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Nov. 9th, 2013 08:12 amI promised to tell a couple of stories about my whirlwind trip to the east coast this week...
The story of the credit card and the chocolate chip cookie isn't really a story so much as an observation. The place that I was interviewing with paid my hotel room for the night, but the hotel wanted a credit card for "incidentals". This is pretty standard -- they take your card, whack fifty dollars onto it, and remove it a few days after you check out; it's to make sure that if you steal the blankets or whatever, they can charge you for it.
So this guy checks me in, asks me for my credit card because the hotel does not trust me, takes the card and charges me $50 with one hand, and with the other hand gives me a "Complimentary warm chocolate chip cookie for you, sir."
Doubletree, I am getting some mixed signals here, baby.
The Southwest Wasp was slightly more exciting. I was flying home from Pittsburgh to Chicago on Southwest Airlines, and we were just about to start takeoff, when everyone in the first two rows saw a GIANT WASP burst out of nowhere and go zooming around the front of the cabin. Like, I don't know where it came from, but I am familiar with wasps and it was GIGANTIC.
One of the flight attendants LOST IT, and the other one was like "Naw bro I got this" and rolled up a safety information placard to take a swing at it. He managed to swing twice without actually hitting it, driving it into the gap between the cabin ceiling and the luggage racks, where it vanished. Presumably back to the hell dimension whence it came, because we didn't see it again for the rest of the flight.
I mean, maybe he had family he was visiting in Chicago, I don't know, but I suspect he will be very confused when he gets off the plane. I don't think any of us spent a partcularly restful flight.
It's been hard to write about up until now, but I'm also sort of torn up about this job I interviewed for. I'm pretty sure they're going to make an offer; they gave me the paperwork for education and employment checks yesterday. I don't know that I like how they run their shop and guys, I gotta tell you, Baltimore seems great but is losing to Chicago pretty badly in terms of "cities I want to live in". It could be a great career advancement opportunity, but we actually do more, with more diversity of skill, at my current company. I'm not sure I want to do cap ratings all day long.
One of my bosses thinks this means that I don't actually want to work in Prospect Research. The other, who honestly I respect a bit more (she's nicer, too), said that she turned down three jobs before joining us, and that it a) won't sabotage my chances at future jobs and b) is my decision and doesn't mean I don't really want this as a career. That's comforting, and I want to cling to it, even though I'm aware she is significantly less higher-ranked than my other boss.
I feel like I'm stringing the Baltimore folks along. How do I say no? They have a good reputation. They seem nice enough. The city isn't unpleasant, even if it isn't Chicago. I would be in the field I want to be in. They're just...not worth leaving what I have now. Or -- because it would be a great leap in my career -- are they, and I'm just scared to make the change?
I can't untangle how much of my reluctance is not wanting to leave Chicago and how much is not wanting more responsibility at work and how much is a genuine instinct that this isn't the job for me.
And I'm pretty sure I'm getting an offer letter next week, so I need to decide pretty quickly.
*weeps*
The story of the credit card and the chocolate chip cookie isn't really a story so much as an observation. The place that I was interviewing with paid my hotel room for the night, but the hotel wanted a credit card for "incidentals". This is pretty standard -- they take your card, whack fifty dollars onto it, and remove it a few days after you check out; it's to make sure that if you steal the blankets or whatever, they can charge you for it.
So this guy checks me in, asks me for my credit card because the hotel does not trust me, takes the card and charges me $50 with one hand, and with the other hand gives me a "Complimentary warm chocolate chip cookie for you, sir."
Doubletree, I am getting some mixed signals here, baby.
The Southwest Wasp was slightly more exciting. I was flying home from Pittsburgh to Chicago on Southwest Airlines, and we were just about to start takeoff, when everyone in the first two rows saw a GIANT WASP burst out of nowhere and go zooming around the front of the cabin. Like, I don't know where it came from, but I am familiar with wasps and it was GIGANTIC.
One of the flight attendants LOST IT, and the other one was like "Naw bro I got this" and rolled up a safety information placard to take a swing at it. He managed to swing twice without actually hitting it, driving it into the gap between the cabin ceiling and the luggage racks, where it vanished. Presumably back to the hell dimension whence it came, because we didn't see it again for the rest of the flight.
I mean, maybe he had family he was visiting in Chicago, I don't know, but I suspect he will be very confused when he gets off the plane. I don't think any of us spent a partcularly restful flight.
It's been hard to write about up until now, but I'm also sort of torn up about this job I interviewed for. I'm pretty sure they're going to make an offer; they gave me the paperwork for education and employment checks yesterday. I don't know that I like how they run their shop and guys, I gotta tell you, Baltimore seems great but is losing to Chicago pretty badly in terms of "cities I want to live in". It could be a great career advancement opportunity, but we actually do more, with more diversity of skill, at my current company. I'm not sure I want to do cap ratings all day long.
One of my bosses thinks this means that I don't actually want to work in Prospect Research. The other, who honestly I respect a bit more (she's nicer, too), said that she turned down three jobs before joining us, and that it a) won't sabotage my chances at future jobs and b) is my decision and doesn't mean I don't really want this as a career. That's comforting, and I want to cling to it, even though I'm aware she is significantly less higher-ranked than my other boss.
I feel like I'm stringing the Baltimore folks along. How do I say no? They have a good reputation. They seem nice enough. The city isn't unpleasant, even if it isn't Chicago. I would be in the field I want to be in. They're just...not worth leaving what I have now. Or -- because it would be a great leap in my career -- are they, and I'm just scared to make the change?
I can't untangle how much of my reluctance is not wanting to leave Chicago and how much is not wanting more responsibility at work and how much is a genuine instinct that this isn't the job for me.
And I'm pretty sure I'm getting an offer letter next week, so I need to decide pretty quickly.
*weeps*
