Laboring

Yesterday, for Labor Day, the LA Times had a story on Angelinos' first jobs. I've been working since I was 13 or 14, so after reading the article I thought it might be fun to compile a list of all the jobs I've had. It might be confusing as some of these overlapped with each other, but trust me, I really did have all of these jobs.

• Office Assistant: When I was in junior high I started helping out in the office of the tax consultant my mom worked for, mostly when they had big monthly mailings. I would copy, sort, stuff envelopes, run the postage machine and occasionally answer the phone.
• Busser: In high school I bussed tables at a restaurant called The Airport Steakhouse, and sometimes waited tables, and later - very briefly - at another restaurant called Mt. Tomba.
• Movie theater cashier: Every summer we would visit my Dad in LA for a few weeks. One summer when I was 16 I worked at one of my uncle's theaters selling tickets and working at the concession stand.
• Operator: My junior and senior years in high school I worked for the school district, answering the telephones and as an assistant to the administrative assistant to the curriculum department. The "D.O." (district office) was in the old county school house with a bell. The rope to ring the bell was in the curriculum director's office and I liked to ring it any chance I got.
• Barista: A friend of a friend from Quincy owned a coffee shop in Monterey, so when I moved there for junior college, she hired me to work at the shop.
• Barista again: From the first Monterey coffee shop, I moved to another on Cannery Row where I was getting more hours, but I hated it.
• Hotel PBX Operator: The owner of coffee shop #1 also worked The Monterey Plaza Hotel on Cannery Row. When they had an opening, she suggested I work there where I would make more money and be eligible for benefits. I worked as a PBX Operator at first, then front desk agent, then spa receptionist. I loved the free spa treatments but after the hustle and bustle of the front desk, I was bored.
• Toy Store Manager: There was a toy store in the same building as coffee shop #2. The owners asked if I'd like to come work for them. They later said they thought they could trust me because I didn't give away things for free like the young employees at other Cannery Row businesses did. I worked there for five years, eventually becoming manager of three stores by the same owner.
• Hotel Reservations Agent: When I left the Plaza, I took a job in reservations at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley. Once Bill Murray called to make his own reservation and I answered the phone.
• Sales Assistant: When I moved to San Jose, many of my former coworkers from Quail Lodge were working at a hotel/conference center called the Hayes Mansion and so they hired me to work as the sales assistant in the morning and I had classes in the afternoon.
• Waitress: I wasn't making quite enough money part time at the Hayes Mansion so I started waitressing at The Old Spaghetti Factory.
• Newspaper Intern: After a year in San Jose, I returned to Monterey for the summer to intern at the Monterey County Herald in the sports section.
• Spartan Daily Editor: Back at San Jose State in the fall I was managing editor for the campus newspaper, and executive editor in the spring semester.
• Newspaper Intern: After graduation I did a Chips Quinn Internship in the news section at the Wenatchee World in Wenatchee, Wash. - the buckle of the power belt of the great northwest. I learned a lot about apples.
• Assistant Theater Manager: After my internship and before I found a real newspaper job, I again worked at one of my uncle's theaters - this one in San Diego. This job only lasted three or four weeks before I was offered a job as ...
• Reporter: I applied to papers all over the country and my first offer came from The Sun in Yuma, Ariz. I accepted on the spot. This, of course, is the decision that changed my life since that is where Chris and I met. I at first was a features writer and then became the education reporter.
• Bath and Body Works: I got a job here as a seasonal employee to make some extra money in Yuma, and continued on for a few months when they needed extra help rearranging the store for new product and displays.
• Waitress: On nights when I wasn't covering school board meetings, I was waiting tables at Julieanna's Patio Cafe, one of Yuma's nicer restaurants. I miss the tortilla soup.
• Education Reporter: From Yuma I moved to the East Valley Tribune outside of Phoenix where I also covered education.
• Breaking News/Multimedia Reporter: After Chris got a job at the Reno Gazette-Journal, I applied and was also offered a job. I started in features, but was quickly moved to the breaking news team, later laid off and then rehired again part time.
• Graduate Assistant: In grad school at UNR, I helped produce content for the journalism school's website.
• Social Media Coordinator: And now, of course, I do social media for a firm in Reno.

So, that's more than 20 jobs! Wow, that doesn't even include odd jobs like modeling for a slot machine, working for a vendor during races at Laguna Seca, or helping out with the high school journalism institute.

What was the oddest or funnest job you've had?

Celebrity Sightings

This blogger I sometimes read posted a few weeks ago about all the celebrities she's seen, so I decided to do the same. Except I'm leaving out the ones who I saw perform in concert or interviewed for work, etc., because that's not really just a chance encounter, is it? I don't know if I will remember them all, but here goes ...

Reggie Jackson: Would you believe it if I told you he owned a car dealership in Quincy for a while when I was a kid? My stepdad worked there, and we met Reggie Jackson one time when he came to the dealership for some sort of promotional event. He told me he'd buy me a horse. He never did. I hate Reggie Jackson.

Neil Patrick Harris and Max Casella: At the Ports O' Call in San Pedro, we stumbled upon an episode of Doogie Howser being filmed.

Sarah Chalke: My sister and I spotted Sarah Chalke when we were at the Universal City Walk with my Dad and Deb one time, eating frozen yogurt or something. This was way back when she was on Roseanne.

Ted Danson: When I was about 19 and had just started working at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, I passed Ted Danson on the sidewalk in front of the hotel as he was on his way to speak at an event on whales or some such save-the-earth event. He nodded at me.

Niki Taylor: Working at the same hotel, Niki Taylor was staying there one time for a Liz Claiborne shoot, if I remember correctly. I was at the front desk when she stopped by to pick up a fax. (If that was today, she probably would've gotten an e-mail on her smart phone and I'd never have seen her.)

Leonardo DiCaprio: Working at a toy store on Cannery Row in Monterey, Leo came in and bought a disposable camera from me. He was wearing a hat and trying to look incognito. Later, I also saw him and Gisele walking down the hall, but I only saw her from behind.

Clint Howard: Ron Howard's brother came into the toy store in Monterey one time when I was working.

Melissa Joan Hart: The owner of the toy store I worked at owned three stores on Cannery Row, and I managed them. One time, a co-worker from one of the stores down the street called me at the toy store and was speaking so muffled, I thought perhaps she was getting robbed. I ran down the street to make sure everything was okay, and it turned out she was just trying to let me know that Sabrina the Teenage Witch was in the store.

Danny Glover: In 1998 I went with friends to see a Boyz II Men concert (opening acts were Next and Destiny's Child) and Danny Glover was at the concession stand.

Bill Murray: I didn't actually meet Bill Murray, but when I worked at the Quail Lodge, he called to make a reservation and I took the call. I thought from his voice it was the Bill Murray, and it was confirmed the following day when all the front desk agents were buzzing about when he checked in.

Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds: Living in Monterey for five years, you'd think I'd have seen Clint Eastwood around town sometime, but that wasn't the case. I actually saw these two together having dinner at a restaurant in Bel Air where my friend Lindsey worked. The paparazzi was outside when we left, and restaurant staff were making plans to sneak the two out the back to avoid the cameras.

John Stamos: Chris and I saw Uncle Jesse at a bar at LAX while waiting to catch our flight home.

Don King, Annie Leibovitz, Angela Bassett, Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson: Spotted at Obama's Inauguration.

Tyra Banks and Ron Howard: Spotted at the Inaugural Ball.

Dennis Farina, Dustin Hoffman, Bo Derek and Mike Smith: Spotted at Santa Anita last year during Spring Break.

George Newbern: Spotted at lunch with Deb last year during Spring Break.

Rod Stewart: Spotted at breakfast with Lindsey last year during Spring Break.

What celebs have you spotted? Did you attempt to talk to them?

This and That

This week, I am back in school. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I am looking forward to my classes, they all seem like they will be fun as well as educational. But it's my last semester, which also means focusing on my project and preparing to defend it. And at the end of the tunnel ... well, I just don't know what's there and it's freaking me out a little bit. Come January I'll need a job, and I'm hoping to find one that let's me apply what I've learned in grad school. It's made me very introspective lately, trying to figure out what exactly it is I want to do.

A couple other things that have made me introspective: I was having a conversation the other day with someone born in 1990 and came to the realization that I've been legally driving for 15 years. 15! Which of course means I've been legally able to drink for a decade. Good grief, where does the time go? We spent our Sunday shopping for trees for the backyard, so I feel oddly ... grown up? When did all this happen? Sometime in the last 15 years, I suppose ...

I realize this morning I missed a couple of blog milestones: My last post was the 300th, and last month I missed our second Blogaversary. Seems like I could have commemorated the occasions with some sort of special post, but instead you get me today babbling on about the nonsense rattling around inside my brain. Lucky you. Well, don't worry. I will make up for it this weekend with tales from Chris' birthday festivities!