Update XVIII: 15 Miles From Lunch

[Flake]

We're back at the hotel and in for the evening.  We're pooped, but we had a very good day.  We're going to try to leave between 5 and 6 am tomorrow.

Why so early?

[Flake]

I don't have anywhere to go tomorrow, so I am going to spend the day job searching at my parents' house and also preparing for Tuesday morning's interview.  The interview is at 1000 and I'll return to Tulsa right after the interview.  I should get back to Tulsa by 1300 and should be able to make at least one of the job fairs that I want to go to.  One job fair ends at 1400 and the other ends at 1500.  Depending on what happens with Tuesday's interview, if I don't get the job, I will be down Halloween weekend for family dinners and then I'll wait until Thanksgiving weekend after that to come back down again.

translated:  he will watch 15 hours of tv with 3 naps worked in, while stuffing his face with ungodly amounts of food.

then at about 1800 he may quickly submit an online application or two just to get the atlasians off his back.

That is not at all what I said and you know it.  I said what I meant and meant what I said.  That said, I may (repeat may) take a nap, but the rest of the day before and after will be full of job search.  I just slept for 11 hours, so I should need a nap today, but we'll see.  Most of the day until 1800 will be job searching and interview preparation.

You slept for eleven hours, bushie. You don't need a nap.

[Flake]

Bushie, you are living off your parents right now. The least you could do is accept any job that offers you any amount of money so that it's easier on your parents while spending half an hour each day applying to places that pay more.

Preferably a job that isn't customer service related.

[Flake]

i think im worth $20/hour.  im not getting paid $20.  So i think i will just go in and quit my job.

/bushielogic

That is not my logic at all.  My logic is, I'm worth $20, I likely won't get paid $20, but I won't quit my job.  You notice my low end threshold is nearly half of what I think I'm worth.  I fully understand others may not think I'm worth $20.  Some may think less, but some may think more.  That's why I said worth does not factor into my job search at all or my consideration of a job.

"My low end threshold is nearly half of what I think I'm worth. . . worth does not factor into my job search at all."

The lowest wage you'll accept is $11/hour but you will not take that into consideration when looking for a job?

[Flake]

Among the litany of issues you may have Jeff, execution is chief among them.

You do have a vision for yourself -- from what I can tell, it's to be an independent provider, a head-of-household who puts in a Dick van Dyke style day, comes home after a solid eight hours to trip over the ottoman and into the arms of your housewife and your 2.4 children, waiting for you in your modest ranch-style house with the white picket fence.

The problem is, vision without execution is worthless. Anyone can say that they know they need to practice the skills they need to build a career. Anyone can say they need to exercise and lose weight. In fact, anyone can set an arbitrary goal associated with their vision -- even baby steps -- and if they don't actually do anything to work toward that goal or vision, it's worthless.

Jeff -- this is largely your modus operandi.

If you're ever, ever, ever going to pull yourself out of this seemingly endless cycle, you'll need to actually follow through toward your vision. Based on your work performance, I suspect that your actual execution on the job is more like the type of person who hopes to hide in the workplace and hope the boss never notices you, rather than someone who is actually interested in building a career.

You're not wrong to believe in yourself, and while I don't think you're anywhere near a good judge of your own abilities, it's not wrong to have a dream. But you're painfully bad at actually following through on, well, anything.

You ought to try something very simple in order to start making progress. This is an old story about (I believe) Andrew Carnegie. Each night before you go to bed, take a 3x5 notecard and write the five most important things that you can do the next day, and rank them in order of importance.

My guess is that this list would never include "Watching four football games" or "Eat at Braums." The list should be meaningful and important things that help you build toward your vision. Make the first (as an example):

1. Spend one hour doing AutoCADD training on Lynda.com
2. Take a 20-minute walk
3. Go to the grocery store and buy a week's worth of fruits and vegetables
4. Call and email contacts at CADD school to ask about potential connections for the job search
5. Research how to sublease your Tulsa apartment, in the event you land a job in OKC

At the beginning of each day, review your list and knock off the items one by one. Make sure these items build toward larger goals and, ultimately, your vision.

I'm actually going to do that for myself, great advice!

[Flake]

you don't make a 90 year old woman cook and clean for you

[Flake]

I'm not embarrassed by my behavior.  I know I'm not doing anything wrong and I am comfortable with my actions.

If that were so, why would you need to tell us that it is?

Because I'm being relentlessly and needlessly barraged by vicious attacks about my way of doing things that are not what everybody else would do.  Right now, it feels like I've got a bunch of flies and mosquitos buzzing around my head, but I can't swat them.

Most of us refer to that feeling as guilt.

No guilt here.  I'm just annoyed.  The only thing I'm guilty of is continuing the Update.  I am very comfortable with my decisions while I work this job.

I'll be praying for you, Bushie.

[Flake]

bushie oh my god

get off the forum and practice for fifteen minutes

please

[Flake]

Memphis, I wasn't feeling real well and wasn't real hungry so I let Dad clean up the meat.  I only had 3 sandwiches instead of my normal 4.  The malt I had at lunch kind of upset my stomach a bit.

you're eating four sandwiches for every meal

four.

bushie.

i don't even know what to say.

[Flake]

Indy, it's not my lack of skill, it's an old computer that I'm working with.  My laptop is almost 4 years old and needs to be replaced, but I naturally don't have the money to replace it.

Maybe you would have the money if you

• stopped eating out everyday
• made due with a minimum wage job for the time being while looking for one with higher pay
• stopped paying for an apartment you don't live in
• studied cad(d) so you could've kept your old job (which you haven't done to this day)
• listened to our advice

[Flake]

Indy, it's not my lack of skill, it's an old computer that I'm working with.  My laptop is almost 4 years old and needs to be replaced, but I naturally don't have the money to replace it.

Maybe you would have the money if you

• stopped eating out everyday
• made due with a minimum wage job for the time being while looking for one with higher pay
• stopped paying for an apartment you don't live in
• studied cad(d) so you could've kept your old job (which you haven't done to this day)
• listened to our advice

Don't you roll your eyes, these are all things you know would save you money and bring some income in.

[Flake]

Happy Halloween everybody.  Today is the beginning of the 2014-2015 Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Season.  The words Happy Holidays, Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas are all valid starting today.  The words Happy Holidays will cease to be valid after Thanksgiving.  In sane America, it is Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays.

So, with that said... Merry Christmas everybody!!

In sane America we wish everyone a happy whatever-they-celebrate.

[Flake]

Lief, Thanksgiving and Christmas begin today.

Not Lief, but it's Halloween. They begin on November 27 and December 25, respectively.

[Flake]

Lief, Thanksgiving and Christmas begin today.

Not Lief, but it's Halloween. They begin on November 27 and December 25, respectively.

Those are the actual holidays, but the holiday season is all in one (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's) and lasts from Halloween Day to New Year's Day.

Only in the mind of a delusional man-child who views holidays like a five year-old. The holidays have already came and passed for you. Your gifts? A family who will put up with your chronic, immoral mooching. Happy Kwanzaa, now go to work!

There is nothing wrong or childish about getting very excited for Christmas in the summer time.  Neither for playing Christmas music anytime of the year.  That is not odd and not wrong and not childish.

Bushie..... it is childish to get excited for Christmas in June.

[Flake]

Lief, Thanksgiving and Christmas begin today.

Not Lief, but it's Halloween. They begin on November 27 and December 25, respectively.

Those are the actual holidays, but the holiday season is all in one (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's) and lasts from Halloween Day to New Year's Day.

Only in the mind of a delusional man-child who views holidays like a five year-old. The holidays have already came and passed for you. Your gifts? A family who will put up with your chronic, immoral mooching. Happy Kwanzaa, now go to work!

There is nothing wrong or childish about getting very excited for Christmas in the summer time.  Neither for playing Christmas music anytime of the year.  That is not odd and not wrong and not childish.

Bushie..... it is childish to get excited for Christmas in June.

Doesn't mean it's wrong and should be avoided.  It is perfectly acceptable to listen to Christmas music in June and July.

But you said it's not childish, when it really is.

[Flake]

Bushie, what's with the chain restaurants?  Seriously.  It's all such corporate garbage.  Don't you ever want food prepared by people with a passion for food?

We like chain restaurants that are tried, tested, and proven.  Although mom and pop's would be great food, they don't trust the quality of their food.  I wish we would give them a shot, but they prefer certain restaurants, all of them chains.  We ate at one mom and pop in New Mexico and really enjoyed it, but as a general rule they prefer chain restaurants.

Chain restaurants are far worse than mom and pop shops.

[Flake]

I've had a long, boring day off today, so I took some of you guys' ideas for Update-opoly and sketched this out:

CLICK FOR BIGGER VERSION




Let me know if I should make any edits.  You'll probably notice that the property color blocks are grouped by theme (except the pink block, which was a random assortment of whatever was left, but whatever).  Any further suggestions?

I've already got a ton of ideas for the Chance and Community Chest cards.

oh my god

[Flake]

You guys are hilarious.  There is nothing to be concerned with.  You weren't in the office with me, so you can't accurately predict doom and gloom.  You all are so pessimistic about any good thing to happen to me that you take one insignificant thing and blow it totally out of proportion and mock me for attempting to calm things down.  Maybe dead0man is right, it's like you all WANT me to fail.

lmao no

this has happened at many jobs you've been fired at

we really want you to succeed, bushie, but you need to understand that this is a bad sign, and you need to work harder.

[Flake]

Yeah, I don't really know why, but beef with caesar salad just seems really gross to me.

I've tried something similar to that. It just doesn't mix and it tastes like salad with greasy americaness. Chicken is obviously better.

[Flake]

Did you eat any chocolate recently?

No, no chocolate.  I don't know what has been causing this 10-day headache.

You eat literally the worst food known to man. Bushie, you can't be eating like this, it will kill you.

[Flake]

You know the Feds are tracking this site for dangerous political radicals (just to be safe), but I don't think it was their intent to find someone like Bushie. Oh geez

Poor, poor, Snowstalker.

By the way, how did you find out this information?

[Flake]

Say what you will about missing work; telling J-Mann, someone who has literally called your former boss to vouch for you and has actually tried to help instead of simply making fun of you for the past half-decade, to basically F off is the more ludicrous and childish behavior here.

Wow, makes his behavior even worse.

[Flake]

Another night, another night of ridiculing me and attacking me endlessly and for no good reason.  You guys are hopeless.

Welcome to our world. Frustrating, eh?

Since when is asking a question considered ridicule? I guess when you know you won't like the answer, it can be considered an attack ...

Some of these questions, though, are pointed questions.  They are not intended for informational value, but intended to point fingers and discredit everything I believe in or enjoy doing or something.  Adam is attacking my faith as a whole (he is currently on ignore).  Nathan is attacking my Southern Baptist beliefs which are nothing different than what I believe.  The Southern Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination in the country.  Our views are not that off.  We're not perfect, and we have never claimed to be perfect, but we are a Bible-believing denomination.  You are not really attacking, yourself, but it still seems you don't like my Christian faith and are trying to get me to not rely on God, but rely on myself.  That's hogwash.

.....but you need to rely on yourself to do things.