I Got A Job (To Tie Me Over)

Good News: I got a job. I attended an open interview at a job fair last October. On Wednesday, I was called for an interview the next day. I got the offer on Friday. Basically, I'm going to be working at a call center. At least I'll be answering questions in regards to computers and tech stuff. I haven't started yet, but I guess it could be worse.

My main motivation for taking this job is to resolve cash flow--I still want to move out of the area. As I said before, even if I'd had six months left on unemployment, the $150/week I was receiving wasn't enough anymore. But if I pick up some new skills along the way, that would be good, too. Just as long as I don't get fired again.

I'm going to continue blogging intermittently. Sometime in the near future I will post my resume.

I keep fantasizing about wanting to open up a bar, even though I have no desire to right now. This morning, as I was walking downtown, I wrote down the addresses of vacant properties and the numbers of the agents selling/leasing them. Some of them are very nice properties. If I were to open one, I'd open a bar similar to this. The main audience for this type of bar would be the college kids. The townies here (for the most part) like dives, and the bars that are a little classier are usually combined with restaurants. Then there's the Geneva 13 Crowd, but I'm not sure how often those people would patronize an establishment like this.

Speaking of Geneva 13, I attended a dance performance called "Duality" on Saturday at The Cracker Factory hosted by Three Stories, an organization started by the Geneva 13 people in hopes to bring more arts stuff to the Geneva Area. It's still trying to acquire its 501(c)(3) status.

I need a distraction, that's for sure!

Reanimating the Cyborg

The interview I had today was the shortest job interview I've ever had. Basically the women interviewing me filled out a sheet, asking whether or not I preferred working part or full time (I said either), could I operate a multi-line phone (I can!), and what shift I preferred (day). They told me that I would hear from them again next week about a possible second interview.

Yesterday I watched Are You From Bingo? for the first time in God knows how long. Today I cut out anything that might inspire a cease and desist letter, plus I tweaked a couple of other things.

Last night, I attended a lecture by Jillian Burcar at The Warren Hunting Smith library. Jillian has spent the year at HWS as a predoctoral fellow with the Fisher Center for Gender Studies. Her lecture, titled "Reanimating the Cyborg", focused on gender construction in Anime and comics, plus she read excerpts from her own fiction. One piece of her fiction, Usagi's Cookbook, particularly hit home for me. It reminded me of the years I used to read the websites and blogs of anonymous friends, and pour my own thoughts into my blog. Heck, I'm doing it right now!

Afterward, I asked Jillian how she got the plum job of presenting Wes Craven with a Lifetime Scream Award. After she'd dressed as a character from Nightmare on Elm Street at Comic Con, she got a button that had a red mark which was her "golden ticket", if you will.

Right now, I'm reading Mia Farrow's autobiography, What Falls Away. I started on it early yesterday, and I'm at the point where she's seeing Woody Allen. I've been wanting to read it for ten years. So far, I'm not really disappointed, but it seems to lack the intimacy that a lot of great celebrity memoirs have. Especially since Mia has lived such an interesting life. I, for one, would like to know how she got the name Mia, since her legal first name is Maria.

It's supposed to be in the low 70s tomorrow. Can't wait!

Hospitality Interviews

My interview, surprisingly, went well. I don't believe I'll get the job, but it was nice to be considered for an Administrative Assistant position for once. Thursday, I'll have another interview, this time at the Ramada Inn lakefront in Geneva.

Given that the two interviews I've had this week were at an airport and a hotel, I wonder if something isn't being suggested here. It's strange that I'd have two interviews in a week when I haven't had interviews in two months.

More about Neko Case next post.

How's My Job Search Going?

Of all the things I've blogged about lately, I've neglected to discuss one thing: How's my job search going?

I have an interview scheduled for Monday at the Ithaca Airport for a part time Adminstrative Assistant position. I'm doing this to keep the energy going. I'm still sending out resumes and filling out applications, but in all honesty, I'm not really that enthusiastic about it. I realize I have to work to live, but I'm getting bored applying for the same jobs in the same place. I realize I have to work to live, but if I have to work, I'd at least like to have something I can enjoy.

In this economy, I suppose I should be happy just to have anything at all, but I've been working these types of jobs since I got out of college six years ago. Now that I've found some direction in my life, I'd like to have a job that compliments it, and allows me to continue with what I'm doing now, and what I hope to do in the near future. This internship looks like a lot of fun, but it probably doesn't pay, and I'm probably too old for it.

I spent most of today finishing up Notorious, Donald Spoto's biography of Ingrid Bergman. While Spoto's biography was thorough enough, I thought he skimmed over a few key moments in her life...like all her Oscar wins. At some point, I want to check out Isabella Rossellini's autobiography, Some of Me to fill in the blanks.

Less than 48 hours before Neko Case...

Can You Tell I'm Anxious?

Tomorrow is the big day. As I mentioned previously, I've been really nervous about my hearing. Mainly because I don't want to have to face those people all over again. Yesterday, though, my mother mentioned to me that there might not be a chance that they'll show up at all, and if that's the case, I WIN! Nonetheless, I have prepared, writing points I want to make, cross examining questions, and a closing argument. But I really hope they don't show up.

Yesterday, I had a phone interview with some customer service company that has an office in Canandaigua. They're supposed to send me something about a "next step" soon, but I really don't want this job, because of the commute, and also, I'd be working until 10:30. This afternoon I have an interview at the hospital for several positions I've applied for. A month ago, I would've been absolutely thrilled about this. To some extent, I still am, but I know what I want to do next as far as projects go. Will this job get in the way?

Speaking of the next project, I've decided to send the letter I sent last week by e-mail, which is the way I should've done it in the first place. I know it's only been a week, but I'm eager to hear one way or the other.

Finally, I started cutting the epilogue for Are You From Bingo? last night, but with all that's happening this week, it's hard to focus on it. Can you tell I'm anxious?

Back Into the Workforce

The interview didn't go too well. Well, it went okay, until she started grilling me about the position I got fired from. I don't think I'll get it, which is fine by me--it wasn't like I wanted to stand in one place all day anyway.

After the interview, I stopped by at the Workforce New York to fill out an application. I finished filling it out here, and I plan on dropping it off tomorrow. Workforce maintains catalogs of job openings. I plan on looking through them tomorrow, and stopping by once a week thereafter until I find work.

Speaking of unemployment, I have decided to put off new interviews until either A.) I have some type of employment or B.) There's enough money in place to carry this out. With that being said, I'm keeping the fundraiser open and working on making the movie available as a download. I plan on writing the interviewees and letting them know, and that I will be in touch.

Keep Moving

I've been working on the Are You From Bingo? website, even though I haven't purchased a domain yet. I got Expression Web, which is a huge step up from FrontPage. I actually managed to create a style sheet, a real first for me. This afternoon, I plan on calling the director of the Art Mission to schedule a screening for the movie in the spring.

Also, I have a job next week at First Niagara Bank. It's a part time position for a teller. I'm not too sure about this, but I'll go in with an open mind. After the fall out at my old job (not the temp one I just had), I'm not sure if I'm ready to enter customer service again just yet.

You're Hired!

After six weeks of hustling, it has finally happened: I have a new job.

Wednesday, I went down to Ithaca, thinking either I would stay the day, and return before dusk, or stay overnight. I was going down there to put my laptop on the internet service of the woman I am currently working with. Around 4ish, I discovered that I had a voice mail from Manpower, asking if I could come in for an interview tomorrow. I'd prepared to stay overnight, but I wasn't packed for an interview. I went to Trader K's (a thrift store in the Commons), and bought clothes.

The interview went really well. The guy who interviewed me said I was more than qualified, and he was even asking me questions. Yesterday afternoon, I was offered the job. I will be returning to Ithaca on Monday to do a background check and drug screening, which I guess means that I'll have to cancel the crystal meth binge I was hoping to go on this weekend.

My new job will have me working on a long term project: I'll be scanning their designs into a computer (some of which go back to the early part of the 20th Century), and helping them create an archive and database. The job is full time, and it will last at least three months; the woman at Manpower talking to me over the phone even mentioned it could be as long as six months. That's all I wanted: something that will take care of me while I work on the DVD and get things straightened out.

Now that this is all over, I will finally have more time to focus on my own projects, and other things I've been meaning to focus on for awhile. Of course, there's the DVD I want to work on, as well as possibly a short film.

President Elect Obama: Yes, He DID.

If you had asked me four years ago who the next president would be, I would've said without hesitation, "Jeb Bush". At the time, I thought (and to a certain degree, still do) that our country was going down the crapper, and that we'd continue to elect (maybe I should put that in quotation marks) bad leaders. If you had told me four years ago that the next president would be Barack Obama, I would've answered, "Are you kidding me? He hasn't even started his first term, let alone become president."

Tuesday I was proven wrong. Although I sensed he would win, his victory is still a shock to me.

After my appointment with my counselor on Tuesday, I headed down to Ithaca to participate in the Election Night festivities. I went to the Workers' Center Party at the Women's Community Center downtown, and watched the election results. The party flipped between CNN and The Daily Show (and for a moment, Fox News), and the channel flipping was irritating. I left before 11pm, thinking that the election would drag on well into the night. For as long as I've been of voting age, that's how it's been.

I came back to where I was staying and changed into my pajamas. I turned on the TV, and lo and behold, Barack Obama had been elected President of the United States. My first instinct was to put on my sweatshirt and run back to the party, but I stayed put. I watched the McCain and Obama speeches and went to bed. What was incredible to me was that the election was resolved before midnight.

Watching 106 & Park in the Hilton Lobby the next evening was something, to say the least: a drum corp of high school kids from Westchester County; cheerleaders chanting "Yes We Did! Yes We Did!" Then Steve Harvey came on, and told the studio audience that they had no more excuses to put off endeavors, since there was now a black man in the White House.

For the first time in my life, I feel the future of my country is an open book: while I don't think things will change overnight, I don't think things are going to go on as they have, either. I'm wondering if his election has anything to do with this 2012 thing I keep hearing about.

In other Erin news, the interview at the law firm went well, until I had to take some type of test where I had to identify whether or not "seperate" was a correct spelling. Having Googled it, it turns out I was right. Phew. Today, I went to The History Center to do some research for an article on Taughannock Falls that I might write...if I can pitch it.

Denied!

I've been denied unemployment. I'm not ready to divulge all the details right now, but I did seek legal aid this morning, and I hope to get a hearing.

Tomorrow, I plan on voting, seeing my counselor, then heading off to Ithaca for the rest of the week. I have an interview on Wednesday, I hope to get one more in before I come back Saturday.

Even with this on my plate, I plan on launching a fundraiser to raise money for the DVD of Are You From Bingo?. I have no idea when I'll be doing that, but at least it'll give me something to think about besides looking for a job.

No Go Dataflow

I called Dataflow three times today. I called at 9:30am, the guy who would've interviewed me was busy. I called again after 2pm, he was still busy, and I was told to call at 4:30. At 4:30, I called the office, only to find out that someone else had accepted the offer. I guess the person had been holding out, and had called about an hour before I did.

To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement. For once, I thought I might be close to getting a job I would actually like for a change. I guess I'm just going to keep pressing on, I suppose, but nothing will as exciting as that position was.

I know why I'm still up here. Maybe now is a good time to start going ahead with working on the DVD of Are You From Bingo?.

First Post!

At the beginning of this month, I travelled eastward to the Woodstock Film Festival to work as a volunteer. The Friday Night of the festival, I was working the merch table by the main office when I encountered a notable filmmaker and blogger who'd recognized me from my YouTube videos. He noticed that I hadn't made too many videos in recent months. The encounter inspired me to put myself out there again. I figured there were a few people who still wondered what I was up to. If you're one of them, I made this blog for you.

So what happened? After I got back from SXSW, I had a lot of footage to edit, and I eventually exhausted myself making those videos. Also, I felt like I had accomplished what I intially set out to do in making those videos. A few weeks after my return, I passed my road test to get my driver's license at the ripe old age of 26.

Meanwhile, I was really starting to chafe at my job. When I had been hired there in the Summer of 2005, I was broke and needed the job to survive. I liked the company and the camaraderie (which is why I stuck it out as long as I did), but never really liked the job itself. In November 2006, I had been given a warning, which led me to go into counseling and helped me turn my situation around. I took time off here and there--to go to New York, SXSW, and to take Improv 101 at the UCB Theater. Everytime I would come home and return to my job, it became, "I've had such a good time, and I have to go back to this???" I could never bring myself to turn in my two weeks notice, because I feared falling back into my pre-job situation. As much as I didn't like my situation, I felt that it was still better than having no job.

By August, I was getting restless, and I got careless. To be frank, I began taking my frustration out on a few customers who had been trying my patience to begin with. Finally, on September 30th, the day after the Dow dropped 700 points and two days before I was supposed to go to Woodstock, they decided to terminate my employment. In addition to the recent events, they took the 2006 warning into consideration.

I take full responsibility for the actions that led to my termination, and I deeply regret the way it ended. Had I known that things would turn out the way they did, I would have seriously started looking elsewhere at the start of the summer. Since the warning they based it on dated back to 2006 (usually, warnings are removed after six months), I plan on writing a letter to the corporate office, but only after my unemployment insurance is straightened out.

The good news is that I had three interviews in the span of a week, and hopefully will be getting called for a second interview for one of them soon. Even though it's grunt work, I'm excited about the position. It would be nice to actually have a job using skills that I was trained in in school. I plan on looking for a place to stay on the day of my second interview.

And the videos? I'll go back to that eventually...maybe. But this blog is my way of staying in touch with people. Now more than ever, I need to reach out to people as I get things straightened out.