skjam

My HireWire Profile

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 02:23:46 GMT

This is a new job-seeking tool, an online jobseeker profile optimized for smartphones, and including a video.

Take a look, and if you know someone who might be willing to take a look, pass it on to them.

Thanks in advance!

http://hired.mn/v/qs1y3ztq

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College Catch-Up

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:24:14 GMT

So, my first quarter at Rasmussen College online has ended. The most exciting news is that I scored 96% in Accounting I, which I think is freaking amazing considering how hard math is for me. We'll see if I can weather Accounting II: Account Harder next quarter.

Overall, the experience has been very positive. Rasmussen has really put an effort into accommodating distance student's special needs. Once I learned how to access the live lectures properly, they were a great tool for getting a better understanding of the reading and communicating with a teacher.

Next quarter is, besides more accounting, Business Law, Principles of Marketing, and Principles of Management. My brother the law professor says that the important thing to remember about business law is that the introductory course only teaches basic, national level law. State and local laws do apply, and you will need to learn those separately. (So no, as an entrepreneur I shouldn't try to be my own attorney.)

Still looking for work, by the way, if anyone hears of a good opening for a customer service professional in the Twin Cities area, please keep me in mind.

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Brief Update

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 02:20:41 GMT

Have now started online classes at Rasmussen. It's been pretty exhausting, but I've done my homework and reading for the week.

Had an interview with Pro Staff. I think it went well, but it's hard to actually fail a temp interview if you are at all competent. The real trick is being chosen for good assignments.

Budget very tight.

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I am unemployed

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 03:07:12 GMT

I haven't been communicating much recently...or even less than usual, and things have bottomed out for the moment.

After twelve pretty good years, Target has let me go.

If you happen to know any companies in the Twin Cities area or online that could use a fellow with over a decade of experience with the effects of bankruptcy, debt management, death or military service on credit cards, let me know.

Cool thing: Minnesota now allows you to apply for unemployment insurance online. With dialup, it took about as long, but I didn't have to sit in a depressing waiting room for hours.

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Happy News

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 01:07:49 GMT

Everyone's mix CDs came in on time, big thanks to those of you who put in extra effort, and the packages for the out-of-towners will be going out Monday. We have five very different themes, all of which look fascinating. Now I can finally listen to them!

I'll have some extras for people at ConVergence of my mix, and I understand Baron Dave will as well.

Also, I won a Good Samaritan award at work, which is given out by the previous winner in our department to who has been the most helpful in their opinion. I got cited for my United Way raffle basket. So now I get to display a Samaritan statuette at my desk for July, and think about who to pass it on to at the end. (Those of you who've read Astro City will understand why being compared to Samaritan is a double-edged compliment.)

Hope you are all as well can be expected,
SKJAM!

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Some stuff

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 02:34:47 GMT

Random bits--

After far too long a delay, the Lunds grocery store we were promised way back when is finally open. I was very disappointed the first day, as the signage said it would open at 6AM, and I got up to be there, but it turned out the opening for that day only was 9:30. It's a very nice store.

I'm a bit worried for the small grocery place nearby, though. Not much they can do to compete except for the much faster checkout service. The local coffee shop is more hardy and can easily handle the chain place with its genuine Bohemian atmosphere.

We have a new quality coach at work, who tells me she was seriously blown away with how good I am on the phone. I still run into rough patches when customers don't want to be helped, but it's true that when I'm on, I really am Mr. Customer Service.

Did not win any of the baskets in the United Way raffle...again. Don't know why I bother sometimes, and none of the winners ever sends a thank you note for the baskets our department creates.

Coming up on my birthday, not as excited/nervous this year. More concerned with making the CD exchange work and being fully funded for ConVergence.

Still doing very well at the Goodreads giveaways, seriously it's like they love my reviews or something. Currently waiting on "One For the Money".

Hope you folks are well as can be expected, and Happy Father's Day to all those to whom it applies.

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Am still alive.

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:26:47 GMT

First snowfall that stuck. Attempting to get playlist for Christmas gifts done.

Reverse of usual procedure at work this week. Casual first three days, Thanksgiving, then red and khaki on Friday. Will be working Friday; anticipate lots of calls from people who tried to use cards that no longer function.

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Trick or treating time!

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:08:54 GMT

One of the small benefits of working at Target is access to stuffed toys of Bullseye, the Target dog. We get some of them as gifts or prizes, and others can be purchased at the company store. Over the last decade, dozens of different Bullseyes have come out in various outfits. Some of my coworkers' cubicles look like the Daisy Hill puppy farm.

So when it came time to decorate for Halloween, our local creative person did up a cubicle as a street that the various costumed Bullseyes (and some other stuffed animals in Target gear) are going trick-or-treating on. Here's a picture of some of them.

enjoy!

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Checking in

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:14:41 GMT

Christmas happened. It was good to see the family again, and much fun was had. The gift I gave out that seemed the most awesome was a volume of Amerlia Rules for the youngest niece. She was already halfway through when it came time for her to leave.

They'd changed the bus schedules so my bus back to the Cities left about noon; the folks and I had brunch in the Banning Junction cafe. Sadly, it seems that business is down, and that part of the restaurant is now closed and looking for someone to rent.

Snow and cold continue to dominate the weather.

I missed getting a room in the Sheraton for ConVergence; the room committee has acknowledged my request for a Sofitel room, but no guarantees, and I won't find out for a while if it took. I do have a room for Anime Detour though.

Work is tolerable. My supervisor went to Nicaragua for a couple of weeks and brought back souvenirs; I'll be regifting the coffee.

Oh, and back to Christmas for the moment, I sent out all the wishlist items, finally. I hope everyone got them okay. I was very pleased with several mix CDs, some candy, books and so forth. Thanks, internet!

For hobby stuff, I have been "liveblogging" the Republic movie serial "Zorro's Fighting Legion" over on the TV Tropes website. Take a look: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=12921152820B27780100&i_id=12921152820I27781900&p=1

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Progress report.

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 04:46:10 GMT

Have sent out quite a few of the surprises for the folks on holiday_wishes and wish_list. I know at least a few of them have arrived because the recepients have said so, and one definitely did not. (Gonna have to look into that.)

Need to wrap the presents I'm giving family members, and figure out who I've got left to shop for. My parents have asked for giving to a good cause this year, so that one's easy.

Made a couple of posts on Scans Daily, which is having a big December event.

Work goes okay.

Still trying to lose weight. Valiantly resisting my usual habit of buying cartons of egg nog and drinking them at a single sitting, but man I love egg nog. Exercise getting even harder to get around to with onset of snow, ice and frigid air.

Have received one package so far this season, I know who it's from and approximately what it might be, but am saving opening it for a little closer to Christmas. Also, my brother's family holiday letter.

Hope all of you are as well as can be expected, and keeping warm.

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Okay.,..

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:44:23 GMT

Friday is "Sweet and Salty Treats" day at work. Even as loosely defined as my "diet" is (eat less, exercise more), this is not going to be helping.

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The Big C and Weeds

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:38:01 GMT

The Lagoon had a special free showing of two Showtime series last night. Given my apartment has no AC, and the movie theater does, I chose to attend. Even better, Showtime gave all attendees a coupon for free popcorn and soda pop! ( I just took the pop as by coincidence Target gave out free popcorn at the Diversity Council Health Fair the same day.)

I *think* the free showing was because The Big C is set in St. Paul, and a number of people there were extras. It took me until the Porky's scene to realize where the setting was supposed to be.

The show is about a St. Paul high school history teacher who's diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her attempts to deal with her impending mortality. The wacky supporting cast makes this difficult. The character that rang truest was the cranky neighbor who never smiles.

"Weeds", on the other hand, seems to have ranged far afield from its roots of "desperate suburban housewife turns to marijuana growing to make ends meet." I'm guessing this episode is the season premiere, as it opens with one of the characters doing something that would resolve a cliffhanger. Satisfying as that looked, the action has consequences, and the rest of the episode is about fleeing them. Pretty funny, but some characters just made me cringe.

All in all, a pleasant diversion on a boiling hot day, but not enough to make me finally get cable.

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It's my birthday!

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:31:41 GMT

I'm spending the weekend up in Sandstone with my folks.

Let's see...at work, they've set up a Nerf(tm) dart gun game to win points towards the company prize store--I've been doing very well at that, second or third place most days.

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On the move

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:58:01 GMT

The BCP (Bankruptcy, Consumer Credit Counseling and Probate) Department moved on Friday. We went from the third floor to the fifth, with our new Risk Management peers. Unfortunately, the moving people got delayed or there just weren't enough of them, as by the end of the day, most of our computers and personal paperwork hadn't made it upstairs. So instead of spending the last hour of Friday getting ready to start first thing Monday morning, we're going to spend the first hour of Monday trying to get ready before the phones go live.

It's a secure floor, so we will really need to have our badges handy to move around, even just to hit the restrooms. Also, the escalator doesn't come up that far, so the elevators and stairwell are chokepoints.

We have a new employee incentive store (gain X amount of Bullseye Bucks and cash in for prizes)--they gave us all $25 as a starter, only for us to discover that inflation has set in, and candy bars cost $100. It'll be a while before I get any good prizes, even if I do well in the evaluations.

Looking forward to ConVergence; hope to see a few of you there, there's still a couple of spots on the Villains of Anime and Manga panel if you'd like to be a panelist.

The U's anime club, MAS, is starting showings again this Thursday, and for a change I have a show to suggest. (first week will be voting on possible shows for the rest of summer.) "Living for the Day After Tomorrow," aka Asatte no Houkou.

Oh, and this coming Saturday is Free RPG Day, and the Source will be participating for the first time.

Also for local folks, you may want to check out the Saved By The Bell show at the Bryant Lake Bowl. I know a couple of the people involved (you may remember them from "Hamluke") and I understand an actual cast member of Saved By the Bell (The TV version) will be attending at least one of the showings.

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Christmas at home delayed

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:37:07 GMT

I had today off unexpectedly, as one of the people who had the day decided they weren't going out of town after all, and I was next on the waitlist.

Good thing too, as I have never seen so many places close so early on Christmas Eve. Several of them without even a note saying they were closing early--including Subway!

Coming home, I discovered that due to the heavy snow, the Christmas celebration for my family is pushed back to next Friday. :-{ Fortunately, thanks to my internet friends, I have some presents to open tomorrow anyway. Maybe I'll take in the new Sherlock Holmes movie, though the previews made it look a little too focused on sex humor for my tastes. And I'll be able to hit Target for their post Xmas candy sale on Saturday.

Yeah, I'm a little disappointed, but not as much as one of my co-workers, who wasn't able to go home to California for the first time in twenty years due to a really bad set of circumstances.

Speaking of co-workers, we finally got an address to send cards to Nicole; she's still too weak for visitors though, apparently.

Oh, and one last package made it to the post office today! Thanks, greenhawk! Looking forward to seeing what's inside.

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It did not say "mocha"

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:54:20 GMT

I do not like the taste of coffee. Odd, considering I grew up in rural Minnesota, but there it is. I've never liked the taste of coffee, even coffee candy. I take a couple of sips if it's the only thing on offer, but I'm always unable to finish.

So why, I wonder, upon entering an unfamiliar coffee shop, do I never remember to ask, "hey, that delicious-sounding chocolate drink that does not list coffee as an ingredient, and is on the nominally non-coffee side of the menu board--that doesn't contain any coffee, does it?" Feh.

In less my own fault news, the new hot drinks machine at work doesn't clean its own pipes very well or something, because it makes all the non-coffee drinks taste of coffee. I'm going to bring this up to the cafe manager if I happen to think of it when I actually see him next.

I had a Christmas card shoved under my apartment door last night, by a neighbor, I'm thinking. It's Hawaiian-themed.

Family is worried that the predicted blizzard might prevent travel on Christmas. That'd be a bummer.

Hope you and yours are keeping warm.

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Soon it will be Christmas Day...

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:11:18 GMT

Work has been going much more smoothly this week, with most of our folks in the office (please continue to send good thoughts towards Nicole.) Next week, however, we are going to have the maximum number of people out for extended holiday vacation. Could be iffy.

Caught up with more backlog--looks like one person's been sending angry letters every day more or less because at the time we hadn't responded. It was actually fixed nearly a month ago, but these letters hadn't been gotten to. Hope the customer is mollified now.

I went to the MAS Craptacular on Thursday, though I hadn't meant to--there was an issue with my Anime Detour registration. But that should be fixed now, and I already have a hotel room reserved. (Not so sure about ConVergence--I signed up two whole days after room requests became available, and they're now going through the list, won't be sending out confirmations until January minimum.

Anyhow, the Craptacular is the worst anime the club could find that is still something that can be shown in public. The audience is encouraged to MST, unlike the regular showings. The final show, "Needless", was firmly in the "so bad it's good" category. To give you an idea, most of the opening credits are for a post-apocalypse superbeing action show (which does seem to be the main plot), but then suddenly there's shots of schoolgirl lesbians for no apparent reason. The closing credits are entirely devoted to the schoolgirl lesbians. In the episode itself? No schoolgirl lesbians. No schoolgirls, heck, not even a school. And then there's the shirtless priest.

As a break from that, there was a game where openings and endings of various shows were shown out of context, and audience members had to describe what they thought the show might be about. Some guesses were mightily amusing, and I won a prize pack of two Yu-Gi-Oh! wall scrolls, and some rice cakes filled with bean paste.

Almost done with the wishlist surprises, though this last batch probably isn't going to arrive before Christmas. The incoming mail's been pretty sparse, with only a card from Ariana of Philadelphia. Very sparkly card, though. I'm hoping for one or two more packets to arrive by Thursday.

My local Hero Games group met for a one-off Champions adventure last night--lots of fun.

Hope you all are as well as can be expected,
SKJAM!

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December marches on

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:01:00 GMT

Remember my mentioning the new vending machines at work? Well, they're mostly installed now, and do look shiny and new. They came with a change machine, so I figured I'd get ready to do laundry tonight. As it happens, this change machine doesn't dispense quarters, but Zachary Taylor dollar coins. (I didn't even know they were up to President Taylor yet!) These too looked shiny and new.

Got almost all my family Christmas shopping done, so have started back up with the wishlist surprises. I'm not going to guarantee that these ones will arrive by Christmas, though.

Got a card from crevanfox. Thanks!

Oh, and yes, I got my laundry done.

Hmm, looks like I'll have to rescan a page for my next Scans Daily post--got munged in transmission. Always interesting to see what people will fasten on in the comments.

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Time Marches On

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:04:53 GMT

Work was better today, as a couple of our missing people were able to come in. Still no word from Nicole, though--even if she gets better we can't expect her back before January.

Got a package from Fredericksburg, VA, so it goes on the pile to open later.

And a mix from ana_leezwas finally obtained.

( Moosic Mix )

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Update

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:27:25 GMT

Half our people were out of the office for at least part of the day today, and the calls just keep coming. We had to shut down the phones for half an hour so people could go to lunch!

I got a message from my Secret Santa (via an intermediary), revealing that they'd popped for the gift wrap on my present--I took a peek, and it turns out the Amazon box I got was indeed from Secret Santa. Yay! Can hardly wait to see what's in the wrapping.

On my end, I've finally cleared the backlog on the items I'm shipping out for wishlist surprises, and should be able to mail them out tomorrow. I hope all of these arrive intact and in good condition!

Now it's time to make sure I have all the family presents in order--after that, if I still have some time before Christmas, I'll pick a few more wishlisters to surprise.

Tomorrow I train a co-worker on SCRA procedures, will try to remember to wear my company shirt for the occasion.

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Changes and Surprises

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:51:20 GMT

No word yet on Nicole, which I take it to mean she is neither worse nor better.

The building management has decided to end our contract with the little convenience store by the cafeteria. It will be replaced by more vending machines. This does not seem a good tradeoff to me, as vending machines are not known for engaging conversation or helping you find what you're looking for.

In brighter news, I got a package from Amazon--won't be able to tell who it's from until it's opened closer to the holidays.

And a mix cd from dazzamre, who chose to go with "My Favorite Superhero" as a theme. Well, if you consider Jack Harkness a superhero. (I have not yet seen Torchwood.)

( At the End of Time )

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Getting cold outside

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:39:27 GMT

Yep, it's definitely getting on towards winter here.

It looks like we'll be getting a bit more help at work, though still not the new full-time person we need. With so many of us out sick or on vacation, the lack of ability to answer calls and do paperwork at the same time really slows both processes down.

Watched the last of "Daughter of Twenty Faces" tonight. A fairly satisfying ending.

And the folks at Holiday Wishes/Wish List have started sending stuff. I now have a package from celeria, pretty sure I know what it is, but the packages larger than envelope size are being saved for a time nearer Christmas, as is the tradition in my family.

But the very first gift sent (though I was unable to access it until tonight)was a mix by twiglyt.

( playlist under the cut )

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Prayers and good thoughts please...

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:39:28 GMT

For my co-worker Nicole, who's still in the hospital, and after a week not yet stable enough to receive visitors. I don't know the full details, but I do know she's been losing weight recently, more than is healthy (and she was already very thin naturally.)

Get well soon, Nicole.

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This week

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:36:03 GMT

While waiting for the bus after work, I saw a deer walk across the parking lot directly in front of me. Six point buck. Closest I've been to a deer in years, let alone one that didn't have a wall between me and it. I hope it got across the highway to the woods okay.

And the computer issue that was chewing up two hours a day at work finally got fixed, allowing me to catch up on some back work and feel like I was "supporting the troops."

The Scans Daily community has closed its doors at InsaneJournal and is now transitioning over to Dreamwidth. As it happens, I managed to get in the very last scans post, and for now at least you can still see it--I think comments will still be live too.
http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/1231636.html

Enjoy!

My aunt Judy is having Thanksgiving at her place again this year, after a well-deserved rest last year. Looking forward to seeing the clan.

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Sore but functional

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:24:30 GMT

I got three teeth pulled first thing in the morning. This was about as unpleasant as you'd imagine, especially since my metabolism burns anesthetic unusually fast, requiring multiple applications of the stuff to keep me from writhing and screaming. But the antibiotics had already brought the swelling down a bit, which helped.

The dentist tells me my jaw bone is extra-dense, so next year for the other needed extractions, she wants to refer me to a dental surgery specialist. (I'm hoping for gas--I want to be out like a light when they're using the bone saw.)

Since I'd already had the whole day off yesterday, I went back to work after noon, stopping for my flu shot first. People seemed surprised to see me, but I was reasonably fit for duty, aside from begging off phone answering. All that gauze made it hard to speak distinctly. We are so very far behind. Apparently, Vicodin(tm) doesn't make me nearly as woozy as it does some other folks. On the other hand, I wasn't driving.

I'm looking forward to seeing my family for the youngest niece's birthday party this weekend, and hope to be able to make it to the MAS Halloween showing.

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