So, What's New?

I'm sorry you are feeling so depressed, 123. Sometimes when we look at "all" we have to do it seems quite overwhelming. What I do is sit down by myself and look at everything I have to do piece by piece and try to figure out how long each part might take. Then I make a list of everything that needs to be done and do it step by step. Give yourself goals, like Tuesday, study X amount of the SATs.

When your brain gets fried or you just plain don't want to do it any more, you should give yourself permission to do what you like. You'll find that you feel more at peace doing so if you've made progress on your SAT studies, or your schoolwork, or have already practiced your violin. Once you feel refreshed, you can hit the books again, or tackle it in the morning.

I think you should talk to someone about your depression. It's sometimes hard to do that with one's parents. My parents always gave the impression that they thought that was all nonsense. Maybe yours are the same, but I'm betting they'll want to know. If you can't talk to them, talk to someone else you trust. You may be in need of counseling. Life shouldn't be so overwhelming at 13, but believe me, you're not the only teenager who feels that way.

Try to take it easy on yourself. Watch a Christmas special. Go skating. Try not to worry. Things have a way of sorting themselves out. Life's a roller coaster, and you can't go up unless you occasionally go down.

By the way, hon, you're a smart girl. You'll do well on the test. You might want to get a book on how to "beat" the test to help your odds. That's what I did, and I scored quite well. BTW, I can't believe you're studying for it already!! I didn't do that until I was 16.

I hope this helped! I care about you, and your happiness, and I know I'm not the only one here who does. Keep in touch!! Big virtual hug.

 

I agree with everything SBW said and couldn't have said it better myself. I'm sending you big virtual hugs as well!

 

Hey there, 123! I agree with SBW, too. And I've always been really impressed with how creative and artistic and well-spoken you are.

Just deal with one little step at a time, and the rest will turn out OK. You'll do just fine.

I believe in you.

 

What's new with me is I'm home sick today. I spent half the night worshiping the porcelain god and as a result didn't get much sleep. I just got up. It's 1:30 P.M. and I still feel pretty bad. Upright doesn't seem like a great position right now.

Too bad. I wanted to sim. :(

 

No simming for you, SBW. Drink lots of fluids and go lie down. I'm really sorry that you've caught such a nasty bug. I hate those stomach bugs. I hope it's no worse than a 24-hour thing and that you're feeling better by tonight.

 

Bah...I finally heard back from the company I interviewed with today. Unfortuatly I didn't get the position. They ended up hiring one of their temps...I guess I can understand that. They did say that they wanted to remain in contact with me though for other positions within the company...so maybe it will work out eventually. In the mean time...I NEED A JOB!



Sorry to hear your sick SBW...no get together this week! Hopefully you'll feel better soon.

 

Sorry to hear you're sick SBW. I hope you're feeling better by the time you read this. Take care!

Shana, sorry you didn't get the job, but I hope that something works out soon, either with that company or elsewhere. I'll still be keeping my fingers crossed for ya.

I know what you mean about needing a job. I'm still filling in applications, they get tedious after a while. Our city has a jobs crisis in that there are around 100 to 400 people applying for each position that comes up. Added to that, at 35 yrs of age I'm considered 'mature' and a lot of places prefer young graduates or school/college leavers. Added to that, those younger people have knowledge of all of Microsoft Office/ website creation and I only know Word, Publisher and a teeny weeny bit of Excel. I guess I had better start exploring those other programs and play around a bit with them. I am sending in another application today, and have some more to write.

 

HnC have you tried looking online, too?

 

Yep Michelle, I do most of my job searches online, everyday. Today is the day for the weekly jobs section in the local newspaper, but it has shrunk down to fit onto just 4 sides, compared to around 14 to 20 sides as it used to be. There is hardly anything in this area. I just have to keep looking and hope something turns up soon. I called one place last Thursday and asked to speak to the named person in the advert, got her voicemail, left a message. Called again Friday and left another message. Called again yesterday and left another message. I guess I'm wasting my time there, it's annoying when they can't return your call when they have advertised. Another company advertised and I looked in google for info about their company - first link was an article about how the unions were being involved as their workers were being treated badly. I didn't bother applying for that one lol. I'm sure that something will turn up soon.

I would have gone to train as a children's nurse, (you can apply for a training allowance while studying so sort of a small income) but last summer the nursing graduates at the local training school were told that their 'usually guaranteed' jobs at the local hospital were now non-existant, and that they should move to London to look for nursing jobs. That's quite a move for those mature graduates who have a family/children settled here. Our local hospital is in crisis - a third of the 7000 workforce have to lose their jobs. So nursing isn't an option for me.

Running out of ideas. I won't miss the large teaching salary as I never went into that job for the money. I just want enough to 'pay the bills' for now, so the jobs i'm looking for are offering like half the salary I was on before, or less, but then they say I'm overqualified. If I apply for jobs with more responsibility, they choose newly qualified graduates. Small businesses here have a high failure rate, so I'm scared to start one as it would mean losing our home if it failed. Admin jobs require full knowledge of all of Microsoft Office, and other software or website experience, which I don't have. There isn't much that I can do with the B.Ed degree, it's kinda useless now - no other employers (except in education) value it really.

Sorry! Kinda depressing to read. I might go to an agency where they might match me to a job that I hadn't thought of doing, based on the skills I DO have. Yup.

 

Too bad we don't live closer to each other Hugz; we could talk about our job searches and our fiances together over a drink! And of course maplestory and The Sims 2! Too much in common!

I hate the "overqualified" aspect of job searching. I also hate the "under-qualified" part! I'm 3 classes and an internship away from my BA in social work at a school that's just over 5 hours away from me. Unfortunately if I transfer it will take closer to 2 years to finish, not to mention the extra cost that we can't afford until Brandon finishes his degree. And of course I don't want to move back down toward southern Wisconsin for a year because Brandon and the cats wouldn't be able to come with me! So as of right now, having 104 college credits is getting me no where...5 years of college behind me and it barely counts for crap. Luckily I am very knowledgeable on Microsoft office products and I pick up and retain knowledge quickly so I'm easily adaptable.

I do have a little good news on my job search. First of all I received a call from the same company SBW works for! I had applied for them about a month ago and had a phone interview scheduled. They called me to let me know HR at the time was reviewing that position and they had decided to hold off on hiring anyone. Well they called again today and I have a phone interview for this evening at 5pm.

Second, my mother talked to our friend who works for the bone marrow place. She told my mother that they did end up hiring the temp person just because she's already trained, but that the two people who interviewed me were very impressed and wanted me to apply for a different position. So I did and hopefully I'll hear back on that one shortly.

I'm praying that I have a job offer before the end of this year. I'd prefer working for the donor program just because it's closer to me...no offense SBW, but working downtown scares me! Hehe, not because of the people, but because of all the traffic! But of course I would do it anyway!

 

Heh, it would be great to meet up for a drink/meal somewhere and have a chat! For now at least, it will have to be 'virtual'. Nothing beats a real life convo and hugs though.

Good luck on the phone interview today and the other job with the donor place. They both sound really promising! I really wish ya the best. I know what you mean about traffic though - if you arrive at work stressed out from the journey there every day it's gonna affect your job satisfaction, although right now I guess it's just important to get a job.

I applied for two jobs in a similar location but they involve a traffic-laden route to work and will involve the city's multiple roundabout system which is nightmarish. Not sure on the salary too as they are negotiable at interview. Got another application with my ex-employer (City Council) - admin work in their Science and IT dept in Education. Will phone an agency tomorrow to register there too.

 

Quick update, I have an in-person interview on Monday. If I work the 11-7:30 shift they pay for my parking...which is nice but the hours kind of suck if I want to do something in the evenings. It's about the same wage I was getting before, just a little more actually, so not too bad. I'm not too excited about the postion, it's basic customer service work, but I'm not willing to pass it up either just yet.

 

I went home sick today, which I don't like to do, especially with a new job, but I needed to rest. I hope to feel better tomorrow. The bug seems to have spread from my tummy to my chest, and now I'm all congested and exhausted. Wheeee.

Good luck, Shana, but if the job isn't what you'd really enjoy maybe you should keep looking. I can tell you it's a great company to work for. I get a lot more job satisfaction than I've had in a long time. But it's sounding like the donor place might suit you better. I just want you to be happy with where you are, since you've got to be there 40 hours a week.

Hugz, your job situation sounds more dire. Don't suppose you can move, huh. Maybe it's time to get a job at the local pub and write some freelance articles in your spare time, or some such. Sorry to hear your part of the country is so depressed. Makes me glad to live where I do. Jobs aren't aplenty here, either, but at least I found one I like.

Witch Baby and I are watching Timmy Turner's Christmas special. Very silly stuff.

Merry Halloweestertine's Day, everyone.

 

Oh...poor Josh. I hope you feel better before Christmas. Goodluck with all those crazy finals, try not to stress out too much!

 

Awwww Josh, sorry you're still feeling sick. I hope you feel better soon. As for your finals, remember - bananas and water! Perfect combo for optimum brain performance.

 

I remember finals. So depressing. I remember a Cost Accounting final that was from 8 to 10 PM on December 23. I'd put off all Christmas shopping to study for finals that week. So I did Christmas shopping on December 24, me and a quarter million other people in that mall. (Actually, it was more like half a million. There were at least 2 people per square foot.)

At least I wasn't sick, too. Hang in there, Josh, and good luck on your tests.

 

Ah yes - the British Roundabouts - or as my brother liked to refer to them - "Circles of Death!" Last time I drove in the UK, I was able to sort of get the hang of them - the single ones at least! But a couple of places had TWO roundabouts together! And one place in Cornwall had THREE roundabout all together! Let me tell you, there was some white-knuckle driving THAT day!!!

Anyway Hugz, hope your job search gets better! That is just no fun!! We are keeping our fingers crossed for you!

 

Hey Shana! Sounds like your prospects are looking up! Keeping our fingers crossed for you too! In the meantime, I was just out at our website, and it looks like several more "Associate" and "Customer Service Associate" jobs have opened up. Those make really good starting positions, with plenty of room for growth. We've had most of our trainers coming from the service associate pool! Many have also gone on to become Project Managers, Team Leaders and even Directors! Let me know if you are interested or need me to send you the URL again!

I know you are a little nervouse about possibly working down town, but you could always do a Park & Ride! I'm pretty sure there's one at Rosedale, which I beleive would be pretty handy for you! I actually prefer riding the bus or train to driving to work...I get a LOT of reading done! Plus, it would be fun to have you downtown..then all three of us could go out to lunch!
Which reminds me, SBW...We gotta do that again!)

 

Ahhh so you've experienced our crazy road systems then lol. Yep there are places with 2, 3, 4 or 5 close together. The first pic shows the notorious set of 3 in my city - driving test examiners just love to take you there on your test - mine did, and luckily it was quiet that day. I did have an accident there though on my second lesson - caused not by me but someone else and I got whiplash really bad because the instructor slammed the brakes really hard. The second pic shows the other notorious 5 (not as close together though) but these will be in the area where those 2 jobs are based. I'll order some valium now. LOL