semester in review

it took about four months and the night before my project management exam to finally learn how to calculate net present value, earned value, and the critical path method. and it was all thanks to a dude in my program and youtube's SirGanttAlot. 

somehow, i figure if i'm learning more from youtube than the education i'm paying for, there might be a serious problem. i was rewarded today with my results and i'm pretty happy; ending with a C+ in project management is what i needed to achieve in order to stay in the program. of course, everything else was fine: B in law, B+ in environmental management, A in business, and A+ in english. yes, postgrad is a bit of a joke. i can only hope that it stays that way for next semester.

shit, did i really just finish my first four months and first semester in toronto already?

i've been home for the holidays since tuesday afternoon and i've likely spent more time with friends than my actual family. everyone was around for christmas dinner and opening gifts; i'm excited to play the new batman soon. i had to make a decision whether i should bring all my dirty clothes home or my xbox. i think i made the right decision.

i'm heading back to toronto on wednesday and figuring out something to do for new years eve but i don't know what that will be yet. school starts back up january 9th -- my schedule currently shows 3 more 8am classes. i'm very unhappy. nobody knows what's happening with the internship yet. they didn't tell us anything before we left, so i hope it's all sorted out by the time we get back.

i'm also thinking about applying to seneca's green business management postgrad program for september 2012. it looks more interesting than what i'm doing currently; more of a focus on the environment and sustainability plus an internship that seems to be much more organized than my program too. and it costs less. and it'll mean living in toronto for another year.

i'll go talk to them once i get back in january. originally, i was gonna go talk to someone after my last exam... but.. y'know.. i kinda started drinking at 11am when my exam finished. i figured it was a better use of my time.

happy holidays!

"so have a merry christmas, happy channukah, kwazy kwanza, a tip top tet, and a solemn, dignified ramadan.
..and now a word from my god; our sponsor."

living with stress

i've always felt i have the ability to manage my stress pretty effectively.

but that's probably only because it's in my nature to let all my stress build up to a point of no return. and with the amount of things i've had to face this semester between school and living here, it's beginning to get the best of me now that it's exam time.

several things happened yesterday that made me feel rather uncomfortable:

1. corey found a mouse in our garbage
now, i'll admit that sometimes our kitchen is not the cleanest. bur our garbage doesn't normally pile up or be left for significant periods of time. it rarely smells. and we keep all our recyclables on the island until someone decides to take them out. so where the fuck did this mouse come from?

well, it could be from the number of our interior/exterior doors that don't close properly. the little fucker could have came in through any one of them. corey was emptying the garbage last night and the mouse jumped out at him. it ran somewhere, either behind the stove or dishwasher. we don't know. there was so much mouse shit behind the garbage. now i'm more afraid that i'm going to get a late night mousey visitor while i'm asleep. we have moved our garbage from underneath the sink to the island counter in hopes that charles will leave our apartment. perhaps we may even catch him and keep him as a pet? 

2. water dripping from the bathroom vent
last night, there was this constant stream of water/pee flowing from the bathroom ceiling vent for a good... ten to fifteen minutes. luckily, the bathroom vent is mostly over the toilet; so the majority of the water/pee was going into the toilet. we're not sure why this was happening but eventually it did stop. 

3. bathroom ceiling starting to bend
this may be connected to the water dripping from the bathroom vent, but the ceiling around the vent is beginning to curve and bend, like what happens when there is water damage to a wall. it's been getting worse over the last few months.

again, i'm sure this has something to do with the renovations upstairs... but i still constantly hear people doing things.. like living and not renovating during the evening hours. i wonder what's actually happening up there. 

4. full garbage chutes 
the superintendent seems to disappear on weekends and is 'off duty'. this causes problems in the use of our garbage chute on the floor. it gets backed up to an insane degree and is not always resolved by monday morning. my neighbours either need to learn how to use a chute properly (and keep their recyclables like a normal person) or the garbage needs to be emptied on a daily basis, even on the weekend.

those are just my apartment troubles from last night.

my exam stress is 4 exams in 3 days, and a 5th exam on the 5th day. with the two most difficult on wednesday. my bigger problem is my professor who teaches two of my classes this semester who thinks that:
1. it's alright to fail me on the midterm by two marks and tell me he wouldn't look at it again.
2. it's alright to insult me by saying my handwriting is illegible (but yet, nobody in the class can ever read his writing).
3. it's alright to circle words on my midterm that he didn't agree with but mean the same thing and giving me zero or half marks.

it's not as if i asked to be on his bad side; i attended class and participated. i did well on quizzes and assignments... for the most part. if i can get an almost 90 in the multiple choice section of the midterm; fail the short answer section that is based off of the multiple choice questions because he "couldn't read my writing" or didn't agree with the words i used to describe my short answers; and bomb the problems section of the midterm.. there's seriously an issue with his marking and teaching. and when 95% of the class needs to approach the prof after the midterm to discuss marks... it is definitely not a student problem.

i need to at least pass his exam on wednesday in order to make sure i'll pass the course (despite passing and doing well on everything else in his class). so, i'm a bit stressed over that. but i'm studying. i just hope i won't freeze up wednesday morning.

tomorrow: open book law exam.
tuesday: ridiculously easy english exam.
wednesday: project managamenet exam (need to pass); business exam (study and i'll be fine).
friday: EMS exam (would appreciate doing better on the exam than the midterm.. but who knows with that prof).

is it friday at 10:30am yet?

apartment trouble

if someone asked me what the three integral components of a 'good' apartment would be, i'd tell them that it's:

1) location;
2) location and;
3) fuck, i don't even know what the third is because i can't focus with all this fucking drilling.

it started off back in september when they decided to renovate both the apartment below me and down the hall from me. they were hammering and drilling constantly. and the sound of people dropping things. the amount of times i heard something drop was ridiculous. the times of renovations seemed to vary -- usually between before 8am but never after 8pm. yes. 12 hours of drilling. this went on for days, weeks, and then months. it got to a point where i had tuned it out completely. or so i thought.

and then -- all of a sudden -- i didn't have to tune it out anymore. it had stopped. i slept well for close to a week. well, for the week that i didn't hear the crazy man outside screaming profanities at 4am. yesterday, the drilling started again. it woke me up before 9am on my day to sleep in. this time, it was from above me. now, i was certain there were people living up there for the last 2 months. i've heard them arguing and dropping shit. i 'veheard an animal -- cat or dog -- running around. i may have also heard them having sex; but that could have been the apartments next to me.

i understand that renovations are a great thing. hell, our apartment looks awesome. but the 12 hours of drilling gives me a headache. i try to drown it out with music. sometimes, i'm successful. other times, i'll leave my apartment to go to school and the drilling will just be in my head. it doesn't seem to matter where i am in the apartment too, but the majority of the drilling seems to take place above my room; the place where i'm supposed to get the most done.

over reading week, i locked myself in my apartment in order to study and write my assignments for two days. i'm surprised at the marks i received on those assignments since it was so difficult to concentrate while they renovated the places next to me and below me. i imagine that several of my sentences had coherent thoughts followed by a string of durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

many of these renovation woes also shut off my water for hours without any warning. i believe it was 4 days in october and so far, twice in november. luckily, i was never home for the 2 days this month -- or perhaps i was and i just didn't need water. i mean, i'm by no means a shut in (despite what needed to be done over reading week) but like most people, i enjoy being home and hanging out. i get work done here. distractions are usually minimal. the internet works unlike the internet at school. yet... with the constant drilling, being focused is a serious problem. and there is so much work to be done in the coming weeks.

at least there are 2 days on the weekend when the drilling stops. i just need toronto to shut up on weekends so i can get some sleep.

cue the wubwubwubwubwub at the loudest possible volume. fuck you, renovators!

what if

sometimes i wonder if i made the right choice.

i guess it really wasn't my choice to make. with the rejection from niagara and that being the only school i applied to for a post-grad, i was scrambling for something better. but it made me wonder and showed that it was almost fate that i didn't get in.

let's face it: 8 months at niagara would mean 8 more months of living at home and i definitely would not have been able to stand that. i doubt i would be learning anything about project management or getting 100% on assignments (okay, i don't know about the latter). still, i love every aspect of city life. the nightlife, the closeness, the transportation, the friends, the accessibility, and being on my own for sure rules.

i just imagine how things would be different if i didn't scramble to apply to seneca and get in -- even though it wasn't exactly what i wanted. but it's now shaping up to be something that could be beneficial to me in the long run.

i realized how different college life and university life are -- both through the atmosphere and the teaching/grading styles. yes, i'm post-grad, but fuck, if it's 8am and i just got up at 6am, i should have every right to show up in trackpants. fuck all of you for thinking otherwise. and the midterms. oh god, the midterms. i've written 4 so far with a 5th tomorrow. i fucking hate midterms. i didn't have any in my final year of university; i think the last time was in my 4th year. oh yeah, and what happened on that midterm? i scored 100% on short answer and essay questions. yeah. it was a good way to end my university midterm career. this also goes with final exams too --  i only had one final exam in my last year at brock and i did quite well.

i guess i'm just not a fan of testing. my memory, she ain't what she used to be and i find myself blanking on questions i should know... but don't. i prefer writing papers in order to collect my thoughts and ideas and apply them accordingly -- 'cause hell, i can express myself and argue my opinions pretty well! this seems no different in the marks i get from papers/reports/assignments so far. but, even my test scores are turning around. it's all just a matter of my focus at the time. if my mind is elsewhere (and it tends to be), i'm gonna do terrible. but if it's not, i'll more than likely be successful. hell week and a half is winding down to a close tomorrow and it's pretty much smooth sailing with only a few assignments to complete before final exams.

this seneca post-grad or a niagara post-grad was not what i intended. it's no applied master's, but it's going to have to work out.. for now. i just don't enjoy this all theory with no action thing. i want action with less theory!

MIA

you may have noticed a lack of blog updates the past 2 weeks.

never fear, i am still alive and kickin'. things have just been so busy. i'm not even sure if busy is the right word here.

i went out for samson's birthday dinner on september 29th at kokoni. the sushi was great. too bad i was starving before i got there and had to grab a sub. it felt weird to be the only girl.. and the only straight person. it had been a very long time since the last time i noticed that conundrum. the 30th, i wrote my second assignment -- an internal memo. we had a meeting with the program coordinator to discuss things about the internship. these meetings will be every couple of weeks now. i'm looking forward to securing a placement and getting the experience of actually doing something outside of class and theory. i went to samson's party for a little bit then came home to do some work for the week ahead.

october 1st, i went with heather in the afternoon to wal-mart (ugh) to help her buy glasses. i stopped in at toys r' us looking for the possibility of really cool halo lego like i saw in sears (again, ugh) way back when but found nothing cool. instead, i came across fable 3 for 15 bucks. yeah, i just HAD to get it. we met up later for my first nuit blache experience. i saw lots of people throughout the night and a number of different pieces of artwork. only like 3 of them were really interesting. it was a cold night and eventually we stopped for late-night breakfast. i managed to stay out until almost 5am. i don't think i would ever go to nuit blanche again.

october 2nd, i rested up during the day and wrote my proposal for environmental law that wasn't for marks. we also had an open book quiz set for october 3... also, not for marks. i didn't understand the logic behind any of this no grades stuff.

october 4th, steph came up, i began my first day of skipping class, and my first day volunteering for the greenbuild conference. we went to check out the green job fair early but it wasn't what we thought it was going to be, so we hung out doing nothing for awhile until our volunteer shift started at 2pm. we worked one of the speaker series doing crowd control, crowd control for the opening plenary, and had an hour on a recycling station. we headed to east side marios for some dinner and home to unwind.

october 5th, we were up bright and early to catch speakers at 8:30am. i saw one about green schools that teach and another on sustainable campus planning/ecodistricts. all superb. we got our free lunch (meh, wasn't that great) and started our second volunteer shift at 2:30pm; recycling stations for 4 hours. the time just dragged. eventually, we got to leave sometime after 6pm. we received free tickets to the speakers/maroon 5 concert at ACC that evening, but i didn't feel much like going, needed to study for my quiz the next day, and steph had to go home. i gave the tickets to bobby and his friend instead. they had a good time, i hope.

october 6th was my 23rd birthday, though it didn't feel like it for most of the day. i went to another speaker series; one about climate change plans for university of bc and calgary and one about re-skinning and sustainable buildings. again, they were fantastic. i grabbed my free lunch (much better this time) and came home to shower and study. however, there was no water in my building. so i was a smelly birthday girl. i went to class and was greeted with happy birthdays (which made it feel like my birthday again), wrote the quiz, stuck around for lecture, then met up with steve to go to my birthday dinner festivities at joeys eaton centre. it was nice to see everyone and get free dessert. steve, heather, and i went out after for more drinks. it was a good and bad idea.

i made it home and passed out only to awake again after 6am and knew for sure i would be late to class. that is, if the ttc would have cooperated normally. there were super long delays and then i had to change trains at sheppard because there was something wrong with the train i was on. eventually, i made it to class, wrote what i thought would be the shittiest 'bad news' letter and got my memo back from last week -- 100%! i met up with my group after class to discuss our project due the tuesday after thanksgiving weekend. originally, i had planned to take the 3pm bus home to niagara falls. i decided to wait it out and take the 7:30pm bus, except it was so busy that it was close to 8:30pm before i even got on a bus.

it was nice to see the parents over the weekend and eat lots of turkey. the weekend was definitely not long enough. my parents drove me back monday afternoon (while i snagged the 42" tv which looks amazing in our living room) with a stop at ball's falls for their thanksgiving festival and to see the conservation centre. i was back on the grind this morning at 6am for class at 8am.

i've been saving up for an amazing blog post in the works that will soon be ready for publishing. so, don't feel bad if you don't find my daily life to be that exciting.

first assignment

it took 3 weeks to start and finish my first grad school assignment.

unfortunately, the assignment was a joke -- an email message worth 10%. it was almost too easy. but it was for my ridiculous technical writing class. i assume that everything will be just that easy.

sunday, i hit up wayne gretzky's for their caesar special and wings. monday, i had late class and was picked on for an answer from the readings that i did read but  i didn't have much of a clue what it was that i read in environmental law. i was quick to react and answered accordingly. i was only picked on once, thankfully.

tuesday, i checked out a speaker from u of t's disorientation week. i saw dr. sunera thobani and her reflections on the tenth anniversary of september 11th. it was profound and gave me a lot to think about. i was happy i went. i also picked up some groceries and used them throughout the week (for my sake, they were milk, orange juice, pork and veggie dumplings, shrimp, a spanish onion, and bananas.)

thursday after class, i met up with tyler for dinner and we went to the firkin on church. it was good to hang for a bit and unwind. i awoke friday morning as per the normal time, 6am, to be in class by 8am, only to find that via text that my class was cancelled. except that i was already on the bus to school by the time i found out. so... i had 3 hours to kill. but so did a bunch of other people in my program and steve and his friend joined us eventually as well because their prof was an hour late for class. we played cards and hung out while we all wished we were still in bed rather than at school.

friday evening, i went out to the labryinth and the barn for the homohop. the lab was neat. i might go back at some point. i pretty much only stayed for one drink at the barn. sorry, corey! at least i made an appearance. saturday afternoon, i met up with steve to go to mod club for misery signals. we stuck around for structures and headed to sneaky dee's for nachos. we headed back in time for misery signals and after the burial, who played with 2 8 string guitars for the majority of the set. it was unreal.

after the show, we walked over to einsteins and ran into heather and jackie; a nice surprise! we drank cheap pitchers long into the night and stopped at mcdonalds as per usual. i can see myself going back there sometime too. yesterday afternoon, i completed that assignment we were to do on friday but class was cancelled and made perogies for dinner.

saturday will be my first nuit blanche! ....if i end up going to it, that is. let's make a plan, friends!

second thoughts

i'm having second thoughts.

not about living in toronto. fuck, it still rules. mostly about school. it's getting to be beyond an actual joke. rarely am i listening. i find myself daydreaming about everything half the time. my heart (and my mind) just doesn't seem to be into it. i'm hoping that will change soon when i have stuff to do. readings? yeah, whatever. i paid for those books so obviously i'm going to read them. but i don't feel as though i have learned anything yet.

on monday, we had our first environmental law class. besides the teacher being super intense (turn off your phone, picks on classmates at random (and makes fun of their university? ...the fuck), spends most of the 3 hours of class talking about a bunch of case studies but doesn't actually give out a syllabus, i felt like i could learn something from this course. perhaps. i don't know a whole lot about environmental law. but as of a week, i still have no clue what it is we're going to do in that class or what we'll actually learn.

we had to discuss our dream environmental project in the project management class. nobody knew where he wanted us to go with it. i felt really terrible when he yelled at the one lady for not wanting to put up her dream project on the board. she's international; maybe she can't write well? there were a lot of things to consider when she said no. fuck, the teacher was so rude. she ended up leaving. good for her. don't take his fucking shit.

exciting parts of this week: wednesday's snakes and lattes. we played apples to apples, jenga, and formula d. all of which were so cool. that place is wicked. i won a round of apples to apples. i haven't played that game in forever. thursday, i had one class. i commuted all the way to school to be in class for an hour and a half instead of 3 hours. i almost felt ripped off, but at least i was home sooner. unfortunately, i had nothing to do that night.

friday morning, i went to that english writing class and wanted to shoot myself. tone, discourse, proper writing techniques to 'get the message across'. ugh. this is the only class that actually kills me and i wish i didn't have to take it. i went out for a few beers friday night to the only cafe and it ruled by serving creemore. i can see myself needing beers every friday after that class.

finally, i'm super stoked to be going to see misery signals next weekend. they played L3 back in second  year and it was a fantastic show. here's hoping next week is better than this week. enjoy this clip of one of my favourite songs!

first week in toronto

i enjoy toronto immensely but i don't exactly enjoy my commute to school.

i had 2 classes on wednesday, one at 8am and one at 11am. i hate having to be up by 6am in order to make it into class by 8am, though i almost have my commute down to a science now. which is nice, i suppose. my wednesday 8am class is a joke -- pretty much take everything i ever learned from my undergrad and put it into one course -- and there you have my 8am class. then i have a business writing course which is also a joke. entirely similar to a technical writing course i took in my undergrad. and all the assignments are completed in class... at 8am on fridays. god damnit. but i'm getting ahead of myself.

wednesday night, i went out with steve to celebrate our own frosh week. tyler and steve came over. we made perogies and had beers. steve and i went to pegasus on church street and then hoops on yonge, with a late-night stop at mcdonalds. we drunkenly stumbled back to my place and shortly after, corey stumbled in as well and we all hung out for a little while.

thursday, i nursed my hangover and went to school for 4pm and my prof showed up like 20 minutes late because she couldn't find the room (neither could i, damn you seneca and your awful directions/new buildings). the class was business principles and seems like it should be sort of easy. i went with some of the guys from my program to check out the bookstore and found 2 of the textbooks we need -- one at about $60 and the other $90. fuck textbooks. i ate pita pit, headed home, and went to bed early. i was exhausted.

friday, i made it to my 8am class. again, a total joke. we had to write 'tell me about yourself' memos. i made some jokes in mine. i hope she gets them. we had 2 hours to kill before the next class, so 6 of us from the program lazed outside in a green area somewhere on campus and got to know each other. i went home right after the second class (that went on FOREVER), grabbed a sub for lunch, had a quick shower, and met steve at wellesley station. we headed over to u of t and became volunteers for the orientation concert, thanks to corey.

i was stoked. i did front stage security for sam roberts and land of talk. i met sam roberts and KC from degrassi. i got a free poutine and a bunch of other free stuff. i was supposed to help out at guvernment after for the afterparty but i bailed since i was so tired. steve and i left u of t, met up with tyler for a short hangout, then i went home and passed out. it was such a fantastic day.

saturday, i met up with steph and erica at the vegetarian food festival in the afternoon.we ate some real delicious food and enjoyed ourselves in the sun. it was nice to catch up! i took my first streetcar ever. i left harbourfront centre and went over to tyler's, meeting up with juan and adam. tyler made us all some amazing dinner -- then i headed home to get ready. i was back out on the road about an hour later to go to heather's for a predrink before lee's palace. lee's palace/dance cave was sweet and i can foresee me going back there soon.

today, i did a little grocery shopping (bought milk, chocolate milk, raspberries, and orange juice) and only spent $10. i was planning to do laundry but i think i'll save that for tuesday afternoon. gerrad and paul are coming over later to watch the season finale of curb your enthusiasm.

geez, it's been a long week but an excellent week! at least i get to sleep in tomorrow -- class isn't until 1:30pm.

first day of grad school

today was my first day of grad school.

i had one class and it started at 8am. which meant that i needed to be up at 6am and out of my apartment before 7am in order to arrive to class on time. and that's not including the ridiculous strike traffic. i rolled out of bed and dreaded the day ahead.

i left around 6:40am and did the zombie walk to the subway. grabbed the subway easily and rode to finch where i just barely made the express bus to school. i made it to school by 7:30am. now i know that i can leave a little later tomorrow when i have to do it all again, and once again on friday. yes, i have 3 8am classes a week. this is not the grad school classes i imagined. hopefully next semester will be better.

it felt strange to be back in the classroom. i looked around and knew nobody. there was a definite age gap in my classmates. where were my TREN girls at? no where. it was depressing. the professor was late so the coordinator took over until he got there. this is when the coordinator told me to switch my one class to the other 8am on friday. i was not happy. class flew by and we didn't do much, similar to most of the first day introductions i've been in before.

i made friends with the two girls next to me who seemed to be remotely my age and i walked with the one over to admissions after class. she had the same problem as me: seneca needed 'proof of degree' from her. admissions opened at 10am and my class got out at 9:50am. the admissions lineup was all the way down the hall and almost around the corner when i got there. seeing as i had really nothing else to do today, i waited. and i waited. and i fucking waited. i waited an hour and 20 minutes to talk to someone. she told me that i needed to send a new transcript and a photocopy of my degree/confirmation of graduation and changed the expiry to the end of september. she told me not to panic. clearly, i was not in panic mode. perhaps i look panicky when i'm awake at 6am.

i headed home shortly after while talking to some of the strike people about their issues and whatnot while waiting for the bus. i like to be informed. the bus at finch going to school when i arrived at finch station had so many people waiting. i was glad to be going the opposite direction. i made it home around 12:30pm with a quick stop in at subway for lunch.

over the weekend, i saw lutzenkirchen, got drunk, and went to the eaton centre. i talked to someone at the eaton centre sport chek about possibly getting a transfer (even though i only worked 2 shifts at the niagara falls one) and she told me to call her on wednesday to figure it all out. in the meantime, i applied to various retail jobs at the mall and am waiting to hear back... if i hear back at all.

i need a good night's sleep.

toronto living

i officially live in toronto!

i moved in yesterday. i'm all settled and unpacked. my parents helped me move for most of the day after waiting for an hour for corey to open the door to the apartment. we only had one set of keys -- they were with corey. the movers were not impressed. here is the part where i would post pictures of my place, but alas, i am without a camera. one of the many things that i didn't pack.

i spent last night unwinding and catching up with tyler while waiting for corey to eventually come home, as i was now the sole protector of the coveted keys. i did go get them copied. no more waiting up for late corey anymore!

toronto is a loud city. i found it hard to sleep at night. so many sirens and people talking loudly on the street or apartments below. i hope that i'll be able to get over my light sleeping mode soon. i was up bright and early to get ready for my big day today. i commuted to seneca for the first time and met up with steve. he showed me around, i found the majority of my classes, got my osap and my student card. we grabbed a quick lunch at pizza hut and i commuted back home which took less time for some reason. also, on the subway, i definitely saw a dude that used to be in brock residence back in the day. i never met his eyes but i'm absolutely positive it was him. though i had never had a conversation with him in my residence days, i used to see him around constantly (and let's face it, i was pretty much crushin') -- and now i saw him in toronto. small world.

my parents called to inform me that a letter had arrived from seneca saying that i needed to show proof of my degree, proficiency in english at the college level, and a transcript in order to keep my conditional offer of acceptance. and an expiry of september 8. well, fuck. i don't know what i need to do and nobody seemed to give me a hard time today when i was getting all my shit done on campus. and since it's the long weekend, i won't hear from anyone until possibly tuesday. i'll have to wait in ridiculous lines to talk to somebody on tuesday and get it all sorted out.

it's friday night in toronto and i'm exhausted.

home stretch

i move to toronto on thursday!

i spent 6 days at embassy last week: sweep, cutlery, cold, hot, more cutlery, more sweep, toast when somebody was sent  home.. and so on. the week went by so slowly. but i tried to do something every night.

i saw lots of friends and had some good hangouts. on saturday afternoon, dad and i went to toronto to measure up the new place, see what i need and what can fit, and really just to look at the place since i couldn't remember a whole lot about it! it was just as nice as what i did remember, however. and the majority of my stuff should fit. in typical corey fashion, his room is a disaster and spills into the living room. hopefully that will all change by thursday!

i came back saturday evening to hang with friends and see the dj big chocolate where i was on the guest list. it was a pretty good time. sometimes, i forget how much fun i can have when plans to do things actually happen.

i had today off for recovery -- both from work and the drinking that took place last night. tomorrow, i start back up at embassy for 3 more mornings. i did not give sport chek my availability for this week. after they cancelled my shift the other week and didn't put me on the schedule for last week, i decided that i would just bail. not that they would probably give me shifts anyway!

friends, if you're reading this and we haven't seen each other in days, weeks, months, or years, and you're currently residing in and/or visiting the niagara region in the next 3 days, please get in touch for last minute hangouts.

72 hours remain.

what else happened last week?

despite my injury, i went into work at embassy on the wednesday of last week.

my knee and body killed. i stuck around doing cutlery for service and peaced out shortly after. i had to go home and ice my knee so i could go into work at sport chek that evening. i had originally been scheduled for 2 shifts at sport chek; wednesday and thursday evening.

i went in for 5pm and talked to one of the managers who asked me when i was leaving. i told her she could schedule me up until august 31. she told me that it didn't make sense for them to train me on cash since i wouldn't be able to get it anyway (well, duh, not if i only go in once a month) and decided to use me as a sales associate/guard/helper for the sidewalk sale. sometime after 8:30pm, they began to take the sidewalk sale inside and i was told to go home around 8:50 as there was nothing left for me to do. i gladly went home as i never told them about my knee and by that time, i needed to  ice my knee and the tylenol had worn off.

an hour before my shift on thursday and before a big ass thunderstorm, sport chek called me and told me not to come in. they had cancelled my shift but didn't give me a reason why and i didn't ask why they did. i was happy to now have 3 days off -- which ended up being 4 days off to rest since i didn't have to work at embassy sunday either.

i'm not on the sport chek schedule for this week so i work 6 days at embassy, monday to saturday. in ten days, i move to toronto! i bought a new dining room table and a chair for my room. i haven't started to pack yet and i should probably do that soon.

i am so excited to move. this has been the longest summer ever. but at least i'm just starting to enjoy some of it.. whatever's left of my summer now.

injured on the job

i had an accident at work today, but the good news is that i'm still alive.

i finished the majority of stuff i was supposed to do for my cleanup after service today when i went to go grab a drink. i left my mug in the bar lounge where i normally leave it. not thinking much of it, i walked normally over to grab my mug when my feet slipped from underneath me and i came crashing down on the tile floor. in the process, my left knee dislocated outward and i screamed in pain. there were at least ten people standing around me when it happened, mostly servers and bussers. they called for a manager and within seconds two managers had surrounded me asking me if i needed an ambulance.

i kept telling them no in between my screaming ('cause fuck, dislocating your knee really fucking hurts) and then i felt my knee pop back into place and the pain started to recede. they asked me not to move; i tried to move anyway. now, i guess from all my years of running/soccer/track/etc i've known that i have some pretty awful knees and had several dislocations in both during the times i played sports a lot and even when i didn't throughout high school. it had been at least five to six years since i last had a super horrible major dislocation like that. i knew i was fine as i've had it happen before, but they didn't seem to understand that.

eventually, a server helped me up and i hobbled over to write up the accident report. they complained that it was because my shoes were not non-slip... but they actually are. when i got up, the side of me that was on the ground was soaking wet. what happened? well, somebody didn't mop the floor properly, there's a foot of water on the ground, and no wet floor sign. i've fallen similar to this on black ice before back at brock one morning; feet just flying from under me. luckily, my knees didn't dislocate that time.

i didn't go to the doctor but i will if it's still acting up in a few days, though it will probably be fine. i do intend to go back to work tomorrow morning, as they said i could if i was feeling better. i might just have a bit of restricted movement. last summer, i had a similar incident with my knee (a smaller, minor dislocation) when i tripped down a few stairs tour guiding (ironically, trying to help someone not fall down the stairs) and had restricted movement the next day. no report was filed last summer though, as the pain didn't start to kill me until the day after.

we'll see how i feel tomorrow. i'm scheduled to work in the morning at embassy and the evening at sport chek, though i assume sport chek will still be sitting at the computer doing training. but yes, i'm fine. i have been icing my knee since i got home this afternoon and will hopefully be alright.

clearly, this injury is just one more reason for me to not be working in a kitchen.

a long week

i had the weekend off and started back at embassy monday morning working until saturday morning. 6 shifts.

over the weekend, i relaxed and threw a party. i had fun and that's really all that matters in the long run. monday, tuesday, and wednesday, i was back working cutlery. thursday, i started earlier and was on toast for my second time ever. i guess the kid who's normally on toast was off that day. i can't say i enjoy doing it but it was okay for a change. friday, i stocked the cold buffet.

i asked for saturdays off from embassy as i talked to sport chek and they said if i can get saturdays off, they would try to schedule me for a shift on that day. unfortunately, i wasn't on the schedule at all for sport chek this week and i couldn't understand why. but i had told embassy i was working there on saturday. on wednesday, a manager asked if i could come in early on saturday for 3 hours. i agreed even though i really didn't want to -- but my terms were that i could be guaranteed the sunday off, which i did receive. by the time this morning rolled around, embassy forgot i was even coming in this morning and i just helped out where i could/sweep etc.

i had a bit of an awkward encounter with a dude at work but hopefully we can move on from it. it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks and where the rumour ends up by the time i leave, but perhaps it has already hit its peak for now. i also went to brock this week and picked up my thesis finally that's all nicely bound and printed, and spent my $10 gift card from the bookstore on a sweet canteen.

i got my timetable from seneca finally! but it's not that awesome. 
mondays i have 3 classes: 10:45am-11:35am, 1:30pm-3:15pm, and 4:15pm-6:55pm.
tuesdays i have 1 class: 8:00am-9:45am which is a such a long hike for just one class.
wednesdays i have 2 classes: 8:00am-9:45am and 11:40am-1:25pm.
thursdays i have off which i'm stoked about.
fridays i have 3 classes: 10:45am-12:30pm, 12:35pm-2:20pm, and 2:25pm-3:15pm, but hopefully the last one is just going to be online like it says.
i essentially have about a 45 minute commute to school everyday.. which means for my 8ams, i'll have to leave my apartment by 7am. not looking forward to that at all.

i've started to look into furniture and things we need for the apartment and so has corey; he moves in on monday and is super stoked. next week, i only work 3 shifts at embassy which is good since i'm exhausted from this week already. i have tomorrow off to play squash. hang out, and maybe check out buskerfest. i have thursday and friday off as i'm supposed to go to peterborough to see my brother but i may bail on that if i have to work at sport chek or might go to toronto or do something else cool.

5 days

i worked five days in a row this week.

sunday, i think i was on cutlery at embassy. again, i really enjoy that job. it's so simple! monday and tuesday, i started something a little different and was on sweep. i pretty much just walk around and clean up messes on floors/counters/etc and help out where i can. this got boring after awhile when there wasn't anything to do. time went by slowly.

tuesday evening, i had my first shift at sport chek. i went in for 5pm and they forgot i was even coming in. they set me up on a bunch of e-learning modules at the computer and i sat there for four hours completing like 1/4 of them. there were so many and they took so much time to finish! i didn't even get a chance to be on the floor. i just sat in the super air conditioned staff room and did simulations set up by the training modules of these ridiculous scenarios about some guy wanting his skates sharpened but the laces were discolored, so he wanted a discount, and he's paying in gift cards with the remaining balance in debit and cash and blah blah blah but then he also wanted to return items etc etc. ugh. they were so annoying. my hands were actually turning blue by the end of the shift because i was so fucking cold sitting there the entire time working on these scenarios. i doubt i would even come across a scenario like that anyway when i'll probably only get one customer during a shift if i'm lucky.

it seems as though i'm not going to get that many shifts (maybe only 1 shift a week?) and the majority of those shifts will be just finishing the training... and then i'll be moving away at the beginning of september. sport chek knows that i'm leaving at the end of the summer. i feel like it's a stupid move on their part for having to pay me for training and not actually use me. though i guess i don't care that much as long as i'm getting paid for the training!

wednesday, i was on cutlery again (where it was such a dead day and had nothing to do most of the time) and today i finished off with working the cold buffet. since i started working at embassy, i'm usually pretty tired when i get home, so i take a nap. when i have these naps, i have the strangest dreams. my dreams only get worse when i go to sleep for the night -- mostly nightmares that i'm definitely not comfortable with. i wake up with sweats and my heart racing. it's not a fun experience. i hope it goes away soon. i don't really know what i have to be nervous or stressed out about. i can't say i enjoy working at embassy but i don't hate it either.

i'm just happy to have the next 3 days off to relax, hang out, and throw my party.

working girl

i had an easy week of 3 shifts at embassy.

monday, i was stocking the cold buffet again with the same dude from last week. except, this week, he tended to disappear when we were the most busy and leave me to run around on my own. my supervisors kept asking me where the dude was. fuck, how am i supposed to know? he's not doing his job and i'm not his keeper! i hope he was yelled at because that was not cool. wednesday, i was on cutlery again. i enjoy it immensely. it's routine, i get it, can do it pretty well, and it's easy. the people helping me are usually pretty nice and the bar kitchen conversations make me laugh.

friday, i was stocking the hot buffet, something i had never done before. i had to look after all of the french toast sticks, milk, yogurt, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, and cooked omelettes. it's a lot to handle when everything is constantly being tapped. there are two lines of each item and the cooks were definitely not cooking and putting them out fast enough at times. so, guests were angry and frustrated. yes, i understand that we're out of _______ but we're getting them as fast as we can. and sure, you can stand there all pouty with your arms folded tight, holding up the line and making the line even longer until you get your ______ but it's not my fault that the 500 people before you took all the food! geez.

the worst part about this week was the way that i had to clean the hot buffet as my cleanup. and well, we throw out all of the leftovers... even when it's entirely full. instead of thinking of starving kids around the world (or even, starving employees working the buffet) we throw out the food. ugh. ridiculous! at least on friday there was a staff appreciation lunch with some decent-ish food for us to eat. i wonder if that will ever happen again.

this week let me have a bit of a life that i missed, which was nice. corey and i got the apartment! he moves in august 15 and i've aimed to move in for september 1st. i'm sooooo stoked! i should be getting my timetable soon i hope and i can figure out my schedule. i really hope i don't have any super early or super late classes. also, my party is next weekend and i should have the whole weekend off. i'm excited about that.

i start sport chek on tuesday evening as my only shift for the week... i think. it could be a long day if i have to work embassy. also, that's the day that embassy is having their orientation but i don't know if i actually have to go to it or not. i don't even know what it entails or where it is. hopefully i can just skip it.

5ish more weeks left!

first week

i'm alive after my first week working at embassy suites.

the mornings are difficult but somehow i managed. wednesday, i stocked the cold part of the buffet, which is a ridiculous amount of work all the time. i looked after all the muffins, pastries, cold cereal, bagels, fruit (grapefruit, watermelon, 2 types of apples, oranges, bananas), bread for toasting, and english muffins. it amazed me how much i had to constantly stock and the amount of people going through the buffet.

thursday, i was stocking cutlery and mostly working with high school kids in the bar kitchen. i knew working in a kitchen wasn't the best idea, but fuck. these high school kids are so fucking rude. not to me -- just in general. i'm pretty sure i wasn't like them when i was that age. anyway, so i had to stock the silverware (knives, forks, spoons). i'd grab all the washed ones from the dishpit, polish them off, put them in an insert, and run them out to where they belong on the buffet. this was a pretty easy job.

friday, i was on toast. i was situated at the end of one of the chef stations toasting bread for each of the 3 chef stations. all i did for the entire time i was there was toast bread and talk to the chefs cooking omelettes and eggs. this was okay but was also the day it was like 49 degrees outside and so standing in front of a toaster for 3 hours was not the greatest time in the world.

saturday, i was on cutlery again and it was insanely busy like every other tourist destination on a saturday during the summer. a few other people working had to help me out a couple of times just because the cutlery was disappearing so fast and not exiting the dishpit fast enough. i survived, though. i just think it's strange that the majority of people working in the kitchen actually do their work and don't normally shoot the shit that much. it's probably my first job i've had where quality work is being done almost all the time. that being said, i haven't met that many people and rarely if ever take a break.

there is one dude who's been helping me out since my second day. he's nice and we get along. we normally get assigned together to do cleanup duties. yesterday, 2 of the girls got me to take a break with them.. so that was nice to talk for a bit. we got along too. next week, i only work 3 shifts at embassy. i called sport chek and am not scheduled for next week at all since the trainers are on vacation. they said they would schedule me for the following week. the first week in august, holy shit.

corey and i are working on still getting the apartment. we should be able to have it soon! i'm so excited. also, my timetable for seneca should be arriving the second week in august and i'll know my schedule finally. a few weeks after that, i'll be moving to toronto!

i just want to move now.

2 jobs... again

i landed the job with embassy suites and today was my first shift.

i went in for an interview yesterday and was hired on the spot for a food runner position in the breakfast buffet. i was surprised they would even consider me for that with no kitchen experience, but i didn't care. i have to wear a chef uniform with the jacket, pants, hat, and apron that i swim in. it's pretty hilarious to see.

the shifts vary from either start time of 6am, 7am, or 8am and finishing about 12pm, 1pm, or 2pm. the buffet goes from 7am-11am then cleanup which could take awhile. getting up this morning was brutal to be in for 7am. i got a quick tour of the kitchen and was shown where stuff was. i stock the buffet when things run low and so on. it shocked me to see all these people constantly running through all this food even though i had just stocked it, went in the kitchen, came back out and the food i had just stocked was all gone already. people are crazy. also, the amount of food thrown out in the kitchen makes me nervous.. being an environmentalist and all. trashing that much food all the time is so unsustainable.

i worked and worked and worked, constantly running around. when the buffet was over, i started to clean and was not given a break. the girl i was cleaning with was hard to understand and wasn't giving me very good instructions on how to do things properly. of course, my body was tired and i had a terrible headache since i had barely drank any drinks during the shift because nobody had shown me where/how to get drinks. eventually, we had finished most of the cleanup and were told we could go on break. but instead, the supervisor said if i wanted to that i could go home. i was sold on the idea and left.

i began my search for the lockers and got lost. i ended up in a restricted area with a ton of cameras and somehow found my way out of the building. i still don't know where the lockers are. i work again tomorrow at 7am, then friday and saturday at 8am. i'm just going to let them know from now on that i can only work till noon or 1pm since i have my other job. they'll understand and at least i'll get out of there faster.

i called sport chek tonight and told them my availability -- pretty much 3pm to close everyday. makes it easier on embassy and myself so i'll have a couple of hours to regroup/shower/change/eat/sleep etc between days with shifts at both jobs.. which i'm sure will happen. i start next week at sport chek sometime when the schedule comes out. i'll rock embassy till then with one job i can sort of handle.

in the meantime, corey and i have finalized the apartment (i think) and began the process of moving in! i still don't know final costs and whatnot but at least we officially have a place. i'm so stoked. also, in a few weeks, i'm throwing my party and i can't wait for that too. i've already booked it off. woo.

okay. for the last time. there are 7 weeks of summer remaining. if i could please just keep these 2 jobs (or at least 1 if it comes down to that) i would be a happy amber.

the luckiest break yet

sport chek called today and hired me on as a sales associate.

my last shift at margaritaville was thursday night till about 11:30pm. i came home and immediately began applying for various jobs through email -- one being a front desk position at the howard johnson closest to my house. i had talked to someone at margaritaville who's mom worked at embassy suites in the breakfast buffet. she told me to go see her mom on saturday and i had plans to do so.

friday afternoon, i get a call from howard johnson and set up and interview later that afternoon. i did the interview even though i didn't want front desk (but, let's face it -- it's middle of the summer and i'm desperate) and i'm told that she would get back to me sometime next week. she asked me about my education, what the responsibilities of a front desk person are, about my last summer position and so on. i didn't feel as though i had nailed the interview but honestly, i didn't care. i had lost all my will to work after being let go.

saturday morning, i went to the embassy breakfast buffet and met with the manager. the buffet was insanely busy and i had to wait over an hour to speak with her. i thought for sure that she had forgotten about me so i had a hostess go find her. i gave a copy of my resume, talked about my experience and possible working over christmas/on weekends and left. the shifts are only 3-4 hours in length but include tips. i was told i would hear back in a few days if there were any openings.

this afternoon, embassy called and i set up an interview for tomorrow. about an hour later, i get another call from sport chek, who if you recall from this blog post here, they were supposed to call me by june 30th if i was hired. i talked to the girl and she offered me a sales associate/cashier position and for me to come in tomorrow morning to get it all sorted out.

perhaps i'll have 2 jobs again for the remaining of the summer?

an unexpected occurrence

margaritaville let me go.

if this week wasn't already stressful enough, i have been let go from margaritaville. after 3 days off friday-sunday, i was supposed to work monday morning. sunday evening, i get a call that says that the ice cream cart is still broken and they have called off my shift. i was okay with that because i had stuff to do and things to accomplish. having the day off allowed me to do that. tuesday and wednesday i was to be in toronto (to be discussed later) and thursday/friday back at work.

i check the schedule this morning and see that my friday shift had been cancelled as well. not knowing what to think, i decided i would figure it out when i went into work. i did have 2 shifts on the schedule for the following week. i didn't think much of it. then, as i come into work, the manager asks to talk to me. she tells me that they are shutting down the ice cream cart for the remaining of the summer as they can't get a permit to do it (so why did we do it in the first place?) and that the store can't be responsible for hostessing outside anymore as they have hired more hostesses. she tells me that she might be able to find me a place somewhere else in the building but she isn't sure.

i was pretty shocked by this. she talks to the other managers in other departments and comes back empty handed. hostessing already hired a bunch of new people. kitchen i can't do. they don't need anyone anywhere else. so -- i'm left with nothing. and it's not just me. they have hired at least 4 new girls since i started and all of them are being let go.

the only semi-okay part of the whole ordeal is that i talked to the owner/manager guy again about implementing a recycling program for margaritaville and he seems interested still. he told me to call next week with a proposal and fee. hopefully that will go through... maybe.

i was in toronto for two days and checked out a bunch of apartments. we narrowed it down to 2 and are trying to put in a reservation on one of them. it makes my commute about 10 minutes longer but it's in an area i know and the apartment is fantastic looking! newly renovated, new floors, brand new kitchen counters/cupboards with island, brand new dishwasher, stove, and fridge. a little out of our price range but doable as it's all inclusive. i'm not entirely sure if the landlord called us back yet.

the majority of places that i wanted to see and have emailed/called for the past few weeks were full according to when we went to visit on wednesday. this sucked and was totally discouraging, so i hope the place we want does work out.

dad picked me up from the bus stop wednesday night and as we were heading home off the highway ramp, we stopped at the red light only to be rear ended by another car. dad got out to investigate and there were two ladies in the car. they both kept saying that they barely hit us and tried to offer dad money on the spot. what? he refuses and asks them to back up a little as both cars were still touching. they back up and dad goes in for a closer look at the damage to his car. a few seconds later, they drive away. no names, no insurance, no nothing. hit and run.

dad jumps back in the car with what he thinks is the license plate number and we go home. he calls the cops and run the plate but there was no match. the car was some kind of chrysler make kinda like a gold colour maybe 10-15 years old. the driver was a white female with long, super bleached blonde hair, maybe 40-50ish. the passenger was a younger, 20-30 year old female, darker skinned with dark hair. the cops came to the house and we gave a statement hoping that we would find them. damages to the car were minimal: a big scratch, couple indents/bubbles. but still. you don't hit rear end somebody and drive away. ugh.

i really hope being let go from margaritaville was the last stressful thing to happen to me this week.

a change in the lineup

officially, i have left java joes.

let's start from the beginning, shall we? my first two shifts at java joes were quite the learning experience as i was now doing things i had never done before, minus handling cash and points of sale. i probably burned myself more than i ever thought was possible and hated trying to 'serve' the public through drinks and food. i found some parts not so bad but there was a ridiculous amount to remember in a short period of time and i tried my best to stay away from the espresso machine in fear of fucking up more drinks.

the third shift i worked was a saturday which are normally very busy days at java joes and it was no different. i struggled to work at a fast pace preparing/plating food and taking orders while i was constantly yelled at from all directions of a 'better way to do' what i was doing. i became frustrated as i could not live up to anything i tried to do -- everything i did was wrong. and i was constantly reminded of how everything i was doing was wrong.

i decided that i just was not learning fast enough and i felt useless on the job. and my coworkers did not help me feeling useless. i was already aware that i wasn't exactly a hands-on type person, but i thought i might be able to overcome that if i had a job that allowed me to be hands-on. or at least try to be better at it. the 3 shifts that i worked last week were extremely busy; had it not been so busy i probably would have been able to perfect making drinks and food to at least one person's standard and would not need an entire walkthrough every time i used the espresso machine.

yesterday was my fourth shift at java joes and i talked to tonya about quitting. i told her that margaritaville was considering giving me full-time hours (not exactly a lie either) and that java joes was not the job for me. she understood and told me that she was just happy that i was willing to learn and that i was trying. i just wasn't 'born' to work in a coffee shop. i may as well have started at tim hortons and only have to push one button to make a drink. i agreed to work the thursday shift but not the friday as i need a day off. in the meantime during my shift, tonya had called up another lady, interviewed her, and hired her. at least i don't feel bad for leaving tonya short people if she was able to hire someone that quickly. that lady will also be in working her first shift on my last shift on thursday.

so, officially, i'm down to one job for the remaining weeks of the summer. margaritaville is working out great. i have no real complaints as of yet and am gaining retail sales experience. i'm happy and not stressed out any longer from java joes and i did pick up 2 pounds of coffee for my brother for free.

8 weeks and one job. i can have a life outside of work now. 10 days in a row with 1 double in the day (margaritaville in the morning and java joes in the afternoon/evening) is too much to handle. i won't be letting margaritaville know that i left java joes. since they are working around java joes schedule, i plan to be available during the week, monday through friday, and be 'working' at java joes saturday and sunday from now on.

definitely a big change in the lineup that was needed.

the first few days

training for two jobs in one week is more difficult than i had imagined.

i worked a close shift 3-9 my first day at java joes on tuesday. there is so much to know. i was a little overwhelmed but seemed to work through it for the first day. i learned cash, sandwiches, and drinks, all of which i had little or no experience doing before. it was a lot to take in.

on wednesday i was scheduled 5-10 at margaritaville. i found this job to be quite easy and not nearly as overwhelming as java joes. i learned about the stock, learned the cash, and sold my first frozen concoction machine (over $200!) so i was stoked. i enjoyed margaritaville more than java joes.

thursday i had a 12-6 at java joes that went on forever. the other employees were condescending and had expected me to know everything by my second shift. well, that's sort of difficult. i didn't remember all the steps for using the espresso machine (i've never used one before prior to tuesday) and probably fucked up at least 2 orders of lattes or whatnot. i guess they expect me to be just like my brother and know how to do things (even though he was a barista before for like 2 years). i found it troubling to keep up. there's just so much to know and do.

tonight i have my second shift at magaritaville 5-10. it's canada day and bound to be crazy busy but hopefully i can handle it.

the rest of my schedule now looks like this for the week:
saturday 10:30-2 magaritaville, 3-9 java joes.
sunday 11-? at margaritaville.
monday 2-7 java joes.
tuesday 11-? magaritaville.  
wednesday 10-? magaritaville.
thursday 2-7 java joes.
friday 3-9 java joes.

that's eleven days in a row without a day off, excluding the following saturday/sunday as i don't know the schedule yet. work is already ruining my life.

and so it begins

margaritaville called and offered me the position. now i work 2 jobs for the summer. i caught a very lucky break i think.

the manager reminds me a lot of my manager from last summer. nobody liked her and she tended to ruin people's lives with scheduling and passive aggressive tendencies. we'll see if this is any different. i also had to buy two shirts that come out of my pay and now i need khakis and white shoes. i don't have khakis but i found old white adidas i can wear for now i guess. damn uniform. imax had black pants and black shoes that i had to buy with a uniform shirt/vest and now this is completely different in things i need. java joes only has black pants and uniform shirt.

i was hoping i could work set days, 3 shifts at each with a day off a week but that can't happen as java joes is rotating shifts and flexibility is key. so now both of them will have to get along in scheduling but it's mostly up to me based on what the schedule shows. if that makes any sense at all!

it all starts tuesday at java joes 3pm-9pm. wednesday margaritaville 5pm-10pm. friday margaritaville 5pm-10pm. and saturday java joes 3pm-9pm. i may also have another thursday java joes shift but not sure yet. i'll have some long weeks ahead of me but hopefully it all works out.

next week will no longer be about the frustrations of a job search but rather the frustrations of working 2 jobs. stay tuned.

the good news

the good news is that i received a call from java joes yesterday and start my first shift on tuesday.

tanya had called last night and offered me the position. a bit late on the call, but a call nonetheless. i'm pretty stoked. i'll be a barista but don't have to prepare any food (it's already made) and i look after plate presentation/beverages/cash/etc. all things i've either never done or rarely have done. it will be great to gain some more experience in that industry. i was considering just taking java joes as the only job for the summer unless i could snag another part-time job (such as calls from sport chek or margaritaville if i could get in for a part-time position).

i had the second interview with margaritaville tonight. i met with the director of operations and had a nice conversation. he wants to talk to the new people on the waiting list to be hired, which makes sense i suppose. he enjoyed talking to me (or fake-enjoyed talking to me) and spoke to me about implementing a recycling project for the restaurant as they don't recycle anything at all.... what?!

this was awesome and terrible at the same time. awesome that i can definitely help implement a recycling project that works and isn't greenwashing, but also terrible that they've been open 2 years or so in the heart of the fallsview tourist district and have yet to recycle anything at all. i feel like i could seriously change things for the better and add some fantastic fieldwork experience to my resume.

i had told the director of my problem with java joes, since i was now only able to work about 25ish hours give or take at margaritaville, but he said that it would more than likely not be a problem. he was to leave a message with the lady who interviewed me yesterday and she is supposed to call me tomorrow with a final decision on hiring.

i suppose my job hunt should be ending soon as i've at least landed one job that i will hopefully enjoy and is close to my house as well as a possible soon-to-be second job in the tourist district with a fieldwork project i can help with.

but things can always change.

more interviews

this week i had 3 interviews.

java joes called wednesday night to schedule a thursday afternoon interview. i thought things went well as we really only talked about my brother for the most part. i hoped that i would get lucky and land the job at least for the summer. she said that she would call back after 7pm thursday night. i did not get a call. and then i was bummed out.

i set up an interview with sport check for friday afternoon. the interview was supposed to take an hour. i got there early and the manager said to come back in 15 minutes. so i looked around for a bit and went back. i filled in an online questionnaire similar to those you get at future shop/starbucks/the source/petsmart/etc and then had the actual interview which ended after 5 minutes once they found out i was returning to school in september. apparently, this position was for a full-time permanent merchandiser.. as in, to start a career from. but they didn't read the first line of my resume that says i'm going back to school in september. wouldn't that be the first thing you look at in order to make a decision on calling to interview someone?

so, i asked them if they could at least interview me for a sales associate position. they decided to do that and asked 4-5 scenario questions. i thought i answered them pretty well. it felt more like a conversation than an interview. i was told that i would hear from them by june 30th if they make a decision.

the last interview i had this week so far was for jimmy buffett's margaritaville. they had called me a few times this week and i never responded until today. i set up an interview for 5pm which required 3 references that i really don't have. i met with the lady and answered all of her questions and seemingly passed the 'first round' of interviews, according to her. she said that she would pass me onto some other manager type for a second interview who makes the final decision on hiring. she called back just now when i got home to set up the second interview tomorrow night with the other dude.

i don't understand the process of second and third round interviews. it annoys the interviewee and i bet it is annoying and costly to the company running them. interviews are pretty hit and miss; you nail it and they like you or you blow it and they don't like you. it's what i've witnessed from not only this summer of my job hunt but every summer of my job hunt and every interview i've ever attended.

i am really tired of the job hunt. i'm frustrated and fed up. margaritaville was interview #12 of the summer.

short-lived

due to reasons i will not disclose, i have left my position at imax.

i worked a full 7 hour shift and knew by around the third hour that this was not a job that i was entirely capable of, among other things that happened or i learned while on the job. before you hear of any ungodly rumours: i was not 'fired' or 'terminated.' i have voluntary quit the position in order to look out for my own health and well-being. and that's all i'm willing to say.

so the job search continues for the summer.

i called ardene and i was told that they hired already. it wasn't me. over the weekend, i also received a call from sport chek which i did not call back until today. i was told that they would call me back later today and they never did.

i sent out 6 emails today: jimmy buffett's margaritaville, hilton, embassy, rainforest cafe, mp paradise pools, and java joes. i walked into a job fair at the beef baron after receiving an email today about it and applying in the beginning of june. i filled in an application and met with somebody (i'm not even sure who it was) who asked me how old i was and what position i was applying for. i told him for hostess/busperson; and of course, he said they had a bunch of resumes to go through and if they thought i was qualified, they would call. my next stop was copacabana where i met with the lady for essentially 10 seconds. i handed her my resume, she wrote down something on it, and that was it.

then i hit the outlet mall. i put in another resume to java joes and handed my resume to mcgregor socks, tommy hilfiger, rocky mountain chocolate, and urban planet. at tommy hilfiger, i talked to the one sales associate for awhile who commented on my resume a ton and then i met with the manager who talked about calling me for an interview soon. java joes is where my brother worked since they opened and then they shut down. they have re-opened recently for the summer months. my dad went in to talk to the manager and put in a good word for me. hopefully i might have a chance there. clearly, my brother and i are the same person.

it could be a long time until i catch another break in the job market.

ready to start

i got the job with imax.

a little before 9pm on friday, i got the call and i was stoked. i don't know if it was because i nailed the interview questions, if it was the annoying phone call i made on friday afternoon to see if i got the job, or just a combination of the two, but i did land the job... finally.

my saturday afternoon plan was to call back and get all the details of the coming week and also let dave and buster's know that i would be taking a position elsewhere. while i'm in the middle of my breakfast, dave and buster's calls me and asks me what's up. i tell him that i've taken a job elsewhere and he seems upset. uh, sorry?

the plan for the week is to be this: three shifts this week starting tomorrow, wednesday, and saturday. both the wednesday and saturday shifts start at 7:30am. it's going to be tough but totally worth it as the latest i have to work is 10:30pm. suck it, 2am dave and buster's! however, this means that i'll be missing steve's party, a few birthdays, and the most of pride now that i've landed a job. no word on ardene yet; hoping to get that too and work both jobs turning me into zombie auto-pilot for at least a little while.

the last time i  had two jobs at the same time was a few summers back; i worked full-time at shoppers drug mart for just over a month and part-time at the library.  i worked 8am-3pm and 4pm-7pm four days a week and 8am-5pm on weekends. friday i only had to work at the library. no days off. i was dead by the end of each day and even more happy when the position at shoppers ended. i'd only like to have a second job so i can make more money since i missed out on working for a month and a half.

i've started to look into toronto apartments, so the hunt is on for the perfect apartment. i'm excited to finish out the summer while having another party in august (if you're reading this, you're likely already invited) and starting the next stage of my life in the big city. i can only hope these next 11 weeks are going to fly by.

the booty call rejection

i feel like i just got a booty call rejection.

i went to my imax interview yesterday and i wasn't sure how it went. there were lots of questions regarding teamwork, fast-paced environments, success, and motivations. i answered them all like i normally would yet i can't seem to point out or gain any feedback as to where i'm going wrong. i left the interview with high hopes. i wanted this job so that i won't have to work until 2am at dave and buster's. it just had better hours and maybe a better environment for me.

he said he would call today in order to do his hiring, so i called him instead. i actually talked to him around noon and asked if he had made a decision on hiring and he told me he had not got around to it yet. i don't normally do follow up calls/emails but i do when it's something i really want. and the majority of these follow up calls/emails are met with rejection through words or silence (usually, in most cases, no response).  i felt like i was being crazy annoying and i hated myself for following up so quickly. it was similar to the first date rule.. wait three days? wait a day? or better yet, a booty call rejection; i wanted it and he didn't. if i don't get the call sometime today, i suppose i'll have to be even more annoying and call again tomorrow.

ardene called me last night for an interview and i scheduled one for this afternoon. she asked very few questions about my likes and dislikes about former jobs and the retail industry; where i see myself in 5 years, and my strengths and weaknesses. of all the retail interviews i have ever had, this one felt like i was finally in. perhaps she was just being nice, but i suppose i'll find out. i'll hear back next week if i get it. it'll only be part-time, 6-20 hours depending on the week, but it's mad close to my house and maybe i can work at 2 places? here's seriously hoping.

if i don't hear from imax today, i'll have to surrender and go sign up on payroll with dave and buster's at least for a little while. but i won't be happy with that decision.

hired

i received a call from dave and buster's this afternoon and arranged for an interview.

they offered me the position on the spot of "mascot" where i get to run around in a root suit wearing laser tag equipment and be an asshole to tourists/take pictures with them to get them into dave and buster's. not sure what a root suit is? it looks like this: 

i don't know what colour the suit will be, but i'm sort of stoked. whenever i was the mascot last summer, i had so much fun being the centre of attention in the pink panther costume. granted that this suit will probably not smell as much or be as hot, but still. they said that they would train me on practically everything that there is to do at dave and buster's as well, but i'll primarily be mascot/laser tag/something else but i forget.  

the only thing i hate about it is that i'll have to work till 2am some nights. i have refused to work until 2am before but with the way the job market is to me this summer, i decided that it wouldn't be a problem... even though i know after awhile it will be. i don't enjoy that i'll have to get my parents out of bed for a ride home at 2am or cab/hitch hike/bike/friend/co-worker home but if it's only once or twice a week i might be able to handle it. i might not be awake for it but we'll see how it plays out.  

on saturday night, i received a call from imax theatre asking for an interview for wednesday. i haven't gone to payroll and signed up for dave and buster's yet and i don't plan to do that until i see what's up with the imax interview. i had an interview with this place, probably for an usher position (what i applied for this time around) twice and didn't land the job. both were during a summer and both were with different people hiring. this will be the third summer, third  position, and third person who will interview me. i don't know if this time around will be any different. i will see what the hours of operation are like and if i can get 40 hours or so; otherwise i'll be a slave to dave and buster's for the summer.  

since january, i must have sent out about 100+ resumes looking for summer or full-time jobs, depending on when i applied for the job. i tried to apply to as many as possible that had something to do with my field of study. eventually, i stopped applying to jobs in my field and tried for just a summer job that will give me money, and even that took two months.  

seven interviews over five weeks and i was finally hired somewhere with an eighth interview later in the week. although i am now officially offered a position at dave and buster's and have an interview with imax remaining, my job hunt will continue in order to see if there is anything better out there for me for this summer. although with the rate that things went over the last two months, i don't really see that happening.

interview update

i'm beginning to hate group interviews.

two of the six interviews i had in the past four weeks have been group interview style. you're essentially asked 2-3 impersonal questions that aren't very relevant to the position and you have to make an attempt to answer them in a way that they see fit. it doesn't seem to matter how much i tell them that i live within a reasonable distance or that i have an excellent attendance track record at every job i've ever had.

group interviews are a waste of time for people like me. at reitmans this morning, there were 4 of us; a girl kind of my age and two older, bigger ladies with 30 years of retail experience a piece. how can i even compete with that? my 2 months of retail means nothing compared to years of experience. there was a question about positive work environments, one about meeting people, and one dealing with communication.. or something. all 3 of which i remember nothing about how or what i answered with. i never answered first in any of the questions either and the one lady sitting next to me interrupted me once that i really didn't appreciate.

the "fun" part of the interview was choosing an outfit for the people interviewing me. both of them were bigger, fashionable ladies and i was intimidated. so i went with a classic, simple look  (of what i could find in 5 minutes in the store) for the scenario of one of them going to an interview and then going to lunch afterwards: black dress pants, a flowery, colourful top, a black cardigan, flowery white sandals and sparkly bracelets. this was okay in my head. it's what i would probably wear in that situation. but neither of the managers gave any feedback to say if my outfit was a good choice. it was also during this part of the interview that i overheard the managers commenting and judging me and the other younger girl because we were "tiny". as in, we wouldn't fit the clothes? we wouldn't fit in with the team of several older, bigger ladies? i don't know, but i think that's pretty uncalled for. it's not my fault that i'm skinny and you're not; that doesn't give you the right to potentially not offer me a job.

seriously, i hate group interviews. one-on-one interviews are the only ones i can seem to handle right now and at least they can get a pretty clear picture of who i am and what i'm like. reitmans, similar to build a bear workshop, does first round group interviews and then second round one-on-one interviews. if i qualify for a second interview, i'll know by friday of next week. but i highly doubt i'll get it.

but in exciting news, i'm now officially a graduate as of yesterday with a bachelor of arts in tourism and environment! but apparently, being a graduate doesn't make finding a summer job any easier.

this week in the job hunt

on monday, i handed out 20 hard copy resumes that made me feel wickedly unsustainable. about half of the places i applied to "weren't hiring but it didn't hurt to leave a resume." i finished off with 5 emails with a nice cover letter and resume attachment. i applied for a few dishwashing, retail/sales associate, spa receptionist, serving, hostess, and the like. i refuse to apply for housekeeping or front desk, the two most seemingly popular job postings that are always available.

i went to build a bear and asked one of the ladies who interviewed me if they had made a decision on hiring. she said she wasn't the one who did the hiring but the lady who does was coming in for the afternoon shift. she wrote down my name and number and said the lady would call me back that afternoon. she didn't.

i also tried to get the job i had last summer back. i've emailed the company a bunch of times with no responses and getting my friends who already work there to try to get me back.  the supervisors/managers kept saying they were doing something in order for me to come back. so i went in to see them after one of their employees quit; obviously there was now an opening for a replacement. i asked and i was told that they had  "over hired" and nobody was getting hours. well, shit, i know that already. it's just like last season: we only got hours on the weekends if that (normally when it was slow, we were sent home) until it started to get busy around the middle of june which started full time hours. i was told the "next time they were hiring" would be july 1st. i really hope i will have found a job by that date.

i sent out 5 more cover letters/resumes yesterday and 5 more today. 2 of those 5 from today were the coveted howard johnson/embassy suites tourist information clerk positions, the ones i apply to every year. the howard johnson one i have applied to twice already earlier in my search; the embassy suites i applied to once earlier in my search. both of these places now have my resume once again. either they hate it or they never get around to seeing it.

today, i received a call from the marriott offering me an interview for a front desk position, even though i never applied for it. i did apply for a hotel information clerk with them which didn't say in the description of the job posting that you were doing any of the front desk duties and you were also helping to set up rooms for conferences/banquets. why they decided to interview me for something completely different is strange, but at least it's a phone call i suppose. i declined for the interview. front desk is not me.

the job search continues for another day.

the analogy

inspired by the terrible movie he's just not that into you, (because unemployment makes you watch a ton of terrible movies) i thought about how the job search is similar to the dating search.

in the beginning, you put yourself out there. you talk about your accomplishments and give the best version of yourself through cover letters and resumes by the hundreds through email, faxes, and walk-ins. every cover letter and resume is tailored to the specific job position and company. it's the courting process. you see something you like and you hope that it will eventually like you back.. and hopefully soon.

okay, so you've put yourself out there. every company has your cover letter and resume. and you wait. and you wait. and you wait. you wait for that phone call. the one that says you have a date. the interview. you sit by the phone day and night. it rings. it's your mom. it rings again. it's a telemarketer. you're constantly waiting for someone to get in touch.

finally, you get a call. the date is set for an interview. you get nervous, just a little bit. you think about all the great things you can say about yourself. you think of questions to ask. you try to think of all the questions they will ask you, but there's always that one that gets you -- it usually makes or breaks you. you wonder what to wear, how much makeup is too much, what shoes go with what outfit. frustrated with your closet, you go buy new clothes just for the interview hoping you'll finally land a job so you can afford the new clothes you bought.

the interview quickly approaches. you're nervous. you get there early not knowing what to expect. you've never met these people before. it's a blind date. you see several attractive people working and that almost makes you more nervous. finally, you meet the person who will be be doing the interviewing. he's not all that good looking. you're still nervous. you talk yourself up. you think that things are going smoothly. you ask the dreaded "so when will i hear from you?" question and they give you a time frame. you leave with a firm handshake, pleasantries, and if you're lucky, perhaps a number to call. on your way home, you replay every detail of the date. did you smile enough? did you answer their questions correctly? did you have something lodged in your teeth? could they sense how nervous you were? your mind runs wild and yet there is nothing you can do about what took place in the interview. it's over.

the next day, you repeat the beginning stages of the process. you hand out resumes for possible jobs and hope that the company you had an interview with will give you a call. you sit by the phone and wait. and wait. you're always waiting. it rings. it's a wrong number. it rings again. this time, to set up an interview with a different company. since you are still jobless, you take up the offer. what's the harm?

days and weeks go by without any follow up phone calls. they never called, just like all those other blind dates you went on before. they told you that they would call. they didn't. you call them only to leave a message. they still never return your call. you're unemployed and lonely. you've read every book you own and are quickly running out of money.

you're constantly waiting for that phone call only to check your email and find a rejection email. your spirit is broken. yet tomorrow, you'll put yourself out there again only to spend your days waiting for the one who will hire you.

and the job search continues

sometimes i wish that job postings would be more descriptive so you know what it is exactly you'll be doing for most of the time.

when i'm in toronto for festivals or events, i normally see greenpeace booths set up with opinionated youngsters trying to change the world one person at a time. people at the festival who have the time to do so walk up the booth and ask questions. that's what i thought i applied for.

instead, i applied to be an annoying person on a street corner yelling at people to join greenpeace. and not only do these people have to hear me talk about issues; they have to give me money in order to sign up. yes, 'donations'. you donate to become a member. well, shit. on my way to the interview, i passed by two people handing out flyers or yelling at me to come talk to them about things. of course, i walked by them with no eye contact because i didn't want to be bothered. if i take the job, i'll be on the other end of this scenario and hating every minute of it. even if i do get to talk to people about the issues i care about, i know i would absolutely hate trying to get them to give me money... to give greenpeace money.. in order to become a member.

the lady who interviewed me explained what i would be doing and i was immediately turned off from the job. politely, i completed the interview that had a bunch of questions i was never asked before in any interview. one of the last deal breakers was the fact that if the weather doesn't hold (if it's raining, thunderstorming, or 40 degrees) i don't work and i won't be paid for the day. and with the way the weather has been going lately, it seems like i'd work like twice a week. if they offer me a position, i should hear back in about a week and a half.

i still have yet to hear from any of my interviews. lanark dude, who said he was going to call regardless if i got the job or not has yet to call (and he wanted me to start this coming monday). adidas still has a week or so before they make a decision. build a bear workshop was supposed to get back to me yesterday and they didn't. i have also received no calls about any other jobs recently that i have applied for.

at least toronto was a good time and i saw some friends. next friday, i officially will get my degree handed to me and will have graduated. the week after that, i have to pay my tuition to seneca. that might pose a bit of a problem when i haven't worked for the whole month of may and so far the first few days of june.

job hunt = 1; amber = 0

i've always wondered why the restaurant and retail industry are so difficult to get into. one would think with my all of my years of customer service  and well, 'serving' the public, that i would be a perfect match for any type of retail or restaurant position.

during the summer of the recession, i couldn't find a job either, similar to many canadian university students in that time period. but i applied to numerous places. i did only have one summer of work experience on my resume; but i still applied everywhere i saw a posting. hostessing, dishwashing, serving, sales associate, stocker... you name it and i probably had a resume with that company. these places, however, only tend to look at resumes that have already had experience with those positions before. and since i didn't, they probably threw out my resume.

there are two summer jobs that i apply for every summer since i moved to niagara falls. one is for a tour desk person at either embassy suites or howard johnson. with a degree in tourism and environment, you'd think a job like that would be my calling. every summer, i add to my resume about all the wonderful education i have and how i've learned about niagara region tourism blah blah blah. i talk myself up quite a lot in these cover letters when there's a job that sort of relates to my field of study. and every summer, i get no calls or no emails from either of these places.

frustrated and fed up with these two hotels, i didn't apply for this summer -- and then i found out that someone else from my program (a friend of mine!) got an interview for the job, which she turned down. thinking that i might have a small chance this summer to get in with one of those hotels, i applied. i talked about how i'm now a graduate and my education was awesome. hell, i was a tour guide now. i even worked library reception for 3 years! i had tons of tourism and customer service experience. and yet, i still received no calls.

the second job i apply for every summer is with garage clothing; sales associate. yes, i don't have any retail experience. except for when i 'volunteered' for the christmas holidays at jones new york and when i sold glow items on clifton hill sometimes last summer. i'm charismatic when it came to those glowsticks; tourists are attracted to cute girls selling glowsticks. that's a fact. needless to say, i ruled at that aspect of the job. these newer past experiences are on my resume. jones new york is like 4 stores down from garage as well in the same mall. i expected at least this summer to get a call for an interview. but that wasn't the case.

in the end, i've decided to play a game with my job search. i have applied for several hostessing, serving, and bus girl positions without any experience. recently, i've added a totally fake work experience to my resume: hostessing during a summer of high school at a restaurant in blue mountain that doesn't exist anymore. i'm curious to see if i finally get a break and receive a call for an interview in the restaurant industry.

first post.

i finished my bachelor of arts degree in tourism and environment and now i'm off to bigger and better things. for the next three months, this will blog will be mostly dedicated to my post-graduation job search of which i have yet to land a job. in late august/early september, i'll be moving to the big city, toronto, where i'll be starting an 8 month post-graduate opportunity in environmental project management. what is that going to get me? i have no idea yet. hopefully something good.

this is my fifth summer living in niagara falls. i hate it here. there is nothing to do. and when i'm unemployed, there is even less to do. for the month of may, i sent out somewhere between 30 and 40 resumes in jobs in the niagara region and toronto. some of which pertain to the field of my degree. when you lack any and all housekeeping/serving/hostessing/restaurant/grocery/retail experience, the variety of jobs available in the niagara region are extremely minimal.

from those 30 or 40 resumes out there, i received 5 phone calls for interviews. the first was at a camp which i turned down. i have 'camp' experience. this job didn't start until july and also started at 6:30am. a legitimate reason for turning it down.  the second interview was for the adidas outlet store. this was part-time/full-time/whatever and he said he was going to take up to 2 weeks to get back to me. i had the interview last week.

the third interview was from plenty canada. a place that has something to do with my degree except that it's in the middle of no where. it's in lanark, the maple syrup capital of ontario. don't know where lanark is? good. neither do i. this job would have been perfect, as he said i was more than qualified for the position. except that it's in the middle of no where and you need to be able to drive and have a car. and unfortunately, i can't drive nor have a car. he's still supposed to get back to me sometime this week, but i'll more than likely have to turn the job down as there are no places to rent/sublet either in this glorious town.

the fourth interview was build a bear workshop. it was a group interview with 2 other girls and we were only asked 2 questions each. this was their first round of interviews and they will call back next week for a second interview if they think you're qualified.

the fifth interview is scheduled for friday in the big city with greenpeace, again, it actually has something to do with my degree. i'm pretty excited for this and i hope it goes over well so i can move to toronto sooner rather than later.

with one day left in the month of may, how many more interviews will it take for me to land a job for the summer?