Far from Failure

Tomorrow I start my third job in my four months of living in Baraboo. Fourth since graduation. However, there are extenuating circumstances for each of these jobs and the departures that follow. First, I took a job at The Exclusive Company in Janesville because I needed a job whilst living in Whitewater before relocation. Then I moved to Baraboo, no more Exclusive Company. Barnes and Noble was an act of desperation after almost three weeks with no income and job after leaving Whitewater. Truth be told, I was really hoping that Barnes and Noble would be a place where I could stay and start a pseudo-career, or at least a decent job while I pursue my real interests. For the wages that I was being paid and the minimal hours I was receiving, the commute was not worth it and I was barely breaking even (if I even was, not totally sure.) For the purposes of this declaration, the terrible work atmosphere has nothing to do with my departure. Next on the docket, I accepted a job at Lands' End in Reedsburg (15 minutes away, rather than 45) for much more pay. The real zinger here is that it was only a seasonal position with no guarantee of employment after December. Essentially, I had no choice but to keep on the job search, regardless of how I probably could have stayed on, or my feelings toward the work I was doing. So last week I interviewed for another seasonal position at UPS. During said interview, I was offered a permanent position instead. Obviously, I took the job. I need steady income, steady hours, and UPS is literally five minutes away from my apartment.

So, what have we learned through the last six months? That I have advanced my position in the work world with each job I have taken. Since graduation, I have had minimal hours at every place of employment, pay increases at every job, and now have steady, permanent hours and employment. Can't argue with that. I definitely don't see these past months as job hopping either. The circumstances surrounding college graduates and the relocation after graduation create an atmosphere of uncertainty. As long as I keep advancing myself, I have no qualms with how I am going about things.

Enough about that for now. In the rest of my spare time I have been working on accompaniments for Kristen's Christmas programs. Most of them are standard Christmas tunes of the secular variety, Jingle Bells and the like. I'm about half done with them and have had very little resistance whilst recording/arranging. The only things that are holding me back are my lack of piano skills and my lack of a decent microphone. Because of these limitations, I am recording everything with MIDI. This way I can play things at slower speeds and then speed them up or slow them down as needed. It would be rather handy to be able to make a good acoustic guitar recording as the base of these pieces though. I find it much harder to fill out the sound without the guitar or a real piano part. Basically I am plunking out chords and dressing it up with counter melodies, percussion, and some other background sounds. It is amazing how much a little synth can go a long way in these small productions, bring it to life and give people something else to listen for, if they wish. That's another that's nice. They bring some extra spice without being overbearing. The counter melodies/descants really allow me to bring something individual to these standard arrangements. It's a challenge, but it is well within my grasp and only requires deep concentration and time. In other words, this is something that I am greatly enjoying.

There we have it, I am still advancing myself in any way possible. I am, as we say in the business, far from failure.