streamyard show

I performed at another virtual comedy show tonight, on stream-yard. it meant downloading google chrome to get there. it is the show done by the resistable comic, the one that i did a fringe show with. it went fine, though it took a while to download and install it. i didn't recognize the comic before me, somebody from chicago i think. it is still no problem finding material.
   there was more spring cleaning done, four more bags were filled from paper shredding. although i am running a little low on available bags. i also changed up a little what is in sheet protectors in the binders, based on what i have unearthed in the boxes i am going through. the same one got my job offer letter that brought me to Minnesota, as well as the lineup from the first-ever open-mic where i did stand-up. there was more than a four-year gap between those two events. it was helpful that one of the boxes already had many items grouped together by subject in envelopes. so there is not all that many 'loose' documents left to evaluate. there was a call from an agency in the afternoon, same one that submitted me last week but the client had passed on the first one. and i did a long walk in the late afternoon, and picked up 6 cents. there was more emails from the test scoring company as well, since the project begins next week.

how clean is your house?

i found another article I had printed about de-cluttering. it is from 2008, and it mentions a show on lifetime called 'how clean is your house?' the title of the article is 'a clutter too deep for mere bins and shelves'. as for the lifetime show title, I can answer it as 'cleaner than it was'. I filled four more bags today after using the paper shredder, although two of them I did after the late local news. but I was busy getting other things done for much of the day. the volume in the shred box is down, because I haven't added much to it lately. one line that resonated with me was 'the items were shredded in front of them, so they knew the decision was irreversible'. I think this is why I am willing to do so much shredding when I get started on it. and there are some things I am no doubt fine with shredding because it can be a bad memory. I have said 'goodbye' before when those things are gone. another line, near the end, was mention of a woman that cleaned up her house and lost about 50 pounds. I would like to think that if I am losing weight, it has more to do with other factors. such as getting out most every day to take a long walk around the neighborhood. today was no different, and I found 4 cents. it also included a stop at the post office. drop off a thank you letter to mom for an easter card, and picking up an e-bay order. other things I am doing is trying to eat less, and drink water more often as well. I can tell that my jeans fit better than they had. I am just hopeful that I can keep it up. when it is spring that makes it easier to get out for a walk.
   I called this morning and the I.T. problem was handled on the onboarding documents, so my finger-print appointment is set for Friday. I had another phone screen with a bank, same one as Tuesday. so there are three active applications with this bank. I sent a follow-up email to my advisor, about the offer I received. I said I wanted to keep my options open since the start date is still a month away. it explains why I am still accepting interviews, because I have the time when test scoring doesn't start until next week. I am still trying to go through boxes, there are one and a half left that are labeled 'online articles' so I would like to think I can finish those by next week. It looks like one of them has some envelopes in it, which may be helpful. of course I can make more than one pass through it to see I am satisfied, something I have done before. it is all about how I use my time, and this likely means trying to do more on the weekends. this is the best time to do the walking as well, once I am back at work. such as when I need to check my PO box, as long as I allow enough time to get there before it closes for the day.

hand sanitizer and envelope

this was a busy day for appointments. there was a two-hour window to pick up some documents at the test scoring office in Woodbury. it was raining and I decided to park my car instead of let it idle. I was given an inter-office envelope and a spray bottle of hand sanitizer. it led to me checking my medicine chest when I got home as I knew I had some there. there was four bottles, but not much in two of them, so I used those up and it is down to two.
   the other two appointments I was able to do at home. this was a phone interview in the morning, and a zoom meeting with an advisor in the afternoon. the phone interview didn't last long, 15 minutes. I let them know about test scoring and had to explain what that entails. with the zoom meeting I spoke of getting three offers in less than a week. I already turned down one of them, the call center job through an agency. I didn't say anything right away, until I got a text saying I hadn't completed the paperwork yet. one of the offers was conditional, finding out if they are fine with moving back the start date by two weeks to early June. I had to wait until they called back to find out, and the later start date is fine. I am a little concerned about the lifting required, since I haven't had a lifting job for a while. but I do want benefits again. and my advisor said there should be some kind of accommodations available, such as help with the lifting. I was sent some onboarding documents to complete, except there was a problem with scheduling the finger-printing appointment. so I will have to let it sit for now, and see if there is help with the I.T. issues.
   I did more paper shredding, four more bags. it helped to go through the bags I had and identify which ones I was willing to part with. I did a long walk as well, and found 38 cents. a little surprised that this included 23 pennies, can't believe how many people just throw out pennies. on the way to the test scoring office, I stopped at a gas station to get more air in a tire. I went inside to see if there was anything good in the discount bin, and there was some reese's peanut butter eggs left over from easter. so I bought all three, along with a stick of cheese.

drinkable yogurt

I was out and about this morning and noticed a 6-pack of drinkable yogurt on top of a big blue mailbox. not too long ago it was next to a dumpster. needless to say, I did not drink it. I am not sure if I have drank any at all before. I have had yogurt you eat before, as well as frozen yogurt which is an ice cream substitute. I got a picture of it, same as when I saw a spilled container of macaroni salad this past week. I hate seeing food go to waste. I went out for a longer walk in the late afternoon and found 31 cents.
   this was another day of me going through boxes and doing shredding. I was able to fill four more grocery store bags. around midday there was an incoming call but I didn't answer it because there was no caller ID on it. the voicemail said there was an email as well. I was called back and it was another job offer. this one is direct-hire, so it has benefits. my question was about the starting day, when I had already accepted an offer to do test scoring for this season. I am told they will contact the manager to see if I am able to start a little later. I also heard from the career force office that had called me on Friday afternoon. the call was cut short because my cell phone battery was low. I was given an opinion about the two resumes sent. not sure what my needs are at this point, he thinks it might be interviewing skills. I didn't say anything about the offers yet. at least not the one from today. I know I was calmer than during the first call. I said that part of my frustration was knowing that some of the things I was being shown- such as the resume 'assessment' based on the job description and how many key words were picked up- weren't mentioned by others before. there is likely more to talk about, I was advised to email my availability.

eco-friendly de-clutter

I did more cleanup around the home today, and when going through a box called 'online articles' I found one that spoke of ways to do an eco-friendly de-clutter. there are four main ideas presented, and I have done some of them. it mentions selling some items, send some to a donation center, a swap party, and re-using items. I know I have re-purposed some items recently. the selling, and swap parties, not so much. the article was from 2008, from 'shine by yahoo'. I once dated somebody who spoke of listing items on 'free-cycle'.
  I worked on it constantly throughout the day, doing some paper shredding, filling four bags. shred box is still full. I finished the box and got most of the articles into envelopes. with Wikipedia articles I tried to group them together but realized that I needed to be more specific about where to file them. some items I found would work well with what is already in sheet protectors, such as ticket orders of concerts I have attended. but I would need to get to a store to get more of those. there are two more boxes labeled 'online articles' to go through. there is also the five from the office, most of which haven't been touched since that job ended. I have a week to see how far I can progress with it. I kept saying I can't believe I saved some of what I did, such as office papers. but I am aware that much of what is in the five from the office isn't paper, and most I what I am seeing right now is.
   I did get a walk in around the neighborhood, shorter than typical. I found 3 cents. I watched 2 episodes of  'the Simpsons' in the evening. one was marge as a 'lumber Jill' and the other was Rev. Lovejoy having a younger rival.

brown and serve rolls

I went to the grocery store in the early evening, and arrived less than 30 minutes before closing time. there was a display near the checkout lines for brown and serve rolls, 50 cents a pack. so I got one pack. I have had 2 rolls so far, there is a dozen. no surprise how they were discounted because they had just expired. but they tasted fine. I recall these being a common thing to have at holiday gatherings. although I didn't put them in the conventional oven to 'brown' them.
   I did a long walk up to the post office today, one e-bay order was there to pick up. I got a small bag of potato chips at a nearby gas station, as it was lunchtime, then went back home. I found 3 cents.
   a big part of the day was shredding some of what was found in boxes, then starting a look at some other boxes. I was able to empty a drawstring bag full of tourist brochures into a box that holds these brochures. it also meant grouping more papers into envelopes, then back into a box. there is a small amount that I haven't found a category for just yet. there is still a ways to go, but I am getting there little by little. I ended up with 2 full shred bags, but since I kept adding to what is in the shred box it looks like I haven't made a dent in it.
   I watched another comedy show on zoom tonight, invited by yemen native. it had many of the same comics as the one I watched before. many were sharing some scary stories, getting badly injured. so I wasn't laughing much. only one I really found funny was by Stillwater, who told a story about visiting los angeles and the reactions to where he is from.

subway sub club

I am finding all kinds of things while doing cleanup around my home. when going through a box marked as 'food wrappers', mostly ones from foreign countries, I found a Subway Sub Club stamp. so I glued it on my card, so now there are four stamps. I recall how the program ended in 2005, it was said due to fraud, plenty of counterfeit stamps. after I redeemed a card, and the program ended, I had one card that was not full and then found another one. so I 'merged' them, two stamps on one and just one on the other. the card has been in a binder for a while, along with business cards and pocket schedules for sports teams. it is not alone in terms of 'retired' items being there, as my blockbuster video membership card is also there. there are some listings for the sub-club on e-bay, but not many, only found 5. there was mention in an article that stamps were being sold there, but if they are being sold now it would be just for souvenir purposes. no need to buy them now when it has no value in a store. why a stamp was found in this box, not sure. unless it was due to my visit to montreal in 2002.
  I went through some other boxes, labeled 'work', except some things in it weren't about work. but I did well on sorting them and getting them into envelopes and the right box. a good start on it, at least. and more things ended up in the shred box, although not all are shredded yet. one bag full though.
  my phone was ringing off the hook today. in the morning there was a call from the test scoring company saying they would be doing work-at-home soon. then I responded to an email from a placement office, in reference to the 'no-go' job fair last week, and asked for my resume. it led to me being disgusted with those who wouldn't help with my resume before. and the third call was the agency in the Carolinas. so now it sounds like i have two job offers, for jobs that would start on the same day, just over a week from now. wasn't expecting this at all. when i went out for a long walk in the late afternoon, delayed due to these calls, i arrived at an understanding in terms of which one to accept. i still wanted to have an advisor hear about it, and it didn't take long to figure out who to call. just looking at my facebook friends list, i said it had to be my college roommate. he was leaning towards the same one as me. during the walk, i picked up 52 cents.
   this of course was an 'errand running day' and I got out to walgreen, as well as cub foods. as i was on my way to my car i saw a school bus dropping off lunches to kids, not just the lunches in cardboard boxes but also half gallon jugs of milk. i had been hearing about this program, due to the schools being closed because of the virus. after my stop at cub foods i went over to the library to see if there were any changes to their return policy, and it appears they are now accepting returns in their manual box. so i will have to watch a movie this weekend and get it back to them. i have two, but i have already watched the other one.

share your story

last week I saw an email from the Minnesota historic society, asking people to share their story about living in the time of the corona-virus. I saw some of these in a follow-up email today, and it prompted me to share my story. I wanted to wait until I had performed again, and I did 3 days ago. I wrote out two pages but I think I typed only half of it into my official submission. I feel good about getting it done, and as a history major I know the importance of people sharing stories when historic events such as these happen. some shared photos and art as well, I did not. after writing it out and then typing it up I went on a long walk in the late afternoon. I found 22 cents. there was some light rain.
   I didn't do much with job searching today, as I decided to do more with cleanup around my home. it meant going through a bag and getting all of those articles sorted and into envelopes. it was really helpful to get things more organized. not much was put in the shred box, but this still might happen. in the evening I got a better look at boxes I hadn't touched in a while, and labeled those that weren't labeled yet. I have them grouped better than before, and now I have some put away. others have been moved around so I can go through them soon. I did go through a box labeled 'food wrappers'- and got the aforementioned envelopes in there. the food wrappers were from visits to foreign countries. they are in a bag now. it is helpful to go through things to get a better idea of what is there. hopefully I can throw out a decent amount. I have heard before how things not used in a while are not needed. there is still the matter of what I do with books not in boxes or in a bookcase, but if I end up emptying some boxes that might solve the problem. with all of the moving around of things, I also got in and did some sweeping of the floors. the main thing I did on the job front was review some emails from my advisor. there was plenty of attachments that were sent.

beer cozies and lanyards

while doing cleanup around my home, I noticed a few things I hadn't realized before. I have plenty of beer cozies and lanyards. I know this is because they are given to me for various reasons. I now have seven beer can cozies in my refrigerator. I figured it was the best place to save space as I got them on souvenir cans. some of them are no surprise to me, given by employers, or by my alumni association. one recent discovery was a Chicago wolves cozy, the minor-league hockey team. there is a sponsor on it, sport clips, the hair cut place. I am used to giveaways at sporting events having a sponsor on them, this is what allows them to be a free item. there are three others that are on bottles, one of them 'simpsons'-themed and another 'dilly-dilly'. the latter was found in a discount bin at a grocery store, of course it was an ad campaign for bud light.
   the lanyards, I was up to nine after discovering some more recently, but I cut up and threw out some and I am currently down to five. I don't use them at work for my ID, I prefer a belt clip. employers gave out four of them, two from staffing agencies. the fifth is from the 2014 all-star game fan-fest. I think I still have one that was a promo for the movie 'blue crush', I got that and a frisbee at a concert I attended when I lived in suburban Chicago. I think the band I saw that night was weezer. they didn't say it was a movie, I had to find that out on my own. I haven't cracked open some boxes since I was laid off from an office job over two years ago, might be in one of those. There are plenty that still can be looked at.
   I did some more paper shredding this morning, two more grocery bags full. this would be five for the week. so now there is not much in the 'shred box'. there is one bag that I could go through again, it was one where I realized I had kept printed emails of failed job interviews. sometimes I take more than one look through before I am satisfied with what can be taken out.
   I had a phone interview this afternoon, two if you count the one through an agency. with the former it was with a bank, and I noticed it will require some heavy lifting. I wrote down many of the questions that were asked and I feel I answered them well. but it was disappointing to know it will be a two week wait to find out if I am selected or if there is another interview. the one through the agency is with the same bank. it was a little annoying because I spent much of the 20 minutes saying 'yes', confirming what was on my resume line by line.
    in the late afternoon I took a long walk, and picked up 3 cents. it works to try some variations on my walking route as it increases the odds of finding coins to pick up. of course it is still a question of when I can turn in change since banks are doing drive-up services only at this time. but I know I wasn't waiting too long to turn in change anyway. I was usually going every two months and I often had less than five dollars to deposit. I do see some people when out and about. it makes me thankful that I often go to the grocery store during the final hour they are open for the day as I am seeing a line of people waiting to get in during these walks. I don't have to wait to go in when I go in the evening. I know it is all about 'social distancing', but I still prefer avoiding wait times if I can.

shred box

I decided I needed a 'shred box' recently, as it frees up space on the counter. so I wrote this name on a nike shoebox, it was torn a little due to me using it at one point for putting empty picture frames in it. but I have moved those to a larger box. more was placed in the shoebox today, and I filled two more plastic grocery bags. some of what was shredded was from a writer's convention I attended more than 4 years ago, realizing some things were superseded when I got a closer look at everything. this evening I looked at an overflowing envelope of e-bay order receipts and most of them were put in this shoebox. so it likely means more time using the shredder on Wednesday. even if I am not spending that much time filing job applications, I know there are other productive things I can do to occupy my time.
   in the afternoon I had another zoom meeting with an advisor, and we went over a revised version of my resume. it looked really good. I was told that I might want to say less about being a writer on my linked-in profile, since that is not the job I am going for. I don't use that site much, but I have edited the profile before when the need arises. these meetings have been productive, more so than the previous provider I had signed with. there was a voicemail after the zoom meeting was over, it was an invite to a phone interview with a bank. so this is on for Wednesday afternoon. it was the same one where I was trading emails with somebody who said my information needed to be forwarded. in the late afternoon I did a long walk around the neighborhood, and picked up 13 cents. the late local news had a segment about the income of deceased celebrities, and it said 'charlie brown and snoopy' creator Charles schulz was in the top 5. it was in reference to a tribute concert to prince tonight. I didn't watch it as I had another channel on, forgot when it was going to be on.

virtual open-mic performance

I performed at an open-mic tonight, for the first time in over a month. it was a virtual one, on zoom. there weren't many in the lineup, I think I was just one of six. there were longer sets offered for this reason. I had jokes and stories saved up from early this month. my set was all right, but not great. the MC liked the one about a facebook posting, from a singles group.
   there was some activity on the job front. I applied to 2 jobs, one of them I saw on monster. I hadn't used that site much lately on looking for jobs. I also heard from the recruiter based in the Carolinas, for the first time in a while. he said I sounded upset. no, more like wondering why I was waiting so long to hear something, anything. he claims he will be submitting me, although the call ended rather abruptly. this was in the late afternoon. shortly after this call, I went out for a long walk. I was ready to cut it short due to light rain but it didn't last long. it briefly appeared again about midway through. I picked up 2 cents.
    I did more cleanup around my home as well. it meant looking through things for the first time in a while. this included looking at a '20 pocket expanding file'. I think I got it for the writers conventions I had attended, most recently in 2015. I emptied it and moved the contents to another bag. it was no problem at all figuring out how to re-purpose this item, as I am still looking for work of course. it is more full now than when I discovered it. there are two more bags to go through. I had plenty in the 'shred box' so I ran the shredder, and there was enough to fill an aldi grocery bag that was presented to me when I was given my walking papers, nearly 3 months ago. I really wanted to get rid of this bag, too many bad memories, and this seemed to be the best way. I also filled another page with postage stamps, acquired due to the online orders, and it went into a sheet protector in a binder. I think this page took longer to fill due to cutting back on orders, although sometimes it depends on where I am ordering from. if from a vendor in another nation, then I am more likely to save those since I am less likely to have those stamps in my collection.

appealing rejection letter

I applied for a job with the state and got a rejection letter, or email, late last month. I saw how I had up to 30 days to appeal, and decided to send it today. of course it meant having to write it out first, but I pride myself in my writing abilities so I liked the challenge. it didn't take all that long once I got started with it. there were two other writings on my to-do list, but this one was the highest priority. I want a little more perspective before I attempt one of the other two. and those other two weren't related to job searching. I went out for a walk in the late afternoon, and found 33 cents. it is all about paying attention, and going to high-traffic places I guess. I did some fact-finding about performing at virtual shows. much like before, just watching others isn't good enough. and in the evening I watched some TV. 'the simpsons' had 2 episodes. one was a rerun, about a zoo gorilla, and the other about homer becoming friends with the yokel because of helium. and there was 3 'big bang theory' episodes as well. it was leonard skypes with priya, leonard goes to a wedding with amy, and raj dates a deaf lady. between the two 'simpsons' episodes I switched over to 'mash'. I found another small bag of tourist souvenirs to go through, including a lanyard. I re-discovered a few others this week. some were from events such as the final four fan-fest from last year, others were given out at work. 

timeline of pregnancy

I was out for a walk around midday and noticed some abandoned framed artwork. it said 'timeline of pregnancy' and it showed the timeline of the baby and the mother. it was in the back of a parking lot for a restaurant. there was some other trash near it, as I recall a mattress. I got a picture of it. as usual, I think it is sad to see such things, but what are you going to do? I walked to the post office, but there was nothing to pick up. of course I was there the previous day, and not many outstanding orders. I found 4 cents. I was going to watch a DVD in the afternoon, but I laid down first and fell asleep for a while. it was the early evening by then, so I watched the news and then went to the grocery store. I arrived less than 30 minutes before closing time, so they started opening up cashier lanes to get people rushed through. this might explain why my receipt said I bought 3 chimichangas but it was just 2. usually the cashier catches that and voids one of them. but it was just a dollar, and I am ordering much less anyway compared to before the virus. in the evening I watched another benefit concert, it was hosted by late-night talk show hosts from 3 different networks. it was a good lineup all around. I liked seeing Kacey Musgraves, Elton john, lady gaga, and the front-men from Coldplay, pearl jam, and green day. 

virtual meetup no-go

I signed up for a virtual speed dating event with meetup this evening but it was a no-go. like most people, I reported that the link didn't work. I like the concept but I am not sure why it never got off the ground. I had done in-person speed dating many years ago, in fact even when I lived in suburban Chicago, but I recall that I never met anyone. there were 'missed opportunities' where two said yes to me but I didn't to them. when I moved to twin cities I tried it here as well, but all of them said 'no' to me. it led to me letting the event coordinator know about my disappointment, but I think the only thing he cared about was money, how many people signed up. I was given a referral to a dating advisor, but we missed connections on an in-person meeting, then the advisor insulted me. so I said re-scheduling it was doubtful. I do have some self-respect, after all. later on I tried various internet dating sites, but not a lot of quality there. I said I started performing around the same time I started with e-harmony, and I enjoy performing a lot more. so it is hard to say what I will do about another event like this one if it is offered.
    I did another zoom meeting later on in the evening, invited to be a crowd member at a comedy show by yemen native. school bouncer was another performer, the others I didn't know, I think they were from out of town. I would like to try performing on this platform.
   on the job front, I filed a dozen applications on indeed. I followed up with some places I had been in contact with, but nothing yet. it was also an errand running day. I stopped at the post office to mail a form related to job referrals through some advisors. then it was on to food stores. one was locally owned, the others were Walgreen, and cub foods. the first I stopped at to drop off some plastic bags I wanted to put in recycle. I made some nice finds in the discount bin, one of them being a can of flavored water. at the second place I got some more discounted easter candy, and at the third some frozen dinners I know I can't find at aldi. I went out for a long walk in the late afternoon, and picked up 2 cents. during the post office visit there was one e-bay order waiting, and I will check again on Saturday to see if the other arrives.

framed puzzle

I did some more cleanup around my home, going through the drawstring bag again. I gleaned a few more items from it that went to the 'shred box'. but I also found a small puzzle that I made at the Crayola experience at mall of America 2 years ago. I decided to frame it because I have a theme going on framing items related to emerson hough, the reason why I finally started this blog 10 years ago. I wrote in crayon, 'emerson hough huskies, the covered wagon' on it. as that was his most famous novel, and the elementary school bearing his name in my hometown had 'huskies' as the name for their mascot. it was no problem finding a frame because I had plenty left over from the 'ring of honor'. I stopped framing them and moved the photos into an album. and I now have just six framed photos, with friends from various parts of my life. from school, work, and performing. much like many other things, I decided to 'stress quality'. this was also why I went through binders where I have things saved in sheet protectors and was able to free up two of them, and re-deployed one of them already. the other I might save for some writings I plan on doing soon. there was an email from the state historic society that said 'share your story' and I think I just needed some time to figure out what to write. I got that time when I was doing a long walk in the late afternoon, and I picked up 3 cents.
   there was not much done on the job front today. I tried to get into a 'virtual job fair' in the afternoon but it was taking too long for the application to download, 5 minutes, then it was 'stuck' after that. there was something in my email from my advisors about a job lead, but I need a letter generated from them first. it did arrive in the mail, now I will find out if I can cut out any 'wait time' by delivering it in person. if the office is closed to the public due to the virus, then I have no choice but to drop it back in the mail. I was about the file more applications but there was a problem getting logged on, unplugged the power source, twice. first time I got a little over an hour out of it and then it went down again. I let it sit until the evening, as I wanted to watch the news, and 'young sheldon'. then I called geek squad and my internet provider, it may have been a connection problem on my end so I don't know if it was a 'user error'. I did see some dust on a wire behind my computer and I unplugged it to dust it off, but I honestly thought that everything was in order. I am usually good at leaving things alone once it is all plugged in. either way, I was back on by the end of the night. and it looks like there were no urgent emails during that time. I try to learn a lesson from each event, but I am not sure what is to be learned from this one.

can I tag along?

I did plenty of paper shredding today, but one thing was taken out of the shred box. it was a luggage tag from southwest airlines that said 'can I tag along?' those who know me best probably know I can be sentimental about some odd things, and this would be one of them. I know it is a reminder of how I struggled to make friends when I was young, and in many ways still do. I say I have a circle of friends from the performing circuit, but not too many substantial friends. for one thing, I hardly ever see them away from the clubs. so I know I have decided to tag along due to the difficulty in making friends. the luggage tag was put into an envelope with some event tickets from travels in recent years, including my annual visit to st. louis. I know I have flown that airline there, so the tag may have been acquired at that time. even though I tend to travel light, a carry-on bag, with a hard plastic luggage tag already on it. I am the type that will pick up free things when they look like cool souvenirs.
  I filled three more plastic grocery store bags with shredded paper, so this brings the total for the week to seven. in the late afternoon I went on a long walk, and found 8 cents. near the end of the walk I saw a fellow performer coming out of a laundromat and we spoke for a little while. he is married to the lady that often brings a muppet doll to the open-mic. he is a musician.
   there was some activity on the job front today, a phone interview this morning. same bank I have had plenty of interviews with, but no offers yet. hard to say what my chances are on this one, but I am told there will be no second interview needed so my candidacy is based on just this one. so I would like to think this puts the odds in my favor, but who knows? I get a good feeling all the time at job interviews, and I hardly ever get offers. later on in the day I filed nearly a dozen applications with another bank. I also forwarded some things to an advisor, as requested. I figured I had the time to figure out how to send job descriptions, to get a better idea of how to write my resume. I also spoke of how I am not on LinkedIn much but I am told I get a better idea there of how I compare to other applicants. so I decided to add my computer skills to my profile and set up some job alerts. I am usually disappointed about the lack of yield on indeed, so I am willing to try something else if it means a better chance of getting hired. I sent a text to a recruiter in the Carolinas at the start of my walk and got a response after I got home. I hadn't heard anything for two weeks. last week I sent a follow-up email, it went un-answered. I am told to expect an update in the morning. I don't expect much as this has been going on for nearly a month.

napkins and notebooks

I did more cleanup today, and surprised on some level with what was found but not entirely. I found some single napkins here and there, along with a pack that was super bowl-themed, from 2 years ago when the twin cities hosted it. all of them went into my lunch bag, so at some point I expect them to get used as they were meant to be used. I also found some notebooks, and I put them next to the others. I do use them periodically, such as when I am at a high school football game as I find that I pay attention more when I am writing things down. I got the tourist brochures consolidated into the drawstring bag from the all-star game fan-fest, also hosted by the twin cities. I think the oldest things were from 2015, when I visited Toronto for the pan-am games, as well as new York city, when I was there for a writer's convention. a damaged shoebox was where I sent the items that I wanted to put into the shredder, as I was sitting down and wanted to keep going. a good number of things have been, or will be, shredded. two items stand out that were put in a sheet protectors in a binder, both were from new ulm. one was about turner hall, and the other about the 'herman the german' monument. I already have four plastic grocery bags full of shredded paper that will go into the trash bag with the rest of the trash. three of them were filled today.
   I had another zoom meeting around midday, plenty of ground was covered. I spoke about some of the interview questions I am getting. I was asked about changing the format of my resume, and at this point I am open to most anything that will get me back to work. I didn't file any applications today but I have another interview Wednesday morning. in the late afternoon I went on a long walk, still kind of cold out there after the snow this week. I found 1 cent. the site of the former gas station is now just dirt, with what looks like an uprooted tree, near the edge of the property. \

repurposed as an ornament

I may not have done much on the job front today, but I found other things to do. this meant some cleanup around my home. I looked at a piece from a st. paul saints keychain that just wouldn't stay on the ring as the metal part kept working itself free. since I love saints baseball I couldn't throw it out and decided to re-purpose it. I got out some string and now it is a christmas tree ornament. this is a tree I bought at a target many years ago, a table-top tree. many of the ornaments are charlie brown and snoopy, no surprise there as I am a big fan. this is not the only thing where I have found another use for it, as I am looking at a coffee mug with a broken handle that has held pens for a while. it was another thing that I couldn't throw out, as I bought it at mall of america during the camp snoopy clearance sale. I have added a few more today due to the cleanup I am doing. I am discovering some in boxes and bags I hadn't looked at in a while. all too often, I just move things around and don't bother looking inside to see if I value all of what is in there. when I have plenty of time to look at all of it, I am more motivated to throw some things out. I got a good start tonight, as I went through two bags. there are three more, and hopefully I get around to look at them this week. 

   in the early afternoon I went on a walk, but a different path than I had been taking. it was to a Walgreen where I wanted some of the easter candy that is now half-off. I also got a snack of cheese and salami. it was snowing during my walk, but not when I started it. I found 4 cents, much less than saturday where I found 60 cents. not too surpised how much of the snow that fell on sunday has already melted. after I got back from the walk, I laid down and slept for a while. there were a few moves made on the job front. a meeting with an advisor had a schedule change, moved up 30 minutes, still around midday tuesday. a phone interview is on for wednesday morning. and I heard from an agency in the morning, but the job they told me about has been put on hold. so not much different from what I am hearing from other organizations. I guess I think of it as 'not much activity' when there was no formal interview today, or any jobs I applied to. 

pen scribble test

I stayed busy today even though I did not go outside, as it was snowing. I looked at all of the pens on my desk, especially the ones not in a mug, and decided to go through them and used the 'scribble test' to see which ones still work. I hadn't done this in a while, and it helped thin the herd. it was probably still less than half of them that were tossed in the trash, but I wasn't counting how many. some were reminders of places I have traveled to. the nice thing about it is that I have a better chance of finding a pen right away that works. another thing I did was look in the closet and noticed all of the shopping bags in there. so I thinned that area out as well, mostly ones from grocery stores or Walgreen will be returned to a recycle center. and there was going through my postcard collection as well, although not near as many were pulled out. only four, and I decided to group them better so it meant re-arranging them within the photo albums they are in. I would have liked taking a walk but knew I was better off waiting for a time with more favorable weather. it was fairly constant for much of the day. I logged onto twitter, as I do once a week, and was pleased to see how one posting got 15 likes. it was the one about last week's virtual concert. but I will admit how music is more fun than watching the news all of the time, so I get it. joel osteen was on after the late local news, but it was a rerun, the easter service from last year. I think 'the simpsons' was a rerun as well, it was about fat tony finding out who framed him.

perrier in clearance section

I went to Walgreen in the afternoon and was looking for drinks. then I noticed in the seasonal, clearance section, that there were bottles of Perrier mineral water. there was 8 single bottles, and a 6-pack on another shelf. my guess is that if I wait a week, some will still be there. I got a can of the Arnold palmer drink, helps that it is just a dollar. also got some peanut butter cookies and reese's peanut butter. it wasn't the only errand of the day. I also walked up to the post office, there was two orders waiting there. one was from e-bay, a presidential postcard. the other was from delcampe, and it was the charlie brown greeting cards from france. before I went to Walgreen I returned the redbox movie to the gas station kiosk I found it at. I also made it to the grocery store, in the early evening. I was watching an infomercial for time-life music, then reminded myself it was closing soon. I am thankful it didn't take long, but of course it was a small order, only need food for me. and I am eating less than I was.
   the other notable event of the day was going through my baseball card collection, it took much of the day. I wanted to stress quality and I found a few duplicate cards, and others that I don't value such as checklists. it meant taking out 35 cards, an average of a little over one per team. I think this was inspired by my latest e-bay order, a baseball card of a player-turned-physician. I know by now what helps out with finding duplicate cards, it is getting cards of the same manufacturer grouped together, along with the series as the styling will usually be the same for that particular year. because of working on the cards, I didn't check email until the evening, shortly after eating. but it was no big deal, as I knew there are fewer emails on the weekends and most get deleted quickly. on many days, I only work on the surveys.

zombieland-double tap movie

I watched a DVD movie from redbox tonight, 'zombieland-double tap'. it was an action movie, hadn't seen the original but I felt that not much was lost on me due to this. it started slow but things picked up quick. it was weird at first to see depictions of an abandoned white house, as well as graceland. I recognized woody harrelson in it, as well as bill murray, who has a cameo as himself. it was cool to get various kinds of vehicles into the story, such as a big RV as well as a monster truck and an ice cream truck. and it was funny on some level that woody hated the minivan. but it was the most practical of all. I didn't know what to think of the OMG girl, the dumb blonde, who hooks up with one of the four zombie hunters. she does help out a little, my best guess is that she was in it as comic relief. the movie held my attention, I liked it, although I don't usually see this kind of movie. I saw it because it was promoted at the comedy club, and I got a poster. and I will at least see these movies as a redbox rental when this happens.
   I did some things on the job front, but I am aware that less is likely to happen on a Friday. an agency decided to postpone calling me until Monday as it was too bust for them. I filed some more applications on indeed. it led to me being emailed some assessments to do, which I of course dread doing, but it didn't take all that long to complete them. a notable thing about the day was getting in my car and doing errand running. I made stops at the gas station, to drop off recycling, to pick up the movie, and to get groceries- a small order. when I did a walk in the late afternoon, I picked up 15 cents. near the end of it, I saw somebody who was wearing iowa hawkeye gear so we spoke for a little while. he said he went to des moines Roosevelt, but did not attend college. this was near the former gas station, now a construction site. not sure what is going to take its place. but we shared stories about buying expired items there, in my case it was an ice cream treat with a sticky wrapper.

phone books delivered

when I went out for a walk in the late afternoon I noticed how phone books had been delivered, they were everywhere. but I did not pick one up. I haven't used one in a while, but I do recall when I first moved to the twin cities some of the commercials. it was for 'dex', and I liked the kid saying 'dex, don't ask'. I picked up 29 cents, a Canadian quarter and 4 American pennies. so the quarter went into the bag with the others, over 12 dollars now. not sure when my next visit to Canada will be though. I have been there 3 times, last time over 4 years ago, to Toronto for the pan-am games.
   there was some movement on the job front, but not a lot. another meeting with an advisor has been scheduled for next week. I filed 2 applications with the same company. I tried filing some on indeed, but it was stuck. there are days when this happens. one agency emailed me and wanted to chat about a role, except it might be outside my commuting distance.
   I got some more 'special projects' done around the home. I decided to look in a file cabinet for the first time in a while, where I keep plenty of comedy souvenirs as well as charlie brown and snoopy items. it meant getting more comedy items into binders, and I used 5 sheet protectors. so there is not much of a backlog now since the performance venues are closed. in some cases it meant moving some things around, finding the right place for them. or trying to keep event tickets in the order of when they happened as much as possible. I heard from an old friend on facebook, who spoke about wanting to chat more later in the day. except I heard nothing once the evening arrived. I haven't seen them since I left suburban Chicago over a decade ago. in the evening I was pleased to find the movie 'bull durham' on TV, as it is a baseball movie. so many great scenes in it, I like the conference at the mound a lot. 'get out there' was what the manager's assistant was told.

zoom meeting

i did my first-ever zoom meeting at midday. it was related to trying to get back to work. there was two others involved with it. I tested the screen background and decided to move a few things, such as movie posters. so it ended up with a plain white wall, I prefer no questions about the background. I liked what was said about who I was assigned before, and why it didn't work. I said I don't celebrate moral victories, and the response was the case worker was trying to be a cheerleader. so I was thinking about it during my walk- I really am looking for a coach, not a cheer-leader. I was sent a link where I can apply to something in mortgages, and completed it this evening. there was some other activity on the job front. I filed some more applications on indeed. and there was an email inviting me to schedule another interview- related to the one from just over a week ago. I like the walk I am doing in the late afternoon, but as expected I can get tired during the second half of it. but considering that I am walking close to 4 miles round trip, no surprise there. I picked up 26 cents. I noticed the rest of the gas station was gone as well. so it means the demolition crew got to the sign seen from the road, as well as the roof over the gas pumps. still wondering what might be going up on that site, but we will likely know soon enough. I am still doing plenty of online surveys, and watching youtube videos as well. most recently I have liked the newsman's rant from the movie 'network'.

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'.