A Busy, Empty Week

As I mentioned in my previous post (oh, so long ago, it seems), I had set up a Skype interview, for which I would use my friend Gimpy's computer.  Hence, I drove from Tulsa to ABQ on Sunday then from ABQ to Las Cruces (stopping by to visit Betty in Socorro on the way) on Monday.

Five minutes before the interview time, I put on my shirt and tie, checked my hair, and sat down in front of the computer.  My mobile phone rang.  (I had left it in another room, so as not to interrupt the interview.)  "It can't be her calling already," I thought.  "I'm just logging on."

As I found out later, it was the interviewer.  Long story short:  I was five minutes late for the interview because the atomic clock I had looked at was five minutes slow.  (Yes, Gimpy's chaos power is so great that he can slow down clocks that are supposed to be always accurate.)  On top of that, Skype wasn't connecting.  After much grumbling, Gimpy determined from various friends that Skype was connecting in Deming, NM and El Paso, TX but not anywhere in Las Cruces.

The interviewer had left me a voice mail, stating that they had moved up the interview after mine and suggesting that we try a phone interview in an hour.  She said I could reply with a text, so I explained we were having trouble connecting and said yes, a phone interview would work for me.  She confirmed the time, and when the phone rang, Gimpy had finally figured out that the problem was with something internet-related throughout town, not anything with his computer.

For all that, the interview went fairly well.  At the start, I apologized for missing the scheduled time and explained that Skype was connecting in other cities but not ours.  The interviewer expressed group appreciation for my diligence and thoroughness.  (Big smile there.)  I also left them with the impression that I can think around obstacles and extrapolate from limited data, but I don't know if that will be enough to outweigh my ignorance of the actual job requirements.  (I don't know if I want to live in Denver, anyway, since it snows there.)

I was scheduled to drive back to ABQ the next day, and to Tulsa the day after that.  It didn't happen, though.  When I got back from my dinner run, Gimpy said that our friend N's father had died.  I promptly called N, who said that he was in ABQ (where his parents live) and asked if I'd be able to come from Tulsa for the services.  "Well..." I started.

Anyhow, the viewing was scheduled for Friday, and the funeral for Saturday, so I wouldn't return to Tulsa until Sunday, four days later than anticipated.  No, make that five days, since our first winter storm passed over on Saturday night/Sunday morning.  There wasn't much snow (3" at my mom's house, less in the lower elevations of ABQ), but considering 1) the likelihood of little or no snow removal at the mountain pass, 2) the continual eastward movement of the storm, and 3) high winds with and after the storm, I thought it wise not to drive that day.

I finally made the return drive on Monday, since which time I crammed completing my viewing of Doctor Who DVD's borrowed from the library, and listening of audiobooks borrowed from the library (I wouldn't have had to cram, if my scheduled hadn't altered, but comforting a friend is more important than TV), so I could return them on time yesterday.  (And I walked to the library at one of the few instances during the day that it wasn't raining.)  Now I can catch up on blogging and e-mails I missed while I was away.