Why I am voting for Barack Obama

Election day is 2 weeks from today and last night I was thinking about why I am going to vote for Barack Obama. Historically I have voted for Ralph Nader twice and then I was a delegate for Dennis Kucinich in the 2004 election and the begrudgingly I voted for John Kerry. So why this time am I happy to be voting for Barack Obama? I am excited to vote for Obama because for the first time in my life their is a legitimate presidential candidate who will listen. While there are a lot of his policies I do not agree with, I feel that he is understanding and actually wants to hear what people have to say, and cares about their feelings. I do not feel this about John McCain, John Kerry or most other politicians for that matter. I believe that Obama is the answer to help heal the image on the United States in the eyes of the world. I am proud to be a citizen of the United States. I cherish everything we have and our basic fundamental beliefs. These beliefs have been manipulated to help the rich get richer and keep the poor getting poorer. I feel Obama wants to get us back on track to the true American dream. Where everyone can wake up and believe they have a chance.

Here in Chicago looking for a job Week 2

Here I am in week two of job seeking in Chicago. I guess this is only the beginning of week two as I got here at midnight one week ago Wednesday. I have an interview next Wednesday for a job I have mixed thoughts about. I also have two leads on jobs that I think I would rather have. One is doing over the phone HR help and the other is doing tech support for a medical data program. I think I have also figured out where I want to live. I went up to Andersonville a couple of days ago and it looked really nice and also the apartments are in my price range. Another good thing about the location is that the two jobs I want are both located within a couple of miles of Andersonville.
In other news I am going to the Brewers/Cubs game at Wrigley next week. I am of course going with a huge group of cubs fans. I am already ready for the insults. I hope to be giving all the insults at the end of the game though. If everything plays out right Sabathia should be pitching.

Going Away Party and Sand In the City

Four more days until i'm homeless. I'm spending as much time as I can with my friends before I leave. I also have to empty an apartment i have lived in for 8 years. Yesterday I finally went to Sand In The City, which is a fest in downtown Olympia where they make big sand sculptures. It was really anti climatic as every one of the sand sculptures was just a big ad for some bank or restaurant. Brandie, Blue and I decided it would be more fun to go and hang out on the water. It was actually Blue's idea and we just followed. Blue and I threw rocks in the water and dug around for huge rocks. I love that kid, i'm really going to miss her. I also had time to sit and talk to Brandie for a while. I'll miss our little talks. Brandie was a bit upset because one of Blue's friends mom's thinks blue has an eating disorder. I have known this girl from birth and she doesn't have an eating disorder. She said that she doesn't eat when she's at their house. I have been at her house before and I wouldn't eat there either. There is trash all over the floor and dishes piled to the top of the sink with decaying food all over it. Yuk! Blue tears it up when she eats with me.

My going away party at work was a lot of fun. About 10 people or so showed up which isn't too bad since I knew a number of people had already committed to a birthday party at a lake house. I drank lots of liquor out of a bucket and then sang They Might Be Giants "Birdhouse in Your Soul" terribly. I think I was the only person who had ever heard the song before. My friend Jen tackled me during the song. For some reason they don't let you lay on the ground and sing. I call bullshit on that. Then we got up and Jim, Jen, Shelly and I sang Arlo Guthrie's "This Land" and we kicked it's ass. Well at least Jim and I did. We were singing so loud I couldn't hear the girls. It was fun going back and forth between trying to sing bass and soprano. Jackie was a lot of fun and she drove which was really sweet of her. Lou was funny and of course ripped up the Karaoke. He can actually sing really well. I'll miss all of you them, I really hope they all get out of that shitty place and find what they are looking for in life. I don't think anyone dreams of working at a call center, no matter how much money you make.

Two weeks until Chicago

Throwing things away is so hard for me. It's also a bit gratifying though. I have thrown out so many things that I at one time or another thought were important. On hindsight most of the things you keep as mementos really aren't that important and can easily be discarded as the nostalgia wears off pretty quickly once the thought of toting it half way across the country comes into play. I also have a bunch of things that I feel bad about throwing away but no one seems to want to buy or take free of charge. I can recycle the computers, but I cannot find a place to do the same with my stereo. It's a really nice stereo. The only problem is that the speakers do not match and so it's hard to sell them. It will all work itself out i'm sure. I don't really have a choice but to make it.
Another issue of looking for a job is actually going almost too well. I started applying for jobs expecting not to hear back for at least a week. I applied for a job at I-Go Cars last night at about 10 pm and by 9 am they are already trying to set up an interview. Here is the kicker, I am not in Chicago yet and I failed to mention that in the email I sent with my resume. This is a pretty big over site on my part and am a bit upset at myself as this sounds like a pretty cool job. Hopefully they will do a phone interview and deal with an earliest start date of September 5th. Otherwise I have an interview with a company that I don't really think I want to work for on Thursday and a recruiter has offered to place me as soon as I get to Chicago, so a job doesn't seem like it will be an issue. Finding a job I want may be a bit harder.
Finally the third issue is looking for an apartment. I don't know Chicago other than the few places that Dave has taken me and rarely do we go and hang out in residential areas. Ideally I would like to have a job lined up that starts around the 24th of September so that I can take some time to find a nice place to live and get out of Dave's hair as quickly as I can. I mean I love the guy but do I really want to be in his two room apartment(i'm using room liberally and considering the bathroom a room) any longer than I need to be?
I am going to try to keep this blog updated at least every few days about the experience of moving to Chicago.

Shout outs:
Emily VH- She really has been incredibly helpful and supportive. Having her friends look for jobs for me. Also she is already planning camping trips. I love that girl.
David F- He is letting me stay at his house and has offered to contact friends about jobs. He is also already talking about buying season tickets to the new womans soccer league. Awesome!
JP- I have only met him once but he has offered numerous time to help me find a job and an apartment.

Lessons I've learned so far:
1.Be up front about the fact that you are not in Chicago yet. I would think I would have learned that from the first job that seemed to lose interest because of that.

2.It's ok to throw things away. You might have really been happy that you received a Christmas card from an aunt you hardly ever speak to, but do you really need to keep it for 8 years?

1 month until Chicago

It's already starting to hit me. In one month I will be moving to Chicago. I will be leaving Olympia on my 9th anniversary of being here. I'm a bit sad to be leaving as I have grown to love this city quite a bit. Where I don't love this city is that there is no future here. It's time to move on and maybe grow up just a little bit.
I was taking things down off my walls yesterday and I got really sad. There was the monkey on the string that brandie gave me, and all of the little nick naks on my mantle that have been there for years. I love this little shitty apartment. I have been here for 8 years. I have a hard time imagining living anywhere else. Hopefully I will find someplace just as cool in Chicago to call my home.


BTW anybody reading this that wants to offer me a job there, feel free.

Tater Tots

Ok. Here goes my first blog on here and it's going to be an important one. Do you fully understand the greatness of the tater tot? I mean really. It may be the perfect food. And, I don't want to hear any of the that Napoleon Dynamite shit. It was a funny movie but the tot was wonderful well before that. Do you remember how when you were in elementary school and there was some weird meat shit and crazy frozen vegetable? But then in all of it's glory was the tater tot. You would eat all of that tater tots first and then eat the other stuff. Or maybe you were a person who would save the tots until the end. Either way it was the best part. Now it is 1 am in the morning and I have had a drink or two and what more could I ask for than a glorious tater tot. Nothing! I will scream it from the roof tops that I love tater tots. I will serve you at my wedding mr. tot with a giant bowl of bbq sauce.