Happy Birthday Addison!

Addie turned 7 today.

Mommy made her pancakes for breakfast. Daddy took her bowling, and then to Applebees for lunch and Hogi Yogi for dessert (we had coupons).

Mommy made a caterpillar cake made out of fresh bugs. It was a great day.

Enough of the depressing crap...

Hasn't been much to report lately other than what I'd rather not be writing about.

So.....



Emery's been pretty funny lately.






In other news, I passed both tests I took for employment with UTA and with Proctor and Gamble. I'll update the blog when I find out exactly what that means.

More fallout from crappy last job

This morning I received a call from the unemployment insurance people about some discrepancies between my application and what my employer said about me. I put that I was laid off, because I was told that all staffing service people lost their jobs at the same time as I have. Plus, I hadn't been given any unsatisfactory job evaluations before that jerk manager decided to let me go for not understanding that I was doing work that he was too stupid to recognize.

Apparently, they've told the unemployment people that I was fired for cause and that I shouldn't be able to collect unemployment. The agent who called me said that supposedly, I spent hours and hours on my cell phone at work, and that I spent way too long in the break room reading the newspaper. I'm still pretty mad now, but I was furious this morning. I rarely went to the breakroom except to eat lunch, and whenever I went I never spent my full allotted time there. I worked through my first scheduled break time almost every evening that I worked there, and usually didn't get around to resting until after lunch when things slowed down. The last few weeks I was there and there weren't a lot of maintenance calls coming in, I still didn't see much of the breakroom, I chose to sit in the maintenance shop so that I would be closer to the action should something break down. And as far as talking on my cellphone, I hardly ever used it. I didn't like to touch it with my dirty greasy hands.

They really don't have much of a case against me, since I was never disciplined while I was there they can't really have records of having ever warned me about job performance. It makes me mad that these people are all so dishonest. I guess I should be used to it by now. One of the guys in my EMT class today says that his employer is trying to do the same to him, and that he has a phone conference with his employer so that the unemployment people can decide. I don't really think my case will go that far, but I look forward to talking to some of those people.

I'm looking right now into going through the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy. My EMT will be done in May, I think I might be able to take a prerequisite class online this summer, which would leave me with 12 credits in the Fall Semester. Utah just passed a law that you don't have to have a year of EMT experience before going for a paramedic certification. So after I get done with the fire academy, I'll try getting my paramedic. I've been looking at some of the larger fire departments around here. The pay isn't great, but it's a livable wage.

They also offer an EMT Intermediate cert here, which I might take this summer along with the online class. With it I can probably get a job at one of the hospitals doing IVs and stuff in the ER. The job doesn't pay quite as much as I was making as a technician, but it's a decent wage, and it would probably look good on a fire application someday.

So staying in Utah is now at least one of the options we are seriously considering. I still think I'd rather move to Oregon and get lucky rather than stay in Utah and get lucky, but it might be in our best interests to stay. I just wish I knew.

The Fella Who Just Couldn't Wait...

This was really funny. Good quality video too.



I've got an invitation to take a test for Proctor and Gamble, I won't be able to get to it til the 16th due to class.

Stuff and Things

I interviewed at Sun Products yesterday, the people who make Sun laundry detergent, and lots of other store brands. I gave someone at their booth my resume at a job fair I went to right after I lost my job. I received a call from them on Tuesday, which I missed because I was asleep after trying but failing to take the kids to Denny's that morning for free grand slams (the line was out the door at 6 am, I made it up to them by cooking a huge breakfast of eggs, potatos, bacon and smoothies) I had class after I woke up, and didn't realize that I had a message until it was too late to call back. I called first thing in the morning yesterday, and told them that I would like the interview. They said they needed me right away, and that I was scheduled for an interview at 1:30.

I arrived 15 minutes early to fill out the application, and then I sat in the HR lady's office chatting with her about the job requirements, and making small talk until the maintenance manager arrived to take me to my interview. He was quite late, and the lady I was with called him up and asked if he was coming to get me. He replied that he was on lunch, and if I could wait. I said I could, so I continued to chat with her just about life in general. 25 minutes passed, and no one came to get me. She called again, and I was finally allowed to go into the manager's building for a test of my abilities and a more technical interview. I got there, I was taken into a back room, told that while I had some decent experience, they had interviewed someone earlier that morning that they wanted to place in the open position. He said I don't want to lead you on, but we're not going to hire you, so thank you for your time.

I don't see why he made me sit through his lunch just so he could humiliate me in person. It's not like I didn't have better things to do. Apparently, they are having a labor dispute there, and I didn't feel great about crossing a picket line to work there, so maybe it's all for the best, but I really didn't appreciate the lack of respect I was shown.

I've got a test tomorrow for a position as a Coach Technician for UTA Trax. I've got some applicable experience for this, since the light rail runs on similar technology as the material transport vehicles I worked on at IMFT. I think I would like the job, the pay is good, but I don't really have a great shot at getting the position. I know a lot of guys that check the UTA website looking for openings all the time, and there should be some good competition for this job.

I interviewed for a part time job with UPS today, and I am hoping for a callback tomorrow for a 2nd interview. It will make a good part time job to supplement whatever other income I'll have.

This next little thing is something I found on YouTube today. I really wish I could find more of it.

Back to High School

I remember what it was like looking for a job in Apple Valley when I was in high school. There were a lot of kids looking for work, and not a lot of employment opportunities. I had to know someone to get the job at Little Caesars.

I feel like that's the job market I'm in now, except for that if I don't find something soon, I'll get kicked out of my house or something. Oh, I also have 5 other people depending on me. Boy is it ever fun.

I'm about 99% sure I don't want to do factory maintenance anymore. I've applied for jobs delivering pizza at Dominos, and for overnight stocking positions at Smith's and Albertsons. I've also applied for part time work with UPS. None of these jobs pay very well, and we're probably going to be looking to sell the house sooner rather than later, which is kind of scary in this real estate market. Any of these opportunities I am trying to take advantage of should work out well should I find work in fire or medicine. I realize that I'll probably have to take a job with lower pay than I was used to (the Portland job would be like winning the lottery) and I'm ok with that. We've cut out a lot of our unnecessary spending lately, and we're making more cuts out of necessity. I believe that even unemployed and stressing out of how I'm going to pay off some significant credit card debts, I'm still a happier person than I was a month or 2 ago. I've got some clarity now that at least my life isn't going to involve a job that I don't want to do anymore.

So, for anyone that reads this that is still deciding what they want to be when they grow up, use me as a cautionary tale. Don't study anything that you have no interest in, even if it represents a significant increase to your current pay. I felt trapped by a crappy job and career path when I made up my mind to start studying electronics, but I never really found any interest in it. Having a job just to pay the bills and from which I derived no enjoyment for the past 4 years has sucked, I can't imagine doing it for 40 or 50 years without enjoying anything that I do.