stephanie is: 
naked…
i still haven’t dressed since showering. i am just wrapped up in my fuzzy blanket. i have been looking at part time jobs (and full time ones as well). when i was suddenly laid off i saved and scrimped my money so i’d be set for a few months. but we have had double the bills for two months now and it is starting to hurt. i’m only making about half of what i need each month so far on freelance and contract work since i havn’t had time to really build up a network around me. i do have a semi-employer… a company that contracts all it’s graphics to me. i just filled out a w-4 for them. but i need more money. a part time job doesn’t sound so bad cause it is low-commitment and would leave me time to do my contract work. i certainly don’t feel above it. i am looking at everything. who knows – i may have to go back to office work. i’d like to have money again. but what to do if i end up trying part time? danny is pushing the idea of working in a pet store cause he knows i love animals and go nutz in them. i know neko just starting working in one and loves it. as long as my allergies were okay with it i guess. i’d just need to be carful to not touch my face without washing my hands. whatever i go with – if anything – i need to be able to help danny out with some stuff early in the morning and in the evening. so we’ll see.
it is about to rain here.
yea – i get really itchy and sniffly at work. have to shower the second i get in the door.. it is very dirty if you do kennel work, but it’s the best way to bond with the animals i think. if you’re a real animal lover, you’ll love it. 🙂 i wish i could spend all day every day there!
i would think i would love working in a pet store too, but i’ve heard it’s really bad for the animals and everyone involved to buy creatures (particularly kitties and pups) from pet stores… instead you should buy from breeders. do you know why they say that, and do you have any feelings about working there in regards to that? just curious, as a big animal lover myself. 🙂
i personally think people should adopt from shelters..although i have my eye on one or two petstore puppies and kitties 🙂 they are so expensive..
my job is to make sure they are happy and healthy. i don’t get involved with selling them or dealing with customers. i just wanna make sure the animals are all in healthy condition. the conditions of the store are VERY nice. unlike a lot i have seen.
but when it comes to purchasing an animal, i’d certainly look to adopt first..if not, breeders and petstores seem both the same to me. all our puppies and kitties are pure breds and sell for the same as breeders would sell i believe..not too sure about that tho.. but they are all healthy happy animals that need homes 🙂
Hi Guys.. I’m new here, but as this one hits home for me, I just just had to add my $.02 ;o)
In my opinion, as neko says, people really should adopt animals from their local shelters/rescue group. Breeders are much to blame for the serious animal overpopulation. While there are breed breeders that raise and sell pups responsibly because they love the breed, most of the breeders out there are in the business for the money. Animals are crammed into small cages, left with little food and water, not taken care of medically, etc. Many spend their entire lives doing nothing but living in dark, cramped cages giving birth to one litter after another, or just waiting to mate again. In many cases, animals that don’t fit the perfect pure breed standards are destroyed, or worse. Due to the conditions at these places many pets at pet stores are sick. Eye infections, upper respiratory infections, etc are very common, as are birth defects from such tight inbreeding of animals.
As I said, there are responsible breeders, and there are great pet shops. I’m sure after having read some of her other notes that neko wouldn’t be working at one that wasn’t good to its animals, and I even have a friend that owns a shop. But with the number of wonderful pets that need homes already, just sitting in shelters waiting, why do we need people out there force breeding more? Hey Stephanie, wasn’t Bean a foster/ shelter save? And we all know that’s one cute puppy ;o) There are even many pure breeds at shelters needing homes. Being one guys opinion, I don’t expect you to just take my word for it, read up on the situation. There are many places on the net to do so.
We have articles on Puppy Mills (derogatory term for breeders) written by the ASPCA in our websites library section at:
http://www.petfinder.org/journal.cgi?section=1
Check out the section on Animal Cruelty Issues (feel free to check them all out)
I just caught myself going on more about our site. Being very proud of it, I kinda do that alot. So I just deleted it all, and figured if you are interested, or know someone who is looking to adopt, you can just check out my first journal entry for info:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/angusblood/ or the site Petfinder.com
With over 2000 shelters/rescue groups and over 43,000 pets currently in our database, there is no shortage of pets needing homes ;o(
*stepping down from soap box now.. *
i got my littleone from a shelter. she’s vonderful. 😀
we got our puppy from an animal resuce. her whole litter was going to be put to sleep before they saved her.
Part time job
Figure out what you would really be earning when you consider that your part time salary wiil be taxed on top of your husband’s rate. Whatever the pet store is paying, the actual money you make will be next to nothing. Especially when you consider your sicknesses (it will happen), travel time, meals out, additional clothing, extra cleaning, etc. It is possible to end up with a negative number for this study (you’re paying to have a part time job.)
Concentrate more on the contract work and raise your rates. I’ll bet your rate is too low. Check around to see what other similar businesses charge.
Re: Part time job
yea that is what i am worried about… it seems that the only jobs that would be worth all my time would be a full time office salery job or more contract work. more contract work would be best of course butit is hard to build a strong customer base. i am afraid of raising my rates too high and scaring off potential work.
How close are you to Reston, Virginia?? I’ll ask my sis if she needs any contractor work. I don’t know if she does or not, but it’s work a try. You’re one talanted chickie.
thanks 🙂
reston is pretty close to where i live. any contract work i can muster up is a big help…
W-4 for contract work???
If you filled out a W-4 for a company, you aren’t a contractor, you’re an employee. You really need to spend a few bucks for a lawyer to explain all this to you and to produce a contract for you to use.
Raising your rates isn’t going to scare off potential clients if your work is good. I’ll bet you’re charging what you made at you last full time job. If so, it’s way too low.
Re: W-4 for contract work???
yeah i get enough work from them that they need to take the taxes out for me. but not enough to live off.
i don’t have the money to have a lawyer for any reason.
the company i worked for charged $80+/hour for my html alone i can’t charge that.
Re: W-4 for contract work???
Maybe you should go ahead and try the pet store clerk job.
pet store
I don’t know if I could work in a pet store. Looking at the little animals in cages, especially dogs and cats. Seeing people pass by and not buy them and bring them home would be a problem for me. I hate seeing those stores. I want to run in buy them all and give all of them a home. Especially ones that had been there a long time. And what do they do with the ones they can’t sell? What happens to them? Or do they all eventually get sold?