Day Eight Hundred and Twenty One of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Early Morning Run

I was glad to be doing my usual Sunday morning run this morning. The weather report showed both sun and rain so I reluctantly took my rain jacket as well. I can’t believe that it is the last summer long weekend.

I was surprised to encounter several runners along the route. When I run to the other location, I’d pass by many running groups on Sundays but not usually on the way to downtown. Everybody looks happy running this morning.

Free Yoga Class at Lululemon

This morning was the first yoga class at the new flagship store and I was looking forward to it. This is a much larger store and I was curious to see where our class would be held. The class was held right close to the entrance. There is more foot traffic in this area so we’ll have a lot more people watching us.

It was nice to see some of the old ‘gang’ from the last store. We were worried that Lululemon might not continue the free yoga classes but for now, it looks like we are good. We had a really good class today. The yoga instructor is a Lululemon ambassador and I’ve taken classes from her before-she is quite well known all over, featured in the media a lot. It was quite a treat to have her teach this inaugural class at the new store!

Another Fifty-Something Looking for a Job

After class, some of us decided to go to Starbucks. At the end, there were three of us, a couple and myself. They are in a long distance relationship. The guy is living in Calgary and takes a bus once a month. He’s trying to find a job here in Vancouver but he’s frustrated.

I could tell that he was around the same age as me, early 50s. He said that he was facing definite ageism as he tried to find a job in IT security. I wished that I could give him some encouragement but I could only agree with him. It was a little depressing at the thought for both of us.

Mystery Shop

I had another mystery shop today. I had reserved this shop a few days ago and was looking forward to meeting up with my old co-worker. I wasn’t sure if she would be in town during the long weekend or if she’d be willing to travel to this location which is in the suburbs. For a free lunch at this restaurant though, she was!

Luckily, today’s visit was quite good. The food was great as always and the service was excellent. It was so good that I was concerned that maybe I had been ‘made’ and that they knew that I was a mystery shopper. But they didn’t say anything. If they had thought that I was a mystery shopper, why wouldn’t they just do everything that they could to be the best so that they’d get the best report?

My old co-worker used to go to this restaurant downtown together and we’d always enjoyed it. That’s another reason why I like doing this mystery shop–I can ‘afford’ to go to this restaurant, something that I ordinarily wouldn’t be able to do in my financial situation.

I got home and spent more than two and a half hours on the report. Each report gets easier and easier as I get used to the questions. I’m also getting better at not having to rely so much on my written notes. By the time I was finished, I was tired but satisfied.

 

Day Six Hundred and Twenty One of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Hip Pain Continues

I had been hopeful after yesterday’s massage therapy appointment that I would be miraculously cured from my hip and glute muscle problem but I still felt pain this morning. I felt quite discouraged since I had endured such a painful treatment yesterday.

Skipped Marathon Training Again

Tonight, my marathon training clinic was scheduled to do hill repeats on a few streets not too far from me. I wondered if it would be worse for my hip or better if I decided to partake in this tonight. Would it make a difference if I did hill work or flat work if I did anything right now, in my injured state?

Given my enduring hip pain, I decided to miss the hill repeats training for my marathon training clinic tonight. I hated having to miss these runs. I wondered if my fitness has deteriorated much since getting injured.

Ran Downtown

I decided to attempt the short run downtown today. It wasn’t raining, too windy or too cold, (as it was last week when I went across the bridge) so I could just concentrate on the running, albeit running very slowly. There wasn’t too much foot traffic on the bridge either, so that was good.

I managed to finish my run with not too much pain. Although it wasn’t a far distance, I felt like I had accomplished something. I’m a little encouraged by this and hope that I’ll be able to run farther and faster tomorrow.

Another Free Movie Screening, Winter’s Tale

My friend had given me another movie pass for tonight. I had given a different movie’s pass that I had won for tonight to a friend, because I didn’t want to make the trek out to that suburban theater, so I was free for tonight. This movie was Colin Farrell and Russell Crowe in Winter’s Tale. I took advantage of this free movie while it was available, because with free movie screenings, it can be feast or famine.

I had no idea what this movie was about, aside from it starring Colin Farrell. All the ads I saw made it sound like a love story and it was being released on Valentine’s day. It was a romantic movie but it was also one of those fantastical magic types that I can’t get into. It was also really violent, which I don’t like. When I checked the reviews after, I saw that a lot of people agreed with me. Still, it was free so I can’t complain.

Ran into Clutter Workshop Student

When I was waiting in line, I ran into my fellow clutter workshop student from last year. I hadn’t seen her since the last class in December. We caught up on how much progress we’ve made since the class.

Unfortunately, I had done a back slide as far as getting rid of my clutter. I was doing well during the class, partly because I was trying to clean up for my house guests over the holidays and also because I was getting encouragement from the class. But, since then, I’ve put it on the back burner.

She also admitted to the same. Neither of us have heard of any news of the creation of a new workshop or group. At our last class, they had wanted somebody to take responsibility for trying to move forward with the idea and being the organizer, but nobody really wanted to. I doubt that anything will be done.

It was really nice to see her and to get reminded of my initial objective of clearing out clutter and bringing more organization into my life. I really have to start setting goals about that and really being more strict with myself about reaching them. I know that once I do get back into that, I will be happy that I’d done that, too.

Day Five Hundred and Eighty Six of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Ran Downtown in the Rain Yet Again

I woke up to another dark and rainy day. I knew that I would be running downtown today and was not too concerned since I had gotten used to it yesterday when I ran to UBC. I hadn’t run on this bridge for a while. I used to run it to and from work everyday. It’s part of the marathon route, too.

There wasn’t much foot traffic on the bridge, understandable because of the weather. I hugged the side of the bridge, closest to the water because it was the farthest point away from the car traffic. Still, cars were driving too fast and plowed right through the puddles on the bridge, managing to soak me three times!

I was mad but what could I do? I was already drenched from just running in the rain anyway. I guess the drivers figured that if I was stupid enough to run in weather like this, I wouldn’t care about more water from their car.

Doctor’s Appointment

I was absolutely drenched by the time I arrived to my doctor’s office. It was a beautiful office with plush leather chairs in the waiting room. I felt self-conscious about getting them wet.

It had taken me months to get an appointment with this doctor. I had a mole that I was concerned about. Whenever I had googled photos of cancerous moles, I couldn’t tell if mine looked like that or not. My family doctor thought that it was fine but could not give me complete reassurance, so she agreed to refer me to this doctor.

He took a look at the mole with his magnifying glasses and said that I didn’t have anything to worry about. He said that in his opinion, it did not look cancerous and that I didn’t need to get a biopsy. He said if I wanted, I could get it removed, but it was not necessary. Since it would be a cosmetic procedure, the government health does not cover the cost. I could live with it.

I was relieved to hear that it was fine. I opted for the stairs rather than to be squished in a packed elevator full of sick people going to see their doctors! I rushed out of the building, happy to be in fresh air.

Met Up with Old Co-Worker

I met up with my old co-worker today after my appointment. She was bubbling with excitement. Her husband got the job he was hoping for! He had had his work hours cut in half a few months ago. They had been really stressed about their finances for months. An old co-worker of his had recommended him and before long, he had the job at a new firm, with a higher wage and better benefits.

She also told me about another co-worker who is so unhappy that she is so close to quitting. She doesn’t know what she wants to do, whether she wants to return to teaching or if she wants to stay in the financial services industry. I was so sorry to hear that her job has been that bad that she feels the need to leave.

As much as I was happy to hear about my friend’s husband getting a job, I couldn’t help but still feel depressed about my own situation. Even when I heard about my other friend who is so unhappy, I felt like saying, ‘well, at least you have a job’. Though I know that isn’t fair for me to say that. I totally relate to how you can desperately hate a job and stay in it only because you can’t find something else. I hope she can figure things out soon.

Filming on the Streets

I passed by filming on the streets today. It was good to see that filming has resumed already. I wondered what it was that was filming here but I couldn’t see any signs or people who I knew. I felt ambivalent about seeing this. I wondered why I wasn’t working today but at the same time, I was glad that I wasn’t because the weather was so bad.

There was news of a lower Canadian dollar today. That bodes well for the BC film industry. BC seems to be attracting productions with the lower exchange rate and other factors rather than tax credits. That’s good news. I hope I’ll be able to get some work soon.

Day Five Hundred and Fifty Nine of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Good Night’s Sleep

I managed to get a good night’s sleep last night. I think I might have slept more soundly because I had run so much yesterday. I also had a full schedule all day, so that must have also taken its toll on me.

Dark Day

I was a little disturbed to see that it was dark out in the morning. This went beyond the usual overcast day. It was actually dark enough that I had to keep lights on in my apartment all day! I don’t know why it was so dark out.

I know that we are approaching the winter solstice. I can hardly wait until the days start getting longer. I think this really affected my productivity today.

Worked on Cover Letter and Resume

I have been procrastinating for days and today I made a vow to finally finish my cover letter and resume for the firm I’ve been intending to apply to. I have worked on it at different times over the past ten days but never fully finished it.

The biggest challenge was condensing my resume to just one single page. In the past, I always had a two or three page resume. I wanted to make sure that the person reading it would know just how much I knew and had done in my career.

Now, I realize that that was a mistake. I now know that less is more. If it isn’t relevant to the position I am applying for, out it goes. I was slashing with abandon. I may have known this but it wasn’t until I had a friend look at it last week, that I really took it to heart. After a few hours, I finally had my one page resume.

Work BC Visit

After I finished the cover letter and resume, I dressed up in a suit. I dropped into the Work BC office around the corner in order to print up the cover letter and resume. I had a large envelope as well, addressed to the person in charge.

The office was not busy at all. There were maybe only three or four people working on the computers there. That was good because the printer was free for me to use. I had some trouble at home getting my resume to look right but when I printed out my 6th version here, it looked fine.

Trial Run Commute

I took the bus and skytrain to the office of the firm I was applying to. I decided to physically drop off the paper cover letter and resume as opposed to applying via email. This is what somebody I had chatted with who now works there, told me she did. She had applied initially online, not heard a response, so decided to drop off her cover letter and resume in person. She got a call the next day.

The one thing that a lot of job searchers worry about is whether or not their application is actually received and considered. I know that we can get email confirmations saying that they did receive it but it doesn’t say whether or not some human being is actually reading it. Could it be a software program automatically weeding out resumes?

I got on the bus and it was quite crowded. I tried to imagine what it might be like to commute to this company. I got off and went on the skytrain next. All together, it took me 50 minutes to get to the company. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Office Almost Closed

I got to the office just as they were closing. They were closing early for a staff meeting. I handed the large envelope to the receptionist. I thought I might recognize her from the annual general meeting I had attended but I did not. She seemed friendly enough. There were a couple of others and they all had on their coats, ready to leave, so I wasn’t really able to keep the conversation going.

As I went home, I couldn’t help but feel like I had finally accomplished something. I was happy to see that the commute home was easy. I was leaving the office the same time as if I worked there, after 4 PM. I was going against traffic so the skytrain was almost empty. When I got to the express bus, it was the start of the route, so again, I was able to get a seat. I could see that the commute was definitely doable.

Once I got home, I started to wonder if I would get a call. I wondered if I should send in my cover letter and resume via email as a back up but decided against it. I really hope that I get a call for an interview.

Day Five Hundred and Fifty Six of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Reasonable Call Time This Morning

This morning, my call time was 9 AM, so that was good. I didn’t have to get up super early like I did for last week’s shoots, nor did I have to drive far either. I got up at my usual time and got ready at a leisurely pace.

Warm Outfits for Exterior Shooting

I was worried about how the weather would be for today’s shoot. I read what the scene was and it said that they would be playing it for summer. That is a bad sign. Here it is winter and they think that they can dress us for summer?

I tried to find different outfits that I could wear that were big enough so that I could layer under it. I’ve done a few of these types of scenes where it is really cold winter weather and we have to freeze in summer clothing. I really hate being cold!

I found a light weight summer suit that was big enough on me that I could have 3 layers. I wore the same trench coat that I had worn the last time I worked on this show. I crossed my fingers that they would allow me to wear it. That’s what I wore there and I brought a suitcase full of other choices just in case.

Cold and Snowy This Morning

It took me longer than usual to drive to the location. It started to snow wet flakes and traffic was slow. I got there just in time but there was no problem because there was a long line up to sign in.

Our extras holding was outside in a large tent and there were two large heaters blowing hot air in the tent. Too many people were blocking the vents so the hot air was not circulating well. At least this was better than the propane heaters that most productions have.

Wardrobe, Hair and Makeup

After I filled out the paperwork I went through wardrobe, hair and makeup. I was really lucky and they picked the outfit that I was wearing. My hair and makeup was approved as well. I went back into the holdings tent to wait to hear what our day would be.

I didn’t really see anybody that I knew so I just sat and read. Despite my layers, sitting in a cold tent was not comfortable. Still, I knew that it would be even colder outside on the street.

Snow Continues

They finally made an announcement. The shoot may be cancelled due to the snow. We’d have to just sit tight until they make the decision. I have been on some shoots where they wait and wait for the weather to turn and then reluctantly wrap us out. As I drove away one time, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Too bad they hadn’t waited just a little longer that time.

They finally made the decision. They were cancelling this shoot after all. I was thrilled because as a full union member, I would still get paid my eight-hour minimum. The other non-union extras would probably still get paid at their rate for four hours.

Dropped off Donations

I was one of the first people to drive out of the parking lot. I was happy to have just worked three hours today but getting paid eight. I had filled my trunk with some clothing donations just in case I did finish early enough to go drop them off to  the church close by.

It was still snowing and wet when I got the two garbage bags full of sweaters and jackets out of my trunk. I have been dropping off donations regularly, especially since the cold weather started. At the door was a young man. He asked me if I had anything for men in the bags that he might be able to use. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Most of it was women’s clothing.

There was one sweat suit that was quite large. I remember buying in it NY years ago and loved wearing it here. When I put it in my donation bag the other day, I remember wondering who might be wearing it next. This guy was absolutely thrilled to get it. He kept thanking me over and over. He barely had any clothes on despite the cold weather.

He told me that the donations that I took to the church were rarely distributed to street people like him. He said that a person would practically have to be naked before they would get any clothing from them. He said that they saved the donations from people like me for the thrift store next door. That disappointed me. I really hoped that the clothing would go directly to those who needed it most.

I went through the rest of the bags and pulled out the largest items. He tried on a couple of things, but they were just too small for him. I finally persuaded him to take a long fleece house coat. I told him that he could use it as a blanket.

As I drove off. I was on the verge of bawling, I was so touched by that young man. It seemed so hopeless. There are so many homeless people in the city, especially in this area. Although I have tried to help with donations, what can one person really do to help? My problems seem quite small compared to them.

Day Five Hundred and Fifty Three of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Another Sunny Cold Day

I had a good night’s sleep last night. After two days of long working days on set and long drives to and from location, I was pretty tired. I managed to catch up on my sleep and felt pretty good when I woke up this morning.

UBC Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

Today, UBC Crane Production Library where I volunteer, was having a volunteer appreciation luncheon for the holidays. In the past, they have had a special guest speaker who uses the textbook recordings that we make for the visually impaired students so we can get some kind of feedback on our work.

I arrived at the holiday luncheon a half an hour after it had started. Just as they had the last two years, they had a nice roast turkey with all the trimmings. It was a nice opportunity for fellow volunteers to socialize, too. When we are volunteering, we are in our own recording booths, so we don’t have much time to chat with other volunteers.

I enjoyed the lunch and then took some photos. The special guest speaker this year was a visually impaired professor who uses the recordings. I didn’t get a chance to see the presentation this year though because they were running behind. I’ll have to ask how it went the next week when I go volunteer.

Work BC Visit

I went to visit the Work BC office after the luncheon. I haven’t been here for months. I thought that I could finish off my cover letter and my resume, print it out and then drop if off at the office of the firm I’m applying to this afternoon.

Although it has been such a long time since I was last there, I did recognize a few faces. I wonder if they are still really coming here regularly to look for work and if so, it must be so difficult to be still at it after all this time. Did I just give up?

The more work I did on the cover letter and resume, the more I realized that I wouldn’t have time to finish it. I really wanted to do a good job on it. I know it seemed like I was procrastinating but I figured that if they still have it posted on the website, they must still be accepting applications. I stayed until the office closed.

Dropped Off Laptop

I have been having trouble with my spare laptop. I can’t seem to charge the battery anymore. I bought a charger on eBay a few weeks ago and it was working well but the last week, the battery has been draining quickly.

My brother gave me this old laptop which I was grateful for, but I can’t do much with it as I can with my regular laptop. Right away, I had to buy a battery for it and that was quite expensive. I wasn’t sure how long ago I had bought that battery so I went to the battery shop around the corner to check.

They had my record on file and I had bought the battery at the end of last year. It is under a one year warranty so I am cutting it close to the deadline. I dropped the laptop and the charger off and they will check to see if it is the charger or if it is the battery that is the problem. If it is the battery, then they will send away for a replacement. In any case, I do hope I can get it back to running order soon. The last thing I need is for my regular laptop to die on me when I don’t have this old one as a back up.

Day Five Hundred and Fifty Two of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Three Hours Sleep

I got home from my extras job after midnight. I was all keyed up because there had been late night construction on the highway. I had to drive extra carefully because there was so many lane closures down to a single lane of traffic. I didn’t realize that there was so much construction work late at night! I was so anxious driving home.

I barely had much time to do anything before setting the alarm for the next early morning. In the end, I barely got three hours of sleep. I was able to leave my wardrobe suitcase in my trunk so at least I didn’t have to re-pack clothing options. I didn’t feel that refreshed but three hours is better than nothing.

Early Drive to Set

I was anxious again because I would have to drive far to get to my set today. This was a different production today, a TV show I’ve worked on many times. There were many different ways to get there. I decided to use the route suggested by the production. That way would avoid the bridge toll fee.

I set off giving myself plenty of time to spare. It’s good that I had done this because it took longer than I had expected. I barely made it there in time. It was such a long drive and I was still really tired from having so little sleep.

I saw another person whom I have worked with before on this show. He lives not too far from me. I asked him how long it took him to get there via the toll bridge and he said that it only took him 40 minutes! It had taken me almost twice as long! I was kicking myself. I ‘saved’ $1.50 for the toll bridge rate (which was having a half rate special this month) but paid much more in terms of gas and time.

Sunny But Cold in Extras Holding

There were only 12 of us coming in at 6:30 AM. We went through wardrobe, hair and makeup quickly and then got to eat breakfast. Eventually, over a hundred other extras arrived. I’m not sure why they asked the 12 of us to come in so much earlier but am glad for the extra money.

They had booked my car today so the $35 that they pay me came in handy for the gas! There were some people who I had worked with before (who also have cars that they like to feature on this show), so that was nice. Before long, we were asked to go to set with our cars and park.

We had one long scene and it was inside. That was good that we were inside on such a cold day but when we were not filming, we had to wait outside and that was really chilly even with the bright sun. I did get to see some people I hadn’t worked with for a while so that was nice to catch up.

Meal Penalty

The show decided to work through lunch. So instead of breaking after six hours, they would just keep working until they were finished what they wanted to shoot. Every fifteen minutes past the six hours would have to be paid in penalty to the crew and the full union members. So I was quite happy about that. This had happened the last two times I worked on the show so it wasn’t totally unexpected.

To those extras who were not full union, it was not such good news. They would not get any penalty. There was plenty of food at the craft services table but still, they expected a hot lunch after six hours. We ended up getting lunch almost two hours after the expected time.

Lunch was good and only half an hour. We don’t get paid for lunch, so it’s better when its half an hour as opposed to an hour. Most people got wrapped shortly after. I was one of the group of hand-picked twelve who stayed to work on one more scene. We all waited inside to see when we would be used again.

At this point we were approaching twelve hours so it was a good day, money-wise. At one point we were told to take any leftovers at craft services, too, so we got to take home the leftover fruit. Finally, we were told that they would not need us after all and wrapped us. I started on the long drive home.

Cancelled Holiday Dinner

I was sorry that I had to miss a holiday dinner I had planned with my old co-workers. It had taken us weeks to find a night that would accommodate all of us but I knew that there would be a chance that I would have to cancel if I got work.

I thought that there was a chance that I’d finish early and still make it in time but the extras wrangler came to me and asked me if I wanted to stay. Since it was an opportunity for over time, I couldn’t say no.

Even after I had finished, I had wondered if they might still be there. Unfortunately, it took a lot longer for me to drive home, so I didn’t even bother to call them to see if they were still there. As it happened, they were only there for two hours or so, so I would have missed them anyway.

It’s just as well. I was tired from the long day today and from yesterday’s shoot as well. I knew that I would fall asleep right away when I got home and make up for the three-hour sleep I had last night.

Day Five Hundred and Thirty Five of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Home Office Set Up

I continued with my home office set up today. I was telling my Dad about it during our daily phone call. He was puzzled. He had no idea that I had an office. Whenever he was in town, I had always closed the door so he never knew what it was behind there. He had assumed that it was a storage closet.

I told him that the room was big enough for a large filing cabinet, a computer desk, a computer, printer, a TV, lots of shelving and even a Stair Masters machine! I had used it when I was selling on eBay years ago. But now, it’s taking me days to get rid of things and re-organize. This week I want to take a large amount of stuff to the electronic recycling place.

Craigslist Job Listings

I checked the Craigslist job listings today. I didn’t have high expectations and I didn’t find much. There was nothing that really piqued my interest. I thought that I might be able to find some voice over work though.

I didn’t think that there’d be any legitimate union voice over work there but I thought that maybe there’d be some indy film or some student project. At this point, I’d be looking at it not for money, but for experience. I didn’t see anything though.

I have not been looking at job ads much right now since I’m concentrating on cleaning out my home. I wonder if there’d be much hiring before the holidays or end of year anyway though? I have it in my mind that I will try harder in the new year.

Giving Up on White Collar for Trades

I was talking with my old co-worker and she told me that her husband has decided to abandon the financial services industry and go into the trades. A few months ago, he lost his full-time position when it was made into a part-time one. After months of trying to exist on just half a job and trying to find a full-time one, he has seemingly given up.

She told me that he has looked into becoming an electrician. She’s not sure how much information he has but she does know that he will have to go back to school to upgrade to just get into the program. He has to take a physics course! Who would have thought that?

That’s interesting that he will be making that drastic of a change with his career. He will go from a white-collar financial services office job to a trades job. I presume that he must enjoy that kind of work and think he might be good at it? He’s only 30 years old, so he would have many years left to work even after he goes through the years of training.

Giving Up on IT for Retail

I was talking to another friend whom I had gone to UBC with ten years ago. We were in a one year full-time IT certificate program together. After the program, whereas I was not really able to find a full-time IT job, he was able to find good jobs in the IT industry.

Now, ten years later, even though he upgraded his training further even after our program, he has not been able to find a good job. It makes me sad because he is twenty years younger than me and is eager to continue on with his career.

He told me that he is now working part-time in a camera store. He had taken a professional photography program even before our program and has worked as a professional photographer. It’s always been a part-time job for him even when he was working full-time in the IT field.

If two thirty year olds are having trouble finding a good full-time job right now, what hope does a fifty-something year old have? If I have been anxious this whole time since becoming unemployed, I’m becoming even more so now. Hyper stress.

Day Five Hundred and Twenty Three of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Woke Up Early

I am working today as a background performer. I was a little anxious last night because it’s been a while since I’ve had to wake up so early for work. Last week, I worked on the same show, but it was a later start time. Because I was so anxious, I couldn’t relax enough to fall asleep as early as I wanted to.

I woke up at 4:30 AM after only three hours of sleep or so. I didn’t feel that refreshed at all. The rest of the time, I felt like I was going in slow motion before I finally headed out the door.

Early Morning Call Time

My call time this morning for this TV show that I’m doing extra work on is 6 AM. I figured that if I left by 5:15 AM, I should get there in plenty of time. But for some reason, I didn’t leave until 5:25 AM. I was anxious because I didn’t want to be late.

Oddly enough, it was starting to get a little busy on the road, even at that early hour. I didn’t dare speed because I didn’t want to risk the chance of getting a ticket. I managed to get to the extras holding tent with five minutes to spare.

I thought I’d see the same people who I worked with last week but there were only a handful of the same people. There were a number of new people this time, too. It was a small group which is nice. We all got along well all day.

Long Cold Day

Today turned out to be a long cold day. I was dressed warmly with five layers so I was okay. It did rain on and off as well. The one thing that bothered me was that the washroom that was available to us was far away. So, if we wanted to just go quickly in between scenes, it wasn’t easy. I’d have to scramble to get there and back in a short amount of time.

Daylight Shoot

We found out that the scenes that were being shot today were all exterior. That meant that they could only shoot as long as there was daylight. Because of that restriction, we worked through lunch.

According to union rules, actors and crew must be fed a hot meal six hours from the last one. Since we had a hot breakfast, we should have been broken for lunch six hours from that. We didn’t mind because if we didn’t get fed that hot meal, the production has to pay a meal penalty, extra money.

With other productions, I’ve only gotten meal penalties for maybe half an hour to an hour. Beyond that, it gets quite expensive for the production. Because of that expense, you know that there’s a really good excuse for them to want to skip lunch and in this case, it’s because it’s more important for them to get the scene shot.

With craft services, we would never starve, far from it. The craft services person on this production has one of the best stocked areas in the business. They also had catering have hamburgers grilling, too.

As soon as the sun set, that was it. We were wrapped. With the regular hours, the overtime, the meal penalty and the car rental, I would get a good sum. We were welcome to eat lunch at the catering truck, too, which I did. Well, actually, I took a plate to go and dropped in on my Aunt to share it. The catering truck has top rate food, so it was a nice treat for her.

I didn’t stay long because I know that I have to get up tomorrow for the second day of continuity shooting. After today, I have a general idea of what to expect. I was a lot less anxious when I went to sleep.

Day Five Hundred and Seventeen of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Woke up Early for Conference

I was going in the same direction as I had yesterday, so I wanted to make sure that I gave myself plenty of time to get there. Despite giving myself more time, I was running late and quite anxious.

I hate all of the construction projects that are still going on. Usually, they are only on during the summer but it seems like they are going all year round lately. Since I don’t drive regularly, I guess I never noticed it before.

EPC Conference

This was my first Elder Planning Counselling conference that I was attending since getting certified. I noticed that most of the people attending the conference tended to be on the older side. Most were well over 50. I was surprised to see that since almost all of my classmates in the course I had taken were in their late 20s or 30s.

I sat with two of my old co-workers. I’ve kept in touch with one of them, in fact, I saw him just last week, and consider him a friend. But the other one, I hadn’t seen since my abrupt departure from the firm five hundred and seventeen days ago. We got along fine but we hadn’t been friends.

I thought that it might be awkward, but it was okay. She asked me what I was up to and I managed to say little and move the conversation back to her. I seem to do that a lot with people lately. If they ask me too much about my job hunt and I’d rather not talk about it, I divert the conversation back to them and with humor a lot of times.

Interesting but Career Material?

The conference was all day long. I’ve been to lots of these kinds of seminars or conferences in my day. I felt almost like I was a normal person with a career who was attending this conference to help me in my career rather than what I am, somebody who doesn’t have a full-time job.

As I listened to the speakers, I was interested but I don’t know if it was just general interest on my part or if it was a genuine interest in the field to pursue a full-time job in. The others at the conference seemed like they were sincerely interested in the topics and provided a lively banter with some speakers.

The topics about elder planning are useful when dealing with issues my Dad might go through. I don’t have a background in insurance so that topic was useful for me as well. I figure that a yearly conference will keep me current certification-wise, too.

Halloween Dinner

After the conference, I considered going home and decompressing but decided to go to my friends’ for Halloween dinner. I had actually packed a Halloween costume in my car in case the conference was a fun crowd but they were not at all. They were very conservative. Although my friend told me he was going to wear business casual, he was dressed to the nines in a suit and tie!

I changed into my Halloween costume before I went to my friends’ house. It was just starting to get dusky. It was fun to see the kids dressed up and coming for the candy.

There were others at the house but luckily, they did not inquire much about my job search. That’s why I don’t like social situations sometimes, I don’t like people asking me what I’m doing with my life right now.

When I was in a good time of my life and proud of my career, I was happy to chat about work and looked forward to social situations where it might come up. What a contrast it is to my life now. It’s so depressing. When is my life going to change?