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.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Entire Day of Covering Preps Becomes Learning Experience
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.13.01
Current Song - My Sharona (The Knack)
I came into this past Saturday thinking I could cover three things. As the day drew closer, I didn't actually think this was possible. But I wanted to try to do it anyway.
The three events were: the Oregon XC Sectional, the Forreston Football game against Hales Fransicsan, and the Harlem Football game against Hononeagh.
I did research and alerted beforehand that I was going to cover the first two games. I didn't tell anyone about covering Harlem-Hononegah because I wasn't sure if I had enough energy to do so, and didn't want people to waste time. Thankfully the gate honored the pass on the fly.
If I wasn't covering anything, this would be a typical day in high school sports paradise. There is a pencil holder on my desk that reads "I want less WORK and more $$$ for not doing it." If money grew on trees and I could do what I want - this is what I would be doing.
I also came into Saturday wanting to tweak the way I cover things, as well as tweak the way I write. In this day of age in the journalism business, sticking to one tried and true format doesn't go far in the ever-changing scheme of things.
I challenged myself to write just 600 words on each game. This is a far cry from the typical 1,000+ I'm used to in website writing. I write long on the website in order to explain detail and how things led to another - in other words make the newspapers look like MASH unit doctors. (Okay, a more nicer term would be "supplementary coverage.")
Thousand-word stories have no place in newspapers. If I want to prepare for that next level, I need to shorten my stories and cram it all into fewer words. I try doing this all of the time, but I had something going for me that day: Because of a tech snafu with the website, I stayed up all night after covering Sterling soccer on Friday night. So I went into the triple-dip with no sleep. By the time I would be getting home from this, being so tired would literally force me to write just 600 words.
***
So here's an account of the Saturday triple-dip:
I was running a little late getting to Oregon for the Sectional Meet. I tried to catch some shut-eye around 8 a.m. and got about two minutes worth. Then that turned into a slow time in the shower and getting cleaned up. Knowing I was going to stumble, and possibly run off the road, I had three bucks on me to go to Aldi for a 12-park of pop. I got to Park West in Oregon late enough to where I parked in the school parking lot and ran the 1/4 mile to the finish line.
They say covering cross country is one of the easiest things to do. However, research and knowledge of the effects of running three miles will make for a good story (as opposed to fact-and-stat writing). There was a back-to-back series of XC meets at Erie and then Byron that helped me understand cross country a little better. When football is dominant and volleyball is also as dominant, sometimes cross country gets shuffled behind.
Charlie and Andy were also there covering the meet, and I stuck by them for most of the time. I also saw one of my Winnebago friends, Bruce, there as well. I got my pics in one spot, then video in another spot not too far away. See how easy it is? Right. After the meet, however, it took nearly two hours to finalize the results and print them off. Not good for someone like me who was up for now 24 straight hours. (Here's the NISB Article)
By the time I walked all the way back to my car, it was 1 p.m. with the football game at Forreston starting at 1:30. I'm already past my pre-game comfort zone as far as getting there early is concerned. I go the wrong way out of Oregon and after exiting Mt. Morris I Chuck Yeager'ed it to Route 72. The car topped at 93 MPH (one shy of the car's best of 94 on the Abe Lincoln Bridge in LaSalle).
Sure enough, I get to Forreston with 11 minutes on the pre-game clock. Andy had also made the drive (probably much safer than my drive). The morning was cold and I had my jacket on, but it got warm soon after and I was alright with my short-sleeved shirt. Forreston is a confusing place to cover a football game at sometimes, since the scoreboard is slow and I can't get an accurate reading on yardage lines. Other than that covering the game went off without a hitch.
Since this was a much-hyped game, I was asked beforehand to text updates to my friend Patrick in Chicago. I don't mind doing that, but sometimes it takes away from the job I'm trying to do. So along with Patrick, I added Edgy Tim, Bill and my friend Rick to the text update list. It's hard for me to do that with the buttons on my phone being so small, and my fingers too big. Just call me old-school in this regard, I would simply like to concentrate on covering my game and not worry about what's going on elsewhere. Maybe if I wasn't trying to snap a picture or take video I would have an easier time providing updates.
Forreston won a good game 31-28. (Here's the NISB Article)
One thing I learned from covering this game is to not use cheap pens to write things down on. My pen didn't run out, but was kind of a nuisance. The way I cover football games changed after the next game.
The break before the Harlem-Hononegah game was changed. I was supposed to meet Rick for a quick bite to eat before we went to the game, but he had other plans. So this gave me some time to drive to Harlem and walk around to keep myself awake. The weather got much colder as game time fell.
Cheap pens and fat notepads do not mix when it's bitter cold outside. My jaw was stammering and my knees were buckling as I roamed around the Hononegah sideline throughout the game. Not to mention, plenty of scoring and little defense. I tried to keep up with the game, and was able to get plays written down. However I was not able to mentally formulate a storyline inside my head - and thus called the game off. I figured that would be the case.
By the time I left Harlem, I had been awake for 31 straight hours. Then came the drive down home. You try driving down Route 2 in deer-infested late October, at night, after being up for 31 straight hours!
Of course I went to sleep right after I got home, but awoke enough to get the two articles written in timely fashion (to my standards). I didn't go as in-depth as I normally did, but at the same time didn't go below 600 words on each article.
***
What I learned from this Wild Ride:
1. The football notes formula I had been using for years turns obsolete when trying to meet a maximum-word limit. I have recently begun using a football stats worksheet to help in setting up box scores. If I just used that as my game notes, and writing a scoring summary (agate-style) on the back of the worksheet, it may clear my head a little easier and prevent arthritis. I will begin experimenting with this strategy on Friday night - where as of now I don't know.
2. Never write 1,000+ word soccer articles. Never.
3. Aren't individual sectional results available on the IHSA website? Even in this particular meet where almost all of NISB's small schools were in, going by that is data enough to supplement the margin notes and interviews during the race.
4. Set a "leave-the-house" deadline, even for the shortest of car rides. Oregon isn't much of a car ride for me, but you never know with traffic in Sterling and Dixon.
5. Don't buy a pork chop at Forreston. Worst ever.
6. Tell people that I see no sense of urgency in knowing what a quarterly score is during a football game - unless you are my boss. The less time I text updates, the more time I have to do stats at halftime. And for crying out loud, NEVER EVER call me during a game, especially if you know that I am covering a game!!!!
7. Protect the head, regardless of what it does to my hair. Hoods on top, stocking hat, whatever. This will take a long time for me to learn because I naturally just don't do it.
8. I can't do a triple-dip after staying up all night. Just can't. However, if this comes up another time I'll be sure to get plenty of sleep before. I've covered multiple basketball games at tournaments, but this is a completely different situation.
Hopefully lessons are learned, and the opportunity comes up again. Next week is Volleyball State Tournament time, which should be another absolute meylay.
Current Song - My Sharona (The Knack)
I came into this past Saturday thinking I could cover three things. As the day drew closer, I didn't actually think this was possible. But I wanted to try to do it anyway.
The three events were: the Oregon XC Sectional, the Forreston Football game against Hales Fransicsan, and the Harlem Football game against Hononeagh.
I did research and alerted beforehand that I was going to cover the first two games. I didn't tell anyone about covering Harlem-Hononegah because I wasn't sure if I had enough energy to do so, and didn't want people to waste time. Thankfully the gate honored the pass on the fly.
If I wasn't covering anything, this would be a typical day in high school sports paradise. There is a pencil holder on my desk that reads "I want less WORK and more $$$ for not doing it." If money grew on trees and I could do what I want - this is what I would be doing.
I also came into Saturday wanting to tweak the way I cover things, as well as tweak the way I write. In this day of age in the journalism business, sticking to one tried and true format doesn't go far in the ever-changing scheme of things.
I challenged myself to write just 600 words on each game. This is a far cry from the typical 1,000+ I'm used to in website writing. I write long on the website in order to explain detail and how things led to another - in other words make the newspapers look like MASH unit doctors. (Okay, a more nicer term would be "supplementary coverage.")
Thousand-word stories have no place in newspapers. If I want to prepare for that next level, I need to shorten my stories and cram it all into fewer words. I try doing this all of the time, but I had something going for me that day: Because of a tech snafu with the website, I stayed up all night after covering Sterling soccer on Friday night. So I went into the triple-dip with no sleep. By the time I would be getting home from this, being so tired would literally force me to write just 600 words.
***
So here's an account of the Saturday triple-dip:
I was running a little late getting to Oregon for the Sectional Meet. I tried to catch some shut-eye around 8 a.m. and got about two minutes worth. Then that turned into a slow time in the shower and getting cleaned up. Knowing I was going to stumble, and possibly run off the road, I had three bucks on me to go to Aldi for a 12-park of pop. I got to Park West in Oregon late enough to where I parked in the school parking lot and ran the 1/4 mile to the finish line.
They say covering cross country is one of the easiest things to do. However, research and knowledge of the effects of running three miles will make for a good story (as opposed to fact-and-stat writing). There was a back-to-back series of XC meets at Erie and then Byron that helped me understand cross country a little better. When football is dominant and volleyball is also as dominant, sometimes cross country gets shuffled behind.
Charlie and Andy were also there covering the meet, and I stuck by them for most of the time. I also saw one of my Winnebago friends, Bruce, there as well. I got my pics in one spot, then video in another spot not too far away. See how easy it is? Right. After the meet, however, it took nearly two hours to finalize the results and print them off. Not good for someone like me who was up for now 24 straight hours. (Here's the NISB Article)
By the time I walked all the way back to my car, it was 1 p.m. with the football game at Forreston starting at 1:30. I'm already past my pre-game comfort zone as far as getting there early is concerned. I go the wrong way out of Oregon and after exiting Mt. Morris I Chuck Yeager'ed it to Route 72. The car topped at 93 MPH (one shy of the car's best of 94 on the Abe Lincoln Bridge in LaSalle).
Sure enough, I get to Forreston with 11 minutes on the pre-game clock. Andy had also made the drive (probably much safer than my drive). The morning was cold and I had my jacket on, but it got warm soon after and I was alright with my short-sleeved shirt. Forreston is a confusing place to cover a football game at sometimes, since the scoreboard is slow and I can't get an accurate reading on yardage lines. Other than that covering the game went off without a hitch.
Since this was a much-hyped game, I was asked beforehand to text updates to my friend Patrick in Chicago. I don't mind doing that, but sometimes it takes away from the job I'm trying to do. So along with Patrick, I added Edgy Tim, Bill and my friend Rick to the text update list. It's hard for me to do that with the buttons on my phone being so small, and my fingers too big. Just call me old-school in this regard, I would simply like to concentrate on covering my game and not worry about what's going on elsewhere. Maybe if I wasn't trying to snap a picture or take video I would have an easier time providing updates.
Forreston won a good game 31-28. (Here's the NISB Article)
One thing I learned from covering this game is to not use cheap pens to write things down on. My pen didn't run out, but was kind of a nuisance. The way I cover football games changed after the next game.
The break before the Harlem-Hononegah game was changed. I was supposed to meet Rick for a quick bite to eat before we went to the game, but he had other plans. So this gave me some time to drive to Harlem and walk around to keep myself awake. The weather got much colder as game time fell.
Cheap pens and fat notepads do not mix when it's bitter cold outside. My jaw was stammering and my knees were buckling as I roamed around the Hononegah sideline throughout the game. Not to mention, plenty of scoring and little defense. I tried to keep up with the game, and was able to get plays written down. However I was not able to mentally formulate a storyline inside my head - and thus called the game off. I figured that would be the case.
By the time I left Harlem, I had been awake for 31 straight hours. Then came the drive down home. You try driving down Route 2 in deer-infested late October, at night, after being up for 31 straight hours!
Of course I went to sleep right after I got home, but awoke enough to get the two articles written in timely fashion (to my standards). I didn't go as in-depth as I normally did, but at the same time didn't go below 600 words on each article.
***
What I learned from this Wild Ride:
1. The football notes formula I had been using for years turns obsolete when trying to meet a maximum-word limit. I have recently begun using a football stats worksheet to help in setting up box scores. If I just used that as my game notes, and writing a scoring summary (agate-style) on the back of the worksheet, it may clear my head a little easier and prevent arthritis. I will begin experimenting with this strategy on Friday night - where as of now I don't know.
2. Never write 1,000+ word soccer articles. Never.
3. Aren't individual sectional results available on the IHSA website? Even in this particular meet where almost all of NISB's small schools were in, going by that is data enough to supplement the margin notes and interviews during the race.
4. Set a "leave-the-house" deadline, even for the shortest of car rides. Oregon isn't much of a car ride for me, but you never know with traffic in Sterling and Dixon.
5. Don't buy a pork chop at Forreston. Worst ever.
6. Tell people that I see no sense of urgency in knowing what a quarterly score is during a football game - unless you are my boss. The less time I text updates, the more time I have to do stats at halftime. And for crying out loud, NEVER EVER call me during a game, especially if you know that I am covering a game!!!!
7. Protect the head, regardless of what it does to my hair. Hoods on top, stocking hat, whatever. This will take a long time for me to learn because I naturally just don't do it.
8. I can't do a triple-dip after staying up all night. Just can't. However, if this comes up another time I'll be sure to get plenty of sleep before. I've covered multiple basketball games at tournaments, but this is a completely different situation.
Hopefully lessons are learned, and the opportunity comes up again. Next week is Volleyball State Tournament time, which should be another absolute meylay.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
It's not so busy now
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.03.01
Current Song - Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday (Stevie Wonder)
The high school sports happening has kind of fallen into place at the moment. This week will see a Thursday-Friday-Saturday string of volleyball-football-football.
Right now I'm trying to preserve finances, of course. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve at the moment. It may not be all that busy during the course of the week, but when there is something do to - it's a lot to handle.
Next week looks to be State Volleyball. The week after that is the start of girls basketball tournaments, with championships on Friday and another football game on Saturday.
The week after looks to be state football on maybe Friday (slight possibility for Saturday also) and then riding my bike to SHS for the annual Sterling-Rock Falls boys basketball tilt.
All if I still cannot secure a job. If I get that, then this schedule is subject to change.
Current Song - Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday (Stevie Wonder)
The high school sports happening has kind of fallen into place at the moment. This week will see a Thursday-Friday-Saturday string of volleyball-football-football.
Right now I'm trying to preserve finances, of course. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve at the moment. It may not be all that busy during the course of the week, but when there is something do to - it's a lot to handle.
Next week looks to be State Volleyball. The week after that is the start of girls basketball tournaments, with championships on Friday and another football game on Saturday.
The week after looks to be state football on maybe Friday (slight possibility for Saturday also) and then riding my bike to SHS for the annual Sterling-Rock Falls boys basketball tilt.
All if I still cannot secure a job. If I get that, then this schedule is subject to change.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Strapped Advantages?
Cutter's Log - Supplemental
While I have no income coming in at this time, I am resorting to some small things to make a buck.
For example, I'm trying to sell some of my things that I have kind of hoarded for years. I'll start with the keyboard I've been trying to sell for a long time.
But when I get a job somewhere, that shouldn't mean I should quit these unusual ways of building onto by finances. Rather, these things would be a supplement to what I would be already making.
How about that?
While I have no income coming in at this time, I am resorting to some small things to make a buck.
For example, I'm trying to sell some of my things that I have kind of hoarded for years. I'll start with the keyboard I've been trying to sell for a long time.
But when I get a job somewhere, that shouldn't mean I should quit these unusual ways of building onto by finances. Rather, these things would be a supplement to what I would be already making.
How about that?
Interesting TV
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.12.01
Current Song - Ah Leah (Donnie Iris)
In the past decade or so, there was never really anything on television that I would religiously watch. No real programming except the TV-6 News at Ten and Leno and Conan afterward. Sportscenter whenever I felt like it.
The only two times when I would go down from the computer to watch TV was when the Hallmark channel had MASH on at 4 pm, and when Family Guy was on Adult Swim at 2 pm. These runs ended after I saw pretty much evey single episode.
Lately there are four shows that, whenever they are on, I will attempt to watch: American Pickers, Hardcore Pawn, Pawn Stars and Storage Wars.
What amazes me about these shows is the items that they focus on; things that I have never heard of before. Also, that there is a value to pretty much anything unique out there.
These shows kind of make me want to go on a treasure hunt. Hunting for treasure is something that sound like a good idea RIGHT ABOUT NOW.
Current Song - Ah Leah (Donnie Iris)
In the past decade or so, there was never really anything on television that I would religiously watch. No real programming except the TV-6 News at Ten and Leno and Conan afterward. Sportscenter whenever I felt like it.
The only two times when I would go down from the computer to watch TV was when the Hallmark channel had MASH on at 4 pm, and when Family Guy was on Adult Swim at 2 pm. These runs ended after I saw pretty much evey single episode.
Lately there are four shows that, whenever they are on, I will attempt to watch: American Pickers, Hardcore Pawn, Pawn Stars and Storage Wars.
What amazes me about these shows is the items that they focus on; things that I have never heard of before. Also, that there is a value to pretty much anything unique out there.
These shows kind of make me want to go on a treasure hunt. Hunting for treasure is something that sound like a good idea RIGHT ABOUT NOW.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Still Clawing For Hope
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.71.01
Current Song - Magnet and Steel (Walter Egan)
Since Plan B has gone dry in the job search, I am now on to Plan C.
Plan A was trying to get that newspaper opening. Plan B was trying to find a gas station job within 25 miles from home. Both haven't worked.
So Plan C involves calling local businesses to see if they are hiring or not. Five years ago I made a list of places where I could try to apply to. That was back when I didn't have a car. Now I do, and have expanded this list to within 20 miles from home.
I couldn't remember the exact list, but I wrote down all the places I could think of in Sterling, Rock Falls, Dixon, Morrison and Prophetstown. Of these places, I either got a "yes," "no," or "you can always fill out an application."
In this calling process, I have found four places with a "yes" that I could reasonably do. These places are: Domino's Pizza, Farm and Fleet, Kroger, and Aaron's. Three more places were found in the classifieds. One of which seems seasonal, another seems to be confusing (the job description was vague), and another maybe, just maybe seems like something that could prepare me for the future - and that is a typing job for a phone book company.
So far, I have filled out the online app for Kroger and emailed the cover letter and resume to the phone book company. The Kroger position is for overnight cashier, which I did for 19 months at BP.
Over the coming days, not only will I hope to hear back from the two places above, but try to tackle the Farm and Fleet and Domino's jobs. After that, I will go into the list of places that told me "you can always fill out an application" and have them on file - as well as get those other two ads from the paper.
Meanwhile, I have to go in front of the City of Sterling Liquor Commission tomorrow morning due to my sting. I hope the fine isn't as bad as I think it is. After that, I hope to get my finances in order.
Current Song - Magnet and Steel (Walter Egan)
Since Plan B has gone dry in the job search, I am now on to Plan C.
Plan A was trying to get that newspaper opening. Plan B was trying to find a gas station job within 25 miles from home. Both haven't worked.
So Plan C involves calling local businesses to see if they are hiring or not. Five years ago I made a list of places where I could try to apply to. That was back when I didn't have a car. Now I do, and have expanded this list to within 20 miles from home.
I couldn't remember the exact list, but I wrote down all the places I could think of in Sterling, Rock Falls, Dixon, Morrison and Prophetstown. Of these places, I either got a "yes," "no," or "you can always fill out an application."
In this calling process, I have found four places with a "yes" that I could reasonably do. These places are: Domino's Pizza, Farm and Fleet, Kroger, and Aaron's. Three more places were found in the classifieds. One of which seems seasonal, another seems to be confusing (the job description was vague), and another maybe, just maybe seems like something that could prepare me for the future - and that is a typing job for a phone book company.
So far, I have filled out the online app for Kroger and emailed the cover letter and resume to the phone book company. The Kroger position is for overnight cashier, which I did for 19 months at BP.
Over the coming days, not only will I hope to hear back from the two places above, but try to tackle the Farm and Fleet and Domino's jobs. After that, I will go into the list of places that told me "you can always fill out an application" and have them on file - as well as get those other two ads from the paper.
Meanwhile, I have to go in front of the City of Sterling Liquor Commission tomorrow morning due to my sting. I hope the fine isn't as bad as I think it is. After that, I hope to get my finances in order.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Freestylin' Once Again
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.51.01
Current Song - Moonlight Sonata (Ludwig von Beethoven)
Every waking moment without a source of income becomes dreadful and dreadful. At the same time, when I try to be organized, something always seems to get in the way. I tried making different use of my whiteboard, reserving computer time, and still I find myself falling behind in many things.
I've determined that I am planning too many things for one day. One day could see an article written, and a chore to do, and a blog entry to write, and a game to cover, etc. That's why I fall behind in these things. Perhaps if I do only one or two things a day, that will help get things done. This may stretch things out a long time, but if that's what it's going to take to simply get these things DONE, then so it is.
I have a football article to write tonight, as well as some video to upload. Sunday will be dedicated to the Week 8 Observations piece, and tallying up the pick'em standings. Monday will be dedicated to job finding and finance situations. Tuesday will be spent at the liquor commission hearing. Wednesday and Thursday are open as of right now. Friday will be dedicated to Kaneland at Morris football, while Saturday will be dedicated to covering the Stillman Valley Volleyball Invitational final.
What I can reveal about the job scenario is this - I haven't gotten any calls back from any of the gas stations I have applied at. I think it's time to find another route. The preferences didn't seem to work out. Now I'll have to go back to what I did before taking the BP job, and calling people up the wazoo.
But who?
The feeling right now is not so much wanting to cross my fingers - but just absolute nervousness in possibly having to do something I just do not feel comfortable with. What's worse is trying to click with fellow workers outside of work - something I just haven't been able to do, ever.
I want my dreams to be a reality, not to be destroyed by falling into place in a line in society.
Current Song - Moonlight Sonata (Ludwig von Beethoven)
Every waking moment without a source of income becomes dreadful and dreadful. At the same time, when I try to be organized, something always seems to get in the way. I tried making different use of my whiteboard, reserving computer time, and still I find myself falling behind in many things.
I've determined that I am planning too many things for one day. One day could see an article written, and a chore to do, and a blog entry to write, and a game to cover, etc. That's why I fall behind in these things. Perhaps if I do only one or two things a day, that will help get things done. This may stretch things out a long time, but if that's what it's going to take to simply get these things DONE, then so it is.
I have a football article to write tonight, as well as some video to upload. Sunday will be dedicated to the Week 8 Observations piece, and tallying up the pick'em standings. Monday will be dedicated to job finding and finance situations. Tuesday will be spent at the liquor commission hearing. Wednesday and Thursday are open as of right now. Friday will be dedicated to Kaneland at Morris football, while Saturday will be dedicated to covering the Stillman Valley Volleyball Invitational final.
What I can reveal about the job scenario is this - I haven't gotten any calls back from any of the gas stations I have applied at. I think it's time to find another route. The preferences didn't seem to work out. Now I'll have to go back to what I did before taking the BP job, and calling people up the wazoo.
But who?
The feeling right now is not so much wanting to cross my fingers - but just absolute nervousness in possibly having to do something I just do not feel comfortable with. What's worse is trying to click with fellow workers outside of work - something I just haven't been able to do, ever.
I want my dreams to be a reality, not to be destroyed by falling into place in a line in society.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Mind in Another Place
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.10.01
Current Song - Kicks (Paul Revere and the Raiders)
While I'm still trying to find job openings at places, my mind seems to be at another place.
I have found something. Not a job, but another ...
Well, this entity is strengthening my wills to kick some habits and become more orderly in a few things. Never before with similar ones in the past have I been prompted to go to such extremes.
Just f'in mesmerizing!
Current Song - Kicks (Paul Revere and the Raiders)
While I'm still trying to find job openings at places, my mind seems to be at another place.
I have found something. Not a job, but another ...
Well, this entity is strengthening my wills to kick some habits and become more orderly in a few things. Never before with similar ones in the past have I been prompted to go to such extremes.
Just f'in mesmerizing!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Today Concludes One of the Best Weeks Ever
Hello, my baby Hello, my honey Hello, my ragtime gal!
Cutter's Log - Stardate 2001.80.01
Current Song - Mo Money Mo Problems (Notorious BIG)
I may not have a job, but all of this downtime is being spent at peace with myself. For one, I have found myself doing extremely well in conversation. Talking to others has been my achilles heel for the longest time, because of the mental condition that I have.
Probably all of the pressure building up inside my head from working for the past three years is disintigrating.
On Sunday I got to have lunch with a friend of mine at Applebees. It was great talking with him. I seemed to carry over the chatting momentum to a cross country meet I went to on Tuesday down in Erie.
The cross country meet almost never happened. I planned on covering a boys golf regional at Sycamore but I overslept. So I scrambled to find something else.
When I'm the only reporter there, I tend to stumble and stutter when I ask these complex questions to people I would like to interview. Most times I will write down questions on my notepad and look at them in the middle of the interview as a cue to what to ask next. For some reason, at this cross country meet I would up freestyling my questions and got some good quotes. I must have figured, hey, I'm the only reporter there so the readers should be proud that they have at least something (not really my best work).
As my writing philosophy, I try to keep my questions simple and easy to answer, and just search for that string of words that fits beautifully with the story. Natrually they do come.
Turns out I had another cross country meet the following day and I once again freestyled my questions ... pretty much just like how I did it the day before. Once again, I was the only reporter there.
Two days of having real good interview sessions was a blast for me. My biggest challenge would come during Friday's Little 10 Tournament finals.
When doing interviews with young ladies, I sometimes tend to be very nervous when presenting myself - I will sometimes have that "ugly" feeling lurking somewhere in my mind. My hair was a mess, I hadn't shaved, and my shirt had chest hair sticking out of it, and here I was interviewing high school girls. This feeling is a habit from when I first started conducting interviews - I was still trying to work on conversation toward girls at that time.
After talking with the coaches I asked for two girls to have an interview session with. Normally I will NOT do a double-session with two people at the same time. However, since the night was fast concluding, I had no choice to do the double-interview with the two girls, both sophomores and probably hadn't been interviewed before. The conversation was a success. I have seen and heard a couple of my writers do these double-interviews, so I tried to act as if I were like them. The transitions worked out well and the whole thing just went very well.
During the volleyball event I at least knew some people that were there, one of them one of my writers who was on assignment for another newspaper. This is usually not the case at most games that I travel to. I was also able to break the ice on some volleyball talk with a football-junkie friend of mine.
More volleyball on Saturday. Surprisingly, I was the only reporter there at the Dixon Invitational. Especially since the title match had teams with a combined record of 59-3. Just call it momentum and following the game, I guess. The more games you get to cover alone, the more confortable you feeling with conversations after the game.
After the Invitational, I found myself engaging in smalltalk with one of the people that I interviewed. That's real odd because that doesn't happen. I guess I was just lucky to be at these games alone. Going back home I stopped by a former co-worker's farewell party at Kelly's Bar and Grill downtown. Had a blast as we wished Will the best at his new gig with the Chicago Tribune.
We all did a toast with a shot of (something), and I actually drank it. I'm not a drinker, nor will I ever be - but this was only the third such occasion that I took a shot of something: a shot of wine at my sister's wedding, a shot of Bud Light at my 5th class reunion, and a shot of this stuff that is unknown to me tonight.
Okay, before I go crazy that's enough fun for the weekend.
In addition to the conversational aspect of things, the gas station hopes got another boost as another opening nearby has been created. Still waiting for the call.
Another confidence booster is something related to what has been mentioned already, but is something I'll just keep to myself for the time being.
Here's to next week!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Time, a Luxury I Kind of Need Right Now
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.10.01
Current Song - It Ain't Over Till It's Over (Lenny Kravitz)
When you get canned, naturally there is plenty of time to kill. Apparently not.
It's been a rough 48 hours for yours truly. Froze myself at Friday's football game. Had a low battery on my camera. Had trouble figuring out yard stripes. Somehow I was able to scrap together a game article. Somehow.
Message board babysitting stuff seems to be getting a little better. The job outlook, however, is like the wheels of justice - it turns slowly.
At least the car shouldn't have any more problems, now that most of the stuff has been fixed and was paid for. So I have that going for me. I am having lunch with a former colleague of mine tomorrow, too.
What I'm having an extremely difficult time with is preparation and time management. Perhaps having so much time on my hands has thrown me off-balance in this regard. I have a website to maintain, and it seems like I'm doing things on the fly.
Now that I'm off work, every waking moment from 8 a.m. to midnight is a battle between Dan and I for use of the computer. Then either Mike or Chris will pop in every now and again. I want to find a way that works out for all of us, but since the computer that I'm on is mine I get some more say in things.
As of right now the biggest thing that is on my mind is the operation of NISB. Finding a job (and sticking to the job-finding plan posted on here earlier) doesn't really take all that long to do. Next week should be another packed week with good-sized trips. Balancing this financial aspect of things takes time, and I kind of need that right now.
***
Here's what I want to establish with Danny as far as computer time is concerned:
I get the computer from 9 a.m. until either 5 p.m. (or earlier when I have to prepare to leave for a game). If I sleep in past 9 a.m., he can have it until I wake up. After 5 p.m. he can have it until he gets tired (or until I arrive back home from a sporting event).
When I'm on the computer, I'll put matters toward the website on first priority. I'll tell him that. Working hard within the high school sports arena is what's going to help me persue my desire to stay involved with it for as long as I want. When I get that through his head, he'll understand.
***
I want to wake up at 9 a.m. and begin working on website ideas and concepts for the day. I'm not planning on covering anything that night, so the day will be devoted to internal and technological website matters. When I get off at 5 p.m., Danny can have the computer and I can do some personal things.
From here on out, I will be thinking of things to do with the website. Sometimes reinventing things is a good way to keep fresh. After having lunch with my friend tomorrow, I'll get to writing the Week 6 Observations piece and get it up ASAP.
This all starts with moving my white marker board to the other wall in my office area. It's something minor, but when you're me detail sometimes does matter.
Current Song - It Ain't Over Till It's Over (Lenny Kravitz)
When you get canned, naturally there is plenty of time to kill. Apparently not.
It's been a rough 48 hours for yours truly. Froze myself at Friday's football game. Had a low battery on my camera. Had trouble figuring out yard stripes. Somehow I was able to scrap together a game article. Somehow.
Message board babysitting stuff seems to be getting a little better. The job outlook, however, is like the wheels of justice - it turns slowly.
At least the car shouldn't have any more problems, now that most of the stuff has been fixed and was paid for. So I have that going for me. I am having lunch with a former colleague of mine tomorrow, too.
What I'm having an extremely difficult time with is preparation and time management. Perhaps having so much time on my hands has thrown me off-balance in this regard. I have a website to maintain, and it seems like I'm doing things on the fly.
Now that I'm off work, every waking moment from 8 a.m. to midnight is a battle between Dan and I for use of the computer. Then either Mike or Chris will pop in every now and again. I want to find a way that works out for all of us, but since the computer that I'm on is mine I get some more say in things.
As of right now the biggest thing that is on my mind is the operation of NISB. Finding a job (and sticking to the job-finding plan posted on here earlier) doesn't really take all that long to do. Next week should be another packed week with good-sized trips. Balancing this financial aspect of things takes time, and I kind of need that right now.
***
Here's what I want to establish with Danny as far as computer time is concerned:
I get the computer from 9 a.m. until either 5 p.m. (or earlier when I have to prepare to leave for a game). If I sleep in past 9 a.m., he can have it until I wake up. After 5 p.m. he can have it until he gets tired (or until I arrive back home from a sporting event).
When I'm on the computer, I'll put matters toward the website on first priority. I'll tell him that. Working hard within the high school sports arena is what's going to help me persue my desire to stay involved with it for as long as I want. When I get that through his head, he'll understand.
***
I want to wake up at 9 a.m. and begin working on website ideas and concepts for the day. I'm not planning on covering anything that night, so the day will be devoted to internal and technological website matters. When I get off at 5 p.m., Danny can have the computer and I can do some personal things.
From here on out, I will be thinking of things to do with the website. Sometimes reinventing things is a good way to keep fresh. After having lunch with my friend tomorrow, I'll get to writing the Week 6 Observations piece and get it up ASAP.
This all starts with moving my white marker board to the other wall in my office area. It's something minor, but when you're me detail sometimes does matter.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Just When It Couldn't Get Any Worse
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.92.90
Current Song - Sweetheart (Franke and the Knockouts)
The water pump on my car is broken.
Just a horrible string of bad luck just keeps on continuing. I don't know how much it costs to have a water pump replaced, but it's a very good chunk of what money I have left.
At least I have a bicycle.
Current Song - Sweetheart (Franke and the Knockouts)
The water pump on my car is broken.
Just a horrible string of bad luck just keeps on continuing. I don't know how much it costs to have a water pump replaced, but it's a very good chunk of what money I have left.
At least I have a bicycle.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Step Up The Game
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.72.90
Current Song - Love Is Blue (Paul Mauriat)
I may ben in an emotional whirlwhind at the moment, but I really do feel alright. I have applied at a couple of gas stations in the Sauk Valley, and may add in one more later in the week. I had to take a trip to these stations in order to scope them out and get a feel for how things are like at these places.
Yeah, I'm one of those people that likes to shop around for the perfect job. However, that is only because I want to be happy while I work. If I'm not happy working, I won't do a good job. That's just how my mind works. This is the same way I have tried to find girlfriends. Except the latter hasn't worked yet. Put me in an uncomfortable situation and I'll bolt.
I still haven't given up hope in this possible newspaper opening. However, just recently some other things have happened. All I will say about this is that it is time for me to step up my game as far as sportswriting is concerned.
The dream is not over. The other dream is also not over.
Current Song - Love Is Blue (Paul Mauriat)
I may ben in an emotional whirlwhind at the moment, but I really do feel alright. I have applied at a couple of gas stations in the Sauk Valley, and may add in one more later in the week. I had to take a trip to these stations in order to scope them out and get a feel for how things are like at these places.
Yeah, I'm one of those people that likes to shop around for the perfect job. However, that is only because I want to be happy while I work. If I'm not happy working, I won't do a good job. That's just how my mind works. This is the same way I have tried to find girlfriends. Except the latter hasn't worked yet. Put me in an uncomfortable situation and I'll bolt.
I still haven't given up hope in this possible newspaper opening. However, just recently some other things have happened. All I will say about this is that it is time for me to step up my game as far as sportswriting is concerned.
The dream is not over. The other dream is also not over.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Narrowing Things Down
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.42.90
Current Song - That Girl (Stevie Wonder)
Narrowed the choices down to three gas stations, that is if the newspaper thing doesn't go through. I'll give the newspaper some time to look thing over, but if I don't hear back soon I'll start moving on. If those three don't fly, I have one more option before going to Plan C in the Game Plan (the previous blog entry).
One of these stations has taken a lead, but could very well fall back into the same line as the other two.
Other than that, things are going well. I'm getting caught up on some things. Monday morning I will scope out the three stores and go on some other morning errands.
I've got a good coverage schedule lined up for this week on NISB.
I got a football piece to write for Monday, and then I'll be spending some time dealing with catch-up things before turning to high school sports for a while.
Current Song - That Girl (Stevie Wonder)
Narrowed the choices down to three gas stations, that is if the newspaper thing doesn't go through. I'll give the newspaper some time to look thing over, but if I don't hear back soon I'll start moving on. If those three don't fly, I have one more option before going to Plan C in the Game Plan (the previous blog entry).
One of these stations has taken a lead, but could very well fall back into the same line as the other two.
Other than that, things are going well. I'm getting caught up on some things. Monday morning I will scope out the three stores and go on some other morning errands.
I've got a good coverage schedule lined up for this week on NISB.
I got a football piece to write for Monday, and then I'll be spending some time dealing with catch-up things before turning to high school sports for a while.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Game Plan
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.20.90
Current Song - Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
I went out on a walk at around 12:30 this morning. The purpose was to be able to think without distraction, about stretching what finances I have.
The walk quickly turned into a strategy for job inquiring. Along the walk, which was a good two of three miles long, I came up with a game plan toward getting back in the job world.
***
Objective No. 1 is to keep the dreams and goals intact. To do this, I will be focusing on two opposite ends: The here-and-now and the worst-case scenario.
Let's start with worst-case:
I cannot lose the Northern Illinois Sports Beat website, both physically and intellectually.
I am starting plans to fortify the website to prevent it from ceasing operation. At the worst-case, the website would have some changes in terms of content. Right now, I put in some money in order to keep the website as popular as it is. At the worst-case, it could be just me operating the entire website - which is nothing new, since I did it for a long time. The website would thus start fresh, and evolve into a new direction - and perhaps bring back some of the old.
Factoring in website costs, phone bills, gas money, and car insurance, if I remain unemployed I will empty the general fund no later than December, with only Christmas money keeping me from going bust after that. I'm not going to tell exactly how much money I have, but you get the picture.
I have established a couple of buoys in this downturn. One buoy will be the one that makes me go to a Temp Agency to work somewhere I really DO NOT feel like working at. The other buoy will be the time when I'll ask high school sports winter coaches if I could be of service in regards to video taping or statistics.
The here-and-now:
I am closer to getting the papers ready for inquiry into the possible newspaper void that I have discussed. The cover letter is done, the resume needs reviewed, the awards have yet to be copied, and I have one more clip to scan (the Tolstoy-ish piece that I wrote on the RF Softball team in '04). This should be finished by Tuesday night, and then I will immediately mail it.
If 10 days have passed with no response, or if there is an unfavorable response within those 10 days, I will move on toward looking elsewhere.
I noticed a favorable pinpoint on my drive from Big Bend yesterday, and that's the Casey's store in Erie looking for "positions." It seems like last time I went to Erie they were looking for people. That's a start, and I will try to see if there is anything closer before going after this.
I have been working at gas stations for five years, and that is the non-journalism position I feel most comfortable in right now. Erie is 25 miles away from home. I'll look at gas stations within a 25-mile radius (those I feel comfortable working at).
The first call will be to a gas station where a former co-worker of mine is now at. Given the circumstances of my departure from Shell, I will be attempting to see if there is a chance at even considering that particular chain. If that particular store isn't hiring, then I'll spread outward until I reach the 25-mile mark and then contact Erie.
If the gas stations have all been exhausted, then I'll look into the box stores in the Tri-city area. Then I'll start digging up the list of places that I tried applying to back in the summer of 2008 (my last stretch of unemployment).
If the box stores are exhausted, then the gas station radius will spread to 50 miles. If the 50-mile gas station radius is exhausted, then I'll extend the box-store radius to 50 miles. Cities included in this 50-mile radius include: Clinton (IA), the Quad Cities, the Rockford area, Kewanee, Princeton, LaSalle-Peru, Rochelle, DeKalb/Sycamore, Freeport, Oregon, Byron and Mendota.
By the time if any of these areas are exhausted (I would hope not), the first worst-case buoy should be reached.
If anything newspaper sports-like comes up during this time, I'll go after it and rework the game plan.
Your input is welcome.
***
Let's get out there, and FIGHT!
Current Song - Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
I went out on a walk at around 12:30 this morning. The purpose was to be able to think without distraction, about stretching what finances I have.
The walk quickly turned into a strategy for job inquiring. Along the walk, which was a good two of three miles long, I came up with a game plan toward getting back in the job world.
***
Objective No. 1 is to keep the dreams and goals intact. To do this, I will be focusing on two opposite ends: The here-and-now and the worst-case scenario.
Let's start with worst-case:
I cannot lose the Northern Illinois Sports Beat website, both physically and intellectually.
I am starting plans to fortify the website to prevent it from ceasing operation. At the worst-case, the website would have some changes in terms of content. Right now, I put in some money in order to keep the website as popular as it is. At the worst-case, it could be just me operating the entire website - which is nothing new, since I did it for a long time. The website would thus start fresh, and evolve into a new direction - and perhaps bring back some of the old.
Factoring in website costs, phone bills, gas money, and car insurance, if I remain unemployed I will empty the general fund no later than December, with only Christmas money keeping me from going bust after that. I'm not going to tell exactly how much money I have, but you get the picture.
I have established a couple of buoys in this downturn. One buoy will be the one that makes me go to a Temp Agency to work somewhere I really DO NOT feel like working at. The other buoy will be the time when I'll ask high school sports winter coaches if I could be of service in regards to video taping or statistics.
The here-and-now:
I am closer to getting the papers ready for inquiry into the possible newspaper void that I have discussed. The cover letter is done, the resume needs reviewed, the awards have yet to be copied, and I have one more clip to scan (the Tolstoy-ish piece that I wrote on the RF Softball team in '04). This should be finished by Tuesday night, and then I will immediately mail it.
If 10 days have passed with no response, or if there is an unfavorable response within those 10 days, I will move on toward looking elsewhere.
I noticed a favorable pinpoint on my drive from Big Bend yesterday, and that's the Casey's store in Erie looking for "positions." It seems like last time I went to Erie they were looking for people. That's a start, and I will try to see if there is anything closer before going after this.
I have been working at gas stations for five years, and that is the non-journalism position I feel most comfortable in right now. Erie is 25 miles away from home. I'll look at gas stations within a 25-mile radius (those I feel comfortable working at).
The first call will be to a gas station where a former co-worker of mine is now at. Given the circumstances of my departure from Shell, I will be attempting to see if there is a chance at even considering that particular chain. If that particular store isn't hiring, then I'll spread outward until I reach the 25-mile mark and then contact Erie.
If the gas stations have all been exhausted, then I'll look into the box stores in the Tri-city area. Then I'll start digging up the list of places that I tried applying to back in the summer of 2008 (my last stretch of unemployment).
If the box stores are exhausted, then the gas station radius will spread to 50 miles. If the 50-mile gas station radius is exhausted, then I'll extend the box-store radius to 50 miles. Cities included in this 50-mile radius include: Clinton (IA), the Quad Cities, the Rockford area, Kewanee, Princeton, LaSalle-Peru, Rochelle, DeKalb/Sycamore, Freeport, Oregon, Byron and Mendota.
By the time if any of these areas are exhausted (I would hope not), the first worst-case buoy should be reached.
If anything newspaper sports-like comes up during this time, I'll go after it and rework the game plan.
Your input is welcome.
***
Let's get out there, and FIGHT!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Good Time To Catch Up On Things
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.91.90
Current Song - Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
One of the best things about not working at the moment is that I can get caught up on personal things.
One of the personal things I've been working on lately is to get in better shape. I'm not surrounded by packaged food at work anymore, so this eliminates the temptations. Also when hungry from work, I would make a trip to a drive-thru. Now that I'm on a tight budget, that overrules the fast food chains. I literally can't spend the money.
I'm also going to be a little lax on the games that I cover in the next couple of weeks, but still at the same coverage rate. Football will still be normal. Less trips - less money to spend.
Another way to cut back on spending is to not drive the car on in-town trips. The bike will be used for such, unless I bunch errands into an out-of-town trip.
All of which should help me feel better physically.
Today I plan on walking through Big Bend State Park in Prophetstown. I've been there a few times, but never really walked around it. While there, in town, I'm going to pick up a couple of newspapers. You know what for.
Tomorrow is a girls golf meet at Emerald Hill. The bicycle will be used. Let's see if this can hold up.
Current Song - Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
One of the best things about not working at the moment is that I can get caught up on personal things.
One of the personal things I've been working on lately is to get in better shape. I'm not surrounded by packaged food at work anymore, so this eliminates the temptations. Also when hungry from work, I would make a trip to a drive-thru. Now that I'm on a tight budget, that overrules the fast food chains. I literally can't spend the money.
I'm also going to be a little lax on the games that I cover in the next couple of weeks, but still at the same coverage rate. Football will still be normal. Less trips - less money to spend.
Another way to cut back on spending is to not drive the car on in-town trips. The bike will be used for such, unless I bunch errands into an out-of-town trip.
All of which should help me feel better physically.
Today I plan on walking through Big Bend State Park in Prophetstown. I've been there a few times, but never really walked around it. While there, in town, I'm going to pick up a couple of newspapers. You know what for.
Tomorrow is a girls golf meet at Emerald Hill. The bicycle will be used. Let's see if this can hold up.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Partial Lead
Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.71.90
Current Song - Stranglehold (Ted Nugent)
I looked in a little deeper into that newspaper opening that has been discussed. After getting some info, the said roster spot may or may not be open. When I see or hear "may or may not be open", I have to treat that as if it was open.
The cover letter is in the works, and the resume needs to be polished and updated. I'm going to choose from five works to submit as well.
Of course, if I do get this position, what will happen to NISB? During my time with SVN, I was allowed to operate the NISB Message Boards (from June to September of 2004, NISB was just a message board). It just depends on what happens.
Current Song - Stranglehold (Ted Nugent)
I looked in a little deeper into that newspaper opening that has been discussed. After getting some info, the said roster spot may or may not be open. When I see or hear "may or may not be open", I have to treat that as if it was open.
The cover letter is in the works, and the resume needs to be polished and updated. I'm going to choose from five works to submit as well.
Of course, if I do get this position, what will happen to NISB? During my time with SVN, I was allowed to operate the NISB Message Boards (from June to September of 2004, NISB was just a message board). It just depends on what happens.
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