Into every life...

... a little rain must fall.  But that's ok, because it makes the good stuff seem better.

I had a job interview today!  Yay!  The first one in a month or so.  It made me feel good, worthwhile, maybe even a contributing member of society again!  Well, it wasn't an interview, per se, but it was a meeting with a recruiter who had a specific position in mind for me.  I found the opportunity on Craig's List, so huge thank you's to all the people who kept nagging me to look on CL.  Anyway, the position is with Microsoft, I'm not sure that it's a perfect fit, but it sounds promising, regardless.  I must keep in mind, however, not to jump at the first job that comes my way if it doesn't feel right.  I did that for the last 2 jobs I had, and well, we know how the last one turned out.  But at least I know going in who Microsoft is, general expectations, and that likely, they are licensed to do business in the State of Washington.  By the end of our conversation, my recruiter said he would put me up for a phone screen, and we'd see where it went from there.  I'm excited, and scared, and don't want to get my hopes up, so they can't be dashed.  But... I will anyway, of course!

In this economy, is it getting easier to tell people you don't have a job?  It still feels like an embarrassment, like there is a stigma to it.  It's not right, but it's there.  Yet, so many of us are going through it!  If you meet someone new, the conversation always winds its way to "And what do YOU do?"  And invariably, you tell people what you used to do.  Then qualify it, with something like, "Or I used to, anyway.  When I had a job."  With the situation like it is, is it getting trendy to have bad credit?  When people have spotless credit, I feel like other people look at them and think "Must be nice."  I know I do, anyway.  I don't have the option to have good credit at this point.  A friend of mine was recently in a terrible situation.  She had to foreclose her house, sell her car, and move in with family after losing a lucrative position with a business law firm.  She immediately started interviewing, of course, and came upon an offer at a financial institution.  I'm not saying names, but the company's name might rhyme with kumkwat.  So she dutifully did all the post hire paperwork, things like background check and credit check.  Yes, they ran a credit check.  On someone without a job.  Oddly enough, it came back with a bad score, at which point, they rescinded their offer. When I heard this story, my blood boiled!  The very type of company that very nearly brought this country to its knees is now refusing jobs to the very people they have screwed over!  How on earth are we supposed to get out of these vicious credit cycles if companies are allowed to run credit checks?!  How is financial profiling any different than racial profiling?  Or gender biasing?  Something is seriously broken in this country.

Anyway, that's about it for my thoughts today.  A job interview, sun shining through the window, and new promise for my future.  I guess life isn't all that bad after all...


Eye Tee Girl

Well, there's always the lemonade...

You know that saying about lemons and lemonade?  Well, I have been handed a shit load of lemons, and I don't like lemonade.  So, I guess with this surplus I have now, I need to set up a lemonade stand.  Anyone buying?


To put it more literally, I have started helping friends with computer problems.  I have one in the house right now I'm working on, and have another friend who needs three laptops worked on in the future.  So there is promise of a brighter future.  I guess this is a roundabout way of soliciting further - if anyone reading this needs help on their computers, let me know.  Or if you have friends who need help... I can provide references!  I'm really good! Especially at saving data on hard drives that are going belly up.  And of course, if you know anyone hiring IT people right now... Hopefully, that goes unsaid.  


The job search has been meager at best.  Occasionally, I have a few promising leads, but they have all fizzled.  It makes me wonder if I need to lower my pay requirements by almost half of what I should be making, or if I need to just stay strong through the dry spell and, well, sell more lemonade.


As for Acme, I have totaled up the money he owes me, and it's more than a thousand bucks.  It never ceases to amaze me how crooked that guy is.  I never really believed that people would have evil or meanness in their hearts, but he has changed that opinion.  I know if someone asked him "Don't you care about this person?  Don't you have guilt for what she's gone through?  What you have personally done to contribute to her pain?" he would just blurt out "I don't care!!" in a mean voice with a sneer and shrug it off.  It truly doesn't bother him one bit that he has lied, and that those lies hurt someone.  He doesn't care that people rely on him as an employer, as their source of money.  While his own credit flounders and flops in the mud, he continues to destroy others'. Yesterday, I had to drive near that office building, and I realized... I had broken into a cold sweat.  Just being near that place affected me physically - elevated heart rate, sweaty palms, nausea.  I went through that 10 times worse every morning I went into work.  Why did I do that to myself?! For such a beast of a man?  Nobody will ever have that control over me again.


As for Jen, I hear she is doing well.  She is looking for sales work, preferably in the medical field.  If any of you out there could help her get out of that place, please contact me, and I will put you in touch with her.  I also hear the new guy who replaced me is pretty cool.  I think I'll call him Greg.  I don't know his name.  I even heard that he found the blog pretty quickly and figured out immediately who it was about.  So, Greg, if you are reading this, welcome!  You are working for a gem of a guy.


Off to Craig's List, Monster, Dice, and WorkSource for now... I hope to blog more regularly again so my many fans (ha!) don't think I've disappeared into the sunset somewhere, happily ever after.


EyeTeeGirl