Camp Verde or bust.

As of twenty-four hours ago, the deed, resigning from the metalfest project, has been done. Actually, it was forty-eight hours ago that I brashly committed my big bridge-burning, professional faux pas of doing so by voicemail, but it just wasn't important enough to me to do it in person or otherwise more properly. They finally called me back last night to wrap things up and admonished me by saying that I might regret giving this up when they're making millions of dollars someday. I just don't care for any more PR, though, and especially this week when I'm concentrating on my career change. The only way it might have screwed me that I can think of is that I could be off of the call list for the Super Chevy Show at SIR. Ah, well, not too great a price to pay for a nifty opportunity to work for Sarah after her wanting me to for two years. Other than being in that situation, the timing is finally right for us to try working together, as I'm still unemployed and she's doing well enough to pay staff members. I guess I should probably make sure that my guitars will still play and then try to remember how to play myself, huh? She's so excited, she wants to train me to teach piano and voice. Well, I'll be talking to her soon and I hope it works out. Meanwhile, the Easter Bunny thing is going so-so; I'm not as on the ball as I need to be, but maybe I'll feel recharged after my mini-vacation, if it doesn't make me more obsessed with range management. I can't wait to get to really talk shop, plus run up to Sedona and watch the sun set over the red rocks, if they're not too overrun with tourists. I'm just worried about the unavoidable crossing of the Phoenix megalopolis. There aren't enough roads in Arizona to avoid the thing, and even if there were, it might not make sense because the blob is so big that a bypass would take someone perhaps, oh, at least thirty miles out of the way or some other long distance. As it is, if I drive up Highway 79, which is what I'll most likely do, I'll have to enter the blob through Queen Creek and work my way across on surface streets or putt-putt along those surface streets to the nearest freeway. Ugh. Well, that's why I've leaving over five hours before I need to be there, even though Google Maps idealistically quoted me 3:15. Alright, I'll end this caffeine-and-fatigue-addled stream of consciousness and hopefully will have much exciting news to report when I get home.

P.S. I had a dream this morning before I woke up in which I bumped into my first supervisor at my last job while I was out and about, and I told her what had become of me and referred to my last company as "bitches", and she agreed. I hope it doesn't take too much longer to get over that whole experience.

Big sigh.

Well, I'm finding that this metalfest promotional gig is just not my thing, in terms of the commitment required, my other more important priorities, and the personality and experience it calls for. At this point, even though it would be cool to be involved in it, I'm eagerly awaiting my meeting with the guy who recruited me so that I can tell him that I can't make this the priority it needs to be, especially when it doesn't yield an immediate economic return, and I want to recruit someone else. I went to a local call center this afternoon to apply with them but I was told right away that I probably would not be hired because I made too much money at my last job ($14 an hour, while this place pays $9.50). They would rather screen out people right away because of the training investment that they make. Well, fine then. I just got home now from applying to be a server at nearby restaurant, but my application had so many "issues" with regard to being fired, making a lot of money at previous jobs, and availability, so I don't feel good about them wanting me there. I have another application to file for a temporary, part-time position as a low-paid ($12.71) office hoodsie at Pima Community College. Then it's back to the drawing board. I have to figure out what I'm doing for housing by April 1, and I doubt that the U of A will have decided what to do with me by then, so everything is just so maddeningly in a holding pattern. I was definitely spoiled when I had the option of temp agencies, which just aren't an option these days. There are so many in town, too, though I've been told that they're closing one by one. Come on, school or government! You can do it!

Minor cause for celebration, but the big picture is still ugly.

I was finally approved for unemployment compensation, now that it's been over seven weeks since I applied. I celebrated by going to the truckstop and buying an antenna for my CB radio so that I have that ready for my Camp Verde road trip. I would really be nice to find a friggin' job, though. I'm worried that the U of A will reject me because of my Colorado State transcript and I would like to know just how long the process has to take already. Carl and I were rejected from the storage facility job sight unseen. The woman there called us to talk about the job and we exchanged a couple more calls and arranged to go in for an interview. Then very soon after making the appointment, she called us when we weren't home and left us a message saying that the position had been filled. It's like a conspiracy. I was thinking today, though, that it's really my own weakness that inspires me to get angry at my former employer for providing a bad reference because it's easier to get angry at her than to think that the entire economy is beyond help and out of anyone's control. Something has got to give sometime, and I will not give up on the Arizona Dream!

Ugh, too tired to deal right now.

So in the last couple of days my life has gone from mush-minded, lazy, depressing unemployment to frantic appointments, projects, studying, and business trips, and of course still no income from anything but there are possibilities. I now have a temporary job doing mall Easter Bunny photos, I'm going to be helping a local multimedia company/record label/whatever else they do to get PR for their big crazy heavy metal event in May, I got a call from a self-storage company looking to hire a live-in management team (me and Carl), and I've officially registered and booked accommodations for the Range 101 workshop in Camp Verde. Oh, and I can't forget the volunteer work I'm doing for that nonprofit, and that reminds me that I haven't been able to help Carl at all with his own efforts. Ugh. I actually have to wind down to bed at a reasonable hour, get up early, and follow a real schedule for a change. I feel stressed not only because my laziness has been disrupted, but because all of a sudden I'm faced with all of these opportunities and none of them involves me going to school full-time or going to work for the federal government (got a rejection letter from Tonto National Monument, by the way). I really don't want to be distracted too much from the Arizona Dream and I'm just going to have to keep a lid on things that could take me away from rangeland management. Somehow I have to not stress too much about the money I'll be spending on the trip to Camp Verde; goodness knows how much that gas money will cost. I'm starting to wonder if the DES has completely abandoned me ...

Sorry it's been so long; the date doesn't matter much these days unless a bill is due.

The NHRA event at the dragway ended on Saturday but I'm just getting around to posting now. I don't really know why, since I don't do much these days, but here it is late. So a good time was had by all and I hated for the event to end, since I was so enjoying working at SIR, but I pledged my interest to the boss in continuing to work future gigs, so hopefully he'll call me in a couple of weeks when the Super Chevy Show gets closer. At the end, it was obvious who had stayed longest because of needing the work the most. All of the college hoodsies and dude-guys who were just there for a little bit of pocket money left early and at the end it was down to about four or five of us "working stiffs". I must say that I do feel inspired now to look for food service work because even though some restaurants have fallen prey to the economy, in other capacities, food service is going strong and will continue to need workers. I'm also more open to finding event gigs to work. To that end, one of my coworkers, who I mentioned earlier, is hooking me up with some promotion work for a band that he promotes, and I'm a little nervous about being able to hack it, but at any rate, I'll be meeting with him and the band tonight to get the details. Otherwise, there have been no responses to applications and resumes and there have been few new good leads lately. Carl finally got a resume together, which I cleaned up, and once he gives it his final approval, I'll fax it today along with mine and a cover letter to a storage company in town that's looking for a live-in management team. My college application has been stymied by having to obtain transcripts for both of the schools I'm enrolled in now, so I don't currently have the luxury of hoping that I hear from the University soon. My latest off-the-wall idea for gaining a vocational skill is to get a CDL license through Pima Community College's truck driver training program, and I think it's a good fallback option, or at least something to work on in my spare time if for some reason I don't get into the University. What else can I ramble about ...I don't know, I feel like I'm just muddling through the days and "dreaming my life away" (that's a line from a song) because I don't have the luxury of enjoying many hobbies or personal growth activities because I have to spend so much time looking for a job and worrying about survival. One growth opportunity that I'm working on attending, if I haven't already mentioned it, is a class offered by the University's Cooperative Extension called "Range 101". I haven't yet registered because of the problems of finding cheap accommodations and setting aside gas money, but I think I'll do it anyway so that I can finally get some concentrated field time and instructor face time that, if nothing else, I can probably apply towards my Great Basin class for extra credit. Alright, I need to end this ramble and eat breakfast, so hopefully I'll have something to report after tonight's meeting.

Speed and power, baby!

Today was my second day out of three scheduled at the dragway, where I scored a temporary event gig working in concessions. I wish I lived closer and/or it paid more, but otherwise I'm enjoying myself. During the bracket races and test 'n' tune, it's been very slow business, but tomorrow promises to be a madhouse. I'm hoping that they need me to work on Saturday too and I may ask the boss if he would like my help that day. I'm just so pleased to work surrounded by speed and power, and after my shifts I've even gone into the stands to get some pictures of competitors on the strip. It's interesting to observe this ad-hoc crew work together and become experts in a setting that we're unfamiliar with. Many of my coworkers have stories about why they're there, too, and that's comforting. A few are "broke" and unemployed, one guy was let go from his job the day after he became eligible for benefits, one lady was fired for becoming pregnant, one guy is just plain unemployed, etc. etc. Everyone is pleasant and friendly, too, so it's a good time. One guy, whose main job is working as a promoter and event crew member, actually gave me the contact information for someone who knows someone else who can somehow set me up with doing PR work for Metallica. I can hardly believe it, but I may just have to come up with a spiel and call him. Both Patty and my horoscope told me that some kind of big opportunity was going to come out of this gig, and maybe that's it. All the same, I'll first see what tomorrow brings. Maybe there's hope after all.

So much for trying to post more often.

So Monday I was able to switch my car insurance carrier to someone who will cost me A HUNDRED AND TWELVE DOLLARS LESS EACH MONTH. That sure was keeping me down and I shudder to think about how much that adds up over a year. I also cancelled my cable TV, which means I can't watch a thing now because I don't have one of those Communist adapters that Big Brother imposed on us on February 19th. So I listened to the NASCAR race over streaming radio, neener-neener. Lastly, my state health care paperwork is still pending and based on the stories I've heard about the Arizona DES, it may never get processed (kind of like my futile unemployment benefit claims: still no money coming in from that). So, to hold me for just routine and sick doctor's office visits, I signed up with a regional health care center that serves poor unfortunates and I don't have insurance, and can't go to the ER or stay in the hospital or anything, but I only have to pay $15 for a doctor visit. Of course, just to scare me, the cosmos would give me food poisoning Thursday night. That kicked my butt for a few days; I thought I was better yesterday and went out and about to check out the Peace Fair, but then today felt weak again. I should be fine tomorrow, though. Wednesday was my much-anticipated field trip to the Audubon Research Ranch, where I was given a great tour by the director and got to enjoy lots of beautiful rolling yellow grassland scenery with the Huachuca Mountains in the background. That really fired me up for school and I really can't wait to hear from the University so I can just enroll and start financial aid paperwork. I can always drop down to part-time if a job actually comes along. Speaking of a job coming along, I don't have one, of course, but I did get a call from the folks at the dragway saying that I'm scheduled to work as a server in their onsite restaurant for the big NHRA Lucas Oil Pro Mod event! The commute is very long and I'll have to do a dry run tomorrow or Tuesday, as I'll be working Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and it'll really be insufferable because of the schedule I'm on: 6 am to close. Thank goodness it's only three days and that it's at a really cool event; I don't know how I'm going to survive it. The tips had better be good and I hope they have coffee concoctions in the restaurant, as there isn't a coffee shop for many miles and I WILL need caffeine. Meanwhile, tomorrow it's back to the job search and the to-do list. Multiple horoscopes the last couple of days were pestering me to get on my to-do list but I hardly moved one bit Friday and today, so that's tough luck. Being ill did afford me some nice quality movie-night time with Carl, though, since we don't enjoy that as often as we'd like to, and I got to bring him into the Rat Race fold and see another movie I'd wanted to see for eleven years. Alright, it's late and I need sleep, so here's to another day and another chance.