Days Fifty-Nine through Seventy-Five

Bad blogger. Bad. Bad. Bad.

I swear I intended to write. I did. But, then I'd log in and have nothing to say. My life seems to be in a bit of rut right now.

I had two weeks of "training" for my work at home job, then I was released to work my heart out on the 18th, after passing three quizzes.

I've discovered that having "no set schedule" is both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing this past Monday when I came home from work with a horrible headache and wanted to go back to bed. It's a curse right now because it's late Saturday night and I'm 5 hours short of my minimum requirement of 15 for the week. The system was down for maintenance Thursday night so I couldn't work. It was down until 8:00 Friday night so I couldn't work as many hours as I had intended. Trying to get to bed early enough that I'm not dead tired for the day job means that I've restricted myself to only working until 10:00 p.m. on weeknights. Most of the people doing this project have more flexible schedules than I do and seem to be able to work all hours any day.

So, that said, I plan on getting up early tomorrow and knocking out the 5 hours. The work is not hard at all. VERY easy in fact. Point and click. Point and click. Could I do it for 8 hours straight every day? No. Not without my brain turning to mush. The good thing is that on the weekends, I can work an hour, take a break, work an hour, run some errands, work an hour, watch some tv, etc.

My day job is blah. I've developed some resentment for the person who replaced me as supervisor because he has no clue what he is doing and I hate watching things go badly. I keep trying to remind myself it's not my responsibility but I have a certain fiber in my being that can't stand the fact that the team is constantly mucking things up, missing deadlines, calling off, coming in late, dropping calls.... I feel like the only one who cares about our reputation with the client. The guy who replaced me is a nice guy and I'm sure he had no clue what he was getting himself into. He handles everything by ignoring it. It's like if he doesn't acknowledge the issue, he doesn't have to address it. But, as you know, crap rolls down hill, so when he doesn't respond, the client calls me. The client emails me. "You always respond. You always have the answer," they say. The team members do the same thing. They bombard me all day with questions and ask me to help them deal with issues they have. I refer them back to their supervisor. They roll their eyes and tell me that he won't know how to help. When they do go to him, he sends them to me. I've whined to my boss who just shrugs it off and asks me to be a team player. I hate going to work. Hate it. If I thought I could survive only working the work at home job, I'd quit tomorrow.

Abby and I are still getting to know each other. She's still quite wild and some days, I look at her and wonder if maybe I jumped too soon into having another cat. At least once a week, I'll have a moment where I think of Molly and how much I miss her and how I hope I grow to love Abby as much as I loved Molly.

So, that's my life. Twenty some days summed up in a few paragraphs. Hmph.

Days Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven and Fifty-Eight

On Monday, I had my first "training" class for my new part-time job. Whoever said, "There's no such thing as a dumb question" should be shot. The trainer went over some very basic items -- the minimum number of hours, system requirements, the pay rate, scheduling hours and how to invoice. She had a nifty powerpoint (which she had already sent all of us prior to the training) to cover all of the key points. Sure enough, she got interrupted every few minutes by someone who would say, "I have a dumb question... " and then proceed to ask something she had just explained. The poor trainer would perkily respond, "As I just said...." and then proceed to answer the question. I was annoyed for her. The only thing that kept me from saying, "Seriously? Do you want these people working for you?" was the fact that I was getting paid (or will be getting paid) for putting up with their stupidity for an hour.

I'm actually kind of excited about the job. It seems easy enough. I will be reviewing "red flagged" ad content and either approving the ad or denying it based on Microsoft's terms of use for advertisements. For instance, there are certain words and phrases that Microsoft has deemed prohibited on their website(s) -- words that deal with terrorism, pornography, illegal drug use, etc. If someone submits an ad for their website(s) that has one or more of the prohibited words, the ad gets sent to an editing queue for review. An editor (me) will then review the ad content and see if the word or phrase really is harmful or if it's safe. If it's "safe", then I click "approve". If it's not, I click "reject". No phone work. No dealing with people. Just me and my computer mouse, clicking away. There is no maximum number of hours and the work is available 24/7. The project will last until the end of October. And I will get to put on my resume that I was an editor for Microsoft's Ad Center, which may impress someone someday, considering I wouldn't mind getting into editing professionally. My work is monitored for accuracy and speed. I have to do at least 875 ad reviews per 15 hours of work. Blah blah blah. I'm not worried. Plus I'm sure I'll get to see some pretty interesting advertisements. :)

On Tuesday, I signed up for a "walking challenge" at work. They are giving us pedometers which we are supposed to wear all the time and then every Monday, log the number of miles/steps we walked. At the end of the challenge (in September), there will be prizes awarded to those with high numbers, along with other prizes and such. What the heck, right? I get some exercise and a free pedometer.

Today, I got an email from a recruiter for a job I interviewed for a few weeks ago that the job has been put "on hold" due to company restructuring. I was disappointed at first, because the job had sounded pretty good -- closer to home than my current job, non-managerial, straight hourly work, salary close to what I'm already making, paid overtime, monthly bonuses, small office staff, and a male boss (no offense to my female friends -- but I work better with male bosses than I do female bosses.) Then, after the initial disappointment, I realized that it just wasn't meant to be at this time and having the job be put on hold now is better than me getting offered it, giving my two weeks' notice and then having the job fall through at the last minute and then be unemployed without any way to file for unemployment benefits because I quit my job.

Now, I'm going to go relax a little. My next training session is Friday night. I have a few 2-hour training sessions spread over this week and next week and then I can start working regularly. I haven't quite decided what nights/days and hours I'm going to work to get in my 15 hours. I guess I'll play it by ear and do a couple of hours a night... and if I feel like doing more, I can do more.

Day Fifty Five

I spent today indoors. Too freaking hot and humid. When I woke up at 7, it was already 80 and "feeling like" 88 according to the weather man. I don't mind the heat if there is an ocean or pool nearby to dip into to cool off.

Today, I read through 50+ pages of information for my new part-time job -- how to access their website, how to invoice, how to schedule hours, how to use AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) to contact my instructor, etc.

Tomorrow night is my first "training" session. I have 4 more before I can go live, but I do get paid for training.

The project is 4-6 months, 15 hours a week at $11.00/hour, which should give me an opportunity to rebuild my savings and pay down my credit cards. The best part is that I can do it from the comfort of my home and if I don't like it, I can ask to be re-assigned to another project. I'm really hoping this will open doors to a full-time work from home gig.

Days Forty-Five Through Fifty-Four

My excuse for not blogging is that I've been on vacation and logging into my computer for any lengthy amounts of time reminded me too much of work. The only computer usage I've done is to update my Facebook status, apply for jobs, check email and maintain my farm in FarmVille. And check my bank balance. I don't know why I did that because it wasn't like magic fairies were going to deposit anything into it.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Each morning, my dear sweet new kitty, Abby, would wake me up around 6:00 wanting some breakfast and to play. So, each morning, I got up like a good mommy and fed her and played with her for about 30 minutes. Then, I put out birdseed and peanuts for the squirrels and she would curl up by the balcony doors watching the squirrels and birds. I would crawl back into bed for a couple of hours and then officially "get up" around 9:00. I'd watch some morning talk shows, game shows, or Law and Order reruns for a few hours. Then, I'd check email, update Facebook, look for jobs and then make lunch. My lunch usually consisted of something quick and easy. One day, I had peach ice cream with fruity pebbles for lunch. Another, I had scrambled eggs with cream cheese melted into it. Another, I had 1/2 of a small seedless watermelon. I have to admit I rather liked doing whatever the heck I wanted whenever I wanted. No work projects. No meetings. No schedule. Then, in the afternoon, I would try to do something "productive". One day, I vacuumed and spot-cleaned the carpets in my apartment. Another, I hauled several bags of magazines to the library for "recycling". I cleaned the kitchen floor. I cleaned the bathrooms. I watered my plants. I did laundry. I washed dishes. I organized the "junk drawer". I cleaned the litterbox. I reorganized the fridge, freezer and kitchen cabinets.

By mid-afternoon, I would take a short nap and then make dinner, watch television, read a book, check email again, apply for some more jobs, tend to my Farmville farm, talk to friends on the phone, play with the cat, rent a video, and then crawl back into bed around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.

Now, before you think I was a complete slug -- there were some "other" things that came up -- like an unexpected trip to the "urgent care" facility because I was having very very painful cranium pains, blurry vision and a nosebleed. Turned out my blood pressure was high -- which was probably my fault because I hadn't been taking my meds regularly. My friend Janelle and I had lunch and then went on a dolphin watching cruise. I've done them before. It's my way of combining sun, sea and salty air in one trip and getting my tan out of the way. Abby had a vet appointment. I had a dentist appointment. There were some random trips to the store to window shop. I spent one afternoon calling various insurance companies trying to get cheaper car insurance. I also downloaded a bunch of information about my part time job that starts on Monday. I stopped going to therapy. I picked up a pool pass for my apartment complex, in hopes of actually going this summer and cooling off by the pool and possibly meeting some neighbors. Lastly, I firmed up plans with my college friend, Dorrie, who is coming for a weekend visit Labor Day weekend.

Tomorrow is the last day of my vacation. No sleeping in or staying up late, sadly.

Today, I took a nap and had a work-dream. I hate those. I haven't had one in 8 days. But, the harsh reality of returning to a job I hate is sinking in. I had really hoped to find something better/different while I was on vacation.

In my dream, it was my first day back from vacation and before I had a chance to even log in, my boss pulled me into her office and b*tched me out for something that came up while I was on vacation that the people who were supposed to cover for me weren't able to handle... and instead of holding them accountable, she was blaming me for not preparing them better. She went on and on yelling at me and then ended the brow-beating with "and just for that, I'm sending you to California for a week to work in our new office there."

I woke up with a headache. It's not an unrealistic dream. Now, my stomach is churning and I'm dreading going back to work.

Now, I'm going to go make dinner, watch a movie and try to block out "work" in my mind for a little bit longer. Just a little bit.