***sigh***

Still no job. Still no calls for interviews. I’m trying to stay positive, but it’s getting more difficult every day. I did go to my doctor today, who has put me on an additional medication for now.

I did run into two engineers that I supported at Schlumberger at Subway today. They hadn’t heard of the whole “avoid Julie” thing, so I guess just certain people were told. I don’t know. The latest is that another friend of mine said that they are not to talk to me during Schlumberger time or on Schlumberger computers. Why is this huge corporation so afraid of me? All I want is my freakin’ expense check they owe me.

Too Cute!

I got school pictures of two of Christine’s kids today. They are so precious!

Brandon (AKA my "surrogate" son) - 4 years old
I've been with Brandon since he was born.

Eric (AKA E-Mail) - 9 years old
Eric's birth was a "special delivery" because his dad got to perform the delivery.

Please Don't Reproduce

I’m watching television last night and an ad for a birth control called NuvaRing. The ad stating that it is not for women that may be pregnant. HELLO!!!!! If a woman is pregnant, does she think she still needs to take birth control to avoid another pregnancy during her current one? If she’s that stupid, she shouldn’t be reproducing at all.

Ariel's New Sleeping Spot

Ariel has discovered the shelf in my closet. This is where she sleeps at night and for all her daytime naps.

Thank you Belinda!

A big thank you to my friend Belinda for my flowers!

She completely surprised me with them. It was so nice of her to cheer me up.

It just doesn't stop

Well, I was informed today that a rumor is going around that the Personnel Dept. at Schlumberger is looking at my web site. I really don’t care if they do or not. Everything I have posted about my experience with them is true. That isn’t shit they can do about it.

Also, they’ll know beforehand that I have an attorney before they ever get the papers, so maybe they’ll get their stuff together sooner than later.

Review of the Weekend

This past weekend was a little more exciting than those of the recent past.

Audra came into town for the Starmadillo Tournament that was hosted at the Sugar Land Aerodrome. She managed the team named “Buck Naked Maniacs”. I made it to the game on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Since her team’s name is quite a mouthful to yell, we just yelled “Go Maniacs”. That was a lot easier on the tongue.

I also got a surprising email from Nate on Friday. He used to work at Schlumberger with me until he took his ass back to school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He didn’t even say good-bye before he left! He read my blog and found out that I got fired. He sent some very encouraging words, which was very sweet of him. I miss not having him in Texas. Hopefully, he’ll make it down here for an Aeros game this upcoming season. He went to some of them a couple of seasons ago. He’s almost as entertaining as the game itself!

I also noticed that my friend Alex actually posted a comment on my blog! I don’t ever remember him doing that before, so it really surprised me. Alex was my life-saver during that horrible conference I attended in Grapevine back in May.

Tomorrow will start another week of job hunting! I need to get something soon…at least before my first car payment is due.

FridayQ

FQ TOPIC: Scenario.

FQ1: You've been given a million dollars to donate to a worthy charity! Which organization would benefit from your generosity and why are they deserving? I would have to split it up among various charities:
LifeGift – because organ donation is very important
ADD.org – to education the public about ADD
National Mental Health Association (NMHA) – to education the public about mental health diseases (specifically depression)
Humane Society – to help all animals

FQ2: You've testified against the mob and have to leave the country! Where do you go to start your new life, and what new career will you pursue? I would go to Australia and work at the Australian Zoo next to Steve Irwin.

FQ3: A movie studio has given you carte blanche to develop a sequel to a film of your choice! What's your sequel going to be about and who's starring in it? I don’t know how I would do a sequal to “Miracle on Ice”, but there needs to be more movies about hockey.

Depression Sucks

Well, it’s been a month since Schlumberger let me go, and I haven’t gotten called for one single interview. But, I’m still truckin’ along, sending out resumes and responding to job postings.

I haven’t heard back from the recruiter that I went to last Friday and did the skills testing with. Tomorrow, I have to go to UTMB in Galveston to take tests on spelling and typing. They won’t even consider you for any clerical positions until you have taken these tests.

My depression has been worse than usual. When this happens, I usually bounce back in a day or two. Since I didn’t bounce back like I normally do, I figured I better call my psychiatrist to see what I should do. For now, he advised me to take my third and final dose of Effexor of the day at dinner time instead of bed time. I’m to call him on Monday to follow-up to see if it helped. I’ll have to let you know.

Maxx'd Out

Finally…some time to blog!

The past few days have felt like a whirlwind ride. On Friday, I went to a recruiting agency to do some skills testing on my computer skills. The tests were easy, and I passed with flying colors. Hopefully, the recruiter will call me sometime this week with some job opportunities.

After the skills testing, I had lunch with Gil. It was nice to be out of the house for a while. Then, I went and bought a new car. I know I don’t have a job right now, but my old car was starting to fall apart on me. I’m sure my next job won’t be so close to Alvin as my last one, so I really needed something reliable. It’s a 2004 Malibu Maxx and I really like it. Here’s a picture from the auto dealer’s web site. My car looks exactly like it.

On Saturday, I went to see Eric play his football game. Christine had worn the football necklace I gave her and receive a lot of compliments on it. I was able to sell two of them that day. Then, Christine informed me that the league wanted to buy a bunch of them from me to sell for the homecoming game in October. I’m not sure how many they will want; Christine is suppose to get back with me with more details.

I also got my first unemployment check on Saturday. I least I’m getting some income while I’m looking for work. Later that night, Lori and I went to a housewarming party for Kirk. Then Lori stayed the night at my place. My step-dad’s son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild were staying with them this weekend, and Lori didn’t want to come in late and disturb them.

Sunday was clean-up and laundry day. Then I had to go to an AEMS supervisors’ meeting.

Tonight was the AEMS monthly membership meeting. I get there and pick up the agenda. Much to my surprise, one of the items listed was an audit of the financial books. Since I’m the treasure, you think they would have told me about this, but they didn’t. We elect new officers in December, so I only have to put up with this crap for a few more months. Yea!

I’ve got the law on my side!

I went to go see attorney Peggy Bittick today about that freakin’ letter I got from Schlumberger. My sister used to work for Peggy back when she was in high school. Sure enough, they can NOT hold my pay back until I do more work for them. I didn’t think so, but I felt better getting this confirmed from Peggy. So she’ll be dealing with Schlumberger from now on, which is a big relief for me. I’m just not able to deal with those idiots any more.

That’s it…I’m completely fed up.

Granted, I did have some good news today. But leave it to Schlumberger to just really, REALLY piss me off. I have no more patience left with those people. I finally got the letter from them today regard my expense report. These people just boggle my mind. I feel like I have no other choice by to see an attorney about this. I just don’t have any fight left in me to do it alone.

Here’s the stupid letter. Those fuckin’ bastards.

Finally…something good!

I thought this week was going to be a repeat of last week. I went over to Mom’s house yesterday. When I got ready to leave, my car wouldn’t start. According to my step-dad, it sounded like the car wasn’t getting any fuel, even though I had ¾ tank of gas. He thought the fuel pump went out. This didn’t surprise me after the run of luck I had experienced lately. We waited about 20 minutes and I tried it again. It started right up! I was so relieved.

Then, today, I actually got a call back on a job I applied for! This was the first call I have gotten since I started the job search. I’m so glad it finally came, because I was starting to get very, very despondent. The lady did a telephone interview with me and I think it went very well. She’s actually part of a recruiting firm that Marathon Oil outsourced to do the recruiting for the position. She said that once she puts my interview and resume together, it will be sent to the hiring manager. So...keep your fingers crossed for me.

Schlumberger Saga

I haven’t received the letter yet from Schlumberger regarding my expenses. Knowing them, they probably sent it two-day or ground instead of overnight to save a few dollars.

I did get copies of my last two pay slips, and they cheated me out of 15 hours overtime on my last paycheck. I already contacted Payroll, but everyone is out of the office until Tuesday, so I’ll have to wait until then. All this crap with Schlumberger is just turning into another saga.

Schlumberger Sucks Extra Long Donkey D&$%s

I am so glad this week is almost over. It’s been hell.

Schlumberger still hasn’t paid me my expense check from my trip to Washington DC. So, I emailed HR to find out what the delay is. The HR director sends me an email that states: “We are sending you a letter regarding your expense report to your home address on file. It will be sent today via Fedex to your address on record.”

WTF is that suppose to mean? I have a strong feeling that I am not going to be a happy camper when I get this letter.

That’s why I really need this:

Bar Butler Shot Dispenser

The butler does it with expandable arms to grasp and support 4 bottles of your favorite drinks for easy pouring. Entertaining is a breeze! Convenient shot dispenser has rubber nozzle, section cups and turning handle. Just press the handle to dispense liquid into a glass. Holds up to four 1-liter bottles.

Is it me...or is it getting hot in here?

Tuesday was just a day from hell…there is no other way to put it.

My final paycheck from Schlumberger was supposed to be direct deposited into my account, and it never was. But, something was deposited because payments were paid to my two loans I have at the credit union and I know they couldn’t have gotten the money from my checking or savings account. The payment amount of the loans does not come anywhere close to what my paycheck should be, so I’m not a happy camper. In fact, I really felt like I was about to have a breakdown last night because I was so pissed. In fact, this is for the jerks at Schlumberger:

Then, I fell asleep at 7:00pm and woke up at 10:30pm. It’s after 3:00am, and I’m still wide awake. I guess my sleep schedule is still screwed up.

Also yesterday, my IAAP Chapter got an email from IAAP-HQ that this bitch wants our chapter to pay $750 for unauthorized use of her material. The story behind that is one of our members attended a funeral, and they handed out this little story that she thought was very good. There was no name on it or anything, nothing to lead to the idea someone had rights to it. Anyway, the member submitted it for our Chapter’s monthly newsletter, which we post on our web site. Originally, the bitch wanted $4,000. If you want to read her wonderful emails she sent us, click here. Just be advised that I change her name to read BITCH in all the emails so she doesn’t try to come back and sue me. Not that I have much she could get…