The Burlap Soulmate

It's been a very interesting week around here. Much of it I will leave to Staz, whose eloquence and writing skill I cannot begin to compete with. But I will address some of the other stuff: I finally received my unemployment check today. Woo hoo. It's not much, but enough to restore our internet (which I use for job hunting by the way) and stock the fridge, which at this moment contains a tub of expired yogurt and some leftover spaghetti sauce. Fortunately, there may not be much need for those checks much longer. I have no less than 3 verbal job offers and one pending. I have a decision to make which may or may not be all that difficult: 1) The front runner:
I get to use 3D cad to design workout equipment. It looks and sounds fun. It's the highest salary offered so far, by a significant margin. The commute is a little far, and theres a lot of construction along the way. But I think I can deal. It's a large stable company with a little satellite office that has a lot of autonomy. They want me to start Monday. I told them I'd think about it. 2) The also ran:
Also using 3D cad. This one makes mill pinions and gear couplings for the steel business. A very successful and stable company. Employee owned. Lots of little perks, stock ownership, bonuses, etc. Money very good, but not as good as above. They were actually the first to make an offer, but official start date is still pending a background check which could take until the end of next week. 3) The old familiar
A company I used to work for found out I was laid off (probably because I called and told them) and offered me my old job. This was a company I had a hard time leaving because I really enjoyed the work, really enjoyed the people, enjoyed everything about it except the money. I never wanted to be one of THOSE guys, where money meant everything. But the truth is, when you can't pay your rent with what you're making, it kind of is, and you need to re-evaluate what you're working for. I would love to go back there since it is a fun product to make and I would be very beneficial to it's success. But I simply can't justify it with the other offers on the table. 4) The pending
Possibly the best offer if it ever happens. I've been told 'it's coming,' just not when or how much. In it, I would be CONSTANTLY on the road, working with automation and vehicle launches for a very stable and profitable car manufacturer. The experience would be great and the money promises to be more than I've ever made. I think it would be a lot of fun. The one and only downside is the travel. They would pretty much own my a$$ and I would be gone three weeks of every four. But we've been discussing it at length, and it may very well be worth it to get us out of this hole we're in. So wish me luck. What a delightful problem to have I suppose. It will most likely come down to a contest between 1 and 4. Again, 4 is not actually on the table as of yet, but is supposed to be soon. If and when it does, you will definitely hear about it.

I gave blood yesterday. No particular reason. I just wanted to. I wasn't really doing anything anyway. :) Actually, I had driven to my local church to light a candle and ask for some guidance on this big decision. More on that later. But the church was locked up tight, and on my way back to the apartment, I noticed the blood donation place that I always notice on my way home and always promise to stop by but never do because I'm so busy but today I have nothing to do so what the hell? I filled out a bunch of forms, said I wasn't on any medications, didn't have HIV, blah, blah, blah. They tested me for anemia, and then I sat for about 15 minutes while they pumped out a pint. I can handle needles but I'm not a huge fan. I usually look away. But it was wild to watch the bag fill up. And then the nurse took it away and it looked like one of those blood bags on ER when someone is screaming, 'I NEED MORE O NEG!' I'm not O negative, I'm pretty sure of that. But it was nice to know that I helped someone somewhere in some very small way. And the cookies were awesome too. Girl Scout no less. And OJ. Rock. Today, there isn't even a bruise. She was a very good nurse. Or is it phlebotimist? I'm sure I'll be back. If there is ever another day with nothing to do. I'm getting ready to accept one of my offers. Which one you ask? Like you couldn't guess. I'll tell you later. It's an exciting, happy, but also sobering thing. This is the nicest phase of the job search. You ALL want me? wow. I could be an astonaut, a nuclear physicist, a race car driver, or an airline pilot? hmmm.. well, not exactly, but each offer has it's pluses and minuses. Each one a different career track. A different life track really. And now I have to say to three nice people. 'Sorry, I found someone better.' I could never be a 'player'. So I'm enjoying the fleeting, stressful phase of being wanted by so many. But alas, there is only one of me. Thank God.

I'm a little behind on my updates. Those playing along at home may already know that I have a new job and I start Monday. But I'll get to that in a minute. As of this past Monday, I had two places expecting me to show up on Monday for my first day. Since this is not possible, I had to tell one of them, 'Thanks, but no thanks.' I wasn't looking forward to it. I don't really know why, I guess I just hate seeming ungrateful. I know I am too nice for the working world. Well, I'm too nice for the WORLD in general, but I'm WAY too nice for the working world. So I decide that an email is too impersonal and a phone call isn't appropriate either. So I get dressed up and decide to tell the people in person that I have decided to go elsewhere. What a colossal waste of time. On the way to the office, I called and tried to get connected several times to no avail. I was hoping to at least warn them I was coming. No luck. So I arrived unannounced and just sauntered in, without an appointment. When I told the receptionist my situation she looked at me like I was going to blow her head off at any moment. You DON'T have an appointment? I cannot help you. The HR lady extension? Sorry, she is not available. After several moments of calm reasoning I think she understood that I was not going to kill anyone or blow up the building. She called the lady I was looking for and asked if she would speak with me. She would...over the PHONE! I could have just as easily called and saved myself a half hour trip and 2.5 gallons of gas. I was still nice and professional. I thanked her for her time and wished her luck finding a replacement. But I walked out of there really annoyed and glad I wasn't going back. That was offer number 2, (see previous posts) Now on to offer number 4...Never happened. After waiting with baited breath for no less than 3 weeks, I was told that the offer did come but that it sucked and probably wasn't worth my time. This coming from the headhunter, whom I actually liked and could appreciate the irritation he was feeling toward his client. The job, which demanded almost total travel away from home, would have paid MUCH LESS than expected and was definitely not worth the sacrifices required. But I had a good conversation with the headhunter and would probably use him in the future if the situation required. So the winner is offer #1. No surprise there. Cool, fun product. Best money of all of them. Great benefits, advancement, etc. Drive isn't the greatest but I've done worse. First day is Monday, and I'm getting that scared, excitement feeling. I hope I like it. I hope I'm smart enough, friendly enough, capable enough. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

'So what do you want it to look like? Give me some sort of idea, a theme. ' (pause) (pause) (pause) 'I dunno. Surprise me.' Such was the witty response I gave to Staz's request to redo my page. And surprise me she did. I think it's great. I love being with someone who just oozes creativity like that. Ok, so are you sick of new job posts? Just one more for the time being, I promise. So far it's going pretty well. The people are friendly, I like my boss, and the work looks interesting. The HR department even bent over backwards to get me a paycheck after my first week so I wouldn't go three weeks without seeing any money. I thought that was pretty cool. This place seems to have all of the perks of a large company (stability, investment, salaries) and yet is still run in a small down-homey sort of way. The one exception: internet use. It is strictly policed and filtered. Anything remotely fun is pretty much off limits. Not only will I not be blogging from work, I won't even be visiting blogs from work. No playing my favorite online game either. Not even during lunch. Doh! But after getting my first check, if they told me I had to work in a chicken costume I wouldn't have a problem with it. The extra money will go a long way in paying some WAY overdo bills. I could actually get current on some things instead of paying just enough so that stuff doesn't get shut off. I could actually be one of THOSE people who gets a bill, and then pays the full amount before it's late. That hasn't happened in a long time. I get giddy thinking about it. :)

I've been meaning to post about this for a while. I guess I just never got around to it. On an upcoming episode of Extreme Makeover: Home edition, (Check your local listings) they will be featuring a family living in rural Kentucky not far from here. In fact, they're just south of my current job and just north of my old one. I got a chance to see some of the activity, at least as much as you could see from the main highway. It's always neat to have national attention drawn to your little corner of the world. Something about this show has always bugged me though, and I feel like a total ass bringing it up. I get that they do so many great things for really special people or people really down on their luck. But watching it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Part of it is the glee and exhuberance they all get when they're tearing down the old house. Someone at sometime put a lot of work into that place. It has served this family as best it could for as long as it could. How many memories are buried within? Sorry, no time for reflection, for introspection, for dare I say it, grieving. We've gota budget, and a schedule, and a damn TV show to finish. I also reject a fundamental aspect of the show, which is that if you throw enough money at something, everything will be just fine. This is very symptomatic of our culture and really bothers me at times. Sometimes there are no solutions. Sometimes it can't be fixed, no matter how much money or time is put into it. Geez, what a downer. I suppose I'm just being a contrary crotchety old bastard. How dare I impugn something that helps people so much, which it does by the way. It's just a symptom of my age I suppose. I'll still keep looking for this episode though. The actual airdate is a closely guarded secret. Maybe I'll get to see my truck zipping by on US27.