Traveling .. Extravaganza?

Sunday, I fly to Iowa (Cedar Rapids) for work…  I get back on Friday  and NEXT monday, I go to Georgia, I get back from Georgia on Friday and that Sunday I fly to IL for 2 weeks….  I’ll litterally be home for 3 days in a 4 week period. I am ok with that, and while I’ve not heard news on the job, I know I have it… I just don’t know what it pays. You’d think, someone who traveled so much for work, would pay well? You’d think? Hoping so.. I really want this job, but if I’m adding in Rent (which I don’t have here) plus travel expenses between IL and NC to visit family.. miles on the car… AND leaving the beauty here, I don’t think asking for another $5 – $8k/year is unrealistic? That would put me comfortably over my bracket I’m in now. And this is a specialized training position. I don’t think I can live off the SAME I’m making .. sadly. But $5k more a year would barely make it.. $8 I’d be comfortable. 

Blizzcon trip is in the works, may be my last one for awhile depending… I’ve got my hotel reservations 17th – 24th… not needing a rental car, a friend will be picking me up at the airport and be my transportation, so that’s saving approx $500 . Just flight/hotel/food.  Will update on that when I have more info.

The work trip, I’m not nervous about, I just feel a lil , bewildered I suppose. I’ll catch on tho.

Car Rental Help

I don’t suppose anyone has any family/friends who work for Hertz or any other car rental company?

Trying to plan my Blizzcon trip, all I’ve left to plan is a rental car.. it’ll have to be CHEAP. Last year I used a Hertz Friends/Family code that gave me my car rental for around $11/day out of LAX. I can’t find a valid code now… (even then it was iffy to use as I didn’t know anyone). I was hoping to get under $20/day out of San Francisco (then drive down to Anaheim after visiting friends). Dates from 8/17 – 8/23 or 8/24..

Any tips are appreciated!

Still Waiting.. but on the move?

I’ve still not heard officially on my job, but it seems I’ve got it… provided I accept it.. pay has still not been discussed… they’ve not “created” this position yet, it has to go thru a requisition process.. it had almost finished when they realized the job discription was wrong so it had to start over again… I’m confident it’s mine, if not… I will collect unemployment for 2 years and go back to school full time (they pay for it).

Meanwhile…. I’m getting some good experience in. They’re sending me Iowa City and Cedar Rapids week after next to train them on how to do what our call center does.. I’ll get back on the 27th or so (leaving the 21st or so).. then on the 29th, I drive down to Columbus, GA to train that group. It’ll be the first buisness trip I’ve made where I walk in not knowing ANYONE. I don’t even have any contacts down in those offices. Maybe I’ll try to make some work contacts this week…. not that I’ll have time to socialize. There’s a 2 1/2 day (if I’m quick and I have no choice but to be quick) training I have to present to approx 30 people. In IA, I’ll have 2 centers to go to…. GA will be a lil more relaxed.

It’s all very exciting.

Bad thing… my laptop seems to have died… I’m working to either fix it or … sigh.. replace it. However that’ll be cutting into my travel money. I’ll have to wing it and see what happens. I NEED my wow escape while traveling.. I really really do.

We’ll see… I feel so… grown up…. and I keep wanting to tell mom about all I’m doing. She’d be so proud. Caught myself today, wanting to call home and tell her about the trips and how I was wishing she could tag along, just to see the country. If she was here, I’d pay for her flight… and let her ride down to GA with me. I’d even get a smoking hotel room so she’d not have to go outside to smoke (used to always complain at her about that… and it was so dumb of me to fret over it). It’d be a blast.. for a split second, just after they told me when they were sending me… I forgot mom was gone.. and in that split second, I saw us on the trip together, wondering what sorta shops she’d find while I was at work. It was a very nice split second.

Anywho… another late night update…. wishing you all the best.

Waiting

The interview went well …. I’m still not sure if I have the job or how much it pays but on the drive up there, our manager found out that our NC office would be closing… soooo in the next month or two, I’ll either be in IL working or unemployed… lets hope it’s not the latter.

Really hoping I get it.. I already have a good friend up there, it seems like a place I can start over…. and actually LIVE. Pray, cross fingers, toss bones or whatever you do for people when you want to wish them luck!  I need it.

PS: I did not once say Ill-A-Noise while up there… had to watch myself tho cause at home, I’m 50/50 on how I pronounce it.

ILL-A-Noise Bound 

We drive up tomorrow(gotta be up in 4 hours) Protected my other posts as I’m mildly concerned about rumors @ work. It’s tense there for no reason, so keeping stuff closer for the moment.

I bought a new luggage bag, barely could get all my junk in it.. a cute tote bag too and all my needed extras. Got my laptop bag loaded up .. need to try to remember to pack lotion.

Even got skittles for a snack.

I’ll try to take pics with the phone so I can post here.  Excited about seeing a new place!!! Gnight all

Ranting Ahead..

Cell phones.. I love mine, I’m on it often… I even have a bluetooth so I can drive more safely. (and not miss text’s while @ work). But what pisses me off .. people who come into the break room while you’re trying to eat lunch/watch tv/play on your laptop quietly… and chat away.. not in a quiet voice. Oh no, that’d be half way excuseable. No they jabber away in a loud voice.. talking about CRAP. Right now the lady is talking about someone’s headstone, and dinner at a visitation and gossiping about neightbors and family members… She’s bored, and can’t sit quietly so she calls her family. She’s an adult too. Nice lady .. but can not seem to sit quietly. If she’s not calling someone, she’ll come in.. and just start talking. I really don’t GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR FAMILY .. and I double don’t give a damn about your renovations or your plumbing. I should be greatful she’s not talking about sexual plumbing I suppose. There’s also this one girl at work… she’s ALWAYS fighting with her husband on her cell in the break room. YELLING and cussing at him. I don’t care if he’s the biggest asshole in the world. I don’t want to hear you demean him.  Take that shit outside please!.

Lesse what else. Re my below post. Yes, I can see how the world today is a comparitive golden age to 1000 years ago. But in many ways, we’re still the same. We still have murderers, rapist.. we still have the evil that was around so very long ago. It may even be less common, because of our structure. But that it happens as much as it does, that is what sickens me. Most of us remember being children, being able to leave our doors unlocked, windows open. We can’t do that now.. and it won’t ever change. There’s no way to get back to that place, unless you own an island.. but even then, you’ll still worry. It’s been beaten into us. I don’t deny there are beautiful things out there.. and lots of them at that. But, they’re becoming less and less.

Anywho.. gotta get back to work. Cell phone lady has gone and I want to enjoy the quiet for 10 min. more.

This World… is so … sad…. lost

I went to school with a girl, I was never best friends with her. But I liked her, she was popular and pretty.. both her and her brother. Her mom was very involved in school activities. Worked at our highschool, knew all my brothers and always stopped to talk to me when I saw her around school or in town… her dad, was a coach at school, both knew my parents. Mom always liked them. They were very good people…

Last night the parents home was broken into.. the dad was reading his bible… his grandson was staying the night and his wife sleeping in the bed. They dragged the dad thru the house at gun point. The grandson hid. They pulled the wife out of bed.. beat her with the gun. The husband asked if she was ok, after she said she was.. they beat him to death with their gun and ran away. 

I’ve not talked to this highschool friend… since highschool. I’ve not talked to a lot of people since highschool. But I was so sad to hear about this. It was her son who was staying with his grandparents when this happened.

Several years ago I blogged about a friend of the family who was murdered by his crazy wife.. again a family my parents and I knew, they helped with youth football/cheerleading.. I grew up with their children.

Also years ago.. I wrote about the guy who listened to my silly little dj thing and sent me a tell/joke about cannibalism.. I mocked him.. calling him a weirdo.. telling him he needed to get out more.. get laid.. get friends.  Months later he murdered a child.

These are just horrific crimes that have touched me personally…. it seems like an unusually high number… but maybe it’s not so unusual at all.

And while my own family was hit in a very tragic way (and just as pointless)… it wasn’t via such dark means. There was no evil involved. It was just a stupid accident.. a very stupid accident.

This world.. it’s such a horrible place. I know these things don’t mirror all of society… but … I start to wonder if it’s the majority. The statistics lean towards that. Throw in all these senseless killings based on religion… race… what side of town you live in…  heck, just recently, some bored kids killed the dog of an ex Navy Seal.. FOR FUN… a hero to our country.. they kill his pet for shit & giggles. What… the.. fuck.

Do we hold nothing sacred? Animals? People? Heros? Do we .. love ANYTHING? Do we dream of anything other than pain and suffering… and fear?

What’s becoming of this world we’re stuck in… I used to believe “that in the end, everyone is good at heart”. When I read the Diary of Anne Frank… I truly believed her words, because if she could believe that after having lived as she did, it’d be incredibly weak of me not to. But now… I wonder. Maybe it’s just juvenile innocence that allows that luxury.. that ability to believe everything will work out in the end. I’ve learned.. many times it just doesn’t. And this makes me feel very, very old.

It also makes me want to find something small and beautiful in this world and hold on to it.. focus on it, and put blinders on to the rest of this insanity…  blah.

I MUST DESTROY YOU

Oh-My-God.

I can’t stop doing this.

BAAAAAAAAAYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

hehehe Clickie and join my Dojo of doom! when I reach lvl 10 (of doomness) I will create a clan (of doom).

Stolen from SansMerci 

The first five people to respond to this post will get something handmade by me.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It’ll be done this year (2009).
4. You will have no clue what it’s going to be.
5. It will be something made in the real world and not something over the internet.

Here’s the fine print:
In return, all you need to do is post this text into a blog of your own and make 5 things for 5 others. No cheating; if you want something from me you have to post this on your site and follow through. You do not have to be particularly artsy-fartsy to do this. Really. Just be creative.

Totally thought this was cute.  Knowing me, even if one person replies to this, it’ll take me a full year to do.