It’s been a weird couple of weeks since my last post. After working at Northwestern for seven and a half days, the assistant dean called me into her office and said the workload is not what was anticipated so they were having to let all their temps and contractors go! Apparently the staff requirements were delineated by the IT manager who had just quit, soooo much to everyone’s surprise his estimates were somewhat bogus. Thanks a lot! :(
So I spent my last afternoon there firing off e-mails to all the recruiters I had heard from recently to let them know I was available once again. This included the one that had offered me a job the same day Northwestern did, and I got a polite reply that she would check with the client but she thought the specs had changed and couldn’t promise anything, etc. etc. Then, the next day she called to say the client was happy to hear the news and that they wanted to bring me on. So I went to Manpower on Thursday to fill out all the paperwork and get my orientation documents and I start on Monday! The job is at Abbott Laboratories in Waukegan, so the commute is going to be challenging and a killer on gas. I will definitely look into a public transportation option. Again, the way it works here is to catch a train into Chicago then catch another out to Waukegan. Probably take two or three hours that way, but that may very well be quicker than driving on days when there’s inclement weather. The question will be if Abbott provides transportation from the train station to the jobsite. Most big companies in this area do that so wish me luck on that.
Spent the last two days organizing the hall closet. It’s got ClosetMaid type wire shelves etc. but the shelves were on the side that the folding door opened to so you really couldn’t reach stuff on the shelves because the door panels were in the way. First step was to take everything out and reinstall it with the shelves on the proper side. After that was done I’ve spent the remaining time going through all the boxes I had to bring from the storage unit and get it into the closet in some useable way. Problem here is, I have one five-foot-wide closet into which I’m putting stuff from the hall closet and the second bedroom closet at our old apartment. It’s been interesting. Gotta get rid of quite a bit of stuff. Will finish this tomorrow.
MLM & I watched a bunch of nice anime series this week. I can recommend them if you wanna check them out: Stellvia, Planetes, Diamond Daydreams, Bleach, Love Hina, and Negima to name a few. I also like Azumanga Daioh and Mahoromatic. Fun, fun!
That’s it for now. Got to get back to being productive!
“Change is the only Constant.”
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Employed Again, Naturally!
Okay, good news! Got a job last week. Actually, I got two jobs last week and actually got to choose the one I preferred. This is after five months of unemployment; wierd huh? The last couple of weeks have suddenly been very active as far as inquiries from recruiters and such - had several interviews, and then two offers. The job I chose is actually a temp to hire position with Northwestern University. I'm with the tech support team for the College of Arts and Sciences - just very cool! The job is 'temp' because their IT Manager just up and quit and the Assistant Dean in charge of the IT group wants the new manager to vet the proposed new employees, but I'm very confident I'll come on full time in a couple months. The other job I turned down was second shift phone support - me in a small room with a half dozen other geeks answering support calls. The Northwestern job involves deskside support which means I get to walk around to the various buildings and help folks one-on-one, which I really enjoy doing. And Lord knows I can use the exercise. My co-workers are very nice - the guy I'm sharing an office with is even into anime and spent some time in Japan a couple years ago. He even recommended a couple of good Japanese restaurants out in the burbs near where we live!
So I drove to work the first couple of days, but that was just to get me here in a timely way. If I keep driving I'll have to get a parking permit at about $40 a month. Also, driving the van those two days used almost a half a tank of gas, and a fill up is, like, $60 now! Can't do that. So today I took public transportation, which I prefer anyway as it gives me a chance to study and work on my laptop. Pretty easy commute that way, I take the Metra (full size train), from Arlington Heights to Chicago, then walk a couple block to the loop and get on a train heading north (smaller, EL train like in subways, only above ground) and ride it up to Evanston where the campus is. Then it's about a three block walk to my office. Takes over twice a long as driving would, but it's a lot cheaper and a lot easier on my state of mind.
Oh, you were wondering why I'm driving the van and not the little, economical Aspire? Well, I'm afraid the Aspire was in an accident a couple months ago and got totaled! Poor little guy :( Still, he served me well up till the end. I ran a light (sun on snow blinded) and smacked a van going about 30. The air bags went off like they're supposed to and no one was hurt. The other driver was even cool about it - said he had almost done the same thing earlier that morning. Anyway, we weren't carrying collision coverage on the Aspire 'cause it was only worth around $400 and I knew if a Canadian goose hit it, the insurance company would total it. After the accident it was still driveable, sorta, and we had it towed to a body shop for a repair estimate: $6000+ Ouch! No way that's happening. So just last week I got it from the body shop, drove it home, and parked in the back of the apartments. Destroyed the right rear tire in the process because apparently the emergency brake cable was sheared and that wheel was locked up - would not turn. So I scraped away all the tire tread, blew it, and finished on the rim! I have to hang on to it for a while because the little guy is actually serving as collateral on a loan with Citifinancial. Ironic, isn't it, considering that the loan has been refinanced several times and the principal is now around $7000 - being maintained by a car that's now worth about $150. Life in these United States. Hah!
Lets see; MLM cannot get in to see her orthpaedic surgeon until May to schedule her shoulder surgery, so we're still waiting on that. Oh, we got some excellent presents from my daughter, Kelly, and her husband, Jason, from their Christmas in Williamsburg and their trip to visit Jason's brother and his wife in India a few weeks ago. MLM got a lovely embroirdered red top and about six yards of beautiful sari material - dark red with gold accents that will make perfect cushion covers for the living room MLM has in mind for us. It was wierd - she was showing me the furniture she wanted about two days ago, and then this package arrrives from Kelly and the sari material matches perfectly! MLM also got a gift card to Lane Bryant - yea! - and I got an excellent little carved wooden indian elephant - it's about three inches tall and has all the decorations on it you usually see on elephants during festivals and all and the detail is just incredible! Also got a lovely pewter cup from Williamsburg and a can of classic Virginia peanuts!
That's about all the news for now. I just gotta hang on until my first paycheck on the 25th and start pulling our life back together. Wish me luck and a prayer or two would be appreciated as well.
No where to go but up!
So I drove to work the first couple of days, but that was just to get me here in a timely way. If I keep driving I'll have to get a parking permit at about $40 a month. Also, driving the van those two days used almost a half a tank of gas, and a fill up is, like, $60 now! Can't do that. So today I took public transportation, which I prefer anyway as it gives me a chance to study and work on my laptop. Pretty easy commute that way, I take the Metra (full size train), from Arlington Heights to Chicago, then walk a couple block to the loop and get on a train heading north (smaller, EL train like in subways, only above ground) and ride it up to Evanston where the campus is. Then it's about a three block walk to my office. Takes over twice a long as driving would, but it's a lot cheaper and a lot easier on my state of mind.
Oh, you were wondering why I'm driving the van and not the little, economical Aspire? Well, I'm afraid the Aspire was in an accident a couple months ago and got totaled! Poor little guy :( Still, he served me well up till the end. I ran a light (sun on snow blinded) and smacked a van going about 30. The air bags went off like they're supposed to and no one was hurt. The other driver was even cool about it - said he had almost done the same thing earlier that morning. Anyway, we weren't carrying collision coverage on the Aspire 'cause it was only worth around $400 and I knew if a Canadian goose hit it, the insurance company would total it. After the accident it was still driveable, sorta, and we had it towed to a body shop for a repair estimate: $6000+ Ouch! No way that's happening. So just last week I got it from the body shop, drove it home, and parked in the back of the apartments. Destroyed the right rear tire in the process because apparently the emergency brake cable was sheared and that wheel was locked up - would not turn. So I scraped away all the tire tread, blew it, and finished on the rim! I have to hang on to it for a while because the little guy is actually serving as collateral on a loan with Citifinancial. Ironic, isn't it, considering that the loan has been refinanced several times and the principal is now around $7000 - being maintained by a car that's now worth about $150. Life in these United States. Hah!
Lets see; MLM cannot get in to see her orthpaedic surgeon until May to schedule her shoulder surgery, so we're still waiting on that. Oh, we got some excellent presents from my daughter, Kelly, and her husband, Jason, from their Christmas in Williamsburg and their trip to visit Jason's brother and his wife in India a few weeks ago. MLM got a lovely embroirdered red top and about six yards of beautiful sari material - dark red with gold accents that will make perfect cushion covers for the living room MLM has in mind for us. It was wierd - she was showing me the furniture she wanted about two days ago, and then this package arrrives from Kelly and the sari material matches perfectly! MLM also got a gift card to Lane Bryant - yea! - and I got an excellent little carved wooden indian elephant - it's about three inches tall and has all the decorations on it you usually see on elephants during festivals and all and the detail is just incredible! Also got a lovely pewter cup from Williamsburg and a can of classic Virginia peanuts!
That's about all the news for now. I just gotta hang on until my first paycheck on the 25th and start pulling our life back together. Wish me luck and a prayer or two would be appreciated as well.
No where to go but up!
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