After 157 days self quarantined, I'm working in mortgage again... I got a job.

Working under a clerical contract as a supervisor for USCIS where there were people with 20, even 30+ years tenure more than me should have been a big, bright flashing neon sign that I wouldn't stay for long. I was a federal contractor there for two CAPS and three different employers and then the SCOSS contract flipped to new companies. Then I was hired back as a temp (in reserve for a supervisor position, but working for the senior analyst). I found another job before they gave me the boot at the 6-month mark.

And then Coronavirus struck. And they just started to implement the new seating arrangement when I quit on March 16th. And then my new employer said, "don't come in" and rescinded their offer.

I was out of work for a total of 157 days. It took me a month to get hired on at my new job. I started to look hard in July because I did not want to be without a job by the time my unemployment insurance ran out.

I'm working in a newly expanded post-closing department. The tasks are nothing new to me though and I'm getting to learn Encompass which seems to be a skill every employer is looking for these days. And the best part it's 5 miles away from home and it's a open schedule as long as I work 8 hours and get my work done.

Veterans Need to be on High Alert when Seeking VA Mortgage Loans

 

Many finance companies do a good job of providing accurate advertising that generates leads and can be developed into new business. However, the results below, even though well-intentioned, did not meet the criteria set forth by the CFPB.

This post consists of public information available on the websites of CFPB and BBB.

09/08/2020-I bought guitar stands/had a dream/nightmare.

I bought two guitar stands:

Yesterday was a day I cruised the Facebook Marketplace at work and while doing so, found two guitar stands like the ones I was looking for online to buy. $10 each was hard to beat. And the communication exchange with the seller was not perfect, but we got the deal done and then he gave me the address for the pick-up after (I get off of work) at 5PM. 

I wanted to know exactly where I was going for this trip after work, so I break out the google maps and see that the address is a brewery/bar. And I'm confused because I thought all of the bars were closed and my mind starts worrying about the worst things that can happen and wondering why this guy would ask me to meet him at a bar.

 As I'm walking to my car in the parking structure, for my personal safety in case this transaction goes down badly, I tell myself, self, I should text the address I'm going to for the pick-up to my son so he at least knows where I'm going if I don't make it home. He would have that address to give to the police. 

Anyway, the pick-up location is not that far away from work, so I'm able to take surface streets there. I get to the address and the parking is terrible on the street, so I opt to park in a private lot and dare the tow truck to come hook-up my rig and ferry it away. I'm trying to be a careful person and be concerned for my personal safety, so I only take my keys and the cash to pay for the purchase trying to avoid a purse snatching. I find the address and no one is waiting. He said he would be at home all day when I texted him, but low and behold, he's not home. 

I walk down this dead end street noticing that there seems to be cameras on every building (which is kind of creepy to me and whether they work or not, I don't know.) to find that there's an automatic gate at the back of a large apartment complex and so now I get what he was saying about controlled access to the complex was making sense. I text the Facebook Marketplace seller to find out that he's now at a buddy's house restringing a guitar and he has to text his girlfriend to get me the gear and meet me at the gate.

OK, so now I feel I can just wait without all most of the horrible fear scenarios that are swirling in my head by this time, but it still doesn't change the fact that I'm a woman standing by my self at the end of a dead end street waiting for god knows what to happen, but all I want is the guitar stands.

The exchange is made, no problem, and then I shuffle my ass to my car parked in that private lot with all the cameras as quickly as possible. I see a guy on his cellphone at the driveway entrance and if this is supposed to be security calling for the tow truck, buddy, you're out of luck. I'm on my way home with two guitar stands after a somewhat nerve-wracking experience.

I also had a dream/nightmare:

So the address that I was provided for the pick-up being at a brewery/bar was the trigger point for my head to spin numerous scenarios into overdrive. Then the dream/nightmare happened that night...

Would he meet me at the front of the bar; 

or in the bar;

would he buy me a drink and would the drink be laced with roofies;

if I take my purse with me would it be stolen;

when I wake up where would I be;

I don't remember how I get here;

where is here;

I can't seem to talk in clear sentences;

I'm in a room that is covered floor to ceiling in drapery fabric;

I think I put my purse down to hide it, but I don't remember. Maybe a guy slid it off of my shoulder?People keep coming in and checking on me, but I'm so drugged up, it's not a good scene. My head is not clear. Where am I and how did I get here? And how do I get away? Where is my purse? In the background I hear a party going on and music. A lady opens the door, steps one foot in the room smiles and holds out a drink for me. I drink it, the whole thing, quickly because I'm so thirsty from being in this room with all of the drapes, she shuts the door hard, and I have fallen to the floor drugged again and I black out.

This is my mind playing tricks on me, not reality and I have never in my life allowed myself to be so out of control and drunk/drugged like in the dream.

And then I wake up from the dream having slept poorly because my house is so hot being its the end of summer.

 

Fooling Yourself

This is a song that I have loved since it came out in 1977, but there was always one line that eluded me. I guess I could have looked it up on the internet years ago, but by listening to the live versions of Tommy Shaw singing his tune, I finally figured it out. And now I don't have to sing, "You can hide little lamb, put your care in your yam."

(Relax... easy.)

You see the world through your cynical eyes

You're a troubled young man, I can tell

You've got it all in the palm of our hand

But your hands wet with sweat and your head needs a rest

And you're fooling yourself if you don't believe it

You're kidding yourself if you don't believe it.

Why must you be such an angry young man

When your future looks quite bright to me

And how can there be such a sinister plan

That could hide such a man, such a caring young man   <-- the elusive line.

[Chorus]

And you're fooling yourself if you don't believe it

You're killing yourself if you don't believe it

Get up! (Get up!) Get back on your feet.

You're the one they can beat and you know it.

Come on! (Come on!) Let's see what you've got.

Just take your best shot and don't blow it.

Day 81: Today I discovered Deadland Ritual

I'm on a trail, a path... if you will.

Determined to bring some joy into my life by being able to make a joyous noise, I bought a bass guitar. This was on Friday, May 29, 2020. Combing through Facebook Marketplace, I found a college student who wanted to sell her almost new bass because she's not playing it anymore and is now into playing the cello. Cool! The black 2018 Fender Bronco bass is in Westlake Village... it's an hour and a half drive.

I bring the bass home, inspect it and immediately plug it into my Crate 15W guitar practice amp. And then, I think, am I even supposed to be doing that? It's a bass! You can, but you have to be careful and adjust the equalizer to get a clean tone. And instinctively, I did that. My ear tells me I'm making noise, but it's not the full, rich sound a bass guitar is supposed to sound like.

And then, how to play, how to play, how to play. I'm consuming the stuff that bass players are publishing about their work, their rigs, their style. I'm finding info online from:

Carol Kaye - www.CarolKaye.com (who has teaching tools for sale online. God bless her<3); 

Leland Skylar -  On Youtube (who is giving all who so choose to watch his videos a kind of fly on-the-wall perspective into some of the music he's worked on and artists he's worked with over his career);

And then I begin to remember the bands who I used to listen to as a kid growing up in a house with little joy. And I was listening to Queen (John Deacon), Black Sabbath (Geezer Butler), Led Zeppelin (John Paul Jones), ELO (Kelly Groucutt), The Eagles (Timothy B. Schmit), and Heart.

Now I'm looking for a solution to a problem and that problem is I have two electric guitars and one 15Z practice amp and I don't want to get separate amps for each one because: 1) I don't have the space, and 2) it's expensive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5B5r8A9dOw

Summer 2020 or How I Spent My Quarantined Staycation

I've been home gaining weight

Baking so many brownies, banana bread and sometimes cake

I have cleaned everything, and I mean everything more than once 

I'm organizing and shredding old paperwork. 

I created a box for recycling and a box for selling things on ebay.

Happy birthday to me; bought a gently used short-scale bass and a new bass amp.

My cat has me on a routine. Get up and follow her to the kitchen to feed her, nap, pet-snacks, nap, brush, nap, nap some more. Snuggle. Nap, feed her again, and she's in bed by 8PM. 

I'm one who can't go to bed until 10PM or so because I don't sleep that much. Or I'm not getting enough physical activity to sleep more than 8 hours. Or both.

What's the deal with XML?

XML is a generic skill you can learn on your own like html and then get certified online for it.

Components of XML:

XML Schema

XML Stylesheets

DTD

Namespaces? (on test)

XSL

Preparation Tools:

http://www.xmlmaster.org/en/preparation.html

Oxygen XML

XML Spy

Stylus Studio

XML Master download test application

XML in a Nutshell pocket guide

Practice Exam:

http://www.xmlmaster.org/en/practice_exam/

Free Online Training:

https://www.altova.com/training-tutorials free basic training for XML Schema 1.1 and XSLT

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=xml+training+for+beginners

Paid Online Training:

https://www.lynda.com/XML-training-tutorials/334-0.html

Breakfast: Banana and Almond Milk Smoothie

The Nutritional Value of my Breakfast Shake

According to healthline.com, one medium-sized banana contains:

• Potassium: 9% of the RDI
• Vitamin B6: 33% of the RDI
• Vitamin C: 11% of the RDI
• Magnesium: 8% of the RDI
• Copper: 10% of the RDI
• Manganese: 14% of the RDI
• Net carbs: 24 grams
• Fiber: 3.1 grams
• Protein: 1.3 grams
• Fat: 0.4 grams

Each banana has only about 105 calories and consists almost exclusively of water and carbs. Bananas hold very little protein and almost no fat.

So if I make my breakfast shake with two bananas, that's 210 calories x2 of the above nutrients:

*Potassium: 18%

*Vitamin B6: 66%

*Vitamin C: 22%

*Magnesium: 16%

*Copper: 20%

*Manganese: 28%

*Net Carbs: 48 grams

*Fiber: 6.2 grams

*Protein: 2.6 grams

*Fat: .8 grams

Now, I add 1/8th of a cup of sugar to my breakfast shake to sweeten it up. That adds 97 calories and 25 carbs.

210 + 97 = 307 calories

48 + 25 = 73 grams of carbs

I add enough Califia Vanilla flavored Almond Milk to the 16 oz mark on my blender. Let's say I had 8 fluid ounces. This is the final product.

Calories = 357

Sodium = 160 mg or 7%

Fiber = 3.6 grams

Net Carbs = 51 grams

Fat = 3.8 grams

*Potassium: 18%
*Vitamin B6: 66%
*Vitamin C: 22%
*Magnesium: 16%
*Copper: 20%
*Manganese: 28%

Iron = 2%

Day 64 - In a glam pop mood

Lyrics:


Who will be my Tony Visconti?


Who can play as good as Mick Ronson?


Glam up the stage like Bowie or Bolan?


I don't know now but someday, I hope they come again.

Day 48 on "Stay At Home " order and yet on the job hunt

...me and 20+ million others in the U.S.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/04/16/the-us-now-has-22-million-people-out-of-work-as-52-million-more-americans-filed-for-unemployment-last-week/#22fa365b1d53

I liked some of the questions that they posed, but are they ethical? I mean, how I spend my time outside of working hours is really none of the employers business. It's the behaviors that I exhibit during work hours that they are paying for.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/news/tell-me-about-your-pandemic-self-5187618/

I'm a supervisor. How do I hone my skills without having a team to interact with? I guess I can hit the management books again and read more.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/so-you-just-got-laid-off-due-covid-19-10-steps-starting-beth-winters/?trackingId=OPCQ3Vm%2BGB1KiQSYG1FOnA%3D%3D