JobQuest

Today was the interview with Big Firm R. I am in love. It's all over now but waiting for the heartbreak of them calling to say they don't want me. Sniff.

I called ManThing right after I got out, and of course he asked how it went. Other than the fact that I didn't fall on my ass or spill coffee on anyone, I never can judge.

One of my interviewers walked me to the outside door on the way out, so I didn't get a chance to make a smooth segue to the restroom. No problem, I thought, it's only a half-hour trip back to work.

That is, if you take the right train.

I began the trip back, picking up a paper that someone had left behind on the seat next to me. My horoscope said, that on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the easiest to get through, this day would be an 8 for me. Whoever wrote that had no idea of my grasp of the public transportation system.

Luckily, I noticed my mistake after only missing my connection by one stop. I quickly exited, chanting a mantra of dumbass dumbass dumbass.When I hopped off the train, one going the opposite direction pulled up almost immediately. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, I didn't board; instead wanting to check the route map first.

The train that just left was the one I needed.

So now I'm sitting, butt numb from the cold, at the all-outdoor train station. The stress of the interview now over, I begin to realize I'm really hungry. The time I've been away from the office for my *ahem* doctor's appointment is now approaching 3 hours. I am now doing a willfully restrained version of the I gotta pee I gotta pee I gotta pee oh man 12 minutes until the next train I gotta pee dance.

The train comes. Joy. Of course, once I get to the connection station, I have once again just missed the damn train I needed! Cue I gotta pee I gotta pee dance.

I made it back to the office without a Depends moment.

Playing hooky

I stayed home from work today like a big ol' slacker. I felt bad once I checked my work e-mail from home, because ManThing really wasn't feeling well today, and he went to work anyway. I thought really hard about going, but decided I'm completely in the "I'm getting a new job, who cares how much PTO I have left" stage.

Worked on my portfolio alllll day. I think it's done now. Thank goodness. I guess it's good that Big Firm R called and wanted me to interview so soon; that's the only thing that got me off my ass to finish this thing. It's also good because it will give me less time to get myself all jacked up and stressed out about the interview before it happens. They're supposed to e-mail me a benefits package- at least I'll get to see if it's all worth it before I go!

I'm not sure how excited I am at the prospect of working downtown. If I lived anywhere near a DART station, it might be cool. However, I will be dealing with good ol' commuter car traffic. Bleh. I wasn't meant to be a commuter. Wish I could figure out a way to work in my PJs from home.

Phone call....Crap, now I gotta finish the portfolio

Big Firm R called me today. I wasn't really expecting them to. I just filled out their website application. Kos has a friend who works there, and he said they weren't hiring. They were laying people off, in fact. Things like this remind me that I'm still apprehensive about looking for a job. I'm too fat to fit in all the suits I used to wear when I got my current job, and too poor to go buy bigger ones! Losing weight before Wednesday is not an option.

Are they all plotting against me?

I'm trying to work on getting my portfolio into a more professional state.

Ironically, I am using material from my student sketch book to do this, since I haven't been allowed the chance to actually design anything in my professional career- unless you count nurses' stations. Millwork. Whoopee. I'll have prospective employers breaking down the door for that shite.

Also ironic is the fact that my incompetant computer is fighting me every step of the way. Kind of like the computers at work, which is one of the reasons I'm trying to leave! At work, AutoCAD keeps "fatal erroring" on me, and so far today my home computer has given me the "CorelDraw has caused an error" crap 3 times. Of course, maybe at home it's because I'm using bootleg....oops. Heh. At least my new printer and scanner kick butt!

Relevant Joke

Looking for a holiday gift, a woman decided to browse in an exotic pet store. While she was there, another customer walked in and said to the shopkeeper, "I'll have a CAD monkey, please." The shopkeeper nodded and took a monkey out of a cage at the side of the shop. He fitted a collar and a leash, handed it to the customer, saying "That'll be $5000." The customer paid and walked out with his monkey.

Startled, the woman went over to the shopkeeper and said, "That was a very expensive monkey. Most of them are only a few hundred dollars. Why did that one cost so much?"

The shopkeeper answered, "Ah, that monkey can draw in CAD - very fast, clear layouts, no mistakes, well worth the money."

The woman looked at a monkey in another cage. "that one is even more expensive! $10,000! What does it do?"

"Oh, that one's a Design monkey; it can design systems, layout projects, mark-up drawings, write specifications, and even calculate. All the really useful stuff," said the shopkeeper.

The woman looked around a little longer, and soon she saw a third monkey in a cage of its own. The price tag around its neck said $50,000. She gasped to the shopkeeper, "That one costs more than the others combined! What on earth does it do?"

"Well, " replied the shopkeeper, "I haven't actually seen it do anything, but it says it's an Engineer."

And Then There Was CAD Monkey....

No point delving into deep backstory. I'll just start from this Tuesday.

The server at work blew up.
Office-wide, the result was a mandatory slacking period that lasted the entire day. Personally, the server blow caused me to think, for the millionth time in a year, Dammit, I need a new job.
Kos, Sri, and I took a 3-hour lunch. No point in going back to the office in a hurry- couldn't get to any of our stupid drawings! We went to go look at the new office space. Across the atrium from the new space was another architecture firm. I jokingly said to Kos and Sri, "Hey, wouldn't that just piss them off if I were to get a job here?"

I sent them a resume Tuesday night.

Tomorrow, ManThing and I are going to shop for a baby gate. For his dog.
The Dog has separation anxiety issues, and has therefore scratched the ever-living shit out of ManThing's apartment door frame. We're talking bare-wood, chunks-missing. ManThing and The Dog are moving in with me for 3 weeks until the leaseback on our house ends in March. I'll be damned if I'm going to lose my deposit, too. The baby gate will be, I hope, a solution. I figure if we can keep her away from the door, she can't damage it.

The carpet is another story.