Newport Beach!

Here's me, in Newport Beach, so happy to be in CA with Jason and Amanda! Oh, and did I mention the sunshine? Exclamation points all around!

It was a super quick weekend, just Friday through Sunday, but fun-filled. I got to go to all my favorite places, shopping, and otherwise, and spent some time with my parents and their friends. I also got to spend the day with Jason and Amanda, and their kitteh Cheetoh.

The day included a farmer's market trip, seeing Jason act, Amanda cooking a kick-ass lasagna, a visit to the most amazing resort I've ever been to (and a Bellini), and then some gin and tonic to wind down the day.

I need California weekends more often. :)

Precious

Now, I love the Dixie Chicks. And I love cats...but these Humane Society videos continue to be weird to me. Weird, but entertaining.

WTF????

Okay, so now I'm just confused. A little background...in this summer job search, there was always an old standby: the call center. And there was this big bank in town, who seems to be doing alright despite the current economy. And they're the only ones with ads in the paper. But, the jobs might be...well, less than savory. Selling people banking products they don't really need, collections, and least morally objective, customer service.

So after finding out that I didn't get the job I wanted today, I thought heck, I'm there...I might as well apply with this bank. Let's call them Bitty. That's not their real name, but you can probably figure it out. Need a hint? It's not Schmells Bargo. Think of another big bank.

I applied with them when I first moved here, though I didn't quite know I was applying. I went to an "information session," which was really testing. And, let's just say I was definitely one of the sharper tacks in the room. I passed the tests.

So tonight I jumped on their website, figuring eh, no big deal. I filled out the application, accurately, despite annoying fields that only took their specific answers in regards to the "function" of a particular job. And...

I was rejected. WHAT??? According to them, I did not "qualify on the assessment." Although I can fill it out again in 90 days. Ugh...

Here's what I can figure. The assessment was questions about how you would handle coworkers, work situations, and what your feelings are about work environments. I think I was too honest. There were a bunch of questions about whether or not you would want to stay at a job that was boring and un-challenging. Uh, no. (I was supposed to say yes??) And questions about whether you would tell your boss that a coworker was bugging you (no), whether or not you should tell customers you'll only talk to them if they stop yelling (no), and whether or not you should point out customer's faults (um, no!).

So now I'm just really confused...If they asked me "Could you endure a job you hated for 3 months so that you could make some money in between school semesters," the answer totally would have been yes.

I take back everything I said about this job search being better than the last. It still sucks. I did not get the job I was hoping for, and have heard nada from all the other places I applied.

Other things that happened today:

• I was supposed to go and observe a couple of hearing evaluations at school, but they got cancelled.
• So, instead, I decided to go to some rummage sales in town. I got a car seat (for the nephews), and a book about canning (Putting Food By). Pretty decent.
• I was at Shopko, and saw a woman being detained for shoplifting. It was odd--a female employee was walking the woman toward the office, with a male employee on the other side of her. But, while they were walking, the female employee was asking what seemed like stern questions, but was doing it in a very conversational tone. It didn't quite fit. She asked the woman if she had shoplifted before as if she was asking her if she'd ever visited the store before...odd.
• I saw a neighbor lady lead an animal control officer to another neighbor's house. The animal control lady came out with a cat in a cage. My neighbors are all dog people, to be sure, but I can't figure out what would make you call animal control on a stray cat. I haven't ever seen it around the neighborhood before, and it didn't seem to be bothering anyone. It just seemed mean. Meanwhile, there's a horrible dog that lives behind me which yaps day and night, and no one seems to care.
  

Patience...

This is not only my sick of studying face, it's also my exasperated while waiting to hear about a part-time job face. I had an interview last week for what seems like a great part-time job. I am now, not so patiently, waiting to hear their decision. They said I was a great candidate, but they may want more hours than I can give them during school. Boo.

Double boo because the other jobs available include daycare, and the zoo.

Procrastinating...again

This is me, studying. As you can see, it's not going well. So I'm taking a break from studying, otherwise known as procrastinating. I'm currently reviewing for a test on neuroanatomy, and it's not easy. It'd be one thing if it were just the structures, but then they all do something, and have things that can go wrong, etc. etc. I need some flashcards.

Easter in PA

We went to PA over Easter to see my grandfather

and my grandmother.

We also went to my mom's cousin's farm, where my nephew fed the goats,

got to see all the big machinery,

put his right hand right in a pile of grease,

got a "little bit dirty," and

was just generally cute.

One of the things my grandmother does is makes stockings. She makes a new one for each grandchild, great-grandchild, and many others. They're pretty awesome. (And if anyone knows my mom, that's her picture in the background with her siblings. She's on the far left)

While we were there my nephew got a play chainsaw, and terrorized everyone with it all weekend, in a good way.

My aunt and uncle who are totally into cars brought up their grandson's pedal car for the boys to play with.

And the retirement community provided their own entertainment through flags that marked utilities. Our apologies to the people who come and try to figure out where the utilities are based on where the flags used to be.

There's probably more that I could say, and there are definitely more things we did, but seriously, how much more of this cuteness could you take?

Airport, with Kitty

Monday

I started the job hunt again today. The last job hunt was a long, tiring exercise in self-reflection and doubt. This one is different. As a full-time student who is also seeking a job, I don't feel nearly the desperation I did the first time. This one is still important, but also a whole lot more fun.

Still un-fun though is paper applications. Seriously...I haven't used my pencil-holding muscles for years. Regardless, I filled out applications today at temp agencies, a bookstore, a hotel, and then thankfully a few online apps.

Speaking of writing, I saw an old teacher from high school today. He asked me all of the demographic questions about family and jobs, and then he asked me what I was doing with my writing. My writing? He said he remembered me being a very good writer in high school (there are good writers in high school?), and he hoped I was doing something with it.

Um...well...I mumbled an answer about using it in school...but it got me to thinking about it. A friend once suggested I write more as well. So I'm thinking about it, about starting some sort of ongoing writing project to keep myself at it. But I'm not sure what. And I'm taking suggestions. We'll see what comes of it.

A Horse of a Different Color

This week in one of my classes we've been studying neurologically based speech disorders, including strokes. One possible consequence of a stroke is aphasia, featured in this video. If you're at all interested in strokes, etc. you should check it out. And just to set your expectations--it's not funny at all, it's sad.

Perceptual Mismatch

So, you know how sometimes things just don't seem to go together? Um, yeah...I think I saw the ultimate in perceptual mismatching today in my intro. to communication disorders class today.

Imagine you were seeing a video of a medical procedure, one where a doctor was paralyzing a vocal cord in order to enable to person to produce better vocal sounds. What kind of music would you imagine?

This?



How about a saline nasal flush?



I don't really know what this one is all about, buy hey, who wouldn't pair the Nutracker with a saline nasal flush?

Hilarious.

My Favorite April Fools Jokes from Today

Organic Air from Whole Foods

Flight to Mars from Expedia

Guardian Switching to Twitter Only

(Sorry if the links don't work after 4/1).

I'd like to add Google's, but I just didn't think it was that funny this year.

Are there other good ones out there that I missed?