In The Year 2000...
Dec. 31st, 2009 08:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jcollie719"La-da dee-da! Ladies and Gents, last ten years in review ... Here's John!"
2000: As this year began, I was still working full-time at a local credit union (a job I hated) and had been recently hired part-time as a board operator at the Business Talk Radio network (which I loved!) I quit the credit union job after BTR promoted me to full-time. At the time, I was still living at home with my parents and had no friends (at least none I hung out with.) I felt weird about being interested in animation and imagining myself as an upright-walking, talking animal. (This was years before the terms "furry fandom" and "anthropomorphics" entered my vocabulary.) With the switch to a radio-related job, a higher salary and no debt, I had begun investing my money in a few stocks recommended by some of the network's hosts. I had actually planned to save up and move into my own place next year, but the year's events canceled that.
2001: Business Talk Radio announced its plans to move its offices/studios from Colorado Springs to Chicago. My supervisors originally wanted me to make the move with them, but those higher up decided two fresh-out-of-college part-timers could do an equally-good job for less money. After a few months on unemployment, I found part-time work as a news writer for Metro Networks, a radio news and traffic report provider.
2002: Since I wasn't making as much at my Metro job, I applied for a second job at KRDO-AM/FM. I said I was interested in full-time work, but they only hired me as a temp worker, filling in on the rare occasions when other board ops couldn't make it in. Around the same time, I received a call from KRCC-FM asking if I was interested in a part-time weekend job. I wound up getting hired in August, but this meant I was no longer available to do any weekend overnight fill-ins at KRDO (the majority of my shifts.) I was never officially told I was fired, but I hadn't actually quit either. We just went our separate ways.
2003: After seeing a live Second City performance at a local theater, I became interested in trying improv to see if I was any good. I couldn't find any local places which taught improv. I found a Web site for a Denver venue which taught it, but the site said they didn't have any new classes scheduled yet. The site recommended another theater called "Bovine Metropolis," a play on the term "cow town." I signed up for beginning classes there. Toward the end of the year, my mom let me know she had been diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease.
2004: I continued taking classes at the Bovine Metropolis. I had begun a blog at another site to help me deal with sadness about my mom's diagnosis. In March, I lost my balance while going down some steps at a KRCC meeting. I stuck my elbow out to break my fall and ended up fracturing one of my arm bones. I spent the next 3-4 months with my arm in a cast. Metro Networks made me a full-time worker even though my hours remained the same. I was told to fill out my time sheet for 40 hours per week instead of 30, and my hourly wage was reduced so I basically received the same pay amount. The other improv students and I performed our "graduation" show at the Bovine Metropolis in October, titled "I've Got Your Improv Right Here, Pal!"
2005: I was involved in a crash in April which totaled my car. I broke my left wrist and my right knee and ankle. Over the next six months, I went from using a wheelchair to a walker to a cane. During the cane months, I auditioned for the Bovine's "SansScript Players" troupe and was accepted. My debut night with the group came a few days after the wires placed in my kneecap were removed. Unfortunately, I had trouble focusing on the scenes and was kicked out of the group after two weeks. I signed up for my first singles cruise.
2006: My singles cruise in January was so great, I signed up for the Halloween cruise since others in the group spoke highly of it. I made the mistake of joining a dating service, which maxed out my credit card and has left me in debt to this day. The women I've dated so far weren't interested in a second date with me. My mom went into a coma in June after coming down with pneumonia. She eventually recovered, but she is bedridden. I discovered the furry fandom and wondered why no one told me about this before. I joined what turned out to be a pyramid scheme called Profit Masters/Emerald Passport in an unsuccessful attempt to make more money.
2007: Since I couldn't afford a fursuit, I bought a regular tiger costume for this year's Halloween cruise. My dad bought a condo for me so I could have a place of my own. I moved in the week before Christmas.
2008: After years of not getting a raise, Metro Networks finally raised my salary! Unfortunately, the company decided to reorganize later in the year due to "that R word that shan't be spoken" (recession,) and put me and hundreds of others nationwide out of work. The layoff announcement came less than a month before my Halloween cruise, meaning I couldn't get a refund if I canceled. Discovered a new site called Twitter.
2009: Basically spent the year being rejected for every job I applied for. Finally signed up for FurAffinity so I could see some of the artwork and other things my furry friends created.
Happy New Year to all! May the New Year be prosperous (I sure hope it is for me.)
2000: As this year began, I was still working full-time at a local credit union (a job I hated) and had been recently hired part-time as a board operator at the Business Talk Radio network (which I loved!) I quit the credit union job after BTR promoted me to full-time. At the time, I was still living at home with my parents and had no friends (at least none I hung out with.) I felt weird about being interested in animation and imagining myself as an upright-walking, talking animal. (This was years before the terms "furry fandom" and "anthropomorphics" entered my vocabulary.) With the switch to a radio-related job, a higher salary and no debt, I had begun investing my money in a few stocks recommended by some of the network's hosts. I had actually planned to save up and move into my own place next year, but the year's events canceled that.
2001: Business Talk Radio announced its plans to move its offices/studios from Colorado Springs to Chicago. My supervisors originally wanted me to make the move with them, but those higher up decided two fresh-out-of-college part-timers could do an equally-good job for less money. After a few months on unemployment, I found part-time work as a news writer for Metro Networks, a radio news and traffic report provider.
2002: Since I wasn't making as much at my Metro job, I applied for a second job at KRDO-AM/FM. I said I was interested in full-time work, but they only hired me as a temp worker, filling in on the rare occasions when other board ops couldn't make it in. Around the same time, I received a call from KRCC-FM asking if I was interested in a part-time weekend job. I wound up getting hired in August, but this meant I was no longer available to do any weekend overnight fill-ins at KRDO (the majority of my shifts.) I was never officially told I was fired, but I hadn't actually quit either. We just went our separate ways.
2003: After seeing a live Second City performance at a local theater, I became interested in trying improv to see if I was any good. I couldn't find any local places which taught improv. I found a Web site for a Denver venue which taught it, but the site said they didn't have any new classes scheduled yet. The site recommended another theater called "Bovine Metropolis," a play on the term "cow town." I signed up for beginning classes there. Toward the end of the year, my mom let me know she had been diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease.
2004: I continued taking classes at the Bovine Metropolis. I had begun a blog at another site to help me deal with sadness about my mom's diagnosis. In March, I lost my balance while going down some steps at a KRCC meeting. I stuck my elbow out to break my fall and ended up fracturing one of my arm bones. I spent the next 3-4 months with my arm in a cast. Metro Networks made me a full-time worker even though my hours remained the same. I was told to fill out my time sheet for 40 hours per week instead of 30, and my hourly wage was reduced so I basically received the same pay amount. The other improv students and I performed our "graduation" show at the Bovine Metropolis in October, titled "I've Got Your Improv Right Here, Pal!"
2005: I was involved in a crash in April which totaled my car. I broke my left wrist and my right knee and ankle. Over the next six months, I went from using a wheelchair to a walker to a cane. During the cane months, I auditioned for the Bovine's "SansScript Players" troupe and was accepted. My debut night with the group came a few days after the wires placed in my kneecap were removed. Unfortunately, I had trouble focusing on the scenes and was kicked out of the group after two weeks. I signed up for my first singles cruise.
2006: My singles cruise in January was so great, I signed up for the Halloween cruise since others in the group spoke highly of it. I made the mistake of joining a dating service, which maxed out my credit card and has left me in debt to this day. The women I've dated so far weren't interested in a second date with me. My mom went into a coma in June after coming down with pneumonia. She eventually recovered, but she is bedridden. I discovered the furry fandom and wondered why no one told me about this before. I joined what turned out to be a pyramid scheme called Profit Masters/Emerald Passport in an unsuccessful attempt to make more money.
2007: Since I couldn't afford a fursuit, I bought a regular tiger costume for this year's Halloween cruise. My dad bought a condo for me so I could have a place of my own. I moved in the week before Christmas.
2008: After years of not getting a raise, Metro Networks finally raised my salary! Unfortunately, the company decided to reorganize later in the year due to "that R word that shan't be spoken" (recession,) and put me and hundreds of others nationwide out of work. The layoff announcement came less than a month before my Halloween cruise, meaning I couldn't get a refund if I canceled. Discovered a new site called Twitter.
2009: Basically spent the year being rejected for every job I applied for. Finally signed up for FurAffinity so I could see some of the artwork and other things my furry friends created.
Happy New Year to all! May the New Year be prosperous (I sure hope it is for me.)
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Date: 2010-01-01 06:44 am (UTC)