In a city where who you know and who knows you is crucial, I have become keenly aware that I know relatively little.
Described as a small-town girl with a big-town personality, I have moved from that small town to a big city full of verbose peers, aggressive business people, position, perception, and politics.
Yesterday should have been an excerpt from a satirical film, or a short-story, perhaps even a reality series on "CA to VA; life on the big hill." However, my day will not be transcribed into any of those things, so you are my audience!
Going into this day, you must know a few things:
- I have a lot of energy and try to stay positive
- Parallel parking and I don't mix. Oil and water have a better success rate as your salad dressing than I have of parking a car in one of those silly little squared off spaces.
- Bob (remember, he is my gps) is my salvation on the highway. And loway, fairway and everyway...
730am- thinking its time to get up. In this neck of the woods, half the worlds economic and peace negotiations are complete by 9am (along with thousands of tots shuttled to school, breakfast had, the newspaper read and a short jog ran). So, when in Rome...
8-9 my first round of job hunting. This includes, but not limited to: checking my email, craigslist, indeed.com, and calling any temp agencies on the list.
9:30 leave the house to walk to the bus stop. I have an appointment near the metro station at 10am. In this I feel confident. Not wanting to look new, I cooly stand waiting for the right bus, all the time reminding myself which line it is that I need to take. Then, just as cooly, I have my smartrip card that I beep over the machine upon entering the bus.
10-11 I arrive just in time to get to my appointment at the apple store. This is the one familiarity and sweet spot of the day. I have free classes I get to take each week. In the apple store, I recognize the technology and blue shirts with the shiny apple logo and I feel calm. I get to talk about my creative conjecture and illuminate my illustrations on the beautiful screen of my laptop. They teach me tricks and I get sucked into the world of design and innovation until I realize I had better get back home ... after all I am not in employed anymore... after a last look around the haven of a store, I dart outside to the streets of Arlington to figure out my bus back home.
11:30 A blessing of a familiar face. The comical inspiration for this entry. The bus driver. A large, black, funny man who has been my driver before. He recognizes me as "the california girl" and welcomes me. When asked if he was going to Monroe Street he nods and reminds me: "grrrl, all these buses hedin from this stop go you way- donchu worry!" When I am about to leave, I remember that I need to scan my card. He sees it and says "grrl, put that up. (slang for put it away) you dont need that."
So folks, guess what. In a city where who you know is more important than what you know, I know people. Have a good day Malcom. And tell your daughter to keep up the good work in school.
That however, is not the end of the story....
I get home and do some additional follow-up work on some resumes I have out. One is for The Press Club as a front desk receptionist. The pay is great and they have tuition reimbursement. I applied on Tuesday and was really excited. However, the more I thought about it the more I felt uneasy. The application was via a third-party staffing and application program. When I researched the press club, they have a job-engine on their web page. I began to wonder why they would utilize someone else.
I began to dig. The organization who provided the application came back under different names and some hits flagged those aliases as phishing sites. I began to be annoyed. After emailing the Press Club, I found out that it was indeed a scam.
Great. Now, on top of searching in an already job-hunter saturated market, I have to be on my toes for scams. Phishing in the job search. Game face: ON
Thats alright, there are temp agencies who can help me in the process.
At 2pm I have a meeting with a temp agency. Not wanting to be late and seeing that the drive is just ten minutes away, I decide to "drive in."
*** there is always a debate between driving and utilizing the public transportation. Driving is faster. And generally a little more direct. But, there is always the caveat of parking. Expensive lots, parallel (often down hill) street parking, timed meter parking or a good chance of no parking. Public transportation is free, no-stress of parking, but always entails a lot of walking and delays, oh yes, and serious route planning ahead of time. Bob doesn't do metro/bus route navigation unfortunately.***
I have my brave game face on, ready to conquer the issue of parking. Besides, Its 1:35 and I have no time for the foils of the bus or metro. Before I can begin my adventure with the temp agency, I have a bit of negotiation to get out of my driveway. To give me my daily dose of spacial awareness, I live in a house with a very defined driveway. There is a space wide enough for a compact car, lined by a brick wall on one side and a brick pillar on the other. To add to the daily test, perpendicular to the brick pillar are three parking spots for the row of houses I live in. It takes skill and finesse to pull in and out without scraping your passenger fender on the brick pillar or hit a car on the swing out/in. Hopping in and out of the car checking all sides and vehicles involved, 15 minutes later I was clear. *
For those of you who know me, know this is very funny. I am finding it funny, writing about it. However, it may be boring others, so feel free to stop reading this lengthy, overly intense retelling.
En route to my destination (ten minutes away) I made no errors. I was slowed up by traffic, but I got there. Trying to fit in, I decide to street park. After circling the blocks I found a gift- an easy entry, level, metered spot. It was however, for only an hour. Max. This would not due. Undetourred I searched for another - all one hours. I pondered leaving my car there, but in the end gave up on everything and gave my keys to a valet guy at the hotel - his rates were cheaper than a lot...
I rush to my appointment, face another temp agency in hopes for a job in this "economic crisis."
After the appointment, I get in my car just in time for rush hour. Oh, wait thats pretty much everyhour. I think to myself that I miss California (more specifically Sacramento) traffic. *gasp* Next to government, traffic is a constant around here and its constantly trafficy.
Finally returning home I am relieved. Just another day in the city, right? Welcome to DC.
Read more...
Okay, so I lucked out. No dreaming needed, I had a white Christmas this year. I was able to fly to Utah and spend my holiday break with Trisha, Chris, Sara and Mak. We had a blast in the kitchen...there was sooooo much food: gingerbread cookies, persimon cookies, brownies, 2 jello salads, bread, cinnamon rolls, the traditional Christmas egg souffle, ham, beans, and many other little delights crafted up by big and small hands alike. Mak is very happy to be a "sous chef" these days and we put her to work. All of these delights were made over the course of 2 days and had yet to be finished off when I left a week later.
Christmas day was wonderful! Lots of fantastic presents, more delicious food and grandma Kupfer's traditional Christmas Jell-o. While looking up the recipe for Cranberry jell-o salad, we (Trish & I)found a strangely intriguing new recipe. Since it was entitled Candy Cane Salad, we knew it had to be attempted. Which gives us jell-o salad #2 and a new addition to Christmas dinner.
