An eventful few days

That interview in Manhattan I was waiting to here about? They called me at 9:00AM Thursday to have me come in that afternoon! After running around like a maniac to get ready, I spent 30-45 minutes to get to the Dover train station and another hour or two riding in to Penn Station. The interview was near 36th and Broadway, so it was only a short walk from the station. I thought it went well: I was much less nervous and I was only unable to answer one question. The interview lasted only about an hour; 3 hours travel each way and $21 later I was home. Not the kind of commute I’d like to have deal with everyday. To add insult to injury, I ended up with a parking ticket, since it wasn’t office where the right place to park was. The end result? I got an e-mail today letting me know that they’d gone with someone else, but that I was one of top candidates. I should know better than to trust my instincts on how my interviews go; I seem to have lousy accuracy.

With my immediate interview obligations out of the way, I was able to head up to CT Friday afternoon. I spent some time with KS & family, until I headed up MA Saturday afternoon. I got there around 4:45 and hung out with M & CC until more of their guests arrived. The Cinco de Mayo party was fun and I got to meet a bunch of cool people with similar interests. I was actually surprised how many of the woman there were into science fiction, etc. I guess all the female sci-fi geeks have been hiding in MA. 😉 All in all, it was a good time.

The next day, M & CC took me out to breakfast and showed me around the area, while we talked and caught up on each other’s lives. They also gave me some good suggestions for my job search and offered to let me stay with them if I had interviews in that area. With everything going on at home, it was really happy to be able reconnect with good friends. Recent times have made me realize just how valuable true friends are.

I headed back down to CT Sunday night and spent that evening talking with K & LS. Monday morning, I split my time between job hunting and spending time with the girls. I managed to update my job site profiles to include MA, had a recruiter submit me for a position in Fairfield, sent out about a half dozen resumes to MA companies (including Harvard University), and got to spend some quality time individually with each girl, before I headed back to NJ that afternoon.

That night, JQ and I tried to hash out my some of our financial issues, which wasn’t a particularly fun time. We’re trying to end things as amicably as possible, but its hard when there are so many emotions involved. Our lease is over at the end of July, so we’re doing our best to make things work until then.

Today, besides the being told about not getting the NYC job, I checked in with the recruiter for the Bear Stearns position, but there have been no developments yet. I was also submitted by another recruiter today for a contract position at Johnson & Johnson.

I received a check I’d been waiting for in the mail yesterday, so I could finally afford to set up an appointment to get work done on my car so it can pass inspection. I’m planning on saving the rest to cover my upcoming moving costs.

A good few days overall.

Interviews, weekend plans, and spending time with JQ

I had an interview today with Bear Stearns in Whippany. I think it went all right, though I could tell that I let my nervousness show a little too much. It was kind of frustrating, because some of the technical questions they asked I should have known the answers to. Part of it was how some of the questions were asked. Part of it is me not having touched some of the things they were asking about in a while, if at all. On the flip side, the manager interviewing me seemed to be a nice guy. He said that he thought it went well and that I was the best interview they had that week, though it sounded like they had a better crop the week before. Most managers I’ve interviewed with tell you that they’ll be in touch at the end of interview; this one started telling me about the next steps in the process: dealing with HR and such. Should I take that as a positive sign? I’ve learned the hard way that my instincts on how interviews go aren’t reliable. so we’ll have to just wait see. I was told that I should hear something by the middle of next week.

I have another recruiter trying to set me up for an interview in Manhattan for sometime in the next few business days. Based on the job description, it sounds like I’d be a good fit, though the prospect of working in the city again isn’t very appealing. I’ve also got two potential leads in Connecticut. I had a good phone interview with a company based out of Fairfield, about 15 minutes from K & LS; I’ve been trying to push them for an in-person interview, but they don’t seem to be in a rush. I’m still waiting to hear if there’s any interest from another company based out of Groton.

I’m planning on heading up to Massachusetts this weekend to see M & CC. They’re having a Cinco de Mayo party Saturday night, but I’m planning on heading up early to spend some more time with them. I haven’t really seen them since their wedding, so I’m looking forward to it. CC was one of my closer friends when he lived down here and I always enjoy hanging out with MC. I’ll probably stop by K & LS’ house on the way back. When I come back will probably be entirely based on when my NY interview gets scheduled for.

JQ won’t be going with me; she wants a chance to relax after the busy weekend she had at her conference. Tonight was the first chance we really had to spend some quality time together since she came back, which was nice. It’s clear that we missed each other while she was away; It’s also obvious that we still love each other. Unfortunately, because of our other issues, it isn’t as obvious to either of us if we’re meant to be together for the long haul. We’ve given ourselves an informal deadline of when our lease expires at the end of the summer to figure things out. Wish us luck.

Peeeeople….

JQ just got home and we’re catching up. She seems in a good mood and seemed to really enjoy her conference. After spending most of the last five days here by myself, it’s nice to have some human contact.

No word about my interview in CT yet, so it looks like I won’t be heading up there until after my interview in Whippany on Wednesday. I ran out and picked up my suit from the cleaners today, just in case they called for me to come up tomorrow.

As has become my routine lately, I talked to LS for a bit this afternoon. We were discussing how we both need a vacation from our stresses and joking that we should take one together just to see the reactions people would have. 😉

I enjoyed last night’s WWE pay-per-view. Wrestling’s been a guilty pleasure for me since I was a kid. Yes, I know it’s all choreographed, but I still find the athleticism of these guys to do what they do without killing themselves or each other amazing.

I also watched one of the remastered episodes of the original Star Trek. I’ve been enjoying the upgraded episodes, because they improve the look of show with modern computer graphics without compromising the plot, unlike the changes made over the years to Star Wars. Last night’s episode was “A Piece of the Action”, one of my favorites, where Kirk and the crew have to deal with 1920’s style gangsters. If you’re a fan of the show, you should definitely check them out; they air around 2:30-3:00 am Monday morning on NBC here in the NY area.

Tonight’s TV agenda: 24 and Raw.

A long weekend to myself

JQ has been away since Wednesday at a conference in Atlantic City.  Having the house to myself is a double edged sword.  JQ and I have been driving each other crazy lately, so its been nice to have a break. On the other hand, I’ve had way too much time to myself lately. But it does give me time to think about the direction my life is taking.

As some of you probably already know, I’ve been searching for a new job. I’ve got an interview coming up this Wednesday with a financial firm here in NJ. I had a good phone interview with a marketing firm in CT on Friday and am waiting to here back on when they can schedule me for an in-person interview.

Why am I interviewing in CT you may ask? Well, as some of you may or may not already know, things been JQ and I haven’t been going so well for a while now. I still love her, but given recent events, which I won’t go into here, I don’t think this relationship is destined to last. (I’m not surprising her by talking about this here; she’s been aware of how I’ve been feeling for a while now.)

So with everything that’s happened over the last year or so, I’m feeling like the honeymoon with my moving back to NJ is over. Thus I’ve been looking into finding a job up in CT, somewhere near K & LS. I’m hoping the move will let me make a fresh start, while giving me the support of having my closest friends nearby. Only time will tell.

To keep my sanity during all this turmoil, I’ve been making some headway into my video game collection, as time allows. I just finished Final Fantasy I on my PS2 last night. Over the past few months, I’ve finished God of War and good chunks of both the Metroid and Zelda series. After finishing Majora’s Mask a few weeks ago, I wanted to start The Wind Waker, but my GameCube’s drive is flaking out. I’m probably going to have to send it in to Nintendo to get it repaired. I started Oracle of Ages, but put it down to play FF1. If I don’t get back into OoA, I think I’m going to give Final Fantasy IV a shot.

JQ is staying over at her mom’s tonight and going straight to work from there, so I’m on my own for one more evening. Fortunately, between playing with this blog, my games, and a wrestling pay-per-view that’s on later, I should have plenty to keep me occupied. Keeping myself occupied is the best thing I can do to keep life from bringing me down.