GRRRRRRandma!!!!! and Youtube :)

Last week, my grandmother asked me if I could pick her up from the airport this Wednesday (tomorrow) around 3:00pm.  I looked at my schedule, saw that I would be free all day after 11:00am, and I told her I would absolutely pick her up from the airport on Wednesday.

This morning (Tuesday), my dad gets a call from my uncle, who is staying with my grandfather while my grandmother is away, and who says my grandmother told me the wrong day, and that I need to pick her up THIS afternoon.

That really complicated things.  I live about an hour and a half from the airport, so I would have to leave my house between 1:00pm and 1:30pm, to be there in time to pick her up, because her flight comes in at 3:06pm, and we would get back sometime between 5:30pm and 6:00pm.

Unfortunately, my voice lessons are every Tuesday from 3:00pm-3:30pm, and if they are not cancelled at least 24 hours in advance, I still have to pay for them.  Also, my mom asked me to babysit Michael after school, and take Patrick to karate this afternoon from 4:30pm until 6:30pm. Patrick's karate class has already been paid for, so he can't miss it.  My dad is out of town until around 7:00pm tonight, my mom has to work, and then teach yoga at 5:30pm, and my sister is babysitting from 3:00pm until 7:30pm.

So I was pretty upset with my grandma.  I felt kind of bad because I agreed to pick her up, but I only agreed because I had nothing going on on Wednesday.   If she had asked me to get her on Tuesday, I would not have been able to agree (because of my voice lesson), and she would have worked everything out accordingly, found another ride, no harm done.

But anyways, I am still going to get her. I rescheduled my voice lesson for tomorrow, Michael skipped school so no one has to worry about picking him up or babysitting him, my mom is dropping Patrick off at karate, and I am picking him up when I get back in town.

On a different note, since my last project for my dad is finished, and the one I am working on now does not take up as much time, I have a lot of my free time back!! Which means, I am back to making Youtube videos!!! :)

Check them out! http://www.youtube.com/cgallagher08

Sample Books....and How They Got Me Robbed.

Wooooowwwwww, I haven't posted anything in quite awhile...

I have been working on this HUGE project at the office for my dad. I'm his, what he likes to call, Marketing Manager, which means I'm the one heading up the production of Sample Books. Which means I'm the one who makes them, ha. Anyways, it goes like this:

• It begins with the Master Sample Book, getting it edited by the head boss-man (a.k.a. my dad), revising it, making sure all the right styles of fabric are in, and all the wrong ones are out. 

• Next I take an inventory of each style we have in stock, update the organization to match the Revised Master Sample Book, and place orders of any styles we are out of or running low on. 

• While that is all being taken care of, I do an inventory of the pre-cut samples, again making sure we have all the styles that belong in the book, and taking out ones that no longer belong.

• Meanwhile, I have to maintain a healthy supply of the pre-cut samples (the ones that go into the book), which means I cut each individual piece from the sample roll, and organize that according to how it is all placed in the Sample Book.

• Of course, after each piece (and I'm talking about 600 pieces of each 22ish styles...you do the math.), I have to label each one, so the customers know what to order.

• Which means I have to make sure we are never out of labels.

• BUT, there IS a top and bottom to each piece, so if anyone else is helping cut or label samples (which there were this past couple of weeks), I, personally, have to make sure there were no mistakes made. (It has happened in the past, and it was not pretty...I spent half my summer fixing Sample Books that had been messed up because the fabric was upside down). 

• Anyways, after the samples are all cut and labeled, they need to be stacked altogether into the books....very neatly, perfectly aligned, making sure each label on the samples are lined up so you can't see them through the fabric, and stapling the headers on to keep it together, thus forming a book.

• Which means the headers always need to be available and ready also....which means printing them, and cutting them out, trimming the edges perfectly (after all, this is our main marketing campaign, and the sample product needs to be perfect in order to be presented to potential customers.

Me, being a perfectionist, and also being the liability for the department, took the time to create, type up, and hang a detailed outline of all the instructions regarding making a correct Sample Book.

And we actually produce two different kinds of Sample Books, which use some of the same fabrics, but different headers, and different labels, with different style names for the fabric....

So, anyways, if you didn't read all of that, it's perfectly okay because I think you get the gist without reading it. So, after I finished making the books for last month's convention, my boss/Dad, ordered 200 of type one, and 100 of type two for this month's convention....(I had SCRAMBLED to make the 75 I had sent him with to that convention)...He called before he even returned home to change his order to 400 of type one, and 200 of type two for this month's convention, after realizing the demand for the books, and the potential marketing benefits...

Not ONLY that, but i worked 57 hours in those two weeks, but was only paid for 46 hours; the government robbed me of 11 hours through taxes and deductions. Welcome to the American Dream.

So, that's why I have not posted anything for a while....now its 1:37am, and I am going to sleep. Buenos Noches, imaginary reader.

 ;)

Marshaling Ideas in the Spotlight

I received an email earlier this week from my mom, titled "jobs for you". She offered a few suggestions that actually very much intrigued me: Travel Journalism, or Travel Critiquing. I did some research, discovering that neither pays well enough to really be considered a full-time job-type career (unless you revel in adventures of living for free through the life of traveling the world). However, a few websites pointed out that being a travel journalist works very well as a freelancer, which appealed to me.

I still do not know which career I want to pursue after college, but being an INTJ, I value the journey of searching for the answers more than the destination and solution itself. So, I'm okay not knowing. I have found in my short life that the times I do not know what to expect produce the most interesting, exciting and fulfilling outcomes. I'm excited not knowing exactly what, yet exploring all possibilities. It's mysterious, and I know will turn out better than I ever imagined possible.

On another note: I think I am auditioning for a movie this weekend. I have done a ton of stage productions in the past, but I have never done a film, and I am curious to open that door and discover what that experience beholds. 

Even still, I am also auditioning for two upcoming stage productions: "Seussical, the Musical", and "Oklahoma", respectively. As it has been almost a year and a half since I have starred in a full-blown stage production, I am stoked to get back in the game. 

I am not familiar with the company presenting the former show because it is out-of-town. However, the company presenting the latter show is the largest production company in my area, and it would be a huge deal if I am cast in "Oklahoma". I did tech work as the Assistant Props Manager for "The Buddy Holly Story" for the company, but I have never worked on stage for them. 

My voice teacher told me the executive producer for the company, Moore Onstage, is apparently excited to get in contact with me about working (performing) for the company. She watched my performances in high school ("West Side Story" and "Beauty and the Beast", and has since been wanting to work with me; I am so excited.

ALSO, I ran into the music director of a local Episcopal church when he came into the pub where I work. He, who is also familiar with my talent, said he wants me to take on a position in his church as a paid soloist. I gave him my contact information, and he assured me he would be in touch soon!

That's all I have for now....I need to get to work on my monologue and songs!

La La La...Careers??

Part One: Careers (Don't Miss Part Two Below!!)

If you read this blog at all, you have probably already figured out that the one area of my life that costs me the most amount of sleep is trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. That is not entirely true: more narrowly, it is what career I want to have when I graduate from college.

Last semester, when I took an Interpersonal Communication class, my teacher made everyone take a version of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, according to Carl Jung, (pronounced "Young"). That test determined that I am an INTJ personality type; they also gave a percentage for the strength of each preference:

I-Introverted (44%)

N-iNtuitive (38%)

T-Thinking (100%)

J-Judging (22%)

The description was all very interesting, and impressively accurate. Curious to find out if my personality type had changed since last semester, I took the test again a few days ago. Depending on which version I took,  I was either still diagnosed as an INTJ (and quite proud of it!), or as an ISTJ. The S denotes Sensing; S's are more "by the book", live by straight fact, and like to function in a highly structured manner. I read the profiles of ISTJs and found them to be slightly less accurate than the INTJ, but it was a fine line.

---I inquired my uncle, who is a professional psychologist, on the different types. He told me that I am considered an IXTJ (which is a technical term). He explained that that area of my personality is on the fence, and that as I grow and mature, my personality will gravitate stronger to one side. (He also noted that I'm barely old enough for the personality type to even apply. He is not aware that I am quite an old soul, far beyond my years in many ways.)---

The main reason I wanted to retake the test, however, was because I wanted to identify the careers best indicated for my personality type. I'll admit I was disappointed by what I discovered. The careers listed were: Computer Programming, Natural Science/Natural Science Education, Engineering, Management, Entrepreneurship, Law, and Librarian.* 

Unsatisfied by these suggestions, I decided to do more research to find some different options.  Another site stated** 

"Popular careers for the INTJ include:

economist financial planner investment banker computer programmer financial analyst network administrator systems analyst software developer

attorney engineer architect pilot graphic designer writer columnist/critic inventor

The only careers from this list that sound remotely interesting (and feasible) to me are a pilot, a writer, or a columnist/critic.  Two categories I can sort the remaining careers into are: 

1. Careers that I could not do, (computer programmer, systems analyst, software developer, engineer, architect, and graphic designer); and 

2. Careers that I could, but would not do: (all the rest)

While I still believe the INTJ profiles to be more accurate, I nonetheless researched careers for an ISTJ. I found that none were any more enticing than what the INTJ had to offer; they were pretty much the same.

The thing is, is that I am entirely capable of doing a lot of those intense and well-paying jobs, and I know I would be very good at them; I just don't think that I would enjoy them. I don't want to put myself in a job that I hate, that I am bored with, that I'm "stuck" in, or that binds me. To me, all of that extra money is not worth hating my job. What would be the point?

*http://www.humanmetrics.com/vocation/JCI.asp?EI=-44&SN=-38&TF=100&JP=22

**http://www.personalitydesk.com/intj-type-description.php

P.S. I [think] what I want.

Leading to my next point...Part Two: What I Think I Know I Want

There are few details of myself that I know, but I know them to my core. I know what I want in life (at least from this point in my life), and these are very important to me:

1. I want to live somewhere else. 

• My first choice is Ireland. I want to work in, perhaps, Dublin, and have a condo in the South of Dublin. I also want a weekend home in Wicklow. Just a tiny, charming cottage with a mountain or water view. If I decide I prefer the west coast, then I would want a similar set-up with a condo in Galway City, and a weekend home in Clare (the music capital). 
• My second choice is California. To me, the most attractive places (that I have visited) are Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Long Beach, respectively. I am not much of a fan of San Francisco or Los Angeles. Still, I would probably try to live in Long Beach and work out of Los Angeles. California, like New York City, just is not as appealing and glamourous as I used to imagine.

2. As mentioned above...

• If I live in the city, I want a tiny 1-2 bedroom apartment, and I want it to be decorated like Dr. Gregory House's apartment, which is strangely similar to the inside of Abercrombie and Fitch stores. 
• If do not live in the city, I want to live either in the mountains or by the water, in a small cottage.

3. I want to be able to travel...a lot.  I want to see the world! I want to go to Ireland, Scotland, France, London, Wales, Italy, Spain, and tons of different tropical places...

So far that's what I know for sure. But I still cannot figure out which career will allow for all of these things.