The Graduate and Mother's Day

Niece #2 has graduated from college with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and prepared to start working on her Master's. As usual I escorted my mother and stayed at a nearby hotel. Hotel I picked had a pool and way too fancy setting for my cheap mother to handle. We sat at an outdoor stage area named after the trees surrounding it. Who would have guessed an area named for trees would have no trees to provide shade. They were cut down being old and falling apart to cause a safety concern. They were replaced with tiny trees. 2 hour ceremony in the bright sun caused everyone an bad sunburn. A couple people in our party got blisters. The relative we stayed with had never heard of Aloe Vera. It's been around for years and in every lotion sold in stores. We stayed overnight with a relative and called my sister coming the day for Mother's Day lunch to bring some aloe vera for our sunburns. Had a good chat over the afternoon. My relative showed me all their photos and special decorations from her husband's mother's house. Then we had to leave to meet my other sister's family who didn't come to the ceremony. We went out to eat with sister's family. Brother-in-law was at a race earlier in the day and had just returned home. Children love playing tic-tac-toe, when they win. Nephew hid his crayons and had to use niece's. We later found one of his on the floor while looking for something else. Apparently, even then, he refused to use it preferring my niece's crayon colors. Then the bill came and we left. Had dessert at sister's house. I bought a large sugar cookie for Mother Day dinners. I came home with none so it was a hit. Animals were happy to see me come home. Food/water bowls empty. Litter box full. Fed everybody and got ready for bed. Had a full day of activity and lots of driving.

Advice for College Graduates

Ah, this will be harder than advice to high school graduates. I spent 15 years after college graduation bouncing job to job and never run into a good man to marry so no kids in my lifetime. What would a broke crazy cat lady have to say to a college graduate? I'll give it my best shot. 1. Pay back your student loans as quickly as you can. It will save you on interest to pay the principal part (the loan amount) down faster than on schedule. 2. Surprise! You are going working for the same amount of pay as a high school student and have a long way to get to the middle. Yes, a degree will help get to the middle class jobs after experience builds on your resume, but at first, you will be at the bottom of hierarchy. 3. Remember Freedom of Expression you are so comfortable with is now over with. You will conform to your occupation dress code and manners, or you will be unemployed a lot. As they say: Shape up or ship out. 4. Pay your bills on time. A credit score may not mean much until you start applying for jobs, apartments, car loans, mortgage loans, and you got it, credit cards. As my father always said, If you can't afford something, then you don't buy it. Remember, Christmas is a good time to ask for things you can't afford. 5. Save as much as you can. Rainy days will happen. Your income will be fluid moving up and down as time goes on. Life is not a success only journey. And vacations are nice. 6. Remember it took your parents 20 years of hard work to get where they are now. It will take you just as long so don't believe you have to have everything your parents have right away. They struggled too long before they had you. 7. Get use to crash courses and take notes. Every job I've had is a crash course of training and then they leave you alone ready or not. 8. Most jobs are dealing with computers that record everything you do on them and dealing with cash jobs will have cameras. No surfing the internet when forbidden and no stealing cause management will figure it out and you will be fired. BTW, embezzlement is a crime that can send you to jail if your employer prosecutes. 9. When quitting a job, don't tell off the manager when you leave. That person will be the one future employers contact for a reference. In addition, you might need that manager to re-hire you later. 10. Don't think you are done learning. Many occupations require adults to return to college like: mechanics, teachers, office workers, etc. Technology changes, training styles change, and laws change. Job loss is another reason to return to college.

New job and then new interview

Oh why do these things have to happen to me? Start new job after a phone interview as merchandiser. In training I find I mostly clean shelves and relabel them cause most store owners don't care if items are arranged to "THE PLAN" the merchandising company created. It is once a month, five stores, so very part-time, but it's a job. I sign up to work for the local amusement park that is far away and pays little money, but it's a job and wouldn't interfere with the merchandising. Strike that, new amusement park job will interfere with merchandising job so have to let go of it after buying cleaning supplies to do it. Oh well, I can use cleaning supplies at home. So complete interview with amusement park job and temp agency calls me trying to fill in a new position at a bank. I must be at the bottom of their applicant list. Great job opportunity with perfect timing. Get through phone interview and listen to bank person talk about being investigated, wants this project of hers over with asap which would leave me out of a job, and do video meetings because lady is in another state. After considering my options, I decide to go with the amusement park. I know when this job ends and hope will lead to better opportunities when it is over. If not, just go on unemployment again. Now that my Cobra insurance is about to end, I have to find some on my own. Find out I'm finally poor enough for Medicaid courtesy of the cut off being raised from Obamacare. Before I was too rich for public assistance or had a job that provided health insurance and according to Obamacare, I had to accept it. Often I hated employer minimum health insurance because it, more often than not, don't cover name brand prescriptions, like the inhaler I need for asthma. This always lead to fights with every pharmacist for the past 15 years how expensive my inhaler is, questions if I still want it, and I need better insurance to get it at a better price. Talk about worst customer service imaginable and I get it at every pharmacy I've visited. Hope Medicaid covers it. And finally, the icing on the cake. I got an email asking for a administrative assistant position interview. Great timing again. I explained my other job so will see if this one interviews me at all. They are interviewing so many people you know, aka I scared the employer off. So what's the next curve ball that will be thrown at me, I win the lottery in the middle of my temp job?