I am currently feeling very ashamed b/c of how long it's been since I've been on this board. Sorry Tommy.   How are you doing?

I am in Maryland visiting my parents...having a great time. We saw Juno tonight...very good movie, and ate Mexican. Earlier today, we went into Washington, DC and went to the Museum of Native American History (or whatever it's called). They have a really interesting exhibit about different reservations/communities that currently exist within North America and how they have evolved to survive in the 21st century. And admission is free. Gotta love the Smithsonian.

I am still working at the job I bitched about in my last post, but have given notice that I will be leaving sometime before March 28, exact date to be determined. Because I'm applying to grad school for the fall , I was going to leave in May anyway, but I'm sick of their ****, period. The large amount of notice is so I can train new help before I leave, but this is not a favor. My employers are obscenely dependent upon their staff for a lot of things, including training new employees. They are also not easy to work for, so they typically can't hold onto their staff. However there is a honeymoon period of about two months before the staff realizes what these people are really like (this is speaking from my experience and that of two other people). Before any of this happens, it's going to take at least 2-3 weeks for them to even hire someone and for the person to get started. Basically, I'm trying to time it so, by the time whoever they hire to replace me leave, I'm gone and they're screwed and I don't look bad for any of it.

The exact date is to be determined because I have an interview for a US Department of Justice Internship and I don't know what my start date would be if selected. When I placed a follow-up call, the guy on the other end of the line knew exactly who I was, which I think is a reasonably good sign. I also think that if they're planning on taking the time to interview me, they must have something in mind for me b/c I very clearly do not qualify for the program, but not for skill or experience related reasons. Because the budget for permanent help at government agencies is not what it should be, it's a fairly common practice for US government agencies to find loopholes into internship programs for people like that. This wouldn't be the first time I have gotten a government internship that way.

-- Edited by ddfad at 04:55, 2008-01-20

Yeah, tell me about it. It took me a really ****ing long time to get that job. That's part of the reason I held onto it so long. In the end, though, I can only take so much ****. Especially on the insult of a salary they were paying me.

I did finally quit today, although I did it via e-mail, so I don't know if my former bosses actually know yet. Should be getting a nasty phone call sometime around 6:00am Not that I'm gonna pick up the phone. When all was said and done, I wound up working there for eight and a half months.

Luckily, I have some savings and a background that may be able to net me a Federal internship, which will keep me in cash until I start grad school in the fall. I hate school but if, with the credentials I already have, the best I can do is the **** job I just quit, then it's time for me to get some more credentials. I'm grateful that I have the resources to pay for that.

Good luck with that job with your dad. I hope it works out and pays well.

RIght now, I'm chilling out and trying to plan the next few days, which will involve the completion of a Federal application and a trip to Maryland to visit family and friends and to see the Independents in Baltimore. John's probably going to be driving this time, so we shouldn't get lost.

But before that, there are two great shows in NYC tonight and tomorrow night. Demetra and the Bullys...can't ****ing wait. And then, two days after The Independents, The Statues of Liberty in NYC. I think I'm gonna turn all of this into one big celebration. It's about damn time.

Things ::knock on wood:: are working out pretty well. The day I quit the job, I found out I got into one graduate school. A few weeks later, I found out that I got into another. I will be headed to The New School in NYC this fall and I will have a percentage of my tuition covered by a merit-based scholarship. I also just got back from a family vacation to San Francisco and Monterey, California. That was pretty cool.

Right now, I have been extended a tentative offer for a summer internship at the United States Department of Justice, which is a part of the American government. I would be working in Washington, DC. Before I can be given a concrete offer, I need to pass a background check and a few other security-related things. If all goes well (no reason why it should not), I should be starting in late May/early June.

Yes, I will be going to the Birthday Bash. Kind of stinks that I wasn't able to stay in NY long enough that I could just take the commuter train in and out of NYC like I usually do but, then again, having to come up from Maryland makes it special in a way since this spring and summer I do/will no longer have as easy access to NYC as I once did. Because the Independents are playing in New Jersey the Friday before, I rented a hotel room for that weekend. In between the two shows, I plan on visiting some places I haven't been to in a while and possibly getting some grad school-related business done.

So, enough about me. What have you been up to? And how did that test you stayed up too late the night before (bad Tommy!) go?

Now I'm gonna play GTA IV on my PlayStation 3 for a while!