NickyHicks.com

So, here in list form are the things that have gone on lately that kept me from wanting to write:
1) My car was having trouble starting
2) My car broke down (again)
3) I used a new sunscreen, which covered my face in a rash for about a week
4) My dad was in the hospital with definitely a stroke and possible MS. Still waiting on test results.

On the good side:
1) Tried on bridesmaids dresses for my friend Jen’s wedding which is coming up in October.
2) Got in a ton of textbooks early so I can get ahead on reading (hopefully) before Aug 20
3) I have a lot of non-school good reading to do. I have a big pile of books to read, which is a nice problem to have.
4) My car is up and running again, albeit minus a radio and a couple of other things at the moment. But hey, it runs well and the a/c works, so who cares?
5) The rash on my face went away and I look (and feel) normal again!
And last but not least, tomorrow is the Fourth of July and it’ll be Ricardo’s first time celebrating Independence Day as a US Citizen! We’re both pretty excited about that and I’m going to pack us a picnic. We’re going to go see fireworks in the park. They’ll also be selling turkey legs! Mmmm. Turkey leg.

So, I’ve been checking regularly to see if my course instructors are listing books for the fall semester. I found books for two classes right away and lucky for me I had the exact edition of one of the books here in my library because I saved it from last semester.

Then today I found a new course had listed it’s reading list. There were twelve books. TWELVE. For ONE class. These aren’t easy reads, either. I’ve read about half, but still. The list is as follows:
The Divine Comedy - Inferno
Epic of Gilgamesh
Aeneid
Odyssey
Hamlet (which, btw, I hate)
Waste Land
Moby Dick
Rape of the Lock (and other poems)
Paradise Lost
Major Works (for Wordsworth)
To the Lighthouse
And….the New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha -NSRV

Now, the real kickers are Hamlet and the Bible for me. I really do not like Hamlet, either the play or the character. The Bible, I like. The Apocrypha, I do not. Now, since I took Old & Middle English Lit. I did have to read a lot about Saints’ lives and a couple excerpts from the Apocrypha, but being Baptist I pretty much avoided reading anything other than my non-Catholic KJV Bible. I even got the handy Scofield Bible as a gift with the cool notes on the bottom.

Academically, I suppose the Apocrypha - and the Bible itself - are very interesting, especially since some people may see the Apocrypha as having been censored. It just may not be a good idea to include it with standard classroom literature. After all, I was going to take a course that dealt just with the Bible. It just wasn’t offered this semester.

Personally, I’m not so sure I want to be reading the Apocrypha - not because I think it’ll corrupt me or anything like that, but because I place little value on it and I think it’s ridiculous that it’s still used in any way, shape, form or fashion to relate people to God - and I don’t think it should be touted as the Word of God. (We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one. I’m not violently anti-Catholic, I just know what I believe and Catholic doctrine doesn’t make the cut.)

Back to the classroom: I think that when it comes to literature like the Bible, which is more than a creative endeavor, academics need to tread very, very carefully. For the professor teaching the class that may be fairly easy, but for the students it may not be - especially if we start talking interpretation. I can keep my mouth shut and my mind on the matter at hand if the matter is strictly academic. I’ve come across many people who can’t see the difference between academic interest and personal belief - and can’t, or won’t, keep it to themselves.

And, if I think someone is being deliberately provoking or obtuse - or hopelessly ignorant - I have more trouble keeping my remarks to myself. After all, being Christian doesn’t make me perfect. It just means I try my darnedest to be nice and live up to an example. Salvation I have. Complete control over my brain-to-mouth filter is just a work in progress.

So, I’m approaching that part of the class with mixed feelings. I also really don’t like reading anything other than the King James Version. I’ve been reading that since I first when to church when I was about seven and that’s all I’ve read ever since. Even reading the NKJV makes me twitch. Seriously - I have one version of the NKJV that was a gift and I freak out reading it because it doesn’t “sound” right to me.

Yeah, I may be a little old-fashioned. Or a stickler. Maybe both.

Anyway, the rest of the reading I am cautiously looking forward to. I just know I’ll probably bog down reading it because even as quickly as I read, when you get into translations of Greek epic poetry and its ilk, even I slow down to a crawl.

So I haven’t been updating, partly because I’ve just been negligent but also because I’m prone to rant lately about the things in my life that aren’t going well and I don’t want to do that.
The good things have been happening, too, but I’m a little overwhelmed right now. When this blows over, I’ll probably get back to writing again.

So, the temp agency did find me a gig really fast last week…but now it’s been a week and nothing else has popped up. I’m going to follow Ricardo’s advice and go to another temp agency on Monday. If Tuesday doesn’t yield anything I’ll go to another one on Wednesday since I’ll have the time. I’m also going to start looking for stuff on my own again. I took a break after going to the first temp place, but I still want to keep looking on my own.
My main gripe is that everyone wants an admin/reception/data entry with 1-2 years experience. Well, how am I going to get experience if you crazy people won’t hire me in the first place? Hmm?
I can type circles around some people, handle Microsoft Office better than most, and I have to say I’m more people-friendly than the receptionists at almost every place I’ve ever been. Mainly because if my job is to be nice and help you, I’m actually interested in being nice and helping you. (And if I’m having a blah day I can at least fake it well.)
I had been cautioned that there are more people than positions, but I have to admit that I was more optimistic than I probably should’ve been when I got a temp gig right away. Soo…a-hunting I will go.
But now it’s almost 9pm and I think I’m going to play Guild Wars…because nothing says therapy like filling things full of arrows.

So, the reasons that y’all haven’t heard a peep from me these last few days is simple. Reason 1: I have had little to talk about since the storm.
Reason 2: the temp agency gave me an assignment this weekend!
Friday and Saturday I worked as a receptionist at a car dealership that was pretty darn close to where I live. I was really nervous at first since I’ve never worked in a setting like that before, but the regular receptionist stayed with me for the first couple of hours to train me. There were a lot of things I didn’t have to do (printing temporary plates, fed-ex) so I was pretty much left handling nothing but the phones. That in itself kept me busy, but it went in spurts. Seems like everyone wanted to call at once!
Once I got the hang of it, though, it was a blast.
The best story I have, since it was only two days, is that there was a couple looking at the cars in the showroom…well, they decided to test the horn so they honked it (INDOORS!!!) and it scared the bejeesus out of me.
However, I inadvertently paid them back when I had to page one of the salesmen to come back inside to pick up a call. They had told me several times that even though I was on the speakers I needed to be loud, so…I belted it out.
Unfortunately, the same couple was still in the showroom and near my desk! I didn’t even think about it until I saw them both jump about a foot in the air.
Still, I couldn’t help thinking “Gotcha for the horn!”
Not bad for my first temp gig, I suppose, though I sort of wish that had been able to turn into something more permanent. I think I would’ve really liked working there. Everyone was really nice to me, and even though I had to stop people and ask questions nobody got annoyed - which was a relief to me.
I also didn’t have any trouble handling the phones - though one poor woman was rather irate because a number I was transferring to wasn’t picking up…but I apologized and transferred her directly to a specific number instead of the receptionist’s desk in that department so it worked out for both of us. I have to admit I was surprised that I didn’t take her tone of voice and attitude personally, especially since I was sort of flustered at the time handling all the phone lines. I felt bad putting people on hold. I don’t know if they had silence, or just horrible 70s music, or something else, but since I was usually able to get them to the number they needed right away I didn’t like “hold”-ing them since it meant I was having trouble getting them to the number they needed. They were pretty good about it, which considerably raised my opinion of humanity in general, and eased my fears since I don’t like strangers to be upset with me. Honestly it’s more that I’m afraid I’ll be mean back to them than anything else, but since I like to be nice to people I prefer to just get along from the beginning.
The most confusing one was when they called wanting to talk to someone at a different dealership…especially since some names were common to both places.
All in all, it was fun and I told the (awesome) lady handling my account at the temp agency that I’d be willing to do it again if they were willing to have me back over.
I’m still hoping that something regular pops of quick, but it felt really good to finally go out and do something! It was a boost for me - especially since now I’m more confident in my ability to do the office-environment type work as well as anybody else out there.