Tag Archives: unemployment

First Weekend Of Freedom (or Looking Back Before Moving Forward)

Posted on September 23, 2013 | 2 comments

I’ve officially had my first days of unemployment, and I really am keeping busy!

On Friday, as soon as my work shift was done, I raced home to file for unemployment online. The sooner I get it in, the sooner it can be accepted (and I can stress a little less about paying my bills).

After that, I headed over to my friend Kate’s house for dinner. She’s dating a guy who lives in Colorado and had a couple of people over to have dinner and meet him. It was a fun group of people and we stayed pretty late chatting about lots of random things.

On Saturday, I helped out my friend Jennifer with some computer stuff for a couple of hours. Then I headed to Hollywood and the Directors Guild of America for a SAG-AFTRA Film Society screening. The film that was showing that evening was “Rush”. It was a pretty good movie. I have no interest in race cars so the beginning was a bit slow for me, but I really enjoyed the second half.

That evening, I relaxed at home catching up on my DVR (it’s fall tv season after all!). I was up pretty late and at 12:44am, I got a text message from my agents that I had an audition for Monday! Yay! I love that I’m starting unemployment with an audition! I also love the fact that my agents work so incredibly hard for their actors even if it’s late or a weekend!

Sunday was another busy day. I started out going to the LMU Alumni BBQ. I’ve been going to this for the past few years and it’s always been fun. I don’t really have any friends from college that live in the LA area anymore, so I was solo for the event. But it didn’t stop me from having fun!

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It was a perfect day! With your admission you get food and drink tickets. I got a hot dog and a frozen margarita with a couple of my tickets. After eating, I decided to do a little walk around LMU.

This is my freshman dorm, Doheny. This was officially my first home when I moved to LA. When I lived there, it was all girls. Now it’s co-ed. My room was the last room on the left on the second floor, so I had an amazing view of the fountain from my room.

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I also stopped by Foley, the theater arts building. Most of the theater classes I took were in this building, so it was like a second home to me.

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I also stopped by the bookstore and got a hat that I wanted (no photo yet).

I left the BBQ a bit on the early side because I had to do a last-minute shopping trip for an outfit for my audition. The audition specifically requested a pink dress, and that’s something I don’t own. Fortunately, I was able to find something for about $20. It’s not something I’d wear normally, but it will be a good audition outfit for the future.

And finally on Sunday, I watched and live-tweeted the Emmys. There were several surprise winners which was nice to see. Overall, I didn’t love this particular awards show. There is such an expectation with Neil Patrick Harris hosting and I don’t think this lived up to any of the times he hosted the Tonys.

For a weekend, I sure got a lot of stuff done! And I have a lot of stuff planned for this week as well!

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Unemployed Again (or Trying To Not Make It Feel Like Summer Break)

Posted on September 20, 2013 | Comments Off on Unemployed Again (or Trying To Not Make It Feel Like Summer Break)

It’s only been a week since I got back from my trip, but I’m now unemployed again for about 4 weeks (the return date is a little up in the air but it should be around October 21st).

This is my second time of unemployment with this job, but I’m going to try to treat it differently than I did the first time. Last time, we ended because the campaign that we were working on had ended. This time, we are taking a mid-campaign break.

Last time, it felt like summer break in school. It was the end of the year and I knew I would be coming back for the next year. This time, I’m hoping to not make it feel that way.

While I will be doing some fun things over my unemployment like going home to see my parents (and dog) and seeing my friends, I want to use this time to reevaluate some things in my life.

I’ve mentioned that the schedule of my current job is tough on me. I miss out on a lot of opportunities that I want to take advantage of. My job is my job, but it’s not my career. I spend so many hours outside my job trying to work on my career (imagine someone working as a lawyer but trying to go to medical school at the same time). I want to find a job that fits in better with my life, but I don’t know if one exists out there. I might have to create my own job, and that can take time to get established.

While I will be job hunting during my month off, I want to start the process of creating my own job. I highly doubt that I could get enough work going for me in a month to not have to return to my old job, but at least it would be a start. And if I happen to find a better job, I can work there while trying to establish my own job.

I know that a bunch of other actors create their own jobs and work for themselves, but it’s a scary thing. At least right now, I know that I will have money coming in and can pay my bills. If I only worked for myself, there are no more guarantees.

But if I don’t start working on my own job now, it’s just going to take me that much longer to get it to a point where I can support myself. I’m going to spend part of this weekend writing up a business plan and trying to take the first few steps on it. I have no idea what the timeline will be for me, but I know that if I have to go back to my old job in a month, I will feel better about it if I have already started my plan.

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Back To Real Life (or One Week Of Normalcy)

Posted on September 18, 2013 | Comments Off on Back To Real Life (or One Week Of Normalcy)

I’ve been back from Maui for a couple of days now. The first day was spent being pretty jet-lagged and sunburnt (even though I had sunscreen on my back, I got burnt while snorkeling).

I spent Sunday doing my usual chores and preparation for my work week. And then I found out on Monday that Friday will be my last day of work for a while. We will have another month of unemployment, which will be nice.

I haven’t quite figured out what I will do with the unemployment. I’d really like to see if I could find a new day job that fits in better with my life. Ideally I would find something that is work from home, but even something with more flexible hours would be nice (at my current job, I can only work scheduled hours not off hours). But I’ve found that many jobs that allow for that either don’t pay well or pay in a weird way (like transcription work that paid a couple of cents per line typed).

I put it out on Facebook and twitter that I’m looking for a new job and I’ve already gotten some offers of babysitting and organizing work, but those won’t be enough to be my only jobs if I decide to leave my current one.

If I can’t find something new and better, in late October, I can go back to my old job. I know it will be there waiting for me.

This is the same scenario I was in with the last unemployment month I had with this job. But I didn’t work as hard as I should have to find a new job. This time, I’m much more motivated. I’m starting to look at jobs now.

I think it’s pretty funny that I just had a week of relatively unscheduled time and was looking forward to getting back to a schedule only to find out that my scheduled time will only be for a week.

But I’m making the most of my last week of work. On Monday I had a really good sales day (I need it since it will be my last “real” paycheck for a month). And when I did my Sunday errands, I got everything I needed to make lunches for each workday (I’m excited to not have to go pick up a last-minute lunch this week).

And on Friday at 1pm, my last shift for a while will be done and I’ll be celebrating my freedom for a while. Until I freak out about how I’m going to pay my bills for October.

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Back To The Grind (or Can I Be Unemployed Again Please?)

Posted on August 23, 2013 | Comments Off on Back To The Grind (or Can I Be Unemployed Again Please?)

I’ve been back at work for a couple of days now, and I’m seriously feeling burnt out. I felt this way last year too, but it didn’t happen as early in the season. Maybe this affirmation could have something to do with it?

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Could it be because we are supposed to have another break (and get unemployment) in the next month or two? Maybe I have something similar to senioritis from high school/college. I know that I should be not working soon and it can’t come soon enough.

Or maybe it’s because last year, I really didn’t know what I was in for. Each week could mean another huge turning point in sales. I thought that the end of the year was going to be as good as the summer was (it wasn’t). And this year, I know better.

I know I’m not the only one at my job feeling this way. You can’t expect people to work on phones for 40 hours a week (and 6 days a week) without them starting to go a little crazy.

But I don’t know what I want to do. I would like to find a job that fits in a bit better with my life, but that might be at the expense of it being a flexible job (which is a necessity for me). I’m looking into some options, but so far, none of them have been good enough for me to want to switch jobs.

At least I feel like I’m acting more mature about the frustration with my job now than I would have before. I’m not leaving my job until I have something better. And it has to be something better, not just something new, for me to leave.

And who knows, maybe with having 2 breaks throughout the year, things will be better for me. How it looks now, I’ll work for 5 months, have 1 month off, and then repeat. That’s not too horrible.

The one positive for all of this is that I am still doing well at my job. I’m making enough to pay all of my bills and the only thing I’m struggling to find the money for is the deductible to get my car fixed (which I might just end up putting off for a few months).

And please don’t worry that my boss might read this. First of all, I really doubt he reads the blog. But secondly, I’ve already had this conversation with him. He knows that the schedule is getting to me and that I’m thinking of moving on. There’s a pretty decent turnover rate with telesales people. It’s expected that I am ready for a new day job. And maybe by waiting this out long enough, I will book a really great acting job that will be able to hold me over for a few months while I look for something else.

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Readjusting (or I Guess I Forgot What It Felt Like To Work My Work Schedule)

Posted on April 18, 2013 | Comments Off on Readjusting (or I Guess I Forgot What It Felt Like To Work My Work Schedule)

I’ve been back at work for a few days now. At first, it was really nice. I got to see my co-workers, I was making money, and I like feeling like I have a purpose.

But the honeymoon stage of working again wore off pretty quickly. And it’s the little things that bother me. I miss knowing that I can go to spin class whenever I want. I’m trying out going to a class this morning, but I’m worried I won’t have enough time to get ready to go to work after. I hate eating dinner at 9 or 9:30 at night, but if I don’t have some sort of dinner, I’m too hungry after work (and it’s hard to eat while I’m working on the phone). And I don’t like being limited in when I can go run errands. Just last night, I was supposed to have dinner and hang out with a friend, but it had to be cut very short because I needed to go to the grocery store and get gas for my car.

I know that I’m whining, but this is honestly how I feel. And I’m not going to look for a different job since this one pays well and my boss is cool with me going to auditions (which is incredibly hard to find). I’m also just surprised that the schedule shocked me so much since this was exactly what I was doing 6 weeks ago before my unemployment started.

So to fix my feelings, I’m trying to get better (again) at planning. Like I said, today I’m testing if I have time to go to a morning spin class before work (I have a late start time today since I have to work until 10pm so there is room in case I take longer getting ready than I hope to). I’m working on re-doing my food plan again so I could get away with only having a light snack at night instead of a meal. But that’s tough because I get up at 7am, have a little something in the morning, eat my breakfast at 11am, and have my lunch break at 4pm. If I stop eating for the day at 4pm, I get very hungry when I’m trying to fall asleep.

Again, these are all things I need to work on getting adjusted to again. It wasn’t easy when I started this job a year ago. I was just leaving a job where I worked 8-4:30 3 days a week (but the job made me very unhappy so I didn’t want to stay there). Getting used to being at work 6 days a week is not easy. And it’s not any easier this time because I’m also trying to have a life this time around.

I remember reading somewhere that it takes 21 days to create a habit. So I’m hoping that on my 21st day of work this season, things will start to get easier. And if they don’t, I might just have to plaster a smile on my face and pretend that everything is great until I do something like win the lottery or book a tv series.

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Busy Unemployment (or Maybe I Over Scheduled)

Posted on March 7, 2013 | Comments Off on Busy Unemployment (or Maybe I Over Scheduled)

I’ve been unemployed for less than a week (I’m still waiting on my unemployment to be approved by the state of California), and I have to say that I’ve almost never been busier.

Some of the things keeping me busy were unexpected. I had a plumbing issue in my house that took me 3 hours to fix (but I did it on my own and didn’t have to call my landlord). I also had an incident with my Pur water filter where I broke it and water went all over and under my refrigerator. So I spent a decent amount of time cleaning up everything (and then going to a couple of different stores before being able to find a new one).

But most of what I’ve been keeping busy with are meetings and appointments that I set up in advance to make sure I wouldn’t be bored without work 6 days a week.

And being bored isn’t something I’ve been worried about at all. It’s nice to be so busy, but I do with that at least some of this busyness was making me some money. Since my unemployment hasn’t been approved yet (they say it takes 10 days), I’m not bringing in money right now. And even though I have plenty of time before my rent is due again, I am worried about having the money to pay for it.

I know that somehow something will work out. Maybe I’ll get a bunch of substitute teaching jobs. Maybe I’ll book a great acting job. Maybe my unemployment will be approved quickly and will be more than I was expecting.

But I can’t focus on that yet. Right now, for the next week, I have to make sure I don’t forget to do anything that I already scheduled. I’m setting alarms for all my appointments because it is easy to forget something.

I’m too busy with life when I’m unemployed, I don’t get to have a life when I’m employed. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn’t it?

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What To Do? (or Day 1 of Unemployment)

Posted on March 1, 2013 | Comments Off on What To Do? (or Day 1 of Unemployment)

Today is the first day of my unemployment. It doesn’t feel like I’m unemployed, and I have no idea if it will ever feel that way.

I’ve got a busy day planned for myself. I’ve already filed my unemployment paperwork online (much better than the last time when I had to mail it in) so now I just have to wait to make sure I’m approved.

I need to go to the school district I sub for and get a parking pass and make sure I don’t need to do a new TB test before they let me sub.

I need to get my car fixed (oil change, tire rotation, new wiper blade, brake light is out), which has needed to be done for a while. But since most shops aren’t open on Sundays, I’ve been putting it off because I didn’t want to have to take a day off to do it.

I have plans with a friend tonight to go to happy hour and catch up.

And I want to get a workout in (although probably not a spin class since my favorite teacher isn’t teaching until tomorrow).

The plan has always been to keep myself busy during unemployment, and based on my schedule for the first day, I think I’m doing ok so far. This weekend, I’m going to print out the calendars for Women in Film, SAG Foundation, and The Actor’s Network and pick out all the lectures/speakers that I want to go to next month. I’m so overwhelmed by all my options, but I’m pretty excited too.

Most of all, I want to spend this time focusing on me. I’m not where I’d like to be in my life, and I need to work on taking the steps to get there. And there is no better time to focus on yourself than when you don’t have to go to work 6 days a week every week!

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Scheduling Without A Schedule (or Hoping To Make The Most of My Unemployment)

Posted on February 22, 2013 | 3 comments

Less than a week to go before my unemployment starts. I’m preparing to get to do some really fun things while I’m not working 6 days a week like go to San Diego to visit my grandparents, take advantage of my Disneyland pass, and of course focus on my acting career as much of the day as possible.

But I really want to make sure I keep a schedule even on days where I have nothing planned. Right now, I get up at the same time 7 days a week (that’s supposed to be good for your sleep) and I know that if I’m not doing something by a certain time I’ll be running late. I know when I wash my hair before work, if I don’t start to blow dry it by 10:30 I won’t have enough time to do everything I want to do before leaving for work.

Having that sort of schedule really helps to keep my day moving. I don’t have time to sit on my butt and read or watch tv as long as I’d like. And I don’t want to be doing that while I’m unemployed either. I need to maximize those hours of the day.

I’m not exactly sure how I will do this, so I’m open to suggestions. I know that I’ll keep my alarm schedule the same so I won’t be sleeping away the day. I’m trying to plan at least 1 time sensitive activity every day that I’m unemployed. It might be something like going to Disneyland, seeing a speaker at The Actors’ Network or Women in Film, or even just meeting a friend for lunch or dinner.

That way, I’ll have something to use as a finish line so I can work backwards and schedule all the other things I want to do (like maybe take more than 1 class a week at SoulCycle).

I’m also looking into seeing if I can get some writing jobs. I’m currently contributing to The Pet Matchmaker (it doesn’t pay but it’s great experience), and I’ve just found another blog that I want to be a contributor for as well. Maybe I can find a way to get some paid writing gigs and I could use that money to help pay down my credit card debit.

Anything is possible, I just have to make sure I don’t get lazy with all the free time.

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Having Something To Celebrate (or Another Bodega Happy Hour)

Posted on February 21, 2013 | Comments Off on Having Something To Celebrate (or Another Bodega Happy Hour)

Yesterday, my friend Rayshell and I had a happy hour hangout. We hadn’t seen each other in forever (I’m pretty sure the last time was at her New Year’s party). And since it was my early day at work, a happy hour adventure fit in perfectly with our schedules.

We met at Bodega, which is right down the street from my work and one of my favorite happy hour spots.

And it worked out perfectly to meet up today, because I had something to celebrate.

After all the craziness at my work with not shutting down like we thought we would, it was finally decided that we were going to have a temporary shut down in March. So as of right now (and this will probably change 100 times), next Thursday is my last day at my current day job until possibly sometime in April.

I’m so beyond excited for this! I will be filing for unemployment benefits so I will have a little money to get me through this time, and I’m hoping to get some substitute teaching jobs next month as well.

So after I told Rayshell my fun news, we got down to ordering some great happy hour foods!

We had the bruschetta (which is one of my favorite things at Bodega).

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And we also split the grilled cheese and bbq sliders based on the recommendation of our server, Wade. He was totally right on the recommendations (and decided to be in this picture of our food).

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Overall, it was another wonderful happy hour adventure with a wonderful friend.

Now I get to spend the next week preparing for my unemployment. This includes getting my paperwork filed for my benefits, trying to see if there are any substitute teaching jobs at my old job for me, and cleaning out my desk at work (I am a post-it fiend and need to start tossing some out).

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Posted in Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff, Work

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I’m Back (or Planning On Keeping My Routine)

Posted on November 26, 2012 | 2 comments

I’m finally back home! I had a great Thanksgiving week with my family. Lots of quality time with everyone. And lots of funny memories and stories were said. Some of my favorites were from my cousin’s kids. Her 5 year old was convinced that my older cousin was Superman and called him that for 2 days (we explained that his cape was at the tailors being hemmed). And her 3 year old had one of the funniest quotes of the week. On Friday at dinner, she suddenly shouted “roll me in sugar and bake me in the oven!”. None of us know where she got that, but it was pretty entertaining.

Yesterday I spent the day unpacking and then spending time with my brother and his fiancée, who came to town for the USC game.

But today, it’s back to usual. I’m back to my 6 day a week job (at least until the season is supposed to end in January). I’m back to my own food. And I’m back to the schedule that I’ve gotten used to for the past 6 months.

I’m trying to plan out things to do when it’s the off-season for my job and I’m unemployed. My mom and aunt are coning to visit me in February to see a taping of one of our favorite tv shows “2 Broke Girls”, and my future sister-in-law and I are thinking of taking a trip to NYC sometime in the winter as well.

I have no idea what life is going to look like for me in the off-season (which is supposed to be January until the beginning of May). But I’m trying to schedule things for myself that I would have done even if I was working.

I just signed up for The Color Run in February. I decided to create a team (called Hue Did It!). Right now, I have 3 members on my team, and need to have at least 4. So if any of you readers are interested in doing The Color Run, you can sign up for my team here.

While I can’t plan too much since I don’t exactly know what’s going on, I’m trying to plan on doing things that I would want to do whether or not I’m working. I’m hoping that this will help make the transition to being temporarily unemployed (whenever that may be) easier.

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