Greetings from Los Angeles, California, USA!
Photo taken on Friday, January 25, 2008.
A week of rain in Southern California? Never! But it did. This week was also a roller coaster ride – a wet one – like Disneyland’s Splash Mountain but less fun. Here’s the setup. I am looking for a job and had four leads. Monday, a holiday, was the quiet before the storm.
On Tuesday, the rain clouds rolled in. That morning I had an email from a recruiter. His client cancelled its job opening. STRIKE ONE. In the afternoon came the call from another recruiter. His client interviewed me a month ago and finally decided on a candidate – not me. STRIKE TWO. Then another email. The client of a third recruiter put an indefinite hold on its job opening. STRIKE THREE! I’M OUT! I now hate baseball. Thoughts of emptying my liquor cabinet or standing on a rooftop ledge were both appealing. Instead I vented my frustrations by talking with two friends. To them, I give my many thanks.
Wednesday brought more rain but the black clouds had a silver lining. Unexpectedly another friend connected me with yet another recruiter who had a job opening that fit me. I drove to Beverly Hills on Friday to meet the recruiter and we will be submitting my resume to her client. I may be turned away immediately or have a potentially long, uphill battle involving several interviews, much waiting and rejection always lurking. I also followed up on the last of my first four job leads and it is still in the mix as well. Wish me good luck and keep the liquor away. We’ll save it for the eventual celebration.
The drive to the recruiter was 50 miles and luckily done between downpours. Making the most of my trip, I went to some points of interest afterwards. The first stop was for lunch at Pink’s, an eatery famous for its hot dogs, then on to the Beverly Center, the mall that had the USA’s first Hard Rock Café. In this week’s photo, colorful lanterns illuminate the hallway of escalators connecting that mall’s eight floors. Final stop was a men’s volleyball match between UCI and USC, my undergraduate and graduate alma maters. For whom did I cheer? I was at USC but UCI is the defending national champion. Inspired by the Trojan Horse – the large wooden equine hiding enemy soldiers inside, I went to the game as a modern-day version - Trojan soldier (USC’s mascot) on the outside, Anteater (UCI’s mascot) hidden inside. The “Eaters” won.
I spent the night at my parents’ house as it was closer than mine and the weather was still wet. On Saturday afternoon I went to a housewarming party before finally heading home. Sunday was all about recovery from my roller coaster week. Let’s hope the next ride will be on Cloud Nine.
Angelo
Photo taken on Friday, January 25, 2008.
A week of rain in Southern California? Never! But it did. This week was also a roller coaster ride – a wet one – like Disneyland’s Splash Mountain but less fun. Here’s the setup. I am looking for a job and had four leads. Monday, a holiday, was the quiet before the storm.
On Tuesday, the rain clouds rolled in. That morning I had an email from a recruiter. His client cancelled its job opening. STRIKE ONE. In the afternoon came the call from another recruiter. His client interviewed me a month ago and finally decided on a candidate – not me. STRIKE TWO. Then another email. The client of a third recruiter put an indefinite hold on its job opening. STRIKE THREE! I’M OUT! I now hate baseball. Thoughts of emptying my liquor cabinet or standing on a rooftop ledge were both appealing. Instead I vented my frustrations by talking with two friends. To them, I give my many thanks.
Wednesday brought more rain but the black clouds had a silver lining. Unexpectedly another friend connected me with yet another recruiter who had a job opening that fit me. I drove to Beverly Hills on Friday to meet the recruiter and we will be submitting my resume to her client. I may be turned away immediately or have a potentially long, uphill battle involving several interviews, much waiting and rejection always lurking. I also followed up on the last of my first four job leads and it is still in the mix as well. Wish me good luck and keep the liquor away. We’ll save it for the eventual celebration.
The drive to the recruiter was 50 miles and luckily done between downpours. Making the most of my trip, I went to some points of interest afterwards. The first stop was for lunch at Pink’s, an eatery famous for its hot dogs, then on to the Beverly Center, the mall that had the USA’s first Hard Rock Café. In this week’s photo, colorful lanterns illuminate the hallway of escalators connecting that mall’s eight floors. Final stop was a men’s volleyball match between UCI and USC, my undergraduate and graduate alma maters. For whom did I cheer? I was at USC but UCI is the defending national champion. Inspired by the Trojan Horse – the large wooden equine hiding enemy soldiers inside, I went to the game as a modern-day version - Trojan soldier (USC’s mascot) on the outside, Anteater (UCI’s mascot) hidden inside. The “Eaters” won.
I spent the night at my parents’ house as it was closer than mine and the weather was still wet. On Saturday afternoon I went to a housewarming party before finally heading home. Sunday was all about recovery from my roller coaster week. Let’s hope the next ride will be on Cloud Nine.
Angelo
