Junie's Online Thoughts
Friday, October 18, 2002
Yeah, I work at a funny place....where I can get irate over nutritional supplement bars and write nasty emails and everyone thinks that thats okay. Weeeiiiiirrrrd. I recognize that. I really do realize how f*cked up this place is and how many liberties I have working here, even when it sucks.
I had an interview on Friday. Name was Rodney. Wouldnt fit in at all or would hate it here. Had this strange little laugh he did under his breath all the time that made me think there was something sinister about him. Got fired from a previous job and now just waits tables. Too social to get all this work done here. You're wondering why I even called him in for an interview? He had a really good cover letter and I have a soft spot for fellow-servers.
Had another today. Funmilola. Lola for short. Parents were from Nigeria, she was born in London but has lived here in Atlanta for over 20 years. She works at a non-profit already, has very similar experience, is young and driven without being naive or needy, is a tidy self-starter. Shes definately a top contender...although we will probably end up hiring the sister of a co-worker's girlfriend. We're already a nepotistic bunch here, but at least the co-worker is nice and not the freaky CEO (how can she be a CEO when we're not a corporation???). I meet her on Monday over lunch.
ANother interview just cancelled due to a flat tire and I have another one at 4 pm. I have at least 3 interviews on Monday, one on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday....and I still have a handfull of resumes that I need to do a phone interview on first. (What I should have done with all of these folks before actually scheduling real interviews and wasting all of our time if they arent what we're looking for....stupid impulsive decisions.)
Its nerve-wracking and weird interviewing for my own job. I know what Im looking for, but it also makes me that much more picky and hard-core. I had nightmares of interviews all night long. A woman was arguing with me over the pay-rate when I woke up. I thought, shit, I need to hire somebody fast so I can LET IT GO and get some sleep. Its a sickness. It really is.
Thursday, October 17, 2002
Whoooosh. What a day. Someone in the office took all of these nutrition bars out of the closet and ate them. Bastards. I wrote a really mad email to everyone this morning that I was appalled that someone had gone into the closet, took the bag hidden in a cabinet and then brought them into the kitchen so the staff thought they were for public consumption. I love the reactions that I get when Im pissed. Apparently people here are a little bit afraid of me because they all act like they are about to get whipped by me. (which i think is hysterically funny.) Im sure I will never find out who did it, but man, I am soooooo excited to be out of this place.
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
whooo wee busy as a banshee today. I am a whirlwind. Scheduled seven interviews for the people applying for my job. (That's weird.) Made class packets. Dropped off videos at the copy service. Bought supplies for the Nutrition class tomorrow. Took out the recycling. Ordered books. Processed checks for our respite reimbursement program. Am nearly done with the last website update I will ever have to do. Sat through a boring meeting. Thats my day.
Now I get to go home and clean and pack and hang out with Jeremy while listening to the rain. The car is full of cardboard boxes for packing....I have no money.....but Im in an okay mood.
Monday, October 14, 2002
Weekend = crazy. Let's see. Friday I worked at Noodle. It wasnt busy. Saturday Jeremy & I slept late, went shopping for his eye glasses, and worked at Noodle. It wasnt busy. Sunday I went to a gun show with a co-worker/friend from Noodle. It was my idea, and she agreed to come along because she had been in the army, owned a gun and needed to find a place to shoot it. I called the place that was hosting it--Showcase event center--and the woman said it would be $5 and off I-75. Well, it wasnt in Atlanta like the website said, it was in McDonough, this little hickville 25 miles south of the city. On the way, we got hungry, and we stopped at the Crackerbarrel. I had never been there before...kind of a country store meets Country Kitchen. I had blackberry pancakes and biscuits. Kristen had eggs, grits and biscuits.
After that, we were back on the hunt. Right next to the Sam's club, there it was--the antique mall/showcase center. We walked around for a while, but couldnt find any guns. There was plenty of crap--bags, clothes, knick knacks, basic flea market fare, but no guns. Finally we asked and discovered that it was in another building outside. After about 15 minutes (there were numerous buildings exactly like the one we just left), we found the right one. Gun show. The next disappointment was that it wasnt $5 a person, but TWELVE (!!!!) a person to get in. Ug. The place itself was a giant warehouse building. I'd say about 25 vendors were there, with long tables and cases in their section of the room. Most were covered in various shotguns, handguns and cases, with others offering bullets, swords, bumper stickers, flags, toys, christian books, and other miscellaneous paraphenelia. We wandered around; I would ask her questions--mostly it didnt mean much to me. I had no frame of reference for what i was looking at and know nothing about guns. Ive never even held a handgun in my hand, and have only shot a shotgun twice in my life.
Demographically, it was interesting. Over a hundred people were there. Almost 20% of the vendors were women. I'd say about 10-15% of the people there were women. And the women there (with the exception of myself and Kristen) were there with their male partners or as vendors. I saw one asian vendor, no other asians, no hispanics and I didnt see any black people (although Kristen saw a handful.) Most were white males, aged 40 to 65, although there were a few barely legal guys and a few old-timers as well. I didnt feel comfortable asking any of them to explain the guns to me....it definately felt like we were outsiders on a sub-culture that we didnt really understand. I learned that guns are heavy--there were a number of shotguns that I couldnt even pick up with one hand, that hand guns are also heavy. Most are ugly and cold looking. And all make me a little bit spooked. (Handguns seemed to average about $350....shotguns about $165). We didnt stay too long....we sat outside and contemplated the possibility of researching gun shows and gun activists as a masters/dissertation project and how that study would be possible. (She is in the process of writing her master's thesis so was caught up in interviewing and "triangulation" research and all that stuff.) It was weird overall....and exhausting....and I was even more conflicted about how I felt about guns and gun control. (I did buy some pepper spray though...for $5 for a keychain style spray.)
I met up with Jeremy at Noodle, and between his shifts we talked and ate cake. He went back to work, I started packing up books in the living room and stressed.
