March 06, 2022

Offbeat Offline: February 2022


Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? Job-hunting, but barely, because I didn't even have time for that. MIL still in the hospital for her broken femur (see Offbeat Offline: January 2022), then in rehabilitation, then home again. Because the universe is NEVER finished with me and the people around me. Catch a breath? What's that?

(Anyhow, I managed to take a week off work from Feb. 28th, so things have been slightly less hectic these latest days...).


πŸ“š BOOKS AND BUMPS. February was a hard month for me. I was overwhelmed by life stuff (see below), so my reading was a series of stop-and-go. I managed to finish Alien: Echo by Mira Grant and to start The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning - both buddy reads with Carrie - but I had to excuse myself multiple times for not being able to read the allotted number of pages per day, and I kept postponing our reading goals...it was like "the dog ate my homework" minus the dog πŸ˜‚ 😭. Carrie's been nothing but patient, lucky me...still, ugh.

In this bleak and weary month, a ray of light came in the form of two giveaways I won! TΓ’nia hosted hers on Twitter, while Lissa did the same on her own blog. For the first, I chose Magic for Nothing, Book 6 in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire, which I'm trying to catch up with; for the second, I requested a physical copy of Deadgirl: Goneward by B.C. Johnson, which I had received for review in PDF form when it came out.

I also got approved on NetGalley for The Revelry by Katherine Webber (thank you Walker Books!), and the same publisher granted me my first auto-approval! Which is when I found out that NetGalley.com and NetGalley UK are two separated sites (at least when it comes to the books they offer), and I can see my auto-approval by Walker Books only on NG UK. For a few days I thought their approval was a mistake and they had withdrawn it, since I couldn't see it anymore LOL. It turned out that I was on the wrong site...

Lastly, I had to simplify my schedule, since life kept getting in the way, so my blogging month will be very basic. Here's what I have in store for the rest of March: I'm going to post my full reviews for The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning and The Revelry by Katherine Webber in the second half of the month (...do I still know how to write a full review? The last one was at the beginning of January...πŸ‘€).


Reviews aside, I'll participate in a Tell Me Something Tuesday round on the 15th (question: Would You Like to Be Paid to Blog/Write Reviews?). It's a prompt that I submitted, and about that...I meant to reply to my fellow hosts' questions as well (at least to some of them), but as I said, life's been hectic and unforgiving, so I can barely keep up with my own (as a matter of fact, I'm skipping/will skip some of those too). I hope to be more present in the future...it's either post or blog-hop these days, or better, it's either post/blog-hop or scramble after life, so... 


😟 TOUGH JOB. Time is ticking out...I'll be unemployed in less than 2 months...and I'm still running around in circles. I placed a few phone calls to no avail. I handed a few copies of my curriculum around and mailed some more. The fact is, for health and family reasons, I can only handle an office or a store job, and those are super-hard to find, especially now - and especially if you don't have the right qualifications/experience in the field, or if you don't drive (I've never once considered getting a licence because the very idea of driving scares me). For some reason, everyone here seems to require that their future employees have a car, even if the job is in their hometown and it doesn't involve any kind of business travel...I also asked the local pharmacies if they needed a warehouse worker (which is something I could manage, even with my health issues, because the pharmacies here are rather small and so are the articles they sell), but at the moment, they don't.

What with my being out of options, I've been reconsidering my old plan to try the public examinations (yeah, there are more than one ahead, apparently) for an administrative assistant position at my town hall. We're talking 6 job opportunities in 3 years, though I don't know in what capacity yet (like, if there's finance or stuff like that involved, it's out of the question). When I am out of work, I SHOULD have the time to come up with a study plan and bring it to fruition πŸ‘€...I mean, what other choices do I have? From May 1st I'll have the chance to apply for unemployment benefit, but it will only last 2 years. Plus, I need REAL MONEY.


🦡GOOD MOVE. My MIL was discharged from hospital on Feb. 4th and spent the following three weeks in a rehab center, then she was sent home on the 24th. She's doing nice, all things considered (for the record, she's 85). Of course I've had to go and help her a couple of times since (thank goodness she has a much younger brother who can lend her a hand...also because she lives in a different municipality). She's trying her best in order to be self-sufficient and go out again soon, so let's hope things keep improving with her...but eh...she's still 85.


PUBLISHING NEWS/TIPS

THINK-PIECES, DISCUSSIONS, ORIGINAL FICTION

REVIEWS/RECOMMENDATIONS

OTHER

That's it for now! My next post will be up on Tue. 15th, and it will be the TMST one about paid blogging (see above).

So, what were your highs/lows in the past month?

32 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear February was so unkind to you, Roberta. Good luck with the job search. I know it's not easy (been there, got the t-shirt). An auto-approval is an amazing thing. Walker has some great titles too.

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    1. At least your qualifications are much more marketable than "my English is very good and I know how to talk into a microphone"...πŸ˜“ 😬. Well, anyhow, I'm paying the price of my younger self's unwise choices. Nothing I can do about that now. Thank you!

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  2. UGH. February was tough. It seems strange about the car - why does it matter if you can get to the job and work hard? Good luck, I hope you have some success in the job hunt this month.

    I was on vacation with my family this past week. We stayed with my parents in Southern Florida, where it was sunny and hot. Pool time, lots of eating, and celebrating three birthdays. Now it's Sunday and we all go back to work/school tomorrow. I'm just trying to catch up.

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    1. Thank you Jen - and I don't understand the car thing at all, unless there's some moving in between different work sites involved...I hope to find something, but I'm not holding my breath about it happening soon.

      Ha! You've been living the life this week! I guess it will be hard to readjust, but at least you've had a dream vacation!

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  3. I added that book, The Revelry, to my reading list! That looks good! I'm trying to get back into my blogging, so that's definitely been a highlight. Looking for a job is so hard! I got mine a few months ago after being out a few years (I had been doing freelance for a while to pay the bills while I looked!). I love when I get an auto-approval on NetGalley!

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    1. I hope you'll like The Revelry (me too LOL). Welcome back to blogging then! Are you happy with your current job?

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    2. I am so far! It's not a high stress job and I definitely appreciate that right now.

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    3. That sounds like a dream! Life is stressful enough without adding work to the equation...

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  4. Congrats on the wins!
    I didn't know there were different NetGalley sites like that.
    Good luck on finding a new job.
    I'm glad to hear that your MIL is doing better.

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    1. Thank you! LOL, I've been on NG since 2019 and I didn't know either, so...

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  5. Life drama - that's what I call them when unexpected and unwanted things happened. I don't know how you handle it but I would freak out if I had to deal with what you had to deal with.

    I love giving away books so I'm glad you got two books.

    I also don't like the idea of driving a vehicle. It's just weird and kind of panicking being behind the wheel so I can understand why you don't want to drive.

    I don't have any highs or lows to tell you but at least, nothing bad happened, at least, none that I can remember at the moment which I guess it's good.

    I hope things work out for you. I really do. I would send you some luck but just know I'm rooting (is that the right word? I kept confusing that word) for you.

    Have a lovely day.

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    1. "I don't know how you handle it but I would freak out if I had to deal with what you had to deal with."
      It's not like I have a choice. I do break down a lot.

      "I don't have any highs or lows to tell you but at least, nothing bad happened, at least, none that I can remember at the moment which I guess it's good."
      Absolutely! Most of the time, when something happens, it's bad (well, in my case at least...).

      Yep, "rooting" is the right word, and I'm grateful for all you people who do that for me!

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  6. I'm sorry to hear about your job hunting woes. I hope something pops up for you! And now I'm curious about the US/UK NetGalley thing. I got an email that I was auto approved for Titan, but when I went there--I wasn't. I shall go on the UK site and check it out😁

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    1. Thank you! And yeah, I'm sure you've been approved on the UK site, since Titan is a British company...Confusing, uh? πŸ€” Congrats on your auto-approval!

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  7. Thank you for sharing my post, Roberta! Despite your tumultuous past few months, I'm happy to hear that your MIL is out of hospital and that you were able to win some giveaways. Small wins probably feel like the biggest joys right now.

    I'm not the praying type, but I am putting out good thoughts into the universe that you will find a job that fits! Your luck will turn around, I just know it.

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    1. "Small wins probably feel like the biggest joys right now."
      They do! And thank you for all the good vibes 🧑.

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  8. Always happy to buddy read with you, lovely! Delays are just a part of life. Thank you so much for the sweet shoutout on my TMST post!

    Best of luck with your job hunting this month! I hope something awesome comes along soon. You're overdue for a bit of good luck. πŸ’›πŸ’›

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    1. "Delays are just a part of life."
      But my life is a perpetual delay lately...πŸ˜‚ 😭

      Thank you sweetface! πŸ’š

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  9. Congrats on those wins! I've only ever read th first InCryptid. I'm sorry to hear it was rough month. You have a lot happening. Good luck on the job search. That's stressful. I'm sending you lots of support and hoping the right thing comes along.

    85 yikes! Good for her that's awesome she's doing well.

    I think driving is overrated :)

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    1. Ha! There are currently 11 InCryptid books out, so...πŸ˜‰

      Thank you so much for the support πŸ’š.

      She's an Highlander! LOL.

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    2. There can be only one!! :):)

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    3. *cue Queen music* πŸ˜‰

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  10. Buddy reads stress me out because I always fall behind! And I've got my fingers crossed that you get some interest in your CV, at least you've got some time, even if it doesn't feel like it.

    I'm soo close to being caught up on the Wayward Children series!

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    1. Thank you! And I noticed you were almost caught up. The last one so far (Where the Drowned Girls Go) was my favourite - looking forward to your reaction.

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  11. Yay for winning giveaways! It really does boost your spirit to win some books when things aren't going well. And that's awesome that you'll get to have a print copy of the Deadgirl book since I know how much you love those :-)

    The job search sounds like such a struggle, I'm sorry :-(

    My blog posts and reviews tend to be on the longer side too, and I always worry about it. But then some of my long things are the most popular, so I guess it's ok!

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    1. "The job search sounds like such a struggle, I'm sorry :-("
      πŸ’š

      "some of my long things are the most popular, so I guess it's ok!"
      For real? That's awesome, in this era of short attention span πŸ˜…πŸ‘.

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    2. Mostly I was thinking how my reviews for The Vampires Chronicles books sometimes get likes and comments from strangers on Goodreads, even though they're like 1000 words in length and I figured no one would read them. But I suppose the people who can get through those books can manage a 1000-word review lol.

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  12. Congrats on winning. :)
    I wish you luck on your job-hunting, I hope you find one.
    Also I agree with you on word counts, my posts tend to be long too.
    -Quinley

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    1. Thanks! Yep, I did notice, but at least you introduce your stories/characters in them...it takes a lot of words πŸ˜‰.

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  13. Oh noooo! I remember when Netgalley used to be one site and it was a lot easier in my opinion... I don't even know if I have an account on Netgalley UK somehow somewhere (so we'll just assume no).

    I'm sorry with all the trouble finding a job and crossing fingers something will turn up soon! I remember being in the trenches myself back when the pandemic first started and honestly I felt like I was running in circles as well. Everyone wants the magical unicorn that has a masters and 3 years experience and there's maybe a rare few that will actually take a chance on a freshly graduated college kid who doesn't have as much internships under her belt as the rest of her class (or as big named).

    I'm glad your mother in law is doing better, though! also crossed fingers things will keep improving for her.

    anyways... GOOD MORNING ROBERTAAA

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    1. You don't need a different account! Same username, same password.

      Thank you! It's funny (maybe not) how this old lady has the same problems as you have (had), job-wise. Mind you, I could apply for an internship, even at my age, but in that case I'd need to be unemployed, which I won't be until May...there's an internship opportunity right now, but it will expire before my current job is over, so 🀷‍♀️.

      Thank you again and GOOD MORNING SOPHIAAA πŸ˜‰πŸ’š.

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