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.

Cautious Thursday

Today I had to be very cautious. I woke and got ready, but instead of my normal jeans and long-sleeved shirt, I put on my olive green suit and tie. I drove cautiously, as I saw three policemen along my normal route.

If you are like me, the minute I see a police car, you look at your speedometer to check your speed, followed by no less than fifteen glances into the rear view mirror to make sure that you aren’t being followed. I’m generally not doing anything wrong, but it just puts me on edge.

After arriving at work, I walked cautiously over the frozen parking lot, remembering that my dress shoes don’t offer the same grip as my normal shoes, thus making them prone to unexpected slips and slides in an attempt to topple me. Arriving at the door, I breathed a sigh of relief as my badge worked and slipped inside.

I passed my cube mate on the way to my desk. He didn’t recognize me until I was past him, and muttered a surprised, “Oh, hi!” when his mind caught up with his eyes. After getting settled in, I went to my first meeting. And this is why I had been so cautious.

I had a meeting this morning with the vendor manager, who I had not told yet about my interview. Needless to say, in three weeks, I would be out of this job, but they are not-so-secretly hoping that I’ll return after my hiatus. It is nice to know that there is a backup, should this new position not work out, but it drives me crazy to have to take off three months.

I saw one of my co-workers leave her desk, so I waited a few minutes, expecting that she was headed directly to the meeting. I was wrong.

I walked into the room, and the vendor manager was sitting there waiting for me. He is nothing to dread, and he is very good at what he does. He would make a great politician, as he has the skill to make everything sound like it has been carefully scripted before he speaks. He never makes a situation uncomfortable, and can smooth-talk with the best of them without consciously smooth-talking.

He was (of course) surprised to see me in a full suit. He asked what the special occasion was, and I told him that I had an interview. I could see the look of terror flash behind his eyes, but he quickly recovered. And that put a damper on the rest of the meeting. Both my co-workers had it dawn on them that three weeks was all they had left with me, even if I don’t get this position. Come February 1 my contract is up.

Part of me felt good to know that I have an interview. But part of me felt like I was betraying the people who have taught me a lot while I have been in this position. The uncomfortable discussion always comes up that people wish me the best, but secretly they don’t want me to leave. It is hard all around.

So I have remained cautious throughout my day. I cautiously ate my baked potato and chili for lunch, careful not to drop any bites off my fork—spills just won’t do today. I cautiously tell people that I have an interview, and notice the quick glances at me when I pass by their cube on my way to the next meeting.

And I’ll leave cautiously early in order to make it to my interview on time at 2:00. It isn’t very far away, but I am making sure that I have at least 20 solid minutes to get there. I don’t want to arrive too late, or too early. In fact, I kind of feel like I am on my first date with a girl. In a way, I am being courted, so I can see how similar feelings are elicited from me going to an interview as when I went on first dates.

So I’ll just have to remain cautious so that I don’t ruin the evening.

A Doctor's Appointment

Yesterday I skipped out of work a little bit early. I told my co-workers that I had a doctor's appointment that I had to go to. One of them had their mother instinct kick in and worriedly asked me if everything was fine, so I told her that it was just a routine checkup.

That isn't entirely false, but it isn't entirely true either.

You see, the appointment wasn't for me. I met Wifey in at the doctor's new office near the hospital. Munchkin was a bit surprised when I got her out of the car, but she didn't mind (As a side note, she did mind when I didn't get back into the car after the appointment. She has been liking me more and more these days, despite the fact that I don't bribe her any more or less than I used to with sweets). We walked up to the door and snaked our way through the tight hallway of the old building into an elevator to head up to the office. Once we got in the office, we checked in and got put in a waiting room quite quickly. I think we were pretty much the only ones there at the time.

The reason why we were headed to the appointment can be summed up by the following picture:

Can't you see the excitement on her face?

Don't let Munchkin's enthusiasm fool you—she doesn't really understand at this point that she is going to have a full time "beebee" around the house. But she does get really excited when she can go see her cousin who is still mostly non-mobile. She gets in his face and grabs his arms, just like her older cousins did to her (and occasionally still do) when she was non-mobile.

All-in-all, I think she'll be a good big sister. She hasn't gotten too sassy, likes to poke you in the eye and inform you verbally that it is your eye, and promptly drops the dolls she carries around under one arm when something more interesting comes along. Sounds like a recipe for success, right?

Until the time that Munchkin II comes along and can defend him/herself, we'll have some teaching to do. In the mean time, I had better start coming up with some snappy names for a new baby, as Munchkin II is quite unexciting (and completely non-creative). Once we know a gender, it might be easier.

The Database Prophecy

Today was my first day back in the office. While I worked over the break, I was able to sit lay in my bed and work in my pajamas. In fact, I even gave up shaving for a week. It was quite nice.

Well, when I arrived at work, I pulled into my usual parking lot and approached my usual door to enter. I pulled my badge up to the door sensor, and hear the usual beep. When I pulled on the handle, the door was still locked.

Thinking that it was a fluke, I tried again. I got the same result.

I thought it must be the door. The guy who just went through it in front of me must have messed with it. But that wasn't the case. I tried another door, and got the same result. The sensor kept turning red, either trying to tell me to go away, or mocking my fingers that were reddening from the cold.

I called up a co-worker and asked her to come let me in. She gave me a hard time, but let me in without having to offer any promises of goodies or favors. I told her that my badge wasn't working, and then asked the question that was on my mind—Is there something I should know?

I know that my contract expires at the beginning of next month, but I didn't expect that I would be banished from the building a month early as a strange form of hazing. It turns out that I was right.

I went and checked with my supervisor, and he informed me to go talk to the security office. After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, I handed my badge to the nice lady sitting behind the desk. She started looking up my information, and then asked me if I had another badge (which I don't). Then she asked who my supervisor was, and started a little investigation of her own.

It turns out that the database ate me. My picture was gone, major parts of my information was gone, and I had been given another badge as part of it. The lady turned my badge back on, and then told me that she turned the other one off. I feel bad for whoever has the other badge, because they are going to have to go through the same process as I did tomorrow when they try to come in and find that the light is red. I hope they aren't late to their meeting.

After all this tomfoolery, I started to wonder if this was a sign of things to come. Was this the company's way of saying, "You're not wanted?" Does this mean that I am not destined to work here? Does this mean that I am going to get one of these two jobs that I am applying for?

I hope that the answer to the last question is yes.

On a completely unrelated note, today I received my 1,000th visitor. If I knew who you were, I might give you a prize. But since I don't, you'll just have to have the satisfaction that on January 4th, 2011, you might have been my 1,000th visitor.

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.

Change of Plans

The Monday after Christmas we were going to go sledding. The only problem was the fact that all the snow around Boise melted, so we were kind of out of luck. There wasn't much to be done, except change plans. So we did.

We decided instead to take a trip up to some hot springs that Wifey's sister had been to on Memorial Day. They charged a bit more than I wanted to pay ($8.00 per person), but we decided to make the hour and a half drive anyway since the rest of the family was going.

On the way, we stopped for one of Munchkin's cousins to take a quick potty break. We learned that the name of the place we were going was Gold Fork Hot Springs, so we started looking for signs. We thought originally that it was on the south side of Cascade, but after driving for two hours, I realized that it was a lot closer to McCall than it was to Cascade.

And I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. I was expecting some rinky-dink stone pools patched together with poorly-mixed cement. Instead, I found a steaming, three tiered pool occupied by some Japanese tourists. Then, I learned that there were two other pools, both equally appealing.

After changing in the confines of about 1/6 of a yurt (the most unpleasant part of the experience) and securing our things in a locker, we slid into the main pool. And the water was very nice. In fact, it was pretty much like a warm bath. I generally get cold in the water while swimming, but I was plenty satisfied to spend my time in basking in the warmth of the water. I didn't even get cold.

We spent a few hours moving from pool to pool and making sure that we had something to eat for lunch on the patio furniture that was sitting on the decks around the pools. After spending some time in the pools, I found that I was fine spending the $8.00 entry fee. The hot springs were just the right temperature, the drive up was quite scenic, and the facilities (except for the changing rooms) were excellent. I later found out that the springs are closed every Tuesday because they empty out all the pools and clean it out. I felt much better about my $8.00 after learning that.

We had a bunch of people (including a youth camp) show up while we were there, and while I fearedt it was going to get crowded, I found that I still had ample room to spread out and frolic in the warm water. I felt soothed, relaxed, and found that I would probably be returning in the future.

Christmas Captured

After a long hiatus, I am now back and ready to blog. This will be the first of a few posts about Christmas. As promised, I attempted to take pictures of my day on Christmas each hour, as challenged by Andrea, a friendly Canadian blogger from Ottawa. You can see her day in pictures here. I snuck a few in from Christmas Eve as well, just to help you get back into the spirit of Christmas.

I hope you enjoy!

Munchkin showing off her sparkly dress/bellybutton

Munchkin (the cute cow) and cousins perform the Nativity

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids in Christmas jammies

Santa came. I guess we were all good. And Munchkin loves her shopping cart.

I woke up. I really did.

The aftermath. And Wifey loves her lime green Kitchen Aid.

Munchkin's cousins taking a spin in their new Power Wheels.

Christmas breakfast cereal of choice (even though it comes in a small box).

Playing with Munchkin on the new train table at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Getting ready. The berry wreath in the background really added to my saintly appearance before I got cleaned up. I figured that you didn't need to see the rest of me.

Watching Clash of the Titans. No, you won't be able to tell, even if you squint.

Blokus!

The only Christmas Casualty—my middle toe that got stepped on. Don't worry, it didn't hurt.

The Santa cheese tray I created from muenster, provolone, chipotle jack, and pepper jack.

The Christmas snack spread.

Munchkin going for a spin with the most dangerous driver ever. I'm afraid for when he turns 16.

Having a Christmas chat with my sister.

Munchkin listening to her uncle sing. When he opened his mouth real wide, she would try to stick her pointer finger in there.

Christmas relaxing before returning home as I lay under the tree.

From this point on, I didn't take any more pictures. We got home at about 8:30, and Munchkin was so happy to be home that she started exploring her toys she hadn't seen in 24 hours instead of going to bed. From shortly after we got her home until about 10:30, the pictures would have been mostly of Wifey or I trying to test our nerves against a wailing Munchkin who wanted to have more fun instead of sleep. No one wants to see that.

And no, her sleeping schedule hasn't returned to normal yet. She is still fighting going to bed at night, but it is getting better.