As you know from a previous post, I got a job recently working for 7-up as a merchandiser (read: glorified stock guy). Now that I've been there a few weeks, I've got a good idea of how the job works (okay so it isn't rocket science). However, the main thing is that I actually like my job. Yeah, there is some hard work involved with it, mostly heavy lifting, and counting (okay, that part isn't hard) but its actually enjoyable, and when I get done with work, I feel like I've actually done something productive, which is a feeling I never got when working for Meijer (read: Hell on earth) In some ways it's like I'm getting paid to be a member of a gym, and between that and swing dancing, I'm getting into shape again pretty fast.

Straight Outta Lynwood

"I thought you all might be interested to know that I am going to WORLD PREMIERE the first single from "Straight Outta Lynwood" on MySpace.

Right here on this page.

August 21. 6 PM Pacific, 9 PM Eastern.

And I'll even make it a free download.

Have fun!"

- Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al's new album hits the stores 09/26/06 you can preorder the CD at his website: www.weirdal.com.

Leaving hell, hoping never to return

So finally, after three years at a job that I despise, I've managed to find a new job, and will finally be leaving Meijer, never to return. I will now be working for 7-up/American bottling group, stocking the shelves and coolers at stores. Pay is a lot nicer, and I also get paid compensation for gas milage. I'll still be working at Meijer, as well as a few other stores, but I'll no longer have to answer to management or customers there.

Union Steward

Well, I've done something completely unnexpected, I've become a Union Steward. This is unexpected strictly because I hate unions. I think that in the past there was a place for them, but now that we have laws protecting workers, they ultimately serve no purpose. So why become a steward? for the power. In certain situations, I have as much authority as management. Also a perk is that every christmas I get my union dues back. So that's about the only perk I have at work anymore, other than finally getting vacation time after 3 years. I'm still paid less than 7 an hour, and I need more than that to survive.

Swing Dancing and Renaissance Festivals

Recently in my post-loss of internet life (how I miss easily accessing it anytime I want) I have taken up swing dancing. While I am still in the process of learning, it has been the most fun that I've had in quite some time.

This past Saturday, I had the chance to go to a Renaissance Festival. Unfortunately, I had to work. So I went to the Ren-fair, and when I got there, I called into work to inform them that my truck couldn't get me in to work today. This was a true enough statement, as my truck was at the time 2 hours away from me. That settled, I set about enjoying the fair. The first thing I did other than checking out the various swords and armor was to have my friend DJ arrested for sullying the name of a woman. He in turn had me and a friend arrested in his stead. And she and I had to dance and sing our way out of prison, after which I had DJ arrested again, and paid a small bonus so that he was forced to sing and dance to get out. However, he decided that this time he should run for it, and did so, finally getting caught because he ran down a dead end path. Next we went and checked out the various birds of prey (unfortunately we never got around to seeing a demonstration) and then proceded to the Ric Rac Dumb Show, essentially a guy making a complete fool of himself. Almost everything at a Ren-Fair is interactive, and I was called upon in the audience to help him get a ball out of his mouth that he was "stuck" there. I misunderstood what he meant by his hand gestures, and asked if he wanted me to punch him in the stomach-- to which he informed me by his behavior was not the case-- he wanted me to do the heimlich maneuver. The show was quite fun. The next event we went to was the Pirate Shanty and The Bonnie Lass, which I ended up going to a total of three times, as I enjoyed it quite a bit. However the best event was the Drench a Wench/Soke a Bloak. Those who dressed up for the fair were allowed to participate in getting soked, which DJ and I did, as it does get quite hot wearing period clothing. In this event, you are given three sponges to throw at the opposite sex. In thanks of getting soked, the guys hug the girls that soked them, and the girls kiss the guys on the cheek. The festival was great, and I'm looking forward to going to the Holly Renaissance Festival on September 2nd. Actually, I wouldn't mind being a participant in them and performing, and doing that for a living.

internet lacking

no internet for a little while. not that it affects this blog too much . . .