And who does not love the Men Without Hats? The Safety Dance is great! One day I will visit the land of OZ.
And for a little pizazz, I give you this.....yes, you have to watch this.
Well now, this is becoming a very video heavy post. There is only one thing to do about that.... buy a camera and make move videos of my own! OK, well get a job, then I am going to purchase my own Contour HD. I am going to get the 720 version, because I like it and it is cheaper than the 1080 version. And that means less hard drive space being used up. Because my hard drive shit the bed, so I need a new one of those too.
Oh, and this will never fucking happen. I am sure there will be a mobil blog post from me shortly fallowing the nuptials, but I aint going to stop my wedding being preformed by Fat Elvis with a gravy stain on his white jump suit, to go onto Facebook and update my status to married. Now that is just absurd! That is all, carry on.
Some say the great Western Outlaw Bill The Kid would have made a great Carny. He had small hands, we all know small hands are the trade mark of a great Carny.
In this expose, we will uncover the hardships of life of a Carny. You know them, you have seen them, ridiculed them, bonded with them maybe, envied them, maybe you are or were one.
We will start with a bit of a hall of fame if you will of great Carny folk. Here we lead off with a new addition to the great ranks:
Samuel Sullivan
The owner/operator of the great Sullivan Brothers Carnival. He once lead his carnival family with his brother, Joseph. A family feud forces Samuel to use his powers to kill his brother, and not he takes on the task of keeping if family safe on his own.
Moving on we have and old favorite:
Ben Hawkins
Ben Hawkins began his career as a young Oklahoma farmer and chain gang fugitive who was picked up by a traveling carnival when his mother died. Ben has inexplicable healing powers since childhood, and he has begun to suffer dreams and visions of people unknown to him. Ben's powers come with a price – to give life, he must take life; to raise the dead, he has to deliberately kill someone else.
And of course who could forget the all time number one Carny in the hall of fame!
Joe Dirt
Joe had a very short lived career, but a great one. He was searching for his parents and he found the top of our list of Carny greats.
I would like to add an honorable mention to the list.
Chris Bradley / Bolt
He gave power to the people. Literally. He used his mutant gift to power his carnival. He met an untimely death before he could go one to be a great. But the little time he spent as a Carny, was well deserving of being mentioned here in our report.
What do all of these great men have in common? The are men of the people, they are men that do what they need to do to survive, they are men that take care of their own. They all had powers. Joe didn't you say? Well what would you call his gift of motivation, he charged a generation, and he had a Hemi.
They Travel from town to town. Earning a living doing what they do best. When they come, our towns light up. They bring hope and entertainment. They bring us visions we never thought possible. They bring the Beer tent.
Who of us does not want to stand in a field or old dirt lot, drinking stale beer for $1? I know I do. Playing instant bingo, surrounded by Purple, Yellow and Green lights. Flashing, Glowing.
They live a life on the road. Moving from town to town to survive, not only for themselves, but for us. How could we get by without a little care free fun and entertainment. They pull us out of out ruts and give us freedom. They some and leave without a trace..... well sort of.
They give us promises of returning next year, and they always do. This is a win win relationship. They need us just as much as we need them. We co-habitate together. Two different species working together to make one home.
Do you ever get that itch, the scratch behind your ear or the tickle in your throat? What do you think that is? I'll let you in on a little secret, that it the travailing bug biting you. It's that part of you deep down inside that wants to join the ranks and be on our list of greats. Take a chance.
With a little slight of hand, they memorize us. Some may think of them as vagabonds, fools, or scum. But they take our money on their games of chance. We know we will never win, but we try anyway. They know we can not turn down a chance to win a prize. They are not scum, they are capitalists. We are the fools. We need to learn a lesson here, can you see it?
I have revived a 2010 nominee for the the list:
Toni Hoffman
She was bested in a fight. The end results were the loss of her face. She was in training to me an archer, but has moved on to knives. For not having a face, and her remaining eye is severely damaged from her bought with a superior appointment, she has deadly aim with a throwing knife. She preforms the Wheel of Death, picking out a member from the crowd for each show. Her ability is amazing, but can still use some improvement.
I made a few life decisions today, and one is to become more crafty. And this immediately popped into my brain!
Kitten Mittens are flipping great! I laugh my arse off every time I think/see this! So I am going to carry on working on my messenger bag design. Once I hammer out my design, I will order the proper materials and beta test the bag. This will then lead to me networking in Philly to try and get a few bags made and out there for messengers to test, and hopefully get the brand name out there. That has yet to be determined. But I will say it will deal with Electric City, Ruckus or Meepers in some way. Probably not all of them, just one.
So give me your name ideas! I am ready for submissions. It could be as plain as Electric City Bags (even though I will not be living in the EC. But that is where it began). Maybe a logo, a simple logo. Maybe something like this: I don't know. I got plenty of time to work on it! and plenty of time to try and get me a job in the big city!
I heard of a few possible opportunities. I may have to make a long haul for a year, but soon enough I can get closer. And hopefully I can stop moving during X-Mas. this will be year two moving right around Christmas time. Oh well, I went and signed the last lease for that time of year, now I am stuck with it.
Lets move on shall we. OK, I am not sure where to move on to. Hmmmmmm. I am drawing a blank. OK, I'll tell you what I have planed for this evening. I am going to go home and see what I have to cook for dinner. But I think it is all frozen, so I may defrost something for tomorrow night. The I am going to toss in Smallville Season three and watch a few episodes. After that, I am going to Watch X-Men Originals: Wolverine. By then I will either be hungry or not. I haven't come to that conclusion yet. After I make this vital decision, Sons of Anarchy should be well into the episode. I will then start that from the beginning, so as I can fast forward the commercials.
After all of that is said and done, I will still have time until Amy gets home, so I will mess around online, and probably talk to her on her way home because her radio isn't working. At some point in there I will get my cloths ready for the morning, because I have a throw away interview in Wilkes-Barre at 8 a.m.
What is a throw away interview you ask. It is an interview you go to, intending on not excepting their job. It is a sales job, that no one will buy in this current economy. But I have not been on an interview in a long time, so I want the practice. So a throw away is just that, one that doesn't matter if you biff on, you aren't taking the job anyway.
Oh and I looked more into becoming an EMT today. Seems kind of promising. There is a program starting at LCCC in January. It is a 4 month program, then I will be trained t0 take my boards to become and EMT-B. The pay isn't very good, but it is a foot in the door to a career I can take all over the country. But if the state will pay (I heard about a program) I will try to get into an RN or LPN program. Much better pay. Just more schooling and longer schooling.
But as long as I don't have to go back to retail for ever, I am golden. Unless someone wants to get into the work wear game, Then I am the guy you want in your corner. I got connections and I know the business.
I have had a hell of a week. Amy and I went looking for an apartment down in the Lehigh Valley and found a pretty nice place. Would you like to know where?
The town is called Weissport. Here are some stats on the town:
"According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²), of which, 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (18.75%) is water.
The town was a central hub during the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Canal era. The town served as the only boat building and repair facility along the Lehigh Canal. Today, the Lehigh Canal Park is a gem of nature and history for residents and visitors alike. The town is one of the cultural and historic resources along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.
Weissport is 2 miles northwest of Parryville and 1 mile southeast of Lehighton.
Weissport's elevation is 630 feet."
There is a little more about the town if you would like to click this blue text right here. The apartment building is what seems to be an old turn of the century hotel. And it sure looks that way.....but in a good way. The apartment is pretty bad ass. The only downside to the place is, it is that it is electric heat. so that is going to cost us a few extra pennies. But the rest of the utilities are included, so it should cost us about the same as it does to live here in Scranton.
The plus side is that there seems to be more job opportunities here for me. And we are a lot closer to the city. So Philly, look out! Amy and I are back in town (sort of). The game plan is to look for jobs in the city as well as in Portland. If we can get jobs inside the city we either want to buy a condo in the city, or a house right outside in the burbs. Either way, I am stoked to live there.
I was watching National Treasure a few weeks ago, and now I want to go to Philly in the summer to enjoy a nice day at some of the historic places, and then drink some really good beers.
Speaking of really good beers, We will be a little closer to one of my two all time favorite breweries. Troges! And I do think a visit to the brewery is a top priority once we move and get settled.
So now, where do I go from here. I make a few calls and get some things squared away. Then I call all of my utilities and get them transferred, or shut off. I am a little afraid to call my landlord and tell him I am moving because we did not get a lease to sign on the new place. The lady who runs the building is sweet and I do not see a problem, but I do not want to be homeless either. I also need to check on the Direct TV situation. I would really like to be able to have direct TV and not have to set up ab account with the local cable company. But then again I may get a nice package deal. I guess I could look into that now.
OK, I seem to be rambling on about nonsense. So I will go ahead and end this rant now.
OK not time, but maybe in a bit. But that means I have a plan.
My goal is to keep trying to get a state job. I have 6 or 7 exams scheduled for next January. And I am in the market for a few other fields. But here is the kicker. If I do not have a job by fall 2010, I am going back to school.
I am either going to go back to be an EMT.
Or to be a nurse. I know I will make more money being a nurse, but it is faster and easier training to be an EMT. So take a little less salary but in school less time, so I would be working sooner and have to pay back less in loans. So that would make the initial cost cheaper. And as an EMT there are levels of training, each would increase my pay scale. And I want to do that! and I like to learn new things.
So those are my options for my life plan. Combine that with the best woman the earth has ever seen, and I think I am going to be OK. As long as Amy can deal with my cooking, of which I want to get better at. And now I will have time!
Well maybe. If I don't get a job right away and we move closer to her occupation, I will cook and bring dinner to her once a week. I do get lonely sitting at home when she is working. And I am only headed for day three of that.
There is yet another avenue to pursue! Cooking! I could be a chef! Though I know very little about food terms. But that is what Food Network is for! Well learning hot to cook and this:
Now that is entertainment. Well kind of. It would be better if the camera man filmed the ham being tossed.
Well Best of YouTube kind of sucks right now. This is the best video they got going for them right now.
Well that is all I got for you right now. Happy Turkey day. I'll be back Friday. That is all carry on.
Well it is 7:36 a.m. This is a first for me. Blogging this early in the morning that is. I figured, why not play some catch up while I am sitting here for 25 more minutes waiting to collect a paycheck for the next month and a half.
So I have my resume out there. To a lot of places and that number is goign to grow again today. I know you are all (especially Amy) are sick of hearing about this, but I am going to talk about a different side of this for a minute here. More about my "inner turmoil."
By that I mean how I am feeling on the inside. OK, I'll say it. Lets talk about our feelings. Mine are a great mix right now. Scared, excited, nervous, unsure, not really happy about being laid off, but I am happy I have Amy.
I keep going back and forth in my head about different things. Like should I compromise and find a $10 an hour job, just so I have a job. Should I hold out and find something that is in my field. Should I try a new carrier path.
Though I am scared I realize this is very early on in the job search, so by no means am I going to compromise.....just yet. Hell I only got the news a week ago! And I am still being working for a few more weeks, and I get 2 week severance pay. So I have income and benefits until the end ofthe year.
If something bad happens to me, I'll hit up the justice of the peace, get benefits under Amy's work becaue that will be a "qualifying event," then I am golden like Pony Boy Curtis. Awww, that tough, tough hair.
Then again, I am Italian, I can always join the mob. They are hiring right? I guess I'll have to take a drive over to the Bada Bing and fill out an application. I am also Irish so I could always look into the IRA as well.
Side bar: IRA and Italian Americans please do not hunt me down and kill me. If you see fit I will turn in both my Italian and Irish membership cards.
I am also German, so I can always go play in the band Rammstein. There always seems to be a niche for hardcore German techno.
And if all else fail, I can join the circus. I mean I am an asshat, that has to be a qualifying skill to be a clown. I fall down a lot, and if you get me riled up I say some funny things.
Well my friends and followers, that magical hour is almost upon us. Ya that time I go to work and search the internets for a new job. Wish me luck, and remember, I am for hire! I do kids parties.
I would like to take a few minutes here to acknowledge my friends. I would like to say that I am truly lucky to have such great friends.
I know I only got the news that I have am being laid off a few days ago, but I am able to reply on this great network of people I have meet over the years. I have gotten into contact with some friends I haven't even seen in years, and they are more than willing to see what they can do for me. I ant you to know I will do the same for you all.
I guess college was good for something. Making some amazing friends! And Through a few of those friends I also got to meet Amy! And that above all else is the best thing that has eve happened to me in my life!
So to my friends, Thank You. I am out there looking for a job, and you all have my back. I am so appreciative for your help, and for being my friend. You are all:
That is all, carry on.
