Author: Mark Alexander

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Released 44 Years Ago Today

Damn I feel old.

Chicago: Chicago IX (1975)

This was my first real exposure to Chicago. Oh sure, I was aware of the band (I mean you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing them), but this was the first album of theirs I actually bought. I remember putting the record on my turntable, plugging in my headphones and falling in love. From that point on I was a huge fan, and as recently as the 2000s I was still backfilling my catalog with the earlier albums I’d previously brushed off.

To be honest, however, I did lose interest in the majority of their work after Chicago X, the album that came out immediately after this one.

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OK Boomer

Why is it that these kids who make YouTube videos where they’re either saying or doing something stupid to get their fifteen seconds of fame always feel it necessary to SCREAM into the camera?

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Guess Who Was Offered a Job Today

It’s been a long time coming, but it finally happened (pending a successful background check, of course). And without hesitation I accepted. No more being treated as a second-class citizen by the guards at the employee entrance! Paid holidays! Paid time off! And at $11K/year more than I’m currently making as a contractor!

It was a good day.

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Arcane Forbidden Knowledge

Between my mom and grandmother, I was taught most of the basic life skills: how to cook, clean, dust, bake, do laundry, iron, make small sewing repairs, dress cuts and abrasions, and generally keep a household. I suppose on some unconscious level they both knew I was destined to be living by myself for the majority of my adult life, and didn’t want me imploding because I couldn’t boil an egg.

The one bit of arcane forbidden knowledge that they did not pass on however, was how to fold a fucking fitted sheet, and I mutter curses under my breath whenever I’m forced to attempt it. I am destined to live out my life not fully understanding the magic necessary to bring it about—much like my never mastering algebra, chemistry, physics, and the Law of General Relativity.

Seriously. Five decades removed from childhood and I still can’t. The best I can hope for is to create something resembling a flat, square, bloated puffy pillow that will at least slide into a drawer and looks good on the outside—even if it’s a crumpled mess on the inside. Wait…isn’t that a metaphor for me?

This does not help.
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I Wonder…

…if the Morgan Twins fuck each other.

C’mon…it’s just unnatural curiosity.

But I’m not curious enough to pay money to get into their Only Fans site to find out.

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Changes?

Yes Virginia, that is a tie.

Next week will mark the one year anniversary working for my present employer.

As soon as I came to work here, I knew that—while not perfect by any means—this was someplace I wanted to see myself staying at until my rapidly-but-not-rapidly-enough approaching retirement.

Coincidentally, yesterday I interviewed for the full-time position [that had been created so they could actually hire me as an FTE] in the department for the job I’ve been doing for the past year as a contractor.

This being a governmental agency, they couldn’t just hire me outright, as much as my supervisor has said wished he could. No, there are procedures that must be followed; a process.

That process included inviting several other candidates to apply, two of which I knew for sure were contractors who came on board the same time I did.

This made me nervous; one of the guys has a much more extensive skillset than I do, and while the position was created for me, this did not automatically guarantee I would get it nor did this fact alleviate my anxiety going into yesterday. With all that’s happened to me employment-wise over the past few years, I’m not counting any chickens before they hatch.

While I knew beforehand that this was going to be interview-by-committee (an increasingly common thing, according to Ben), I was still nonetheless surprised at the participants who greeted me. I knew my direct supervisor would be in the group, but I did not expect to see one of my peers and two of the end-users I have regularly supported over the past twelve months (thankfully, both of whom I have a good working relationship with). The final interviewer was a woman from a different department, brought in apparently to remove any bias in the process.•

There were seven “questions”:

• Describe your background in Tech Support and how it relates to the position for which you’re applying.
• What is your familiarity with Active Directory?
• How would you prioritize the following work requests?
The Director can’t print.
Your friend on the 6th Floor can’t start Internet Explorer.
The Finance Group is unable to access SAP.
You have two PCs that need to be reimaged.
• What is your experience with Sharepoint?
• If you were given a project for which you had no experience and required training but there was no budget for training, how would you approach it?
• We have a central location as well as remote offices. How would you approach supporting customers at the remote locations?
• Anything you’d like to add?

Admittedly, all softball stuff, but even then afterwards I was wracking my brain wishing I’d given more extensive answers than I did. I also stumbled on my answers regarding Sharepoint, being unable to recall exactly what I’ve done with Sharepoint while here. (I’ve touched it once, maybe twice.)

Still, I am glad it’s over and done with. As my supervisor was leaving last night, he stopped by my desk and said, “You did good. It’s a process. Sleep good tonight.”

So I’ve gone from totally freaking out to something resembling cautiously optimistic…