In commemorating the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the BBC website has a whole section of articles about the camp. One of them includes the recollections of Ima Spanjaard, an Auschwitz survivor who was forced to assist in the medical experiments performed in the camp.

Her story is disturbingly vivid, even 60 years later, but what struck me most of all was what she said at the end:

I remember seeing the lovely gardens in front of the houses in the village, and how beautiful the roses were.

I love working in my own garden today. Sometimes, when I can't bring myself to do anything else, I dedicate myself to gardening.

It is like a therapy to me. Soon, my garden will be in bloom and my roses will shine with beauty.


It's a real-life echo of Valerie's letter. You know, I've read that letter a thousand times, but every time I did so I did it with the knoweldge that it was a work of fiction. Not anymore.

I get this pit in my stomach. It shows up every once in a while. I felt it when I bought my Civic, the second one; when we agreed on the price and they were getting the paperwork ready, the pit just opened up and all I could think was "My God, what have I done?"

I felt it when I came back from Texas this past May, felt it again when I went to the rental office at Brookdale Gardens and officially gave notice that we were not resigning the lease.

Oddly, I didn't feel it when I signed the lease here in Maple Shade. But I'm feeling it now.

The letter offering me employment has arrived. Had to sign for it, and I experienced a throwback to being in the wasrehouse in Totowa and signing for shipment when they arrived. The letter is laying on my coffee table, the return envelope at its site. And there's this pit in my gut that has no bottom.

Buying the Civic turned out pretty good, though. Not as great as my first Civic, but a fine enough car bought at a fair enough price. I packed up my life and staked camp 90 miles south and this place feels like home. And in three weeks time I found a job.

But I can still feel the pit in my stomach.

********************

I went to another placement agency yesterday. The letter hadn't arrived Monday, and it didn't arrive yesterday--which prompted another call to the agency that got me the customer service inverview, at which point the rep told me she had recieved the paperwork herself by fax so I should be getting the letter the next day, if not Thursday at the latest.

But I didn't know that before, and when another agency called in response to my resume, I set up an appointment to meet. It was in Pennsylvania, about forty minutes west of here. A town called Conshohocken. I had to travel through Philly, then out on Rt 76 and slightly up Rt 476.

It was a beautiful drive. Rt 76 was along this valley, and I could see these town below me; old towns that had sprawled out and grown before interstates were built. Church steeples streched above most the building, reaching for as much sky as it could get. The valley itself had trees and peaks that were covered in snow; it felt like I was driving on Rt 80 by the Delaware Water Gap. It was a beautiful sight, and there was no place for me to stop and enjoy the view; no camera for me to take pictures, even if I did.

It was worth the trip for that alone. I drove forty minutes to spent ten minutes filling out forms and then another ten minutes talking to a rep who didn't really have anything for me. But the trip out there, seeing the landscape . . . that kind of view isn't here in Maple Shade any more than it was available in Bloomfield. But it was close enough, easy enough to get to (73 West to 95 South to 676 West to 76 West to 476 North) and I can't wait for the spring when the trees wake up, or the fall when the valley will explode with color.

I've been here a month (to the day, in fact), and that car trip has probably been the best moment so far.

********************

Having so much time on my hands, and my comics on the shelf, I've been indulging my nostolgia and taking issues out for a read. I read the last two year's worth of Starman, and I've been reading Sin City in preparation for the upcoimming movie. And I've read the entire run of Hitman.

Hitman was one those comics, the kind that managed to transcend it's premise--it was ostensively about a hitman who happened to have super powers--and become something more. Because what the series was really about a guy and his friends and how they stick by each other no matter what, and whether or not you can reconcile killing someone for money while helping a stranger out because it's the right thing to do.

It's a wonderful series, and incredibly sad because after spending the first half of the series caring for these characters, you spend the second half watching them die, one by one. After all, these are hitmen. They make their living killing people and Garth Ennis, who wrote the series, knew that to have them live happily ever after would cheapen the gravity of their actions. They had to be held accountable for what they did.

The series in amibious about the incongruity of it all. Hitmen with a conscience? How cliche. But it's believeable because the series never forgets that it is a cliche, that being nice to people that need help doesn't necessarily obsolve you of the fact that you just killed someone for thirty thousand dollars. So you read this story and you don't get to have a decisive feeling at the end. You don't get to say "oh, well, it all worked out in the end", you don't know if anyone really redeemed themselves, don't know whether they got what they deserved, or if they really deserved something better.

Life isn't an open and shut case, and it's a damn fine story that doesn't act like it is.

I think I have a job. I think.

But I'll get to that in a moment. First I want to say that this a revised entry.

It's revised on account of what my cousin Mitch sent me, namely a link to an article he wrote on his blog about the dangers of blogging about work

Originally I posted my usual babbling entry about getting offered the customer service position and posting my usual two cents on the matter. But after reading Mitch's article, my paranoia is getting the better of me, and I'm taking it down so as not to cause any future headaches.

I know my policy about blogging has been 90% full-disclosure. But I'm really starting to pile up examples of people who I don't tell about my blog finding my blog. Matt was incredibly cool when discovered my blog, and I'd like to think I'm not going to be a careless as the people Mitch's article writes about, but 1) I know I can be that careless, and 2) thinking about previous work-related entries, there's one or two that are definitely grounds for pissing off some of my ex-coworkers. So why take that risk with my future employer(s)?

Will this blog become completely work-referencing-free? Probably not. But I'll probably be much more judicious about it in the future, and use the ol' "all names have been changed to protect the innocent" tactic.

Anyway, the original post was this:

1) I got a call on Friday from the agency that got me my first interview and they said I've got the job. I'm to expect a letter in the mail officially ofering me the position within the next few days, and I'd start Feb 8th.

2) Said agency told me not to contact said future-employeer until I recieve the letter. So until I do that, the athiest in me refuses to believe I have the job until I am shown proof (ie: said letter). So until then, I'm still acting as if I need to find a job, even though I probably don't have to. But I'm not taking any chances until I see that letter. Hence this entry's title.

OK, you can move on now. And I'll post something more entertaining than this in a wee bit.

(revised 1/25/2005)

Why is my entry title referencing a Taco Bell commerical from 1996? Because if it isn't obscure then it isn't funny. You should all know that about me by now.

There's about two inches or so on the ground. It's a good think I got out of the apartment last night otherwise being snowed in today would drive me seriously batty.

I plan on going out and taking pictures but the truth is I'm still in my bathrobe. Sean and Kate came down around 11:45 and we didn't get to Harrah's in Atlantic City until just after one. See, originally, Sean called me up Thursday night and asked about doing a Breakfast Club run. I figured what the hell. Unfortunately, no one else could make it. In the interm we heard that the one and only Bobby D was playing away in Atlantic City. When Breakfast Club fell through, I suggested we drop in on Rob and say hello. I honestly didn't think Sean and Kate would make the treck but they were sufferning from the same sense of cabin fever that I've been having, so down they came and off we went.

I'm starting to like Atlantic City in January. I didn't do as well as last year's January visit, but I walked away with more than I came with so I'm a happy guy. Of course, it was about 3:30 in the morning when we got back to my place and it was 4:00 by the time I finally crawled under the covers.

I'm going to get dressed in a wee bit and go for a stroll. The storm is going to last all day and into tomorrow morning so there's plenty of time for accumulation. I want to get out and take some pictures and enjoy the scenery. There's lots of trees in the delveopment so things look fairly scenic, although I miss being so close to a park. And I keep hearing voices, can't tell if they're outside or the neighbors upstairs, but it sounds like they're having fun.

Anyway. I need to get going, actually do the work for a Bright-Matrix client that is due, oh, Monday (I'm a procrastinator. I've been embracing my procrastiation of late. After all, I get things done one way or another, why worry when I actually start doing it, you know?)

Oh, and I'm sorry for the complte an utter lack of updates this past week. Nothing really to talk about. And writing an entry that says "Didn't do much. Applied to x jobs, haven't heard anything." and then writing it ofur days in a row just didn't seem appealing, you know?

Anyway (again), off to do something, theoretically.

Eh. I went, we talked. How's that for brevity?

My obsessive-compulsive attention to Time paid off nicely. I left my apartment shortly after 10:30 and was at the train station in about ten minutes. I took the train to the last stop, Locust Street between 15th and 16th and left the subway about ten after eleven. The Urban Outfitters building was on 18th and Walnut, roughly three blocks away.

Philadelphia's a funny place compared to New York. In Ney York, the streets run east-west; in Philly they run North-South. That alone was disorienting. But then Mike had to get all dyslexic and give me directions that were the opposite of how I should have gone--he told me in order to go from 16th to 18th, I should walk with the traffic on Locust; I had to walk opposite it. He told me that to get to Walnut, I should make a left; I needed to make a right. Obviously Mike's desire to have me move here under the guise of it being good for me was a vicious ruse. He just wants me here so he can get me lost; probably hoping I can't find my way back to my apartment so he and Erin can take it over.

Anyway, I reached the building by 11:30 and spent the next twenty minutes parusing the selection at the Barnes and Nobles that was next door. I also noticed the offices were right across the street from a small but pleasant looking park . It reminded me of Bryant Park in New York, where I spent many a summer afternoon eating lunch and watching the chess matches.

In fact, going into Philadelphia for an interview gave me a fantastic sense of deja vu. Like working from Web Media, I had to take mass transit. Like that job, the office was just a short block from said mass transit stop. Add the park into that equation and this job got points just for the familiarity factor.

When I spoke with the HR rep last week, she told me that the office was "super causal" so I could show up in jeans if I wanted to. Not fully trusting this claim, I opted for slacks, shoes, a button-down shirt and a tie. Even if I lost the tie, I still would have been overdressed. Not a single person in the place wore anything more formal than blue jeans. It's a good thing I didn't go for the jacket because then I might have really stood out.

Once again I had to fill out an application form. I was a dismissive about it as I was for the customer service interview, but as I filled it out I tried to remember if I had to fill out a similar form for Optical Connectivity. I'm pretty sure I had to, so I'm guessing, regardless of position, one has to be filled out for the sake of paperwork. Meh.

One thing I noticed immediately--next to the "super casual" clothing was the age of the people in the office. Firstly, the receptionist--complete with lip ring, barely looked old enough to drink. I think the median age of the place was 25. Which is scary because I'm still used to being the young one at the office; at this place I'd definitely be on the other side of the fence. I was rather amused, sitting there in the recpetion area, filling out the application form in a shirt and tie while a flock of young people in blue jeans began coalessing to go out for lunch.

Anyway, the job itself sounds interesting. My official title would be traffic assistant but the workload and responsibility seems well above what the title suggests. I'd be responsible for the logistics of ocean-freight imports; all shipments from around the world routed into the US, and then distributed to various warehouses across the US. There's apparently an average of 500 shipments a month. Now, to give you a point of reference, when I met with the HR person and she asked me how many monthly shipments did I handle, I said an average of six. Needless to say my experience isn't quite at the level they're working at, but as long as they're looking for quality over quantity it may not be that big an issue.

I spoke with two people, one of the HR reps and then with the Traffic Manager. The whole thing took about an hour. I think it went all right. I didn't hit it off with the manager like I did at the customer service interview, so I think I gave a stronger interview last time. On the flip side, the previous interview was much more structured and formal and I was asked all the staple interview questions. Whereas here we mostly talked shop. I think I held my own in that regard, although there were references made that I really didn't know what she was talking about. But what's a white lie or three?

Like every place else, they're looking to hire quickly. But a breif talk with one of the other HR reps gave me the impression that there would be a second round of interviews before any decisions were made. I think I've got a 50/50 shot of it. If I can get the second interview, having already done the first I know I'd be able to make a stronger impression, but I'm honestly not sure I'll get that far.

I think, given the choice between the two jobs, I'd have to go with Urban. It'd be about an hour commute, and with the hours being eight to five-thirty, and overtime par for the course, I'm looking at getting home between 6:30 and 7:30 each night, which will certainly be different from what I became accustomed to. But just the idea of working in a city gave me a sense of elation, and though I'm not used to the scope of what would be required of me, I know I have enough experience to get me through the adjustment period. And the casual atmosphere of the place would be another plus.
Honestly, in a head-to-head comparison, the Urban Outfitters job wins by a landslide.

But I have to be offered the jobs first. So we'll see what happens.

I may be imagining things, but I think I see a hint of blue sky. There was blue sky on Saturday, but I wasn't here. I went northbound, first to hang with Miller in his lovely new townhouse, and then later that day up to ye olde stomping grounds for Debbie's birthday celebration. It was a tad erie to be driving on Rt 46 again. I mean, it's only been three weeks so it's not like it was unfamiliar to me, but it no longer felt habitual. There was a weird sense of "I shouldn't be here"

Deb's celebration itself was fine. We met at the Cheesecake Factory at the Willowbrook Mall. This was the first time I have been to one of these places, although I've heard about it a lot in the last year. There's a strange aura surrounding this chain of stores. From the way people talked about it, I've gotten the impression that the place was some sort of den of culinary debauchery, a place you go to only if you intend to gorge yourself.

Well, the foot is certainly fattening. I had a dish of chicken alfredo that stayed with me until the next morning. Though perhaps the fried checken I had for lunch didn't help. I swear, the one thing unemployment seems to have the most affect on is my eating. I think I've gained ten pounds in the last two weeks alone. Alas, the sudden cold snap we're now experincing (the weather finally caught on that it's winter with temps in the low thirties and falling into the twenties later this week) isn't giving me much insentive to go out for some exercise. Or maybe I'm just lazy.

After a lenghty hiatus of about a month and a half I'm back on web designing. I have one layout for the Felician Exceptional School and my brain is percolating ideas for a second that I hope to put together tonight. I'm trying approach to working. I have a habit of micromanaging my webd esign. I'll sit and design something, then spend three times as long tweaking the design. So, rather than sit at the computer for five hours straight, I'm trying to design for two or three hours, and once I realize I'm making endless minor tweaks, I walk away for an hour or so, let my head clear and approach the design more refreshed. I have no idea if this is going to be effective., although at the very least it should reduce the monotony that marathon design sessions give me.

And as it's Monday, I'll be heading into Philly for my interview with Suburban Outfitters. It's funny how much prep time you need for an interview. You'd think, if your interview was at noon you'd only need to account for travel time, but that's really not true. Firstly, you also have to take into account grooming, unless you plan to get dressed in your business suit as soon as you get out of the shower. Although this may or may not be effective depending on your battle-plan. For example, if you feel like sleeping in, then you may not have much choice but to get fully dressed because you have to head out the door in five minutes.

But if you're like me and you wake up several hours ahead of time, the need to be fully dressed immediately isn't as paramound. Hence me sitting in front of my computer in a T-shirt and shorts rather than suit and tie. (Hmmm, there's a thought: Formal Blogging: when you dress up to blog. I have visions of thousands of men and women dressed in tuxes and evening gowns just to update their blog. Weird.)

Anyway, beyond dressing there's the whole breakfast scenario. You need time to make breakfast and then eat it with time to spare so you're not wolfing down your food in a mad rush to get on the road. And, of course, you have to schedule time to sit down and blog about the whole process beforehand, because it's absolutely imperative that you do you.

So, essentially, for me to arrive at thia interview by noon, I have to get moving by 9:30. That gives me time to make breakfast, eat breakfast, change, head down to the train station (as the interview's in Philly I'm testing out what my commute would be if I took mass transit), then walk the three or four blocks to my appointment. This, of course, does not include the previous forty minutes where I browsed the latest job postings and actually wrote this rambling entry.

And for some reason my upstairs neighbors have suddenly become incredibly noise. Since I got up this morning, sitting here in my living room on the computer, I keep hearing footsteps. It's very bizarre because it alsmot sounds like wood creaking, but all the apartments are carpeted so I can't imagine the carpet that thin (and the wood underneath so thin) that I'd get this loud a creaking. Perhaps I've been spoiled by being on the top floor all this time; maybe this is what our downstairs neighbors heard all the years Sean and I roomed together. I hope I don't have to deal with this the whole time I live here (and let's not talking about the snoring I've heard coming through the bedroom walls for the last two nights--but that'll be another entry).

All right. Well, this has rambled enough and it's time for me to get cracking. See you for the post-interview wrap-up.

What is with with the weather in the gosforsaken town? I swear out of the first fourteen days this year there's been exactly ONE day where you could see blue sky. Yesterday was warm--upper sixties, to be somewhat exact--but it was still overcast. Now the temperature's dropping and it's raining out. I don't get it, do you? Mike says I brought the crappy weather with me, but I told the mother fucker I have way too sunny a disposition for that to be true, the jackass.

It's a slow day on the job front. One position from Lockheed Martin that I'm not really qualified for, but I went for the hail Mary pass anyway. Signed up to American Job Bank. I don't like their search function, it's difficult to isolate any sort of purchasing position, you sort of have to try multiple searches under different areas of industry. So much for convenience.

Anyway, it looks like I'm still in the running for the ISSI job. I didn't hear back from them on Wednesday--though the VP Larry did respond to my "thank-you-for-the-interview" e-mail--but yesterday I got a call from the staffing agency asking about my references. See, the problem I have is that I don't have many references. Webmedia is a thing of the past; I could probably track down the guy who was my immediate supervisor when I was let go, but I know he wasn't overly impressed with my work so I'm not too keen on using him for a refernece. And as for Optical connecitivty, well, who is left to help? I managed to get in touch with Matt last night (who's always impossible to get a hold of, even when you worked for him), and I even got a hold of the VP of marketing who I worked with on occassion. Hopefully having references from two big-wigs in the company will help. But it's just after noon so I'm pretty sure, even with their references, I doubt I'll hear about the position until next week.

Speaking of which, there is another interview lined up for Monday, with Urban Outfitters, although their website design alone makes me want to run away screaming. But, ah, we'll keep that between you and me. The position is for a buyer, so it's definitely in line with my experience. We'll see what happens.

Today is my first official Friday without a paycheck. The pay periods were a week behind so I received a paycheck on Friday for my "vacation" for the last week of December. But now I am free and paycheck-free. Oh, I got my severance check, because the bastards only pay it out in one lump sum rather than over the time period agreed upon. But at this point on, my bank accounts will only get smaller.

On the bright side, my credit card bills arrived today. All the lovely money I've been spending to get this apartment in shape is now due. So to celebrate my lack of income, I'm going write some checks for a whole lotta money. And then, I think I'm going to get drunk.

But I'm all right. I've been fighting the lethargy bug (and its cousin, the ennui virus) for most of the week, hence the palty lack of updates. But I'm emerging from that state well enough. I'm clean-shaven once again (after growing a beard for the last three weeks--I think there's some sort of mystical curse on my facial hair; invariably, whenever I grow a beard I feel like there's a problem, and I feel much better about myself once it's gone. I guess I just don't look good with a beard) and I'm actually looking forward to the rather copious amount of web design I have to do over the next few days, as opposed to the complete avoidance of it that has been the recent state of things.

Oooh, I think it's stopped raining.

Dear Craig Klein,

Thank you for your interest in exploring a career opportunity with the Campbell Soup Company. You will not be considered further for this particular opportunity for the following reason: Other candidates were better suited Campbell Soup Company will keep your profile on record and may contact you if we identify other positions that may be of interest to you. We also encourage you to use our job agent at the Career Center of the Company's website at http://careers.campbellsoupcompany.com, which can automatically notify you of all openings that might be of interest to you. Your interest in joining our company is sincerely appreciated and we wish you every success in your career endeavors.

Regards,

US Staffing
Campbell's
Godiva Chocolatier
Pepperidge Farm

**********This is an automatic email. Please do not reply.************


"Never Underestimate the Power of Soup" my ass. Their loss will be Progresso's gain, oh, yes! They'll rue the day! This I swear!

So. I had my interview as ISSI today. That's Innovative Software Soltuons, Incif y'all are interested. It's not too far from my apartment, I'd say about the same distance as Optical connectivity was, give or take a mile. It's all highway driving, though, so my guess is I'd be looking at a twenty to twenty-five minute commute, which is certainly doable.

The interview was for 11:00 and I showed up about five minutes ahead of schedule. The receptionist took me to a room and gave me an application to fill out. It was one of those generic retail applications--they wanted to know, if I was under eighteen, if I had the documentation to be able to work; and they wanted to know what elementary school I graduated from. So why I had to fill this out I'm not sure; I had flashbacks to applying to Shoetown and Harmon's, it was very surreal.

I waited in the room about ten minutes or so. Bill, whom I had the phone interview with last week, stopped in to say hello and that I'd be interviewed by Karin one of the senior managers.

Karin came in and we went into her office for the interivew. I think it went quite well. We tlaked for quite a while. I got the sense she wasn't 100% used to conducting interviews, or at least that her natural skills didn't lend to it. It was the way she answered questions, which was sometimes slightly rambling . . . it reminded me of when I was interviewing people and when I wasn't 100% conformtable with the task. But I think this attutide was actually a plus because it made the iunterview less stressful. I gave the usual spiel about my experience--I got the obligatory "where do you see yourself in five years" question.

Anyway, I think Karin and I talked for a good hour or so. The phone interview with Bill gave me a good indication of what the place was like, and Karin filled in the blanks. She was very personable and as I mentioned very easy to talk to. She sold the place well . . . I probably should have asked to have seen the area I'd be working to get a feel for it myself, but I don't think that was necessary. I noticed there was a picture of her husband with a labrador retriever so that got us talking about labs and goldens for a solid five minutes. Needless to say, I think I made a solid impression.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worsewhen I met one of the VP's, Larry. Karin had mentioned him when we talked and I got the impression he was as personable as she was. Well, not exactly. It was very odd, I couldn't get a read off him at all. He didn't smile, he didn't ask me anything specific--the general "tell me about yourself" and "do you have any questions". I don't think I was stammering at all, I didn't really falter, but it was hard to tell if I was giving him the answers he wanted to hear. I got the feeling that I was the last person he wanted to be dealing with at that moment. I couldn't tell if I was bombing or if he was preoccupied with other matters or if I was just misreading him.

If my interview was just based of meeting Karin, I'd say I have a very strong chance of getting the job. If they'd offer it, I'd accept. And I know part of that has a lot to do with desperately not wanting to do this whole job search again . . . but as I said before, during the interview I did get a decent vibe off things. Karin definitely gave the sense that there's a team enviornment there, and that it's a personable bunch (of course she also could've been lying), and if the people I wind up speaking with on the phone are half as fun as everyone I spoke to while at Optical Connectivity, then I should be fine. So the wild card is what Larry feels. If the sense I got from him was his reaction to me, then I don't think they'll offer me the job. But if his vibe was just "his vibe" and wasn't a reflection on me, then I think I'll be all right.

Mind you, there is a small issue regarding salaries--the staffing agency told me one thing and then Karin told me something else. So even if they do offer it it's got to be something near what I need to be making. The salary karin mentioned was similar to what I first started making at Optical Connectivity, which might have been doable if I was still in Bloomfield and rooming with Sean, but now that I'm solo, and (to be honest) after making a salary at the supervisory level, I'm not really interested in dropping all the way down again. But there did seem room to wiggle and though I have to speak with the rep at the staffing agency, it may still wrok out.

That's an awful lot of maybe's, I know. But well see. The bottom line is, it was an interview and for the bulk of it I did extremely well. What happens next, well, we'll just have to see.

A lot of the time spent on job searching is spent on crafting a cover letter. They're an integral part of the process, and they are your first impression to whomever reviews your resume, so it's important to take the time to create a professional, yet personable, letter. For lack of anything better to do, I will demonstrate how to write a proper cover eltter.

There's a global supply chain coordinator position I am applying to. For such a position it's important my cover letter stress my international experience. Thusly, I have crafted the following letter:

To the Director of Human Resources--

Right. Look, you need someone who’s done stuff, internationally, like, right? Well, I’m that guy. Really. Did stuff with Morocco. Well, not “with” Morocco, it’s not like we dated or anything, but FOR our Morocco production facility. That’s pretty exotic, I know. And I worked with a freight forwarder, so I know how to do that. Work with a freight forwarder, that is, I didn’t actually do the forwarding. Just sort of packed things up in a box and let someone else do all the work getting it to Morocco.

And I’ve done other stuff. Reducing cost stuff. And I’ve been a supervisor, so that should count for something, too. Oh, and I’ve talked with a whole lot of people. On the phone and in person, too. Not just work stuff, I got friendly with them, which was quite keen and I think my friendliness can be an asset to you, because if I talk with people then I can become friends with them, and it’s much easier doing business with friends than not-friends.

So here’s my resume. It’s also neat and formal so it shows that I can be neat and formal when I need to. My contact info is there, too, so you can give me a buzz and we can set up an interview to talk about how I’d be good for the job. Or you can, you know, just give me a call and we can talk first. I’m cool either way.

Sincerely,

Craig Klein


See how I specifically address the needs of the prospective employer? Professional, yet personable.

I bang out a half dozen more babies like this and I'll be working in no time.

This means nothing. But how cool is it that now I have three consecutive posts that read "T", "U", "V"?

OK, not very cool at all, but it's the little things that amuse me....

Though, in an attempt to bring some vague connection between post title and post content, let me just say that I tried taping through the cable box last night. The new episodes of "Lost" and the premire of "Alias". I haven't even checked to see if it worked, but if it does then I've got three hours of JJ Abrams Goodness to watch. If it doesn't work, then I'll have to get TiVo.

Wow. That was such a bad stretch my muscles are killing me....

OK, enough about Vendetta (for now). Things are settling in here at My Unemployed Life Headquarters. I had the phone interview with Innovative Systems yesterday. This is the company that has the help desk position. It went well enough . . . the position didn't really grab my interest, but I'm keeping it open. In fact, I got the call earlier today that they want me to come in for a formal interview.

I'm keeping it open. My previous job didn't really bowl me over when I first interviewed with them but look how well that turned out. Let's face it: besides web design, I don't have a career calling. So as long as the environment is good and I can do the job and not hate it, I really don't mind what it is that I'm doing. I loved being on the phone and talking with people when i was working for Optical Connectivity--it was one of the best parts of my job as far as I was concerned--so I can see myself enjoying customer support as long as the people I talk to are as friendly as my old suppliers. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile it's the usual grind. I went to two agencies today. One, Emerson, seemed promisng. There are three positions they'll send my resume out for. None are immediate; two wouldn't be open until the end of the month. But they're leads and I'll take them.

The second agency was a waste. I had called them, could've sworn I spoke with two different people, but when I arrived at the office it was just one guy. The office was barely furnished, and the place specialized in temp work. They have another division that does placement for the kind of jobs I'm looking for, but I'm not holding my breath, considering the guy I spoke to didn't come across as one of the most professional people.

I applied to three positions this morning. So far no calls from positions I've applied to directly, which is in keeping with how things went last time.

It's odd though. I'm sure being in a new area and in my own place has a lot to do with it, but the last time I was unemployed, I spent almost all day in front of the computer. Literally, I'd get up at 8:00, by 9:00 or 9:30 I'd be sitting at my computer, and most days I wouldn't budge until mid or late afternoon. But this week it's been a lot of sitting down a few hours (two or three) in the morning, then running out for either errands or appointments.

Which is good, I think. For one thing, I realize that sitting in front of the computer all day isn't going to increae my chances of a job. I can knock off a cover letter pretty easily now, as compared to taking one or two hours to compose just one letter (which is what I did a lot when I looked last time). So that eliminates a lot of time right there.

Oh, and the verticle blinds are up. Mike and Erin were over yesterday and they gave me a hand putting things together. A slightly problem with the valance: because of a crossbeam in the apartment, there isn't enough rooms to use the clips that hold the valance in place. I am using the valance, but it's just hanging on the bar and it looks kinda silly. I'm sure there's an alternate means of fixing this; I'll probably to to the store this evening to see what I can do to fix it.

Regardless, the blinds are up. There's now a big ol' space in the corner of my living room that's begging for either a chair or something. I might have to take this customer support gig just to be able to afford buying more furniture....

I meant to give an update on the goings on in my life yesterday, but all the news about the Vendetta movie kept me too distraced. In fact, there's still fallout, so you can either skip this etry for keep reading, depending on your V for Vendetta Saturation Level.

There's a thread on the Velvet Forum about the movie so of course I had to join in, and one of the sem-regulars posted a link to my review of the Wachowski script. I can't tell you what a kick it was seeing my website bandied about as a resource. And, it turns out, if you Google "V for Vendetta" and "Wachowski", my review is the second link on the page. On top of that, I've gotten four e-mails in one day from people regarding either my Vendetta site or the movie. Normally, I don't even get four e-mails in a week about my site.

I checked the Dreamhost stats. I'm not 100% sure I'm reading things right, but if I am, I had some 5,000 page views to my Vendetta site yesterday. That's about 1,000% increase from regular traffic. No doubt the Portman news is the cause, but let's think about this: When people want to know about the movie, they'll find my site. That means traffic is going to be increasing, especially come the fall when the movie nears release.

How absolutely amazing is it that this dinky little fan site I created six years ago is now perfectly positioned to be a serious and well-visted resource?

OK, OK, back to your regularly semi-scheduled blog....

I mean, I'm trying my best to be impartial about the movie. It's not the comic, it's its own entity. But I see a poster like that (exlcuding the ridiculous "uncompromising visison" crap) and my inner fanboy starts doing backflips.

Check this out:

If you do a search for V for Vendetta on Wikipedia, you'll see they've linked my Vendetta Shrine as a source for learning about the story.

My website mentioned in a well known online encyclopedia. I rock.

Incidentally, Natalie Portman is now in final negotiations to play Evey Hammond in the upcomming film adaptation.

So, hmmm, let's think about this. She's an actress. And all good actresses research their roles. So she'll undoubtedly need to read up on Vendetta, which will undoubtedly lead her to my site (now that it's linked from Wikipedia, of course). And, undoubtedly, forever greatful for the insight into her character that my website provided her, she'll send me this lovely 8x10 glossy headshot of her, personally autographed, with a "thank you" note. Probably something along the lines of "with much appreciation and undying affection, you sexy, smart V for Vendetta fanboy, you".

What, is that too unrealistic? Ah, you're right. She'd probably show up at my apartment to thank me in person.....

When I had My Unemployed Life, I was very smart--all my jounral entries just had that days date and time. No need to come up with witty headlines. Normally, when I post an entry on the Wire, I have at least a vague idea of what to title it because there's usually a specific subject. If I don't have the exact title, I have a general idea that gets refined over the course of writing the entry. But now, writing an entry like the one I am about to write, I see that there is no real over-arcing concept to it; it'll be a rambling list of things I feel like mentioning. And seeing how there may be many of these type of entries, it's not like I can get away with a flippant "this post as no title"-esque title, as I'd have to start numbering them to tell them apart, and "This Post has No Title, Part 37" just sounds too dull for words.
Just wanted to get that off my chest.

So, anyway: Today. Not a bad day. Applied to one position that's actually rather far from here--some forty-five miles from here, in Pennsylvania. But the postion was right in line with my past job and I figure what the hell.

I've started calling placement agencies. I went to one place today and spent the usual two hours filling out forms and taking tests. I don't know how many of you have used placement agencies in the last few years, but their tests are great. They're usually about 30 or 50 questions that etst your knowledge about various computer applications--mostly the Microsoft Office stuff (Word, Excel, Powerpoint). They're very easy tests because even if you don't know the answer, you can poke around the program (looking at the menu options) and you get a reasonable chance of getting it right even if it's a function you've never used prior to taking the test. And then there are the questions that you know the right answer to, but because you hit the wrong button by accident, or go about the solution in a way not recognized by the test, it counts as an incorrect.

Now, taking this test once or twice I can understand. But do you know how many placement agencies are in the phone book? A couple dozen. So if I went to every single agency, that means I'd have to take a variation of the same test twenty-plus times. And while I can understand why knowledge of the "mail merge" feature of Mircosoft Word may be important for certain employment opportunities, it sure as hell isn't important for any position I'm looking for. Life would be much easier if I could take these tests once and then carry the scores around to each agency. It'd make life easier. But noooo. So I can look forward to quite a few more tests, all with the same degree of mind-numbing tedium.

Anyway, the one agency I went to today had nothing immediately promising. I got the usual "call me in a few days" response that I remember getting from most agencies I went to two years ago. As I call more agencies tomorrow I know I'll be hearing that quite alot more--it's all par for the course.

However, on the bright side, one agency does have a lead for me. Back when I signed the lease for this apartment in December, I received a call from an agency that found my resume one Monster. I called them up yesterday to let them know I had officially moved to the area and today one of their head hunters called me with two possibilities. One was for a logistics position with a shipping company (something tangentially related to my last job) and the other, is for a customer service position with a software developer.

Yes. Customer service with a software developer. right up my line of expertise, eh? The position is a kind of extremely-specific help-desk: the company makes software for specific clients and I'd be in the department the clients would call up with questions about the program. So, yet again I see a possible job opportunity in a position and field I have had nor prior experience with. But considering how well things worked out the last time I was in that position, I see no reason why I couldn't go for a hat trick. I have a phone screening tomorrow afternoon and we'll see what happens.

Beyond that, I'll be stepping up the calls to placement agencies. As I got ready for today's appointment, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time my suits had been dry cleaned. Nothing was overly dishelved, but none of them particularly freshly pressed, either. So I dropped my suits off at the cleaners and have to wait until Thursday to get them. This means I won't be going on any interviews tomorrow, but that's fine. I have errands to do and it just gives me the time I need to call a half dozen agencies to make appointments for Thursday and Friday.

I'm also getting my car dropped off at the auto body shop. I finally got the damage looked at. I couldn't get an exact quote at the time and since the other insurance agency is picking up the full tab I didn't press to find out the cost. But the guy I spoke to was incredibly friendly and I think my car will be in good hands. I'll be without it for about a week; fortunately the rental car will also be paid for by the insurance company.

Incidentally, this post was initally titled "Today", which is what prompted the first poaragraph's ramblings. I added the "with a little help...." bit at the end once I realized I haven't kept the subjects strictly on this day's activities. See, I told you the titles usually make themselves clear as the entry gets written.

My webspan account is no more. It actually feels weird now that it's gone. valynir@webspan.net was my first non-school e-mail. I used webspan when I got my first computer back in '98, so it's been almost seven years since I started using it. there's been some 8,000 e-mails in those seven years. Yes, 8,000 (give or take) I've saved every single e-mail since July of 98. (I know: I'm a freak.)

People always wondered what the hell "valynir" meant. (They also mispronounced it; the "y" was soft, so it was pronounced "val-uh-near", not "val-e-near". Kinda like Farles Wickens with four M's and a silent Q.) The truth is, it was from a play I wrote back in college called "Alas, Valynir". Valynir was the founder of this imaginary kingdom who had, over time, become this mythical figure that was reveared and worshipped by his people; a cross between King Arthur, Beowulf, and Jesus. At the opening of the play, Valynir's kingdom was in decline. A nearby kingdom was threatening invasion if the kingdom's current King did not pledge subservience. The King, who had been bold and mighty in his prime, was now old and tired. His wife had died in a plague that had ravished his kingdom and he was certain if he led his kingdom to war they'd be decimated; he was ready to sign the treaty. His council of Noblemen, on the other hand, were outraged, believeing the kingdom could fight and keep its independence and how dare the King effectively end the kingdom of the Great Valynir. Conflict ensued. And for fun I also threw in an estranged daughter of the king who may or may not be in love with the one of the Nobles who opposed the King's actions.

The bulk of the play revolved around "what would Valynir do?" The King argued Valynir would want what he wanted, the Nobles said Valynir would want what they wanted. And as I wanted the play to be a tragedy of Shakespearen proportions I wrote the character's viewpoints out in these laboruos monologues which, I felt, gave it an air of grandeur but when read aloud just sounded bad. The play ended with the Noblemen murdering the King, framing the encroaching country, and using it as an excuse to go to war.

At the heart was a question of faith. And my ever so charming notion that blind faith ultimately leads to disaster. It was a stab at religion and government, and I threw in a trecherous daughter because I was feeling real bitter about women when I was writing it. (However, in the course of the writing the play, I lost the misogyny and softened the daughter up to make her a character of substance). If all ability to write fiction hadn't left me, I'd happily sit down and revisit the story. I think I've softened a bit when it comes to questions about faith and since the ending was purposely left ambiguous (the play ended without ever saying whether which side was right) I think the premise has the potential to really explore the issue. Plus, in retrospect, I see plenty of possibility with the characters of the daughter and the one noblemen who was more sympathetic (though still opposed) to the King's view (I kept the romance between the two completely subtext, but after the "finished" script I realized it would be much more interesting to bring it to the surface as it would heighten the drama, not to mention give the characters something more to do than bitch about the King). The play has the potential to be a great character piece, and since the themes aren't germaine to the setting, one could easily lose the Shakespearean trappings (and, thankfully, the heavy-handed monologues) and be more contemporary.

It was the type of fiction that I loved--it was more a polemic than anything else, and had I kept writing I know that would have been the kind of fiction I'd write--something engaging, if not downright challenging, that refused to let you sit and be entertained. Yeah, me and my high-flautin' ideals of using fiction to change the world. I was an arrogant elitest even in college.

But don't get me wrong. Writing this entry has me re-reading the play that I wrote. There's a damn good reason why I stopped writing: I sucked at it. Dialogue was always a weakspot for me, I could never get the rhythm right. So imagine the result of trying to write something that's 95% dialogue. It's just awful, it's like the type of speaking you hear at Renaissance Fairs. And the names I came up with--'Leius', 'Malik', 'Zaleom'--ugh; third-rate fantasy-genre tripe.

See, I'm an Idea Man. I can do concepts, I can do themes and plots. I can conceive the story, but my implimentation is an execution in the worst sense of the word. I love language, I love word-play and I know how to turn a phrase. But the moment I try and get into a mind other than my own I start slipping.

Anyway, the point of all this is my Inbox is now silent. See, right around the last time I was unemployed, my valynir account started getting spammed like crazy. I'd get a hundred e-mails a day and they'd all be spam. But now that I've cancelled my dial-up, the e-mail account is likewise history, and whereas I'd get one or two e-mails every few minutes, now I have none. It's so strange to go from a steady stream of activity to almost nothing.

But life goes on. When I signed up with Comcast for my internet, I was tempted to keep the "valynir" moniker. (And, for the record, while I know I am the Messiah and I could beat Beowulf with both hands behind my back--for I am that wonderful--I had no delusions of grandeur; I used the name because I felt the play was one of the best things I had written, and the "v" name paid homage to V for Vendetta; plus I was adamant about having an e-mail address that no one else had thought of using.) But that was seven years ago. I don't need self-referential homages to second-rate fiction. I have other priorities, and I already have an e-mail that uses the only name worth using--my own. Valynir had his time and place, but neither of them are now so I think its earned its fade into obscurity.

And you're damned right I'm not just talking about my e-mail.

Well, it's deja vu all over again, innit?

I'm not quite sure what I want to do about this. I'm actually debating opening up My Unemployed Life properly; give it a face-lift, a proper blog . . . I can start the "web-cam" thing all over again. But I doubt it. I have this blog and I see no reason to put this on hiatus, or confuse the five of you that read this regularly by switching locations (yes, I know I can redirect; that's not the point).

So. Today I officially commenced my unemployment, even though I've been out of work since Dec 23. I must say, it's much different than last time. I think I'm off to a slower start, or perhaps it just feels slower. I applied to two positions today, so that's good. I stopped by Mike and Erin's to borrow their phone book so I can ransack the local placement agencies. I'll be calling them tomorrow to set up appointments.

Oh, and I have my phone working. The other apartment that was getting screwed had a technician over and he fianlly sorted it all out. So everyone who got my e-mail with my new number can feel free to call me on it. If you're reading this but did not get the e-mail, well, you better drop me a line so we can get to talking and I can hand out my personal contact info. Then you'll get the audio version of this blog, you lucky devils, you.

And you know something? One of the local highways, Route 41, has three or four dry cleaners on it. All within about a three mile stretch of road. And none of them are laudramats. Not one friggin' laundramat. Why are there four dry cleaners and zero laundramats? Am I gonna have to drive back to Bloomfield to get my laundry done?? Yeesh....

Anyway, we're almost at 4:00. I went to my banks and got the addresses updated. went online and changed my address with the DMV, although I think I may make a personal visit seeing how I don't quite trust an online DMV, know what I mean?

I think I'm going to vacuum now. I've gotten rid of all the boxes and crap, so now I have to get rid of all the crap that fell on the floor thanks to the boxes. I have to vacuum this whole apartment. How bizarre is that? I can't remember the last time I vacuumed a significant area . . . probably when I worked at Harmon's.

Needless to say, as evidenced by these scintillating trains of thought, my 2005 is starting off absolutely hardcore.

Well, time to do some cleaning.

Hello, and welcome to the South Jersey Edition of The Electric Wire.

I had meant to blog sooner, really. The best laid plans of mice and men, etc.

So, my apartment is almost complete. the last of the boxes have been emptied this evening--although, technicall,y one tremains: the one with all my CD's, but I think, for now, they'll stay boxed up until I can buy something suitable to place them. The dining room table was finally put together today after a week of resting along the wall. The dining room was tyhe staging area, where almost all the boxes were placed, so since Monday my dining room chairs were in the living room. It felt exceptionally good to put them in their porper place, although now there is a an exceeedingly obvious empty space in my living room.

Techincally speaking, I'm not 100% finished. The blinds for the sliding glass door won't be ready until roughly Wednesday. Nothing has been hung on the walls, and my bedroom is very much a work in progres; now that so much of what was in my bedroom is now out of it, I have a ton of empty space and no clue what to do with it--not to mention a slight lighting problem due to the Wall O' Comics that now exists. There's also some space in the living room I need to figure out what to do with. I'd like to get a chair, but my Moving Funds have been almost entirely depleted, so I'm thinking that what has been accomplished/bought up to this point is all I will have for the short term future. What happens next depends on how quickly (and how much of) my security deposit from Brookdale Gardens arrives and how quickly I manage to find a job.

Pictures will be posted, hopefully tonight now that I'm finally sitting down at this computer to be productive. I'll be honest; I've had hi-speed access since Monday, but I've just been too busy, and too lazy, to write e-mails and blog entries and anything remotely considered work. But I've had my days of rest and it's time to get going.

So. 2005. What a trip, eh? The fanboy in me keeps thinking about the opening voice-over to Transformers: The Movie but, you know, that just doesn't really help much. 2004 was a pretty damn good year. I mean, I started out the year with a nice win in Atlantic City, went to Baltimore, got promoted, went to Morocco, went to Texas, and Mexico, was accidentally indicted for insurance fraud, got into another car accident, and moved 90 miles south of where I had made my life. Really, the only thing that can top a year like that is getting laid on a regular basis. Place your bets; place your bets.

It really has been quite the whirlwind. I think not looking for a job this past week was a good thing. I've been so burnt from my previous job that even if I wasn't leaving it, I would have to have taken a vacation just to decompress. The last day of work was highly surreal; calling up suppliers to say goodbye, saying goodbye to co-workers . . . I had an impact there. I really did and that was something that mattered, in the end. It's good to matter.

Packing went as expected. I got it done in two days, although there were moments when I wasn't sure. I think I had forty-some-odd boxes in all, not counting the comics. The move went relatively smoothly--nothing lost or broken. It went longer than originally estimated, so that overage plus the add-on costs of moving materials bumped up my moving cost higher than I would have liked. But the truth is it was worth it just to have everything taken care of. The movers arrived around 8:50 in the morning and they left my apartment around 1:30. I'll take it.

The furniture arrived almost without incident--Erin noticed one of the chairs was delivered with dirt smudges on the side, but I called up the furniture store and they're coming in to clean it tomorrow morning. The cable was sit up pretty easily, although my computer wigged out a tad and that caused a slight delay getting the cable-modem running; but that was also worked out fairly easily.

The Wall O' Comics is a beauty to behold. Three six-shelved bookcases lining up almost the entire width of one of my bedroom walls. I can't quite tell if this is going to be less geekly than the Piole O' Boxes I used to have, because, let's face it: I've got three six-shelved bookcases filled with comics lining up almost the entire width of one of my bedroom walls!. (Well, if you want to get technical, the bottom shelf of the third bookcase is only a quarter filled.) That's a lot of fucking comics. I can't tell you how great it is to be able to just pull issues out at random and start reading; stuff I haven't touched since first put them in bags. I finally get to read my collection rather than just store it. For that alone, putting the comics onto the shelves was worth it; there's a lot of memory and history there and I can finally . . . hold it in my hands; allow my eyes and hands to refresh what I only had as a fading memory. Oh, and there's a good amount of crap in there--and, really, when a comicbook geek is embarrassed about a comic in his collection, you know it's something bad--but there's some great stories there. Maybe now I can finally categorize my collection (which I may do just for insurance purposes, nevermind my own satisfaction). I can bore the crap out of you with dozens of posts about great comics, goofy comics, rare gems, trully horrid comics . . . hey, why are you all falling alseep?

Anyway, the only real problem I've got with this apartment is with the phone. Apparently my phone line is crossed with someone else in this complex; she's getting my calls and I'm getting her's. It's very annoying. The phone was supposed to be installed Tuesday. The problem was discovered and supposed to have been fixed Thursday (which seemed to have happened) but on Saturday is was discovered that things were still fucked up. So now I have to call Verizon again to see what I can do to get this resolved.

But regardless of all that, here I am in Maple Shade, 2005. I love my apartment. I love the layout, the furniture, the fact that I have essentially filled up this whole space with me (with a good amount of help from my friends, natch), that it's all mine. Sean was the best roommate you could ask for, but, dammit, it's good to have a place to call my own.

Ah well. New year, new place, new life. You know, if there's one thing I've gotten good at, it's starting over. I've done it, what, three, four times by now? It's the third time I've radically changed my social groups. It's intimidating but there's also a surprising sense of "Eh. Been there; done that" There's a lot of work ahead of me but I'm really looking forward to it. Time to get cracking.