As of today I got a part-time job as a docent at a historic site here in Boston. I go in for training the weekend after next. Thank God for small blessings. Between that and some of the freelance IT stuff I am getting at least I am making a little money. Not much, but some.
-Geoff
And maybe a small rant…
Despite the fact that I slept in today, I’ve gotten a remarkable amount of work done. I got the two thank you notes from yesterday’s interview written and sent out with Geoff to be dropped in the mail. I had picked up some more stamps on my way home after yesterday’s interview precisely so I wouldn’t have to hunt down a random forever stamp left over from the wedding or mix together a conglomeration of postcard stamps to do the trick.
I got an email about another interview from an interested local college. We have a telephone interview tomorrow and, if all goes well, an in person interview sometime soon after that.
After not having a lot of luck in the job search for most of December and January, suddenly both of us have a whole bunch of interviews. Both of us have already had phone interviews this week, and I have a face-to-face interview Friday. Kelly is having an interview right now (if it hasn’t ended yet). So we are hopeful that something good will come out of this, preferably with at least one of us getting a full-time job with benefits. We are optimistic.
And as a bonus, a friend of ours has also possibly found a dream job and is in the process of applying. So maybe things are finally turning around? I hope I am not jinxing us.
-Geoff
Last night Geoff and I had a talk. It was one of those, “Ok, if something doesn’t change now we’re going to have to sell off our belongings and move in with our parents. What are we going to DO?” talks.
While I see that the unemployment figures for the state of Massachusetts are slowly going down, I am still looking for work. I am fortunate enough to have had a couple of interviews this month, but so far nothing looks certain. Of course Kelly is still looking for full-time work also, and is still grabbing as many shifts as she can at her part-time job. I feel like I need to do something different, but I am not sure what. Should I try to get more IT certifications? Should I try something else? I almost feel like my answer should be “all of the above” so I don’t limit myself.
-Geoff
I got a call yesterday from the City of Cambridge. They want to interview me for the position I applied for with Emergency Communications down at the CPD. We scheduled for next Tuesday, after the holiday weekend. This is the interview I was hoping would happen before the end of the year, as it is for a job that I think I am a very strong candidate for. Wish me luck!
-Geoff
I did not get that job I wanted. I just found out this afternoon. I do appreciate everyone’s support and encouragement during the long and somewhat stressful process. It is nice to know that some of the people I met with thought so highly of me that they are recommending me to some of the recruiters they know. So I guess that is something. I also found out that a few of them watched that video of my commencement speech and really loved it. So I am trying to keep my chin up and move on to whatever comes next.
-Geoff
… is when you see a job you applied AND interviewed for posted again less than a year after you were rejected for it. This has happened multiple times to me in my career and it never fails to aggravate me. I want to reach out and email the hiring manager and tell them, “If you’d hired me I’d still be there!”
But I never do. Because I have manners.
~Kelly
Tonight Kelly and I expected to go visit Smoky at Angell, and we were concerned after the conversations that Kelly had earlier today with his doctor. But by the time we got to see him early this evening, apparently he had turned a corner and was doing considerably well. So well, in fact, that the doctor said we could actually take him home tonight. Needless to say this was a great surprise, and we were not prepared to bring him home. We did not even have a carrier with us. But we borrowed one from Angell and we managed to get the little guy home.
Continue reading “A strange but (so far) good turn of events”
Yesterday was Smoky’s drop off day for his I-131 treatment. Per the instructions for his admission, he’d been off of his methimazole for a week. Over the last week we’d been monitoring him carefully. He’d been more heat sensitive than usual, he’d been breathing a bit heavier than normal, and his skin was getting drier and itchier. On Sunday night I had to clean his ears and treat the driest of his skin with petroleum jelly because it was just so itchy and flaky that he was scratching it until it bled.
The Books are Taking Over... 