Oops, my bad! It's almost been a week!

And I havent updated a thing.

Well, first off, I still have no job. I have been doing a lot of work for Awesome Company though, writing emails, doing social networking research, really, having a blast and still have no idea whether or not I'll actually be hired. I'm hoping all my hard work and genuine enthusiasm will pay off. Fingers crossed!

Other than that, it's been a lot of recovery time and catching up on my DVD selection. I went up to Shasta for a few days, and was incommunicado, which was a lovely change of pace. I learned how to weld and cut metal and cook an entire turkey in 40 minutes. It was a real educational experience. I opted out on the cow herding though. One trip at a time. We also had a hoe-down, which required cleaning the barn, hanging the lights, and making a honkey-tonk playlist. a banana suit and a few cocktails later, we were ready to rumble.

I also took a shift at my local watering hole on Sunday night, and spent most of it fending off drunkies, trying not to over serve the patrons, and dealing with people who came in way too over served, trying to take their clothes off in the middle of the bar. Yes, it actually happened. But I did well for myself, and spent the night on a friends couch instead of a bed, which I was promised. Ya, I'm still upset about the crick in my neck. Oh well. Whats done is done, and I never want to do another shift there again.

Last night I went to see Flight of the Conchords and was BLOWN away! They are amazing live, and are the same quirky New Zealanders you see on the show. Their opening act was just as funny; it was the guy who played the racist fruit vendor on the show, and he was pretty epic. If they are in your town EVER, I highly recommend the show. Worth whatever money you have.

So now back up to speed, this morning I had another meeting with the Awesome Company, and it went really well, IMHO. The lady I met with was amazing, and she got me even more excited about the company and about the job position in general. I am pretty sure I did a stand up job, and am hoping for the best. Until then I'll be seeing what else is out there and trying not to get myself killed via open dresser drawer.

Ya, I cut my leg something nasty about 20 minutes ago. I just hope I don't bleed out, or gangrene sets in. Do people still get gangrene? I bet I will. Just my luck...

The Ocho, Huit, Acht, Otto!

Yes, it was D8, and it was the MOST productive day yet! Things are only getting better as I slowly recover from the plague, and the work I've been doing has been paying off.

I did some homework (re: a lot) before heading off to my interview at Awesome company around mid day. Of course parking in SOMA is a nightmare, and well, to say the least, I only had about 90 minutes of parking before my car would get towed, so although I hoped I would hit it off really well with the company, I was also hoping for a short interview to save me from a huge fine and missing car.

Well, the interview went, and I think I did a pretty excellent job. Not to go into too much detail about it, I really like the company, the people, and what they're working on, so it wouldn't be difficult at all to rally behind the site and become number one cheerleader extraordinare.

My Mom had been planning on coming over for MONTHS to come clean our carpets, completely unsolicited, because she thinks they're dirty and gross and smelly, and today seemed to be a good day to do it. So I called her after the interview and she started her way into the city. Of course, as luck would have it, another head on collision on the Golden Gate Bridge caused a crippling traffic jam, and she had to turn around at Sausalito to head home. I was a little heart broken, I was so looking forward to clean, fresh carpets. Another day will do though.

This was, of course, the second time my Mom was trying to get into the city when there was an accident on the bridge. Her timing is impeccable.

So the rest of the day was spent doing some "homework" for Awesome company so I could put together an action plan for them concerning the job, as well as some general thoughts, as well as having the luxury of contemplating what to eat, since solid food is finally an option.

All in all, D8 was a great day, and I hope that everything goes well with Awesome company. I'll also take this time to say that I'm taking the weekend and heading up to Shasta, where *gasp* the internet is spotty, and I doubt I'll be bringing my computer up. So don't expect any grand updates, but know that I'm hopefully healthy and close to being employed. Fingers crossed!

Counting days is getting depressing, so here it is, Day Seven.

Definitely the most productive day so far, D7 was a great surprise. Although still sick, I was extremely productive, getting out a tons of resumes, making contacts, and I actually made it out of the house for a few hours! A minor victory, but a victory just the same.

Cruising Cragslist proved to be a fruitful venture, as I came across a few promising job listings that seemed not only interesting, but also that I was qualified for! Rare finds indeed. After sending off a few resumes, working on various cover letters, and of course the necessary naps that come along with such hard work, I settled back into my "sick time" rhythm, and got my apple sauce and remote.

It's amazing to see how day time television has deteriorated over the years; it used to be really good, from what I remember from when I would stay home from school....in 9th grade. But I suppose that was when Jerry Springer was on all the time, and it was cool to sneak a peak at the debauchery going on while your parent was in the other room or out running errands. Now, with that mini-thrill gone, I suppose day time television has lost it's luster; although now you can find "Scrubs" on about 3 different channels throughout the day, which is almost an even trade.

Later in the day, I was sent a posting from my friend Adam; two actually. One of them really stuck out, and I immediately applied to the position. And lo, to my amazement, I received a call back within an hour from this amazing company! What joy of joys! Results from being productive, who would have thought? I celebrated with eating my first solid food of the week (yay!), and promptly felt gross for the next two hours.

Further celebration included me actually leaving the apartment to go see a friend who was in town for the night, and ended with doing research for my upcoming phone interview the next morning and playing around with the website. It was an awesome D7, and here's looking at an equally, if not more awesome D8. Wish me luck!

Day Six

D6 was pretty much a waste of a day. Even though the shenanigans of D5 were minimal at best, I was still in pretty rough shape yesterday due to whatever sickness I've been suffering from for the last week. I spent most of the day in and out of a nap and doped up on various medications.

I did manage to get in touch with some of my Dad's friends and overseas contacts, since I'm not just relegating myself to life forever in San Francisco, as awesome as that would be. Who knows what's in store; might as well take this opportunity to venture outside the safety zone and see what else this world has to offer. Hopefully one of those situations pans out; I'd always said I'd live overseas at some point in my 20's, why not now?

I also figured out my schedule for the bar, I am now set working 2 shifts, both of which are not ideal, but I'll take them. Income is income, even on Sunday nights.

Day Four and Five

Unfortunately, whatever sickness I have had managed to consume my entire weekend. What was set to be a fun, sunny weekend turned into a bed ridden mess, complete with a massive pile of tissues and Gatorade fuled binges. I did manage to make it out for a few hours on Saturday to go to Haight Street to shop for Bay to Breakers with Lindsay. The trip was short but sweet, and the day ended no closer to finding a job, but with more aches and pains than necessary. So far this entire "looking for a job" thing isn't going as smoothly as I had expected, and the motivation that I thought I would have to be active in this search had been replaced with naps and Sudafed.

I ended up spending the night at my friend Lindsay's house so we could finish our costumes for the morning, but really I just passed out while watching the office and she made the unicorn tails and manes.

D5 started early, with me feeling a little bit better, but I'm guessing that it was mostly due to the adrenaline from knowing that it was Bay 2 Breakers. Because by around 9am I was back to feeling pretty ill, and not in the mood for walking any distance in the tepid weather. Granted I did have fun; our Noah's Ark float survived for longer than last year's "Hyphy-mobile", and our animal costumes were a hit. I amazingly ran into a lot of friends along the way and got some excellent photo's of my crazy companions and random runners. I also managed to get a picture of the Sign Guy, which was AWESOME! I see him at parties occasionally, so it was nice to see him and his sign out and about for B2B.

The day ended fairly early, with some hangout time at a friends house, and a little solid food. Sleep did not come easy though, as being sick and sleep time do not go well together. I'm hoping that as I get better, my motivation returns; I have a few leads, have spoken to a few people, mostly family friends and friends of friends, and have just about completed my brand spanking new resume. Hopefully something good can come of this horrific plague. Maybe a medical test subject?

Day Three

Friday Friday Friday. One would think that I would actually get work done on an 85 degree, sunny, glorious Friday, right?

Right.

I went to Stinson with my friend Jess who played hooky. We met up with some kickball friends of mine, Jolene and Mary, who also called in "sick". The beach was packed. Did anyone actually do work on Friday?

If people didn't play hooky, they managed to escape from the evil clutches of the work day early, making happy hour not only an earlier affair, but a mandatory one at that. So sunburned and well rested, I was off to Epic Grill to enjoy the lovely weather and libations. Unfortunately, being stricken with the rhinovirus, I was not feeling up to par, and had to leave early in favor of my over heated room and working DVD player.

So that was Friday; short, sweet, runny-nosed and sunburned. Brilliant way to spend a day.

Day One and Two

Well, since my blog was FLAGGED as a potential "spam blog" (apparently if you do work on the coding they'll flag you and not allow you to post for a day, sheesh), I was unable to post yesterday. But it's now Day 3, so time to recap the last few days of unemployment.

I woke up on Day One (we'll call it D1, and go from there...) at around 8am extremely refreshed and a little giddy knowing that my ex co-workers had been toiling away for the last 30 minutes while I slept. Good feeling. After ambling around the apartment and catching up with the roommate, who works retail, I decided it was time to start THE JOB HUNT.

Searching Craigslist can be daunting. You never know what you'll find. I've already decided that I didn't go to college to be a phone jockey and sit in a cube all day calling strangers trying to sell them something or do lead generation. That's just not my style. Recruiting is too stressful. I want something thats more creative, something that I can actually DO and feel accomplished at the end of the day, instead of just "blah". So I peruse the PR/Marketing lists, as well as the Arts/Design list, even though I have no background in either. Hey, it's fun to look, right?

Soon my patience wains, and the evils of Gchat distract me from my hunt. My friend Adam sends me some links to some jobs with various start-ups that look interesting, but all are based in New York City. I'm not sure if he knew this or he was just hinting at something...

I'm gonna go with "just didn't notice the location". That works.

After about an hour, I feel satisfied with my efforts. It's D1, I'm allowed a little freedom. It's 85 degrees outside, and it's just plain wrong to sit at a computer. So I leave. I go and get my hair done then decide to spend the night at my parents house for some home cooked meals and a hug. Although the feeling of being free with no immediate responsibilities is great, as I went to bed that night I could feel the anxiousness slowly creep up on me. What if I don't find a job soon? What if I have to go on unemployment? What if I have to cancel my Vegas trip in June?! GASP! That will never happen. But what if. The two worst words I can think of at the moment are just that. What if. I was surprised I could even fall asleep with all those "what ifs" floating around in my head.

The next morning (D2) I woke up and prepared for the day. I knew my Dad was getting home and he would want to see some results, or at the very least, a game plan. So this is what my Mom and I came up with: I sit around catching up on The Office while she cruises Craigslist finding job postings and reading them aloud to me. No joke. We did this for about an hour, then decided it was too nice to be indoors.

My car is very shiny right now thanks to my "job searching" efforts.

I also played the "who do you know" game, where I ask my Mom and neighbors if they know anyone hiring, any advice, things that really get you very little but it feels like you're putting in major effort. This also didn't take that long.

I left my parents house after a fun chat with my Dad about jobs to go pick up my other unemployed friend Dave from an interview he just finished. He's been out of work for a little longer than I have, but his circumstances are a bit different. He had a job, quit it, then went back to school to finish up. Upon graduation, he took the "summer" he deserved, and is now also on the job hunt. So we chatted it up about how his interview went, various tips on how to make yourself look good (for example, always ask if there is room to grow or move up in the company; employers love to see some initiative), and made it back into San Francisco with time to spare before our kickball game.

I did manage to get some work done on my resume before the game. I really don't like working on resumes. I don't like the idea that my entire adult life's accomplishments are confined to a single piece of paper and scrutinized by people that I don't know, and then the fate of my bank account rests on how well they perceive that piece of paper. The stress of creating a resume to impress is almost crushing for me, and it takes a while to actually nail down the right adjectives and verbs that may (or may not) fit your previous job descriptions.

I think to write a good resume you have to be a creative writing major or something.

But that was about it for the first two days. Just a lot of fluff, some hollow work, and more of relaxing and taking time to think about what's next. And of course, all those "what ifs".

Oh, there was some sunning too.

Introduction

I should be worried. It would make sense if I was. The economy is taking a turn for the worst, a recession may or may not be racing towards us faster than we expect, but really, I'm not that worried at all. In fact, I'm enjoying my time off, my little holiday (which I am currently spending in bed right now), and plan to take full advantage of the gorgeous, sunny day outside in the next few hours.


The point of this blog is to chronicle my adventures in "Unemployment-land", and see what it takes to get back into the working world of Silicon Valley during this turbulent economic time, and how far I'll go to do so. If it means moving to New York, I'll do it. Blogging for pennies? I'm in. Everything will be recounted in this blog and *hopefully* will serve as a warning for why not to quit your job within the next few months like I did yesterday.

so here it goes..... Day One.