One Down, (Hopefully) One to Go

I was excited and nervous for my interview today. I know this because I had my alarm set, but woke up about an hour and a half early. It was almost like going to school again.

I got up and got ready to head out the door by 8:00, expecting traffic to be a bit of a bear. Surprisingly, it wasn't. I was able to make it in to Boise in about 20 minutes (which is generally a 15 minute commute), so I felt like I was doing pretty good.

I went and parked in the hospital parking lot. I found it kind of funny that the secretary had told me to park there or feed a meter (tell me which one you would have done) and then walk over to the building. Because I still had about 25 minutes to kill, I decided to do a bit of strolling through the city on this chilly spring morning.

I immediately started wishing I had a camera with me. There are some old buildings that have unique features in the heart of Boise—the type of stuff you don't see everyday in my neighborhood. I noticed that there was a building that must have been an old factory of sorts that had been renovated to be an office building. The smokestack was a dead giveaway.

I had a good opportunity to wrestle with myself. I want a stable job that is full time that will offer good benefits. This job does that. The only downside is the fact that the job doesn't pay as much as I would want it to. It was a tight squeeze for the person who is currently in the position, but it is stable. It is with the government, for goodness sake. How much more stable can you get?

As I meandered, I came to the same conclusions I always arrive at—don't count your chickens before they hatch. I need to have a job offer before I make the decision if this is the job for me.

I took a peek at my phone to see what time it was, and found that it was an acceptable time to head over to the building. I walked inside to find the security guard sitting at his desk. I was also pleased to see a copy of The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (which happens to be one of my favorite series of all times). I had the chance to chat with the guard for a bit which put us both at ease. I wasn't sure why the guard was nervous. It must be my 6'2" 140 pound frame that set his knees knocking. Needless to say, at this point, I was pretty sure that it was going to be a good interview.

I got my name tag and headed up the elevator into the lobby of the second floor. I was greeted by the admin assistant who was there and he phoned one of my interviewers to let them know I was there. And then I sat quietly and rifled through a magazine without feigning interest.

She came out to greet me and walked me back to her office where I found another one of my interviewers (who happened to invite us up to their family cabin not too long ago). The third interviewer (and my potential boss) was actually missing. I expected him to come in, but was informed that his wife was in the process of having a baby at the moment, so he wouldn't be joining us.

Excuses, excuses...

Needless to say, the interview went pretty well. I should be hearing back either way from them before too long. The only problem is I have to go back in for another interview. It isn't that I dread interviews, I just want to know the resolution. I've been jerked around a few times and hope that this isn't going to be one of those times. This group is a lot more professional, and I would be able to carve a niche out for myself there as the only tech writer in the group, but it still makes me wonder if this is going to come to pass. Until I know, I am just going to have to wait it out until I hopefully get another interview.

Playing Nice

Never underestimate the power of being nice. During my time off, I have been doing my fair share of job hunting. I have been quite unsuccessful up to this point, but I have happened to find some positions that I thought would be good for other people, so I have sent them a note or two along the way.

Invariably, I have found that people are very happy that I would think of them for a position, especially if it is one that they are interested in (which of course they all are. I only hand out perfect fits to people). I know I am always happy when people send me postings that might be a good fit.

The best part about it though is the fact that once I send them a job to look at, they have all immediately replied with something to the effect of, "Hey, aren't you looking for a job?" It gives me the opportunity to tell them that I am looking, and then I can tell them exactly what I'm looking for. So far I haven't had a lot of success hearing back with new leads (just a few bites), but I know that others are looking for me. That makes searching for a job much better.

On that note, I have an interview tomorrow for a position to create forms online. It isn't something that I am an expert at, but they are looking for someone part-time (which I could fit into my busy schedule) that would work under someone more senior. If I land the position, I think it will get me learning more about web design and programming. I would be fine with that. :)

I also decided that I'm not playing nice in my blogging. I have my comments restricted so that you have to log in to make any remarks. So I am going to be revoking that. Feel free to comment, even if you don't have an Open ID. And I will try better to be more interactive with comments. I don't often reply to comments, so I'll see what I can do about replying to them a bit more frequently. I do, after all, like knowing the twelve people I am writing to. OK, so it might be a few more than that, but not many...
 
So, next time you are looking for a job, do some hunting for other people and they might be able to send some bites your way.

I'm a Centenarian

Well, at least in blogging years.

This marks the 100th post on my blog. I didn't know if this blog would last this long, but it has. I'm glad it did.

You might have noticed that I have been slacking a bit on my posting recently. I have been frantically trying to find a job, and I think I have landed one. It is only part time, and I don't know if it will ever turn into a full-time gig, but for now, it will probably pay more than unemployment which happens to pay less than $9.00 an hour. Not the best wage to support a child and a pregnant wife. But, I can now say that I am employed. I am going in to finalize the paperwork on Wednesday and receive my first assignment. Hopefully many more will follow.

The funny thing is, I was introduced casually to my boss about six months ago. She is the niece of one of my co-workers, and happens to have her own business. I met her one day, and didn't think twice about it. When my co-worker told me that she was looking for someone last week, I jumped at the chance, and the timing just happened to work out perfectly. It must be all about who you know.

In other good news, I have decided to learn more about programming and web design. My dad has been volunteering during his retirement for our church over the past five plus years, and his volunteering time will be up in November of this year. Because he knows that my mother will be painting once they finish up, he is trying to find new hobbies.

He has been interested in the iPhone and Apple products for quite some time. He has an iPhone, and once had the audacity to ask me if it was an iPod as well. It just goes to show you how much he really understands the device. He is a smart guy, but doesn't realize how far technology has come in the past ten years.

With that being said, he heard about some boy who wrote the most downloaded iPhone app, and how he taught himself to program it by reading a book from the library. Dad bought the book, which is causing him to probably get the Internet. He has been begrudgingly avoiding it at the risk of getting viruses (plus he doesn't want to pay for it), but I think he is beginning to see the light. He actually asked me to give him a quote from a few different ISPs, and what it might run him. Mom is a bit astounded, but she will run with it.

My parents have been out of town for a few days, so Dad suggested (read strongly recommended) that I take a look at the book. While the book doesn't read like a novel, it isn't too bad for a technical book. It describes most of the basics of the program, but leaves out the background on the coding, which makes it accessible to the masses. Not being part of the masses, I could use a bit more explanation regarding some of the code snippets. I'm not asking for a thorough discussion, but I could use a bit more meat. I'll just have to find it elsewhere, as the author considered it out of scope for this book (and thankfully warned me, else I would have been one angry book borrower).

I am about a third through the book, and have yet to do any programming/app creation. I'll get started on it shortly though.

After Kathy from Well Placed Words stopped by and left me a comment asking who Munchkin was, I decided that I had better create a page with a cheat sheet defining the who's who of Journeys in Journaling. With that being said, I think I'll put that information here in a separate page for future readers/newcomers, but I think it might be a good introduction to creating apps on the iPhone/iPad. I have a few other ideas I would like to include, but I don't want to give away all my secrets in case I figure out that I am terrible at creating apps and end up creating something that kills your iPhone.

And because I will have to be creating lovely graphics to go along with this app, I'll probably be giving this page a refresh as well with my own personalized graphics. As much as I love my jaundiced blog, I think some better graphics could help spice it up a bit.

I'll make sure to let you know when I get it done. In fact, I'll probably have a link here to go get the app (which will be free. I hope no one is dying to buy an app that is all about me and my life, and if they are, I would be interested to see if they want to create a new position for me in their business).

In short, if you see some new things popping up on the blog in the next few months, please don't be alarmed. It is probably intentional. But then again, since I am a beginner, parts of it will be unintentional. If something looks awry, please let me know.

Happy hundred to me!

I Feel...

A new video caught my attention on TED today, so of course I started perusing other content because you can't watch just one TED video without finding something else that looks riveting as well. From a various string of videos that all started with a ukulele, I ran across this one (that is kind of long, but good) by Jonathan Harris:



I liked the first part best. I have been looking for a way to find bloggers who I might be able to connect with online. I want to find blogs that are meaningful to me. And this tool offers a unique way to visualize this type of information. You can connect directly with the blog to learn more.

I went out to the site to test it out, and the We Feel Fine project works as expected. I was a bit surprised that I didn't have the option to select Boise, but both Meridian and Eagle were in the list. I guess Boise doesn't have a lot of bloggers who discuss their feelings.

Now it is story time.

We had a great farewell luncheon yesterday that was arranged by two of my co-workers (and fellow contractors) that was very nice. We had a large and varied group come and take a lot of time out of their normal day to wish me well. I was surprised at first to hear that 17 people had RSVPed. In fact, I felt quite flattered that so many would join us. Sadly, there weren't very many from my the company that is forcing me to take a furlough (including my direct manager).

I had a manager from another company that I work with contact me to wish me well on my hiatus. She told me that a lot of her employees were talking about my furlough and saying really negative things about it.

I have been quite bitter about this furlough. I have worked very hard to make myself valuable to this company, and for thanks I get a kick out the door for three months. I have come to a realization that this isn't a reflection on me, or on my work—this is a reflection on managers who see me as a title and probably don't even know my name (unless they are familiar with the famous singer from the 80's). The reflection on me and my work comes from the fact that I was invited to return after my furlough. It makes the horse pill a bit easier to swallow.

To tie this all together, I got thinking about the end of the video. I got thinking about the mythology that would be around me by using the new Universe tool. I felt like I had been feeling like my own little planet was having quite the violent upheaval while the rest of the world went on. And to an extent, that is true. But by hearing that the group of authors I work with have been up in arms about this vindicated me. By explaining my furlough, I have found many people who are willing to look for positions for me, including some who are trying to pull strings and break the rules. We'll see if anything comes of it, but for now, I know that this moment in my mythology reaches far beyond me. It might not have the impact that it needs in order for me to find a position, but I can be hopeful that it does.

Foo

After many emails and contacting multiple people, I finally heard back from the company I was interviewing with. And it was a negative response. After months of careful planning, the stars would have been magically aligned and I would have been offered the position just in the nick of time, but I learned that recently the Zodiac signs were changed, so the stars weren't aligned as I thought they would be. Silly astrologers. Don't they know that they are messing with my ability to feed my family?

This means that I am back at square one. In exactly two weeks I won't have a job, and at this point, there are no promising prospects. If I need to, I'll go get a job at McDonald's or something. I am hoping that it doesn't come to that, but there are mouths to feed and bills to pay.

So now I start applying to all the positions that I qualify for, but would be just a job instead of a career—secretary, office assistant, peon, etc.

The bright side of things is that we only need to survive for three months. The position I currently have will still be here for me when I am done with my 100-day break. The bad news is I have to find something to fill my time and pay the bills in the next two weeks. In case you know of anything or hear of any positions that are focused on writing, editing, the Internet, or computers, please let me know. I'll take what I can get, and am a surprisingly quick study... 

A Post-Interview Surprise

The interview went quite well (in my opinion) yesterday. I had a couple of people in the room with me, and one on the phone (remotely from the Denver office). Even though they all had names that started with a "J" sound (one had a spelling that started with a "G"), I was able to keep them all straight.

There were no real surprises in the interview for me. The only question that I would consider maybe being a minus for me is the fact that they asked me if I had any HR experience. I am hoping that the question was mainly a nice to have instead of a must have. The job description didn't mention it as a requirement, but you never know what people might read between the lines when they are trying to create a job description.

The biggest surprise came as I was walking out the door. One of the authors that I edit for was attempting to come in through the secured door while I was trying to escape. Because I knew her, I let her in. I said a quick hi in passing, but I thought that she was just ignoring me because I received no answer. She didn't look up, she didn't acknowledge me in any way, shape, or form. I figured that this was because she was coming to an interview, and felt a bit awkward that the both of us happened to bump into each other.

Maybe it was how the earlier part of Cautious Thursday turned out, but Cautious Thursday turned into Paranoid Thursday for me by seeing her there. I know that she just graduated with her Masters degree from my alma mater in Technical Communication, which will be a leg up for her over me. My interviewers don't know that there is a 60% overlap in the curriculum between the bachelor's and Masters programs, so I spent the evening with a gnawing in the back of my brain while comparing her writing and what I knew of her credentials to my own.

Before leaving work yesterday (and to ease my troubled mind), I decided to send her an email wishing her well. I thought it would help diffuse the semi-awkward situation of me saying hi and her completely ignoring me. And I ended up getting a response from her this morning, profusely apologizing for not noticing me. She had come to visit a friend who just started working there, and her friend wanted to show off the new place. She had a really bad headache/sinus infection, so she was trying to avoid looking into the lights and things. At least that's what she said.

Needless to say, my worries were unwarranted. With that being said, now I have a gnawing in my brain that she is going to go looking on all the job boards and find the posting for this position and sneak her resume in before the position closes and I'll find her sitting in a room with me during a second interview as we try to battle it out. She has ammunition against me, and I have ammunition against her as to why we are the better of the two writers.

For my sanity's sake (as well as my pocketbook's sake), let's hope that this daydream remains nothing more than a thought.

Bites

Yesterday was a good day. I decided to take the day off work (at Wifey's suggestion) because the company I work for had a holiday. While I could have worked from home, Wifey convinced me not to worry about it.

We spent the morning taking down all our Christmas things. Wifey was happy to get it down, but I could tell that she didn't want Christmas to be over. While we got everything cleaned up, that wasn't the best part of the day.

I had a preliminary phone interview for a position. After applying for positions since August, I finally have an interview. I felt the interview went well. I was able to answer yes to everything that needed a yes, and didn't get any curveball questions that curved too much.

They liked me enough to schedule me for an in-person interview (which I didn't know existed anymore) on Thursday, so wish me luck.

The position would be creating content and web sites. I have always been intrigued by the Web, but never had the opportunity to really delve into the HTML and coding. Maybe I'll have the opportunity to do that, and get paid for it now. And the company offers education assistance as well. This means that I might be getting a Master's degree. I had better start delving more into what I want to study if I am going to get this position...

But before I put the cart before the horse, I also want to mention that a former co-worker of mine is meeting tomorrow for another possible position. I don't know why, but after the drought of not hearing anything from any company for five months, now I have two very likely possibilities on the horizon. Hopefully I'll be getting two offers within the next week, and I'll get to pick which one I want.

It's Crunch Time

Once upon a time there was a young squire who earned his keep in the castle by tidying up other people's things. When the squire was hired, he knew that he would only be employed for two years. He figured, "Hey, I have two years to find another castle to tidy up, so I'll just enjoy the time I have here."

During that time, some of his fellow squires moved on to other castles. While the young squire was sad to see them go, he was glad that they found other castles that suited their needs. The young squire began to get nervous, because he realized that his time was coming up. He started inquiring at other castles to see if there were other tidyist positions available. He figured that certainly he would have a position by the Great Feast. After all, he was quite a good tidyist, and worked hard tidying.

But the Great Feast came and went while the young squire still toiled at the same castle. He thought, "Oh no. It is most certainly crunch time."

And so it is.

While I don't have another position lined up yet, I still have one promising lead. What I would love more than anything is to have a Christmas present of a new position. I am craving change right now, and a position would offer me something new to learn. It would be fun to get something that had to do with the Internet, because it is so diverse and ever-changing.

This is my plea—please let this young squire know if you have any job leads in the Boise, Idaho area for writers of any type—technical writing, marketing, editing, curriculum development, or any other types you might think of. I'm a quick study when it comes to new opportunities. I actually thrive on that kind of thing.

Keep your ears open for me. I'm asking people I know who they know that is a writer. Even if you know of a writer, but only know the name of the company they work for, I will take that too. I can do the rest from there.

Faithfully yours,
The Young Squire

Can I Get a Bite?

I have never been much of a math person, but I can wade my way through it when needed. That being said, I took many a business course where they started throwing out all sorts of statistical terms (even though statistics was not a prerequisite course) which confused me. After approaching multiple professors during office hours to ask questions about material that was recently presented, I was generally brushed off. The professors generally tried to push me to their TAs. What is the point of having office hours if students aren't welcome during them?

I get the whole idea of teaching a man to fish vs. feeding a man with a fish. I found it frustrating though when I would come with basic (to them) questions that would help me to identify fish, but my instructor would not give me the time of day to answer my question. It was almost as if the lecture was the end-all of their job. They spouted out the information, and I was to take notes and fill in the gaps without any assistance.

And this happened on multiple occasions with multiple teachers.

Needless to say, I quickly soured at the thought of taking business classes. I took just what was needed, and escaped slightly scathed.

After getting a job, I found that I was in a business environment where people helped you out. They had a job, but they were happy to help you understand your own. Queen M was one such person.

Queen M is a very proper woman (she kept a bone china tea cup and saucer at her desk for when she needed a pick me up) that I learned a lot from. She is the perfect professional—smart, perceptive, level-headed, thorough, personable, and many other things.

Because the current position we were in was a contract position, she found another position with a company that hired employees instead of contractors. It was quite a blow to the agency I work for, but they were able to find a great replacement from another contracted agency. While I was glad I didn't have to train someone new, I wasn't glad that the impact of Queen M leaving was greatly dismissed because of her replacement.

I got an email from Queen M today asking me if I was still looking for a position. I (of course) said yes. The company she works for is looking for a business process analyst. She provided me with a brief description of the position, and it seems like something I would enjoy. I never thought that I would consider working in a position whose title contained the words business and analyst, as I REALLY didn't enjoy any of my business courses in college. I learned from them, but I didn't really like them. I think that most of this spite came from the teachers, but a bit from the subject matter as well.

I guess we will have to see if being a business process analyst will be as bad as my my mind has made it out to be. I am thinking that I might be in for a pleasant surprise. Now, just to get an interview. With Queen M referring me, I don't see how I won't.

Busy, Busy, Busy

As I have been reading the A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeline L'Engle recently, I can't help but contemplate time travel. I feel like time has been slowing down at work recently for me, mainly because I don't know how much longer I'll be there, making my work more of a drudgery than it really is. This week has been completely different, and I am trying to figure out why.

Yesterday seemed to zip by, helped along by a couple of meeting strewn haphazardly throughout the day. Today also brought a few surprise meetings, including one very interesting walk with a co-worker.

My co-worker sent me an IM asking me if I had a moment. Being one who enjoys having distractions a majority of the time, I was happy to oblige. She then asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. This was a bit out of character, but I thought that I could use a stretch, so we headed for a stroll around the campus.

She informed me that there was a position opening a few cubicle rows down that might be worth looking into. The position is with an agency relatively new to the Boise area, but I am sure that they are trying to break into the markets here. The catch is that they would hire me on as a full time employee for their company while I worked through their contract with the same company that I work for, but in a different capacity.

I jumped on the opportunity. I was hoping to hear from the recruiter today, but haven't heard anything yet. I think it is safe to assume that I won't hear anything today.

The thing that surprised me most about this situation is that I wasn't sure if I was going to like working with this individual. She is very literal and straight forward, and I wasn't sure if it would be a problem, as the person she replaced was very proper and dignified. The woman wore scarves to work and drank her tea from a bone china tea cup, for goodness sakes. How much more proper can you get?!

But I have found that I really like working with the new girl. She knows her stuff, and she is good to her word. She has had a lot of good ideas that have helped us to make our part of the organization more important to the business, which is something that I struggle with at times. I have learned much from her by only having daily interaction with her for a few months.

Having said all of this, I was not quite sure how to read this colleague. While she is very literal, she can also have a biting, sarcastic sense of humor. Sometimes it is hard to tell if she is joking or venting. This is why I was surprised to learn that she offered to recommend me to the recruiter without even having to ask. Needless to say, she has made a friend of me, and I will be glad to have her as a colleague, no matter where the wind might blow the two of us.

I am finding more and more that the people that I have had the pleasure to work with are often quite different, but they are also very talented. I have made it a goal to learn a little bit from each person I work with. I figure if I do that, I will still be marketable and in the business in thirty or thirty five years by the time that retirement comes around. It makes the idea of working all my life a bit more manageable.

Just for Old Time's Sake

A few months ago I was at a Boise Music Week performance. I happened to run into one of my old professors there. We chatted for a bit and caught up on what we were doing with our lives. He knew that I was working as an editor for a local company, and asked me to come in sometime and talk to his editing class in the fall.

I was a bit taken aback. I had always worked pretty hard in class, and did my best to participate, but I never expected to be a guest lecturer. I guess my A's in his classes were well deserved. I walked away smiling with my ego stroked, and wondered if it would ever really happen.

Tomorrow, it will.

A few days ago it really hit me. Dr. Willerton, the current president for the Snake River Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (which I no longer belong to), asked me to come talk to his class. I'm sure that he has a lot of other contacts in the valley who have more editing experience. They could probably do a better job as well. But he asked me to give the presentation.

I just put the finishing touches on my PowerPoint presentation. I feel like it will be a relatively rousing 45 minutes for the class. I hope that they will not be scared of me, eagerly asking questions so that I can impart my meager knowledge to them. Remembering how my three hour lecture classes were, I am guessing that they probably won't be as eager as I am. At least I get them for the first part of the class before their brains are wandering to the social engagements they have planned for 9:00 when class gets over. It should be a fun experience.

Wish me luck tomorrow. It will be fun to walk the halls and smell the dust from the Liberal Arts Building once again. Who knows, I might even go take a peek at the pictures in the halls from the photography students like I used to on break. Just for old time's sake.

Wanna B. Doctor

I have a former schoolmate who I graduated with. He told me that we wanted to be a doctor, but after being in one class with him, I realized that he would never be a doctor. He didn't have the discipline to make the grades. For this reason, I'll refer to him as Wanna B. Doctor.

Wanna has struggled to keep work, as there aren't many positions out there in the writing field in little old Idaho at the moment. After his latest contract ended, I have kept in contact with him via LinkedIn. This has been a useful site for me, and somewhere I can send people who I don't want to be friends with on Facebook.

Needless to say, Wanna B. Doctor contacted me the other day looking for job leads. I can't say I blame him. Here are some excepts from our conversation:

Wanna: I'm just curious if you know of any leads in the tech comm field, I've been lacking in that dept for some time. Anything helpful would be appreciated, just looking for a trail to follow! 

Me: I'm still here with my contract. I am coming up on my two-year mark in February, and so I am on the hunt as well for more permanent or temporary work that will last me for my 100-day break. Unfortunately, there aren't very many job openings at this point that I have been able to hunt down.  

What have you been up to since you left [your last position]? I took a peek at your profile page, and didn't see any updates since you were with [another department]. I know that [said department] was looking for someone about three or four months ago, but I don't know if the position is filled at this point. I have a sneaking suspicion that it has been filled.  

Drop me a line sometime, and I'll let you know if I hear of anything.  

 I figured that I would ask the question, "What have you been doing with your time?" to give Wanna the opportunity to redeem himself a bit in my eyes. Who knows, maybe a year without work has changed him. Maybe he has been studying hard to train himself and become more marketable. Maybe he really deserves a job, but he just can't find one because he is looking for that "trail to follow."

Here was his response to me:

Wanna: The project I was helping on wasn't renewed, so I've been away from that game for nearly a year now. Unemployment insurance leaves something to be desired, let me say, but it's given me more time to look seriously into the military (something I've considered since high school). Otherwise I try to keep busy, oh yes-- I reddit.com !

Thanks for passing along the word, in the future.

So, from what I can gather, Wanna B. Doctor has spent his time collecting unemployment insurance, looking into the military (which he has been doing for about ten years, might I add), and keeping busy all while playing around on reddit.

The only reason I might suggest him for a position is because I wanted to make sure my competition looked worse than I did. There are jobs out there in our field. I have a couple of resumes in right now that I am waiting to hear back on. It raises my hackles when people feel entitled to have someone hand you a job. Sure, it is nice when it happens, but it happens because of all the hard work you have put in.

Wanna B. Doctor sat in the same classes I did. He was given the same opportunities to learn how to job search. He participated in the same conversations I did. But he squandered everything. I enjoy helping people find jobs, but you have to do some of the legwork yourself. Things don't just fall into your lap these days. If they do, be leery of them.