WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP IT"S BEEN!!

I THINK THE GRATEFUL DEAD SAID IT BEST ....

Man it's been an odd week, good and bad, happy and sad what a week ...

I know I am trying to keep this blog as business only and not to add emotion into it but it's going to happen like my last blog so if I really worried some of you trust me, I am not going to kill myself - I CAN"T AFFORD DEATH!! HA! No but really, I've talked myself off the ledge it's all good.

OK let's start with business this week, sadly I heard from the place I had the 2 interviews at and I thought I was as good as in (when the last question from the man is "do you want this job" and I say yes ... well you get the picture I thought my search was over) unfortunately they are moving on with another candidate so now of course I keep replaying the interviews over and over in my head, could I have worded that response better or worse etc ... also I did not follow up with emails and maybe I should have now reading what I have, I sent 2 thank you cards and maybe those should be formal, from what I read on line and the job sites I guess I should, but you live and learn and with every interview I am hopefully getting more polished.

I am not sure if this was professional or not, but since I was told I was not getting the job I frankly told the HR rep about the whole "do you want this job" line and how I construed it ... and maybe next time he can word that question slightly different ... was that professional? you can discuss but come on the guy asked me that! Not only that but we had cereal together in the interview ... have you ever eaten cereal in an interview? I haven't, how much for flippin comfortable can you get with someone! Screw em now I pissed off.....

So lessons learned this week are that, if they say something dumb like that clarify if he's actually offering you a job, and follow up with letter and email.

This week I realized that I have some good friends, and a good support group, I went to visit my old college town and swing by the campus that I have not seen in 15 years at least ... it was nostalgic and good memories came flooding back, enough where I called a couple of old friends and we reminisced, and I had lunch with a good friend of mine, a TRUE FRIEND, one that doesn't judge, one that doesn't care if your employed or not, and we just shared thoughts and ideas, that was nice. I think consequently I have been very productive this week, sending out resumes, doing some serious networking, helping another friend launch a great product, and so forth so here's to old times!!

Finally and on a sad note, a lovely woman I have known for years but have not talked to in years lost her battle with cancer, back in the day we had some great times! Everyone I knew at the time loved her, a nice Irish lass that was smart as a whip, a great smile (and nice legs to match!) she had a great aura about her, I think she was battling with cancer for several years, so for possibly about a 1/3 of her life if not more, her suffering has ended.

When I think about things like this, the fact that I am not working right now really becomes academic, almost on a back burner, so I'm not working so what! I am healthy, I have good friends, I am not dealing with things like this, yes it can get a lot worse, so I really can't complain ... and I am no where near the ledge today.

Below is an Irish prayer for the dead, peace be with you Sinead!

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there... I do not sleep. I am the thousand winds that blow... I am the diamond glints on snow... I am the sunlight on ripened grain... I am the gentle autumn rain. When you waken in the morning's hush, I am the swift uplifting rush Of gentle birds in circling flight... I am the soft star that shines at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry— I am not there... I did not die...

TUESDAY JULY 27 2010

I really shouldn't post a new blog after I have had a couple of beers but oh well ....

I know people hate it when I write things like I am sick of life and I want to just be done with it, but I'm sorry that's how I feel. Hey I had a good run, it's not that big of a deal is it? DONT WORRY I am not going to kill myself, I can't, I'm not that stupid. But if I died, I guess it wouldn't be that big of a deal to me.

NOW BEFORE ALL OF YOU HAVE A HEART ATTACK .....

I wrote this paragraph about an hour ago, and stared at it until now. I thought about removing it because I am sure I am going to get a bunch of people reaching out to me and freaking out and so on ... but that's what I feel like at times, and I am sure I am not the only one. So there you go.

Frustration turns into anger, I am STILL WAITING to hear back on 2 positions, I am sorry I know I have friends that work in HR but some of these people have no idea the lives they affect. I am not talking about applying for a job online and not hearing back, I am talking about going in and interviewing for a position and even having second interviews and now waiting 2 weeks or more for a response. It doesn't take THAT MUCH to email me an update, or call me to tell me I'm no longer a candidate or tell me that there has not been a decision yet, I mean come on!

I am also wondering if social networking and LINKED IN are real legitimate places to get a job, NOTHING has come of me working those networking sites, don't get me wrong I get calls now and then, but it seems folks are more probing about the companies I used to work at and their policies and procedures versus actually offering me a position, but that's another topic for another day. CASE IN POINT - I got a call from Verizon (yes I am naming names) interested in me running a store for them, all they asked me about was my time at Apple, how I sold the Iphone, how the procedure went, and so on ..... I didn't really think something was up until the second 1/2 hour phone interview and all they were asking about was Apple this and that ..... I finally got a little short, I mean I could actually hear the woman typing every word I said and 3 MINUTES after we ended the call I got an email saying thanks but no thanks ... 3 MINUTES!! I will never have a cell phone with or work for Verizon, unless some company I work for pays for it I guess .... and then I will still be reluctant.

So what's left if networking doesn't work .... friends? Ha, the last thing they want to hear is how miserable you are, frankly they are too. I don't know ONE PERSON who right now is happy with their job, not one. OK maybe one but she just started it, I'll give her a few months. I have several friends that work at a company and they had an opening and I couldn't even get a interview from that, and I was very qualified for this position, and nothing. Once again frustration turns to anger.

So I lay awake at night thinking about all this crap, and let's throw in a little "what could have I done differently" in my old position to keep it, kiss more ass? Who knows, probably nothing it is what it is.

Maybe now that first paragraph at least has a little more context, I'm that miserable, I hate my life, for the first time in my life I have no idea what my next move is, I'm sick of this, I barely have enough money to keep my house, at some point drastic measures will need to be taken.

OK off to bed, at least sleeping is still free.

MON JULY 19TH 2010

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE .....

Greetings everyone, I hope everyone had a good weekend. Last week was a pretty crazy week for me on the world of unemployment front.

First of all I had another job interview, so that was good! Of course I thought the interview went well, it was with 4 people at 1/2 hour each (yikes!) but I am OK with that versus having all 4 at once. The first person was the HR manager, he gave me a tour of the facilities, which I thought was funny, and here are the meeting rooms, and here are the bathrooms and each floor has a fridge .... wow thanks man. I guess I was wondering why he would start the interview that way, I wanted to really tell him 'why don't we do this after I actually get the job', but I didn't and I just went along with it. The more this week has past I am thinking I could have been slightly more prepared for this meeting, I had some other things happen (which we will discuss) on Monday and maybe I should have rescheduled but we got it figured out.

This is concerning the unemployment thing, if you recall I have not been receiving unemployment due to miscommunication and part time job issues, well I got my hearing on Monday and for the most part everything is resolved. It just so happens this hearing was scheduled 45 minutes before my job interview, so it was a little hectic on Monday, I was also supposed to fill something out for the interview that was in the email that I didn't notice so I had to scribble that out in about 10 minutes ...

So here are the current stats ....

Phone Interviews - 6

Job Interviews - 4

2nd Interviews - 1

Waiting to hear back - 2 positions.

There is another reason I didn't take the last interview as seriously as I should is possibly could have and that's because I honestly thought I would hear from the place I had the 2nd interview at by now offering me a job! That interview went so well with the guy asking me at the end if I wanted the position! I guess I considered that some sort of job offer but nothing has happened. Not hearing from them either way has been a little disappointing, I wasn't even going to go interview at this other company because I thought this was a done deal, I guess you really can never assume.

So I guess I shouldn't be too down on things, last week was a good week all things considered....but frankly I am just sick of this, I'm tired of just going through life which is what I feel like I am doing right now, I'm tired of weeding through job sites, company web sites and all that other crap, but that's what I have to do.

July 13th 2010

Staying Positive???

Well folks I have had a couple more interviews at places, I love when people ask you how did the interview go, because frankly I think they all go well but apparently maybe they don't or I am just blind because if they went that well I guess I would have a job by now!! But I think most of them do go well, I try to make a good connection with who I am interviewing with and make a case for why I would be a good fit for the position, that's pretty much all you can do in a half hour right?

So this last interview was pretty funny, they started with a tour of the corporate offices, from the bathrooms to the break rooms, I wanted to say something like why are you showing me this but I kept quiet, a friend told me some places do that to entice you, I figured the dude was killing time "and here is some more cool stuff you'll never get to use because we are not hiring you ....." or something like that, oh well we shall see. I interviewed with 4 people at a 1/2 hour each (GOOD LORD!) at least the questions were different, the one woman asked me if I could start next week .... that's a good sign right??

So that's what's new in interview land.

On the unemployment thing ... the "APPEAL" was on the phone yesterday, the guy was very 'by the book' - please state your name, blah blah, case number blah blah .... seriously it took him longer to walk through all the questions and such then the actual case. I think he finally gets what is going on and I think this should be resolved, all though he could not apparently tell me his decision right over the phone ..... the guy had a voice like Greg Kinnear, it was kind of throwing me off, I was thinking of all of his movies .... not sure why Sabrina came into my head, that's probably his WORST movie :0)

So let's all wish that the unemployment thing gets resolved so I can get some cash! And that one of these lovely companies that I have interviewed in the past couple of weeks offers me a job!! YES GOD PLEASE!!!! I'm ready to go back to work ..... now tell me how many vacation days do I get a year???? :0)

Still need to change my oil .....

TUE JULY 6TH

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

Well I hope everyone had a fun weekend, my weekend was very low key, did some yard work, did some biking, did some grilling and spent the 4th at a friend's cabin, good relaxing times.

Last week I had a 2nd interview at a company, I met with 2 people for about an hour and a half, I thought the interview went very well, of course, I think all of my interviews go very well so I am probably not a good gauge on myself (ha!). I also had a phone interview on the same day as well which also went well, I am hoping to hear back on both of these this week, I get that it's the 4th and people probably take time off so if I don't hear much in the next couple of days I get it.

I am really REALLY hoping this job is going to pan out, I am tired of looking and looking and filling out applications and taking phone interviews and reformatting my resume into a hundred different layouts on a hundred different websites, I have tried not to settle but at this point I may have no choice, I'm just looking for something full time with benefits, I am ready to actually get back and work somewhere. It's been over a year this is the longest I have ever gone without work in my adult life, and I appreciate everyone has their own suggestions on what to do, frankly I am also tired of watching the worlds worst movies in the afternoon!!

OK so that's enough for today, if you are out there and looking, keep positive, that's all you can do!

And I still need to get my oil changed.....