![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So of course....
Jun. 23rd, 2018 02:47 pmOf course, today is all about the doubting myself and the brain weasels.
If I don't get this job, I really don't know what I will do.
If I don't get this job, I really don't know what I will do.
More good things...
May. 4th, 2018 03:32 pmI have gotten my fabric approved for my costume. Admittedly it is weird going to a 2-year-faire veteran for costume approval but so far, I gotta say that she's doing everything right...or what *I* think of as right. See, trying not to judge or to be that old veteran who things that nobody young can do anything right, because that is utter nonsense. I'm delighted to see young people figuring things out; I just want to offer help so they don't have to continuously reinvent the wheel...since I've done that about a dozen times myself.
So I pinged her on Facebook IM and asked if she could approve it, since ordering silk from India takes about 2 weeks longer now with idiotic Customs regulations 'cause sure, a flat package of fabric could have drugs or smuggled intelligence information or some other stupid shit; it now takes FOUR weeks to get stuff shipped.
She didn't want to use the gorgeous navy blue and gold, very subtle, silk that I'd picked out because the court children are going with blue and gold. Seems fair, although I grieve not being able to get that fabric. This: http://www.puresilks.us/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2573
She asked if there was another fabric I could choose so I looked quickly and found this: http://www.puresilks.us/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=6619
And she liked it *and* thanked me for being flexible (!) in my choices. The more I looked at it, the more it looked familiar from pulling brocades for that person who wanted to buy some. I ran upstairs and sure enough, I have some of this...I have FIVE yards of this. Really don't remember ordering it and it's not any client's stuff but oh well, this saves me about $120 I could ill afford to spend right now. I did find a diamond-tuck-pleated black silk dupioni on the site so I ordered a couple yards of that; will be gorgeous and light weight for the hanging sleeve. And then some blue dupioni matched to the blue in the brocade, plus trims and I will be set: another court costume that will cost me about $75 in materials, tops. Haven't searched my trims yet but then, I haven't sketched out the costume yet either. The costume guidelines are sketchy at best this year. That will make it interesting.
In other news, I have applied for a part time job assisting in the care of a friend-of-a-friend's 90+ year old parents who live at John Knox Village. Convenient in that John Knox is only 3-4 miles away from my house and I could take hand work and jewelry stuff to work on. I like the gal (the daughter in law) when we spoke at length on the phone yesterday. She sent me the care instructions and it seems pretty straight-forward; keeping them company, giving meds at the right time, pretty much. So I have offered weekday mornings with no clue yet as to what it pays but it couldn't be anything less than at least $10/hour for them to get anyone decent. We'll see.
So I pinged her on Facebook IM and asked if she could approve it, since ordering silk from India takes about 2 weeks longer now with idiotic Customs regulations 'cause sure, a flat package of fabric could have drugs or smuggled intelligence information or some other stupid shit; it now takes FOUR weeks to get stuff shipped.
She didn't want to use the gorgeous navy blue and gold, very subtle, silk that I'd picked out because the court children are going with blue and gold. Seems fair, although I grieve not being able to get that fabric. This: http://www.puresilks.us/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2573
She asked if there was another fabric I could choose so I looked quickly and found this: http://www.puresilks.us/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=6619
And she liked it *and* thanked me for being flexible (!) in my choices. The more I looked at it, the more it looked familiar from pulling brocades for that person who wanted to buy some. I ran upstairs and sure enough, I have some of this...I have FIVE yards of this. Really don't remember ordering it and it's not any client's stuff but oh well, this saves me about $120 I could ill afford to spend right now. I did find a diamond-tuck-pleated black silk dupioni on the site so I ordered a couple yards of that; will be gorgeous and light weight for the hanging sleeve. And then some blue dupioni matched to the blue in the brocade, plus trims and I will be set: another court costume that will cost me about $75 in materials, tops. Haven't searched my trims yet but then, I haven't sketched out the costume yet either. The costume guidelines are sketchy at best this year. That will make it interesting.
In other news, I have applied for a part time job assisting in the care of a friend-of-a-friend's 90+ year old parents who live at John Knox Village. Convenient in that John Knox is only 3-4 miles away from my house and I could take hand work and jewelry stuff to work on. I like the gal (the daughter in law) when we spoke at length on the phone yesterday. She sent me the care instructions and it seems pretty straight-forward; keeping them company, giving meds at the right time, pretty much. So I have offered weekday mornings with no clue yet as to what it pays but it couldn't be anything less than at least $10/hour for them to get anyone decent. We'll see.
Queen or not...
Apr. 30th, 2018 12:06 pmI'll know later today if I got the role of Elizabeth of York; pretty sure but not definite.
I had a call from the new ED when I was leaving Gaia after ritual and my heart skipped a beat. She'd also texted, "Can you chat?" to which I responded, "I can now." Soon after that, my phone rang.
She asked if I would be willing to play Katherine Parr's mother instead of the King's mother, due to Elizabeth of York having been deceased by about 40 years for the time we're playing. My heart sank. She said that it would matter to the way they're trying to play things this year...that it will matter to those who know the history. I countered with, "Well, considering that by the time he married Katherine Parr, he was pretty much bed-ridden due to his leg wound, I figured that would still work since he's obviously playing Henry as vital, healthy and much younger." I told her that all of my wonderful comedic bits I've worked out, such as "where do you THINK he got the red hair from" and "well, there was that late bed-wetting problem" simply wouldn't work and therefore, I would have no basis for any connection with the King; he would be free to hate his mother in law and ignore her. He would still love his mother and jab back and forth with her if that was their relationship. The queen's mother would be a nobody and frankly, I just don't want to do that; I want to come back as the former Queen of England. Yes, I will totally cop to that bit of ego.
I then asked her if Karen Troeh is still planning on playing Margeret, who is also deceased at this point but she didn't know as Karen was at Muskogee. I asked her if I didn't want to play the MIL, if that meant there wasn't a place for me in court. She said, "well no, because that's where I need you since your experience and knowledge is so valuable; I don't really have any other place for you." Which I decided to take as a positive, and not to just hear the last part.... I sort of gulped and said, "I still really want to play Elizabeth of York, that's really why I wanted to come back, to be able to play this King's Mother.
And then she said, "ok then, that's what I wanted to know" and I thanked her for calling me.
So I'm either in as Elizabeth of York....or I'm not cast at all. I'm really not sure how to call it. But I surely hope so. I stopped myself from quoting to her, "Renaissance festival is to History as Etch-i-sketch is to Art."
I had a call from the new ED when I was leaving Gaia after ritual and my heart skipped a beat. She'd also texted, "Can you chat?" to which I responded, "I can now." Soon after that, my phone rang.
She asked if I would be willing to play Katherine Parr's mother instead of the King's mother, due to Elizabeth of York having been deceased by about 40 years for the time we're playing. My heart sank. She said that it would matter to the way they're trying to play things this year...that it will matter to those who know the history. I countered with, "Well, considering that by the time he married Katherine Parr, he was pretty much bed-ridden due to his leg wound, I figured that would still work since he's obviously playing Henry as vital, healthy and much younger." I told her that all of my wonderful comedic bits I've worked out, such as "where do you THINK he got the red hair from" and "well, there was that late bed-wetting problem" simply wouldn't work and therefore, I would have no basis for any connection with the King; he would be free to hate his mother in law and ignore her. He would still love his mother and jab back and forth with her if that was their relationship. The queen's mother would be a nobody and frankly, I just don't want to do that; I want to come back as the former Queen of England. Yes, I will totally cop to that bit of ego.
I then asked her if Karen Troeh is still planning on playing Margeret, who is also deceased at this point but she didn't know as Karen was at Muskogee. I asked her if I didn't want to play the MIL, if that meant there wasn't a place for me in court. She said, "well no, because that's where I need you since your experience and knowledge is so valuable; I don't really have any other place for you." Which I decided to take as a positive, and not to just hear the last part.... I sort of gulped and said, "I still really want to play Elizabeth of York, that's really why I wanted to come back, to be able to play this King's Mother.
And then she said, "ok then, that's what I wanted to know" and I thanked her for calling me.
So I'm either in as Elizabeth of York....or I'm not cast at all. I'm really not sure how to call it. But I surely hope so. I stopped myself from quoting to her, "Renaissance festival is to History as Etch-i-sketch is to Art."
Oh, and I got it!
Feb. 8th, 2017 01:05 amReading back in my journal, I realized that I never told the results of the audition
I got the part. I will be playing the Mother in "We Can Do It" which will be performed by Kansas City Women's Chorus on March 24th (Friday evening) and 25th (Saturday matinee) at the Downtown Airport Hanger.
It will really be an awesome, moving, inspiring show about the women of WWII with song and dance and actual women veterans and Rosey the Riveter women onstage during the final number of it.
PLEASE get tickets and come see this!
I got the part. I will be playing the Mother in "We Can Do It" which will be performed by Kansas City Women's Chorus on March 24th (Friday evening) and 25th (Saturday matinee) at the Downtown Airport Hanger.
It will really be an awesome, moving, inspiring show about the women of WWII with song and dance and actual women veterans and Rosey the Riveter women onstage during the final number of it.
PLEASE get tickets and come see this!
Well, that's funny.
Jan. 18th, 2017 07:53 pmI'm ready to drop LJ now that everthing, even the comments, transferred over (and no, I am not going to go back and look at stuff more than six years old and get all depressed; I just didn't want to arbitrarily lose it all.)
But now I realize that I don't know how to delete my account over there.
It's sort of a share, since a friend was kind enough to pay for my membership though the year but it's time to let it go (no matter how much I appreciate the gift, and I DO!)
But how?
But now I realize that I don't know how to delete my account over there.
It's sort of a share, since a friend was kind enough to pay for my membership though the year but it's time to let it go (no matter how much I appreciate the gift, and I DO!)
But how?
I'm leaving LiveJournal.
Several reasons, but primarily due to the nonsense with Russia owning LJ and the security issues involved, as well as the on-going political situation.
I hope to be able to figure out how to back-up all of my posts because I'd hate to lose all that stuff, both good and bad. The whole start of the romance, the wedding and all the band stuff, not to mention all the recipes; I would hate to lose it all.
Of course, I would love to have friends find me over there. I'm RowanGolightly there as well.
Au Revoir!
(EDIT: Holy crap, it cross-posted!)
Several reasons, but primarily due to the nonsense with Russia owning LJ and the security issues involved, as well as the on-going political situation.
I hope to be able to figure out how to back-up all of my posts because I'd hate to lose all that stuff, both good and bad. The whole start of the romance, the wedding and all the band stuff, not to mention all the recipes; I would hate to lose it all.
Of course, I would love to have friends find me over there. I'm RowanGolightly there as well.
Au Revoir!
(EDIT: Holy crap, it cross-posted!)
And she's off...
Dec. 29th, 2016 05:21 pmWish me luck, people...
I'm out the door soon to go on a date with a very nice guy.
His name is Gary and he's a widower living in Parkville, works at the Liberty School District.
Reports when I get home.
Had a great time. I liked him a lot. Which probably means he's not going to be into me. Just being realistic here; he runs in much richer circles than I do.
I'm out the door soon to go on a date with a very nice guy.
His name is Gary and he's a widower living in Parkville, works at the Liberty School District.
Reports when I get home.
Had a great time. I liked him a lot. Which probably means he's not going to be into me. Just being realistic here; he runs in much richer circles than I do.
Work, work work!
Dec. 28th, 2016 10:44 pmBut that's ok; I haven't got much else to do right now anyway.
This client who is the mother of one of this year's Renfaire clients, the oh-so-handsome young man who had to drop out of cast because he couldn't make site day. Anyway, she is a delight and has expressed joy at finding a seamstress to work with. She understands (finally) that I don't do alterations but she has a wonderful sense of style and has garments in mind that she wants made. Plus older garments of her mother's that she wants me to recreate. She's tall and gorgeous and a twin; got to meet the other one today, for whom she had me make jammies out of the bamboo velvet velour and then 2 pairs for herself. This is the stuff I've been grousing about on Facebook. It's harder to work on than regular velvet due to being stretchy, so applying non-bias organza around the neck edge as seam binding to finish it is a nightmare but I am just that damned good. She understands enough about sewing to appreciate the difficulty and time it takes.
She's also the first person to actually buy one of my necklace/earrings sets; the one that I mentioned "if it came in silver, I'd want it", well she did.
I have a promising first date tomorrow evening with a very nice man named Gary. He lives in Parkville and works with the School district there. He's a widower and has 4 children with one teenager still living at home. Ages from 15 to 39 or as he described it, "from diapers to Depends." He has hobbies of oil painting and making stained glass, a good sense of humor and a wonderful communicating style; displays a good and not creepy interest in what I'm doing but doesn't email every single day (doesn't cling as the last one did!) He emailed me yesterday with the greeting "Happy Eve of first date" which I told him I thought was both clever and amusing. So wish me luck.
Now I have to go get ready for the great maybe-shows-up, maybe-not, ooops, now I'm in basic training, out of town client. This is WHY I loathe out of town clients and swear I'm not doing this any more! This is the steam punk Little Red (brown) Riding hood one and I'm SO sick of it. Ah well, to finish it soon, I hope.
Getting the new-to-me car back again tomorrow, now with safer tires and wheels! And then I must get it licensed legally; I didn't realize the tag was expired until the tow guy pointed it out. I DO NOT need a ticket on top of everything else. I'm going to have to find out where to go and what I need to take with me (other than the title) because I have no fucking clue. I also need to get my own license updated (birth certificate, old passport, old license) so I might as well do it all at once. OH, and I MUST get to the bank tomorrow to make a big deposit. This car shenanigans have kept me from getting there.
Tonight I'm feeling very hopeful for the next year. I'll take it. No matter the losses and bad events of this year, I'd much rather look into the coming year with hope and anticipation. Hell, if this date goes well, I may even have a date for NYE which would really be a kick; rushing things a lot, but a kick.
And above all, I am incredibly grateful for my lovely friends.
This client who is the mother of one of this year's Renfaire clients, the oh-so-handsome young man who had to drop out of cast because he couldn't make site day. Anyway, she is a delight and has expressed joy at finding a seamstress to work with. She understands (finally) that I don't do alterations but she has a wonderful sense of style and has garments in mind that she wants made. Plus older garments of her mother's that she wants me to recreate. She's tall and gorgeous and a twin; got to meet the other one today, for whom she had me make jammies out of the bamboo velvet velour and then 2 pairs for herself. This is the stuff I've been grousing about on Facebook. It's harder to work on than regular velvet due to being stretchy, so applying non-bias organza around the neck edge as seam binding to finish it is a nightmare but I am just that damned good. She understands enough about sewing to appreciate the difficulty and time it takes.
She's also the first person to actually buy one of my necklace/earrings sets; the one that I mentioned "if it came in silver, I'd want it", well she did.
I have a promising first date tomorrow evening with a very nice man named Gary. He lives in Parkville and works with the School district there. He's a widower and has 4 children with one teenager still living at home. Ages from 15 to 39 or as he described it, "from diapers to Depends." He has hobbies of oil painting and making stained glass, a good sense of humor and a wonderful communicating style; displays a good and not creepy interest in what I'm doing but doesn't email every single day (doesn't cling as the last one did!) He emailed me yesterday with the greeting "Happy Eve of first date" which I told him I thought was both clever and amusing. So wish me luck.
Now I have to go get ready for the great maybe-shows-up, maybe-not, ooops, now I'm in basic training, out of town client. This is WHY I loathe out of town clients and swear I'm not doing this any more! This is the steam punk Little Red (brown) Riding hood one and I'm SO sick of it. Ah well, to finish it soon, I hope.
Getting the new-to-me car back again tomorrow, now with safer tires and wheels! And then I must get it licensed legally; I didn't realize the tag was expired until the tow guy pointed it out. I DO NOT need a ticket on top of everything else. I'm going to have to find out where to go and what I need to take with me (other than the title) because I have no fucking clue. I also need to get my own license updated (birth certificate, old passport, old license) so I might as well do it all at once. OH, and I MUST get to the bank tomorrow to make a big deposit. This car shenanigans have kept me from getting there.
Tonight I'm feeling very hopeful for the next year. I'll take it. No matter the losses and bad events of this year, I'd much rather look into the coming year with hope and anticipation. Hell, if this date goes well, I may even have a date for NYE which would really be a kick; rushing things a lot, but a kick.
And above all, I am incredibly grateful for my lovely friends.
Merry Bah Humbug!
Dec. 23rd, 2016 11:34 pmAw, this old pic of Penny at Christmas made me misty-eyed.
It really doesn't feel like Christmas to me but then, it rarely does. I have my moments that it's ok, but mostly, I just want to ignore it.
The new car almost lost a tire this afternoon. Scared the crap out of me; was wobbling and knocking like crazy and I was really frightened. But I had to make it home as I had a fitting with a client.
Some friends from out of town whose marriage ceremony I'd performed, saw my post and came right on over. He's a mechanic and saw right away that I had only one lug nut in the right front tire, holding it on. Apparently that's a fairly common problem; tire places putting them on either too tightly or not tight enough and then having them either sheer off or loosen up and fall off.
So here I am without a car again....on Christmas, with places that I have to go for work that I'm getting paid less for than before.
I'm really not feeling Christmasy at all.
It really doesn't feel like Christmas to me but then, it rarely does. I have my moments that it's ok, but mostly, I just want to ignore it.
The new car almost lost a tire this afternoon. Scared the crap out of me; was wobbling and knocking like crazy and I was really frightened. But I had to make it home as I had a fitting with a client.
Some friends from out of town whose marriage ceremony I'd performed, saw my post and came right on over. He's a mechanic and saw right away that I had only one lug nut in the right front tire, holding it on. Apparently that's a fairly common problem; tire places putting them on either too tightly or not tight enough and then having them either sheer off or loosen up and fall off.
So here I am without a car again....on Christmas, with places that I have to go for work that I'm getting paid less for than before.
I'm really not feeling Christmasy at all.
What's the deal?
Nov. 22nd, 2016 06:26 pmTonight I'm feeling a heavy wave of the most dreadful sadness and I'm not sure if it's me or something I'm picking up. Or maybe part of the bowel distress I'm (oh so happily *eyeroll*) dealing with.
I feel weighed down with grief, hopelessness and gut-wrenching sadness. I have SO much do to but don't feel like doing any of it. I can't afford to take a day off; must finish this Santa suit and get stuff ready to sell at Dickens on the strand, in just a week. I'm forcing myself to keep on working, but boy, it's really hard to do.
I'm ok...just trying to document what's going on.
I feel weighed down with grief, hopelessness and gut-wrenching sadness. I have SO much do to but don't feel like doing any of it. I can't afford to take a day off; must finish this Santa suit and get stuff ready to sell at Dickens on the strand, in just a week. I'm forcing myself to keep on working, but boy, it's really hard to do.
I'm ok...just trying to document what's going on.
Well, I went out on a meet-and-greet date with Eric, the guy who stood me up a couple months ago.
Gods, he's young. As in, half my age, young. I just don't know. He's nice and very smart and I enjoyed my time with him. He's an introvert who talks a mile a minute, I'm sure partly out of insecurity. He's still in graduate school, with an English Lit major, interests in Philosophy and Science and is musical.
He's very much in earnest about dating an older woman...me. I'm just not sure that I want to. We're at such different points in our lives that I'm just not sure there's any frame of reference.
Not to mention that there's not any financial stability. I really *need* financial stability. He hasn't really had any sort of steady job or anything like a career...has always been in school, or at least that's what it sounds like. I can only imagine what his school loans are like, unless Mom and Dad pay for it.
So we'll see. But I'm not really very hopeful about it. I need an adult, not a kid to raise.
Gods, he's young. As in, half my age, young. I just don't know. He's nice and very smart and I enjoyed my time with him. He's an introvert who talks a mile a minute, I'm sure partly out of insecurity. He's still in graduate school, with an English Lit major, interests in Philosophy and Science and is musical.
He's very much in earnest about dating an older woman...me. I'm just not sure that I want to. We're at such different points in our lives that I'm just not sure there's any frame of reference.
Not to mention that there's not any financial stability. I really *need* financial stability. He hasn't really had any sort of steady job or anything like a career...has always been in school, or at least that's what it sounds like. I can only imagine what his school loans are like, unless Mom and Dad pay for it.
So we'll see. But I'm not really very hopeful about it. I need an adult, not a kid to raise.
Returning...
Nov. 14th, 2016 10:36 amSo, here I am; back on LJ.
I've thought about it and, well, I've been on Facebook more because I get more response there. *shrug* It's true. I need the feedback and the attention since being online is the only human contact I have many days.
I miss the days that LiveJournal was a vital, healthy, interactive, supportive community. I remember raising enough money on here to get![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
apocalypticbob a new motor for her car. I also remember she and a former friend helping raise money for my move back to Kansas City after my divorce. And that was also before social fund-raising sites like GoFundMe were even a thought; I'm pretty sure that such sources were invented from such efforts on LiveJournal,
But it is what it is and here I am again, hoping to reconnect with people here.
I'll try to be better about posting. I know I can say more on here than I can on Facebook.
And I hope to see more friends that I know IRL here on LiveJournal.
I've thought about it and, well, I've been on Facebook more because I get more response there. *shrug* It's true. I need the feedback and the attention since being online is the only human contact I have many days.
I miss the days that LiveJournal was a vital, healthy, interactive, supportive community. I remember raising enough money on here to get
apocalypticbob a new motor for her car. I also remember she and a former friend helping raise money for my move back to Kansas City after my divorce. And that was also before social fund-raising sites like GoFundMe were even a thought; I'm pretty sure that such sources were invented from such efforts on LiveJournal,But it is what it is and here I am again, hoping to reconnect with people here.
I'll try to be better about posting. I know I can say more on here than I can on Facebook.
And I hope to see more friends that I know IRL here on LiveJournal.
As if I wasn't stressed out and depressed enough by not having enough money to pay rent yet....
Now the fun new wrinkle is that my landlady has decided to sell the house. She said she just can't keep up with it any more. She said, "and so I need some things from you" at which point I said, "Can I please call you back? I just don't think I can deal with this right now." Which means that she wants me to totally clean this place up so she can show it. And then she'll sell it and someone else will want it and I'll have to move somewhere.
This is not the news I needed right now. I don't fucking have time to clean and organize this place. To say that I'm shocked and devastated doesn't begin to cover it.
I have no fucking clue what I'm going to do.
Now the fun new wrinkle is that my landlady has decided to sell the house. She said she just can't keep up with it any more. She said, "and so I need some things from you" at which point I said, "Can I please call you back? I just don't think I can deal with this right now." Which means that she wants me to totally clean this place up so she can show it. And then she'll sell it and someone else will want it and I'll have to move somewhere.
This is not the news I needed right now. I don't fucking have time to clean and organize this place. To say that I'm shocked and devastated doesn't begin to cover it.
I have no fucking clue what I'm going to do.
The GoFundMe campaign
Nov. 11th, 2015 11:40 pmAs of right now, except for the fee they take out, I have almost enough donations to pay for the basic registration.
I sorta expected a quicker response but I'm trying not to be too discouraged.
Here's the link to it:
I sorta expected a quicker response but I'm trying not to be too discouraged.
Here's the link to it:
Documenting...
Sep. 19th, 2015 02:52 pm...my reply to PayPal over the fiasco of the missing $225 and the horrible service desk interaction I had.
Answering, "What would it take to earn a better score on the previous question?"
I have never had a problem with PayPal until this interaction but since you asked:
1) have help desk people who are not condescending, annoying and who can react as if they're not speaking straight off a script
2) explain to your help desk people that people calling in for help have legitimate situations and won't like being told that screenshots are easily manipulated, that people always lie and cheat and manipulate images to be deceptive. Trust me, saying this about my FRIEND whom I know well, made both of us very angry.
3) not allowing the sender (Sandy Ristow Koontz) to deal with this situation when she first called it in and spent over an hour on 8/31 trying unsuccessfully to deal with it is an outrage. It turned out that someone on her end had used the wrong email address EVEN THOUGH THE TWO OF US had repeated the correct email address several times to be clear. I believe that it was someone on PayPal's end that put in the wrong email address; and this could have been resolved on her end without dragging me into it over 2 weeks later, while that money was tied up, unavailable to either of us.
4) teach better communication skills to your help desk people: when the voice signal on his end would not re-connect (since I did NOTHING to my cell phone to change reception or transmission on my end) after he put me on hold two different times, forcing me to speak louder and louder to try to make him hear me, and then when it finally went through and he could hear me, telling me to, "calm down" is not at all the way to deal with anyone. I was yelling to try to be heard but by the time that happened a second time, I was also screaming out of frustration and anger. Telling someone to calm down after you've said, "hello, are you there?" about a dozen times is like throwing kerosene on a fire.
and finally and most importantly,
5) bring your help-desk operation back to the continental US because dealing with people from India is highly detrimental to your business in every way and is giving PayPal a *big* black eye. Exporting middle class jobs is NOT a good tactic about which we are reminded any time anyone has to deal with a obviously foreign operator. I shared this on my Facebook and got instant outrage from like-minded people who have nothing against foreigners but everything against the practice of exporting jobs so you can save money. You should feel utterly ashamed over this practice. It is almost enough to make me quit using PayPal altogether.
Answering, "What would it take to earn a better score on the previous question?"
I have never had a problem with PayPal until this interaction but since you asked:
1) have help desk people who are not condescending, annoying and who can react as if they're not speaking straight off a script
2) explain to your help desk people that people calling in for help have legitimate situations and won't like being told that screenshots are easily manipulated, that people always lie and cheat and manipulate images to be deceptive. Trust me, saying this about my FRIEND whom I know well, made both of us very angry.
3) not allowing the sender (Sandy Ristow Koontz) to deal with this situation when she first called it in and spent over an hour on 8/31 trying unsuccessfully to deal with it is an outrage. It turned out that someone on her end had used the wrong email address EVEN THOUGH THE TWO OF US had repeated the correct email address several times to be clear. I believe that it was someone on PayPal's end that put in the wrong email address; and this could have been resolved on her end without dragging me into it over 2 weeks later, while that money was tied up, unavailable to either of us.
4) teach better communication skills to your help desk people: when the voice signal on his end would not re-connect (since I did NOTHING to my cell phone to change reception or transmission on my end) after he put me on hold two different times, forcing me to speak louder and louder to try to make him hear me, and then when it finally went through and he could hear me, telling me to, "calm down" is not at all the way to deal with anyone. I was yelling to try to be heard but by the time that happened a second time, I was also screaming out of frustration and anger. Telling someone to calm down after you've said, "hello, are you there?" about a dozen times is like throwing kerosene on a fire.
and finally and most importantly,
5) bring your help-desk operation back to the continental US because dealing with people from India is highly detrimental to your business in every way and is giving PayPal a *big* black eye. Exporting middle class jobs is NOT a good tactic about which we are reminded any time anyone has to deal with a obviously foreign operator. I shared this on my Facebook and got instant outrage from like-minded people who have nothing against foreigners but everything against the practice of exporting jobs so you can save money. You should feel utterly ashamed over this practice. It is almost enough to make me quit using PayPal altogether.
Frustration is the name of the game, yesterday and today.
First is with my #$^#%&^ laptop which freezes up *all* the time with the "unresponsive script" crap. I SO need a new laptop!
Second is with my goddamned car which is the last piece of shit leftover from the marriage. If I had the money, I'd just dump it and get something else. I need to have it taken in to see why metal is grinding against metal, or someone to come and look at the damned thing, someone who knows what they are doing and will follow through with diagnosing it. I'm terrified that whatever-it-is that's wrong is just going to snap and I'll be in a horrible accident and kill other people. It really is that bad.
Third is the glasses thing; I tried ordering online but get stopped time and again with either stuff I don't know, like my distance between my pupils and then once I get that figured out, the glasses I want aren't available in the DP number and I can't figure out what to do about it.
Fourth is my sewing machine which occasionally just randomly goes into a decorative stitch that goes backward and then forward. I CANNOT AFFORD to not be without it and this is the one that supposedly was just repaired; the newer one needs to go in but I can't afford that either.
Can frustration be terminal? If so, I'm close. I can't take much more of all my shit not working at the same time, all of it.
EDIT: I should have fucking called the glasses site yesterday. Apparently I can't order anything from them with a difference in my PD in gradient bifocals. FUCK! Why does everything have to be so hard!
First is with my #$^#%&^ laptop which freezes up *all* the time with the "unresponsive script" crap. I SO need a new laptop!
Second is with my goddamned car which is the last piece of shit leftover from the marriage. If I had the money, I'd just dump it and get something else. I need to have it taken in to see why metal is grinding against metal, or someone to come and look at the damned thing, someone who knows what they are doing and will follow through with diagnosing it. I'm terrified that whatever-it-is that's wrong is just going to snap and I'll be in a horrible accident and kill other people. It really is that bad.
Third is the glasses thing; I tried ordering online but get stopped time and again with either stuff I don't know, like my distance between my pupils and then once I get that figured out, the glasses I want aren't available in the DP number and I can't figure out what to do about it.
Fourth is my sewing machine which occasionally just randomly goes into a decorative stitch that goes backward and then forward. I CANNOT AFFORD to not be without it and this is the one that supposedly was just repaired; the newer one needs to go in but I can't afford that either.
Can frustration be terminal? If so, I'm close. I can't take much more of all my shit not working at the same time, all of it.
EDIT: I should have fucking called the glasses site yesterday. Apparently I can't order anything from them with a difference in my PD in gradient bifocals. FUCK! Why does everything have to be so hard!
Now today...
Jun. 2nd, 2015 10:06 amThe foot is still quite painful but then, bone bruises last a freakin' long time. It IS a lot better; Star's Reiki helped a lot.
The hand is a concern, too, as the bunch of scar tissue on the heel of my right hand keeps me from using it to apply pressure to anything; it's a sharp pain whenever I do. Not sure what to do about that.
I am going to order a pair of summer shoes that hopefully will not rub or constrain the top of my right foot, without also looking like I'm wearing an old lady shoe.
And I'm fighting the baby slugs for my strawberries. That 'bowl of beer' thing does NOT work at all.
Crickets in the dating department. The mid-30's doctor just disappeared; oh well, I hadn't counted on that much either. And if David lived closer, I have no doubt we'd be dating more but he's busy, I'm busy and he lives 2 hours away. I'm not too hopeful on that one, nice as he is.
And work...lots of work.
The hand is a concern, too, as the bunch of scar tissue on the heel of my right hand keeps me from using it to apply pressure to anything; it's a sharp pain whenever I do. Not sure what to do about that.
I am going to order a pair of summer shoes that hopefully will not rub or constrain the top of my right foot, without also looking like I'm wearing an old lady shoe.
And I'm fighting the baby slugs for my strawberries. That 'bowl of beer' thing does NOT work at all.
Crickets in the dating department. The mid-30's doctor just disappeared; oh well, I hadn't counted on that much either. And if David lived closer, I have no doubt we'd be dating more but he's busy, I'm busy and he lives 2 hours away. I'm not too hopeful on that one, nice as he is.
And work...lots of work.
I wonder if barometer pressure has any bearing on my moods? Last night's storm was pretty amazing; could hardly see out the windows at one point for how hard it was raining. The power went off a couple times and well, I'm smart enough to shut down my sewing equipment when there's a thunderstorm. Yes, and unplug them, too. And this morning I looked out my bedroom window to see a huge branch that had come down and embedded itself into the ground like an arrow....a 6" in diameter arrow! But better than than down on or through my roof! We'll see if I can get it out tomorrow or if the kids will next time they mow.
I do know for a fact that burn-out is a big factor in my moods. I know I get cranky when I have to rush for a fitting to finish last-minute projects, no matter if the rush is due to my procrastination or merely a short schedule. I am getting better at charging more for a last minute job and clients seem to not mind. I know, I know, that's reasonable. But the few bad clients I have had have become a sort of composite work-PTSD sort of thing that my depression plays into. Weird but I hope that recognizing it is part of figuring out how to deal with it.
My recent clients are all paying cash which is sort of odd but ok. And I am keeping good records on the job sheet when they pay so that I know how much they've paid and which job the cash belongs with before I deposit it into the business account.
This morning was odd but ended up alright. The power was out downtown where Central Pres is located, around Armour Blvd and Campbell, near Paseo and 31st Street. And Leslie was scheduled to out of town so Michael was drafted to come and play for the service and direct the choir. But Gabi came in and just took over, was REALLY bossy and pushy and annoying everyone, to the point that I said to him, "Well, what do you want to do, since you know, Leslie left YOU in charge." He's really mild mannered and actually very much of a pushover but she was totally out of line. She backed down a bit when I said that, and a bit later commented, "Well, I know you all think I'm bossy but I just want to get things done." I just looked at her and didn't say anything. But she did calm down a bit. There were very few people there for choir and Josh was VERY late, I insisted that we call him but my phone wasn't letting me call out so Gabi did it. We rehearsed in the sanctuary because it was the brightest room, due to the big stained glass windows so we eventually got the music shaped up and Gaby shushed up from wanting to run it "one last time" because we were OUT of time and he needed to start the prelude. Gods, that woman drives me nuts! But I refused to let her get to me after I realized that I wasn't the only one she was bothering. The service was very nice if very sketchily attended. Michael had brought his mother (who is very Baptist but nice) and it was good to meet her. She was a little unsure being in a totally new place but is the sort to chat people up. So afterward I chatted with her and so did others and she seemed to enjoy being there.
Heidi's sermon was amazingly dead on with what I needed to hear, but of course, it wasn't recorded because of the power outage. I may ask her if she'd give me the text or outline, betting she would. Basically, "You are the only one of you that there is. The only gift you can give to the world is you; you are the only one with that particular, unique soul who can give that gift." While it isn't at all new information, it was what I needed to hear, along with her other words about being Authentic. Gods know, I am that; what you see is what you get. And not everybody likes that but that's ok, too. Others' approval isn't necessary and doesn't stop from being what I have to give, and knowing it is valuable.
I had to rush home to finish getting ready for the fitting this afternoon but it went really well. Such great clients! All three gals were here and things fit and the plans I had for how to decorate the dresses were highly approved of. Now I have the rest of this week to do the two dresses and then the third after that. They know that not all of the trimming will happen before this weekend but at least they'll be wearable.
After they left, I went grocery shopping and on the way, got myself some Church's chicken to give myself a little treat. Then I did some research and ordered grosgrain ribbon that I should have ordered last week but didn't. Fabulous prices for ribbon from a whole new source and they're having a sale! Here's the link: https://ribbonandbowsohmy.com/index.php?module=Catalog&action=ViewCatalog&cat=111 I ordered one of their color cards; I'm such a sucker for beautiful colors and they have 108 colors of grosgrain in stock!
Now to order coutil for corsets and I should be set for awhile.
On OKCupid, there's a 38 year old doctor who says he's interested in dating me, so we'll see. And the local guy who remembers me from an old Theatre in the Park who I DO NOT remember at all, IMd me on Facebook and said, "I think you should give up in OkCupid and ask me out." Huh. So I said, "I'm not giving up on OKC yet but since you suggested it, how about coffee sometime to get reacquainted?" So we'll see what happens with that.
And gods, I'm TIRED! And I need to go ice my foot; I haven't done that as much as I should lately and it's telling me so. The cut on my right hand still has a big hard lump where the cut was; not sure what to do about that as I know it's still healing underneath the surface of the skin. It still hurts if I put any pressure on it or stretch the fingers, not badly, but enough for me to not really have full use of that hand.
Tomorrow is NOT a day off but if I don't procrastinate, I should be able to finish both of these costumes fairly easily.
I like ending the day on a better note.
I do know for a fact that burn-out is a big factor in my moods. I know I get cranky when I have to rush for a fitting to finish last-minute projects, no matter if the rush is due to my procrastination or merely a short schedule. I am getting better at charging more for a last minute job and clients seem to not mind. I know, I know, that's reasonable. But the few bad clients I have had have become a sort of composite work-PTSD sort of thing that my depression plays into. Weird but I hope that recognizing it is part of figuring out how to deal with it.
My recent clients are all paying cash which is sort of odd but ok. And I am keeping good records on the job sheet when they pay so that I know how much they've paid and which job the cash belongs with before I deposit it into the business account.
This morning was odd but ended up alright. The power was out downtown where Central Pres is located, around Armour Blvd and Campbell, near Paseo and 31st Street. And Leslie was scheduled to out of town so Michael was drafted to come and play for the service and direct the choir. But Gabi came in and just took over, was REALLY bossy and pushy and annoying everyone, to the point that I said to him, "Well, what do you want to do, since you know, Leslie left YOU in charge." He's really mild mannered and actually very much of a pushover but she was totally out of line. She backed down a bit when I said that, and a bit later commented, "Well, I know you all think I'm bossy but I just want to get things done." I just looked at her and didn't say anything. But she did calm down a bit. There were very few people there for choir and Josh was VERY late, I insisted that we call him but my phone wasn't letting me call out so Gabi did it. We rehearsed in the sanctuary because it was the brightest room, due to the big stained glass windows so we eventually got the music shaped up and Gaby shushed up from wanting to run it "one last time" because we were OUT of time and he needed to start the prelude. Gods, that woman drives me nuts! But I refused to let her get to me after I realized that I wasn't the only one she was bothering. The service was very nice if very sketchily attended. Michael had brought his mother (who is very Baptist but nice) and it was good to meet her. She was a little unsure being in a totally new place but is the sort to chat people up. So afterward I chatted with her and so did others and she seemed to enjoy being there.
Heidi's sermon was amazingly dead on with what I needed to hear, but of course, it wasn't recorded because of the power outage. I may ask her if she'd give me the text or outline, betting she would. Basically, "You are the only one of you that there is. The only gift you can give to the world is you; you are the only one with that particular, unique soul who can give that gift." While it isn't at all new information, it was what I needed to hear, along with her other words about being Authentic. Gods know, I am that; what you see is what you get. And not everybody likes that but that's ok, too. Others' approval isn't necessary and doesn't stop from being what I have to give, and knowing it is valuable.
I had to rush home to finish getting ready for the fitting this afternoon but it went really well. Such great clients! All three gals were here and things fit and the plans I had for how to decorate the dresses were highly approved of. Now I have the rest of this week to do the two dresses and then the third after that. They know that not all of the trimming will happen before this weekend but at least they'll be wearable.
After they left, I went grocery shopping and on the way, got myself some Church's chicken to give myself a little treat. Then I did some research and ordered grosgrain ribbon that I should have ordered last week but didn't. Fabulous prices for ribbon from a whole new source and they're having a sale! Here's the link: https://ribbonandbowsohmy.com/index.php?module=Catalog&action=ViewCatalog&cat=111 I ordered one of their color cards; I'm such a sucker for beautiful colors and they have 108 colors of grosgrain in stock!
Now to order coutil for corsets and I should be set for awhile.
On OKCupid, there's a 38 year old doctor who says he's interested in dating me, so we'll see. And the local guy who remembers me from an old Theatre in the Park who I DO NOT remember at all, IMd me on Facebook and said, "I think you should give up in OkCupid and ask me out." Huh. So I said, "I'm not giving up on OKC yet but since you suggested it, how about coffee sometime to get reacquainted?" So we'll see what happens with that.
And gods, I'm TIRED! And I need to go ice my foot; I haven't done that as much as I should lately and it's telling me so. The cut on my right hand still has a big hard lump where the cut was; not sure what to do about that as I know it's still healing underneath the surface of the skin. It still hurts if I put any pressure on it or stretch the fingers, not badly, but enough for me to not really have full use of that hand.
Tomorrow is NOT a day off but if I don't procrastinate, I should be able to finish both of these costumes fairly easily.
I like ending the day on a better note.
I am SO pissed off right now! This is the second time I have had a major contract taken away from me and the time has come to have it out.
There's a new king at KCRF for this fall. The last guy, another friend, did a wonderful job but he's decided not to come back. I think perhaps that he wasn't quite the right fit. Frankly, he hadn't drunk the kool-aid that the Entertainment Director passes out. This is a mature adult who does his job and does it well but won't bow down to the PTB. Having observed how this has worked for the last decade or so, I really do think this is how it works. His costume was made by another friend; a complete professional who met the deadlines and did a fabulous job. It was gorgeous. Note, this will become a factor in my story later; that the last king's costume was made by a non-kool-aid-drinking, non-cast costumer of the current administration.
The guy who is now King is a really nice guy, he'll do a great job. I've worked with I made his costume last year and he told me, straight out, that he really wanted to be King and was disappointed that he hadn't it through the last casting call. The mayor's costume that I made him was to have a great coat added later to have the costume be "King-worthy", as he put it.
So I pretty much expected this guy to ping me and say, "hey, we need to get started as I'm King now." It would make things sorta tight, schedule-wise, but I could deal with it. And frankly, the money would really come in handy, not to mention the notch in my belt of of making another monarch's costume. But I didn't hear from him at all, which made me start to wonder.
As I'm a fan of direct communication, I decided to ping him on FB, which is how we often communicate. I said, "Hey, congrats! Wanted to tell you how happy I am for you. Do you know what you're doing costume-wise yet? Just trying to organize my Spring schedule. If you want to discuss designs, I'd love to work with you and my schedule is fairly free for the next month or so, if you're wanting to get started right away. If you've made other plans, that's perfectly ok."
I heard back from him fairly quickly:
"Jim already had it setup with Annie for my costume this year. However, Riah might need you. She's hoping to know more after next weekend.
She's going to be Romani, but she's looking to have a leader-type costume made."
Fuming, I sent back:
"I will be happy to talk with Riah about her costume. Counting to 10 here. I obviously need to talk seriously with Jim. I have a problem with him assigning major costuming to someone who can't meet her deadlines and who is allowed to do so and who does sub-standard work. However, this is not *your* problem, sorry to take it out on you. It is mine and I will deal with it. But this makes me very unhappy that he has made a decision like this. This is the second time he has interfered with my income in a major way."
So perhaps I spoke out of line here, as I am wont to do from time to time. And it's all probably going to hit the fan because he and his whole family have drunk the Kool-aid. But I am REALLY PISSED OFF!
This is the same costumer to whom Jim gave about 8 court costumes to do last year, and whose sewing machine broke and who was SO late on deadlines that her clients had to wear old costumes for the HARD DEADLINE of the July 4th parade, when everyone else HAD to have their costumes done, or else risk being fired. This is the same costumer who puts out shoddy looking, costume-rental quality costumes; who works a FULL TIME regular job and does costuming on the side. But she's drunk the Kool-aid and is the costumer that Jim goes to first.
I am LIVID! I said the last time that Jim determined that "only Annie could do Royalty costumes" that I would go toe-to-toe with Jim over this. He has NO CALL to just assign costumes to one person, who is *not* staff, who is not a professional and who does not have the chops to handle doing good royal costumes. She probably doesn't charge enough but it's not as though she depends on costuming for her income. OH, heads are going to roll over this. One of them could me mine, but that this point, I'm not sure I even care.
There's a new king at KCRF for this fall. The last guy, another friend, did a wonderful job but he's decided not to come back. I think perhaps that he wasn't quite the right fit. Frankly, he hadn't drunk the kool-aid that the Entertainment Director passes out. This is a mature adult who does his job and does it well but won't bow down to the PTB. Having observed how this has worked for the last decade or so, I really do think this is how it works. His costume was made by another friend; a complete professional who met the deadlines and did a fabulous job. It was gorgeous. Note, this will become a factor in my story later; that the last king's costume was made by a non-kool-aid-drinking, non-cast costumer of the current administration.
The guy who is now King is a really nice guy, he'll do a great job. I've worked with I made his costume last year and he told me, straight out, that he really wanted to be King and was disappointed that he hadn't it through the last casting call. The mayor's costume that I made him was to have a great coat added later to have the costume be "King-worthy", as he put it.
So I pretty much expected this guy to ping me and say, "hey, we need to get started as I'm King now." It would make things sorta tight, schedule-wise, but I could deal with it. And frankly, the money would really come in handy, not to mention the notch in my belt of of making another monarch's costume. But I didn't hear from him at all, which made me start to wonder.
As I'm a fan of direct communication, I decided to ping him on FB, which is how we often communicate. I said, "Hey, congrats! Wanted to tell you how happy I am for you. Do you know what you're doing costume-wise yet? Just trying to organize my Spring schedule. If you want to discuss designs, I'd love to work with you and my schedule is fairly free for the next month or so, if you're wanting to get started right away. If you've made other plans, that's perfectly ok."
I heard back from him fairly quickly:
"Jim already had it setup with Annie for my costume this year. However, Riah might need you. She's hoping to know more after next weekend.
She's going to be Romani, but she's looking to have a leader-type costume made."
Fuming, I sent back:
"I will be happy to talk with Riah about her costume. Counting to 10 here. I obviously need to talk seriously with Jim. I have a problem with him assigning major costuming to someone who can't meet her deadlines and who is allowed to do so and who does sub-standard work. However, this is not *your* problem, sorry to take it out on you. It is mine and I will deal with it. But this makes me very unhappy that he has made a decision like this. This is the second time he has interfered with my income in a major way."
So perhaps I spoke out of line here, as I am wont to do from time to time. And it's all probably going to hit the fan because he and his whole family have drunk the Kool-aid. But I am REALLY PISSED OFF!
This is the same costumer to whom Jim gave about 8 court costumes to do last year, and whose sewing machine broke and who was SO late on deadlines that her clients had to wear old costumes for the HARD DEADLINE of the July 4th parade, when everyone else HAD to have their costumes done, or else risk being fired. This is the same costumer who puts out shoddy looking, costume-rental quality costumes; who works a FULL TIME regular job and does costuming on the side. But she's drunk the Kool-aid and is the costumer that Jim goes to first.
I am LIVID! I said the last time that Jim determined that "only Annie could do Royalty costumes" that I would go toe-to-toe with Jim over this. He has NO CALL to just assign costumes to one person, who is *not* staff, who is not a professional and who does not have the chops to handle doing good royal costumes. She probably doesn't charge enough but it's not as though she depends on costuming for her income. OH, heads are going to roll over this. One of them could me mine, but that this point, I'm not sure I even care.
