working for a living...

first off, would everyone driving in the rain turn on your fucking headlights?! i can't believe how many people are out driving in the rain storm that we've been having here without their lights on.

ok, i thought i would share some stories from my quest for a new job.

i have now sent out what feels likes 2,000 resumes. and i'm starting to get a few nibbles of interest.

last tuesday, i get this call from an employment agency. blah blah blah, are you interested in temping and would you like to come in for an interview. i say yes and a time is set for 1pm on thursday. i have all these online tests to do before hand. i think i do ok, however i miss a few tests because the instructions imply that i can save a test but it didn't look like i could. i have no idea how they judge the tests. do i need to get 100%? and my advanced skills seem to be better than my basic skills in some of the tests. apparently i am some kind of idiot savant.

anyways, i leave nice and early on thursday because i have to photocopy my references before the interview. the appointment is downtown. well, good thing i left a lot of time because i am driving looking for a parking space when it occurs to me. i am trying to park near granville as that's where i thought the place was. but it's on georgia which means i'm going the wrong direction. so i finally get turned around, after driving all over the west end, and i find a parking lot.

now the lots down by georgia are extremely narrow. and there isn't a lot of stalls to begin with. i'm on the second level (there are only two levels) and there is a bmw in front of me. we are near the end of that level and there are about four stalls vacant. the bmw in front of me stops and is approx in the middle of the tiny aisle. so i can't go past it. signal left. nope, now it's signaling right. nope, now it's not signalling at all. it's pulling across the aisle, blocking me entirely. and basically parks. i have no clue as to what the driver is doing. i have no other option but to park in the stall beside me. not only has the driver not given me very much room to move, but i am now at a bad angle to park. i'm driving, attempting to pull into the stall, backing up and trying to get more room, and then realize that it's so narrow, i have to actually back into the spot. so, i'm in this tight little space, made tighter by the fact that the car is still parked blocking the entire aisle. i finally get parked, and there is action at the parked bmw. the driver has gotten out, and accosted some stranger in the parkade. she asks him to park her car for her! who does that?

anyways, i am so annoyed with this woman, i rush to the elevator as i do not want to be in the same elevator with her. because i am sure she will make some joke about it, and i can not laugh with her. i will probably tell her what an idiot she is for not being able to park her car. it would have been different if she was a new driver. but there was neither a 'n' nor a 'l' on the car, so there was no reason why she shouldn't have been able to park the car. it was only a little bmw for god's sake! anyways, this elevator has to be the slowest elevator to come, because she finally enters and i'm still waiting. i can tell she wants to talk to me, but i'm giving her the cold shoulder.

next up, i have to go find a photocopier. i see these all over town. of course, now that i need one. i can't find it. i finally find one, and i can't figure out how to work it. i am interviewing for office temping. i can't tell them i can't work the photocopier! i eventually give up and head to the offices. i ask for the girl who called me and she is on holidays so it takes them awhile to find my file. i fill in a ton of paperwork. i finally go in for an interview. the first thing the woman says to me is, so why are you interested in the csr job? i'm like i have no idea what you are talking about. turns out the reason i was brought in was they have positions open in a call centre for a major online retailer. the money isn't that great and neither are the hours. but i get this really good vibe from my interviewer. which is all i can really go for. she said she worked there and it's a really good company and there is absolutely no sales involved. and i could have a guarenteed forty hours. the problem for me is i have to commit for three months. which i am unwilling to do right now. i'm trying to go short term temp. but i tell her i will think about. we then discuss what i don't want (sales) and what i do want (good atmosphere, i will take less money for more vacation time).

i have had a couple of people call me about my resume and leave messages. both times, i was unable to return the message for a couple of days. neither of these people have called me back. are they so offended that it took me two days to return the call that they can not be bothered to call me back? i am sorry if i am not sitting by the phone waiting desperately to come work for you, but i do have a life. i decided not to call them back because if they have that attitude, i do not want to work for them.

i decided to post my resume on a few job sites. so far, i have received an email from the online retailer that the employment agency "interviewed" me for. my favourite email tho was the offer to be a truck driver! i picture myself hands on the wheel, with big hair, high on caffeine, my dog at my side, tunes cranked up. i am tempted, but i do not apply.

i have lunch with my friend 'c' who manages a retail outlet in suburbia. he is desperate for xmas temp help. the money is crap, but i do get a staff discount so i can buy christmas presents for everyone there. it's only for two months max. i go back and forth. finally i decide to go for it. it gets me out of a bad situation. and best of all, when i talk to him today, he wants me to work in the back because i have tons of receiving experience. so, no customers for me!

so i have a new job before my dec. 1st deadline. my schedule works out so i can still look for something more permanent for the new year. and i'm helping out a friend.

big sigh of relief. life feels ok.