Vacation Train Day

This morning I got up early and spied on the hotel breakfast. It was a similar menu to yesterday. I reported the variety to Momoko. She asked me to bring her a plate. I had potatoes, hot sauce, and a bagel. Then we headed to the train yard.

This was Thomas the Train day. There were a lot of kids and parents. The ticket counter lady had trouble getting us a ticket. We had to go into the overflow first class parlor. There was no A/C in there. All the windows were open. The train started without warning with a jolt. Our car kept swaying back and forth a lot. The host told us a ghost would whistle at us. The host's timing was off. We had to drive to the ghost.

I stopped by Panera Bread to buy Momoko soup for lunch. She was not feeling well. I dropped her off at the hotel room. Then I got my Fuddruckers burger special. I came back to the hotel. We went to the New Balance shoe outlet. A worker showed us where Momoko's size was. She found some sneakers with MSRP $59.00. They had a yellow 30% off sticker. So, Momoko only paid $41.99. That was a steal. Right across the street from the outlet was Sonic. We got half priced drinks, including a real lemon slush for Momoko.

I was planning to go to Fuddruckers tomorrow. I called them to confirm they had the special on the weekend. They did not. Tonight, Momoko wanted a steak, green beans, and okra. We headed to Cracker Barrel. I wanted the veggie meal with all sides. However, that was just for classic sides. All the good ones were premium sides. I ended up getting a steak. It was tough with a ton of gristle.

Vacation Musical

Momoko and I woke up early to catch the Full Breakfast served at our hotel. When we got there, the place was empty. It was early. We got some small cheese omelets. I also tried a sausage link. Topped it off with potatoes. Momoko shared her bagel with Philadelphia cream cheese.

After a rest, we headed to Walmart. I did not pack undershirts. We also needed something to drink. The parking lot was treacherous with cars. The drive there was confusing with the GPS. I got a 6 pack of Hanes underwear for cheap. We also got Motts apple juice. Then we headed to Fuddruckers.

We both ordered the special. It did come with endless fries. But Momoko wanted to try a new restaurant. We never made it to any restaurant. We went to Pretty Woman - The Musical. We arrived early and ordered appetizers. We also got daiquiris which came with free drinking glasses. They were so good, Momoko got a second one. Two people who sat down across from us also followed in suit.

The musical had a skinny star who had pipes. The male lead was good looking but less talented at singing. It was a very long first act. Luckily, I had ran out to the car to store all our drinking glasses before the show started. Afterwards we ran to the car and drove out a secret exit. I made a bee line to McDonald's. We got a late-night snack and returned to eat it at our hotel. 

Fuddruckers Vacation

Since I finally obtained a new job, it was time to take a vacation. It was a little last. Summer has passed. We set a date that made the hotel costs lower (mid-week). On the day of departure, Momoko had to go to the doctor to get a knee injection. The doctor said we needed to come early. I had to settle for eating a pizza at home for lunch.

I read my book on Jimmy Carter in the waiting room. Then we headed North for vacation. A couple guys texted me while I was on the road. They were congratulating me on my job. There was some traffic. But nothing like the last backup that doubled our travel time.

When we arrived at the hotel, Momoko said it was the wrong one. It was not where we stayed last time. Apparently, we last stayed at the Holiday Inn. This time I had chosen Comfort Suites. I checked in. I could not get the controls on the A/C working. The front desk said to use the thermostat on the wall. Momoko tried that. It showed a low battery sign and died.

We rushed to Fuddruckers before they closed that night. They did not have any specials outside of lunch hours. The initial meal had a tiny portion of fries. I went to ask for more. It is unlimited fries. The guy did not reuse my burger basket. Instead, he gave me a whole new basket with a ton of fries. I struggled to finish them.

Back at the hotel, I told Wyatt at the front desk about our A/C problem. He came with battery replacements. He could pop the cover off the wall mounted thermostat. But he could not get the batteries out. He went back to the office to use a screw driver. He returned to pop in the controller with new batteries. The air blowing turned cold. At night I found the A/C working too well, making me cold.

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.