Cutter's Log - Supplemental
It's been about an hour since I posted the recent Job Update. After looking at it once more, it seems like I am doing a lot of whining and complaining.
That made me look back at recent posts, and it's more of the same - whining and complaining. I live in a city where kids my age wanted to take the first train out of town after graduation because they were "sick of all the drama that goes on in this town." In other words, they were sick and tired of people like me talking about my problems and such.
I realize I have this problem of talking up way too much drama. But one day I don't want to be displaying drama as much as I have lately. If all goes well, I won't do this anymore.
Once all of the drama goes away, perhaps better things will come to my life. Like, I don't know, a girl? As mentioned in the last post I had a soft spot for a bunch of girls in my life, but working so much has caused that to fade away. Don't get me wrong, there are still those times when my heart spins and beats wildly, but after that nothing's there.
And it's not just a girl, but spending more time with the people I enjoy hanging out with and not have to worry about so much.
I hope that one day, soon, this will be a reality.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Job Update 11/30
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.03.11
Current Song - Miami (Will Smith)
I decided rather than drive into Rockford, or the Quads or DeKalb, that if this recent round of gas stations does not work out, then I'll consider light factory work locally.
There are a few stations left on the "hoping" list that I have sent applications to. I'm hoping to get an answer by late next week or else I will move on. It won't be the first time I literally wrecked my body in order to sustain an income.
I once had a packing job for two months, and a factory job for three hours. The latter was at Dana, where hand skills were plenty and I had none.
After high school I needed money to help fund my college education and there were no newspaper openings available. I hated walking into temporary agencies because I felt like I was better than this kind of reputation. (I sure had an ego back then). Burton found me work at Crest Foods in Ashton.
The first days are literally orientation: food safety, OSHA, and a couple of other meetings. Then we went into the factory area, and I was placed on Line 2, which I think is one of the three fastest lines. When applying at Burton, I had to take a skill test with my hands. Apparently I didn't do so well, and they didn't put me in a packing position. Instead they looked at big, burly me and thought I was good enough to stack boxes onto pallets.
That first week was an uphill climb. The last day of training on that line involved packing six boxes of packaged something into a box - which meant boxes were flying off of the line. I was just too slow to keep up with it and the trainer did most of the work that day. But I was stuck to my own line, Line 25, which was upstairs in a seperate room.
I worked two months on Line 25. Once in a while I would fill in on Line 24. The particular line was a rice line, meaning there were 24 packages of rice in each box that I had to stack on pallets. There were certain ways these boxes had to be stacked, and certain ways boxes had to be wrapped. Since boxes were coming off of the line non-stop, and pallets could only be stacked so high, sometimes I was pushing pallets outside the room and seeing boxes fall off of the line because I was so slow.
Then the feet were killing me every day. They laid out this rubber "comfort" rug that had circular holes in them - hardly confortable. I didn't think the maximum Dr. Scholl's padding would do much help. Every night when I came home from work I had to lay down and rest. My back was sore from lifting. My feet were sore from standing on them for a long time. Eventually I had to ask for restroom breaks just to catch some sitting time.
I finally left when Sauk started its fall semester, because my classes were in the morning. But the toll this job took on me was what I called devestating. I'm very reluctant to do work and chores that involve bending my back. Instead of bending over, I have to balance my body on one foot and keep my back fixed on one position. Standing on my feet made me not want to walk around a lot (and by looking at me, you can figure out what THAT led to). Even when I worked at gas stations I couldn't stay on my feet for hours at a time. I needed to sit down and catch breaks. With every passing day the pain would lead to a more sedentary me, and making me worse physically. And even mentally because I wasn't able to move around as much as far as personal emotions go. I used to be energetic when it came to trying to find a girl of my dreams. It just seems anymore that this has been buried deep underneath other worries.
My biggest problem is that physically I don't know if I'll be able to stay on my feet for hours at a time doing repetivitve motions. I think the only way that can be fixed is if I am able to drop some weight - and that cannot be simply done overnight.
Right now I have to decide if my body will be able to do so much work in order to get so much money. I don't want to tear apart my body, but if this job economy stays this way I don't think I'll have a choice other than to ruin my body - both physically and mentally - in order to survive and make ends meet.
Current Song - Miami (Will Smith)
I decided rather than drive into Rockford, or the Quads or DeKalb, that if this recent round of gas stations does not work out, then I'll consider light factory work locally.
There are a few stations left on the "hoping" list that I have sent applications to. I'm hoping to get an answer by late next week or else I will move on. It won't be the first time I literally wrecked my body in order to sustain an income.
I once had a packing job for two months, and a factory job for three hours. The latter was at Dana, where hand skills were plenty and I had none.
After high school I needed money to help fund my college education and there were no newspaper openings available. I hated walking into temporary agencies because I felt like I was better than this kind of reputation. (I sure had an ego back then). Burton found me work at Crest Foods in Ashton.
The first days are literally orientation: food safety, OSHA, and a couple of other meetings. Then we went into the factory area, and I was placed on Line 2, which I think is one of the three fastest lines. When applying at Burton, I had to take a skill test with my hands. Apparently I didn't do so well, and they didn't put me in a packing position. Instead they looked at big, burly me and thought I was good enough to stack boxes onto pallets.
That first week was an uphill climb. The last day of training on that line involved packing six boxes of packaged something into a box - which meant boxes were flying off of the line. I was just too slow to keep up with it and the trainer did most of the work that day. But I was stuck to my own line, Line 25, which was upstairs in a seperate room.
I worked two months on Line 25. Once in a while I would fill in on Line 24. The particular line was a rice line, meaning there were 24 packages of rice in each box that I had to stack on pallets. There were certain ways these boxes had to be stacked, and certain ways boxes had to be wrapped. Since boxes were coming off of the line non-stop, and pallets could only be stacked so high, sometimes I was pushing pallets outside the room and seeing boxes fall off of the line because I was so slow.
Then the feet were killing me every day. They laid out this rubber "comfort" rug that had circular holes in them - hardly confortable. I didn't think the maximum Dr. Scholl's padding would do much help. Every night when I came home from work I had to lay down and rest. My back was sore from lifting. My feet were sore from standing on them for a long time. Eventually I had to ask for restroom breaks just to catch some sitting time.
I finally left when Sauk started its fall semester, because my classes were in the morning. But the toll this job took on me was what I called devestating. I'm very reluctant to do work and chores that involve bending my back. Instead of bending over, I have to balance my body on one foot and keep my back fixed on one position. Standing on my feet made me not want to walk around a lot (and by looking at me, you can figure out what THAT led to). Even when I worked at gas stations I couldn't stay on my feet for hours at a time. I needed to sit down and catch breaks. With every passing day the pain would lead to a more sedentary me, and making me worse physically. And even mentally because I wasn't able to move around as much as far as personal emotions go. I used to be energetic when it came to trying to find a girl of my dreams. It just seems anymore that this has been buried deep underneath other worries.
My biggest problem is that physically I don't know if I'll be able to stay on my feet for hours at a time doing repetivitve motions. I think the only way that can be fixed is if I am able to drop some weight - and that cannot be simply done overnight.
Right now I have to decide if my body will be able to do so much work in order to get so much money. I don't want to tear apart my body, but if this job economy stays this way I don't think I'll have a choice other than to ruin my body - both physically and mentally - in order to survive and make ends meet.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Job Update 11/28
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.82.11
Current Song - Sweetheart (Franke and the Knockouts)
Serious blow to my morale today.
Since I left Shell, it seems like I've been having a bout with dementia. With each passing day and each passing rejection, this gets worse. Matters with NISB makes things a whole lot worse. Somehow the will to get out and do something just isn't there. It's like my world is simply falling apart - AND NO THIS ISN'T MEANT TO BE CREATIVE PROSE WRITING, IT'S THE DARN TRUTH!!!!
I'm beginning to find out that most of the places I'm applying for conflict with the very existance of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. It's either one or the other. Seems like an easy decision, right? My sportswriting career means more to me than anything else. If I destroy that, I will have nothing left - because outside of that I truly do have nothing else.
So, to the job update. More places were dropped from consideration because it seems like the usual scheme of things is starting on "nights and weekends." Nights and weekends literally destroys the website, and thus my goals and ambitions. There's got to be another way.
Hope for something that fits well is fading fast. But I'll continue the calls. Off to the next round.
Current Song - Sweetheart (Franke and the Knockouts)
Serious blow to my morale today.
Since I left Shell, it seems like I've been having a bout with dementia. With each passing day and each passing rejection, this gets worse. Matters with NISB makes things a whole lot worse. Somehow the will to get out and do something just isn't there. It's like my world is simply falling apart - AND NO THIS ISN'T MEANT TO BE CREATIVE PROSE WRITING, IT'S THE DARN TRUTH!!!!
I'm beginning to find out that most of the places I'm applying for conflict with the very existance of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. It's either one or the other. Seems like an easy decision, right? My sportswriting career means more to me than anything else. If I destroy that, I will have nothing left - because outside of that I truly do have nothing else.
So, to the job update. More places were dropped from consideration because it seems like the usual scheme of things is starting on "nights and weekends." Nights and weekends literally destroys the website, and thus my goals and ambitions. There's got to be another way.
Hope for something that fits well is fading fast. But I'll continue the calls. Off to the next round.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Job Update 11/24
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.42.11
Current Song - Ride Captain Ride (Blues Image)
Made some callbacks this morning, even though it was Thanksgiving morning. Normally managers are not in, but I decided to take my chances today.
No progress was made, but I eliminated two more candidates today because they had already hired: Ladd Casey's and Spring Valley Shell.
That leaves five Casey's stores, the Geneseo Beck's and two Family Video stores left to look at. I'm making the Casey's callbacks on Monday, with the other three being made on Friday morning. Clinton Kwik Star has yet to call me back after an inquiry.
I have one more gas station in mind, in Somonauk, that I'll look at on Monday. If that fails to pan out, I have two more favorable chances left, both pizza delivery.
NEXT STEPS:
1. Then it will be off to the next round of job applications: Kewanee, LaSalle-Peru, Cambridge, Utica, Sandwich, Somonauk, Plano, Genoa, and Hennipen.
2. DeKalb/Sycamore
3. Rockford
4. Quad Cities
5. Temp agency, breaking my back and destroying my mental capacity - I may not be the same person again after this.
There has been NOTHING in the local newspaper classified section other than jobs with prior experience necessary.
Current Song - Ride Captain Ride (Blues Image)
Made some callbacks this morning, even though it was Thanksgiving morning. Normally managers are not in, but I decided to take my chances today.
No progress was made, but I eliminated two more candidates today because they had already hired: Ladd Casey's and Spring Valley Shell.
That leaves five Casey's stores, the Geneseo Beck's and two Family Video stores left to look at. I'm making the Casey's callbacks on Monday, with the other three being made on Friday morning. Clinton Kwik Star has yet to call me back after an inquiry.
I have one more gas station in mind, in Somonauk, that I'll look at on Monday. If that fails to pan out, I have two more favorable chances left, both pizza delivery.
NEXT STEPS:
1. Then it will be off to the next round of job applications: Kewanee, LaSalle-Peru, Cambridge, Utica, Sandwich, Somonauk, Plano, Genoa, and Hennipen.
2. DeKalb/Sycamore
3. Rockford
4. Quad Cities
5. Temp agency, breaking my back and destroying my mental capacity - I may not be the same person again after this.
There has been NOTHING in the local newspaper classified section other than jobs with prior experience necessary.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Job Update 11/22
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.22.11
Current Song - Magnet and Steel (Walter Egan)
Three callbacks to places resulted in three different outcomes.
The first one, to the Savanna BP, can now be thrown out the window because they had hired someone during the time my application letter was being sorted in the US postal service.
The second one, to the Ashton Casey's, hadn't recieved it yet and told me they would probably recieve it by Wednesday. But the call was salvaged in a sense by letting them know that I mailed an application.
The final one, to the Thomson Casey's, so far nearly sunk the ship. They weren't hiring yet, but did get my mailed application. The comment of my hopes being diminished because I lived in Sterling really ticked me off - but I didn't show any anger at all. Then came question to me as whether or not Sterling was hiring. I said no (three weeks ago I called Sterling's Casey's with a no answer). In the end, though, the application is still out there in the waiting pile. It still made me want to inquire to Sterling's Casey's once more, though.
Given the mailing time of my most recent stack of application letters, I'll make my next call-around before Dakota Football kicks off @ State on Friday morning.
As mentioned yesterday, I made a callback to the Kwik Star in Clinton, and I'm waiting for a call back from them today - just as to the status of the job application.
Some people think getting a job is a right-there-right-then process, and you know of your chances once you hand over that application. That's not the case in this day of age. It takes a while, and I respect that. I learned from the Cash For Gold inquiry nearly a month ago that there are people out there more desperate than I am. I just don't want to be one of those people.
Current Song - Magnet and Steel (Walter Egan)
Three callbacks to places resulted in three different outcomes.
The first one, to the Savanna BP, can now be thrown out the window because they had hired someone during the time my application letter was being sorted in the US postal service.
The second one, to the Ashton Casey's, hadn't recieved it yet and told me they would probably recieve it by Wednesday. But the call was salvaged in a sense by letting them know that I mailed an application.
The final one, to the Thomson Casey's, so far nearly sunk the ship. They weren't hiring yet, but did get my mailed application. The comment of my hopes being diminished because I lived in Sterling really ticked me off - but I didn't show any anger at all. Then came question to me as whether or not Sterling was hiring. I said no (three weeks ago I called Sterling's Casey's with a no answer). In the end, though, the application is still out there in the waiting pile. It still made me want to inquire to Sterling's Casey's once more, though.
Given the mailing time of my most recent stack of application letters, I'll make my next call-around before Dakota Football kicks off @ State on Friday morning.
As mentioned yesterday, I made a callback to the Kwik Star in Clinton, and I'm waiting for a call back from them today - just as to the status of the job application.
Some people think getting a job is a right-there-right-then process, and you know of your chances once you hand over that application. That's not the case in this day of age. It takes a while, and I respect that. I learned from the Cash For Gold inquiry nearly a month ago that there are people out there more desperate than I am. I just don't want to be one of those people.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Job Update 11/21
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.12.11
Current Song - Ride Like The Wind (Christopher Cross)
Monday is the first business day back, and I woke up a little too late to make morning status calls.
But I still tried to call a couple of places to see what the status of my applications were. The Clinton Kwik Star would let me know tomorrow. On a down note, Sterling's Dollar Tree had already hired its seasonal staff - therefore rejecting me.
Tuesday will be a very busy day. I'll go back to making status calls in the morning before making a drive up north for a little bit. Then at 4:00 I'll be covering the Dixon-Sterling girls bowling meet. It's been a long time since I covered bowling, but I feel I'm prepared for it.
Current Song - Ride Like The Wind (Christopher Cross)
Monday is the first business day back, and I woke up a little too late to make morning status calls.
But I still tried to call a couple of places to see what the status of my applications were. The Clinton Kwik Star would let me know tomorrow. On a down note, Sterling's Dollar Tree had already hired its seasonal staff - therefore rejecting me.
Tuesday will be a very busy day. I'll go back to making status calls in the morning before making a drive up north for a little bit. Then at 4:00 I'll be covering the Dixon-Sterling girls bowling meet. It's been a long time since I covered bowling, but I feel I'm prepared for it.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friends Keep You Afloat
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.91.11
Current Song - One More Time (Daft Punk)
Right now I'm not doing so well, if you haven't figured that out already. I just mailed more applications tonight on my way back from the Boylan-Lake Zurich football game. Having to apply to such places like Kingston, Ladd and Geneseo are a big sign of things not going so well.
More often than not when I feel down like this, I tend to rant, complain, explode, and get very angry as I write these things on my Blog. Then posting things like that on Facebook's news feed and giving people the impression that I'm some sort of whinebag.
Maybe I am a whinebag when it comes to times like this. However, if I kept it all inside I would feel much worse than how I am now. So I sometimes feel the need to post angry diatribes on my blog and snippets of it on Facebook. At the same time, I have to remember that there are people I know that are faring much worse than I am at this time; it's mentally difficult to do that, but I want to try.
Right now is a perfect example; but I don't want to get angry right now.
If you are reading this, and accessed this from my Facebook wall, you are on my Facebook friends list for a reason - as a friend or a relative. See, I only have 175 Facebook friends. Most of my more active friends have over 500 Facebook friends. Now I know more than 1,000 people through many different sources. But only a select few (and those few who I've asked and they've ingored) get to be my Facebook friends.
Most of you I have known since school. I grew up with you. You know as much as I do that I wasn't much of a chatterbox growing up. I'm still not that way, although I have tried to break out of that shell on occasion. So we don't hang out that much, but I have looked to you as inspiration of some sort.
To be concise, I thank you, everyone, for all of the times we have shared over the years. Hopefully one day I'll be able to recover from this mess and once again find the passion to be a better person. I'm always looking for support, and when a similar time comes regarding you, I will try to do my best to return the favor.
Peace all!
Current Song - One More Time (Daft Punk)
Right now I'm not doing so well, if you haven't figured that out already. I just mailed more applications tonight on my way back from the Boylan-Lake Zurich football game. Having to apply to such places like Kingston, Ladd and Geneseo are a big sign of things not going so well.
More often than not when I feel down like this, I tend to rant, complain, explode, and get very angry as I write these things on my Blog. Then posting things like that on Facebook's news feed and giving people the impression that I'm some sort of whinebag.
Maybe I am a whinebag when it comes to times like this. However, if I kept it all inside I would feel much worse than how I am now. So I sometimes feel the need to post angry diatribes on my blog and snippets of it on Facebook. At the same time, I have to remember that there are people I know that are faring much worse than I am at this time; it's mentally difficult to do that, but I want to try.
Right now is a perfect example; but I don't want to get angry right now.
If you are reading this, and accessed this from my Facebook wall, you are on my Facebook friends list for a reason - as a friend or a relative. See, I only have 175 Facebook friends. Most of my more active friends have over 500 Facebook friends. Now I know more than 1,000 people through many different sources. But only a select few (and those few who I've asked and they've ingored) get to be my Facebook friends.
Most of you I have known since school. I grew up with you. You know as much as I do that I wasn't much of a chatterbox growing up. I'm still not that way, although I have tried to break out of that shell on occasion. So we don't hang out that much, but I have looked to you as inspiration of some sort.
To be concise, I thank you, everyone, for all of the times we have shared over the years. Hopefully one day I'll be able to recover from this mess and once again find the passion to be a better person. I'm always looking for support, and when a similar time comes regarding you, I will try to do my best to return the favor.
Peace all!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Search Update 11/18/11
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.81.11
Current Song - Sign Your Name (Terence Trent D'Arby)
During the last application go-around, I put in for all three Clinton Kwik Stars, Thomson Casey's, Savanna BP (the one attached to the McDonald's), Dollar Tree in Sterling for seasonal help, Jewel-Osco in Clinton, Target in Clinton, and the Family Video stores in Byron and Princeton.
So far I have only heard back from the Target store in Clinton - no luck there.
So I had to go to the next round of searching. This search pretty much extends to 80% of the NISB coverage area.
During this search I found 6 Casey's stores, two more gas stations and a grocery store.
The Casey's stores are in Amboy, Ashton, Oregon (for assistant manager), Ladd, Kingston and Dakota. The two other gas stations are the Shell (not a Johnson station) in Spring Valley, and a third-shift position at the Beck's 66 in the south side of Geneseo. The grocery store opening is the Sullivan's in Lena, which is a nights/weekends thing.
I will be busy tomorrow with sports stuff, but will begin the arthritis moment on Sunday after lunch with a friend.
If this round (and the prior round) of applications doesn't work, I will try the following areas: Kewanee, LaSalle-Peru, Cambridge, Utica, Sandwich, Somonauk, Plano, Genoa, and Hennipen. (So I have tried everywhere in between these places). The round after that will be DeKalb/Sycamore, and after that will be the QCA and lastly Rockford area. I may also inquire as to Dubuque or Aurora, but after that my well-being may just be in jeopardy.
I've driven to Ashton daily before for a job at Crest Foods, and Amboy is a closer drive.
But the beat goes on, and so does the beating ...
Current Song - Sign Your Name (Terence Trent D'Arby)
During the last application go-around, I put in for all three Clinton Kwik Stars, Thomson Casey's, Savanna BP (the one attached to the McDonald's), Dollar Tree in Sterling for seasonal help, Jewel-Osco in Clinton, Target in Clinton, and the Family Video stores in Byron and Princeton.
So far I have only heard back from the Target store in Clinton - no luck there.
So I had to go to the next round of searching. This search pretty much extends to 80% of the NISB coverage area.
During this search I found 6 Casey's stores, two more gas stations and a grocery store.
The Casey's stores are in Amboy, Ashton, Oregon (for assistant manager), Ladd, Kingston and Dakota. The two other gas stations are the Shell (not a Johnson station) in Spring Valley, and a third-shift position at the Beck's 66 in the south side of Geneseo. The grocery store opening is the Sullivan's in Lena, which is a nights/weekends thing.
I will be busy tomorrow with sports stuff, but will begin the arthritis moment on Sunday after lunch with a friend.
If this round (and the prior round) of applications doesn't work, I will try the following areas: Kewanee, LaSalle-Peru, Cambridge, Utica, Sandwich, Somonauk, Plano, Genoa, and Hennipen. (So I have tried everywhere in between these places). The round after that will be DeKalb/Sycamore, and after that will be the QCA and lastly Rockford area. I may also inquire as to Dubuque or Aurora, but after that my well-being may just be in jeopardy.
I've driven to Ashton daily before for a job at Crest Foods, and Amboy is a closer drive.
But the beat goes on, and so does the beating ...
Monday, November 14, 2011
The Battle Continues ...
Cutter's Log - Supplemental
Since the local and favorable options have been exhausted, I decided to start on the extended search for the job. I spent most of the morning in Clinton, IA job hunting. It is the closest town of over 25,000 people from Sterling/RF.
For those not familar with Clinton, it is divided into four districts pretty much: Lyons, Downtown, Lincolnway and Mill Creek. I am familar with Lyons and Lincolnway, but not so much Downtown and Mill Creek. So I drove around trying to find places.
My strategy (to ease on stop-and-go car starting) was to go to the Shell station, buy something to eat, sit at the table and dig through the phone book. Then I did some calling to about 25 different places. Needing some breathing room, I went and sat on a bench near the Candlelight Inn and did my calling.
My Clinton leads are as follows: the BP near the 136 Bridge (by next month), Jewel-Osco (cashier), Target (all), Kwik Shop on Bluff (cashier), and Sears (holiday).
The Kwik Shop is obviously the best lead of them all, since it is gas station work and that's what I have been doing for the past five years. Jewel-Osco's cashier spot is sort of similar to the position I tried to apply for at Sterling Kroger, except it is not overnight. Target seems to the the third-best lead, followed by BP and Sears.
After funneling all of that into a plan, I went back to my car and was about to drive home. However, I thought better and went back and thought of places in similar radiuses: Savanna, Fulton, Lanark, Mt. Carroll, Oregon, Byron, Freeport, Rochelle, Mendota and Princeton. Since I was trying to jot down places by simply memory, the list isn't complete. Once you've driven in these towns a lot, you start to know what's where.
Out of those came fewer leads: the Family Video in Byron, the Family Video in Princeton, part-time nights and weekends at the Savanna BP (attached to the McDonalds), and a soon-to-be-created overnight shift at the Thomson Casey's. Sullivan's in Princeton was looking for a deli person, but seriously I'm not the food-handling type of person.
I got home and was alerted that Dixon Furnitire Store would also be a good place to look into. That'll be my first call tomorrow.
I have also kept as a possibility pizza delivery jobs at Sterling Domino's and Morrison Casey's. But that may be too exhausting on the car and too risky considering what else I do (the website). I also recalled that both Family Dollar and Radio Shack in Sterling were both looking for seasonal help.
On Saturday I plan on covering the Boylan-Lake Zurich football game in Rockford. Along the way I'll be driving by Oregon and Byron, so I'll see what else is there that I missed. Worst case scenario is having to drive into Rockford, the Quads, Kewanee or L-P for jobs. But that is a future step in case nothing comes through.
I'm scarred, I'm bleeding, but I'm still fighting.
Since the local and favorable options have been exhausted, I decided to start on the extended search for the job. I spent most of the morning in Clinton, IA job hunting. It is the closest town of over 25,000 people from Sterling/RF.
For those not familar with Clinton, it is divided into four districts pretty much: Lyons, Downtown, Lincolnway and Mill Creek. I am familar with Lyons and Lincolnway, but not so much Downtown and Mill Creek. So I drove around trying to find places.
My strategy (to ease on stop-and-go car starting) was to go to the Shell station, buy something to eat, sit at the table and dig through the phone book. Then I did some calling to about 25 different places. Needing some breathing room, I went and sat on a bench near the Candlelight Inn and did my calling.
My Clinton leads are as follows: the BP near the 136 Bridge (by next month), Jewel-Osco (cashier), Target (all), Kwik Shop on Bluff (cashier), and Sears (holiday).
The Kwik Shop is obviously the best lead of them all, since it is gas station work and that's what I have been doing for the past five years. Jewel-Osco's cashier spot is sort of similar to the position I tried to apply for at Sterling Kroger, except it is not overnight. Target seems to the the third-best lead, followed by BP and Sears.
After funneling all of that into a plan, I went back to my car and was about to drive home. However, I thought better and went back and thought of places in similar radiuses: Savanna, Fulton, Lanark, Mt. Carroll, Oregon, Byron, Freeport, Rochelle, Mendota and Princeton. Since I was trying to jot down places by simply memory, the list isn't complete. Once you've driven in these towns a lot, you start to know what's where.
Out of those came fewer leads: the Family Video in Byron, the Family Video in Princeton, part-time nights and weekends at the Savanna BP (attached to the McDonalds), and a soon-to-be-created overnight shift at the Thomson Casey's. Sullivan's in Princeton was looking for a deli person, but seriously I'm not the food-handling type of person.
I got home and was alerted that Dixon Furnitire Store would also be a good place to look into. That'll be my first call tomorrow.
I have also kept as a possibility pizza delivery jobs at Sterling Domino's and Morrison Casey's. But that may be too exhausting on the car and too risky considering what else I do (the website). I also recalled that both Family Dollar and Radio Shack in Sterling were both looking for seasonal help.
On Saturday I plan on covering the Boylan-Lake Zurich football game in Rockford. Along the way I'll be driving by Oregon and Byron, so I'll see what else is there that I missed. Worst case scenario is having to drive into Rockford, the Quads, Kewanee or L-P for jobs. But that is a future step in case nothing comes through.
I'm scarred, I'm bleeding, but I'm still fighting.
Still Battling
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.41.11
Current Song - Holding Back The Years (Simply Red)
The battle to keep afloat is still continuing on.
I've had a few shots of stimuli lately in the form of donations and light work. The job search around a 30-mile radius seems to be deadening. Plus, there's little hope for the places that I have already applied to.
I'll now take my job search a little farther. After finishing some yard work today, I'll spend some time in Clinton to see what is there. If there's nothing, I will be extending my search to Savanna, Freeport, Rochelle, Oregon, Mendota, Princeton and maybe Geneseo. The daily commutes are a beast, but I did it once before.
Here's a theory as to why this is going oh so bad right now: As I'm being passed for these jobs, those that are getting them are those who are in worse financial shape than I am in. So what that means is that I would cycle down to the bottom of the barrel, only finding myself in a very uncomfortable position.
On top of that, I'm getting the feeling that sportswriters want to see my website die. If not that, then they probably want to see my career destroyed. They know what I'm capable of, and it can hurt. My warning to them: You will be getting a fight.
Current Song - Holding Back The Years (Simply Red)
The battle to keep afloat is still continuing on.
I've had a few shots of stimuli lately in the form of donations and light work. The job search around a 30-mile radius seems to be deadening. Plus, there's little hope for the places that I have already applied to.
I'll now take my job search a little farther. After finishing some yard work today, I'll spend some time in Clinton to see what is there. If there's nothing, I will be extending my search to Savanna, Freeport, Rochelle, Oregon, Mendota, Princeton and maybe Geneseo. The daily commutes are a beast, but I did it once before.
Here's a theory as to why this is going oh so bad right now: As I'm being passed for these jobs, those that are getting them are those who are in worse financial shape than I am in. So what that means is that I would cycle down to the bottom of the barrel, only finding myself in a very uncomfortable position.
On top of that, I'm getting the feeling that sportswriters want to see my website die. If not that, then they probably want to see my career destroyed. They know what I'm capable of, and it can hurt. My warning to them: You will be getting a fight.
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