As I have mentioned previously, I get my horoscope delivered via text message to my phone every morning at 7:00 a.m. There are a few days when I have not received it, which of course leaves me to wonder if that’s a sign I should be concerned with. As if the universe decided it wasn’t worth the trouble to predict my day ahead.

I should tell you that I don’t build my life around these ‘scopes. If they come true it’s fun to think “Wow!” or “Ooooohhhhh!” (insert spooky music here) but most days I delete them as fast as I read them. This morning’s was a keeper. It said:

“You have to find work. If you get offered a job, take it. You can always quit if it doesn’t suit you.”

Right away I thought “Hmmm . . . interesting . . . and then – but it’s Saturday so I doubt any job offers will come rolling in.”

Then I thought, wait a minute, shouldn’t this have been my horoscope at the end of May:
a) When I did have to find work
b) When I did get offered a job
c) When I took it
d) skip quit for now
and
e) It doesn’t suit me.

Four out of five is great odds isn’t it? It would be five out of five if financially we were in a position that I could quit. If wishing were hoping and all that.

Maybe tomorrow’s horoscope will simply read:

“You will win the lottery today. You can quit”.

How sad that I’m more focused on being able to quit than winning the lottery?

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My husband and I like to watch some of the shows on TLC, such as Cake Boss, and right now we are watching a show called “Fabulous Cakes” with this episode featuring bakeries in Philadelphia.

These bakers, who are really artists, do amazing things with cakes and icing. And they all do it with a passion and an incredible love for their craft.

I have passion. I have a love of my profession (current position excepted). Like these people, I want to use my creativity, experience and skill to do something special. Do something cool. And I’m not sugar-coating it either.

I want to believe that an opportunity for me will arise like a cake in the oven.

There have been several new jobs posted over the last week that are the perfect confection for me.

Thank you and I’m here all week. Actually, I’m here everyday. Don’t forget to tip your waitress and pastry chefs . . .

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Yesterday was a milestone date for me. July 27th, 2007 was the last day I worked at the job I lost when my company shut down. I knew it was coming as July sped by and I must admit it came and went with little fanfare. I acknowledged it to a few friends and life went on.

I realize now, a day later, that the reason it went by so uneventfully was not because I have a new job but because I am so caught up in survival mode that anything more than a nod to July 27th would have exhausted necessary energy to stay afloat in this Titanic of a job I find myself in.

Today is 8 weeks since I started the new job. My life has not been my own since then. I am on the road 70% of the time and when I am home I am on call 24/7, accountable to the whims and “strategy” of the clueless and disrespectful. (Whether “clueless” or “disrespectful” is worse is a whole blog entry unto itself.) I have no time to look for a new job and if I had the time, my exhausted self would not be at its best.

July 27th. What will my new unforgettable date be? The day I finally return to my career and my professional fulfillment with the balance of my personal life. I drove out of that parking lot on July 27th, 2007, and in the grand highway that is my life, I have been driving an endless road trip ever since.

I am out of gas Friends. I am at the side of the road, backpack in hand, thumb out. Someone pick me up will you? Take me where I’m supposed to be. Because broken down on the side of the road is not my destination. I’m as sure of this as I am that July 27th will roll around again next year.

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I grew up and still live 40 miles outside of Philadelphia. Everyone in my family but me was born in Philadelphia. I visited frequently as a child and continue to do so as an adult.

I LOVE:

Ben Franklin, Ralph Archbold, Franklin Court, Elfreth’s Alley (I go to Deck The Alley every December), Campo’s Cheesesteaks, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Philadelphia Phanatic, Harry Kalas, the Art Museum, the Mutter Museum, the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia Zoo, the National Constitution Center (I can recite the Preamble to the Constitution), the Broad Street Run, the Falls Bridge, East Falls, Grace Kelly, Boathouse Row, City Hall (what a phenomenal display of architecture), the Spectrum, Reading Terminal Market, Bassetts Ice Cream, Betsy Ross House, Christ Church, Fairmount Park, South Street, Pat’s and Geno’s, the view from the upper floors of the Loews hotel, Penn’s Landing, The Duck (I am so sorry for the tragedy but hope it returns), the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Rocky, Gimbels, Lit Brothers, the Enchanted Village, the John Wanamaker Christmas Light Show, “Meet Me At The Eagle”, the Fourth of July Parade, local news coverage when it snows and I love that AMERICA STARTED HERE.

I also love to write.

Give me a call. Let me share my love of this city with the rest of the world.

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I am on the road so much any more that I am basically living out of a suitcase and not knowing what town I am in on any given day.

I am living the life of a rock star.

Without the pimped out bus.

Without the guitar.

Without the groupies.

Without the sex.

Without the drugs.

Without the rock and roll.

Turns out I am NOT a rock star.

But I am Living On A Prayer.

And working on being Comfortably Numb.

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I knew something was up when I heard the sound of a jet engine coming from the OTHER side of my hotel room door as I returned “home” tonight after another long, stressful day in this I’m-already-over-it-after-7-weeks job.

I opened the door and the picture above is what I saw . . . and HEARD.

I am not overly concerned with germs in my hotel rooms simply due to the fact that I try not to think about it. But the other day in the car ride to our destination for the week everyone was talking about it so last night I had socks on in my room and walked through a puddle in the rug outside the bathroom. The same thing occurred in my walk-in closet.

I am only here for 2 nights so I didn’t want to make a fuss last night but this morning, before my all-day event, I stopped at the front desk to let them know. The industrial strength fan was what greeted me tonight when I entered the room.

I called the front desk and asked them to remove the jet engine fan and when I returned from a quick dinner, it was gone.

The puddles, I am sorry to say, were not.

More wet socks.

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I was sitting watching TV last night, doing the job search on my company laptop (tee hee, tee hee) and I was finding no job opportunities. There have been no positions for several weeks now and it continues to be so frustrating and so discouraging. I was thinking how I wish I had a Magic 8 Ball like I did as a kid. I could ask it anything and find out what my future holds.

Then I realized it’s 2010 and there has to be a “virtual” Magic 8 Ball and sure enough there is. It’s not the same thing as holding my future in my hand, feeling the purple liquid inside slosh around as the magic dice revealed my fate, but it’s pretty cool!

Of course the first thing I asked was “Will I find a great job I love?” and it said “Definitely”. Woo-Hoo!

Got something you want to know? Click HERE to find the answer to all your questions.

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Finally, the day has arrived. I got new contacts last night! You may be thinking: “Calm down, Sister Rain! It’s not like you won the lottery.”

Oh, but I have. I’ve reached that age (and for those of you who have reached it also you will understand and for those of you who haven’t, I am sticking my tongue out at you) where the vision has begun to change and decline. I have worn glasses for distance since I was in 8th grade and over the last 2 years I have had to take them off to read something up close. I remember seeing my elders do that when I was younger and thinking it was both funny and strange. Aren’t your glasses supposed to help you see? Well, yes, younger Sister Rain, they are. But something happens in nature when you turn that age and your eyes really are the first to go.

I was not able to be covered by my husband’s insurance but now I have my own and I went to the eye doctor after a 3-year-sabbatical and today I got my first pair of bifocal contact lenses.

I am having a little trouble with the right one so if you pass me on the street and I’m winking at you, I’m either saying “Thank you for reading my blog” or I’m actually winking at you for what could be a number of reasons.

You youngsters out there should not take your vision for granted. You people of that age, do what you gotta do to see. Take ’em off, leave ’em on, wink away, buy the Walmart readers, whatever. If I was doing the happy dance being able to see the road signs AND my dashboard driving home from the eye doctor’s, imagine what else I’ve been missing. Perhaps . . . MY DREAM JOB???

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I have always heard that the best time to search for a job is while you have one. True, you have some financial padding while you are working, but as the title of this blog suggests, searching for a job takes A LOT of time. So now I am juggling my new job and all of its challenges (by “challenges” I mean ridiculous and unacceptable expectations), my home life when I am home which I never am because I’m on the road so much and when I am home I have other work to do for my company and the rest of the time I am doing laundry or collapsing from exhaustion, keeping in touch with friends and family (thank God for texting and IM and the almighty BLACKBERRY) and SEARCHING FOR A JOB.

I apologize for the long sentence but really, that sums up my life right now. One long, never-ending sentence of stuff that controls me instead of me controlling it. And in case you didn’t know, I am a CONTROL FREAK. (I hear the sound of my husband’s head bobbing up and down like a bobble head as he reads this.)

I am home today and tomorrow but hit the road again Wednesday night. It may not be the “best time” to search for a job as the saying goes, but have laptop, will job search.

In my house,
In the car,
On the road,
Maybe at a bar,
I do not like the job search scam,
I do not like it Sam-I-am.

P.S. DID YOU KNOW THAT DR. SUESS’S FIRST BOOK WAS REJECTED 27 TIMES BEFORE BEING PUBLISHED? PERHAPS THAT IS HIS GREATEST GIFT TO US ALL.

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You may or may not watch American Idol. Either way, I’m guessing you’ve heard of Daughtry. I have been a fan since Chris Daughtry’s audition was shown on Idol, when he was wearing the straw cowboy hat.

Even if I didn’t find him sexy (my husband is aware), I think his voice is like warm syrup oozing all over . . .

Sorry.

His story is really something. He worked as a Service Advisor at a Honda dealership, auditioned for Idol and made it to Hollywood, quickly became a fan favorite, was shocked along with the rest of the country when he came in 4th. But we all found out that coming in second may be like kissing your sister, but coming in 4th can propel you into massive success.

Even if we knew none of this, the music would speak for itself. Click HERE to enjoy his latest song and video, September. You’ll have to endure a quick commercial first, but hang in there.

It’s not everyday you get to see someone live their dream.

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