I'm still up, waiting for a cheesecake... I'm not complaining, but I needed something to do so I thought I would post here. 

I have so much to be thankful for, but I'm running on very little sleep this week, so bullets will work tonight. 

*Today, I received the 2nd offer from the insurance company for my car.  It was nearly 1k over what I had expected to get, so yippeeee!  I will still have to go to court, but that's just to make a statement or two about how this woman's actions hurt people in some way.  I'm thankful that it's over with, and I can have my own car again.  

*I have phenomenal friends.  I count you ladies among them, and I am thankful that I will get to spend time with some of my friends in the coming days.  I feel crappy, but as a grad student, I have to make hard choices sometimes, the kind where I have to choose between spending time with friends or being productive.  I chose the productive option a lot over the past couple months, but when i finally made time for my friends, they welcomed me back with open arms, and we've been having a great time- maybe too much fun. 

*I am thankful for my gym, and that I have an ipod to listen to at the gym.  

*I am thankful for my husband.  He cleaned the house all by himself today.  

*I am thankful that I am in a position to help others.  I love what I do, and I have had a daily reminder of how much I love it in my new little guy. 

*I am thankful for Spanx. 

*I am thankful for Hula- she makes me smile.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving!  I probably won't have much time in the coming days to post, but have a nice holiday with your loved ones.  

Cheers!

 Cheers!

My adviser passed this on to me- it's a good cause, and if you have some time, it only takes a second.

( Read more... )

I want to have a job, and now that I am a student again, that means I can get a part-time, flexible one on campus... or maybe it does. I am seriously concerned about applying for these jobs, which are generally for students who are undergrads, and don't have any degrees. I feel like I'm overqualified, but still really want to work 15 hours a week for 7.00 an hour at the planetarium gift shop. I just want a job to fill some the time and provide a little money to keep me from having to bug Josh for money to go to Starbucks. And one that is in a nice environment, and this one also fits that bill. So here's the job description for one of the jobs, and my cover letter. Any constructive comments would be appreciated.

Job: Student will sell tickets and gift shop merchandise; answer phone, provide necessary information to callers and visitors about the planetarium and its schedule; keep attendance and financial records for star shows and gift shop. Student will restock/rearrange shelves, perform cleaning chores and take inventory in the gift shop when necessary. May order gift store merchandise and enter items into inventory database

Ability to interact pleasantly and communicate with visitors in English; willing and capable of learning to operate a cash register/computer. Some very busy and stressful times, ability to work well under pressure. Cash handling a plus but must be proficient with numbers. Interest in/knowledge of astronomy helpful but not required. Responsible for building at times when permanent staff is not present. Must be honest, dependable and trustworthy.

Student MUST be available weekday mornings this fall and may need to work evenings, weekends and holidays.

Come to the planetarium and fill out an application or find it on the web and bring it in.

Cover Letter:

Please accept this resume in addition to the required application for Student Worker II at the Fleischmann Planetarium. I found the position on the Career Development Center Job Board.

I am currently a graduate special student, and will be taking courses in the psychology department this fall. I am looking for a part-time job to fill some of my time and have additional interaction with the university and Reno communities.

My previous customer service experience was with an interior design studio. The designer had a shop of accessories and furniture, and employed me to assist guests during their time in the studio. I have experience with computers and cash registers. Additionally, should the position ever require it, I have experience with a variety of other office tasks. I have a great deal of experience with taking inventory, and I am very proficient at data entry. I am friendly and flexible, and am quick to adapt to new situations.

In addition to working for the same firm seasonally from 1997-2001 and full time from 2001-2002, I have a great deal of experience with children of all ages and their parents. I have been a preschool teacher, and always did whatever I could to incorporate as much science as possible into my day-to-day plans. Most recently, I was employed as an assistant to a high school librarian and after-school program coordinator at a high school, and spent many hours assisting students with science homework, as well as helping them locate research materials in the library.

I hope that you will consider me for this position. I am hard working, efficient, trustworthy, sincere, and have a terrific sense of humor. I would be a positive addition to your staff. I appreciate your time in reviewing this cover letter, resume, and application.

I've left off the obvious "Dear Sir or Madam" and what have you... Also, I feel like I am writing a personal ad/jumping around yelling "pick me! Pick me!"

And, for any of you who have worked in a retail clothing store, did you just take a resume in and ask them if you could have an application? How does that work?  I can't believe I am 2 weeks away from entering into my late 20's, and don't know how to do this. 

Over the years of not living with my parents, I have had some strange neighbors. When I had my first apartment, with 2 other girls in college, I had neighbors above us who like to wrestle, and they were these guys who must have weighed 250 a piece, and wow, the walls would shake when they tackled each other or whatever they do in wrestling...The next neighbors were ok, until my roommate called the cops on them for their very loud party graduation weekend. I know they deserved it, but they kept giving me dirty looks as I was moving out the next day. Then came the creepy, nosy man next door, the first time I was on my own with no roommates. He was obsessed about making me water a strip of lawn next to my place, and just being a busybody...I couldn't go a day without something being a problem for him. By chance, I met the girl who had lived there before me a few months later, and she said they (the guy and his wife) were nutjobs, and I should stay away from him. I finally had to tell him to get the hell away from my house, or I would call the cops.

Then, I think last year's took the cake. She was some strange middle-aged woman, who wanted to make everyone's business her own. She could not drive very well, or park a car, and usually took up 2 or 3 spots in our parking lot. I was complaining about her to my boss once, and my boss said, "ohhh, she is a piece of work, she goes to my church! I can't imagine living close to that woman." Anyway, she finally showed that she was totally crazy or maybe just passive aggressive and mean, I'm not sure which, when she called the cops on us... So, it's about 2 am, and there is a knock at the door (we've been in bed for hours at this time). I make Josh get up and answer the door, and he asks who's there, and the response is "PULLMAN PD! OPEN UP!" So, 4 uniformed officers, guns drawn, are at my door. I get up, I wander out to see what there problem is (and, I'm wearing my jammies- it is freezing, because it's about . Then, next thing I know, Josh is taken outside and I am moved into my living room by two officers, who wanted to know if he was hurting me. I said "What? Who are you, and what are you doing here?" They explained that they had received a call from a resident about some domestic violence. So I asked why they came up here, and he said the caller indicated it came from above the unit. I don't really recall what happened next, but I was annoyed with her, because it turns out that the neighbors below her were punching their punching bag... She couldn't seem to tell direction of sound, and she woke me out of a sound sleep just because of it. I made sure to drop lots of stuff after that, and to occaisionally stomp around...

Feel free to share any crazy neighbor stories that you have...

I have been a faithful follower of Reno 911 since it came on 3 years ago. It is a spoof on Cops, and follows the misadventures of the fictitious Reno Sheriff's Department. Lt. Dangle and his shorts are always good for a laugh, and one of my favorite episodes was the one where he and Junior were trying to bust a felon in a massage parlor, and got locked out naked, and had to walk back to the station. If you haven't seen it, it's worth adding to your NetFlix list, start with season 1. So last night, in my sleeplesness, I was watching the local public access station, thinking it would bore me to sleep. Instead, I found myself laughing and giggling at a show called "Inside the Washoe County Sheriff's Office." It went on to discuss dog training, and the new Washoe Co. Jail facility, which contracts for beds with 42 local law enforcement agencies, and can house nearly 1300 inmates. This is the real Reno 911! The similarities were uncanny, and it reminded me that nearly all fiction has a small basis in fact. Could that mean that Harry Potter has any grain of truth to it?

I made it through my first night alone in a strange place. I'm completely exhausted. At 2 am, when I was still awake, the air conditioner shut off and it was hot, so I got up and turned it on. I played some tetris for a while. Then at 4, I finally fell asleep. I don't know what my problem is. I can't go to sleep when Josh is in bed, because that adds more heat to the room, but I can't sleep when he's not in bed either... I did have a very strange nap yesterday, I was listening to a book on CD, and woke up a while later, maybe I should have just gone to sleep then, and been able to get up early and get going with my day.

Someone on the Nest suggested that I go find the "high end grocery store" and get some cheese and wine... I would love that... However, Seattle this is not, and there is relatively little in the way of gourmet food stores (that I have been able to find)... I think I saw a Trader Joe's, but have no idea where that was (or if I really even saw one, maybe it was at Tahoe), and I know that there is a Wild Oats, so maybe I'll try that instead. And, it's next to the VW dealership :).

My car, Violet, is having some issues. (I had the name years before Ben Affleck named his kid that, but another freaky connection to Ben is that we share the same birthday). We spent 10 hours at the dealership yesterday (well Violet did, Josh and I only spent about an hour there drooling over the new Passats). Her bill yesterday, plus a little more, would have been a nice down payment on a new Jetta, maybe even a lower-end Passat. I told myself not to do it because I won't be working for at least a year, and was worried about making payments. Violet is a '97, and has 110k miles...But, the service manager was really surprised that a car with the number of miles and of that year only had 3 things wrong (three very expensive things), he said the guys who work on the older VWs usually bring him a laundry list of problems for the client to ok for repair. But, now I have a car with a new clutch and a transmission that is a year old. I just wonder how much longer she's going to last, and hope we made the right decision. When do you know it's time to let go?

My first post in my new online journal. We recently moved to Reno, NV from Washington state, and are slowly figuring out the lay of the land. I grew up next to a very large freshwater lake, and having Lake Tahoe so close is great. I love that it can be the middle of the summer, a zillion degrees out, and the water still shocks the swimmer a bit when she gets in. I'll be starting school in about a month, I'm chasing after an elusive PhD. This has been a challenge that I have been anticipating for the last 5 years, and here I am, getting ready to start up the mountain. I'm not sure how much time my scholastic endeavors will leave me to post, but I will do my best to keep things current. Cheers!