clearing off a chair

when I get tired of looking at things, I do something about it. today that meant clearing off a chair in the kitchen. I had plenty of tourist souvenirs and brochures on it, and would move it when i was doing dishes because of having to move the microwave oven somewhere. but it was a pain to have to do this on a regular basis, and I found out there was enough space in a cloth bag for it all. one of the bags had buttons in them, so I moved them to the box of buttons that i have. i also did some shredding of junk mail. then I discovered more to put in the pile, although some if it was moved there after copying down notes I had on it to another paper. I liked finding ways to 'consolidate' things. i did have an interview at midday, a dial-in much like one of those from the previous day as it was with the same bank. except I filed no applications today due to being busy with the cleanup. i know it is not too often where I am that motivated so it is best to keep going until it is done. i went out for a long walk in the late afternoon, and picked up 12 cents. I briefly spoke with a man outside of a grocery store, and noticed the closed gas station has been demolished. 

   when I checked my email again in the evening, after having dinner, i noticed some emails were waiting for me related to job seeker assistance. hopefully i responded quickly enough as the times offered for meetings were either one day away or a week away. i prefer getting started as quickly as possible. once it is confirmed i am told i will be sent a 'zoom' invitation as it will be a 'virtual' meeting. i would like to think it will be rather simple to do. 

   also notable about the day was seeing 3 syndicated reruns of 'big bang theory'. sometimes it is just one. there was raj being advised not to marry someone, sheldon hates fighting, and retinal scan as the dudes are doing a military project. i was disappointed about finding a movie on the 'movies!' channel, near the end of it. this was 'angels in the oufield', the one from the 1950s. i saw the remake, from the 1990s, when it was at theaters. i caught what was the final 10 minutes of it. 

split doubleheader, interviews

I had two phone interviews today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, so a 'split double- header'. as usual, I schedule for as early as possible. it was with two different companies, the first is a science lab and the other a bank. hard to say what the odds are on getting a second interview with either. although I will recall well how I was asked the dreaded 'strength and weakness' question on the second. between the two, I had a light lunch, which is peanut butter crackers as well as a spoonful of peanut butter. I also went through the binder with business cards in it and freed up another page. It was helpful that I discovered a duplicate card, otherwise it is the typical 'stressing quality' as to the choices that were made. I was trying to group them better as well, which takes a while. I spent much of the day doing just that. I went out for a long walk in the late afternoon, and found 39 cents. while on the walk I heard a dog barking, figuring it was at me. then I saw a lady with a dog on a leash and I realized it was barking at the other dog. so I continued on. it seems like every online survey I am doing is asking about the virus in some form or another, and even the first interview of the day did as well. of course I am hopeful that baseball returns soon.

another couch concert

I watched another 'couch concert' tonight, this time on CBS. it was in place of the academy of country music awards. there were performances from some musicians I knew, such as brad paisley, as well as no doubt front-woman Gwen Stefani. there was a tribute to the late Kenny rogers at the end of the show. I liked this one more because it lasted longer than last week's, as this one was two hours instead of one. it was uplifting to hear music at this time. I have been playing some that I found on youtube, but usually I am listening to it on my car radio. well I have been driving a lot less lately as the bars and libraries are closed due to the virus. and when I have my car radio on, it has been to the news. there was a music show after it, garth brooks and trisha Yearwood taking requests, for an hour, but I didn't like it as much.
   I went on a long walk in the afternoon, and found 15 cents. this is more than the 11 cents from the previous day. when I got back I watched the other three episodes of 'this American life' on DVD. it included stories about finding models for paintings about Christ, medical research, a teenage boy that doesn't want to fall in live, pig farming in iowa, and a rowdy hot dog place. I think there still are some special features to see, but otherwise I have seen all of it as there were just 6 episodes listed. before going out for a walk I was doing some research online, and found out actor john Goodman was the narrator on a video about the st. louis cardinals baseball teams of the 1980s. it was on the MLB network in January, hopefully at some point I can get it on DVD. I searched for it on amazon and didn't see it there.

this american life DVD

in the evening I decided to watch a 'this American life' DVD I had bought at a resale shop. there was six episodes and I watched three of them. I liked the stories they covered. this included ones about a cloned bull, a widowed stand-up comic, a movie made by retired people, and an ex-musician stepfather. I know full well why I hadn't watched it yet, as there is little motivation when I own it as opposed to something rented from redbox or on loan from the library. one of the backdrops was of oil terminals, and it reminded me of seeing them when I lived in suburban Chicago, near O'Hare airport. the show was produced by a public radio station in that city. good chance I will watch the other three on sunday as I have time to fill.
   I did some of my typical errand running today, and that included going to the post office to check what was in my box. I walked there, good exercise of course. one order was there, out of two. then I went across the street to a gas station where I got a small bag of potato chips and redeemed a coupon for 'birthday points' on my loyalty card. later in the day I went to the grocery store as well. it is not a bog deal to me that I am buying fewer items than typical, I try to buy only what I need. In the mid-afternoon I was about to but in the aforementioned DVD but the first thing I saw when turning on the TV was the president's press conference, an update about the virus. so I watched some of it.

harry truman song

no, not 'we didn't start the fire'. as harry Truman is the first name mentioned in it. this one is by the band known as 'chicago'. I like finding presidential postcards on e-bay and when I looked for that name I was surprised to find this song. so I searched for it on youtube. it seems to be the reminder of that old adage how 'some things never change' in terms of what the song was about. I might want to listen to it again sometime soon, but I got a good idea of its sentiments the first time. I am pleased with what I keep finding related to music.
    I filed some more applications today, but not as much as the previous day. around midday I went for errand running, and it meant getting into my car. I went to pick up some things at Walgreen, then at cub foods. I found toilet paper, a pack of four rolls, at the latter. I also got a 'cheese and salami' sandwich, no bread in it. I wanted cheese and it seemed like the best offering, in terms of wanting single serving. so I think I am good on toilet paper for a while, and I am still going to try to have it last as long as I can. I want to learn something here, about needing to be a lot less carefree about my use of it. I went out for a walk in the late afternoon, and found 77 cents. I went through my letter sorter and pulled out one item, a reminder of how I had applied for the 'real-ID' driver license. it finally arrived this week, and I had applied for it nearly 2 months ago. it looks like my plan of doing another fish fry is a no-go, as I checked a church's website and it said the last two are canceled-this week and next week. they were down to just doing carry-out. I will admit it is way cheaper to go get tuna-fish or a fish-stick TV dinner somewhere. but it is nice to go to these fish fries. I am thankful I made it to two this year.

overcast during walk

I saw how the sky looked overcast when starting my walk in the late afternoon, and it continued to be. this was why I turned around once I got to the gas station. although it did not rain or snow at all, but on can't be too careful. I picked up 15 cents. there was some activity on the job front, as another interview is slated for next week, on monday. I filed more applications on indeed. around midday I put in a DVD movie, 'smokey and the bandit'. didn't know what else to do while waiting for the phone to ring. I still like the line 'drives pretty good, don't he sarge'. and then one hears fiddle music right after it, one of many car chases in the movie. I heard from an advisor and there may be a meeting set up with them as well. I watched the WCCO morning news as there was mention of having tips for job seeking.
   in the evening I arrived at the understanding that I miss performing. it was due to watching 'young sheldon', because I recognized a song in it, 'new sensation' by INXS. the show at times gives me inspiration on what to sing at the karaoke bar. except the bars are closed for now. so I posted on facebook about it, and how this was also the first day in a while that I wrote comedy material. sounds like I am not alone. my facebook news food made mention of the grad student from texas buying a cello. these are tough times for most of us.

job seeker webinar

I decided to tune into a job seeker webinar around midday today. it directed us to youtube. I joined about 3 minutes in, and noticed there were some who joined after me. it was done in just under an hour, and I did my best to take notes. a profound statement to me, and the final thing I wrote down, was 'we all need a competitive advantage'. I feel like I haven't had one for a while. good or bad, just like the comics or writers I know, there was 'merch' to sell. in this case it was a sales pitch to be a subscriber, get a job coach. I have been getting regular emails from this outfit for a while, dating back to a recommendation from an advisor in Burnsville.
   on the job front there was some activity. I filed some applications based on leads from a TV station and a government agency website. although some of them I told myself 'don't bother' because it kept spinning and didn't go anywhere. so I wrote 'stuck!' and moved to the next one on the list. later in the afternoon was when I started hearing back from some of the places I had contacted recently. one was an agency that called me earlier in the day and said 'there wasn't anything on first shift' and they told me how 20 people were hired 2 weeks ago. except my background check wasn't finished yet, so it sounded like I had applied too late. when I was out for a walk I heard my phone and decided to get a little off the beaten path, away from the car traffic, and was told that something had just opened up. the recruiter from the Carolinas got the requested information, but there were some technical issues before then. not sure when I will hear more about it. then not long after I got home, there was a text message asking me to schedule an interview. I checked email and the same message was there, so now I have something lined up for early next week. I prefer direct hire, so if I have to rank things I put this one ahead of the other two. all seem to be with the same finance company. I even applied to a grocery store, but all it said was 'seasonal work'. I passed on another grocery store because most of their jobs were part-time. I may have to pass on this one as well, if it is just part-time and the pay is too low. again, just like any other application filed, it is still a matter of if they contact me.
   during the walk I picked up 25 cents, at the bus stop much like before. and I dropped off an entry with publishers clearing house at the post office, although as usual no orders were placed. I noticed the sandwich shop that had 'open' in big letters is now being remodeled. so much like yogi berra, the baseball player, would say, 'it is open until it is closed'.