Long absence

It’s becoming harder to write in my diary nowadays. I just lack the motivation to write. With that said, here’s what I’ve been up to the past couple of weeks.

Job

I had been interning with 680 the fan and L.E.A.D., but the rise in gas prices made it harder to honor those internships. I wasn’t making enough money, so I started looking for jobs closer to where I live. I would spend hours browsing craigslist ads, local newspaper classifieds and networking with little avail. I finally found an ad for full-time work for Sears.

The position was for a sales associate, and interested applicants were encouraged to apply in person for the position. I made the trip to the local sears and gave them my resume. Luckily, the hiring manager was working that day; it took her about an hour before she was finally able to see me.

When we went in her office, she asked me a few questions and thanked me for wearing a shirt and tie. After about 30 minutes, she asked if I could come in the next day to shadow on of her employees. She told me that the position would be full-time, the hourly rate was federal minimum wage ($7.25), and they get paid every two weeks.

So, my first day was on 5/12, and I worked for four hours. I worked 30 hours the following week. The paychecks arrived on the 20th. However, the manager only paid me for four hours instead of the full 34 hours. I explained that to her; she subsequently called the owner, and he would send me the paycheck immediately. I met the owner for the first time yesterday when he gave me my paycheck :-).

I mainly work on the sales floor ringing up customers and selling our products. My manager is pretty cool and laid back. She treats all of her employees with respect even when we make mistakes. She’ll tell us what we did wrong and leave it at that. She doesn’t power trip and doesn’t put anyone down.

My co-workers are awesome too. We chip in for lunch together, and we’re all around the same age too.

Connecticut

My sister and I have been going over the itinerary for CT the past few weeks. We’ll be leaving early morning Friday, July 15th and coming back late Monday night (18th). We also decided to spend Sunday in New York! 🙂

We were looking at prices for the amtrak running from Windsor, CT to Penn Station NY. We would leave from Windsor around 7 a.m. and arrive in New York at 10 a.m. Our return train would leave NY close to 7 and will arrive back in Windsor around 10:30. I’ve already asked on FB, but what would be the best way to maximize our day in New York?

We want to see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and Time Square for sure. I’m just concerned because we know our mom wants to go. Unfortunately, she is the kind to lag behind and constantly complain every step of the way. At the same time, we kind of don’t want to leave her at the hotel because then she thinks we’re abandoning her. I already suspect that we’ll be walking most of the time, and combined with the summer heat, we just won’t have time to deal with our mom wanting to complain all the time.

I want to enjoy being in New York City for the first time. I know my sister was fed up when mom went with her to the Carrowinds amusement park in Charlotte last year. So we have no idea what to do about mom :-(.

Well, I’m going to get out of here and enjoy the rest of my day off!