Update and my apologies

I am so sorry I have been so lax on my blog. Since I have started on at the employment agency, I have been very busy. I love my job. No REALLY, I love my job. I get to meet new people every single day, and I have the opportunity to change lives. When one thinks of occupations that make an impact on people, most of us immediately think of nurses, doctors, policemen, firemen.... you get the drift. It never occurred to me to think of a staffing consultant. It may not be glamorous. It may not be too terribly exciting. But I have the responsibility of placing the right person in the right job. I get to be the person who helps put the food on others tables. It's what I have always wanted to do. Make a difference. I have had jobs that I have loved, but those jobs were, well, jobs. This "job" is probably going to be my career. Unless something drastic happens, I can see myself doing this for a very long time. This is how I am going to make a difference. I get to give people second chances. I get to go to work everyday knowing that someone just like me, will have a job tomorrow.

I have to give you a great example. I interviewed a guy yesterday. We will call him "TJ". He had gotten himself into some trouble and was just released from prison. You all know the story. 25 years old, black male, busted for drugs. Seems like an obvious "red flag", but I got to talking with this kid. I mean really talk to him. He is so committed to cleaning up his life. He is really committed to cleaning up his life. All he wants is for someone to give him another shot. I get to be the person that does that. I signed him on and put him to work. General labor, but he has a job. I can sleep at night, knowing that I was able to help this person take care of his family. Anyway, I don't want to make this all about my job, but that has been my focus for so long that I almost don't know what else to say.

Oh but I will.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, my parents will be here around the 10th of August. I can't wait. I went home to Cali last summer, but it's been more than a decade since mom and dad have come to see me. I am very excited. I will let you know if, and when. Meantime, I will try to be more communicative here.

Whoohoo!

First off, let me apologize for being so quiet. That job I had cleaning really wiped me out. Then Monday I came down with a bad case of backache. I don't know if it the arthritis in my spine, the humidity that rolled through, tired muscles due to the cleaning job, or a combination of one or more. So, I came home at noon on Monday and didn't go back. I am still in pain, but it seems to be subsiding.

In the mean time, the employment agency got me an interview for what they would only refer to as "something like inside sales". Hmmm, ok. It was an in-house interview, meaning I would be speaking with the manager of the agency itself. I went at 8:30 this morning, truly not knowing what to expect. About 20 minutes into the interview, he dropped the bomb that the job was in house. In other words, he wanted to know if I wanted to work for THEM. LOL!!! Seems that my agents (Seth and Kathy) were so impressed with me, that when the position came up, they recommended me right away. How cool is that??? Of course I was thrilled.

After the interview, it became obvious that I had the job before I walked in the door, he just wanted to know if I wanted it. Of course I said yes. Dream job for me. I get to work in an office environment, AND deal with the public. I am so excited and proud of myself. I should say here, that I never did hear about the eye doc job. So his loss, I guess.

I am really looking forward to this job though. The pay is good too. Especially in this town. The best part, its not a "temp" job. I can finally count on a steady paycheck. I'm going to steal a snippet from The Incurable Insomniac and say, File this under: "Whew"

"Vision" of my future

So sorry for the expanse of time between entries. I have still been working at that fire restoration place. But today I have an interview for a real full-time job. I came home to change and still had a bit of time to sit here and blog about it. It is for a front desk receptionist for an Opthamologist's office. With my eyes I would love to work for an eye doctor. There are 2 other people in the running for this, so I have me widdle fingers crossed. Starts between 8 and 9 bucks an hour, depending on experience. Psssshhhhh... I should think I would be closer to the $9.00 range, but 8 would be okay too. Actually a good deal of money for this town. Well, I'm off. Wish me luck!!!

Small towns

I realize that there are plenty of small towns in California, but the small towns here in Oklahoma are amusingly small. On a local radio station here, they announce class reunions. That's not so strange--a good idea really--but one in particular got me giggling. "The reunion will be held at Mr. and Mrs. Soandso's house..." How small did that class have to be to have the reunion at someone's house???

I met someone recently who has never even seen a mall. Wha??? Huh??? This is really odd to someone who grew up so close to "The Valley". I was at the mall as often as possible. The "Mall Crawl" was to a Valley girl what cruising is to a greaser. I have been away from Cali for almost 13 years now, but I am still amazed at the differences. I wonder if I will ever really become accustomed to it.