Said Goodbye to Annette

Annette

June 9 1946 - March 18, 2010

Annette was a co-worker of mine. I have known her for the past 8 years. My co-workers are really close so it feels like we lost a member of our family. She lost her battle to liver cancer that she has been fighting for the last year.

Annette was a wonderful, caring, thoughtful woman who was not afraid to say how she really felt. She had a sense of humor like no one I ever met. She was not afraid of making herself look like a fool just to get a laugh. We would often joke about her potty mouth.

I know now that she is up in heaven and not in pain anymore. She will be missed greatly.

Donations: Daffodils for Cancer

Said Goodbye to Gene

Gene

October 19, 1940 - May 27, 2009

I found out today that one of my co-workers passed away last night. He was 68 years old and battling leukemia. I guess the battle was just to much. We all knew he was very sick but we thought he was getting better.

So today has been a very quiet day for all of us. I knew him since I started working here at the bank (8 years ago) and can't imagine him not coming in anymore to visit us. He was such a nice guy.

May God bless his family for going through this rough time. Gene is no longer feeling any pain or suffering anymore. May they always have casual Fridays up in Heaven.

Got my first Full time Job.

Things don’t always work the way they are supposed to. My big plans to be an EMT didn’t exactly go the way I wanted them to. I never took the final exam and I quit working as a chair car driver at Armstrong Ambulance simply because the job was very stressful. I had a lot of growing up to do.

Being unemployed was very hard. I was living with my parents which helped BIG TIME and my boyfriend, Johnny helped pay for the little things such as going out to dinner. My last paycheck and savings account were quickly reduced and I was left with only $10.00 in my account.

It was not like I was being lazy or anything; I was actively looking for another job. But everything that I really wanted (Nurses assistant, dispatcher, police station secretary) I was under qualified for. I did however get a brief job as a Mall Cop at my local mall. Let’s just say I wasn’t quit into the whole mall security like everyone working there is. So intense!

Finally I had to figure some things out. Since I was turning 19 in December, I needed medical insurance FAST. My parents could only have me on their insurance if I was younger then 19 or a full time student. I needed to find a job fast!

It came down to a job that I really wanted or a job that I knew I would excel at. I went with the devil I do know and started to applying at banks. It was where my skills from Foodmaster would come in handy.

Several banks received my resume but they either were not the right bank for me or never ended up calling me. My boyfriends Mom was a secretary at a bank and told me they were looking for Tellers. This was not the first time she mentioned a job opportunity at her bank. Looking at my empty account I applied as a Teller.

A few days went by and I got a phone call from the bank looking to do an interview with me! Yay!! I dressed as professional as possible with clothes I borrowed from my Mom. Went in the bank and did the best interview I knew possible. A few days later I got a call to say I got the job! I was so relieved and happy!

Working in a bank you need to dress with a sense of professionalism. Hard to do when I only had $10 in your account. With $20 borrowed from my parents, I went to the used clothes store on my lunch hour and bought clothes for work. It was enough to get me through a week even though the clothes fit poorly and the shirt had a small stain.

I spent the first week watching, learning and making ribbon pins for 9-11 to hand to customers. Payday finally came and I was never so happy to see money go into my account. Even though this is not my dream job….its a job with a weekly paycheck and benefits.

Got my first full-time job

It’s official.

I am an adult :(

After being unemployed for 2 months, I got a full time job working as a teller for a small community bank that my boyfriend’s mom works for. It’s not exactly my ideal job, but it pays the bills and gives me health insurance. My plan is to stay here for a year and get back on my feet financially. I have seriously only $2.00 in my name right now. I barely have money for gas.

Since I am working for a bank now, I needed clothes that are professional looking. With $10 my Mom gave me, I headed to a used clothing store on my lunch break my second day on the job. I was able to buy 3 pairs of pants and a couple of tops with the money. Combined with clothes that my Mom had, I had enough clothes to make it through a week until I got my first paycheck!

One of my first major purchases with my new fortune was a beautiful velvet coat from a store I went into during my lunch break. It was $100 and I couldn’t wait to get it.

Being a banker has its ups and downs. I work Monday thru Friday with weekends and holidays off and I am home by 5pm. But it is very boring work and not what I wanted to do with my life. I can’t believe I went from training to be an EMT to training to be a Bank teller.

Got my first real job!

I was 15 ½ when I decided to get my first real job. I was tired of asking for money from my Mom and Dad. I needed to make my own money now. So I got my working papers (you need to be 16 to work in Massachusetts unless you get working papers) and applied at Brighams down the street. A few days later I got a call that I could start next week as a waitress! I was estatic.

My work uniform was an apron with the Brighams logo and a plan maroon polo shirt. I couldn’t be prouder to wear it. I was quickly trained how to scoop the ice cream properly into sugar cones, make frappes, milkshakes and sundaes. Once a few of my friends heard about my first job they applied too. So going to work was like hanging out after school.

Want to know what the best part of the job was???

ALL THE FREE ICE CREAM I COULD EAT!!

Lets just say, I quickly gained 10lbs.

For $5.25 an hour plus tips, I was able to open my first savings account. I was also able to save up for my first car!