Wednesday, January 26, 2011

the story of the bike-abago.

if you have read my earlier entries, then you might have come across my made up term of bike-a-bago. this is a little trailer that i found in a second hand childrens clothing and accessories store here in newport.  i went in to ask the owner, how much he usually sold them for on the rare occasions that he got them in. it turned out that he had one in his stores attic, and it had been there for over 2 years, because he did not have time to put it together. he said "since its taking up room in my attic, i well sell it to you for $15.00". WOW!!! these things cost over $250.00 new. i told him that i currently did not have any money but that i would be back with it as soon as i could.  the store owner said " i trust you to come back with the money" and he just handed me the trailer, just like that. i explained my situation to him, that i am currently unemployed, and it might be awhile before i could pay him. he said , this thing has been taking up room in my attic, for a long time. you are the first person to inquire about it so you can have it now, i trust you to come back". well, at first my plans for the trailer, were to travel in a generally south-westerly direction. but have come to see the value in a trailer for a small, but legal, and 99% profit business. i spend my free time at night, riding around picking up aluminum cans from the street. you might think that there could never be enough cans to be worthwhile, but then you have never been in newport ky, and looked around.  these people do not have the concept of throwing cans into trash, let alone recycling them. these inbred rednecks, just throw their cans down where they finish drinking the contents (most usually beer or joose [not misspelled] - an alcohol drink) here in newport aluminum cans are currently worth sixty five cents a pound. one can is not worth alot but just keep picking them up, and you will start to see cans as free money just laying on the ground.  now i will never get rich doing this, but i feel good that i am helping my community be be a less littered place in which to live, and i am recycling an important natural resource. by the way i have made a good faith payment to the store owner of ten dollars, but i still owe him five. hope to get that paid real soon.

Friday, January 21, 2011

to all job seekers DO NOT TRUST ANY LISTING ON CRAIGSLIST.....

i spend each and every day looking for a job. i start off by checking my email, to see if any of the thousands of resumes i have sent out have born fruit. but if i sent a resume to a posting on craigslist, i invariably get an auto-response from some scammer that wants me to go to a website and either fill out a free IQ test, which ends up asking for a credit card number, or giving my personal information to a site to get a CREDIT REPORT. job seekers, do not be dumb enough to believe this.  your credit score or information, has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with your performance on the job.

good luck to all who are seeking valid, legal employment.

have a good day.

This horrible winter is all my fault....

I know that sounds weird but i am actually starting to believe that. during the late fall, i had made up my mind to pack what few meager possessions and essentials that i could into my little bike trailer (i call it the bike-a-bago), and ride to a new as yet unknown destination.  the day that i was going to leave, i got sick. it was a really bizarre illness,  it came on very suddenly, i felt very nauseous but i never threw up, however i did come to think of the porcelain throne as a bit a pesky friend what with all the times i had to perch upon it that day and night. then all of my body's energy just drained out, leaving me in a near coma like state for 2 days. i literally could do nothing but sleep, and occasionally get up to use the toilet. after a 2 day sleep, i felt almost normal again - just plain bizarre.  anyways back to why i feel that this winter is all my fault, after the illness, i decided to give myself a few days in-which to make sure i really was well. as it happened i ended up getting an interview (the software company).  after that debacle, i again decided to get on my bike and ride to points unknown. i kept telling myself that i was going to ride until i reached 70 degrees farenheit. the day that i was going to leave guess what happened.... IT SNOWED, and there has been snow on the ground almost every week since then. there have been less than seven days since then with out snow on the ground, or temperatures low enough to produce even more snow.  well its now january 21, 2011, the coldest day of the year (and coldest day in several winters around here) and i believe that yesterday i was contemplating leaving again.  now i made no decision, and i did not talk with anyone about it, just a sort of random thought. you know like...i wonder what the residential part of vegas is like.  thats it really, and then POW 11 degrees farenheit.

so to everyone in the greater cincinnati area, i am sorry for bringing upon us all this blast of polar deadlock. my friend katty, says that god means to keep me around here for some REASON.  i did not really believe in a god that took mortal affairs into consideration, but guess what, i think she just might be right. SOMETHING greater than i seems to be keeping me here.  if not god, then what else could it be???

have a good day.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

First Ever Blog

Hello, my name is scott horn and this is my current story.

My life was fairly normal up until June 2010.  Then it all started to go south very quickly.

This is when i lost my job (that i had held for almost 8 years).  shortly after i lost my job i also lost my apartment. i spent the summer not only looking for a regular job, but also any odd job that i could find, and a pace to live.

i eventually found a place to sleep, at a friends house in his back yard.
this friend was at the time having problems of his own with the local division of code enforcement (the wonderfull group of people that can condemn your home), so he let me stay there at great personal risk to his lifestyle. i ended up helping him out to rehab his home as much as i could, given my limited skill set in this area, and his O.C.D. level of A.D.D. and perfectionism. needless to say, this was not as much as i would have liked to help him out.

ok, now on to december...
the pressure was starting to build upon my friend who had to go to a review panel, to see if he had completed his necessary repairs. he did not meet their guidelines, but was able to show that he had made great effort to comply, the board gave him an extension, but told him that he would be having random inspections. this was bad news, as i was camping in his back yard, and technically his home was not legally inhabitable.  shortly before i moved out of his place, i had acquired, from a local secondhand merchant, a small trailer to go on my bicycle, which has proven to be a bit of a saving grace of sorts.  more on this later.

i can not list every company that i have applied for employment with, for many reasons, but i can assure you reader that the list is very long indeed. here are a few notables on that long list....

in june i applied for a position at a local circle k. i was given an interview by the store manager (david). he told me that everything went well with the interview, and that i should expect a call on monday or tuesday of the next week to come in for training.  a week went by and i never received a call. i went back to circle k seven days from when i had my interview, and asked david, if he had forgotten to call.  he stated "i called and left a voice-mail, but you never returned the call", so i hired someone else.  just to let you know at this time i had a working cell-phone, that showed every call received, every voice-mail received, and every phone number that came through. i restate, i never received a call from either circle k of from his private number. nor any voice-mail message either.

i was given an interview at a small legal practice for a file clerk position.
the interview was conducted by the attorney and her daughter (paralegal). both said that they were going to conduct a second round of interviews, from the top five list of candidates, which they assured me i was on that list.  i never heard back from them again. i even emailed them thanking them for the interview, and a second one inquiring about the second interview....nothing.

i also had an interview at a local (in cincinnati) software publishing group, for an office manager. this was looking to be a truly awesome job. i was the best dressed person in the office, and during the interview, a NERF fight broke out in the corridor.  i was told that this was a fairly normal and regular occurrence.  if you know me then you know how much i love working on/with computers, this could have been my dream job. i was told that i would be having a second interview on the following week, with the design team, but first the company was going to check my references on friday. i gave them the number to the place where i was staying, as 2 of my references, are letting me stay in their home (bless them both much), and i was there all day on friday, guess what....no call.  GRRRR

and last on the notable list is an interview i had with a local non-profit, for the position of IT assistant. the interview went well, i was told that as standard practice i would have to have a second interview with members of the board. they would call me to let me know when.  yep you guessed it, no call at all.  about a month after this, i ended up going to this agency for some assistence, and saw the person who i interviewed with. i asked him why i had never received a call, and if they had hired anyone for the position. he said that "return calls are not his department, and that, no they had not hired anyone yet." i handed him my card with URL for my online resume, and told him that i was still available and willing to work.  still no word from the agency.

ok, you have beared through my ranting, for this long - thank you.

http://dshorn-ent.webs.com

the above is my online resume/odd jobs page. if you have any work that you need done please let me help you do it.