Post-season, November 2013

I've completed my third season as a custodian for the local parks district.  I'm still working winters, substituting in the schools, but I've had only two calls but they were while I was still cleaning restrooms.  I've completed my required coursework on identifying and reporting abuse, dealing with blood pathogens, and avoiding the appearance of being a child molester, so I've received my new tag, showing that I'm a official employee with the education service district until October 2014.

My husband is working, and has been working now for months.  When he was hired, he was told to expect just a few weeks.  One daughter now has a full-time, benefits paid job, complete with use of the company's gym and her own parking space, even though she lives close enough to walk to work.  Another daughter is in Boston today, at a conference.  She is getting her masters in public health and has some concerns of what she'll be doing for employment after school.  The third daughter is home, dealing with some issues and is currently unemployed while she figures out her next step.  The house is headed for foreclosure and my husband got his bankruptcy finalized.  The house is a mess and I'm home, dealing with it, although I'm doing a lousy job at it.

Both of our mothers are well and well off, as they have enough money for their needs and most of their wants.  They would both like to see us more, but here we are.  My husband sold two vehicles, bought another one and fixed it up so that it will run for many more miles and years.  His brother has a regular job now, and my siblings are well.  The dog died in December, 2012 and both cats are still alive.  Two houses are built next door to us, and it looks like a third is going in and places that were plotted out for houses five years ago are now having foundations poured, walls raised and "for sale" signs out in front, although no one knows where the buyers are coming from. The general economy of area is still poor, as yet another thrift store has opened.

I am reminded of what was said at one of my daughter's college commencement:  "Prosperity has nothing to do with money."

53 25 things I should have done...

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Got the verification papers into NeighborImpact!  (I still need to get the budget papers done and handed in.)

While I was going through box and box of papers, I found this.

25 Things I should'a, would'a, could'a while I was unemployed.

I. While I was employed
  A. Tried to expand my knowledge of Fred Meyer (jewelry, home, apparel, etc.)
  B.  Tried to expand my skills
       1.  Uscan
       2.  Front desk  BUT I was afraid I'd make a mistake and be fired as Carlene and Nick were (even though they were hired back)
       3.  Child's department.  (in-store babysitting)  I was qualified-didn't do it. Didn't think until now.
  C. Bought new clothes (needed them for job interviews later)  Needed every penny for the family
  D. Took care of my health
      1. Physical checkups (cost $100 a visit, even with insurance)
      2. Lost weight/exercise
  E.  Been more diligent in volunteering My being available and coming in whenever called got me up to Journeyman & got the max I could for my unemployment benefit





When I became unemployed-
1. I should have gotten a blessing.  I didn't until I'd been unemployed for 6 months
2. I was fired in July. I did work on exercise and walking the butte.
3. When September came, I should have started my school volunteer work
    1.  I had the idea to volunteer Tuesdays at High Desert Middle School--didn't  (gas costs money)
    2. I could have volunteered at Bend High Library or Elk Meadow or Pine Ridge or Jewell or all three media centers (gas costs money)
   3.  I should have thought about where I wanted work, and volunteered there. Like Park and Rec., COCC library. I could have increased my network and made a nicer resume.
________________

So I didn't even make it to 25 items.  Just as well.  I need to just work on getting a job this go-around. Although I do have work on Friday at Pine Ridge, and it looks like I'll be working on the budget thing tomorrow for NeighborImpact. And applying for work at Goodwill and something I saw on the WorkSource site.

(What is it, with all of these combined words?)

Oh, and Touchmark sent me my official word that I didn't get the job. And I'm still here.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

50 Sunday is for start-overs

Today I decide to be wealthy.

While cleaning out the sewing room yesterday, I rediscovered a book I'd read over a year ago:  The Job Hunter's Survival Guide, by Dick Bolles.  He puts out an annual job hunting guide, entitled What Color is Your Parachute? which I bought a copy of, and read it, years and years ago. I'll reread it this week. The book is a how-to guide for looking for work in this specific recession where jobs are so scarce and job hunters so plentiful.

Today is Sunday, always a "start over" day, a way to rest and prepare for the next six days.

Shea announced in Fast and Testimony Meeting that she's lost her job.  I almost started crying for her, and I talked to her later.  She's relieved, as the political pressure was so heavy there. When I'd applied last spring, she called to warn me that it was not a healthy place. She seems to be a few years old than I. don't dye my hair, so everyone sees how old I am, but most other people are determined to stay with the color, thank you very much.

On the way home from church, I pointed out the place I'd applied for the housekeeping job, and that I blew it when I admitted to looking for full-time work.  June was with me in the car, and said that she'd be surprised if any jobs were full-time anymore. She told me how she'd talked to a banker some years ago, and he admitted that the jobs were all at 30 hours, so that they wouldn't have to have benefits.  She scolded him, but that's as far as it went.

I got set apart for my calling in the Relief Society, to be a visiting teaching coordinator.  In the blessing I was reminded that the Lord knows my challenges, and that fulfilling my calling would bring spiritual and physical benefits, and there was more. Basically, I'll be made aware of the needs of the sisters in the ward, and reminded that mine are small compared to others.

Decades ago, I had a blessing that told me that I think my sufferings are great, but the Savior's was far greater.   I was reminded of that blessing today.  The one who gave me that one died some time ago, but his spirit still visits me from time to time, sometimes to encourage me, sometime to call me to repentance. I wondered if he was there in the circle.

I had signed up a couple of weeks ago for the missionaries to come for dinner.  My husband was working on a service call, so they couldn't come here. I was very grateful that I had the stuff to make a broccoli and chicken cream soup, which I took over to the West's, where they would be able to pick it up.

Tomorrow I will do more, do better.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

46 Another blank

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I practiced the piano today. I worked on some paper work for the house, for NeighborImpact and OHSI. I deposited my unemployment checks. I exercised.  I found myself grieving for the future loss of this house. The printer doesn't work anymore, and the other printer is not hooked to this computer. So everything either goes through the other computer or I'll have to go to the library to print stuff out. And the keyboard is acting weak, too.

I'm reading a book,  Children of Cambodia's killing fields : memoirs by survivors / compiled by Dith Pran.  

They lost their homes, their parents, their siblings, their families, their youth. They came to the United States and were serious about their schooling and their futures. Many report still having nightmares.

I found the church's employment handbook. I'll go through it better that I did last time.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 45 Today was a blank

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Today I stayed home and did very little. I found my unemployment checks, discovered that my retirement account at TRG was closed. ($22 check. I only put in money with a couple of paychecks, and got it all back, plus a couple of dollars.) The unemployment checks are going to pay my hospital bill and my eye and dental insurance. The pension check, for tithing.

I worked a little on the book. Still, not a profitable day.

Tomorrow I will work at doing better, doing more.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 43 Looking out around me

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Our friends went to church with us, and left after Sacrament meeting.  I have a church calling now, to help with visiting teaching as a supervisor.

It was Book of Mormon day in all three meetings.  The part that I want to hold onto the rest of the week is that the Lord will prepare the way for those who keep--or seek--to keep his commandments.

And I appreciate again the reminder that the current unemployment/underemployment is an affliction going on in the world, and not a character flaw on my part.  Though I have a lot of characters flaws and thought on them today.

Pam had an interesting story during Sunday School class, about the little things that we sometimes have to encourage us.  She was a single mom, divorced, with two teenagers she was raising, and barely making it financially.  She got engaged to Jim, divorced man in the church, with his kids, retired businessman.  And she found a picture of some lace in a bridal magazine that she would have liked for her wedding dress, but knew that she'd never be able to find it out on this side of the continent, and that she'd never be able to afford it.  She found it in a store that she rarely shops, and some celebrity had ordered a surplus for her outfit, paid for it, and the remainder was on sale, so Pam had it for her wedding dress.  

I had a similar thing happen, when I went to University of Oregon.  While I was in high school, we had "The Apollo of Bellac" in one of my English classes, and I liked the play and I wished I could be in it, playing Theresa.  I was in the cafeteria line at college, and saw the open audition flyer.  I thoroughly enjoyed auditioning for the role, nailed it, got complimented by my co-auditioner, but didn't get the part.  I did perform in it, and enjoyed it very much.

Our neighbors had us over for meatloaf tonight.  It was a very nice dinner, cozy and comfortable.  I tried to stay focused in the present, as the cars went by on the night street in the rainy dark.  I didn't want to think about us having to move away.

I watched and read a talk the author J.K.Rowlings gave, about her time of poverty, and what she learned from it. I need to reread it, as I felt that I only touched the very outer part, and have yet to incorporate any part of it in my being.   http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 41 Tonight I went to an event

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I didn't get much sleep last night.  I snore, and that keeps my husband awake who then keeps me awake, and finally I went down and tried to sleep on the futon couch, and had a cat keeping me awake.  I tried putting it outside, but the other one came in, so I was exchanging one for the other.

I went to the school and shelved books for a short while, and got a few groceries, cleaned up the kitchen a bit--we're expecting company tomorrow afternoon. My husband had work today.

I paid $100 on the hospital bill, on-line, using my unemployment card. I didn't get a confirmation number, but then, it didn't come off the card, either. The morgage company sent a letter, saying that they hadn't received last month's payment.  That's still being covered by OSHI, as far as I know.  We've been turning in the paperwork.

The library had it's "Novel" event tonight, and I went to it.  Wealthy people go to events all the time, especially cultural ones, where there's food and drink.  The were little tiny slider sandwiches, chopped up fruit, some cheese (I took a chunk of brie), and stuffed mushrooms.  While I sitting on a chair, eating, one of the library staff came by.  She'd been on the interview committee the one and only time I'd been interviewed for a library job, and it was she who met with me afterwards at my request and informed me that I didn't come across as a "go-getter." 

I complimented her on the party, and she complimented me on the color of tee-shirt I was wearing.  I told her that she always looks stunning and the conversation went into flattery.  So now she'll probably pitch my application.

Everybody in Bend dresses out of their closet, which is to say that I wasn't dressed any worse than anyone else, except people who have my type of skin on their necks and the same amount of flab on my arms cover them up.  People wore blue jeans of different vintages, all worn, and very few women wore nice dresses.  One young woman wore a dressy outfit of different shades of silver and grey, including a scarf shawl that had shining silver threads running through it, and carried a silver pocketbook.  A child, probably about nine years old, wore a purple fedora and carried a classical Madi Gras clown mask, which he held in his hands and would hold up to his face as if to hide behind it.  (I guess he was a boy.)

I met a couple of people there, one I stood in line with,  Toni, who is involved with the Quiltworks, and a couple whose names I've seen around town--Blankenship.  They were now retired, and he wanted to sit while his wife went to the front to see what the book would be.  Afterwards, I met a woman who lives in my neighborhood and is also in the neighborhood association.

The book?  Rules of Civility.  The follow-up events will start in April, which gives most people time to read a copy before then.

It was very nice, to be in the library, in the evening, surrounded by so many people and so much cheerful energy.  It was very nice to return home, too.  My husband is still at work, and I still have more to do to get ready for tomorrow.

Today I decide to be wealthy.




Book of Mormon lesson:  Last night.  I was reading about the wars, the sons of Helaman, and thought about how to get out of my financial mess.  There was one group of soldiers who had gone off to 7escort prisoners, who returned in the nick of time to help turn the tide of a battle.  Alma 57:17.  Things didn't happen the way that they'd planned, but things turned out fine.  I hope that things will turn out fine for me too.

Day 34

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I assembled my papers last night, did the math, and in the morning, called the unemployment office.  It looks like I will be getting some unemployment benefits after all, as two of my previous employers have yet to report the October, November and December reports. 

My middle daughter challenged me to a writing contest, which I went ahead and entered.  Both of us are in it now, and we'll see if the entries were accepted on Monday.

Maybe I'm to be getting my writing going?  I'll contact Celia and see how her free-lancing worked out.

I didn't do much else today, except look at job postings, and practice the keyboard (piano), and exercised. 

Today is January 20.  The twentieth is always an important date on the calendar for me, as my birthday is August 20, one of my former roommates is April 20, other friends were February 20 and May 20, and an ancestor was July 20 (she was born 100 years before I was).  I need to get my ancestor and her family's stories out of my head and into books that my family can read and keep.  Maybe that's why I'm unemployed, so I can get the work done.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 33

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I got my letter from the unemployment office, and found out that they don't have an account of the two months I worked at Parks and Rec, so I have to call them in the morning.  I found my pay stubs, so that's very, very good.

I went through job listings on the internet.  Did laundry. Made a dinner for two and took it to a couple; the husband is getting chemo or something for his cancer on Thursdays, so they need dinners that night.  I made a baked mozzarella ratatouille, a couple of Italian seasoned baked chicken breasts, and some garlic bread, and added a couple of pears, a bag of chocolates and some celery sticks to round it out.

I'm going to bed early tonight.  I got to bed after midnight last night, woke up at 6, and kept falling back asleep into short dreams, that all had dead-end themes to them:  A road I'm on is closed because of a rock slide.  I can't find my hotel room, and then the hotel staff tells me that they can't find any record of my being there. Fun stuff like that.  And then I didn't get out of bed until late in the morning, as I couldn't find my thoughts.

I did do my yoga in the afternoon, and felt much better for having done it, and could feel the energy while I was shopping at the store for dinner stuff.  I've also noticed that my leg and heel pains no longer happen at night.

I need to get up early for the unemployment office phone call.  At night, I have such great plans for the mornings, such as work on sewing room, clean the house. get out ten job applications, walk a mile, exercise, write thank you letters, create art.  And then my head is full of cotton where my brains should be when I wake up.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 30

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I found out that the hospital has given my account to a collection agency.  I was paying $10 a month, as I'd talked to someone on the phone and she said that would be fine, so I kept doing it, and--surprise--I was to have done paperwork, and the least amount that would have been accepted per month would have been $500 a month, for two years, according to today's someone, named Doris.  Which is more than what I quit paying for health insurance because I couldn't afford it.

I went to check on my unemployment claim and found this:

How much time and money do I have left in my claim?
Your weekly benefit amount is:	$		Program: Non-valid claim
Your remaining balance is:	$
Your claim is currently non-valid. If you are waiting for the addition of Federal or out of state wages, continue filing weekly claims if you are still unemployed. Well, I don't have any Federal or out of state wages.  So I guess I'm cut out of the program.  My heart froze when I saw that.  Fortunately, my mother-in-law called out of the blue a few days ago and told us that she'd be sending us some money, the amount would be enough to see us through the month and into next.   I'll keep posting my claim, though.  Maybe something will change for my benefit. One of my friends called later, and I told her about it, and that I thought about her, and Pam, and Lauren, how things worked out for them, and their circumstances got better, and she assured me that mine would too. I got a call today from Touchmark, a pre-interview, and next week they'll call and set up a face-to-face.  I put in an application at another retirement center, the one I went to Saturday, and they wanted the application filled out on the premises.  I sent a message to the guy who is setting up a new thrift store.  So I met my goal of three job contacts today. And I'll just keep applying around.  The library job, and Goodwill, and whatever else, and just keep in the front of my brain that all this is for my good and shall give me experience.  Doctrine and Covenants 122:7.  Because of the money my mother-in-law is sending, I have a bit of a breather while I look.  And, of course, my attitude, to help my belief that I'll get a job, and the courage to keep applying. Today I decide to be wealthy. I'm halfway through the 60 days.

Day 27

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Last night I was up until 3 a.m. working on papers needed to continue our participation in a government program.  This is how we are still in our house--we qualified for a program that "loans" us our mortgage for a year.  It seems that there are new requirements from time to time. 

I am afraid of making a mistake that will cause us to lose the program, and our home, and where will we stay then?  These are papers about budgeting; I should have been doing this 20, even 30 years ago, but the same problems then are the same now: There is no regular income.  And there is no line for tithing on the paper.  (The church has given us food and cleaning supplies and Christmas gift cards.)

We got the papers in, apparently at the same time someone was calling our house in a panic to tell us to get them in.  I'd already talked with the NeighborImpact worker on Tuesday, and he said no worries, just get them in by Friday.  So I procrastinated and did my unemployment resign in and housework instead.  I even did my yoga and exercises in the evening.  (Why do I have such a hard time doing them, when I feel so good afterwards?)

After dropping the papers off at Worksource, we went to Sisters, and Doug changed a lightbulb that was on top of a very tall light pole, and he did a few other things around the building.  The owner is one of our first customers, and we've had him for at least 10 years. 

Tomorrow will be spent sending out letters and applications for the week.  I remind myself that the more I send out, the greater the chances of someone helping me to connect with a job that I will succeed in.

My mother-in-law called, and let us know that she is sending us some money, and is sending some to the girls too.  (I wept after I gave the phone to my husband.) So the bills will be paid in January, while I continue to look for work.  My unemployment amount will be way less than it has been, and I will not receive anything for my so-called "waiting week," which is a week where one waits to see if the last employer will call with another job--as if!

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 26

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I called the unemployment office and got my new claim going.  I get a new debit card, buy now I suspect that my unemployment income is going way, way down.  But I'll still have something.

I ate sardines tonight, to get my Omega-3.  Still eating too much chocolate.  And I'm working on the Neighbor Impact papers tonight, and I got the mending done for another couple.  My husband is helping another family move tonight.  I knew about helping her pack, but I didn't plan, and I ended up waiting on the phone for an hour and a half to get the unemployment going, and I still didn't have all the information that was needed (I was short about $50 in reporting my income from substituting.)

I've spent too much time moping around today.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 23

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I called the unemployment center to find out what I needed to do to continue my unemployment benefits, and found out that I just need to have with me my information of October, November and December employment, and do it on the internet.

I did inventory today at a store that sells decorating supplies--knick knacks, furniture, garden art, candles, silk flowers, stuff that looks antique, but was copied off of old early 1900's furniture, very chunky.  According to the book, step #4, this money would be put directly into savings.  Sorry, it's going to the current crop of bills.

Wealthy people pay their bills.  I finally quit putting off talking to the doctor's office about a bill that I got in December 2011, for a visit I'd had in August 2010.  I'd gone in, got my heart listened to and my blood-pressure taken, and told to get my blood checked and a mammogram and come back.  I went to get the blood test, and the insurance refused to pay for it, as it put it to the $1000 deductible, and I knew that it wouldn't pay for the mammogram as it didn't when I have one a few years earlier.  It turned out that everything was fine, except my blood sugar was high. I didn't have a job to even have the hope of being able to pay for anything extra, as I was already being drained by the health insurance, so I didn't go back, and I didn't get a bill until December 2011.  Dr. K. has been very good to our family, and so I called, found out the amount, and arranged to pay for it in $5 increments.  I think that the new billing system, which used to be in his office but is now contracted out, sent the bill, and that he probably didn't even know that they'd done it.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 20

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I broke a molar a couple of days ago.  It needs a crown, and, fortunately, I have dental insurance that I pay for out of my own pocket, that I got when I was working at the call center a year ago, so most of it is paid for, and the dentist will take the rest in trade. (The dental insurance has paid for dental checkups for the family, a crown for my husband, and surgery for the twins; it's been worth every penny I've paid in premiums.)

The dentist told me that his parents are both unemployed.  His mom is a school teacher, and she lost her job right before she would have qualified for tenure.  His dad is an engineer, and works in airplane production, but there isn't any call for airplanes now, let alone engineers.  So he knows that we can't afford any out-of-pocket payments.

My husband had work today, at two different places, with two of our regular customers, and one told him to charge an extra hour because the job was at night and on very short notice.  So there is a very big sigh of relief there, as I don't know if I'll be getting anymore unemployment money or not.

While I was out driving tonight, I was in a nice neighborhood of older homes, and I could look in the windows and see how neat and clean they were inside.  Having things neat and clean is a sign of wealth.  My house looks like a someone's hording a lot of papers, coupons, and file folders and clutter.  I've read where one feeds another.  Clean the house, and prosperity increases; let stuff pile up, and it makes matters worse.

I know I need to clean out the house.  I've known it for a long time.  And sometimes, I make some headway in getting it cleaned, and other times, it's "home," an emotional nest, like a pack rat's and I just want to sleep and stay in it.  I did, however, make the effort to get most of the dishes done and the counter tops cleared and cleaned.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 19

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I saw a posting for a housekeeper at Touchmark, so I went and got a resume and a cover letter and got dressed as for an interview and went up there.

Mistake:  I didn't take a copy of a filled-out job application with me, nor a pen.  The receptionist didn't take the resume, but she did give me an application and told me I could fill it out it the seating are.  So I had to borrow a pen and the phone book, and I couldn't get anything useful from the phone book, and then the receptionist told me that I could fill it out at home and bring it in later.

And I've worked on the newsletter, and went to check on a sewing machine that a friend asked me to look at, and fixed dinner and did an interview, and I still haven't done the thing my youngest daughter asked me to do this morning, to find some car insurance info for her.  I'm so sorry that I've let her down again.  It's past 10, I still don't have the last newsletter article written, either.

I don't know if I've another tier left on my unemployment.  The tier I'm on now made its last payment today.

Today I decide to be wealthy.

Day 12

Today I decide to be wealthy.

I went to the website for State of Oregon: Unemployment, and read:

 Filing Deadline for Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extended

 On Friday, December 23, 2011, the President signed a bill extending the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) extension program. The bill does not add additional funds, or tiers, to the EUC program; it extends the filing dates in which an individual can apply for EUC, or move on to the next tier.

The extension allows individuals to file a new EUC claim, or to establish a new tier of benefits, through the week ending March 3rd, 2012.


I went to check my unemployment claim:

How much time and money do I have left in my claim?
Your weekly benefit amount is:	$	228	Program: EUC
Your remaining balance is:	$	245
The above balance shows the Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits potentially payable on your claim.
Your claim expired on 07/03/2010
Extensions are additional benefits payable only when you do not qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits in this state, or in any other state or Canada. If you do qualify, you will be required to file a new claim, even if you have a balance remaining on your extension. File a new claim. There are currently four tiers to the EUC extension program. If you qualify for an additional tier of EUC, it will be automatically added to your claim. The last week payable under the EUC program is the week ending June 9, 2012. Should you use up all EUC benefits, contact your UI Center to determine your eligibility for additional benefits. I have no idea what tier I'm on.  I'm glad that I had work, so I know I'm getting a paycheck in January. I'm feeling dread and panic as I reread this.  I'm grateful I've had work most of this year,  that I've had time to go to my daughter's graduation and have holidays with them, and I hope that next year, 2012, "unemployment" will be a line on my regular paystubs, somewhere below FICA.   Today I decide to be wealthy.