Day #10

Today was definitely one of my better days.

Woke up to an email from the boyfriend about an ad for a graphic designer his mom found in the paper. Went ahead and emailed my resume in. Fingers crossed! It's an actual graphic design job.

Got ready and ran out the door to get to my optometrist appointment, calling the HR lady from my old job as I drove...Apparently, I come up as being under Davis Vision for my insurance, and wonderful Davis Vision does not cover materials (frames and lenses), just the exam. However, the paper work I had received on my first day at my job said that I was covered for everything...so I knew I needed to call and get this all straightened out. The HR lady didn't get back to me til after the exam, but it turns out I'm not under Davis...I'm under Spectera, and they cover everything. So now I just need to call them, explain the situation, and mail in the claim.

The good news is (or awesome news, really) I have new glasses! I was expecting them to have to send them out and wait for a week or so, but they happened to have what I needed in stock...and so, I drove home with my new specs! They were also having a very awesome sale, so even though my 'fake' insurance didn't cover it, I did not pay a fortune (and I'll be submitting a claim to the real insurance anyhow, so I should hopefully be receiving some of that money back).

Did a quick job search when I got home...nothing new out there.

Submitted a logo to a contest on 99designs.com. If I win, I get $200. That would be nice. I'll be keeping my eye on that site...

Watched another Netflix movie. "The Butterfly Effect." Love it, although it's a wee bit depressing. Perhaps it makes me feel better about my life. Or it's just a nice distraction for a couple hours...

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow at 10 a.m. Not really looking forward to it, but it's necessary, so I might as well go through with it since my insurance will be gone soon.

I also have to do work on some of my freelance projects tomorrow, since people are expecting results very soon. I'm cool with that...keeps me busy, makes me happy. I'd be happier with a secure job, though.

That's pretty much it for today. Perhaps tomorrow I will hear from a possible job?

Day #9

Had my "interview" today.

Woke up at 7 a.m., ate breakfast, hopped in the shower, and then put together a version of my portfolio to put on a cd using iWeb. Printed out my resume and references, got dressed, and left the apartment at about 11:40.

Drove 45 minutes to get there in the rain and snow on roads I've never driven on. Walked in 15 minutes early (as planned), wet, hungry, and a bit stressed (not planned). Filled out an application and handed it in with my printed resume. Waited. Was asked to go into the office and talk.

I maybe said 10 words the whole "interview" (it was more of a screening/preliminary thing, and i knew this going in). The chick talked at me really effin' fast for 5 minutes, asked if I had any questions, and I was out the door again.

What. The. Hell.

I've NEVER heard anyone talk so fast in my life, and she was just determined to cram as much information into that five minutes as possible. I have no idea if they'll be calling me back, I don't even know if I want to work there. The salary was nice, but could I handle working with people that talk like they have coffee coming in through an IV? The job isn't even for design, which I figured going in, but I'm not sure if it would be a good job for me. But do I really have the luxury to be picky right now?

I don't know.

Plus, this morning, I got another email similar to the one that got me into my interview today from another place I'd applied to yesterday. Different company, but I'm sure it will be the same deal with the preliminary interview because a million billion people are trying to get in. No idea if I'll go for it.

I'm going to go have dinner and look at glasses with the boyfriend now. Hopefully I can calm the hell down.

Day #8

I didn't have a lot of ambition today.

I forced myself to look for jobs online...found and applied for two. Spent the rest of the day not feeling like I wanted to do anything. Read some...surfed the net a bit...and finally did something I thought I'd never do: the dishes.

However, once I was done with the dish mountain, I returned to my computer to find an email from one of the places I'd applied to. Basically, it said they'd seen my resume and felt I might fit one of their positions (the job was for a "Junior Marketing Executive" in Advertising/Marketing/Sales, and they were looking to hire a lot of people). So, I gave them a call and scheduled a screening interview for tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1 p.m.

So that made me feel a little better.

Didn't do much else, job related. I hope I get out of this funk soon, as I have quite a few things I need to do before the end of the week.

Day #7

So, here I am one week after being laid off. No job replies yet.

Woke up a little later than I had wanted to today, but that did not stop me from being productive. I saw that I had received a reply from the dentist I had emailed on Friday, and so I gave them a call and got myself two appointments made before my insurance runs out (the exam and xray, and then a hygiene appointment). Let's hope they don't discover anything too horrible, because my insurance will have run out by the time I can get in again to get stuff fixed. Also figured out hours for a few places I can go for glasses. I'm having the boyfriend come along as an eye wear judge and a cheerleader, because finding glasses that actually fit my little head and face is a lot harder that you might think. Anyhow, I now have all my appointments made.

I then contacted a DJ who was referred to me by a friend. We chatted briefly about what he wanted, and then decided he could email me any info necessary and I'd get started. So a little more freelance for me! I'm not making enough to pay the rent yet, but it certainly puts gas in the car and groceries on the table...or in the cabinet...whatever, you get my point.

Since I hadn't watched my netflix movie yet, I popped that in (Wall-E) and it took care of my afternoon. Returned that to the post office when I was finished, went grocery shopping ( only $27! and I got quite a few things, too), and then decided I needed to do at least one more design-related thing before calling it a night...

I had seen something on Twitter about a logo design contest. So, I checked it out, and found that I could win $200 for designing a logo. Actually, there were a bunch of other contests as well...so I think I'll be frequenting that site (99designs.com). I started playing with fonts, but got tired before really coming up with anything, so I'm typing up my blog here and then calling it a night.

Day #4

Tonight I am typing to you from the laptop belonging to my boyfriend. I kinda forgot to do my daily update while still at my place, but I figure no one will mind the location change.

Last night, I stayed up until 1 a.m. poking around on the internet. I wanted to stay up a bit later because I wasn't very tired and didn't want to end up waking up at the crack of dawn this morning. Unfortunately, I somehow ended up sleeping until noon...oops. Totally broke one of my own rules. Didn't end up feeling all unmotivated though, luckily.

As promised, I called around and made doctor's appointments...well, I made one. Couldn't get a hold of the dentist because they are apparently closed on Fridays, and making an appointment for the optometrist is just dumb until I find a place that has a pair of glasses I actually like (and that actually fit my little head). That is a goal for this weekend: find a place that has glasses I like so I can make a real appointment next week.

That was pretty much it for today, since I slept for so long...and spent the later part of the afternoon packing to spend the weekend at the boyfriend's place. Weekends with the boyfriend used to be a great way to temporarily escape my parents, then it was a way to shake off the work week, and now it is a way to get the hell out of the apartment. Anyhow, it's a way to regain some sanity after spending all week stuck in the apartment.

I was supposed to meet up with a chick who I'm doing some freelance for tonight...however, she had to cancel, so we're going to try again for next Friday. I can still work on her stuff in the meantime. I also have some freelance for a band's album artwork, which will be fun and a good distraction. Having these two bits of freelance will be good for me to 1. Have something to do with all my time, and 2. Bring in a little bit more money. I also received a check for my unused vacation time at my last job, which was nice. A free week's worth of pay! Woohoo!

Next week I should start hearing back from places I've applied to, if I hear back at all. So far, I've applied to or at least contacted about 10 places. I plan on digging up my old list of advertising and design agencies and mailing out my resume to them. Certainly won't hurt anything, even though I'm pretty sure none of them will be hiring. Before anyone yells at me for being pessimistic, stop: I'm being realistic. Go check out monster.com, careerbuilder.com, or craigslist...there is nothing out there for a graphic designer. I'm still trying though. I've even applied to jobs that aren't actually for a designer...a few were for marketing assistants and such.

That will be it for now...next blogging date will be Monday, as my weekends are for relaxing, not job hunting. :)

Day #3

I woke up today with the intent of getting things done...but by noon, I had lost my motivation.

I just didn't want to do anything at all. Oddly, I was also bored out of my skull and just wanted SOMETHING to do. Apparently, the things on my to-do list weren't good enough...

After surfing the net for a while and feeling useless (I did search and apply for 5 more jobs), I decided some time outside of the apartment would probably be good for me. This is another thing I've learned...being unemployed means feeling guilty if I go anywhere because that means spending money that I'm not replacing. Therefore, I sit in my apartment and go stir-crazy, which somehow leads to me not having motivation. How to avoid this? Make a point to get out whenever you can, even if it is just for a short walk to nowhere. I settled on walking down the the local coffee place for a hot beverage.

Once I returned, I finally decided to do something. I put on some loud music, rooted through a bunch of my photos, and decided to tweak a bunch of them and then post them to my deviantart site. Shortly after posting them, I received some nice feedback, and that made me feel worthwhile. I've decided to post the photos to the bottom of this entry, so check them out if you want to see what I did with my afternoon.

However, I just realized that the one thing I really wanted to do today I completely forgot about. Since I have my health insurance extended until the end of the month, I want to make a bunch of doctors appointments since who knows when I'll have insurance again. It's now 7 p.m. and I haven't done this...and I feel stupid and guilty. This major to-do will now go on a post-it and be stuck to the front of the computer so that I can't forget it tomorrow. I can research some places to go this weekend for an eye exam and glasses, so I guess something useful can still be accomplished before my day ends.

I'm hoping tomorrow I'm out of the no-motivation slump. I can't start that so early in the game...it hasn't even been a full week yet.

Day #2

Today started with me realizing I have no milk for cereal, and so I've finally plugged in my toaster that I received as a Christmas gift. Soon after I made my breakfast of peanut butter on toast, I answered a phone call that turned out to be from another person laid off from my last job. She wanted to send me a job opportunity she had found, so I gave her my email and we wished each other good luck in our job searches before hanging up. It was actually a nice way to start the day, since it let me know I wasn't the only one to suffer that day (hey, misery loves company) and it gave me another possible job opportunity, which is always good.

It was a wonderful 60 degrees outside, so I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk to the post office, then to my favorite local coffee place. I've found that getting out and seeing the sun is a real mood lifter, and it helps the day pass. I later went out again to take some photos and pass more time.

Talked to the HR Manager at my previous job to figure out when my insurance information and cards should be arriving in the mail. I was informed that they should be here soon, and that in the meantime, I can still make appointments and the doctors can use my social security number in place of my card until it shows up.

The boyfriend called to give me a heads up for a possible job opportunity at his place of work...not graphic design, unfortunately, but a job is a job when you need to pay rent. Also got in touch with former employers to let them know I was yet again unemployed, and available for any freelance they had available. I received a reply from one with some leads on places that may need help.

Chatted with a friend who is also down on her luck as far as jobs go. Again, misery loves company, and it's always nice to have someone to talk to who understands the unemployment blues.

Basically, I had a somewhat productive and ok day. I don't feel so anxious or depressed as I did last night, and that is always a good thing. We'll see how tomorrow goes with the job leads.