When It Rains, It Pours
The interview this morning took exactly 15 minutes. I'm not kidding. Which left me wondering if I should have said more, or asked more questions, or if it just didn't take them any longer than that to decide I'm too fat for the job.
No need to wonder. They'd already called the headhunter and made me an offer before I even made it back to my house.
So why aren't I jumping for joy?
Well, for starters, they offered me $150 a year less than my current salary. (Rather, the salary I was making before Bosshole stopped paying me.) Considering we're already feeling the pinch of my losing three paychecks, I had been hoping for at least a little more.
Besides the money, it's pretty much a job doing the same thing I've been doing for years--I was hoping for a move up, and this feels more like a lateral move than anything.
That said, it's a mid-size firm with a stable history and a solid reputation. The work is by no means slowing down. It's a good atmosphere and the benefits are decent. They don't encourage overtime, but when it's necessary, it's paid. And in spite of my desire to broaden my horizons, it's work I'm familiar with and know I can do and excel at.
Plus, it's a job. And that's saying a lot in this shit-poor economy. The market isn't exactly spectacular right now.
So, not wanting to give up a sure thing for a better deal that may never materialize, I accepted the offer. Which means I can enjoy the second half of my maternity leave and not worry about finding a job. I can relax.
That is, I could relax if it weren't so fucking hot in our house. I noticed a couple of weeks ago it wasn't blowing out very cool air. By the end of last week, it wasn't cooling the house at all. We had a guy come out and charge it on Saturday ($175). It worked until yesterday. Today, we had the people who installed it 7 years ago come out and take a look ($153). Sure enough, there's some major part that has a leak and needs to be replaced ($1500). But since our furnace was installed by Java Man, he recommended replacing the whole damn system ($8040). Ben called the dude from Saturday back, and he said he can replace the defective part for considerably less ($600) and hopefully that will keep us sitting pretty for the next few years, when we will (hopefully) be able to afford to replace the whole damn works.
Of course, I don't know where that $600 is going to come from. Perhaps one of us will magically pull it from our ass.
So after sweating our balls off all afternoon in our 1500 square foot personal sauna, Moosebaby and I decided to jump in the stroller and walk to school to fetch Bob. I heard thunder as we walked out the door, but it's looked like rain all day without a drop, so I figured we could likely beat the storm.
I figured wrong.
It started to rain as MB and I reached the school. By the time all three of us emerged from the (air-conditioned) school, it was raining a little harder. And the lightning was closer. Still, we decided to give it the old scout try. By the time we were two blocks away, it started to pour. We stopped under a tree, drenched, and considered waiting it out. Lucky for us, another parent from school had seen us leaving and realized we wouldn't get far, and stopped to offer us a ride. So yes, I Britney Spearsed it and held my 4-week-old infant in my lap in the front seat of her minivan while she drove us the 10 blocks or so to our house. Under normal circumstances I would never consider that, but the alternative was risking him drowning in a stroller. At any rate, we all made it home safe and sound (and wet).
And now, Sir Screams-a-Lot is calling my name. Because being a mommy requires a lot of overtime.
No need to wonder. They'd already called the headhunter and made me an offer before I even made it back to my house.
So why aren't I jumping for joy?
Well, for starters, they offered me $150 a year less than my current salary. (Rather, the salary I was making before Bosshole stopped paying me.) Considering we're already feeling the pinch of my losing three paychecks, I had been hoping for at least a little more.
Besides the money, it's pretty much a job doing the same thing I've been doing for years--I was hoping for a move up, and this feels more like a lateral move than anything.
That said, it's a mid-size firm with a stable history and a solid reputation. The work is by no means slowing down. It's a good atmosphere and the benefits are decent. They don't encourage overtime, but when it's necessary, it's paid. And in spite of my desire to broaden my horizons, it's work I'm familiar with and know I can do and excel at.
Plus, it's a job. And that's saying a lot in this shit-poor economy. The market isn't exactly spectacular right now.
So, not wanting to give up a sure thing for a better deal that may never materialize, I accepted the offer. Which means I can enjoy the second half of my maternity leave and not worry about finding a job. I can relax.
That is, I could relax if it weren't so fucking hot in our house. I noticed a couple of weeks ago it wasn't blowing out very cool air. By the end of last week, it wasn't cooling the house at all. We had a guy come out and charge it on Saturday ($175). It worked until yesterday. Today, we had the people who installed it 7 years ago come out and take a look ($153). Sure enough, there's some major part that has a leak and needs to be replaced ($1500). But since our furnace was installed by Java Man, he recommended replacing the whole damn system ($8040). Ben called the dude from Saturday back, and he said he can replace the defective part for considerably less ($600) and hopefully that will keep us sitting pretty for the next few years, when we will (hopefully) be able to afford to replace the whole damn works.
Of course, I don't know where that $600 is going to come from. Perhaps one of us will magically pull it from our ass.
So after sweating our balls off all afternoon in our 1500 square foot personal sauna, Moosebaby and I decided to jump in the stroller and walk to school to fetch Bob. I heard thunder as we walked out the door, but it's looked like rain all day without a drop, so I figured we could likely beat the storm.
I figured wrong.
It started to rain as MB and I reached the school. By the time all three of us emerged from the (air-conditioned) school, it was raining a little harder. And the lightning was closer. Still, we decided to give it the old scout try. By the time we were two blocks away, it started to pour. We stopped under a tree, drenched, and considered waiting it out. Lucky for us, another parent from school had seen us leaving and realized we wouldn't get far, and stopped to offer us a ride. So yes, I Britney Spearsed it and held my 4-week-old infant in my lap in the front seat of her minivan while she drove us the 10 blocks or so to our house. Under normal circumstances I would never consider that, but the alternative was risking him drowning in a stroller. At any rate, we all made it home safe and sound (and wet).
And now, Sir Screams-a-Lot is calling my name. Because being a mommy requires a lot of overtime.
posted by Mitzi Green at 6:15 PM
4 Comments:
Maybe it's a good thing the job is similar. You've got a new baby to contend with so not having the additional hassle of learning more at work and taking on more responsibility will fit in nicely until the little fella's a bit older.
Well done on getting the offer and I'm sorry about the heating - that sucks.
Glad you got the job. And no more babysitters........til you start work! Yeah!!
I'm with Karen.
Can't wait for my next visit - and seeing Sir Screams-a-lot!
I agree with Karen, it sounds like the job will be a good fit, especially in this job market. That's why I've been hesitant to move anywhere...sure, I could make more money, but would it be stable and a fairly easy job? Not likely.
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