Job Hunting

This year Little Kat plans to do work study at school. So he has to find a job that he can work part time. This program is required for him to graduate high school. Therefore the heat is on.

Little Kat has been applying for jobs online, mostly when Momoko gets on his case. Kit Kat recommended he go talk to hiring managers in person. We made Little Kat go to the movie theater to ask for a job.

Little Kat did not know what to do or say. We coached him before hand. I wanted him to be able to find out exactly how to apply for a job, and to get the name and phone number of the hiring manager there on site.

Well it turns out that the theater is not hiring right now. But at least Little Kat got out there pounding the pavement. He gave the manager his business card. The theater will be hiring in about two weeks. Follow up Little Kat. Follow up.

iPhone Timing

My iPhone 5 has been on the fritz. It is difficult to turn on and off. I am the last one in the family to upgrade to the new iPhone 6. I gave my slot to one of the kids because I thought I did not need the new version. I still don't need the new version. I just need a new phone. Trying to get a new job here. And I use my cell phone number as the contact.

So I place an order for a new iPhone 6. The thing will cost $649. That's a lot of dough. The phone company will spread the cost of the phone over two years. Still is expensive. While I am waiting for the phone to arrive in the mail, I hear that Apple is releasing a new version of the iPhone. Darn. I just missed out.

I would send mine back and get the latest version. But I need my phone now. So I guess I will have to be more careful next time. And I will make sure that when it is my turn to upgrade, I take advantage of it and not pass the opportunity off to someone else in the family.

Manual Transmission Time

The whole family got up early this morning. We went to see the new Fantastic 4 movie. The theater had not opened yet when we got there. We waited until the doors opened before leaving the car. We got our normal pretzels and cheese plus a large soda.

I was a bit concerned that Kit Kat purchased her tickets online, and that I would not have a ticket stub to prove I belonged in the theater. Luckily Kit Kat presented her online proof with her phone. Then she got ticket stubs for the whole family.

After the movie, Little Kat and I discussed the theory behind manual transmission vehicles. Then I drove him to the local elementary school, explaining how I was using the clutch as we drove. There were a couple cars at the school. But by the time we we under way practicing driving, they had all left.

Little Kat picked up on getting it into first gear pretty quickly. He could do it from a stop if he started on level ground. He could also do it easily if he was on the downhill. Heck. He was progressing so fast, I decided to take him to an uphill section of the school parking lot. Little Kat did not seem phased by the vehicle going backwards at first. He had trouble adjusting to getting it going up a hill. But he did okay.

Next week I plan to teach Little Kat reverse. And we will continue to practice getting the car into first gear from a stop. At the rate he is going, Little Kat might even try going into second gear pretty soon. I was pleased that Little Kat could drive my Chevy S10 pickup truck. Kit Kat could not reach the pedals, and the non-tilt steering wheel messed her up too. Little Kat felt right at home in the truck.

Speaking of trucks, Little Kat used to think he wanted to drive a large sedan such as a Ford Crown Victoria. Now he says he is getting more into short bed pickup trucks. He said he did not mind if they were a regular cab (as opposed to extend cab or 4 door). He just does not car for the long bed style trucks. Hmm. If I could find a Chevy S10 pickup that is automatic transmission, we might just have something new for Little Kat to drive.

Saved by the Steel Pipe

I was walking down the hill behind the fence in our back yard. The hill is on my property. It is just not fenced in. I have been working on clearing the area on the hill. I pick up sticks and branches. I cut down other low hanging branches that get in the way. This is a slow process. But at least the county comes to collect sticks and branches every week. I keep them busy with my full trash cans of sticks.

I noticed a steel pipe on the hill. It seemed loose. Must have been part of a previous fence. I know a past neighbor once mistook the shape of the back yard and put a square fence around part of the yard. The fence went over into the neighbor's yard in one section. The neighbor had them take the fence down and reconstruct it so it stayed on my property. I guess this pipe was from the old disassembled fence. I saw other evidence of the fence such as other steel pipes, and even part of a pipe coming out of a concrete post area.

Today I got tired of dealing with my faulty gate to the hill. The gate itself is fine. But the pole that the gate latches onto is not secure. It falls down (taking the fence with it) if the gate is not shut holding up the pole. I figured I would eventually replace this faulty fence. This broke fence is a result of the Home Depot boys damaging it when they installed my shed.

So I figured I could put a 4x4 post in the ground, secure the gate pipe to the post, and hope thing become stabilized. Then I had a better idea. I checked the bottom of the wobbly pole. It was hollow. Great. I went to retrieve the loose pole I found on the hill. I used a hammer to bang that loose pole down into the ground. Then I set the gate pole on top of the secured one, inserting the secure one into the bottom of the gate pole. Voila. My gate is once again secure.

I might still put the 4x4 post in the ground and further secure the gate pole. It all depends on how soon I am going to replace this fence and gate. Fixing is much cheaper than replacing for now.

Dress to Impress

My time on my project at work is coming to an end. So I need to find a new gig. I am going to look for other jobs in my company. Will also be looking outside the company as well. Need to make sure I keep on some payroll.

Last time I went looking for a job was around 7 years ago. The suit I wore back then no longer fits. Time to go shopping. I saw that JC Penny's had 50% off suits. Yes. They also had an additional 15% off coupon. Momoko came with me to see how I looked in the different suits.

Only two suits in the store caught my eye. I decided to buy the one that fit the best. The lady at the cash register rang me up. The wrong amount came up. I told her the prices on display. She took my word for it and manually overrode the register. I got a great deal.

Last I visited this custom tailoring shop we walk by every weekend when we go out to lunch. This was the first time I went into the tailor shop. It was very small. Two Asian women worked there. I had trouble understanding the one I dealt with.

I put on my pants and jacket. The tailor pinned up the ends where they needed to be shortened. I return in a week to pick up my fitted suit. Now I need to get those interviews to get the job. You know what the Nightcrawler says? "You got to make the money to buy the ticket."

Early Morning Movies

The family decided to see another movie today. We planned to see Vacation very early in the morning. Momoko and I woke up on time. I came out of my room right at departure time. Momoko and Kit Kat were in their rooms. Apparently Kit Kat's alarm went off but she did not hear it. Momoko was waiting for the rest of us.

Kit Kat drove us to the theater. There were not many cars in the parking lot. This was one of the first movies of the day. Then some type of day care showed up. Tons of little kids came out of vans. Unfortunately the front doors were locked. It was 10 minutes until the little kids' show was going to start. There were employees inside. They were just not opening the doors.

We worried that the kids would crowd all the lines. Luckily they already purchased tickets. And they skipped the snacks line. We bought the tickets to our show. Only one other set of people were in the theater with us. All three of us ordered mini pretzels with nacho cheese. I added jalapenos to mine. We all shared a large coke.

The movie was okay. The other people in the movie left half way through. Did they decide to go see another show? Who knows? We saw a record number of previews before the show started. There was no secret clip after all the credits were shown. Darn. I felt like we got a good deal today. Each ticket cost less than five bucks. Unheard of!

This Chicken is a Rip

I kept seeing a Popeyes advertisement for their new rippin chicken. It was supposed to be some chicken tenders joined together at the top. They serve it with some habanero ranch sauce. Sounded tasty. So when Momoko asked where I wanted to go to dinner, I said Popeyes.

I thought I was in luck. They had the rippin chicken in platter form. That means I could get a large drinks and two sides with the thing. Yum. I ordered double red beans and rice on the side. Plus I asked to Hawaiian Punch to drink.

Usually I check the order at the store to make sure it is correct. I found that they did give me rippin chicken. But it looked like a rip off. It had about as much meat as a chicken wing. I knew something was wrong when I lifted the box up and it was really light.

To add insult to injury, Momoko got a three piece meal that was bursting with chicken meat. Oh well. You live, you learn. Popeyes specials are not that special. You get what you pay for. $3.99 for a meal means you are not getting much food.

Time to try Arby's. They say, "We have the meats."