What I Did (Am Doing) On My Summer Hiatus...

So I've been away from blogging for a while.  To be honest, my passion kind of went by the wayside when I lost my job at the bank I worked for.  But here's how the month of August and some of September was for me:

I started looking around websites to see what kind of jobs are trending and where I might be wanted.  Boston.com made a good list.

But then you find out that the site editors of their precious lists don't know that they mixed up their "Top 10 In-Demand Jobs In Massachusetts" with the "Top 10 Most Stressful Jobs".  I mean I could've caught this.  I READ!  Also, I don't know how watching a presentation and leaning toward the hot blonde next to you to invite her to dinner is how a Marketing Manager works.

 Now I don't know about you, but I don't really think that an Administrative Assistant is going to be a Bluetooth guy.  He's sitting at a desk in a lobby and making sure someone fills out all the paperwork on the clipboard.  He isn't THAT busy.  Good picture nerds.

 I also started doing some more job searching and had to submit to which kind of person I think I am.  I picked out some of the characteristics I think describe me.  But when you first open this webpage and find out "well, this company really knows how to put adjectives in a random order" and then after a while you figure out this company didn't include the words HONEST or ETHICAL, which I didn't realize until looking at it now.  I'm entering a second interview with this company next week.

You'd also think that with the left over room on one side of the screen, they'd be able to fill it with some of the words from this one.  

I continued to grow and store cucumbers.

I bartended for a birthday party in Stoughton.  It was fun.  I made more money than I thought I would.

I turned 27 while all this was going on.  I looked and felt like this^

I also had a plethura of tomatoes grow in my backyard.

I scoured the internet for more jobs and found that sometimes employers don't even care about grammar or spelling, unless they find it on my resume.  This is a screen shot from an employer in Braintree.  I have a degree in Economics, not E-comics.  (I tried to send this as a joke to two people and it flopped both times.  I'm guessing since Autocorrect exists that spelling just isn't important anymore.)

This is another harvest I had.

I barteneded a very cool wedding in New Hampshire and this was the tap of the keg beer that the groom brewed.  They weer a very generous and very loving family.  All the best to them.

I made salsa with all the tomatoes and cilantro I had.

Right now I'm still chugging away, still bartending on weekends, still saving money, still applying and networking and asking around.  I'm at the point right now where if I counted how many jobs I've applied for I'd get really depressed.  I got an email from Lowe's saying that they wanted to pursue other candidates for their part-time cashier position. I only worked at a gas station for 5 years and then at a Bank of America cash vault for another 4.  Let's hope this funk ends sooner.

Day 27: Problem(s) You Have or Had In the Past

There are many problems that I've had in the past.  Overcoming them is a tireless task.  This blog, for one, was one of the hardest things to get started and then continue on a daily routine.  When I first started blogging back in 2005 or so, I just regurgitated Bill Simmons articles and random thoughts on Sports.  I'd do so much rambling that it was just boring as hell to read.

But I've learned to cope with some of the problems I've had and continue to have:

Problem #1: Keeping Routine

Since starting this blog and using the continuous reminders on my cell phone, I've managed to complete 2 30-day challenges that I didn't really have any faith in completing.  I know it's only 60 days, but that's more than saying you're going to lose weight for a New Years Resolution and then just sit at home during every month after January.  I'm proud of myself for at least moving forward with this kind of routine, as menial as it sounds.  Solution: This blog

Problem #2: Speaking Up When I Have the Chance

Whether it's been at the dinner table, in a classroom, in a sport's game, or at work, I'm known for staying quiet when I should be speaking up.  I don't know if it's me being passive or my inability to act, but speaking up is something I wish I did more of.  My Mom always told me to raise my hand more often in class because most of my teachers didn't know how smart I was until I did it more often.  I think there was some point during my education that the more I raised my hand, the more I'd get questions wrong thus I would shy away from participating in class.

This has carried over into my adult and professional life.  I shy away from asking my boss questions, and future employers questions.  I shy away from talking to most women I don't know.  I know that if I feel like I'm being talked at instead of being talked to, I won't even bother with responses.  If people don't understand that last sentence, they may be the kind of person that talks at someone and doesn't even know it.  Solution: None yet.

Problem #3: Starting Too Many Things Without Finishing One

This might just be a problem of me wanting to lead too many lives.  Like taking a bite of a bunch of different foods, but never finishing just one.  It's lead down a long road of emptiness.  I feel I always need to have tried something, but I can't say that I've finished something.  It sucks.  I've started several screenplays, but have never finished anyone of them.  I've started writing other stories, but I've never finished them.  I don't know how, but my real life, family and friends seem to be getting in the way of the life I want.  Solution: None.

Day 2 of 30 Day Challenge - Where I'd like to be in 10 years

This is quite a conundrum.  Usually I stay away from such topics because I never know what the future holds and I either get upset or I struggle to find out what I really want in life.  Most of my goals are things like a 30 day challenge, not a 10 year goal.  I know that when I was 16, I didn't think I would be here.

So, let's work backwards.  Ten years ago, when I was 16, I didn't have much on my plate other than working weekends at a gas station and playing on the JV Basketball team.  I earned $8 an hour and was driving around my parents spare car (96 Mercury Sable if memory serves correct), which was named Blue Bird.  I remember that being a sophomore in high school, I was definitely not into schoolwork.  I zoned out all the time, I listened to a lot of Black Sabbath and other rock-n-roll bands, all while doing my homework.  In fact, the desk I'm sitting at is the same one that I did all of that homework on.  I'd listen to Pink Floyd albums and never get sick of them.  My goals at the time were pretty much to finish my homework, go to basketball practices, and then figure out my social life after that was finished.  I think since I was good at math, I had the idea that I'd want to be accountant.  I do remember, I was very much into cars.  I did have model cars, and at one point, I was so full of teenage angst that I carved/drew into a cork board the words "I WANT TO WORK ON CARS AND THAT"S ALL".  My mom still brings it up when we talk about my future.

Now, at the age of 36.  Here's a quick list of things that I would absolutely want to have or have done:

• done at least one open-mic comedy session
• finish one of the many scripts/screenplays/stories that I've started and put aside
• a very well-paying full time job that I would not regret starting or getting into
• an attractive wife or a steady-girlfriend
• be debt-free for at least one year
• regularly driving a car that is from the 21st century (i still have yet to do this)
• been on an unforgettable vacation (been on 3, but I like vacations)
• I guess I would want a kid at this age, mainly because I'm great with kids and I'd like to someday have kids
• have driven en exotic car, maybe once
• have at least joined an Improv group or some sort of acting group
• still have a consistent Internet presence
• live in a city instead of a suburb
• still be in contact with my college friends
• be a Mr. T (meaning a jack of all trades and a master of 1)
• still have the ability to cook the way I do now
• lived in one other state than Mass.
• Either be my own boss or have a boss that I really like to work for
• not working for Bank of America
• not having a drinking problem
• pretty much in good health
• having my job for me and not the other way around
• be a best-man
• I pretty much want to be a successful comedian

That last one is the real way I feel about my future.  I want to be the guy that you see in the credits of a funny TV show or a funny movie that makes someone else be a comedian or writer.  I'd love to be an SNL writer but I just don't have the background and don't have the gusto to pick up my life and take a giant risk of moving to NYC without any real help.  My mom is a teacher.  My dad is an electrician.  I don't know anyone in show business and knowing that gets me down.  So with this blog post, I will just list my wanted achievements for the next 10 years and strive for what I think I can do.

See you tomorrow!