I think I have fingered the culprit for my slow site loads these last few days. Although, I am reminded of times when I have said I have fixed a problem only to have it recur so I say that tentatively and hope for the best. It occurred to me that I never see many comments here on site and furthermore I never use the CommentLuv plugin .. I didn’t even know where it appeared on the page. And I certainly have never configured it or tried to configure it. So I deactivated it in my plugins section and immediately the site felt SO much faster. So I deleted it.

Let’s hope that’s the end of my frustratingly heavy site loads.

So in other news, the time has come for me to seek out gainful employment. I’ve been scouring the job boards and the sites that the ACS-CPAC (Army Community Services – Civilian Personnel Advisory Center) handed me a week ago… the result each and every single time is a very disappointing list of openings. Not only are the listings small in number, but they aren’t postings that I am qualified for in one aspect or another – I either need citizenship and a security clearance, or a medical degree of some kind, or make up my mind to weed gardens, paint walls or unclog pipes. Bottom line, there aren’t any jobs for me out there… or so it would seem.

Then there is still this yearning that I have for working amongst books. So I get up bright and early this morning with a plan. I am going to walk into the library – the one here on post and the one in Killeen – and hand over a resume. Then I am going to make my way to Borders and Barnes and Noble and hand over a resume there also. I feel soooooo confident and I am working myself up to go out into the suddenly high-50s, low-60s temperatures … and hubby says “Oh no you’re not going anywhere …. not without a valid insurance certificate in the car” and I am like “Crap! How could I forget?”  Turns out, the latest certificate is missing and one is to be en route from the insurance company here in a day or 2. I can’t leave this house unless it’s on foot.

/sigh

Wonderful – so much for beating the sidewalks looking for work.

I spent about 2 hours on the phone with Yolospat yesterday. She’s going through a rough time and it was good to just chat. We have a tentative plan for our days, at least until I have to go out to work.  I generally hate to talk on the telephone … this is a discovery I made in the last few years. As a teen, I was always fighting with my Dad because he despised the whole idea of long phone calls and would yell at me considerably if I stayed on the phone for longer than 2 minutes. According to him, no conversation over the phone needs to be longer than 5 minutes at the most. I disagreed because without the freedom to go visit and chat, the telephone was my only socialization tool. Of course, no 15 year old should argue with her father when he is disciplining her … that was always fun. Lately, however, and I mean in the last fear years, I have discovered I would much rather type than give myself hand or shoulder or neck pains in attempting to keep in touch. Some circumstances are worth the pain though – and this one …… was one of them.

Speaking of dear old Dad … I was brimming over with pride and happiness earlier this month when the nation of Jamaica bestowed upon him in the national award ceremony the “Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service (BH{M}) televised live on local television and streaming on the internet for all to see. Oh I was SO proud of him. You see, I am so much like him it’s scary … and one perfect place to demonstrate that is his attitude to the spotlight and all it brings. If he had a choice, I think he would have preferred to either accept the award privately or not at all. For him, it’s not about the glory but about that feeling of  ”I made a difference”. Watching him get his award, I could see it in his face – bashful, would rather it not be such a big production – but I don’t think anyone else would have guessed it.

The award was pretty much in recognition of all his tireless work in the credit union movement in Jamaica. I have to admit to not knowing ALL he did officially. But what I DO know is the number of hours and days and weeks and months that he gave to the movement. Years of seeing very little of Dad because he was working so hard to make the credit union in Jamaica what it is today – accessible and easy to everyone, and especially those who need the services the most – the little guy, the up-and-coming, the young, the hard-working, the honest. I may have been exceptional in my acceptance of a over-worked father, but something told me he was doing good deeds; besides when I needed him, he was there in a heartbeat. In the end, that photo right there, of Dad smiling humbly and accepting his award made it ALL worthwhile. The entire nation saw it. I can ask for nothing more.

That is a picture that I would love to have framed and posted on my wall but the resolution sucks that I haven’t even tried printing it for fear of being disappointed. In any case, they have promised a copy of the official photos they had taken. And that will be good enough along with this one here on my blog that I can look back on at anytime from anywhere. (which reminds me, need to put a copy of it on the iPhone too).

And on that note, I depart. More later, hopefully.

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The sub-conscious registered today that hubby isn’t on nights or 24-hour shift. It made me realize how empty this little house can feel. I had thought to do some housework, but I ended up spending ALL day in-game instead. It helped to keep me occupied.

But before I was a lump on a log all day, I got up and walked at about 8ish. Took me half hour and when I got back, I took a shower and washed my hair. Figured I may as well do everything in my power to boost the endorphins. It helped too. It put me in a good mood for the day.

Spent the day making money and playing my Death Knight – something I haven’t had the chance to do in earnest since she hit 80 – mostly because when I DO get in-game, someone needs heals.

Doesn’t matter. It’s like midnight and I am still in-game and I am tired and tomorrow is a full day. I need to go into the next town to get some stuff done – not the least of which is seeking a job that is going to pay me more, keep me more occupied and challenge me more than this one because I am bored now, and disappointing since I was expecting it to help keep me occupied these 2 weeks. My mother suggested Red Cross, but frankly, what I ended up doing there just before this job was almost as boring. I need challenges, and some interesting content now – I am tired of just being useful and helpful. Time for ME.

Nala somehow knows I am feeling lonely … she’s spent every single minute of the last 2 days by my side and without the kind of neediness she is usually craving. She just lies in her bed and mews at intervals. Then she looks at me all pitiful like  … cute kitteh.

Spring is here … my allergies are telling me so at any rate. Not looking forward to spring at all. It’s my first, but I am not looking forward to it at all. Nevermind that I have Allegra, it may not be sufficient for the explosion of activity that spring brings. In any case, the cold weather seems to have gone …. oh well… such are the seasons, eh?

Well, it’s time for bed I think. At least I hope so … these people sure know how to flog a dead horse in here … we’ve been acting on diminishing returns here for at least an hour … it’s time to call it a night and sleep on it. /sigh

Y’all take care now, hear?

YUSH

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Yep.

I went into the Red Cross office today – just because things were on track now with the job hunt and stuff. May took my resume and sent me on to the hospital office where they have been having trouble covering down the days there. (the Red Cross office on the hospital grounds, not the clinic). So I got the whole tour from the manager of that office. And while we are sitting around getting acquainted, I am telling her about my predicament where I don’t think too many people will want to hire me based on my Jamaican qualifications and experience – just because it represents to them an unknown quantity that they more than likely won’t want to take a chance on. Not to mention my somewhat complicated immigrant status.  It’s amazing to see how many people really want to help me out here … she thinks for a minute and tells me that the tax companies are hiring about now because it’s just on tax season and “why don’t you walk into one of the companies h&r block and so on and see if they’ll take you on”.

And so I did. I walked into a Jackson Hewitt office here just off post and said “I am looking for a job”. The girl who greeted me went to go get the manager and when he comes out of the back office, I walk up to him, stick out my hand and say “Hi I am <insert-name-here> and I am looking for a job”.

Anyway – long story short, he pretty much hired me on the spot. Well, there are some screening tests I will have to pass, but for the most part, I am temporarily hired to Jackson Hewitt for tax season!

I am going to be working my ASS off for the next 4 months or so, but you know what? (1) it’s that US experience I need to put on my resume (2) it’s going to help ME understand the whole tax process here a little better AND (3) money, baby! Can’t forget that part, eh?

I have NO idea what my schedule is going to be like – store/office hours are ridiculous (Monday -Friday:9am to 9pm; Saturdays:9am – 5pm; and some Sundays:12noon – 5pm). He specifically said he had trouble filling the nights and weekends, so it looks like I’ll be doing a lot of nights and weekend work…. BUT he said it could vary a lot and I should be prepared for a 3 day work week or a 7 day work week. All depends on schedule and how many people he gets in.

Wewt!

Cam is a HAPPY camper!

Where’s that damned bottle of wine to celebrate with?

wanders off in search of alcohol for celebratory aid

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It is 1:15 in the morning. I have to be up in just a few hours and it is going to be a hectic day. Why am I still up? Cos I wanna read, but I am trying to make myself as tired as possible so that won’t happen. Or at least not for long, it won’t.

Ask me how I am going to function tomorrow out there without taking my kindle out at every free moment and reading a sentence. Ask me.

What’s that? How am I going to function without taking my kindle out at every turn and reading one sentence? NO IDEA!

/giggle

<3 my kindle.

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So, last night it was raining. This morning, I get up to head out for this “Employer Day” thingy and it’s snowing… well, Kentuckiana (Gawd I hate that name) snow at any rate. More like flurries. So I had to start the car’s heater and back window defogger, scrape off the windows and bundle up before I headed out. That was fun .. and although it was easy with flurries,  I cannot imagine what it will be like to do that with a couple feet of snow out there. I am sure I will have to wake hubby to dig us out then. I ain’t doin’ it on my own.

So the employer day thingy was a joke – banqueting services looking for help. Nuh uh – not my neighbourhood at ALL. Although, one can’t afford to be picky with jobs, so I took their information anyway – JUST in case. Ya never know. Plus, I felt bad for them. They walked into the room and there were 3 of us there … the other 2, when they heard what it was all about, just got up and left. So I hung around and chatted a bit with them … am sure it made no difference to them one way or another, but I felt better by being courteous.

I realize that kind of thing is alien here … courtesy.  But I am going to hang on to my tendency to be courteous nevertheless … it is how I was taught to behave to people.  Rudeness gets you nowhere.

Today is going to be … strange. Hubby transitions from days to nights … and I am going to have him all day and not at all tonite.  I hate night shift. I know I am safe, but I still hate being alone in the house at nights – it feels big and empty.

Hubby asked me to heal a heroic run in WoW. I had just walked through the door with groceries and another mysterious package. I had to deal with both those before I could do anything. He found someone else to do it … I have to admit to being a little glad about that. Playing WoW is not something I feel like doing this morning. I feel energized and WoW is the last thing I really want to be doing. Question is, what WILL I do instead? /sigh

Back to my kindle, peeps.

YUSH

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