Three Hundred Fifth Entry

Where do I begin...

Last Wednesday I drove up to beautiful San Leandro, CA for an extended four-day weekend trip. Well, it was half business, half work and half pleasure.

Thursday afternoon, at 1:30 p.m., I had an interview with the City of San Mateo. I was extremely nervous. I felt like throwing up all morning. I had breakfast with Louis at Pelton Cafe. Pretty good breakfast. Wasn't a good idea with my stomach being in knots and all because of my interview. Good to see Louis though. Caught up on a lot of stuff. Around 11:30 a.m., I made my way home to get ready for the interview. Nervous coughing all over the place. I thought that there might be trouble with midday traffic, so I left San Leandro just after noon to make sure I would make my interview on time...at 1:30 p.m. Well, minimal traffic. I made it to San Mateo just after 12:30 p.m. Dammit. One whole hour to kill. I spent that hour making sure I found the place and driving into San Mateo's hills. Very pretty views of the bay from up there. Perhaps even prettier than our views in the East Bay.

I got to City Hall at 1:15 p.m. Government jobs always have some interview associated paperwork, and I decided that 15 minutes should be enough time. And it was. I signed my name in a couple of places, and still had time to take a leak, cough it up in the bathroom and chew a piece of gum before the interview.

A very pregnant Asian woman introduced herself to me and asked me to come in for the interview. One last cough and I was in. I sat myself down and tried, somewhat successfully, to compose myself. I made sure I understood the questions(which wasn't that hard considering a typewritten copy was taped on the table in front of me) before answering. I tried to appear very interested and eager to learn new things without seeming over-eager/desperate and completely unknowledgable about the topics discussed. I was getting pleasant feedback from the panel(all asian, 3 men and 1 woman, all speaking with slight accents), lots of nodding heads and an "Ahh" when my ADA experience was mentioned. The questions I did not know how to answer were responded to with a very forthright, "I don't know" or "I'm not sure, but I think...". I didn't ramble on and on about anything, tried to give efficient answers to the questions. I was nothing if not totally polite with the panel and the staff at the HR counter. I did the absolute best I could in the interview.

Afterwards, I was taken to the library and asked to write a fictitious letter to the public concerning a Sewer upgrade project. Did well on it, I think.

I left the interview feeling good about it. Not a slam dunk, but I knew I had done my best. I left San Mateo and began the long trek down El Camino to Palo Alto. I had to meet Mylinh at Peet's coffee at 4 p.m. It was 2:30 p.m. Lots of time to kill. I remembered the Washington Mutual in downtown PA and went there. I needed to deposit a check and withdraw some ATM money. And after some confusion about where Peet's coffee was, I finally met with Mylinh and we ordered coffee. It was really nice to see her. We went to Ikea and shopped a little bit. Afterwards we went to Hawai'ian food with Jen and then dessert from Max's back at Jen's place. We watched Survivor. Ooohh.

Friday morning I had another interview. This one was in Redwood City, with BKF Engineers. I had interviewed with them three years ago for a job, so I was familiar with the company. The interview was at 10 a.m.. I wasn't experiencing too much of the coughing because I wasn't as worried about this interview. I left a little early to account for traffic, but once I got onto 92, it was smooth. I got a little lost when trying to find the building. It's a different office than the one I interviewed at three years ago. They just moved into a new office building which overlooks a lagoon. Very swank. From the conference room, you could see the Oracle complex and a bunch of other buildings. The whole area used to be the old Marine World park. Remember that guys? I do, just barely.

Anyway, the interview lasted 2 hours. The longest interview I have ever been in. One of the guys was late, but before he got there Alex, the recruiter, talked to me about the company and stuff. Once Tom got there I was sat down in a little conference room and was interviewed. A lot of questions about experience and a lot of technical questions too. Tom laid out a layout sheet with a topo drawing on it in front of me. He asked me to explain what was going on in the drawing. Very cool. I totally geeked out and was using a scale and using fancy civil engineering terms with confidence. Pretty cool. Then Tom left and told me he was going to send in an employee my age to talk to me a little more about stuff and maybe answer some questions I wouldn't want to ask him.

James came in and we talked for a while and that was it. I left. I felt even better about this interview than the one in San Mateo. Then I drove out to Pleasanton, had Taco Bell, had a cigarette with Rouja and went to Fred's house in Tracy. I helped there for the rest of the afternoon. They had just poured the foundation and needed help ripping out the forms. Easy, but hard work.

Friday night I hung out with Lisa, Greg, Jen and Dayni. Greg has left the Bay Area for Wyoming. He is going to WyoTech to learn about Auto Body work. Lisa will follow in a few months. Jen, Dayni and I went to say bye. I got home and crashed.

Saturday morning, I awoke to the sound of my dad yelling at me to get up. It was 6:30 a.m.. I had to go, I mean, I promised to go help at my brothers house. It was kind of fun. My brother and I worked and capped(does anyone still say that?) on each other, and then my dad(Construction Nazi) yelled at us, and then we worked. It was kind of a cycle. Rocks were thrown, dirt was dispersed, girders were placed. Much wood was moved and piled. It was really windy too, so our conversations were pretty much yelled at each other. My mom brought Subway for lunch and Firmino came with her and helped a little. Rouja showed up after her work and she was ordered by Fred(Construction Nazi Jr.) to find cool rocks for a water feature he was planning. And yes he did say "Water feature". I think he's been watching too much HGTV.

After work, Rouja and I went to the Build-A-Bear Workshop in Walnut Creek. I told her I would get her one for her birthday, so I did. And I got one too. I got a giraffe on a safari, but minus the binoculars because those things were 7 bucks. The shoes alone were 7 bucks, but more important than the binoculars. Whoever invented this place is making money hand over fist off idiots like me.

We got home and Fred was just finishing grilling steaks. They were sooooo good. I don't think I could find a steak that good in a restaurant. It was really good. And with my mom's famous peas and some avocado slices, it was a perfect dinner.

Fred called Hernani and invited him over to watch Arrested Development. I'm so glad I introduced Arrested Development to my family. They all love it. We all felt like eating some Ben and Jerry's so I went to Pak 'n Save. I went nuts and bought 7 pints of B&J. But the two and a half I had were soooo good. We also bought beer, but beer and ice cream don't mix. They'll save it for another time.

Sunday I met up with Louis for coffee at Starbeezies at 11 a.m. and we talked for a long while. Very nice to see a lot of Louis this weekend. I told him that one time I'm up there I wanted to take him and Jen out to dinner. Their choice, of course.

Then I went to my godmothers house and dragged her out to my parents house for lunch. We talked and speculated on my job prospects. It was good to see her too. I hadn't seen her in a long long time.

I hung out at the house and ended up leaving at 5:30 p.m. I was racing home. I decided to take the 198, which ended up being a huge mistake. "I think I've made a huge mistake", as GOB would say. I got onto the 198 and, as usual, there was no traffic, save for the odd slow poke doing the posted 55. Well, I'm zooming along and get to that annoying stoplight out in the middle of nowhere. I make a complete stop and go through. No sooner had I cleared the intersection, when I see CHP lights in my mirror. I got a speeding ticket!! My first reaction was a surprising one. I kind of expected it. I pulled over onto the giant shoulder and rolled down my window. The officer was really nice and polite, not those mean hard asses that you see on TV. I gave him my license and registration and he wrote me a ticket. The experience was actually semi-pleasant. I almost asked him if I could get a picture of him and me and the ticket to commemmorate my first ticket, but thought better of it. Instead, I'll just frame it. Yes, it will make a nice addition to my cube wall, right next to the photos of the dead cat and squashed oppossum.

I got home at 8:30 p.m. and went to Paula's house to show everyone my giraffe. They loved it. It even roars like a lion. I'm not sure giraffes make a noise. I imagine they probably sound like rabbit does when they are being killed and eaten. I watched the Emmy's(Go Lost! Boo Raymond!) and opened my mail. Guess what was in the mail? A letter from the City of San Mateo, mailed the day after my interview. It was a letter informing me that I was number 5 on the list of candidates. Not too good. Only six people interviewed on Thursday, and I doubt if there were interviews on Wednesday or Friday. At least I bested one person.

Monday morning started off alright. I was on time to work. I did my morning routine: check personal email, check work email, read/catch up on Doonesbury comic strip, read/catch up on Dilbert comic strip, check the weather, check the earthquake website, read the headlines at SFGate.com. All that only takes about 20 minutes.

About mid-morning, I got a call from Alex at BKF Engineers. He wanted to let me know that another Project Manager who was out of town for my interview wanted to set up a phone interview and talk to me. I said sure and 5:30 p.m. was the time set. I spent the whole day coughing and being nervous about this. I hardly got any work done after that call.

Craig(i think that's his name) called at about 5:40 p.m. and we talked for about 45 minutes. It went OK. I really hate phone interviews because you can't see physical expressions and reactions, only the audible ones. One thing that really sucked was when he told me that BKF's salary is not too competitive with Public Agencies in the area. And that really really sucks. Thank God he couldn't see my face. It was all contorted and my jaw dropped when I heard that one. I was a downer for the rest of the night. Except for when Arrested Development and Kitchen Confidential were on.

Today, I got up and got to work on time. I told people about my phone interview. I told them about the salary situation and figured out that at the County I make $26.60 an hour. I would not accept any less than that from BKF. Once again, as if I'm on a schedule, I got a call from Alex at BKF. They want me to come in on Friday for another interview with another group. I rolled my eyes as I agreed to a Friday morning 10 a.m. interview. Alex said that he would try really hard to get them to pay my mileage. I could almost hear his eyes rolling.

I discussed the new situation with my co-workers and we agreed on two possible scenarios:

a) They really want to make sure about giving me an offer hence the third interview.
or
b) They're jerking me around and have someone else they are waiting to hear from.

As much as I'd like to believe a), I think b) is the case. In any event, I am going to that interview on Friday and am going to do the best I can.

Blas has made his intention to take a job with Caltrans known with all the right people. He's gone within a month. Good for him. He's got a growing family to worry about. I'm gonna miss him though. Even when he picks on me. I'll have to pick on myself now. **sniff**

So I get home and watch "Meet the Fockers". I liked it. Not as funny as "Meet the Parents", but still funny. After that I watched "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" both of which had me rolling.

Very much looking forward to two hours of "Lost" tomorrow. The first three episodes promises to reveal a lot of the secrets, but also create new ones. Very exciting!

Don't you know..
If I like it I just do it

Say that we have all the time we need to make it right
Don't hurry for nobody
If it ain't the thing you like
Know your place and fit your space, young man you will conform
I didn't hear my soul express those rules when I was born.
Cause I'm free to roam 'cause it's my home
You can't stop sweet inclination
The kids want the system breaking down
Not higher education
If it ain't no natural law
Then you can keep your regulations
Cause if I like it I do it

But I keep on movin' though they wanna bring me down
I've gotta run for the cover,
And I keep on smiling
Though they wanna tie me down and give me death for the lover,
And I keep on losing though I'm proving what I'm doing
I'm still groovin', and if I like it I do it

You've got to help those people break that legislation
We can overcome this suffocation,
Execute your natural liberation
Happy to enjoy rejuvenation,
All around hear the sound
No-one can stop us now,
A thousand rules for plastic fools
Now they can take a bow.
Surely there's been time to see it doesn't work by now,
So if I like it, I do it

Still I,
Keep on finding that they're pushing those distorted visions.
And I keep on living but I'm dying 'cause of their decisions,
If I keep on looking I can find a higher space
I'm still groovin' and if I like it I'll do it

If I Like, I Do It
Emergency on Planet Earth album
by Jamiroquai

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When it gets too ba-ad,
and I never know which way to turn,
there's a friend I see-ee, oh yeah,
who believes in me.
He is all I have,
oh put your hand away
and bring it out
another day.
If I listen hard, if I listen hard now,
I can hear him sayyy
I know somewhere we can go,
so much better.
Oh the music in my mind,
oh now the music in my mi-i-ind,
I know somewhere we can go,
so-o much better.
Oh the music in my mind!
The music in my mi-i-i-ind yeah.
I can take you there
I can take you there
Oh now
I wanna say that I can take you there

Music of the Mind
Emergency on Planet Earth album
by Jamiroquai