BitterSuites

eBay Sales: 1 sticker, 1 GS badge, 1 book

#MilWordy Update: 136,621 words (7,641 words/day to complete)

Started working my part-time gig. I was really nervous before the first appointment. Now, it’s as though my emotions have recognized that this is something I know how to do.

I got an email from a former boss. They have a possible position open. I’m going to listen. I’m sort of enjoying the new gig, even though it doesn’t pay the best. (Especially not for the area I’m living in.) It lets me stretch muscles I haven’t used in a long time.

Creatively, I still haven’t gotten much of anything written and I don’t know why. Writing used to always be my go to for relaxation and yet, I’m still having issues putting pen to paper. Or maybe that’s it. I’ve started writing on the computre mostly and I need to shake it up by using a notepad. I’ll have to give that a try.

My new computer chair showed up and I am so happy. I can’t wait to uncrate the darned thing and get it upstairs. This Victorian chair… well, it’s nice, but I’m not wearing two layers of petticoats to sit on it, so it’s a bit unforgiving. And no, I’m not going to take up wearing petticoats just to keep the chair. I’ll probably keep it for working on my weaving because it’s the right height. But I generally don’t have to spend 6-8 hours sitting when I’m weaving. 🙂

Spent time around a campfire last night and it was good fun. The marshmallows were the size of a fist though, which made the toasting of such slightly unwieldy. Tasty though. Sort of warm marshmallow fluff with the nice sharp bite of them on the outside where they charred. And to my friends who think that the burning of them is wrong – my marshmallow, my toasting method. Nom. Nom. Nom.

My new gig uses a sort of… let’s call it a business Discord forum. This is very helpful in one sense because you can ask for advice, reach out to people and it’s a BBS so you don’t have to worry about when you post something because it will generally reach the other party as needed. However, the problem with this lovely system is that it buzzes you all day. Even when you’re off doing something else, the workplace is in your pocket. This feels very boundary intrusive. On the other hand, given the nature of the work, sometimes there are emergencies/urgent items which need to be handled. I still think that downloading the app was a mistake though. It means that I don’t disconnect at all. I check it even when I’m not on-shift, as it were. That is a problem. And the stupid little buzzing bugger can break concentration at will. I’m sure there’s some way to mute it that I just haven’t found yet, but it’s a frustration point right now. There are worse things, of course.

I had a weird experience yesterday. I checked my phone and there was what amounted to an email saying “yo, there was an issue with this thing. Keeping doing what you been doing, but we’re investigating.” from the employment commission. This freaked me out a bit because I’ve been trying to navigate the evil site appropriately. And, of course, due to the fucked up priorities of this country, they are always seeking to throw people off of unemployment. Don’t even get me started on the stupidity that is our welfare system. They shamed my grandmother when she had 6 boys and a husband who was disabled. She went for food stamps when her husband could no longer work. They shamed her to the point that she left and never went back. Fuck that shit. *deep breath* Well, anyway, that’s not the oddness. The oddness is that I cannot find the message I thought I saw. Not on any email account I have. I have check the inbox, the trash, the spam, and the archive. No message. I am to the point of believing that my brain just created it out of nothing. Or, it got pulled back somehow. I don’t even know. Maybe it’s an anxiety dream. Still, it’s weird.

Goodnight y’all.

If you found this interesting, or you’d like to support my content, please consider buying me a coffee.

• Goal: Finish 2 books & 12 short stories — 3 short story complete. 1 in edits.
• Goal: Keep a journal, even if it’s only one line per day — This did not happen much more than the blog posts
• Goal: Take a photo every day and make myself a book at the end of the year. — Pretty close to caught up on this one.
• Goal: Complete MilWordy. — At least I can count blog posts toward it.
• Goal: Blog every day. — And we try again.
• Goal: Modified eBay goal: List $200-$300 per day. Got $0 worth of listings today.

eBay Sales (this will be a long list): 4 figurine, 23 books, 1 ornament, 1 record, 2 trolls, 1 Snoopy, 1 McDonald’s Toy, 1 Star Wars toy, 2 necklace, 2 kitchen tools, 1 cake stand, 1 set of slides, 1 vase, 1 belt, 1 pr shoes, 1 paper doll set, 2 magazines, 1 plush, 1 set of thimbles, 1 pair of shelves, 1 collectable keychain, 1 pitcher, 1 rubber stamp, 2 fandom collectables, 1 set of coasters,

#MilWordy Update: 133,086 words (7,339 words/day to complete)

Well, it’s been a month. I have been busy looking for a new job. And I’ve taken on a part-time gig, but I’m still looking for something full-time. It’s better to have something than nothing.

I am ramping up my reselling as well. I have a goal to pay for health insurance through the reselling. That will be my first goal. Then, enough to support my car payments as well. Slow build until I don’t have to worry about holding an external position at all.

I am still working on publishable items, but I just haven’t had the brain capacity to actually be creative. And I’m sure that’s probably a stress reaction rather than anything else. I do have an old story coming back to haunt me though. I think I’ve got the ability to write the story now, but I need to figure out where to start it and from what POV I want to show it. If I write the backstory part in full, it probably will turn into simply fodder for the real story. I don’t know if I’m willing to devote that much time to it. If I don’t write up the backstory, I will completely forget it all. And there are themes from the backstory which I’m using to inform a different character in a different universe. I don’t want the two characters to be too similar in the end. And I don’t want the only different characteristic to be the availability of magic in one universe. Which, I suppose, means I need to sit with my MC for awhile longer and get into his trauma reactions more completely. Not really a comfortable place, but I think one that needs to be explored carefully.

On the other hand, I’ve actually started a book in an old series that I’ve got plotted out. That’s a step in the right direction. I can work on that while I test play my other character. I’ve finally found the place to use a plot that I’ve been working through several times with no success. It’s always been an issue of why would the main character actually say yes to the situation she’s moving into. I think I’ve got a reason for it now. We’ll see if it works out or not, but for now, I’m going to run with it.

I haven’t even been keeping up with my digitization project. (I am trying my best to get the overwhelming amount of paper out of my life. But I swear, every day, there’s one more piece of paper that needs to be kept as proof of something. *shakes head* Modern life was supposed to make it easier to live without those things wasn’t it? Well, that and flying cars.

And seriously people, everyone who wants a flying car? I want you to think a moment about the last time you were driving. The last time someone swerved through the lane or cut you off or just about smashed into the back of your vehicle. Now, think about adding another dimension to that. Now, instead of being cut off in two directions, you’ll be able to be cut off in four. And there are enough people who shouldn’t have licenses out driving right now. Can you imagine that future with flying vehicles? And what sort of failsafes need to be on a flying car?

Obviously my practical side has had too much coffee today. I’ll convince her to take a long warm bath to calm down and we’ll reexamine the idea later.

Because flying cars are cool.

And so are blasters. Especially if the blasters are actually shooting plasma instead of light beams. Hmmm… that would mean that they would actually need clips, yeah? You’d need actual material to create the projectiles.

I’ll… I’ll be right back. I have a short story to draft.

Goodnight y’all.

If you found this interesting, or you’d like to support my content, please consider buying me a coffee.

PS: Newly Published Game Review on Medium.com: Money Garden

• Goal: Finish 2 books & 12 short stories — 3 short story complete. 1 in edits.
• Goal: Keep a journal, even if it’s only one line per day — This did not happen much more than the blog posts
• Goal: Take a photo every day and make myself a book at the end of the year. — Pretty close to caught up on this one.
• Goal: Complete MilWordy. — I haven’t written a word in a month.
• Goal: Blog every day. — First day back at it.
• Goal: Modified eBay goal: List $200-$300 per day. Got $0 worth of listings today.

eBay Sales: 2 figurines, book, MLP accessory, Super 8 film, candle, Poochie item, 2 plush, 1 paperweight

#MilWordy Update: 133,086 words (5,938 words/day to complete)

I most certainly did not plan on missing so many days.

I had my first vaccine shot on Monday and I have to say that I did have a side effect — fatigue. The first day it was most obvious, but the next two days, I just felt… off. Like my head was filmy and I wasn’t getting much done. I tried, mind you, but I couldn’t concentrate in the way that I prefer. And I ended up taking naps. More than I’d planned on.

I talked with a recruiter today, helping her brainstorm how to find someone to fill one of her openings. And it was nice to talk to someone and give them some help. I enjoy that sort of thing. It also made me think about job titles and the fact that you cannot just rely on a job title to tell you if someone is the right fit for a job.

For example: One of the titles I held was “Administrative Specialist Senior.” What the everloving hell does that mean in the real world? Not what you’re thinking and I’m sure of that. I know that because I get calls about becoming a secretary (I use the old term specifically here) all the time. Like, no Bosco, please read what my job duties were because they were not being an Administrative Assistant. That’s a different skill set. For one, Administrative Assistants have to have a much higher threshold for bullshit than my job did.

As an Administrative Specialist, I did everything from purchasing, to space planning, to writing procedures, to database work. I had the same title from the day I stopped being a receptionist and started being the assistant to the assistant and everyone else on the team, to the day I left the position as a space planner running a nationwide project to consolidate IT functions. I sort of wish that I was kidding, but I was also an hourly employee and, as it turns out, not paid nearly what I was worth.

Still, when I was talking to this recruiter, I mentioned that I knew folks who had started as Janitors in order to get a foot in the door and then, after a year of that, were looking for other work. Her actual reaction was “you’re kidding.” I was not and I am not. The problem is, once Janitor is on your resume, you have to fight to get recognized as another type of professional. I’m hoping that I just helped someone change their mindset about who they’re searching for when they do their database mining and reaching out to people.

Job hunting exposes just how limiting job titles and database searches are. If I put in a search for a space planner, for instance, I get jobs ranging from the planning of the park system for the county to move coordination in an office. Those are completely different skills, but they have the same name.

Also, I am perfectly capable of managing engineers to get their jobs done without having to be an engineer. Why? Because managing means that I help get obstacles out of people’s way. I sit down with them and figure out what’s going on in their schedule. I take the time to realize when someone is overworked. And I don’t have to be an engineer to take a look at a drawing and say something like — you know you can’t actually read the information in this note because it’s overlapping right? Or — where does this piece of the design actually meet up with the other piece of the design. Or — the customer wanted a door opener on this door here. It’s in the requirements document, let’s make sure it happens. In fact, as a manager, there might even be a layer between me and that requirements document. This is a long way of saying “I have a Psychology degree. I know how to talk to people and gather information.” and “I can manipulate as well as anyone else if I need to.”

However, a lot of my skills fall between the cracks. I know just enough to be dangerous in a lot of different topics. I am what is usually called a Polymath. However, people don’t recognize that I have that information when they look at my resume because while I am always learning, I don’t have a piece of paper to say that I know that information. This is probably something I need to figure out how to document or change, but that’s a problem for future me. I don’t want to get derailed right now.

So, in summary. Job Hunting is difficult because trying to determine what a job actually entails from the title or the description is often iffy. And Hiring is difficult because HR systems want something quick to sort through resumes before they get to managers, and if the applicant doesn’t check a particular box, they get booted before a the hiring manager ever gets to see them.

This is why networking is so important in the traditional realm. The people who know you can recommend you to people if they know you’re looking for a job. And if you don’t burn your bridges, you can reach out to your past teams and shake the tree a little bit.

This has been a PSA and kvetch system about the current methods of finding a job and hiring.

If you found this interesting, or you’d like to support my content, please consider buying me a coffee.

• Goal: Finish 2 books & 12 short stories — 3 short story complete. 1 in edits.
• Goal: Keep a journal, even if it’s only one line per day — This did not happen much more than the blog posts
• Goal: Take a photo every day and make myself a book at the end of the year. — Last photo that wasn’t related to auction prep was on Monday.
• Goal: Complete MilWordy. — I don’t think I’ve written a word since Sunday
• Goal: Blog every day. — First day back at it.
• Goal: Modified eBay goal: List $200-$300 per day. Got $0 worth of listings today.