Happy March!

Sorry for my extended absence. I've been slacking off on the blog. Not on life though!

I've been doing my best to make the bed every day, but the other day I forgot. x_X!! My boyfriend poked me about it and I haven't forgotten since then. :) I did a thorough kitchen cleaning as well, but it's already messy again so I'll be getting on that later. I figure, it's spring, spring cleaning should be a huge thing.

I'm rather upset about yesterday, however. My boyfriend & I had plans yesterday to drive around and go to physical places to look for work. This required him calling out sick for a day. So, he called his work to say he wasn't coming in, and proceeded to sit down and start playing World of Warcraft.

I'm about to uninstall that crap from his machine. ~_~

He said he didn't want to use so much gas. I specifically found places that weren't too far away so that gas wouldn't be an issue. I, like an idiot, just took that at face value. I was dressed in nice clothes, adding pieces to my portfolio so I could print it out. And he's saying we're not going anywhere. And I took it.

My fear of confrontation makes it so that I keep my boyfriend, but so my life remains stagnant. This guy, too, complains about his current job EVERY DAY without exception, but doesn't believe in himself enough to try to find anything better. He has a degree. Went to school to be an engineer. His dream is to "design the future" but he's resigned himself to retail, sales, and sitting on the computer all day because at this point, the skills that got him his degree have faded out. It's been 6 years.

Everyone, skills are use-it-or-lose-it. Even if you don't have a job doing what you've learned how to do, PRACTICE IT - otherwise you'll forget everything. If it's software, then use every new version that comes out. Eventually the software will be years ahead of your skills and you'll be stuck because you don't know what you're doing anymore. I've been using Photoshop unemployed since I was 5 years old. That's the only reason I know the program as well as I do. Taking a college class for the program is not going to teach you everything to the point where it's all in your long-term memory. You have to really KNOW what you're doing, and for that to happen, you need to not stop using it after college is over. You need the years in between of experience, or the education you got is for nothing.

That said, don't give up on finding a new career if you hate the one you're in just because you don't know what you're doing. If you don't know what you're doing, LEARN IT. I'm learning flash & Visio & css. It'll be easier for me to get design work that way (since most companies need web design, not print design... which sucks, but I'm learning).

You don't necessarily need a degree to get a job. If you're lucky, you can get in without one. What you need are SKILLS. If you don't know how to do what a job asks, don't bother applying. What you CAN do however, is look at what the job listings typically ask for, and learn all of it. With internet tutorials and forums out there, not to mention books at the library or bookstore, it's INCREDIBLY easy to teach yourself things these days. You just need to have the self-discipline to do it.

In the meantime, I've applied for a job at a photo restoration service based out-of-state (but they're looking for work-at-home people). I did my best to give them my most impressive retouch jobs (even redid one that I felt was incomplete still, and did a whole new one for it). You work for what you want, or you don't get it. It's as simple as that.

Anyway, I need to call my grandma to let her know how I'm doing. I'll blog more later.