Yesterday was a good day except for the not-good stuff

I think my job interview went really well yesterday. I made a good impression and I am hopeful. It seems like it would be an exciting job. I'm surprised by how much I enjoy advertising and marketing. I am looking forward to learning how things go in traditional daily print media.

I had an appointment in Halifax yesterday right after my interview. Unfortunately the person I was supposed to meet was called away for an unexpected emergency and I was left out of the loop when the calls were going out. It was a bit of a pain but those things happen. I have to call and reschedule today.

I've been neglecting my crafts and my reading lately. I will have to try to get something productive done today.

Job Interview and Indiana Jones

Yay! I have a job interview on Monday! I'm very excited. It's an advertising sales position with the local paper. I'm not entirely sure what a job at a newspaper would entail however I'm more than willing to learn. An author I know told me that one of the best ways to get into publishing is to start in sales.

Husband got his copy of Lego Indiana Jones today. I foresee an unproductive evening. We've been playing Lego Star Wars to practice. I can't wait :)

Lonely saved post

WHEEE! Forgot what I was going to say.

Cabin Fever

I had my fist bout of unemployment cabin fever today. I went on an adventure of sorts. I bought buttons and a few groceries. It was exciting, or not but at least it got me out of the house. I applied for a few more jobs today, we'll see how that goes. The job market in Truro is as dire as I was warned.

Day time TV still sucks, unemployment is still boring and I need something to while I look for a job. I finished another sweater, and I might finish a blanket soon.

Bad News

I am preparing for some lean times. I was laid off today. I'm not bitter and I completely understand that this is the nature of business. I am left with nothing but gratefulness to my co-workers and bosses. I had a blast working with them and have nothing negative to say about my experience there. I was well-treated and respected.

That being said I am still, nonetheless, jobless. I face a conundrum. Do I find regular joe-job that most likely will not make use of my skills or do I go on unemployment and search for a career?

I will be thinking about that for a little while. I will keep everyone updated.

Not Enough Updates?

So it seems that I do not update often enough. I think I can see the validity of that criticism. Things have been rather hectic of late with visits to friends and family. I'm sure that if the near future as summer blooms I will have oodles to share.

I recently completed 2 (that's right, 2!) sweaters! I am very proud of myself.




Both patterns are from Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet; The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller.

Hey Feds! That's MY money.

CBC is running a story about the case brought to the Supreme Court by Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), a labour union that is fighting against the misappropriation of Employment Insurance funds by the federal government. The problem stems from the EI surplus being reverted into general revenue and used for debt reduction and other administrative costs. The union says that this is an indirect tax and therefore unconstitutional.

When you pay in to EI do you expect to see any of it back unless you make a claim? Should we be refunded individually when there is a huge ($55 million since 1996) surplus? I was on EI for a grand total of 1 and a half months. It was great but I knew it wasn't going to last, nor did I want it to last. I didn't expect to receive any benefits beyond what I had paid in to the system to that point. The EI contributions I had made and continue to make are mine, the government is merely holding it for me. I do not expect my EI contributions to go towards debt reduction, because my income taxes are supposed to be paying that.

If the government insists on holding on to the EI surplus the money must be spent on EI and employment related ventures, even better it could be used to lower Student Debt because I will bet that many students are going to pay in to EI for a good, long time. An EVEN BETTER idea is to use some of that surplus for pay equity. Women still make much less than men while working jobs of equal value, take the surplus and use it to compensate women who are being unfairly discriminated against. Why should Sanitation workers make more than child care workers? There are many better ways to spend that surplus if the government doesn't want to give it back but they have no right to spend it on themselves.

Stupid Mondays

I really did not want to get out of bed this morning. Yesterday was such an awesome day off that I want to pretend it's not Monday. Husband, Doodles and I went geocaching again. We went to the park for a big picnic with sushi for me and chicken and taters for the boys. After the picnic we drove and hiked to geocaches around town. It was fun, we got to see parts of town we would never have seen otherwise including a neat walking bridge over train tracks. Then we went to DQ and got ice cream. It was yummy. Then we went to see Iron Man. I really enjoyed it. Robert Downey Jr. did a great job and Gweneth Paltrow was awesome.

The Great Flood of 2008

Found this on a Flickr Set. There are some crazy pictures coming out of Fredericton and Oromocto. I almost wish I was there to see it, and I'm glad everyone I know is doing well and no major damage has happened.

To those who aren't familiar, the downtown core of Fredericton, NB is on the flood plain of the St. John River. It floods every year to varying degrees but occasionally there is a major flood. This year the water reached well above flood level and closed down most of downtown Fredericton. The above picture shows the water about 3 meters above where it should be.

New Colours

Based on this:


I'm not sure what I think of it.