They all seem to like me. A lot. Actually that's an understatement and I'm not bragging; my supervisor told me and several other people she introduced me to that she had been "fighting the urge to jump up and down and scream YIPPEE!". Well.....OK. They all seem very nice and went out of their way to make me feel welcome. I thought they might pee on the carpet when I told them that I had shipped only 3 files my first day there, but once I got settled in, I could probably do much more, seeing as though I don't have to do data entry, scan files, send docs out to county clerks for recording and send recorded docs back to the lenders, load copiers and fax machines with papers and fix them if they jammed, call copier companies to come out and fix the copiers that are broken, deliver faxes and all the other piddly shit I had been stuck doing at my previous job. All I have to do here is stack files and ship them; plus, I get to wear jeans everyday. I feel positively spoiled!
Actually, I'm sure the only reason they're so glad I'm there is that they've been pleading for someone to help with shipping for over a year and they've been working 6 and 7 day weeks all that time. Plus, I have experience, so they didn't have to cold-train me. I pretty much walked in and could do the job. They wouldn't even let me work the first Saturday (today). I told my supervisor I had friends coming next weekend and that I would prefer to work this weekend instead of next, if possible; my supervisor told me I didn't have to work that weekend either if I didn't want to. I'm an hourly employee here, so if I work through my lunch times, I'll get paid for a little extra OT. Time and a half, baby!
I said in my previous post that I felt like maybe I'd had to settle for this job instead of one that I really wanted. I think this one will be just great, actually.....if the other shoe doesn't drop. I'll keep you posted.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
You Can't Quit, You're Fired!
The good news is, I got a new job. It's just doing the same thing I've been doing for another mortgage company, for not much more money at all and a further drive. I applied at several places and these kind folks saw my potential (or at least my past) and offered me a job. I could see the writing on the wall at my old job. The corporate owners are running the place into the ground and I will be majorly surprised if there's even an Austin location by the end of the year. I had to think defensively and get out of there before I showed up for work one day and the doors were locked.....
So to put a long story short, I typed up my two week notice to give to my boss, the man who hired me three and a half years ago. I wasn't feeling particularly excited or "neener neener, I've got a new job" because I didn't get either of the jobs I really wanted. I felt like I had to settle. Anyway, my boss knew that I had been looking for another job and I used him for a reference, so it wasn't a total surprise on his part. He's a good man and I count him as a friend. I gave him my notice and he congratulated me, gave me some well-needed advice, asked that I would spend my last 2 weeks teaching a couple of my co-workers how to do what I did, which I pretty much had to train myself to do. I assured him that I would and I went back to work.
Five o'clock rolls around (did I mention this was Friday the 13th?) and my boss asks me to come to his office. I go in and sit down, noticing uneasily the tight set to his jaw. "Uh oh, what have I done wrong?", I think. He says that his boss, one of the assholes from New York who came in last year and supposedly "rescued" the company, has told him to inform me that my services "are no longer required, effective immediately".
I must admit, after being initially stunned, I did get upset. I mean, I did already tell them that I was leaving and I had another job lined up, but I felt that I was being discarded, like my over 3 years of service was worth nothing to these idiots. It wasn't. The only person my service mattered to was in the office with me, and he seemed to be having a difficult time telling me. Maybe he wasn't, but when I was at my desk, blubbering like an baby and gathering my stuff into a box, surrounded by my co-workers who were trying to convince me that this was business as usual in the world of finance, he came up to me, pressed a $20 into my palm and told me to share a bottle of wine with my husband that night and that he was sorry.
I wasn't supposed to start my new job until July 30th, but I'll have to call my new boss tomorrow and see if they need me immediately, because I can't afford a 2 week vacation, no matter how much I'd like to take one.
So to put a long story short, I typed up my two week notice to give to my boss, the man who hired me three and a half years ago. I wasn't feeling particularly excited or "neener neener, I've got a new job" because I didn't get either of the jobs I really wanted. I felt like I had to settle. Anyway, my boss knew that I had been looking for another job and I used him for a reference, so it wasn't a total surprise on his part. He's a good man and I count him as a friend. I gave him my notice and he congratulated me, gave me some well-needed advice, asked that I would spend my last 2 weeks teaching a couple of my co-workers how to do what I did, which I pretty much had to train myself to do. I assured him that I would and I went back to work.
Five o'clock rolls around (did I mention this was Friday the 13th?) and my boss asks me to come to his office. I go in and sit down, noticing uneasily the tight set to his jaw. "Uh oh, what have I done wrong?", I think. He says that his boss, one of the assholes from New York who came in last year and supposedly "rescued" the company, has told him to inform me that my services "are no longer required, effective immediately".
I must admit, after being initially stunned, I did get upset. I mean, I did already tell them that I was leaving and I had another job lined up, but I felt that I was being discarded, like my over 3 years of service was worth nothing to these idiots. It wasn't. The only person my service mattered to was in the office with me, and he seemed to be having a difficult time telling me. Maybe he wasn't, but when I was at my desk, blubbering like an baby and gathering my stuff into a box, surrounded by my co-workers who were trying to convince me that this was business as usual in the world of finance, he came up to me, pressed a $20 into my palm and told me to share a bottle of wine with my husband that night and that he was sorry.
I wasn't supposed to start my new job until July 30th, but I'll have to call my new boss tomorrow and see if they need me immediately, because I can't afford a 2 week vacation, no matter how much I'd like to take one.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Helter Meme-ster
stolen from El Jive Miguel....
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My father named me after a rich man's airplane. He worked at Love Field in Dallas and some rich guy had a Lear Jet named the Lisa, so Lisa I was. My Mom wanted to name me Dawn Renee. Oh, the horror....
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? a few days ago, when bemoaning my lack of luck in job hunting. I was feeling the Sword of Damocles a little too close that evening....
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I have handwriting like a mental patient. Things in my handwriting should be either of the following:
a: prescriptions in triplicate
or
b: scary diatribes against the President, the government and/or whole-wheat pasta
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? turkey breast or salami, salami, baloney
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? NO. NO!!!
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? why the hell not? I'm nice enough, I don't smell and I have a contagious laugh. You wouldn't want to *not* be friends with me, capice?
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Do I fucking look like Doug Piranha to you? I prefer litotes, parody and satire, bucko...
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No, and I don't drink my own urine either, which would be equally stupid.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I eat the low-cost HEB version of Nut N' Honey called Oats & More. I guess they didn't want to limit themselves.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? yes, I have to in order to get them off. I don't use elastic laces.....
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? more so emotionally, not mentally
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Mint Chocolate Chip
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? eyes, hands, how they're dressed.
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I don't like myself very much. I wish I did. Maybe my life would have been easier if I had.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My mother, by far. After over 5 years, I still catch myself thinking "I should call Mom and tell her....". I also miss my grandmother Rosemary terribly.
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? grey sweats and a blue t-shirt. Who are you, the fashion police?
19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? I fixed baked chicken breasts and green beans for supper. It was better than a cooked rat. (Note my wild and abandoned use of litotes!)
20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The television, which is to say, nothing.
21. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? on a bad day, I'd be blackest black with a stubby tip. On a good day, my fave color, dark forest green or silver maybe.
22. FAVORITE SMELLS? Gardenia, honeysuckle, my husband when I first see him after working all day.
23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? my StudBoy(tm)
24. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I worship the ground that she and her florid handwriting walk on....
25. HAIR COLOR? blonde by birth, auburn red by choice
26. EYE COLOR? greenish-grey
27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes, but I haven't been able to afford to get my new ones yet. They're at the optomestrists waiting for me, but my checks have been so lousy, I've had to keep my glasses a bit longer....BASTARDS!
28. FAVORITE FOOD? Mexican or Indian
29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Whichever doesn't suck.
30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? can't remember....something on TCM
31. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter, although at this point I'll take anything without rain.
32. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs, but only from people I want to be hugged by.
33. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I need to go to the library, she muttered, whilst surrounded by piles of books....
34. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? the word Apple
35. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? the last 2 episodes of Deadwood, the 3rd season, and the DVD of extras.
36. FAVORITE SOUND? the sound of my husband's voice, the sound of a day off from work, the sound of money in my account. I've missed that one lately.
37. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? The Beatles.
38. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Salisbury, Maine. Got lost on the way home to my aunt's house in Salem, New Hampshire from Logan Airport in Boston. Up there, you can cross the street and be in another state.
39. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I have several, but none I'll write about here.....
40. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? in a hospital which is no longer there in Greenville, Texas. It was an old folks activity center for a long time in the 70s and the delivery room where I first saw the light of early evening was then a men's restroom. I figured they should have put a plaque in my honor over a urinal or something. They razed the building to the ground instead.
41. WHAT SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU LIKE? The ability to not have to work for a living, yet STILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO LIVE ON! Imagine that!
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My father named me after a rich man's airplane. He worked at Love Field in Dallas and some rich guy had a Lear Jet named the Lisa, so Lisa I was. My Mom wanted to name me Dawn Renee. Oh, the horror....
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? a few days ago, when bemoaning my lack of luck in job hunting. I was feeling the Sword of Damocles a little too close that evening....
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I have handwriting like a mental patient. Things in my handwriting should be either of the following:
a: prescriptions in triplicate
or
b: scary diatribes against the President, the government and/or whole-wheat pasta
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? turkey breast or salami, salami, baloney
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? NO. NO!!!
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? why the hell not? I'm nice enough, I don't smell and I have a contagious laugh. You wouldn't want to *not* be friends with me, capice?
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Do I fucking look like Doug Piranha to you? I prefer litotes, parody and satire, bucko...
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No, and I don't drink my own urine either, which would be equally stupid.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I eat the low-cost HEB version of Nut N' Honey called Oats & More. I guess they didn't want to limit themselves.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? yes, I have to in order to get them off. I don't use elastic laces.....
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? more so emotionally, not mentally
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Mint Chocolate Chip
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? eyes, hands, how they're dressed.
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I don't like myself very much. I wish I did. Maybe my life would have been easier if I had.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My mother, by far. After over 5 years, I still catch myself thinking "I should call Mom and tell her....". I also miss my grandmother Rosemary terribly.
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? grey sweats and a blue t-shirt. Who are you, the fashion police?
19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? I fixed baked chicken breasts and green beans for supper. It was better than a cooked rat. (Note my wild and abandoned use of litotes!)
20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The television, which is to say, nothing.
21. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? on a bad day, I'd be blackest black with a stubby tip. On a good day, my fave color, dark forest green or silver maybe.
22. FAVORITE SMELLS? Gardenia, honeysuckle, my husband when I first see him after working all day.
23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? my StudBoy(tm)
24. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I worship the ground that she and her florid handwriting walk on....
25. HAIR COLOR? blonde by birth, auburn red by choice
26. EYE COLOR? greenish-grey
27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes, but I haven't been able to afford to get my new ones yet. They're at the optomestrists waiting for me, but my checks have been so lousy, I've had to keep my glasses a bit longer....BASTARDS!
28. FAVORITE FOOD? Mexican or Indian
29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Whichever doesn't suck.
30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? can't remember....something on TCM
31. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter, although at this point I'll take anything without rain.
32. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs, but only from people I want to be hugged by.
33. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I need to go to the library, she muttered, whilst surrounded by piles of books....
34. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? the word Apple
35. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? the last 2 episodes of Deadwood, the 3rd season, and the DVD of extras.
36. FAVORITE SOUND? the sound of my husband's voice, the sound of a day off from work, the sound of money in my account. I've missed that one lately.
37. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? The Beatles.
38. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Salisbury, Maine. Got lost on the way home to my aunt's house in Salem, New Hampshire from Logan Airport in Boston. Up there, you can cross the street and be in another state.
39. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I have several, but none I'll write about here.....
40. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? in a hospital which is no longer there in Greenville, Texas. It was an old folks activity center for a long time in the 70s and the delivery room where I first saw the light of early evening was then a men's restroom. I figured they should have put a plaque in my honor over a urinal or something. They razed the building to the ground instead.
41. WHAT SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU LIKE? The ability to not have to work for a living, yet STILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO LIVE ON! Imagine that!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
The Day I Cooked A Rat
When I first moved away from home, I didn't move very far away. Just next door in fact, to a trailer owned by my grandfather, located in a cow pasture under a stand of pecan trees. The trailer had seen better days. It had grungy carpet in the living area and in my bedroom, and the bathroom was outright scary. The only saving grace about this trailer was that it had a beautiful old Merritt & O'Keeffe stove in the kitchen, with a grill in the middle of the burners.
I lived there with a roommate, who was also my best friend from high school and two cats named Mousel and Gremmie. My friend and I were both attending classes at what was then East Texas State University and is now Texas A&M - Commerce. I was a music history major and she was also a music student, in performance. She would go on to switch to kinesiology. She was also a harpist and her 100+ year old harp stood in the living area. I worked second shift (2pm - 11pm, with overtime usually) at a cracker factory, a job I absolutely loathed.
One day in the middle of winter, a blanket of snow was glistening outside, a rarity in east Texas. I was planning to cook myself something warm for lunch so I wouldn't have to drive anywhere for fast food. I was already dreading the drive in to work that afternoon in the snow and ice.
I turned on the oven and opened up the fridge, looking for the ingredients I had purchased for my home-cooked lunch. Maybe there would be some left over for my supper and for my roommate too, who was in class at the time. As I was chopping veggies and getting my things in order, a terrible stench started to permeate the trailer. At first, I couldn't tell where the smell was coming from, so I stalked back and forth through the trailer, sniffing madly, until I realized that the horrible odor was issuing from the stove. I turned it off and started opening windows, letting out all the heat and letting in the ice-cold air from outside. I was fanning furiously and gagging all the while.
Just then, my roommate comes home from class and asks what the hell is going on? She starts griping that her room smells like whatever is ponging up the trailer and what did I do? Not what I meant to do, apparently.....
When the trailer aired out and the stove was cool again, we shut all the windows and got the heater started again. I lifted up the top of the stove and there in the corner was a small dried up little rat lodged in a hole in the wall of the stove.
Since then, I've taught myself how to cook and I've cooked things that smelled terrible and tasted even worse, but never anything that smelled as bad as that rat. Food Network is good for something, I've found. I do wish I still had that old stove. Cleaned out, of course.....
I lived there with a roommate, who was also my best friend from high school and two cats named Mousel and Gremmie. My friend and I were both attending classes at what was then East Texas State University and is now Texas A&M - Commerce. I was a music history major and she was also a music student, in performance. She would go on to switch to kinesiology. She was also a harpist and her 100+ year old harp stood in the living area. I worked second shift (2pm - 11pm, with overtime usually) at a cracker factory, a job I absolutely loathed.
One day in the middle of winter, a blanket of snow was glistening outside, a rarity in east Texas. I was planning to cook myself something warm for lunch so I wouldn't have to drive anywhere for fast food. I was already dreading the drive in to work that afternoon in the snow and ice.
I turned on the oven and opened up the fridge, looking for the ingredients I had purchased for my home-cooked lunch. Maybe there would be some left over for my supper and for my roommate too, who was in class at the time. As I was chopping veggies and getting my things in order, a terrible stench started to permeate the trailer. At first, I couldn't tell where the smell was coming from, so I stalked back and forth through the trailer, sniffing madly, until I realized that the horrible odor was issuing from the stove. I turned it off and started opening windows, letting out all the heat and letting in the ice-cold air from outside. I was fanning furiously and gagging all the while.
Just then, my roommate comes home from class and asks what the hell is going on? She starts griping that her room smells like whatever is ponging up the trailer and what did I do? Not what I meant to do, apparently.....
When the trailer aired out and the stove was cool again, we shut all the windows and got the heater started again. I lifted up the top of the stove and there in the corner was a small dried up little rat lodged in a hole in the wall of the stove.
Since then, I've taught myself how to cook and I've cooked things that smelled terrible and tasted even worse, but never anything that smelled as bad as that rat. Food Network is good for something, I've found. I do wish I still had that old stove. Cleaned out, of course.....
