Cool It Nerd

Hey,

I backed out a couple of recent blog posts because I'm reentering the job market for a full-time job since my contractor job that's been extended a few times already is now out of funding :^(

I like it there and I've liked working at other places, but it's not solely up to me.

So I thought I'd better restate in politer terms what I had posted regarding National Novel Writing Month before anyone thinks I wig out.  No, there's things that go through people's minds, but they don't say or act upon them.

I think Chris Christie put it the month in perspective for those outside New Jersey -
“Now we’ve got a big task ahead of us that we have to do together. This is the kind of thing New Jerseyans are built for – we’re plenty tough and now we have a little more reason to be angry after this. Just what we need in New Jersey, a chance to be a little more angry.”

During the month of November, I was participating in National Novel Writing Month.  I did not get off to a great start because I was writing with a pen in a notebook, usually at night by flashlight and candlelight while monitoring the stove to heat up my house with steam.  I had no power for a while, but I was able to contact both jobs and get some hours.  Both are hourly, so if I don't work, I don't get paid. Sandy and Thanksgiving were not helpful to my bottom line.  I did not have much loss compared to others so I know I'm lucky. 

I did not travel to somewhere else with better facilities, like a hotel, because I have pets and foster animals in my house.  In an emergency, shelters will take us in, and I do have carriers and a vehicle that can hold them all.  I am prepared to a degree, but it was easier last year with Irene to have an evac plan with an older, driving teenager in the house (at college now) and a storm that wasn't 800 miles wide.  So I lived at home, went to work, and left early enough to return while there was still daylight.

There was also the maneuvers to gas up the car.  I started with a full tank so I wasn't involved in the initial panic, but once I started travelling to work sites, I needed to pay attention to the odd/even days and get in line.

After I visited Union Beach to help with clean up at a feral cat sanctuary and the person's home, I was settling back into a schedule and that included my free time activities.  On my evenings off, I sometimes go to programs or meetings for writers.  In November, a lot were scheduled so after checking to see that a particular library was open and the program was not cancelled - I went.

I was the only person that showed up.  I went to the librarian desk at the start time and asked, and she said it wasn't cancelled and asked me to wait to see if other people showed up.

Well, there was an angry mom hanging around the library who overheard me inquire about the National Novel Writing Month event.  Her mind was made up that November as National Novel Writing Month should have been cancelled if it wasn't already.  I was a *bleep* for participating when so many people were suffering.  And there's schools that have been washed away that I should be rebuilding.

Her mind was made up without knowing anything about me, or that National Novel Writing Month is a worldwide event. I doubt she was even aware of the volunteer needs of the unnamed washed away schools because if I think it over, I would not want my child going to a school that was rebuilt the same way an Amish barn is raised.  Without planning, skilled labor and the right materials, the new building may be unsafe.  Also, what am I supposed to do in the dark to rebuild a school, or is she insisting people no longer go to work if their workplace is open? 

I also did not observe her children in tow - she was flying solo, enjoying the heat, lights and internet, but they may have been left in the children's section of the library which also rubs me the wrong way.   The librarians are there to assist, but they aren't babysitters to give mom time to go pick a fight in another part of the library.

Anyway, the result was I wasted my time and gas going there, but the thing that ticked me off more was judgmental mom who doesn't possess the ability to keep her opinion to herself.  Anything I said about sand, mud, lives on the curbs - not good enough.  If I'm not working to get her kids out of the house during the day, I'm not doing shit.

I do consider writing a third job - or some may say a hobby that produces money.  I've already heard about making the big bucks on eBay by visiting garage sales or becoming a distributor ... I'd rather write.