Photojeraphic Pimentos

So when I was a little girl I desperately wanted to go be on the Bozo Show so I could play the Grand Prize Game. If you didn't do well you got a 'photojeraphic pimento' of your time on the show. I totally didn't get that it was taped in Chicago and couldn't understand why we couldn't just go there. That's a long explanation that has nothing to do with this photo. :)

So obviously this is a photo from Disney World. I think my sister is about 3 which would have made me between 7 and 8. My mom posted an unedited version of this on her facebook account and I pulled it from there and ran it through photoshop. It helped quite a bit actually since her photo was faded and somewhat red. My actual point to all of this... for those of you with families. Take family photos. This may honestly be the only family photo we have that my sister is in. That's a little sad if you think about it. We took a bunch the last time I was visiting my parents for Christmas, but obviously it isn't the same.

Denver

I'll upload my photos tomorrow. I feel like the interview went well. I have such a hard time with them. I answered all their questions. It only took like 45 minutes... I don't know if that's good or bad. I think the interviews were only slated to be an hour anyway. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time finding a place that doesn't have a decision making disability. They are going to be making a decision in the next week or two and then decide on the next steps. I could be waiting until July for Christ's sake. That's just too long.

Another problem... I don't know how I feel about Denver. Denver is far more like Arizona than I could have imagined. I can't figure out if that's a strike against it or not. While walking around the Denver Botanical garden, I was in this one section that reminded me so much of scout camp in AZ I was transported back to being a camp counselor years and years ago. We used to smell the trees and some were vanilla trees and chocolate trees. I don't know but the kids swore they smelled it. I leaned against a tree and smelled. I could almost smell the vanilla.

This morning in Denver was great. Went to the Botanical Garden and it was gorgeous, but by mid afternoon I didn't know what to do with myself. That's why I schedule myself so much more carefully. I just get agitated. Now I'm not sure if my questioning of Denver is due to residual agitation about driving all over Denver looking for something to entertain me that would have killed an hour and a half. I don't know.

Struggling

There are two things I'm really struggling with with this whole job search.

1 - I'm trying very hard not to panic and just apply for anything I see. I have been very thoughtful in only applying for jobs that are at my level and in places I want to live. I did apply for two jobs that are a step back. I had good reasons for both. Job a - with firemen. That's all there is to it. :) Job b - is a combined comp & benefits position and I have no hands on comp experience so I thought this might be a good way to get into the comp aspect of things. Interestingly enough, those two jobs are the only ones that have led anywhere yet. I'm still optimistic though. :) I just applied for 3 more jobs this evening and the first 4 candidates we've interviewed in my office for the new boss job have all fizzled out. My boss seems to clearly suck at phone screens. So I'm presuming, hopefully not incorrectly, that my pay cut won't actually occur until the new person starts. Fingers crossed.

2 - The other hard part for me is the whole dishonesty about the whole job search. Honestly, people usually are job hunting in secret. So I put on this very public face of I'm coping well and being a team player and professional and all that while planning on leaving the moment I can. It bothers me a little bit.

3 - I am finding it really hard to give a rats ass about most things. Now that I have a plan in place to leave, I find I couldn't care less about a lot of things I should. I'm going to have to fight harder against that because I still have to do my job.

I blame Sookie Stackhouse

For the fact that I accomplished nothing today. I started watching True Blood after realizing Anna Paquin is in it. I like her acting a lot so I decided to watch a few episodes On Demand. True Blood, for those without HBO, is a show about vampires and other supernatural creatures. I forget how I discovered the shows were based on books (I think they might show a little thing when the episode first starts or ends) but I decided to check out the first one. I was hooked. The Southern Vampire Mysteries are much better than that other big vampire series. :) They are really rather short reads - the first book is 292 pages - and they are quick to boot. The basic premise of the stories is that vampires have come out of the coffins because Japan has invented a synthetic blood that allows them to get the nutrition they need without drinking from people. So now they go out at night and associate with people. Sookie is a small town waitress in Louisiana and meets one and has all sorts of adventures due to her ability to read minds. Regular people don't like her either because they know what she can do or just because they think she's crazy. On the show, they followed the book somewhat. The basic premise of the first season follows the first book although there were definitely places of digression and addition. I just watched the 2nd season premiere and they've gone way off the original books but that's okay. It was still a pretty good episode.

I bought a new gray pin striped suit yesterday. I'm going to take a picture of me in it as soon as I find my camera. :) I like it. I think it is slimming. It was originally priced really expensively - $300 (ok that's expensive to me, maybe it isn't really expensive). It was marked down to $122 which is a good deal. I've never owned something so elegant. :) I just have to figure out how to get it to Denver so I can change into it when I get off the plane and after lunch and it won't be wrinkley. I do have one of those squishy hanging bags... Do the stewardesses only hang those up for first class? Hmm...

Poke me in my head

I think my acupuncturist thinks my pain is psychosomatic. Or maybe not that but he seems to believe I'm a big ball of tension. He's probably right. Friday he did the pin thing and since I always ask when he puts them in weird places I asked what each of the different pins do. So he put one in the top of my head (although how did he know where to put it?) and two in the back of my neck, three on one wrist and two on my other hand, one in my elbow and one on the top of each foot. The purpose of all of those... relaxation. And yet still... spent most of the time either jiggling one of my feet (not my fault... he puts one into this spot on my back which totally kills my hip and makes my foot fall asleep) or tapping my fingers. (Unrelated to this... I don't think I like Eva Longoria however I do have a weird little crush on the freecreditreport guy). Hopefully when Denver and Pittsburgh both offer me jobs (because why wouldn't they, I rule! Which I might be crushed if neither even offers me a next interview) and I get to quit this job I will be a little less tense. Of course I'll have a whole different source of tension - moving - but let's not think about that, shall we?

I spent the afternoon going to and from Bremerton on the ferry. Whilst in Bremerton I volunteered for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Poker Run and Regatta. It was pretty fun. I spent the afternoon on a dock handing out envelopes with cards in them to boats who came by. It wasn't too hot outside which was nice.

Honesty... is such a blah blah blah

One of the things that has been annoying me about this job search is the question about why I am interested in relocating to xyz location. I frequently give some vague answer about being nearer to family or whatever. I think I'm going to revise that policy and instead I'm going to give the honest answer: After researching possible locations that I may decide to move to xyz city has appeal based on several criteria including being large enough to support the size of industry that would need to employ a benefits manager yet not so large as to be impersonal or intimidating, four seasons for the northern locations, warmth for the southern ones, near a large body of water for those that are or near mountains, a lower cost of living and at least on paper decent public transportation. Other good factors of xyz city include a hockey team (Denver, Austin, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Chicago) as well as cultural opportunities so that I may continue my volunteering endeavors. Again depending on location I may expand on that and say near enough to places like NYC and Boston (again Pittsburgh) without actually being NYC or Boston. I think this might be the more well thought out answer and may make me shine a bit in their eyes. :)

The other part of the question I'm starting to get annoyed by... what kind of support system I'll have. Let me worry about that. I've moved more than once with one person or less as a support system in place... I'm not too worried about that now.