broke college kids and a-holes are a crappy combo

so i am totally loving school. i am totally not loving the impact that school has on my ability to make lots of money. or any money, really. i am loving being a college kid. i am hating being a broke college kid.

found out that taking my old bartending job back will result in me basically losing my new serving/bartending job. i really need/want both jobs. but since right now i am all about instant gratification and not having my electricity shut off or car repo'ed...i'm gonna have to choose the old bar job since it is bartending and way more money.

i sort of understand where the new serving/bartending job guys are coming from...my schedule is already limited because of my classes, and they don't want to work with me on all the requests off i'd have to make to accommodate the old gig...but still...they hired me as a bartender and have me serving almost every shift. i do not make even half of what i was told i'd average per week there either. despite both of these things, i never bitch and complain, i'm always on time and always do a bang-up job. guess none of that matters if you go out and get another bar job though. pretty crappy, i think.

this weekend was both awesome (sugarland concert at old job...made good $) and complete shit (made $35 sunday night at new job and had a $34 walk-out...made $1), so i am feeling pretty frustrated right now. that, coupled with the fact that cabot high school has still not sent my transcript to school and my student loans are still not completed, has made this whole week stress my broke ass out!

now i must go learn everything i can about the totalitarian state and the rise and fall of stalin's USSR for an essay test on wednesday.

please remember...if you happen to find some extra money lying around that you don't need...send it to meeeeee!

testing, testing....2 days in a row.

wow...it's been forever since i posted. school is keeping me verrrry busy...as is having two jobs. yes, i went two months with no job, and now i have two! crazy! i keep feeling like something very important is going to fall through the cracks, but i've got to make up for two months with no income and all the same bills! also still waiting for student loand/financial aid to be straight. mailed a big, fat $1.00 (no, not a typo. one dollar) check to cabot high school so that they would send my transcript to hcc. i guess they didn't feel it necessary to let me know that they needed an entire dollar and a SASE to send your transcript when i sent them the transcript request the first time! thanks, CHS, let's goooooo RED! ugh.

had my first tests this week. one in poli sci and one in early american history. think i did pretty okay, but i guess we'll see. i should find out my grade on the poli sci test in class tomorrow. i'm pretty excited to see how i did. the test was multiple choice, true/false, and then had an essay question. i felt pretty good about most of it, i just hope my essay wasn't too short. i definitely did well on the early american history test...my teacher lets us use our study guide on the test, so i wrote tons of notes on it!

i've also been helping the new owners of my old bar get familiar with the process of running a super busy event bar, and so far i'm really excited to be working with/for them. i don't have to manage the place and do everything myself, which is the best part! right now i am helping out a lot and putting in a lot of time and work, but soon i'll get to just sling drinks and count my cash! it's gonna be so great! the new owner/management group seems really cool and wants to do a lot of exciting, if not ambitious, things, and if they do it right and these new things work, we'll all make a fair amount of money. sounds good to me!

we'll see if the other job at rick's on the river will accommodate the demanding schedule of the new dave andreychuk's grille: lattitudes at channelside. i have a feeling i'll soon be back to only one job!

1st week down...4 years to go!

i knew i would enjoy going back to school. i just didn't realize how much! it's funny how much of a difference being ten years older makes. in one of my classes there is another gal who is older, probably mid-thirties, and we are the only two who talk during class! by talk during class i mean engage in the discussion that our professor is trying to get going.

we had our first writing assignment and i got a comment back from the teacher: "excellent! very well written!" go me! i mean, i did win "best writer" in my creative writing class the first time i went to college, so i really wasn't surprised! ha! yeah, right...i was surprised and very excited! although, it was an opinion piece for political science, so of course i didn't have to really think about it, i just had to think about how i would structure the writing. knowing what i wanted to say was the easy part there!

i'm still a little bored with early american history...mostly because i just don't like early american history. i like contemporary (or modern) american history so much more! start me out in 1900 and i'll be good! the only thing i find interesting before that would be the writing of the constitution and the founding fathers, for two main reasons: people today like to paint the founding fathers as virtuous near-saints, and they weren't at all! reason number two is simply the endless debates we could have over interpreting parts of the constitution, like the right to bear arms or seperation of church and state.

the religious right likes to say that this country was founded on religous principles and invoke "in God we trust" and claim that the constitution doesn't have anything in it that would call for the seperation of church and state. the establishment and free excercise clauses of the first amendment says that "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the fee excercise thereof." i just wonder what the religious right thinks those words mean!

but i digress. anyway, i have had so much fun going to classes and reading textbooks and feeling passionate about school! i haven't really been excited or felt passionate about what i was doing for a long time...with the exception of volunteering at the spca and helping out homeless puppy dogs! let's just hope this fire doesn't burn out anytime soon!

back to school....again!

so, today is my second first day of school. second first day? how did i get here? well, i had my first first day of school once straight out of high school and ended up having a little too much of the "college experience" and not so much of the "college".

after losing my full academic scholarship at arkansas state, i decided to take a semester off and get a job in advertising at the arkansas democrat-gazette. turns out i am really good at sales. i started making money, moved to florida, got an advertising sales job at the st. petersburg times, started making even more money, signed a million dollar advertising deal with florida's largest real estate company and made a whole lot of money. i moved on to broadcast sales for cox radio and did well...then somehow ended up bartending and managing a busy bar in the channelside district of downtown tampa until a shitty economy and various comedies of errors resulted in the change of ownership and subsequent closing of said bar.

after two months of searching for a sales job, being told that since i am "overqualified for this position, we feel like you won't be a long-term employee," for every sales job i've interviewed for, and toying with the idea of going back to school, i decided to get another bar job and go for it. so here i am, a bartending 28-year old political science student. and i couldn't be more excited! i haven't posted a blog in a while because i've been really busy getting all this school stuff straight.

and today has finally come...my second first day of school.

killin' time....i have way too much right now anyway!

well...today i spent a majority of my time searching for a job...of course. went to a really cool bar called rick's on the river and had a very promising on-the-spot interview with a manager, and have a 2nd interview with the owner on monday. the manager implied that i'd be considered for a serving position and i should hear something back in the next week or two.

then he looked at my application, saw that i'd been managing and bartending at andreychuk's for three years, and that i'd totally name-dropped on my references (knowing we had the same beer rep, james, and that they love him there), so he interviewed me right then. during the interview, i really sold myself as a bartender and explained how i was going to be going back to school. he gave me the bartender test and apparently i did a bang-up job. he said to come in and meet the owner on monday.

sweet! if i can bartend there i will definitely be able to go to school. i'm pretty pumped...hope it works out. i'm super broke!!!

well, i'd better start getting ready for wazoo. ryan and nashira invited us to go with them to lowry park zoo's biggest annual fundraiser tonight. hopefully my hair doesn't look bad...i cut it myself today!!

change midstream, anyone?

despite having gone through an extensive and rigorous interview process with a seemingly great company for a job that would provide an absolutely acceptable income and mediocre satisfaction...i have decided that what i really want is to land a bartending gig and become a 28-year old full time college student.

ugh...why couldn't i have figured this out on june 8th (the first monday after the restaurant closed)? at least then the financial aid and application processes would be in full swing by now; possibly figured out, even! nope...i decided last week that i would take this situation and flip it on its ass. no job? shitty economy? fine, then...i'll just get my degree. unfortunately, since i waited till the last possible second to put the wheels in motion, i now have to toss the dice in a crapshoot that could ultimately ruin me!!

dramatic, i know. but one of three things will certainly happen within the next few weeks: i will pass on a job opportunity in hopes that i get the financial aid that i need AND get accepted into one of the four area schools that i applied for...i will take the job and school will once again be put on hold....or i will take the job only to quit a couple of weeks in - which i will feel like a complete asshole for - to start school because i just found out that the money is straight and i got in. dammit. i have got to start learning from the past. starting with this moral of the story: DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE ANYMORE, DOOFUS!!!!!

in one day, i decided that i did, in fact, want to go back to school, filled out the FAFSA, applied to four schools, started the "have your transcripts sent to the admissions department" process, and filled out three scholarship applications. that one day was last friday.

i am an idiot! or really awesome...depending on the outcome of this ridiculous forray! i guess i'll know more this time next week. so...until then...peace out, homies.

why do i wanna work for these people?

so...still trying to find a job. it is still super hard. i understand that i am one of many many many job seekers, but i just have one question across the board: WHY are hiring managers so impossible to get responses from? i get it...you have a pile of resumes and applicants trying to work for you. but seriously...how hard is it to type up a simple form letter saying "thanks, but no thanks"? or "we will be reviewing applicants information and contacting those we will be inviting to interview by whatever date." especially when someone EMAILS their resume and information. then it is a simple "reply" click...that's all. i'm supposed to believe that you are sooooo incredibly busy that you can't respond to applications? that's your job, isn't it? at least then people could scratch a potential employer off their list.

try to imagine what it's like for people like me, who lost their job through no fault of their own, have highly valuable skillsets, and have spent a lot of time on their resumes, cover letters, references, research...wading through job boards full of bullshit just to find your position and your contact information. in the current climate - let me tell you - going through that process literally hundreds of times per week SUCKS.

and i am completely jaded by this whole "apply online" trend, too. i love that i have filled out countless forms, created absurd numbers of accounts with logins and passwords, uploaded resumes and work history information into who knows how many job banks...just to become yet another resume in some cyber-pile for a computer program to sift through, looking for innane key words or whatever. can i get a human being, please? whoever is in charge of reviewing resumes...how 'bout reviewing some resumes already?

i've been a manager...i could tell in about 10 seconds if i was interested in calling someone in for an interview based on their resume or work history. if it fits, read it closely and maybe put it in a pile to call back. phone interviews can really let you in on who a person is.

it is so disheartening for people to not even acknowledge receipt or return follow up calls. i'm completely over it. maybe i should play the lotto...i'd probably have better odds at winning than finding a fucking job right now. bleh.

running, volunteering, and all that

for someone who has nothing to do and has been really bored...i certainly have taken my sweet time finding constructive things to do with my abundant free time. but...i am proud to say that i have started running on bayshore a minimum of three times a week, and walking at least two. danielle and i are trying out a schedule called "from the couch to a 5k" which is interval running...very cool, but draining in the florida sun! it was pouring today, which was our walk day, so we were stuck indoors.

i also went back to the SPCA for the first time in months to volunteer, and had the best time. dogs are awesome. i have made a resolution to get back to volunteering at least once a week...probably on sunday afternoons.

it looks like i am very close to lining up a job, which is awesome. i'm going out in the field with a rep on friday to see how i like it. that should be really annoying for the poor rep! that's all i'm going to say about that, because i read an article saying that blogging, twittering, facebooking, whatevering about potential jobs can backfire, so i'll do a quick subject change.

i have become addicted to shows about fat people. this is not good. i never watch reality tv, but all of a sudden - all over 4th of july weekend - i got sucked in to two shows: "dance your ass off" and "ruby." i cannot believe it! i like ruby because she has a southern accent. i like "dance your ass off" becuase i like seeing the drastic results from show one to the finale. and also because the people can dance better than me despite the fact that most of them weigh over 200 pounds! i cannot dance.

i can, however, watch fat people dance their asses off on tv from the comfort of my couch.

first post from the land of boredom.

i need a job. this is the first time since i was 16 that i have not had a job...and i hate not having a job. seriously...outside of being broke now that i have been jobless for almost a month...i am terribly bored.



my dogs get long walks twice a day, i have gone out distributing resumes printed on expensive paper to no avail, i have applied to every job posted on any job site i am qualified for, many that i am not qualified for, and many that i am overqualified for. i should have some interviews next week...hopefully they will result in a boredom cure. and a paycheck.



i've been watching a lot of news. the prostests in iran are so melancholy and hopeful at the same time. too bad it looks like the election results will not be reviewed and things will remain the same for even longer over there. the governor of south carolina was visiting his mistress while he went AWOL. hilarious and ironic coming from the guy who voted in favor of three out of four articles of impeachment against bill clinton...calling for "moral legitimacy". really? republicans are awesome.



i've also tried to figure out twitter. it is either stupid or broken. despite having clicked "follow" on what seems like 100 people, i am following no one. glad i spent time setting that crap up.



i am off to the dubliner to try to get a bartending job. i was really hoping i would get a big-girl job again...but that is proving quite difficult. at least i don't have to bring one of my resumes...a tight, low-cut shirt and blue jean skirt will probably be more influential than all of my outside sales and contract negotiation experience anyway.