Now that I'm working full-time again, weekends recaptured their "special" feeling for me. Quite honestly, Saturdays and Sundays seemed very much like any other day when I wasn't working, except that I'd avoid doing any shopping errands then because it was so much easier getting around on the weekdays in terms of traffic and lines.

But now I'm glad the weekend has arrived. I decided to treat myself to lunch out with a friend tomorrow, something I haven't done in many, many months. Perhaps I did it once in the 4th Q of 2010, but if I did, I don't remember.

Aside from lunch, I'll just be running errands: Costco, Shop Rite, Petco (to use a $5 off coupon) and getting a DVD at the library for tonight.

The priority, however, is to get on the phone with Dell and get my printer working again. I guess since I'm working, having to pay some sort of fee to have them fix the problem (even tho i'm under the 3-yr warranty) is not as upsetting as when i wasn't employed. I will still argue the case, though, because it seems patently unfair.

The other important thing to do is prepare my portfolio of writing samples for my interview next week. Normally, I have TONS of samples from which to choose, and I tailor which I use based on the job I'm going for. This time there'll be less to choose from as i haven't worked for an accounting firm before. But there are 2 jobs I had where I can pull samples from: an alternative energy company, Nathaniel Energy, which I think has since been sold to someone else. I wrote all their website content in a freelance project. While it's not on the site anymore, I do have the original text I wrote, and that was pretty technical, so good to show with Technical Writing job I'm interviewing for. I may also show work from Prudential Financial, where I worked Q42010. I wrote about some pretty complex subject matter while there. E.g., trusts, advanced Social Security strategies for the retired to maxmimize income, and stuff like that.

It would be tempting to work in the yard a little this weekend as it'll be in the low 50s and much of the snow is gone. Just picking up fallen tree branches and pruning my butterfly bushes....but i know it's quite soggy out there and walking around on it won't do it any favors. So I won't.

My prepaid cell phone minutes expire this Sunday. I don't plan to renew the plan by paying another $100 for minutes, which is more than enough air time I need for the year. I planned to do it as a cost-saving measure, but also becus I happen to live in an area with lousy reception, and people complain they can't hear me well if I call from inside my home. I have to go outside, and i noticed my neighbors across the street often do the same thing.

I don't know if there's another plan (mine was Verizon, later turned into AT&T) that would be better, since this one said they covered my area when I checked on their website. I really plan to just go back to using prepaid calling cards with my land line. The cards are pretty cheap at Costco and they don't expire.

It's been a long time since I really rubbed shoulders with many young people, but the company where I work employs about a dozen people, and all of them seem pretty young. Two other writers are guys fresh out of college or grad school...this is their first job! The one guy announced to me that he was a playwright, though as it turns out, he's never had one of his plays on stage, except in college, and that's when I learned he was just out of school. It's funny how self-assured young people can be but you can forget how inexperienced they really are. He had been working overtime, probably about 20 extra hours all told, and not sought payment for it because he thought working overtime was expected of you. Well, yes, in a salaried job, but this is an HOURLY job. In other words, he was not putting in for the extra hours becus he didn't think he could be reimbursed for them,but after talking with us, he said he would ask if he could, retrovactively.

I was personally aghast at the thought of working for nothing, as I think employers already have the upper hand when it comes to employer/employee relastions. Just think about what happened in Wisconsin with union bargaining rights. They're setting us back 50 years and think they can get away with it becus we're in a recession and everyone's on the side of business these days.

Why are employees expected to give 2 weeks notice when they leave, while employers can fire you on the spot, no notice at all? Do I not have a life that could be disrupted by a poorly timed layoff? Why do employers almost always ask you, indeed, insist on you're filling this out on their form, about how much money you made in your previous jobs? How does disclosing my earning power work in MY best interests??? Doesn't sound like a very level playing field.