Day Five Hundred and Forty Seven of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Rainy Morning

I woke up early to get some last-minute cleaning done for my party tonight. It rained over night and it was raining this morning. I’ve been spoiled these last sunny dry days in November. It’s supposed to rain for the next few days, too.

I won’t bother trying to get a run in today. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t let a little rain get in my way, but since I have so many things to do, I’m giving myself a break this week. I haven’t run since Wednesday and part of me feels terribly guilty.

Christmas Bazaar

Although I am so busy today, I couldn’t resist going to the annual Xmas bazaar at a church near by. This is an annual tradition for me. They also have an easter bazaar as well that I’ve always attended.

Although today is still November, it’s really the start of the Christmas season for a lot of things. This is a very popular event so there was a long line up for it. It was pouring down rain but at least not too cold out.

It was so crowded but I managed to work through the whole place in a short time. I know exactly what I want to get. I always start with the baking and then head upstairs to the rummage sale area. After that, I head back downstairs and get the frozen cabbage rolls and perogies. I was in and out in half an hour. Usually, I go to other Christmas bazaars but I have no time today so I limited it to this one.

Last Violin Lesson

As I practiced my last xmas carol, I thought of how my last lesson would go. The eight lessons went by fairly quickly. I had so many challenges this term with problems with my violin though.

There were four of us at this last class. Only one person had to skip this class. Although I had practiced all week, I didn’t play as well as I thought I might and I’m not sure why. We were recording this week and I would wince every time I could hear my mistakes.

We managed to learn three Christmas carols reasonably well. I thought I might play at my party tonight, but am not confident after today’s lesson. I’m not sure whether or not I will continue the next term. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I did the last term. Will depend on my financial situation then, too.

Preparing for my Party

After my lesson and saying my goodbyes, I rushed home to prepare for my party. I had to still finish cleaning and do some cooking, too. I was a little anxious because there was so much to do and I still had to get ready as well!

I checked my wine glasses that were hanging and were dismayed to see that they were a little dusty. I had to take them all down and throw them in the dishwasher. I was also trying to remember where I had some Christmas music as well. So many little details…

Getting Ready for Tomorrow’s Shoot

Since I have such an early call time tomorrow morning, I wanted to make sure to have my wardrobe ready. I had packed it yesterday but I checked it again and then made sure that it would be in the closet, ready for me to just grab it in the morning.

Annual Holiday Potluck

My party was to start at 6 PM and people started to arrive early. One friend had actually arrived at 4:30 but I told him to go away and to come back later. To me, there’s no greater sin than arriving too early for a party!

All in all, 18 of my friends made it to the party. Everybody brought lots to eat and drink so we had a great variety! Since I was at home, I didn’t have to worry about drinking too much, but then I do have to get up early tomorrow morning. Others were concerned about it for me and didn’t stay too late.

We had a great time and it was a perfect start to the holiday season. I now have a break before my Dad and brother arrive. Once they are here, I will be entertaining more. So this was my trial run. I think it went well.

Day Five Hundred and Forty of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Beautiful Sunny Morning

I woke up to another beautiful sunny day. I’m surprised that we have had such nice weather lately. I have to admit that it lifts my spirits when it’s sunny like this. I was almost humming I felt so cheerful!

Home Office Set Up

I continued cleaning out my old home office. I was really surprised with some of the stuff I’ve been finding. I found an old copy of Windows XP software. I was looking for this the other day because my friend is running her computer on Windows 98, so for her, this would be an improvement.

Digging things out from under a cabinet, I found 4 extra keyboards. I couldn’t believe it! I knew that I might have one extra but not 4! I don’t want to count the number of non-working printers that I have either. Whenever a printer broke down, it was cheaper to buy a new one than buy new ink cartridges. That wasn’t very green of me, but it was cheaper at the time. And ironically, I have not one working printer right now.

I thought that I’d be able to set up a new home office quickly, but it is dragging on and on. I guess it’s easy to forget about it if the door is closed which is what I did for around 8 years now. I hope I only have to devote maybe one more day to work on it before I finish.

Violin Lesson

Today was my second to last violin lesson. This week, I managed to practice regularly as opposed to the past where I had to do binge practices the day before and day of. My shoulder did not hurt as much either when I spread out the practices over days rather than close together.

There were only two of us at class today. I was surprised. I was a little nervous because when there are more people in the class, it’s easy to get lost in the playing and your mistakes are not as noticeable. But today, it was easy to hear my mistakes and the other student’s mistakes quite clearly.

I have to admit that despite our mistakes, I did enjoy hearing our duets together. It really felt like something! I wonder if I’ll get good enough so that I can ask my friend to play duets with me?

Back to Cleaning

I resumed my home office reorganization this afternoon. It’s hard for me to get motivated. As I go through everything, it reminds me of how I ultimately failed with my eBay business and that makes me depressed. But I need to do this.

Working Beyond 60 Vancouver Sun Article

I read an interesting article called Working Beyond 60 by Jenny Lee on the Vancouver Sun newspaper website. I have to admit that it was a pretty dismal outlook on people over 60 who find themselves in a position to have to work because of their financial situation.

The first headline that startled me was that one in five Canadian workers say that they’ll never be able to fully retire. I can see that with myself. Even though I have technically over 15 years before I can start drawing a pension, I don’t see myself being able to accumulate enough to retire completely.

Another thing that surprised me was that Canada is the worst of 15 industrialized countries. I would not have thought that. I would have thought that Canada would be one of the best, given its fairly liberal and socialized programs.

As I read more of the article, I felt more and more discouraged. There are back to work programs for those over 55 that have waiting lists of people wanting to enter so that they can get help returning to the workforce. I see ads for those programs and have wondered if I would have to enter them in 4 years.

This was a really good comprehensive article on the cold realities of getting older and needing and  looking for a job in Vancouver. I saved a copy of it. I’m not sure why I did because it only depresses me. Still, I have to face reality. I need to come up with a better plan or I will be in the same situation down the line.

Day Five Hundred and Five of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Another Foggy Morning

This morning was another foggy morning. I wonder why we’ve had this streak of foggy weather lately? We had such nice sunny weather for a few days. Now, it’s been overcast and foggy. Well, I can’t complain too much, at least it’s not rainy.

Violin Cram Session

I missed my violin lesson two weeks ago because I had to work. The following week was thanksgiving weekend, so there was no lesson. So it’s been three weeks since I have played.

Of course, I had all that time to practice but I didn’t start until the morning of my lesson. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to tune it. I was going to go out and buy a digital tuner. Instead, I found an online violin tuner and was able to tune it easily. I was so glad that I didn’t have to spend any money!

Violin Lesson

I walked to my lesson with apprehension and feelings of impending doom. I didn’t get to practice as much as I should have and I dreaded playing. Sure enough, I was having trouble keeping up with the others.

I had been a little cocky during the beginner class because I could already read music from my 12 years of piano lessons. Now, it’s not the music that I need to read, I need to remember the fingering of the strings! This intermediate class is more challenging!

I felt even worse because I’m sure that my bad playing was distracting to my fellow students, especially one of them who is right beside me. I have to miss next week’s class because I’ll be working so I’ll get even more behind. I have to make more of an effort to practice more frequently.

Short Run

After class, I decided to do a short run before it got dark. I wanted to drop in on my friend who works at a thrift store I go to. I hadn’t seen her in weeks so I wanted to catch her, especially since she only works twice a month now.

It is quite quiet on this route. I didn’t see any other runners the whole time. I felt pretty good running, just enjoying the crisp air and the colorful leaves. Why couldn’t this have been the weather during the marathon last month instead of the rain, cold and wind?

I just caught my friend before she left early. She had a meeting that she needed to attend so I barely had time to catch up with her before she had to leave. Now, I won’t see her for two weeks.

Retail Blog

I worked on my retail blog tonight. Although I’ve been maintaining it every day, I wanted to get to the point where I could start setting up my retail business for this blog. Now that my office is half cleared during my clearing campaign, I’m thinking of what would be the best way to set it up to hold both inventory and office supplies.

While I was running, I was thinking of different strategies. In my dreamy state, I wondered if I could even do this as a full-time job. I tried to do this years ago on eBay but once the economy tanked, I had to stop. I wonder if now is the right time to try again?

Day Four Hundred and Ninety One of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Cancelling Plans

After I got booked for this weekend extras gig, I had to cancel the get together that I was supposed to go to tonight. After two out of the five of us had to cancel for the same gig, they decided to re-schedule. Now that it is already October, I wonder if we will skip trying to get together and just wait until the annual December party instead.

Noon Call Time

Today’s call time was not until noon. I was glad that it wasn’t too early because then I could do some errands. Although I had to miss my violin lesson today, I decided to get my violin checked at the local music store. I tried to practice and it sounded really odd. There is no lesson next weekend because of the long weekend, so I will have two weeks to practice and get back to the level I was before summer holidays.

I went to the Prussin Music Store close to me to see if I needed a new string. I’m always impressed with the sales staff, they are so friendly and well-informed. It turned out that I didn’t need a new string but my peg was not pushed in when I tried to tune it myself.

The sales guy was nice enough to re-string the string while I was there and then tune it for me. The more problems I have with this cheap violin, the more I realize that I should probably give in and rent a violin. I was talking with him about the rental program and there is a lower rate if I want to rent one that is used. I’ll have to think about that.

Exterior Shooting in Good Weather

My friend picked me up and we drove to the tv show location. There is still so much construction along the way that it took us a little longer than usual. We still got there in plenty of time to spare though.

When we got to the circus area for this TV show, there was a single tent and chairs for us. Costumes, hair and makeup people made their rounds to see if we were okay. I wore what I thought they would like and luckily, they accepted it. I was able to put my suitcase with the rest of my wardrobe changes back in the trunk.

We were then shuttled closer to the filming location. It took us a while because traffic is really bad this weekend. We sat in extras holding, in a building close to set for a while. We were able to chat with each other and drink and eat something. We knew that we would not be getting lunch so most of us ate a lot at the craft services table to make up for it.

Luckily, the weather was pleasant when it was time to go outside to shoot. I had plenty of layers on in anticipation of cold and rainy weather but I didn’t need them after all. All we did was walk back and forth while the main actor tried to get through the crowd. We did this several times.

When it’s an exterior shot, we are subject to distractions like buses driving through the shot or airplanes flying over head. Sometimes, the production assistants are not fast enough to stop real pedestrians from walking in the shot, too. It’s pretty apparent that there was shooting here but some people just don’t care and walk through anyway.

Word must have gotten out that they were filming here because there were fans and even paparazzi across the street watching the shoot. I found photos of the shoot in a website the next day. I didn’t even notice them much.

We finished filming in plenty of time before sunset. We knew that we would be wrapped before sunset because it was a day time setting. We signed out and then had to wait for the shuttle buses to take us back to the parking lot. The traffic was quite bad, probably due to the hockey game tonight. It took us over half an hour before we got there!

Dinner with Friend

After we completed our gig, my friend and I decided to get take out and have dinner at his place. I was surprised to hear that he’s been taking violin lessons for years! He showed me his violin and accessories. He let me try his bow which cost hundreds of dollars and although I could definitely hear the difference, I don’t know if I’d ever be in the position where I could afford that luxury.

At this point of my life, where I don’t have steady income and I’m not sure when I’ll get a stable job, I can’t think about spending money on my hobbies. I allowed myself the sacrifice of taking the violin lessons because it’s cheap (8 lessons for $129) but things will have to change before I can think of dropping serious money on anything like a bow.

Day Four Hundred and Eighty Four of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

UBC Volunteer 24 Hour Event

I woke up very early this morning because UBC Crane was holding its second annual 24 hour narrate-athon.  The production facility is open for 24 hours and we readers try to produce as much work as possible (reading and recording textbooks for visually impaired students). I did this last year and it was fun. I got there at 6 AM and would read for three hours. The UBC staff had been up for almost 24 hours and were exhausted but still going strong. They even set up a disco ball area where they could let loose and dance!

The three hours went by quickly. There were other narrators in the other recording booths who were reading longer than usual shifts as well. By the end of the event, 55 readers had participated and we completed several books. At the end of the 24 hour period, we took photos and the weary staff were finally allowed to go home!

Another Day of Cleaning

After I finished volunteering, I drove directly to my friends’ house. This was the last weekend before they would move. There whole downsizing from 5000 square feet to a 1600 suite has been a weeks long process. I have been helping them at their garage sales, packing and would now clean.

Although I was weary from my early morning rise, I got gung-ho with some cleaning. My friends have only three more days in the house before they hand over the keys to the new residents. There are still a lot of boxes around so it’s not that easy to clean.

Deluge of Rain

I left to go to my violin lesson which was not too far. At this point, there was a big deluge of rain. The road drains were all clogged with leaves so the roads had deep pockets of water. I managed to find a parking spot but I had no choice but to walk across a deep puddle of water.

I was drenched by the time I arrived at my lesson. I was worried that this bad weather would continue to tomorrow during my race, too. It doesn’t even matter that I had water-resistant clothing on either. I guess I’ll just have to get used to this weather again.

First Violin Lesson, Second Term

I signed up for a second series of violin lessons. Although I really can’t afford it, I figured that at the Vancouver School Board price, I could allow myself this luxury. I also wanted to continue on with the lessons with the same teacher and fellow students.  I knew that if I skipped it, I would probably lose a lot of what I had learned.

Despite my good intentions, I did not practice my violin all summer. I was so busy this week, I didn’t even practice before my lesson today. When I got to the lesson, I was at a disadvantage because I didn’t have my book either. I was confident all of it would come back to me.

I shared the book with a classmate but as we got into some review exercises, I realized that I couldn’t remember much of anything! I was so mortified! I had to end up faking the notes. I knew that the wrong playing of notes was distracting my classmate, too.

I decided to go to the office and buy a new book. It’s $9 but I figured it would be worth it just not to bother my classmate. I’ll just have an extra book now. I couldn’t wait for this misery to end. I vowed that I would practice so that I’d get back to shape by next class.

Back to Cleaning

After my lesson, I promised my friend that I would return and do some more cleaning. I was tired and still damp from the earlier rain storm but I didn’t want to leave her in a lurch. I figured that I would work two more hours and then go home to rest.

After the two hours, I looked around and there was still a lot of stuff to be done before the move. I had told them that I was willing to come over and work some more after I had finished the marathon. I knew that I’d be tired but I’d try.

I have been racking up the hours this week from this move. I want to try to work as much as I can while my friend has work for me. I know that once they have moved, I won’t have this part-time work opportunity so I have to take advantage of it when I can.

Arranging Marathon Ride

Tomorrow is the Surrey International Music Marathon. I feel a little anxious, not so much about the run itself, but the whole process about driving there. At the last minute, translink decided not to have an early train so I’d have to drive in order to get there in time for the race.

I had found a running buddy who lived close to me who needed a ride. I had posted on a facebook marathon runners page, Craigslist and even sent several emails to some of the running stores. Originally, there had been two more runners but they decided to just not participate.

I had emailed back and forth with one runner so we ironed out the last-minute details. We would leave the city by 6 AM and get to the marathon in plenty of time. I was tired from cleaning all day so I was able to fall asleep easily. I’m looking forward to the race.

Day Three Hundred and Seventy Two of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Managed to Sleep in Today

I had yet another late night last night. I felt particularly anxious last night for some reason. I’m not sure why I was feeling so hyper last night. I couldn’t seem to relax enough to fall asleep easily. I did get to sleep in a bit today though since my lesson wasn’t until 12:30.

Last Violin Lesson

I went to my last violin lesson today. The course is eight lessons in total, but I will be in my Elder Planning Counselor Program next Saturday so I have to miss the last one. I would have liked to have been able to do all eight lessons, but I can’t miss my program.

There were three of us today in class. I was the only one who attended all seven classes. The other two people had missed at least two or three each. I didn’t want to miss classes that I had paid for. I wanted to get as much as I could out of the course and I think that I did. I learned several songs: Mary Had a Little Lamb, Ode to Joy, Jingle Bells to name a few. I think most people would be able to recognize them, too.

I’ve taken all sorts of adult education courses in my day: screen writing, several different languages, singing, different sports, cooking, self-defense, photography, dance, real estate staging, etc. This was one of the few that I enjoyed enough to want to continue on with it. The intermediate course will not start until the end of September. I’m really hoping that I will have a full-time job by then. Otherwise, I’m not sure if I can afford to go.

Ran Short Distance Today

I walked home and felt a little restless so I decided to go for a short 4 mile run. The weather had improved so that it was a little sunny but still cool. I did a fairly swift pace because I wanted to get my heart rate up and get a good sweaty work out. I ran back home and was ready to do a night of studying my textbook.

Elder Planning Counselor Course Reading Continues

I continued my reading for my Elder Planning Counselor course coming up. This chapter was on Dementia. I was very interested in this chapter and found it very informative and relevant to me right now.

Years ago, when I was caregiver to my 93-year-old Grandmother in the hospital, three months before she passed away, I was witness to the end stage of what I had assumed was dementia. When she had entered the hospital, she was her normal sharp self. As the days and weeks passed, she gradually lost her present day reality.

At one point, she had reverted to her childhood but I didn’t know it. She kept asking me where her Mom was and puzzled she would ask me that, I told her that her Mom had died long time ago. She started to cry and it was then when I realized that she thought she was a child and she really thought that her Mom had died. I felt terrible having told her that, but I didn’t realize at the time what was going on. There was another incident in the middle of the night, when she was in her child mode, she was at some party and she was so happy, she was laughing so much (like a child would laugh) that the nurse told me to get her to keep it down.

Another time, she kept calling me Joy, my Mom’s name, even though my Mom had passed away a few years before. This time I knew better than to correct her. I just played along. I remember the last time she was lucid, her old self. She had talked to me one last time, thanking me for placing a blanket on her so she could take a nap. She never talked after that and days later, passed away, peacefully.

After that experience, I was always very curious about dementia and Alzheimer’s. My Grandmother was the only person who I ever saw go through some form of it. I learned from the reading that the rate of dementia tends to increase dramatically with advanced age.

Dementia Statistics

The risk for dementia doubles every five years after 65. About 8% of people over 65 have some form of dementia. By 85 years of age, one in three will have some form. At 93 years old, my Granny was surely showing some signs of it in her final days.

I didn’t realize that there are a few common forms of dementia: Alzheimer’s, Vascular, Lewy Body, Parkinson’s and Pick’s disease. Alzheimer’s is the most known to me. I suspect that my Dad’s best friend is going through the first stage of it.

There is stage one, mild, where he has recent or short-term memory loss, loses his way when going to familiar places, he’s even gotten lost when he was at a restaurant buffet, he stood there with his plate staring blankly until my Dad and his friend waved him back. He forgets to eat, take his medication and even drink water, so his daughter has had to arrange a home care aide come daily.

The biggest blow to him has been the loss of his driver’s licence. For that, his kids had to enlist help from his doctor. He used to be a recreational stock car racer, so the loss of his driving privileges has been particularly rough on him. He bought a little scooter so he could drive around the neighborhood, but he has gotten a little lost at times.

The next stage will be moderate where more loss is apparent. The final stage is severe where he would need total assistance. The text said that it could take years before a person reaches the final stage. I wonder how this situation will turn out. My Dad is already mourning the gradual loss of his best friend.

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

One Year Anniversary I Didn’t Want to Celebrate

It’s been one year since I’ve lost my job. I can’t believe that it’s been a whole year since I was called into the conference room and told that I no longer had a job after almost two years of working there. I was shocked then. It was only four days after I had returned from vacation and I really didn’t have any anticipation of that happening. If I had even an inkling of that, I certainly wouldn’t have gone on an expensive and long vacation.

I wish I could say that I’ve accepted the firing one year later, but I still have a lot of strong feelings. All through out this year, my feeling have ran the gamut from relief (of ending a job I didn’t even really like) to extreme fear (of financial stress) to extreme anger (of irrational revenge fantasies).

I know that whenever I will have a job interview, I’ll have to admit to them that it’s been over a year since I’ve had a full-time job, if they do ask. That has to raise red flags to any interviewer, even if I do have a bit of an excuse with taking off those months to recover from my running injuries.

At this point, I have more anxiety and stress than ever before. In some ways it seems like it was just a short time ago this happened and in other ways, it seems like it was a very long time ago. I really want to be able to get over this set back and return to the work force soon.

Volunteer at Child Run Event

I went to volunteer at a charity children’s run this morning. I usually volunteer for adult races but decided to volunteer for a fun family event this time. It was chilly working outside in the tent. I thought it would be sunny and warm this weekend but it was overcast and a little windy. It wasn’t the ideal of volunteer conditions but they provided plenty of food and drinks and the coordinators were super friendly.

I worked with this couple who had brought along their three young daughters. I really admired them because despite their incredibly busy life, they still find time to volunteer as a family to teach their girls about giving back to the community. And they were a really interesting couple, too, who were well-educated and well-travelled. I was really glad that I got to meet them.

Violin Lesson

After volunteering, I rushed over to my sixth violin lesson. Despite all my challenges I’ve had dealing with my cheap defective violin, I’ve managed to being able to play. One of my classmates, who also went with a cheap violin has even bigger problems. Her violin is not even made of wood and the glue is already separating pieces. The teacher looked at it and thought that it could fall apart at any time now.

I managed to practice a few times this week before this lesson and I’d like to think that it made a difference. I only have one more lesson. I will have to miss the last eighth lesson because I will be doing my elder planning counselor course that weekend.

Although I really can’t afford these lessons, I think that having this distraction has been good for me. I thought that I’d be able to teach myself but when I’ve tried, I found out later at class that what I thought was correct, was really not right at all, so it is worthwhile for me to continue on with lessons with a teacher.

I found out from my teacher that the next course of eight lessons will start at the end of September. I’m hoping that I will have a full-time job by then so I can afford to continue. In the meantime, I will take the summer to practice what I’ve learned so far as much as I can.

Elder Planning Counselor (EPC) Reading

After I took out my Aunt for lunch and shopping, I came back home to start reading my EPC course material. I have four textbooks that are approximately two hundred and 50 pages long, so I should have plenty of time to complete the reading before the class starts.

I was a little surprised to see that the text is at a fairly easy level and larger print. I guess I had expected them to be a little more advanced since this course is aiming at professionals like financial advisors, lawyers and medical professionals. Maybe they are starting out slowly and then they’ll get more comprehensive as the course goes on. In any case, it is interesting at least.

Day Three Hundred and Thirty Seven of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Home Physiotherapy Exercises

I had fallen asleep early last night and woke up feeling fairly refreshed this morning. I did my home physiotherapy exercises again this morning. I’ve been fairly consistent with doing these daily. I was worried that I would forget to do them, but I have been diligent.

I’m not sure if I I’m making progress though. I still feel pain when I do them and wonder when I will get to the point when my injured arm and shoulder will be the same as my good one. I have a busy day today so I won’t have time to go for my usual run. But at least I have done these arm and shoulder exercises.

School Fair

I went to the St. Georges School Country Fair this morning. This is an annual event that I love to go to. It has lots of second-hand stuff on sale, baked goods, a midway, jewelry, silent auction, toys, plants, books, sporting goods, etc and my favorite, a bottle game. I bought 5 picks for $20. Each pick will get you some kind of bottle. I got a large bottle of gin (worth $34), a bottle of Merlot (worth $20), a bottle of white wine (worth $20), a large bottle of craft beer (worth $10) and then a large bottle of ketchup. I was so happy! I really can’t afford much, but I did allow myself to splurge on that.

Music Store Visit

I had to rush to the music store to pick up my violin. For some odd reason, the traffic was terrible and it took me twice as long to get there. There is construction going on everywhere so there are delays.

When I got there, I found out that my violin isn’t fixed at all! I was pretty mad! I was already cranky because of the traffic and now I find out that I drove here for nothing! The clerk said that the technician claimed that I didn’t tell him that I had a violin lesson this afternoon. I was angry because I know for sure that I had told him about my lesson today. There is no way that I didn’t.

I was told to go in the back and talk with him. I didn’t want to get in an argument about my instructions but I know that he had made a mistake. Anyway, he told me that the violin was really just for show only, that it wasn’t worth repairing. It would cost me at least $75 for a bridge replacement and then $120 to repair something else. He said that beginners should play with the best violins because if they play with crappy ones, like mine, they get bad sound and get discouraged and not want to play.

I said that I was glad that he was honest with me. I took the violin back. I wish he had been honest with me on the phone though. I was mad because I had to drive home in the bad traffic again and because I’d have to endure another lesson with this bad violin.

The bad traffic made me so late that I didn’t even have time to drive home and go back to my lesson. I had to find parking around there and there wasn’t much. The paid parking lot close by cost $2.75 for only 30 minutes! I drove around several blocks before I finally found free parking.

Violin Lesson

I ran to my lesson because I was running behind. I was so disappointed that I will be playing yet again with my defective violin. I told my teacher what had happened at the music store and why I will be playing wrong notes again since my violin was not fixed.

I winced as I sawed away on my cheap violin. I felt like laughing because it sounded so badly. I wondered how my teacher could keep a straight face. She’s so encouraging even though she hears my wrong notes. Because of my piano background, I know that I am correct with the timing but I am also so aware of the wrong notes I am playing.

Another student is having the same problem. She is going to rent a violin. I know that is what I’ll probably have to do, too, but I really can’t afford it. I had priced rentals and I know that it’s $17 a month with a three-month minimum, and I won’t have anything to show for it at the end. I hate renting anything. And yet, I can’t afford to buy a new violin nor afford to repair my cheap crappy violin. It makes me so anxious. What was supposed to be an inexpensive hobby is now turning into a money pit for me.

Volunteer for the Vancouver Marathon

After my lesson, I rushed downtown so that I could volunteer at the Vancouver Marathon. I always like to volunteer the day before the race so that I can cheer on the day of the race. Tonight, I worked at the package pick up area, as I usually do.

I have been volunteering for the marathon for quite a few years. For some reason, it was more disorganized than usual. They seemed surprised to see me and didn’t have a job for me even though I had specifically signed up for package pick up.

Because they weren’t ready for me, they told me to check out the runner’s expo. That’s usually one of my favorite things to do but this year, it was quite boring. There were few freebies, too. I renewed my Canadian Running magazine subscription because I get reminded when I see the booth there but other than that, I didn’t see anything of interest.

Finally, they found a job for me. I did package pick up for late registrants and those who wanted to switch races. Most who switched went from a full marathon to a half marathon or 8 KM. It went by quickly. I was a little disappointed with the experience this year because it was so disorganized. I don’t know if I will bother volunteering again next year.

Call From My Agent

I got a call from my agent tonight. She wanted to book me on the same gig that I had worked on yesterday. I was a little surprised because I wasn’t one of the handful of people who had been working on the last scene that had not been completed. I accepted.

I found out later that at least two other people I had worked with yesterday were also asked to work on Monday. One was busy and the other will work with me. I am happy that I will be working twice next week–this second day and the TV commercial. I hope that this keeps up through out the summer at least, so I won’t feel so financially stressed when my employment insurance ends soon.

Day Three Hundred and Thirty of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Restless Sleep

I had trouble falling asleep last night. I was anxious about whether or not I would be working today or not. And I was feeling anxious about my assorted financial stresses, too. Was it a good idea to give up the possibility of a day of work because I didn’t want to miss my second violin lesson?

I woke up early in anticipation of receiving an email from my Extras Casting Director about whether or not I’d be working later today. I had told her that I wasn’t available until after 2 PM because of my violin lesson. My call time turned out to be after that, so I would be able to work after all.

Music Store Visit

I had to drive to a music store before my lesson. I had to get fine tuners attached to my violin. I had bought my violin on eBay thirteen years ago and it was a really cheap package that included the violin, case, bow, rosin, tuning fork and VHS tape of instruction. Because it’s such a cheap violin, it didn’t have these fine tuners. Luckily, the tuners were not that expensive at this store and they agreed to apply them for free. The first music store I had visited cost twice as much and they wanted to charge me to apply them.

Second Violin Lesson

I was really glad that I would be able to take my second lesson after all. The first lesson last week was really an introduction to the very basic stuff, I was sure that the second lesson would cover just as important information. I walked there in the cold rain. It’s not that far but the violin and hard case was heavy.

There were only two of us, the other two students did not show up! I was surprised about that. I wondered if they had quit or if they were just busy? With these school board lessons, if you decide you want to quit after the first lesson, you can get a refund less 20%.

I had an advantage to the other student because I took piano lessons for twelve years and could read music. The other student was being thrown into reading music when he didn’t really understand the concept so the teacher had to go over it a few times.

I was having problems with holding the violin and the bow properly and the action of ‘bowing’. Ironically, I was using too much shoulder action. My left shoulder was sore from having the violin rest on it. I had to keep taking breaks. I can’t believe that I signed up for these lessons forgetting about my broken arm and shoulder injuries. Still, I was enjoying the lesson.

When I was playing, although I was playing the right string, I knew that the note was wrong. The teacher checked my violin and found out that my bridge needed adjusting. This worried me because it means that I’ll have to lay out more money again. She doesn’t think it’ll be too expensive and it is crucial that I get it done. Sigh.

Night Movie Shoot

I had a short break at home before I had to drive to the movie studio for the night shoot. There were only ten of us who had worked the first two days and it was nice to see them again. We went through the usual motions: paperwork sign in, makeup, hair and then to costumes. We also had breakfast (first meal of the day) even though it was 5 PM. (We had a full hot lunch at 1 AM).

We were trying to duplicate some of the scenes that we had done ten days ago. For the most part, we could remember most of the scenes and they did have footage to show us to remind us. The film crew was ‘cheating’ parts of the scene because some of the people who had worked ten days ago were not here. Generally speaking, people watching the movie would not notice the discrepancies anyway.

Unlike the first two days of shooting, which were 14 hour days, tonight’s was only 9 hours. Still, because it was a night shoot, we were tired when we finished at 2:42 AM. I am glad that I did get to work today and make money. By the time I got home, it was an hour later. I was too keyed up to fall asleep right away but did eventually drift asleep.