Contract-to-hire

After about 4 weeks of looking for work in Dallas, I have finally found a job -- temporarily.

I was looking through the list a list of jobs on careerbuilder.com and I found a 2 day contract position with a staffing company. The position would take place on July 3-4 and considering that I have no plans, I sent my resume. No more than five minutes after sending my resume to the staffing company, I received a call from the recruiter. I was giving the lowdow of the position and I was made aware that it was not a full-time job but only a two day contract. I let them know I was aware of the job description, but I didn't know which company I will be working for. It turned out that I will be working for a company that I interviewed with last week. I let the recruiter know I was interested and they forwarded my resume to the company.

A few days past and I received a call from the recruiter offering me the position, but I lost the desire to work for them. Upon tell the recruiter this, she let me know that the contract would be extended for a week because I previously applied to the company and they will use this particular job as an evaluation for a possible full-time position. I was never given an formal invite to join the company, so I figured that I didn't get the position. So in light of this new information, I opted to take the contract. The job pays $19.00/hr, which is great -- but if I do end up taking the full-time position the rate drops to $15.00/hr, which is not so great. I have to really decide whether or not I want take a $8000.00 annual pay cut. I know I need a job to earn some money, but should I settle on the first opportunity?

I went to the staffiing company to fill out a copious amount of paperwork, which took 30 minutes to complete. So all that is left to do now is start work on Sunday.

to be continued ...

Tennis

Check out my new site on the killervirgo.com domain.

http://tennis.killervirgo.com

It is still in the beginning stages, but updates will be coming soon.

Aquarium

Yesterday I went to the Dallas World Aquarium, and it was something I would have never expected to see. There were several floor with different types of climates along with it native animals. I snapped some photos while I was there. The files are a bit large and it will take some time to load if you are on a slower connection. Enjoy!

edited: I have resized the images so they should load faster.

Conundrum

I have been trying to figure an answer to this problem:

You put on moisturizer with an SPF to help protect your skin from becoming dry and sun damaged, but it causes you to sweat more. You don't put on any moisture to prevent to the over sweating, but you are then unprotected from dryness and sun damage.

Where is Einstein where you need him?

Television

I have now been in Dallas for a week and it is not as bad as I expected to be. Before I left Buffalo I was panicking about the insects but they aren't as big as I expected them to be. The only thing that has me panicking now is that fact that I can't get the local cable company to install any services.

I placed an order last week for a digital cable and I suppose to receive an e-mail confirming my appointment date. That never came. I called Comcast Cable to inquire why I haven't received any information regarding my appointment, at which I was told that they don't provide service to my area. Five minutes later, when the shock wore off, I realized that I in order for me to get my television fix I would have to look into satellite providers. I do have broadcast channels at my disposal, but there are only 15 stations to choose from: 3 are religious based; 3 are in spanish; 2 are for home shopping; 1 is all weather, all the time; and the others are UPN, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and The WB. Most shows are finished until the fall, but I NEED more channels. I need my guilty pleasures like Real World/Road Rules Inferno 2 on MTV; various shows on Animal Planet, TNT, Comedy Central, and VH1.

I am considering getting satellite service, against by better judgement ... but I am left with few alternatives. There is another cable called Charter Cable but after doing some research on the company, I found that there have been complaints of poor customer service and signal. So I am now looking at the major competitors: Direct TV and The Dish Network. Direct TV is the most popular service but there are many different authorized providers that you aren't sure if the service is good. The Dish Network is provided by the SBC Communications, who also provide phone and DSL service. The advantage of going throught SBC is that it is one company that provides the service, and it is cheaper.

So until I decide what I am going to do, I will be stuck with my 15 channels and movies I haven't had a chance to watch yet. And if I can always download the shows that I normally watch.

... to be continued

Stupidity: Update 1

Regarding thing number 2:

I got a response back from the ex saying that he was sorry for a everything. He wondered what happened to me, and was glad that I contacted him, etc... So it seems that this situation has worked itself out and we may even keep in contact.

However, he did accuse me of "dugging" into his computer while he left me unattended in his apartment. But in fact the information that I got was posting on the Internet (by him) which I happen to (purposefully) stumble across. If I really wanted information from his computer I had so many opportunities to get what I wanted. But I only use my computer knowledge for good, not evil. If I were a callous person I could have gotten access to all his credit card information, phone numbers, e-mail, etc... But I am not that type of guy and I respect everyone's privacy. So I may have to set him straight regarding that issue, other than that -- we are cool.

Packages

I have finally received my packages from FedEx. Between yesterday and today, I have received 13 out of the 15 boxes that I shipped from Buffalo. The last two boxes contain kitchen supplies: my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, stainless steel bowls, and a variety of utensils. So hopefully by Saturday I will be baking a batch of cookies for the official house warming.

I am still searching for a new desk for my computer equipment, and a bed. There won't be an IKEA in the area until August, so I am the looking for a store that is comparable. So obviously, I am not looking for great quality because I am trying to be cheap. I might just end up getting an inflatable mattress until I get me a job to slurge on something nicer.

Stupidity

I did a couple of things yesterday that may not have been too bright.

The first thing: Yesterday was the first day I played tennis with the Oaklawn Tennis Club. The weather didn't seem too hot so I decided to hit some balls to warm up. Ten minutes into the warmup, I began sweating buckets and my heart beating really fast. I sought refuge in the shade from a tree, but I still not able to cool myself. I made my way to the club house in the coolness of the a/c, and after 10 minutes there I was still sweating. I got concerned because my heart was racing and I couldn't get cool. It was so hot that my cold water had rose in temperature to about 80 degree. After taking an additional 30 minutes to recover and drinking a cold bottle of Gatorade, I was finally feeling better. The sun was setting so it began to cool off. I began to feel better so I decided to play a couple of sets. When I got home I had a splitting headache due to the heat exhaustion. We meet again on Friday but I am going to take that day off to recover and play again on Sunday morning around 9am. It should be much cooler then. I have to get acclimated to the heat before I begin to play in any tournaments.

The second thing: I left a matter unresolve when I left Buffalo, and I felt I had to do something to resolve it in order to get closure. It was regarding and ex (mentioned here) and I had to purge myself of all of the information that I knew about that he didn't know I knew. I composed an e-mail that said everything clearly so that it couldn't be misconstrued that I interested in him. All of the lies, mistruths and inconsistencies he told me was brought to the forefront. I sent the e-mail feeling confident ... until today. I may not get a reply from him, but if he does reply -- what will he say? The e-mail wasn't all negative. I wished him well (and his new relationship), and hope his move to Tampa, Florida goes as well as mine. This needed to be done, but with every new message in my e-mail box will cause sheer panic wondering whether or not it is him. Of course, there will be an update on this topic.

Texas

After 21 hours of driving, I am now in Dallas. After I sleep for a day (or two), I will be making a movie of my journey and post some pictures of my trip.

Last day of Work

Yesterday was my last day of work and due to a confidentiality clause I signed I cannot divulge any information about the company. I think I may have in a previous post, but that was before I had to sign something. I put my notice in a about a month ago, so my leaving wasn't a surprise to anyone. Those 4 weeks snuck up on me and I was sort of unprepared to leave.

On Tuesday, my [former] supervisor took our team out for lunch to a resturant of my choice. The only place could think of that everyone would enjoy was sports bar called Tully's. Surprisingly, only one of the five people I work[ed] with has ever been there. I raved about Tully's having the best chicken tenders, so when we arrived everyone had a tender dish. I, as always, have never deviated from the Tully's Tender Dinner; so true to form, that is what I ordered. One other person ordered the same meal, and the others ordered this huge chicken tender salad. Everyone finished their meal except for me because I somehow received a double order of tenders and couldn't possibly finish then in one sitting. Luckily, my fridgerator was almost totally empty so the leftovers would be eaten at dinner. After lunch, some of the team partook in the delicious (in my humble opinion) chocolate chip cookies that I baked. I had to redeem myself after making a batch that were dreadful. Before I left for work, my [former] supervisor gave me two Visa Gift Card thanking me for my service. I wasn't expecting that at all. That extra money came in handy because I need to by some UB apparel.

Wednesday, my final day, was a slow day so it gave me time to clean out my desk and reformat my computer for a future employee. No one was making a big fuss over me leaving, which I enjoyed because I don't like to be made fuss over. I decided to take a half day because I needed time to finish packing my belongings, and I had a ton of Paid Time Off. Noon arrived, and it was time for me to go. I removed my name tag off the wall, said my good-bye to my team with handshake ... and that was that. One of my [former] co-workers wanted me to stop by tomorrow, but I told him that I wouldn't. Everyone had said their good-byes, so it would be awkward for me to show up again only for people to say good-bye...again. I headed for the door but was stopped by the front desk receptionist. She thought I wasn't going to be leaving later that afternoon because she had a card to give me that everyone was going to sign. I had to leave so I put my new address on the envelope, said good-bye and headed out of the door.

I liked by job, mainly the people, but I was becoming increasingly bored with the repetitiveness. If I would have stay and not have taken advantage of the opportunity to relocated to Dallas, I would always be wondering "what if?" Sure, Dallas will be different ... but different could be good.

2 days until the move