Feelin' Jobby...

After a long week of interviews I have accepted a position. It's not a hygiene job but it will do. Starting Saturdayish, I'll be working at Verizon Wireless. I'm not a fan of the crappy retail hours but it's a seasonal position and the pay is by far better then any other seasonal retail in town. Yay for money!

Stupid Kitty

Yesterday I had a scare with Rocky, my big fat orange kitty. He decided to eat a rubber band which led to him vomiting about a dozen times. I called the vet and she encouraged me to make him eat so he would barf up the rubber band, or pass it through. After puking all day he finally fell asleep and felt better with no sign of the rubber band. Now I get to watch for the surprise in the cat box!

Too many interviews...

This week has been worse then a pants-full of you know what. I've had six interviews in the past three days, and I have one more today. I've had a few too many of, "Tell me why we should hire you?" or "What is your greatest strength?" One of my favorites (not really), "Tell me about a time you did something with integrity." Don't forget the old, "Tell me about a time you handled a tough situation."

It's been interview hell! I've had three job offers. Two of which I turned down because the wage was ridiculously low. I'm still waiting to hear back from the others, two of which have good pay. I am thankful that I at least have something coming up. It's a lot better then sitting at home waiting for a dentist to call me.

Dog Sitter For Hire

Last week Drew's Dad went to Oregon to visit Levi, Drew's Brother. Drew and I were employed to watch his Dad's dog for a week. The dog is a hound dog named Amos. We knew Amos would be a little difficult to care for because he's a country dog who is used to running freely. We live in the city and don't even have a fenced yard. It turned out to be a very long week. Amos was miserable being inside. He would get 5-7 walks per day but it wasn't good enough. Amos is a fun dog, but I'm glad he's gone home. He was happy to leave too.

I took this video of Amos being annoying during the summer. He had to stay inside the cabin for about an hour because Drew was using some farming equipment that could hurt Amos. It's a good example of how irritating he can be.

Going down the Retail Road...

With much regret I have begun to apply for retail positions. Today I had an interview at Sears and it was a BIG JOKE. I showed up and was interviewed by this girl who I could clearly tell was new to interviewing people because she was way more nervous talking to me then I was talking to her. She even blanked out for a while and couldn't seem to tell me a job description of the position. After stumbling through the interview (I did fine btw) she went for help to bring in a "high up" person to interview me more and describe the job better. The other lady came in only to tell me the position had been filled and she didn't have any other jobs under her. It would have been nice if somebody called me and cancelled my appointment rather then wasting my time. (Insert pissy face here.) She did say that somebody else there may have a job for me, so I have to go back later today to talk with some other person. I'm very disappointed in Sears so far.

I have an interview at JC Penney tomorrow, and then on Thursday I have an interview at a place called Cookies by Design. It's a cookie baking and decorating job. "Sigh."

The Unemployment Blues

When Drew & I moved to Montana, Drew found a job at a local Ford dealership instantly. I thought the job market must be similar to that in Southern California with lots of opportunities of instant employment. I THOUGHT WRONG!!!!!

I took the summer off and began my job search in mid-August. I'm a dental hygienist so naturally I started investigating dental hygiene jobs. I started with the local paper & the internet and came up empty handed. I tried the Montana Dental Association website. I looked and looked online and nothing was available. So I started the good old fashioned door to door approach. I drove around town walking into dentist offices and talking with the staff & leaving resumes at nearly 60.....yes 60 dental offices and came up with nothing. (I did get a temp day filling in one day at one office.) I've talked with lots of dental people who know other dental people but no jobs are out there right now in this town.

Disappointed with the outcome, and money running short, I started applying for other jobs. I've applied for at least 30 positions doing various jobs. Some in which I have zero experience. The outcome has been a few crappy interviews. One interview tested my faith in God.... Not exactly a job for me. Another interview was scheduled by some guy and when I showed up the girl interviewing me had no clue who I was or why I was there.... That one didn't quite work out. Then I had one come up with a dentist! His office manager told me he wasn't hiring but wanted to meet me???? I thought it sounded strange that someone would say that, but I went with it and the dentist proceeded to lecture me for an hour about oral health... It was a weird interview to say the least. I did end up getting one day scheduled to work for him. We'll see how that goes. I also have an interview today for some position where I would keep track of some inventory. Wish me luck. I need it. I'm almost ready to head down to Walmart or Taco Bell to see if they need some help. (Insert sad face here.)

MY FOLKS HOUSE ALMOST BURNED DOWN!

My parents went to Texas this last weekend to see Kansas State (their alma mater) play Texas A&M. K. State won and I'm sure my parents had a drunken good weekend with their alumi. They flew home on Monday and noticed smoke in the air. It wasn't until my folks drove a little closer that they noticed the smoke was right by their house. They pulled up the driveway to discover firetrucks, firemen, and a yard full of neighbors watching the flames start to make their way over a nearby ridge. My parents house neighbors the miltary base Camp Pendleton, and they have miles of open brush covered land right behind their home. There is a fire break that is well maintained that actually saved their house. They also got lucky that the wind was blowing in their favor. My Dad said it was really sad when nightfall set in and all these little birds started flying all over blindly slamming into the side of the house. The fire moved it's way past their home and all was good. The Schmidts got lucky this time.

SNOW DAY!

Winter came early this year and it snowed here. Everybody keeps on saying that usually it doesn't snow in October, but I guess we got a special early surprise this year. Oh boy! I need a sled now too!

P.S. This is our house.

Drunk Lady Peeing on my Lawn!

A few nights ago I was sleeping and woke up to the sounds of "WOOOOOOOOO!!!! WOOOOOOO! WEEEEEEEEEE!!! YEAHHHHHH!" I looked at the clock, which read 12:30, and immediately thought there must be some punk kids outside. So I peeked through the blinds and to my dismay I see a lady pulling up her pants because she has just peed on my lawn. She then proceeded to stumble down the sidewalk in a crooked line back and forth, back and forth. I guess she was having a really fun time all alone with all the gleeful cheers. Then she ate it hard, hit the ground and stopped moving. I thought for a second what do I do? I didn't want to just leave her there in the cold. What if she was mentally ill rather then just drunk? What if she was diabetic and had low blood sugar??? So, I decided to call the police and let them deal with her drunk ass. I dialed and the dispatcher asks, "What is the problem ma'am?" I said, "There is a drunk lady on my front lawn." The dispatcher laughed for a moment, and then asked me where the lady was, and what she looked like, etc. The drunk proceeded to vomit multiple times while I was on the phone and she wasn't very quiet about it. About 30 seconds after I hung up the phone the fuzz arrived. The lady sobered up pretty quickly, got in the car and left with the officer. Good times.

Seasons Upon Us

So, being from So. Cal. I'm pretty accustomed to nice mild temperatures..... IT'S FREAKIN' 40 DEGREES OUTSIDE!!!! burrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Somebody get me some mittens!

Welcome to my blog!

Hey people! Welcome to my new blog. Since I've moved to Montana and am finding myself isolated, I thought why not broadcast myself online and share my experiences of living far far far from my comfort zone in Southern California. Check back often for updates. ENJOY.