Author Archives: Barie

About Barie

I'm in sunny Florida, of the middle variety
Sep24

Crafting Fun and Visiting Family in Low Country

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Crafting Fun and Visiting Family in Low Country

Last month I had a feeling that I would be getting a job soon and thought I better plan a trip to see my sister in Georgia. My intuition was right and I did get a job! But that is for another post, this one is about all the cool stuff I did on my trip.

First I will mention that for this trip I did not drive, I took the train! It was a little more than half the cost of driving and took about the same amount of time. This was my first train ride and I really enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it better if my iPod was working though.

One of the main things my sister and I wanted to do while I was visiting was craft. Hooray for crafting! The first day I was there we went thrifting and gathered supplies for our crafting adventure. The first thing we did, although not really a craft, but still a DIY, was dye our hair. Normally not a big deal, but I did multi-colored ombre tips! Here are the before and after.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we took a break from crafting and drove up to Charleston to visit our Aunt and cousins. We checked out The Roost, where our cousin works, had breakfast at The Early Bird Diner, and took my nephew for a golf cart ride around the Isle of Palms, which he loved! It’s so great to have family in Charleston and Savannah!

Once back at my sister’s, we commenced with the crafting. That night we made bleach pen shirts and painted our nails using the water marbling technique.  The bleach pen shirts turned out pretty good for a first try. We did learn that it’s better to use a bleach pen that is not newly opened because it’s not as thick and the bleach spreads out. While our shirts were washing, we worked on our nails. If you haven’t heard of water marbling, it’s a technique where you put drops of nail polish into a cup of water to make a marble design, then dip your finger in and the polish adheres to the nails. Easy right?! Not really. We watched a couple videos and learned that some people prefer to use tape around their nails while others use lotion to avoid getting too much polish stuck on their finger. We decide we would each try one method and see which one was better. The verdict: we both had a ton of polish to remove from around our nails. I was told after that we should have used Vaseline, so I think I will try that next time.  Although it did not turn out as nice as all the pictures I’ve seen online, I still liked the technique and will definitely try again.

My last day we went to the Savannah Mall and later made a couple necklaces, although I don’t have pictures of them. I had so much fun with sister, even though we only did about half of the crafting we wanted to do. I guess it’s just more to do on my next visit!

 

Sep3

New Tires and New Volunteering

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New Tires and New Volunteering

Another week over and still no job prospects. I did however get to buy new tires! I’d been putting off new tires for a while, but after one blew out I took it as a sign to stop procrastinating. Now buying new tires may not be a big deal for you, but it’s a huge deal for me. First I had to save up money for several weeks to even afford them. Then I had to refrain from breaking down and crying at the tire shop when I swiped my debit card for $320. All I could think about while I sat in the waiting area was how many things I could buy with $320. I’ve pretty much mastered the art of being broke, but sometimes it really gets to me. And this was one of those times.

I also decided to add a new volunteering opportunity to my already jam packed schedule of free labor. In addition to being an event manager and marketing committee chair for One Brick and volunteering several days a week at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, I am now going to volunteer at the Student Museum in Sanford. I took my 2 hour tour of the museum this week and I hope to get started this coming week!

Aug14

Much Needed Unemployment Rant

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Much Needed Unemployment Rant

I try not to do too many negative/complaining  posts on here, but the last couple weeks have really gotten to me during my job search. So I’m taking my rant to the blogoshere to pretty much vent and maybe even get some encouragement.

The first thing that is bothering me, and has been bothering me for a long time now, is inconsiderate employers. Why is it so hard to call/email a potential candidate after an interview to let them know if they got the job? I read an article this week giving advice to employers on how to avoid negative publicity on social media platforms from disgruntled applicants. I never mention employers by name, nor do I really even talk to people about who I’m applying/interviewing with. I think it’s best not to burn any bridges. But the things I read not only seemed like common sense, but common decency. I understand that employers are inundated with applicants once they make a job public, and I don’t expect to hear back from every job I apply for. Although, if I take the time to interview with you, you owe me a call or at least a form email telling me I did not get the job. Just this week someone told me that in this economy employers have all the power and can do what ever they want. I’m sorry but that is a load of crap. A bad economy does not warrant bad behavior.

Another thing that enraged me this week was the talk of employers who are requiring applicant to be “currently employed” in order to apply for a position. Seriously?!?! I know that when someone leaves a job (or in most cases is forced to leave by a layoff) there is a potential to fall behind in technology and skills; but I highly doubt this is what is happening to most of the unemployed Americans right now. I have been unemployed for a year. I have spent countless hours on the internet researching, taking webinars and networking. I am constantly volunteering and looking for opportunities to better myself and the community. Should I be penalized for the fact that I am not in an office all day? No.  A month after I was laid off from my job my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. When looking at my resume does an employer know that 8 of the last 12 months were spent helping my family through the hardest time of our lives and I could not devote as much time to my job search as I would have liked? No. Now tell me again Mr. High and Mighty Employer why I can’t apply your job. So sad.

Aug4

Newsworthy Nails

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Newsworthy Nails

To celebrate the one year anniversary of getting laid off from my job, I decided to paint my nails. Exciting! I really don’t paint my nails too often because its chips so quickly and I’m too lazy to be repainting every few days. But my sister mentioned that she had tried, and liked the new nail polish strips that are all the rage so I thought I’d give it a try. I found them at Wal-Mart, but for $8.50 I had to pass. I have to be frugal these days.

When I got home I looked at my selection of nail polish and after throwing away the dried up ones I was left with only clear. Then I remembered a blog post I read where a girl used newspaper to put letters on her nails using a silly puddy effect. You basically do this by painting your nails, sticking strips of newpaper into rubbing alcohol and then pressing them onto your nails for thirty seconds to transfer the print. Because I only had clear nail polish the words didn’t show up very well, but all in all it worked. Give it a try if you have white or baby blue or pink polish. And let me know how it turns out!

Jul29

Getting Crafty

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Getting Crafty

I’ve always loved the idea of crafting. When I was young I wanted to be an artist, but I couldn’t draw, color or paint to save my life. A couple of years ago I tried scrapbooking and cake decorating. I sucked at those too. But I do enjoy making things and having people be impressed by them. So vain! I’ve had a few successes with food; such as my chick cupcakes, meringue ghost for Halloween and bacon roses. But I really want to make things that aren’t eaten within minuets of seeing them.

Since I’ve been unemployed I’ve been looking for crafting ideas on the cheap. I like the concept of upcycling, especially books. So to get a better handle on crafting with paper I decided to first get a simple book on origami to work on my folding technique. In the mean time I have tried a couple different projects. The first was a take of some origami stars with little sayings on them that I saw on craftgawker.  The next was a scarf made from an old t-shirt. The instructions called for several yards of jersey fabric so my scarf turned out much smaller. I had a few good reasons for using an old shirt however. One, because of the whole upcycling concept, two, because I spilled bleach on it and three, because it was the shirt I was wearing the first time I met my boyfriend and I wanted to keep it. Cute, I know.

I have a million ideas for other crafts I want to do, it’s just a matter of finding the time. Being unemployed doesn’t give me as much free time as you would think. I spend a lot of time on the computer looking for jobs and networking. It’s almost like having a full-time job. Another thing that I’ve noticed while being unemployed is that it’s much harder to keep a schedule. If you work everyday at the same time, it’s easy to have a routine and plan things around that schedule. When you have no job and volunteer at all different times, it makes life a little crazy. I hope to have some more posts with awesome crafts that I’ve done soon. Please share with me what you’ve been working on!

Jul16

Selling Stuff Online Sucks

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Selling Stuff Online Sucks

By this I do not mean that it is hard to sell things online.  With sites like eBay, Amazon and Craigslist, it’s actually quite easy. Being so broke that I need to sell my personal belongings is what sucks.

Recently my nearly three-year old BlackBerry broke. I took this opportunity to switch cell phone companies to get a better monthly rate. (Shout out to Boost Mobile for unlimited everything for $50/month!) After going over my minutes on my last plan for the umpteenth time, I had to find a new carrier. This meant I owed T-Mobile a ton of money plus had to pay for a new phone and first months bill at Boost. So I did what any broke, unemployed person would do. I began looking for things to sell online. My first choice was the old cell phone. I sold an old BlackBerry Pearl for $25 on eBay and I’m still waiting on my check from sellmyoldcellphone.com for the broken BlackBerry. This was not nearly enough for a new phone however. My only other option was to sell my bike. This is the sucky part; I did not want to sell my bike. I love my bike! I thought about how often I used my bike and how often I used my phone. The choice was clear.

I cleaned up the bike, took some pictures and posted it on Craigslist. Much to my surprise I had 15 responses in 2 hours! I had someone say they wanted it that night, which was fine except I didn’t have all the accessories I had advertised with me. He said that was fine and he would meet me for them another day. He gave me the cash and said he’d call to pick up the rest after work the next day. Now here is the other sucky part about selling things online; people who respond to online ads can be creepy jerks! When I met with the man the first time his wife was with him and I had my boyfriend with me. Now the second time we were both alone and he had the nerve to hit on me! Apparently we had a lot in common since we both like to ride. I guess he forgot about the whole wife/boyfriend thing. Gross!

I now have a new phone and am quite happy with it. As far as selling stuff online, I don’t have much left. In my time of unemployment I’ve sold 2 bikes, 3 phones, my guitar (I won’t even go into how much that one hurt) and countless other items that I would have liked to have kept. I do realize that these are material items and yes I can buy a new bike. It’s the fact that I have to sell these things just to get by. It takes all the fun out of it.

Jun17

Yes I Am STILL Unemployed

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Yes I Am STILL Unemployed

315 days since I became unemployed. In the last 45 months I have worked a total of 15. This is getting kind of ridiculous.

This is also my latest blog post in about the same amount of time. One might think that an unemployed person would have lots of free time to blog, and they would be right. The first time I became unemployed back in 2007 I started a blog about being unemployed and all the wonderful adventures that came along with it. When I finally started working in 2009 I stopped that blog and started a new blog (the one you are reading now) where I talked mainly about what I do around Orlando. The blog went well at first. When I was laid off in 2010 I thought it would be much easier to find a job considering everything I had learned before. But about a month after the lay off my life changed completely. My mom, who beat cancer in 2008, relapsed into stage four. Because she helped take care of my nieces, I took over that duty while my sister worked. I was fine at first collecting unemployment and taking a break, but when her condition worsened I stopped looking for jobs all together. Now this is the part where people say, “Everything happens for a reason”. Because I was unemployed I was able to spend more time with my mother during her final days. Is that the reason I was laid off? I don’t know and I don’t buy into the everything happens for a reason crap. All I know is this, my mom passed away in March and I must go full speed ahead into finding a job.

So what will I do with this blog? It will still be a blog mainly about my life here in Orlando; although it has gotten very boring since I am BROKE. But I will also include those wacky unemployment stories that we all love. Like about how I haven’t been shopping in 3 years or how employers are extremely inconsiderate to potential employees or how my BlackBerry broke and I had to re-learn how to text without a QWERTY keyboard. I know, hilarious. Please continue to read and enjoy. And for the love of God, send any and all job leads my way!

Sep13

Sun Kil Moon, Arcade Fire, Menomena and Sufjan Stevens

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Sun Kil Moon, Arcade Fire, Menomena and Sufjan Stevens

What I’m Listening To – August 2010

Almost half way through September and I’m finally posting what I listened to in August; you can tell my life has been a little crazy. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve left a couple albums out this month. Some really good stuff is coming out in September so stay tuned for that.

Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fell Promises I’m actually listening to this album as I type this because I was reminded of how good it was. This album is just Mark’s voice and a fingerpicked, nylon-string Spanish guitar. In other words, amazing.

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs This is another Arcade Fire album, kind of as simple as that to describe. Funeral was awesome and I loved Neon Bible but this The Suburbs is more of a grower then a show-er.

Menomena – Mines Not a bad follow up to 2007′s Friend or Foe. What’s weird is that it began with a few really good tracks, started to loose me, picked up again in the middle and almost lost me til the last track, which I think is the best on the album. I enjoyed this roller coaster of music though.

Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People EP I lost a little bit of interest in Sufjan after his failed attempt to record 50 albums about the 50 states and then the release The BQE. But he’s back, and obviously heart broken. With 2 songs over 11 minutes long, the 8 song EP is over 60 minutes! It’s quite beautiful and has really geared me up for the release of his full length album due out in December, The Age of Adz. If the single I Walked is any indication of the whole album, we are in for a treat.

Aug10

My First Day Of Unemployment

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My First Day Of Unemployment

Last Friday was my last day at work after finding out that my position had been eliminated. That night I went home and applied for unemployment. Over the weekend I tried not to think too much about no longer having a job.

Then came Monday. A friend suggested I continue to get up early, shower and get dressed as to not get out of the routine. While this is an excellent idea, I really wanted to treat this week more like a vacation.

I got up at 10:00 am, had some coffee and a bowl of cereal and tried to muster up some motivation to work on my resume and look for a new job. The first thing I did was update my LinkedIn profile. Nothing major, just updated my job title and requested some recommendations from former coworkers. By the end of the day, three people had already recommended me! I searched some job boards, wandered over to Facebook and Pitchfork and after a couple of hours decided I had had enough of staring at the computer. My sister came over with my nephew and I spent some time with them and before I knew it, it was 4:30 pm! Where did the afternoon go?

I then met a friend at Cady Way Trail for roller blading and we also went swimming. But it wasn’t all play. After swimming we went over some resume samples so I could make a fancy new one.

I ended my day watching lame TV and going to bed very late. Not a bad day. It’s now Tuesday and once again I got up after 10:00 am. Now back to the job hunt!