Elena's Legacy. Texts written by Elena, excerpts from texts she liked, her artworks.

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Lindsay Chapter X

Lindsay – Chapter X

Lindsay wanted to go back to school, but she had no idea what subject to take. She had graduated in Fine Arts, but that did not lead her to a job. Sometimes, it seemed to her that all employers wanted was references and experience. However, she had neither. She had had a couple of jobs, but quit all of them, so not only her resume was filled with gaps, she did not have good relationships with any of her former supervisors. A lawyer she knew from a job she held as a receptionist (which she was overqualified for) advised her to just put her educational achievements and say that she studied all this time, so that employers did not view her as a job-hopper.

She thought about studying finance because she felt that it could lead her to more lucrative and serious jobs. However, she was not sure she was up to the challenge. Finance required a great deal of calculations, and although she was good at mathematics, she did not believe in her ability to actually graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce with Finance as a major.

Lindsay's Pale Pink flowers. Photo by Elena

Besides, she knew two people who ended up with the same collector jobs who had very different backgrounds. One guy who had graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce with a Finance major, and one girl who was an illegal immigrant and did not even finish college. She failed to understand how that was possible.

Besides, she saw in that reasons to not go back to school. At this point, she just wanted to find a job, any job. But, even though she applied to every staffing agency she knew of and did independent searches by herself, all she could find were entry-level jobs in sales. She was comfortable with entry-level employment, but she didn’t want to work in outbound sales (telemarketing) and that seemed to be the only available jobs for her.

See also:

Soul of a child. Illustration by Elena

Lindsay's Elf

Lindsay - Chapter XI

Lindsay woke up at 7:30. She always woke up early, even on Sundays and falling back asleep seemed impossible. She considered that to be a positive thing, since that meant that waking up at 6:00 would be an easier transition if she finally found a job. She lived in a big city and traveling a long distance to work appeared to be a given. However, this Tuesday morning was different from the rest of the week, or even weeks and months before.

She woke up happy and hopeful. The main reason behind such a change in mood was that the day before she had applied to as many companies as she could. Because she had been largely unsuccessful in her job search she found a place providing employment services. The organization did not provide placement, but they helped in terms of resume writing, interview skills and by directing to job opportunities.

Lindsay's Fuсhsia flowers.

Thus, she had followed their advice and was confident that they could greatly help her in her job search efforts. She applied to most of the job advertisements they had sent her, and then went on to her independent job search. She applied to many banks and insurance companies, she noted that the application itself took quite a bit of time with all the lines to fill out and questions to answer. She had heard from a show she saw on TV that it was very difficult to get a job at a big company, at least in terms of time.

Indeed, big companies usually looked (and verified) at least two references; in addition, to performing a background check for criminal records and credit problems. Luckily, she had no criminal record, but her credit was far from perfect. Also, the only jobs she had had in the past were short-term contract ones, so she did not have any positive references per se.

See also:

Loneliness. Illustration by Elena

Lindsay's Plans. Illustration by Elena

Lindsay - Chapter XII

Lindsay – Chapter XII

Lindsay’s efforts were rewarded as she found a job. The job was far from what she hoped for since she wanted to be an executive assistant and instead found a job as a waitress. However, at least she found a job and could now begin to pay her bills on her own. The job was part-time, she only worked four days a week, from 11:30 in the morning to 7:30 at night. Somewhat odd hours, somewhat odd days, not the job she was hoping for given her psychology degree, but still a job – something to rely on.

One less thing to worry about. Now, she had another preoccupation – finding a different, less expensive apartment and organizing her move. As mentioned before she didn’t have a lot of things, but the furniture she needed disassembling and assembling and she also lacked boxes to pack her things. She knew that there were full service movers, but she still had not found them and that was making her nervous. She was mad at herself for throwing all her assembly instructions, why would she do that? Didn’t she know that she would only stay in that apartment temporarily? She should have known.

Lindsay's pine. Photo by Elena

She sat looking at the window and thought about worldly matters. How everything seemed so complicated to some people, yet so easy for others. She thought about her volunteering experience which gave her little more than some… well, experience. What’s more, she couldn’t even use that work as a reference since the place she volunteered at, given the conditions under which she worked did not allow for a professional evaluation. When she found that out she felt that she had wasted her time.

When she started volunteering at this place, she thought that it would help her CV and even get her a placement job, but neither happened. The problem with these organizations that advertise as helping people is that they rarely really live up to expectations, at least most of them since there are exceptions.

See also:

The real beauty. Photo by Elena

Lindsay's Light.

Elena's Art Work

Elena's (Megan Jorgensen) and Her Artwork

A few samples of Megan's artwork:

An Imaginary World. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Interstellar DJ. Ima.ge : © Megan Jorgensen.

Princess and Butterfly Wings on Mythical Horse. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Squares. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Flowers. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Unthinkable. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Red and Yellow Flowers Close Up. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Gorgeous Pattern Texture. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Civilisation. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Dark Sphere. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Our Universe Personification. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Sepia Mountain Top at Sun Down. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Romantic Art Landscape. Fantasy Art Elves Romance. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Sunrise. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Light. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Black Statue Wolf. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Large Square Decorations. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

History vs. Legend. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Supermodel Anime Beauty. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Another Imaginary World. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

In the Jungle at Sunset. Fantasy Art. Image : © Megan Jorgensen.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Lindsay - Chapter XIV

Lindsay – Chapter 14

Lindsay liked her first job in many years. She had finally found employment after a very long search. She sent out so many resumes and had passed so many interviews that she had almost given up. She even tried to be a grocery clerk despite having a bachelor degree. But they didn’t hire her. Now she was a waitress. The atmosphere at the place she worked at was tense, with a low salary and some harassment, but the tips were fine. She gained hope that she would eventually get a better job after gaining some experience. Of course, she wanted an office job in a corporate environment, but that seemed almost impossible and unavailable.

Most civilized countries today have laws against harassment at work. Anyone who has ever been sexually or otherwise harassed at work or elsewhere knows how unpleasant and even threatening that could be. But the line between harassment and expressing an attraction or even feelings remains in some cases thin. Thus, interestingly, Lindsay felt harassed at first when a coworker started hitting on her. However, as time went buy she took a liking to the guy and agreed to go on a date. To Lindsay’s great surprise, the date was an incredible success.

Lindsay's Petunia flowers. Photo by Elena

The guy was a real gentleman and brought a beautiful flower bouquet comprised of roses, lilies and daisies. Then, they went to a fancy restaurant and had a succulent meal. He then drove her home and tried to kiss her although she was not ready to even kiss on a first date, so she turned away. He respected her decision.

The next day he texted and called her in the morning, but not too early. Incidentally, they both worked evening shifts and slept in in the morning. She considered that a perk of her job. Indeed, every job has its ups and downs. Working as a waitress may not sound too glamorous (although it certainly depends on the restaurant or bar one works at!) but there were many good sides, like generous tippers and not having to wake up at six in the morning. The commute to work took more or less forty minutes, so she had to take the subway and then a bus, but it was a nice, respectable establishment and now she also made a new very special friend.

See also:

Wedding in green... Photo by Elena

Lindsay's Losses. Photo by Elena