Gosh, One Would Think I Have a Life!

Thanks for the heads-up Barb! I've got nerve, posting that people stop posting when they get a life, then I stop posting! Who do I think I am??

Actually, I have had a lot going on and I'm loving it! Just ask a few questions and volunteer a little time, and voila!! you are in the middle of several things!

Alzheimer's Assn
I've been doing some work with these guys, data entry, stuffing envelops, just stuff. I have been working with the volunteer coordinator with her spreadsheets, and I suggested developing a database, so guess what I've been asked to do? LOVE IT. I'm approaching this like a 'real' project, so I'm in the Gathering Requirements phase (phase 2 of the SDLC for you novices. Can you tell I'm hunting for a job?) I usually work there 3 days a week for about 2 hours, but I haven't been able to get there this week, for a number of reasons. (see below)

Sunday School
I had a presentation last week in Sunday School that went well. It was a review of one chapter of a book called 'Hop, Skip and Jump through the Bible' by Kalas and I got the chapter on Philosopers and Poets. Ironic, huh? I did a quick review of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. I found some summaries on line and printed them out to pass out. I found a blog on the Bible written by a nice Jewish boy, which made for some interesting points. I presented enough ideas that I inspired the request for an entire class on several books, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes and Job, in paticular. I've also discovered there are many webpages out there where you can get an audio reading of the Bible, by chapter or line.

Jury Duty
On Monday, I was called in for jury duty in Dekalb County. Everyone who got called has to report at the start of the day, and slowly they kept calling names for duty. By noon, I hadn't been called, and no more trials were scheduled that day, so I went home. Dekalb County, thankfully has a One Trial/ One Day policy: if you get called for a jury you must complete that trial, if you don't get called on the first day, you go home. This means you will probably be called to serve more, but what's one day? I've been called before in Dekalb but didn't get called. I served on a jury in Cobb County and I've been called for Palm Beach County when I lived there. Isn't that funny, I lived in Va and was eligible to serve for almost 15 years and never got called.

Oh, and by the way, if you don't register to vote only because you don't want to serve on the jury, they also take names from driver's license lists and utility lists, so don't drive or bathe if you really don't want to serve.

You are supposed to dress as you would if you were on a jury, so I did the suit jacket and slacks. There were people there in jeans, shorts and t-shirts. Oh well. While sitting there for a few hours, I noticed that my jacket needs to be de-furred and pressed and it needs to match my slacks. 2 different shades of blue, that don't necessarily work together. So all my jackets will be going to the dry cleaners today!

Job Hunt
I noticed a job on Dice.Com located in Richmond, Va so I applied. Richmond is where my sister and neices live and it's about 2 hours from DC. I did some research and Richmond has TONS of jobs! They have the state government, major medical facilities, several corporate headquarters for companies, and lots of advantages of Big Towns, but with less cost and traffic. Since I put that on my dice.com resume, the phone has been ringing off the hook! I couldn't leave the house until 1pm on Wednesday because I had so many calls. Several were for the same position, but such is life. Nothing solid yet, but lots of potential.

But the best part: I had an interview yesterday! A real face-to-face interview with a hiring manager! It's with a company located in Dunwoody and it's a QA position. The money is good, the commute wouldn't be too bad and, due to their release schedules, I would get one 3-day weekend every month. The manager I spoke with is a retired military policeman, and he loves QA. I hate testing (which is all QA is about!) and I've worked with retired military in the past. I haven't been offered the job, I felt good about it when I left the interview, but I don't think it's for me.

Then, yesterday afternoon, I got the phone interview I'd been waiting for since last Friday. This is for a position in Roslyn, VA as a consultant with the Dept of Homeland Security. (No matter which candidate gets into office, they will never cut funding to DHS.) This one sounds good, the guy I spoke with wasn't a hiring manager, I don't think, but he was high somewhere in the chain. This position would be consulting for a consulting firm, who is consulting for a consulting firm with the DHS. (I think I got that right, I may have left a consulting level out!)

So after almost 6 months, I finally got some interviews. There are still a few others out there in limbo under consideration, but if they don't act within a week, it's probably not happening. Although the interview in Dunwoody took almost 2 weeks to become reality. So keep your fingers crossed!

That's it for now, I'm late for the Alzheimers Assn, so I must leave. I'll keep you informed!

More to come...
As things happen, I'll be posting. Thanks for taking the time to read. You're opinions are welcome but if you have to start calling me names, don't bother, I won't read them. As my Dad says 'Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one.'