when you look at the word "Cambridge" enough, you can't really tell if it's spelled right.
so yesterday, i decided i was going to be determined. i went to Filene's Basement after work, knowing that i was going to find some damn pants no matter how many pairs i tried on. and damn it, i found pants--three pairs. i could have gotten even more, because there were more that fit, but three pairs was all i could really afford. i got one black pair, one pinstriped pair (those look really really good), and a pair of green cords (i would have preferred brown or khaki-colored, or even blue, but they only had size 12 in green for $19.99). i was so psyched, though. filene's is going to be my stop for all future work-related fashion purchases, because if you dig around long enough, you can find stuff that fits and is affordable. i only had to try on i think 14 pairs of pants, and i found four pairs that fit decently. that comes out to 29% of the pants i tried on. compare that to my mall visit on sunday night, where i tried on (let me think) twelve pairs? thirteen or fourteen maybe? and there were lots i didn't try on because they just weren't in my price range, and anyway only one pair actually fit, and they were ass pants instead of work pants. even if i only tried on 12 pairs of pants, that's still only an 8% success rate. Filene's is the clear winner. also, one can get to Filene's from the T stop at downtown crossing without actually going outside--there's an underground entrance that leads directly into the Basement. which is definitely a plus for my winter shopping expectations.
also yesterday, i decided to seek help in my job quest. i wrote to Gar and asked him if he had any contacts in boston he could give me (how did i not think of this before?), and i sent my cover letter template to susanna, miles, and my mom. susanna gave me some really good pointers for it, which i incorporated immediately upon getting home from my successful shopping trip. part of the job search depression, i think, is the fact that i felt so absolutely helpless to do anything about the fact that no one wanted me. but susanna gave me a good way to rearrange my cover letter to better highlight my talents and schmooze, and then i did a search on yahoo for more job sites, and i found a bunch. i also made a bookmark folder on my computer at home for job sites, and i bookmarked all the job web pages of universities in the area, so that should make it easier to remember to check them all--i'll just go down the list. now i have more than 20 different websites to check on a regular basis. i rewrote my monster.com resume so it actually looks decent (uploading it as a word doc to the monster server was messing with my formatting, so i opted to just cut and paste). and i updated my monster cover letter templates as well. i'll also do that for my bostonworks.com account too, when i get home. i feel much better about the way i'm presenting myself now, and hopefully i'll look more appetizing to companies too.
anyway, i should get back to my proofing--student directory listings, now. joyful joy. that reminds me of a song from church--the chorus goes, "Joy, His joy, is all around you, Joy, His joy, is everywhere," but when i was younger i thought we were singing about "joyous joy."
also yesterday, i decided to seek help in my job quest. i wrote to Gar and asked him if he had any contacts in boston he could give me (how did i not think of this before?), and i sent my cover letter template to susanna, miles, and my mom. susanna gave me some really good pointers for it, which i incorporated immediately upon getting home from my successful shopping trip. part of the job search depression, i think, is the fact that i felt so absolutely helpless to do anything about the fact that no one wanted me. but susanna gave me a good way to rearrange my cover letter to better highlight my talents and schmooze, and then i did a search on yahoo for more job sites, and i found a bunch. i also made a bookmark folder on my computer at home for job sites, and i bookmarked all the job web pages of universities in the area, so that should make it easier to remember to check them all--i'll just go down the list. now i have more than 20 different websites to check on a regular basis. i rewrote my monster.com resume so it actually looks decent (uploading it as a word doc to the monster server was messing with my formatting, so i opted to just cut and paste). and i updated my monster cover letter templates as well. i'll also do that for my bostonworks.com account too, when i get home. i feel much better about the way i'm presenting myself now, and hopefully i'll look more appetizing to companies too.
anyway, i should get back to my proofing--student directory listings, now. joyful joy. that reminds me of a song from church--the chorus goes, "Joy, His joy, is all around you, Joy, His joy, is everywhere," but when i was younger i thought we were singing about "joyous joy."