Work and school

If you’ve been following for the last few weeks, you know that I’ve been trying to get hired as a receptionist (or client services professional) at H&R Block for several weeks now.  I had the paperwork finished, but because the district manager died last month of a heart attack, my paperwork ended up getting booted out of the system.  The manager at the Tigard office, Diane, has been helping me get back into the system and I was finally hired on Monday, the 9th.  Tuesday was my first full day of work.

I spent the entire day working on an online training I needed for the job, but I only got halfway finished with it.  As I was leaving work to head home, I noticed there was a little bit of snow on my windshield and it continued as I drove home.  Wednesday morning, Diane called to tell me not to come to work.  I looked out my window and saw that we had five to six inches of snow.

Mom's front yard

Mom’s front yard

Six inches!

Six inches!

Bird bath in Mom's back yard

Bird bath in Mom’s back yard

Since I was able to do my training online, I spent the next day and a half working on that.  I was fortunate to have that to do so that I could earn some income while I was snowed in.

Lighted tree at night

Lighted tree at night

On the second day we were snowed in, Mom was getting a little bit of cabin fever, so we took my truck and went grocery shopping.  The third day, we went out again, but this time the roads were becoming packed ice and it was a little riskier to get around.  Yesterday, even with studded tires I was sliding around.  Today, I had a training for work over in Milwaukie, and this time I had to shift into 4-wheel drive when I was off the main roads.  I think I’ll stay home tomorrow (Sunday).  It’s supposed to warm up and rain so hopefully the roads and parking lots will be clear when I go back to work on Monday.


Mark started school this last Monday.  He was telling me a little more about it.  There is only one instructor, but there are a number of classrooms.  As the class studies different things, they will move to different rooms.  Right now they are studying electronics, so they are in a room that is half classroom, half tables with electrical things on them.  There’s a room full of RV refrigerators, one full of toilets, one for water heaters, etc.  They will all have an opportunity to get hands-on training.

Speaking of refrigerators, Mark had noticed on his way to Florida that our refrigerator stopped working.  His first day of class, he mentioned it to his instructor and asked for advice.  The instructor suggested he check inside the back panel.  When Mark got home, he turned the refrigerator back on and went outside to remove the panel.  The panel was hot to the touch, and when he got it off, he saw flames!  He quickly went inside and turned the refrigerator off and the flames slowly died down and went out.  Praise God for protecting Mark and the cats!

Mark is enjoying his classes and learning a lot.  He’s had one test so far and he aced it.  Please continue to pray for him as he studies for his certification.

By the way, his temperatures have been in the 70’s this week.  Lucky guy!

One thought on “Work and school

  1. Quite the snow/ice storm you all have had! I saw quite a lot of photos on FB. Hope Mark is doing well with his class; can you remind me how long his class lasts? I’m curious to hear to hear how H&R Block is going. Do they do taxes? If so, I imagine their foot traffic will be picking up as we get into tax season.

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