Robert Fiance Beauty School

It’s Fat Tuesday! It’s Mardi Gras! It just stopped snowing an hour ago. It wasn’t a fun snow either. It was wet and windy. I ventured out into the wet and windy wilderness.

I had an appointment to visit a beauty school on Bergenline Avenue in West New York. I originally thought it was at 2:00 but it’s a good thing I checked and saw it was actually at 1:00. I bundled up and headed over to the train station to catch the light rail.

I could have easily walked over to the Ninth Street station but didn’t. The thing about the light rail is that you have to buy a ticket and then have it validated next to the ticket vending machine. I saw the Tonnelle Avenue train waiting to go but the machine wasn’t giving me any tickets.

When I moved over to another machine and had the ticket stamped and validated the train was gone and I was standing out there in the cold. I thought I was going to be late, and called Bill who got the phone number for me, and called the school who didn’t seem to mind and appreciated my calling.

A few minutes later another light rail came in and I hopped on it. No one checks the tickets. No conductor walking through the cars. I have only seen a ticket check once, and that involved police asking to see tickets once people disembark.

I’ve often thought about just hopping on the train and taking my chances, but it would be a $300.00 fine and I’m a chicken.

The school was only a few blocks away from the Bergenline station and it was an easy walk with some side steps to avoid the ponds and lakes on the street corners. I hadn’t been up in this Bergenline area in years.

I used to come up here occasionally when I lived in Weehawken. Some good shopping deals and plenty of eye candy for me.

I made it into the school and filled out a form and sat. Definitely not as hectic as the other school last week. Where they had over 200 people running around, this place had maybe 50 at best.

I met with Carlos who seemed nice. Definitely looked like someone who’s been cutting hair for 23 years. Nice guy though. He had some things to say about the school I visited last week.

He said the city school gets money from the government to get mainly women from the homeless shelters to train as beauticians and sometimes the police would be called 3 times a day due to fights breaking out. Not my type of place at all.

Carlos said that because I was unemployed I would instantly qualify for financial aid, as well as a Pell grant and they would help me with all of that, including student loans if need be. It was a brief meeting but it went well I think.

I was definitely more comfortable there than I was at the other place which just seemed like a mill. And I didn’t have a cumbersome book to lug around afterward. The commute isn’t so bad and the smaller classes is a plus.

1600 hours versus 1200, an 8 month course against a 6 month course.

I haven’t made my mind up yet, but I am leaning in staying local. Walked back to the apartment, caked with snow. Not going out again, staying in. Lost is on tonight after all.

There is something for the unemployed of Hoboken going on at McSwells tonight. It seemed like a good thing, but it’s $10.00 cover was a bit off putting. I could see $5.00 as a reasonable cover, but not $10.00.

the view from the Light Rail station

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A Lunar Module

An Astronaut

A Stegosaurus ?

T Rex claw

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Last night was melancholy. It was a slow descent into melancholia. In the back of my mind was the anxiety of the job interview this morning. Well maybe it was more like a full occupation of my mind, the melancholia.

I had a fun phone call with Annemarie and a good time with Bill but I couldn’t enjoy things like Curb Your Enthusiasm. There were aspects that I did laugh at but most everything was clouded by the anxiety. And it wasn’t so much the interview, it’s the whole idea of being unemployed.

It’s really a drag and that is really an understatement. I’ve been unemployed before and knew it was only a matter of time before I would land another gig. But it really is scary out there. I didn’t know how scary it was until I became part of it.

I had an appointment for 11:00 this morning for an interview and felt that the tutorials I did a few weeks ago would help me out. I set the alarm clock for 7:00. Bill was up and out around 6:00, giving me a kiss goodbye and wishing me well.

He’s so great. Drives me crazy sometimes, but any relationship usually involves one party driving the other party crazy. The toothpaste cap. The dishes in the sink. Neither one of those issues concern us, just using it for an example.

He’s so incredibly supportive of me, believing in me when I don’t. And that’s a lot of the time.

Yesterday when I was at Tariq’s studio, the two of us were on the fire escape having a smoke. He had some good advice having been through a lot in his own life. It was advice that I had given to people from time to time and I had forgotten it.

There’s always someone who has it worse than you. As he was saying this I saw two people in electric wheelchairs in the distance headed to the light rail. How’s that for reality? I told Tariq I know I have it good. I have a roof over my head and I have someone who loves me. And some people don’t have either. So I’m grateful.

And if I am asked on Thursday to state what I am thankful for I can just point at Bill and say ‘Him’.

I reset the alarm clock to 9:00 and finally got some real good sleep. Woke up to the music of War singing Low Rider. I even said an affirmation. ‘Good day, good day, it’s gonna be a good day’ I kept repeating that to myself and I got myself ready.

Had to print out three references, got a nice suit & tie on. Braces, socks, sock garters (hate droopy socks), lightly polished my shoes and had my passport for government ID, my resume and I was out the door.

The light rail was at 10:38 and I thought I had enough time but by the time I was about 150 yards from the light rail I looked at my watch and it was 10:35. I ran through the terminal, jammed my credit card in the ticket machine, had it validated, time stamped at 10:38 and saw the light rail pulling away.

I called up the agency, getting the number through Google411 and dialed the number. No answer. I called Bill and asked him to go into my email and get the info from the email that the counselor Rainier sent me.

Bill was great and asked if I was going to call the counselor. Steam leaked a little bit from my ears but I kept it cool. He got the info and told me and I called, telling Rainier that I was going to be 10 minutes late.

He was fine with it, but I hate being late. Generally I’m early. Good day good day, it’s gonna be a good day. Got off the light rail in the middle of the Harborside complex which consists of a few post modern buildings.

Which one? I called Bill once again and once again Bill came through.

Got to the office, filled out paperwork. Took an Excel, Word and Outlook test. Oddly enough I did better on the Excel than I did on the Word. Outlook was a walk in the park.

I was in a tiny room with four other guys, all of us intensely focused on the computer screens in front of us. I was gassy. Not releasing gas mind you, but it was moving it’s way through my body and was a little bit noisy. At least noisy to me.

Don’t know if the others heard it. It was like an interview I had tears ago for a production company called Geronimo. Same thing happened but that was during the interview. No gas, just internal noise.

Finally met Rainier who was a crazy cute guy. We went over the tests and he remarked that I did better than most which was a pleasant surprise. I have a good feeling about this agency. Perhaps they’ll place me somewhere.

Maybe it was butterflies in my stomach from talking with Rainier, maybe it was gas. It went well and I wished him and the receptionist and Happy Thanksgiving which is the thing to say this week.

Even though it was cold and windy I decided to walk back to Hoboken through the Jersey City waterfront. I enjoyed a cigar on the way and listened to the iPod. Overall I think it went well. A positive way to spend a few hours.

I feel a lot better tonight and shook a rosebush when I got home.

Here’s some pics from the walk home.