Pay It Forward

  

Kathi was the most no-holds-barred, tell-it-like-it-is, supportive, grounded friend and supervisor I've ever had.

That first day, she started me off with a simple assignment. She had pulled old files from their active filing cabinet and put them into a box. My assignment was to write down all the files, alphabetize them, and print her out a list so she could put a description on the outside of the box.

She didn't have room for me to sit at her desk with her, but there was an open desk in the Adoption Center, so she set me up there, making sure I had a username, password, and a working computer. Believe it or not, the computer part took almost half a day, as there was only one computer guy assigned to the shelter and he was busy with other folks. ; )

In the meantime, I had someplace to park my rear and so I meticulously combed through the box, making sure I missed nothing. When I was done, as I had been trained to do in the accounting field, I went back and checked again, finding a few things I had missed. So much better for me to find my mistakes than for someone else!

The next day, the computer was up and running, so I was able to bang out my list pretty quickly. When I brought it to her, she said, "Wow, you're fast! Lemme just doublecheck some of your entries..." Kathi then proceeded to check every single item on the list. That was just her years of accounting background kicking in; doublecheck, then triplecheck *everything*. I settled in to my new digs while she was busy. After about a half hour, she turned to me and said, incredulously, "You didn't miss anything."

"Yeah, okay," I stammered, not really sure what the proper etiquette was here, and continued, "....so what do we do next?" (Where's Billy Talley when you need him?!)

Now she turned to me - and looked at me - really looked at me. "Lou said I was getting you cheap. Now what is it you did before?"

So I gave her a brief synopsis of my work history, ending with the fact that I desperately needed a job so I had taken far less than I was accustomed to.

Some of the confusion on her face cleared up. "Oh, so you're a word processor. *That's* why you were so fast! I was a little concerned at your speed." Then she laughed, "It also seemed strange to me that you weren't at all taken aback by me checking you. With the accounting in your background, you're accustomed to it, aren't you? You probably checked over it before you gave it to me, right?"

I nodded, "Yes, ma'am. Three times. Caught stuff every time." I smiled back at her and said, "But I might have missed something."

"Great! I appreciate that. I'm doing so much, going so fast that I appreciate the fact that you've done some of the legwork for me. I hope you understand that I *have* to check. It's just the nature of the beast." I did understand and I told her so.

She gave me another one of those long looks and said, "I think you're the best temp I've ever had. I'm gonna have to pimp you out!"

Wow - again, I wasn't sure what to say, so I just smiled awkwardly, looked away, blushed, and said, "Good deal."

And that was Kathi - sharp, on it, always making sure she had good information before she made any decisions. All delivered with a sly glance, a glimmer of humor in her eye, and with a wry sense of humor. It was a good life lesson.

______________

Simple assignments gave way to more complex ones, as she tested my skills and we got to know each other. I never assumed to know; I always had questions. In my experience, asking questions *before* you did the project was much better than finding out you did it wrong and having to do it over again, this time the right way. (That was a lesson I had found out early in my career.)

We began to become friends, sharing current and past history. Kathi really seemed to take an interest in me; I was flattered. I think that the way my year had gone was trampling me down, softly killing my spirit. I began to expect the next kick that life was going to deal me. I had begun to feel like I had fallen into a rabbit hole that was just neverending. I was in a no-man's land; everything I had known about myself I was questioning. It was a scary place for me, mentally. Financially, too - for sure. But it was the mental part I think that had worn me down. If I didn't really have *mad skills*, then what had I been doing for 15 years? It was a maddening set of questions that rattled around in my brain like pebbles in an empty bottle.

A painfully shy introvert, I was normally so politely reserved that people had difficulty reading me. Last year's experience changed that; I was being yanked out of my shell - driven by the need to express the anger, sadness, and daily disappointments that had become my life.

Kathi reminded me, in no uncertain terms, that I was a good worker, that I did have skills, that I was fast and accurate, and that I was quickly becoming a right hand to her. I think that she could see how much I was hurting inside, how the questions roiled inside my brain, and even, I think, to see my desperation. She pressed me for details; offered suggestions; and generally, was a shoulder to cry on.

Before I knew it, October was over, and Thanksgiving was quickly gaining on me. Trying to keep up with $300 power bills, groceries, gas for my exceedingly comfortable, but wretchedly gas-guzzling SUV, was killing me, financially. All I can say is *thank God* I got paid weekly at the temporary agency. When I paid all I could, at least I only had to be broke for another 6 days. (wry LOL)

I was rapidly going through my stash of canned goods and frozen veges/meats from Sams Club. I started to worry that not only would I *not* be able to provide Mom and I a comfortable Thanksgiving dinner - I might not be able to keep us in food the rest of the month. I worried; I had Excel spreadsheets full of "what-if" calculations that I regularly updated between tasks.

The week before Thanksgiving, Kathi asked me what I was doing for the holiday. All the stress, worry, anger, and frustration pushed through my wall of introvert and I broke down in tears. I laid it all on the line, snuffling loudly and trying desperately to hide my flame-red eyes and streaked mascara, knowing all too well that tomorrow they would be swollen and puffy all day long.

Kathi suggested a food bank; I shared my story of the peanut butter, packets of oatmeal, and canned vegetable and meat. She was floored; indeed, she started to get mad *for me*! "Well, what the hell?!" I told her I had applied for food stamps and been denied (my mother made too much retirement income). I told her I had applied for electric bill assistance with the same result - between my mother's and my (lack of) income, we made too much to qualify for any assistance. It was a sad state, but I had left no stone unturned. The best thing I had found was a series of coupon websites - SavingsStar, Coupons, and Ziplist, just to name a few. There I could find coupons and/or deals, pick which grocery store I would be going to, and *sometimes* double the coupon.

Two days before Thanksgiving, Kathi presented me with a personalized card with an "owl turkey" she had hand drawn for me. (Kathi was an accomplished photographer and artist in her spare time and ran a website selling said goodies.) Inside her beautiful card was $50 cash and a Visa gift card preloaded with $50. Again, the tears came, but this time it was with immense gratitude. She told me that she had told a few people (and saw the look of horror that came over my face) and that this was the result of those few people wanting Mom and I to be able to enjoy our Thanksgiving. Not entirely sure what to say, I just said thank you – *a bunch* – and asked her how I could ever repay her kindness. Her response? “Just pay it forward.”

I went to Winn Dixie (where I could use the most coupons) and came out with a bounty of food, not just for Thanksgiving. Indeed, I was so overwhelmed that I laid all of it out on top of my freezer, took pictures, and posted to Facebook, with a post thanking Kathi and all the people at the shelter who had contributed. All that is pictured here came to $92, which left me a few dollars for gas. 

The following day, Kathi came in and told me she had a gift for me, but that she wanted to wait until after work to give it to me. I told her no, she had been too gracious, I couldn't possibly accept anything else from her. She brushed me aside and said not to make a big deal of it, but that I would enjoy it.

After work, she pulled out two full grocery totes of canned goods - goods she had culled from her own pantry - to help ease my worry. Even as I write this I am crying. What a wonderful human being! Words alone cannot express how blessed I am to have found such a person....

______________

True to her word, Kathi did, indeed, pimp me out.

As I caught her up on all her invoices, I began assisting the front desk in entering backdated tag information, as well as assisting the vets in entering medical records into the proprietary software the shelter used.

When I had time, I also assisted Susan in the Adoption Center, occasionally running background information on potential adopters but mostly providing people with general information as they wandered around the shelter.

My work with Kathi restored my faith in not only myself, but in all of humanity. Good people do exist. 

Confuscious Say.....

When I went to work for the shelter, it was as an unofficial Accounting Clerk - an oxymoron if one ever existed. Did I work at an accounting firm for over 7 years? Yes, I most certainly did. --However-- I did not have any experience preparing invoices for payment, researching walkie talkies, entering medical records or tags into a database, or running backgrounds on potential adopters.  No matter. I would get schooled - by the best - and learn to love working in a shelter. 

I was to meet Kathi, the Accounting Clerk responsible for making sure everyone in the shelter got paid, paying the monthly bills for the shelter, and "other duties as assigned" by Vern, the head honcho of said shelter. Lou from TempForce assured me that I would love Kathi, that she was quite funny and irreverent and that she and I had similar backgrounds. (Hey, wait - did that mean she thought I was..? Nevermind. LOL)

At 8:30 am, I arrived at the shelter, but the main doors were still locked. A sign said they opened at 9 am. "Just great," I thought, as I cruised around the building to a side entrance where people were freely coming and going. As I was about to act like I just belonged there, a woman outside smoking a cigarette said softly, "Can I help ya, hon?" (This, I would later learn, was Theresa, who manned the switchboard.) I told her I was there to meet Kathi and she smiled and said, "Well, Kathi doesn't usually get in until around 9:30. You might want to come back..." Shocked, I said that this was my first day and that Kathi was supposed to meet me to get me started. She put out her cigarette and walked me inside the office. "Hang on, hon, I'll call her cell." She directed me to a back corner, where a desk with yellow caution tape around it was, "This is Kathi's desk." She *is* funny! I thought. 

When Kathi answered her cell, I heard Theresa tell her that I was here waiting for her. There was some small talk and then Theresa told me to have a seat. She smiled and said that Kathi had forgotten it was today and would be in soon. She patted my arm and said, "...like I said, honey, she'll be here about 9:30..." then went over to her desk (which wasn't very far) and began answering the phones. 

By now, some of the vet staff had begun arriving and I started hearing dogs howling, cats hissing and crying, and the general noise of the shelter began full-swing. The vet's office was just right across the hall from where I was sitting and they left the doors open. Wow. How could anyone concentrate with all that noise?

Curious, I got up and wandered outside to the hallway. Sure enough, there was a cat on the table and the vets were performing some sort of surgery. (Always with a curious mind, I often posed questions to Kathi and learned that the vets spent 95% of their time spaying and neutering the steady stream of strays that came to the shelter.)

Then I decided to walk around - take a look - after all, this assignment was for three months. I might as well get comfortable. I walked out of the office area through the double doors and was in the lobby. I remembered fondly adopting my last dog here - Domino - and wondered if the Adoption Center was still run by the same woman, Susan. To my right was the cat room - a room full of cages of gorgeous kitties mewling and wanting to play. On the spur, I decided to go see them. An avid animal lover, I worried that I would become attached, but still, I had time to kill, right? So I spent an easy twenty minutes going to each cage, speaking to each animal, checking them out, reading their names....

Then, before I knew it, it was 9:30 and I rushed back to Kathi's desk, but thew! - she still wasn't in. I settled into her guest chair and waited. At 9:45, she arrived, looking nothing like I had imagined. For some reason I had pictured her tall, thin, with dark hair - instead, I was met by a 50-something woman with long gray hair in comfortable-looking jeans, a sweat jacket, and sneakers. 

I liked her almost immediately. She had a great smile and said to me, right off the top, "Hi there, I'm Kathi. You're not gonna want to wear those pretty clothes here. See me? Jeans, t-shirt, sneakers. Keep it simple. You never know when you're going to have to assist the vet staff." 

She blushed and said, "Sorry about forgetting you. I'm not too good about punctuality, but I work my ass off. I told 'em when I started not to look for me at 8 am. You know? I'll work until 7 - 8 pm," (said with a wry grin) ''cause I have no life - but don't ask me to be early. I don't do early." And that is when I knew Kathi and I were going to hit it off. 

She was cool as shit, loved animals, didn't play games, spoke highly of her co-workers, and worked hard. What more could a girl ask for?

Confuscious say......You may not get what you ask for, but you definately
get what you need....! 

Yummy For the Tummy.....

For a soup that’s as good for you as it tastes, my black bean soup is high in beta-carotene and fiber.

3 cans of black beans (alternatively you can substitute 3 cans of Northern beans)
  Puree 1 of the cans of black beans to add bulk (alternatively you can add cornstarch to thicken)
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes
1 jar Heinz chili sauce (yes, the whole thing...it's yummy!)
2 cans beef broth
~ ½ pack of celery hearts, sliced into bite-size pieces
1 entire package of shredded carrots, small size from Publix
3 tomatoes
1 red onion
1 bunch of fresh green onions
1 bunch fresh cilantro, to taste
Fresh garlic, to taste

                lastly, 

—EITHER—
10 Chicken tenderloins, cut into bite-size pieces
—OR—
1 ½ lbs of ground turkey
—OR BOTH— (what the hell!)


Cook meat first
Slice veges

I buy frozen chicken tenderloins from Sam’s Club. Using a bacon tray with water in the bottom, I microwave about 5 – 7 (or however many I can comfortably fit on the tray) about 5 ½ minutes each side. (I also sprinkle powdered garlic and lemon pepper to both sides.) After all the chicken is diced, I also dump the leftover water (now chicken broth) into the Dutch oven.

When I used the ground turkey, I threw fresh garlic, extra cilantro, and some black pepper in the pan and cooked it on the stove until the juices were clear. Then, I dumped the entire contents into my Dutch oven – turkey’s pretty lean, and the little bit of fat just adds flavor.

Throw all together in a Dutch oven, stirring frequently. Add lots of cilantro and green onions. Cook for about 2 hours at medium heat.

When ready for serving, dice fresh tomatoes and chop fresh cilantro and throw on top of your bowl – yummy!

Also, when the soup starts getting thin – add fresh cooked pasta to give it some oomph.

"I cook for an army – literally, my Depression-era Grandmother taught me to cook! So if you want less than a huge pot of soup, you’ll want to pare down the contents."

—Enjoy!—

Thank you!

Thanks, fellow Kaplan students, for sharing in creating this fun little digital piece of me. I have had so much fun interacting with each and every one of you. 

Thank you also, Professor Pape, for allowing me creative freedom; for not restricting me to a particular topic or type of post. And, of course, for giving me a fresh start after I failed out of your class last semester! ((blushing))

I also want to thank all of you, my selected friends and family, that I've chosen to be my human guinea pigs - asking for feedback, ideas, and sharing this gift of a terrible last year! LOL. 

This is my parting gift to you - have fun! No matter what life throws at you - be willing to laugh it off. 

There were many days last year when I wanted to go sit in a dark corner and melt into the floor, but with the help of some very good friends and a (largely) positive attitude....I chose to laugh and smile through my tears. 

Hope you stick around and become followers, because this party's just gettin' started! WOOT WOOT!

Ciao - for now!

Vicki

Basic Jewelrymaking

*Basic* Beaded Bracelet

Hi everyone. This is Vicki Busseno. I am going to bring you Basic Beaded Jewelry Design.

These are some of the pieces that I bought at Michael’s. Ah, not all of these items I bought at Michael’s, but these are the basic supplies that we’ll be using today.

These little silver things right here, those are called crimp beads and you just squash them together at the end to your bracelet or your necklace. In this case, it’s a bracelet.

This little piece right here is called a soldered ring. This is gonna be the end that your lobster clasp goes through. And these right here are what I’m talking about when I say lobster clasps.

This is the wire we’re going to be using. It’s called Accu-Flex. Ah, it is a little bit more expensive. The stuff that you’re going to wanna use when you first start is called Tiger Tail. It is a lot less expensive and you’re going to go through a lot of it.

These are your beads and they are temporarily strung on what’s called a hank. A hank is the cheap plastic cord that they put the beads on. In this case, you can see that it’s actually two strands.

So here I’ve taken all of the beads off of the hanks and they’re just individual beads right now.

These particular beads are called hematite and hematite is iron oxide. It’s called hematite ‘cause hema means blood and when it comes out of the earth, like all iron, it’s this rusty red color. It’s only when they polish it that you get this beautiful silver-black color.

These little beads right here that I’m just pushing around, the little rounds, are silverplated rounds. When you start that’s what you’re going to want to use. If you continue it, as you get better, you’re probably going to want to use real semi-precious stones, like the hematite – and sterling silver.

These beads right here are called Austrian Crystal. If you watch Dancing with the Stars, a lot of the times, the gowns have Swarovski crystals hanging on them – that’s what these beads are – only they’re a much smaller version.

So let’s get started!

Okay, so here I’ve laid out my pattern. Ah, on the bead board, it gives you dimensions. So we can see that this pattern is approximately 8 inches, if I move my fingers out of the way. There we go. I am a heavier girl so I need an 8 inch bracelet. Most women are a 7 ½; smaller women can be 7 to 6 ½ inches. Now I’m just going to run the string through it and we’ll see the final result.

Okay, this is to show you what it’s going to look like before we crimp it. See if I can’t get that close to the camera. I just strung the lobster clasp with a crimp bead right here and the cord is kinda running through it and now we’re just gonna crimp it.

Okay, so now it’s all crimped – it’s kinda squashed looking.

So here’s our finished bracelet – all done – looks gorgeous! You can wear that with green or blue or black. It’s kind of an all-purpose bracelet. So I’m just going to put it on so I can model it for you. There it is. There’s our clasp. All done! And that was….really very simple.

That concludes my podcast. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed showing you. Ah….thank you very much. Have a good day. 

Third Temp Position

After the email debacle at the furniture showroom, I begged Jason to find me work.....*any* work. What I discovered about this specific temp agency was that once you had 1,000 hours, vacation and sick time began accruing for you. So....the temp agency wasn't too eager to find me work....there were newer people they could hire to whom they wouldn't have to pay benefits to.

Having figured out why Jason was no longer taking my calls, I began applying at the other temp agencies in town - Kelly and TempForce. TempForce was the first to call me back, so I went to interview with Lou, their top employment specialist. I laid it all on the line - the job that ended in April, the struggle to find work, and lastly, the email scandal at the previous temporary position. Lou told me she appreciated my honesty - it made her job soooo much easier. I immediately liked her - she didn't play games, act coy about open positions, or play favorites - I found her to be the one person who really told me "like it is" in the temporary job world.

Up to this point, I had survived largely on the overabundance of food I stored. I own a standalone freezer, which I used to store meat and frozen veggies that I had bought from Sam's Club. I would routinely buy large quantities of ground beef, turkey, cheeses, and lunchmeat, separate them neatly into smaller servings in freezer bags, then put them in my freezer. It was a habit that served me well in those lean days, a habit I acquired from my Depression-era grandmother. Her cabinets were always overflowing with canned food and her two freezers always had frozen meat, leftover meals, and the fixings for a feast. So I was able to make good meals from my pantry, going through and finally eating the stuff on the bottom of the freezer - the stuff that's so frozen, you wonder what in the heck it is! After a time, my income became so limited that I could no longer afford to restock my supply, so my pantry thinned greatly. 

Desperate, I went to a church food bank for help. Once there, I was asked to fill out forms stating that I needed the help, after which I was interviewed and once again asked as to why I needed the food. They gave me meals for 2 days and told that I'd have to wait a month to come back for more food. And do you know what food I got? A jar of peanut butter, 1 packet of oatmeal, 1 can of turkey, 1 can of corn, and 1 bottled water - I kid you not! That food was supposed to last me 2 whole days!!! If nothing else, this experience has taught me to be less judgmental of those in need - it is not as easy to scratch and crawl out of financial troubles as we are led to believe.

After 3 weeks of no calls from Jason and 2 weeks of no calls from Lou, I called Lou tearfully and told her that I was so broke that I had gone to a local food bank. When Lou heard that, she really sprung into action. That afternoon, she called back and said she had a position at the county shelter and asked if I was interested. *Yes!* I would be interested!! Then she told me how little the job paid....it was a full $6.50/hour less than my last temp position. I thought about it like a millisecond then said that I didn't care -  I still needed a job, so yes I would take it because I had to have income. And that, folks, was one of the best decisions I made last year because I met 2 totally wonderful kind, caring individuals who became pivotal in my survival...Kathi and Janet.

When I said that I was lucky enough to find 4 people who were willing to help someone down on their luck - well, 2013 was my jackpot. Here's how that list shook out: Janice was first, followed by Lou, Kathi, and last, but by no means least, Janet. Those wonderful women refused to let me give in to my anger, tears, or mounting depression, and indeed, set in motion the *fortunate* series of events that led to my current permanent position earning a higher rate of pay than when I lost my job in April 2013.

Bottom Line: You really *can* teach an old horse new tricks.