Appliances concluded.

The appliance thing was terrible. They claimed nothing was supposed to be installed, and intended to just leave the boxes of appliances in our living room. Then they agreed to install things, but said there would be a charge, but they weren't authorized to say how much. The customer service person on the phone told us the same thing, there would be a charge, but they didn't know how much. We're anticipating a major expense that will probably be equivalent to one of the larger appliances we purchased. Home Depot sucks.

At least the appliances are nice [other than the dishwasher, which they claimed they can't install, so it's still in its box, sitting in our living room. We will probably just pay someone else to install it.]

I found a treasure trove of books that are soon to be released which I am excited about. Whether I will have time to read them or not will depend on what the last place I interviewed at decides to do. I've heard nothing since Monday. I'm wondering if they might postpone a decision until after New Year's. Today's mail brought no rejection letters, so maybe I still have a chance. If not, something else will happen I guess.

Waiting for Appliances and other things

I’m waiting for some appliances we ordered to be delivered today. They were supposed to call between twelve and four. It’s almost one. I’m hoping sometime in the next hour.

And yes, I’m also waiting for a call about my last interview. They contacted me earlier this week asking for an unofficial copy of my transcripts. That seemed like a good sign, but I haven’t heard anything since then. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be really disappointed and depressed for a while, but we’ll just move on to something else. We are probably going to make some major decisions based on what happens with this last interview…if I get it, we’ll stick around here a couple of years. If not, we’ll probably start working toward leaving sometime in 2011. It will be a ton of work, but that may be what it takes to get me back in the workforce and to have us return to some kind of stability. I’m okay either way.

I’m reading MATTERHORN by Karl Marlantes. I’m about three quarters through it. The author served in Vietnam and wrote a novel based on his experiences. The interesting thing is, the novel was only published this year, and it’s winning all sorts of accolades and awards. I would like to find out if he’d been working on the book for all those years, or if it was something that just percolated for a long time until he felt it was time to write it.

I’m always interested in cases where books take years to write. I just started COMPASS ROSE, a sequel to SPARTINA. SPARTINA came out in 1989, when it won the National Book Award. COMPASS ROSE came out this year. Yet the story continues more or less as if the events of SPARTINA had just occurred [only a few months pass between the end of one book and the beginning of the next.] Did the author take a break on the characters for nearly twenty years, then start up again? Or was it a case where the book was in the process of being written for several years and only now has been published? Supposedly it is to be a cycle of novels about fishing life in Rhode Island. I wonder how many remain and if they are finished.

Maybe it’s a situation where the characters lie dormant for years and then start speaking to the author again, like friends who make up after a fight. Another author I like, Poppy Z. Brite, had a series of mysteries that was ended after three installments [I believe one remains unpublished.] It was a case where the publisher decided they didn’t think there was a market for the books [which was ridiculous.] In her blog, she mentioned that she sometimes dreams of those characters, and is glad that they continue to have some kind of existence even if she is no longer writing about them.

Still waiting. I’m hoping they probably are finishing up lunch and then will come by in the next hour. I will be glad when today is over.

Kidding myself....

...that anyone is actually reading. As I've said before, this is more of a diary for me [similar to my pal Thee Whiskey Rebel.] But Merry Christmas anyway.

I haven't seen my family [that is, parents, grandparents, etc.] for Christmas in seven years. Always been too broke or had bad stuff going on [we've had a string of Christmas stresses/tragedies for the last three years, and I'm hoping like crazy this year may break the streak.] It's something I really regret, but I recognize it as one of the sacrifices I've had to make to get certain things that I wanted out of life. I'm hoping maybe next year, although it is too late in some ways---I've had one of my grandparents pass away over that seven year period, and another has developed severe dementia. I will always feel a lot of regret about leaving the place where I used to live, even though I wasn't happy there a lot of the time.

And of course due to all the various bad stuff that has happened over the past few Christmases, it has always become a time to dread, something that I always hope will pass without incident. I probably won't really relax until after New Year's. And then we'll be back to worrying about my last job interview. I have an exam for one of the county jobs [different county than the one I live in] in early January, I'm hoping like crazy I will have gotten a job offer before that. I don't really want to go through all the rigamarole of applying for yet another governmental accounting job, this time for a job that would be a good 45 miles away.

Oh well. Going to have Thai food for Christmas Eve, and food from our beloved Chinese take-out place Christmas day. We are so glad that our favorite restaurateur is a workaholic who never takes a day off.

Well, how did it go?

The interview went pretty well. They had some "behavioral" questions they were supposed to use, but no one did, so the interviews were more like conversations. I met with three people, one at a time. The last interview was with the owner. They are probably looking to hire more than one, so that will probably work in my favor. And also, my CPA may actually help, because a lot of people here don't have it. I was told that having it inactive wouldn't be an issue so long as I eventually got it reactivated
over that year.

I should hear something right after New Year's. It will be a lot of work, more than I got at the Big Firm. I will be responsible for a lot more than I was there--they expect people to be involved in projects from start to finish, and everyone has to deal with clients. I figure it will be a good test to see for certain if I can actually do public accounting.

The Big Firm experience actually may help [at least on paper.] This place is operated more like a larger firm, except it has fewer people so I can actually get to know everyone and maybe be able to "network" successfully.

I figure if it's the right thing, it will happen.

I also got a tentative offer for one of the seasonal jobs with the IRS, but I'm probably going to turn it down. The shifts don't work with our schedule, and now that unemployment is passed for the rest of the year I don't think I need to make that kind of compromise. The work isn't really something that would help me in the future, either [it's not working as an agent or any kind of permanent gig.]

27 hours....

...until my interview. I'm fairly calm. I know that I can continue receiving unemployment until I hit the 99 week stage which will be sometime next summer.
I've also gone through so many bad interviews this year and have been getting a lot better as the year has gone by to where I'm generally pretty comfortable interviewing.
As I've said before, after the "court martial" style of interview I was subjected to over the spring and summer, everything else has been pretty easy.

Even if I don't get a job here, that can free us up to move sometime next year. It would be better if I could work here for a couple of years, get some experience, and then move, but I'm okay either way.

Had a productive reading weekend...I finished SPARTINA and am close to finishing THE WAKE OF FORGIVENESS, a period piece set in rural Texas during the early 1900s.

I also started and finished MOONLIGHT MILE, by Dennis Lehane. I've enjoyed his books in the past, and was interested to see him revisit "series" fiction which is how he started before writing MYSTIC RIVER and SHUTTER ISLAND, which were very successful, and THE GIVEN DAY, which I gather was not. This is a sequel to GONE BABY GONE, which was one of his better series books. One of the things about it that worked was the way that the characters developed and changed as the books continued. Series books are sort of like comic books, the characters generally don't develop much and usually stuff is more or less wrapped up by the end of each installment. Here he kind of falls prey to things being kind of hard to believe, though, and that took me out of the story.

One of the thing that often causes problems for me with genre fiction is the prevalence of the "super character." The tough guy who is at the beck and call of the protagonist who can kill/maim anyone he pleases; the computer hacker who can magically provide any information needed [that in particular is one of the main reasons I couldn't get into THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.]

MOONLIGHT MILE has a lot of this, and it's just not believable. It's also annoying that the female lead character, who formally was more of a partner with the protagonist, is now basically reduced to someone who stays home with their kid and appears through a good portion of the book via cell phone. I recognize and appreciate the need to have the characters living real lives,
and that he's trying to show the danger of the situation for the protagonist to have his family threatened, but wish it had been done in a different way. The book's ending makes it seem like Lehane is saying goodbye to these characters, and that's probably best.

Breaking news...

...I have a job interview next week. It's a mid-size local firm. They were seeking a senior manager, but mentioned they were anticipating a lot of growth so I responded and asked them to keep me in mind if that growth included the hiring of junior staff. They called today. See, it never hurts to try.

I need to brush up on what's going on with tax rules, there is quite a bit...just want to show that I am keeping up with things while I've been out of work. I know they will ask what I've been doing all this time.

I could go either way on it---public accounting is not really what I want to do long term, so I'm going to have to try and snow them on that. I've been studying up on interview techniques, and watching that awful "Fairy Jobmother" show [although a lot of the show is obviously staged, some of her advice is actually pretty good.], so I feel confident I can have a good interview. I feel like my last few public accounting interviews have actually been pretty good [well, maybe not the last one, but I guess I'll never know] so if they are actually considering someone with my experience level I should have a reasonable chance.

I'm sure the question will come up on why I left the Big Firm. I am not sure on how to answer. I've been claiming "layoff" for most of this time, but maybe I should be more honest. I will have to think of how to formulate an answer.

Mom was right.

My mom always used to say that if you don't expect too much, you won't be disappointed by things in life. I used to think that was a pessimistic, depressing view, but I think she was right. I also choose to interpret it as valuing the simple things in life more, although I don't think that is really what she meant.

Saw a report yesterday that having depression increases your risk of dementia. I guess I better try to enjoy the next 30 years then, before I cease to be myself anymore.

Yesterday I applied to a bookkeeper job with a construction company. They had me come in to test, which probably had mixed results. They had a ten key test [the kind with a calculator tape] and I of course had no idea what to do with it, so who knows if they will call me back or not. I basically faked it. I don't know why people still use those things. It's like using an abacus. The job pays around the same as unemployment and seems like a pretty stressful work environment, so I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work out.

The recruiter says I might get to interview her client on Tuesday. But I won't expect too much...see, it's already working.

Almost finished with SPARTINA. Only thing I find difficult is when characters talk and talk for long paragraphs. No one talks that way, generally. I find myself tuning out at those parts of the book, similar to how I do in real life.

Have at least three books to pick up at the library, yikes!

Like roadwork, except without the running.

I have a logjam of books, all of which I really want to finish. I've assigned myself to read a certain number of pages per day. That seems to work more or less, although I may end up quitting on SPARTINA and go on to its sort-of sequel, COMPASS ROSE.

I think I have a new reading project, to try to read the National Book Award winners.

Maybe not surprisingly, the book that I'm having the easiest time with is the Stalin book. It's written in a fresh, surprisingly irreverent manner.

I wonder why Hitler is more "popular" than Stalin as far as an overall symbol of evil.
Maybe because a war was fought and won against Hitler, giving us a happy ending. People usually don't like it when the bad guys get to die of old age.

I read a book once about Hitler where it was claimed that Hitler was scared of Stalin after meeting him, and knew at that moment that he would eventually have to go to war with Russia. At the same time, he sort of admired his ruthlessness. It's funny to imagine Hitler telling someone, "That guy's crazy!"

The Recruiter Runaround....

My wife is off at a multi-day meeting, and I am unsure on what to do with myself.

Friday I got a call from a recruiter about a possible interview tomorrow, but did not get any follow-up confirmation. Late this afternoon I learn [after asking] that the interview may not be until later this week, and possibly not until next year. The client may have "jumped the gun," whatever that means.

This probably isn't the recruiter's fault, but it is the type of thing people complain about when dealing with recruiters.

I'm reading and playing too much Scrabble. Nothing really seems appealing. There are a few things to apply to, so I guess at least I'm okay for this week.

"History is full of abnormal people..."

Basically a paraphrase of a quote from Stalin. I just started a bio of him called COURT OF THE RED TSAR which believe it or not I first heard about back when I worked retail.

My retail days were a mixed bag. I worked at Borders and enjoyed the store I started in, although the pay was quite low. At the time, I wasn't qualified for much else, having an English degree and no desire or aptitude for teaching.

I loved working with the books and helping customers find the books they were looking for. We had a lot of customers who were pretty serious about reading. But I hated dealing with music and DVDs and all of the other things the store sold. I especially hated working the cash register. You'd get jerks who would want to buy a newspaper with a $100 bill at ten in the morning. Stores generally don't have more than $40 or so in the register to start the day.

It was during the 2004 election so we'd get a lot of angry conservatives pissed off about why we didn't have certain books but only carried "liberal" books. The problem was made worse by one of the conservative publishing companies--they deliberately under-printed copies of an anti-Kerry book in order to pretend like the book was being "suppressed."

One of the funnier moments--there was a book out at the time called THE REPUBLICAN NOISE MACHINE about how conservatives disseminate their message. One day I had a lady come in and return it. She complained that she had bought it as a gift, "but then I found out the book was against Republicans." Oh those crafty liberal writers and their evil ways!

We ended up moving back to where we live now. I transferred to the Borders store here and got a rude awakening. The store here was not a book-oriented store and we generally didn't have any of the books that people would come in and ask for. Our system would say we did, but we could never locate anything, so just about all of the books were special ordered. It was really frustrating. Sometimes the inventory people would just tell me to give the customer some other similar book. When I couldn't sleep at night because I hated the job so much, I wound up quitting. They had cut my pay [lower cost of living here, about the only thing to recommend this burg] and hours so it wasn't that hard to walk away.

This month will be different....

...actually it won’t. I’m already slacking on posts.

I had the possibility of a job yesterday but ultimately decided it wasn’t enough money. It was nine dollars an hour. The range I’ve told people is $10-12 an hour. $9 is far less than I make on unemployment. It’s not much more than I was making in retail a few years ago. The job would have been full time, which would have made it hard for me to find anything else. I wonder how many people end up taking jobs that pay far less than they used to make and just end up permanently underemployed? It would be interesting to see how the employment picture would look if underemployment were taken into account. Congress continues its fight over tax cuts, and I’m hoping that unemployment benefits might be included in an attempt to compromise. My time is soon ending with benefits either way, and when that happens I guess I will go ahead and work for $9 an hour, which is even less than I made back when I started out for the Quasi-Federal Agency Known for Workplace Violence. And that was in 1996.

2011 looks like it may be a tough year. It’s going to require major changes no matter what. It’s my hope that a year from now things will be different.


I have a lot of books to read, but I’m having a hard time sitting down and reading.