My job hunt (part 2)

I went to that second interview today -- met the guy at a Starbucks. We sat down and he gave me his pitch. Asked me all sorts of questions: why did it take me 7 years to graduate, what sort of environment do I want in a job, et cetera. I tried to answer as truthfully as I could... while still telling him what I think he wants to hear.

Anyhoo, I liked this guy a lot better than the first recruiter I met with. This guy said he could offer me a low 30's base salary, plus a small amount of commission for every candidate I matched up with a client. That sounds kind of nice starting off.

The job process would be similar... a bunch of cold phone calls. Still not sure that's what I want to do for a career, but so far that's the only offers I've had. Really wish the Art Institute would call me back. Maybe I should call them?

I left a message for this lady named Stacy Knight with Nortel, asking her to give me a call back at her earliest convenience. I told her I was very interested in the Human Resources position up in Raleigh, so I am hoping she wants to have an interview with me.

If I did move to Raleigh I could live with John for a while, then either get my own place or get a bigger apartment with John once his lease is up. The downside of moving would be leaving all my friends here in Atlanta. The upside would be making lots of money. I could always visit you guys, right?

My roommate purchased a new house recently (e.g. 2 days ago), so he's in the process of moving all his stuff out of the place. It's looking kind of empty here... except of course for my room. Haha. I need to find some boxes or something soon. Isn't there a place where you can BUY boxes? Hrm...

Alright, well I should probably get some sleep. I have yet another interview tomorrow with yet another recruiting agency. Sheesh! At least I'm getting some free coffee and lunches for my trouble...

My job hunt

Finding a job is almost like HAVING a job... only you still get to sleep in in the mornings.

Today I interviewed with Randstad to see if they can find any job openings for me. They made me take a "Basic Computer Skills" and "Word 2000" test when I arrived. The first test was asking me questions like:

1/2 + 1/4 = ?

Seriously? Come on Randstad... And then there was the spelling and grammar section. I got every single question correct... EXCEPT two of the spelling ones. Go figure!

Last Friday I talked with a friend of Dana's about a recruiting position. He explained what recruiters do and how they do it. Basically I would be making a bunch of phone calls every morning trying to bring people in to interview. I'd be like a telemarketer, only trying to get people new jobs. I'm not sure if that's what I want to do... plus it's commissioned based, and my mother always warned me to stay away from jobs like that. He rubbed me the wrong way, so I'm probably going to decline his offer.

Anyhoo, I have another interview set up for tomorrow and I am still hoping to hear back from the Art Institute and John's company, Nortel. They better get a move on if they want to recruit me!

The answer to the last puzzle was: Kid Harpoon. You guys were close though! Following Jen's instructions, you can fold the paper into a catcher of sorts that looks like a pyramid. The outside ring says "Childish" and the inside rings (put together) spell "Dreaming." Kid Harpoon has a song named exactly that. So there ya go.

Here is the puzzle for today, which I am sure everyone will be able to solve:


Good luck! And in case you cannot read the text here is what it says:

Jonny Lee Miller
Was married to -------- -----
Who recently had the child of ---- ----
Was once engaged to ------- -------
Who dated her Shakespeare in Love co-star --- -------
Who was engaged to -------- -----
Who starred in Out of Sight with ------ -------
Whose co-star in Ocean's Eleven was ----- -------
Who went to My Best Friend's Wedding with ------- ----
Who had A Life Less Ordinary with director ----- -----
Who directed Trainspotting which starred
Jonny Lee Miller

My lack of response

This is the second time something like this has happened. I receive an email. I read it, but do not have time to respond. My day continues and I forget about the email for whatever reason. Two days later, I get another email accusing me of not responding on purpose because it's obvious that I do not want to talk to them or be their friend anymore.

There are three things you need to know about me.

1. I currently have 28 voicemails on my cell I have not listened to.
2. I try to respond to emails as I receive them, but sometimes I do not have time.
3. I am blonde, and therefore I forget things.

Now I know the last one is not a real excuse, but I can be forgetful at times. I will be having a conversation with someone and they will ask me a question. I will ignore it at the moment because of whatever reason, but then 5 minutes later I remember what the person asked, so I will go back and answer the question.

I have 7 emails I have sent in the past 3 days to various people. I have not heard back from any of them yet. Am I to assume that they no longer wish to communicate with me? Heck no. I assume they are busy and will get back to me at his or her earliest convenience.

Sheesh.

ANYHOO, the answer to yesterday's Perplex City puzzle card was in fact #4. Congratulations Mike! Here's the puzzle for today... What artist?

My find of the week

This is probably one of the cooler websites I have stumbled across this past week. It opens a full screen browser window that LOOKS like Microsoft Word and converts the webpage itself into plain text (strips all images and most formatting). It's the perfect way to browse the net while avoiding the eyes of your boss at work or school. Check it out, seriously.

In other news I started playing a game called Perplex City last week, which is actually quite fun. If you have no idea what I'm talking about the basic premise is this:

The CUBE was stolen from Perplex City. It's location was tracked to Earth. A company called Mind Candy has been contracted to produce puzzle cards to help
us locate the CUBE. Whomever finds the CUBE wins 200k USD. No kidding.

Here is an example of a card, see if you can solve it:

There are 256 cards in all, ranging from very easy, to extremely difficult. To date there are only four cards which have not been solved correctly. I have about 40 extra cards so if any of you guys want to try a few, just ask and I'll give you some.

Oh, and if you think you know the answer to the card shown above, post a comment, and after a day or so I'll reply with the correct answer. Good luck!

My practical advice

I was told the last blog was boring because I didn't name exactly who I was talking about. Please take a moment to read this blog and see what I am talking about. It's the same stuff no matter how many months you go back.

BUT, that is not the point of this blog. The point is to give everyone some practical advice they can use on a day-to-day basis. Ready?

It's 2006, and I really shouldn't have to tell everyone this, but here are 7 essential elements for leaving me the perfect voicemail:

1. Your name. I don't know who you are. Leave your last name as well if your first name is Jessica or Jennifer.
2. Your phone number. Slowly. I may have deleted you from my contact list.
3. The date and time of your class. I tend to ignore the Verizon woman's voice.
4. A quick summary of why you're calling. There has to be a reason, right?
5. Whether your call needs to be returned. If it's an FYI, say so.
6. When you are or aren't available for a callback. You might be going to see a movie or something.
7. Your name one more time, just in case I still haven't figured out who is calling.

Got it? Good.

Number two (hey number two); How to frame the perfect shot with your digital camera. It might come in handy for Jen Moss's birthday party Saturday night:

Don't center the subject. What you have to do is break the frame into thirds vertically and horizontally, then position the subject on one or more of those intersections. The imbalance creates tension and helps people like Greg focus on what is important. It's called the Rule of Thirds.

WRONG


RIGHT
Third: You can lose 10 pounds in two months if you do the Math. Personally, I've never been good at Math, so that's my excuse... but what's yours?

1. Multiply the pounds you want to lose by the number of calories in a pound of fat: 10x3,500 = 35,000.
2. Divide the total by the days you'll diet: 35,000 / 60 = 583 (thanks TI calculator!)
3. Eat that many FEWER calories each day.

Diet Coke actually makes you crave more calories, so anyone that is trying to lose weight by drinking only that is going down the wrong path. Yes, I am talking to you.

And finally I will share my most trusted, practical piece of advice. How to avoid those buck-fifty charges on your phone whenever you dial 411 to get a number. Ready?

1-800-373-3411

Did you put that in your phone yet? It works like a charm. Oh, you can also dial *368 for the Georgia Department of Transportation and ask them how traffic is for a specific stretch of highway. I use it all the time, which is why traffic doesn't really bother me in Atlanta.

Alright, well take care and I'll see everyone on Saturday! Unless you weren't invited, in which case give me a call and I'll give you directions.

My un-sympathy

Just something that has been bugging me for a while that I feel the need to share with everyone. Maybe it's just me that thinks this... but I find it very annoying when people pull the "have pity on me because of X, Y, and Z" on a daily basis.

I mean sure, there are times when everyone feels self pity, but when you constantly talk about how HORRIBLE your life is... (when it really isn't), it starts to get old and tiresome.

I'm talking about a girl I met only once, but probably know more about her than I should by reading her blog. She posts almost daily about how bad she has it. How she has no food to eat. How she has money problems. How she is so depressed... all the time.

But I look at her life and think she doesn't have it that bad. She has a roof over her head, a boyfriend who loves her, and enough money to pay for a high-speed net connection each month. If you're really out of food, cancel your net access and go buy some groceries. I could live off bread and peanut better for weeks at a time if I HAD to.

I feel as if she posts all her blogs to elicit sympathy comments from anyone who reads them. I actually stopped reading her posts about a month ago, but she keeps posting them with titles that are just as bad. As for me... all I feel is un-sympathy for her. Sorry! But like I said... maybe it's just me.

My missing H

I met the coolest person the other day. Her name is Noa. That's right. Like Noah, but without the H. We instantly bonded. We created our own secret Noa/h handshake that no one else knows and we are now officially BFF. Times 10.

I also met someone named Catherine F. a few weeks ago at school. We were both taking a Gender and Society class over the summer. The teacher was talking about how King James altered the Bible over the years by picking and choosing what Gospels to include and which ones to take out. Catherine immediately raised her hand and questioned this notion:

"Are you saying that the Bible was radically different before King James?"

The teacher responded yes, saying that he left out certain Gnostic Gospels which told a different story of Jesus. Catherine's response?

"But you do realize the so called Gnostic Gospels were written in the second century, almost two hundred years after the death of Christ, while the Gospels that were included originally were written within 70-80 years of Christ's life still in the first century?"

The teacher says, well that is an argument some opponents use. Excuse me? Argument? There is no argument when it comes to fact. The New Testament is one the THE most reliable religious and historical sources. The fact that the books were written within 80 years of the events that happened makes it nearly foil-proof. Other works of the time, Plato and Homer, were not found or translated until 500 years after the fact, and yet they are considered to be accurate and untainted.

After the whole ordeal, I wrote Catherine a short note saying that she was completely right and kudos for her for speaking out against what the teacher was clearly uneducated on. The next week, she thanked me for the note and we had a nice hour long conversation about all things life.

A few days ago we started talking about the phrase in the Bible that says, "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord." Ephesians 5:22 The word submission has such a negative connotation, it's hard to discuss the issue without fully explaining the phrase in context.

I had a discussion with Lynsay F. a few weeks ago about this subject, but I was uninformed and I did not present the argument clearly or effectively, so that's what I would like to do now.

In order to understand the phrase completely, you must first understand three things:

1. Submission is a voluntary action of ranking. You cannot force anyone to be submissive, it has to be of their own free will.
2. It is about order, not value. An analogy can be found in the military. If a Sergeant of 15 years is given an order by a Lieutenant of 15 weeks the Sergeant obeys the order without question as long as it falls into the realm of the Lieutenants authority. If you ask which officer is worth more to the Army, the answer is probably the Sergeant because he has 15 years of experience, while the Lieutenant only has 15 weeks.
3. It only says wives submit to your husbands. It does not say girlfriends submit to your boyfriends or women submit to men.

Going back to point #2, I believe this is what most people do not understand. If submission was about value, and the Bible says that wives submit to their husbands, and husbands submit to Jesus, and Jesus submit to God... then that implies that God is more valuable than Jesus, and we know that not to be the case. On the cross, Jesus could have ended the entire incident with a blink of the eye... but he submitted to his father's will and went through with the Crucifixion instead.

The Bible is clear when it says wives submit to their husbands, children submit to their parents, and workers submit to their employers. Even if you hate your boss or can't stand your father, you should still honor the position even if you don't honor the person.

Guys: The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Does she honor her parents? Does she show them respect? Show me a woman who does neither of those, and I will show you a women who will not honor or respect you as a husband.

Of course people always go to the worse case scenario. What if my husband tells me to stop breathing or go lock myself in the closet for all of eternity? Help you. Those requests are not Biblically founded, and therefore do fall under the category of being submissive.

There are two things she must be as well in order for this concept to be fully understood:

1. She must be submissive to Christ. She can show this by being worshipful, prayerful, and thankful. Show me a woman who does not pray, and I will show you a woman who is not submissive to Christ.
2. She must be submissive to God's purpose of marriage. His design, not yours. The world has corrupted marriage to serve its own purpose... man's version differs from God's.

The purpose of marriage according to God has two main components:

1. Procreation. The raising and socializing of children.
2. Illustration. Leading by example the relationship between Christ and the Church.

Everything else comes second. Happiness? God never said get married to be happy. But if you follow the two guidelines above, you will find happiness in your life.

This blog is getting kind of long, but if you are interested in this subject, I urge you to listen to Voddie Baucham's series called "Marriage by Design." Voddie is extremely knowledgeable about the subject and he'll put my arguments to shame. Go ahead, if you're still reading, click the link and watch the video. Decide for yourself!

Oh and remember men... exalt your wives. It brings honor to God and yourself. As for women... remember that men are like puppies. When they do something good raise your voice a few octaves and say, "that's a GOOD boy!" -- you'll have them trained before you know it.

PS. I wish I didn't have an H...