A Twist of Things to Come

The offer came through the employment agency today. They said 9am Monday instead of 10 am, but I figure I can leave way early to avoid the rush hour and hang out at the Panera down the street, revising my novel. That can only improve my overall productivity, and my Beloved can handle getting the kids up and out while I'm training. (My guess is that they will tell me that 10am to 3pm is fine for the rest of the week, but it all depends on when the people who will be training me will be there.)

The point is, I can totally make this work for me.

I'm also a tad impressed by how comfortable I was in the interview process. I was honest and direct, and didn't feel like a fraud at all. I was relaxed, personable and chatty (all but that last one are not usual for me). I looked, felt and acted competent and professional. Even I didn't expect that.

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Also, I got my eighth review on YWO (plus one by a friend *smoochies*), but the last review by a non-friend was all 5s and one 4 for the eight review criteria, plus some really helpful nit-picks and insights. Super duper! I won't know how it measures up to everyone else until the end of the month, but, well. It was only a thing I was using to distract myself from the major upheavals in my life. So, mission accomplished.

The hubby keeps saying to me, "Everything's coming up Milhouse!" Har, har.

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In other news, our old college buddy, Phil, is starting a genre ezine for the ereader/Kindle market. This is the guy who comes from a long line of newspaper editors and reporters, with Pulitzer winners and so forth. Anyway. He liked my chapters, and made some helpful concrit comments, of the type that make you smack your forehead and say, "Of course!"

He wants to see some of my short stories for the mag, but I'm not sure any of them are suitable. I know I would be comfortable letting him edit the heck out of a couple of them, if he were so inclined. I just don't think the shorts have historically been my strong suit. Heh.

I have chosen my clothing and stuff, so that is out of the way. Still not sure what I'll do with my hair. :P

I also applied for a job closer to me, but likely with more stress and less flexible work hours. My applications for three possible jobs downtown have not been decided yet. Didn't get an interview for the one in New Orleans, which is just as well under the circumstances. *snicker*

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My review stats on my opening chapters are holding steady at 4 out of 5 stars on average. Though the genre fans have been slightly more positive, the overall stats are exactly the same on average. I now have 7 reviews and I only need 8 to qualify for the contest, but they have to be assigned by the system and I have to have them before the last week of the month... or something. I'm not really sure about that. I read their explanation, but it wasn't entirely clear.

Honestly, I think I'm just focusing on this contest so I don't run around in tight circles shouting, "Fuck, oh fuck, oh holy fuck." That wouldn't be good for my employment prospects, I suspect. *grin*

It's not that things are bad, mind you. Just incredibly stressful, and this contest is my displacement activity.

But what I really need to do is finish the second draft. :P

***

The boys seem to be doing fine with school. Neither one is over the moon, but things seem to be going well. The big fella rode the bus today, and that went okay. We got them each keys, so that they can get in when we're working and not here. That's going to be a huge change for them, because I've almost always been there when they get home from school. But they are big fellas now.

First off, I absolutely LOVE this song. I've just bought up a bunch of Metisse, largely because of this song, and most of it is phenomenal.



***

My whinge is over, passing as all such things do. Thanks, you guys. I pulled out of it partly because of you and my at-home fan club, and partly because I set out to do stuff for other people. Because I can always do that, eh? I'm good at the whole 'people' thing, oddly enough. I'm best at getting my hands dirty and doing stuff, really. Especially stuff that doesn't require small talk.

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Oh! And GC has a new contributor, Peta Anderson of Insert Literary Blog Name Here. I'm so excited to have her, even though she'll only be able to contribute occasionally. I totally grok that her paying gigs need to come first, and I'm really just pleased to have her on board.

I feel so blessed by GeekaChicas, even right now when we're in the end-of-school, beginning-of-summer doldrums. All the women who contribute and support GC are amazing, talented and awesome, and more keep coming!

It's inspiring, mostly because I want to show the world how awesome these people are. I think that makes me a better webmistress, this feeling of awe I get when I think of the ladies willing to post work to GC.

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An old business contact of Ron's called him up and offered me a possible job, in a roundabout sort of way. They've been operating a virtual school in Georgia (and Alabama?), and they want to expand into the Louisiana market. They knew I'd been home schooling and that I had an appropriate degree to be a school administrator (news to me).

So there's just the tiniest chance that I may be able to do paperwork for a virtual school, get paid for it and get William's education set up for next year in one swell foop. I'm not holding my breath, but it was nice to have someone just talking about employing me at a time when I was feeling pretty useless. So.

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Oh, and one of the folks doing the New Orleans Writing Circle sent me a message through Meetup (asking about the GC site, which I mention in Meetup profile) and we started chatting. So, now I don't feel so intimidated by the idea of showing up at some stranger's house on Sunday. It helps knowing there will be at least one other geek there, ya know?

***

Life is full of uncertainty, but it's still good.

It seems most of the employment agencies don't want me because I'm over-qualified. Same with the holiday retail positions. They're certain I'll quit a placement as soon as something better comes along.

They are probably right, but I still think it would be awesome to work at Kohl's. *giggle*

Wrote a resume cover letter for a nice HR position for which I believe I am well qualified. No word yet on going back to Federal service. I would do it. I was good at that job, even though it was rather soul-crushing at times. I think -- and this is a tad embarrassing to admit -- that I really sort of enjoyed it when things got dicey.

I loved calming down crazy people, subduing irate nutters with words and the power of my personal aura. *giggle-wink* Seriously, though, there were only two times in my whole career when I couldn't persuade someone to be reasonable. One was a woman who had convinced herself that I was the reason her son left his wife and baby. (I'd never clapped eyes on any of them, and I was young and unprepared for that level of wackness. I think I could handle her easily now, but she was my first utterly delusional case that appeared to be completely normal on the surface.) The other was a fellow having some sort of psychotic break. I was not involved directly in dealing with him, but I helped get the rest of the people out of the line of fire. (He was throwing things, ranging from staplers to computers to furniture, not shooting, but it was still dangerous.) And no, I'm not any sort of mental health professional-- I'm just good at finessing people.

The worst part of my job was that I didn't get to do that enough. I was good at THAT. The paperwork was tedious, but the dangerous crazies were fun. I even kind of enjoyed the bomb threats.

Heh. I guess I'll just see what falls to hand. Honestly, I think I'm going to enjoy the job hunt. Background check? I've been vetted by the FBI, bitches!

(Okay, I just may be losing it.)

***

Now I need to polish that consarned short story one more time, and find a market to ship that puppy out. Of course, that means another *sigh* cover letter, but it has become more of an issue of just GET IT AWAY FROM ME, than "Oh, my precious little snowflake of a story, make mommy proud."

*shakes fist* Stupid *&&%$ TREES! *mutters incoherently*