Snow -- Better Late Than Never

It has been a pretty dry winter this time around, so we've been in real need of moisture. So, God provided some and we seemed to score an entire winter's worth of snow in one spring snow storm. *lol* I believe we had close to a foot where I live and a whole lot more a few miles to the south (16.5" from what I'm told). So, I snapped a shot with my cell phone camera to mark the occasion. ^_^

First Week on the Job

Its strange being back at "The Company" after 3.5 months away. Its almost like I never left. Being the popular guy I am, people all over come by to say "welcome back" and to chat about things. Now that I'm again a contractor, I go back to being a "bastard step child" in terms of how "The Company" views us. Right after I and the others were let go, "The Company" forced all contractors to take massive pay cuts or quit, some upwards of 30% of what they were making. Well, the job market is in "The Company's" favor right now, so they can do that and get away with it.

Of course, "The Company" can deny that they cut wages because their cuts were to what they paid the contract companies. Therefor, the contract companies are the ones who cut the wages. Clever, eh? Not that any contractor buys that crap. They know what the deal is and they don't blame their contract companies. Still, I think "The Company" is playing a dangerous game. Sure, the economy sucks right now (and thank you President Obama for making it worse but that's another issue) and "The Company" can do anything and get away with it. However, eventually the economy will change and people won't put up with this kind of treatment. Further, all it takes is someone channeling their anger in such a way that "The Company" is harmed greatly. That hasn't happened yet, but man, I can see someone snapping and doing something ugly.

Me, I am trying to follow the advice a former boss and mentor gave me -- when you are dealt lemons, make lemonade. So yeah, it does suck making 50% less than I did before (and that's because as an employee of "The Company," I made WAY more than contractors back then though now my pay is pretty much in line with every other contractor's), but I'm learning something new (VMS) and I have an opportunity to score some certs. I can pay my bills, put some aside, and even splurge on a few things if I like (but not too many things). So I am thankful to the Lord for giving me a job at all. There are lots of folks still unemployed after months and months and months of searching.

As to the job itself, I'll be quite proficient within a month. I'm sure my current manager will have me learning his A/S 400 accounts because he knows I'm good like that. ^_^ So begins a new yet old adventure in employment.

Magic Squirrel and Jedi Squirrel

A friend sent me a couple of pictures which just had me laughing. Ah, the secret life of squirrels. Too bad I couldn't find larger versions of these pictures.

The Return

Well, I have a badge again, thus making me a mostly real person at "The Company." Sheeze. It has been rather troublesome to get though, mainly because my contract company contact is an Indian. While "Sudip" speaking English, he doesn't communicate that well in English and so it took quite some time just to square things away. *_*

So, with a badge, I start work immediately. ^_^

Despite not being the ideal situation, I am glad to have a job in this economy. Word is that of the five of us who were let go from my old team, I'm the only one with a job. I hope they can land something soon.

Slick Dogg -- Arab Gangsta Beat

Having enjoyed the first song I hear from Slick Dogg song so much, I thought I'd share the love on a 2nd song from him.



As before, you can find his music on his website if you wish to buy his CD's.

So I Have a Job

As expected, I got hired by Company 3 on Monday. It also means that I'm back at "The Company." *lol* Yeah, 50% less pay stinks and no benefits stink too but it is a job and I'll be bringing in more money than I did on unemployment. That also means budgeting in order to maximize savings and pay for school. Since the job I wanted at "Company 1" did not come through and I won't accept an offer from "Company 2" (unless they match what I'm being paid as a contractor for "The Company"), I now see a career path heading before me and I know what classes to take and what certificates to get when I get back to class.

Amazingly, I'll be seeing Taco's Rule, Savage Piper, and the others again since I'll be working the same shift I worked previously. The only difference is that I'll likely be on a different row from them.

So, goal 1 is to get all the paperwork cleared to actually get started working. Goal 2 is to learn VMS (a new skill for the resume) and become my usual guru self at my new job. Then goal 3 is to start classes and get those certs. From there, I can then branch out into another, better job.

I do want to thank God for taking such great care of me throughout my life and setting things up so that during this time of unemployment, I have been provided for. Seriously, it was God who put it in my mind to get my medical bills paid off sooner rather than later. It was God who put it into my mind that I should go ahead and buy a condo (thus also scoring tax benefits). It was God who put it into my mind to start saving money, though I could have saved more had I been on a budget. God now has me on a budget and now I will keep to it in order to make the best of the situation.

I also want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers and words of encouragement to me during this time. I really do appreciate it. ^_^

I'm the Perfect Financial Manager!

Oh! Stop the job search now! I have to have this job no matter what!

---

Subject: Job Proposal (Specially for AstroNerdBoy) From: "Diana Green" Date: Fri, March 6, 2009 5:00 pm To: AstroNerdBoy Priority: Normal

Dear AstroNerdBoy,

My name is Diana Green and I am a Chief Manager of HR Department of DC Group Inc.

This letter confirms that your resume (found at careerbuilder.com) has been duly processed and your skills completely meet our requirements for Financial Manager vacancy.

I’m representative of a world-famous company founded and based in the USA, which deals with financial services like escrow services for buyers and sellers of online auctions around the world. We offer our services both on closed commercial auctions where the number of buyers is not large and on ebay.com, amazon.com, yahoo.com - popular online auctions.

Financial Agent position is:
- part-time (you can work only 2-3 hours a day (Monday through Friday).
- work at home (all communication is online).

What do you need? Internet access and e-mail.

This position is offered on a trial period (first month) basis. You will receive training and online support while working and being paid. Trial period is paid $2300/month. Also you will be keeping 8% commission from
every payment received from customer and successfully processed. Total income, with the current volume of clients, will be up to $4.5k per month. After first 30 days base salary will be increased up to $3k per month, plus 8% commission!

You may ask for additional hours after trial period, or proceed full-time.

If you are interested in our offer and would like to learn more about Financial Agent position, please send the filled form to Dc.diana.job@gmail.com

Our representative will contact you within 24 hours.

++++++++FORM++++++++FORM+++++++++++
First name:_____________________
Last name:___________________________
Country of residence:__________________
Contact phone:______________________
Preferred call time:_______________________
++++++++FORM++++++++FORM+++++++++++

We found your resume at www.careerbuilder.com. This letter confirms that your resume has been duly processed and your skills completely meet our requirements for the Financial Manager vacancy.

Best regards.
Diana Green

The Job Hunt Continues -- Prospects

My search for employment continues as it has been over 3.5 months since I was let go due to headcount being shifted to Brazil and India. It amazes me that it has been that long. In some ways, it feels like a long time but in other ways, it feels like the time went by in a flash. In all, I want to thanks friends and family for their support in all this nuttiness. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers for sure. ^_^

Last week, I had a third interview for an IT job at "Company 1." They are a non-profit insurance company dealing exclusively with the under-insured. There's a possibility of a fourth interview and while I greatly impressed them according to the contract company, they don't want to make a move until they've talked to at least two more people, ostensibly to make sure I'm the right choice.

• Pay: Good. Better once converted from contractor to regular employee. No worries about paying the bills, having money to save, and still being able to go out and catch some summer blockbusters.
  
• Job: Good. The work being done is interesting and would keep me busy. There'd be some oncall work, but that's fine. Also, since this company is in the health insurance business, the jobs won't go overseas legally, even if somehow the company decided to outsource. The job is days, Monday through Friday which is cool for going back to school. The commute would be awful because of rush hour Denver traffic but oh well. I could deal with that and after a time could always move closer to the job should the commute really start bothering me.
  
• Career: Above average. The job starts as contract position but in 3-6 months is a conversion to regular employee status. Once a regular employee, the opportunities for growth are there, especially as this company is growing due to the type of client base it serves. Opportunities to go back to school exist so getting some IT certs would be a high priority for me.
  
• Overall: Ideally, this is the job I'd like to get. I just don't think they are going to move that quickly because the position is a newly created one, not a back-fill.
• Chance of Being Hired: 75%
  

Today, I interviewed with "Company 2." They are a market research company who've developed some impressive software to find out what people are saying on the Internet about a product or service. The interview was nearly three hours in length and there were four of them today. ^_^;;;

• Pay: Poor. Seriously, even though the job is listed as "entry level," the experience they are looking for combined with the amount of work being done (and by everyone's account, a six-month learning curve just to become proficient in the job) would suggest a much higher starting pay grade. Indeed, Company 2 is actually a sub-subset of a major corporation and retains the same pay-grade structure they had in the late 80's (adjusted upward dollar-wise for current times). Back then, one could get an entry-level operations/production support job at level-9 or 10. However, this operations/production job has been banded at level 7 and the pay is so low, I'd actually be making less than I made 11-years ago in actual dollars (and its worse when you adjust for inflation the 1998 dollar amount). Sadly, I think they've gotten away with it because the kid they hired a year ago had zero experience in IT and so they took advantage of that.
  
• Job: Good. The work being done here is very interesting and somewhat challenging. Even after becoming proficient, things are constantly changing to improve the research being done so I'd be changing right along side. I'd be working closely with developers and SA's so there's a chance to improve skills. Also, the job is Monday through Friday days and that's nice, especially for school. In fact, it wouldn't be that far to drive to a major university to take classes after work and the overall commute isn't too bad.
  
• Career: Above Average. Being part of a large corporation, all job opportunities world-wide would be available to me. Education would be paid for so I could move in a direction I choose (programmer, system admin, whatever). The downside is that since this division is small, career opportunities within the division are pretty slim. That also means that I'd remain at pitifully low pay for an undetermined amount of time and would have to have the good graces of my manager to move someplace within the company where I could get paid.
• Overall: The pay is what kills this job. With my current unemployment pay budget, I would be about $50 in the red each month (under unemployment, I'm about $50 in the black each month). Keep in mind that my only debt is my mortgage, so my other costs are just living costs. Now, it is possible that because I'd be making so little money, the interest deduction (assuming our glorious government haven't completely destroyed that in their desperate greed to steal my money) would likely be enough so that I would be among those who pay little to no Federal income tax. That might be enough to cover the wage gap but frankly, that's not how I want to live.
• Chance of Being Hired: 55%. I interviewed quite well for all four interviews, but no doubt my expression of concern over the pay has lowered me percentage-wise, but the hiring manager could bring me in as high as level 10 if he wanted, and that would likely pay the bills.

On Monday, I have an interview with "Company 3." They are a large corporation dealing in IT/IS solutions. I have several connections inside this company, including the hiring manager. ^_^

• Pay: Average (somewhat lower when taking into account that I'll have no insurance, vacation, or anything else). I would be able to pay my bills under my current budget and have some left over for saving (which I'd have to do in order to buy things like an HDTV or new windows for the condo). There would be O/T opportunities though, so the chance of increasing the take-home pay is high.
• Job: Average. Although the systems I'd be working on would be new to me, in the end, I'd be in operations again. Every time I think I've left mainframe for good, I seem to get sucked back in. ^_^; Don't get me wrong, a job is a job and if I have to do mainframe again, sobeit. I'd be working 12-hour night shift, which has pluses and minuses. I would have to see how online classes would work in this scenario because going to regular classes just isn't likely to happen unless I sleep during class or sleep at work, neither of which I want to do. The commute is the biggest plus though since it is the closest to where I live.
• Career: Almost zero. I'd be a contractor with zero chance of being hired as a regular employee and almost no chance of moving to a better job in another department. Education would have to come out of my pocket and as I said, traditional education would be impractical. Basically, this would be a job to pay the bills and work on some education so that I can find something better.
• Overall: It would be a job easy to learn and working nights would mean I'd have some time to do homework. My bills would be paid and supposedly, the job will be around for 2-3-years (seeing is believing though). So while not my first choice, I'd take the job to stop being unemployed. ^_^;
• Chance of Being Hired: 90%. I do know the manager and team lead for this job and that helps a great deal. Monday will be the formal interview so I'll know more there. This job being on a platform alien to me is a negative and it is possible that the hiring manager will find a guru who knows everything and can come right on in and do the work. Baring that, since I have a good reputation with the hiring manager and team lead, I feel confident that after Monday's interview, I'd be getting an offer sometime shortly thereafter.

We'll see what happens. Lord willing, I'll have a job soon. In the meantime, I keep on hunting.

Slick Dogg - Time For Us To Pop (Get Down, Y'all)

I realize that this kind of music won't be for many, but MAN -- I love this kind of tune.



I can feel a mix of different styles with Slick Dogg's music -- there's funk and certainly a bit of Zapp there too. Since Slick Dogg is an independent music maker, you won't find his music in most places, but you can find it on his website.

She Loves Me! I Know She Loves Me!

Heh. I haven't seen one of these in ages. I know "she" must love me truly because "she" sent me several of these (from different mail addresses and names of course). ^_^ Ah, be still my beating heart. ^_~

Subject: I shall wait from you the letter with the big impatience! From: "Myles Jacobs" Date: Sun, March 1, 2009 2:36 pm To: AstroNerdBoy Priority: Normal

Hello. My name is Oksana. I understand that you don't know me, and I don't know you, but in the future all can change probably. I ask that you have given me some minutes on perusals of my letter. I hope that
it will not make difficulty to you. Agency Acquaintances in Cheboksary gave me your e-mail address. To me explained that you very good person and you very much approach to me. I have come to Agency to find the
future husband from other country. Why from another country? Because I have been very much disappointed with Men from my country and now I search my life in abroad. I has tired to be lonely and to carry spend
all days equally. I want to love and to be happy! I asked myself a question why I can not it. And I come in this agency with such the request that they have helped me to find the person for that I will
happy. Yes certainly I have paid some money that has found the person for me. But what is it the money in comparison with love? Nothing. It is simply emptiness. Love is the most important feeling in a life,
without which our lives grey and empty. I shall not speak how many I have paid. I hope that you will understand me. I very much hope that you will be interested in me and we can continue our dialogue after that letters. And I very much hope that I shall leave in yours opinion good Impression about me. I want to tell some words about me. As I already spoke my name is Oksana. I'm 28 years. I live in Cheboksary. You can look my external qualities in my photo which I have attached in the letter. I live with my mum together and I work as doctor. I
have gone studies on this profession, in order to help people. I look like on my father because he gave your life to rescue the little girl, and he has rescued her only he lost. I shall tell you about it later. I love my professional though In Russia it is not as well appreciated as in other foreign countries. I love an active way of life but time
not suffices. In my life I dream to find the person with which I can to lead all life and I shall be happy. I dream about big and cheerful, friendly family. I don't search ideal man. The main thing that in him there were high qualities as skill to love, to respect, to appreciate relations, to love children and is skilful to love and make the happy partner. For me the age does not matter because the love has not limit. I very much hope that you will write to me and will tell about yourself. I am already lonely very long time. I had earlier shot relations but it was failed. I very much hope that you become my unique person in my life. So let's not lose time. I ask you that you
have answered my letter and then we can learn each other better. I hope that I have liked to you. If serious relations aren't interesting to you or I am not pleasant to you, say me it please. Is it well?


I very much ask that you have answered to me ONLY to my personal e-mail:
oksanalive28@googlemail.com.


I shall wait from you the letter with the big impatience!
Bye bye!
Tired from loneliness Oksana.

Attachments: Oksana.jpg 38 k [ image/jpeg ] Download | View