I'm Baaaack!

Miss me? Thought so. Soooo, I got a job!!! I'm very, very excited about it and am loving it after one week. I'm working at the District Attorney's office. It's very interesting and I love everybody I work with, so I'm really pleased with the way things turned out. Oh yeah, about 2 hours after I posted my last entry I got a text from a friend asking if I still needed a job. I interviewed 2 hours later and was offered a job 3 hours after that! Yea!

So, in case you wonder what else I've been up to...

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart hungry which resulted in my pantry looking like this:

I tried to take a picture of my freezer but every time I open the door crap falls out all over the floor. The pictures just don't do justice once half the crap is gone.

Oh, and see the daughter’s new dog?

That's Lola. She's a shitzu. And even better than that? She's a rescued shitzu. I feel warm and fuzzy.

Oh, and the daughter had to get in on the pictures:

She's pretty ornery.

And in case you're wondering how I'll be spending my weekend:

I love Halloween. Now if I could just find some brownies.

The Hunt

I hate job hunting.

I have been on five interviews in two weeks. I have filled out more applications than I care to count. I have pasted on more fake smiles than I care to admit. I remain unemployed.

Here's a summary of my recent luck:

Last Monday I went to fill out an application at a local nursing home for an Admissions Clerk. Upon arriving, I was informed that I would be interviewed on the spot. I'm not one for surprises so I was not very happy with this news. I did the interview anyway, but I'm not so sure my fake smile and "Yes, I wanna work in a nursing home" attitude were believable. I was kinda up for it until the interviewer told me I would get one week vacation after one year, and two weeks only after five years. And, I would only be given four paid holidays all year--Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, and July 4th. Seriously???

Wednesday I had two interviews scheduled. One with a small loan company and one with a home health care agency. That morning I called and canceled the interview with the small loan company. I realized when I had to wade through a cloud of cigarette smoke to get to the manager's desk that I didn't want to work there. I accepted the interview anyway, mostly just for practice, as I am HORRIBLE at interviews. But then, knowing the type of personality I have, I would either feel like a loser if I didn't get the job, or I would reject any job offer that was extended. So, I just decided to nip it in the bud.

Not five minutes later, I got a call from the health care agency. The nice lady stated that, because the lady that was going to interview me was out with sick kids, we would have to reschedule. The next available time was for next Monday! Gees, I was hoping to start work next Monday!!! Of course, I accepted the interview for 2:00 p.m.

Nothing much else happened Thursday, and then Friday I got a call from a small non-profit here in town. I had applied for an administrative assistant position and they were calling to set up an interview. She asked if I could come in at 1:20 on Monday. I explained to her that I already had an appointment scheduled for 2:00 and asked her if we could do it any earlier or even later in the afternoon. She told me 1:20 was the only opening that they had, but if I arrived around 1:00 we could probably get started early. She told me she would make a note on my application that I had a 2:00 appointment.

I showed up at the interview at 1:00 p.m. They called me back at 1:25 p.m. We spent around 15-20 minutes asking and answering questions. At around 1:45 p.m. they decided to put me on the computer and test my skills. They had me type up a letter in Word and then they decided they wanted me to create a spreadsheet in Excel. I reminded them twice of my 2:00 appointment. They continued to argue over what exactly it was that they wanted me to do. They left the room to retrieve a chart. They returned at 1:54 p.m., just as I was gathering my things to leave. They were completely shocked that I was actually leaving the interview. Again, I explained the situation, reminded them of the phone conversation when scheduling the interview, apologized too many times, and offered to come back after my other appointment and finish the interview. (In case you're wondering, yes, I wanted the second job much more than the first one. The second one pays 33% more than the first and offers better benefits and the opportunity for advancement.) They were obviously peeved and told me they would call me if they needed me to come back. Whatev.

So I hauled ass across town only to arrive at my 2:00 interview at 2:03 p.m. Dammit. She called me right back and after about 3 minutes of talking, she told me that the position really required someone with previous healthcare experience. But, of course, she will hold on to my resume and call me if something else comes up. Dammit.

So, I got online and applied for a position at DHS. My application was immediately accepted but the second step is to go to the city and take the State Merit test. I spoke with my friend who works for DHS and has for nearly 20 years. She assured me that the test is common sense and really just a type of personality test.

I'm here to tell you things change. There were six parts to the test. None of them had to do with my personality. They were:

Oral Communication Skills
Written Communication Skills
Basic Mathematics
Reading Comprehension
Something Else I Can't Quite Remember
Knowledge of Legal Terminology

My scores were, in order: 70, 77, 100, 80, 70, 45. My final score was a 73. I cried.

Okay, so I passed. But, the next step of the hiring process is that the hiring agency gathers the scores from all applicants and calls in the top 10 scores for interviews. I am not very hopeful.

I am so mad that I was not better prepared for the test. Although, I'm certain I could have been, seeing as how so many of the questions were job related. I clearly have not been trained for the job and I clearly do not have experience in the position, so I'm a little puzzled as how I would have known the answers to some of the questions.

One question that I remember some-what clearly was in the oral communication skills section. It read something like:

Someone that you do not know calls you asking for specific information regarding a case. She refers to herself as a concerned family member. You handle her call by:

a.) Taking down her name and phone number, calling the person the case is directly related to and getting permission to give the information to the caller, and calling him back to reveal the information.
b.) Giving the caller the information, but requesting that the not tell anyone.
c.) Telling the caller that it is against policy to reveal the information to persons not directly related to the case.
d.) Setting up an appointment for the caller to come in and discuss the case.

Now, I obviously chose "c", but my point is, I am not aware of agency policies, as I have never worked for the agency. Many, if not most of, the questions were written in this way. There were 'actual' court papers there to look at and answer related questions. I don't know. I guess it's just not what I expected. And once I started the test and realized I was totally unprepared, all I could think about was how I was totally bombing it. I really could not concentrate. And the real kicker is that I cannot retake it for six months.

Soooo, here I sit, exactly two weeks without work, with ZERO leads. This is depressing. Time for more brownies.

The Whole Story

My main (and practically only) duty at my last job was answering the phone. 90% of the calls are for one particular person, Richard, the Sales Manager. The morning of October 1st, my boss came blowing in the door like a pissed-off hornet, as she does on most mornings, just looking for something or someone to bitch and complain about. She managed to bite Richard's head off twice, and Josh's once, before I fell victim to her wrath.

The phone rang and I answered it in my fake, cheesy voice (as I had to actually practice during my interview) (that should have been a sign). The call, surprise-surprise, was for Richard. I explained to the gentleman on the phone (Mr. Medford, an eighty-something-year-old Chief from a tiny town up north) that Richard was on another line, and asked him if he would like to hold for a moment. He said he would hold, that he had nothing better to do. After we have a customer on hold for one minute, our phones begin beeping to remind us of the call. When my phone started beeping, I picked up the phone to tell him that Richard was still on the line, and ask him if he would like to continue holding. Before I could even ask him, he interupted me and told me he had a call and would call right back. I said OK and hung up the phone.

The very second that I hung up that phone, my boss started in on me. "How many times do I have to tell you that we always give them the option to continue holding? How many times have I told you that? We don't ever, ever, ever want out customers to think we are rushing them off of the phone. How many times do I have to tell you that? You didn't even ask him if he wanted to continue holding or if you could take a message?"

I interupted her to tell her what had actually happened, considering she wasn't on the damn phone! She was not impressed. "Well, you never do it anymore! You never give them the option to hold longer than one minute. You always say, 'He's still on another line' and then you just sit there. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Oh, no she didn't stop there. That's just where I quit listening and went back to doing my only other job. She went on and on for a good 3 minutes, I shit you not. Finally, when she either ran out of things to say, or got tired of listening to herself moo, she picked up a stack of tickets from her desk, THREW THEM against the wall behind her and YELLED, "I AM SO TIRED OF STUPID PEOPLE!!!"

Ummm. Yeah. That's not gonna work. I (calmly, somehow) simply got up, went out to my car and got my purse (I had a spare in there as I had changed out on my way to work that morning), went back inside and began cleaning out my drawers into my purse. The husband called to see if I had lunch plans. I told him I did not, nor did I have afternoon plans, nor tomorrow plans. He asked me what was wrong and I told him I was leaving at lunch and not returning. He said okay and told me I could give details at lunch. He then called right back and told me not to wait until lunch, to just leave right then. I explained to him, whispering all the while, that I wanted to wait it out as long as I could just for a few more dollars. I heard my boss tell her daughter, loud enough so that I could hear her, "She' s over there whipsering!" I hung up the phone, stood up, and walked out.

Oh, I should totally give you another example of how STUPID these people are. The day before this happened, I was sitting at my computer doing invoices. When I have this software open, I can see my boss, who sits behind me, in the reflection in my monitor. The two idiots were talking about a local business that is run by men, whom Trish and Glenda (the real names) do not like. I don't remember the exact content of the conversation, but I know Trish made the statement, "Well, it's not her fault. I too have had lapses in judgement when it comes to other people's characters." She said it in such a way that I just had to look at Glenda, only to see her pointing at me and laughing. HOW FREAKIN STUPID AND IMMATURE CAN YOU BE?

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not asking for pity or "Ahh, cheer up. We like you." Believe me, after working with these two idiots for nearly three months, I can assure you I am completely thrilled that they do not like me. I have never, ever heard them say a positive or even remotely nice thing about anyone, even each other. I can't imagine the spineless, ass-kissing, unopinionated person I would have to be to get their votes.

So, here I go again. On the job hunt. I have filled out roughly fifteen application in the last week. I have gone on one interview. I had two scheduled yesterday, but ended up not going to either. I called and canceled one of them, realizing I didn't really want the job and would only be wasting my time interviewing. Something about the cloud of cigarette smoke I had to walk through to get to the manager's desk turned me off. About five minutes after I canceled the first one, the second one called me and rescheduled for Monday. MONDAY! I totally wanted to start Monday. But, turns out the lady doing the hiring was out with sick kids. I can totally relate to that one. I'm expecting to hear back from at least three people this week, hopefully at least one today. I'm going to the city tomorrow to take a test for another one. Have I ever mentioned I hate job hunting? Let it be known.

My job. Or lack thereof.

Sooo, I quit my job. I plan on going into details one day, but I'm in a realllly good mood today and I know if I get started I will get all fired up. So, for now, we'll just say enough is enough. And so the job hunt resumes. And, I'm sure, come Monday morning, so will the stress. But, for now, it's a beautiful day, my daughter is at my mom's house until tomorrow, and I am less stressed than I have been in many, many months. That sums up to a perfect night to party! And that's exactly what I plan on doing!

It's A Boy!

Jaxon Wade
Born October 1, 2008 @ 8:42 a.m.
7 lbs, 6 oz, 18 inches long.

Congrats Mommy & Daddy and Big Sister Jayla Rae!

(Will post a picture ASAP!)

Updates Already?

Okay, one anyway. Breann is in labor!!! Yea!!! I got a text from her around 7:30 this morning stating that she is at the hospital and dilated to a five. Oh, and not feeling a thing, lucky duck! Let's hope for a safe and speedy delivery! I'll let you know when Jaxon Wade makes his grand debute!