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SubscriptionsSites I Read
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| My page has been getting a lot of hits today--wayy more than usual--so I looked into it. We can see our "footprints" on xanga, and each footprint gives its reference site and a link. Meaning, I can go to the link that brought the reader to my page. Every reference site to my page today was Google. And each google link that I clicked on has this in the search field: "Jennifer Abbott" + "iowa city."
Well, apparently the child pornography sting that was in the news yesterday involved a woman named Jennifer Abbott who lives in Iowa City and was arrested and charged with possession of child porn. Here is the news link: http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20090226/NEWS01/90226008/1079
Let me be clear--I am not this woman. So if you're here to read about what the "child porn woman" writes about in her blog--you are going to be very disappointed! The reason the link brings you here, I'm sure, is because I went to college in Iowa City and mentioned the city many times in my blogs. I'm safe in my home in Des Moines, IA--not in Iowa City or in jail for that matter, haha! I never realized how common my name was until now.
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| Last Friday I was scheduled for an interview with Wal Mart. I have been sick and tired of searching for jobs in my field--considering almost everything in our area is either not hiring or just laid off over a hundred workers. I know how Wal Mart works since I worked there two years ago--so I figured I'd just head back in that direction until the economy gets better and I get more motivated.
Apparently, no matter how much time you've dedicated to Wal Mart--every "new employee" must start back at the bottom. Meaning, if a job was offered to me, I would need to take their drug test again, start with new employee pay, and have to wait a year for any sort of benefit (insurance, bereavement, sick pay, paid vacation, 401k, etc). BUT, I thought it would be okay as long as I was contributing to our home. Double Apparently, when you re-apply you still must fall into the top 20% as far as the survey portion of the application is concerned. This survey is graded on a curve and SOMEHOW I ended up in the 80th percentile...or something. I don't know how I could have worked for Wal Mart TWICE in my past and for my third try--I failed to make the top 20% of prospective employees who filled out the survey. Since I did not make the top 20%, they could not pull my application. Since they couldn't pull my app, they could not interview me. No matter how much they like my application, experience, or ANYTHING pertaining to their set qualifications--they could not interview me. Early Friday morning, the HR lady called me 2 hours before my scheduled interview to "regretfully inform" me that the person who called me previously to schedule the interview made a mistake. So...back to the beginning. I spent all Friday morning looking for other jobs.
At about 10:00am Tyler told me that his boss wanted to come over. I figured it would be his routine every-two-weeks-drop-off-Tyler's-paycheck-and-leave-visit. So, Tyler's boss came over around 11:00am and told Tyler that he could no longer keep him on. Another investor fell through and the economy is just too rough to keep the business going as usual. Tyler will still stay with him for routine maintenance on the website, but for much MUCH less pay. Luckily, he can still pay Tyler his same amount for the next month, but after that--it's pretty much over.
So, ever since Tyler's boss left on Friday morning--he and I have been scrambling to find work. Before, I took my search at a very leisurely pace considering Tyler made enough for us to live comfortably. Paycheck to paycheck--but comfortable enough where we knew what we could afford. But now, I'm desperate to find anything--and I'm ashamed of myself for not having the same intensity in my job search as I'm forced to have now. What kills me is that even when we do find work, our jobs won't be secure. If this economy has taught us anything, it's that no one is invincible. For some reason, I just always thought that Tyler's job would be fine. I feel horrible for leaning on him for so long, and I feel like I've let him down. Of course he and I have had this discussion over and over, but I can't stop feeling sorry for myself. The anxiety is twice as bad too, because it's the weekend so we haven't been able to follow-up on any of our applications/resumes. We both feel the need to have answers NOW as to whether or not we'll be hired. But, it's the weekend...so we have to wait to speak to anyone until Monday. (It's actually Monday right now, but it's 2:20am, I can't sleep, and I already want answers).
We've told a limited amount of people because I didn't want to hear any advice. But I know that any advice-givers are just trying to help. And I figured that sooner or later our friends and families would find out and would wonder why we never told them. Well, I'm telling you now, ha!
I'm so glad that Tyler and I have one another during all this. We absolutely need each other for support and encouragement. I have no doubt that we'll both find something, the only thing working against us is time.
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| I have another sexist commercial to add to the list. It started with Hardees, continued with Brawny and now I have a bone to pick with Pepsi. I'm sick to death of the ad industry making men look like bumbling idiots. Pepsi's most recent ad is for Pepsi Max--a new kind of Diet Pepsi. On Pepsi's web site it says, "Introducing new Diet Pepsi Max with ginseng and more caffeine. It's a crisp refreshingly delicious zero-calorie cola that helps wake up your mind and body!" This product description sounds like a drink that any caffeine addict could take advantage of. But watch the commercial: http://www.youtube.com/profile?v=rorbv0RWrbk&user=Pepsi
I know plenty of men who can *stand the taste* of diet cola. And PLEASE, are men really as clumsy as the actors in these commercials portray them to be?? Before Pepsi Max came to be, did men ever think, "I can't stand this girly drink, why can't they make a manly drink?" It's also like...as long as the word MAX is in the product title, men will be all over it. 'Cuz they're takin' it to the MAX, man!!!
I do apologize if you heard "YES" when your friend answered "NO" to the question, "...Ready?" before flipping the generator on while your partner's hand was up the light bulb's ass--but really? Your friend could "take" that electrical burn, but he couldn't "take" the taste of Diet Pepsi? Ridiculous, really.
Another thing, why do men have to "take" anything? Got a cock rammed up your ass? Take it like a man!! Broke your nose on your wife's fist? Take it like a man!!! Bitter tongue from sipping on diet cola??? Oh no! We'll fix it.
I know this ad is *just* an ad, and I DO take into consideration that it aired during the Super Bowl...I just want to know when advertising will stop with these unfair stereotypes. I don't think consumers are as stupid as the advertising industry thinks. How dare they?
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| Tyler and I got the apartment we wanted! We will be living in the Westchester Square Apartments in the Beaverdale area. Yay! I can't wait to move in.
It's actually been a really long time since I've signed into my xanga account. I don't have a computer anymore because my HP finally crapped out on me. So, I either get to use the iPod Touch or Tyler's computer whenever he's not using it--and believe me--he's always using it, haha! It's just a hassle to try to do everything on the iPod. I've had to relearn how to type--meaning that I've gone from using both hands to type a sentence--to using one finger. Trying to write an entire blog entry or email by going POKE POKE POKE POKE at the screen is frustrating. haha! It takes 3 times as long to say what I want to say--and after the first two or three sentences I lose my train of thought because I can't see what all I'm typing. The scroll feature is very small so it's hard to see everything at once. Anyway, I haven't logged in to this account in a while--so I had no idea that people who used to read my blog that didn't go to ofthemonks.com first, have no way of reading it. I changed my username in September, and I guess that created some problems for my out-of-Des Moines-readers. The biggest problem about that is that I don't know who those readers are, haha! The only reason I even know that I lost a lot of my readers is because of the footprint feature that xanga provides. Xanga users can not only see how many hits they get per day--but they can see what state the hits come from, what browser the readers use, and what websites led them to our blogs. Not only THAT but if someone were to google something that I've written about...for example--I just mentioned Westchester Square--if someone were to google those apartments, it could lead them to my site. My footprints would then record all that info. If I'm interested enough, I can click on what site led them to me, AND I can see what they originally searched for on google. The search field would literally still hold whatever that reader typed. One time I looked in my footprints and found that a reader had googled "sex with children" and it led them to my rant about sex offenders that I wrote months ago. I don't want to know what that person was actually trying to read about.... ANYWAY--my point is, I lost a lot of readers when I changed my username, and there's no way to get them back. Unless they google search something that they know I've written about.
Our neighbors that live right next to us are moving out today, and we've been watching them outside our window, haha! I'm trying to get ideas on how to cram all our shit into the truck we're going to rent. Our move is going to be hard--not because we have a lot of stuff, but because of how long it's going to take us. We're planning on making it in 2 and a half days instead of 1 and a half days like last time. Diane and Darrell are flying to Norfolk from Kansas City to help us, so we have to make a stop in Kansas City on our way back in order to pick up their car. That won't really add too much time to our travels--but we just don't want to bust our asses too hard in order to get to our new place before the office closes on Friday. Hopefully with our travel plan, we'll make it there on Saturday loooong before the office closes at 4:00pm.
I can't wait! I'm sooo ready to go right now!
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| I just thought I should let everyone know that I changed my username from jfray to bluecollarprincess. I figured my username should match the title of my blog. So, I'm pretty sure that if you wanted to get to my page without using any feeds (my page is on ofthemonks.com -- a Des Moines feed for us Des Moines-ians) then you would type in www.xanga.com/bluecollarprincess .....I think....haha! I'm not sure if it works instantly, so if you try it and it doesn't work--just try www.xanga.com/jfray again.
Des Moines update: Tyler and I have narrowed our apartment choices down to 2-ish. Both in the Beaverdale area, yay! And both are sooo much less expensive than what we pay now in Norfolk. They're actually even nicer, so yay for us :)
Diane and Darrell are going to help us move back--which is very, very kind of them. They helped us move out here in the summer of 2007, and I guess they had such a great time doing it that they decided helping us move back would be just as fun....haha! Our official moving date is November 20th...give or take. It actually depends on when Diane and Darrell can make it out here. Their plan is to fly out here and then drive the moving truck back while Tyler and I follow in the car. I'm too damn scared to drive a moving truck--Tyler pretty much hasn't even driven anything for like....2 years (I'm very protective of my car)--so we're going to leave it up to the man who maneuvers these types of vehicles for a living. Thanks, Darrell!
We plan on making a trip to Iowa City sometime after we move back...and maybe a trip to Chicago after the holidays! I'm soooo anxious to be back in good ol' Ioway!!! I'm pretty much there already. I've already left the Norfolk/VA Beach network on Facebook and joined the Des Moines, IA network, haha!
Can't wait!!! | | |
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