CRISIS AVERTED

OMG...almost had a heart attack this morning. I woke up to NO cable and NO internet! Panic!! I felt so cut off from the world, so helpless, frustrated and pissed at the cable company. I called their office, but couldn't get thru cause a recording told me I had to call during "office hours" which started at 5a.m. and it was 7:35 when I called. WTH??? Now I was really concerned. I mean what if aliens had arrived during the night while we were sleeping and stole all our cable signals. I called friends and family..."do you have cable?" Everyone did...except us...or so I thought. It had become personal, until I called our next door neighbors and was so relieved when they told me they didn't have any signals either. WHEW! At least the extra-terrestrials weren't just after me. I found a different number for the cable company and a wonderful recording told me it was an outage in our area and they were working on it and should have us back up and running by 8a.m. Breathe, breathe...disaster averted.

How addicted to electronics are we? Almost all of the agents I am contacting accept only emailed queries now. If I'm not connected to the internet...how could I send them anything? How could I research the agents I'm considering without internet? How could I find out about writing contests? How could I find out about possible freelance assignments? How could I Facebook???? Yeeee gads! I'm starting to sweat again just thinking about it. Breathe, breathe.......

I actually wanted to blog about something else today, but I'll save it till tomorrow. I need to get a stiff drink right now...oh wait it's only 9:15? Oh what the heck............

RE-ORGANIZING

No hablo Espanol...and that about covers it. My interview that I was so excited about yesterday was a bust. Why? Because the employer failed to state in their ad that they wanted someone who was bilingual. The interview was going great to begin with. The place was shabby and they'd never had an Admin, but I was more than willing to deal with that. I would have been the only estrogen based human in the place...but I was even willing to put up with all that testosterone...if it meant making some decent money. Things went down hill though in the middle of the meeting when I was asked if I spoke Spanish. Uh...no and I don't intend to. I'm just not interested at my age in trying to learn a new language. I'm still of the mind-set...if you want to truly "belong" in this country and contribute and hold a job then you should learn OUR language...not the other way around. So...no "jobo for meo".

I am re-energized toward my writing this morning. I got all the various manuscripts out that I've been working on and I am determined to start treating this as my full-time employment. I am starting with my blog this morning and will proceed with lining up more possible agents for Deadly Letters and looking through some of my older things to see if there is something that I can submit to either newspapers or magazines.

I am a huge fan of "So You Think You Can Dance" and last night I watched our latest recorded episode. I was really inspired by all the dancers who were cut and then just said they would keep dancing, get better and try again next year. I give up too easily. It's a major fault in my personality, so I will be working on fixing this flaw in the next few months.

Andale, andale, ariba, ariba..............

JOB PROSPECT

Today I have my first actual job interview since I was laid off January 22nd. I am nervous, excited, semi-confident and just a wee bit scared. A job interview for me, in the past, always meant...if I wanted the job...I had the job. There might have been 10 or 15 people applying for the same job, but I interview well....so, if I wanted the job I was interviewing for...I got it. These days though there are 300-400 people applying for the same job. I'm in awe of even getting a chance to interview. I drove to the office address Sunday when we got back from the beach. I wanted to be sure I didn't get lost and arrive late today. In fact, I will allow myself an extra 15 minutes to get there. If I'm early, I will park around the corner till 9:55 and then go to the location, so I arrive approximately 5 minutes early.

I am always friendly to the receptionist. I used to be a receptionist and trust me...when you leave...she WILL give her opinion of you...and trust me...her opinion will carry a lot of weight.

When I enter the office, I look the interviewer straight in the eye and continue to make eye contact through out the interview. I don't want "stare" at him/her, but I do look them in the eye periodically so they feel they can trust me. Besides there is nothing that connects two people more than looking each other in the eye...and I do want him/her to feel a connection to me.

I always have some questions ready for the interviewer. If possible I look the company up on the internet so I know something about them. When the interview is done...I stand and shake the interviewer's hand and again make that eye contact...thank him/her for their time and consideration. I ask them for one of their business cards and then leave...I don't linger fidgeting, like I don't know what to do.

If the job is something I feel I'd really like then I wait a day and then send a quick thank you to the person who interviewed me and then all I can do is sit back and wait and hope for either a second interview or a confirmation that I got the job.

All of these little tricks have served me very well in the past...in this economic time I am praying that they still will.

BTW...if I DON'T want the job...I will just fail to do all of the above and trust me...I NEVER get a call back. Unless the interviewer today decides to "interview" my boobs and not me...then I intend to do my very best to secure this position. Wish me luck!