my first days at the new job are in the books. it wasn’t as terrible as i had imagined. i admit, when i passed the interchange that leads to 65 south, where i’ve commuted for the past 4 years, to head east toward the new part of town where i work now, i was a little sad. parking in a giant parking lot and taking an elevator with strangers to the top floor to get to my office was a little weird when i’m used to parking 10 feet from the office door and knowing everyone i encounter on the way to my office.

but at least there was a little bit of funny to counteract the bittersweet. i got to watch a video called “you need to know…sexual harassment is illegal” which involved a man saying “are you horny?” and another man saying “wow, she’s bootylicious!” i expressed my concern that being banned from sexual harassment might cramp my style and was informed of a weekly occurrence called “sexual harassment fridays”. i guess i’ll have more to report about that on friday. i also saw another girl there who wears converse all stars - the black slip on kind, so i’m in good company.

i was also happy to see that they don’t use the overhead fluorescent lights, just natural light through the windows. at about 4pm, i realized that i have a great view of downtown if i peek over my monitors. (yes, i got two monitors again!) i planned on snapping a shot of my view and posting it with this, but its been cloudy the past few days, plus we all work in one giant room and i think i might get some weird looks when i bust out the camera so i’ll have to time it just right…

all in all, not too bad. different, but i’ll adjust. and so far the pay difference between this job and the other one i passed on is totally worth it.

i have spent an embarassing amount of time browsing etsy.com this weekend. where else can you find the following things all in one place?

a peanut butter toast ring

usb powered christmas lights for your laptop

a crocheted oreo coin purse

i can’t stop browsing…

sellout: a person who compromises his or her personal values, integrity, talent, or the like, for money or personal advancement.

i once said, in front of witnesses, that i’d never take a job where i couldn’t wear my allstars every day if i wanted to. i believe i made good on my promise this week, when, in what could be considered the stupidest financial move of my life, i made a decision to take a job with a laid back atmosphere and ok pay versus a job with a stuffy atmosphere and very good pay.

hopefully, when i review this decision in a few months, i will still find it to be the right choice.

am i a financial imbecile? absolutely, without a doubt YES.

but at least i’m not a sellout. and i’m buying a new pair of chucks to celebrate and putting those other shoes back where they belong - collecting dust in the corner of my closet.

i don’t know what it is about the latest ad campaign by jimmy dean, but i loooove their commercials featuring a man dressed up as the sun. i watch good morning america every morning, just waiting for one to come on. today i discovered that you can watch ALL of them online:

check them out here

my favorites are: we have time, full moon, partly cloudy, rooster and why. yes, that’s almost all of them.

AND the sun has webisodes! i’m such a media junkie. worth watching though if you find the humor in the commercials. i had a few good laughs.

i wonder if this guy is available for birthday parties?

folks in the music industry really do their best to attract fresh, young talent, don’t they?

case in point: see looking to work in the music industry? job listing

what kind of arrogant jerk assumes that there’s no way a college student could benefit their organization besides running errands. the music industry is so bizarre. can you imagine an ad for an accounting intern that sounded like this? no, because most industries value people and their minds and educations. but the music industry seems to place more emphasis on “being in the right place at the right time” which really means “being independently wealthy” or “being friends with or related to someone who is independently wealthy” if you want to reach the top. its always like the people at the top feel like they are doing such a favor, a good deed by letting “the rest of us” in, you know, “the rest of us” who actually do the work. UGH. much more to say about this, but it would include a lot of cursing, so we’ll end it there.

maybe i’ll send in my resume. seems like an entertaining dialogue could result.

few things make me audibly laugh when i’m by myself. if i am watching tv or reading and something funny happens, i might crack a smile, but usually not an audible laugh. in the case of driving alone, there are just not that many funny things that would cause such an outburst. i think happy belly (which i have passed numerous times since this photo was taken) only warranted a smirk at best. one exception i guess would be the time i was by myself calling donnie and thought of something funny right before the beep from his voicemail and left him a 30 second laughing message, barely managing to get out the words “call me..” before hanging up. but i digress…

driving back into nashville this afternoon, i saw something that made me laugh audibly. and laugh even more as i got closer. i just couldn’t stop:

there were two more bears, one red and one green, on the back of the trailer, sorry for my poor representation of the situation.

i received my unemployment pack in the mail yesterday. in reading through it, i discovered that you cannot collect unemployment if you quit because of:
-moving
-lack of transportation
-lack of babysitter
-school
-inability to get along with coworkers

or if you were fired due to:
-tardiness/absenteeism
-neglect of duties
-insubordination
-violation of company rules
-destruction of property
-theft
-disloyalty
-embezzlement
-inflicting bodily harm

lucky for me, it seems i qualify. however, i read on to section D of the packet anyway:

D. If you are disqualified for any of the reasons above, you must do the following to establish eligibility to collect unemployment:
1. Return to work for an employer who pays unemployment insurance premiums
2. Earn an amount specified by law
3. Be separated for reasons that are not disqualifying

now that is a winning strategy.