General Musings Part 14

I've been meaning to write this entry but in between responding to potential job ads (since you can never put all your eggs in one basket + I figure I've got 2 weeks before I hear something definite about a job I'd really like to do but haven't gotten follow up on since late last month), going to a networking event Friday night, talking to that friend in trouble & dealing with the ring debacle, it's been too crazy to get it done.

Now that I've gotten a moment, some review & rants.

I went to a networking event on Friday, unsure of how things would go. I just knew it was a good idea to get my mind off my friend & sitting at home by myself on a Friday night was a waste. Yeah, that's another thing: getting our car back after the expensive repair work. At least it started today without resistance.

That event turned out to be really fun since

A) fashion people like how I look (I even got photographed)

B) I got to meet some very interesting people (perhaps more interesting than me) who'd have no incentive to become jealous of my success or pester me for favors &

C) the people I spoke to did not make me feel uncomfortable.

It was wonderful talking to people who took me seriously as a professional, had interesting things to say & were not all men. I'd like more female colleagues to talk to since it seems like only men end up speaking to me. The men I did speak to didn't even flirt with me. Yes!!

You don't realize how rare that kind of thing is unless you are considered attractive by society & for whatever reason, will get hit on just for looking like yourself. No effort on your part needed (not even smiling), just being present in a room.

It's not like I'd gone to many of these events since I usually need advance notice & feel bad when my husband won't go. Though honestly, my husband is not big on social events where he doesn't know people. He's not the "hang out in a lounge" type; he told me he likes having something to do. He also doesn't have to network while I have to in my business. Plus if I want to network, he gets all impatient & wants to leave ASAP. I'm not the type who immediately approaches strangers; I need time to feel comfortable & gather my bearings. If I have an "in," no problem but if I don't give me half an hour & I'm fine.

Even if I weren't a business owner or doing PR work, you still need to know many different people as a writer or actor aside from the "opportunity around the corner" so you'll create better work & have more experiences to weave into that work. You can't do that sitting at home all the time.

So, I felt much more comfortable at this event & I should probably see about going to future ones. I think networking events are to him what going to most comic book stores or cons are to me: I'm not interested but you can take friends, have a good time & don't worry about me.

Talked to my friend; she called to wish me a happy belated birthday. Seems she understands my concerns + that of other friends & plans to move on. However, we all know how hard it is when feelings are involved & apparently she's said this before but been pulled back. I'm hoping some friends/family who live closer will keep their eye on things & warn about the bad stuff without being judgmental about it.

Now for rants:

I called this one!!! Told you people in this country would whine about "Skins" & that American mores are too sensitive to handle a show like that. I predict that either MTV will make it more bland (through censorship or otherwise) or turn it into elaborate theater with more shock than substance.

This is food for thought for the old timers & Internet haters.

And if Chipotle continues to screen out illegals, we should all eat there. Protest this?!?!?! Ha! We should hold them up as patriots who support this country & the rights of AMERICAN citizens to have jobs instead of undercutting everyone with illegals.

If you are dumb enough to claim that illegals have more rights to a job than my unemployed family members who are citizens, then you should renounce your American citizenship & get the hell out RIGHT NOW!!! It is immoral when my sister has to fight to get WIC coverage while some illegal Hispanic woman in her area who just popped out an anchor baby practically has it handed to her on a silver platter. Not to mention plenty of other things permanent residents & people trying to get citizenship get screwed on because of illegals with zero loyalty to this country acting like parasites.

What would be better is the ability to trade the citizens who are deadbeats for the illegals who "just want to feed their families & work hard." More details on my views on the matter & just how I've lived it can be found in an earlier post.

In sum, I'm all for jailing some CEOs in "pound me in the ass" prison as opposed to "white collar resort" prison to reform illegal immigration (thank you, Office Space).

Some of this I disagree with on basic principle. My husband & I do not + will not ask for or take each other's passwords. We have used each other's accounts on things before like if I was doing an eBay auction for my husband when he wouldn't have access to a computer but I'd never ask for his e-mail or Facebook passwords. That is controlling & a sign of distrust.

My husband also had an ex who did that & read his e-mail. We also don't like the other person reading over our shoulder as we type messages to our friends or chat with them.

I also don't get this "emotional affair" shit. I don't think a spouse should be expected to have every single interest you have or be the best person to solve all your problems. My husband isn't my jailer or chained at my hip. We are separate people who just happen to compliment one another. I think that as long as you don't mind your spouse meeting or talking to your opposite sex friends, then you don't have any issues. Maybe they'd become friends & if you ended up in a real crisis, they might work as added support. My husband knows he's more than welcome to talk to mine just as I'm welcome to talk to his. If anything, I expect my opposite sex friends to take my husband's side & his to take my side if either of us thought to cheat on the other one. They could understand the opposite sex perspective & empathize with the spouse.

Guess we also see my views on relationships & marriage coming into play there, which are not your typical "2 becoming 1" nonsense or life as seen on TV, Hollywood movies & so forth.

I read this today & think one little thing was missing. That's if you work in a bureaucracy, you have to be an annoying suck up or part of a protected class. You also have to be a moron because no one rewards intelligence.

I admire any CEO that actually sticks to this but if you have a larger company, you're going to have a hard time convincing me that you value these things over butt kissing and maintaining a hopelessly outdated, ineffective or plain awful status quo.

Speaking of denial when it comes to illegal conduct, this article comes to mind. I like the commenter who said you should address nasty interviewing behavior right away & walk out if needed. That's someone after my own heart. I know at this point, I'd absolutely do that & probably would have in the time since I became a lawyer. I'll keep my dignity & my sanity over a hellish job, thanks.

Now to pet my feline who jumped into my lap on his own accord & isn't even a lap cat.