About 2 months ago I applied for a job in the finance department of another hospital in the system. About 2 weeks later I heard back from them stating that they weren't interviewing yet, and that they had already received a number of highly qualified applicants. Aka, I shouldn't expect to hear back from them.

I did, last week.

I have an interview Wednesday.

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Theme: International Travel

You have the summer and plenty of money to travel abroad. Where all would you go?

Normally I'd say Europe, but I think I'd want to go to India.

What foods would you be sure you got to eat?

Lots of local stuff, and I'd want to learn how to make some of it.

What landmarks would you be sure you got to see?

Don't know.

What airline would you use?

Can't I take an ocean liner?

Would your knowledge of other languages influence where you went? (i.e. would you be more likely to go to France if you spoke French)

No. It would make some things easier, but I don't want to go overseas just so I can have McDonalds. I want local flavor, in whatever language it comes in!


Theme: USA Road Trip

Who would you take with you on a road trip? Tigs and Lucy

What states would you visit? I suppose I'd want to go to Washington, and hit as many states along the way as I could.

What national parks and/or monuments would you go see? Any that we pass

Las Vegas: Overrated or a Must-See? Only for Star Trek The Experience which is apparently closing this year :-(

How long would you be gone? 2 months would do it I think.

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And because you all wanted to see it, ( the new water heater )

So starting last Thursday we lost our internet connection. It had been a little spotty recently, and when I called Comcast they said that there seemed to be an issue with our modem. They could either send someone out to fix it on the following Tuesday, or I could bring the modem in to their White Marsh office and swap it out with a new one. Because of the NADAC trial, I couldn't actually get to White Marsh till Monday, which was mostly ok, because we were at the trial and couldn't use the internet anyway. So Monday was a sloppy wet day, but after work I drove up to White Marsh, found the Comcast customer service office and drove around the parking lot twice before I found a parking spot.

Then I stood in line behind lots of other people who were thrilled to be there. There was one guy who stormed out of the office, slamming the doors, and someone in line said "Another happy Comcast customer!" much to the amusement of everyone else in line. Eventually I made my way to the counter, handed in my old modem, and they handed me a new one. I took the box and headed home.

When I got home I plugged the box in, the lights turned on and everything looked good. So I clicked on firefox, and got a forbidden error. I ran the install disk, and got an unknown error. I called Comcast. It turns out the morons at the customer service office never assigned the modem to our account. They said they took care of that, but there was a network issue they needed to take care of. The rep said that he would call me back in 45-60 minutes to let me know it all worked. No call.

Upon returning home from class I called Comcast back. The next rep I spoke to said that not only was the modem still not assigned to me, but it was assigned to someone else!! He said that he needed to get another department to remove the modem from the other person's account. This was at about 10:20. He asked how late we could get a call back. I said 11:15. No call.

Tuesday after work I called Comcast back and asked to speak to a manager. The manager said the ticket was in progress and that fixing the problem would take between 45-72 hours. I spent the entire time from when I got home until I had to leave for school expressing my displeasure. That didn't get me anywhere, but I did feel better about the situation.

After class that night I again called Comcast. I got a woman this time, who was genuinely baffled at my situation. We spent about 80 minutes on the phone together and she helped me get the internet working. She fixed the registration problem, helped me set up the connection configuration on my computer, and made sure that I could access the internet on the Mac too.

If there was another internet provider that wasn't worse I'd switch service.

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Last night, with access to a working internet connection, I decided to apply for some jobs. I saw a job at BG&E that looked promising, so I sent in an application for that. Then I clicked on over to the Games Workshop website. They never have anything that I would either want (bad hours, bad money) or could get, but I keep looking. I applied for an Accounts Receivables position open at their Glen Burnie location.

I heard back from that finance job I applied for. No go. There have been a number of applicants who have years worth of experience in that position already, so I was basically told to try again later, when I have more experience. *sigh*

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I've noticed online and on the radio people talking about the Democratic primary, and how die-hard Obama supporters feel that Clinton should just get out of the race, and stop hurting the party. I don't get that. How is the party hurt by her running in a primary that has not yet been decided? Was North Carolina hurt by the election? How about Indiana? Are the people of West Virginia hurt by her running? I don't think they are. States that usually have no say in the primaries, which get no campaign attention or money, are getting it now! Sure it's only for a week or two, but for that time states are getting visited by busloads of reporters, campaign helpers, security details, all who buy food, rent hotel rooms, and bring an infusion of cash and excitement to what is usually by this point a wrapped up primary.

Oh, and have you noticed how McCain isn't getting all that much attention right now? Tell me how that's a bad thing!

Is Hilary going to win? No, not unless something really drastic happens. Does that mean she should quit? No. If Obama is going to be president, then he needs to earn it, and according to the delegate count, he hasn't done that yet. When he does the Democratic Party will rally around him, and in January we'll swear him in as the new President of the United States. Until then he has to keep working on earning it.

So stop whining, and let the rest of the country have their say.

We officially moved into the house this past weekend. It took 2 trips with a 12' Penske truck, but it was done by about 2:30/3pm. We never would have gotten it all done if it wasn't for all the help we got, so a huge THANK YOU to Terence, raven296, Kim, Cory, and Alex. You've provided help, support, and friendship that's really made so much more possible then would otherwise be the case. So again, thank you!

Ok, so Wednesday the electrical work was taken care of. *thumbs up* We can now plug things in without having to use the 3-to-2 prong adaptors! Plus the service cable was replaced out back, so that worry is gone, and it's amazing how those 2 things have made such a big difference. Right now I need to continue to see significant progress being made, if only for my own sanity.

I painted the first coat on the trim in the library, and it's going to need a second coat. Even kilz primer couldn't cover that shade of pink! After that's done, there will be a little bit of touch up work, and then we can bring all the bookshelves in from the dining room. Conveniently that's the next painting project, and it should go quickly, since the walls and trim were already (4 shades of) white, and I've already done the ceiling. I don't have anything else pressing to do, so my goal is to get that all done. Two thing that might slow me down a bit are the taping, and waiting for paint to dry, but we'll see.

Last night I picked up my car from the shop. It actually drives noticeably better then it did when I dropped it off, though it is still doing that weird noise thing from the back tires sometimes when I first start driving.

I heard back about the job I applied for up at the central business office. I wasn't qualified for it, based on their experience requirement. However they had an other (lower level) job that they wanted to get me into which would have been fine just to get my foot in the door. Unfortunately it wouldn't have fulfilled the experience requirement for the CPA, and while I'm willing to make a lateral move, it needs to either pay me significantly more, or it needs to give me that experience.

There is a job at another hospital in the system in the finance department that would in theory both pay more and offer the experience I need. I've already submitted my resume for that.

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1. How often do you listen to music?

Almost constantly.

2. Do you ever listen to the radio? What is your favorite station?

I generally listen to NPR news radio, NPR's local music station, and the local classic rock station.

3. How do you find new songs, albums, or artists to listen to?

Generally it'll be something that Tigs will turn me onto.

4. When was the last time you bought a CD? A digital music file?

I think the last time I bought a CD was when Tigs and I were scouting places to live in MD. I think it was a comedy CD… And I've never bought a digital music file.

5. Do you think any of the technologies and distribution methods mentioned above will still be around in ten years? Why or why not?

Yes. People have spent a lot of money of the technology, and while there will be new stuff, the stuff from today will still be around.

After work today I primed the library walls, and taped along the floor so I can move onto the trim next. I still need to pick up the paint for the walls.

We're ready to start painting the dining room walls, and we have the paint for that.

I have put half of the boxes we packed onto our cars to be dropped off tomorrow.I need to remember to pack my intermediate accounting book so I can study tomorrow. The test is on Wednesday.

I've picked up the internal bid form and will be dropping it off tomorrow.

tigergladys is out tracking with Lucy, and I am home working on taxes.

And it figures. I owe between state and federal taxes about $200.

There is a job opening up at the central business office that looks really tempting. I should decide whether I'm going to go for it by Monday, that way I can turn in a bid form for it first thing.

Bother... GW also posted a position I could apply for, and a year ago I probably would have. But it's in HR rather then in accounting... Ah well.

First post of the New Year! Kind of exciting really, for as I've said before, there's going to be a lot happening. I don't know how it'll impact my level of posting, or even if it will at all. I tend to post 2-3 times a week, and they are rarely posts of particular depth or insight. This may be because I don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about things of great depth or insight. I'd work on that, but I think I'm gonna be a bit busy this year. Maybe for '09 that can be my resolution? Either way, we'll see what happens here. I'll do my best to keep you all informed of the major goings on.

I started my econ course Wednesday night. I bought the book, signed up for the web site, and then worked through about 2 hours worth of online tutorials. Not exactly fun. Plus the school library closes at 7:30, so I spent the second hour out in the hall using one of the public computers. Not the most conducive working environment.

When I got home Wednesday night I pulled out a vegetable soup mix that has been in the cabinet for a while. It's mostly beans, but I also tossed in some rice. Truth be told, it's kinda bland, but I can deal, and I made enough that it kept me warm at lunch for the rest of the week. This weekend I'll probably make a chili for next week, something with a little more kick in it. I'll need to pick up some things for it though. Actually I think I'll need to pick up most of the things for it.

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In a shocking turn of events I will be packing away all of my miniatures.

All of them!

And I expect that they will remain packed away until we move. I don't foresee enough time over the next 5 months to spend any of it painting or modeling. I'll keep a case of minis handy in case I can get a game or 3 in with my cousins, but aside from that… I'm taking a break from the hobby until summer. *Deep breath* It's kind of a scary thought actually, especially as I still have tons of thoughts and ideas about things I want to build and a ton of unpainted minis that I want to paint.

In further depressing news, I got a call from corporate HR telling me that my (future) accounting certificate isn't enough to qualify me for a staff accountant position. I know how stupid this all is considering that once I have my CPA no one will really care that much what degree I have. Unfortunately to take the CPA I have to have accounting experience. I may end up looking outside the corporate system I'm in to find a new accounting job. I'd hate to do it, for a number of reasons, but if I need to in order to advance in the direction I'm going, then I wont hesitate.

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I just finished the first online graded quiz. Now only if I knew how to check the grade...

Peace, Love, & Hope!

I’m so glad that the accounting test that was originally scheduled for this week was pushed back to next week. On the other hand if it hadn’t, I probably would have spent more time studying this past weekend. So either way…

After work Wednesday night I went straight to the “meet and greet” up in White Marsh. Overall I think it went really well for what it was. It’s kind of hard to gauge on two 5 minute interviews, but I *think* I may get a call back, even if it’s simply because I’m an internal candidate. I decided to go in my scrubs after tigergladys convinced me that it was a good idea. Her reasoning was that this being a very preliminary interview, the guy coming in directly from work wearing scrubs stands out against the horde of guys wearing dark suits. It made sense to me! Now we’ll see if it pays off.

Thursday after work I headed directly for school, as I still had the make up test to take. It was a bigger hassle getting there, signing in, and waiting for them to take me back to take the test then it was to actually take the test. I’m pretty sure I only got one question wrong, and that’s because I couldn’t remember a vocab word. It was a fill in the blank question! Once the test was over I went and joined tigergladys at the dog club to help pack for the event this weekend. After that we went home, ordered Chinese, and finished the first disk of season 2 of Bones.

This weekend will be a busy one. There is an agility trial down in Millersville where I’ll be entering the scores for the runs. Then there is the usual First Saturday activities up in Frederick. We wont be getting there as early as we usually do, because of the agility trial, but that’s ok, cause most of the stuff tends to go on in the evening anyway! Plus Brainstorm is open till 7!

Next week’s business management class has been cancelled for unknown reasons. This is fantastic news as I can now use that time to get some serious studying done for my accounting test, something I’m not going to get much of this weekend.

You know what I’m going to miss doing this weekend though? Painting. I could probably squeeze a little bit of time in to do that, but that’s time I know I should be studying. The guilt wouldn’t be worth it this weekend. So no painting, and that’s ok.

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1. What is your favorite color? Forest Green
2. What colors do you like to decorate with? Greens and blues
3. Is there a color that you absolutely hate? No. There are some that are completely inappropriate for some things (hunter orange for bedroom walls for example), but none I hate.
4. Which colors look best on you? As rarely as I wear it I like a strong red.
5. Which colors do you wear most often? Light blue scrubs.
6. How long can you hold your breath? About a minute, probably longer if I really needed to.
7. How long do you wait to cut your hair? Cut? I trim it when the ends get bad, but no cutting.
8. How long do you normally wait at the grocery? I usually only wait a minute or two in line.
9. How long can you sing a song without getting the lyrics wrong? It depends on the song!
10. How long is the best relationship you've been in? Well the best would be this one, and it’s been 4 years, 8 months, 12 days.
11. Of the people in your life, who is Most Likely to Succeed? Me! Accounting, here I come!
12. Of the people in your life, who has the Dreamiest Eyes? Tigs
13. Of the people in your life, who is the Cutest Couple? Lucy and Tonks
14. Of the people in your life, who is Most Changed? Eric
15. Of the people in your life, who is the Geekiest? Oh man… the levels of geeky that pervades my friends makes it really hard to quantify.

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And in a total moment of geekery I would so love to do this. Unfortunately that’s the same night as agility class.

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Meant to post this last night....

Current (realistic) hobby project list (listed in priority order by category):

To Paint:
Imperial Battleship – In progress
Ork capital ships - Primed
Planetary defense stations - Primed

To Model:
Removable bases for various ships – supplies needed!
Chaos planetary defenses – Need plasticard
Chaos Battleship – Need plasticard
Starfort – Need plasticard
Magnetize weapon slots on Imperial Battleship – I think I have everything I need for this

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I’m going to a preliminary “Meet and Greet” style interview tomorrow after work up in White Marsh. I don’t yet qualify for any of the positions I’m interested in, but I will in May. The most awesome thing would be for them to say “That’s ok, keep going to school, we’ll hire you anyway!” I’m not sure how realistic that is, but really, how fantastic would that be? My resume is all updated, and I can't wait 'til tomorrow!!

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Also, Lucy was v. embarrassing tonight in class. Sigh.

One of the big reasons I took the job I’m in currently is the education allowance. I have always wanted and expected to further my education beyond a bachelors degree. I wasn’t ever sure where I would go, or what I would do. I supposed I would figure out what program I’d go into when I got there. For a while I thought I would go to law school. As much as I think I would enjoy law school, I don’t think I would enjoy law, and in the end the goal is to be able to be employed in something I’ll enjoy doing. In looking for alternatives Tigergladys wisely pointed out that I’m good at math, and have a certain enjoyment in dealing with sums of money. Then again, who doesn’t enjoy sums of money? So I began investigating the possibility of becoming an accountant. Ok, yeah, a bean counter. But there are a lot of perks to being an accountant, and if you take it further and become a CPA, the perks just get better. The sister of my Uncle (by marriage) is a CPA who owns her own firm, and pulls in something like 1.5 million every year. Not bad... Hell, I'd be more then thrilled at a tenth of that!

In order to become a CPA there are a number of hoops to jump through. These include 2,000 hours of accounting experience (about a year as an accountant) and 60 credits in accounting and related subjects. If I can take 1 course every semester, plus 2 over the summer, and 1 during the winter I can breeze through 60 credits in 4 years. That’s presuming none of the courses I’ve already had will count towards that total, and that only one night course is offered per term. However in about a year I can accomplish a goal of about 18 credits, which is enough to get an accounting certificate, which would open a variety of accounting positions to me.

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Five on Friday... last Friday... written Tuesday...

1. If you accidentally bump into someone, do you say anything?

I usually say “excuse me.”

2. When you get into a disagreement or fight, how often are you the first to apologize?

I’m not sure. I think it depends on who I’m fighting with.

3. What everyday actions do feel should warrant an apology?

In general only if you screw something up. Most everyday actions don’t need an apology.

4. Do you apologize for things that aren't your fault?

No.

5. When was the last time you apologized to someone?

This morning. I’ve been restless at night, and it’s been disturbing Tigs’ sleep and has caused Lucymonster to stop sleeping on the bed with us. I’ve kicked her off the bed (literally) a couple of times, and now she’s afraid to come on to the bed at night if I’m in it… L

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This weekend was incredibly relaxing. Saturday started (or didn’t) by sleeping in late. We eventually got up, hit Duncan Donuts with some free coffee coupons and a gift certificate and took Lucy to go visit a dog park down in Ann Arundal county, and then found another down in Howard county that requires a membership. We’d go ahead and get one, except that their membership year runs from June to June. Or was it July to July? Either way we would have to pay for a full year for a couple of months worth of membership.

Aside from that, we relaxed, watched some Boston Legal, and I went grocery shopping. It was busy because there was a “winter storm warning” starting that night and going through Sunday. I can’t tell you how excited I was about this storm! It was the perfect excuse to have a totally lazy day. Obviously we couldn’t go anywhere (not that we had any invites), and just enjoy ourselves.

The most exciting thing for me was playing D&D with Tigs. It’s been something that’s been lurking in my head for a while now, and I’d been doing some refreshing on the rules to get ready for it. Getting into the mind set to role-play has been harder then remembering all the rules. We didn’t play a long game, as some kobolds hurt her only slightly less then she hurt them.

Reviews
Real Women Have Curves 6/6
This was even better then I thought it would be. It’s about a Mexican-American teen in LA who wants to continue her education past high school while her mother wants her to go to work in her sisters sewing factory/sweat shop. Guess where she ends up?

Greenfingers 5/6
Who’d have thought that a British prison would grow some unlikely gardeners? This true (or at least based on a true) story about a group of inmates who develop a work program based on gardening that leads them to the most prestigious gardening competition in the UK.

Kinky Boots 5/6
What’s a cross-dresser to do? Womens shoes were never meant to support the weight of a man. What’s a young man to do when he inherits a failing shoe factory? It is an odd coupling, a little predictable in plot, but definitely worth putting on your netflix list!

( Star Trek Personality Test )

It’s been a while since I last posted, and I actually have something worth posting about. And no, it’s not a painted mini. As you can imagine having a puppy that was just spayed can kinda take up a lot of time. So I haven’t touched a mini since I put away the Aragorns. Never fear though, there will be more soon-ish.

Onto the News! (This was written last week, and so is more back story then actual news)

I have a job! Exciting, hua? I’m going to be working at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore !! I’ve already filled out the paperwork and done the blood test, and yet another TB test. Monday is orientation, and then its on from there. The plan then is to take advantage of their educational benefits and get me my masters degree. Then I can get me a job that will pay me enough to get a house! Getting a house is the big life goal for the next 2-3 years. After that, I’m not sure what the big goal will be. Probably fixing the house up!!

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It is now a week into the job. Monday was orientation, and then I started actually working on Tuesday. It's been rather hectic as I come into the job with next to no hospital experience, and no experience with how an OR is run. I've spent a lot of time attending meetings and listening to people talk about things I don't know. I've also been going through what laughingly could be called their personnel files, and their payroll records, and trying to get those all updated. Both of these projects could take me well into the next several weeks. Lots to do, which keeps me from being bored.

Oh, and I have my own office. No window, but it's better then a cubical!! Oh, and I gave blood yesterday!

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We’ve been watching The Dog Whisperer from Netflix. The whole premise is that these people in LA who have dogs with issues call up Caesar to come and help them figure out what to do. The problems are usually aggression, nervousness, boredom, and lack of dominance in their lives. Basically the dogs are treated like rational humans, rather then as… well... dogs! It’s a great series, mostly because the owners are the ones with the problems, not the dogs! Watching the realization come over the owners is always the best part of the show. Well, that, and watching Caesar imitate dogs. He has this fantastic bond with his own pack, and just watching the show has shown Tigs and I a few things we could be doing better, so we’re working on that.

Happy Endings
I had higher hopes for this movie, and for the most part, they let me down. The most amusing thing about it was the written commentary that occasionally popped up during the various scenes. They made the movie interesting. Without it, it was mostly a bunch of people doing stupid things, and mostly I didn’t care.

( Five from a former Friday )

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I have a stack of books sitting next to me right now that I need to enter into 50bookchallenge before this years challenge ends!

Anyway, off to the library!

Hi everyone! Long time no update. Sorry about that. I haven’t been spending much (if any) time on the computer at home, and work has been actually busy. I feel a little bad about it, but then I also haven’t gotten any frantic comments or calls asking if I’m ok. So I guess it’s update time!

Work
I am still working at the help desk though Kelly. I actually worked Sunday which was incredibly slow (I think I took 8 calls the whole day) to make up for missing time on Monday and Thursday. I’ll also be working this Saturday in order to get a little overtime. There are some upsides to how slow working the weekend is, all the extra reading time! There wasn’t anything else to do, so I finished one book, and made it half way through another.

Future Work?
So far this month I’ve interviewed at a marketing company (joke interview), Good Samaritan Hospital, Games Workshop, and I have another interview with the city tourism organization Monday morning. Now I love these interviews, they’re great, and it’s all very exciting. The downside to them is that I have to miss work to go to them, and then I have to wait to hear anything. I’ve heard from Games Workshop, and they just can’t offer me the money I’d need, (they offered me less than I am currently making as a temp...how sad is that?) however I’ve put in another application for an accounting position, so we’ll see how that goes.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed, as there are a number of jobs that are out there that offer what I’m looking for. Now I just need one to come through for me…

Home
Have any of you heard about this?!? This is the reason both Tigs and I want an old farmhouse on a couple of acres where no one can come and tell us “No grills on your back porch” or “Your blinds must be white” or “No satanic peace signs.” Seriously why would anyone agree be part of a “community” where they can tell you what to do with the home you OWN!! If you want people to tell you what you can and can not do to your own home, why not just rent?!?

Six Feet Under
Just like writergrl, tigergladys and I finished watching the series finale last night. I thought that Sex and the City was the perfect series finale, but SFU nudged the bar just that much higher. I wish there was a Star Trek series... or even just a solid sci-fi series that HBO would take on. Given the freedom, I think there would be some really strong tales that could be told.

Puppy
We've got Sit solidly understood. Down and Stand are still very iffy. The puppy class is fun, and I think it's helping her with socialization more than learning commands. That's ok, the commands will come with time. tigergladys has been extremely diligent working with Lucy, and it shows.

Thanksgiving
The holiday was spent at my Aunt Kim's house. Lots of cooking, lots of playing with the puppy, and generally a good time (except for Tigs almost choking to death)... now if only we hadn't needed to work on Friday...

I wrote this last week on my first day of the new job:

They don't have me doing anything right now, so I'm just gonna type. So far today I've pretty much just shadowed one of the help desk personnel, listening in on the calls he gets. It seems relatively simple, and is mostly going to be a matter of remembering which of the screens I need to use to check whatever it is I'll need to check.

The campus where my job is located is really beautiful. I expect that in the spring it's just gorgeous. If I'm still here in the spring I expect I'll be eating outside a lot. At this point I kinda hope I am, though not as a temp. I want benefits damn it!! :-)

My desk is located in an actual cubical farm. It's a small farm, but still. There is a huge cubical plantation upstairs where the actual programmers are. HUGE. It's quiet, with the sound of people answering phones, the hum of the ventilation system, and of course the high pitched wine of electrical equipment. No music, though I was told that as long as its not disruptive that music is ok. I may have to go back to using the IPod. Not sure how the sound of the laptop is. Its weird how all the computers are laptops. Also the carpets are new, or at least relatively new. They still smell.

I've never worked in an actual cubical before. The fluorescent lights kinda want me to bring in a little lamp with a natural lightbulb. Also maybe an area rug, some pictures of tigergladys and the puppy and the hamsters, and maybe a sword or some minis or something.

Kidding. ;-) Well, except for the lamp and the pictures of tigergladys and the furry ones. Actually all of that depends on how long it seems like I'll be here. At least I have a comfortable chair!

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Today, in marked contrast to how it started, was incredibly busy. I spent about 99% of my day on the phone. Seriously that busy. I hope to god that tomorrow is a little less busy, just a little.

I also got in touch with someone over at another hospital, and we're going to arrange a time I can come in for an interview for a job!! A real one this time, not some craptastic sales position like the last one. It'll probably end up being sometime early next week, prior to Thanksgiving. I got asked the question on the phone "What's your ideal position?" Now, if you know me, then you know I didn't give some cookie cutter corporate bullshit. I told the truth: painting minis at the beach, preferably somewhere in the Carribian, though I could settle for the south of France.

There was a pause. And then he laughed, and said I had the right idea. It was a promising phone conversation, and I look forward to meeting with him.

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Oh, I finished painting 3 Aragorns last night. Currently waiting on some decent light to get pictures worth posting. Think I'm gonna work on some 40K next

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And who couldn't use a free week of paid LJ?

I don't have a happy icon. I need a happy icon. Not only am I once again employed (as of Wednesday morning 8am) but I am making a buck more an hour!

But wait! There's More!

I have an interview in about 1/2 an hour at a place a 3 minutes drive away!

And now, a sleeping puppy:

Now if only I was retiring!! I’m gonna have to wait some years yet before I can do that. Oh, but how I look forward to retiring! That is of course presuming the world doesn’t go to hell in the next 40 or so years. If it does… well… remind me to take up a few more hobbies that would prove useful should civilization collapse. Shooting is one. I’ve already got some practice at archery. My skill with plants isn’t what it should be, and I’m guessing that growing my own food will be important. Some woodworking skill will also be important. It’s interesting though, that even should civilization collapse, it’s corpse will remain, and so there will be a lot that can be scavenged. The danger will be all the toxins. I’ll probably need to look out for a Geiger counter, or at least some radiation tags. What pleasant thoughts for a Friday morning!

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It’s now afternoon. I have an interview scheduled for Monday afternoon about 3 minutes from where I live, and I expect to hear back from the temp agency on Monday morning on another position that I think I would enjoy. At this point though I am more concerned about getting something that pays, and hires… oh, say on Wednesday.

Remember to Vote on Tuesday!!!

Lucy will like that I’m home on Monday, at least for some of the day. I’ll even be able to bring her with me when I bring Tigs to work, and probably bring her when I pick her up.

Is it weird that I feel like rewarding myself? I feel like I’ve accomplished something, and that I should be recognized for it, but honestly I can’t figure out why!! It’s like want to celebrate finishing this job, which in a way makes sense, but only sort of. My contract was ended, it’s not like I had an end date and I made it, or I finished my work (though I have finished today’s work), or I have a job lined up for Monday, or even Wednesday, yet I want to reward myself. How weird is that? The good news is that I am getting a reward for myself on Saturday morning. That’s when Tigs and I will go and pick up the various packages we have waiting at the post office.

I’ve painted up my old school (2nd edition?) Chaos Dreadnought. It actually doesn’t look too bad, though I really hate the sculpt. It just doesn’t look enough like the rest of the army to fit in. However it will serve until I can finish scratch building one from my leftover defiler parts.

Gods, it’s actually 40 minutes till I can call it a day, and I have NOTHING to do except this. I could find something to do, but really, who cares? It’s my last day. More tea, that’s what I can do.

Things I am thankful for: Good books
In my childhood I wasn’t much of a reader. I could read, and I could read with a comprehension level far beyond my age, but I just didn’t care to. There was still so much to see, and so much fun to be had just playing. Yet in 1987 Star Trek The Next Generation aired, and I got hooked. I wanted more! I was introduced to the novels, and read some of them. Then in 5th grade I was introduced to Narnia and I started to see how interesting books could be beyond the final frontier. Since then I have read lots of fantasy and sci-fi, some thrillers, some mystery, some romance, a bunch of chic lit, some general fiction, and even some non-fiction. All of it has provided some escape. No, not escape exactly, more going to see something, then trying to get away from it. Though I must admit it was useful when reading was a good excuse to avoid doing my chores!!

Time to clean the desk and call it a day.

Meme stolen at phaser point from onomatopoetry

LAYER ONE: ON THE OUTSIDE

Name: David
Birthday: April 13th
Current Location: Work.
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: brown, almost black
Righty or Lefty: Sinister Lefty!
Zodiac Sign: Aries


LAYER TWO: ON THE INSIDE

Your fears: Too many
Your perfect pizza: Mushrooms, sausage, onions
Your current obsession: Finding a job?

LAYER THREE: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

Your thoughts first waking up: It’s too early!!
Your best physical feature: I think I have nice hands
Your bedtime: Around 11
Your most missed memory: If it’s missing, how do I know I miss it?

LAYER FOUR: YOUR PICK:

Pepsi or Coke: Water, tea, or coffee
McDld's or Burger King: Popeye’s
Single or group dates: Single
Adidas or Nike: New Balance
Lipton Tea or Nestea: *Gag*
Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?

Smoke: No
Take a shower: Yup
Think you've been in love: Yes
Believe in yourself: Yes

LAYER SIX: IN THE PAST MONTH

Drank alcohol: No.
Gone to the mall: Yes
Been on stage: No
Eaten Sushi: No
Been dumped: By work
Gone skating: No
Dyed your hair: No
Got asked out: I have an interview on Monday


LAYER SEVEN: HAVE YOU EVER:

Played a stripping game: Yes
Gotten beaten up: In 3rd grade
Changed who you were with to fit in: A bit.


LAYER EIGHT: GETTING OLD:

Age you're hoping to be married: *Shrug* Who needs the ceremony when you have the personal commitment. That’s what counts anyway.
Age you hope you die: I think making it to 80 would work. However 200 would be cool too.
Age you want to have kids: Not really
Name 3 things you want to do before you die:
1. Travel the world
2. learn to sculpt decently well
3. own a house with Tigs!

LAYER NINE: IN A GIRL/GUY

Best eye color: I’ve always liked blue eyes
Best hair colour: I prefer my blue eyes with dark hair.
Clothing style: Whatever fits them best.
Serious or funny: Both

LAYER TEN: what were you doing:

1 MINUTE AGO : Drinking tea
1 HOUR AGO: getting an interview
1 DAY AGO: at work, job hunting
1 YEAR AGO: Working at my old job, counting the minutes till I got my Christmas bonus.

LAYER ELEVEN: FINISH THE SENTENCE:

I LOVE: Virginia
I FEEL: anxious to get another job, maybe one I like!
I HATE: feeling like I let my family down
I HIDE: my thoughts
I MISS: That Christmas bonus!
I NEED: to get a job!
I WANT: to be paid an obscene amount to paint and sculpt minis.

What a way to start the day! When Tigs and I were about to leave this morning I went to grab the puppy who was laying half under the table. Now we normally have a game where she tries to keep from getting locked up for the day, so we can’t leave, and I chase her. This morning, I thought I had caught her unprepared. So I quickly reached down, and she bolted. I tried to adjust my angle of attack, and instead of getting a handful of puppy fur, I got a thumb jammed into the rattan side of the table. Ouch!

I called my contact at the temp agency this morning. It turns out that my boss here hasn’t called them yet. Odd, but whatever. Anyway, she asked me what I was looking for in terms of my next job. The obvious answers being 1) Something that pays me 2) Something that pays me and 3) Something that pays me. I didn’t say that of course, but I did say just about anything. Turns out there are some help desk positions that are open at Johns Hopkins University. I’m currently waiting for the e-mail with the details to arrive in my inbox.

Now that the shock of having been let go/downsized/fired is wearing off, I must admit I’m actually looking forward to moving on to another job. I mean, I was bored doing what I was doing. Working here is little better then working in a mail room. And whatever I move onto, it’ll probably pay better, and be a little more mentally stimulating! Besides, it’s not as if this is the only job that would offer educational benefits, which really is my primary need (after pay of course).

Last night, in addition to applying for lots of jobs, Tigs and I also made a vegetable stew. It is currently stewing in the crockpot right now, and will both make the house smell good and drive the puppy nuts! It also makes it so welcoming to come home to.

In addition to everything else, Wednesday is supposed to be the night I go to Games Workshop to game or paint, and for the 3rd week in a row I didn’t make it. The first week it was a tractor trailer that was lying across all 4 lanes of the beltway, and had traffic backed up for miles! Last week I was just too damn tired, and this week, well I felt the need to get out as many resumes as possible last night. To make up for this Friday is going to be a Movie & Craft night. Gaer is coming up and we will all sit and watch movies and work on our various crafts. Elspeth was invited, but will be out of the area, and… well… we don’t really know anyone else in the area to invite!

Things I am Thankful For: My Furry Kids
All my life I have had animals around me. I grew up with Gaesa, my Mum’s German Shepard until I was 21. Besides her there were always other dogs, cats, rodents, birds, fish, and every once in a while a reptile. It’s been one of the constants in my life. They have been (and still are) my friends, my confidants, and sometimes my bedwarmers. I can't imagine my life without them.

You went trick or treating as CorranHorn.
SimonTam gave you FancyImportedBeer.
Snarf gave you ARustyRazorblade.
Dax gave you TheGobletofFire.
Horatio gave you TheRedPill.
You had a ace time until SallyBowles burned down the church.

What's Your Trick-or-Treat Haul?
Shiver My Timber--A Pirate RPG

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I got told today, about an hour before going home, that my position at Johns Hopkins will be coming to an end as of the end of work on Friday. The official explanation is that with the return of an employee from FMLA that TPTB want the department to trim their temp staff. So far tonight I have applied to about 40 different jobs. Most of them I am overqualified for. Unfortunately my BA in History and Political Science makes me overly qualified for a whole lot of things, and qualified for nothing. Expect more posts in the near future about job hunting...

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November is the month of thanksgiving, so I'm going to begin a series of posts about things I am thankful for. This is something I've been thinking about for a while, and I think that writing it down, putting the thoughts to paper (or LJ), will further my effort to be a better person. So, without further ado, day 1!

I am thankful that I have a home. Home to me is some place that is yours, some place that you can go and be safe from the world, even a little. Home to me is a place where no one can tell you you don't belong, and where the people in it love you. Home is the place where they leave the light on for you, where the door is always open to you. I had this originally (and where I developed my concept of home) in my childhood with Mum, Dad, Anna and all our pets. Now home is a place I've created with tigergladys and our rodenthoarde. Without home, the roof over my head would be only that; shelter. I can have shelter anywhere, but to have a home takes effort, it takes being there for the other members of home, and I have been blessed with people who have and people who now love and care enough to make where I live a home.

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NASA has announced that the mission to service Hubble will launch sometime in mid 2008. This should extend it's lifespan to 2013 or so! My computer backgrounds (which are mostly pictures from the Hubble) are safe for a while longer!

Friday at 2:30 I left work and drove down to Glen Burnie. I met again with Ed, and two other gents. Sitting in the same conference room as last time they asked me about my sales experience, and asked me to go through a role-play sale with them. Now it’s been a couple of years now, but I haven’t lost my touch.

They also asked me about how I would feel doing conversions and having them published in the back of White Dwarf with the other figs from Direct Sales.

Is there anyone here who thinks that I wouldn’t be thrilled to have my minis published in White Dwarf? Even if it is as a staff member, and not as a Golden Daemon winner?

Then I was given a chance to ask questions. I found out I was being interviewed for a candidate pool for a possible position (or two) in the direct sales department, and that the starting pay is about $10/hour. Plus the hours suck, 11-7:30pm, Monday through Saturday (pick 5). While the discount is great (though I am not allowed to discuss how much it actually is) I wouldn’t be able to afford anything while making that little, let alone have a puppy!

So, unless something else comes up, in a different department (probably accounting) that offers more money and better hours, I won’t be accepting any job offers from GW.

I’m actually more disappointed about it then I thought I would be. I guess getting called back so quickly for the second interview just got my hopes up more then they should have been. As it is Games Workshop shall remain a hobby, rather then a career move.

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Ok, It's bloody hot out... 97 degrees currently, and feels like 99. Ug. Even in air conditioned work I drank about a 2 liters of water today, and think I'm going to go drink another one before dinner.

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I finished two of the Last Chancers up last night, and another is very close. I think I'll go take some pictures.

Keep Cool!

I wish this could have been scheduled for the morning, rather then the end of the day. It's going to be a very long day. It's going to be the only thing I'll be able to think about today. I hope they have something to offer me, something that fits my schedule... *sigh*

So, guess who got called back for a second, follow up interview at Games Workshop?

*GRIN* I didn't expect such a quick response, especially considering my prior history with communications with GW. So because of that I didn't have the cell phone with me, and so missed the call. I will however call him back tomorrow, and schedule the interview. His message said he hoped to do it tomorrow or Friday. Because I couldn't get back to him before close of business today it'll have to be Friday. That gives me all week to enjoy the feeling before having to worry about them offering me something that A) I want. B) Fits the schedule I need to keep (aka M-F 1st Shift) and C) $.

archmage45's Past Lives

V V V

928 BC: Roman Senator

970 AD: A servant to royalty

1773 AD: A grave robber

'What were you in your past lives?' at QuizGalaxy.com

And why didn't anyone tell me the Klingon look was in this season?