Category Archives: Fun Stuff

Not The Convention I’m Used To (or Still Taking On More Responsibility)

Posted on October 20, 2021 | Comments Off on Not The Convention I’m Used To (or Still Taking On More Responsibility)

As I mentioned yesterday (and have written about quite a bit), my union’s national convention was this past weekend. This was my 4th time being a part of Convention as an LA delegate. But because this was the first time the convention was virtual, everything felt a bit like it was new to me. There’s a lot that can be done virtually but there were also a lot of things I missed. But since being elected again, I have been so excited to see what it would be like this time.

Going into the weekend, I had some responsibilities I was used to and a few new ones. I was one of the leaders from my slate, so other members could ask me questions if they had them and I tried to keep people informed. This year, we did this over text instead of in person, but that didn’t feel too different. I also was a part of a convention committee regarding the voting, but our voting was going to be handled differently than it normally was so we didn’t have the same concerns. The initial meeting I had for that committee ended up being the only time we needed to meet. There were a few other things I helped to be in charge of, but it was mainly around organization and making sure that others knew the agenda for each day, so I was used to that.

The first day of the convention is usually the night before it actually starts when we have the welcome mixer. This year, they did a bit more than just that. Earlier in the day, they had a virtual open house so we could go into the virtual convention website and explore and test things out. They did practice votes so we could learn how to use the online voting system and they had staff and IT help there for any of our questions. I’m glad I dropped into it because I realized the browser I normally use wasn’t the best one for the website. Then in the evening, we had a virtual mixer. It was very different from what we are used to, but I liked the system they used. There were different virtual spaces we could go into and you could move your avatar around. And if you were closer to another avatar, the conversation was louder and you could hear them. So it was like being in a room with a lot of other people. I still missed seeing the delegates from around the country, but at least we were able to connect a bit.

And the 3 days of the convention were filled with a lot of voting and a lot of learning as usual! We started with the different vice president elections, and I was so happy to see the candidates that I was supporting win their seats. But I think one of the most excited VP votes was for our executive vice president. The winner of that was my friend (and boss at my day job), Ben! I know Ben is going to be an incredible VP and I can’t wait to see what he can accomplish in the next two years (and beyond since I know this is just getting started). Even though we weren’t voting in the same room, I was texting a lot with my friends while we were waiting for the results, so I didn’t feel as alone.

A majority of the time was spent on resolutions. I didn’t submit a resolution this time, but I was a co-author on one and was planning on speaking for it. But due to a lot of different factors that took up time, we didn’t make it to the resolution I was going to speak on. It was a little disappointing, but I know that people wanted to debate and have time on other resolutions which took time away from others. We did also have some technical difficulties, but we always have had those when we vote so I don’t think that affected things that much. I wish there had been more time and I know a lot of people tried to speed up the process where we could, but it just didn’t happen.

Overall, I do feel like this was another good convention. It wasn’t perfect, but it never is. There are things I would love to see changed, and that’s why I know I have to continue with my union service. But I did see change happen at the convention and that’s exactly why I do this. I hope that in 2 years, I will be elected again and the convention will be able to be in person. As much as I enjoyed not having to leave my house (and being able to wear comfortable pants), I missed getting to see everyone and the energy in the room. That’s not easy to experience virtually.

But at least we had our convention this year and we are still moving forward as a union!

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Default ThumbnailVirtual Orientation (or Still Getting Ready For Convention) Default ThumbnailTime For Convention (or I’m Ready To Get To Work) Default ThumbnailConvention Prep and Recovery (or Sorry For The Short Post) Default ThumbnailPreparing For A Virtual Convention (or My First Task For This Delegate Term) Default ThumbnailA Full Convention Weekend (or Preparation Pays Off) Default ThumbnailSAG-AFTRA National Convention (or I Had No Idea It Would Be Like This)

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Cleaning And Socializing (or Making Getting Ready To Move A Double Win)

Posted on October 15, 2021 | Comments Off on Cleaning And Socializing (or Making Getting Ready To Move A Double Win)

As I’ve been getting ready to move (even though I don’t have a date yet that I will be moving out), I’ve been working on really organizing what I have in my house. I’ve said it before, but after being here for over 11 years, I have accumulated a lot of stuff. And some of it is stuff that I don’t need, but just kept because I never thought about getting rid of it. But now that I’m focused on what I do and don’t want to move with me, I’ve been working on clearing out what I don’t need.

A lot of what I’m not taking with me is paperwork that I don’t need. I try to keep paperwork in my house to a minimum, but it still seems to build up. Fortunately, that’s easy enough to get rid of. I shred things that need to be shredded and they go into the recycling bin. And I’ve also found a few beauty products that expired and other items like that which just go into the trash. Those are easy decisions to make with what I want to keep and what gets tossed.

But then there are some things that I have and use (or used to use) and they aren’t just things to throw away. I have a garage that I use for storage that doesn’t have a lot in it, but most things in there are things I haven’t used in years. So I have been making a list of what is in my garage and in my house that I don’t plan on moving to my next place. It’s not that big of a list, but there is a list.

Eventually, I’ll probably make a list on Facebook Marketplace or another site like that and try to sell some of these things. None of them are worth that much, so I will probably list things for only about $20. I have things like an old bookcase that I won’t be using, a side table, an old chair, and other things that are perfectly good, just not for me anymore. But before I post them for sale to people I don’t know, I’ve been trying to find friends who might need them. And this has been a great thing so far. It gives me a chance to see friends I haven’t seen in a long time and make sure that the things I’m not keeping go to people who I know can use them.

I’ve only given 2 things to friends so far. First is a step and repeat frame that technically wasn’t mine, but I was holding onto it for a friend. So I messaged him if he still wanted it, and he said he’d come over to take it. I hadn’t seen him in about 2 years, so it was great to get to see him and catch up for a bit while he was picking up the frame. He had other things he had to do and I had to get back to work, so we weren’t able to hang out that long. But still, getting to see a friend I haven’t seen in forever was so nice and made my day!

And the other thing I’ve given to a friend was my bike. I was so happy when I got my bike and I went for some nice bike rides, but I just don’t go anymore. I would love to say that I’ll pick it up again and use the bike in the future, but I honestly don’t know if that’s true. So since I don’t know if or when I’ll use my bike again, it didn’t seem smart to move it to another place. Because bikes are sized by height, I had to think who it would be the right height for. So I reached out to my friend Erin to see if she or her daughter would want it. And she said it would be perfect so she came over the other day!

I hadn’t seen Erin in almost 2 years as well, which is crazy to me since I’m used to seeing her multiple times a year every year! It was so great to get to see her and her daughter and catch up a bit as well. And I’m so glad they were able to come pick up the bike because I wasn’t sure how well it would fit in my car. I wish I could have spent more time hanging out with them, but I had to get back to work. But hopefully when things calm down a bit for me, we can plan a real hangout.

Knowing that some of the stuff I’m getting rid of is going to friends is making it easier for me to let things go. And if I do end up selling some of the things online, I think I’ll be ok with it. I’m now really starting to get excited about moving and not feeling as anxious. It’s still overwhelming and there is a lot for me to do, but I’m getting closer to the fun stuff. And because there will be an overlap between my current place and my next place, I don’t have to worry or stress too much about the moving process. I will be able to take my time and move a lot of my stuff on my own in my car. When it comes to some of the big stuff, I will hire movers. And when it is time to think about that, I’ll worry about it then. But for now, I’m trying to just stay excited about moving and having a new adventure ahead!

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It’s Musical Time! (or Another Return To Normalcy)

Posted on October 13, 2021 | Comments Off on It’s Musical Time! (or Another Return To Normalcy)

For the past several years, I have had season tickets to the musicals at the Pantages (or Dolby) and it has been a regular part of my life. Of course, with everything shutting down for the pandemic, the musicals shut down as well. The last show I saw was right before things shut down back in March. That was also the first show I had seen at the Dolby. I remember seeing that show and thinking how it was such a weird vibe in the room. I have had coughing issues for years, and I remember getting looks from others when I coughed from time to time. I knew that things were a bit scary with the idea of a pandemic, but I had no clue what was to come only days later.

While I missed seeing shows regularly, for a long time the idea of being indoors with a large crowd terrified me. So I was ok with the idea that shows weren’t back yet. But things have been slowly reopening here in LA, and the announcement of the Pantages and Dolby reopening was not that long ago and our shows announced their new dates.

It is still a bit scary to think of a large crowd inside, I was glad to see that they were going to require everyone to wear a mask and show proof of vaccination to get inside. So when I found out the date for my first show back, I was feeling a bit better about things. But because Dani had moved away from LA, she wasn’t going to be able to make it to this show. Hopefully she can come back for some of the shows, but this time I found someone else who could take the ticket. Unfortunately, her daughter got sick that day (fortunately, not Covid) and I ended up going to the show alone.

For a long time, I didn’t get season tickets for the Pantages because I didn’t want to go alone. I don’t know if I would do that now either. This was going to be the first show that I went to alone, but because I missed the shows so much, that excitement was more than my fears over going alone. And as soon as I walked in and sat in my seat, I felt such a sense of relief about being back to something I love.

I have seen My Fair Lady before, but only as a movie, so I was excited to get to see it live. And I think everyone in the audience was just as excited as I was to be back at a show. You could tell that some people were a bit nervous like I was about being in a crowd. But everyone kept their masks on and I’m glad that people respected that rule. And I saw when getting to the show how seriously they were taking the vaccine requirement. They gave options on how to show you were vaccinated, and if you tried to show it another way they did not let you in. The women in front of me when checking in were trying to use an unofficial website to show their vaccination records and they were not let in. I know this probably sounds harsh, but I really respected the theater for not being lenient on this policy.

I did have a few moments of panic attacks while watching the show, but that could be caused by so many different things. It might have been about being around a large crowd, which still makes me a bit nervous. It might be because masks tend to make me feel claustrophobic and I had to push through that feeling. Or it might have been because I was alone, but I don’t actually think that bothered me as much as I thought it would. I still would have preferred to have a friend with me, but it was nice to not have someone seated next to me on one side so I didn’t feel as close to others.

Even though I dealt with some panic attacks while at the show, I really was so happy to be at a show! I thought it was a great production and I loved being able to escape the world for a few hours and enjoy a performance. I knew how much I missed going to the shows, but it hit me in a different way when I was there and able to experience it again. I have had a lot of stress in my life lately, and this break was exactly what I needed!

The next show in my season is about 2 months away, so things might change a lot between now and then. I do expect that vaccination requirements will still be a thing, but mask policies could change. If they do change, then I will have to do some thinking about my thoughts about wearing a mask without a requirement. Right now, I don’t know how I feel about that and there is no point in thinking about it because of how quickly and dramatically things can change.

For now, I’m just so happy I was able to have another thing that is normal for me back in my life. Just like with my workouts, I think I might appreciate being able to go to shows more than I did before. And I can’t wait until I can go back again for the next show!

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Another Speaker Series Night (or Watching Obama)

Posted on October 12, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Speaker Series Night (or Watching Obama)

I’ve been lucky to get to watch the San Jose Speaker Series a few times because my parents had an extra ticket. Right now, the series is still virtual, so they can watch from wherever they are in the world and I’m able to watch from LA. I know that one day it will be in-person again and I won’t be able to enjoy these. But I’m grateful that I get to do so now. And when my parents were here about a month ago, they showed me the upcoming series and I immediately saw one that I was interested in getting their extra ticket if they had it.

I knew that I wouldn’t necessarily get the extra ticket since sometimes my parents give them to a friend, but I asked if I could have it if they had it available.  And when the lecture was coming up this past week, my dad let me know that it was mine if I wanted it! And of course, I said that I did!

I’ve learned from the few times I’ve watched these lectures about how to make it the best setup for me. It’s done over Zoom, and it’s best if I run it through my laptop and then use AirPlay to send it to my AppleTV. And I also learned from the past to double and triple check the start time so I don’t miss the beginning of it. I also set an alert on my calendar so I wouldn’t miss the start time. Thankfully, this time things went a lot smoother for me with setting everything up so I was ready to watch and sitting on my couch with a little bit of time to spare!

The only negative for me this time was that I was feeling pretty nauseous that day so I wasn’t as focused on watching as I could have been. I did try to time out my medications so I would be feeling my best while watching, but I was distracted by feeling sick and I know that I missed parts of what President Obama said.

But even with feeling sick and missing some parts of it, I really enjoyed this lecture! President Obama had some fun stories to share about his time as president and his life in politics. And I appreciated how he was honest about things that were tough for him during his presidency and where he might have been able to improve. I think admitting flaws or imperfections is a positive character trait because it shows you can grow from your past.

I do wish these lectures were recorded because I would love to watch them again and see what I missed. And I know that because of other distractions in my life that I had moments when I zoned out. Even though I really tried to focus, sometimes my mind wanders. And if I could rewatch this then I could see the parts that I missed the first time.

I’m still so grateful that my parents let me have their extra ticket for this. President Obama was the first speaker for this new series, so maybe I’ll get a chance to watch another one this season. And I’m guessing that after this season, as long as things are safer, the next season will be back to in-person so I won’t have this same opportunity. But I’ve been enjoying them, even when things aren’t always going my way, and I’m going to appreciate whatever lectures I can watch even if this was my last one.

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Another Sunday Of Condo Hunting (or Being A Bit Clueless For The Next Step)

Posted on October 6, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Sunday Of Condo Hunting (or Being A Bit Clueless For The Next Step)

Just like I’ve done the past few Sundays, I spent this past Sunday driving around the westside of LA going to condo open houses. I’m getting better at planning them out and making sure I make a good list of places I want to go to and figure out the best route on a map. But this past Sunday, I was also dealing with a lot of pain and nausea so I had to figure out which condos were the priorities for me because there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to make it to all of the ones I wanted to see.

I originally had a list of 7 that I could look at and I got it down to 4 that I really wanted to see. I got off to a bit of a later start than I wanted to, but I still was ready to go check out all the places. And for 3 of the places on the list, they all had a particular reason why I wanted to see them. For one of them, it was above my budget, but it had a lot of features that looked good and my mom wanted me to see it because it looked really nice and we might be able to negotiate it down. Another was on my list a month ago, but then they had an accepted offer before I could see it. But the offer fell through, so it was on the market again and I wanted to take a look. And another was in the same building as another condo I’ve already seen, but this one was on a different floor and fully fixed up so I might feel differently about it. And then there was one more that didn’t have anything super special except that it was in my current neighborhood.

The first place I saw was the over budget one, and the moment I walked in I knew it was wrong for me. I still toured the entire unit, but there was just a lot of weird stuff that made no sense to me. And even though it was the biggest condo I had seen so far, it felt like one of the smallest because of the layout and low ceilings. The second one was the one that was back on the market. And I’m really glad I looked at it because it had been on my list for a long time. But just like with the first one, I knew quickly it wasn’t for me. There were some things that were amazing, like having a huge back patio that was almost like a backyard. But there were other things that weren’t really seen from photos and made it not a great deal. Plus, with both the first and second place I saw, they weren’t in locations I really wanted to be. They weren’t back locations, but not my ideal location.

The last 2 on my list were pretty close to each other and both in my current neighborhood. I decided to see the one that wasn’t in the building I had seen before, and I was pleasantly surprised. The main negative thing about this condo was that it was not on the top floor. I really wanted to be on the top floor because I haven’t had to deal with shared walls for a long time. But this one had so many other things right with it. It needs some work, but mainly cosmetic stuff. And this was the first condo that I looked at without my parents where I wanted to get my parents on FaceTime to see it too. Something felt right after the space and as soon as I left I emailed my realtor to tell him because I wanted this opinion on the place too. And from how I felt about this condo, I didn’t even go to the last one. I already wasn’t a huge fan of that building, and I knew that seeing a different condo wasn’t going to change my mind enough compared to this third one.

My realtor and I went back the next day for an appointment with the seller’s realtor and he looked over things. He pointed out a few issues I didn’t see, but they were almost all cosmetic things that I would want to fix anyway. There were no major red flags although he did ask me if I was sure I would be ok on the first floor. But I figure that I’m going to have noise from the side no matter what, so maybe I have to just get over some of the noise concerns.

So after going to see it again and talking it over with my parents, we are now working on putting in an offer! It was funny after I found a place I liked because I had to ask my parents and my realtor what to do next because I honestly had no idea. I’ve never made it past the open house or appointment phase. Fortunately, my realtor is awesome and gets that I’m clueless about it all. So he’s helping me out a lot and making sure I know what we need to do.

I have no clue if I will get this condo. I really hope that I do because I can see how to turn it into a place I really like. It’s not my dream place, but I also know that I won’t be finding my dream place right away. But I can see how I can make this an amazing home for me and I hope that I get to do that! I guess I’ll find out soon enough!

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Virtual Orientation (or Still Getting Ready For Convention)

Posted on October 5, 2021 | Comments Off on Virtual Orientation (or Still Getting Ready For Convention)

Before each SAG-AFTRA Convention, there is an orientation for delegates to attend so you know what is going to happen and so you can be prepared for the weekend. Normally, this is done in person and with just the delegates in your specific local. So for me, it’s usually just with the delegates from LA. But of course, this year things aren’t really normal. So even orientation was different.

This year, orientation was done virtually, just like how Convention will be. And because the orientation was virtual, it was done with all the delegates all over the country! While I am still sad that I won’t have time with some of the delegates from other locals in person this year, it was nice to see their faces in the orientation Zoom session. And it was nice to get a bit of an idea of what things might be like when we actually have the convention.

We did have a lot of the same orientation information as we have each year. They went over some of the policies of the convention and what we can expect with different types of voting and discussion. And the voting will be similar to what we did before, but this time it will be done from our computers and not with the voting sticks (which I think most of us are happy about because the voting sticks liked to not work just as we were trying to vote). We won’t get to do all of the same networking as we normally do, but there still will be chances to gather in small virtual rooms with other delegates and there will even be a virtual expo!

But because this is the first virtual convention, there were a lot of other things that the orientation went over. We have a virtual convention space with different areas we can go to for different tasks or activities. So the orientation went over the sections of the virtual space and where we will need to click so we can be in the correct area when we need to be voting or listening to the resolutions. We also saw how we can do our voting this year.

It was a lot of information and I was working during the orientation so I couldn’t give it my full attention. So I was glad to see that the orientation will be available as a replay so I can watch it again when I don’t have to keep looking at my work screens. Even though this will be my 4th convention, this one is different from the rest and I don’t want to waste time figuring things out that I can make sure I know how to do in advance. And the staff of the union understands that we all want to make sure we don’t have issues during the convention, so they set it up so we can go into the virtual convention space the day or two before it starts so we can make sure we don’t have technical issues or other concerns. I really appreciate that they thought about that and made sure that we didn’t have to have that additional stress the first morning we all need to be logged in.

The best thing about this orientation was that it really got me excited about Convention. While I do love Convention and look forward to it each time, I have had some hesitations about it being virtual. But seeing how the virtual Convention will work really got me excited to be a part of something that will be a first. And maybe how things go with this Convention will influence future ones so more people can participate even if they can’t be there in person. It’s exciting to think about what this might lead to for the Convention in 2023!

But for now, I’m counting down until Convention 2021 and I can’t wait to see all the hard work we can get done and what new information I will walk away with!

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Planning For The Future In A Few Ways (or Connecting One Monthly Challenge To Another)

Posted on October 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Planning For The Future In A Few Ways (or Connecting One Monthly Challenge To Another)

Last month, I made my monthly challenge all about not overthinking the future. And that ended up being the perfect challenge since I found out right after I set my challenge about my landlord selling my place. I did have some freakouts about having to move, but I was able to keep myself calm. And in a weird way, focusing on looking for a condo was a good distraction from other things that might have made me overthink the future more. So while I did have something that made me work on my monthly challenge, it might have been a bit easier than expected since all my focus went to that one thing.

But I’m still glad I did it because I know this is something I need to continuously do and practice. And I want to keep working on it so it’s more instinctual for me and not something I have to really think about when working on it.

And while my challenge for last month was all about not overthinking the future, my challenge this month is almost the opposite with planning for the future more. That’s not the reason why I did it, but it’s connected in a weird way.

The general idea for my challenge this month is to plan for the future, but that doesn’t exactly explain it. I guess it’s also a bit of a reset in a way, but again, that doesn’t explain it. But I have 2 main ideas within this challenge that I’m trying to accomplish in my reset/future planning.

The first is that I want to really work on cleaning my current place. I know I have a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t want to move when I move, so I want to work on clearing things over time. I also don’t want to worry about not having trash space as I throw things out, and I only have a single trash can. So my challenge is to work on cleaning out things like my desk (which has been a recurring project), my clothing, and stuff I have stored. I know I have so much stuff that is just there because I don’t think about it being there. So being more mindful about it all will help.

And the other part of the future planning I want to work on is related to my health. I don’t have a specific goal connected to my health, but I want to make it more of a focus. I want to work on eating more fruits and vegetables and being better about eating real meals and not snacking. Maybe I’ll do some meal planning or prepping, but I’m not too specific on what I want to do other than to put more of a focus into my life. I need to do this and I’ve been almost craving to work on this (but it’s not always my only or strongest craving, which is the problem).

I know this isn’t the most specific goal, but I think I’m also doing another flexible goal because I know October will be a bit crazy for me. Besides the usual craziness, I will also have condo hunting as well as the SAG-AFTRA Convention! So I don’t want to add something else to my calendar that I might not be able to focus on that much. But hopefully whatever focus I can put on this challenge this month, I will have another positive outcome and feel really happy about what I did.

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Another Full Day Of Condo Hunting (or Finding Some Potential)

Posted on September 29, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Full Day Of Condo Hunting (or Finding Some Potential)

Like I’ve said before, looking for a condo now is very different from what it was like when I have been looking in the past. While I don’t have an exact timeline of when things are happening with my current place, I do have a better idea now of some of the changes that are coming up.

Just last week, the realtor for my landlord was here to show our places to a potential buyer. Or at least, I thought it was a potential buyer. The realtor was talking to someone on the phone right outside my door and I found out the people who came to look at my place already have a contract and they are in escrow. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to be kicked out soon. The buyer might keep us as tenants until they are ready to tear down the building. It can take time to organize major construction, and having the money coming in from us might be a good thing for them. So I’m staying hopeful that I still will have some time here and I won’t be under a crazy time crunch soon.

But even though I have that hope, I’m still making sure I take the condo hunt seriously and that does mean taking initiative at looking at places on my own too. When I find a place that has potential and it has an open house scheduled, I’m finding a way to make sure I see it. If I can’t get to an open house, then I can ask my realtor to help set up an appointment. But because so many have open houses, I can go on my own and then let my realtor know if I like a place.

So as I’ve been trying to organize my condo hunt so I make sure I see all the places I want to see, I’ve been planning on how to get to a bunch of open houses on Sundays (they aren’t often on Saturdays, but I can only do Sundays anyway). And this past Sunday, I was able to plan it out so I could get to 4 different places.

I did try to plan this out to be the most efficient way possible, so I mapped out each open house and figured out the best path to go on. Fortunately, 3 of the 4 places I went to were very close together. So I went to the one that was furthest away first.

That place wasn’t my ideal location, but it didn’t seem back on a map. What I didn’t know until I got there was that it was across the street from a school and that street was the drop-off/pick-up street. So that means on school days, it can be very hard to go places in the mornings and afternoon. Also, I found out when I got there that they already had accepted an offer and were open to additional backup offers (which made me think they already had a backup). So that was an easy no for me.

The next place was another easy no for me. It was a very odd situation where it was almost like a condo building in the backyard of a house and a shared driveway. Not like how I have a shared driveway, more like the house is the owner and there was a guesthouse in the back. But the guesthouse was condo units. It also had windows that only looked into the windows of others.

I’m skipping the third place for now, but the last place I went to was another easy no. The location was not the best street and it was a bit too noisy. I didn’t like the layout and there was a lot of wasted space in the unit. But also, the realtor wasn’t that nice to me and tried to make a joke about how I better have someone who wants to give me a lot of money so I can buy a place. It’s not really her business how I’m getting a condo and it really made me feel unwanted. So I left and just felt really negative about the place.

But the third place was the first place I’ve looked at in a while where I really felt like it might be the right place for me. It wasn’t perfect and it does need a bunch of cosmetic work, but the space felt really good. I liked the layout, it had a lot of windows and skylights, and I could imagine how to make it feel like mine. Because of the cosmetic work it needs, I was hesitant about things, but I also know that a lot of those things can be done well without spending a lot of money. Redoing cabinets can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Same with new counters. The location wasn’t exactly where I want to be, but it’s not that far from my ideal neighborhood. And there was something that just felt good about the space.

I did let my realtor know about that place so he can come with me to look at it, and I’m hoping that there isn’t an offer on it yet so I have a real chance to see if it’s meant to be my new home. But even if it’s not, I’ve realized this past Sunday that I have learned a lot in the brief amount of time I’ve been looking again. I can feel better about my decisions now than I was feeling when I was looking with my parents. I don’t hesitate as much if a place doesn’t really feel right. I know that my parents are helping me a lot with this, but I also have a right to be a bit picky and I’m learning to be ok with that. And I’m getting better at seeing past bad design and cosmetic stuff and seeing the real potential of what I can turn a place into.

If this place doesn’t end up being the one for me for whatever reason, I do feel better about going to look at more places moving forward. I would still prefer not to go alone, but going alone isn’t the worst thing. I feel more sure about what I really want and what I would just like to have. And I have more hope now that I will find the right place for me eventually!

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Feeling Appreciated At Work (or Sometimes An Email From My Boss Is All Good News)

Posted on September 28, 2021 | Comments Off on Feeling Appreciated At Work (or Sometimes An Email From My Boss Is All Good News)

In some ways, I’m close to what my day job life was like from before the pandemic. In many other ways, things are still so different from before. Different isn’t always bad and in fact, I think many of the differences from before are positive. While I am working significantly more hours than I was working before, I’m also making more money which is nice. And I am doing different things now that challenge me and make me have to think of new solutions. It was nice to have very little work and a lot of free time between clients, it is also nice to not have as much boredom during work as I did before.

It’s not just my jobs, hours, and responsibilities that are different from before. Since I started back at my box office job, my pay has been different too. I knew that I was going to have to make less money when I was asked back because things were slowly coming back. But since I was working my other jobs (and getting raises at those), I wasn’t too bothered. I knew I was being underpaid, but having my job back and knowing that it would get better soon helped. And it took a while before I finally got a raise that got me close to what my old pay rate was. But a raise is a raise and I was very grateful for that. It wasn’t that long ago that it happened, so I figured that might be it for a while. But then I got an email from my boss the other day and I was nervous to open it when I saw it in my inbox.

Fortunately, the email was only good news and let me know that I was going to be getting another raise starting this week! And this raise is going to bring my pay rate above what I was making before the pandemic! I am still working less than half the hours I used to work (that is my choice based on my hours with other jobs), so from that job alone I’m not back to my pre-pandemic income. But I’m not relying on that income as much as I used to. It’s only a portion of what I make each month, not a majority of it. And every extra money that I can make is helpful, even if it’s not a huge change in my weekly pay.

I’m seriously so grateful for this raise. My box office job can sometimes feel like my work isn’t fully appreciated because we only send messages out and don’t get a lot of feedback. But the raise is proof that they see my work as valuable and helpful to the company. And I feel like it’s a sign that they understand how hard we do work and how much we do have to juggle, especially considering that we cover over 70 different locations and they all have their own details to answer.

I’m not expecting a raise for any of my jobs any time soon. I’ve gotten a lot of pay or hour increases recently and there isn’t much more I can except for now. But hopefully sometime in 2022, I’ll have another raise or two in at least one of my jobs. Even though I’m making much more than I did before, I’m still not making a lot of money considering how many hours I work. But I do know that I’m doing better than a lot of people and I’ve been lucky even with losing work during the pandemic. So I’m always grateful for my work and for making the money I can.

There have been a lot of surprises the past year and a half with my day job situation, but getting an unexpected raise is definitely one of the best ones and it made my week last week!

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Making Condo Hunting More Fun (or Taking Advantage Of Ways To Be Social)

Posted on September 22, 2021 | Comments Off on Making Condo Hunting More Fun (or Taking Advantage Of Ways To Be Social)

Condo or house hunting can be a really fun thing. I used to go to open houses from time to time just to see what is out there, especially in my neighborhood. I never asked my realtor to show me places I wasn’t serious about, but if there was an open house I felt ok taking a look. And if the seller’s realtor asked me, I was always honest and said I wasn’t seriously looking at the moment but looking at things for the future.

But serious condo hunting is a very different feeling. I think I am feeling a bit more stress than I need to because I feel like there is more of a time crunch than actually exists. But I am seriously looking and it has been a lot so far. In about 2 weeks, I’ve gone to over 10 properties. Some of these were when my parents were in town and we looked at a lot of condos in a single afternoon. Some are condos that my realtor has taken me to on my own. And some have been open houses for places I’m interested in. I have to say, going to open houses alone hasn’t really been that fun for me. It feels like the seller’s realtor is always asking me questions when I just want to look and think about what I feel about the place. And I don’t want to ask to be left alone because that’s rude. But because of my availability and when I can see places, going to open houses seems to be more common for me lately.

But because I’m not really enjoying going to open houses alone and I want to make condo hunting more fun, I decided to reach out to a few of my friends to see if anyone wanted to come with me this past weekend. And my friend Pamela said she’d love to so she joined me for condo hunting on Sunday! Originally I was going to look at 3 places, but I changed my mind on one and the other didn’t have an open house so we only looked at one place together.

And I’m so glad she was with me to look at the condo. It was one of the oddest ones I’ve seen so far. The main entrance opened into the main bedroom and there were no doors on either bedroom. It also had a lot of weird quicks that I think the seller thought were cool. But it just didn’t work and it was not at all what I was looking for. But because of the photos on the listing, I had no clue it was like that. I guess some photos can really hide the less flattering features of a place.

And because I wasn’t alone, I had someone to talk to as we were walking through the place and to give looks to when the seller’s realtor was trying to sell us on features that I didn’t love. It made the experience so much better. Plus, it gave me time to hang out with a friend which is a luxury I don’t do enough these days! And we did luck out when we went to the condo because it was crowded before we got there, but it seemed like everyone was leaving when we arrived. So we didn’t have to be around too many people. Even with wearing masks and having so many people in LA vaccinated, I still try to avoid crowded places as much as possible.

After we looked around the condo, Pamela and I got to hang out outside and catch up. We’ve only seen each other once in person since the pandemic, and that was a really brief moment. This time, we really got to talk and it was so great. I needed some social time and it really let me decompress from stressful things going on in my life.

And now, I have someone willing to come with me to future open houses! I’m so glad that I don’t have to keep going alone now and I have someone else to bounce ideas and thoughts off of as I look at more and more potential places!

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