Another Day 60 & 61: Life Goes On

 

Holidays and weekends don't count, so today marks 62 days unemployed. Considering I'm getting paid, am I really unemployed ? I guess so. It's going to continue to be a scary place until I have a job. For now, I consider this time off to be an extended vacation. I haven't been unemployed since 1985, so this has been a difficult adjustment. I really thought I'd have a new job by now, but in reality I haven't applied to that many jobs, I'm probably setting my salary expectations too high and I need to do more work on my resume. I see a lot of people posting online that they've applied to hundreds of jobs and are going nowhere, so I don't feel too bad. I think hiring managers are super picky right now because they know how many people are desperate for a job. Companies don't want to pay anything but they want you to have an MBA for the simplest job ! I'm going to revamp by resume to show the different roles I've had over the years and see if that helps me get some interviews. The goal is a resume I can use to submit for multiple jobs instead of rewriting it for every job I apply for, which is exhausting. Billing is billing so I need to focus on skills rather than responsibilities.

I didn't feel like writing yesterday and I didn't put in any time to work on my resume or apply to jobs. I did look at the emails I got from LinkedIn and Glassdoor, and reviewed some jobs. I have a couple I want to apply for but I want to work on my resume a bit first. I will do that this weekend. I'm seeing a lot of remote opportunities via Glassdoor, so I may shift focus away from LinkedIn for a while.

Today was spent watching YouTube and playing Cookie Jam. I guess if I don't find a job and stay "retired" I won't be bored. I'll just be broke .. lol ! I did force myself off the couch and into the shower shortly after 4 pm. It always feels so good when I wash my hair and am freshly showered. I also did skincare and that feels and looks great. I really do like the Beekman skincare, so even though it's expensive I will continue to buy it for myself.

I really need to start a routine if I have any hope of getting my diet and exercise back under control. I am going to really, really try to start on Sunday night. That just means taking a shower at bedtime Sunday. Monday morning I will get up, feed the cats, have my breakfast and then get on the treadmill. No later than 1 pm I will make my protein shake and get on the treadmill for round 2, then have lunch. Around 5 I will have my afternoon snack and get on the treadmill for round 3, then have dinner followed by my evening snack. I won't buy any more ice cream, candy or cookies. I have a ton of Jell-o in the cupboard so I will make some this weekend.

Today I discarded some old products in the fridge. I want to empty that out and scrub it one of these days. I had a jar of pickles that I didn't like, a very old jar of sauerkraut and the dregs of a bottle of ranch dressing. I emptied those and put them in the recycling bin. Yesterday I discarded some old bottles of mineral water. I have 8 cans of flavored sparkling water that I need to drink, along with a ton of 1911 hard cider products. As I write this I was going to open a Fresca but since it's Friday night I decided to have one of those hard ciders with my pizza instead !

The past couple of months have been hard. For years I lived with the threat of losing my job but every time layoffs came around we squeaked by. I knew our luck would run out eventually but I didn't expect to be pushed out the door with only 2 weeks notice. I really regret not using my dental benefits. I still have medical benefits and I should use them, but I feel fine and see no need at this point. Hopefully I will find a new job with dental benefits and when I do I will start using them immediately !

The battle against the fleas continues. I didn't see any yesterday but I saw 2 today. I am vacuuming every day and that seems to help. I changed all the blankets covering the couch and chair and washed everything as well. I will treat Minnie again soon. I really wish I could give her a bath but I know she would put up a huge fight and it's not worth traumatizing her. I'm not seeing flea dirt, so that is a good sign. I will put the flea treatment on her until I'm 100% certain they are gone from the house. I'm being more careful when I interact with the strays to ensure I don't bring any into the house and I sweep outside the back door just about every day. Hopefully that disturbs any flea eggs that might be around. I do need to start vacuuming my bedroom every day too. I only vacuumed once and I'm sure there are fleas lurking there because Minnie is in and out of my room all the time.