Wednesday, February 25, 2009

that changed quick

as of monday afternoon i was all set to start working for comcast...to enjoy free deluxe cable...and drive to everett for work everyday. i spent the morning filling out the last bit of paperwork and going to a local clinic for a drug screening (yep...peeing in a cup!). shortly after my comcastic morning, i got a call from the recruiter/hiring manager dude from wamu/chase. i thought this was some sort of "sorry you weren't chosen" phone call formality because on friday i got an email saying the position i had applied for had been filled. turns it i was the one filling the position, only i didn't know it yet. so at this point i had an offer from comcast and wamu/chase on the table and had to pick which one i was actually going to work for.

wamu/chase won...and it really wasn't even that close for comcast. w/c is paying better, is easier to get to (bus vs. driving), is DOWNTOWN!, and consistently regular hours. at the bank i know its 9-6, M-F...whereas comcast could've been anywhere from a 6am start, to my shift ending at 2am. without a regular 9-5 on the table...i couldn't turn it down simply because i might not have "normal" working hours. i start march 9th, and find it quite hilarious that i'm going back to a branch...and going back to wamu. after being laid off by wells, i said i was done with banking and would never work in a branch again...my how times change. i guess that's what five months of unemployment will do to you. i am excited to be back in the branch tho...i did really enjoy it...i just didn't think i would be back. i'll be at the pacific place branch...right across from nordstrom on 6th avenue. so if you're ever downtown...come say hi.

on a different note...

today is ash wednesday. the start of lent. i've decided to give up three things in hopes that the next 40 days will serve as a starting point to give them up for good...or at least start limiting how frequently i consume there three things. i'm giving up pop and/or carbonated beverages for lent and hopefully for good. realistically i'll probably still have the occasional mt. dew or jack & coke here and there, but for the most part i'm hoping to do away with pop for good. secondly, and somewhat in connection with the first, i'm giving up fast food for lent...and hopefully for good. eh. we'll see. taco bell is right across the street. for lent tho, its out. and my definition of fast food is probably kind of uniquely mine...but then again i am the one giving it up. so for me, fast food is anything with a drive-thru or anything that you can't reasonably call a restaurant...and yet already there are exceptions. subway is ok, so is teriyaki & thai. i think taco del mar is out too, along with quiznos & red mill. and third, no beer. i was gonna say no booze, but by giving up beer and pop that eliminates most of the alcoholic choices i prefer. this way i can also still celebrate a little at our house warming/matty finally got a job party.

so the first two i'm hoping to continue after lent, and with the beer i'm just going to drink it less often. i've already started doing that. only having one beer instead of two or three. its a win-win because it saves me money and hopefully helps shed a few pounds. that's the real point behind the things i'm giving up. i think those three things are contributing the most, at least food and beverage-wise, to my "unsatisfactory weight." haha...we'll call it my "uw." in addition i need to start eating better (on top of giving up fast food), exercising more and getting better sleep...aka keeping a regular sleep schedule and going to bed sooner. by having a job again, getting to sleep sooner and keeping a regular sleep schedule will be easier because i'll have to be getting up in the mornings instead of just sleeping until whenever...and as a result getting to bed whenever.

so that's what's new since monday. i guess i also bought an iPhone today so that's new :) i'll be sending out texts and/or emails with the new number. since my old phone is with verizon it still work and i'll probably keep it up and running for another couple of days to make sure people can contact me if they only have the old number. needless to say...today's been a good day :)

Sunday, February 22, 2009

a clutteration of thoughts

making up words is fun...and that's pretty much all i have to say about that.

i was a bit surprised to find out its been nearly four weeks since my last post. i really felt as tho i had posted within the last week or two. wow. time flies when you're sitting on the couch everyday watching movies and playing video games...errr kinda. its now been roughly five months since i stopped working at wells fargo. five months is almost half a year. that's a long freaking time to not be working, to have any regularity with your daily and weekly life, to not have steady income. its been an interesting journey to say the least...and definitely one i don't ever want to experience again.

i also can't believe i haven't been blogging more. i mean...its not like i really had anything else going. and i really do enjoy the ol' blog. my mind is almost constantly on...which makes rarely remembering my dreams all the more bizarre. often my mind overflows with ideas, thoughts and whatnot...and the blog is a welcome relief to let some of that mindflow (hooray again for made up words!) out in a constructive and comforting way. as of late this has been very true.

so i'm finally sitting down in an attempt to put all the traffic in head into some sort of coherent post for my e-audience to read. the biggest burden, or mental traffic jam, has been being unemployed but i'm quite certain that burden has been put to rest. i'm not 100% certain, because i go in tomorrow for background check stuff (which will not be a problem to pass) but until i hear something along the lines of "you're hired" i'm keeping this pretty low key. i haven't even told my mother...and when she (or most likely when my sister reads this and tells my mother) hears of this she'll be excited for probably throw in a "why didn't you tell me sooner" comment as well. the words "we'd like to offer you a position" have been extended, which is great, but there are still more steps to finalize the process. plus the job isn't exactly thrilling or a compelling use of my degree so it hasn't been hard to temper my enthusiasm. also...don't you love how i've most likely built your excitement up about this job but haven't given even the slightest hint as to what the job actually is? :P

as i said above, the position is nothing spectacular but in this current economic environment i guess any job is better than no job. i will (so long as everything goes according to plan) be working in a call center for comcast. basically i'll be "that guy" you call when your TV/internet/phone service(s) go kaput and you want them fixed. i will be the guy who asks you if your cable box is plugged in and turned on. omg...i hate when service techs ask me that question and now that is going to be my job. that's the bad...the good is that its a steady paycheck, i like to problem solve and genuinely enjoy helping people. also, working for comcast will definitely have its perks - as in free high speed internet and free cable. and when i say free cable i mean everything short of pay per view and apparently some international channels. free hbo, showtime, starz, espn, mtv, mtv 2, mtv tres, and every other crappy channel filled with addicting reality tv...the works. perfect. now i'll have a job where i sit on my ass all day then can come home and keep it up. maybe free cable isn't so great...psych! this now means dexter parties and vh1 reality show marathons at my house. booyah!!

so it looks like the whole job thing is taken care of. depending on what shifts i get stuck with (low man on the totem pole!!) i may also look to pick up a serving/bartending job somewhere for some extra cash. we'll see. one thing at a time i suppose. its just nice to finally feel like things are starting to go my way. before i went to vegas last weekend i managed to set up two interviews for when i returned. i remember thinking, "sweet...maybe things are starting to look up...we'll see how vegas goes." needless to say vegas was awesome, but i also managed to win a few bucks playing blackjack. things were indeed looking up...as was i as i laid on my back, under the sink, in the bathroom, after drinking too much the first day in vegas and effectively passing out by 8pm. yea. good times in vegas...

needless to say the interviews i set up went well...at least the one with comcast. i felt good about the other one, but apparently not good enough because i have yet to hear back from them and they said i would know by friday. comcast said i'd know by monday, then called to offer me a job on friday. so my weekend started off on a good note and not even finding out bob saget was sold out could dampen my good spirits. then, later friday night i found out my good friends are having a baby boy. BABY BOY CROUCH '09!!! i've been a strong advocate of these two having a kid for a good two years now maybe (awhile anyway)...so needless to say i was super excited when they told me they were going to start trying, even more excited when i found out they were pregnant, and then freaking ecstatic to find out i was right in my prediction that they're having a boy. well i'm super excited for the little dude, not that i was right (tho that's always a good feeling too :D).

the rest of the weekend was nothing too exciting, tho i did enjoy the oscars tonight. quite a bit actually. as much as really don't care for hugh jackman, he was a very good host...and a much better singer than i would've ever imagined. kudos to you hugh. ugh. i mean really. how much can you like someone named hugh? such a ridiculous name. hugh grant is even worse...tho he's hilarious in love actually. that movie is just plain awesome. serious. not sure how this went from my job with comcast to love actually but it did...so deal. i remembered, from the bits and pieces i had previously seen, that love actually was some crappy chick flick...wrong. its fabulous...even if you just watch it for bill nighy its totally worth it. trust me. go watch it if you don't believe me and then try and tell me its not worth owning. i dare you. (challenging look of intimidation...rawr)

i have plenty of other things i could, and probably will blog about but after bringing up love actually its got me thinking about second chances. it is so easy to write something or someone off after one encounter...or a partial one or whatever. too easy. a friend of mine has a "try it five times" rule. i think its mostly applied to restaurants (bless your heart for continuing to go to greenwood mandarin with us) but perhaps its applied to life in general. not sure why i felt like a parenthetical "apologetic/pity shout out" was necessary there bc i doubt he reads my blog...meh.

so. second chances. sometimes third, fourth and fifth chances. unless you completely botch the first chance, chances are you still have at least one more shot. this applies to life in general...whether its meeting new people, impressing a superior, making new friends, pursuing a love interest, a movie, music, food, anything. this doesn't mean your first impression or snap judgements are always wrong, because they often remain unchanged even after several more chances. i just think life, and everything that comprises it, deserves at least a second look. like ferris bueller said, "life moves pretty fast...if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." you'll miss it, or miss out on it because you discounted it too soon.

not sure why i suddenly felt so strongly about second chances and due consideration. in part because i recently watched love actually...in part because i just read a friend's blog entry and she touched on giving things, specifically music, a second listen before discounting it...in part because i just realized i applied for this same position with comcast a few months ago and got nowhere, then gave it another shot and now i'm gonna get free comcast (neener neener...sorry i couldn't resist a good neener neener opportunity). i was also just thinking about a quote a friend of mine has at the bottom of her email: "you've got your whole life to do something, and that's not very long." the quote, or perhaps song lyric, comes from ani difranco, and ties in quite well with my 'more than one look/chance' tangent i'm on right now. people always say you have your whole life to do this or that, but that's really not that long. i guess what i'm trying to advocate is that by giving things a second chance, you're going to be pleasantly surprised by how many more things in life you actually enjoy, but would've never known if you hadn't given it its due diligence.

ok i have to get up and be a functional human tomorrow so that comcast will still want to hire me...that means i need to get to bed here shortly. i wanted to conclude with one last mantra if you will. at some point in my four years at whitworth college, i belive it was during a class, someone who was most likely the professor said something that has stuck with me rather vividly...and it fits in too well for me not to share it with you. the professor talked of how people always said "take it easy" when they were finished talking to friends, or acquaintances they bump into in the halls. instead the professor suggested that we do away with "take it easy" and replace it with "be diligent." really think about it. i promise if you say that to someone instead of take it easy its going to catch them off guard...and hopefully make them think about what you said. its taken me 25+ years and five months of being unemployed to fully realize something so simple, but we do "take it easy" far too often. i know i have.

so in conclusion i guess i'm challenging anyone who reads this to be more diligent...however you can apply that to your life...which i'm guessing is in more ways than you care to admit. at the very least replace "take it easy" with "be diligent" and enjoy how it catches people off guard, and just maybe the phrase will find a way to work a little more diligence into your life...or at least make you watch love actually [again] so you know why "eight is a lot of legs...david" is so funny :)