Irish Eyes are ... Doing Something

Rather quiet, non-eventful week. Still no advancement on the job thing.

Today I met up with Brad and Danny. Cris joined later, as well as Brad's friend Gina and her bf Chip (who did shot-boy at Blu), Lauri and her new bf (don't remember his name). About 40 and lightly raining today, not the best for wandering the city, so we pretty much stayed in the Quincy Market area the whole day, though we did go to some of the old Irish pubs in that area, not the chains and food court stuff.

Here We Go Again

I had an interview again this week. (Sad that an interview is newsworthy.) It went very well, and I feel like a no-contest winner. Of course, I had that similar feeling when my friend Nish was going to hire me, and then his boss said No Way In Hell. But this job would be depressingly not what I wanted (despite the happy face I gave in the interview). Quality Engineer (my job title in 1998) at a small (ugh) family-owned (augh) manufacturing (ughh) company in Woburn (awhh). Redeeming factor one: I need a job, and this would pay money. Factor two: it is an AS9100 registered aerospace component manufacturer, which would open up a number of doors to aero jobs once I had this firmly planted on my resume. They apparently have a 'few more interviews' to do yet, and will let me know. So, there is still a chance this will turn into abject failure, as well.

On a completely different topic, Nauber has taken to watching telenovelas on the Spanish channels at home (Univision and Telemundo). There was this really hot guy on one of them the other day. Shortly after seeing that, I saw a run-down of the competitors on the new Dancing with the Stars. The hottie on the list looked REALLY familiar. Well, now I had a name! Which means I could Google Image search!

Say Hello to the ridiculously handsome William Levy:

Loser

Well, that interview never happened. Can't even get an interview... But two more prospects coming down the pipeline. Not gettin' my hopes up.

Ronny made a mysterious comment about Nauber "saying something" that he shouldn't tell me about. I said you can't say THAT and then not tell me what it is you are hinting about, but he wouldn't. I'm sure it all boils down to the fact that I need to start working on losing weight. A little more and I could try out for Biggest Loser. I'd definitely choose Dolvett!

Peep

I got a call from a recruiter this week. May get an interview next week. Six month position; would have paid $38/hour but since I've "been out of the field for a few years" he thinks I should shoot for $30. Right. 'Cuz going to grad school made me completely forget how to do a stupid pareto chart.

But $30 is actually more than I made when I quit my job in Worcester. And this would be with Siemens Medical. So, I would gladly swallow my pride to A) have a job B) gain medical industry experience C) become an 'insider' at Siemens. Of course, I don't even know if I'll get an interview, so for now I am assuming another strike-out.

Recruiter also said I should add the stages to my work experience. Showing I climbed from Eng to Super is valuable, rather than them thinking I was supervisor the whole time.

Lurrv

Though the week was beyond quiet on the job front, it was Valentine's Day on Tuesday. Since I normally go to great lengths for things like this to be met with ambivalence from Nauber, I decided to save myself the disappointment and do absolutely nothing this year. So, of course, he took me out to dinner and bought me gifts.

So, I rushed to Target Wednesday for the clearance candy, and bags/bows. Made him a chocolate pudding pie with a little cherry syrup mixed into the cool whip and a big chocolate heart on top.

Meh

Nothing new.

Shun. Shunnnnnnnnnnnn

Never heard back from HR. Even sent an email saying please send a status update. There is a tiny piece hoping that means the paperwork just hasn't gone through, yet, so there is no response available. But I know it's another rejection by avoidance.

Waiting for Good News

Wednesday I had a phone interview with a consulting firm. I thought it went very well. There are several more steps before a job offer, but crossing the first hurdle would be the biggest step forward. The guy I spoke with, Marc, said that he would forward the file with his notes and my resume to his boss for approval. Once approved, HR will send me a background/credit check form to submit. So, I am waiting for that form to show up in my email. Of course, HR could send one saying the job-hunt equivalent of "ewwwww cooties" (which I've gotten many many more times than I like), but here's hoping it is good news for once!

Wouldn't It Be Nice!

I have a phone interview scheduled for Wednesday. Trying not to get over-excited, yet, but it would be practically the perfect job. If all goes well, I will share more later, but for now, just keep your fingers crossed.

Align

Not much happened this week. Still sending out resumes. Hoping the Stars Align one of these days and I actually get a job.

Speaking of alignment, here are a couple camera-angle pics:

Sigh

I'm in a bit of a funk. Life has been so stagnant for so long that I feel like I will never find a job, lose weight, enjoy life again... I have no money to spend, so don't like shopping or traveling right now. That makes Nauber unhappy, which makes the relationship feel unfulfilling. It's like a big downward spiral. I've been hanging all the "change" on "when I get a job" that 3.5 years of complete rejection from every employer on the face of the planet is wearing me down.

In honor of my foul mood, here's the most uncharacteristic choice I could find in my collection:

and Happy New Year!

Christmas was nice. I didn't go home, for the first time ever. (No Money) Had a midnight dinner Christmas Eve (Brazilian tradition). Nauber hasn't gotten anyone gifts, yet, because he is waiting for the clearance sales (so he says).

So far, we're just having a couple close friends over for NYE. It's a simpler party, so I told everyone we're just having snacks. Ronny keeps trying to add dinner to the menu because "Brazilians don't like DIPS". Mind you, other than those two, the only Brazilian that will be here is Liliani, and the artichoke dip is specifically something she requests. Similar to Nauber freaking about a poppyseed cake that he then loved and requested more of, or the horror with which I was told "Brazilians don't like SANDWICHES" for my grad party, but they gobbled up the shredded beef anyway.

This is a Spaniard (David Barral), which is similar to Latino, but he's clearly much less selfish!

Merry Christmas

I didn't have any pics that were particularly Christmas themed, but this one's at least got some bright red!

Follow-up

I sent an email to the manager (see last week) saying I really did want the job, please keep me in consideration. She replied that they didn't hire me because I lack finance experience. Which they knew ALL ALONG - even before the two rounds of interviews, during which she herself said "I know you can do the job" and "we will have to train no matter who we hire" because their system is somewhat unique.

That means back to fruitlessly applying to job after job that never replies. I applied to one this week that is local. Quality Manager at a metals processing company (small, family owned business). It is exactly what I have qualifications for, despite being what I really want to get away from (thanks, TJX!). But even they have not responded.

To distract from the WTF, here's some scrumptiousness:

Of course not

Nish called. They are not going to hire me at TJX. His boss doesn't believe I would want to give up a lucrative engineering career path for one in business. Which is so many versions of incorrect that it hurts. So, I officially got rejected for a job I really wanted because they didn't think I really wanted it.

Waiting

This week was my second round interview at TJX. Met with the Assistant VP and the Divisional CFO. They both seemed to go really well. Now I just have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully having Nish on the inside pulling for me will help!

At this rate, if I don't get the job, Ronny and Nauber will make me move to Las Vegas anyway!

Thanks

This week was Thanksgiving. I did dinner again. We had a good turnout this year. Ronny, Nauber, and I of course. Nauber's friends Liliani and Darrell. Ronny's friend Dulci and her two daughters. My friend Shaun and her husband Ian. Nauber's coworker Nick. Ronny's kind-of-sort-of boyfriend also showed up later in the evening and ate the second drumstick, which Nauber was NOT happy about.

My turkey turned out good, as always. Also did a ham this year, turned out fabulous. Served it with an apple cranberry chutney (no cran sauce). Giblet stuffing, smoked gouda mashed potatoes, roasted beets, yams, roasted zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower with crumb topping, and gravy were the sides. The gravy didn't turn out well at all, but that was partly due to Liliani (who offered to help, so came early) trying to tell me I was 'doing it wrong' and taking over. She tried to change the beets, too, but I stopped her on that one, so they did turn out right (which I pointed out to her!). For dessert I did pumpkin cheesecake, mixed berry pie, and a black forest pie. Both Liliani and Dulci brought pave (a Brazilian pudding torte), though one was peach and one was pineapple. I like peach more than I like pineapple, so I liked the pave de pessago (the peach one) better.

My stove schedule was also messed up a bit because Liliani brought a jug of cider and wanted to mull it, so we had a pot with spiced cider, too. I had bought egg-nog, but it got sidelined by the cider.

Nick ended up staying over that night, and we watched Another Gay Movie 'cause he hadn't seen it before (if you watch it, make sure to get the "uncut" version - it's so much more raunchy!). Darryl Stephens is one of my all-time favorites:

Can I Has Careerpath?

Three interviews this past week! All will need a second round before any decisions. On Monday interviewed with HR for QA Director at a med device manufacturer in Holliston MA. Round two would be with the hiring manager, the owner. Small, family-owned business. It would add title and med device to my resume, but small fam-own manufacture SUCKS. And the commute to Holliston would be annoying. Tuesday was phone interview with QA Manager for QA Engineer position at electronics manufacturer in Woburn MA. Round two would be the in-person. Low position, still manufacturing, and the commute would be hellacious. This is the 'safety school' option. Wednesday was an interview with HR/Supervisor/Manager for a financial analyst job at TJX in Framingham. Low level, but huge up-side potential, and adding financial analyst to my skill-set! The second round would add in Asst VP and CFO, since I will be the sole dept representative sent to the distribution center in Las Vegas. That's right - relocation to Vegas, baby! The only real downside here is leaving my social network behind, tho both Brazilians are currently in "yeah we're going with you!" mode.
The other issue is that every single person I interviewed with came across as loving me except the Manager at TJX, and that's actually the job I want. The irony is that her issue is that she's not sure I really want This career, since it is so different from the trajectory my resume illustrated. I've said what I can, and sent her a thank-you message that same day to try to keep the interest level evident.
I will probably hear back next week from all three when they want to see me again for the next interview. I hope this all turns out Right!

Older

The birthday party last weekend was a success. Too much food, of course, and I didn't care for the brazilian snacks. Cris' friend Ney offered to do them. The kibbe and the coxinha were slightly better than Cleuza's, but I like her bolinhos and pastel much better. The bolinhos (fried little balls of cheese) had big green chunks of herbs in them - no idea which herb, but rather overpowered the yummy cheesiness. The pastel I prefer are the cheese and corn ones, he only made beef. Liliani did another Torta de pao (chicken cake!), and we rolled out dozens of docinhos. Most of them were new variations. Added pecans to the chocolate ones (yum!), rolled a strawberry piece inside, or added a bunch of pineapple to coconut ones.

Everyone also liked the porn star calendar in Nauber's room (I gave it to him earlier this year). November is a particularly good choice, Dario beck. The calendar is full nudity, but here's a more modest shot of him:

Festa dos Brasilieros

Nauber has been much better this week. Even accommodated a request of mine! Did make a snarky reply about paying me back when he gets a new boyfriend after I mentioned how he hasn't paid me for any bills since his mom was here.

But it is his birthday this weekend. As well as Cris. As well as Sergio. We are doing a joint party for Cris and Nauber together on Saturday at our place. Sergio was invited, but I have no idea if he will show up (Ronny invited him).

And yes, these three are Brazilian, too: