"December Storm" 2008 is underway, and just like every year our fair city can't handle the flakes and shuts down almost completely. Lack of snow removal equipment, a surplus of steep hills and drivers who, frankly, just aren't used to driving in inclement conditions result in a dysfunctional city when the snow arrives.
This year schools decided to mitigate damages by cancelling school on Wednesday because it might snow. It didn't. By Wednesday night the storm (second one in a week) came through and blanketed the region with a few inches resulting in school closures on Thursday and offices being closed.
I was downtown finishing up some errands and shopping for my trip and, although there were a few people walking around, it was sparse enough to be a bit eerie. As if the retailers weren't suffering enough, now we have a snow storm that keeps people housebound. I walked through Pike Place Market and the few vendors who did make it in to open their stall, looked very maudlin. The looks on their faces said "please, buy something- anything."
Personally, I love the snow and even the cold doesn't bother me much. I find this weather so much more inspiring than the usual torrential rains we get this time of year. It's, of course, easy for me since I don't actually need to be anywhere and my business isn't losing money. So, sure, I can have my Polly Anna positive outlook while others are suffering.
The complaint I can't buy, however, is how after one day at home several people have moaned about being a shut-in. C'mon, it's been a day. One day. You mean to tell me you can't just enjoy one day at home alone? You can't find things to keep you busy if you're a Type A individual? You can't just take the opportunity to hunker down with some tea and read that book you never seem to have time for? I could stay home for a week alone and never get bored. Walking in the snow is invigorating and if bundled properly, very safe. I've got a Dr. Seuss stack of books to read. That pile of movies the Lacey man sent me is still unwatched. Plus, Christmas is approaching. Bake cookies, get creative with your Christmas wrapping, make your New Year's plans. I don't know. Just embrace the situation and stop complaining. It's what is so, so enjoy it!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Current Job Sitch
The opportunity for picking up the odd temp job here and there has decreased drastically this month. With the sudden surge of unemployed workers in the area, there are a lot more of us out there vying for the same crap paying jobs that are available. Plus, with my pending Viet Nam trip lasting almost three weeks, I'm not exactly the ideal candidate for employment. Employers want someone to start immediately and work through the holidays. Imagine that. Personally, I thought working three weeks, taking three weeks off and then returning to work was the perfect scenario. Not so.
Last week, I had an interview as a sales associate at the top bridal shop in the area. That would have been entertaining. During the interview while talking about my own 1980's wedding, I caught the interviewer's eyes go straight for my left ring finger. "Oh, you won't find anything there," I said with a laugh. Aside from the fact that I might come off as a cynical old divorce amongst a room full of tittering young brides and bridesmaids, we really hit it off. She showed me a photo of a relative's 1986 wedding and we commiserated over the classic 80's gowns and big hair.
She gave me a tour of the facility which included individual full sized bridal rooms complete with everything the bride-to-be would need to accessorize her try-on experience, a daylight room, and a runway! As she walked me through the hundreds of gowns, she was dropping names faster than I could pick them up, Alvina Valenta, Sally Crew, Paloma Blanca. While I tried to appear knowledgeable in the area of wedding fashion designers, I'm sure my face said "who are these people?"
In the end, she told me she would have loved to have hired me, but she needed someone here through the holidays. Understood. Clearly that wasn't the most ideal job for me regardless. Me, assisting rich, young brides in buying something that I now know is the most ridiculous expense in a girl's life? My own gown is still in my closet mocking me - and taking up valuable space. But I could have faked it and it would have provided so much fodder for my blog!
Next experiment- "Mystery Shopping." I'd heard of it and wondered how it worked. I register on the site (this in itself is a time consuming process) and sign up for my first shop. It's a Greyhound Bus assignment. All I need to do is call Greyhound, find out when the bus to Vancouver or Spokane leaves, go down to the station with a large piece of packed check-in luggage (full enough to be believable) and buy the ticket for either city. I must arrive at least 30 minutes before the departure time, but no earlier than an hour prior. While there I'm to check out the station, the restroom, count customers, take certain mental notes and leave. Come back to the house and complete their report. Simple, this ought to take an hour of my time and it pays $22.
I pack my luggage, haul it to the #8 Metro bus stop two blocks from my house, walk five more blocks to the Greyhound station, stand in a very long line (40 minutes so far). Time is ticking and the agent calls out "anyone waiting for the bus to Vancouver, BC?" BC? Crap, I'm suddenly not sure if I need to buy the ticket to Vancouver, BC or Vancouver, WA. The instructions didn't say. But they did say, "You must follow the instructions exactly or you will not get paid or reimbursed for your ticket." Oh dear. I'm panicked now. What do I do? It's finally my turn and I ask the agent what time the next bus leaves for Spokane. Not until 5.30 p.m. I'm four hours too early. That isn't part of the instructions either! Crap crap crap. I can't think. I buy the ticket to Spokane.
I have to inspect the restroom and where is it? UP a flight of stairs! I haul my believably heavy luggage up the flight of stairs and do the inspection. I leave the bus depot and head back to catch my #8 bus home. While I'm waiting, I'm also stewing about this ticket I bought. I'm just certain they are going to claim my shop invalid and deny me payment or reimbursement. I can't afford a bloody $42 unused bus ticket! I march back to the bus depot, my believably heavy luggage in tow, gave the agent some story and asked for a refund. It was a convincing tale, so she didn't suspect a thing. I finally got home THREE hours later, unpacked my bag, completed my report explaining the discrepancy between the two Vancouver's. They actually paid me.
I decided not to sign up for any more shops that required me to actually purchase anything I didn't want. My next shop was to pose as a wealthy homeowner planning a bathroom remodel job. I was told to, dress up a bit, and have the name of a made up architect or designer to appear more believable. I had to make an appointment with a sales associate at a high end tile store and spend 20-30 minutes discussing my plans and wait for the associate to write up an estimate. This shop did take about an hour and it paid $15. But the guilt of wasting the woman's time ate at my conscience. And I now have a bag full of sample tiles.
The following three shops required me to assess the Green Peace guys on various street corners downtown. I was to spy on them from afar first and note how they approached different people, then walk past and let them snag me, listen to their entire spiel paying attention to all the details, and then leave them stranded without signing up (actually, signing up was an option, but I opted out.). Again, I felt a bit bad about wasting their time, but I'm getting used to this gig by now. These shops were also $10 each and each took about an hour plus my walk downtown (30 minutes).
My final shop last week required me to inquire about and then purchase an eggnog latte at Peet's Coffee & Tea on Upper Queen Anne. Why the eggnog? Blech. Any other holiday latte, but the eggnog, please! I did the shop, bought the latte, and it was actually drinkable. I had a nasty cold and couldn't really taste much, so that probably helped. Again, that shop was fairly easy and painless and also paid $10.
Final consensus? It was a lot of running around town for a total of $77. I'm sure there is an easier way. Like maybe actually working at Peet's Coffee Shop for minimum wage. I'll re-visit that thought after my three week vacation.
Last week, I had an interview as a sales associate at the top bridal shop in the area. That would have been entertaining. During the interview while talking about my own 1980's wedding, I caught the interviewer's eyes go straight for my left ring finger. "Oh, you won't find anything there," I said with a laugh. Aside from the fact that I might come off as a cynical old divorce amongst a room full of tittering young brides and bridesmaids, we really hit it off. She showed me a photo of a relative's 1986 wedding and we commiserated over the classic 80's gowns and big hair.
She gave me a tour of the facility which included individual full sized bridal rooms complete with everything the bride-to-be would need to accessorize her try-on experience, a daylight room, and a runway! As she walked me through the hundreds of gowns, she was dropping names faster than I could pick them up, Alvina Valenta, Sally Crew, Paloma Blanca. While I tried to appear knowledgeable in the area of wedding fashion designers, I'm sure my face said "who are these people?"
In the end, she told me she would have loved to have hired me, but she needed someone here through the holidays. Understood. Clearly that wasn't the most ideal job for me regardless. Me, assisting rich, young brides in buying something that I now know is the most ridiculous expense in a girl's life? My own gown is still in my closet mocking me - and taking up valuable space. But I could have faked it and it would have provided so much fodder for my blog!
Next experiment- "Mystery Shopping." I'd heard of it and wondered how it worked. I register on the site (this in itself is a time consuming process) and sign up for my first shop. It's a Greyhound Bus assignment. All I need to do is call Greyhound, find out when the bus to Vancouver or Spokane leaves, go down to the station with a large piece of packed check-in luggage (full enough to be believable) and buy the ticket for either city. I must arrive at least 30 minutes before the departure time, but no earlier than an hour prior. While there I'm to check out the station, the restroom, count customers, take certain mental notes and leave. Come back to the house and complete their report. Simple, this ought to take an hour of my time and it pays $22.
I pack my luggage, haul it to the #8 Metro bus stop two blocks from my house, walk five more blocks to the Greyhound station, stand in a very long line (40 minutes so far). Time is ticking and the agent calls out "anyone waiting for the bus to Vancouver, BC?" BC? Crap, I'm suddenly not sure if I need to buy the ticket to Vancouver, BC or Vancouver, WA. The instructions didn't say. But they did say, "You must follow the instructions exactly or you will not get paid or reimbursed for your ticket." Oh dear. I'm panicked now. What do I do? It's finally my turn and I ask the agent what time the next bus leaves for Spokane. Not until 5.30 p.m. I'm four hours too early. That isn't part of the instructions either! Crap crap crap. I can't think. I buy the ticket to Spokane.
I have to inspect the restroom and where is it? UP a flight of stairs! I haul my believably heavy luggage up the flight of stairs and do the inspection. I leave the bus depot and head back to catch my #8 bus home. While I'm waiting, I'm also stewing about this ticket I bought. I'm just certain they are going to claim my shop invalid and deny me payment or reimbursement. I can't afford a bloody $42 unused bus ticket! I march back to the bus depot, my believably heavy luggage in tow, gave the agent some story and asked for a refund. It was a convincing tale, so she didn't suspect a thing. I finally got home THREE hours later, unpacked my bag, completed my report explaining the discrepancy between the two Vancouver's. They actually paid me.
I decided not to sign up for any more shops that required me to actually purchase anything I didn't want. My next shop was to pose as a wealthy homeowner planning a bathroom remodel job. I was told to, dress up a bit, and have the name of a made up architect or designer to appear more believable. I had to make an appointment with a sales associate at a high end tile store and spend 20-30 minutes discussing my plans and wait for the associate to write up an estimate. This shop did take about an hour and it paid $15. But the guilt of wasting the woman's time ate at my conscience. And I now have a bag full of sample tiles.
The following three shops required me to assess the Green Peace guys on various street corners downtown. I was to spy on them from afar first and note how they approached different people, then walk past and let them snag me, listen to their entire spiel paying attention to all the details, and then leave them stranded without signing up (actually, signing up was an option, but I opted out.). Again, I felt a bit bad about wasting their time, but I'm getting used to this gig by now. These shops were also $10 each and each took about an hour plus my walk downtown (30 minutes).
My final shop last week required me to inquire about and then purchase an eggnog latte at Peet's Coffee & Tea on Upper Queen Anne. Why the eggnog? Blech. Any other holiday latte, but the eggnog, please! I did the shop, bought the latte, and it was actually drinkable. I had a nasty cold and couldn't really taste much, so that probably helped. Again, that shop was fairly easy and painless and also paid $10.
Final consensus? It was a lot of running around town for a total of $77. I'm sure there is an easier way. Like maybe actually working at Peet's Coffee Shop for minimum wage. I'll re-visit that thought after my three week vacation.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Dating in Seattle- Or Not
I've pulled up my line from the 'Barrel of Fish' and put it away for the season. Internet dating just isn't my thing. I'm not sure how I'll meet my mate, but there's got to be a better way. I will say, however, that one of my man pals met a woman from the POF site. She lives in Vermont, he in Seattle. She flew out to meet him face to face this weekend to see if they are 'a match.' I'm dying for the consensus. I love hearing success stories.
'Tis the season. My friend, the Culinary Queen, met her man in school at the start of spring quarter and they announced their engagement just before Thanksgiving. My San Diego pal is jetting off to Jamaica for the holidays and plans to pop the question- or at least broach the subject - to her fella. I'm secretly suspecting at least one or two more announcements by the time 2009 rolls around.
I was telling an old high school friend, who is married, about my lack of dating luck and she says to me "do you text?" I don't and apparently that's my problem. "All the single people I know text to date," she said.
She's right. Singles aren't asking each other out on proper dates. It's a text message "are you going to be out tonight? You want to hook up later?" or the ever famous, yet irritating and grammatically incorrect, "where u at?" That's exactly right! Remember the POF guy who sent me a 'spontaneous' text message at 4.45 p.m. asking me to dinner right then? If I'm going to date, I might have to put my old fashion ways aside or be stuck dating geezers. Even using the word "text" as a verb drives me insane. My hairs go up especially fast when someone says "he texted me..." "Texted?" You've got to be kidding.
On Friday I had dinner with my friend whose husband died suddenly a year ago August. Her five year old son asked her recently when they were going to get a new daddy. Heartbreaking as that is, my friend keeps her sense of humor. Her son even came up with a list of criteria:
1. He must not be married
2. He must not be related
3. He must not be in jail
Hmmm....smart kid. Maybe I need to keep my criteria as simple as that.
Nah. I'll stick to the list that's as long as my arm. I enjoy a challenge.
'Tis the season. My friend, the Culinary Queen, met her man in school at the start of spring quarter and they announced their engagement just before Thanksgiving. My San Diego pal is jetting off to Jamaica for the holidays and plans to pop the question- or at least broach the subject - to her fella. I'm secretly suspecting at least one or two more announcements by the time 2009 rolls around.
I was telling an old high school friend, who is married, about my lack of dating luck and she says to me "do you text?" I don't and apparently that's my problem. "All the single people I know text to date," she said.
She's right. Singles aren't asking each other out on proper dates. It's a text message "are you going to be out tonight? You want to hook up later?" or the ever famous, yet irritating and grammatically incorrect, "where u at?" That's exactly right! Remember the POF guy who sent me a 'spontaneous' text message at 4.45 p.m. asking me to dinner right then? If I'm going to date, I might have to put my old fashion ways aside or be stuck dating geezers. Even using the word "text" as a verb drives me insane. My hairs go up especially fast when someone says "he texted me..." "Texted?" You've got to be kidding.
On Friday I had dinner with my friend whose husband died suddenly a year ago August. Her five year old son asked her recently when they were going to get a new daddy. Heartbreaking as that is, my friend keeps her sense of humor. Her son even came up with a list of criteria:
1. He must not be married
2. He must not be related
3. He must not be in jail
Hmmm....smart kid. Maybe I need to keep my criteria as simple as that.
Nah. I'll stick to the list that's as long as my arm. I enjoy a challenge.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Home Stretch
Here we are two days in. Into December, that is- the home stretch of 2008. Suddenly we are reminded of those New Years resolutions set way back in January. What were they? Simplify life. Have a plan by fall. Ummm, I think that is all I could muster up at the time (http://wandrwoman.blogspot.com/2008/01/happy-super-new-year.html) and even that was pretty undoable as it turns out. Well, if by 'simpler life' I meant work less and have less, I guess I have accomplished that much. And if by 'have a plan by fall' I meant come up with an outline of a variety of possibilities, then, okay, I've got that covered too. Can't totally beat myself up, now can I?
Besides entering the month of holiday hub bub, which I could simply do without, we're also entering the month of too much spending, family stress, overbooked social calendars, head colds, and an overload on Christmas music, Christmas related foods and Christmas decorations. I know I know, I sound like Eb Scrooge. I'm not really a Scrooge (well, maybe a tiny bit), but I just think so much of the season is lost on us as human beings during this month. I witnessed one interviewee tell a news reporter that things are so tight this year she is going to have to reduce the gift to her sister from $200 to $100. Okay, 'Sister McCain,' get a grip. I realize everybody has different spending habits, different incomes and different expectations, but wow. No offense, Friends and Family, but I'm not sure even if I had the money, I'd spend $200 on each of you. Sorry, not a Scrooge, just reasonable.
I so enjoyed the holidays when I lived abroad. For one thing, I never heard the phrase "Happy Holidays" until about three days before Christmas. Although there were holiday decorations sparkling throughout the major cities' squares, people put their Christmas trees up a few days before Christmas, not four weeks prior. Our trees are practically dead by the time Christmas rolls around. "Johnny, don't bump the tree or the needles will drop!" Hell, the needles will drop if you just walk past it too quickly.
Although the Christmas frenzy and commercialism give me a bit of angst, there are a few holiday traditions I do actually enjoy and embrace. Last Sunday some friends invited me to join them for the "Festival of Trees" at the Fairmont Hotel and the Gingerbread House Exhibit at the Sheraton. These are free exhibits open to the public and truly amazing and inspirational.
I also enjoy homemade Christmas cookies...a lot. Not a lot of cookies, I just enjoy them immensely. And most of all, I love the classic holiday movies "White Christmas," "Gift of the Magi," "It's a Wonderful Life, "Home for the Holidays," and, of course, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
So even though this Grinchy Scrooge is flying away for the holidays to avoid the whole routine, she does have a special place in her heart for the Space Needle all lit up-a beautiful scene!
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