Sunshine1601

I've been in the same entry-level administrative position at a large non-profit organization going on 5 yrs. in June. My current position has changed drastically since when I began, taking on more regular tasks and not just "other duties as assigned". Every annual performance review I brought this up with my manager and asked whether or not my position could be upgraded and every time I was basically told to "wait and see". I had taken on the tasks of senior coordinators, yet the job and the pay remained the same. Last year because of an organization-wide re-organization and an honest discussion with my new manager highlighting all the extra things I do that were not in my job description, the grade of my position was upgraded, but my pay increased less than $1 per hour.

For the last 4 yrs, I've been trying to advance in the company by applying to other open and more specialized positions for which I feel I am qualified for. Within that time I've interviewed for 6 positions, even making it to the end for one of them only to have them choose someone else. I did not intend to remain an admin assistant for this long. At first the work was fulfilling and I felt that this was an organization that I would want to grow with. But after years of doing the same mindless work, not being challenged, and being so hungry for something more, I've grown apathetic and loathsome and I know it shows and I honestly can't put a happy face on and pretend like I'm happy and I care anymore. When I did care and put forth the effort it went unnoticed. I can't help to think that this apathy has something to do with me not being hired in other areas of the building, but it's like this giant Catch-22. I'm giving up applying for internal positions because i all I see is more frustration and disappointment.

I'm currently pursuing my masters degree in international higher education as that is the field where my passion lies. I've also been applying for positions in that field, but I know that either the lack of M.Ed. or lack of experience in the field is what's holding back. The rejection makes sense there.

I know I can't walk away from my steady paycheck and benefits. That would be ridiculous. But how can I make the situation more bearable until I can find something else?

Last week I applied for an in-house position in another department in my organization. A colleague in HR suggested that I should stop by the hiring manager's desk and introduce myself. But what do I say? Do I tell her flat out that I'm interested in the position she's hiring for? And if so, how do I do that tactfully? Even though that's technically what I'm doing, I don't want to be like "Hi, nice to meet you. I applied for one of your positions. You should check me out."

I really believe I'd be a good fit for this position but I just have to get the interview first.

I needed some life in my workspace so I bought a small pink polka dot plant to bring in some color and perk up the place. I don't have much natural light in my cubicle (there is some peeking around the corner) although there is a bright fluorescent light right above my workstation. The little care tab on the plant itself says it's a shade/partial shade plant so I figured it would be ok in this environment, but other sources tell me it may require more light. I haven't brought the plant in to work yet and it seems to be doing ok at home for the time being. Oh, and I DO NOT possess a green thumb. If this plant doesn't work out I may resort to an artificial flower arrangement of calla lilies...

I am one of those top-heavy girls who CAN NOT, I REPEAT, CAN NOT, WEAR A STRAPLESS BRA (not that they make them in my size anyway) AND THEY DON'T MAKE CLEAR-STRAPPED BRAS IN MY SIZE (I'm a "Bravissimo" girl, you big-boobed girls will know what I'm talking about). I recently bought a tube dress (which I tried on with my bra, of course) which looked too cute on me to pass up and I figured there'd have to be some way I could make it work. It's a black dress so I was wondering if I wore a black bra (and only the straps would be exposed), would that be too tacky? I suppose I could always wear a cardigan or a little bolero jacket if I had to.

Please help a girl out!

I'm 25 and I've been dating this guy who's in his 30s for about 3-4 months now. It's Christmastime and I'm at a lose as to what to get him. I thought of cologne, but he'd only wear it w/ me since he doesn't wear it often. He has enough watches, he's not too tech-savvy, and I wanted to do something different than DVDs or a sweater. He's a big guy and I'm kinda short and I affectionately call him my "teddy bear". So I'm flirting with the idea of getting him a personalized teddy bear from Build-a-Bear and since he's a Chicago sports fan, have the bear dressed in either White Sox or Chicago Bears garb. I mean, it has sentimental value and a bit of his own personality with the sports stuff. I'm just not sure if a grown-*** man would like something like that or if a teddy bear would be too juvenile a gift.

Feedback or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm 25 and I've been dating this guy who's in his 30s for about 3-4 months now. It's Christmastime and I'm at a lose as to what to get him. I thought of cologne, but he'd only wear it w/ me since he doesn't wear it often. He has enough watches, he's not too tech-savvy, and I wanted to do something different than DVDs or a sweater. He's a big guy and I'm kinda short and I affectionately call him my "teddy bear". So I'm flirting with the idea of getting him a personalized teddy bear from Build-a-Bear and since he's a Chicago sports fan, have the bear dressed in either White Sox or Chicago Bears garb. I mean, it has sentimental value and a bit of his own personality with the sports stuff. I'm just not sure if a grown-*** man would like something like that or if a teddy bear would be too juvenile a gift.

Feedback or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm a 24 y.o. African-American/Back woman living in Sevilla, Spain teaching English. I've been here for a few months already, but it seems that the few Spaniards who were interested in me were almost twice my age, and I'm an attractive girl, not a total hottie, but cute enough. Where are the guys from my generation?

Also, I know that there are nowhere near as many minorities/different ethnic groups in Spain as there are in the US, so what is the general consensus on interracial dating in Spain? Is it taboo or excepted?

I'm a 24 y.o. African-American/Back woman living in Sevilla, Spain teaching English. I've been here for a few months already, but it seems that the few Spaniards who were interested in me were almost twice my age, and I'm an attractive girl, not a total hottie, but cute enough. Where are the guys from my generation?

Also, I know that there are nowhere near as many minorities/different ethnic groups in Spain as there are in the US, so what is the general consensus on interracial dating in Spain? Is it taboo or excepted?

The Oscars is the one award show I look forward to every year, but this year I'm in Spain and I don't have the cable network it will be cast on in my apartment. However, if there was a live streaming webcast I would be able to see it on my pc.

The Oscars is the one award show I look forward to every year, but this year I'm in Spain and I don't have the cable network it will be cast on in my apartment.

I just got my Creative Zen Vision: M yesterday and put a bunch of videos on it, but some of the .AVI files won't play. The error message I get is: "Cannot play Video with this bitrate." First of all, I'm not really sure what a "bitrate" is, although I believe it has to do with the quality (in kbps) of the video which corresponds with the file size. I'm not that computer savvy as far as creating and altering digital audio and video, so any suggestions or links to software programs or forums would be greatly appreciated.

For those who have the Zen Vision: M, does the software it came with do any kind of file converting? I haven't played around with it yet, as I used Windows Media Player to sync my files to the Zen Vision.

Coming from an iPod nano (which I lost, go figure), so far I like the Zen Vision and I'm getting the hang of the navigation, which was a bit tricky in the beginning.

At my job we received 2 donated Toshipa laptops w/ DVD-Roms that were wiped clean. Our IT department put the Windows XP operating system and Office software on them but windows media player doesn't have this DVD decoder, we occasionally receive educational DVDs which we would need to view. I consulted our IT Dept. and they said we would have to purchase a decoder. They also suggested that installing a dvd player that is bundled on some DVDS, may solve the problem. Would InterActual Player or PC Friendly be the fix? And once installed, could you also view DVDs using Windows Media Player?

If I bought an appliance in europe, let's say a hair dryer, would I be able to use it in the US with just the Eur-->US plug adapter, or would I also need a voltage converter?