Still no job

I'm ashamed to admit how long I have been unemployed for now.  I've put out hundreds if not thousands of applications, and hardly ever hear back from anyone.  Today I was given an interview for Walmart, I had gotten all excited and thought it would be a sure thing.  I've never been to an interview and been turned down.  Now that I had the opportunity to talk with someone I was sure I would get the job.

So, I walk into Walmart walk to the back and inform the worker there that I was there for my 10:30 interview. She looked at me as though I were some chore she didn't want to do and told me that all the applicants were to wait at the bench a few feet away.  Immediately my heart sunk, I mean there are multiple applicants for this job?  Who would have thought, for a minimum wage third shift stocker there would be multiple applicants?  So I waited around, and eventually had my name called and I went into the back for my interview.

Remember how interviews used to be?  You would walk in and meet someone that was excited to see you, usually you would joke around and asked a few questions?  It is not that way anymore, now I was sitting in front of a panel of three people being asked of how I would respond in certain situations.  None of them were happy to be there, I was just another job to be completed.  They just wanted it to be done with.  I have social anxiety disorder, and when people probe me like this it just freaks me out.  I felt as though I were applying to some high profile job.

I can't really express how depressed I am right now.  I just had worked myself up, thinking this was a sure thing.  But, I know I will not get a call back.. I just didn't answer their questions as well as I could have, I was having a panic attack and finding answers to their questions really proved difficult.. and it sort of pisses me off, because I know I am a hard worker.  I love people too, and go out of my way to help them.  I know I would perform the job better than most of the third shift workers at Walmart, because I have been in the store that late at night and they mostly treat people like crap.

I failed, because I am not as good of a liar as they are in the interview process.  I failed because for some reason, in unfamiliar situations when I am the center of attention in a group of people, I become overwhelmed with anxiety.  I just thought this was going to be easy, and yet here I remain an unemployed stay at home dad, while my wife works two jobs.  I feel horrible right now.

I've worked for IBM, helping out high profile clients fix their machines..  literally responsible for millions of dollars, I managed a hotel at night, I've been in charge of a kitchen.. but I can't even get a job as a stockman anymore.. even Mcdonald's hasn't called back.. and the sad thing is, it is not like I haven't been trying.. I have, and this is the first interview I have had for well over a year.. well over two years.. Lets just say when the recession hit, I was hit pretty hard too.

I will probably have another month before I take my CNA exam to become licensed in the state of Florida.  Hopefully, I can at the very least get a job doing that.. if not, I think I might go insane..  Well, there is always the possibility that I am just being too hard on myself and Walmart will call back tonight but I really doubt it. I really would like a job there, but I don't think it is gonna happen.

More Windstar repairs

Before I can build a cradle for my sailboat, I have to have a vehicle to transport lumber..  so for now back to fixing the Windstar.  It needs two inner and two outer tie rods, a front right axle, and a master cylinder.  The past few days, I have done the tie rods, a simple job was delayed due to having to get the right tools to do the job.

Look here, a bunch of brown widows have made my car into their home.  I get to reach my hands into their nests, thankfully they are shy little critters and nocturnal.  Still, they will bite when cornered, which makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.  After doing the first side, I just dived in.  If I get bit, then I get bit.  As a side note, these lug nuts were way too tight, using the tire iron that came with the car stripped on.. so I had to use my ratchet, and use a tube for leverage.  This resulted in a broken ratchet, stanley tools didn't hold up to the task.  A husky ratchet worked though.

I love this little tool, makes the job a lot easier.  yes, the bolt is still on the outer rod, I took it out after snapping this picture.  

This is the inner tie rod tool, it makes life a lot easier.  They are also pretty expensive, rent one at advanced auto parts or autozone.  It will require about $75, but that will be returned to you when you return the part.  If you rent it, make sure it comes with the clasps you see in my hand.  The first time I rented it, it didn't have any.  As a side note latex gloves make the job a lot less messy.  My wife bought me a box of 100 at publix, at the price of $7.99.

You place the clasp, over the ball joint of the inner tie rod, then you slide the long tube through the rod on the inner tie rod and connect them together.  Then you grab your 1/2 ratchet and have a go with it.  One side for me was easy, the other side required me to prop up the tube with a piece of wood, connect a pipe to the ratchet handle, and push down on it with most of my weight.  It was a real pain in the ass.

     And there you go, not one bite thankfully.  I was going to be charged $300 to have all of the tie rods replaced, doing it myself brought the price down to $80 for the purchase of two inner tie rods, two outer tie rods, a 1/2 inch ratchet, a 3/8ths inch ratchet that I had to replace.  If I had not broken my ratchet, and didn't need the 1/2 ratchet it would have been $50 for just the tie rods.  If you stumbled on my site, be sure to do a lot more research before attempting this yourself - I'm just covering the basics for friends and family.  

     I think I will get the master cylinder done next, so I can drive around and test the brakes.  Then I will get to the right front axle.  After that, I can get back to updates on my sailboat, hopefully I will have built a cradle by then.

Venture of Newport updates

Just a little history on my sailboat, that remains nameless right now.  From what the previous owner had told me, I am the third owner of her.  The first owner, had passed away and I assume left the boat in the water for a long period of time due to the pretty messy underside.  The previous owner bought her a little over a year ago, with the intention of fixing her up but never had a chance.  The boat sat in her yard for a period of time until I bought it.  I have no clue how long it has been since she has had a bath, but she was filthy.  She still partially is, but I have been slowly cleaning her up.  There are stains, that I have yet to have been able to remove.. 

If that were not enough, on the 60 mile transit to my house, the bunk supporting the starboard side broke in two pieces creating two rather large indents.  Plus there are numerous areas where the gelcoat has been worn away, and several spider cracks on the pop top, and under the mast step.  What can I say this was a $600 sailboat, the previous owner trailered here here for free, and the trailer is in excellent shape.

Here is the interior when the boat was still at the PO's home.  There are a lot of stains in the gelcoat.  The cabin roof has no gelcoat, it is just paint over fiberglass which is flaking.  There is also some carpeting that looks to be in okay shape.  Amazingly, the cushions do not have any stench to them, I imagine they were stored inside.

I've cleaned up a bit here using soft scrub, the boat is a little dirty as I have been in and out of it quite a bit and needs to be cleaned again.  I haven't touched the ceiling yet but plant to eventually get rid of the old paint and repaint it using Rustoleum topside paint.

The deck, after she was brought to my house.  Pretty dirty right now.  The entire sailboat is.

A little bit of soft scrub, I'm not sure what the black stains are from.  I'm going to use a bit of acid to burn them out :D

There was quite a bit of gunk on the bottom, I have cleaned the port side.  Check out all of those blisters!!  I'm not sure what I am going to do about them, but it is a $600 boat.. and a trailer sailor.  I think I might just leave them there.

With hardly any effort on my part, she is much cleaner.  I used Sno Bol, toilet cleaner.  It took about two hours of applying it on, every fifteen minutes.  A tiny bit of scrubbing was involved, but it was not labor intensive.  I still need to clean it up a bit more but the worst part is over.  Couldn't get under the bunks unfortunately.

Above are the two indents I was speaking of, they really gave me a scare.. but..

My father came down, and we did a quick fix of the bunk.  We just laid another board under the broken one.. We will do a better job once we have had time to build a cradle to support her better.  To do this, we assembled a quick cradle to lift her a bit off of the trailer from the stern side.  Raised the front of the trailer and lowered the bunk bed to place the plank in.  

Do you see that?  Those two indents popped out, I can't even tell they were once there!  They scared the hell out of me but there seems to be no damage.  I inspected under the dinette and see no signs of damage.

In the near future, I'll be pulling her out of my front yard and putting her to the side of my house to do the work.  My father will come down to help me build a cradle to support her so we can properly place new trunks in.

My plans so far are:

* Clean gunk off of starboard side.
* Move to the side of the house.

* Build a proper cradle.

* Replace bunks.

* Do a bit of gelcoat repair.

* Replace wood trim.

* Replace the back stay.

* Build a mast raising system.

That really is all there is to it, as I can see right now.  Perhaps I will find a few things in the future, that need to be replaced, but so far it doesn't look too bad.  Now, I have to replace the tierods in my Windstar.

I got a sailboat

This was going to be my sailboat, it is a 1987 macgregor 25.  I really liked the feel of this boat, even though I only boarded her while at dock.  Inside, was far more accommodating than what I would have expected.  She was also much larger than what I would have expected a 25ft to look like.

The owner, wasn't very interested in selling her, and after I checked her out in person we stopped contacting one another.  I have a feeling, he kept the boat.  The price I was going to pay was $2,000 It included four sails, and an 8 hp outboard.

While I was checking out that sailboat, I was also inquiring about others.  There was a Venture of Newport listed at $3,500  I exchanged a few emails with the owner, and wished her the best in selling her.  A couple of weeks later I noticed the price going down on her craigslist listing.  At the time I was still interested in buying the Macgregor 25.  Unfortunately, $2,000 was a bit steep for my wife, plus the fact the owner did not seem at all interested in selling her.  So a couple days after viewing the Mac 25, I noticed the Venture of Newport price reduced to $600

So here she is, at my home.  We bought her for $600.  She is a bit smaller inside and out than the 25, I can not sit up inside of her, so I have to slouch a bit.  Despite what people say on the internet the popup top is not giving me 6' headroom.  Perhaps the supporting poles on mine need to be replaced.  But, I really do love her and the look of her.  She is a classy looking sailboat, and also she is a cutter.  But, she is filthy right now.  I'm in the process of cleaning her up and hope to get mos of the grime out.