Well I’m quite upbeat for a Monday. I had a great call with a recruiter at a company about a position there. It sounds like a good fit, particularly in the culture. I also have the possibility of a date in the near future.  I realize that sounds odd but because he had to get off the phone right away, the when didn’t get worked out. Things are looking up around here!

This is still my job hunting experience:

While I’m still getting over the disappointment of not being able to tryout for the Tahitian group, I have been busy getting the rest of my life in order. I have the leadership program beginning in late August. It’s our first chance to see who is in the program locally and meet our coaches. Coming up next week I have the first seminar of a series on sex and intimacy. Everyone’s favorite topic. It should be a very interesting seminar if only to see how everyone else reacts to the topic. I have to make time for dance practice and especially conditioning. I never work as hard on my own as I do in class. I suppose everyone is like that. I certainly like the results from just three hours of conditioning and practice–trimmer arms, tigher abs.

The other part of my life to get in order is work, of course, but also dating. I put that on hold over the summer while my son was here. It’s not easy to meet someone new while he’s here, and I would rather spend most of my free time with my son. Actually, I don’t like the dating part…the meeting, the wasted time. It can be fun to get to know someone, but you have to go through so much effort to find one worthwhile.

I get asked that a lot. Lately I haven’t known what to say. I know there is a lot that is new, but how interesting do others find it? I’m still working on my project, although it has been a slow week coming up to the holiday. I had a seminar end this week, and the other didn’t meet. So I’m off to live in my now quiet head.

I have my costume for Tahitian competition. Well, all but the flower. I have to decide on a flower, and it has to be real. So that means it has to last all day (from 7 am to about 6 pm).

Last weekend I was busy meeting up with friends–even after a long day at the garage sale. It seems that most people are out of town this weekend or have other plans, but perhaps something will come up spur of the moment. A friend is supposed to have a party either Friday or Saturday, but I haven’t heard anything further.

Oh, I finally got a Nintendo Wii, which is supposed to be for my son. I have been playing. It’s a lot of fun. I ended up with a sore arm from playing tennis.

Work? Well, it’s still the same, although it seems that some new interest could provide more immediate funding. Just have to see.

The cats are pretty much the same. So is the dog. I have one cat with an immune disorder, and he’s not looking so good right now. Not much I can do about it other than keep him comfortable. It’s kind of icky to watch him waste away.

Some experiments should never happen.

Ever seen a refrigerator like this? Even workplace refrigerators can get this disgusting.

Whose rules do you play by? Yours? Others? How do you figure out others’ rules without asking directly? Doesn’t everyone play according to their own rules?

I began thinking about this a week ago when someone told me that I play my games by my rules (considered good) and I play others’ games by my rules (considered bad). I do know enough about myself to know that if I don’t like the rules, I don’t play.
The intensive thinking came about from a discussion last night about the games we play in life. Everything can be reduced to a game. My biggest concern is how to keep a game going for a long time. Games start out pretty good. Things go well. Everyone is happy. Then stuff happens–could be anything. Arguments. Petty personality issues (often happens at work). Then the game isn’t as much fun so then it dies a slow death. I’ve seen this in just about every area of my life. Doing something new is great for awhile. Then I become disillusioned. Sometimes I quit after that. If I don’t leave, I’ve left anyway because I’m not really there.

It has been cat week here, so it’s time for something different. I have been working on my project these past couple of weeks, but mainly this week. A little bit every day. It’s going to go well. Coming up this weekend I have several choices of things to do: tahitian dancing, going out with friends or be an extra in a movie. Sunday I have an audition. How weird is that? Honestly, I don’t even know what to do.

I’m writing this before the people get here to repair the back fence. Yesterday they didn’t show because it rained a little. Very little. For a few hours. Silly workers. I’m waiting for this morning’s excuse to be that it’s too wet. So I’m waiting to see if they show. I need them to finish the fence as promised in one day, so my dog can go out and not get out. She’s pretty lazy now, but she used to love to get loose and run…and run…and run.

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Anyone have a rejection letter? It’s a writing exercise. I don’t keep any around. They are generally too generic and too stupid to keep.

My out-of-office email… if I had an office to be out of.

“I am out of the office. I will not be reading email. You may continue to send email while I’m out. I plan to enjoy every minute of my vacation and that means no email will be read until I get back. I may or may not respond when I get back. In fact, after seeing that my email box contains 1000 emails, I will delete them all without reading a single one. You will know that I have returned to the office, when you receive a reply.”

Do you think I could get away with that message? At least it’s honest. I really hate the standard out-of-office automated replies.

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Monday I went up to San Francisco. I forgot how busy the city can be on a weekday. I much prefer the weekends. I even went late (after 11 am), and there were lots of people walking around. I went up there to go to a casting agency for free photos. The agency posts casting for extra work. I think most people would be surprised by the number of movies and commercials that are shot here. Even I am surprised. I’m sure you wonder how I found out about this. Well, I can thank Mr. O for the information. It sounded interesting, so really on a whim, I signed up. Why not? It might be fun.
I’m not very fond of the photos on the site, so I will get some other ones at some point. Right now I ‘m working on finding a photographer who is willing to trade for a CD. I would really like to get photos taken at the studio where my son and I had photos taken a few years ago, but he’s a bit on the expensive side. Well worth the money, but spending $500 on photos isn’t in my budget.

So SF on a Monday… I saw a guy walking a large, hairy black cat on a leash. Now, I see dogs all over, but this is the first time I saw a cat. The cat didn’t even seem spooked by the cars. My cats freak out over cars and sirens. I also drove by the place where I have to take my son to a seminar at the end of the month. I didn’t see any parking even though the map shows parking nearby. I couldn’t find any parking this morning except on the street (which probably was sheer dumb luck). I really hate driving in SF because you can never make a right or left turn because of all the pedestrians. They can be pretty aggressive too, if–god forbid–your car sticks out into the crosswalk.

Taking the train up to SF isn’t necessarily convenient. I can say I’m not looking forward to Friday morning traffic to SF. I wonder how long it will take. I will have to keep you posted if I get any film, commercial or print work. Keep your fingers crossed.

Why do we celebrate people who work more than 40 hours a week? Why is it mentioned that someone works 70 hours a week in an article? I saw this in an article about and executive at eBay. I see this a lot with executives. Why can’t all that work be done in 40 hours or less?

My ideal would be to work about 6 hours a day and get paid the regular salary for 8 hours a day. There is so much else to do besides work. I quit a job where I was bored and unhappy to spend the time with my son. I don’t have a lot of time with him, and it was more important to me to spend his summer vacation with him. I know it meant a lot to him too.

So are these people happy? Most of them–probably not. I’m sure their families aren’t happy. I would much rather have a fulfilling, happy life than all the money that these executives make. although I’m poised to become one myself. I need to find the proper balance for me between work and everything else I wish to do.