| Wednesday, March 21, 2001 Well - I�M WORKING !!! It�s not a permanent job, it�s temporary full-time for 3 months, but I�m pleased. From yesterday, until June 13, I�m at Revenue Canada on afternoon shift, in the mailroom. (It�s been over 20 years since I�ve worked afternoon shift - can you say �adjustment� ?) It�s not a difficult job. I�m making $3.00 an hour more than I�ve ever made before, just to unstaple tax returns, put the attachments in a particular order, and then restaple. There�s a lot of details to remember - what to stamp, when to stamp, when to keep envelopes, how to attach everything, etc. The worst part is that your upper back gets sore bending forwards. And you have to try to work quickly, because it is production work, and there are quotas to fill. And not only will I make decent money now, (although I have to wait a month for my first cheque, so I�ll still be poor for a while), but now come June, I�ll still have 11 weeks of unemployment insurance left. And if I am still having trouble finding a permanent job then, I�ll have earned 3 of the 4 months that I need to establish a new unemployment claim after that. So with some temporary work, I�d be able to get the rest of the insurable hours that I need. That means that although we won�t be living high off the hog, at least I know the wolf will be staying away from the door for another year ! (That�s better than worrying about what would happen at the end of May ! ) Another bonus, sometimes after the program is over, some people are re-hired for another contract. If you�re a good worker, you might be made part of the clerical pool, and can be used in another department. And so far, I�ve been picking it up pretty well, so maybe.... ? But boy - talk about being tired ! Even though I�m not usually an early-to-bedder, it�s different if you�re at home, and up, watching TV or on the computer, or if you�re at work and don�t get home till midnight !. I�ve got a headache from being tired. Especially since, after I got home, I was on the Forum until 2:00 catching up on messages. Today was my weigh-in. I was a bit disappointed. I�m in the same boat as Natalie - my scales at home have been showing a loss of about 4 lbs over the last several days, and I went to the meeting, and stayed the same ! All I had to eat beforehand was oatmeal. I don�t see how I could have put on that much over a couple of hours ! But I guess it�s my bad prior week showing up, so next week should show a loss. (Here�s hoping.....) Thursday, March 22, 2001 Second day of actual working went well. (Tuesday was just training.) But I was not thrilled once I got home. I was trying to decide if I should go straight to bed, and wait until the morning for the Net, or read the Forum for a while. Then I found a note on the kitchen table from my brother -� Think the downstairs freezer is defrosting. Check the upstairs fridge, chuck what you can, and move some stuff over� . I was not impressed ! He�s been home since 1 pm, and he leaves ME a note to start doing this at midnight ! Our fridge has a self defrosting freezer, so there�s no need to defrost and clean very often. So not only was I throwing out old freezer burnt items, but scraping and scrubbing the freezer. Mr. Freezies and Fudgecicles (ice pops ? ) make a sticky mess when they are old. Friday, March 23, 2001 What a lo-o-o-ong day this was ! We all thought 11:30 was never going to arrive ! TGIF ! We have been offered �compressed hours�. It�s completely optional. You can work an extra half hour till midnight on Monday to Thursday, and then on Friday, not take a lunch, and leave at 9:00. Most people signed up for it, including me. So this is the only Friday that will be this bad ! Freezer is looking fine - maybe it was just seeping from somewhere. Everything still seems solidly frozen. Saturday, March 24, 2001 Well - I didn�t sleep in as late as I thought I would. I woke up, so figured I might as well get up. But I do have a headache. Tonight is my �ladies� dinner�. If need be, I can always lie down this afternoon beforehand. (We�re a group of single women - single, divorced, widowed, etc, who get together once a month, and have dinner in a different restaurant each time. Gives us a chance to get out, if you don�t have much of a social life otherwise. And some of us have become friends otherwise, as well.) We�re going to a Greek restaurant. I haven�t checked out my points book yet, but I am deciding between souvlaki and spanakopita (phyllo bundles with spinach, feta cheese, egg and rice). I think the spanakopita, with Greek salad and garlic bread will win out. I can always make a kabob at home, if I wish. I�ve been pretty good on points this week, so it shouldn�t cause too much harm. That�s one thing about working evening shift. We haven�t had any beer at home since last weekend. Anyway, I wouldn�t be able to drink before work, although on a couple of nights, I could have used a beer after work ! So I have actually stayed within my points every day this week, except for Tuesday. (I had some takeout pizza when I got home, and made a conscious decision to have an extra slice and go over points. It was the first day working, I was tired and overwhelmed, and decided it was worth it.) I haven�t been this good on points since last fall ! Hopefully that will be good news for next Wednesday. Sunday, March 25 Well - so much for thinking of lying down yesterday - Took my son on the rounds. He was checking out prices on CD players and acoustic guitars, and I was looking for a pair of secondhand blue jeans to wear to work. We went to 2 music stores, 2 electronic stores, 2 second hand stores, 6 pawn shops, a discount bakery outlet, a grocery store and a drug store ! We were all over town ! (Good thing we�re a city of only 100,000 ! ) I�m glad I had my bath in the morning, so I only had to change my clothes before going out to dinner. Dinner was fun, as usual. There was 8 of us out last night, and a couple of ladies were �new�. The food was plentiful, and delicious. Now checking out my points guide more carefully, I did go way over on points, but as I said, I have been really, really good all week, so I won�t obsess. And I only had 1 light beer with my meal, and then I had 1 when I got home, before I went to bed. Previously, I would have had a lot more. And I felt good about myself. As Mark and I were �doing the town�, he was hungry. (He got up just before we left home, and hadn�t eaten.) So we stopped at A & W on our way past (hamburger place), and while he had a Mozzaburger, fries and Coke, I had a Babyburger and small water (and a few of his fries). It was 4:00, and I had only had breakfast, but I wanted to save room for my dinner. HOME |