Tuesday, October 26, 2004                            

I took yesterday off in order to do some job hunting.  I have an interview on Thursday with a company needing an administrative support person.  Not a glamerous job, but hey, I can't really afford to be picky.  I have my doubts about this business, though.  It's called ULocate and they specialize in ways to monitor the movements of people.  They market it as a way of protecting loved ones (know where you're kids are, etc), but I'm not sure how I feel about it.  It's really not my first choice, but I'm still going to go in and talk with them.

The pumpkin decorating turned out OK.  The weather was fairly miserable, and the first day we were in an absolutely horrible location (basically, noone knew we existed).  But we moved to a prime location on Sunday (next to the train ride), and in the end we made a little over $200.  Not too bad.  It was fun to watch the kids paint the pumpkins.  But I was surprised at how many parents said "no," and not very nicely, either.  Why bring your kids to a festival if you're not going to let them do anything?

Ah well.  All's well that ends well.

The GWHFH server is down again so I'm a bit limited in how much work I'll get done today.  Ho hum.  I can't say I'm exactly crushed, but it does pile up after awhile.  But I love the new internet connection!
Here it is: the continuing saga of my experience as an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer in Worcester, Massachusetts.  I would love to hear from any other AmeriCorps volunteers or nonprofit employees--especially volunteer coordinators.  Email me--tell me what you think, or share your own experiences.  Together we'll survive this crazy nonprofit world!
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Wednesday, October 27, 2004

The Red Sox are only one game away from winning the World Series (you'd have to live under a rock not to be aware of that)!  I'm very excited, having embraced the Red Sox whole-heartedly as part of my New England indoctrination.  But I don't see myself becoming a Patriots fan.  Number one, I'm just not that in to football.  Number two, I am from Wisconsin, after all, and I feel a weird allegience to the Packers despite years of trying not to. 

But enough about sports....

The server is still down, in fact, the CPU has been taken away by Joshua.  My ability to do any real productive work is obviously impeded.  There is some filing, etc that I should do.  I need to start getting things organized for my replacement.

I can't say that I'm wildly excited about filing and organization, no matter how much I'm looking forward to the end of my service.  I'm just so worn out!  Burn out at 24... good lord!  Even grad school is losing its appeal.  I want stability!  Financial security!  I want to pay off my credit card.... and I want to be able to afford my car and insurance payments.  Financial independence!  Such an elusive dream....

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It's been a while since I've posted any pictures of Paine Street.  I put up a new one which shows the nearly-completed exterior.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2004

WAHOO! I can barely believe it, although I know my excitement is not nearly at the level of die-hard fans who have been suffering for years.  I take this is a good sign.  If the Red Sox can win, then so can Kerry.  If the Red Sox can beat the odds and win, then I can find a good job.  Hey, I know I'm scraping the barrel, but I need all of the hope I can get!

It's day three of having no network access.  The filing was slow going yesterday.  I can't say that today has been much of an improvement so far.  I have the interview with ULocate at 1:00pm this afternoon.  I'm a little nervous, and I'm also still pondering my ethics and morals verses survival. 

I would like to stay in the nonprofit field.  I would like to try and implement my hairbrained ideas of landlord university and whatnot.  But in the end I'm not sure that I have what it takes.  I mean, just being an AmeriCorps VISTA is exhausting enough.  Oh, I'm lost again....
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2004

Well, I was about to fall asleep at my desk (still no network access, you see) when the most ungodly noise had me jumpking out of my chair.  I don't know what it was--a sort of cross between a fire alarm and an alien ray gun--but it has given me renewed energy.

The interview didn't go half bad yesterday.  The company is actually rather interesting, and not nearly as sketchy as my first impression had me believing.  I would take the job if they offered it to me.

These last few weeks can't go fast enough.  I've enjoyed my time here, but it's definitly time to move on.