Wednesday, January 30, 2008

My first day here - Tuesday

Ok, it's my first day here. I'm testing the waters to see if 'blogging' is something I find rewarding or if it's just going to be another annoyance in my life!

Is "blogging" a verb? I know Google seems to have become one. "Hey, I googled you today!"

Anyway...a day in the life of a job hunter. *sigh*

This morning I woke up at 10:08 a.m. Oh I can see your faces now thinking she slept until ten!?
I was awake until 4 a.m. After a long conversation on the phone with a friend in Pittsburgh, I finished Sue Grafton's latest novel: T is for Trespass. Reading is a great way to pass the time when you have a lot of it! I read between 4 and 5 books a week.

Back to my day. My cat came into the bedroom to say good morning. We spent several minutes talking. Ok, I spent several minutes talking to her. Telling her how beautiful she is and how much I love her. She replied with a heartfelt purr.

I then hopped out of bed and headed to the computer room to begin my daily search on the Internet job sites for meaningful employment. As I rounded the corner to the room I heard the steady clackity clack of the keyboard and realized the best seat in the house was already occupied! My daughter had taken to roost.

It happens!

Since I had to wait my turn, I cleaned the kitchen, folded a load of clothes, and threw another load into the dryer and tossed another load in the washer. (Thank God I didn't have to pound them on a rock at the river!) Then, I got dressed and left the house. I headed down Old Hickory Blvd, turning at Juarez - a shortcut to Lebanon Pike. Traffic was light as I made my way to the little side right behind Two Rivers Ford. There's a backroad that connects to McGavock Pike that allows me to avoid the traffic. I cut over to Two Rivers Drive and made my way to Briley Parkway and the exit for Opry Mills mall.

It wasn't difficult to find a parking spot in the middle of the day, so I parked at Bed, Bath and Beyond and made my way inside. They still have clearance items from Christmas! My palms were sweaty. I showed great restraint as I perused the candles and gift sets from theYankee Candle line. I dragged myself kicking and screaming from BB&B and headed out into the mall. I window shopped at several stores, and walked into many more.

If you've never been to Opry Mills in Nashville you don't know that it's huge! It boasts over 200 retail stores, along with fabulous restaurants, 20 movie screens plus IMAX theatre and the famous Bass Pro Shop! It's a shopper's paradise. 1.2 million square feet of shopping, dining, and people watching. One lap around is a mile.

I bought a soft pretzel across from the Old Navy store. No butter. Finished my walk and made my way out of the mall.

When I got home I decided to vacuum and dust. Not sure why they call it "dusting" when I'm actually removing the dust and not adding it.

The computer was then mine! I checked my email - bellsouth and yahoo. I finished an application for a job as a Student Support Specialist at a local community college and checked the Center for Non Profit Management website for today's listings. With nothing interesting there, I pushed back my chair and headed to the kitchen to begin dinner.

I breaded pork chops, boiled potatoes and made nice salads.

Dinner was a hit, and hit the spot. I curled up on the couch; watched the end of Wheel of Fortune, showed what a half-wit I am by screaming out my answers for Jeopardy and dozed intermittently.

Being unemployed is tiring. I don't think people realize that.

Eventually I made my way back to the computer and brought up the Jobslink website. Nothing new there that was going to help me. So...I chatted with my friend Tami.

Now, after chatting with Tami, and some guy from Knoxville - I'm back at the jobsites. It's 12:37 a.m. - Thursday!

I do my best work at this time of night.

2 comments:

Gary said...

I've bookmarked you! (Is that a verb?)

Lizzie said...

Ah, I think bookmarked just may be a verb! I think we're onto something.