Week 2

So I've now finished my second week in the real world, and the most notable aspect of this, is that I'm tired. I have a sudden new found appreciation for weekends. But, while it was a tiring week, it was generally a good a week. Yesterday also happened to be the first pay day and so it has really started to feel like I've entered the working world. I'm still really exciting to be working at this particular place and my co-workers have been fantastic in helping me to learn the ropes.

On a completely different note, I saw the movie Across the Universe last night. This is the one that's essentially a musical with Beatles songs. Two of the main characters are named Jude and Lucy, so that should give you a big clue of what at least two of the songs were. While hearing that many Beatles songs was fantastic, the movie was very strange and at many points, I am sure those involved with making it had to have been on some illicit substance(s). I don't think I'll be running to the store when it comes out on DVD, but it was interesting nonetheless.

THE Job!!!

So yesterday afternoon I had my "second interview" at the place I was really excited about. Turns out it wasn't really so much a second interview as much as my new boss getting the blessing from the executive director to hire me. After meeting said executive director, I did in fact get her blessing. I begin my new and (I think) really cool job on October 1st. The office seems incredibly friendly and I think I'm going to love the work. It's a great opportunity (very close to home) to use both my psychology degree and medical background in the same position. I will be working with people with physical disabilities doing job development. This is the perfect kind of position for me. It suddenly makes the 3 1/2 months of searching and interviewing worth it to get a position that couldn't be more perfect in a whole lot of ways.

A Job?

So I was offered a paralegal position today at a large law firm with training to begin in a few weeks. The problem is, I have a second interview for the job I really want on Wednesday. I asked the law firm if they could hold off until the end of this week or early next week for an answer. They're going to try to hold off that long but I am taking a gamble. If I don't get my top choice job, there is a chance I might already have been replaced at the law firm. So, I'm making a bit of a risky move, but I feel like it's what I need to do. In any case, it seems like I'm going to be entering the working world very soon.

Good Day

So my interview at the law firm this morning was "ok." It seemed better than my last one, but it's more like someplace I'd work to have a job but not really something I'd be passionate about. The good news for the day, is that I got a call for a second interview at the place I do really like. Apparently my references must have said nice things about me. When the woman from this place called and said she wanted to schedule a second interview, I replied with, "Oh, that's great!" Her reply was, "We think that's great too." I took that to be a pretty good sign.

Aside from that, I responded to an ambulance call for nothing particularly interesting and got a chance to swim at the Y. The cute lifeguard was working, so that was an added little bonus.

I also had a great chat online with the author of one of my favorite blogs, I Think I Might Be Gay. It was nice to talk to one of the people whose life I read about on a regular basis. If you haven't, check out his blog here...http://ithinkimightbegay.blogspot.com/#

Ahh...foiled again!

So, for the first time this summer I was planning on finally heading to our vacation home. It was going to be only me and the grandparents there. It was going to be quiet. I could sit on the beach and just relax and hang out with a friend who rents a house nearby. But no, I happened to get called for an interview today. I've been keeping my whole summer free so far to deal with that kind of thing, I finally decide to go relax, and of course, I get called for an interview. The voice on the other end of the phone of course asks if I can interview tomorrow. The response in my head was a combination of "YES!" and "Damnit!". The out loud was, "Yes, what time were you thinking?" Don't get me wrong. The interview is for a job I'd be pretty excited about. It's not surprising of course, that the one time I figure it's probably safe to be away from home a for a few days, I get a call for an interview. Oh well, at least they called today and not after I was already away.

In other news, for reasons I'm not sure of, I all of sudden decided I wanted to listen to Holst's The Planets. Right now, I'm listening to Jupiter on repeat. Just over three minutues into the piece there's a really really cool part.

Monday Morning

So time for updates on a few different fronts...

Job search: The interview I went on was for a position at a very underhanded company that has some serious issues in terms of how it represents employment opportunities.  I told them I had no interest in working for them.  I am currently trying to get in touch with someone for a job I just noticed advertised in my own town.  I'm not sure I want to be that close to home, but if they were interested in me, it might not be a bad place to start.

EMS: I was woken up by my pager in the middle of the night for a diabetic emergency which led to the usual refusal of transportation.  At least I only lost about an hour of sleep.

Love Life: My boyfriend currently resides in a southern state about a two day drive from me.  It sucks.  Neither of us know how long we're going to be in our current locations as I look for a job and he looks at grad schools.  While we talk every night, I had no idea just how much I'd miss some of the really simple things.  A goodnight hug or him playing with my hair while we watch a little TV really were important parts of my day when we were both at school.

Interview and a Road Trip

So one of the fun(?) things about graduating from college is looking for a job.  While I think I want to go back to grad school for clinical psychology or rehabilitation counseling in a few years, for now, I want a break from school.  I've been done with school for a few weeks, and have spent a good portion of each day dedicated to looking for possible jobs.  I graduated from a solid liberal arts college with good name recognition, which I hope will be helpful.  I've been trying to get into PR in a non-profit.  This is apparently not very easy to do.  Non-profits pay less and seem to require more experience than any of the other companies I've looked at.  Yesterday, I was contacted by a for-profit company that does PR and marketing for non-profits.  To me, the chance to work for a company that might actually pay me to do work with non-profits seemed like a pretty good idea.  I agreed to an interview on Thursday afternoon.

This all was great until my parents got home.  They, but my mom in particular, flipped out.  The job I'm interviewing for is about 4 1/2 hours away, near where I went to school.  While my mom went off on a whole bunch of reasons I shouldn't work there (too far away, I won't like the weather, I won't make enough money etc) I am sure she's mostly freaked out about me leaving the house and being completely on my own in an area not near to her.  I was more than a little disappointed that she couldn't be happy (or at least pretend to) because the opportunity made me happy, but I'm trying to be patient.

The good news anyway, is that I'll be out of the house for a few days.  Tomorow afternoon I'll leave and probably (need to confirm this tonight) head up to a friend's house just outside the city where I'll be interviewing.   I'll spend the night there.  I'll interview Thursday afternoon and then head down to the small town where my college was.  I'll stay with another friend there on Thursday night while I catch up with some friends and with the ambulance corps I volunteered on while in school.  I was an EMT, driver, and an officer of the corps and might even volunteer for a shift while I'm there. 

I'm also trying to get my parents to understand that, although there are drawbacks to this situation, there are also a whole lot of advantages.  But, in the first place, this is a preliminary interview and I haven't even been offered a job at this point.  For all I know, I won't be what they're looking for, and won't have to worry about anymore decisions.  If they are interested, I need to consider that this is an area I can actually afford to live in on my own.  If I were to get a job around here, I'd be stuck living at home, something that would drive me absolutely crazy.  For now though, all I can do is go to the interview and see what happens and enjoy a little road trip in the process.