Smoking

Two jokes, one terrible and the other sort of funny:

Social Worker vs. Pitt Bull
What's the difference between a social worker and a pitt bull terrier?

At least you can get part of your baby back from the pitt bull

(Sorry to PQ--I know Pitt Bulls are really a great dog...)


Bald Eagle
How do you identify a bald eagle?

All his feathers are combed over to one side.

Well, it's been. Been what? Well, hard to go into it all. Imagine standing on the road with a stalled car at -20F (actual temp, the windchill was even worse), imagine it again, and one more time. The car kept stalling as I was trying to get back home and then to the garage. Then imagine standing alongside of a car that's billowing black smoke. Fun. And I thought I'd dressed warm for the weather. Certainly not. After 45-minutes out there I couldn't feel my hands or feet.

Although I already had an appointment at the garage for the following afternoon, I had thought I could avoid a tow, but it was not to be. The tow truck driver was nice and dropped SLA at her apt and me at home. By the time we were done fooling around with all of that, it had been several hours.

I had an interview scheduled for the following day too. I was going to bring the car in right after it, and now--no car. Taking the bus isn't really such a big deal, many people take it every day. But I hadn't ridden the bus for close to two years, had to get all dressed up in the suit and carry a satchel and I'm still using a cane and limping. Plus it was still -20F and cold for waiting for the bus and walking around out there. But I'm proud to say that I made it to the interview (and back--had a WC person waiting for me at home, in fact) and am waiting to hear back from them.

Have another interview this week and had one (diff one) last week. At least I have the car for this upcoming one and had it for the last interview. I've been netting lots of interviews lately but the employers are interviewing HORDES of people for each position, so I haven't gotten one yet. But have not given up hope. It helps that I really love my present job.

I'm getting ready for work and won't be able to make bloggy rounds yet but hope all of you are having a great year so far!

The Birthday Quiz Key

Well here it is, the Birthday Quiz Key. This is your last chance to quickly think up 5 items related to a birthday party, if you haven't already done so.

Actually, after I'd thought of 5 things and read the key--I wished that I would have gone further and named 10 items (if I could have thought of that many things quickly) because the answers and the ordering were so intriguing. Yes, I know the quiz was just for fun but it seemed to work quite well, for me, anyway. The order of life priorities was something to think about.



Last chance to quickly think up 5 items related to a birthday party.....

















The Birthday Quiz Key

Age = the past
Balloons = adventure, change
Birthday honoree = self, ego
Bows = tradition
Cake = material comforts
Candles = personal connections
Cards = feelings/emotion
Decorations = physical, the body
Drinks = fun, sports or hobbies
Games = work or career
Gifts = helping others, altruism
Guests = intimate relationships
Hats = humor
Ice Cream = ambition
Invitations = manners, social niceties
Paper Plates = worries, concerns
Party = family
Party Favors = community, neighbors
Ribbons = organization and order
Sleepover = children
Song = communication
Toasts = optimism and planning ahead
Wrapping Paper = style, appearances


Mine were:
1) Balloons
2) Cake
3) Candles
4) The Happy Birthday Song (Song)
5) Birthday Hats (Hats)

And no, the answer “Birthday Suit” did not have a corresponding key. Some of the answers were kind of logical and others, more like, huh? Glad I didn't think of paper plates. Try this quiz on your friends—it’s fun. I did! It seemed to promote a lot of discussion.

A birthday quiz

OK, I'm feeling better now. Thanks for the dose-of-reality comments! I'm certainly not the only grandparent to miss their grandchildren, and not see them very often. It's the norm nowadays, I guess. Still painful though but I'll live. Just can't resist saying how very lucky those grandparents who live nearby their grandchildren are, though...

In honor of all the birthdays, below is a birthday quiz. It's just for fun and it supposed to show what your priorities are.


Quick--think of five objects related to a birthday party.


Here are the rules:
--Be sure to remember and/or jot down the ORDER or RANKING that you pick the five objects: the first object that came to your mind is #1, next #2, etc.
--The ranking is how you prioritize certain areas of life.

I'll post the key (answers) later.

What should have been a super day

I was kind of sad today--on what should have been a happy day. Today was my Grandson's first birthday! I had bought him a gift and got a cute card. I'd put off sending the card until Wednesday as I was hoping that somehow I could manage to get down there but it was not to be.

I mailed the card on Wednesday with rather a heavy heart and today was sort of sad for me, too. What I had feared has come to pass, my own Grandson barely knows me. We've only visited a couple of times all this past year. I miss him and miss my son and his girlfriend too. Son had called several times on Friday to see when/if I was coming. We finally talked in the evening and it was a short conversation because girlfriend had to get to work. I do hope this year will get better, as this was a huge disappointment. Part of my feeling is envy, too. The other side of the family sees Grandson a lot. They live in the same town and get to babysit him often. That's the "Grandma" he knows, not me, sigh.

But it WAS a busy day of work and I did get to see my Mom for a few hours.

A bit of bragging

Yet another action-filled day, as most days have been. Two hours in the morning of Tori Tori Tori, the Workers Comp job finding person. She was rather pleased with me, for once, because of all the pending interviews.

Then on to the City County Complex for the three-part test for Economic Specialist. As already mentioned, I had previously passed the first test, mostly math--calculating housing and food stamp allowances--given early one Saturday morning. The second batch of tests started off with a data entry test. It was a timed test and yet accuracy was also of utmost importance. It was awkward, as some of the fields needed a tab between and others did not. One could not go back to a field once you tabbed. So there were issues and I was just starting to get the hang of it when the timer sounded to end the test. I did pass the test, although I'm sure it wasn't an outstanding score.

Then a typing test, "keyboarding" was next. The passing score for this test had to be a typing speed above 55 WPM, which is quite fast. There was a two-minute warm-up and then the three-minute test. I could whip along pretty quickly once warmed up, although at one point I lost my place in reading the copy during the test and nearly panicked. But the result was gratifying, 72 WPM and a passing score!

The last of the tests I took this afternoon was the math test. It, too was timed, no calculator allowed, just a piece of scratch paper. I was surprised to complete both sides of the test and was re-checking my work (and good thing I did, as I had accidentally skipped one) when the timer went off. The test-giver disappeared with the test for a brief time and then returned with a "Congratulations!" and that they would be calling me for an interview. I had scored 100% correct in the math test! If you know me at all, you will know that math is certainly not a friend of mine. In fact I received a "D" in high school math during one semester. So a bit of bragging is in order: that score today was a total miracle!

After that morning and afternoon, it was time for a counseling appointment. And after it was done then out with my best friend SLA. So it was a good, productive, but very long day. Maybe something job-wise will come out of it--or not.

Another Typical Day

Well, it's turning into another typical day so far, which includes:

--An early morning call from my mother which lasted 45 minutes--before I'd had my coffee or made a "pit stop"

--Three calls to potential employers, including asking about an interview that I had on December 16th. One call-back about setting up an interview

--Called to set up the next batch of tests for the County Economic Specialist position

--Wrote a cover letter, printed off a resume, packaged and addressed to a new potential employer

--Waiting to hear whether I work or not today, and when

And it's just noon so far. The first Economic Specialist test was really difficult. There were 100 questions and 10 were spelling (easy) 10 were grammar (not too bad) but the other 80 questions were MATH questions--with no calculator allowed! Yikes.

When the test-giver asked who needed scratch paper, every hand in the room was raised and waving. I used up 3 sheets of scratch paper, had to turn in a used one to get another. Most people taking the test used pretty much the same, except for the couple of people who threw down the test in disgust and left the room.

I wish I could have kept the test just to look it over. There were formulas for figuring housing allowances, food stamps, etc. and boy, were they ever complex, I'd had no idea! And not just a one-stop calculation for each, but a long series of multiplying, figuring percentages and looking up on a chart (on a different page)to get ONE answer. It was so grueling that I began to wonder if I even wanted the job but it pays so well. And I passed, so on to the next batch of tests. I'm scheduled to take them tomorrow afternoon, between the worker's comp consultation and 2 visitations for work.

Yesterday we had 7 inches of snow. Today it's 15 degrees below zero and the windchill is supposed to be 20-40 below. It looks nice and sunny outside but sunny days are the coldest in the wintertime. The house was cracking and creaking all night long and the furnace also ran all night. Thank goodness the furnace has been working great!

Speaking of great: My wonderful neighbors used their snow-blower to clean my side and driveway! The sidewalk is half a block on one side and a good portion in the front. I've mentioned before how I always seem to buy the corner house which gets stuck with all that shoveling in the winter.

Cute joke from the Urban Chickens group:

Why do chicken coops have 2 doors?
If they had 4 they would be a sedan

So how's your new year going so far?

What was I thinking?

I just finished talking to one of my bosses. She said I don't have to come in for my two scheduled visits--unless I want to work them. Both bosses are there and the visits are covered. After just spending a couple of hours doing my paperwork for visits that occurred yesterday the prospect of a free day (I don't work full time but it's seven days a week)was too good to resist. I said, well, as long as the visits are covered and they don't really need me....

And now, after hanging up the phone I figured it out. I'm losing around $40 by passing up those visits. Yikes, I cannot really afford to do that! What was I thinking?

Well, on to enjoy the rest of the day. Have a good one!