#44 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

As you may have heard, my darling friends, I FINALLY got the job offer!  I officially “start” on Monday and get to fill out all the paperwork in New Employee Orientation.  Whew!  I should be the happiest girl in the whole world, right?

You would think so, wouldn’t you?

Unfortuntely, the fates and my darling Sig Oth have conspired against me.  Let me preface this by saying that this may be the first opportunity I have not sabotaged for myself in an EXTREMELY long time.  To put it mildly, I have problems.  But I’ve been working on them, and my life has sort of kind of become a less topsy-turvy dramatic place to be.  No, seriously.  Stop laughing.  Part of this has been due to my lovely Sig Oth, whose bull-shit-o-meter is freakin’ SPOT ON.  I mean, you can’t pull nothin’ over on this guy.  So I’ve been forced to become more reliable, accountable, and all those other -ables I have avoided almost my entire adult life*.  Anyway, the culmination of this life stabilization has been suiting up, showing up, putting in the hours at this company, and getting a decent job offer.  Everything’s coming up roses.  But I have a dilemma.  A serious one. 

My beautiful S.O. has a health condition that has become unbearable due to the 2 cats we have.  In all fairness to me I came with just the one cat and he, knowing that he was highly allergic, brought home the other one, but whatever.  So now I am being forced to give up the one little guy who has never let me down, my darling little Phrank.  I am absolutely heartbroken.  Phrank has been w/me for what?  13 years?  He was the tiniest little runt, with his little brown and white spots and smudge nose.  There is no other kitty w/coloring like him in the entire world.  And now,  he is contributing to my SO’s SERIOUS health problems, and I am going to be forced to do something I swore I would NEVER do: give him (and Glennda) to someone, hopefully my mom or dad.  My SO’s family is rightfully concerned for his health, and they have begun to try to broach the subject w/me and it has made me angry and defensive beyond belief.  They have never had pets in the family, and they don’t consider them “one of us.”  They simply could never and will never have any idea what I am going through even SUGGESTING such a thing.  Let’s put this on context: Phrank has outlasted several guy epochs in my life.  I got him while I was w/Frankenstein.  That endly badly.  I had him while I was with The Sweet Quiet Boy.  Slow trainwreck.  Next, I moved up to NYC w/Phrank & Penelope (rest her lil kitty soul!) in the cab of my U-Haul w/absolutley NOTHING.  He made it through the dark Abusive Englishman days.  And now, here is a man asking me to get rid of my kitties; that it’s him or them, essentially, b/c they are posing a real threat to his health. 

I thought everything would be ok.  I knew that he was allergic but so was my dad when, way back in the day, I had to give him my cat Pixel while I went away to Smith College.  My dad had awful allergies at first, but he developed the necessary antibodies to the antihistamines or whatever the fuck happens to people as their bodies adapt to allergens, and now he has a veritable menagerie of pets with only the seasonal allergy bothering him.  I thought this would happen w/SO.  But it never did.  He saw his doctor the other day and she said that if it hadn’t happened in 2  1/2 years, it wasn’t gonna happen.  And if he didn’t get away from the source of his allergies then his condition could worsen.  He could actually DIE from the asthmas that has been plaguing him.  Is this freakin’ possible????  I am so sad and heart-broken and sick.  And I can’t help it when the nagging thought at the back of my head comes screaming so loudly I think the person next to me can hear: WHAT HAPPENS IF THIS RELATIONSHIP, TOO, FAILS, AND I HAVE GIVEN HIM AWAY FOR NOTHING?  Of course I would be losing little Glennda, too, but Phrank and I have an attachment that is the closest thing to motherhood I will ever feel.  I raised him from a little baby, I took care of him, and he has been a part of my life for many, many years.  Hell, I even paid for that ridiculously expensive iodine treatment to fix his freakin’ thyroid!  And I’m supposed to just get rid of him, just like that?  But we are talking abou the health and happiness of the real man I have committed myslef to, here.  It should be a no-brainer, right?  Wrong.  I am dying inside.  It hurts so badly that for half a minute last night I had convinced myself  that I was going to run away from him and this new job this weekend with my kitties and all my belongings, somewhere far away where I would be accepted with my 2 kitties w/open arms, somewhere safe.  NY has been so incredibly hard on me.  I act like I am strong and powerful and I can rise above anything but I have been knocked down again and again.  This city has handed me my ass over and over and I am so sick of fighting.  I am ready for my life to be easy again.  To have love, health, friends, money, fun, success, craziness, travels, adventures; all the things I have told myself that I used to have, some long ago, ill-defined, hazy time ago.  I ran away from my life down South b/c it was killing me.  I knew that I could make myself a star here.  Well, I’m a star in my own little universe but I don’t burn nearly as brightly as I once did and I am afraid sometimes if I don’t get out of here I won’t burn at all.  I am afraid this sensible man I have chosen will strip me of all the lust for life that’s made me who I am for so very long.  And that all these concessions I have made to him will be in vain.

So here I am starting another chapter of my life, and I am already ready for it to close.  If I can convince my mom or my dad to take the cats then that will be something.  But not much.  So yay for my new job, that I don’t even really want, that I have to take to survive this fucked up life I have chosen for myself here.  Maybe I’ll feel better about these decisions in the morning.  Or on Monday.  Or next month.  But maybe not.  

So I guess since I have a job I will be discontinuing this blog, but I think it will re-emerge in some other incarnation in the near future.  I wish those of you who are still looking for jobs the best of luck.  It’s a tough world out there.  I used to laugh at people who didn’t move out from their parents’ house.  Now I’m thinking those people were really, really smart.             

*Where did things go wrong?  I was the most driven, focused, hard-working kid you would ever hope to meet.  An A-student.  Gymanastics, ballet, jazz, piano class, you name it.  Oh; that’s right.  I remember what did it now.

#43 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

 

Step right up!  Come one; come all!  Guess what today is?!?!!?  Today is the day I get to interview with the CEO for whom I’ve been temping for JUST SHY OF 4 MONTHS.  No joke.  In less than one hour I get to go in and have a “formal” interview w/the man I’ve been working for, day in and day out, since June 23.  I hafta admit I was dumbfounded when they told me that this would be the next phase toward becoming a F/T employee.  So here I am, all suited up, nervous as hell.  I mean, what information, REALLY, is he going to glean from this interview that he hasn’t been able learn in 4 FREAKIN’ MONTHS????  All I know is that I will jump through all the hoops they throw at me, no matter how high, b/c  I NEED THIS JOB.  But do I feel like I’m in the circus?  Abso-feakin-lutely.  Wish me luck!

#42 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

So here’s the latest on my job front: they really, truly, finally want to move forward w/the hiring process and it’s down to me and one other person.  I looked on the CEO’s calendar and hers is next Tue.  The HR woman came to me and told me that to make things official I would be interviewing w/the CEO as well.  Really?  The guy I’ve been working for for 3 1/2 months?  Oooookaaaaaay.  Whatever.  So today is jeans Fri and JUST IN CASE he decided to interview me today (it could be any time now, she said) I wore cute black and grey plaid pants, a white button down (didn’t tuck it in) and a loosely knotted thin grey tie.  You know, just in case, since they don’t think it’s important enough to actually set up a time w/me.  I am seriously getting fed up.  But I want (read: need) this job, so what’s a down-on-her-luck girl to do? -  Take it; that’s right.  I told my friend M (who temped for A YEAR before they offered her the job) and she asked if they were going to ask me to run an obstacle course next.  I responded no, just jump through some hoops.  Haha!  See?  I haven’t lost my humour.  Not yet, at least. 

I am feeling a little down and out b/c my finances are just dreadful.  I’m doing ok now that I’m making SOME money, but just as I was beginning to feel ahead of the game my checking account take a MAJOR hit.  It seems the landlords had held onto both Aug & Sep checks, and they decided to cash them both on Mon.  I was wondering why I had so much* money in my account!  Well now I’m REALLY feeling cash-poor, and to make matters worse there is a Revolting Cocks show this Sat that I really, really want to go, and now, of course, I have to deny myself that pleasure.  It feels like all I do these days is deny myself, and I gotta tell ya, I’m really getting sick of it!  Ok, to clarify, I denied myself ALL OF LAST YEAR b/c I was too poor to leave the house.  Now, since I’ve been working, I’ve actually been able to do little things here and there again, and it felt GRRRRRREAT!**  So now that I hafta reign it all back in, even just this one thing, it hurts that much more.  I’m getting used to treating myself to little things again: meeting friends for drinks every once in a while, brunch (gasp!), you know, the things I used to do ALL THE TIME before the bottom fell out.  B/c I mean seriously, who DOESN’T  want to see Al Jorgensen and Gibby Haynes rock it out w/the Cocks????  LOVE THEM.  Seriously. 

So enough poor lil’ me crap.  I am going to tow the line until I get this job and then watch. the. fuck. out.  This girl will go to whatever show/party/brunch/outing that she wants.  Until then, keep it in check.  Get this job, get the salary.  Damn I hate growing up.  Priorities are a bitch.      

*It’s all relative

**Shouted in best Tony the Tiger voice

#41 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

 

Ok, as many of you know I am not technically unemployed.  I have been temping for just over the past 3 months!  And while I have been overjoyed to be able to pay rent, eat, and go out sometimes, I am becoming quite anxious and impatient to get the actual job offer.  You see, my headhunter called me on Sept. 8 and told me that the company I’m temping for was FINALLY requesting the paperwork to start negotiating my hire.  I was ecstatic!  Even when he told me that they had lowered the offer by $5k.  Not even THAT dampened my spirits.  So what if they lowered it a measly 5 grand?  It’s still good money, more than I’ve ever made!  I should be happy!  And I was.  But now here we are 3 weeks later and neither my headhunter nor I have heard boo about when I’m going to actually get the offer, or when my hire date will be!  It is incredibly hard to remain patient and try not to spazz out.  And I find it incredibly insulting that they wouldn’t move quickly on this.  I mean, this is my life, my fiscal life here, and the difference between a salary w/bennies and temp wages is great.  Sure, b/c of these temp wages I have been able to actually live for the first time in what? a year? year and a half?  I mean, I’m not making peanuts.  But I’m not making a salary or being paid anywhere near what I’m worth, and that is really starting to get to me.  What if they make me hold on until the new year?  What if they wait an entire year to make the offer?  Did I tell you that this happened to my friend M???  She was stuck in a holding pattern by the company she was temping for FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR!  That is such a ludicrous abuse of the system, and it does not make for happy employees.  The whole idea behind a temp, or temp-to-perm, is to try someone out, see how they fit in your corporate culture, no strings attached.  If it works out, great, you have an automatic employee.  If not, thanks for your help, and let’s see someone else.  This company has already decided to negotiate hiring me, and now that they have paperwork they are just sitting on it.  It’s frustrating and insulting and belittling.  But let’s never forget that I am also stupid grateful to even have a job at all!  Let’s face it, I’ve said it before: this is not my dream job, not by any stretch of the imagination.  But it is a GOOD JOB, a solid job, a relatively DRAMA-FREE job!  And that goes a loooong way in my book.  The people are nice, they let me stick to myself, and I get my work done and don’t bother anyone. 

So what I have decided to do is re-post my resume and actively begin searching again.  After the first month (I was originally told they would hire after 30 days) I made it known that I was still a temp and that I would still interview should the opportunity arise.  Of course the real problem is that the opportunity hasn’t arisen.  Nada.  Zip.  Zero.  Another headhunter called me on Monday to ask if she could send my resume out but I haven’t heard anything back from her.  That’s when I re-did my resume and logged back on to CareerBuilder.  Dear God how I hate that site.  I hate all job sites, as it were, right now, b/c they are just filled w/agencies.  Last year the majority of interviews I went on were for agencies, headhunters, not actual jobs.  It became maddening, infuriating.  But I suited up and showed up, in the off chance that they would be able to find something, ANYTHING for me.  And it wasn’t until June that my v fave agency, Euromode, found this position for me.  I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong.  But it’s time for them to do the right thing  and hire me already.  Maybe if they see that I have another job interview they’ll kick it into high gear.  I considered (just for a brief, teeny tiny moment) MAKING UP AN INTERVIEW, just to, you know, let them know that I am indeed desireable, from a job point of view.  But instead I decided to get myself back out there online and see if I get any takers.  I responded to 2 jobs today, and so far, no word.  But at least I feel like I am taking and active role in my employment opportunities, and not just taking the first thing that comes along.  Unless it’s the only thing.  Then I’m on it like white on rice.  You know?  I just hate feeling desperate.  B/c I’m not.

#40 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

Well hello there!  I haven’t been around b/c…ahem…I’ve been WORKING!  But here’s the catch: it’s a temp job.  During my long unemployment stint I visited every head hunter and job placement agency in the city.  The best by far is a company called Euromonde that deals predominantly with European clients and job seekers who speak French, Italian, Spanish, etc.  As I am fluent in French I was happy to learn of them.  They are the ones who got me the recurring temp job I had last year at the French finance company.  And every couple of months they would check in w/me to see if I was ok and to commiserate about the state of the job market in NYC and the US in general.  I cannot sing their praises loudly enough.  They are great!  So anyway, I had to go down to FL to visit my grandmother who is in the last stages of Alzheimers.  I was nearing the end of my trip when Euromonde called see if I could go to an interview.  I was a bit stressed from the nature of my visit, but they have always been good to me, as I mentioned before, so I agreed.  They said the position did not involve my language skills but they were on excellent terms with the HR woman and they needed someone pronto.  I agreed to come in that Monday as I was flying back late Saturday night.  That Monday I suited up and went in.  The HR woman and I hit it off right away.  But to my surprise the interview was over in literally 10 mins; never a good sign!  The last time I had a short interview was at Chanel, and we all know how well THAT turned out.  I am still kicking myself for how badly I blew that one.  Anyway, I was too embarrassed to call Euromonde to report that my interview was already over so I waited until I got home to call.  To my surprise they said HR had loved me and they wanted me to start tomorrow!  The only catch was the company had had bad luck before so now they were trying a new system: 30 day temp-to-perm, which meant I would temp for 30 days, and at the end of that period they would decide if they wanted to offer me the job, and I could decide if I wanted to stay or not.  Fine w/me!  So that’s what I’ve been doing.  The only problem is yesterday I wrote the agency a note saying basically hi, my 30 days are almost up; any word on an offer?  And they wrote back that they spoke w/HR and the company was in a holding pattern and I should just sit tight.  Hmmmm.  See, that’s all fine and dandy for them, but in the meantime I’m earning temp hourly wages and no health bennies.  And to make matters worse, I have a good friend who has been in this “holding pattern” with a company FOR OVER A YEAR!  I am freaking just a teensy bit.  While this may not be my dream job, it is a good j0b.  And, as so many people are reminding me, ANY job is a good job these days!  So my hands are tied.  I’m going to sit tight for now but I will keep you posted.  Wish me luck!

#39 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

So are you ready for the latest in my descent into financial ruin?  I was online Tuesday trying to get a flight for my mom (we’re going to see my grandmother who is now in full-blown Alzheimer’s and may not know who we are for too much longer) and Orbitz wasn’t taking my AmEx.  Now I never, EVER have trouble with my beloved Gold card.  It’s the ONLY card I’ve kept in good standing throughout this whole ordeal.  I love it, and it’s the only card I wanted to keep.  Well, I called up Customer Service and was informed that, after reviewing my credit rating and my standing with other credit cards, my gold card had been canceled.  Apparently they sent the letter on May 28.  I was furious.  I asked if they were aware that Obama had just passed a credit card reform bill that does not allow credit cards to use your standing with other companies to cancel or raise your APR.  Whatever.  I screamed “good luck ever getting my final payment!” and hung up on them.  I made huge monthly payments to keep this card in good standing.  Now it’s going to go to collections just like the rest.  I have no incentive to ever pay them or get another AmEx.  Wasn’t I paying them for the privilege of having that card anyway???  Fuck that.  Fortunately I had enough in my checking account to buy the damn ticket for my mom outright.  I had purchased mine 2 weeks earlier, on my AmEx.  Screw you, AmEx!  Thanks for the “free” trip to FL!

So here’s the deal w/my ever-spiraling debt: I called 311 and asked for a legit debt counseling service and spoke w/someone for almost an hour.  And here is what he told me: there are many ways to manage out-of-control debt, including finding a good debt-consolidation company that can negotiate some of the fees and interest down for you.  But then he told me about another option.  One that is perfect if you don’t care that your credit score is in free-fall and can only get worse.  He said I can let my account “zero out.”  That basically means that it goes from the credit card companies’ collections to a REAL, 3rd party collections agency.  Now we all know that these people are not known for their civility, humanity or tact.  But the great thing about collection agencies is that they purchase your debt for pennies on the dollar.  The credit card company “zeroes out” your debt, and they claim it as a loss.  ANY money that the collections agency then gets for them is bonus.  So, what I need to do now is save up as much as possible, and when the collections people start calling/writing, I musty be ready to make a cut-throat offer on my own debt to send in right away.  It will look something like this: say I owed $5k on 1 credit card.  It went to that cards’ collections services, and they weren’t able to get a payment plan for payment in full of this debt.  They zero out my account, and that debt is sold to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar (maybe for, say, $2k, if that much).  The collection agency then contacts me for the full $5k, but they say if I can pay $4k right now then they can make the other grand go away.  I must be prepared to play hardball and say I can send them a check for $2,500 RIGHT NOW, and see if they take it.  I have halved my debt, the collection agency made some money, and they got some money back for the credit card.  Then I do that for each and every credit card I own(ed).  It looks really bad on my credit history that my accounts have gone to collections, but if I can pay them off quickly then my credit will be cleaned up in no time.  I used to have beautiful credit.  It usually hovered somewhere around 790.  I knew how to pay over my minimum and keep a nice amount of revolving debt at all time and how to play the APR game.  Then the bottom fell out.  Believe me, it freaked me the fuck out to see my credit score swan dive into oblivion (can your credit go into negative numbers?  I guess we’ll see!).  And now that I can’t afford to pay all the fees and fines and bullshit that has accumulated on those cards, this is the best and only solution for me.  It may not be for you, but I had to share.  Good luck with that debt!

#38 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

Happy summer, everyone!  So my job with the Census has officially ended.  Now I’m working freelance here and there and trying to stay ahead of the game.  I have been without insurance and a 401k for over a year now.  The good news is that I got my deposit back from my old landlord.  Will wonders never cease!?!?!?  The bad news is I’m still fighting the IRS on the $19k they say I owe from 2006.  Nightmare!  Anyway, just wanted to check in and say I’m still alive.

Oh, and I’m back into riding my bike!  It is the best way to start the day.  I get up and head over to the lovely bike trails around the East River and the Hudson and just chill and look at the water.  It is very Zen and I’m digging it the most.  I will get back in shape, dammit!  A really icky part of this whole unemployment fiasco has been the massive weight gain.  My goal is to get Madonna-fit, circa, 1998.  You know, Ray of Light Madonna, before she got all super-mega hard????  Like that.

#37 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

Well, hello there!  It feels like FOREVER since I’ve written.  OK, so I’m not technically unemployed at the moment, but I will be again soon.  The Census thing has gone really well but it’s about  over.  I got 40 hours/week for what, 5 weeks now?  The big shocker was that I was expecting to have work for like a year, since the Census doesn’t go out ’til April 2010, but boy howdy, was I mistaken.  Apparently they do the job in phases.  Mine was supposed to be an 8-week phase, but we finished up so quickly that we’re winding down the work now.  I have to admit I am pretty terrified to see what my check will be like when I’m not hitting those 40 hours.  Nightmare.  So this is what we did in a nutshell: the Crew Leader and I managed 25 people who would go out and check how many units are in each apartment building, townhouse, etc.  We were simply verifying addresses for the ballots to be sent out next year.  This is important b/c there was a shit-ton of development over the past 10 years, and a shit-ton of wealth which led to lots of new construction, conversions, and combinations of apartments.  We had to get all that new info into the database.  You’d think this would be easy work but, b/c this is NYC, our people were often met w/asshole management companies or supers or tenants who had performed illegal renovations and they didn’t want anyone to know.  It was really fun doing some sleuthing and getting the info to our people so they could close up their assigned areas.  In one case I went out to a building personally to talk to the doorman and the super.  Even though I have gained weight I am not what you would call a large woman, and the super was 6′4″ and built like a Mack truck.  He said I was “bullying” them for information, and he said “I don’t know who you are.  You could be a terrorist for all I know” (meanwhile I am wearing my official US Census badge, w/my official US Census bag, holding my official US Census handheld computer).  He proceeded to ask if I was born in the Middle East; if I were a terrorist (because terrorists apparently go around asking what units are in apartment buildings, rather than just renting the damn thing and calling little or no attention to themselves.  But I digress).  I smiled and replied in my best Southern accent that I was born right here in these United States, and winked and asked was he?  Because he sure had a funny-sounding accent to me.  It was hysterical, but I was livid.  The Census (and I) could care less where this guy was born or what he was hiding.  We just needed to know what the damn units in the building are called (1A, 2F, 3C, etc). What a moron! Turns out the management company, Halstead, had a crapload of violations at that address and just didn’t want anyone snooping around.  Well, get over it!  It’s in the freaking Constitution that we take a Census every 10 years.  Don’t act so surprised!  And in case you didn’t know, this info is used to determine how many Representatives NY gets in the Senate, and how much Federal money we receive.  So it’s pretty damn important.  Oh, and the information is sealed for 70+ years, so it doesn’t go to Marketing, or whatever conspiracy theories are out there.  And for those of you wondering why we don’t just get the info from the Post Office, you may be surprised to learn that they only have record of individual building addresses, not the units contained therein.  And since when does ANY government agency work w/the other, anyway?  I mean seriously.  So be nice to the poor Census people you see this next year!  They get a lot of shit for trying to get your tax dollars to work for you.

Overall this has been a really good experience, though.  I was a Crew Leader Assistant and our team was the tops.  They were organized, motivated, and funny as hell.  I totally loved them.  Our team finished up our part of the the East side rather quickly (since I was hired in my old ‘hood, that was my area).  Since then they moved me to help out a downtown area that needed help, and than over to a huge mess on the West side.  My Crew Leader and I stepped in, cleaned it up, and got it finished in 2 days!  The higher-ups were duly impressed.  I always forget how good I am at managing people.  Anyway, now  we have to deal with some Quality Control issues and then we’re done.  There might be more work on the horizon as new phases are put into play.  But that, of course, means that SOON I will be back on the dole.

But here is an interesting little tidbit.  Out of nowhere, and I mean, it’s been like 4  months at the least, 2 HEADHUNTERS CALLED ME IN ONE DAY to tell me about two different jobs that are hiring.  So, dare I hope?  Companies just MIGHT  be starting to hire again.  I gotta tell ya, I would continue doing this Census thing if it were steady work.  I am TERRIFIED of going back on the job market.  But I updated my resume and sent it to the headhunters so I guess we’ll just have to see.

#36 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

So I guess this will be my last post under this title for a while (I hope), for as of tomorrow I will no longer be unemployed: I start training for my new job w/the US Census tomorrow morning at 9 ay em.*  And can I just tell you I am nervous as hell?  It’s like the first day of school all over again.   I haven’t had to go play nicely w/others for A YEAR NOW.  I don’t want to go.  And what’s worse is I have this feeling that I should have done so much more w/that time.  I could have written my novel, learned Cantonese, volunteered at a shelter, or gotten in wicked Madonna-10- years-ago shape.  Instead I sat around worrying, pitying myself, looking for jobs that simply did not exist.  I completely blew it!!!!  So here’s my advice to you, the unemployed masses: do something you enjoy EVERY DAY.  I think you’re supposed to do that in life anyway, but seriously.  When else are you going to have all this free time on your hands?!!?  Right now, I seriously want it all back.  I’m having mini anxiety attacks.  I don’t want to go to training!  I don’t want to go back to work!  It’s so funny how only at the end do we realize what we truly want.  Nightmare.  But I’m going to go.  I’m getting everything I need ready for my 1st day: laptop bag: check; notebook and working pens: check; comfy but edgy outfit: check; directions to get to the training facility: check.  Now if only I could stop these little freak outs I’m having everything would be ok.  I’m sure everything is going to be fine.  I can do this.

So good luck to me on my first day back to work.  I’m getting a decent hourly wage (no bennies b/c it’s a long-term temp job, but hey), flexible hours, and what I hope will amount to lots and lots of exercise.

I’ll come up w/ a new way to report on life in the working class (again).  Hey, maybe that’s what I’ll call it.  Stay tuned, and good luck w/your own job search!

*Tribute to Julia Phillips. RIP party girl.  I totally got you.

#35 damn! i’m broke and jobless! or how to survive the unemployment blues

So I haven’t even started my new job and I almost lost it.  I felt like  a complete and utter idiot.  I’m supposed to start training for the US Census on Monday.  I was hired to work in my old neighborhood, a part of NYC that my Sig Oth affectionately referred to as being at the corner of Rich & White.  As you know, we just moved waaaaay downtown.  I made a mental note to myself that I wouldn’t mention the move to anyone in the census except maybe whomever handles payroll, since they might need my current address.  Well, yesterday I may have blown this job.  My supervisor called to give me info and was explaining how to get to the training site.  I was cheerful and pleasant, and like an idiot, just a wee bit too talkative.  As she was giving me directions I chimed in with a question about taking the train.  I said I had the F train “right by me.”  ”OH?  She asked.  ”I was told everyone would be from the neighborhood we’re representing.”  And the F train ain’t in my old ‘hood.  D’oh! Foot in freakin’ mouth.  ”Well,” I stammered, “I just moved.  Literally, like 2 weeks ago.”  ”I see,” she said.  Crap!  I totally and completely may have just screwed myself out of this job!  Because we are supposed to live and work in the neighborhood we’re representing.  Well, I lived there when I took the test; I was there when I got the call that I was hired; and now I’ve moved.  Anyway, the supervisor sent me an email requesting my new address and I sent this to explain why I’m no longer in that ‘hood:.

I lived at the corner of Rich & White for 3 years.  Because of the economy I just moved downtown 2 weeks ago.  I am very familiar with Murray Hill and the surrounding areas having lived and worked there for a total of 7 years.

I am currently in a tenement on the LES*.

Perhaps I’m reading too much into it but I am just sick about this.  I really, really, really hope I didn’t mess this thing up!

*Here Italics  indicate where I changed the addresses.