Funemployment Wrap-up: Week 9

Movies watched: To Sir With Love, Maleficent

Books finished:  Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell

Things that I have learned about myself

My natural bedtime is midnight and I wake up at 7:30 am.

I exercise best at 11 am.  I told myself I would get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning, but it never happened.  If I didn’t do it before noon, I likely didn’t go.  If I went at 11, then I exercised for at least 45 minutes, came home, showered, and ate—and actually felt good the rest of the day (not too tired or worn out, and slightly energized).  I’d be back at my desk by 1 and work until 5.

There are a lot of jobs I really don’t want to do.  I’m getting high maintenance as I get older.

I need trees outside my windows or I will watch EVERYTHING that goes on outside—and I’m on the fourth floor.

I like doing one massive day of errands every few weeks, even if it takes hours.  But I need to bring snack bars.

Things I learned about where I live

There are a surprising number of people at home in my building during the day.  There were one or two I knew worked from home, but there were a few people that surprised me.

There is a tamale guy on the corner that arrives at 9 am and normally has sold his supply by 11 am.  I tried them the other day—the cheesy one was spicy but good, but the chicken one didn’t have much filling.

Volunteering

There is a lot going on out there!   Most volunteer events are at night or on the weekend.  The events I found during the day were interesting:  installing mosaics in public places, food pantry setup, after school homework help.

A lot of day-time volunteers are the unemployed or stay-at-home moms.

The job hunt

My favorite job hunting site is Indeed.  It gathers job listings from multiple sites (including company websites rather than only job boards), so I was less likely to miss the good ones.

Don’t give out references until you talk to an actual person.  Some sites try to force an applicant to give references up front, but that can be worked around by simply stating “available at interview” in the online application.

The recruiter you think will help you the most might end up being the most worthless one you meet.  The one you think won’t be much help might find the more interesting jobs. 

The city

There are sculptures and mosaics and murals everywhere.  Once I started the downtown sculpture tour, I started noticing sculptures in places that I pass all the time. 

And there are some incredible views of the skyline that people don’t realize.  I need to remember to stop and look up when in the Loop; the architecture really is amazing close up.

I also realized that the most populous El stops are pretty boring...  The smaller ones have a lot of interesting buildings around them. 

There are a lot of free museums and museum days out there.  I wish that there were more.

Things you don’t think about

You go through more toilet paper when unemployed.  Duh!  But it is one of those things that didn’t occur to me until I realized how I was suddenly running out more often than before.

The dishwasher gets run a lot more. 

You had a lot of wardrobe changes throughout the day.  You get up, put on slouchy, around-the-house clothes.  Then you decide to go to the gym—wardrobe change.  You come home, shower and put your at-home clothes back on again—wardrobe change.  Or there is an afternoon or evening meeting or networking event—wardrobe change.  You meet friends—wardrobe change.  You volunteer—wardrobe change. I mean, it isn’t like you change your clothes ten times in one day, but there was one day I did change outfits about four times before changing for bed.