Day 35 ~ Pics of our prayer garden...AND A VIDEO!

Our Prayer Garden

Our church has had a prayer garden for a while now. It was an Eagle Scout project Justin , one of the kids from the church, decided to do.  Well, recently, we paved that prayer garden with bricks and here is the work in progress!

The center break, our denomination

some names

 People in the church made a donation and could have the name of a loved one inscribed on the brick; either in honor of a living person or in memory of one who has passed!

She was a great lady!

prayer garden from a distance

we made this commercial that we played in church in order to let people know that they could buy their very own brick! Most of the kids had a great time making this video. As you see, I just took still shots, added a soundtrack and some music and, wala!, a video.....I love Windows Movie maker!

A cold Sunday morning, view though the doors!

Since we are talking about church is a picture I didn't use but could have for my Day 9 blog post. Our Church without heat because of Hurricane Sandy.(http://mydailyphonepic.blogspot.com/2012/11/day-9-going-to-church-with-no-heat.html)  Everyone is bundled up in coats but we worshiped anyway!

See you tomorrow!

Day 34 ~ End of an Era!

not on the road anymore!

My friend Bob sent me this picture the other day and he said, this picture is of something that has gone  The way of the Dodo bird!. It turns out I took this picture from a company van while at a red light and I sent it to him.  But, alas, we shall see these trucks no more on the streets. Hostess Brands will probably be sold off in parts to different companies and while most of the products will survive, it will be sold by other companies.

nearly empty!

my bro-in-law and good friend, Mike took this picture last week from the place he gets coffee in the morning. It is a sad sight not to see this rack full of Hostess cake!

the last one!

And here is the last Hostess item in the store. Mike just sent me a text saying he purchased this muffin before he took the picture. So now the shelf is empty.

Mike is a great guy who has a very interesting blog called, "The Cuban Half" which explores Cuban culture. It is a very interesting read, especially his posts about his most recent visit to Havana. I know he wants to go back again! Check it out:  http://www.thecubanhalf.com/ 

See you tomorrow!

Day 33 ~ My first Job Fair!

This is what I look like before I go to the Job Fair!

Here I am all dressed up, ready to go to my first Job Fair! I don't have a sports jacket but with my long sleeved shirt and tie, I look professional enough, I think!

Diego getting out of his truck in the Church parking lot.

My Friend, Diego who I know "in the route sales business" and from my church told me about the Job Fair. We decided to drive together. We met at the church parking lot and drove up in my VW bug all the way to Edison, NJ where the Fair was being held from 5pm to 7pm.

Diego, looking all professional

We arrived very early which is what you should do when you are looking for a job so we had time to sit around and talk. My brother Ray once got hired for a job just because he arrived one hour early for the job interview.  The boss was so impressed by his enthusiasm that he hired him on the spot!

Dennis, better dressed than me but I didn't hold it against him!

My friend, Dennis, who was also a Hostess Brands route salesman met me at the Job Fair. Even if I didn't make any contacts with employers at the fair, it was worth going to Edison just to see Dennis again!  He makes me laugh. I am going to miss working with him.

People walking around begging for work!

The whole evening was beneficial in that it gave me hope that there are jobs out there. I just need to find the right one for me. Thankfully, with unemployment insurance, I can afford, for a while, to be a bit picky. Last night, of the eleven companies who made presentations, I talked to four representatives. I got further information from them and will weigh my options.I know, sooner or later, I will get a job!

See you tomorrow!

Day 32 ~ I gotta read a book!

Walking out of the library with the book

On thanksgiving, I had a really great conversation with Mike, my niece's boyfriend and he gave me lots of advice on searching for a job.  One of the things he told me was to take my time to set up a profile on Linkenin, which I did and you can link to my profile on the right of this blog.  He also recommended a book that, he said, I could get really cheap on Amazon. "The 2-hour Job Search"" by Steve Dalton. I did one better. I put a hold on it at the Library and will borrow it for free! Free is good when you are unemployed!
So, I got to start reading today!

my Linkedin profile photo

Here's my picture I posted on Linkedin, a "professional" look, as advised by Mike.  My wife took the camera to church and we went against a partition to give it that "office cubicle" look. We really didn't like any of the the pics my wife took so my friend Don stepped in with his Iphone and this is the result. I posted the pic on Facebook and got a  lot of rude comments from my friends. DO I REALLY LOOK LIKE A SUBSTITUTE SCIENCE TEACHER, STALKER KILLER GUY? Actually, it was a lot of fun to read the funny comments. My fiends keep me laughing!

See you tomorrow!

Day 31 ~ Jackson Hole Burger Joint

John, Joe and me, posing with Betty Boop

This photo was taken sometime last year, I think. I went up to New York to visit my brothers and we ate lunch at  Jackson Hole Burger place. The burgers were enormous! We had a great time together and I don't see my brothers enough. I have to get back up to New York to see them.

See you tomorrow!

Day 30 ~ The Christmas decorating begins!

Stick snowman!

The day after thanksgiving is always a great time to eat Turkey...again! Our family was invited over a friend's house who made a complete turkey dinner just like thanksgiving. The reason they didn't make one on Thursday was because they were invited to another house on thanksgiving so I guess they had a "hankering" to make their own dinner so a Friday thanksgiving meal it was!  It was delicious!

After dinner, we sat around and watched "Tim Hawkins," a funny guy and I noticed these snowmen in the corner.  I thought, It's time to decorate for Christmas now that Thanksgiving is over. I guess these snowmen will end up outside in our friend's front yard but I am not sure. I'll have to ask.

My wife said we'll do our own decorating next week.

See you tomorrow.

Day 29 ~ A Birthday Celebration!

Sara, about to blow out the Candles

Last week, before Thanksgiving, our family to to "Grandma's house" to sing Happy Birthday to Sara. Now it is true that Sara's birthday was on Veteran's day (Nov 11th) so it was some time ago but she was at school at the time and she missed having a cake with the family.  So, we did it up big!

....it seems like only yesterday that Sara was a little tike like this....

In the pool, yelling for her dog, Spike

I realize I don't have any digital pictures of my kids when they were really young. Or, at least, I can't find them! The picture above was for a story I wrote and was trying to make a "picture book" using photos. I never completed the project.

hanging around, eating cake!

Since Sara was the birthday girl, she chose the cake. The one she liked is Tiramisu. I am not a big fan but it's her day so that's what we ate. I had a little bit and couldn't finish it.

Happy birthday, Sara! 

See you, tomorrow!

  

Day 28 ~ Thanksgiving 2012!

Dinner, the After Picture!

Thanksgiving was fantastic. We went over Karen's parents and the food was great, as usual! The above picture is the After picture. To see the Before picture go to yesterday's post! I was happy because my mother-in-law had found creamed onions in the supermarket. To me, it's not Thanksgiving without it!

look at all these pies!

 Before we went to my in-laws, Karen, Daniel and I went to the church to pack up and deliver pies for a thanksgiving dinner for victims and workers of Hurricane Sandy.  We started to cut the pies at church before we delivered them to the other church where they are having the dinner but we ran out of time so we just packed them up and loaded them in the van.

Daniel, guarding the pies before we transport them.

The pies, delivered and being cut by the workers

The workers, setting up

Here is the church we delivered the pies to.  These are the workers setting up. It turns out not that many came to eat at the church but they delivered over 300 meals to families! What a great accomplishment!

a fun thanksgiving tradition

After delivering the pies, the family went to my in-laws. It's always a lot of fun to rub your fingers on the rim of the glass to make a whistling noise.  We got yelled at so we stopped

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I know, I have a lot to be thankful for!

See you tomorrow!

Day 27 ~ Going to Church in the Middle of the Week!

Orthodox church, at the beginning of the Service

 Some of you may know that I attend an Orthodox Church on Saturday nights but on Sundays I worship with my family in a protestant church. Well, one of the upsides of being unemployed is, when I am not working on a Resume, I can go to Church during weekdays, if they have a service. Yesterday, was The Presentation of the Theotokos,  a feast that comes on a fixed day every year so this year it fell on a Wednesday. Since I am not at work, I was able to go.

The Church is beautiful and I had wanted to take pictures for a long time but, when I go to Vespers at night. it's too dark to snap any pictures. So, I unobtrusively snapped some pics since it was broad daylight!

a page from the Service book!

Reader John, reading from the letter to the Hebrews, I think.

Reader John is a friend of mine. One of the things I like about the Orthodox, is they sing everything. So, when it comes to reading the Scripture lessons for the day, they actually sing them.  It takes some getting used to but, after a while, you sort of like it.

Here is a link to my other blog which talks about my visits to the Orthodox Church but I have to warn you, I get a bit wordy! :)

http://orthodoxyorbust.blogspot.com/

Dinner, the before picture!

Oh, and as an extra treat, here is a picture of the turkey I will be eating today! I snapped this picture when I was at my in-laws where we will be spending thanksgiving! It will be a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

See you tomorrow!

Day 26 ~ Margaret Gets a Bath!

a very wet Margaret

Margaret, our soft coated wheaten terrier, was a mess! With all the running around she likes to do in the backyard, she got all kinds of muddy! So, yesterday, Karen and I took her to Rub a Dub Dog Wash where we could put in the tub and wash her ourselves....It's sort of like a self-service car wash, only for dogs!

Margaret, drying off

We dried her off using the dryer the grooming place provides but she didn't get as dry as she usually does because we were in the rush. The grooming place closed at 4pm and we arrived at ten to four. The nice lady said we could wash the dog if we were out of there by 4:15pm. So Margaret got plenty clean; just not as dry as usual!

Margaret, just waking up

Since her coat was nice and clean,Karen gave the dog a haircut last night and she is getting very good at it. When Karen first started cutting Margaret's hair it would take over two hours. Last night we were done in 40 minutes. I help by holding onto a raw hide bone with peanut butter on it and I let Margaret chew away! I forgot to take a picture of her last night after her haircut so I got a picture of her this morning, lounging in her crate!

Day 25 ~ I Lost my Car...and found it again!

my car, lonely and waiting for me at the Mall!

Okay, I am  officially losing it! I went to the Mall yesterday to the Verizon Wireless store so I could see about reducing some of our phone bill by cutting minutes or something and after that I went out to the parking lot to get my car.

 BUT I COULDN'T FIND IT!

It took me fifteen minutes but I finally found my little Volkswagen Bug! It was so great to see it! As I got in my car, I realized that being unemployed is a bit of a transition for me and that perhaps the stress of looking for a new job is something I have to adjust to.

I am proud of myself because usually when I do stupid things like that I totally lose it! But this time I only lost it a little bit :) Maybe, that's why it only took me 15 minutes to find my car instead of a half  hour.

Note to Self: Make sure you pay extra special attention to where I park!

See you tomorrow!

Day 24 ~ The Screwtape Letters on Stage!

The Sign inside the theater 

So, I'm driving home Friday afternoon, all depressed because I just lost my job and I am tune into the radio and the Christian Radio station, the Bridge, is giving away tickets to "Screwtape Letters on Stage." I didn't even know where the event was going to be so I call up anyway and, guess what, I won! It turns out the event is in New York City and they give me some choices as to when to go. I pick Sunday afternoon and my wife says I should take our daughter, Sara, to go with me. She was just returning from college that day for her long break before School starts up again in January.

The Free Ticket that got us in!

You can see my name on the ticket and where the price is supposed to be, it says, Comp!I love Free things!

Turns out tickets were going from $49 each so I got a good deal.

Piano Guy in Washing Square Park

We drove into the city and I was very happy to get a free parking spot on the street. That is like a miracle in New York, although on a Sunday it is possible. I was glad we didn't have to pay for parking.  We had lots of time before the 3pm performance so we walked over to Washington Square park and we saw this piano player playing Chopin and other classics. He was selling CD's for ten dollars but we just put two dollars in the bucket.

We also saw some really cool "break dancers" on the other side of the park but when they started asking for audience members to "help" in the show, we left right away because Sara did not want to get picked!

a favorite place for lunch!

We had time for lunch so we were happy that they had a "Five Guys" in Manhattan.

Sara, hiding behind a burger

We sent this picture to my wife's phone to let her know where we were eating lunch.  

Daniel, enjoying that Fry!

It turns out that, at the very same time we were in a Five Guys in Manhattan  my wife, Karen and son, Daniel, went to Five Guys in our town! Now, that's funny!

The audience in costume

Before the show started, I noticed the lady in front of me wore her "devil horns" to the show. I guess that makes sense since the "Screwtape Letters" is about correspondence from a senior devil to a junior tempter  full of advice on how best to tempt his "patient."

Sara, before we went in!

We really had a great time at the show.  After this, I am going to send a "thank you" email to the Bridge radio station for giving us the tickets. I, of course, will link this blogpost in the email! I see this little trip as a gift from God to cheer me up as I begin a new phase in my life. Having your company shut its doors can be depressing, since I have been working for them for 24 years but I do look forward to what happens next.  

See you all tomorrow!

Day 23 ~ Giving Blood!

The trucks with the blood sucking equipment!

 Sure, I may have just lost my job but I forgot that I made an appointment to give blood Saturday morning so first thing on Saturday, I woke up and drove to the Ramada Inn where the Red cross was collecting blood! I spent the rest of the day running errands with my wife and Sunday I have plans in NYC (You should see pics of NYC tomorrow, hopefully) so I don't get to do the Resume/unemployment thing until Monday! Who knew being unemployed could be so time consuming!

about to get stuck! Yikes

The bloods 'aflowing!

Lost my Job! Take my Blood! What else do you want?

the view from my table

not so bad~ when I'm done, I get cookies!

 It took a bit longer to give blood because I also gave plasma platelets, They took my blood, removed the platelets and then returned the blood with calcium which made my lips tingle and made me feel a bit nausea..

But, it's worth it to do a good deed! 

Day 22 ~ Good Bye, Twinkies! Good Bye, Job!

a stack of Twinkies

Here is a picture of a stack of Twinkies that will never make it to the supermarkets.  We heard today that Hostess Brands, baker and distributor of many products like Hostess Cake, Drakes Cakes, Wonder bread and a lot others, is ceasing operations as of Saturday.  So these Twinkies are just sitting there. They will probably be grabbed by the employees who show up today to get an Information Packet which the company has put together. Basically, that packet explains in "Question and Answer" Format (much like a catechism), what happened to the company, what the next step should be for former employees, ect. 

The depot is an hour away from my house and I don't think I am going to make the drive to pick it up.  I am going to ask the mechanic to pick my packet up and I can meet him at his house. He lives closer to me than the depot plus he is gong there today anyway.

deep in thought

My job was to sell cake. I was a route jumper which meant I had to cover vacations and sick calls but when no one in the cake department was out, I would occasionally run a Wonder Bread route. That's what I did yesterday. My last stop in my route jumping career was at the Pick it Deli  in Old Bridge, where I sold my last piece of Hostess Brands, product.  They received 27 Classic White breads, 8 stone ground wheat bread and 5 whole grain white breads.  Their last order. So if you like wonder bread, run up to the Pick it Deli and get it while you can!  The above picture was taken while driving back to the depot with an empty truck; Empty forever!

Rest in Peace, Hostess Brands!