Done so much and it ain't what needs to be done

Got back from my vacation in Cape Hatteras. I feel very guilty about it since you can't vacate a job you don't have, but it was free and I would have spent more money if I hadn't.

So... I just feel like updating... my job situation...

I graduated from school and decided to stay in my apartment until the end of my lease while I looked for a job. That way I could continue to hang out with my friends for a couple more months. I move back to my parents at the beginning of July because I still do not have a job. They "put me to work" which I resent because I spent two goddamn weeks doing everything except looking for a job. Lacking any finances for an exploratory mission, I continue to be stuck the largest city without theatrical venues (no matter what journalists say). I ended up traveling a lot because my parents happen to be and it's not like I'm going to get a job on a weekend anyway, but it really cuts up the weeks and makes time go faster. I was in Atlantic City one weekend and Detroit the next. One weekend hanging with a friend from school and a couple around Maryland then off to the Outer Banks for the vacation. Next, I have another wedding in North Carolina before you say "get a job you lazy bum" it's going to be November, thus the holiday season so Thanksgiving and Christmas, for which I have no money to buy presents.

Yeah, my life is kind of sucking right now. Post too long. Need another.
-X

Plan B: Cost Too Much Money

So, Plan A was rejected.

They argued that I didn't have enough money to take a trip to a city, I still count that I could last at least a couple of weeks on my credit card.

My Catch-22 is that I can't move without a job and I cannot get a job without already living out there.

So I started looking for temp work. Now I always thought that temp agencies would talk to you, find out what you could do and then would come back to you with possible jobs. Not anymore at least. They are into the modern idea of "do it yourself without ever speaking to a real person" way of internet business. From looking at their websites, and I did look at several, I think they would be completely shocked if I walked in and asked for a job. I think only one of the the websites I looked at implied that they would let you walk in, but beyond that I question whether it would even be worth my time. All of the websites allow you to view all, or at least I hope they were all, of their listings before signing up. One site only had eight jobs in the North Virginia area, an area that spans about three counties and borders the District of Columbia. Other sites had more but they were ridiculously specific, no data entry jobs or even that many clerical jobs that nearly anyone could do, but things like computer programmer for languages I've never heard of before, bookkeepers, and even a dental hygienist.

You can't just wake up one day and be a dental hygienist, it requires very specific training. What are these jobs doing on a temp staffing site? I know that there are certain cases where you might be able to find people looking for these jobs. but not often and not int he time frame I would suspect you need for a temporary position.

So I applied to an AMC theatre thirty minutes away from where I live, mostly because everything is thirty minutes from where I live. Far more permenant than what I really what and probaly won't pay enough.

I'm going to try to convince my parents that they will save money by just sending me away for a month or so and I've started appling to the theatre jobs that say "local only" just in some vain hope they actually look at it anyway.

-X

Project: Get Out of Parent's House (as fast as possible)

So I'm trying to develop a concrete plan to pitch to my parents.

Right now my plan is to take a trip to either Los Angeles or Chicago and wander around theatres (and other places) looking for jobs. Chicago would be cheaper because I apparently would not need a vehicle to get around, from what I have heard LA has terrible public transportation so I would spend as much, if not more, on the car as my flight and hotel combined. Chicago is a little cheaper to live in but I may be unable to find the right size apartment there (I gleaned from my searches). Los Angeles on the other hand has better weather and has infinite jobs for my profession, but it has been badly hit by the current recession.

Now, you are asking why I wish to go to these specific cities. Why not New York, Las Vegas, or why not stay where I currently am (Washington, D.C. for all intents and purposes)?

Well I did look into Las Vegas, everything there is very much based on The Strip, which is not exactly what I want to do forever (I'm looking for a place to live for awhile).

New York is the obvious choice, which is why I'm against it. I'm not the best and I don't make great first impressions. Everyone goes to New York if they want to do theatre and I can't compete against that much competition. I make mistakes and I need it to be more difficult to replace me.

LA and Chicago are the next logical locations as they contain the other offices of IATSE USA 829, the Scenic (et al) Designers union (the main headquarters is of course in NYC), which lead them to be very theatre heavy cities.

And Washington. Washington is a federal district. It exists solely for government. Culture is shipped in to make it look nice. There are too many ghettos and too much corruption for theatre to thrive (theatre needs money and people need to not be afraid to go). It's kind of ironic, you'd think the nations capital would be better.

Still don't know if my case is strong enough. I plan to point out the saving if I can get a real job and don't live with them, my stuff won't be in the garage, etc.

If all else fails I'll do it without their help.
-X