july 30

photo by Crystal Graham
We've had hail three times this week - my plants are shredded.

I've spent the last week and a half doing housework, writing resumes, and watching a Six Feet Under marathon. The SFU is something that always pulls me out of whatever problems I'm having at the moment, thank god.

I've applied at several places but can't call because the listing states "only those selected for the interview process will be contacted", although I did call the oxygen supply company. The manager was harried and barely wanted to speak to me.

"Where'd you send it? The resume?"

"HR."

"They haven't communicated to me in a week."

"Would you like me to send it on to you?" I asked. "Do you have a few moments now?"

"No, I'm too busy. Send it to me though."

I also applied at a farm dealer, as a warehouse manager. For that, I may need to take a forklift course, but I'm totally willing to do something like that. Sounds like fun.

Today we're going out to see my mum, since I haven't had the chance since losing my job (and company car) and I have some new sheets for their beds. I want to wash the floors, too.

Have a nice Saturday!

back to school

Today Jamie and I are going down to the Aboriginal Employment Centre and then to the Career school to see if we're entitled to funding. Although I am happy to be working, I'm making about 55% of what I did when I was managing clothing stores. I really hope that I can be making $50K + by the end of next year!

As much as I have enjoyed retail (well, it's definitely a love/hate thing!) I think it's time to get into something that will take me to retirement and allow me to start saving $1,000/month for retirement.

What business are you in, and do you like it? I'm thinking of doing something in the Human Resources line of work, but need to start gathering information on what skills are required and how much they pay.

bicycle bicycle bicycle

photo by Eve Parry

I've been selling things on Kijiji, to supplement our income while we're looking for work. You know things are desparate out there when people try to severely bid you down! For example, I listed a $260 mountain bike for $120, hoping to get a minimum of $100.

A few minutes later, I get an email that says "Sixty bucks. Text me."

One minute after that, I get another. "Eighty dollars. I'll pick it up today."

I text the first saying, "I have another bid for $80."

They reply, "Sorry I only have $60. Can I come get it before I leave for work?"

I replied, "sorry, I'm willing to wait for more."

The good news is that our economists believe that a recession in Canada is almost over, due to deflation. Hopefully, that reaches the Oil & Gas Industry in Alberta!

busy summer

It's so nice that things are slowing down a bit, now that the rain has been here for a few days. Also, the trees are looking a little greener, and I bet the farmers are happy to see all this moisture!

Rain usually spurs a few gutter cleaning jobs as well, and now that Bill is between jobs again, every penny will help.

Today we have to buy a bus ticket for Emily, who is attending an Anime convention this weekend in Edmonton with Jamie, and Jamie's boyfriend Kyle. However, she has to be back on Sunday at noon so that she can pack for her second summer camp beginning at four p.m. that same day.

Em has been so busy this summer! She just returned from a camping trip to Crowsnest Pass and still has to get all her clothes and bedding washed. After she gets back from camp, she has a two day trip with Bill's sister, then the only thing left to do is back to school shopping. Hard to believe it's all going by so fast.

Anyway, today Bill and I are going out to drop off more resumes and hopefully we get some kind of meaningful work out of it. This past six months has been brutal in the job market!

Happy Wednesday!

still looking for a good fit

In the last week I've become very aware of the fact that I do not want to work for Sandy, the woman who is my part-time boss. She's been running the clothing store for eleven years and was my colleague when I managed the sister store in town, so we used to see each other in Vancouver and Montreal at the rollout meetings.

She hired me in May 2008. For the longest time I worked very part-time and never really had a chance to see what some of my co-workers were talking about. Then one of her two assistants walked off the job and I picked up all her shifts for last week and everything became crystal clear.

She gets grumpy and resentful about all the hours she's required to be there (been there, done that) and starts treating her staff badly. I actually saw some of this this past Spring when I applied for the H&M management position. After they dropped me, she started saying random stuff like "oh, it's too bad that H&M didn't want you" in response to me saying "wow, this t shirt table was torn apart today."

It was all petty stuff but easy to let go, until I was there every day for nine and a half hours. She's not the kindest woman and tends to do a lot of complaining and finger pointing. We have security cameras and she views hours of it every day, then sends her minions out to document. This past week she didn't like that she saw my yellow bra strap when I was wearing a white India cotton smocked tank, so I had to discuss it with her assistant. We had a head office visit on Tuesday and she felt it was important to tell me to "dress properly" for it.

The problem with that is that I still dress in jackets, skirts and sandals and she wears pull on pants with blouses that haven't been ironed, and many people mistake me for her boss.

Obviously, it's time for me to move on when someone tries to put me in my place.

I have applications in at a few independent living buildings and condos, and I want to apply at Pottery Barn tomorrow. I've already given my notice at the store.

You know, this is the first time in my life that I haven't been making much money and it freaks me out. At forty-four, I should be saving for retirement, not trying to get the mortgage payment together.

At least we're all healthy and otherwise happy!

my last hurrah

photo by Troy Kajala

My very last insurance-sales appointment was this morning at 10:30, when I pulled up they looked guilty and said, "we were going to call you...."

Story of my insurance career - being stood up, cancelled, or rebooked. Many of the people I worked with told me to double book appointments to make up for those that didn't have consideration for your time, but I never did. I just didn't want to not show up when I said I would, and yet that probably had to do with the demise of my business.

I think that tomorrow, I'll turn in my computer and cross my fingers that I'll get a call for another part time job. I applied at a liquor store, a shoe store, and an Independent Living building, as well as Old Navy, but I'm hoping for the concierge job at the old folk's home. At least I'd get to wear my business attire.

against the wind

photographer unknown

It snowed again last night, for several hours! Thankfully, it has melted already. I am so ready for summer, and hope I can find a decent part-time job.

I've been thinking about my personal marketability and it just stinks being a middle-aged woman in this job market. After being ignored by several District Sales Managers for several full time store manager positions, I have no choice but to wonder if my experience is at all relevent today. Just six months ago, I would have said I was, but now I don't know. At this point I'd be happy to get a good paying part time gig just to cover the basics and pay down my credit cards. In 2010, I think I'll have a lot more success.

Today we're going out to the farm so that we can visit my step-dad, Jim. He's having hip replacement surgery on Wednesday (after waiting just under TWO YEARS) and he's a little worried. I would be as well, because he is seventy years old now, and has had high blood pressure and heart issues in the last few years.

Hopefully, everything goes well because as a family, we are not prepared at all to lose anyone. We have no plans in place for Mom, who couldn't live alone on the farm because she's eighty now, and my brother works away from May to October. My sister might be able to take her, but she's kind of a bully. We could set up a place here, but there are a lot of stairs and she hasn't lived in a city for over thirty-five years.

We're all just hoping everything goes well. We'll be heading out this afternoon. Have a good Sunday (or Monday!)

there's an idea

2003 or 2004

I met with one of the managers of the insurance office yesterday. He'd said that he had a "few ideas" for me, but his idea was for me to keep my office and sell more insurance. I tried telling him that my energy levels are so low, it's hard to maintain, but for him it comes down to "will or won't".

I may not terminate my agreement this month, but I'm still looking for work.

In the meantime, I picked up a shift at the clothing store today. It kind of sucks because Bill's on call yet won't be called in (as far as we know, there is no oilfield equipment going out, nor coming in) but unlike the insurance gig, I'll be paid for any work I do.

Have a nice weekend!

little pets

This is the type of thing I really miss about B.C. - all the little islands. I've been looking at pics all day, and can't wait until we take our next trip. We haven't taken a honeymoon yet, so I was thinking that a little B&B weekend wouldn't be a bad thing, especially with Em away at camp this summer.

If I work two part time gigs (instead of looking for any other management) it might be doable.

Emily is thinking of getting a guinea pig. Have any of you had one? Any advice?

up in the air

photo by Dave Massey. Thanks Doug!

I worked at the clothing store yesterday, but it wasn't very busy and gave us all time to chat with one another, especially since the manager wasn't working. One of the other girls said that after the manager had referred me for the management position at the new store, she also referred one of her other previous employees, a boy named Grant that used to work with her. He's twenty-three and had actually worked his way up to manager in Vancouver with this same company. It's a high end unisex store, and if you had to choose between a 23 year old with less experience, or a 44 year old with more, who would you choose?

I would choose the young man.

So, I guess I'm back to square #1 and have no idea where to turn next.

I am still thrilled to be staying on with my current company, as an associate advisor. Since the guy I'll be partnering with has a high first year commissions level, I'll automatically be paid more than three times what I currently make off my own level. Maybe I can stay PT at this other store job, as long as the manager doesn't mess with me. I'm a little disappointed she didn't say anything at all about this guy Grant...and maybe I would have persued something else a little harder if I'd known. Live and learn!

Hope you all have a good Sunday.

spring clean

We've spent the last few days doing some spring cleaning! Not that there isn't still a foot of snow on the ground, but at least it's starting to melt in earnest.

Most of the cleaning started in the kitchen, but then we noticed someone puked on the bed (we're not placing blame, LOLA) and off we went to the laundrymat where they have huge washing machines. $8 later, and our king sized comforter was clean again. We hung it out on the balcony yesterday and brought it in to hang over my staircase last night.

This morning it's completely dry and looks great. Love that king sized bed, but man - the blankets are so heavy! I like it that Bill was around this morning to help me. He's usually gone by 7 am, but he got a call last night saying they wanted him up at Etson near midnight (daytime road bans) so he's going in later.

I haven't received any job offers yet, but we're hoping that'll be today. In the meantime, I think we're going to finish some cleaning around here. Have a good Tuesday!

the weekend is half over?

photo by wildlife ranger

What a busy few days!

Yesterday I went for an interview at a health insurance provider and it went very well. They won't be making any decisions for a few weeks. Then I had my telephone interview with the clothing store and it went well too. The manager of the place where I work weekends thinks it's mine for the taking, so I hope that's true. I imagine I'll hear more on Monday or Tuesday.

After I finished at the office, I had an appointment to sell some insurance, so that was exciting since I haven't done much prospecting in the last few weeks. I still have several more policies to drum up to pay for my last month's rent.

I worked at the clothing store today and I have to tell you - it sure doesn't seem like there's a recession going on. Women were spending hundreds of dollars on capris and work clothes, and we finished the week at 121% of our budget.

We did a huge percentage of that today and I'm exhausted! I'm going to have a nap, and check in with you all in a bit.

Hope your weekend is nice so far.

busy day tomorrow

I have two job interviews tomorrow. First thing in the morning, I see someone about an admin job for a health insurance provider, then later in the day I have the phone interview with the VP of the clothing store.

I don't really want the admin job, but I figure that going will bring me good job karma :)

I appreciate all the good wishes, and I'll see you when I get back - as always, hoping for an offer!

yesterday

photo by Monica Lopossay

Last night's interview went very well! The first thing that I noticed was that the District Sales Manager was at least ten years older than me, so I was relieved about that. The second thing was that she checked out what I was wearing (black pencil skirt, white blouse, brown belted jacket, calf length, high heeled leather boots) and nodded to herself as we were walking toward the coffee bar. Since I felt I'd been passed over by H&M due to age and/or image, this was a good sign.

We talked about former employees and who I might have regretted hiring, and those that I was proud of. We talked about operations, a lot. This store is only 3000 sq feet compared to 4000 in my old store, but the expected sales are almost a million more.

She said she was passing my phone number onto the VP to do a telephone interview and that very few had gotten that far. I hope the VP calls today.

We also mailed a letter away to Tina, Em's bio-mom. Em wrote the first page, saying she wanted to communicate through letters or emails for awhile, because she was having a hard time dealing with the stress of the phone calls. We included a letter explaining that Em had gone back to counselling around Christmas.

There were many phone conversations between you and she about trips/visits for the Christmas holidays, and Em started getting nervous.
It has always been our intention that if you would like to visit her here, we would not stand in the way of the court order but help in any way we could regarding supervised visits. However, we just can't send her to Newfoundland without knowing if she'd be alright, and to be honest, she is scared to go alone.

There were many calls that upset her in November and December. I think the biggest issue is the threat to take us to court. Once she started seeing her psychologist, it was determined that those calls threatened to upset the only stable home she has ever known. The stress of fielding those calls and trying to answer in a way so as not to upset you have caused her extreme pain and vomiting.

This letter is the result of three months of counselling and on the recommendation of her psychologist.

I was a little worried about mailing it yesterday, because that kind of thing usually brings out the worst in Tina. The last two phone messages she left indicated she was still using something - Vicodan or Xanax, or maybe sleeping pills. When she gets like that, she sounds like she's in the middle of a long narrow tunnel and speaking through marbles in her mouth. If she gets into the coke, we'll be in real trouble. That's when she considers herself all powerful, like the evil queen in Snow White.

Today I'm doing some laundry for Bill, but a little later I'll be going down to my office so that I can process some non-smoking forms for two clients.

Happy Humpday.

interview tonight

painting by Pim Sekeris

I have another job interview tonight at seven, this time for the upscale unisex store. I suppose it's very much like The Gap - I used to shop there when I'd go down to Calgary to see Bill because it was a sister store to the one I managed.

Anyway, because it's owned by the same company, it could go either way. I gave a scathing exit interview in 2006, but that was about a dispute I'd had with the district sales manager, who'd treated me unfairly. I'd also mailed a Thank You card to the Regional Vice President, saying I enjoyed working for the company and hoped to see him again one day, and this division used to be his baby.

I'm hoping for the best.

I was in my office yesterday, and met with an Advisor named Tim. Tim was the one I'd pass all my mutual fund people to, and he's been trying to think of a way for me to maintain my life licence while I give retail another shot. He might make me his Associate Advisor and pay me out of pocket for any sales I make. This would work great for me because his pay scale is three levels above mine. The clients would be his, but it would suit my purpose.

Anyway, I'm off to the office again today. Cross your fingers that I get an offer tonight!

more opportunity

I spent the week nursing my wounds at home, but by this afternoon I was ready to start over again. I'm actually at my best when I'm networking, so as I drove back into town I started planning on where to start.

In the past I've always liked starting where I'm appreciated, so I headed over to the clothing store where I work weekends. Although the manager seemed genuinely disappointed for me over the H&M thing, she offered me an assistant's position if I'm still available a few months from now. Then she referred me to the district sales manager from another division, who's looking for a store manager for their upscale unisex store. I left her a voicemail at two-thirty, by three I got a call from her assistant for an interview Tuesday night.

Let's hope that this one goes better for me.

Right now I'm waiting for Bill to wake up so that I can spend some time with him before he hits the road at two a.m. He's going to Fox Creek again, to move an enviro-birm system from one rig location to another, and has to be on site at seven. Today was exceptionally warm, enough to melt the snow and make all the roads wet, but then it SNOWED about two inches, making me worry all night about his upcoming drive. **sigh** Hopefully his guardian angel will look out for him tonight.

an old favourite

One of my all time favourite movies is The Color Purple, with Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg. It came on TV late last night, and I stayed up to watch it while Bill slept beside me.

I have the novel in my office downtown, but haven't started to read it yet. To be honest, I never realized that the book is quite a bit different than the screenplay, particularly around two of my favourite characters, Albert and Shug. In the movie, I love to hate Albert when he's young and mean and taking a lesson from his own father, but I absolutely love it when he redeems himself by helping Nettie find her way back to Celie.

As for Shug, it seems unlikely that I'd like her at all. It's never really explained what her "sickness" is when Albert drags her home, but I've always thought it was booze and heroin, even though I'm not sure it was as prevalent in 1916, when Shug first arrives at Albert's house.

At any rate, I guess it's not just Shug that I like, but her entire story. Obviously, she was the black sheep of the family. The wayward daughter of the local preacher, she spends decades trying to prove to him that she's worthy of his love, but he won't have any of it until she realizes that he wants her to follow God. By the time she makes her Grand Gesture, belting out "God is Trying to Tell You Something" from Harpo's jukejoint to the little church just down the road, I'm pretty much in tears. It's even worse when the man actually hugs her, and she shows such palpable joy - I need a whole box of tissues just to get through it, lol. You can watch it here.

Today I'm thinking of going over to the retirement home where Bill used to work. Even though I'm still smarting over the rejection from H&M, I need to make some money while I'm regrouping and there might be something for me to do there. I'll be checking out the job boards too, but those listings are getting smaller and smaller every day, and the line ups at the food bank are getting longer and longer. I'd like to see my area put some money into infrastructure soon - our city has seen so much growth and the wear and tear is obvious. We need another school and another hospital, but that's another story altogether.

Happy Wednesday.

so disappointed

I heard from the placement agency today, the one that did my original interview before short-listing me for H&M. Apparently, they've taken me off the list for candidates. I have no idea why - maybe I'm too old, or maybe I don't fit their image. At any rate, I am so disappointed! This all came down about an hour after submitting my intention to terminate my contract with my current company.

After that, I went back to submitting resumes. *sigh*

new week, new challenges

Thanks to everyone that voted in my last poll, and to those who left comments. As with all my polls, I don't leave a lot of options because I'm looking for certain respondents. For example, in my new poll I'm interested in those that have made a conscious effort to cut back on their household budgets, and what they might have done so far.

Today I'm waiting for Bill to come pick me up in the company truck because he had to take my truck this morning. Apparently, his is out of fuel and we forgot to fill it before we spent the last of our available cash on groceries. This is what I hate about living on one paycheque - scrambling to get by. I've taken as many shifts as I can at the clothing store, and this week I'm doing a prospecting blitz to make some insurance sales. I'll need them to fund my last month at the office, on top of filling up my freezer, which has emptied out completely in the last week.

At any rate, Bill should be here soon so I should hurry and get dressed. Have a good Monday!

saturday morning

bird houses, Inner Harbour, Victoria BC

Interviewing for this job is taking such a long time, and I am starting to become annoyed and impatient by the way it's being done. It began with an interview with the placement agency, then led to phone interview with Becky from Vancouver. Then I met with two women at a hotel here in my city, which led to this last interview in Calgary.

Nothing, yet.

They think I might have to travel again to either Calgary or Edmonton, which would cost me yet another $60 in fuel and another day off work, before they decide. This is after four out of six of their last group of candidates didn't show up at all.

Also, they were saying that there is no bonus structure, or incentive plan, which surprises me. As long as they pay industry standard I believe it would be okay, but I don't buy that just having the honour to work at such an exciting, innovative company would be enough!

Now that I'm left hanging for another week, it's become increasingly awkward trying to plan the demise of my insurance business - especially in regard to the resignation letter and the thank you cards. I was hoping to give them a solid date, but if I don't have a job offer, how can I do that?

It's frustrating. I might just have to meet with the agency manager and give him a heads up, then scramble to find something if this one doesn't work out.

The good news is, I have the day off in the clothing store. We didn't stay in Calgary last night, because even though it was lovely, it was located next to the crack park in that area. Way too many prostitutes and weirdos in the area to leave my truck on the street. We got home around 7:30 and went to bed by 9:00, and now we have the day to do whatever we like.