Funemployment, Week 4 in These Foolish Things

Well, it’s been a month since I was let go from my job.

If it weren’t for the sometimes feelings of yuck, and those aren’t all the time, I’d say I am doing quite well, thank you. I mean, it’s a perfect time to be not working because I get to indulge my spring fever itches on the daily!

Yesterday I went to a HUGE flea market - it’s one of the biggest flea markets in the country. It was a perfect day - a little cool and very sunny and it was a Friday so it wasn’t too crowded.

Have I ever told you how much I adore flea markets? I don’t know why - maybe it’s the nostalgia and the feelings I get from looking at treasures/trash from the past or maybe it’s the inspiration I get from all of the colors and textures and smells. Or maybe I love seeing how people have merchandised said treasures/trash into something bigger than what it once was (though most sellers seem to just throw their stuff in a pile, there are some who make thrifted items look like the most beautiful stuff in the world!).

I took a lot of photos yesterday and even pulled out a couple of nifty items for myself and for gifts. Just so much to see and experience.

Anyway, just a brilliant day and I felt like I was playing hooky and it felt so good!

At one point, I came across a stall and something piqued my curiosity so I stopped to talk with the two guys showing a pretty simple but (I thought) very brilliant gadget to some other women. It’s a tool to help you with hanging things on the wall - pictures, shelving, etc. You know when you have an item and there are two holes on either side of a shelf or wall hanging, etc. and you have to go through all of these gyrations to figure out where to drill the holes or put the nails in the wall?

So I heard their spiel and liked the idea and thought that I could use one and wanted to get one for my dad too since they are working on their little house remodel.

Anyway, I actually suggested a couple of minor adjustments to their invention (just naturally flowed out of my mouth as a product person), and the guy I was talking to got these big eyes and was like, whoa! You’re right! And he took me over to his business partner and told him what I’d said and that guy was like, oh yeah…yada yada…we chatted for a good while and then they asked me what I do for a living and I told them that I was looking for my next big product gig and that I’d be sending them a consulting fee. Haha!

But it was tons of fun talking with them and they even told me that they are scheduled to go on Shark Tank at some point over the summer. They thanked me for my comments and ideas and I thanked them for listening!

All in a day’s non-work!

Had an interview on Thursday with the HR person at a local company that could have been a good opportunity, but I don’t have 100% of the skills they are looking for. It’s a hybrid job that would involve graphic design and I don’t have graphic design experience - pretty big element to not have, but normally a product development person would work alongside a graphic designer and it just feels like they are trying to fill two jobs with one person. Probably a no for me. Plus, the salary wasn’t quite there either.

Got some more feedback from The Big A company (via the HR guy I’ve been working with). Y’all. They don’t have their shit together. They have like 50,000 jobs and hundreds of recruiters, but I’ve been working with this one guy in HR. He’s been helpful, but when I asked him about the other positions I’ve put in applications for and the fact that they were “withdrawn” in their system without any further information, here was his reply:

“I see that you are active on a couple of positions that you recently applied to! I also see the withdrawal notification for a couple of them as well… let me follow up with the recruiter and double check. She may have been dispositioning you from the position due to lack of alignment but is choosing the wrong reason. I’ll check with her and see what is going on. Typically a recruiter will screen your resume and make a determination on if you would be someone their hiring manager would like to consider for the role. At that point, they will either move you forward for the position to a hiring manager review, or they will disposition you off of the position and provide a reason why. In this case, I believe she chose the wrong reason. But I’ll look into it for you!”

Um. This kind of stuff is clearly not a one-off. First, the hiring manager for the role I was interviewing about simply didn’t put any input into their system, and now the recruiter is dispositioning me with the wrong reason?

UGH.

Job dating.

I’m driving nearly 4 hours on Thursday to have a 2 hour interview with The Cutie Pie Company and then driving nearly 4 hours home. I better at least get a first kiss for this one.

And again, speaking of dating, I am going to dinner with Captain K tonight. I’ve been pretty easy going on his lack of follow-through, but tonight will be the ultimate test. He’d not given me any information about said date until I sent him a text last night asking him if there were any plans?

He answered and told me he’d pick me up around 6 at my place. I said okay….but ZERO details on what he’d planned for us to do.

So I sent a text back asking how I should dress. He answered back with a joke about wearing what I’d wear to go to Whataburger (haha, lame). And then finally came back with this cool sounding lobster place, which sounds GREAT, but I am guessing he won’t have made reservations. What do you want to bet the dude didn’t make reservations for a Saturday night?

It sucks that I feel this way, but it happened on the day he took me flying in the little plane. He told me about this adorable place on a nearby lake that has a grass landing strip and a restaurant on the water. Awesome, right? But the place was closed that day. So we ended up flying to another place and it was fine…just not adorable.

What if we get to this joint on a Saturday night and it’s packed and he didn’t make reservations?

I’m going to tell you about something I did which shows you how little trust I have in this guy right now. I secretly went on Opentable and made reservations myself. And now I feel like an asshole. I’m canceling them right now. Because the thing is, if he hasn’t made reservations, then he’s going to need to think on the fly and make it right. I should not be involved in fixing this before there’s even a problem.

OMG. Why am I spinning like this? What is wrong with me?

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been on a date in what, over a year? And THAT guy was abysmal with the plans as well! Maybe it’s PTSD from…ugh, I don’t even remember what I named him.

Anyway, it will be interesting. I’ll be sure to report back!

Have a great Saturday, loves!
GS