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How rude!

No matter how you explain it, it’s rude! I’m talking about potential employers who don’t let you know whether you got the job or not. As most of you know, I’m back to the world of the working. But it’s amazing to me, I still haven’t heard back from several places where I interviewed. Today, one of my friends sent me an e-mail that clearly showed someone was hired for a position I applied for more than three months ago. Not only did the woman who interviewed me fail to call or e-mail to tell me she hired someone else, she also failed to respond to a follow up e-mail I sent last month. I know she’s probably busy, we’re all busy. But really it’s just plain rude.



I’ve been a supervisor before, I’ve hired people and I just can’t imagine ignoring a candidate’s feelings and leaving them in limbo. It’s a terrible feeling when you’re waiting to see if you get the job, it can make you very antsy. But to realize you don’t even come up on the person’s radar enough to solicit a “We chose someone else” e-mail is impolite, inconsiderate and unmannerly (okay you get my drift!)

For many of us, whether you get hired affects your entire life. If you're unemployed, you need a paycheck. But you also want to make sure it's a good choice for you. If you're underpaid or in debt, you may need to find a higher paying job or you'll lose your home or your car. And in both cases, you may received another offer and need to decide.

But above all, you deserve to know the employer's decision. If they bothered to take the time to bring you in for an interview, it should show they found you qualified. And if that's the case, you should not be punished simply because they liked someone else better. It's 2008, sending an e-mail is not difficult. While of course I'd prefer a phone call if you and your colleagues spent a few hours grilling me about why I'm the best person for the job or why I left my last job, I'll take what I can get!

Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude

P.S. I want the record to reflect that I did interview with some very considerate employers who did call or e-mail to let me know their decision, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear.

Say it isn't so...

In less than a week I'll be celebrating my birthday. While I'm looking forward to party time with my friends, I'm not looking forward to turning another year older. Although, I'm sure I'm not alone, I can't help but have mixed feelings about this year.

34 is a tough age to swallow for me. When I was younger, 34 sounded so old. I had certain expectations for my life and seemed well on my way to achieving many of my goals. Then I had a few setbacks and had to reevaluate. I've picked myself up several times and kept on moving. So now instead of looking back, I want to look forward. Here are 34 things I want to do this year to make 34 a fabulous year:

1. Start saying no without feeling guilty
2. Get my finances back on track
3. Make money off of my website



4. Stop obsessing about my site's traffic stats
5. Get my writing published in a national publication
6. Write more honestly about my life experiences
7. Work through unresolved issues for closure
8. Travel more
9. Try dating again (like real dinner dates with interesting conversation!)



10. Finally put an end to drunk dialing (and drunk texting!)
11. Leave boys, who've been deleted from phone contacts, deleted
12. Develop a crush
13. Turn my loft into an office
14. Balance my checkbook (last attempt at writing down transactions didn't last long)
15. Read more books (sadly reading has taken a backseat to social media addictions)
16. Remember to take my vitamins every day (or at least almost every day)
17. Exercise more
18. Lose weight
19. Eat less fast food



20. Get more sleep
21. Pamper myself with more manicures/pedicures/massages
22. Buy another Coach purse (no, you can never have too many and I had to refrain during unemployment!)
23. Start writing a book
24. Reevaluate my relationships and spend time only on fulfilling ones
25. Donate blood more frequently
26. Be more Eco-friendly
27. Learn how to cook more dishes without needing the recipe
28. Learn how to build a website
29. Meet someone famous
30. Take more photos
31. Keep the condo cleaner
32. Donate more to charity
33. Buy another pair of Manolo Blahniks



34. Get married in Vegas (this one's been on the list for more than 10 years, but it still sounds fun!)

Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude

Too Flugtag'n hot for me!

So Tampa's first Flugtag was a lot of fun, but I gotta tell you 90+ degrees, alcoholic beverages and sleep-deprived week did not equal Gasparilla-like fun! There's a reason Tampa hosts Gasparilla in January. It's not this blazing hot! And speaking of hot. What the hell was this dude thinking?



Not only was this hot ridiculous, it's not 9 degrees out, but he was a jackass on top of it. There was an older guy sitting in front of us who had an umbrella. You can see him below in the bottom left corner.



Umbrella man was trying to avoid getting too much sun (probably impossible) and hat boy went up to him a hard time. And told him to ditch the umbrella or go home. Now did get me wrong, people with their umbrellas were blocking the view. But all hat boy needed to do was go move. Instead he kept cursing and complaining about the stupid umbrellas.

Then there was this bunch who tried to beat the heat in an unintelligent way.



I'm surprised they didn't drown! Oh and the Coast Guard crew kind of frowned upon it. So at the start of the event the parachutists, if that's what they're called, propelled down to the FlugTag staging area.





I also tried to take some pictures of the crazy contraptions trying to take flight, but my camera doesn't have quite enough zoom and we weren't right up front.



It was kind of crazy, only the first flying machine actually seemed to take flight going more than 100 feet. And then some of them, like this one went less than 20 feet.



So the heat got to be too much. We were all sweating like pigs, I know, not pretty! After a couple of hours, I went inside my condo for a bathroom break and to sit in the AC for a few minutes with one of my friends. Then, a few minutes later more of the gang came in and we wound up watching the rest of the competition on TV. At one point, I thought we might be kind of lame watching it inside when we were just feet away from the event. But hey, it was too Flugtag'n hot out there!

Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude

What the Flugtag?!?!?!

Right now I should be napping, in fact I need to be napping. I still have to clean my condo for the 20 or so people who are showing up to party at 9:30 a.m. for Tampa Bay Flugtag 2008.



I think I've mentioned it before. The hype is definitely starting to pick up. All the local TV stations have been previewing it, and even the CBS Early Show was here live this morning.

Last month, when the first signs went up, I asked WTF is a Flugtag? Well now I know and it sounds like a lot of fun. People are going to be launching their handmade "flying machines" off a ramp by the Tampa Convention Center, and land in the water. I know I'd never try a silly stunt like that, but it's going to be fun to watch. Here are some highlights from last month's Flugtag in London:



(Everything's better with an accent!) Or there's this one from two years ago:



I can't wait to take some pictures! And hopefully no one will get hurt! I'll keep you posted and look for tomorrow's blog.

Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude

P.S. I don't think this event will even come close to Gasparilla, a.k.a. my favorite day of the entire year, but I'm going to party like it does!

You mean it wasn't true love!?!?!?

What do you mean Brett Michaels and his Rock of Love 2 broke up? I thought she was his "like of love", "rock of lust", and "rock of love"! Okay, I confess I heard there was going to be a Rock of Love 3 a couple weeks ago. But unfortunately I couldn't confirm it, and it wasn't on VH1's site. Then it appears while I was sleeping last night and working early this morning, the truth came out! (Thanks to my friend Katafer for passing this along to me today.)

According to Access Hollywood:

"Bret Michaels is heading back to VH1 in hopes that his third search will find him lucky in love.

Poison frontman Michaels has spent two seasons trying to find his soulmate on VH1’s popular series 'Rock of Love', and after splitting with Season 2 winner Ambre Lake, he is coming back for a third attempt."



Oh and wait.. there's a new twist:

"For Season 3, Michael’s tough tour schedule will become a focus as they’ve christened the new show, 'Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels.'

Premiering early next year, Season 3 will find Michaels on the bus with his lady suitors. The bus will cross the country, pitting the girls in various challenges to win the rock star’s love."

And The Superficial.com's headline: "Bret Michaels gets a third chance to bang more strippers on national television"

Plus, my favorite source for celebrity news People.com reports about Brett and Ambre's split: "Their tour together ends here.

'It’s really sad,' says Lake, who explained that conflicting schedules ultimately worked against the couple. 'Bret and I truly love each other and support each other. But with him touring so much and me trying to travel and work, we just didn’t have a lot of time to dedicate to our relationship. It was mutual. We’re both bummed.'

In a release from VH1, a rep for the rock star confirmed: '[Bret] and Ambre Lake really tried to make it work and although they still remain close friends, between his tour line-up and her work schedule there’s no time for a relationship.'

Lake adds, 'It’s a lot of pressure. We were dating and taking it day by day. We never put a label on us saying, ‘We are boyfriend-girlfriend.’ But when a budding romance is happening like that and you don’t have a lot of time to see each other, you’re being pulled in so many directions.'

She also says there were no third parties involved."

As if I believe that! It's not like he slept with Daisy the night after he slept with Ambre. Or like rockers would never cheat on their girlfriends, right? Or maybe Brett's just waiting to meet Miss Attitude. Sign me up!

Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude

I'm going to try not to cry

One of my closest friends is moving more than 600 miles away this week. I'm having my goodbye lunch with her today. I can't begin to tell you how sad I am. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy for the opportunities she's going to have, but I'm incredibly sad. We've been through a lot together during the last several years. We've been through bad dates, bad relationships, losing jobs, getting new jobs, moving away and moving back. We've gone through different dress sizes, different hair styles, even different hair colors.

Yesterday she told me how she didn't cry once during her last day of work. She wanted to share because she knew I'd be proud of her. But I'm not sure I can do the same at lunch. I know we'll still be good friends, that won't change. But it's hard to imagine my life without her living nearby. The last time she moved away, heck the last time I moved away, I think we both knew in our hearts we'd move back to the Tampa area. This time, I'm afraid, she's leaving for good. And I don't know what to say. I know, I'm rarely speechless.

During the past few months I've been encouraging her to make the best career and lifestyle choices for herself, never once thinking about what I'd be losing. Then I've spent the past few weeks in denial. Today is the reality. She really has been there for me more times than I can count. She's always refreshingly positive and makes me see the silver lining without making it so cliche or pukey sounding. When I lost my job in March she never said anything as trite as everything happens for a reason. Instead we ate ice cream and started brainstorming what my next opportunity would be.

I have so many great things to say about her, but know I'm not doing her justice in my sad, sleep-deprived state. Hopefully I'll have something more poignant to say when we go to her all-time favorite Tampa restaurant for lunch. I have so many memories of our times together and honestly have a hard time remembering life before I met her. She's one of those friends who will literally drop everything she's doing if you need help. She's the one on the sidelines saying "you can do it" when you just want to quit. There aren't enough words to express how lucky I've been to have her in my life. So for now, I'll just tell you how fabulous she and I'll miss her.

Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude