Friday, May 28, 2010

Positive news

Since I've been so negative I thought I'd post some positive news.

Paul has finally had some calls back on applications he sent out so there is at least one interview in the works.

I went to the county job agency yesterday and was actually pleasantly surprised with the results. They had me do up a few more resumes, tailoring them to a few different situations. I went back with those this morning and they found 3 jobs for me to apply for. The jobs sound way too good to be true, not in the compensation, but in the fit for my qualifications. The jobs just opened and will be filled within 2 weeks so I won't have to wait very long to find out if I am chosen to interview. If you are the type of person to pray, please pray for us. My immediate response is to pray that God would give me one of these jobs but I'm praying for His will to be done and the strength and faith to deal with whatever the outcome is.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

More negativity

I been avoiding updating my blog because I've been so very negative but I just couldn't help it, I had to blog about today's happenings.

I've spent countless hours applying for jobs over the past few weeks. I finally decided to try AppleOne, an employment service. In order to get an appointment you have to fill out lots of paperwork online. I spent about 2 hours filling out all their online stuff and was scheduled for an appointment tomorrow at 10:30. I just received a call from them to "verify" my appointment. They wanted to see why I had no recent job experience. I explained that I have been a homemaker for the past 9 years but that I have done some volunteer work during the last 2 years. The office canceled my appointment, according to them I'm not the kind of person they can help. You have to have a stable work history and I don't have it.

I asked the woman who called to please explain who could help, she suggested the county work agency. I explained that I had attempted to get a job working for minimum wage but that I was turned down due to being overqualified. She was surprised but said an education without any recent experience was pretty much useless. I'm still wondering how I'm supposed to get that experience if no one will even talk to me. I called the county agency but the person I spoke with was unsure how they could help. I'm going in tomorrow to fill out more paperwork in the hopes that they can help me find a job but the person didn't sound very hopeful.

So here I am with a BA in Math and no way to get a job. I looked into substitute teaching but the high school district isn't even accepting any more applications for next year, there are just too many teachers out of work. I could start being less than truthful on applications saying I have no education beyond high school but I highly doubt employers want a liar working for them. I am so out of ideas!

I'm trying to have faith that things will work out but I seem to be running into one stumbling block after another, I could really use a break and some good luck!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Regrets

I have lots of them but I have to say at the moment that one of my biggest regrets was ever going to college.

I have another 10+ years left on my loan and I can't find a job.

It seems that having a degree is keeping the local employers from calling me back. I could lie and say I only finished high school but then I would have to lie about my work history. I'm sure employers don't want to hire liars but most won't even give me the time of day.

I had an interview yesterday at another local market. Once again I was told that I would hear back within a few days. I thought the interview went well but now I'm wondering if that's just wishful thinking. I know that if I haven't heard anything by tomorrow afternoon I didn't get the job since the hiring manager won't be in on Thursday and she is in a rush to hire 2 people.

The frustrating thing is that I've even been applying in the big city near us. I'm over-qualified for some things and under-qualified for everything else. I just don't fit in anywhere. I'm sure some of the companies have looked at where I live and just skipped my application but since there are a number of people in our area who drive into the city that can't be the only reason I'm not getting any calls back.

Paul hasn't had any calls back and he has probably sent off close to 50 resumes and applications. He's gotten a couple of emails from companies telling him that they are pursuing other candidates, at least that's something, but the vast majority of places don't bother giving you any information. It's really frustrating! He still has a job at the moment but what he's receiving isn't even paying for his gas to go back and forth to work, the only reason he is still going to work is for the medical insurance. I'm sure that something good will come out of all of this, I just hope it's soon!

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Catching up again

I wish I could say that time flies when I'm having fun but for me time just flies.

Paul's job has taken another turn for the worst. He's actively searching for something to fill in the gaps and I'm actively searching for anything. One thing I've learned is that a degree and no experience will get you nowhere. I had an interview at the local market, they were concerned about my degree and my advanced age (I never thought 35 was all that old). I guess you need to be young and uneducated to bag groceries... I've applied at numerous places but haven't received any calls back, contrary to promises made when I dropped off some of the applications. I've applied for jobs that require a degree and no experience but I have yet to hear back from any of those either. I'm feeling really useless right now.

We need to get out from under our mortgage so we are planning a move to a bare piece of land. It's flat, easily accessible, and the owners' are willing to carry. Of course you can't get electricity around here without an address or a well. You can't get phone service without an address, and you can't get an address without a permanent livable structure. So we are going to be doing without all of that once again. We purchased an old RV that will be towed to its new home once the land closes and we will be moving onto the property sometime in the next few months. The kids are ecstatic, their parents are just tired. From our last experience off-grid we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. We've made plans to buy water from someone local and we have a backup in case that falls through. There is a generator in the RV and we are looking at setting up a small solar system for power. We are building a composting toilet to handle waste and we have someone lined up to scrape the sage brush off of most of the land. The biggest hurdle we've run up against is the lack of phone service. There is no cell reception within 12 miles of this area. VOIP might be an option but since we are on satellite internet that's kind of iffy. We are looking into a satellite phone but the equipment is really pricey, I know we will come up with a solution eventually. I'm sure there will be other little bumps along the way but at least the basic are planned for.

So we are in the beginning stages of another adventure. Right now it's kind of difficult to get too excited but at least we have a plan...