Random talk thread!

[audball]

Sounds like you had an amazing time!! Congrats again

 

[TooPatient]

Sounds like you had an amazing time!! Congrats again

Thanks!

Are you planning to do something special closer to home? I hope so!

Honestly, my favorite parts of our night away were the quiet things just the two of us. I would be sad if we hadn't gotten to go stay there but the really special moments would have been just as special and wonderful if we had stayed closer to home and not spent much money at all.
The cheese plate I put together (under $10) plus the loaf of yummy bread ($4) plus the box of chocolate truffles ($6.99) and maybe a bottle of wine outside in a pretty place or even downstairs (so we weren't surrounded by begging animals!) with some candles would have been wonderful too.

Really.
I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. I really honestly mean that.

 

[audball]

Thank you for the sweet comments! We will do something, not sure what yet.

 

[TooPatient]

Our friend is on his way!!!

Yesterday he was in Pennsylvania. Made it to Michigan today.

Not sure how long he'll stay there with friends. Guessing something like Tues/Weds/Thurs for him to arrive here. Give or take!

Better get on with testing the air mattress and buying some sheets for it

 

[TooPatient]

Hope you're doing well! Has your DH had any luck with a new job?

Just a few days to your 1st anniversary

 

[audball]

Hi TP! Hanging in there. DH has applied to a ton, waiting game to see if he gets any calls. First anniversary on Thursday! How did that happen already?!

 

[TooPatient]

Hi TP! Hanging in there. DH has applied to a ton, waiting game to see if he gets any calls. First anniversary on Thursday! How did that happen already?!

I hope he gets something great soon!

Didn't this first year go so fast!?!?
Crazy that it has already (and only!) been a year!


Oh!
I got a few pictures printed to put in the little frames we already had (two 4x3 and two 2x3). DH wants to order one of the wood colored frame sets like you bought as soon as he figures out how to hang them. They'd be going over stairs so it isn't quite as easy as just hanging them.
We also need to figure out what to do with hanging our ketubah. A friend said she was buying us the frame for our wedding gift. DH was sick so we didn't get out with her to pick it out and then he got better and she mentioned again and I told her that we were open and just let us know when. It didn't happen then and this year has gone fast. I don't want to ask because that is rude but I also don't want to just buy one ourselves and risk hurting her feelings. She is rather spontaneous when she gets excited so I don't know if she and her husband had planned to do that or if she offered but did so without planning. Anyway, I just don't want to hurt her feelings.
Once DH figures out how to hang stuff, I'll get the frames and tell her how excited we are to be hanging wedding pictures. If she doesn't re-offer, I think we'll just plan to get a frame. Since we aren't buying anything nearly as nice as what she was talking about, we can always say it got it hung up so it was safe (rather than just piled in the office) but that we can swap the frame out and use the cheap one for a different thing -- which is all true (including the piled in the office ).

 

[audball]

Oh! The set we bought came with a hanging template. The template has instructions on modifying the template to hang the pictures angled along a staircase, done and done!

 

[TooPatient]

Oh! The set we bought came with a hanging template. The template has instructions on modifying the template to hang the pictures angled along a staircase, done and done!

I wish it was that easy!

They need to be hung in a straight line above the stairs and have to be high enough to not be behind the little half-wall of the living room. We need to find a way to get a ladder set up on the stairs. DH thinks there is an adapter set for the ladder we have. He's looking to find that. I may also check with our neighbor, but I hate to keep bothering him.

 

[TooPatient]

Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday!

Happy anniversary, Audball & Mr. Audball!


Hope you had a wonderful 1st anniversary

 

[audball]

Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday!

Happy anniversary, Audball & Mr. Audball!


Hope you had a wonderful 1st anniversary

Thanks, TP!

 

[TooPatient]

I guess we aren't quite "newlyweds" anymore but never really felt like we were to begin with. I guess that sort of comes when you live together for almost 9 years before getting married!

With everything going on with DH's employment (or lack of...), I don't feel ready to be in the "Wanting but Waiting" group.

So...
Maybe I'll stick around in Newlyweds for a bit.

Audball -- I hope you'll stick around too!
We need to get some of the freshly married ladies over here and get things moving again!

 

[audball]

I think somewhere I read that your'e a newlywed for 2 years! So we still have time

I do lurk in FHH, but am totally out of place there and will be for awhile. We have no plans to jump on the TTC wagon in the next few years. We've talked about it being around our 5th wedding anniversary or so. Sooo, while we do "want" and we are "waiting", we're so far from the plan it would be so odd to jump in like we'd be trying soon when we totally aren't.

I plan on staying right here. Lol.

 

[TooPatient]

I think somewhere I read that your'e a newlywed for 2 years! So we still have time

I do lurk in FHH, but am totally out of place there and will be for awhile. We have no plans to jump on the TTC wagon in the next few years. We've talked about it being around our 5th wedding anniversary or so. Sooo, while we do "want" and we are "waiting", we're so far from the plan it would be so odd to jump in like we'd be trying soon when we totally aren't.

I plan on staying right here. Lol.

Two years is better than one


This week is so crazy!
Midterm exam (that I am SOOO not ready for) tomorrow morning. "A" has a choir performance tomorrow evening and they are doing a bake sale... so I volunteered to bring several dozen cupcakes and a whole pile of cookies plus DH & I are running the sale for an hour.

DH has an interview on Thursday. Not sure if I hope he gets it or not. I am so afraid of the unknown of a home business succeeding or failing and the long stretch of no income we've already had that I almost want to give up and just have him work for a big company again. But he doesn't like working for them, hasn't been offered a job yet, and the interview tomorrow is for a thing he could do but wouldn't really enjoy...

Oh!!!
And my poor little kitty is going in for a major surgery Thursday morning. (I have a thread over in Hangout with the details) I've had her with me since she was a little fluff (something like 4 weeks old) and the risk is pretty high.

 

[audball]

Good luck on your exam and the bake sale! And with your DH's interviews. I know it's so hard to decide when to take what you can instead of striving for something ideal. We're only 5ish weeks into this and I already wonder how long we want to wait it out. My DH has two interviews this week, one tomorrow and one Friday. He also had a phone interview last week for another company he may hear from soon too. I just want him to be happy.

Dust for your kitty! Surgery is tough. I hope she's okay.

 

[TooPatient]

Don't know about the exam.

DH's interview started super rocky but seems to have ended well. I think it is WAY wrong for him. Sounds like it is an on-call sort of person wearing a beeper and going to clients to fix issues.... Ummmmmm..... How is that "senior software development engineer"!?!?
I sort of wish it hadn't gone well. I guess on the up side, if he applies for a position in a different team at the company they will already have positive notes on file?
Another phone interview for Monday with a different place.

But --
Our sweet little kitty is home and recovering
I dropped her off this morning nice and composed then sat in the car and cried.
Lots of drama (escape from carrier in the car, out of cone, out of onesie, etc) but all settled in. She looks SOOO tiny now! (I put pictures over in Hangout)

 

[audball]

We're in the same boat. DH interviewed for a job yesterday and they called with an offer later that day, but it's not a good fit. They didn't disclose in the posting, but it's a temporary position for 3 months or less to work on a single project that they're already behind on. It's nearly an hour commute and they work 10 hour shifts for less money than he was making before. Um...no thanks. I was hoping he wouldn't even get a call back so that we wouldn't have to say no. He hasn't told them for sure, yet. He has until Monday to tell them but we're both thinking no. He has another interview today at 2pm that he's more excited about. Hoping that pans out better!

Glad your kitty is feeling better!

 

[TooPatient]

That sounds horrible! I can't believe these employers leave stuff like that out of their listings. You'd think they would catch on to the fact that even if they offer the job, anyone good is going to turn them down!

Hope the interview today works out better!

 

[audball]

That sounds horrible! I can't believe these employers leave stuff like that out of their listings. You'd think they would catch on to the fact that even if they offer the job, anyone good is going to turn them down!

Hope the interview today works out better!

Yeah, seriously. It's a temporary contract-type job. There isn't anything wrong with that, but disclose it. We're not to the point where he's considering contract work so if it had been disclosed, he wouldn't have even applied, accepted the interview, or wasted his time to go out there.

The one today will hopefully be better. It starts in 20ish minutes! Eek.

 

[TooPatient]

That sounds horrible! I can't believe these employers leave stuff like that out of their listings. You'd think they would catch on to the fact that even if they offer the job, anyone good is going to turn them down!

Hope the interview today works out better!

Yeah, seriously. It's a temporary contract-type job. There isn't anything wrong with that, but disclose it. We're not to the point where he's considering contract work so if it had been disclosed, he wouldn't have even applied, accepted the interview, or wasted his time to go out there.

The one today will hopefully be better. It starts in 20ish minutes! Eek.

Hope it went well!


We went to my grandfather's 80th b-day surprise party today. Lots of fun! So many long-time family friends I hadn't seen in so long!
Grandma is really not doing well. I need to make a point of spending more time there. She could hardly sit up in her chair at lunch and I guess she is spending more and more time in bed because of this sort of thing. (She has Parkinson's disease and all the fun stuff that goes with that and the medications she is on)

My little kitty continues to recover

 

[audball]

Thanks! He thinks it did. We should hear something by late next week they said. *fingers crossed*

80th birthday, so sweet! Hope you had fun visiting with your loved ones.

Continued getting better dust to your sweet kitty!

 

[TooPatient]

What is wrong with hiring people???
Just be open and honest about the position!!!

DH had that phone screening turned first interview thing on Friday. The woman wouldn't tell him what company the position is with or what salary they were paying (just that it is "less than you're asking") or anything else. Still not sure what exactly the job is.

She said she wanted to do a video meeting with him on Wednesday (today) of this week and would send a calendar item and details. She hasn't. Call is supposed to be in less than 6 hours.

What she did do is ask all sorts of questions that were a bit odd (but I've had other recruiter people ask too so maybe this is just how things are?). Like "Where else have you interviewed" and "When did you interview there" and "Who did you interview with".....
Um... Is that normal??!?!?!


I'd almost rather the woman not follow up at all. If they are being so secretive about the position, maybe he is better off not going any further with them.
That said, she works for a recruiting firm (placement firm? whatever you call them!) and they have lots of other positions through some of the major companies in the area. It would not be good (although not devastating if it comes to it) to have her stick a note in their system that DH didn't do what he was supposed to somehow.



Thanks for letting me vent.
This whole process sucks.


Okay....
Off to get some sleep. I had two major assignments due last night and was up until 3am (with alarm going off at 5:30 ) getting them done.

 

[audball]

I'm sorry this process is continuing to be one frustrating road block after another. I hate it too. There is nothing wrong with certain types of work, but I think it's terrible when details that really matter (like contract, short-term, etc) are not listed. I also find it frustrating when positions do not include a salary range, but almost none of the ones DH has applied for include salary information so while I find it frustrating, it's "normal", or so it seems in his field.

My DH was contacted by a few recruiter type companies and also got very little information about who the job was actually for and other details that he was told wouldn't be provided until later. He even had to send one a Word copy of his resume so they could remove his contact information because if the company ends up contacting him directly, the recruiter/recruitment company doesn't get paid for finding them. All very weird to me, but unfamiliar so maybe that is normal. I didn't care for it, though!

Either way, I hope something good comes of the call and that it turns out to be more promising than it sounds right now I agree that it's definitely odd to ask about where else they've interviewed and with who...I'm not sure I'd be comfortable answering those types of questions. It doesn't sound normal to me but I have very limited exposure to finding employment through a recruitment company.

Get some rest! Sometimes clarity comes after some good sleep. I'm in the home stretch of this semester (less than 2 weeks to go!) and am finishing up Parts 6 and 7 (last two pieces!) of my semester long group project. They're due by Monday and then we have one week to prepare a 30 minute presentation of our project to give to class on December 1st (my birthday...boo). Birthday will pretty much suck this year with having to work all day and then sit through a 4 hour lecture where all the groups will be presenting the semester projects. No chance of getting out early, but hey, I'll be done until January after that!

We did hear back from the company DH interviewed with on Friday. They extended an offer yesterday for a full-time permanent position and after some back and forth questions about the benefits and other related things, he has accepted. He will start on my birthday a week from Monday and he is very excited. I was hoping you'd have better news because now I feel badly updating you with this!

 

[TooPatient]

Don't feel bad. That is awesome!!!! I hope it turns out to be something he loves and the layoff was just a way of him getting to something even better than before!
Congratulations to you and your DH


The Skype call today was... odd. Informal. It doesn't sound promising. "I'll keep you at the top of my list as I fill other positions. Um! Ah! That is if you don't get this one."

I am not in the slightest bit disappointed. DH thinks he'll have his product done tomorrow and ready to post for sale by the end of next week. Easily expanded with more to sell from there pretty quickly. If we can make this work, it would be by FAR better for him. We still have some more months of being okay financially so I'm not too stressed yet. I'd like to see him get into something he actually enjoys even if that means longer in the unemployed limbo.

Of course, in case the sales don't take off, he is still interviewing. Another phone interview (the 2nd) with a different company coming up on Friday.


Some secrecy is normal. Not telling the company is not uncommon. The biggest problem we've had is that so many don't even tell what the position would be. That was even true when he skipped the agency and applied directly to a big company.

 

[TooPatient]

Are you okay?!?

Just saw a shooting at a university in Florida. Hoping you are okay and weren't at that school!

 

[audball]

Are you okay?!?

Just saw a shooting at a university in Florida. Hoping you are okay and weren't at that school!

Yes! Fine. The shooting was at FSU which is in Tallahassee, FL. I'm at USF in Tampa, FL which is about 4 hours away. Feeling terribly for the families of those hurt, though. This kind of thing shouldn't happen anywhere.

 

[audball]

Don't feel bad. That is awesome!!!! I hope it turns out to be something he loves and the layoff was just a way of him getting to something even better than before!
Congratulations to you and your DH

Thanks! We're very excited and hoping it's as good an opportunity as it seems.

The Skype call today was... odd. Informal. It doesn't sound promising. "I'll keep you at the top of my list as I fill other positions. Um! Ah! That is if you don't get this one."

I am not in the slightest bit disappointed. DH thinks he'll have his product done tomorrow and ready to post for sale by the end of next week. Easily expanded with more to sell from there pretty quickly. If we can make this work, it would be by FAR better for him. We still have some more months of being okay financially so I'm not too stressed yet. I'd like to see him get into something he actually enjoys even if that means longer in the unemployed limbo.

Of course, in case the sales don't take off, he is still interviewing. Another phone interview (the 2nd) with a different company coming up on Friday.

Some secrecy is normal. Not telling the company is not uncommon. The biggest problem we've had is that so many don't even tell what the position would be. That was even true when he skipped the agency and applied directly to a big company.

That does sound odd. It sounds like it was for the best not going well, though. DH had a few like that too where I was glad not to hear anything back from them. I hope the sales pick up and he doesn't have to worry about going back to work for someone else. That would be wonderful for you both! I think that kind of secrecy is really only "acceptable" (to an extent) from a recruitment company, not from the company hiring directly. That's weird. Either way, hope he either finds the perfect thing are finds himself with enough sales not to need worry about it any longer!

 

[TooPatient]

Are you okay?!?

Just saw a shooting at a university in Florida. Hoping you are okay and weren't at that school!

Yes! Fine. The shooting was at FSU which is in Tallahassee, FL. I'm at USF in Tampa, FL which is about 4 hours away. Feeling terribly for the families of those hurt, though. This kind of thing shouldn't happen anywhere.

Glad you are safe!

It is such a horrible thing for the families and the entire community.

We live just an hour or so away from Marysville Pilchuck HS -- where the kid shot 6 people just a few weeks ago (5 dead including himself, one survivor).
I got to the office where my aunt works just after the shooting (while they were still trying to get confirmation shooting had stopped) and she was still calming down after hearing on the news (her boss listens to national news station all day) that "a shooting just took place in a school in Snohomish county..." -- she has two kids in two different schools in that county...

Classes were canceled for the following week. Counselors brought in. People in the area lined the streets to the school wearing the school colors to support the kids on the first day back to class. The governor urged all of us around the state to wear their school colors in support.

 

[audball]

So sad.

 

[TooPatient]

The interview Friday was a bit more promising. Still not sure it is a good fit, but it is a central recruiting group that matches applicants to teams within the company.

I may have misinterpreted, but it really sounded like she just pushed him off to follow up with the low-level group. It seemed like she was not unimpressed enough to say they'd follow up if they had something but she definitely made it clear the team she was passing his name to is a second-rate group where all of the mediocre people get sent.

Sort of hoping to not hear back at all. Would much rather he succeed at selling his software package and be able to do interesting stuff all the time rather than be stuck in the team no one else has any respect for. (the place he left had a team like that too and once you had worked for them, no other team in the company wanted anything to do with you - wouldn't help your stuff succeed, would sometimes maliciously delete files you needed, certainly wouldn't consider transferring you in to work on their project)


Eh.


Last few weeks of my quarter! Life is good.

Did you see there is a weight loss support thread over in Hangout? DH and I are actively working to lose weight so I've been participating over there this last week. Hopefully we can all stick with it and motivate each other!