Paperwork and red tape really sucks

I'm having a lot of trouble getting past one hurdle of the application process for Korea, and that's the background investigation. Stockton Police Department states they don't actually do it, that such a thing is initiated by employers, and they don't do background investigations for people who request them. Called Lodi Police Department, and I got pretty much the same reaction. So, I'm not really sure what to do here.

At the same time, I ended up having a telephonic interview with Missouri (Truman State University), and that went really well. It doesn't pay anywhere near what I want to even really consider it, but with this red tape situation with Korea, it may actually force me to seriously consider it. They are well aware that money is a concern for me with what they normally offer for a one year, temporary position, so if they end up increasing that amount, it would be hard NOT to keep it a consideration.

But I'm anxious to go to Korea. But being anxious doesn't mean anything if I can't actually finish the paperwork to actually be able to go.

At the moment, I'm still completing the paperwork preparation for Korea (having to drive to San Francisco to get official transcripts from my undergraduate institution...apparently they don't care about the master's degrees when it comes to paperwork). If I can somehow get past the background information part of the application process, my paperwork will be essentially complete. Already did the rest, including passport, passport photos and all that.

Anyway, trying to move forward....

Stumble It!

Starting to think about tying up loose ends

It looks very much like I'm going to be moving to Korea. Nothing else came through for me, and they definitely are offering me the position. I was told that the contract would be Fedex'd to me in the next few days (or sent by carrier pigeon...who knows), and then I can actually start working on getting the Korean E2 visa paperwork completed.

I'm going in for surgery next week for the shoulder manipulation. We've been kind of waiting a long time for this, but hopefully this will give me a lot more mobility with the arms and make it so it doesn't hurt so much on a constant basis.

Finally received my thesis back to go over one last time. It looks like once I have these fixes completed, it should be ready to send out to the three professors, and then we'll go into defense mode. I was getting really concerned about this because if it didn't happen soon, I realized I was probably going to be leaving for Korea in a little more than a month, so the defense might never come because I just won't be in the country anymore.

Been doing a lot of playing of Tabula Rasa lately. I have to admit that the game is pretty solid, and it's so much more interesting than World of Warcraft. Sure, it has a lot of flaws to it, but it's completely different than everything else that is out there, so it definitely serves to pass the time in a fun way. Plus, the one thing it has that almost NONE of the other games have is a great, solid backstory that weaves itself through the game. Most other games tend to have a backstory that is just that: A story in the background. This story is very much at the front of the game, and as you play the game you find yourself involved in the story line, which is pretty rare. There were some signs of that in Lord of the Rings Online, but most people knew the general story, yet it was pretty well done in how they incorporated the regular folk into an epic story that is really about a few dozen people. Tabula Rasa becomes one of those stories where the individual is more important than a few key players in the story line and that is both welcome and rare.

A negative, however, is a really, REALLY cheesy publicity campaign that is being used by the people who run Tabula Rasa to link Richard Garriott (the guy who designed the game) and his upcoming space tourist flight he is going to be taking. They've decided to integrate the real world space flight Garriott is taking and turned it into one of the cheesiest publicity campaigns of all time. I think the actual campaign claims that RG is going to space to "save humanity" from the evil bane (the creatures attacking in Tabula Rasa), and that somehow they're going to bring a data disk of the DNA of people playing the game. Yeah, really cheesy. I'm kind of embarrassed to be affiliated with the public relations part of a game I'm enjoying so much. The way I figure it: Go to space and have fun because you're a freaking multi-millionaire who lives in a castle in Austin, Texas. Don't pretend you're saving humanity in a computer game you've created, because even though you have a lot of geek cred, there's a point where geek cred stops being an asset and becomes a serious loser liability.

Stumble It!

Way overdue for an update

I realize it has been over a month now since I last added an entry, so I figured I'd just kind of recap what's going on.

1. No real job so far on the horizon. I've been trying, and I have not been very successful. I keep ending up as the "second choice" of colleges, but never the first choice. San Francisco State went with one person over me. Casper College went with the other person over me. Pacific University in Oregon went with the other person over me. They often call me to tell me that they wished they could have chosen me, but in the end, they didn't choose me. My prospects are looking really dim these days. I almost got Hillsdale College, and I probably would have got it, but I had problems with my flight, so they ended up having to give it to one of the other people who actually showed up for the official interview in Michigan. I don't really know what to do at this point. I'm not finding any success, and it's almost August now.

2. Working temporarily. I'm working for EF, which is an English teaching school that works through the University of Phoenix. It is one of those jobs that lasts only a month, and by the end of this week, I'll be completely unemployed again. Before that, I was working a temporary month or so job with the county as an election trainer. That, too, ended, so little by little my little gigs are drying up.

3. Overseas might be my only hope. I'm currently looking into working in South Korea, teaching English or debate. We'll see how that turns out.

4. My computer stopped working last week. Apparently, my power supply decided to stop working, or blew itself out. I had to take my computer to a shop to actually get it repaired. To be honest, even though I've been a computer technician before, I misdiagnosed my own computer and didn't realize it was something as simple as a bad power supply. So, I replaced that and added another gig of ram to my computer (bringing it up to 3 gigs of ram). Cost me $200 that I didn't really have, but what can I say?

5. My writing hasn't been going very well lately. I am at one of those stages in my writing where I have a novel formulating in my head, but it's not ready to come out yet. This happens to me a lot with my novels. Unfortunately, it leaves me wanting to write, but not feeling comfortable enough to write yet. I have a working title of this next project that seems to be around the corner, entitled: She Talks to Penguins. Believe it or not, it's actually a very serious project, and something a bit different from what I've tried to tackle in the past. Considering I've tackled adventure, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, epic comedy and romance, this is more of a slice of life kind of novel, which I never actually imagined I would be writing. I guess it is more consistent with some of my recent work, which included my short story "Simple Girl" that took second place from the Stockton Arts Commission this summer; for the record, my romance story, "Buried Memories," took first place from the Stockton Arts Commission the year before. "Simple Girl" was more of a moralistic type of story about a stereotyped girl who everyone seems to ridicule behind her back, but in the end she was really the wisest character in the story.

6. Relationships. None. That's never really changed. I had a conversation with Kat yesterday when we went out for a beer at BJ's, and we talked about that same subject. I guess I don't really know what it is I'm looking for these days. In the past, I was involved with some pretty strange women, dating anything from a crazy girl from Hong Kong who desired to kill everyone in the human race, fondly referring to me in a loving manner as "the last victim"; a professional dominatrix who didn't understand why men found her so intimidating; a seriously toxic semi-supermodel who used to leave the table after we eat to vomit up everything she just chowed down; several best friends with whom I may have or may not have been actually dating at the time (just couldn't figure it out and blatantly asking just gave me vague replies); a couple of 18-20 year olds, who put out airs that they were much more mature for their age until we started dating and then suddenly they were really 18-20 year olds in maturity as well; and well, a couple of others that were great but just weren't either looking for me, or not there when I was finally looking for them.

So, we somewhat concluded, or at least I did, that I'm looking for someone intelligent who can stimulate me intellectually. I don't find myself looking for the same thing other men are looking for. Sure, an attractive woman is great, and I'll spend an eternity looking at a beautiful woman (Shania Twain, I'm looking at you right now...), but there has to be more to it than that. And that's so hard to find because I think too many women are socially stigmatized by what other men are seeking that they're all convinced that most men are interested in them only for sex. And that bad disposition gets reinforced by bad choices they make in trying to find that guy who is "just like you but not you".

There have been a couple of women who have come along but they're just not interested in me, or in a relationship at the moment. Some of them have been perfect for me, and I felt I would be perfect for them. But those relationships have remained strictly friendships because they're seeking someone else, even though I sometimes suspect that they don't know what they're seeking either. What's funny is that no matter where I go, and I do go numerous places in my life, I always end up with at least one or two really close female friends who are never interested in anything beyond friendship. And my jury is still out as to whether or not that is a good or a bad thing.

7. The Shoulder. It still hurts. I can barely move my arm still, and the pain has actually spread to my right shoulder as well, so I have little full mobility, and it hurts when I try to stretch my arms behind my back, like when I try to put a belt on my pants. With that said, the pain has become lessened somewhat, and I do feel that I've been able to get a bit more sleep at night than I use to. I am heading in for a surgery consultation this afternoon, and then in August I'll actually have the surgery itself, where they stretch the shoulder into a position and then supposedly, that "fixes" the problem of "frozen shoulder". I'm hoping so because it's been over a year, and this situation has really sucked a lot.

8. Tabula Rasa. It means "clean slate" but it's also the name of the game I've been playing religiously with the spare time that I have every day. It's an online game, like World of Warcraft, but it's so much not like World of Warcraft. And that's what I was seeking: Something NOT World of Warcraft. The premise is that the Earth has been conquered by an alien race called the Thrax (or the Bane), and we've regrouped on other planets where we're trying to win back our freedom from Bane oppression. It's so much different than other games I've played, and it actually feels like you accomplish something when you play. Plus, the important thing for me, is that it has a very rich story interwoven into the fabric of the game. That's rare. The game was designed by the creator of Ultima (and Ultima Online), Richard Garriott. Great game. I highly recommend it.

9. The Thesis. My second draft was given to Marlin almost two weeks ago. I haven't heard back on it. It's 115 pages approximately, so I can see why it would take some time to read through and correct it. I'm hoping there's not much more to do, because I really want this over and done with. I've been in school way too long. Plus, I need the stupid degree so I can show that I have something in return for the two years I spent here at the University of the Pacific.

That's pretty much it for now. Wish I had more to add, but that's a mouthful alone.

Stumble It!

The job front and other scary things

For the record, the job hunting isn't going very well. I really should have been able to find a teaching job after graduation, but nothing seems to be opening or on the horizon for me. Instead, I'm constantly being "told" to lower my expectations. It's like being promised a new world of great opportunities, but when it comes time to bathe in those opportunities, nothing happens. Instead, I have the same job prospects now that I had before I went further into debt to add another master's degree to my resume.

I really kind of suspected something like this was going to happen more than a year ago, especially when last year was so hard for me to find a job during the summer. I was looking for full time jobs that would continue beyond the master's degree, and I found nothing. I didn't even get a single interview during that time. Well, I got one interview, but it literally led nowhere.

Instead, I kept getting responses of "you should lower your expectations", which equates to settling for a manager's job at McDonald's rather than a community college teaching job. To be honest, I don't think I'd get the manager's job at McDonald's either; my only solace is knowing that because I haven't fallen as low to apply to it that it means I don't have to back up that theory.

What really burns me is that I'm in no different boat today than I was before I went back to school. I actually had a job when I was in Michigan, and I was lucky to get even that. I've been convinced that most jobs are obtained by knowing people, and that's literally how I got that job. Human Resources gave me a "thanks for applying, but no" letter before my friend pulled the application FROM Human Resources to offer me the position. So far, most of the community college jobs have not gotten past Human Resources, and even my friends in those colleges indicate that there's little they can do.

Yeah, I have a temporary job to last me the next month, but then I'm pretty much screwed. I really don't know what to do after that. I'm applying for everything I can find, but I don't have any time to do anything. Other people keep placing "requirements" on me because they need things done, and I end up with each day passing with me being no closer to taking care of myself at all. Yeah, I'm going to be screwed in about a month. Until then, I'm working a pretty dorky job that I really don't want to be working, but I don't really have much of a choice concerning. I can't figure out how to get a real job.

Stumble It!

Drama for the sake of drama

I'm currently working a temporary job with the Registrar of Voters. It seems that no matter where I look in this job, I see nothing but drama. We have drama queens we work with, drama queens who are on the periphery of where we work, and then outright drama for the sake of drama. What I mean by this last part is that we have situations that have been created just to be dramatic.

Example: We don't know how much we get paid. Or when. Or by whom. The one place that one would assume we get paid by indicates that we're supposed to be paid by the university. The university says that it's not this department in the university but this other one. That other department says it's not that department but actually the Registrar of Voters. So, we're told to continue working, because obviously we'll be paid. By someone. Sometime. For some amount of money.

In these bureaucratic environments, this guy doesn't like this other guy who doesn't like this other guy. One other person likes this other person, but doesn't like this other person because he or she is friends with yet another person. This person has a certain amount of information about pay, but he or she doesn't want to reveal it because that would mean revealing "important" information. It's like playing Poker with Machiavelli and M.C. Escher in Section 31 of Kafka's castle.

Stumble It!

Ever have one of those weeks you just wish you would have stayed in bed

Not only stay in bed, but blockade the doorway, turn off all electricity and disappear from the rest of the world? Yeah, that's kind of how my week has been.

As I already pointed out, I spent a few days in Wyoming and put on a teaching demonstration that I really felt went really well. And yesterday, I found out I didn't get the job. It was between me and one other person. And I lost to that other person.

But I was given a bit of a branch to hold onto because I was told through a friend who spoke to the person who makes such decisions that I was going to be granted an interview with Sacramento City. I was kind of expecting that because they actually approached me and asked me to fill out an application. Received a notice today from them stating: "Thanks for applying but you pretty much didn't make the cut." I can't even get an interview from a school that asked me to apply. How's that for self-confidence?

Another school I've been told to apply to by that school hasn't contacted me at all. I'm starting to suspect it's going to be the same as Sacramento. Another school that I'm being told to apply to is making it really difficult to apply to because nowhere on their site can I actually find their application that has to be part of the "application packet". All of their links are internal links, meaning you have to already be a part of that administration before you can actually apply for a job within that administration. I'm sure there's some simple way to do it, but I, for the life of me, can't figure it out.

I'm starting to run out of money, and I don't have anything lined up for work. It's already starting to feel like this is going to be a repeat of last summer (one of my worst ever), except this time I don't actually have a goal to look forward to in the fall (like school). I've been applying for numerous jobs, and much like last year, I can't even seem to get a response.

No, I'm not really happy about my prospects right now, and I'm slowly moving back to my "plan" I had before summer ended last year. I really don't intend to go through another summer like that again.

Stumble It!

I didn't get Wyoming

They gave the position to the other person in the running for it. So, it didn't go to me.

Stumble It!

The Fantasy That Keeps On Fibbing

I don't know about you, but I seem to get these emails and letters asking me if I like to play computer games; the follow-up is that I should then pursue the "lucrative" career of being a computer game designer (or some other job in the computer gaming field). There are some distinct fantasy errors that are present in these advertisements, and their omission drives me batty.

1. Most computer game people don't make a lot of money. Sure, some do. Most don't. For the most part, you end up being a cog in the wheel that gets crap for ridiculous hours and the job security is really, really not there. They fire you for ANYTHING in this business.

2. You MAKE computer games, not PLAY computer games. There's a big difference. Playing computer games is LOTS of fun. Making them is not. If you're a coder, you stare at computer code the entire time and wonder why Skippy the avatar bleeds colors every time he comes in contact with the evil death ball (or whatever). Or you can do one of my favorite jobs: Fix the irrigation system in Sim City. Yeah, that was fun. Or you can test games where you get to drive around a track 897,083,281 times trying to figure out why you fell into the sky on one of your turns that you can't duplicate no matter how many times you try to do so.

3. The designer jobs are easy to get. Right. There are people who have been part of the computer gaming world their entire lives who have not broken that ceiling. Good luck.

4. Some fly by night school is going to give you the tools to "make it" in the computer gaming field. Probably not. But you will spend a GREAT DEAL of money thinking it will.

5. Girls dig guys who make computer games. Okay, that one's true. I mean, nothing says sexy like "geek with computer".

Stumble It!

Job interview in Wyoming went well

It was my first academic job interview, so obviously I was nervous. But I think it went well. I didn't throw up on anyone, and no one died during my teaching demonstration. Well, one person, but it wasn't because of the teaching demonstration. Damn Wyoming ninjas and their blood feuds!

Everyone was pleasant. Found out the money was better than originally quoted.

Now, I'm just waiting to hear from them. Hopefully, it's good news. Either way, it was good experience.

The traveling, however, took a lot out of me. Nothing bad happened, but my itinerary consisted of driving to Sacramento, taking a plane to San Francisco, taking a plane to Denver, Colorado, getting a rental car (upgraded to a SUV! Thanks, Budget Rent aCar!), driving 5 hours to Casper, Wyoming, sleeping, doing the whole job interview and teaching demonstration thing, driving 5 hours back to Denver, Colorado, taking a plane to Sacramento (with a very nice woman who works for the military, whose husband is in the military, and whose kid made it very difficult to sit in the window seat with him jumping up and down on me, but hey, it happens), and driving back home to Stockton. Fun fun fun.

Anyway, there was this restaurant they took me to for lunch, and let's just say that if I end up moving to Casper, Wyoming, it might be my new Carl's Jr (my every morning eating place). It's called Eggs(something), and it's a medium scale restaurant, and I can have breakfast at all times of the day. Woohoo! Okay, maybe I'm just tired from the trip.

Anyhoos. Back home now. Have to work on a paper Kat and I are finishing so I can present it for us tomorrow at the Gender and Science Conference (she can't attend because she's at a debate tournament in Denver); I even flew out on the same flight as them Wednesday. Then I have to start putting real behind to chair as I start to write my thesis proposal. It needs to be done yesterday rather than tomorrow.

Stumble It!

The job search is really frustrating

I had this same feeling last summer when I started looking for a job for the summer break and found absolutely nothing. Well, I'm graduating from Pacific University, and I'm going to now hold two master's degrees, and already I'm starting to feel that sense of despair that comes from searching for an elusive job. Granted, I have one job interview lined up for the end of this month in Wyoming, but the schools I really wanted haven't contacted me, and the whole feeling just leaves me feeling worse and worse each day. There's a constant state of anxiety when you have no idea how you're going to be able to survive once school is finished, and it just continues to build with each day that finding a job becomes that much more frustrating. Even the jobs I've applied of which I am completely qualified haven't even given me the time of day. With this whole spring break week off from the daily school grind, I kind of thought one of these jobs would contact me, but nothing.

Stumble It!

Foreign Service Officer's Test and ending friendships

I took the Foreign Service Officer's Test for the State Department today. It was not a very difficult exam, although there are a lot of questions that cause one to have to think hard, especially if it's some historical event or economic theory that one does not remember. In all, the test did not take me that long to complete, but it's one of those that leaves you exhausted after you finish it.

I sent off three of my writing works to the Stockton Arts Commission today after I returned home. It's the same contest I won last year with my short story romance, "Buried Memories". I sent a short story called "Simple Girl", about a young woman everyone considers "simple" but ends up being the smartest person in town; it's more detailed than that, but that's the "simple" version of it. I also sent an article I wrote called "Stealing Humanity", and a poem I wrote called "Sleeping America." We'll see what happens.

Had a weird verbal altercation with a friend this evening that just kept pissing me off in the sanctimonious way he kept responding in our conversation. It was one of those "I can never be wrong, so I'm going to fight for each word of a sentence, even though it serves no purpose but piss off the other person" so I kicked him out of my house. If he needs to be "right", he can be "right" all the time he wants. It just won't be as my friend any more.

Stumble It!

First college interview

I received my first interview request today for Casper College in Wyoming. We set it up for March 27th. There appears to be one other person they are considering for the communication/Director of Forensics job.

Stumble It!

Public Utilities Commission

I have a job interview tomorrow with San Francisco's Public Utilities Commission as a regulatory analyst. To be honest, I'm not expecting that I'll get the job as my experience with government jobs has never really been all that successful. The PUC itself is also going through a lot of political upheaval in San Francisco as well, so I can already tell that I won't fit into that mold of what's going on there. I've been half tempted to not even go to the interview because it feels like a waste of time, but I'm pretty sure I'll go through with it.

Anyway.

Stumble It!

Applied to the State Department today

This was an interesting application process. The funny thing about it is was an essay section towards the end. They give you a bunch of questions about how have you responded to some type of situation, and then asks you to put someone's name in to verify the information. Some of the "adverse" situations I have a LOT of experience in, but it dawned on me that a lot of the contacts and situations are classified. I can't really mention them. So, as I started looking into my recent dates for "adverse" situations, I found I don't really have any to respond to. I haven't jumped into any burning buildings, or had a knife fight with Osama Bin Laden lately, while saving Paris from nuclear terrorism. The city. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way for the celebrity Paris.

So, I ended up having to put something like "my car broke down once". Yeah, that's really impressive, isn't it? I never realized how boring my life is recently.

Stumble It!

Weird teaching schedule this semester

Aside from usual debate practices, I'll be teaching a public speaking discussion section from 7:00pm to 8:20pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Haven't taught an evening class before, so this should be a bit different. It also clashes with debate times, so that will be a bit inconvenient, but in the end it should all work out.

I'm starting to actively look for a job now. I'd like to line something up LONG before I have to actually start a job, and let's just say that this isn't the easiest thing to do. I've been considering teaching overseas just for the fun of it, but that's still very much up in the air right now. I was thinking of starting paperwork for the State Department, but it's one of those long drawn out processes of paperwork that is designed to keep people from wanting to apply, so we'll see.

Stumble It!

Public servants and "needed" raises

One of my favorite arguments about why public employee executives deserve raises is that they are highly sought after by the private sector and without raises we can't keep such "great" people. This is really crap and an aristocratic, ridiculous argument. These jobs are highly sought after by very qualified people, and quite often it's more about who you know rather than about what you know that gets you one of these jobs. Once entrenched in their own worlds and fiefdoms, they argue about how the system is so lucky to have them pushing paper when they might push paper somewhere else for much more money. I say let them pursue that outside, private job and save these jobs for the people who keep trying to enter the public sector of government jobs but are constantly looked over because they're not already part of the establishment.

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The Bad State of Conversations in America

People aren't having real conversations anymore. It used to be that one person would talk, the other person would listen and then respond to what the first person said. Rinse and repeat. Today, you might think you're having a conversation with someone, but I urge you to pay closer attention to what is going on. Chances are: During the listening stage, people are more interested in finding an opening in the other person's speech so they can speak rather than actually be focused on listening to the other person.

Recently, I inquired about joining the National Guard. The only reason I didn't end up joining was because the recruiter couldn't guarantee I wouldn't be activated full time and sent over to Iraq or Afghanistan BEFORE I finished my last year in graduate school. This recruiter keeps calling me every few weeks, as if we're ready to move to the next step, conveniently "forgetting" our one sticking point. When I remind him, he talks around it until he realizes I'm not going to allow him to change the subject. So he hangs up and calls back two weeks later, as if we're "over" the reason why I won't join.

Stumble It!

The perpetual arm problem

I'm still trying to get something done about my arm/shoulder. It's amazing how hard it is to actually get something done about it. I know Michael Moore's Sicko is all about how the health industry has its problems, but one of the biggest criticisms of the movie is that it focuses on foreign health programs and forgets to mention the long waiting lists people have to endure to receive care. Well, we have those, too. We just don't acknowledge them. I'll give you an example. Seeing my doctor was hard enough, considering she got injured and there's no way for me to know that, so NO ONE gets back to me when I'm trying to arrange an appointment. So, I have to arrange an appointment with some random doctor who is tasked with taking her clients, although no one knows she is tasked to do it, and there's nothing in place to let any clients know this.

So, I finally get to see her, and what I need is an MRI. I know this. My sister, the nurse, knows this. The homeless guy who hangs out at Carls Jr. knows this. But it seems that no one in Kaiser knows this. So, they first give me medication that doesn't work. So, a month goes by. I say I'm still in serious pain. They give me more medication. That still doesn't work. So I say I'm still in serious pain. They give me a cordizone (spelling?) shot. Helps for about a day, then the pain returns. They then give me medication. I keep asking for an MRI. Nope. Must go the process. Four months later, and about four hours of sleep later because of the throbbing pain each and every night, this strange doctor tells me I must have a referral to a doctor who can order an MRI, but before I can get this referral, I have to have an Xray done. Okay, that was Friday. Can't seem to get ahold of anyone as of Monday. So, that's where I am. Over 4 months have passed, and I'm still in serious, throbbing pain. And I still can't get referred to the guy who can order an MRI, THE ONE THING I NEED.

Krista and I broke up today. It was inevitable. I saw it coming some time ago because I realized that she was making too many sacrifices to be with me, and she didn't deserve that. She deserves better, and I wish her well.

I've been trying to get back into the swing of writing. It's been really hard because my place is somewhat trashed, and it's hard working around all of that. I spent a good portion of today just looking at the crap around the apartment before realizing I wasn't going to do anything to make it cleaner, so I ended up just puttering around the house most of the day.

I've decided to give up on finding a job. It's not worth the effort. It has cost me more money this summer trying to find a job than if I had stuck it out at home hiding behind my futon. I realize that there's really only one way I'm going to have a chance to become part of real civilization, and that's for my writing career to get moving. I'm giving it a year (the time I have left for school before I pick up my second MA). If I don't make it by then, I may just end it all right then and there. I'm figuring on a running jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, but from the opposite side as no one ever jumps from that side, and I'd like my end to at least be somewhat nonconformist.

Stumble It!

Temp job

I should be starting a temp job tomorrow morning. I'm not exactly sure how long it is supposed to last, but my understanding is that the hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. It's essentially a glorified data entry position, but the pay is okay, and as we all know, I need money desperately. We'll see how long it lasts after I get there and find out a little more about it. It's in Pleasanton, which means it's quite a trip to get there, but again, beggars can't really be choosers sometimes.

Unfortunately, my shoulder hasn't been getting any better, and even with some medication, it's just overly painful sometimes.

That's pretty much it for now.

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Updates

Well, those were the first 7 episodes of Stickman. I'm taking a bit of time off to generate some more, and then I should be posting them some time next week. It also takes a bit of time for me to do this because I do not own a scanner, so I have to use the one on campus.

The job hunting is still going, and I've been interviewed more times than anyone should ever have to be interviewed without actually getting a job. From temp agencies to government jobs to regular jobs, I just can't seem to get a lucky break. I ran out of money last week, so things are getting kind of tough. I rationed the food I had into halves, and while I love the fact that I've been losing a lot of weight very fast over the last few weeks, I'm pretty sure this wasn't the way one is supposed to go about doing it. I have over a month and a half to make it, and to be honest, I'm not sure I will.

I wish I had better news to report, but this summer has really sucked. And it's getting kind of worse. I've pretty much run out of options, so it's now an exercise in watching the rest of the world crumble around me.

I'm beyond complaining and feeling sorry for myself. Now, I'm starting to find bizarre humor in the stupidest things. Like health insurance, for instance. School cut my last five paychecks in half to pay for my Kaiser health coverage through the summer, which took away the money I had actually planned to use to survive this summer. Irony is such a fun little animal. My shoulder has been in massive pain all summer long, but I can't afford the $20 co-pay with my insurance in order to get an MRI and then yet another payment probably to get some surgery. So, losing half my income managed to allow me access to my insurance, but losing half my income means I can't afford to access my insurance. It's like paying auto insurance for a car that sits in a garage to which you don't have the key.

Anyway, it's survival of the fittest in this country. I wasn't the fittest.

Stumble It!

Continued job hunt

Yes, it continues, and it's not very successful. I've had a number of interviews, but they haven't really led to anything solid. And now I'm stuck with an interesting quandary: Both the City of Stockton and San Joaquin County have scheduled me for interview/examinations on the same day, and both positions are not allowed to be rescheduled. So, I have to decide whether I have a better chance with an administrative analyst position or a deputy public guardian position, and then hope that I made the right choice for the interview.

I also passed the Stockton Police POST test. The background investigator contacted me to start the whole official process, but I'm suspicious of any success here. I've had some problem in my past with credit that have caused me problems on the job front from time to time, and I can see it causing me problems yet again. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about those times, and they keep coming back to haunt me.

Stumble It!

What's going on?

Yes, I'm still looking for a job. Summer's halfway over, and I'm still looking for a summer job. How's that for ridiculous? I really only need to figure out how to pay for one more month (August), and I should be fine. I've managed to scrape up enough to make it the months prior to that, and let's just say that it hasn't been fun.

Relationships. Well, the one with Rhea ended, mainly because it wasn't going anywhere. In the beginning, it was suffering because she felt I wasn't committed. I became committed to the relationship only to realize that she wasn't. So, we let it just fade away. Currently, I'm starting to see someone who is a lot younger. Yes, I'm breaking my rule of NEVER dating someone younger than 27, but we'll see where this goes.

I have an appointment Monday with a temporary agency that specializes in computer work placement for long term work, so let's hope something good comes of that. I did manage to get through the whole process of SFO for the job I wanted, and as I mentioned previously, I scored 1000 points and was Number 1 on the list. Subsequent attempts to contact human resources have resulted in friends with no benefits with their voice mail system, and no one has called me in the two or three weeks since I received that notification.

That's mainly it. Haven't had a lot of time to play World of Warcraft, which was becoming my major passion, but I'm thinking that's probably a good thing overall.

Stumble It!

Continuation of my struggle to find a job

I have an examination I'm taking this evening for one job, although it's going to be some time before that one ever has a chance of happening (as the turn around time for a lot of these government jobs are atrocious). I passed all the examination processes for the job in San Francisco, and I'm listed as number one on the "list" (whatever that really means), and I scored 1000 points (out of...I really don't know, but hopefully 1000). Yet, no one has contacted me about an interview. I called human resources, and I get voice mail, and I get no response.

That seems to be the case a LOT of the time. Voice mail hell. No one answers their phone, and they don't actually return phone calls. It's like human resources departments are now working to put as much distance between humans and their departments.

I even talked to the reserves about the possibility of doing that as a part time job, although we all know that in this political environment, there are no part time military jobs anymore. Funny thing, though. The person I spoke to who was looking into information hasn't returned my phone calls either. I did, however, reach his voice mail. In the phrasing of old BASIC programming:

10 CALL VOICE MAIL
20 WAIT FOR CALL BACK
30 GOTO 10

I'm getting really concerned because I don't think I have enough to make it past the first of the month of July. If I don't find something really, really soon, I'm kind of screwed.

Stumble It!

Thanks, but you're overqualified

Not even sure what to think about this, but I finally see why people get bothered about these sorts of things. Cisco had a job for someone to work in their international affairs division, specifically someone who understands international processes from a political perspective. This seemed something perfect for me. Well, I was contacted today to be told that I'm "overqualified" for the position. Apparently, they were looking for someone with little to no experience in international affairs to handle their international affairs. Okay, I'll bite. Does this make any sense to anyone? The pay was agreeable, and so was everything else.

Is this the universal code for "you're too old" or is there something else going on I don't understand?

Stumble It!