Category Archives: Work

tuesday news

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I’m still sick, but I went to the doctor yesterday and got some antibiotics, so that should hopefully kick this sinus infection out of my system quickly. Normally I would try to ride it out because I know it’s not good to take antibiotics every time you get sick, but this has been going on for over two weeks, and I’m about to start a new job, so I need it to hurry up and go away already.

Speaking of which, I had orientation for my new job yesterday. It’s another contract at the Giant Software Company, so it’s nothing that I’m not used to – the orientation was all pretty routine stuff (fill out tax forms, watch a video on sexual harassment in the workplace, try not to snicker at said video, etc.). I’m not sure exactly what my start date is, because they’re still waiting for the results of a background check on me. You’d think they’d already have one from the last contract I did, but apparently not. So I guess I may not have the job after they find out about that one time that I was a crack whore. (Ha!) Seriously, I’m trying to imagine what they could possibly find out about me, other than the fact that I was irresponsible with credit cards in college, and that I’ve had a few speeding tickets. I’m afraid that other than that, I’ve led a terribly boring life. Or maybe I’m just good at not getting caught. You’ll never know, will you?

Oh, one thing during orientation that I wasn’t expecting: at some point, the HR lady was speaking about confidentiality and proper use of the company’s network systems, etc., and she specifically said, “So if you have a blog, you need to do that on your own time and not mention anything about work.” I could actually feel myself blushing, and I could’ve sworn that everyone in the room was staring at me. (They weren’t.) So um, yeah. I’ve been warned, and I will proceed with caution. At the very least, I’ll try to remember to change the timestamps on my posts so they don’t appear to have been written during work hours. Heh heh.

Other stuff: Since we got home from our NYC trip, we’ve tried sleeping with our bedroom door open at nights. In the past, we’ve always kept it closed so Teenie can have our bedroom all to herself, and we don’t have to worry about hearing her fight with the other cats at 3 a.m. (I don’t know if you’ve ever woken up to a cat fight, but trust me, it’s not a pleasant way to start your day.) They were all in the house together with no closed doors while we were gone, and I think they’ve started to negotiate their territory pretty well. Beaumont is the only one who’s come to sleep with us for the past few nights. It’s been pretty uneventful. At some point during the night, he’ll accidentally make eye contact with Teenie and she’ll growl and hiss for a couple of minutes, but then they settle down and go back to sleep. Yay for progress!

As for Cleo and Greta, they’ve kind of turned into clique-y high school girls, and they sleep on the couch together because they can’t possibly deign to get in our bed with the other cats. They’ve both turned on Beaumont, too, which is sad. He’ll roll over on his back with his paws in the air (totally submissive pose), and they still swat and hiss at him. I think it’s mostly Cleo (who, oddly, is Beaumont’s litter-mate); she hisses at him whenever he comes anywhere near her. Greta doesn’t seem to mind him too much when Cleo isn’t around, but apparently Greta has turned into Gretchen Wieners to Cleo’s Regina George. Or perhaps Greta is Heather McNamara and Cleo is Heather Chandler, take your pick. And since Teenie hates all of the cats equally, that basically means that Beaumont has no feline friends in our house at all. Dave and I have been giving him lots of extra love to make up for all of the rejection he’s suffered lately. It must be tough being the only neutered boy kitty in a house full of girl kitties. Poor little guy.

whimper

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I have a job interview today, and I’m sick. To elaborate: I’ve been struggling with this cold thing for the past few weeks, but it’s mostly been either a constant runny nose or a lot of clearing my throat. (Not even real coughing, just that annoying “AHEM” thing that won’t get out of there.) Nothing too horrible. Today, however, my throat is swollen and achy, I have a killer sinus headache, and I just generally feel awful. It hurts to swallow. Whee.

As for the job, it’s a contract position at the Giant Software Company, and I’m not sure that I’m in love with it, but I’m sure I’d enjoy it well enough if I got it. Plus the whole regular paycheck thing would be nice. It’s a bit weird that my interview isn’t until 6:15 this evening, but apparently the hiring manager (who I’ll be meeting with) is going out of town tomorrow morning, and she wants to meet all of the candidates for this job before she leaves. Hence the evening interview. Kind of strange to go in for an interview after dark, but whatever.

The upside of all this is that I just took two ultra heavy-duty Sud@fed, and I’ll have time to nap off the ensuing grogginess before the interview. Cross your fingers that I don’t yawn too much during the interview. Or hack up something on the poor lady.

random stuff, part 336

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Aaaand once again, the elusive full-time position at the Giant Software Company slips through my fingers. I never even got a real interview on this one, just an email letting me know that they already hired someone. Fine, ho-hum, whatevah. Meanwhile, there have been several possibilities that have started cropping up for contract jobs at the Giant Software Company, and those might turn out to be promising. My little 100-day hiatus is coming to an end, boo-hoo. What that means is that I can officially start looking for jobs now because I’ll be able to work there for another year starting the Monday after Thanksgiving, and it’d be nice to have something set up and ready to go as soon as I’m eligible to start working there again. So, it’s good to get the respective balls rolling now. (Hee-hee, I said “balls”.)

Oh, that reminds me, did I mention that Dave and I are going to New York for Thanksgiving? My sister (occasional commenter on this here bloggy thing) lives there, so my whole family is going to meet up for a few days. We’re staying at home for Christmas, so this is kind of our one big family holiday gathering for the year. Dave’s never been to NYC before, so I imagine we’ll be doing lots of touristy stuff. I’m really looking forward to it.

In other news, Dave and I saw a Henry Rollins spoken word show last night. Happy sigh. I love that man. (I mean Henry – but Dave too, obviously.) I believe this is the 5th one of his shows I’ve seen. It was great, but I won’t try to recreate any of his stories for you here because it just wouldn’t work and wouldn’t be funny at all. However, if he ever passes through your town, you really should go see him. You won’t regret the money you spent on the ticket, I promise.

Also, as of Tuesday, Dave and I have officially been married for 6 months. And I have to say, besides the whole thing with my job ending suddenly, the depression of unemployment, and worrying endlessly about money because I have no income and feel like a big fat leech since I’m not contributing anything to the household other than doing dishes, laundry and all that insanely boring 1950’s housewife bullsh*t, this has been the happiest 6 months of my life. 🙂 Love you, baby.

have you missed these fascinating little job updates?

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First off, if any of you play CD’s or DVD’s on your computers, you better make sure that they aren’t produced by Sony. This article is pretty scary. Not surprising, really, but it makes me suddenly grateful that the only CD’s I’ve bought over the past year have been through iTunes.

New topic: I had a very strange phone interview last week. It’s basically almost the exact same job that I interviewed for a couple of months ago, but in a different department. The fact that this job is a different team at the same company is a good thing, because it means that there’s little to no risk that I’ll end up sitting in any meetings with Dave’s ex-wife. Not that that really intimidated me about the last job – I mean, hello, I consider myself to be the big winner of that situation – but it could’ve been awkward. Anyway, this new job is totally unrelated to her little group, so yay. The HR recruiter lady called me, and I had been told that the interview was going to be about 45-50 minutes long, but it was only maybe 10 minutes at the most. She told me that she talked to the recruiter for the other job that I interviewed for, and asked me if there was anything I would’ve done differently in that interview process. I said yes, that I felt like I did pretty well through the first few interviews, but I hadn’t been prepared for how long a day it was going to be, and that by the last couple of interviews, I felt like I was just saying “I don’t know” to a lot of the questions because I was brain-dead. She confirmed that I had done well at the beginning of the day, and that most of the people I interviewed with had recommended that they hire me, but that I “sort of fell apart in the last two interviews.” I was actually grateful to hear that, because that was what I suspected all along, and it’s the most feedback that I’ve gotten yet. And considering that one of those last two interviews that I blew was with the woman who would’ve been my boss, it makes sense that I didn’t get the job. Anyway, she said for me to send her some of my writing samples, and I guess that means that I’m going to get another one of those hellish all-day in-person interviews. I’ll find out soon enough one way or the other. But I suppose I can deal with another Hell Day, since now I know where I went wrong last time. And because this is another full-time job with benefits, which would be absolutely lovely.

more boring work stuff

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So I’ll bet you thought I’d have an update on that job I interviewed for last week, right? Well, guess again! I have no news at all, which I’m pretty much assuming means that I don’t have it. First, some background: the Giant Software Company has this rule that contractors can only work there for a year before they’re required to take 100 days off. It’s some loophole so they can’t keep temps forever, and if you really want to understand it, this article explains it better than I can. Ok, here’s the problem: I’ve already been gone 40 days, but that basically means nothing. I still can only work there for another 5 1/2 months (mid-March is my one year anniversary), and then I’m required to take 100 days off. I can’t break it up – 50 days now and 50 days next spring, something like that – it has to be 100 consecutive days in which I don’t work at the Giant Software Company. Which sucks, but that’s what happens when some idiot temps decide to get all uppity and demand benefits, and all they succeed in doing is royally screwing things up for everyone else.

Ok, back to that job that I interviewed for? Apparently the one big strike against me is that I could only work there for 5 1/2 months, rather than a full year. I’m guessing that’s probably the reason why I won’t get the job. Again, I don’t know if I have it or not, I’m just operating under the assumption that I don’t. And like I said before, I really don’t care. Meanwhile, Dave and I have talked it over and I think that since I’m already almost at the halfway point, I’m just going to make this period right now my 100 days off, and then starting in late November or early December, I can take on another contract for a full year. The challenge, of course, is going to be trying to keep my sanity intact for the next 2 months. But since I’ve taken on that new certification, studying should take up a nice big chunk of the next several weeks. So that’s good.

And in less boring, much happier news, I direct you to other people’s blogs – none of whom I have met in real life, but who I am inexplicably joyous for, regardless: Liz got married! Amalah had a baby boy! SJ found out recently that she’s having a boy! Sally got a great haircut, and she has an adorable new kitten! Ok, I think I’m starting to push it, so that’s probably enough. Hope everyone is having a happy Monday.

where is the funny?

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So, I feel like I need to apologize for the fact that my last post was not at all even remotely funny, but hey, I guess that’s just the part of my cool mysteriousness, no? I’m not sure that this will be any funnier, because I’ve been in this very strange dark mood for the past couple of days. I’m frustrated with the job search – or rather, the lack of results from it – and I’m tired of feeling useless because I’m home all day while Dave is at work and I don’t really seem to do anything.* Yesterday I made myself feel slightly better by cleaning, but the house is still a mess, and the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow, so there’s really no point in bothering, is there? Normally, when I feel like this, doing something fun like going shopping for a new outfit or a pair of shoes might make me feel better, but I have this little rule about not spending money on extraneous things when I have no income. Call me kooky.

* Disclaimer: Dave has nothing to do with this mood, and I know that he hates that I feel this way. If anything, the guy is just too damn supportive, because he’s constantly telling me to relax and try to enjoy my time at home and think of it as a “vacation,” and I can’t seem to do that. But really, how sweet is that? It makes me feel even more guilty for spending his paycheck on things we don’t really need. Such as, see below.

So! In an effort to feel less useless and more like I’m taking steps to do something positive for my career, I’ve decided to get yet another certification. I won’t bore everyone with the details because I seriously doubt that most of you care, but this one little thing alone should definitely fatten up my resume quite nicely. Which means, of course, that I now get to go to the bookstore and drop some crazy amount of money on a textbook so I can teach it to myself, because that’s a better option than spending even crazier amounts to take a class for it. (Example: There is a 3-day intensive workshop for this certification, which costs a mere $3000. Holy god. I think I’ll just go buy the $75 book and go at my own pace, thanks anyway.) So yeah, that’s what I’m doing. Wish me luck.

Oh, and about that job that I’m not sure about: I got an email from my recruiter (the guy who set up the interview) with the subject line that said, “good news!” Apparently he wanted to let me know that yes, they’re interested in me, and it’s basically a decision between me and one other person. Um, how is that good news? I mean, yay for me being in the final two, but seriously. That still means there’s a 50% chance that I won’t get it, and really, I think I would’ve been happier not knowing that I was that close and missed it.

In happier news: today is my mom’s birthday. I won’t write a big elaborate shout-out since she doesn’t read this site, but I will say that she’s one of my favorite people on this planet, and I feel sorry for anyone who wasn’t raised by her. (So, basically, the entire world minus me and my siblings.) Yay for mama!

Monday update

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Ok, the interview today? I have absolutely no idea how that went. I went into it with no expectations – I knew the qualifications that they were looking for, and I knew that I fit the description pretty well. But I didn’t really understand what it is that this group actually does (and yes, this is yet another team at the Giant Software Company), and I’m still not sure that I completely get it, even after being interviewed by three different people. So that’s kind of strange. I honestly just don’t know how well I did in the interview process – that big one a couple of weeks ago really shook my confidence, and these people all had poker faces, so I couldn’t tell at all if they liked me or not.

Bottom line: if they offer the job to me? I’ll take it. It’s a 6-month contract, so even if I end up hating it, it’s only temporary. And we could use the extra income. (More importantly: my ego needs the income to feel like a useful & productive member of this household.) But based on what I know of it, I don’t think I’ll hate it. It sounds like something that I would enjoy, and that I could do well. And if they don’t offer it to me? Meh. I don’t really care. Just have to wait and see, I guess.

In other news, after all that panic and chaos, the hurricane didn’t even cause my brother in Houston to lose electricity. Absolutely nuts. And in other, other news: I did nothing all weekend except play video games (Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker! Aaaaah! I’m reliving my childhood!) and watch season 1 of “Lost” on DVD. We still have a few episodes left, so don’t give me any spoilers. But man, I am totally loving that show.