Think Outside The Piggy Bank

wise words

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. --RALPH WALDO EMERSON

think outside the resume

Dunno about you, but writing a resume is one of my least favourite things to do. I suppose they're a necessary evil, but I wish we could find a better way of communicating what we do well. And if we can send man to the moon and invent all sorts of neat gizmos and gadgets, you'd think we could reinvent this stupid document. But noooo, we're still forced to participate in this archaic and tortuous event. What I find especially galling is to see resumes required for things like babysitting (excuse me?), and the knowledge that your resume is not even always seen by the person you sent it to. This means of course that your whole working history (a huge part of your life) is revealed to who knows who. Not a big deal I guess, but somehow I feel a little bit robbed of my privacy every time I send out one of those darn things.

And don't even get me started on cover letters -- they're even worse than resumes! But help, dear reader, is on the way. Nope, not from me (although I have managed to land some jobs so I must do something right some of the time, snort), but from the talented Squawkfox who has managed to outline the best way I've seen yet of tackling these two annoying tasks. Check out her series on resume and cover letter writing. You won't be disappointed!

it's that time of year again

So turn your clocks ahead and I'll see you in Spring! :)

boob tube revisited

Remember how I said I was going to leave the boob tube behind? Well, I did, and at about the right time as a certain pop star had just died and I figured that if he got anywhere near the amount of media attention Anna Nicole Smith did (and I'm assuming he got even more), then I wouldn't be turning the TV on even if I did still have one. And I did what I said I would do (read, radio, and blog a bit more consistently), and didn't miss the TV at all. Okay, it helped that I could still watch Coronation Street online, but basically, I was out of the TV-loop and felt just fine. But.

But tomorrow night is the season premiere of House and I LOVE Hugh Laurie! In fact, all the season premieres seem to be happening this week or next (like Amazing Race!), and all of a sudden yesterday, I felt a bit bereft. So like a person possessed I spent hours on the Internet trying to see what I could catch online. And some shows, like Fringe, I do have access to, but American channels like Fox won't stream videos if you don't live in the United States. That leaves certain sites where you can download if you pay, or having to sift through sites that make you register, view ads, or take chances with possible viruses and spyware. And my reasons for not having a TV still stand: don't want to pay for cable, don't have room, and don't have the discipline to not use it as a tool of distraction. So what was I doing perusing Craigslist and Kijiji for 13" TV's? Snort. But no, I've decided to try to continue my TV-fast, although I can't ABSOLUTELY guarantee I won't be running over to someone else's house to watch House. :)

Labour Day

So have I been labouring this Labour Day weekend? Well, not really, unless you count washing windows. Which I guess should darn well count, because how many people actually clean their own windows these days? I know I haven't, primarily because I rent, and you can't exactly wash windows on the outside when you're on the second floor. I'm still on the second floor in my new place, but guess what? I've got these fancy windows that you can tilt open on the inside, and clean on the outside! So now, they're all clean and for one minute, I even felt smugly domesticated, snort.

thinking outside the boob tube

As mentioned in an earlier post, the apartment I'm moving into in June is much smaller than the one I have now. So I'm thinking that one of the items I'll likely definitely leave behind is my clunky old TV. It really is old (30+ years), takes up too much room, and needs at least ten minutes to warm up before the sound and picture kick in. I've decided that since I only have four channels anyway, and most of the shows have had their season finales, the summer would be a perfect time to see if I can go without TV altogether. Mind you, it's amazing what you can now watch on your computer, so it's not as if I have to be completely cut off. Plus, if I get desperate, I could always get a new (and much slimmer) one.

But what's funny is how the idea of being without an actual TV is making me a bit anxious. And if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that TV has become a bad habit. Like junk food, I reach for it when I'm bored, stressed, or want to put off what I don't really feel like doing, even though I wouldn't otherwise watch those shows. And once the TV has been turned on, it's easier to leave on. So can I go cold turkey? I plan to listen to the radio more (CBC Radio One to be exact), read all the unread books on my bookshelves, and hopefully blog more. Much more. Think I can do it?

update: apartment

Yes, I got an apartment! Admittedly, I didn't look at any others, but I couldn't resist the location of this one. It is, drum roll please, right across the street from where my parents live! Can't get any closer than that, eh? In fact, two of my windows look right out on their retirement unit. It'll be perfect if I want (or need) to pop by every day. Those windows I mentioned were another selling point for me because even though the apartment is much smaller than what I have now, it still has five windows on three sides. So, lots of natural light, lots of sun puddles for KJ, and some not-too-bad views as I'm on the second floor. The limited space I'll have to adjust to, but by being creative and organized (lots of shelving for example) I'm hoping I can maximize space enough to be able to bring my favourite pieces of furniture and art. As for clothes, did you know that most people wear 20% of their clothing 80% of the time? It's true! So time for weeding out what I wear least (or not at all) in order to save on closet and dresser space. And time to sell off whatever I don't want to bring on eBay. Look for pics soon on Flickr of both my stuff AND new place. :)

a day of hope

But first, did you know that January 19th was Blue Monday -- the saddest day of the year? Not surprising I guess as the holidays are over, resolutions are broken, the bills have come in, and by now we're fed up with the snow, slush, lack of sun, and the long dark nights. I must say though that when the clerk I'd been grumbling to informed me of the status of the day, it cheered me up immediately! I suppose it was comforting to know that it wasn't just me. 

How fortunate then to have the saddest day followed by such an incredible day. If up to two million people attended the inauguration in person, how many more worldwide were witness to this historic ceremony on TV, radio, or Internet? And will January 20th ever come to be officially known as the day of hope, the day when things finally turned around? Certainly this event was not just important to Americans, because although America often acts as if it's the most important sibling within the global family, all nations have a stake in this. And while I have to admit that I was initially disappointed with not having a woman become president (Palin was nothing but embarrassing), I came to realize that Clinton would never have the unifying power that Obama so quickly displayed. Yesterday was a historic day for all citizens of the world no matter what happens from now on, so my only quibble I suppose is that it would have been nice if President Obama had somehow been able to curb the cost of this grand event. If he had insisted that at least part of the $160 million be diverted into starting to solve some of the economic problems in his country, then that would have been impressive indeed!

gone fishing!

No, just taking a week off. A mini-vacation if you like. Except that I'll still be working, cleaning, cooking, shopping, running errands, looking after kitty, going to the laundromat, paying bills, and undertaking all those other chores that still need doing. Hmmm, doesn't actually sound like much of a vacation anymore, does it? Snort. Okay, I'll try to at least spend less time on the computer for a change.

Plan to be back early August!

Monday's money question

Okay, I lied, as the question isn't actually about money, but I'm going to ask anyway. Know those little adhesive stickers on fruit? I can't always get them off without taking some of the skin in the process, and it drives me nuts! Come to think of it, I don't like price stickers on certain items either. Like books. They're really hard to get off and usually end up leaving a residue or an indentation. Can't someone come up with a better system? And does this bug anyone else as much as it does me?