So a post or two ago I mentioned how I was starting to look like Pat Riley.
Well, this is no longer the case. Having felt so defeated by life I decided to get a haircut for the first time since the wedding. It turned out a lot worse than I had hoped for. My hair- at the very least normally lays down. After the stylist was done it wouldn’t even lay down. But I am making the best of it. Or at least trying to.
Onto some happier news…
This week I was able to prescreen a few movies. One was Fast and Furious 6 and the other was Star Trek: Into Darkness.
I expected to be let down by FF6 but it was actually the best movie I have seen in a while. I liked it a lot. Meanwhile Star Trek was good, but in no way was I overly impressed with what they are doing with the franchise. It’s a reboot- I get that, but why are they making old movies with a new twist and changes in the storyline? That is really my biggest beef. If they are going to have a cast that is going to shadow the old cast– have them keep the core values of the characters and create new stories.
Anyway. It is a new story, I get it. But some scenes were re-created and roles were switched and I just didn’t like it as much as I really thought I was going to.
Other than that— recently we have been going on road trips over the weekends. Like, 3 weeks ago we went to Port Huemene near Oxnard. 2 Weeks ago we went to Pismo Beach and the surrounding area. Last week we ventured to Huntington Beach. HB was nice, we mostly went for Mother’s Day. My mom wanted to eat at the Rubys diner place over the ocean. It was really cool. I like that area. You can take some gorgeous shots. If you stay around to see the sunset it is even better.
I guess that is all I can think of for now. If I can think of anything else I’ll be back.
On the job front: The jobs that I hoped would turn into something more didn’t. I applied for a job out of state but it didn’t pan out, nor did the one located nearby. In fact the one that was close to me told me that they didn’t even have a position open because the previous spot was filled, but they were taking applications for a few months down the road and come fall they said there would be a possibility of another interview. If I were still available at that time. Of course. Both were / are call center jobs.
The job out of state was in Portland. It was with CapitalOne- a call center job. I made it through the whole process and then they simply let me know that I was good, but not good enough.
I have since applied at every place I can imagine. Michaels? Cashiering job. Stocking. Anything. Autozone? To be an ‘autozoner’ and even PetCo for multiple jobs they had available. All of these on top of other jobs that I applied to in the area for local firms or big studios. No bites, not even a call back. I applied at Six Flags for a seasonal job and they told me that they sometimes do not call people back for an interview for over a year. Seriously? And I waited nearly 3 hours to have a meaningless 5 minute interview (if you can call it that) with them. All they did was ask me if I had tattoos or if I was doing drugs.
Wow wow wow.
I keep hearing that everything is improving. That things are getting better as a whole.
When will I start to see that?
I pray and pray and pray.
I’ll keep on doing so. I am just so ….tired. Simply spent.
There has been a song lately that has resonated with me. The song? Switchfoot’s song from their CD Vise Verses – Thrive.
Been fighting things that I can’t see Like voices coming from the inside of me and Like doing things I find hard to believe in Am I myself or am I dreaming?
I’ve been awake for an hour or so Checking for a pulse but I just don’t know Am I a man when I feel like a ghost? The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes
No, I’m not alright I know that I’m not right A steering wheel don’t mean you can drive A warm body don’t mean I’m alive
No, I’m not alright I know that I’m not right Feels like I travel but I never arrive I wanna thrive not just survive
I come alive when I hear you singing But lately I haven’t been hearing a thing and I get the feeling that I’m in between A machine and a man who only looks like me
I try and hide it and not let it show But deep down inside me I just don’t know Am I a man when I feel like a hoax? The stranger in the mirror is wearing my clothes
No, I’m not alright I know that I’m not right A steering wheel don’t mean you can drive A warm body don’t mean I’m alive
No, I’m not alright I know that I’m not right Feels like I travel but I never arrive I wanna thrive not just survive
I’m always close, but I’m never enough I’m always in line, but I’m never in love I get so down, but I won’t give up I get so down, but I won’t give up I get so down, but I won’t give up
Been fighting things that I can’t see Like voices coming from the inside of me and Like doing things I find hard to believe in Am I myself or am I dreaming?
Am I myself or am I dreaming? Am I myself or am I dreaming?
Thrive, thrive, thrive, thrive
No, I’m not alright I know that I’m not right A steering wheel don’t mean you can drive A warm body don’t mean I’m alive
No, I’m not alright I know that I’m not right Feel like I travel but I never arrive I wanna thrive not just survive I wanna thrive not just survive
Yeah yeah Feel like I travel but I never arrive I wanna thrive not just survive I wanna thrive not just survive I wanna thrive not just survive
Feels like I travel but I never arrive I wanna thrive not just survive
So as I said, it’s a good song. If you want to – I’ve added the song via youtube on here. It was a rather addicting song for me.
The last week or so has been weird to spend without Maryia. With most of it consumed watching the news after the Boston Marathon Bombing. I must say that the Yankees showed so much class and support.
The whole week has been wall to wall with news about Boston being in a lock-down state and then just yesterday they ended up catching one of the suspects from that whole ordeal. Craziness.
So last weekend my parents wanted to go for a drive and we ended up going over near Oxnard, CA. While in the area we decided to go to the spot where back to the future 3 had the car crash scene with the train. Don’t know what I am talking about? [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu-cxDG2mW8]
That should refresh your memory.
Anyway, I am a big fan of all the BTTF movies. There are various sites set up throughout the internet that has each location that they filmed at. They pretty much did it all over California. This part however was in Port Hueneme. Can you make out that its the same place?
If you have a hard time seeing it, the next one should be easier.
Now can you see it? Yeah. I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Especially since this is pretty much a legendary movie.
This location is no less than a short walk from the beach. So afterwards we made a quick pit stop before heading back to LA.
Overcast or not, gotta love the beach.
Fast forward a few days… and I received a call for an interview. That was somewhat of a problem for me as I haven’t gotten a haircut since the wedding, and haven’t shaved in months. I had to shave 🙁 but I found a way to get around a haircut.
See below for a before/after photo. That’s right, I rocked it at the interview too.
I reminded myself of something like Pat Riley (former NBA coach), so it won’t be going that way for now on- but until I land an actual job that is the style I’ll have.
Had the interview on Wednesday and they said I should know in a week or so if they are moving forward with me.
I haven’t heard anything yet, so – time will tell.
I’ve started to try new perspectives of things I do or see everyday.. and today I grabbed my phone and snapped this shot.
I like how it turned out.
Anyway I suppose that is all I have for this time. That was a lot of photos for me to post – so I hope you enjoyed it.
This is an update post. I tend to do these every other one. Sometimes even more often than that. I think it is better than just continually skipping over things that have happened recently. It also helps to keep a mental note when I read back on my posts from time to time. Around this time “xyz” was happening. So yeah.
Anyway- we went on the 30th of last month down to the OC. There were some dealerships in the area that were interesting in stealing my dad from his current place of employment and bring him to their shop. The places were nice, and close to the Ocean. Long term it simply doesn’t make much sense to switch over to the other guys -that is what he and my mom have decided. While we were in the area I was able to snag a few prescreening tickets in the OC. Therefore making more use of our time in the area. It was for Jurassic Park 3D.
I must say, it looked great seeing it in the big screen. When the movie came out in 1993 I did not see it in theaters – so it was also kind of cool to be able to say that now I’ve done just that. In addition they digitally remastered the whole film and it looks great in 3D. Granted the movie hasn’t changed at all- nothing like that… but it was still nice to see. It came out this month and is currently in theaters.
Afterwards we decided to take a trip to the ocean. We rode down route 133 – a straight shot to the ocean from our location. We stopped at Laguna beach before driving down to Dana Point. All in all it was a nice 40 mile drive across a strip of the SoCal costline. Stopping in Long Beach we walked along the sandy shore out under a pier and took in the views. Along the way my mom and I were wading in the water up to our knees. I must tell you, walk 2 & 1/2 miles in water up to your knees with the waves coming ashore and you will get quite the workout. My legs were feeling it that night into the next day! That’s for sure. After stopping for dinner in San Pedro we made our way back.
That nearly brings us current, because all was quiet until yesterday. Early in the morning at 3am we were up and getting ready to go to to the Airport. I didn’t get much sleep the night before- if any… so needless to say I was a little groggy.
The LAX entrance with new lighted tubes all around the place, it looks good. The airport has been renovated while adding new terminals. We dropped off Maryia and she was on her way. She is flying to the PNW to visit her family and wont be back til the 20th.
Umm, other than that? I was excited that Game of Thrones was back on TV. I also have come to the conclusion that my brother at this point in his life doesn’t feel his family (and the very least me) is much of importance or a priority to him. He tends to let me know by not replying or not answering me when I text/call. I feel like I can do nothing other than give him what he wants. A distant relationship at best.
On the job front, I keep applying to many places and don’t tend to hear much of anything from anyone. Wait, you said the unemployment level went down??? No comment. I have to keep going at it – eventually something will must turn up.
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” – Mark Twain
Poking fun at me. Teasing me. This newspaper- the headline and all.
It read: ‘Unemployment rises to 10.6%.’
Yep, that’s right. No need to adjust your glasses or the screen. The unemployment statewide is steady at 9.8% (tied with RI for the worst in the country). Meanwhile LA county its even better rising from 10.4 to 10.6%.
Congratulations, you are one of the few. One of those not in the 89.4% of workers… No, you my friend should be headlined… in a picture on this newspaper no less.
Ick.
I have to keep telling myself things will improve. They have to, right? This can’t be the extent of things for me can it? Of course not- yet so often it feels like it is.
Truth be told- things are pretty bad on most of the west coast when it comes to the topic of unemployment. California increased, Oregon while they didn’t increase, also didn’t push any lower and economic indicators don’t show much will change for small markets. Seattle? Who knows. Not much of a chance ending up there, at least not anytime soon, or anything that I can see.
What to do? Might be able to have a job similar to ILS pretty soon. That would bring in a small sum of cash, but somewhat of an influx is better than what is currently happening.
I don’t want my posts being all about jobs and whatnot… But if they are about anything else they’d end up being protected or simply deleted altogether.
I did figure out why all my job interviews were coming from the OC. The unemployment there is just 7.1%!
It’s scary when you question purpose, or anything else for that matter.
It’s frustrating beyond belief. What a struggle.
I guess that’s all for now. just Pray
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” ― Robert Frost
