Katy Klein Has a Chat

So as part of my unemployment homework I attended the Re-invent Your Career Expo.  When I first saw an advertisement for it I was pretty excited. I was also at that initial stage of unemployment where all you can see are opportunities.  I was strongly considering driving a bus for a while but was fairly concerned I would crash within about oneweek.  I had toyed with being a bank teller.  And I am still in the process of joining the army reserves (tax free cashola for running around obstacle courses – awesome!).  Of course now, having received numerous rejections, I am back to applying for anything remotely in my field.  I don’t actually want to stay in my field but it seems most employers think I should. Every time I have tried to cross over it hasn’t been terribly successful and that whole malarky about transferable skills? Psslllt! 

Anyway, we shelled out $10 for the Expo which was basically to see a whole heap of stands from educational institutions and  a few trying to lure people to work in the country thrown in (work-life balance in Wangarratta anyone?).  I’ve already worked in the country and I ended up quitting on a post-it note so that was out. I also can’t afford to study which meant there was absolutely nothing of any relevance to me.  At least getting a copy of The Age for free ameliorated the cost of entry. My partner was also pretty impressed with his key-chain spirit level and measuring tape – that is still keeping him occupied.

When I first starting looking for work I had considered a career planning service whose prices vary considerably.  According to one burnt out marketing executive I have spoken to, it cost her about $1600.  From what she told me, the testing sounded remarkably similar to what I had done using a library book (total cost $0).  Now if I paid money for such a service I would expect them to tell me my one perfect job.  The job that makes me feel like I’m not going to ‘work’ each day. You know those people who say that they would do their job for free they love it so much? I can only think that it takes newspaper reporters quite a bit of time to find them. A quick survey of my friends will find a grand total of 0% who would go to work for free.  Anyway, I thought I was the only one who wanted an easy answer until I noticed something interesting at the Expo.  Do you want to know what the only stand with a queue at the Expo was offering? A free 10 minute psychic career reading. Maybe I can check what jobs I have done in previous lives. They might have that at the next psychic and natural healing expo.

I signed up for mystery shopping a while ago but eventually turned off my account after being besieged by mystery shopping opportunities by email.

Thanks to unemployment I have reactivated my account.  It’s quite silly because I could be earning enough money to buy lunch by going to a job each day.  Instead I am getting real joy out of a free lunch with a tidy $7 profit. I also get to try new things.  Although in the case of fast-food-mystery-shopping on Monday it wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped.  But I am repeating the experience today (with a different meal combination).

I was quite excited about my first mystery shopping experience which involved going into a store and trying on a clothing item.  I carefully rated the customer service I received. An unfortunate side effect of this though, was that I found that for the next week I was rating the service I got in every shop.  I even found myself thinking that I wished I had a rating form for one shop – so very rude! 

But it’s very easy to be critical.  On my last assignment I was a little more considerate towards those working in the store.  I remember my days of working to put myself through Uni and sometimes serving customers all day does your head in.  I found that whilst most people are polite and some even friendly, there is that constant percentage of people that range from rude to downright obnoxious.  Unfortunately they are the ones that drag behind you as you go home for the day. So I still give good feedback now but I make sure I am also a lot more understanding.

So on Saturday night we had tickets for Roller Derby.  Basically when I found out such a thing existed I wanted to be part of it.  I can remember seeing American roller derby action on TV and it looked awesome.  Contestants would form chains so they could hunt down and knock over their opponents and it is a full contact sport. Not surprisingly it’s a female league, possibly because a lot of female sports involve contact (even when they shouldn’t) and it’s the sort of contact that the Refs don’t always see.

So we ventured out to Resevoir, which for a South-Eastern suburbs girl is the other side of beyond, and almost got bogged in the car park. The venue is an old-school style roller rink and the punters just cram in. It’s obviously a big night out and why not?  The drinks are cheap, the sausages tasty and the smell of fried food reassuringly oily (it even follows you home). You do need to get in early to get a seat, otherwise it’s bring your own cushion for a rink seat and if really brave (read just plain silly) you can sit right up front and hope that none of the contestants crash into you.

Roller derby chicks are the sort of female role model I’d like my daughter to see, athletic, competitive and a whole range of shapes and sizes. But most importantly with co-ordinated outfits. I was really impressed that this was one female competitive sport that seemed to have no problem in drawing a crowd.  Even better there were cheer squads and they were male. The boys had even dressed up in their team colours and frocks.  One group had not only bought a blow up sheep, but also a blow up lady called Phoebe Bee who bizarrely had blow up antenna and wings and featured a bee striped tube top.  One does wonder who a bee-like blow up doll might cater too (desperate apiarists?).

The roller derby crowd itself deserves a mention because of the sheer number of costumes on display.  And surprisingly a lot of them seemed to be worn by the guys.  Three piece suits with a stetson, an ankle length leather coat with extra folds that billowed nicely as the chappie strode along and one guy with a staff (how often do you really need a staff in life unless you’re Gandalf?).  I am guessing that these were some of the local Uni students and I was pretty happy to see that conformity hadn’t crept into Uni life, in fact it looked a lot like my campus at any one lunchtime all that time ago…….

The first derby was between the Victorian Roller Derby League (VIDRL) and Geelong. The contestants had obviously put a lot of thought into not only their ensembles but also their names (Skate Bush, Mandytory Punishment and Misty Meaner to name a few) and their numbers ($4.00, 80%). The Geelong girls had the best outfits but VIDRL took the round on points.  It did take us some time to figure out how each bout was scored.  Finally the program told us that after the ‘Jammer’ makes it through the pack (made up of a ‘Pivot’ and ‘Blockers’) the first time, they then get a point for every player they pass from the opposing team.

The next derby saw VIDRL take on the Sun State Roller Girls (that’s right it’s a national league – how have I not heard about it?) and the competition became a lot more fierce.  Apparently these two teams had a bit of history. More blocks, more spills, more players in the sin bin.

Anyway, if you are stuck for something to do on a Saturday night than I can recommend Roller Derby especially for the stories you can tell your work mates on Monday morning (’You went where?’, ‘You saw what?’). At $15 it’s well worth the trip to Resevoir, just be careful in the car park.

Lats night a good friend and I attended Melbourne Craft Cartels’ Dye Pretty at the Newton Workers’ Club.  I was kind of expecting a small group of ladies with a penchant for crochet huddled in a corner. Instead we walked into a pub absolutely packed full of hip young things all grabbing at craft materials and working wonders with glue stick. 

Turns out it pays to get in early (doors open at 5.30 pm) to get the best craft picks and a seat.  As I qualified as a ’starving artist’ (AKA unemployed) it was a great value $4 (otherwise $8 for ‘workers’). I was handed my Go-Go bag with the mission for the night being to create an anti-swine flu face mask. 

I really felt like I was back in my Grade 6 art class which was awesome.  Unfortunately it turns out that I haven’t really got any more creative in my old age. I stuck pieces of gold paper, tinsel and a ballon hopefully onto my face mask which produced something that resembled a bedazzled boob.

It is worth a mention that the lemon, lime and bitters at the Worker’s Club is stupendous, somehow managing to taste like a Cuban mojito.  For those of you attempting Semi-Dry-July, this is fairly significant.  The urge to get myself a glass of vino as I sprinkled glitter was almost overpowering.

The vino would have probably helped me to gather the courage to take my nipple decorated face mask up on the catwalk for judging.  Seeing it in the cold light of day today however, it’s quite possible that Semi-Dry-July saved me from a certain level of embarrassment considering that there was some amazing talent on display.  The judges awarded the winning prize to a mask complete with floppy eared pig with (S)wine glass hand decoration which was my personal favourite.

Next time I am definitely going to think about what I will create before I start sticking anything on.  Heck I may even bring my own sewing basket. After all Semi-Dry-July will be over by then and winning a slab of beer would ease me back into Piss-Up-August quite nicely.

Check out www.craftcartel.com, for the next craft night and I may see you there. My goal next month is to make it up the catwalk with a craft item that doesn’t look like a 5-year-old made it, but should you see one that does, I’d really appreciate a sympathetic round of applause!