May 28, 2013

• March, April, & May

  Hey lovelies, 

  I am finally taking the time to update all that's been going on in my life since in the past couple months... Okay, so I'm totally procrastinating work I should be doing that is deadly dull. So I believe it was in March that I finally applied for my passport, and what a to-do that was! Thankfully my dad had a lot of vacation time so he could drive me to the nearest passport office. Dad's work kept saying they couldn't spare him to take all of his holidays, so he ended up with a good five weeks off. 

  Dad and I left way early in the morning--okay, so it was around 9am-- and got to the passport office by 11:30am. It wasn't too busy, maybe 10-20 people in line before me and a good seven people working the desks. I'd say we were in and out of there in about an hour, then headed to a store my dad likes in the next town over. While there I realized that I forgot to ask the passport people a question regarding getting certified copies (which I need for my editing job) and called them on my cell phone. I was told I'd have to come back to the passport office to fill out a request form, so back we went. Once I got to the office and told them what I needed, I was informed that I couldn't fill out the form until I actually had my passport. Why the heck did they tell me to come back then?!? 

  I got my passport a little over a week later. Pretty sweet, huh? Then dad and I went back to that same passport office to deal with my certified copy request. It's free, so I asked for three: one each for the two forms I have to send out and one for myself to keep on file (which we're advised to have). It is about the same timeline as for passports to get the copies certified, and I think I got my copies within a couple weeks at most. It's those dang forms I have to fill out for my editing work that take forever! I sent out my certified copy with the first form shortly after getting them, and it wasn't until late May that I got the information back to fill out the second form *shakes head*

  I did post in April, but I honestly can't remember much of what happened in that month. I nearly forgot about my dad's birthday... well, not his birthday exactly, as I know when it is, I merely had my weeks mixed up and thought I still had a week before having to get his present. My mum's birthday is a month later and I had the same problem. I knew when her birthday was, but all my days were mixed up. 

  But the weekend before my mum's birthday was the church fundraiser. I was going to volunteer for it, but then I thought it was on my mum's birthday, then I found out I was wrong and it was the weekend prior... but I thought it was on the same day as the Gallery's new exhibit opening reception, then found out it was the day prior. I managed to go to the fundraiser, which was a 50s-themed dinner with a local comedian and an auction. It was a lot of fun! 

  It was around that time that I had a horrible realization: sometimes I get so frikken bored when editing. I love the first round of edits when the manuscript is new and exciting, and it's kind of like you're just reading a book but you get to make notes and changes to make it even better. The second round, though, is like reading the same book twice in a row: you already know what happens and now you're just looking for anything that sucks you had missed the first time. Then comes the copyediting and formatting, which is beyond tedious and I hate doing it. I cannot for the life of my figure out why authors can send out their manuscripts without checking the "show characters" function. You can always tell when an author got stuck and paused for a moment to think, because that is when you see the space bar hit a few times. Well, that or the eejit doesn't know how to hit the right buttons, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

  I went through five years of school, spent seventy-five thousand dollars (which I thankfully only had to pay three-quarters of, as the government gave me grants and such). Nevertheless, I could have bought a frikken house and car with that kind of money only to discover that I really like being a receptionist... at least for the studio. I'd been an evening receptionist at a dance school and wasn't overly fond of it due to the daytime receptionist never keeping me in the loop. Here I'm the "head honcho", and my counterpart Gallery Administrator keeps me up-to-date as I do her.

  I think part of my problem with my editing work is that it isn't in an office. While I love working in my jammies, I get so distracted when I'm at home. I can watch a movie or read a book, and my parents... well, let's just say I tracked how many times my mum comes in my room. The answer is, on average, my mum bugs me six times per hour. *ARG!*

  So a week or two after I make this realization, my boss asks me to have a meeting with him. I was a bit worried as I knew the pub company and the gallery were struggling, and the branding company was being bought by the owner's daughter, BUT it was also nearing my one year marker as it was only a month away. Yeah, that's when I was told I was getting laid off. I was told that if I was interested he would hire me on on a per project basis as a freelancer, and I said I would until I found another job. 

  At first I was horrified, because it took me six months just to get that part-time job in our sucky economy AND I like my job (usually). Then I realized this was a sign that was I was to to Ireland for a year doing a work-exchange, and I started looking into that. I was getting pretty excited about it, but realized I was short some of the money I'd need for living expenses as I wanted to have a portion of that so I wouldn't have to worry too much about finding a job right away. I was trying to figure out where I could get a decent job (aka no fast food), especially at the same time that college students are looking for work as well, when the owner's daughter told me that she's hiring me back on part-time. 

  There won't be a raise and it's actually less hours, but I'll be able to save the money I need in about 4-10 months (depending how much of a cushion I want). I'll be working four hours in the afternoon Monday through Friday, and if the other company needs me to do some work for them I'd do so in the mornings. Also, the boss-man is having me and the Gallery Administrator looking into "coworking". I'd never heard of it before, but apparently some companies will rent out desk space per day or per month, and he's having me looking into that for half the current gallery. The other half of the gallery he is having the GA look into artists renting the space to hold their own shows. 

  I haven't decided what to do about my tentative plans to go to Ireland now that I know I get to keep my job. If I do go for a year, I was thinking about early January to mid-december. I'm not to keen on the idea of not being home for Christmas, but I may decide it was time to do my own thing for the first time ever and stay... especially if I don't end up going until summer-time. The only thing is that I doubt the company will give me a year off without losing my position, and I am not sure if I want to quit a job I rather like. But then, for all I know, I may hate it after another year as the last couple receptionists quit before finishing a year there. I could still do a two week holiday later this year or sometime next year because I was already told by my new boss that she thinks everyone should get the opportunity to travel. What say y'all? Should I just do a vacation or do the year? 

  SUMR

   

  • 6:21 pm
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