Job Acquired

I have been out of work for a month. But I have been searching for a job for over two months. Many of these companies want you to go through three or four interviews. That takes a lot of time. Very few are in person interviews. Most of the time, you just do a video interview. Once in a while, it is still just a phone interview.

This one company moved fast. I spoke with the recruiter. Then I had a panel interview with around four guys. They mostly asked if I had experience in some Oracle related fields or scenario. When I said yes, they moved on to the next item. I worried that other candidates might just say yes whether or not they had the experience.

This job is 100% remote. The pay is terrible. $60k pay cut from my last job. I figured I could work there and study for certifications. Then, after a bunch of back and forth, I found they don't even pay for certifications there. My last company allowed me up to $10k a year for certs. Total downgrade on the compensation.

The company did have some leniency on their requirements. They wanted some weird cert that I never heard of. I researched it, and I already had a current cert that is similar. They rewrote their job description to say that my cert was sufficient. I got a verbal indicator that an offer was coming. Then I got an email that said look for the offer in their Workday system. They said give it 2 hours.

I checked after two hours. Then four. Then six. No job offer. I was patient. I did not want to bother the recruiter yet. In the middle of the night I checked one last time. There it was. I mulled over the lack of paying for certifications. I figured I might get just the crucial certs, and pay for them myself. I accepted the offer digitally.

Job Search Continues

I was laid off from my job a couple weeks ago. That is when I really stepped up my job search. I just passed the 1000 application mark. I also think I have been to at least 10 interviews. Statistically I thought that is about when I would see my first job offer.

There have been a lot of surprises in the job applications themselves. I just applied to a company. They sent a follow up form for me to fill out. It required my social security number. Nope. Another job asked me to write a Python function. The task was well formed. It even gave a telling example input/output. I banged out an answer in 11 lines of code.

Normally I skip applications that take too long. Exceptions are high paying companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Microsoft. I do think there is a benefit to applying to a company that requires you to write code. It weeds out a lot of the competition. I figure some people could just use AI. But I think if a human reviews the code submitted, they can tell it was AI. Another part of the task was to explain your code.

There was one question on an application that said for me to make a Loom video of myself. I don't even know what that is. I could find out. However, I just gave them a link to a funny YouTube video that said just hire me and then you are done.

Little Kat Job Shuffle

Last year, Momoko, Kit Kat, and Little Kat all worked at the same school. Little Kat taught technology to elementary school students. It was not a demanding job. The pay was good. And the job location was close to our home. Little Kat knows a lot of other teachers there, including some friends of the family.

The school district rezoned the area. A lot less students are now going to that school. Since the student head count was down-sizing, they had to adjust the number of teachers too. Momoko and Kit Kat were safe. Little Kat had to go. He is still employed by the county. He just needed to work at a different school.

Little Kat went to a county job fair. There was one job that was for teaching tech. But a lot of other tech teachers like Little Kat were gunning for that position. He was sure he would not get that job. So, the county needed to assign him a new school.

At first, they said they could not place him. So, he would report back to his old school. Little Kat was fine with that. Then they said he would teach at the local high school. That is his alma mater. He went to high school there. Little Kat looked into the details of his job online. Turns out his notice was a misprint. He is to teach at another high school far south of us.

I recognized the high school as the one next to the county community college. It is not that far away. But it is an early school. Little Kat will need to wake up early from now on.

Lunch with my old Friend

I go to lunch twice a month with a guy I went to college with. Today he came to my house to pick me up. I had not had Mexican in a while. So, I suggested we go up to the mall by Kit Kat's house. My friend agreed. We sat in a section that was served by a pretty waitress.

My friend chatted the waitress up about any sports she plays. We guess soccer. We were right. Then my friend quizzed the waitress on any injuries she might have got. She did mess up her ankle. My friend invited the waitress to sit with us. My friend tried to explain his own injuries, and how she might heal using physical therapy.

Some other waiter came and took the dirty dishes from our waitress. I figured that was the signal to get back to work. The waitress and my friend did not get the message. I did not say anything. Another waitress came to tell our waitress her other tables were asking for her. We settled our bill and waited a while for the waitress to return. Then we bolted.

My friend said he heard there were new restaurants on the lake nearby. We parked in a garage and took to walking. I saw some vacant restaurant buildings on the water. Only a sushi place remained that I could recall. There was one other new restaurant. We could not find the steak house my friend heard about. He even called the restaurant. But they could not guide us there.

Eventually my friend drove me home. On the way out to the main road, we finally saw the new restaurant. It was not on the water at all. My friend thought they might have some distant water views. Doubtful. We might still come back and try it.

No Hot Water

I worked outside in the yard today. Clipped the bushes. Did weed trimming around the driveway. Cut the grass. Afterwards, I was spent. Drank a leftover McDonald's Coke. Then I went to take a shower. I let the water run for a few minutes. But when I got in the shower, the water was not hot. Even on the hottest setting, it was lukewarm at best.

Afterwards, I checked the vanity. The hot water was tepid there too. So, it was not specific to the shower handle. I went downstairs. The gas range produced a flame. So, it was not the gas supply to the house. I grabbed the hot water heater manual. Reviewed how to relight the pilot. The instructions seemed different from when I last read it.

In the basement, I saw the green light for the furnace was dim. That indicated the pilot light was indeed out. I thought you were supposed to click the lighter three times. Nope. The manual said keep clicking once a second for 90 seconds. I must have clicked for almost 30 seconds before I saw a blinking green light and hear the flame from inside the unit.

Last time I called a plumber and spent a lot of money for them to just relight my pilot flame. No can do that any more.

Air Quality Problems

Momoko and I went to Giant to do grocery shopping. Little Kat usually does this. But he is away on vacation. We then went to McDonald's to get happy meals with BT21 toys. We got to the drive through exactly when lunch started being served. We got parked for a long time. But we got the meals anyway. The toy was Mang again for the third time.

Momoko had noticed a lot of old people with masks on when we were out. I noticed a haze in the air. It was like a bad fog. Momoko knew this was due to fires in Canada. And the smoke traveled all the way down to us. Momoko said the air quality index was a whopping 300. It should be around 100. We were supposed to stay indoors, or wear a mask outside.

I was going to mow the lawn. But the air was too bad. I did mow the next day. But I wore a mask outside for that. The air quality got better the next day. It hovered between 160 and 175. We were scheduled to get rain. That should help the situation.

Search for a new Plumber

Little Kat discovered the kitchen sink faucet leaking again. This time he took a video. In the morning, I called the plumber. I ran to lunch while I waited for a call back. They called me while I was on the road. The plumber was coming.

Plumber found two problems in the spout. He did not have replacement parts. He thought I might get them from the manufacturer. But I remembered a separate problem coming from the handle last week. I opted to replace the whole apparatus. Bro said he could sell me the hardware for $1000. No thank you.

I ran to Lowes. I found my exact Moen faucet for $128. We like the look. I hope the quality is high. I called back the plumber to install. He provided multiple options for a quote. Some involved an extra $4000 water softener. Others tried to get me to sign up for a recurring maintenance plan. In the end, I just told him to get me a cost for just the install.

After he started the work, he said the hot water shutoff valve did not work. I asked if he could fix it. He said yes, but for another $300. Oh hell no. This guy is already the expensive option. He just shut off the main water valve for the house. He installed the new pieces and showed me a spout without any damage in it.

I am looking for a new plumber. Our last one just won't answer their phone. And this latest guy charges 50% higher than anybody else. So, the hunt is still on.