I’ve done lots of stuff in my 47 years. I’m going to list off all the jobs I’ve had, the approximate time period and any comments about the job. I’m including internships and my rock n roll stuff, too. So, hey, guess this is my CV. Hire me. :)
First Job: Shoney’s waitress. During High School, early 80s.
Quincy’s Steakhouse: line girl
Domino’s Pizza: phones, delivery, pizza maker (Back when it was 30 mins or less!)
Long John Silver’s: Cod girl (aka morning shift prep) First full time job.
Got my first apartment around this time: Sans Souci Apartments approximately 1985.
Went to University of TN for a couple of quarters. Worked as Assistant Master Electrician in the theatre and worked security for concerts at the venue. MUCH FUN!! I lived with a couple of friends in a shitty student house in South Knoxville.
Ran off w/ the Mister Mister tour for a weekend.
Chili’s: waitress (awesome job, had WAY too much fun!)
American Favoritz Cafe: waitress (locally owned restaurant)
Met Dave Klepsig at this time, moved in with him at Londontown Apartments. I was also taking classes at Pellissippi State.
O’Charley’s: probably the shittiest restaurant job I’d ever had. Manager was a DICK who sexually harassed the waitstaff.
Moved to Atlanta to attend Art Institute of Atlanta for AA in Music Business. This was late ’87 or mid ’88.
Various office based temp jobs with several temp companies all over Atlanta.
Shop’n Save: mystery shoppers; hated it
OptiWorld: optometric technician (I did all the testing and acuity stuff before the Dr went in; loved it)
Interned at a radio consulting firm. Can’t remember the name, but it was very famous.
Gemini Agency: receptionist (big promo company in Atlanta and is still operating!)
Graduated Art Institute with a stupid AA and immediately enrolled at Georgia State University for a four year BA. Circa 1992.
Coffee Plantation: front counter (what Starshmucks calls a barista; LOVED IT)
SteinMart N Dekalb Mall: retail clothing (I worked women’s and men’s – I liked men’s the best)
I spent six weeks in Mexico with an exchange programme via Valdosta State circa 1993. Lived in Guadalajara and visited Guanajuato, Tlaquepaque, Laguna de Chapala and spent a few days in Mexico City (Distrito Federale). It was fun and VERY eye opening. Mexico is a shithole, no wonder people leave in droves. Really cranked up my white guilt, fer sure.
I graduated Georgia State in 1994 with a BA in Spanish w/ French minor. I’m grateful every day that I got a full degree.
I moved back to Knoxville after I graduated (in 95), mainly to get a new car since my poor little 85 CRX was on its last legs (I got my CURRENT vehicle, 94 Civic EX at this time). Andy and I had been living in my Derrydown Apartment, and he remained there. While back home I did these jobs:
SteinMart, Walker Springs: retail clothing, women’s.
Internship at a radio station in Knoxville, can’t recall which. Helped me get the next job.
Star 94 Radio: outside sales (HATED IT, but I did get the job thanks to the AA in Music Biz)
Softkey International: Macintosh software phone support. My entrée into GEEKDOM, ladies and gents. Fell in love with the Mac and being a geek. I’ve never looked back. I adored this job and the people I worked with. I still have friends from there.
Moved back to Atlanta with my new Mac skills. Moved back in with Andy and we moved up the street to a two bedroom apartment (circa 97).
On-site Training company: Macintosh instructor. (Not sure of year or the name of the company, it was a short gig. Enjoyed it.)
Creative Loafing Newspaper: Macintosh Systems Administrator ca. 1998. (HATED THIS PLACE. Loved the job, but this company was rife with ageism, sexism and nepotism. It totally sucked and I was treated like shit.)
SteinMart, N Dekalb Mall: yes, again. Worked full time and really enjoyed it.
Starbucks Coffee: barista (SUCKED and I only worked there a few weeks, but it was the first store in ATL, tho, which was kinda cool)
Très Bien: front counter and retail specialist (locally owned gourmet sandwich shop in Decatur). Got fired for telling the chef my biscuits were better than his. They are. ;) Owner was a rich bitch and this shop was a hobby.
Started up my freelance Mac support company IndigoDragon Enterprises, circa 99.
Oracle 20/20 Magazine: Mac support and web admin (I still do web admin for them!)
Around 2000, I met my Nick at a Macintosh User Group meeting. I’d just revamped their website and he was all over me like a cheap suit. Ha! It was an instant attraction and I knew he was The One. :) Andy moved to California around this time.
Crescent Moon Eatery: weekend hostess (this job is one of the most influential in my life, circa 02)
Michael’s Coffee: barista (locally owned shop, didn’t last long)
Mimosa Salon: front desk and retail (they didn’t last long, either)
Alternative Dining (dba Crescent Moon Eateries): Accounts Payable, basic bookkeeping, contract negotiator and all other office duties (circa 03-04). This job turned out to be pivotal for me. I learned all about running a restaurant (from the numbers side, anyway) and it has been a big part of our wanting to open our own place. Rob (owner) taught me everything about running restaurants and I really loved this job and it also morphed into my doing the menus, graphics and the website as well. He expanded to two stores and the wheels fell off, leading to a sale of the whole thing around 07.
Changed IndigoDragon Enterprises to IndigoDragon Studios to reflect our new direction: webcomics. Think Weasel! was born and I was dabbling in jewelry and some other crafts. We love doing the comics. Nick did over 300 comics before taking a hiatus in mid 2012. We are still on hiatus, but the comics will be back.
Taqueria El Vecino: graphics, logo, menus, Tshirts, website, social media. This is Rob’s current endeavor, started in 08. I helped with the books initially, but he found someone else to do them so I was just media. Shortly after getting the taqueria going, he opened a small bakery for his wife, Carolyn’s Cupcakes, and we did all the media for that one, too.
And here we are in 2013. I’m getting ready to take over the books again for Rob and we are trying desperately to move to Phoenix to pursue our dream of having our own pub. I’ve not had a “real” job in a long time and I am virtually unemployable at this point. Which is probably for the best since I don’t play well with others. :) I’ve had a long and checkered career path but I wouldn’t change a thing. My diverse path has given me diverse skills and that, in turn, gives me the ability to do lots of things. I like that. I’ll update this list as time passes.
July 2019 update!
Here we are, 6 years later. I’ll just list out the things that have happened, in chronological order.
I did start working for Rob again when this was originally posted in 2013. Did the books, graphics, social media, websites, etc.
We started fiddling with arcade games in 2014-15. Nick discovered that he loved reviving them and he’s VERY good at it. It started with a Centipede and a multicade and grew from there.
Started up Player One Arcade Services in 2015. We discovered that SO MANY people have games that need service and vintage arcades were starting to explode in popularity. Ready Player One (the book) came out around this time, too.
I had been ballooning up in weight for several years. I’d reached 250+lbs. My friend Amy got Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) in December 2015 and she inspired me to do it in 2016. In May 2016, I had VSG and it changed my life. I dropped 70# and all my inflammation issues and feeling like shit issues disappeared. Best $5k I have EVER spent. ($4k for surgery, $1k for travel)
In June 2017, at Heroes Con, my 94 Civic EX died. I had to leave poor Rhonda in CLT. I bawled like a crazy person. It took a coupla months, but I found Romeo (’12 SI) for a deal and got him in July ’17. We just had his anniversary.
Nick’s job in prepress (NuVision Graphics) ended in Dec 2017. We decided to take the 401k money and try to start up our own pub. The pub concept was vintage arcade, since we had about 15 games at this point. We decided the only way we could make real money with our narrow specialty skillsets was to open our own place. So we took the 401k money from Nick’s 20+ year job and rolled it into our pub concept. We got started in Nov 2018, but then the wheels fell off and the landlord refused to do his part of the buildout. The buildout lagged and at the 7 month point, we bailed. We lost $70k and have about $50k in CC debt. Our credit is trashed. We have no money and no jobs. And I hope the landlord reaps every last bit of this karma. Asshole.
It is now July 2019 and we are broke and unemployed. We salvaged about $25k of the 401k money, which we will reinvest into a new project at some point. The only jobs we can find are shitty and even with both of us working, we’ll barely be above water. It has been a terrible couple of years, but we’ll survive. And we’ll try again.
Hopefully the next update will have less drama and more happiness. Nothing lasts forever, so I’m sure we’ll get back on track with one thing or another. We still have Player One Arcade Services, so hit me up if you need anything game related. :)