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Archive through November 17, 2003

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions: 2004 May - July: Buyers Banter (ARCHIVES): Advice/Suggestions Needed: Archive through November 17, 2003 users admin

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Egbok

Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 9:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hahahaha Tess, NOW that is the best answer yet!!

Tess

Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 11:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Well, think about it. I met Sandy, I mean Sue, in person and I still call her Lucy. Then again, I call you Eggie and I've met you, too.... hmmm.

Lucy

Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 11:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Heeeeheeeeheeee!! Tess, you are so naughty!!

Tess

Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 12:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Lucy, the only problem with this is that everytime I mention "Lucy", Miss Sarah looks at me and says, "huh?" Yep, she still remembers you and the cute kid she's got a crush on. :)

Kitt

Friday, November 07, 2003 - 6:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hi everyone, I hope this is the right place to ask for some advice.

We have a treadmill (Proform 745CS) which is coming up to its third birthday. When we bought it, we bought the extended warranty which lasts for three years, and is therefore about to expire. We use the treadmill about 15 miles a week, and it's up to about 1600 miles on the clock. We had a new walking belt put on it at 1200 miles.

My question is:
Has anyone any experience with older treadmills? Do you think it would be worth the money to extend our warranty (it's with Sears) for another year?

I'd be grateful for any help anyone can give me!

Kitt

Friday, November 07, 2003 - 6:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
March, have you managed to sort out your name problem yet?! Does your name rhyme with 'Alice', or is there something like that you could say to make her feel better?

March

Monday, November 10, 2003 - 10:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hi Kitt,
Thanks for asking but no I haven't gotten anywhere with the name thing but I haven't seen her for the last week or so. My name does not rhyme with Alice, if it did this whole thing might make a little more sense. She is a real nice lady I don't want to embarass her in any way so I am thinking of taking someone with me some day when she is there and having them say my name out loud so she hears it. Hopefully she will catch on.

Can't help you with the treadmill problem, don't have one. Hopefully someone else on the board can.

Mak1

Monday, November 10, 2003 - 12:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
There's a lady in town who I don't see very often and really don't know personally. One day she saw me in the store, broke into a big smile and said "Hi Ellen" in passing. That isn't my name. My mother-in-law's name is Ellen and they are around the same age, so I thought she was just having a senior moment and mixed up our names. It has happened a couple times since then. When I went to vote last week, she was one of the people checking people in, where you walk up and tell them your name and address. I happened to be in her line. She greeted me with a big smile which turned to a rather confused smile when I told her my name. I'm betting she knows I'm not Ellen now.

Part 2 - A man came up to me one day and started thanking me profusely for all the help I had given him the day before. Since I had never seen him, I told him he had me confused with someone else, which he found very hard to believe. He said "You're Ellen L., aren't you?" Nope. He told me I'm her twin, and I've had a couple other people tell me I look like her also. I guess that solves the mystery. I have never seen her, or didn't recognize her if I did, but I assume she's gorgeous, LOL.

Tabbyking

Monday, November 10, 2003 - 6:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
hmmmm....maybe we'll find out your were a twin and were separated at birth. an evil doctor sold one of you off for a million dollars...
remember the triplet boys who met up when they were in college, when kids and professors kept calling them the wrong names?
you're probably right---i'll just bet ellen is very attractive, and that's where the confusion sets in:)

Mak1

Monday, November 10, 2003 - 7:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
lol, thanks tabby.

Joesmom

Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 9:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
One of the ladies who works in housekeeping in the building where I work calls me Miss Kay (my name is Mary). She comes in my office to clean and empty the trash..and my name is on the door!!! So, I just answer her, and let it go. But, I totally understand, March!!

March

Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 12:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Joesmom,
That is too funny. I am guessing a nametag probably wouldn't help.

Kaili

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 7:33 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Okay- here goes. As youy may or may not know (it say in my profile anyway), I have been looking for a job for quite awhile now. I mean, I job aside from working part time at UPS. So I have an opportunity right now and I'm having a hard time making a decision...

I have my degrees in Secondary Education (social studies background) and in Geography so keep in mind that this job is not what I went to school for and eally want to do. But on the other hand I started out college wanting to go for criminal pshychology and I do have a strong Soc/Psych background.

This job is more or less a social work job I'm being offered. What the job is, in a nutshell, is a program set up by the county to save the county millions of dollars. (That is a plus because there are massive budget cuts in the county and the program was never even mentioned to be cut or have its budget cut). The program accepts the 30 most difficult kids in the county- ones that other treatments/drug therapy have not helped with. They have severe emotional disorders. It's all about doing activity therapy with them, taking them out, spending time at school with them doing tutoring, and helping them with anger management.

I emailed my resume to the place on Wednesday, she called me Thursday, and I spend some time there Friday in an interview (that I asked all the questions about the program and she kept telling me she liked my background but didn't ask me much). Now, in the phone call she mentioned that when they have bad days they have kicked, bitten, and punched- she asked if I had been in athletics because evidently that is a sigh that you don't mind getting hurt. At the interview she said it doesn't happen often but it can and has happened.

What else, what else?

Okay the job itself doesn't pay much more than my current job (except for the fact that it's full time). It's a salary position. Question- do I want a stressful, probably high burn-out rate job for the same pay as i get laughing my night away and UPS? The full time factor is important here- I'm super broke right now.

She wants me to start after a 2 week notive to UPS. That puts me at early December. Right now, with UPS, I have Christmas Eve through that weekend off and i can go see my mom who lives a good 6 hours away. I haven't had a normal Christmas on Christmas in years and she adjusted her schedule planning for it. I was really looking forward to it. I asked the new job woman- she can't make any promises.

Another thing in the same general theme. It's soooo close to January right now. Next year with UPS, I get 4 weeks paid vacation. With the new job I will accrue 1 day of vacation per month I work there (12 days in a year). Ideally, if I were to accept this job, I would want to start in January. That way I could take my 4 weeks of vacation in January and basically get paid for a month from UPS without working. Being this close to January, it's pretty hard to give up a month's free pay. Not to mention, not starting until January would resolve the Christmas problem.

UPS has been a great security blanket job. Leaving there is a risk. It's not easy at all to get a job right now, especially in my area but this job is not exactly in my area. What if I hate it? What if I'm not any good at it? Then I gave up a good paying job with lots of benefits and 4 weeks vacation and good luck finding another job like that whle waiting to find a "real" job.

What would you guys do? I've been obsessing all weekend and I really need to get back to her about this soon.
(By the way, if you read my right now about my cell phone falling in the toilet, that happened right after the interview).

Oh yeah, and I met some of the kids and she said they were having a good day and I played Monopoly with 2 boys. One of them was a big, big, big cheater but they were alright. The cheater got frustrated when he didn't get his way and threw the dice and accused me and the other kid of cheating.

Secretsmile

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 7:56 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Kaili, there are a lot of pros and cons both ways and it seems like you have gone round and round. Have you tried making a list in columns to see which one really out ways the other? Very simplistic I know, but it helps me to see things in black and white. In the long run, you have to give thought to which would be most fulfilling.

Life is too short to be miserable forty hours plus a week.

Ddr1135

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 8:01 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Kaili,

1. Is the county job guaranteed for more than one year or are you subject to yearly budget approvals?

2. Is it possible to do both jobs for 6 months perhaps on a contract basis? That way you can evaluate both positions.

Sounds like you're leaning towards staying with UPS. It's a whole new world working with government and not everyone can adjust to that.

Good Luck!

Kaili

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 8:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I'm not sure about if the budget is yearly, but I did ask about it and she said their program has been going since 98 and since it saves the county millions by not having to institutionalize the kids (they live at home while in the program), they will be unlikely to cut it. The people who work there that I talked to after the interview have been there for 4 years each.

I can't do both jobs because the hours conflict. I start work at UPS at 4:40 and the new job has activity therapy sessions after school from 4-7 every day.

Ugh! I just don't know what to do. It would be good for my resume since it's actually working with kids- it would help for me to get a teaching job later. I guess maybe my biggest thing is what if I'm not firm enough with the kids, or not structured enough. And I want to have Christmas!!!!! And if they would pay me more, I would jump on it but it comes out to only about $11-something an hour. It sounds like a stressful job for the pay.

And I just want someone to make the decision for me. I eally need a full time job. I cannot afford to live on what I make right now. At all. It's just a big risk to leave a job that I am very secure in and very familiar with for one that I don't know.

Texannie

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 8:22 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Maybe, I am not reading this correctly. But you would be working in a field you aren't interested in, under extreme stress for the same amount of money you are making now for less hours ONLY because it's a "full time" job.
You say you can't afford to live on what you make right now, but this job doesn't pay much more.

Kaili

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 8:35 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Well, yes and no. :) I am somewhat interesting in the field. It's some tutoring, it's working with kids, and I am interested in E.D. kids. I like them and I do like the challenge of them. I think they can be fun. However, I haven't been with them ever on real, true bad days and I don't know how bad they can get. These are the 30 most severe cases in the county.

This job doesn't pay much more, but it really pays twice as much because it's 40 hours vs. the 20 I'm working right now.

I know it doesn't have to be a job for forever- I could always keep looking once I work there and leave there once I find a position teaching. i'm just so nervous to leave my job for a new one. Then I wonder, if I have this much doubt maybe I shouldn't be taking the job. It's one thing to be having this decision about a job that doesn't affect lives, but should I take a job I'm unsure about, then end up being ineffective in it because I might not have the confidence going into it? I think I could do it, and I probably would end up loving it. But I just have a huge, blaring "What if..." sgn flashing in my head everytime I think about it.

I need to call my mommy. :) LOL

Texannie

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 8:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
So the job pays hourly? Can you talk to any former or current employees and get there feed back?

Kaili

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 8:49 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
No, it's salary but she said they never work over 40 hours per week and sometimes it's a little less than that. I told her my concerns about the pay and she figured out what it would roughly equate to hourly and said they have great benefits (at UPS I also have great benefits and I don't even have to pay for them).

I talked briefly with a woman who was working there with the kids right before I left (after playing Monopoly with the two boys). I was in a bit of a hurry because it was noon and I had been there since 9:45. I hadn't planned on staying so long. I asked her how she liked it and how long she had been there- she was there for 4 years and she loves it. She's only 2 years older than me. There was a guy working there too though I didn't have a lot of time to talk to him and didn't want to do so with the kids right there at the table with me. He was about my age too so I mean, they seem to handle it pretty well- why coudn't I?

Am I wishy-washy or what?

Kaili

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 9:29 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Okay, I tried to call my mom but she's at work. I talked to my stepdad instead (who says my mom would tell me pretty much the same thing). He thinks I should take the job and just ask if I can start in January. If she says no, take it anyway. He thinks she is probably a pretty good judge of who would do well at the job and probably wouldn't offer it to me if she wasn't confident I would do well. Yeah, he said the pay is low but it's a start in something that at least is with kids, it would be good experience, and I wouldn't have to be there forever. He thinks I would do well in the job and says my mom thinks so to.

Sooo...I tried to call her and she's in a meeting right now. I'm so scared but I think I will accept the job. Who knows when another one will come up and it probably would be kind of fun. I do like working with kids that have problems- and I do pretty well with them. My letter of recommendation from one of my student teaching teachers I worked with even says that I worked well with the kids that had problems and related well to them so they trusted and respected me. Maybe I just needed other people to tell me to go for it.

Anyone else think this is the right choice?

Texannie

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 9:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
OK..I am very confused. The total salary that you would make at this new job is about the same as the total salary you are currently making now?
I don't think it's a matter of if you could handle it, but rather do you want to.
Is this a tide you over job till something better comes up? If you are working full time, will you be able to interview if you want?

Kaili

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 9:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
See, I work part time at UPS. The new job would be salary, but if you work it out at 40 hours per week, the hourly pay for the salary worksout to be the same per hour. So I'm making about $12/hr at UPS but only working 20 hours per week. I would be making about $12/hr at this new job but at 40 hours per week so although the pay rate is about the same, the hours are double.

The way I am, I don't want change is what it comes down to. I have to force myself to do things. Do I want to make a huge change in my life? Not really. Would it be a good choice for me and for my future? Yeah, I think so. I hate starting new jobs. Once I know what I'm doing and am comfortable, I really think I would like this job. It's just the whole new-ness thing and getting used to it. I never love any job at first because I'm never comfortable at first. It's all about settling in and knowing my surroundings, co-workers, responsibilities, etc. It always takes time and it's been so long since I've had a new job that THAT is the scary part more than anything else. I think I could be offered a teaching job and i'd probably be just as freaked out and still be thinking of excuses not to take it just because it's new and different.

Kaili

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 9:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Oh, the interview question. This job has pretty nice hours. Well, it's sometimes 6 days a week which is a negative, but the hours are about 10-6 so if I had an interview, I could do it in the morning, or I would somehow find a way. She knows my ultimate goal is teaching. She knows that's what I went to school to do and what I want to do. That's part of why this would be good for me though. Since graduating in January, I have had so little anything working with kids. I feel really out of touch right now because it's been so long. If I have this job, I think it would be easier, ultimatly, to make the transition into a teaching job once one becomes available and if I were to get it. It would also make for great experience, especially in classroom mamangement, which is the one thing I know that I need more work with.

Babyruth

Monday, November 17, 2003 - 9:47 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Kaili, is it possible to keep your job at UPS and then (in January) look for a part-time position in this field to add to your week?
There are lots of ways to get experience working with kids, some of which start out as volunteering, but once your foot is in the door and you start networking....one thing often leads to another. If this particular job doesn't feel quite like "it", perhaps you could commit yourself to finding something with kids part-time instead, to move in that direction. Just a thought.