The Fort Mudge Memorial Dump

On Thursday I discovered that maybe being a Kent State graduate will do something for me after all. I got a definite nibble from the Lionbridge vendor manager, who said he was all for hiring Kent State grads because he knows my ex-localization professor, and said I should definitely send him email when I got back. So I did, and if everything goes the way I wish it would, I might get contract work from Lionbridge. I've sent them my resume twice now, but I went through the internet application form, so who knows where the file actually landed?

So, possibly, rowr. It certainly can't hurt to try. (I was falling asleep an hour ago and caffeinated myself, and now that it's kicked in, I'm bouncing off the walls and looking for something to do. Or at least something to do that doesn't involve beating my head against a certain committee chair's schedule.)

A propos of nothing, if I'm going to make bean soup, I probably ought to buy beans.

Last night I had the interview for a possible second job. I'll be interested to see if I get it, because I think interviewing for a permanent part-time job is a completely different beast from interviewing for a permanent full-time job. Besides which, I've never interviewed for a permanent part-time job before. I think it went reasonably well, but we shall see. I may have put my foot in it by saying I could start on the 28th as opposed to immediately, but I'm not giving up my previously planned vacation for a part-time job I might not even get. Supposedly they'll know by the end of the week who they're going to hire (there are two slots they're trying to fill).

Second-job interviews are interesting because I don't have to care about a lot of things that are vitally important for a full-time job, like benefits and time off and all that sort of stuff. It's extra money, more or less, so I find that the idea of taking a day off and not getting paid for it doesn't bother me. I may be shooting myself in the foot, thinking that way, but who knows?

The problem with a lot of the part-time stuff out there is that if you've already got a full-time job, ain't no way you can get the schedules to work. I wouldn't mind being a dog walker, except that all the dog walker positions are 10 AM - 2 PM or similar, and that won't work. And I don't have a car, so that lets about half of the dog walking jobs out anyway. I know why I would need one, but I need the second job if I'm ever going to be able to afford the car to begin with...

Never mind. The point is, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, and if there isn't, I'll have to find a torch somewhere else.

I've got an interesting quandary going on, between "good things come to he who waits" and "he who hesitates is lost".

The dream job I applied for while I was still in grad school has just gotten around to sending me a translation QA test. Too bad I had to find a job to live off in between grad school and now, and too bad I like the job I've got. Now what do I do? (Do the test, send it in and see what develops, of course. I know that.)

I guess this week is trying to make up for the mess it made of Tuesday.

In the category of "well, what did you expect?", the first email I read this morning was from a translation agency that's interested in me. Of course, now that I've got a real job, NOW I start getting translation inquiries.

I know that's how the world works, but it sort of amuses me anyway.

EMPLOYED! As of December 5, I've got the job at Harvard!

The happy dance will commence as soon as my feet thaw out enough (since it's raining, the best place I get cell phone reception is out on the back porch.)

Yesterday morning my brain got mushy, or something, and what I thought was a good idea floated to the top of it. So, under the name I use for posting writing (by which I mean fanfic), I posted this:
( cut, just because I wanted to )

An hour later, somebody had set up fic_translation, and so far it's collected people for four or five languages, and everybody seems to think it's a wonderful idea. I'm amazed that I actually had the idea in the first place, and gratified that people seem to think it's a good idea.

I got email from Harvard again this morning, wanting to know if I could wait until next week to hear about the job. (I hope that means they're going to give it to me, and they're just making sure I haven't taken another offer yet. I'd like to think that if they weren't going to hire me, they wouldn't bother asking me if I could wait until next week to hear it.) I said I'd like to know one way or the other before Thanksgiving.

I feel, in general, like I'm on the edge of something here. I hope it's something good.

I'm hedging my bets and applying for more jobs. I'm reasonably certain I've got the Harvard job, but if it turns out I don't, I need to have somewhere else to go on to.

It's warm out; how did that happen? Not that I'm complaining, because I have places to go today. It's just that I've been cold for the last three days, despite SmartWool socks and shearling slippers and heavy sweatshirts.

I have a small bottle of olive oil which I've decided I don't like the flavor of. How can I dispose of it without making a mess everywhere, and without pouring it down the sink, which I don't think the sink would like? My current idea is to leave it in the freezer until trash day. There's enough room in the bottle so that I don't think expansion would be a problem, if oil expands when it freezes.

Today's list:

- Vacuum
- Find another couple of jobs to apply for
- Grocery store
- Clean bathroom
- Clean kitchen

Third interview today. It was short, mostly because it was a lot of the same things I've heard three times already from the three other people I've interviewed with. This being a short week, I'm hoping they ask for references tomorrow if they're going to ask at all. (Please?)

It takes me 18 minutes to walk up the hill, in heels, without ice on the sidewalks. I missed the bus I wanted to take, but it wasn't a disaster, and I just started walking instead of waiting for the next one.

An etiquette question: if you have an interview on a Friday, can you wait until Monday to send thank-you notes, or does the 24-hour rule still apply?

I'm supposed to be doing laundry, and I would if the washer and dryer weren't both full of other people's stuff. I'm down to the jeans I won't wear in public. I'm also supposed to be weatherstripping the windows today, but considering last night, I don't think I need to bother. I have no control over the thermostat, and I ended up leaving the kitchen door open until I went to bed because it was so hot in here. Better too much heat than not enough, though.

I've got cooking to do today, too. I really shouldn't forget that, because it's stuff I want to use up.

I went out this afternoon with the intention of going up to the ATM in Chinatown where I used to buy stamps, and if not getting them there, going up to the Chinatown post office. No luck with the ATM, but at least I remembered where the post office was and got the electric bill mailed. (And the Chinatown post office isn't staffed entirely by curmudgeons any more, either, hooray!)

Having got that done, I wandered off to Borders for a while, just because, and then decided to go up to Coolidge Corner by way of Park Street. Unfortunately there's a used CD store between Borders and Park Street...but while I was there, I got a call from the department-specific Harvard HR person I talked to yesterday, so now I have an interview with the Dean tomorrow. I really hope I don't end up talking to five people and not getting the job anyway.

Anyway, I got on the T and went off to Coolidge Corner, because I discovered last month that Paper Source had some adhesive dots that are exactly what I want to put together the collage I've had bits of kicking around since before grad school. They were out of them, of course. Oh well. I think today ends up on the positive side of the ledger anyway. It was even sunny and decently warm.