two dolla

nearly failed on day 2

This evening I accidentally found a bunch of people (okay one) person that I work with on a somewhat regular basis at my job on the internet. And you know what that means? I had to obsessively stalk this partciular person in every single way possible: Twitter, Flickr, oh you name it and I stalked it. I feel dirty, but also I feel like I totally want to be BFF with said person!

And that’s why this is all of the post you get tonight. I have more stalking to do.

And The General™ is getting buck ass naked right next to me. So, yeah.

eight days of work in a row!

This was my first full week at my new job. Don’t worry – I’ll come up with a nickname for it soon enough. To quote an email I sent out to various folks on Tuesday night:

“In the five days I’ve worked there, I’ve came home for lunch three of those days. The first day I just walked around downtown being all Mary Tyler Moore-like and yesterday, they bought us lunch since we were in a staff meeting during that time of the day.”

It’s a small company. My department has seven people, plus our manager. When I interviews with my new manager, it was close to the most nerve-wracking interview I’ve ever had. (See related Twitter post.) My second or third day, I told her she’d intimidated the hell out of me, and she laughed.

I can’t really say enough exciting things about what I’m doing/where I’m at right now. I still probably have another week of training to do, which includes how to say things that will not make people want to stab me or sue me. I feel like I’m catching on pretty quick, and the few work-related phone calls I’ve made over the past few days seem to have some pretty naturally once I get into the groove.

There’s some pretty awesome people within my department, and the company itself has a fantastic history. (I’d love to share, but know what I’d love even more? Keeping a job by not talking about it on the internet any more specifically than I already am!)

The phrase I keep using to my co-workers and management-type people is “I’m excited!” and it’s true. I’m just really still excited about this job. It could be from the six months of unemployment or from the craphole previous employer I had (who, by the way, just closed offices in Atlanta and San Diego, and let go a shitload of people, including people that had been there for 20+ years.)

In any case, I’m still excited. We’ll revisit this in a few months, of course!

my gift to you

If you’re ever job hunting, I’m gonna give you some tips:

1. Get a new email address. Nobody wants to see the email address cuuutie_pie333@hotmail.com and then find out it belongs to a 42 year old man.
2. Don’t be an asshole when you’re calling to ask about a job. Rest assured, the place you’re calling has caller ID and will let everyone know how big of a douche you were on the phone.
3. Let’s say you’re running late. Just call and let someone know; they’ll probably be more than happy to reschedule. But if you just don’t show up? Man, you’re hosed next time you think you might want to work there.

And not so much a job tip, but a What the Hell type of thing? Between 1pm and 6pm today, I had four voicemails with places wanting to interview me. Where the hell were they two weeks ago? I’m sure they all pay better then what I’m doing now, but dammit, I’m committed now!

five down

First off, I started a new blog, one where I can write all about work and write all about other things without it being attached to my name. Except for the whole domain registration thing, but I don’t care. It’s all good for now. I’ll still be posting here all the time, because how could I not? But at least there’s a place where I don’t have to censor myself at all. Yay for that.

Work is awesome awesome awesome so far. It’s only been five days, but those five days have been pretty darn good. Company-wise, it’s small, very small. And I like that so much. It’s been years since I’ve worked for a small company, and while I know it’ll have its share of drama, I think it’s a much better fit for me than what I’ve been dealing with since moving up here. We had a staff meeting today, which meant free lunch. It also meant the CEO punched me in the arm three times. It’s okay, though, because she’s awesome!

Also pretty awesome? The CEO told me I interviewed well and she was really impressed by me. She also keeps telling people I’m very sharp. So, I think things are good there!

lots of excitement after day 1

I started a new job today. And, sure, I was only there for eight hours, but man – it was super awesome. It’s an industry that I have absolutely zero experience in, but I’m very, very excited to learn more about it. I’m pretty sure (like 99.7% sure) it’s the absolute most perfect fit for me, and I can’t wait to really find my groove.

Reasons why my new job is awesome (so far):

1. 4 mile commute
2. I don’t have to be there until 9pm
3. There was cake the first day
4. I can wear jeans on Friday
5. The department was as excited for me to start as I was for me to start
6. I walked around downtown on my lunch break.
7. One of my favorite restaurants is within easy walking distance.

I really do want to tell you all about it, but I just want to be completely cautious with the whole situation. There’s lots of talk about Googling this and that, and the last thing I want is for someone to find out I’m blabbing all my new work’s business online somewhere. It’s bad enough that two dolla comes up as #7 when searching for my full name.

So far, I can tell you that today was the first day I’ve ever actually enjoyed training at a new job, even if the afternoon was spent doing industry research on our competitors, just to give me a better idea of what’s out there. I LIKED IT A LOT.

a little change on the job front

Now that I’ve told my grandma about this, I can tell the internet:

Things have taken a bit of a dramatic turn on the employment front since we talked just a few days ago. The CEO interview I mentioned the other day apparently kicked pretty good ass, because they offered me a job today. After comparing the two offers side-by-side, the new and improved offer seemed to be a much better fit:

• 4 miles from my apartment
• office location in downtown Minneapolis with free parking
• an ample amount of vacation/holiday time
• better benefits
• a career that I really want to get into

I weighed pros and cons for a while, but the fact that this is a field that’s pretty much a perfect fit for me and these folks are letting me in the door without one damn bit of experience in this particular industry is what sealed the deal.

Income-wise is gonna suck for a while. For the first time, I’m taking a job because it’s where I want to be and not strictly on the salary. Due to my gross lack of experience, they’re able to get by with starting me on the lowest end of the salary scale. Can’t say I blame ‘em, but there may be some adjusting around these necks of the woods.

New start date: April 30. (I’m still working two days at the other job, because when unemployment runs out, you probably much do what you can to make a few bucks, my friends!)

last sunrise i see for a while

Since I’m usually asleep at 3:30 in the morning, I never really notice that from my living room, you can hear the traffic on the freeway that’s several blocks away. And while I know it’s spring and all that jazz, I didn’t realize that birds were awake this time of morning, having what seems to be a very animated conversation. What the hell can possibly be that important right now?

This is the last night/morning I get to go to bed whenever the hell I want during the week and then wake up whenever I damn well feel like it after a good night’s/morning’s sleep. That’s kind of exciting now that I think about it. I might actually have to fire up the ol’ alarm clock for the first time since October.

I’m sure I’ll be very nervous and agitated some Sunday night, but for now, I’m really excited to go to bed at normal people hours and wake up when the majority of the world is waking up, too. It’ll be kind of fun to find out what things are like in my neighborhood during standard Time to Go to Work hours!

paragraphs about everything

Don’t forget to sign up for Revolution Money Exchange, if you want $25 in your bank account in 2-3 business days. Here’s the original post I made. Jenni sent me some money the other day for some baseball tickets I picked up and it worked like a charm.

Rick’s going to be here next week for some work training. I’m really excited about that. We’ve already planned three nights of things to do, including a baseball game, a trip to Dave and Buster’s, and some pub trivia. We’ll see how long it takes him to get tired of us. And then I’m even more excited that Brooke, Ella, and baby Alex will be here next weekend. I haven’t even met Alex yet.

I had two more interviews today: one with a CEO/President who asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was embarrassing, but I didn’t have an answer. I could give her an idea that I wanted to be in a company that made me feel good (I used better words; don’t worry), but I couldn’t really say – I wanna be ______. It was weird!

The other interview I had today was over the phone, it lasted eight minutes, and it was the most awkward thing ever. It was a “final round” interview and if the hiring decision is made off of that phone call, I can pretty much kiss that one goodbye. I’m waiting to hear back from Recruiter #2, so we can talk about it, but after that phone interview, I’m not counting on much.

There’s a trip to the dog park on the schedule for tonight. Riley’s getting better at playing with dogs. He’s never been mean or violent towards any of them; he’d just rather walk around playing by himself. It probably comes from spending the first nine months of life around his brother who always chewed his face off. Plus, it’s 75 degrees right now; if I didn’t take him, I’d feel bad!

i’m gonna pack my lunch!

It is official; I will join the working masses, dressed in business casual clothing on Monday the 28th. This clearly means I need to buy some more black socks. This is all, of course, pending the outcome of a drug test, but since the last time I freebased crack cocaine was four months ago, I think I’ll be safe.

The gig is in St. Paul, which means it’s almost a FIFTEEN MILE commute. It’s not really that big of a deal, because if I was still working at my former shithole employer, it’d be the same distance.

I still have my eye on a job that’s four miles away and a couple more pending through various recruiters. This is an income, which I kind of need right now, considering my last unemployment check will hit my bank account tomorrow. And it can’t be extended because of President Douche’s Economic Stimulus Plan. Enjoy those $600 checks! I had to go and get a damn job because of that little gift!

almost an ‘i have a job’ post

For some reason, I didn’t hear my phone ring about 4:30ish today, and in fact, the call went straight to voicemail. I’m not entirely sure it did that come to think of it, because I definitely wasn’t on the phone. In any case, I was sitting all alone in Jenni’s apartment (that sounds so creepy that I’m not even explaining why I was doing just that) and checked my messages. Turns out it was a hiring manager from a place I interviews for last Thursday.

And it turns out said hiring manager wanted to “extend an offer” to my bright, shining star that is me. She was just “closing up shop” when she left the message and asked me to call her back tomorrow on her cell phone to discuss the details. I’ll be doing just that and, quite obviously, accepting the job.

The manager I interviewed with was pretty fantastic. She has a position in mind for me a step above the position I’ll be starting at, and that’s gotta be a good sign when you talk about that in an interview.

That’s as many details as I can share right now here; I can share more via email. I also have three more jobs where I’m still involved in the interview process and optimistic in landing any of those jobs, so there may be more updates to this in the near future.

But for now? I’m one phone call away from confirming my status as ‘no longer unemployed’.