It doesn't rain but it pours
Sep. 3rd, 2010 02:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
robotech_masterIt's been a while since my last entry. Might as well catch things up.
I've been settling into the new job pretty well. The other night I heard that my most recent quality monitor had scored me 98% (out of a possible 100%, natch) and my monitors had given me an average of 94% so far. Not bad for someone who totally muffed the first try at his final test and nearly muffed the second one.
I've gone down to Carthage a couple of times in the last couple of months to see chiropractor Jess Kessinger, and both times I drove out via Route 66, passing through Paris Springs and Spencer off of the beaten path. But after those trips, one day I happened to notice the big pictures of a Route 66 gas station, the Gay Parita Sinclair, hanging in the breakroom at TeleTech and, curious, googled to find out where it was. Imagine my consternation when I learned it was in Paris Springs, and I'd apparently driven right past it without even looking…twice. And imagine my further consternation when I found I'd actually managed to snap a picture of it without noticing, while I was just meaning to photograph a stretch of Route 66!
Well, after that I had to drive out there and take a look at the place for myself without a time limit, rather than hurrying by on the way to Carthage. So I went out and met Jeanette, the daughter of the guy who restored and runs the place, and took a bunch of photos. (I'll upload them to Flickr one of these days…after I get my Internet back, see below.) While I was there, I happened to spot an old Brownie Hawkeye camera like one I used to use, and it prompted a reminisce I posted to TeleRead.
Moving on, I took some photos of myself at the Paris Springs bridge, then went on to Spencer and took some photos of the bridge and gas station facade there. Then I turned around and headed back to Springfield, stopping to visit my friend Sandy on the way.
In other news, I've been worrying a bit about my finances recently (full details posted in a friends-locked post—sorry non-friends and Facebookers), but lately a lot of the pressure has come off as I was able to get a loan from my bank that I could use to pay off a credit card debt I had run up over the 16 months of unemployment and pay back at a reasonable rate. And thanks to an unexpected and un-asked for act of generosity from my father, I was able to get it at a 7.4% secured interest rate rather than the 15% unsecured I had been going to get. It feels remarkably good to get that credit card monkey off my back—I'm still going to be paying a 4-digit debt, but thanks to that loan I can pay it off at $100 per month and actually get somewhere.
And thanks to having a job, plus not having a huge credit card bill in my future, I'm able to start paying off a number of other debts that have built up over the last few months (or in a couple of cases years)—and also pick up the $220/mo student loan payments that were held in abeyance by my lack of a job. (At least I should get some of those loan payments back in the form of tax refunds on the interest…I hope.)
In the spirit of trying to get back on my financial feet, I have volunteered to work Labor Day in return for the double holiday pay. An extra $80 isn't going to hurt, especially as I'm laying out $150 out of my next three paychecks on clothing—we're going to get to/have to dress the way that real field employees of the company whose phone support we're providing do. I bought a bunch more clothes than they're providing just because it's often so long between laundry for me. Besides, they're really cool-looking threads. If I'm giving up a three-day weekend, well, there'll be other three-day weekends.
Speaking of money matters, I want that new iPod Touch. The 64GB version for preference—it might just fit my entire music collection, or at least the part of it I listen to. And it's got so much neat stuff: FaceTime, 720P video recording, nifty gaming capabilities—and if I sign up with Virgin Mobile's pay-as-you-go 3G wifi, I could have Internet access with it (or my iPad, or laptop, etc.) anywhere. I'll have to see how my finances look in December, my next three-paycheck month. Of course, even if I do get the Touch, I wouldn't be in a position to consider the Virgin Mobile thing until I get that bank loan paid off. Maybe if I can do a Biokinetic study or two…just have to see how things shake out.
We had some pretty harsh weather today—rather unexpectedly. It was hot and the sun was shining when I left for work, but I took my umbrella "just in case". Then I forgot and left it in the car as thunder and rain poured down. It was all over by the time I left at 11, but when I got home I found my DSL modem was fried. I called tech support and a rep from India and I ran an exhaustive series of tests, concluding with them sending me a new DSL modem. Which won't reach me for several days.
So here I am sitting in FedEx Office (Kinko's no more) where I stopped just this morning to get some photos printed out to decorate my cubicle. I happened to notice that they now had free AT&T wifi, and they're open 24 hours and quiet, so I think I'm probably going to be spending a lot of time here over the next few days. (Oddly, even as they offer free wifi, a sign on the door declares "no loitering". Do they see the contradiction, I wonder?)
Guess I'll do some more net stuff, then drive home and go to bed.
I've been settling into the new job pretty well. The other night I heard that my most recent quality monitor had scored me 98% (out of a possible 100%, natch) and my monitors had given me an average of 94% so far. Not bad for someone who totally muffed the first try at his final test and nearly muffed the second one.
I've gone down to Carthage a couple of times in the last couple of months to see chiropractor Jess Kessinger, and both times I drove out via Route 66, passing through Paris Springs and Spencer off of the beaten path. But after those trips, one day I happened to notice the big pictures of a Route 66 gas station, the Gay Parita Sinclair, hanging in the breakroom at TeleTech and, curious, googled to find out where it was. Imagine my consternation when I learned it was in Paris Springs, and I'd apparently driven right past it without even looking…twice. And imagine my further consternation when I found I'd actually managed to snap a picture of it without noticing, while I was just meaning to photograph a stretch of Route 66!
Well, after that I had to drive out there and take a look at the place for myself without a time limit, rather than hurrying by on the way to Carthage. So I went out and met Jeanette, the daughter of the guy who restored and runs the place, and took a bunch of photos. (I'll upload them to Flickr one of these days…after I get my Internet back, see below.) While I was there, I happened to spot an old Brownie Hawkeye camera like one I used to use, and it prompted a reminisce I posted to TeleRead.
Moving on, I took some photos of myself at the Paris Springs bridge, then went on to Spencer and took some photos of the bridge and gas station facade there. Then I turned around and headed back to Springfield, stopping to visit my friend Sandy on the way.
In other news, I've been worrying a bit about my finances recently (full details posted in a friends-locked post—sorry non-friends and Facebookers), but lately a lot of the pressure has come off as I was able to get a loan from my bank that I could use to pay off a credit card debt I had run up over the 16 months of unemployment and pay back at a reasonable rate. And thanks to an unexpected and un-asked for act of generosity from my father, I was able to get it at a 7.4% secured interest rate rather than the 15% unsecured I had been going to get. It feels remarkably good to get that credit card monkey off my back—I'm still going to be paying a 4-digit debt, but thanks to that loan I can pay it off at $100 per month and actually get somewhere.
And thanks to having a job, plus not having a huge credit card bill in my future, I'm able to start paying off a number of other debts that have built up over the last few months (or in a couple of cases years)—and also pick up the $220/mo student loan payments that were held in abeyance by my lack of a job. (At least I should get some of those loan payments back in the form of tax refunds on the interest…I hope.)
In the spirit of trying to get back on my financial feet, I have volunteered to work Labor Day in return for the double holiday pay. An extra $80 isn't going to hurt, especially as I'm laying out $150 out of my next three paychecks on clothing—we're going to get to/have to dress the way that real field employees of the company whose phone support we're providing do. I bought a bunch more clothes than they're providing just because it's often so long between laundry for me. Besides, they're really cool-looking threads. If I'm giving up a three-day weekend, well, there'll be other three-day weekends.
Speaking of money matters, I want that new iPod Touch. The 64GB version for preference—it might just fit my entire music collection, or at least the part of it I listen to. And it's got so much neat stuff: FaceTime, 720P video recording, nifty gaming capabilities—and if I sign up with Virgin Mobile's pay-as-you-go 3G wifi, I could have Internet access with it (or my iPad, or laptop, etc.) anywhere. I'll have to see how my finances look in December, my next three-paycheck month. Of course, even if I do get the Touch, I wouldn't be in a position to consider the Virgin Mobile thing until I get that bank loan paid off. Maybe if I can do a Biokinetic study or two…just have to see how things shake out.
We had some pretty harsh weather today—rather unexpectedly. It was hot and the sun was shining when I left for work, but I took my umbrella "just in case". Then I forgot and left it in the car as thunder and rain poured down. It was all over by the time I left at 11, but when I got home I found my DSL modem was fried. I called tech support and a rep from India and I ran an exhaustive series of tests, concluding with them sending me a new DSL modem. Which won't reach me for several days.
So here I am sitting in FedEx Office (Kinko's no more) where I stopped just this morning to get some photos printed out to decorate my cubicle. I happened to notice that they now had free AT&T wifi, and they're open 24 hours and quiet, so I think I'm probably going to be spending a lot of time here over the next few days. (Oddly, even as they offer free wifi, a sign on the door declares "no loitering". Do they see the contradiction, I wonder?)
Guess I'll do some more net stuff, then drive home and go to bed.