It’s going …

I started my new job this Monday, and I’m enjoying it so far. I was doing office-type busy-work for my first three days because the lady who was supposed to train me for what I was hired for (phone-based customer service) was on vacation. She came back today, and we got started. It’s definitely interesting, and I know I’ll get the hang of things quickly as soon as I get an actual phone to play with and become better acquainted with the software package. It’s also a really good work environment – so far, a lot better than the retail gig that I’m still keeping one day a week just in case. I’ve already started making jokes with some of the others in the office.

There’s a TV in the kitchen area that’s usually on during meal times. When I was eating my breakfast in there before work this morning, I heard about something that got me fairly riled up. This bill called the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act that helps 9/11 first responders get health care. Some so-and-so decided that cancer would not be covered under the act, despite the fact that a lot of the folks who were at the World Trade Center doing SAR (Search And Rescue) during and after the attack have reportedly been coming down with and dying from various types of cancer. According to the story they were telling on the news, these cancer cases were brought on by the responders’ exposure to the toxic chemicals (not to mention concrete, brick, steel, airplane, etc. dust) released when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers and the Towers subsequent collapse. Now some politico and/or agency is trying to deny these heroes proper care because there’s supposedly no proof that their cancer is related to their actions in the wake of the tragedy. This sort of thing makes me mad. Grrrr! http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/28/new.york.trade.center.cancer/index.html?section=cnn_latest

The waiting game continues

I’m still working m retail gig. My new full-time job will definitely start on August 1, and I’ll find out today whether I can start it next week based on whether my current management has changed my availability in their system. Whew, but it’s going to be a relief! I won’t be in a library like I’d been hoping for, but I’ll still be doing something productive that will help me pay the bills. Call me crazy, but I already have some plans for what’s left of my first paycheck or two from the new job after paying rent and such: a new pair of good sandals and music.

One of the albums I plan on getting is something rather awesome that I just discovered the existence of last night: an official English-language studio recording of Frank Wildhorn’s Dracula! It had a rather short run on Broadway during the winter of 2004-05 or thereabouts, and there was a very hard-to-find concept/demo recording floating around. I went to see it with my dad, and I loved it – seeing Quincey Morris staked through the chest onstage stands as the coolest trick I’ve seen in live theatre. The show was taken to Germany with some re-vamping (yes, pun intended) of the score. I’ve got that cast album, and I’ve seen some clips from it on YouTube. Good stuff, and I’m excited to hear The Longer I Live (Je Langer Ich Leben) and Life After Life (Ein Leben Mehr). James Barbour is an excellent baritone, and I think he was an excellent choice to sing Dracula. He’s got a slightly more operatic tone than Thomas Borchert (Dracula in the German production), who’s a bit more towards rock ‘n’ roll.

Hope dawns!

I think I’ve finally landed a decent job! It’s not in a library, but it’ll take care of the various bills better than what I’ve got now. A local HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) and plumbing company needs a customer service minion to answer phones and help wrangle their customer database. The company is willing to take me on full-time on a trial basis, and if they decide I’m a good fit after training, they may keep me. Phones have never been my strong suit, but I’m willing to give it my best for a decent increase in my hourly pay, full-time status, and health insurance if I make it past 90 days. I hope it does work out because I’d like to have a year that’s slightly less stressful than the one I just had.

I don’t know if any of y’all have heard of a group called Improv Everywhere, but they are “a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places.” This weekend, they’ll be hosting their eighth MP3 Experiment in Manhattan, and I’ll be participating with one of my friends. We’ll be two of thousands of people descending on Battery Park with one of two original MP3 files (she and I are on opposite teams for this, decided by our birthdays) and specified props. Based on videos I saw on YouTube of some of the first 7 MP3 Experiemnts, it’s gonna be a blast.

All work and no play …

Work, work, work, that’s all it seems like. Well, that and applying for things and worrying about finding better work. I got a few more rejections (“We’ve decided on a candidate who better meets our needs at this time.”) and a couple letters stating that the organization has started reviewing candidates and will get back to me. Sometimes I’m not sure what gets to me more – outright rejections, “maybe” letters/emails, or not hearing back at all. From where I’m sitting, the last is an implied rejection because they either didn’t want to take the time to let me know whether to start breathing again, or they forgot. I’m not going to stop looking, and I’m also considering clerical, administrative and publishing positions along with the library jobs – I need to pay the bills somehow.

I finally read L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz this week. I honestly can’t remember whether my dad read it to me as a bedtime story, but it was interesting to read the original after enjoying Gregory Maguire’s Wicked trilogy and the musical based on that first book. Someone I know considers Mr. Maguire’s take on Oz (or deconstruction, as he put it) to be blasphemous and the musical to be outright evil. I respectfully disagree with him on this, but I’m keeping my mind open. Who knows, I could well change my own after I get around to reading the other Oz books authored by Mr. Baum. I’ve been given to understand that he penned the first fourteen or so, and the rest were farmed out to others.

Happy 4th of July!

Yes, it’s a tad early, but I can’t expect Independence Day to meet my weekly blog schedle just to make things easier. Anyway, I hope everybody has fun with barbecues, cookouts, fireworks (safely, of course), concerts, or whatever else is planned for the day. I’ll be working again (surprise, surprise) like I did last year, not that I was invited to anything. Maybe I’ll break out my DVD of 1776 again for some patriotic fun. It’s a musical released in theatres in 1972, starring William Daniels as John Adams and Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson. Yes, kids, William Daniels is Mr. Feeney from Boy Meets World. He can sing quite well and made an excellent Mr. Adams.

The job hunt continues. I applied to do a short-term contract position with a local public library’s Friends organization, helping with organizing their big upcoming book sale. I’m still waiting to hear back from them about the possiblility of a second interview, but I’m crossing my fingers. It would be a  Good Thing, even if it wouldn’t last that long. I also applied to a local Williams Sonoma storeb ecause I enjoy cooking.

In other news, I’m finally starting to explore the realm of Steampunk. I’m not condoning Wikipedia as a be-all-end-all wonderful source of information fit to be used in professional writing, but they have compiled a very thorough definition of Steampunk -  a short version could be summed up loosely as “alternate history with anachronistic technology and ideas.” The book I’m reading now is Lavie Tidhar’s The Bookman. It caught my eye when I was in a book store with a gift card over the winter, and I’m not regretting picking it up. Picture Victorian London with electricity, trains, radio communication, etc., and ruled by a dynasty of large sentient lizards originating on an island discovered by Americo Vespucci and the Ancient Mariner. I’m enjoying it so far, and I may have to look for Mr. Tidhar’s other books.