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No VFFs for me today March 10, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : fitness, spending , 5comments

Well I’m back from Bellingham. They didn’t have my size in the VFF that I wanted. Boo-urns!! But they took my name and number and said that they would call me when more stock arrived in my size. The guy that was helping me said that they were selling out every VFF shipment that came in, and it is nearly impossible to keep up with the demand!

He sized me properly, so in the meantime I might try to find a place to buy a pair online (saves me another drive down there, and I might get them sooner).

Oh well. At least it was a nice drive on a beautiful sunny day. :)

And … on a PF-related note, I only have $5.18 left until I reach my next $100 Google Adsense payout. Woo hoo! Couldn’t have come at a better time either.


Going for a drive tomorrow March 9, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : fitness , 4comments

Now that I have all this free time, I decided that now would be the perfect time to start running in VFFs. BF and I are going back to the island over the weekend for 4 or 5 days (he’s attending a work course), and I would love to have them while I’m there. I’m also going to bring my hiking boots so that I can go on a few hikes too during the day. WHILE EVERYBODY ELSE IS AT WORK. :)

So tomorrow I’m going to take a little drive across the border and get fitted for VFFs (I’m not sure if I mentioned it on this blog, but I sold my old VFFs on eBay last month because I don’t think I bought the right model for running). I think I’m looking forward to the drive and just the sense of going somewhere, as much as getting the shoes. It’s going to take some time to adjust to wearing VFFs, but I’m really excited about it. They will cost about $85 US. I made $65 when I sold my old pair on eBay, so I only have to make up another $20 + tax with the purchase.


The first day of unemployment March 9, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : EI, job , 15comments

The last time I was unemployed, I came home and applied for every single marketing & communications job I could find on the internet, in some sort of blind rage. Which resulted in about a bazillion interviews and turning down a lot of crappy, low paying job offers. It was super stressful but at least everybody it seemed was hiring. I ended up taking a job with a non-profit organization in Vancouver. It was a good job in terms of networking, but it really wasn’t the right fit for me. I just wanted a job that would look good on my resume, and would be a good starting point while moving to a new city. So I took it. And I’m glad that I did because I made a lot of good industry contacts, and I made 2 or 3 friends there that I still hang out with.

This time? It’s totally different. I’m less stressed out. Yup, it totally sucks getting fired. But I believe in myself. I’m living with BF, and I have minimal expenses (aside from car and cell phone everything is variable). I can easily live off of EI benefits while I look for a job that suits me. I just won’t be able to save any money. Which does suck, but it’s the best-case scenario because I (hopefully) won’t be losing any money either. That is, if I’m eligible for EI. I applied last night and am waiting for my paperwork to be mailed to me. On EI I can receive a maximum of $457/week (or $914 bi-weekly). Which is less than half of what I was making before. It is what it is, right?

What am I going to do today, my first official day of being unemployed? Probably eat cookies for breakfast. Then go deposit my last pay cheque, pick up ingredients to make BF a pumpkin pie (and chicken enchiladas tonight) … mail off my ROE for my EI claim … and then probably attempt the No More Trouble Zones DVD again. Orrrr maybe not. I’m feeling just so out of it. I don’t even have the energy to look at the job boards because I know I’ll just see my stupid job posting and it’ll get me angry. I also noticed yesterday when looking at the posting that the starting wage is significantly lower than what I was making … so they’re looking for someone who is more skilled than me, but are willing to pay less!? Good luck to them!

***EDIT***
I couldn’t help it. I applied for one job today. It’s with an organization I’ve had 2 interviews with in the past, and 1 job offer. This is a huge organization with pretty much unlimited room for growth, and seems like a really good fit for my personality. So we’ll see.


I’m unemployed. March 8, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : job , 66comments

Well, I got let go from my job today. It’s an awful feeling, one I’ve felt before and I had hoped to never experience again.

This is how it all went down:
I got into work this morning to see an e-mail from a friend. It linked to a job posting on Craigslist. She is also in marketing, and wanted my opinion on the posting, because it was in my industry and my line of work, and also because she wondered if I knew anything about the company. Well, it turns out THAT IT WAS A LISTING FOR MY FREAKING JOB!!! WTF! So I marched into my boss’ office and asked if I was being let go. Long story short, the answer was obviously yes. But seriously. They weren’t even going to tell me. They were going to interview and hire someone behind my back, AND THEN let me go once they had someone in place. Who wants to work for a company that operates like that!? Certainly not very professional.

My boss made it clear that I am great at marketing. I am good at my job, and I get along with everybody at work. I’m pleasant, efficient and creative. But, my boss said that I didn’t know anything about the industry that I’m in, and if co-worker wanted to leave on vacation, I wouldn’t be able to take over her position. Which is fair. Except that I was hired knowing that I knew nothing about the industry, and it was co-worker’s job to train me to do her position. But she refused to train me. She told my boss that too. She just wasn’t going to do it because she doesn’t like me and it stressed her out too much.

There was no warning, no discussion, no performance review, no action plan, nothing. I wasn’t consulted, wasn’t given anything in writing. The only thing that ever went down was my boss telling me that my co-worker and I had to settle our differences and work together from now on. Which I thought we were doing, but apparently not. It takes two. So now, 1.5 years after I was hired, I get fired because I can’t do part of my job (because nobody ever took the time to train me), which technically isn’t really my job. And yeah, I knew all that time that I’d have to get trained eventually, but I didn’t know it was job-critical. Nobody said that. And it’s not like I wasn’t willing to learn, or that I was taught and just didn’t grasp the concepts. I asked questions when I had them, and I was interested in learning. But how do you ask a co-worker (who you know despises you, and said outright that she refused to train you) for help and guidance? My boss acknowledged that it isn’t all my fault, and that others do have to take the blame for my downfall, but he said when it comes down to it, he had to choose co-worker over me because apparently her job is more important than mine, and she has seniority over me. Ouch.

I received 3 weeks of severance, which they made sure to let me know was beyond generous of them since they were only obligated to give me 2.5 weeks. Everybody I said goodbye to at work was SHOCKED that I was being let go – hell, I was shocked! I was good at marketing and everybody knew it. And it feels awful to be fired for something I don’t feel that I had any control over.

I keep thinking, what could I have done differently? What could I have done that would have resulted in a different outcome? And honestly I don’t know if there is anything. I’m a nice person. I try to treat everybody with respect. But when someone is obviously trying to make life difficult for me (my boss definitely agrees that co-worker was going out of her way to be mean and pick on me), how do you respond? You can only take it for so long. Especially when the people who count aren’t willing to stand up for you.

So that’s that. I cried for a few hours when I got home. Spoke to my mom, my sister, my best friend, and BF. Getting let go is different this time, though. Because I know that I’m better than that job. I know it was holding me back from being creative, and it wasn’t a career-type job. I knew I would be leaving eventually, and it was always meant to be a temporary job until we went traveling. There was no room for movement, no room to learn anything new or expand my skills. It just is what it is. You had set tasks to do, and you needed to get them done. Which led me to feel bored and restless all the time. So maybe it was meant to happen, me being let go. Maybe it’s for the best, because I am now free to find something better suited to my skill set. And I do have skills. My boss didn’t hide the fact that he loves my work, and so does the President.

Still. It sure takes a beating on my confidence, getting let go like that. Job posted behind my back. No warning. No chance to fight for my job. And in this economy.


Jillian Michaels: No More Trouble Zones March 8, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : fitness , 1 comment so far

So if you couldn’t already tell, I got bored of the 30 Day Shred. I think I stopped at Day 21. I had been on Level 3 for the majority of the time (I think I moved to Level 3 on Day 6?) … and quite frankly, it was getting a little repetitive. And even if I threw in another level into my workout for variation, it was all just ho hum for me. Don’t get me wrong, it was still hard. I still found myself sweating buckets, and I certainly saw results. Plus I kept adjusting for heavier weights (was up to 8 to 10 lbs). I was just getting restless. That being said, I still definitely recommend this DVD for people who want to get into a proper exercise routine, or for those who are new to exercise.

Luckily, I had accumulated enough Swagbucks to get myself a new Amazon order. I got Jillian Michaels: No More Trouble Zones, and her Yoga Meltdown DVD.

Over the weekend, I started with No More Trouble Zones, and seriously. It’s pretty challenging. It’s exactly like the 30 Day Shed, except 45 minutes long. I like how it’s broken down into circuits (or ‘trouble zones’), and you do each circuit twice. The first time, I watched the 1st rep of the circuit, then joined in for the second. And the 2nd time I tried the DVD, I just went for it and couldn’t finish the DVD. Embarrassed! I should have enough in me to push through it. Will try again tonight.

What I think I’ll do is alternate NMTZ with Yoga Meltdown, and then on days where I’m tight on time, I’ll do the 30 Day Shred instead.


Finally, we have a stove! March 8, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : housing, spending , 1 comment so far

This was an expensive weekend. First of all, we bought a stove. But not the $575 one we thought we were going to get – the guy who was selling it, ended up selling it to someone who could get there faster than us (we didn’t have the use of a truck secured) – boo urns to that! So after much research and driving around, checking out different stores and models, we ended up buying one for $700 ($625 + tax). We also had to rent a van from Budget for $75, which was cheaper than the company’s delivery charge ($100) – and trust me, we did everything we could to try and borrow a truck from someone (we only know one person who has a truck, and he was out of town for the weekend). So in the end, including the van rental, we will both be spending around $390 each for the stove. Which is a lot of money to pay, but it is going to be totally worth it. You all know how long I’ve been waiting for a real, actual stove! Which means … no more cooking out of a stupid skillet … BAKING! An oven! Soups! Ohhh I am so excited thinking about the possibilities! You really take for granted how much you use your stove, until you’re forced to live almost a year without one. :)

I also bought a new Apple mighty mouse. My old one finally died on me, after repeated attempts to clean the scroll ball and figure out why it was so glitchy. That was expensive, and set me back $85 (which will come out of my March budget in the ‘miscellaneous’ category). I’m still trying to get used to not having a scroll ball … but just having this new mouse makes me want to get a new computer. In the next 2-3 years I will definitely need to upgrade. I’ll also need to upgrade my design software. Which will be expensive, but I’ve been putting that off for years now.

One last expense … I treated BF to donairs on Saturday ($17), after all of his hard work re-wiring our house so that we had the ability to even have a stove. He did a pretty good job (despite the hole in the drywall behind the stove), and did everything to code.


Gross! March 5, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : miscellaneous , 17comments

Dear co-workers,

Please throw away your yogurt in the fridge that expired November 6, 2007.

That’s just nasty.

Sincerely,


Nike + iPod March 5, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : fitness , 13comments

So I just realized that my iPhone comes with the Nike+ built-in receiver. That’s awesome! I’ve always wanted to get the Nike+ iPod kit. So all I would need to do is buy the wireless sensor (Apple is selling it for $19, but I’m sure I can find it cheaper somewhere else). This would be perfect for me to be able to track all of my runs.

Does anyone else use it? Is it worth the money?