Wilmington, NC

Sent copies of my maintenance resume off to Mark Whalls and Tim Doyle. Mark wrote back with an invitation to the Orion Raleigh Mega-Conference for October. Did not hear anything from Dave Bakkeby, but he did take a long weekend so I will not bother him until tomorrow.

Was bored to death this morning after I finished my Ben Franklin biography. Went to Lowe's and got a few more pieces of oak. On the way out Mary Wells rang me up at the check out. She did not recognize me. I reminded her that we worked together at Roses many years ago.

Today was sunny - not a cloud in the sky, and cool - around 77 for a high today. Supposed to be cool for the rest of the week.

Since it was so nice today I spent the afternoon in the shed working with wood. I got my oak pieces cut to size on the mitre saw and table saw. Then I used the planer to make sure they are straight. Decided which sides are going to be facing outside on my project and labeled them that way. Tomorrow I am going to begin cutting dados and tenons with the dado blade on the tablesaw. I should be able to get the side panels and back panel glued up tomorrow. After I get the carcass assembled I will measure the opening and decide what size the drawers are going to be and start them.

Just a couple more days and I am going to turn 35. Damn, where does all the time go ? I guess Mom asks herself the same thing everyday.

Wilmington, NC

Well, right after I finished my last blog, Ed Proctor called to tell me that they had dropped me from this conference. He said that two of the companies had to drop out and that he did not feel that it would be worth my while to drive up to Virginia for this one. He promised to call me on Tuesday to set up a phone interview with Company Y since I am the most qualified guy they have for their control panel operator position right now.

Dave Bakkeby wrote me to say that he did not feel that Company A would decide to interview me with my current resume. He said their hiring manager wanted to know what kinds of pumps, valves, etc I had worked on and what technical schools I had attended in the Navy. So, I immediately began to re-write the resume from a maintenance slant. I condensed the work experience section and expanded the education/training section so that I could give a load of detail about Steam Propulsion Maintenance Supervisor School. This resume contains much more information than the last one because I reduced the type size to 9-point and reduced the margins to one-half inch. Hopefully it will be enough information for them to decide to interview. This new resume is so good I am thinking about sending a copy to Tim Doyle for submission to Company C and Company O.

Scott Irving called to say that Company G is interested in interviewing me for a Boiler Operator position near Wilmington. Problem with it is that the pay is only $15 per hour and there is no guarantee that it will be permanent.

Scale says that four more pounds are gone. That is a good thing.

Rained today off and on. I read some more of Benjamin Franklin's biography today - three more chapters to go.

Tomorrow I am going to get an estimate on replacing the windshield in the Tercel and if it is not too much, go ahead and have it done. Need to go by the Toyota Service Department and get radiator hoses for the Tacoma too.

Wilmington, NC

On Tuesday the ad for my car ran in the Ad-Pak. A lady called saying that she wanted to look at it for her daughter. Today a man called looking for a car for his mother, he came by and looked at it, and thanked me for the look, and then left. I am sure I will sell it... the ad runs for 4 weeks and this is only the first two days.

Visited the NC Employment Security Commission yesterday. It was almost useless. Basically you sit at a pc and look at the job listings. You write down the ones you are interested in, then you wait for 45 minutes to talk to someone about the jobs you picked. Man, the wages are depressingly low here!

The "Morton Salt" pheonomenon started to happen again yesterday: all of the headhunters and others filling jobs began to call me. It seemed like all at the same time. The calls continued into today too. It looks like the Bradley-Morris conference will be productive, and Steve Norred has someone for me to interview in his office on Wednesday, but I think I am going to skip that one because that maintenance job just doesn't interest me. Steve said that Company A looks like they are about to start moving - the Rhode Island and Colorado locations both. People are still finding my Monster.com resume from 8 weeks ago and sending me job listings in my e-mail too !

Bradley-Morris has me set up to interview four companies on Monday. One of them I have been infront of before, but it was for a different location. I am optimistic that someone is going to be interested in me. Besides, I am getting MUCH better at responding appropriately to some of the common interview questions.

Reading a biography about Benjamin Franklin right now. He was a real "renaissance man" because he pursued a wide range of interests and scientific questions.

Mom went to the Doctor about her foot again today. The doctor told her that if it does not heal up good by November, he is going to have her come in and he is going to inject hydrocortisone into the tendon! Yikes!

Marrissia came over for a while this afternoon. Becky and Bill are at dinner with her and Kevin. I stayed here and ate roasted eggplant, leftover roast, and cut green beans.

Wilmington, NC

The ad for my car will run in the Ad-Pak for the next four weeks. I am going to pressure wash under the hood and spray the engine down with silicone spray to make it look more presentable. Also, need to make a 'brief sheet' about the car to leave with Mom so that she can field telephone calls about the car when I am away.

Today I made an omelet for breakfast with sausages. Trying to eat salad with each meal...hopefully the fiber will have the effect of slowing the absorption of carbs and suppressing my appetite. After breakfast I did the dishes, ran the vacuum cleaner and wiped down the bathroom. Mom did the laundry.

Around 11 AM we went to Wal-Mart for groceries. I got two cans of engine degreaser, two cans of silicone spray, bottled water and a few groceries. I am going to make the stuffed peppers again and freeze some next time.

Just finished reading Mark Kurlansky's Cod book. He is the same guy who wrote Salt: A World History. He is a good and interesting writer and I think I would like to read his history of the Basque people too. I think the next book I am going to read is another Zubrin book about space exploration. I have a biography of Benjamin Franklin and a book about J. Caesar and the Gallic Wars too.

Mom made hot chicken wings for dinner. I will eat some, but I will have a salad with them. Also, got a jar of Benefiber and I am going to try to take a spoonful in water before meals to see if that doesn't curb my appetite too.

Going to Newport News on Saturday. Maybe go out in Norfolk on Saturday night, do the Bradley-Morris Conference on Sunday and Monday, USA Placements event on Tuesday, transfer cash from NFCU savings account to checking, and then return on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. Hopefully the car will sell and I will have money for another month on hand.

Usus est magister optimus - "Practice makes perfect"

I guess that summarizes my approach to job interviewing.

Wilmington, NC

Hurricane Isabel blew through here today. Some driving rain and lots of gusting winds. No damage here as far as I can tell. Lots of leaf litter in the yard.

I went to Wal-Mart today to buy groceries. They only had the doors on the food side open. There were vending machines pushed up against the doors on the dry goods side. The store was not letting people take carts out into the lot after checking out. You had to drive up to the door and load your car. I guess they did not want the carts blowing all over the lot damaging cars.

Hurricane coverage was the only thing on TV today. Sick of hearing about it. Dawn and George are among the 1 million people in Virginia without electricity tonite. Dawn said that they have lost some of the vinyl siding from their house in the winds. Power only flickered here; I am glad we never lost it.

I made stuffed peppers for dinner. I used oats instead of rice in them. They turned out good. Mom ate one, but she gave the pepper to me to eat. She is still complaining that it gave her heartburn. I think the tomato sauce did it.

8:04 PM and the wind is still gusting hard outside. Forecast for tomorrow is sunny with a high of 84°F. I will take my truck out of the shed first thing.

Taking my suit to the dry cleaners tomorrow and stopping by Autozone to get a couple of "For Sale" signs for the Tercel and a new bottle of Armor All vinyl dressing. It is going to start cooling off enough for me to do wood work in the shed during the day, so maybe I will work some more on that too.

As one goes through life one learns that if you don't paddle your own canoe, you don't move -- Katharine Hepburn

Wilmington, NC

On Sunday I took the truck to Atlanta, GA for the USA Placements job conference. Mike Foreman and I shared a room at Red Roof Inn near the Atlanta Airport. We checked in, put our stuff in the room, swam in the pool, sat by the pool for awhile, then went across the street for dinner. Sticking to my diet as best as I could I ordered a steak and chicken breast dinner with steamed vegetables. The chicken was served on rice, which I did not eat, and among the steamed veggies were carrots which I did not eat.

I did not sleep very well that first night -- Mike snores loudly.

The first day of the conference they gave us interviewing tips and briefed us on the companies and the positions they were trying to fill. It started around 12:30 PM and went until about 5. After that we got some dinner and went for a walk to see the planes landing at the airport. Then back to the room to write down some questions on notecards for the interviewers.

Mike did not snore as much that second night, and when he did I told him to roll over and he quieted down.

I was initially scheduled to interview with three companies. Company W, a very large retailer; Company X, manufacturer of polyester film; and Company Y, maker of portable value-added produce products.

Company X did not show up at all. Something happened at the plant and the maintenance manager had to remain at the plant to take care of it. So, all USA Placements could do is send our test results and resumes over to the plant.

Interviewed with two people from Company W. The interview was about half an hour long and I thought that it went VERY well. Closing the interview they said that I would be hearing from them soon.

The man from Company Y was scheduled to start late in the day, like after 3 PM, but Atlanta traffic got him, and he was half an hour late. Since he was late the interviews were very rushed. I do not think I made a strong impression on him, but the little bit that I could gather about their operation makes me certain that I am not the man for him.

With Atlanta evening rush hour traffic I was not out of Atlanta until around 7 PM. Driving in I got there in a little over 6 hours. Since it was night and it is harder to see police cars at night (as well as everything else) I was not speeding as fast. Still, I was home in Wilmington around 1:10 AM. That is better than the Mapquest.com estimate of over 7 hours.

I called USA Placements this morning to find out how I did and was dismayed to find that neither company saw me as a good fit. Damon Grimes said that he was surprised too because he saw their faces in the room as I came out of the interview. So, Damon is going to try to find out what, if anything, specifically they did not like about me. I hope he can, it will help me in my job search.

Also this morning I spoke with Alana Smith and Nancy Davis at CMC. Nancy has sent my resume to a plastic bottle and container manufacturer. She cannot tell me if this client will be interested in me at all. She said this guy will mail an application to me unannounced. I told her I would call her when I got it.

Steve Norred at Orion said they are busily unplugging computers and closing their office because of Hurricane Isabel approaching. All he has right now is Tamco and the Super Conference scheduled for next month. I called Doug Long to find out whether I am going to be a fit for the nuke planner job in Connecticutt, but he has not called back yet.

Bradley-Morris is not answering phones today. I guess they have already evacuated the area.

Mom found and circled a draftsman job in the classified section of the newspaper this morning. I called it and spoke with the land surveyor who runs the office. He seemed dismayed that I have not drawn in 10 years, and I guess I do not blame him. I am not too thrilled with the idea anyway, I know the pay would suck. But, I will carry my resume over there and try to show him what I am capable of.

Bright sunny day today, breezy but the wind is picking up. Supposed to be wind driven rains tonight. Mom and Bill are offering to let me put the truck into the shed tonight. Took more stuff out of the truck and packed that and the stuff from the Tercel into plastic milk crates I stole from a convenience store lastnight. That will keep the stuff organized and out of the way.

Despite slipping on my diet alittle and reintroducing some fruits to my diet this past week, I still managed to lose another 3 pounds since my last time on the scales. That is encouraging. Just keep doing what I have been doing - it is working!

Wilmington, NC

Well, a lot has sure happened since I last wrote here!

Last Saturday, September 6, we drove up to Newport News and visited with Dawn and George. They took us out to eat at the Samarai Japanese Restaurant. It is another Bene Hane-type place where the cooks perform at the grill, right at your table.

On Sunday we all got into the pool. It was a very strong sun that day. Mom and Sis got onto the large raft to sun. I laid in a chair on the deck. I burned my arms and scalp really good.

Dawn made London broil and seafood on Sunday. Mom managed to pull tendons in her right foot while climbing the stairs in Dawn's house.

On Monday Becky and Bill took me to the Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport at 6 AM. Then they drove home to Wilmington. I checked in for my 7 AM flight. The TSA flagged me for a complete baggage search and they went completely through my bag right there on a table infront of God and the whole world.

Flight was off on time and it was pretty weather. Flight to La Guardia was 55 minutes long. On the ground I found my bag and walked out to get on a bus (which cost $10) to take me over to midtown to Grand Central Terminal.

At GCT I bought a one-way ticket on the Metro-North train to Poughkeepsie. Then I had about 50 minutes to spare so I went downstairs and found a roll-up sandwich to eat.

Rode the train to New Hamburg. Called Cliff to come and get me. I laughed to myself when I thought that here I was in New York, and Becky and Bill are probably not even home yet!

Took my car around to do some errands. Checked in with Melody at the EZ Storage, then I filled the gas tank, went to the bank to deposit checks, then to Wal-mart for a few things. Then I was ready to find a hotel room. I tried Hampton Inn first. They wanted $130 per night there in Fishkill!! I told her I was going to shop around and I promptly left !

I got on I-84 East and drove into Connecticutt. Near Danbury I found a Best Western room for $69 per night. There was a Microtel down the road for the same price. Spent the night here.

Tuesday, September 9, I drove up to Boston to visit with my friend, Gus, for a couple days. First trip into Boston. Nice weather, had a nice visit. Got to the Hard Rock Cafe and got my requisite t-shirt!

Thursday, September 11, I drove out of Boston, down I-95 South to Providence, RI. I stopped at Benn & Olsen Engineers to discuss the structural steel detailer/draftsman position they have open. They took my resume and we talked for about an hour. Then I was back on the road.

Took I-95 South, across Connecticutt, then when I entered New York, I took I-287 and the Cross-Westchester Parkway to the Tappan Zee Bridge. Across the TZ Bridge I followed I-287 to the Palisades Parkway and took it south to the GW Bridge where I got on I-95 South again. South across New Jersey, down the Jersey Turnpike. Called Scott Douglass to see if I could visit them in DC, but he never called back, so once I crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge, I turned onto US 13 South and went down the DelMarVa Peninsula to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. I was in Norfolk by a little after 8 PM! That is 11 hours from Boston to Norfolk (usually takes about 12 hours)! This is more impressive when you remember that I stopped in Providence for an hour too!

Crashed at Dawn and George's that night. The next morning it was raining when I took off around 6 AM. I followed US 13 and US 11 south to Wilmington and got in about 10:30 AM. I was beat. Bought some groceries at Wal-mart and did my laundry.

This morning I got up and read the paper. I made smoked pork chops and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then I went out to work on the air conditioner in the Tercel. I was delighted that I was able to get the AC working in less than 25 minutes! After that I just vacuumed the car out and cleaned all the vinyl inside of it.

Since Mom has a brace on her right foot, I have been helping out with meals, vacuum cleaning, and errands around the house. I know she will miss me when I am gone!

Tomorrow I am taking the truck to Atlanta for a job conference. I have a room reserved at Red Roof Inn - Atlanta Airport and Mike Foreman is going to share it with me.

Something tells me that when I get back here on Tuesday evening or Wednesday, we are going to be getting the house ready for a hurricane.

Wilmington, NC

Made zucchini and squash for dinner lastnight. It filled me up pretty quickly and I had to refrigerate the rest of it for lunch today.

Made some dado cuts on the oak pieces I cut out and glued up one side panel on my tool box project. Thinking about scrapping this project and getting pre-milled boards of all the same width to make a locking liquor cabinet.

Tomorrow we are driving up to Newport News. I fly out of Newport News on Monday morning to go to New York. While in New York I am going to deposit money into my checking account.

When I bring my Tercel down here I am going to put the "For Sale" sign in the window, call the Ad-Pak to list it, leave a key with Becky and Bill, and then take the truck down to Atlanta. USA Placements is having a job conference near the airport on the 15th and 16th. Mike Foreman is going too and we decided to split a room down there.

Sent my resume out to a few jobs that were listed on the Monster board. Thinking about moving back into drafting. Found a work-study program in New Jersey that would let me catch up on AutoCAD and CNC, but the teacher's assistant position only pays $8 an hour. Of course the tuition would be free while I was doing it.

Wilmington, NC

Tried to replace the power steering / water pump belt and the alternator belt on the truck yesterday. Could not get the power steering pump loose with the small open-ended metric wrenches Bill had here and I was afraid I was going to strip the heads on the bolts so I stopped working. I decided that a garage with the proper tools would have to do the job.

Lastnight I worked with some scrap wood and practiced making finger joints. This time I got some joints made that fit together very tightly. I think the saw blade on his table saw is wobbling and I think the blade is dull. Even though I was working with a jig, and the workpiece was pine, there was alot of ripout on the back of the work.

This morning I took my truck to McGill's Tire Service and had my belts installed. He charged me $32 to do it too! Damn that smarts! Still want to get the radiator hoses changed too, but I will have to go to the Toyota service department to get those hoses. After the hoses are done I want to replace the battery. With these changes the truck should be reliable for the winter.

Went downtown and paid my $10 parking ticket.

I think I need to get a haircut before I fly to New York. Just incase I have an interview or site visit I will be prepared.

Still trying to stick to my diet. I asked Mom if she thought I had lost any weight and she said, "Probably not." So, I got on the scale. It looks like I have lost another 2 to 4 pounds. That is pretty good, especially when you consider that I have not increased my exercise and I drank a few beers last weekend!

Tempted to call the headhunters this morning, but I realize that they are back in the office from a long weekend. I should be patient and give them a chance to call me first. I think I will call them tomorrow though if I do not hear from them today simply because this week, and next week, due to my flight, end on Friday.