Frustration and Relief

I got up today, hopped in the shower, had some leftover mac & cheese, and walked to a neighborhood cafe that I like to visit with my laptop.

I got a delicious latte, plugged in my computer...and there was no WiFi. Argh! I'm sitting there with a $4 cup of coffee and not really anything to do. I'd gotten all motivated to sit, apply for a few jobs, check my email, and head home in time for dinner.

I gulped down the latte and organized a bunch of photos on my laptop and headed home.

Checked my mail and noticed something from that crazy place where I interviewed a couple weeks ago. They don't want me! Thank. Baby. Jesus.

That's not entirely true. It was a very nice letter from the woman who interviewed me. She said I'd make a great addition to the team (as if) but that they weren't offering me the job. Okay by me!

So now I've gotta re-motivate and apply for some jobs. Rar.

Randomly Selected

I came home from a lovely afternoon with my sister and opened my mailbox. Waiting for me was a letter from the Employment Security Department.

Great.

I've been randomly selected to meet with a job guru to discuss my job search thus far.

Damn.

I believe that this service is very valuable, and I'm glad it exists. But this whole bussing-to-this-random-other-neighborhood thing is really effing inconvenient. I've been informed that this meeting will last anywhere from a half hour to ninety minutes. So in LESS THAN A WEEK I'm going to have to get up and hang out until I'm ready for breakfast (I rarely eat first thing after I wake), eat breakfast, get ready, get downtown in time to catch a bus, ride a bus in hot summer to another neighborhood, maybe nest to a leering homeless guy (just like the last time I had to go to this place), meet with someone, wait around for another bus to get back downtown, and then walk back to my neighborhood. This is seriously aggravating.

Plus side, I may get to see my friend who works across the street from this place.

But come on. Jerks.

The Perfect Gig

I've been checking for jobs on the website of a local arts organization that I love since before the layoff.

There's finally a position that I think I could rock like whoa. I've had the job windows open on my laptop for a couple hours and I just need to get my butt in gear and write this cover letter.

Oh, man, I want this.

That Wasn't Three Hours

Today was my mandatory workshop about unemployment. I got a notice a couple weeks ago that I had to attend and allow three hours for the workshop.

I got up, got ready, walked downtown to catch a bus.

An aside: I hate riding the bus. I really do. I think it comes from 11 years of school bus-riding. But, ugh. Hate it.

I got to the office where the workshop was to be held and, holy kittens, it was one of the more depressing places I have ever visited.

Everything was gray. The walls, the carpet, the down-trodden unemployed. Yeesh. Luckily I got to text message a friend who was at work (across the street!). She offered me happy support via text and told me to visit after my workshop.

The jobless mass (about 50 of us) were invited into a room. There had been a couple forms included with the notice to attend and the no-nonsense woman in charge of things told us to turn one of the forms in. Then she disappeared. She reappeared and passed out some packets and a sign in sheet for each of us. She disappeared again. She reappeared and collected the sign in sheets. She then went through the six or so pages of the information packet.

She then excused us.

Whaaaat?

Okay, cool, so instead of sitting in a gray room for three hours, I sat there for about a half hour. I was a little annoyed but then relieved. Time to visit my friend!

She was in a meeting.

Time to stand in the shade outside her office and read a fantasy novel loaned to me by a friend!

Meeting ended and I got to visit an office. We had quick QT and I went to a bus stop and rode downtown (I actually don't mind the bus when I'm heading back to downtown) and stopped for some food.

Finally catching up on internets for the day and I've got one of my employment requirement thingees taken care of. This, in addition to the job I applied for a couple evenings ago (or was it last night?) and that weird interview mean I'm all set for qualifying for the check this week. I'm still planning to apply to a firm where my mom's coworker's husband works (woo, networking!).

Hooray, adventures.

I've Gone Nocturnal

When there's something on my mind that I don't want to take the time to think through I end up staying up late to exhaust myself, thereby not giving my brain the chance to think about whatever's troubling me.

Last night I didn't want to think about that interview. I didn't want to come up with a plan just in case they offer me a job.

I stayed up until 5am.

When I got out of bed today (at 2:30 in the afternoon), I decided to shower, drink some raspberry soda (my new thing), and look over the materials sent to me about an unemployment workshop I'm scheduled to attend tomorrow. I think there will be presentations to a group and then one-on-one attention from people who know how to find you a job? I was thinking about this whole workshop thing as me being bored for three hours while some squares try to teach me how to internet. My well-rested brain created a new scenario for me today, though. I'm going to this with an open mind and I'm going to see it as an opportunity to discuss with someone in the know how to handle this whole I-interviewed-really-well-but-am-afraid-these-people-will-devour-me-on-their-lunchbreaks situation.

So while I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to this workshop (I HATE riding the bus alone to a destination with which I'm unfamiliar), I'm not going to see it as a waste of time. As my favorite webcomic dinosaur says, "the worst that can happen is adventure." Umm, but I'd like good adventures, not, like, bus-breaking-down adventures.

My Interview in the Twilight Zone

I got a phone call yesterday while having lunch with a few lovely ladies I used to work with. It seems that a real estate-related company I sent my resume to wanted to interview me. I cleaned off my ironing board and got an interview outfit ironed and ready.

I googled the company...and found some really negative stuff about the company. The negatives I found were all a few years old and I did see some positive comments, but I was a bit troubled nonetheless. I really want whatever company I work for, whatever their field, to operate ethically. I don't want to contribute to dubious practices. I decided to go into the interview with an open mind and, if anything, it's interview practice.

I got about 8 hours of sleep, got up, went out and grabbed coffee and breakfast, showered, slathered on some makeup and hair product and did my best to look like I haven't spent the last six weeks in pajamas, and headed out with plenty of time to get to the interview.

I got to the neighborhood where the interview was to take place pretty early, so ducked into a store and bought a couple cds. I ended up getting to the office about 10 or 15 minutes before the interview was to start and I was invited to sit on the couch in the front of the office. I looked around for a bit and kind of got a weird vibe from the place. It was...nice, I guess, but not great. I had the feeling that if you were in charge of managing property, you shouldn't have visible water damage and chunks of the wall coming off.

The interview itself was fine. The woman interviewing me seemed nice, but a little nervous? I answered the questions well and apparently came off as professional and punctual (ha!). They like their staff to look really professional, which I think I'm going to keep finding as I do this whole looking-for-a-job thing, so I should probably get a couple more pairs of nice trousers. Also, she didn't answer my question about visible piercings or tattoos, but I suspect she wouldn't like the ink on my arm to be visible.

The job posting I'd responded to had asked for desired salary and I'd asked for a couple thousand more per year than I'd made at my last job. I noted that that was negotiable depending on benefits offered. They'd pay me about a dollar less per hour, but pay 100% of medical insurance. I'm not sure if that cuts it for me, which seemed like a relief at the time because the woman definitely approached it as, "We can only pay you this much..." like she knew that could be a deal breaker. I told her that I wouldn't be available to work for a couple weeks, she told me she had a couple more interviews lined up, and that I'd have a few days to think about if I'd like to get into this line of work.

She saw me out and, knowing that the office looked out on the sidewalk I was walking on outside, I didn't run away down the street, as much as I felt like I should. I actually felt relieved to get out of the building.

So.

I do want to get off Unemployment and get back to work. But I guess I need to consider some standards. I don't want to commit to a year of work that I know I can do but would probably be bored doing. I'm fine with monotony if there's the payoff of it being for a company I believe in, staffed by a bunch of cool people. But I don't want to dread going to work. I can't afford to be too picky right now, but, jeez, feeling relief upon leaving an office? That's a bad sign.

Not Much to Report

Sending out cover letters and resumes.

Haven't heard back about anything besides one of the federal jobs...I wasn't qualified.

Star Trek viewing count is now 5.

Applying for more jobs tomorrow.

Ugh, have to go to an unemployment workshop for three hours next week. Mandatory. That is irritating.