I'm posting to keep my site.
Still in Portland...
I'm working to live.
Still in search of...
I'm figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.

Time for my annual update.
I'm still in Portland, Oregon.
I'm still with ONABEN.

But I'm no longer an AmeriCorps VISTA.
I'm getting paid as their Marketing Specialist.
And boy is it nice to be making income.

If you've ever read Tipping Point, you'll know that going from poverty level to $30K annual income shows
the greatest increase in overall happiness for the wage earner, than at any other other income level steps.
That's where I'm at now.

To top that off, today it's snowing.  And it's sticking downtown.  Which means outside of Portland, it's even snowier.
ONABEN is a 15 minute car commute from Portland.  I take the bus, which makes it 40 minutes for me.
No one is at work today.  Woo hoo!

My studio apartment downtown has a beautiful big window and it's mesmerizing watching the falling snow.
You don't get that ever if you're raised in the valley or deserts of Southern California.
Honestly, we don't get it much in downtown Portland either.
Last winter it snowed, but it didn't stick.
And so I also had to go in for work!

I'm supposed to check in with supervisors in another hour about the potential of coming in for a half-day,
but I don't think we'll have to.
What a blessing. 
I needed to catch up with my MacroEcon reading and studying.  And prep for an upcoming job interview.

Which brings me to my 2007 goals and update:

1) Obtain full-time employment in a marketing/communications position by April.
My current position with ONABEN is contracted work at 30 hours a week through March.  So really, I'm not making $30K.
I applied and got an interview for the Communications Coordinator position with idealist.org.  Send me lots of love this Friday at 9 am PST.
If I get this job, I will die and go to heaven.  It is my dream job.

2) Save $10K.
To pay my mom back for all the student loan help.  To build my emergency/travel fund.
It's an ambitious goal, but I've gotten real good at budgeting and living on very little.  I figure, if I land a position that makes $30K minimum, I can do it.

3) Take classes for fun and professional development.
Still don't feel ready to pursue graduate degree, but want to continue learning and exploring.
Am taking MacroEcon for my own personal interest and to prep for that MBA if I decide to go for it.
Other future classes: MicroEcon, photography, communications, sky's the limit

4) Visit 1 friend in a place I've never been to.
I've got the itch to travel again and I have hoards of friends that I haven't seen in years.
Combine travel to new destination with visiting a friend, and you've got the perfect vacation, especially if the friend is from/lives in that area.
Then I've got the best tour guide in the world.

5) Spend New Year's Eve 2007 volunteering in a place I've never been to.
I'm done with the "Go out and Party" celebrations that can be mindless when I'm still new to this city and don't have a lot of friends in town. 
I'd rather be home sleeping. Or better yet, having fun while doing good and developing more meaningful relationships with the people around me
by volunteering on a short-term project somewhere new, and preferrably sunny, warm and dry.  An escape from the dreary winters here.
I'm already researching volunteer vacations around the New Year. 
One week in a rainforest collecting data on birds, or another rehabilitating a National Park.
Combining #4 and 5 would also be fantastic.

Happy New Years!

Tips to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
        
          A corporate attorney sent the following out to the
          employees in his company.

          1. The next time you order checks have only your
          initials (instead of first name) and last name put on
          them. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not
          know if you sign your checks with just your initials
          or your first name, but your bank will know how you
          sign your checks.

           2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards.
          Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED".

          3. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit
          card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number
          on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four
          numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the
          number, and anyone who might be handling your check as
          it passes through all the check processing c channels
          won't have access to it.

          4. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of
          your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead
          of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use
          your work address.  Never have your SS# printed on
          your checks.  You can add it if it is necessary.  But
          if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

          5. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy
          machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card,
          etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all
          of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and
          cancel.  Keep the photocopy in a safe place.  I also
          carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either
          here or abroad.  We've all heard horror stories about
          fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name,
          address, Social  Security number, credit cards.

          Unfortunately I, an attorney, have firsthand
          knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month.
          Within a week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive
          monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit
          card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway
          computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my
          driving record information online, and more. But
          here's some critical information to limit the damage
          in case this happens to you or someone you know:

          1. We have been told we should cancel our credit
          cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free
          numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom
          to call.  Keep those where you can find them.

          2. File a police report immediately in the
          jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were
          stolen. This proves to credit providers you were
          diligent, and this is a first step toward an
          investigation (if there ever is one).

          But here's what is perhaps most important of all :
          (I never even thought to do this.)

          3. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations
          immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and
          Social Security number. I had never heard of doing
          that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an
          application for credit was made over the Internet in
          my name. The alert means any company that checks your
          credit knows your information was stolen, and they
          have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

          By the time I was advised to do this, almost two
          weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done.
          There are records of all the credit checks initiated
          by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about
          before placing the alert.  Since then, no additional
          damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet
          away this weekend (someone turned it in).  It seems to
          have stopped them dead in their tracks.

          Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact
          about your wallet, etc., has been stolen:

          1.) Social Security Administration (fraud line):
          1-800-269-0271

          2.) Equifax:  1-800-525-6285

          3.) Experience (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742

          4.) Trans  Union: 1-800-680-7289

          We pass along jokes on the Internet.  We pass along
          just about everything.  But if you are willing to pass
          this information along, it could really help someone
          that you care about.