WOO HOO!? . . . Umm . . .

So as most of you already might know, I landed a job. Or I should say a job landed on me. It all seems so nearly perfect. or is it?

I found the listing for this job in question back in January, back when EDD was shutting off my unemployment for the 2nd time (and not telling me). At that time the description was nearly perfect, dealing with media assets for a educational foundation. The description was such that I'd be taking care of a DAM and cataloging educational video assets. I had till the end of the month (2 weeks) to apply and took my time rewriting my resume and coming up brand new cover letter, specifically for this job. I had my eldest sister proof read the shit out of it. A week or so later I submitted and waited.

February came along and nothing. Actually I was waiting to hear about 3 jobs I thought I was perfectly qualified for, and was hearing nothing back on any of them. Ugh, and EDD was still not giving me unemployment.

I've only had minor luck in finding full time positions in the bay area that I'm really qualified for. I've mainly been finding jobs that I'm either over qualified for, or not quite qualified for. Which means, anyone reading my resume would either pass on me knowing that I'd land a job with them, then take off after 6 months to a year when a more appropriate job came along. Or I was facing positions where my resume would be looked at and in comparison to other applicants, their was better suited folks to interview. In reality I was finding myself over writing my cover letters and resume in order to make sure the HR person had way too much info about me. Anyway . . .

March rolled along and I was finally starting to get some hits on my resume. Nothing good I hate to say though, a case in point: I had 2 interviews with a local stock footage house and deathly afraid they would hire me. Why was afraid? well I had done the job in question years before and was over qualified or it. After interviewing me, the owner was sure I knew more about film handling and preservation then he did. Other then sales, I could probably do his job better then him. Problem number 2 was that it paid $15 an hour and was part time. Ya, part time. He needed a 6 month commitment to it too. I'd be working 2-3 days a week and making what I was making from unemployment, that is, if I was receiving unemployment. Which means if he offered me the job I would have had to take it. Economically living in the bay area making so little money means I would be slowly sinking. Actually I was slowly sinking due to EDD screwing me, but this actually scared me more then EDD's screw ups with me.

Anyway, coming back from that interview I sat down and did another major revision to my resume and base cover letters. Mainly I stream lined them and simplified. Anyway, I was lucky and didn't land the job in question. Also EDD finally starts to pay me again all the unemployment they haven't been paying for the prior 2.5 months.

So 3 weeks ago I received an email from place at the top here telling me they really liked my resume and wanted to interview me. I made sure to email back by the end of the day that I was interested and when I'd be available. First up a telephone interview. I should say, I hate telephone interviews. Talking with a stranger over the phone isn't a strong skill for me. I can't judge the other person very well. Actually for anyone who has gotten me on the phone you will know that I'm very straight to the point and want to end the conversation as quickly as I can. Ya I suck at these, and have had several in the last 6 months and had the same problems on all of them. I tend to blow it. So when I emailed back I hinted that I was also available for in person. I had gotten the in person interviews with the stock footage place in part because I hinted that could do in person in SF. Anyway, they didn't bite, so it was phone interview for me.

I took next few days to research the shit out of the place and read everything I could find on telephone interviews. So I was ready for it when it came, with about 5 pages of notes. Oh I should point out that I also had to take the interview in my car, since my cell phone sucks donkey dick reception wise here in my apartment. Anyway, the phone interview was odd. The guy I was talking too mainly gave me info about the position and didn't really ask me anything. I was expecting a chance for dialog and mostly just listened to monolog. See, how the hell can you like having conversations on a phone when they go this way? Anyway, in the back of my mind I'm mildly freaking, I'm not getting a chance to sell myself here and only getting in small amounts of info for him. Again, he's not asking me anything, just letting me know more about the place and position at hand. He did give me more info about their DAM system, which they currently did not have in place and no one really knew much about it. Anyway at the end of it he tells me that wants see about having me in to interview. Great!

So a week later I'm all dolled up and in for an interview. The interview mainly went well, but all four of the folks I was interviewing with hand spread out and being able to address them all was tuff, since someone might ask a question and I'd answer it, but constantly found myself needing to look and address everyone, which at best was 2 of them due to them having spread out around a large conference table. I was honest, but wasn't happy about 2 of the questions then gave me near the end. So I went out of the interview with a mixed opinion. I was set to be out of town the next week so I wouldn't hear anything till then. But I also know that long interviews were always good for me, the more they are really interested in me, the more they will ask after all. I think coming out of it, I was the guy to beat and gave myself a 75% chance of landing the job. So the next day I'm off to Oregon, taking my time along the way and of course over thinking the interview and really wondering if I'm going to land this. The job in question wasn't quite as perfect it read. I'd be dealing more IT work then I have in the past and less with production. The place is kind of stuffy too as it's education based too.

Anyway, the week goes by and I return to bay area and nothing. Actually I'm here 3 days and nothing. OK, so I guess I've gone from 75% win here my little mind to 0%. What the hell did I do wrong and how do I make sure I don't do it again>? But late on Friday I get an email from the place and with a sorry note and asking if I could come back in for a 3rd interview. Fuck, I hate 3rd interviews nearly as much as I do telephone interviews. Selling one self once, easy as a whole. Reselling myself, well that harder as you don't want to over repeat yourself so to say and of course I've been dawting the shit out of myself too. So anyway, another long interview this time around. I made sure to sit in a place where I could see everyone during this interview as well. I sell myself to everyone. Everyone seems happy. Only down thing is at the end they ask if I have any questions. I don't as I had asked them at the end of the 2nd interview and during the 3rd interview. They'll let me know on Friday (it's Thursday at this point). They also ask when I might be able to start. Good signs, but I'm mildly freaking about not having any new questions to ask. A lot of what I've read from HR folks is that not having questions can be a killer in an interview as it shows how uninterested you are in the place in question. Anyway, I remind them what questions I had were I had asked during the interview.

Friday rolls around and I'm mild bundle of nerves. I make sure to be ready with the phone. Come 4pm, nothing, even via email. My nerves need a break, so I assume that reception can't be any worse then in my apartment and go for a long hike behind UC Berkeley. I need the exercise. Anyway I found worse reception behind UCB then in my apartment, because suddenly I find that someone has left me message 15 minutes prior on my phone. 10 minutes later I finally hear all of my phone message. I got it. But I have to text them back and can't call back for another 30 minutes.

Anyway I'm set to start this new job next week. I need to get a bunch of work done on my car and the rally. I've also been buying stuff left and right since i now know I'll have a full time job again. Oh my unemployment is set to end in about 3 weeks. I should still be getting an extension, but with my recent history with EDD, who knows if If they would have fucked with it. So it's really a god send to have landed this job. Now, of course my mind is swimming about how I can fuck this up!

Oy Vay.

Amazing Spiderman Reboot

Complete poop. Avoid like the plague. That is all.

Now

So, I'm currently writing. I'm currently writing quite a bit too. First, I've had three new coverletters to write in the last two days for 3 positions that just opened up at UC Berkeley. None of them are for permanent spots, but the big picture of things I really want to work at CAL, either in one of the archives or one of the libraries. I wouldn't have to move and the work would be great for now. But I kind of don't think I'll get a call back on any of them. I'm either overqualified for the position or really not quite qualified. For instance they need a processing archivist for a one year position in their ethnic studies library. I'm well qualified except for the fact that I don't know HAN Chinese, at all and of course they need someone who does as the collection is in chinese. Oy Vay. I also keep finding positions that I put off applying for, then finding they closed the door on the position 2-4 days later when I do have time to really sit down and write up a new cover letter. This is super irritating especially when you consider that the 2-3 times that this has happened to me it has been for for a position that I really would like to do! The last was for a processing archivist down at USC. Ugh, great project too dealing with old historical photos from LA. Oh well. I've also been writing up a script for a how-to on rebuilding a carburetor. I'm almost done with the writing and need to sit down and record my monolog. I've shot most of the footage for this too, but am not looking forward to having to hear my voice over and over again while recording and editing this. Ugh. Should keep my constructively busy for the next week or so. Oh also spent the better part of the last two days dealing my unemployment claim. I've been on the dole for 3 weeks now and no sign of a check. Found this out late on Saturday (3 day weekend). Spent Tuesday on the phone being hung up on after listening and pushing buttons for 10 minutes a time then having them hang up as too many people were trying to contact em. Finally got threw this morning. Complaints about my employer and waiting to hear back from them. More phone calls and email. Sounds like my employer might have been giving out the wrong SSN number. Will call back tomorrow or Friday to see where this at. Ugh. I hate being unemployed. My hopes are not that high at the moment I hate to say partially due to the lack of responses I've gotten and partially since it's nearing the end of the year when no one will be hiring due to the holiday season. Ugh, and now not getting paid doesn't help either.

Columbus Day

So, I just took a nice hike to the local post office, which was close. ANyway along the way I'm crossing a busy street with another person and using legal crosswalk. After getting halfway across someone in a BMW SUV pulls into the far end of the crosswalk and begins to park. Me and the other person keep walking and find this guy backing up and forth across the end of the crosswalk keeping us from getting to the sidewalk. So I knock on his rear window to let him know that we are there. He stops and we proceed to walk behind his BMW SUV using the crosswalk. End of story? NO! So a half block later I hear from the street the end of a someone yelling " . . . fat fuck!" Honestly no idea what the first half of the statement was. But I see it's that same BMW SUV and some late 40 year old and his gal old enough to be his mom are parallel to me and the guy is pissed and he's rolling up the window. From what I can guess the guy was trying to let his mom out of his car in what he thought to be a safe place. Honestly though he wasn't paying attention to the road and I would note the other person in the cross walk was a pregnant. I'd guess 4-5 months pregnant too. So in my head I see that this guy thought he had the right away and should have kept us in the middle of the street (a pretty busy street) while he dropped his mom off. I can kind of get this after the fact. But I still think a folks, especially when one is pregnant trump old lady having to wait a minute to illegally park. Anyway I simply roll my eyes and keep walking. A half block later I'm cutting across a small parking lot and mr BMW SUV had turned right and very slowly driving across my path. He looking at me with this huge but hurt face and trying to menace me. At this point I start laughing my ass off at him. Very visibly laughing too. First, there's a Berkeley cop car at the intersection behind him and second the Berkeley police station is around the corner, just down the block from the post office. So the post office was close and the whole trip back I felt dumb as shit for forgetting it was Columbus day!

The Hottest Hell (III) Scooter Rally

My first Hottest hell, it was in the low 90's which isn't so hot concerning the fact that it was Sacramento CA. I went for a day only and of course had scooter problem. Ugh. Pictures can be found here Oh and the night after I was back in Berkeley and caught a friend's band play locally. A few photos (and a lot more of folks simply playing music of some sort) can be found here

Run from the Sun Scooter Rally

So last week I was in Portland for a few reasons. I was finally done with the current project and my mom's birthday was coming up. So I used the opportunity to come up for a week and see the family, do some hiking and take part in the Orphans Run from the Sun scooter rally. The rally starts in both Portland and Eugene with a long ride threw the countryside the coast. Then either a ride north or south (depending on your start) to a camp ground just south of Newport Oregon for a night filled with much sorry and future hang overs.

You can find a few of my photos of the event at here

Enjoy em!

Sloggin it out

This is week two since the production shut down. I've been asked in twice to run shots, otherwise I'm being paid to sit at home. Ugh. Hate it. I ran out of local jobs to apply for late last week and started on a few down in LA. I think I've sent out 20ish resume's in the last few weeks. I'm not sure what to expect on most of these I hate to say. I hate being unemployed.