The Lone Diner

Best user friendly online video conference that will allow you to see and hear more than one other person? Tokbox has sound issues, Stickem maybe? Halp?

This is a tl;dr that covers employment opportunities, bras, and friendship. Read or scroll.

I’m flying out to NYC at the end of the month for at least three weeks, two of which I’m going to use to prepare for my big interview. I need all that time to prepare for what could possibly be a minefield and I need to be prepared 110%. I don’t think I ever mentioned it on here but I have virtually no friends in Los Angeles that went to school with me nor do they have jobs that are remotely similar to what I want to do. It’s no offense to them but they can’t help me prepare for interviews or develop strategies to get these jobs that I want. But I do have friends in NYC that have mid to senior level management jobs in public service and know how these things work.

I had actually interviewed for this job last year and obviously did not get it. It went to someone else and then a few weeks ago, my old boss notified me that the person they hired left and the position was open again. Because the interview was so awkward I decided to not give it another go. But then the executive director called me a few days later to ask if I was still interested. Apparently I was the number two choice the last go around, but the other person was already in NYC and I was still here in Los Angeles. She didn’t work out and now I’m presumably the prime candidate.

Both times we spoke she never asked about my prior experience, which I found odd, but then again, it’s all laid out in my resume, as well as in the cover letter where you basically discuss how your experience relates to and qualifies you for the job. She is looking for someone motivated and driven. Someone that she won’t have to tell what to do all the time. So I’m taking what I know about her organization’s strategy to - well I don’t want to discuss it here - but the position is basically organizing what will become a national coalition to change a very particular area of policy - and I have to prepare to discuss project challenges and constraints, developing project plans, overcoming project obstacles, organizational politics, professionalism, work ethic, decision making, competence. And I have to get her to like me, as a person. Because you can’t work with people that you don’t like. This is going to be rough. Interviews are my greatest weakness. But this is the closest I’ve come to being employed in a very long time.

I felt really good after we spoke on Monday. I decided to fix some of my broken possessions. I went to get the light switch on my vanity mirror replaced and then I took my bras to the tailors. After my lightning speed weight gain last year the expanding width of my body broke through the delicate netting on the part of the straps that come together in the middle of the back. I could still wear them, and I did, but I felt sad every time I put one of them on or took them off because they reminded me of not just the weight gain, but the reason for the weight gain and that I could not afford new ones and then the reason why I couldn’t afford new ones. These are some pretty expensive bras, but unless I want to wack people in the face with them all day or shove them out of my way all the time or look good in a top, then I kept them. They also made me feel like I wasn’t wearing a bra, which is the best sort of bra there is, and that doesn’t come cheap. I felt like I deserved to have them fixed so I could feel good about putting them on and taking them off again. Just to explain how awesome my bras are, once, when I was in the emergency room (long story) the nurse had to give me an EKG, which is a test to see if something was wrong with my heart. She had to lift up my shirt to place something on my chest and when she looked down she said, “I know this is probably the most inappropriate thing to say right now, but I really like your bra!” So there.

One other thing I want to address here with respect to the myriad new experiences I have had since being unemployed, and that is the loss of friendship. The night before my interview I was told by a friend that a mutual friend of ours had recently run into a friend of mine who I had considered very close and whom I have known for so long. She hasn’t spoken to me since September, and I never understood why. No returned phone calls or texts. My friend asked her how I was doing since, last he knew, we were close friends. She told him that she stopped talking to me because I was too negative to be around.

I was really hurt. But I’ve also been sinking into a terrible depression for a very long time. It has been such a struggle to seek work in this economy and applying for jobs is a job unto itself. A soul crushing, maddening exercise in futility that rarely offers anything in return besides despair, self doubt, a frail ego. I never know when it will end. Scarier even, I would sometimes think that it would never end. That is a terrible place to be. But mostly I am just sad. I’m sure I must have said some negative things about my situation, but it never ever stopped me from trying to change it. I’m always applying, I’m sometimes interviewing, I’m trying desperately to cling to the thought that this will one day be all over. If my friendship was valuable to her she would have stuck around till the very end.

As Homer once said,”You don’t win friends with salad.” - from the Lisa is a Vegetarian episode

Guess who’ going to NYC in late March/early April for her second interview for the job of a lifetime? Me!

If I wait to go hiking at a little after 6 pm and the sun starts to set at 5:51 pm, and the park closes at night/dusk, will we have enough time to do the hike? It’s Runyon Canyon for reference. Is there any other outdoor exercises we could do if we don’t have enough time to hike?

dailyhuff:

robdelaney:

Hi! Sometimes I post stuff on here, but that’s all I really do.  I’ve tried to talk to people or comment on their stuff, but I haven’t really bothered to figure that out.

So like if you have said something nice to me on here, or something horrible, and I wanted to say “Thanks!” or “Thanks!”, I haven’t, because I don’t know how. Plus I only have enough love in my heart for one digital wife, and that woman is Twitter.  If you’re not following me, you can do so here: http://twitter.com/robdelaney

Also, I think people must think I have a writing job somewhere, but I don’t.  Of course I’m trying to sell ideas and stuff, and write constantly, but if you wanted to be the person who gets to say “I gave Rob his first staff writing job,” you still can. Mostly because my wife and I are trying to make babies right now and I want to buy some new jeans.

Thanks!

You’re welcome, you sexy, sexy man you. (This is your Witstream pal Steve, btw.)

Everyone should follow Rob Delaney’s Tumblr, and I’m not even fucking kidding. Just got to see his stand-up via UStream the other night and he’s fearless and hilarious.

Rob Delaney bought me a beer once. True story. I attended a comedy show at the Fake Gallery thinking it was a free show and brought five dollars to buy one beer. Turned out the show was five dollars. Not free! This was when I was in desperate financial dire straits and never went out ever and this was supposed to be a big treat for me: to see an awesome comedy show and drink a beer and forget about my awful shitty life, if only for a little bit. I sat down near the stage and this strange guy next to me smiled this huge smile and asked me how I was doing. I complained that I spent my beer money on what I thought was a free show and was sad because of it. He offered to buy me a beer and asked what kind I liked but I said NO! Because I was so ashamed of my situation and already felt bad whining to a stranger about it, but he got up anyway and bought me a beer. And mind you, not at one point did I ever think he was hitting on me or flirting. He was just being kind, helping out a stranger with her need for a beer, which is amazing because, really, who NEEDS beer? I thanked him profusely and enjoyed my ice cold beer during the show, and then he went up! I had no idea who he was prior, but he turned out to be one of the best sets of the night. His comedy shows that he clearly has a lot of respect for women. He is very funny, and kind. Rob Delaney!!! Also, on Facebook, his latest status update is stating his need for new pants. Someone get this guy some pants!!!

I just completed a huge application for a job with an organization that my boss knows very well. She told me to notify her when I sent in my application. She also sent out a mass email to all volunteers so that we can get first dibs on days to work during the Summer, because a lot of new people will be coming in to work for us.

Hi [redacted],

The hope is that by Summer I will have a job…but I need some time to figure out what days would be best for me if I am available. Speaking of jobs, I sent out my application to the [redacted] and listed you as a reference so feel free to pimp me out!!

Her response:

Consider it done. :)

I’m going to get pimped out you guys! This durn economy…