Huzzah for Fridays. Last Friday I'll be at home for a while. Got
up early with a call from the recruiter, verifying last details. I'd
had issues sleeping this morning, so I got up earlier than planned. Bummed
around Château Innsmouth for a while, then went out to invest in a new
computer chair, I've been getting lower back pains lately, and I'm
pretty sure it's due to the used POS chair I've been using. So I
did some test sitting, and came home with a nice meshback chair. Didn't
spend too much, and I'm already feeling more comfortable. Put it together
without the arm rests, as I almost never use them. Yay better fox spines.
Also went by the store for a couple of things, came home, made lunch,
been watching movies. Currently watching 'Se7en' because I obviously am
a bit of a masochist. Tonight after I pick up dinner, I'll be doing a
marathon of the 'Phantasm' movies in honor of Angus Scrimm, that and I've
been wanting to watch them lately. Tomorrow I'm out and being social.
Sunday is Amythest time and laundry. Monday will probably be epic level
hermiting and tentacle regeneration. Need to be prepped for the wild
rumpus. It's been just over 4 months since I left the 'pit, it's going
to be interesting getting back into the swing of things.
So yeah, life is pretty snazzy. Virtual machines are updating, kernels
are getting patched, (4.4 baby!), serial killers are being very literary
on TV. Later tonight will be snazzy food and flying silver balls with
drills and a very tall guy. Ok, catch you all later.
It's Wednesday, got up early to do paperwork with staffing agency, and then
have lunch with people from the company I'll be working at. In between,
I had about an hour, so I went to Half Price, got a few books and cheap
movies (Sonny Chiba + Brian Lumley for the win), then went to the office.
Had a little trouble figuring out where the entrance was, but since I
tend to be early, it worked out.
They took me to lunch at Firehouse Subs, which was pretty tasty. I asked
a few questions, figured out that my start date 'should' be next Tuesday,
but that depends on the background check. Hours will be 8:30 to 5:00,
I get to be the early guy. Since I'm contract, I won't be expected to
work from home or outside of 6 to 6, which is a plus, but will be very weird.
Since I'm contract, I'm hourly...OT included, so they don't want to have
to pay OT rates if they don't have to. We'll see what this means in
the practicals. No VPN access, so they're serious about the no working
from home, which is a plus. I'll be able to put work down and leave it down.
Came back to the office, got the tour. And I got a very good feeling about
the company. Decorated cubicles, the dev section had a plush camel with
a Gollum toy riding it. Conference rooms had quirky names. Multi-monitors
are the rule, with HP workstations.
Windows, but I expected that. General corp IT setup, but again that's
nothing surprising. Everyone was exceptionally friendly, glad I'm coming
on, etc. The tech areas aren't OCD levels of organized, but everything
is in it's place, and logical. So no warning signs, nothing scary.
I really have good feelings about this. I felt welcome, and that people
were glad I'm coming onboard. I'm going to be busy, they've needed a 3rd
person in the dept for a while. So I see much testing of my ability to
pick up stuff quick. But, I feel like it will be appreciated by the
coworkers, and if things go according to personal plan, I'll show that
I'm really necessary, and I'll be brought on board for real. But, even
if not, I really do think this will be a good step for me in general.
So I get a long weekend. I'll get some social in, I'll get some quiet
in, and I'll be ready to rock and roll. So go team Vulpine. *waves
tentacles in joy*
Been a Tuesday of the sorta weird. Woke up this morning, got a call from
the staffing agency about a drug test. Went by the library to print out
the paperwork (maybe I need a printer), and drove on over. No real
problems other than mildly shy bladder and a very loud AC winding me up.
Came home, got some more calls from the staffing agency, I'll go in to
finish the paperwork with them, then I have a lunch meeting with the actual
company I'm working for. This should be fine, but of course my anxiety
is spiking a bit. It should all be simple enough though. *crosses tentacles*
That's about all for right now. Tonight is basic self care and quietness.
Books, a hot shower, and hopefully well working meds. I'll post more
tomorrow after the meet, great and eat. Night hominids.
Had a quiet weekend. Well, except for the peals of laughter due to watching
crazed horror-comedies. Friday night I watched 'Deathgasm' for the first
time, crazy New Zealand movie about metalheads accidentally summoning a
demon. Epic metal soundtrack, over the top gore, and lots of leaps over
the line of good taste. It was a hoot and a half. On the down side,
I found that my pizza place has changed sauces, or I got accidentally
cross contaminated with onion. Unhappy stomach was very unhappy.
Saturday I hung out with Nymaz and Amythest, we put up Cthulhumas
decorations and stuff, had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup,
and watched 'Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse'. Which is another over
the top horror comedy. So yeah, if you're looking for laughs, and have
a strong stomach, I'd recommend either movie...they're a hoot and a half.
Sunday was laundry, some shopping with Amythest...picked up 6 polo shirts
at Goodwill for the price of one at say, Amazon. Watched a bunch of NCIS
episodes, including the multi-part, over emotional, cliffhanger season
finale. (last season, we've been playing catch up). I really enjoy
NCIS, but I really could live without the drama overloads they do
about once a season.
Otherwise it was a pretty standard weekend of geeking, other less memorable
movies, and books. Today was the 'onboard' paperwork with the staffing
agency, on one hand it was boring as hell, on the other hand I could do
it sitting in my pajamas if I wanted to. Went to the store and got
all the things. Waiting on details of when to do my drug screen, and
Wednesday I get to fill out paperwork that can't be done online, and
meet people from the company I'll be working at. So I guess I either
start Thursday, or next Monday. Either way works for me, pluses for
both. For now though, I'm going to make some dinner, veg out here
at Château Innsmouth and see what I have to do tomorrow. Catch
you all later.
So I'm guessing folks would want details. The job (which doesn't have a
cool nickname yet) is a 6 month contract doing Linux administration,
with a little Windows and network thrown in on the side. I'll be working
with one of my close friends, who I've worked with before, so I know we
can keep work and personal separate.
It's via
a staffing service, so no 1099 stuff, staffing company is pimping me out
for the contract, and paying me via W2. The job made it clear it's a contract position, but
the idea is to get in, show off my mad skills and make myself indispensable
so that at the end of the 6 months they'll hire me on. But...even if that
doesn't happen, I have 6 months to hone my skills, pick up some new ones,
and blow the rust off. The fact they hired me on the basis of my friend's
recommendation, my resume, and a phone interview gives me a good feeling.
It's a Redhat shop, so I'll have to get some practice in. Shouldn't be
a big deal, I'll just have to stop thinking Debian-esque all the time.
I'll also be running on a Wintendo, that will probably be what I spend more
time dealing with, but since it's mostly Linux my work will be in a ssh
session. And I've always bragged that I could make any setup work
'my way' with little effort, time to prove it.
The money is good, real good. But I'm planning on sticking to my old
Shoggoth Pit budget for the most part, using the excess to seed my savings
and pay down debts. If it goes perm, I'll probably juggle it somewhat,
but for now I'm planning that I'll be job hunting again in 6 months.
I get benefits in 60 days from the staffing firm, but they're not
anything amazing (the recruiter's words). But it will probably be cheaper
than paying for it myself, so that will free up some bucks in March.
Not much else in benefits, but that's the price of contracting. Get paid
every week, which is kind of weird...I don't remember the last time I got
paid weekly...oh wait, when I was temping as a Dell salesweasel back in
Austin. So that's going to take some adjustment and budgeting rethink.
My start date is next week, kind of vague on when. I've got to pass a
drug screen *laugh* and a background check *more laughs*, and do paperwork
at the staffer before I start. I'll get more details Monday.
So yeah, I'm majorly excited, been happy dancing since I got the FYI.
The anxiety about change will probably kick in Sunday. I need to pick up
some business casual stuff in the next few days, get used to waking up
bright and early, etc. It will be ok, it really will be ok. So wish
me luck and mad skills, and I'll catch you all later.
Back in the Linux world *happy employed fox dance* Just spoke to the recruiter. Technically I still have to pass the drug screen and background check, but that's not a problem. I'm a good cultist.
Not doing so hot. Woke up to possible really good news yesterday, but
as the day wore on, I wore down. Finally post dinner I just decided to
go hide in a book. The book had a good premise, killer gene-engineered
octopus runs amok. But the non-monster story line was convoluted, had
too many plot twists, and way too much discussion of Texas Hold 'em poker.
And not enough octopus attacks. That being said, I was amused, and
it was part of Kindle Unlimited. Then I went to sleep...or tried.
Was down, couldn't get my brain to shut up. Finally dozed off, and I
had weird, unsettling dreams. Got up this morning, got showered, took
my meds, etc. I have some errands to run, but I'll do them closer to
dinner time, as I think I'm going to treat myself to some Chinese take out.
Mood is pretty blah, nothing specific just lack of sleep, and lack of
tentacles. Hoping today will be better. If nothing else, it's Friday...
and Fridays are always better. Catch you all later.
Interview done. I'm not sure how I did, I rambled a bit, and in a few spots I felt like I gave weak answers. But, this is my first real interview in 12+ years, and I'm always hard on myself. So, we'll see.
Well today has been busy. Got up after some crazy dreams about offering
to fix Cacti for the Shoggoth Pit, but being turned down...something
else that was memorable, but now it's gone. Got moving, went to the
local library to renew my long ago lost card, and print out some stuff.
New library is pretty cool, even if the main workstations run Windows XP.
*wonders if a certain tech-raptor is wincing* Got my printing done,
grabbed a random thriller novel with an interesting premise (yes the library
has Lovecraft, yay Lovecraft). Went and got my sleep med refill, and
got the crazy insurance updated. Came home, put up the meds and a few
groceries. Talked to my recruiter, I have a screening call with job #1
tomorrow morning. I also got the details on another job, but it's mostly
network, and I'm really trying to avoid going back to a pure networking
position. So politely said 'no thanks.' I'm kind of wound up, I hate
interviews, and I'd really like this position. Need to post a sign
'breathe, think, then speak', so I can avoid running off at the mouth as
I do when I'm anxious. At least it's first thing, so I don't have to
build up on the anxiety.
Been watching 'True Detective' season 1, alright crime drama, not enough
Carcosa and King in Yellow references. Took out the trash, doing some
laundry, need to do some dishes too. I think the plan for the rest of
tonight will be finishing up show, chores, and making some notes for
tomorrow's screen. Then bed, with books. Oh yeah, have to make said bed
after the laundry is done.
So yeah, I'm wound up, but I'm not panicing. Lets hope for good stuff,
good news and a lack of anxiety. Catch you all later.
Well, my meeting was had. Took a little while to get there, as Google
Maps was trying to run me to the trainstation, and then take the line up
to the office. *shakes head* Found the place, had my meeting. I got
a general ok feeling, talked a bit about my wild life, and why my resume
has a ton of network foo when I'm looking for Linux stuff. Talked about
4 jobs in total, the original one working with a friend, a Redhat support
position for a telco's webhosting division, and a couple of mixed duties
positions. One is on the other side of the Metroplex, which I was honest
about not wanting an 80 mile round trip commute if possible. Another
is a maybe, it may already be filled. The other two, I should have more
info on in the next few days.
Left the meeting, went down to Amythest's school to pick up my tablet,
and we talked a bit about the job stuff. I'm trying not to ponder things
too much, as I don't want to set opinions without all the facts, or to
be utterly honest, to not sabotage myself into thinking 'No, I can't do
$blah'...a think I'm rather talented at doing. So...we'll see. I
do have a good feeling in general though, I did real good on the Redhat
skills test I took, so that's a plus. So, we'll see what comes up.
Left the school, went to Wally World and got assorted stuff. Came home,
finished watching 'Dark Water' and now watching the season premier of
'A Haunting'. Yay spooky shows. Otherwise, I'm tired...didn't sleep
good last night, and I was running on high most of the day. So I'll
probably keep on winding down til it gets around bedtime. Of course,
when will bedtime be? *yawn* I dunno, we'll see. Ok, calling this a
post. Catch you all tomorrow.
