Anhydrous Wit

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Friday, May 22, 2015

A Heck of a Week

This is the first chance I've had to let you know that I am employed again!  I had an interview last Thursday, at which time I scheduled a follow-up interview.  Then the company owner phoned me on Friday and asked if I could just start work on Monday!

It's a landscaping company in Santa Fe.  Right now, I'm drafting estimates and filling out purchase orders.  In the future, I hope to get back into landscape design, and they'll probably expect me to do sales calls.  I also get interrupted by the phone a lot, as the office manager is just as busy as I am.  I feel overwhelmed by what I don't know.  (I can muddle my way through the computer program I have no experience with, but I really can't plug information into it if the salesman doesn't include everything on the notes sheets he hands me.)  Right now, I feel like an office dogsbody, but I'm still optimistic enough to think the situation will improve.

Well, that and the fact I have a paying job once again.

I'm ticked right now, though, since I took off this afternoon to take my mom to a doctor's appt., and I didn't find out until I arrived home that the appt. had been cancelled!  I'd love to rip someone a new one for making me leave work and make my hour-long commute for no reason -- once I find out who's responsible for not telling me.

At least it gives me library time to get online and tell you guys.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Roadkill on the Technology Superhighway

I received a call this morning to interview for a "Service Deli Clerk" job at a local grocery store.  (Beggars can't be choosers.)  The person said I would receive an e-mail regarding a background check, which had to be completed within 48 hours.  I figured I'd better do it now, in case something keeps me from the library tomorrow.

I had a bit of trouble with my address history.  First off, I can't remember my address nor zip code from the Noog.  (I barely remember the street name.)  I was able to stick in some underscores and "unknown" that I hope I can explain if the interviewer asks me.  (Otherwise, I'll have to say, "Well, maybe I can find someplace it was written down.")  After all, how many people remember a temporary address from three years previous?

I remembered to plug in the time I lived with my mom between the Noog and Tulsa, so that was okay, but when I submitted everything else for the last ten years, the system wouldn't let me get away with not listing the month and a half I lived in the hotel in Tulsa, as I was apartment-hunting.  In that case, I just plugged in "hotel".  (I can probably find the name and address of it, if I dig for that, too.)

I nearly couldn't submit the whole application, though.  One page asked me to "sign" the form.  My previous experience has been typing my name and clicking a box to "sign".  This one was different.  It showed my typed name and had a box which read, "Click here to sign."  I did so, and a small window opened.  However, it would not allow me to type my name in it, and I couldn't proceed until I put something in the box.

I asked one of the friendly librarians (and this goes to show I probably can never become a librarian because I couldn't answer questions about computers), and she looked at the page and suggested I "click and hold down the mouse button".  Lo and behold, that worked!  My signature looked like crap, but, hey, the computer finally accepted my submission.

I've never heard of using a mouse to sign one's name.  (That means it probably has been common for years.)  It's a pity there weren't any instructions on the form.  Maybe the grocery expects its meat/cheese slicers to figure things out without instructions?  (If that's the case, I'd better stop now, lest I lose a finger.)