I have now been unemployed for 7 business days, but most of it has been over Christmas Break. Meg’s brother and sister-in-law have been here from Christmas morning through yesterday, so we have had lots of family time and lots of kid time.
Today, Meg took Peter and Grace to Charlotte so Peter can go to a Bobcats game. This is his special “Mama Time” event since Grace saw the Nutcracker ballet before Christmas. We have friends in Charlotte to stay with, so Grace went along for the ride. And to play with Griffin and Marshall.
So as it turns out, today was my first day alone. All day. Looking for a job. When you file for unemployment benefits (maximum of $442 a week before taxes), as I did last week online, apparently you have to act like someone who wants to find work, AND apply for two jobs a week. These have to be recorded on a form that the Employment Security Commission can periodically check. Technically, the wording is that one must apply in person for two jobs each week, however, that is ridiculous in the age of Monster.
In my particular instance, there will be a limited number of appropriate jobs that I am qualified for, so if I apply for all of them at once, I will have trouble applying for 2 jobs a week in month. This means, instead of pounding through the Monster listings and trying to get a job quickly, I must stretch it out so I can keep getting my $442 a week before taxes. This will get dumb.
I actually applied for 3 jobs this week. I couldn’t help myself. I was preparing an email that I meant to save until next week, but I sent it anyway. Unemployment be damned.
I arranged a meeting for next week with a friend of mine who has her own business. That will count as one of my job applications. I watched too much TV. I napped a little bit and ate pop tarts and tortilla chips. Right now I am bored.
Tonight I need to clean up. I am going out to eat with my father-in-law and it will be my first outing today. I’m not counting when I went out in my socks to get the mail. On rainy days I’ll wear shoes, but on sunny days socks will be fine.
I think I will need to have a schedule so these days don’t drive me crazy. I have a bunch of meetings to go to next week, and I should start seeing some responses to my job applications. My blog will definitely benefit from my new-found availability.
