:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 ::

:: Job Search: Day 5 ::

Nice thing about being unemployed is that I have a little more free time to myself. And one of the things I realized is that even though being fired sucks, I've been happier... sort of. Oddly, I've been waking up earlier than my usual crack of noon. I breathe easier. I feel more relaxed. Instead of counting down the minutes till I have to go to work vegging out in front of the TV, I've managed to keep myself busy. I'm usually pretty good at evaluating my own moods and I knew I wasn't happy at my old job but I didn't think it'd be quite like this.

That said, to be completely honest, if they called me tomorrow, to come back to work I'd probably say yes Why? With Valentine's Day and the Miami Boat Show coming up, it's going to a very lucrative weekend. That’s it, nothing more. I don't have any attachment to anyone (other than My Buddy Chuck and The Hostess – and even that’s tenuous) or anything there.

My buddy Chuck (who would have legally changed his name to "My buddy Chuck" if I stayed there) called me the night after to see how I was doing. Even he thought it's probably for the best because he noticed my discontent and pointed wondered if might be because one of my old managers left. It did cross my mind in the past he may have a point.

Randy was a good manager and he took care of me. He never showed me any favoritism but he made sure I stayed busy. He wasn't a cupcake either because the few times I screwed up, big deal or not, he was never shy about voicing his displeasure. The manager who took over his spot isn't a bad person but she's the owner's lackey and clearly favors certain guys. It never got acrimonious between us but we never had the same rapport that Randy and I did and at times there was an uneasy tension between us. There was certain culture and a set of unwritten rules unrelated to my actual job responsibilities that I never bothered trying to conform to and that didn't sit well with some my superiors.

Anyway, Chuck also said half-jokingly that maybe I was trying to get fired. "Why do you say that?"

"This one night, I overheard you say something like, 'what the fuck do I have to do to get fired from this place.'"

"Which time was that?" "Hahaha. I know you and I know when you're joking and that time, it didn't seem like you were joking."

But the weather today has been dreary and my mood has matched. Last week I spent roughly eight hours filling out applications or dropping off resumes and came home with two solid leads. Both managers I talked to said something along the lines of "I'll call you Saturday to let you know when you'll start training." Not wanting to test fate, I still went to other places, just to be sure. Nothing. I called both places as well as a couple of others to follow up. Nothing.

I would have resumed my search today except for the rain and I couldn't find my umbrella (which is so lame). Hopefully, the weather will improve tomorrow, or maybe one of the places will finally call. Either way, I need to get back out there in the morning and find something soon.

If you're wondering why I'm not more focused on my advertising job, it's because I need money now. Well, back up. First, I need to finish my book. Then once the book is done, I need to send it to a printer and have it printed and bound. I heard from virtually everyone I talked to that the interview process can be protracted and would test even my patience, and that being the case, I still need to pay my bills. And as it is now, I've lost about a week's worth of income and I'm not sure when my next check will be here. Fortunately, my bills are paid up for the month and I have food and beer left in the fridge, but still.

I ended my Day 1 post with "I can't wait." I'm going to amend that and say I can't stand waiting like this. I need something to happen now.

Labels: in a rut, introspective, job search, waiting

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 7:53 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
.....