Damn you, Billy Gates

I did not get the job at Mister Softee.

Came very close, I think. They have a very rigorous interview process. It's kind of like a videogame; you interview with three or four different people, and if they like you enough, you get to talk to the "big boss". Which is usually a good sign. In my case, I got to the big boss, and they said they would move quickly on a decision, but instead took two agonizing weeks to let me know they didn't want me.

Which is disheartening only because I prepared so hard for that interview, and they would have covered the costs and hazards of relocation. There were a lot of red flags going up with working there, not the least of which was this recent Business Week article. But I thought it would have at least been a good learning experience and short-term opportunity for me.

Unfortunately, the non-challengingness of my previous job is making the interview process difficult. Since moving here, I haven't worked in the new technologies that everyone wants you to have experience in, and I haven't really pushed myself either, so I've forgotten a lot of things being asked of me... and they always ask little technical quizzes at these interviews, just to make them more stressful. (Although I didn't get the job, I'm sure I nailed all the pop quiz questions at Microsoft, so at least the studying I've been doing (instead of blogging) has paid off.)

C'est la vie. Top that off with Arrested Development getting cancelled, and it's been a pretty shitty week.

One good thing that came out of my Seattle trip is: I'm 100% sure I want to move there. That place FUCKING ROCKS. Seriously. If you're there, have dinner at Wild Ginger. Walk around Pike Place Market. Go to a Sonics game. I did all those things and fell in love with Seattle all over again. If worse comes to worse and I don't get any offers, maybe I should just up and move out there anyway... it's a scary prospect, but it might be easier to get hired.

Sorry, just thinking out loud. Oh hey, you know what's funny about Washington (D.C. I mean, not state, in order to stay on-topic)? It's a little easier to stomach when you don't have to work at a boring, mindless, completely non-challenging job and drive around in the awful traffic. On the other hand, a salary of some kind would be nice.

My to-do list has actually stayed pretty full. I've been doing the usual football officiating (enjoy my work tomorrow night, Leesburg), and writing up an article related to that (not that anyone hired me to write it... I'll have to pitch it when I'm done and see if anyone's interested). Funny "Virginia sucks" side note: I couldn't draw unemployment insurance even if I wanted to, because the $200/week or so I make officiating would be deducted from that, and potentially even outstrip it. Even though I won't get paid for the work I'm doing until late December. Hilarious.

The job hunting and other various chores keep me busy. Maybe I'll even get to check out the Native American museum one of these days. It does kind of suck being apartment-bound almost all day, but at least I'm working down my Netflix queue. I'll keep you posted, Internet. In the meantime, enjoy a few laughs at my expense.