And now, another month has passed. And what a month! So, today’s post will mostly be a “Get caught up with Eric’s life” kind of post.
Just before my last post, Scott relayed an interesting job posting from monster.com to me. I took a look, and it seemed interesting. So, I applied. On the Thursday following that post, I was called in for an interview. To be honest, for the first 50 minutes or so of that interview, I was on Cloud 9; I was sure I’d nailed it! Just before the interview ended, I was asked if I had any questions. I stuttered and stammered so badly, then asked the most inane of questions (no, I shall NEVER reveal to anyone what that question was.) My confidence level began to drain! And then, they had to go and ruin it by giving me a test. It’s a test on a subject I know quite a bit about. As the person administering the test handed it to me, she said “The last person took 45 minutes to complete this test. I did it in 15.” Okay, I thought, no pressure! A bit over an hour later, I was thinking “Well, I’ve messed this up!” I was still struggling with the test! And, the person administering it was on the phone to her husband “Yes, I think I’m going to have to work late tonight.”
It didn’t help that the position was with an agency of the government. It’s 30 miles from my home. As one leaves the main highway, and begins the 10 mile drive to the facility itself, there are signs. “No Visitors”. “Government Personnel Only”. “Do Not Leave Your Car Under Any Circumstances” “Watch out for Deer”. At the gate, I was stopped by a heavily armed individual, directed to turn around, park at the bunker, and enter the bunker. “Take nothing in with you.” There, I watched a “Safety Video”, then waited for an escort to the administrative area. Just a little intimidation prior to interviews!
After the interview, I was told “We’ll make a decision next week, and let you know.”
The next day, I went to work at Del Sol. Walking in the door, I greeted my manager, and told her I wasn’t feeling too well (I wasn’t). She sent me home. And thus began TWO WEEKS (Plus) of the flu. For two weeks, I sat around, or laid about the house, with fevers just a hair over 100, never high enough to go to the hospital. I watched the news, and learned that in the week leading up to my coming down with the flu, and in the two weeks during my flu, over 13 people in the El Paso/Las Cruces area DIED from the flu! Ugh. Fortunately, I avoided that particular symptom!
Monday morning of that first week (that would be January 27) at approximately 8:05 am I received a call from one of the people who interviewed me. I was offered the job, and offered a salary at the higher end of the salary range indicated in the Job Position posting!
I began the job on Monday 2/10/2014. The day begins at 7 am (Which means I have to leave the house a little before 6:30 am.) The schedule is such that I have every other Friday off. So, two three day weekends per month!
Now, as to this government agency for which I, indirectly, work. I am not free to name this agency in this context, however, I AM free to say that it is an agency involved in the exploration of regions beyond the atmosphere. I work for a contractor who has a 5 year contract with this governmental agency. I am one of a couple of “Database Maintenance Specialists”.
The first week, I spent 3 and a half days attending safety and security briefings, as well as briefings and training in several other areas, filling out paperwork for security clearances, getting photographed, fingerprinted, and cleared to use a computer. I had that Friday off.
This week began with a holiday (NOT President’s Day… that’s a misnomer, in case you didn’t know. What we celebrate as President’s Day is OFFICIALLY, BY LEGISLATION only a day in honor of President George Washington… go read up on it!) And now, I’m settling in to my job.
So what else is there to share? I had a follow up visit with my cardiologist the week before beginning here. It turns out that the cardiologist who saw me the first time I went, promptly moved away. So, I have a NEW, new cardiologist! This bean-stalk walks into the exam room, looks at me, then opens my chart; he scans it. Closing the chart he looks at me over the top of his glasses and says…
“You’re fat.”
“I’ve lost 30 pounds in the past 12 months.” I say.
“You’re fat. You need to lose 40 more pounds.” He wants me down to 180. I haven’t been 180 since June 12, 1982. (I remember that day… I got married to… her… on that day!)
From there, I must say, the conversation went up hill, and he proved to be quite the genial fellow! He gave me some advice on diet, and exercise. And he said “Your stress test was good, no concerns. But I do want to see your cholesterol levels in a few months… as soon as possible, actually.”
Since I do not (yet) have medical/health insurance, we’re waiting for that test. Hopefully, that’ll come through soon, and I’ll arrange for the test. Oh, and to prove he could be genial, he cut my office visit from $155 to $50. They only accept cash at the time of the visit, no credit card, no billing. And, since I didn’t have cash, he said I could bring it back later.
And that, dear friends and family, is the end of this story.
Oh, and that test I took during the interview? I got 98% on part one, and 100% on part two. Turns out, timing wasn’t an issue.
On The Road II 