I got the job! I interviewed this morning for a job at Olan Mills Photography Studio here in town. They had a few positions available, and I got hired there on the spot for a position a couple of towns over, as sales & assistant to the photographer. I start at $9.50 an hour, and if I do well in the first 3 weeks, will get a raise to $10 an hour. In 30 days I will have benefits even! Around here, that’s something, because most companies are not offering benefits. I just have to figure out what the heck is the difference between HMO or PPO and what we need and how much we want to spend (benefits are 50% paid by employer). At the moment I have no medical insurance, and to a Canadian, that’s a scary concept! Especially a Canadian whose prone to need surgery every few years :-p

Anyhow, this job will be assisting the photographer in the studio, where they do baby portraits and family portraits and stuff like that. My job will be selling the packages; making appointments; and answering phones and whatnot. Plus, I will be trained eventually to be able to actually do the portraits, which will be cool. They also pay bonuses on dollar amounts sold for packages. So if I sell a whole bunch, I get more money. Money is good!

It sounds pretty good because the shift doesn’t start too early, the studio opens at 10 so I have to be there at 9:45 or something, and closes at 7pm, but they actually close for lunch break! Something I didn’t have at my job at the hotel. Can you imagine working 8 hour shifts for $5.75 an hour with no freakin’ meal break? Sheesh! The studio is about 40 minutes away, but they may get an opening at the studio here in town that they could transfer me to, which is only 5 minutes away. Either way, it’s a job with some extra money coming in. And judging by an article in the local paper today about the cost of natural gas going up by $60 or $70 per month, we’re going to need “extra” money. That will probably double our gas bill from last winter. And the insulation and windows in this house really suck, we’re going to need to shrink-wrap the house.

No, I will not give up my Watkins business. I will keep doing that as much as possible. And who knows, I will probably benefit from having a full time job because I will meet people and can grow my customer base that way. It’s difficult trying to create a customer base, when you know only 5 people in town! I will only have Monday and Tuesday evenings available for Good Tasting parties now, but that’s ok, there’s nothing on TV on Monday nights anyhow ;-) I just hope that I can get home on Wednesdays in time for LOST! I’d hate to miss any of it.

PLUS! Get this, I said that I had a couple of prior engagements that I simply could not break, and would require a half day and one whole day off, is that a problem? She said “nope, no problem, what dates?” Cool! So I can still make my commitment to one of my Good Tasting parties, which is scheduled for a Thursday, and keep our “date” with Juli and Jim to go to Renaissance Faire in November. Which, by the way, I am anxiously looking forward to. I’m going thru Renaissance withdrawl!

I also get employee discount at the studio and can have 50% discount on portraits every 30 days if I want it. Why I would need photos taken that often is beyond me, but ya never know. Brother-in-law and Niece may want some photos done, and Mother-in-law maybe. The discount is only for immediate family, I think in-laws count. They’re the only family I have here in NC, all the rest are up in Ontario.

Well, I start on the 12th of October. I couldn’t start right away because friend Allen from Australia is coming to visit for a few days and he’ll be here on Monday. I hope to be able to take him up to Grandfather Mountain one day, if James can get a day off to drive us up there. The road up is just waaaaaaaaaaaaay too scary for me! It’ll be nice, the weather has finally cooled off, and the fall colours should be showing soon, especially up in the mountains. If the weather is clear enough, you can see for miles and miles and miles from up there. If the weather is crappy, maybe we’ll go to Asheville and check out the Biltmore mansion. I’ve been once, but it’s a day out of the house, and an opportunity to imagine what it would be like to live like a multi-millionaire. *snarf* yeah, right!  ¶ 1:47 PM