North Bumfuck

2013-03-21, 4:24 pm
Categories: Comics, Stream of Consciousness, Work

Well, I guess I did all right at at least one of those interviews, because I've got a job offer.

It's the one up at the damn northern border of Phoenix -- God only knows why I keep getting jobs way up there. It's a pay increase from my last gig, which will hopefully be enough to cover the extra wear and tear that a 70-mile daily round-trip will wreak on my car.

Still, pretty happy about it. Will be happier if I get one of the other offers, but still, this is a step up from my last job and a big step up from unemployment.

And it looks like it's good leverage. I met with the other agency today and it looks like they're pushing to get me more money and fast-track me into the opening. Fingers crossed, but the important thing is I've got a job either way.

Also while I was waiting in the lobby at the agency I saw the news that Quantum and Woody is coming back.

A job and new Quantum and Woody? This is, like, the third-best day I've had all month.

2 interviews down, 1 scheduled.

2013-03-20, 10:28 pm
Categories: Stream of Consciousness, Work

I've never been very good at gauging my performance at interviews. 'Cept maybe that one in 2011 where they misheard me and thought I called myself a slacker. I was pretty sure that one wasn't going anywhere.

Anyway, had two today. Neither the ideal company but either I'd be happy to take, under the circumstances. We'll see how it goes.

The first one was way up north. I managed to drive past my old apartment complex and two of my old places of business. There was a traffic accident on the freeway, so I had to take a detour, but I'd left early enough that I still got there 20 minutes early. Which was good, because I wound up waiting at the gate for 10 minutes while the security guard confirmed I was really there for an interview.

After that I still had enough time to stop by Ray's for a couple of slices of pizza -- provided I was willing to put up with the certainty that I would hit traffic on the freeway if I took half an hour to eat.

The 17 was actually surprisingly breezy, but I ran into trouble as soon as I got on the 10.

And when I say as soon as I got on the 10 I mean it. Like, no sooner had I merged onto the on-ramp when someone in the next lane decided it would be a great goddamn idea to merge directly into the space that my vehicle was presently occupying.

I made it out without a scratch and with only a little bit of leaning on my horn. And still managed to make the next interview a half-hour early.

I've got another tomorrow, sort of. It's not an interview per se, it's a meeting with a rep at a new temp agency to prep for an interview.

We'll see how that one goes, too.

Q2

2013-03-19, 7:55 pm
Categories: Stream of Consciousness, Work

I'm doing my usual app stuff this week. But I'm getting a lot more calls back than I'm used to. First quarter's ending; people are hiring.

I've got two interviews tomorrow, some two hours and 30 miles apart.

I wish I were going into them healthier. I'm still getting over this damn head cold, with the added bonus of nasty side effects from the antibiotics I'm taking for it. I'm not at the top of my game, and that's frustrating -- nothing like losing out on a job because they called you up for an interview when you had a cold.

But what the hell, I'll go in and do my best, same as any other interview. Maybe it'll go somewhere and maybe it won't -- but at least at the moment there's a window where I'm in demand, and hopefully it'll last a few weeks, anyway.

Beatles

2013-03-18, 11:29 pm
Categories: Music

1988; uploaded by avs002, who says it's a mix of sound check and concert audio, which certainly sounds right.

Bowties are Cool

2013-03-18, 10:42 am
Categories: Stream of Consciousness

Here's the video I used to learn to tie a bowtie for my wedding:

When that didn't quite do it for me, I also tried tutorials at Beau Ties Ltd and about.com.

In the end I guess I did a passable job but never really got the knack. The last step is the hardest, the part where you pull the second bow through the loop behind the first one.

Here are some pictures of my dad helping me with my bowtie. (He does not know how to tie bowties either.)

Before
The Fixin'
After

I'll probably get some more wedding photos in here at some point. Seems like I should probably post some with the bride in them.

St. Etienne and St. Etienne

2013-03-17, 9:59 pm
Categories: Music

Welp, couldn't find anything suitably St. Patrick-themed, and I've already done St. Alphonso (in August and again in November), so the closest I could find is St. Etienne. Coupled with some footage of a concert in St. Etienne, in 1982. It was uploaded by florindoyjulian, who has disabled embedding, so go ahead and give it a clicky. There's some nice hand-shot camcorder footage in there.

More from Slonimsky

2013-03-16, 9:20 pm
Categories: Music

Uploaded by Tengolapijaenorme011. My Spanish is lousy, but I think the description says it was recorded by Charles Amirkhanian in Slonimsky's home in 1983.