Cat calls and dog poop

Today I experienced a new first: while out walking the dog a car drove by and someone shouted out, "Hey Sexy!"

It was early evening. I was the only one walking around in the area. I have little doubt that this was meant for anyone but me (not being conceited unless these people saw an imaginary person or they have a thing for stocky Corgis). This is where it gets funny--I was bent over and rising from picking up dog poop. Oh yeah, baby, that's hot right there. Steaming pile o' poo hot.

What I was doing was obvious (I thought). The dog was there, I had the tell tale knotted little baggies weighted with their doggie doo-doo contents. I wasn't even bent so all they saw was rump, which would have eclipsed my activities. I was facing them (sort of). And when it happened, I carried on as if I hadn't heard a thing (first rule is to not make eye contact or reward the crazy with any kind of acknowledgement).

Welcome to my life.

Tangled web

In my work experience, I have worked for two separate companies twice, meaning I was rehired, by two companies, twice. Now I'm attempting to go for three. I'm not doing this in an attempt to have multiple 401K plans across the corporate world, the lesson here is to not burn bridges. As tempting as it is to leave a place in a blaze of glory, the satisfaction from that is generally short-lived. At the time you think, Oh hell to tha naw, I am not working for those emmer effers ever again. The truth is, you never know, you just might.

I am working through my connections. We'll see how it goes. Oddly enough, my husband now works for this company as well, so we'd be keeping it in the family. The other two interviews I have lined up are contracting positions within the same organization (two different companies). The catch is that this organization will be relocating to San Antonio within a year, which means that the jobs in this area go poof. My guess is, the people who held these jobs probably jumped ship not long after the move became official. I've seen it before, when on of the places I worked was being shifted to Hunstville, Alabama. There were a couple of guys who were okay with the move and the rest? Oh hell to tha naw, I'm not moving to Hunstville. And then the jobs ended and the people scattered. Poof. Such is the life of a contractor.

I still plan to take some time off. So far I have watched lots of Netflix movies, I've recaulked the master bathroom tub and toilet (ick) and I am slowly going through my clothes that either need to be hand washed or require mending and/or ironing. I know no matter how much I get accomplished, there will always be more to do. It's just that the time always goes too quickly. Poof.

My weekend started on Monday

And aside from the "WTF, I can't believe I don't have a job right now" feeling it has been mostly fabulous. I took lots of naps (the cats are really onto something), did lots of laundry and I planted flowers in front of the house. Oh, and updating this here blog.

What I didn't do:
-Go to the gym
-Clean any part of the house beyond the "basic maintenance" and "let's move some dishes so I can actually cook" level
-Read the stack of library books on my dresser

I am working on getting a paying job. I am still coming to accept that I might not find the perfect job this time, or ever. It just doesn't seem to exist, but in the meantime, let's find something bearable that covers the bills and provides enough for me to save for when I retire and have my time to myself again.

I have been watching Netflix movies (thank you, instant watch) and probably burning up my new laptop battery in the process, but it's been good. Some of the movies are pure duds (I watched a movie called "Neverwas" which is filled with well known actors but it went straight to DVD. See also, "Tiptoes." These would have been career enders, so I can see why they got canned). For every crap movie, there is a hidden gem (okay, not sure if it's a one to one ratio, but I'm sure it's close to that), so if you like space science fiction that involves more thinking and less leaning on expensive special effects to get by, (Armageddon, I'm looking at you), check out Moon.

Think way back

Do you remember the commercial with the kids graduating high school? Someone asks one kid what he plans to do after graduation and his answer is, "Go home. Make a sandwich."

It cracks me up to this day. After Monday, I feel like that kid. It has been years since I have been off work, unemployed and with no known follow on job. For today I am fine. I have laundry to do, naps to take and if I were at work, I couldn't have made a quick run downtown to drop off the badges my husband forgot at home. See? It's not all bad. And after that, guess what? I came home and made a sandwich (PB & J).

In the broader scheme I guess I still feel this way. yes, two weeks after my own high school graduation I left for college and stayed there for four years. I graduated with the rare benefit of knowing I would be a second lieutenant in the Army. Then when I left the army, I was that kid. I was home every day, wondering what to do next. I eventually took a job as a contractor working for the Army. That's been my very general job description since then. We moved to D.C. and I did some more soul searching and then I took another contracting job with the Army (notice a pattern?) By then, even my husband had left the Army and worked for a pharmaceutical company. But now he too works as a contractor supporting the (wait for it) Navy.

Most of the time I can accept that this is not who I am. I know that this allows me to pay the bills and fund the things that I enjoy that aren't free and I have to accept that I don't have to love my job, but not dreading it is also a huge plus.

Sometimes you think, "Is that it? Is this all there is?" Sometimes life is pretty good. Sometimes you wish you were that high school kid again, not because you loved high school so much, but because at the time, it really seemed like the possibilities were endless.

Where's my chianti and fava beans?

This sounds like a good recipe, but I couldn't find black people in the spice rack.

More adventures in job hunting

I actually had an interview last Wednesday. I have already updated my online job profiles, so while browsing through the list of jobs, I applied to one. It sounded like something I could do, so why not?

I'm not kidding when I say that I had an email from the HR person in my inbox within two hours. Wow, I thought, that's a first. Usually you apply to these things and it's like shouting into a black hole. I never expect a response. Yeah, maybe someone got your resume, but there are many others like it and no one really cares if that one is yours. I took it as a positive sign and I contacted the guy to set up a time and date.

I set it up to coincide with a career conference. Have I shared how much I detest job fairs? I really do. I think I have scored two interviews from job fairs and one was a pyramid scheme, I mean "multilevel marketing" career. The big, well known companies usually have a giant crowd around their booth, while the little companies are so specialized that when you talk to them, you can already see their head starting to shake no. It's frustrating.

I printed directions to the interview from my job address (I know, what is this, the 1990's? Our GPS is currently being borrowed and I am too cheap to pay for the iPhone GPS application). But anyway--the directions seemed simple enough. It wasn't too far away, and it should not have taken more than 30 minutes to get there.

45 minutes later...

Yes, I know. Of course I got lost. You didn't think I was actually going to make it there, did you? Anyway--45 minutes later, I was frantically searching my phone's web browser for a phone number for these people. I called and admitted I was lost. Without knowing where I was, I promised I would be there by 10:30 (30 minutes after the scheduled time). I then turned on Google maps on my phone (aka the great battery drainer) and found my way to the office.

The interview was not one of my finer performances. The good news was that this was not a job I wanted anyway. The interviewer was the person I would have been replacing. It started out well enough, but the more I heard about the position, the less interested I felt towards getting it. The title included the word "assistant." What does that tell you? Well, the way the job was described, you were some director's assistant and your job was to do the things she could not handle, simply because her plate was overflowing and there are only a limited number of hours in a day. In the interviewer's words, you were expected to "take" work from your boss. she also mentioned that personality was going to be a big factor in determining the right person for the job. Red flag alert. Personality? Is this code that the boss is some kind of fire-breather? She went on to describe some other "quirks" of the leadership while insisting it was a fun place to work. Nothing she described sounded "fun" to me. I was still frazzled from getting lost finding the place, but I didn't feel too terrible that I was bombing. Before I left, I made sure to say "You know, this is the first thing I applied to on Monster where I actually got a response and an interview." The interviewer replied, "I know! That's how desperate we are!"

OUCH.

The job fair--well--I didn't need to be there at a certain time so of course I was able to find it no problemo.

Getting back to my office--I could either take the toll road (easy, but I didn't know if I had enough quarters and the same person who borrowed the GPS borrowed the EZ pass) or I could take the back roads of Fairfax county. I turned on Google maps and went through the back roads. Why did it take me an hour to travel about 15 miles? Some of the little windy roads were enjoyable but there were also many wrong turns and many suspicions of weird engine noises coming from under the hood.

I have a feeling this is just the start of something "fun."

Jobpacalypse now

Well it finally happened--yesterday when I was in my office minding my own business, the company president and HR director stopped by. I knew exactly what was going on. I was getting canned laid off. I did receive a small severance, and a handy little letter and offers to help carry my stuff to my car, which I declined. I had not officially started the Andy Dufresne shuffle of carrying a little out of my cell office day by day, but I had some things in bags ready to go. I was prepared for the trap door, or ejection seat, or any other method of getting the boot quickly, but for some odd reason, I still didn't expect it to be that day. I mean, who gets laid off on a Monday?

I know, denial is a river in...

Anyway, I was packed up, signed out and headed home by noon. I have never been laid off before. I did get "the letter" before and "notice" at my last job, but they didn't give me the boot that very day. I had a few weeks to hang out. It was like being a prisoner waiting to walk that green mile. I moved quickly, and actually found another job. I wound up turning in a resignation letter to my previous employer, so technically, I was never laid off.

I am kicking myself for not considering other offers. The last company actually made an offer to me in 2007, which I declined. They were the first ones I called when I got "the letter." I quickly accepted a job offer, probably because I had always wondered what would have been had I accepted their original offer. Maybe it was a hasty decision made under the cloud of not wanting to not be paid anymore. I know hindsight is 20/20. Had I known I would be in the same position roughly six months after starting work with them, I probably would have declined the offer. I'll have to add a crystal ball to my birthday wish list.

It was a good company. They had bagels and cookies and fresh fruit daily (with the exception of Friday, which was hot egg and pork product sandwich day). There were no vending machines, you could just take soda or juice from the refrigerator, free of charge. Someone set up new flower arrangements by the elevators every week. For once in my life, I actually had my own office, and a window. I had a MacBook as a work computer, and this didn't require reams of paperwork to justify. The benefits were unbeatable and my retirement fund is 25% larger than it was just six months ago. Oh and the job itself--kind of a pain in the ass, but given the other perks it was tolerable. It was nice while it lasted.

This time I'm going to be a little more cautious and a little less hasty.