Another job...

Besides trying to do God's will and be where He wants me to be... (along with taking my retirement as I go, of course)...  He also knows that my true heart's desire is to get out of debt!

My calculations were way off, and I realize I am making about the same amount of money I was making in Idaho. Okay, perhaps a very few dollars more because I am working 2 hours of overtime.  Woo-hoo!  This is NOT enough to get me anywhere near paying anything off!  So I have been putting in applications and hoping for maybe a night stocking job at Walmart or Winco or someplace.

I have decided that I really hate putting in online applications because no one ever gets back to you, and you don't know who to check in with about it.  It is just kind of a deep, bottomless pit of nothingness with these bigger companies.  It sucks.

First I checked with my temp agency and they said any extra hours they give me would be considered overtime, and employers don't want to pay that, so that avenue was closed.  I checked on Craigslist... not too many graveyard or even swing shift offerings.  I asked around when I was in a store.  Then I went back to the other temp agency I signed up with last year and re-upped my intent and was told to call in on the days I am available because they did sporadically have an overnight job on the coast at the fish processing plant where they bused people over.  She said that it was hard work, but I may give it a try at some point just so I can say I did it.  Actually, Dora, who was T.'s dad's wife, worked with frozen fish for years.  So we will see about that.  I am not sure I have the clothing or washing facilities I might need for that job.   The bus leaves about 2 1/2 hours before shift starts which really eats up your sleeping hours.

Besides the fish plant, I found an ad for an Overnight Supervisor for the Women's Shelter on Craigslist.  I thought that sounded interesting and responded with my resume and talked with the gal.  She sent me an application and I scanned it back to her using an app on my phone.  I love technology!!

I went to a volunteer's meeting last Saturday afternoon, and spent time afterwards talking with the lady, and I am really jazzed about it.  They were looking to fill Friday night and Saturday night, but found someone for Fridays.  They offered me Saturday night.  I am hoping, since the other gal has a 4 year old, she will find it too difficult to stay awake all night and maybe I can pick up Friday as well.  They have another girl who will work Sundays through Thursdays.

So this coming Saturday will be my first night, and luckily I will be working with the shelter Supervisor.  The shift goes from 11pm to 7am the next morning.  The ladies have already had "lights out" and "last smoke" by the time I arrive and all should be quiet.  I basically need to stay awake for any emergencies, or giving a blanket to a really late, late-comer.  I will be setting up coffee and breakfast snacks and waking them up - which has a lot of rules to it like not being too abrupt or startling them - since some of them suffer from PTSD, and seeing to it that they get their chore taken care of before they leave.  There will also be a volunteer to help me, but they get to sleep through the night.

This extra 8 hours will give me about $70 a week that I can use for gas and food, and then my main paycheck will go toward bills.  It's not much, but I think it might help a lot...  I just need to budget wisely.

Sundays will be a little tough... off at 7am, church at 10am until about 12 noon, then work again at 6pm.  Won't be any time for visiting with son on Sundays, so we'll have to make dates for other times.


:)

Fun and Games... MORE TO COME

In the few short weeks I have been here, I have managed to do a LOT of things.  I haven't hit any town running for about 11 years, but wow, am I at it now!

I have visited some parks, and done some geocaching... 448 found to date!



I have been to an Oregon State University football game!



I have walked the streets and found fun places to explore and things to see and do!

Getting Organized in Oregon...

I have about a million things run through my head each day that I want to write down, including two books I have brewing in my brain, but I just can't seem to get them down into keystrokes and onto my blog!

So many words of wisdom I wish to share with the world!  lol

Agh!  Why is it so stinking difficult to just sit down and write?

* * * * *

It is now three weeks I have been back at work at the beet seed company I worked for last year.  I work Sunday night at 6pm for a 12 1/2 hour shift, then the same for Monday and Tuesday and on Wednesday I only work until half past midnight.  42 hours total for the week.

Me...

and my work space...

I spend Mondays and Wednesdays in the parking lot of the community college just a mile away to sleep during the day.  On Tuesdays, I go to a Women's Bible study about 6 miles away and then stay parked in front of M.'s house for the day.  She is blessing me with the use of her shower each week as well, which is always heaven to me, and I get to wash my hair.  Thank you M.!!

On Wednesday nights at midnight, I really don't know what to do with myself because I am awake, but I really have no where to be, and not enough money to hang out at Denny's, which is 24 hr.  I try to make the 10-12 mile journey only once a week to the town my son lives in, and where I go to church on Sundays... so I am not driving back and forth because of the amount of gas the van can go through!  However, the price of gasoline has now dropped, and in some stations is less than $3.00 per gallon.  This has also been the reason why I have not accepted the offer from my pastor's wife to stay at their home.  They live past the other town, away from where I work, and that would mean a gallon to get to work and a gallon to drive back home... even with the good gas prices I just am not able to afford that, so I stay tucked into the van.

On Wednesdays, if I have plans in town for the next couple of days, I might stay on M.'s street, or at the Walmart... which has signs not to park overnight, but so far I have not been interrupted.  Or I may drive to the other town, go to the 24 hour Winco to hang a little and get a salad to eat or something, and then park in my son's old neighborhood where I feel safe.

I like the feel of a college town for stealth parking because college kids don't care - like old nosey neighbors might - if there is a strange vehicle down the street because friends are coming and going all of the time from everyone's houses along the block... who really knows if that vehicle belongs or not.  I just don't stay in the same exact places consistently.

I also like the feel of a college town because people are out and about all the time, and there seems to be a lot going on, for very little money, and lots of great places to eat.  I just wish I were 35 years younger so I could blend in better.

That is my weekly routine, and I have 22 more weeks of it until April when the beet season should be ending.  At that point I have been planning to head in an East direction to the coast and then down to Florida.  Already I am anxious for the cats and the hot, humid weather, so I need to really pray about this... on whether to actually go, or maybe find them a foster home for the time I am gone.  We shall see... that is still quite a long time away.

In all honesty... I'd really just rather be somewhere like this...

:)

1400 Miles Later...

5 days ago I was on the Continental Divide... and today I made it to the Oregon Coast! I think that would definitely make Lewis and Clark's heads spin!! 

Travels to Oregon, Sandpoint, Whitefish, Glacier... MORE TO COME

Last year, I was just about to head northeast up towards Glacier National Park when I got the call to head south for my mom.  This year I promised myself I was not going to leave Idaho without completing that endeavor.

When I finally got on my way...  So glad I headed East before heading West!!

My co-pilots anxiously looking forward to the next Great Adventure...

We started out in the clouds, then into the rain before getting out of town...

Then out again...  This was going to be an interesting trip weather-wise...

Yay!  I made it to Glacier National Park!!

I really made it at the tail end of the season.  Most concessions were on limited hours or closed.  The famed Red Buses were not longer running.  I also gave 2nd thoughts to doing any hiking out on my own...

Views of Lake McDonald...

One thing I discovered while spending time contemplating the amazing views, was that if you waited a few moments, the clouds and sun would change and you would really be looking at a whole new scene... while standing in one spot looking in the same direction!  Look how these two photos look dramatically different because of the lighting...

The Going-to-the-Sun Road....

Majestic. That is the word I would ascribe to Glacier National Park. The Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed past Logan Point, the red buses were no longer running for thr season, and it was posted that a cougar was recently seen around so it was not advised to hike alone... but I still had a wonderful day! Everywhere you look is a magnificant view...

And I was there!...

Making Choices... MORE TO COME

It wasn't long after I started by temp job, when the Supervisor informed us in a huddle (group meeting) that flu shots would be mandatory for all employees, even temps, and there would be no getting out of it unless you had a doctor's note saying you were allergic to them.  At that precise moment, I thought to myself, "not going to be staying here."

Without getting all political, I have been against getting flu shots since the 1970's Swine flu scare.  A group of us 20-somethings decided not to get the vaccine and the scare turned out to be a "non-event".  Since then, it has been proved that more people died from the vaccine than from the flu itself. Am so not interested in putting that stuff into my body!  I am the healthiest person I know, I take no drugs at all, and have a very good immune system.  It always seemed to me that friends who got the flu shot got sick.... well recently I learned that for 8 weeks after you get the flu shot, your body is so overwhelmed fighting what the vaccine put into the your body, that you are susceptible to all other germs passing your way, and you don't have enough "umph" to fight them off... so you get sick!

I did pray about this extensively, but never felt that I should change my mind about the decision.

My cousin being in a safe place, I was missing my own family.  With Son #1 in Sweden, Son #2 is my only Family on this side of the world, which is quite a burden for him, but I wanted to be closer than a 7 hour drive.  We were trying to figure out how we were going to get together for Thanksgiving, and my schedule had me working, with probably no way I could get time away.  This would mean he would have to drive all the way to visit in the winter weather driving conditions.

While I was pondering and praying about this part of things that might be changing, I had three or four people say to me, "It's good to be close to family."

Then I texted a co-worker from my job last year, and she talked to our supervisor.  I was told who to call to get set up for working again this season.  A small raise was also included!  This was a great positive for the answer to, "Where am I going to work if I quit at the hospital?"

And although I was blessed with living in the basement room of Sh., which at only $70 a week was a great deal for the space and private bath... it was still a $300 a month bill that was hurting my budget.  My in and out money is so tight, it does squeak, and even that couple of hundred would be better for me to spend on my credit card debt.  However Sh. had mentioned how nice it was to get the income from the room, so I wondered if I should stay to help her out... but then she applied and got a better job with better pay!  I felt like God was saying, "I can take care of Sh., you don't have to Sue."

With all my ducks in a row, I made the choice to wrap up my adventure in Idaho and head back to Oregon.

I was able to make a few more memories...

I went with another single gal at work to the Coeur d'Alene Casino one Sunday afternoon...



The following week we toured the Caltado Mission and Wallace, ID where the movie Dante's Peak was filmed.  We had a great time both afternoons and I am going to miss not getting the chance to make our friendship stronger.

MORE TO COME

My Travels to Idaho... MORE TO COME

So I needed to come home to Lakeview for a legal matter (which I may, or may not decide to go into at some other time) and it was good to be Home.  Fun to visit with friends :)

Before I left, I realized that I needed to get better tires... mine were getting pretty worn, but they had

$516... Ouch. But better than throwing one in the middle of the desert driving 75mph ! 

I stayed about a week, and then we took off in a southerly direction...

Idaho... MORE TO COME

"Come to Idaho"...

"Come to Idaho," my cousin said.  "We can walk the dogs, go geocaching, and have fun together!"   I took that as the go-ahead for my adventure to Idaho.  I even answered a job ad in craigslist for a rental service company while I was in Arizona and had an interview scheduled!

Sadly, shortly before I arrived, my cousin's father passed away back east, and she went back for his funeral.  I didn't have a place to stay except my van, but thought it might be best to have a good night's sleep and a shower before my job interview, so I got a night at a local motel.  The interview went well, and they said they would check references and call me later.  From there I went to the local Visitor's Center, as is always the first place I should check out, and before I even got out of my van, just 15 minutes from when I left the office, the place called me and told me I had the job!  Woo-hoo!

I got out my best shoes, and went to a couple of thrift shops to find a nice skirt.  I walked in on Wednesday morning and learned all about answering phones, taking applications, etc, etc.  Thursday I did the same... but 10 minutes to closing, the Office Manager took me into an enclosed area...  oh oh, I thought... this doesn't look good.  It wasn't... she told me that upper management "didn't think I was a good fit" so they were letting me go!  I was devastated!  I signed the paperwork for my time, got out of there, and then had a complete meltdown!  Hysterical tears were running down my face when I called my son and my BF C.J.   I couldn't understand how God would bring me all this way to have everything not work out!  My son said, "you didn't sound like you were totally happy there anyway."  My BF said, "things will work out."  My cousin said, "I will be home soon."

It was a tough time, but I kept believing God had a plan.

I signed up with a temp agency, and they found me a job in a week at  Kootenai Health in the medical records department... making more money!!  Something I had never done before, doing Assembly, and later AFI for Outpaitients.  It was kind of a rough start as far as friendships went because everyone wanted to bee-line out of there, but as time went on, I made some really good friends.