The Job Hunts

It's no secret that I've been looking for more work. Despite having both my fast food and my marketing job there are still massive chunks of my day that probably could be spent doing something that is guaranteed to give me a paycheque at the end of the day.

As much as I'd love to spend more time in bed, I should be more productive. My Mother has also been really pushing for me to get another job during the day. Mentioning that X is currently hiring and really desperate for workers. Y is currently hiring, you should send a resume.

I really would not want to work at Starbucks though.

Ideally, I want to spend all my daylight hours working and nighttime hours working on my online projects. So I have been looking for other jobs, or at least things that would look good on a resume. I've been in touch with a few friends and they've directed me to various places and after throwing my resume around I finally got a response.

It wasn't much, certainly didn't pay much besides a small bursary at the end of the summer, but it would look good. An association for Parkinson's needed a researcher, or rather, someone to read through a ton of papers and see if anything important was inside.

It was like I trained for this job my entire University career.

At least I'm putting my education to good use.

I had to bus, and I hate busing. I'm also fairly certain it looks odd to bus around wearing a tie. Even worse when it's windy and your tie whips around your face in the open. But so be it, how else was I going to make it to my interview? Walk the entire way?

Actually, I missed the final bus to get my interview. Google maps said it would take 20 minutes to get there on foot. So I did the only thing I could do, I started jogging in the general direction of the building with my tie flapping about in the wind. I was late, but at least I made it.

I thought the interview went well, better than any other interviews I've done in the past few years. And a few days later, I got another email saying that they wanted me.

I actually did it, I finally got an internship of some sort.

I go back next Thursday to finalize some details and sign some papers. But it's nice to have something go in my favor. Again, I don't get paid, all I get is a small government bursary but hey, I'll take what I can get.

I'm still waiting for replies from a few other emails. There's one opportunity I really want to hear back on because it sounds like it pays well is a great for work experience. Fingers crossed for me.

Happy Belated Birthday Mom

I'm fairly good for remembering the birthdays of people. So imagine my surprise last week when my Mother says to me "I think this is the first time you've ever forgotten to wish me a happy birthday."

Oops.

And so I feel like a terrible son and I sit there wondering if there was anything I could try and do to make it up to her.

Hmmm...

And thus I decided to try and bake red velvet brownies again. Cupcakes for my Mom is something I've never done before. And this time I had decent recipes courtesy of both Lizzy and Michele, so I had a much better chance of doing these properly.

But immediately when I started, I noticed a problem. We had almost no butter left in the house. I had no choice but to make a third of the recipe and go from there. I also forgot to buy buttermilk and substituted 2% instead but I'm certain that it's still better than using sour cream like the first recipe I used suggested.

Maybe I could have added a bit more dye though...

 

As I'm going along, I begin to notice that it's getting increasingly difficult to mix the batter. I just attributed it to the mixture being more thick with this new recipe and continued on.

Until I realized that the mixer was dying.

Yep, looks like whoever used the electric beater last (probably me) was too inconsiderate to even charge the electric beater after using it (also sounds like me).

So I had to mix the batter by hand near the end. Wasn't that bad. Also learned the hard way why you don't mix liquids and powders together. I hope no one minds getting a chunk of hardened cocoa in their cupcake later on.

Baking goes without incident and in the end I get:

Voila.

It may be hard to tell from this photo but these looked (and tasted) A LOT better than the first batch. I can't tell if it's because I'm improving or if the second recipe is way better.

Unfortunately, I used the last of the butter to make the batter so that meant no icing. And maybe that wasn't such a bad thing, because all the icing I ever make turns out disgusting and weird looking.

Mom said she liked the cupcake. And only ate half of that. My sister, Bree, ate half of that half and then said there were crunchy things inside. My brother and Dad have not touched one and I doubt they will.

It doesn't look that bad does it?

Theresa got one and she said she enjoyed it. But I'm certain that if I burnt a cupcake to a crisp and gave it to her she'd still "like" it. Looks like I need more practice with baking but it's always nice to make progress.

Blogging Tips

A lot of people were surprised in my last post that I have managed to make any form of profit off my blog, especially seeing how my blog is still relatively new. I mean, this thing isn't even 4 months old and I've already made enough in that time span to cash out. I must be doing something right.

I deserve a gold star!

So here are four things that I've done that I think have helped my blog be marginally successful, maybe they'll help some of you too?

Regular posting schedules

This is probably one of the biggest issues I've seen with a lot of blogs. Inconsistent posting and giant unannounced hiatuses. People generally don't like that and are less likely to visit. Find a schedule that works for you, and stick with it. If you can post everyday like Mark, good for you. If you can only post once a week, that's good too, just be consistent.

And don't feel bad if you think you need to tweek things. I used to post every other day but when I realized I couldn't keep it up I changed to every third day. No big deal. And when things get hectic I'm prepared. I have posts made in advanced (usually things like Youtube videos)

Like so.

Content of Posts

Ok, so you're posting regularly, that's good. Content of your posts is important too. And by that I mean watch what you say.

Nothing offensive, try to be as neutral as possible, pretend that you're in front of a bunch of impressionable 5 year olds or this is the first time meeting the parents of your significant other. This isn't because "Oh no, a follower might get offended and stop reading my blog" this is because the banhammer of certain privileges strikes hard and fast.

And the Google Overlords are always watching...

Better safe than sorry.

Followers

Unless your blog is amazing and goes viral in a few days you're going to have to work at getting followers and comments. People visiting your blog is key to making any financial gains and often the fastest way to do this for a new blog is other bloggers.

The easiest way is to find a blog that's already successful and then comment on their blog. And then you go down the list and comment on everyone that's commented on that blog. And then you keep going until you think you've hit enough blogs. I started out with D4's blog actually and eventually that led to all of your blogs.

Small world.

Afterwards I only come back if you return the favor. This helps me determine whose blog is still alive and if you actually read my comment. Because I do try my best to say something that isn't "LOLOL GOOD POST".

New Followers

Alright, so now you have your following. You get a fair number of comments on your blog but eventually you notice that your view counts are dropping and you're getting less comments despite commenting back on all the blogs you've found above.

People are going to stop blogging for whatever reason and that means less views for you. You're going to need new followers if you want to keep people coming to your blog. It's a simple but vital step I've seen a lot of people neglect.

It's as simple as going to a recent post, going through the comments, and commenting on all the blogs that have commented on your commenters. I generally like to clear my history and cookies before I do this, allows me to start fresh and as I go along, the blogs I've visited will be marked.

I've come across a lot of "interesting" blogs in the past.

Hope this helps. This is what I've done and it's worked for me. Hope it answers some questions but if it didn't, ask in a comment and I'll respond as soon as possible.

Stress Source: Peers

I discussed how my family was a source of pressure for me but they aren't the only one. In this case a big source of stress comes from the people I graduated with.

I went to a academic, nerdy high school. We were pretty small, with the student population always under 400 people. This meant that everyone knew everybody and we got along with one another for the most part.

Accurate depiction of my school.

I've tried to keep in touch with some of the them but it hasn't been easy. A lot of them are busy but many of them are too busy because of how successful they've been since we graduated.

All I have to do is look to Facebook and check up on their recent statuses. Two years into University and at least 4 of them had been accepted into medicine. This year at least another 8 of them were accepted. And who knows how many more will get in next year. If you're not going into Medicine than you're probably an Engineer. And while the Engineers have it tough for the 4 years of school they got, after that they're pretty much set for life.

The same thing applies to those in Nursing. I know 2 people who are well on their way to becoming teachers. Several of my classmates are studying abroad and you have people like my girlfriend who are in Pharmacy and also set for life once she graduates. And then there are those who want to pursue Graduate Studies like my friend Adrian. He has his name in a scientific paper already, something to do with string theory.

 I tried to read it, my brain hurt afterward.

And for those in the Arts they're doing well too. I have friends who are in graphic design or theater and they too are doing well and are happy with themselves. The Business people seem to know what they're doing and so do those that are becoming Dentists. I look all around me and see a sea of success and bright futures.

And then I look to myself and I wonder where I'm going.

A part of me expects that I should have a better sense of direction. I went to the same school as these people, experienced the same stresses and pressures and even grew up with some of them. They all know where they wanted to go and off they went while I sit here idling and fidgeting.

What to do now.

I don't have all the time or money in the world to figure out what I want to do. I can graduate and get a degree in just one more year. But what will or can I do with it? I guess I could attempt Graduate school like Adrian but my marks and accomplishments certainly aren't as impressive. I mean, the guy has scholarships and achievements going everywhere. He isn't arrogant or boastful though, the guy's a prodigy but refuses to admit it. He was doing calculus when the rest of us were struggling with algebra.

I don't want to attend my High School Reunion and be the only one not doing something with his future. It's not a pleasant or comforting thought, being in a room full of successful and happy people while I realize all I have left is a room in my parents' basement to go to.

Maybe I should keep trying for Medicine like most of classmates, but I'm having my doubts about it. Something I'll share in future blog post.