Jane's Journal

22

Jan 2007
5:10 AM EDT

January 22, 2007 Here’s what was transpired over the last 2 weeks in my efforts to find a house. The offer I made on a very nice house was not accepted. The lowest price they would accept was $ 10,000.00 more than I has offered them. My original offer was already stretching my budget and I just didn’t know if I wanted to pay anymore. I agonized for days over this. I decided to leave this house behind and start looking for something else. I started looking an older home on the main drag in Athens. It was a nice house but had some killer steps going upstairs!!! It was a 3 bedroom home but only 1 room was actually bedroom size, the other 2 I thought would make nice walk in closets. I toured the house twice trying to decide if this was the place for me. There was also another house for sale by owner in town. I really did want to go look at it because it was a fixer upper. My Mom finally convinced me to go look at it. Well I was pleasantly surprised to find out is was not that bad of a house. It does need updating but structurally it was very sound – no serious problems. After deciding that this house had some real potential I had to ask the Million Dollar question – how much???? The lady said that the fair market value was $ 50,000.00 and tax assessed amount was $ 42,000.00 (I’m thinking blah blah blah, how much for the house?) she said they were asking $ 35,000.00 because they realize it needs lots of work. Well, that’s all I needed to hear and decided this would be a GREAT house to fix up. I made an offer the next day and they accepted it in less than 2 hours. I should close on the house at the end of the month and then I will begin the project of remodeling it. I am very excited!!! Jane

11

Jan 2007
5:17 AM EDT

January 12, 2007 As most of you know I live in a slightly dysfunctional apartment. It has not really been a big deal and I live with it because the rent is cheap. But now that the cold weather has moved in the lack of windows is really beginning to make an impact. At night when I am sitting on my couch watching TV I pull down my paper shade to help stop the breeze I feel thru the window. Last night it was so windy here that the shade and the curtain were blowing about 6 inches from the window. My little furnace in the living room has just been working working working to keep up with the breezy conditions in my apartment. When the furnace first started running I had some concerns about it giving off carbon monoxide and poisoning me but now I see how much air exchange I have thru the windows so it has lessened my concern. Just another exciting day as a tenant with a dysfunctional landlord! Jane

11

Jan 2007
5:04 AM EDT

January 11, 2007 I have been living in my little apartment for over 6 months now and I am really starting to bust at the seams. When I had to move the winter clothes in I absolutely had no where to go with them. Most of my sweaters are in plastic containers and now line the perimeter of my room. I have decided that if I am going to stay in Athens for a while maybe I should look for other accommodations. So yesterday I put an offer in on a house. It’s very exciting and a little scary at the same time. It’s a nice older ranch that needs a little updating but otherwise in very good shape. The owner is in a nursing home so I meet with 2 of the children last night and gave them my offer. I should not by the end of the weekend what they decide. If all goes well I could be busy moving soon – or painting soon I should say. If anyone reads this please email and let me know if I should continue boring you with the ins and outs of my life!!!! J

09

Jan 2007
5:55 AM EDT

January 9, 2007 If anyone if looking for a great movie to watch I would recommend “Must Love Dogs”. It is a comedy that is really funny. It also happens to be about me. The woman is a 40 year old divorce woman and has decided to enter the world of dating. Well maybe she hasn’t decided but her family has decided for her. It’s a greatly movie about all the trials and tribulations involved with dating. I am really hoping things go better for me – but I’m really not off to a much better start. Some of you may know that I ventured into the dating world but it has not really worked out so well – I haven’t actually been able to go on the dates!!! And it is not because of me!!!! I’m hoping for better luck in 2007. If anyone is curious about the cameraman, we have not gone on a date and I have lost contact with him. I think he is either dead or in jail. I say that because I think those are the only 2 reasons someone would not return my call!! J

03

Jan 2007
8:30 PM EDT

January 3, 2007 Does anyone else think my life is somewhat of a soap opera? Well I certainly do. So As The World Turns so does my life. I completely enjoyed my time in Charlotte and certainly have had some crazy experiences and meet some great people. I have however decided that it is not quite the right time for me to make a move to a new city and look for a completely new line of work. I have decided to stay in Athens and work with my parents at Hartman’s. I want to continue working with Jud on the Heat and Eat meal project. Now that we our concept and menu in place the real challenge is to see if we can continue to grow our customer basis. I am excited to see where we can take this. It is a challenge that at this time is more comfortable for me. So I’m back with family and friends and very happy about that.

01

Jan 2007
5:41 AM EDT

January 1, 2007 Happy New Year, hope everyone had a great Holiday. I have to back track a bit and share a few stories from my trip to Charlotte. One of the last things I did while I was there was to meet Dave where he works at Chip Ganassi’s Racing. He had offered to give me a tour of the facility and I was not about to pass up on that opportunity. The tour of the shop was great. I got to see everything up close – all the cars, where they fabricate them, paint them and then do the assembly. What a fabulous facility they have. Their garage is more organized and cleaner than most people’s homes. Dave works on the 41 Target car and does most of the interior assembly. The tour was great and probably the highlight of my trip down to Charlotte. I really did not meet anyone from the company so it did not help with the job search – oh well!!! Saturday morning I dropped of my Ford Mustang at the car rental and headed to the airport to catch my plan home. I while really miss the Mustang – what a fun car to drive!!! Our flight home was completely full and I was assigned the very last seat on the plane. I waited until the very last boarding to get on the plane as I knew I had the last seat in the plane. When I finally got to my seat the attendant asked me to wait a minute before sitting down. I was really hoping I was not going to get bumped from the flight. It turned out that there was a mother with 3 small children and they did not all have seats together. The attendant asked if I would give up my seat so they could sit together. I agreed to change seat and took the only other seat available in the center of the plane. The attendant was quite apologetic as I had traded my isle seat for a middle seat. Our plane was then slightly delayed due to some mechanical difficulty. Just before taking off the attendant came back and again thanked me for switch seat and then asked me to join them in First Class!!! Wow, that is the way to fly. Everything about First Class is so much better than in coach. The drinks, the food, the bathroom and I think even the quality of the air is better. I have never had good things to say about Northwest Airlines but they were certainly good to me on this trip. Needless to say my trip home was great! J

14

Dec 2006
10:22 AM EDT

December 14, 2006 So I tried but had no luck in getting someone to go out to Vinnie’s (rumored hang out of many NASCAR people). I was a bit antsy and do not want to sit home and watch TV so I had to bit the bullet and go out ALL BY MYSELF. I decided to go up there and have some dinner. Well, no luck on hooking up with anyone who know anyone who would be hiring for jobs in NASCAR but the craziest thing did happen. As I was waiting to get a table, what appeared to be a very nice gal came and stood next to me. Because I am alone at down here I have made it a point to chit chat with anyone I can. So I strike up a conversation with this gal. It turns out she is on a blind date. I told her if the date doesn’t show up she is more than welcome to join me for dinner. She thought that was sweet of me to offer (people down here say that a lot “that’s sweet”). Well her date did show up but they offered to have me join them for a drink after I was done with dinner. After enjoying some delicious crab cakes I wandered into the bar and found them. This is when things start to get a little strange. I was not at the table more than 10 minutes and this gal, I think her name was Bobette, says she has to leave. Like I said she was a nice gal so when she got up to leave she came over and gave me a hug. She whispers in my ear that she really was not interested in this guy and told me to feel free to hang out with him. Joe left with Bobette to walk her to her car. So her I sit with some other woman’s blind date. Not exactly the ideal situation – especially since I had no interested in Joe. He is a boxer and I think he my have that “punch drunk” thing going on. I tried to see if I could get out of the place without any of them seeing me but that was not possible. When Joe returns I tell him this must be his lucky night – 2 for one special at Vinnies. He thinks it’s great one date leaves and he still has one gal left???!!!??? We chat for a while and I have another beer, don’t want to make him feel too bad, his date really did not stick around very long. By now it’s about 10 o’ clock and I announce I also need to be getting home. Joe looks at me kind of strange and he said well you don’t have to go to work tomorrow why you have to go home so early. Hmmm…. That caught me off guard, why did I have to go home??? Well I said I had a meeting @ Chip Ganassi Racing (which is partially true) and I wanted to be in good shape for that so I needed to get a good nights sleep. He seemed to buy that and we went our separate ways. 67 degrees today! Jane

13

Dec 2006
12:42 PM EDT

December 12, 2006 Another beautiful day in Mooresville. It was sunny and the temp was about 65. Just about everywhere you drive around here you can see Lake Norman. It such a shame that the weather is so beautiful and I’m at the lake and I have not meet someone with a boat -yet. After I secure I job I will have to work on the boat thing!!! But the weather is still great for cruising in the MUSTANG. Not much new on the job front – today was not terrible productive. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for better luck tomorrow.

12

Dec 2006
7:04 AM EDT

December 11, 2006 Oh what a day. Since I got to Charlotte my days have been quite challenging. Sometimes I really don’t know what to do with myself. It has taken a lot of work to keep my days busy so I really have to take it just one day at a time. With no job interviews on the horizon I have had to resort to call anyone I know in Charlotte - which is not many people. I did contact a guy who works for Lowes Motor Speedway. I met him when I was working here this fall. He has quite busy schedule this week but said he would meet with me next week. Then I call a lady I meet this weekend who was going to give me a contact at LMS for the woman in charge of concessions. But Kim was not at work today so I will have to call her back tomorrow. My last call was to Gail Lemmond who works for Levy Restaurants (major catering company for NASCAR tracks). This is a company I am very interested in. She does not do the hiring but I thought she could give me some info about the company. She is on vacation until after New Years so I should call her after that. With no more calls to make I did some random emailing of my resume to different Race Teams. I don’t think the emails are the most effective thing to do but when I have nothing else to do. With my job hunting done for the day I decided I needed a hair cut. After cruising around I finally found what looked like a nice salon. After chatting with the stylist and telling her of my mission to find work in NASCAR she had some tips for me. Since it seems meeting people is my best way to go about job hunting I have to find the right places to go – to meet the right people. She was very helpful in pointing out local establishments that other NASCAR workers frequent. She even offers to meet me out on with her boyfriend since I really don’t have anyone to go out with. I am very fortunate that people have been so willing to help me. Kind of a crazy way to find work but what’s a girl to do??? In case anyone wants to know the weather here is just beautiful. It was sunny and 65 degrees today. Hardly seems like December. Jane

09

Dec 2006
9:12 AM EDT

December 9, 2006 Today I headed downtown for my first interview with a sports marketing company. To make a long store short it was a complete flop. To start the company was in a shady part of town and when I arrived the office had bars on the windows. I know that sometimes I it takes me a while to catch on but I now that bars on the windows is not a good since. So I go inside and my second clue that this may not be what I am looking for was that I was the only white person in the place. Now this is the second time this happened and the last experience worked out okay so I decided to stay and see what was up. Well it turns out that this company really does not work with NASCAR – it just markets a product that is used in NASCAR. So the marketing would be at Auto Zone and places like that. Not exactly what I am looking for!! In the afternoon I meet up with Lisa Micheals and we did some shopping at one of the local malls. Later that evening we went out for dinner and drinks. We had a great time but when I finally go home that evening about 11 pm and I was beat. You know those days without a nap are long! Jane

08

Dec 2006
9:27 AM EDT

December 8, 2006 Yesterday morning I started my day off with a walk in my new neighborhood. About one block from the house I am staying at is the infamous Lake Norman. I walked along the lake until I came to a dead end. It is a very nice lake – the terrain is really hilly so it made for a good work out. I one point I thought I was almost sweating so I slowed things down a bit. There are some palatial places on the lake. But there are also a few small cabins, I even saw one trailer home. I bet everyone in the neighbor hood dislikes that guy. One modest ranch home for sale was listed at $ 585,000.00. I don’t think I will be picking up any lake property soon. After my walk I prettied myself up to hit the road. My first stop was at a Kinko’s to type of a letter for a company I was going to stop at. It’s called Octagon Racing and they have an opening for an Account Executive. So after typing the dreaded cover letter I stopped at the office and dropped of my resume. Their corporate office is on the east coast and they would forward my resume to the HR manager there. It seems like it would be a good opportunity. Then I was off to good old Panera Bread so I could go on line. Stayed there for about 3 hours surfing the internet looking for more jobs and stuff. Earlier in the day I had gotten a call from Sherry Berna (a fellow women on snow bunny) and she gave me a number of a guy that is originally from Wausau that now lives in Mooresville. After a few more shots of coffee at Panera Bread I finally worked up the nerve to call him. For those of you who don’t know I do have moments of being shy!!! I got his answering machine and left him a message so I headed home to have some dinner. I had just put on my pajamas and sat on the couch to watch Survivor when Dave returned my call. After a few minutes of chatting on a bad cell phone connection we decided to meet for a few drinks. He seems to be a really great guy – and just my luck, he works for Chip Gannassi Racing. Next week I am going go over to their shop for a tour – should be fun. So all in all I think my first full day in Charlotte was pretty good. J

07

Dec 2006
11:59 AM EDT

December 6, 2006 Here I am on my flight to Charlotte. The plane is not very full. I can’t believe I got lucky enough to get an exit seat (lots of leg room) and no one sitting next to me. But with no one next to me I will have to be quiet for the next 2 hours. Not having anyone to talk to will probably put quite a strain on me. I survived not talking for 2 hours. This was probably one of the nicest plane rides I have ever had. It was great to have so much room. After gathering up my luggage I headed over to Budget Rental to pick up my car. I of course purchased and economy car to save money but I asked the guy what he had for me today!! Not a Hyundai I hope. Well, he said “how would a Ford Mustang be?” I told him I had never driven a Ford but a Mustang sound mighty nice. So off to the shuttle to pick up my car. When got there the drive told me that there was no car in my space so we had to go to the main office. I figured getting a nice sports car for the economy price was too good to be true. I looked around the lot and really did not see any other “fun” cars. The manager pointed out that the Mustang was parked in the wrong spot. So after all I did get a Mustang. It is probably the sportiest car I’ve ever driven. It’s pretty cool. I especially like that is has the words MUSTANG written on the side of it – makes it easy to find in the parking lot. Last night I just got settled into the place I am staying. I went to Walmart to pick up some essentials – FOOD, had some dinner, came home and watched a little TV. Not much different than life in Athens!!! J

05

Dec 2006
5:55 AM EDT

December 5, 2006 Wow, I have missed 5 days of journaling. Part of that is because I have fallen out of my regular routine of walking in the morning with my Mom. I usually sit down with a cup of coffee and write after I come in from walking. Because of the cold weather and a few late nights I have told myself I should not go walking!!! It doesn’t take much to get me not to exercise. So you probably think I went walking today – not so. Last night I finally decided I needed to get packing for my trip to Charlotte. Two weeks is a long time to have to pack for. My poor suitcases are just bulging. I tried not to over pack (ha ha ha) by telling myself I can always buy it when I get there. I don’t have much of a game plan once I get to Charlotte. I following the AA approach and will take it one day at a time. Sunday night my parents had the Hartman’s Christmas party at their house. What a great time we had. The group of people that work at the store are really a lot of fun. Then give them a few drinks and we really had some serious laughing going on. Well I need to get the rest of my packing done. I am hoping to leave about 2 today to head over to Dan and Renee’s. They will take me to the airport in the morning to catch my flight to NC. Jane

30

Nov 2006
6:58 AM EDT

November 30, 2006 Yesterday Jud and I were off to Wausau for a full day of activities. After stopping do drop off a funeral dinner we headed to the Wisconsin Cheese Cake company to pick up an order. We need to stock the freezer with yummy treats for the holidays. We then stopped for a quick lunch and then it was off to the Spa. Jud had a gift certificate she got last year for x-mas and it needed to get used. So who better to take her than me!!! We started out session by sitting in one of their outdoor hot tubs for ½ hour. Then we went for our Swedish Massages. Jud had a ½ massage and then was off for a Manicure and a Pedicure. I however continued to massage and massage and massage. I had a 1 hour massage followed by a ½ hour of reflexology (foot massage). What a great way to spend the afternoon. 3 hours later we were off on our way x-mas shopping. We powered shopped for next two hours at Kohl’s. So 2 hours later, 2 full carts and a smoking credit we had completed a lot of our shopping. We then rewarded our selves for our good behavior with a nice dinner! J

29

Nov 2006
5:12 AM EDT

November 29, 2006 Life in a small town. Its been quite some time since I was to a home perming party. Well that’s what I got to do last night. My Aunt Bev and her friend Patty were in need of sprucing up their do’s and need permanents. I was invited to the party to bring my scissors to give the ladies trims when they were done. I do have to say that they both looked smashing after I put the finishing touches on them. Today Jud and I are headed to Wausau to get her x-mas shopping done. She plans to crack it off in one day!!! I hope that during the shopping trip I don’t have any accidents. I say that because last night I had a very restless night sleeping. I had some very bad heart burn or something so I got up and took some tums. Well it was late and I did not bother to turn on the light to see what it was that I was taking and this morning when I got up there was a bottle of fiber pills next to my bed!!!! Needless to say I still have the heart burn but I bet I won’t have any bowel problems today. J

28

Nov 2006
4:35 AM EDT

November 28, 2006 I am all set to head back to Charlotte to continue my job searching. I fly out on Wednesday December 6 and will return on December 20th for the Holidays. Since making my plan reservations I have had to get serious about looking for some gainful employment. I have sent out quite a few resumes to names given to me by Lisa (the gal I meet in Charlotte who is originally from Mosinee, WI). Most are operations managers with different race teams. I also used the internet to find travel companies that do NASCAR events and marketing companies that work with NASCAR sponsors and teams. I think working for one of those companies would be exciting. Many of them do hospitality planning for their clients and I think that is right up my alley. I am trying really hard to embrace this whole idea of having to go on a job interview – it is not something I am looking forward to. I think that people should just get together and talk and if the person doesn’t give you the hebe jibes you hire them! But I guess I will play the game and do my research and be prepared to answer their silly questions – it’s probably not as bad as I am making it out to be right now. Oh well, what have I got to lose! J

27

Nov 2006
5:31 AM EDT

November 27, 2006 Bowling, bowling, bowling – that’s what Saturday night was all about. We had our annual Ladies Bowling Extravaganza at the 11th Frame. I do have to say that since last year everyone has really stepped up their bowling skills. We had a high score of 174 this year!!! I think maybe less pregame beverages were consumed this year and everyone was on their game this year. Every year we have had a special hat that has to be worn when someone gets a gutter ball. This year we changed it up a bit and we had a hat for everyone to wear. When you bowled a gutter ball you had to go and pick a bag that had a hat inside. Needless to say some of the hats were pretty crazy!!! If you then got a strike you could exchange your hat with any other person you wanted. It took until about the middle of our second game of bowling and everyone had a hat one!!! It was quite a sight. J

24

Nov 2006
5:27 AM EDT

We had some big excitement at the store on Wednesday. Well, I found it exciting, I think my parents find it nerve raking. We had channel 9 come out to the store and shoot 2 commercials. One is for the new Heat and Eat meals and one is for x-mas at the store. I got to be in the Heat and Heat commercial. My role was to be the shopper that just could not find something to make for dinner until I discovered the Heat and Eat Meals. I tell the story like I had a major role in a move but in fact my part only took about 3 minutes to shoot which will in reality be about 5 seconds (if I’m lucky) in the ad. But all in all it was fun and I can’t wait to see the finish project. I will let you know when the commercials will be on TV. J

22

Nov 2006
5:13 AM EDT

Tonight my family will get together and celebrate Thanksgiving. We started having our dinner on Wednesday night to alleviate the stress of having 2, sometimes more, places to go on Thanksgivings. I think that Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays. Not because of a love for turkey but because of its meaning. Giving thanks for what we have. I will admit that in my past I have spent more time worrying about the things that I did not have and not giving enough thanks for the things I did have. I have found out in the last year that it really is not the “things” that make you happy. When I left my house in Milwaukee and all my “things” went into storage I was very sad. But you know, I was okay with out them. If you would have told me 2 years ago that I would be living in a small 1 bedroom apartment with no closet space, rotting out windows, no washer and dryer, a malfunctioning toilet and right next door to my parents store I would not have thought those were ideal conditions. Well, they probably still are not ideal but I’m okay with it. It seems that my happiness is coming from other sources and not from my physical surroundings. I am truly thankful that I have come to this realization. I have heard people say many time that money cannot buy happiness but truthfully I did not believe that!!! I don’t really know that it can’t but I do know I really to not need a lot of “stuff” to be content. So this year I am especially thankful for all I have – health and happiness. J

21

Nov 2006
5:21 AM EDT

Just trying the picture thing again. J

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Username: Jane

Gender / Age: Female, 57

Location: USA

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