I see the finish line

A drug screen tomorrow, which is good. One more interview tomorrow, too. I hope that's the finish line I see, because interviewing is EXHAUSTING!! I shouldn't complain, I could have nothing, and I can't imagine what state I would be in if I hadn't any invitations to interview. I'd probably be in a very depressed state - there is something nice about being interesting. Anyhow, I think today's interview was a complete flop, though I did like the company. What they asked about in the interview that was NOT part of the job description - finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics. Yeah, not since undergrad. They won't offer me a job, which is too bad, the company seemed really cool (and the closest to home so far!)

Oh well, I have an offer on the table, a drug screen tomorrow, which I can't screw up. Hopefully offer number 2, which is cool too. This means I have to start getting up early in the morning again!

Offer on the table

So, I was completely caught off guard today by an offer. It's contract, which seems kind of cool. But I wasn't expecting it today. And I wasn't expecting that they'd want an answer so quickly. I mean, I know that I am unemployed, but that doesn't mean I am desperate. It doesn't mean I don't have the right to think before I leap, and choose the right job, instead of any job.

But it's on the table. I have 2 more interviews this week, and I think I owe myself the option to see if they go anywhere, and anywhere better than this offer. Which is outside of my industry.

So I don't know, I really don't. All I know is I don't like being pressured. Last time I was pressured into a job, I ended up regretting it.

Lost count

A full day of interviews tomorrow. Which is nice. And I only dirty one set of nice interview clothes for 2 companies. It does take the entire day, which is sort of like working. And sort of keeping my busy for a day. At least I'll be fully air conditioned all day. but I won't get anything done at home, and this place is a MESS!

Anyhow, it's all positive stuff at this point. I can almost smell the new hardwood floors.

Vacation during my hiatus

I'm taking a trip, which is cool. I don't have to use up any vacation days to do it. hee hee.

I am hoping that next week might have some good news on the horizon. I have another phone interview tomorrow. I have a face to face lined up for next week.

And hallelujah, I have a recruiter with an inside lead at AVA Solar. I'll do anything to get to work there.

With all these interviews, the odds are with me that one of these fish is going to bite. I'll be back at work. Ah! Air conditioning again! Which puts the pressure on me to finish some projects at home while I have the time. Which is good. I get a lot more done when I am in a time crunch.

Like right now, trying to get the house prepped for my departure - filling up food bins, cleaning, labelling, etc. Then some free time for me...

I lost count

This blog may be very short lived, which is fine by me.

I have a company going through the motions right now - applications, background checks, drug screen. Usually they don't take the time to do this unless they are serious. But it isn't a sure thing. I've gone through this before just to be turned down. And I know it isn't the drug screen that gets me turned down. So I am trying not to think this is a sure thing.

In that case, I have a phone interview lined up for monday, as well as a face-to-face I am trying to get scheduled. I'll keep interviewing until someone bites. When it rains it pours, and I have to admit, this is all happening a lot faster than I expected. Which is fine, I have dreams of hardwood floors and a new greenhouse in my mind. This time it will happen.

In the meantime, I have a lot of things to get done while I am still on "Summer Vacation"
I have to finish painting the hallway, getting my garden covered in straw, hanging bird scares in the orchard, finishing a web site for SWE, and getting this house cleaned up some. I may only have a few weeks to get it all done now, but everyone knows, you get more done under pressure than when you have all the time in the world!

Day 29 or something

When it rains, it pours. I have interviews, phone screens or phone interviews lined up with 3 more companies between today and early next week. That's a good thing, it means the odds are playing with me right now.

I have high hopes for one of the jobs -I got a call back from them last night, but no message, and no return yet this morning. I'm thinking it's bad news if it is this soon... It's OK, we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I have some other things on my mind right now that are very distracting. But I will continue to apply apply apply... it can't hurt, or can it?

Day 27 - 4 weeks

So, essentially, it's been a month. I am fearing my summer vacation is coming to a close. I could be wrong, I could be right.

I had an interview yesterday, and they called me today to schedule me a second interview this afternoon. As I said, I saw my competition leaving the same time I did. I get to meet some more higher-ups and the hiring manager today. I need to print out some more resumes and polish up my list of fancy questions. This could be it... I could be smelling new hardwood floors before you know it!

I also have an interview lined up for Monday afternoon, but the company is pretty far away, and I might not want to drive that far. Of course, I had a call for a contract position in Chicago. He saw my area code and thought I was still in Detroit. Nope. Chicago is a bit too far to commute.

Anyhow, this could be the light at the end of the tunnel, or at least the beginning of some new projects at home.

Day 26

Again, it's the ups and downs.

I had a good interview today. Saw my "competition" as I was leaving - he left the same time I did, which means I spent twice as much time there. I got handed off to the boss's boss, and he got shown the door. Another one bites the dust. I think it all went well and I have my fingers crossed. BUt my resume looks like shit. I've bounced around too much, and just when I find the job I want to retire with, I get laid off. Now it looks even worse.

Add on top of that the amount of stress I am under. I am going bald. And that's not a joke. My friend was pulling hairs off my sweater yesterday, because I was shedding. This morning, in the shower, I pulled out enough hair just from shampooing that usually gets caught in the drain in an entire week. I better get a job before I look like Sinead. Not that it was a bad look for her, but I have a bumpy head.

I felt good about having an interview, but it always feels bad to leave when they keep asking you why you bounced so much. ON top of the fact that they recognized my name from having applied there in the past. ouch.

Day 25

I have an interview tomorrow, and I am looking forward to it. Definitely.

I just found out today (because I didn't get yesterday's mail until today) that I won't be getting much unemployment. Seems I wasn't at my previous company long enough to get much from them (less than $1000 total) and since I left the company before - I don't get anything from them. So the $11,000 ma I was alloted got knocked down below $1000.

That changed plans drastically. Had to redo our budget all together and things are tighter than ever. This is going to stink.

So cross your fingers for me for the interview next week. Please.

Day 23.5

I may not get a chance to post tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day! I am going to our first Farmer's Market in town. We only have a few chickens left to sell (aside from the ones we will process in August! Then we will have 50 more!) And once we put together the 300 eggs we deliver weekly to our restaurant customer, I still had another 13 dozen left over! So I'll be taking those to the market tomorrow too. Since Husband is out of town this weekend, it's all on me - gotta feed the chickens and turkeys in the morning, let the pups out and head to the market and spend most of the day there. It's going to be a GREAT time!!

BUT I wanted to post about something else! I got a call earlier today, someone has me lined up for an interview 11AM on Monday. This job is closer to home than the last two I have spoken to recruiters about. The job sounds fun, the company is part of a large conglomerate (I have been around many of their subsidiaries throughout my career). In other words - large, stable company. That is a good thing.

It's interesting how I can start feeling so imbittered by this whole ordeal - and then get a call for an interview (I only sent in my app on Wednesday!) and I feel totally different. Already planning in my head the fun house projects I get to spend the money on... (hardwood floors, new kitchen, solar hot water heater...shall I go on?)

Day 23

I had a meeting with a recruiter today, for a job in Louisville. It's a contract job until the end of the year, that could get extended for a full year. I have never worked contract before, but it could actually be pretty cool. I should hear early next week if they are interested in talking to me.

No offense to any recruiters out there, but that can be a hard route for me to go. Often, recruiters are NOT engineers, nor do they have any engineering experience, they can't often really comprehend the jobs from the employers, nor can they translate an engineer's background to fit with a job description. It sometimes leads to dead ends, but any route is worthwhile. A dead end doens't really cost me anything (except the gas it took to drive to the city this morning!)


Anyhow, I was complaining about the fridge this morning, and husband says "That's what you can do with your first paycheck. By a new fridge. You can use all your money for house stuff"

Which is exactly what I intend to do... NOW, there's a little trick about the paycheck... gotta find someone to hire me for what I can do for them. Still working on it!

Day 22

I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with a recruiter. The job is interesting, but I am not a great fit. I am stretching at this point. I also spoke with another recruiter about a job in Golden. It's also a stretch, possibly, but he didn't have a great write up of the job. Interesting industry, but what would I really be doing? And is driving to Golden daily even worth my while?

I am following up on these things, but we'll just have to see.

And none of these people know where I live or how to pronounce my town. Both of the claimed to be from Michigan. One of them knew were Berkley is. The other forgot what city Wayne State is in. Sigh.

I am beginning to wonder if the gas to drive to Denver is worth it for a potential dead end...
Besides, I have my brain focused on Saturday's farmer's market, which I will be attending solo (well, maybe with a dog companion) because husband is gone for the weekend.

Day 21

Still jobless. No phone calls. Still applying. It can take months.

But we will be starting the farmer's market on Saturday, so COME ON LETTUCE! GROW!

still waiting for unemployment money to show up in the account, but I am sure they are going to wait on that one as long as they can. Sigh.

Nothing interesting to say today.

Day 20

Hmm... I think I miscounted my days. It's now been 3 weeks since I was let go.

The long weekend was nice, but I had just gotten used to this being home crap, and now it feels weird again.

I did get a call from a recruiter today, I will call him back. The job is in Denver. That's a long drive, and I was hoping to shorten my commute, but at this point, again, beggars can't be choosers?

Regardless, tomorrow I am going to get spiffied up, print out a shiny new resume, and head up to AVA Solar and see if I can talk so someone directly. What do I have to lose?

Day 19

After the long weekend, I still just wish I could get up on a Monday and go to work.

I've got my list of projects to get done this week, but the heat isn't helping. I'll get it all done some day.

I have looked for new job postings this morning. Not too many. I figure with the holiday weekend behind us, people may start posting more opportunities. If I don't find anything in the short run, there is always the fall upswing, when the college interns go back to school and companies realize they'd rather just hire someone full time! So it could be September before there are any big bites.

Day 17

Saturday, it's raining a bit today. We have some good news for the farm, and we are going to start going to a (for now) fee-free farmer's market. That'll help us sell our fruits and veggies and chickens.

Still looking for a job. We had another dog surgery to deal with last night, and I want to make sure we can pay for it, as well as put money aside for the future, inevitable vet issues we are likely to have on the farm - from doggie injuries, to problematic sheep pregnancies - whatever it takes. I won't let an animal die on my watch unless it truly is their time. Last night's issue was no fault of anyone's, it's a common large breed dog issue - and it wasn't his time. But Murphy's law does dictate that if an animal of ours is going to have serious issues, it's going to be after the regular vet is closed, and we have to pay the extra special emergency vet fees. He's going to be fine, by the way, and we should be bringing him home tonight or tomorrow morning.

Aside from that, holiday weekends mean it's project time on the farm. It's hotter than blazes out here, and hopefully I'll see some more job posting activities on indeed.com net week!

Day 16

Happy 4th of July.

I'm taking the day off of job hunting (I applied to several jobs yesterday)

Today I went and delivered Meals on Wheels with my neighbor, and met some very nice people. Other than that, it's too hot to think.

Have a great day, everyone.

Day 15

Ups and downs.

I've been on an upswing. I guess the downswing came yesterday when I started paying bills. It's hard. It's hard to look at the numbers right now.

And then I got a call from the company that gave me a phone interview. I am out of the loop. Back to square one. So I applied t 4 more jobs today, one being in Cheyenne. That's right, Wyoming.

Then I went to the local farmer's market to ask about setting up a table. No one was there from the city for me to talk to - but there definitly was space for more tables. I see no reason for them to tell me no, aside from the fact that I have nothing to sell, really, right now. In a few weeks, I'll have lettuce, and after that we'll have more chicken. So we'll see.

We gotta make some money on the farm, or I have to get a job.

day 14

On becoming a wino:

No, I'm not becoming a raging alcoholic because I am home alone and distraught over my lack of workiness. Besides, in these tight times, we have cut all non-essentials out of our budget. That includes alcohol. Much to husband's dismay, we won't be buying any Guinness or Imperial Stout until I have a job again.

What that means though, is that over the weekend, (because I get so much of the crap work done during the week) we actually had time to chill and grill out saturday night. We always have chicken to eat since we raise them ourselves. So we did some grilling, and Larry brought up a bottle of wine. We aren't wine drinkers, but you know how when you invite folks over for a party or dinner, often they bring a bottle? They are all hiding out in our cellar, happy as can be. We break them out when we have company over...

But I guess sometimes you just want a drink. There's no beer in the fridge, but there's those wine bottles down stairs. Done. I guess those will have to do until we can afford beer money again. I sense we will finally eat all the weird things lurking in our cupboards, too... it's kind of nice to tighten our belts, since it is forcing us to put nothing to waste.