When It Rains, It Pours

Literally: the Carolinas have had the pleasure of constant rain the past two days since Ida's made landfall. It has been grey, windy, rainy and cold for 48 straight hours. It's just like Cleveland weather, so I guess I'll just have to get used to it again.

Figuratively: my life seems to be pouring, too. I now have four interviews this weekend. As it stands now, I will be in interviews from 9:30am to 8:30pm on Friday with additional interviews on Saturday, which will last through lunchtime. I'm going to be a professional interviewer by the time this weekend is over! As an added bonus, a potential buyer for my condo has emerged. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it's looking very promising.

As an aside, it is Veterans' Day, a day to celebrate and remember all those brave men and women who have and continue to serve our country. Many thanks for your sacrifices!

It's Only a Matter of Time

That's what I've been telling myself for the past six weeks -- "It's only a matter of time that I'll find a new job and sell my condo." Sitting tight has been frustrating at times, but things are starting to move along. I'm scheduled for three different job interviews this weekend in Cleveland! All three positions are very different from one another; I guess that means I actually do have skills I can apply to a variety of jobs -- who knew? On Friday I will be interviewing for an internal audit job in the morning and a manager of external reporting position in the afternoon. I also have another interview for a supervisor role on Saturday morning/afternoon. It'll be a long couple of days, but I am hopeful that at least one of the jobs will pan out. Should that happen, it's likely I'll be moving back to Ohio over Thanksgiving weekend. Hurray!!

The past few weeks have been rather slow with selling the condo, as I expected. My realtor had warned me that people have been waiting to see what was going to happen with the extension of the homeowners' tax credit, so only one person has been through the unit in the past two weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that traffic will increase with the signing of the extension and the submission of an e-campaign by my realtor. My next move will likely be to bury a statue of St. Joseph next to my building. At this point, anything could help, right?

After the abysmal game Notre Dame played against Navy, I'm very nervous about playing a strong Pitt team this weekend. Should things go like they did last week I will take comfort in the fact that (a) I'll be watching the game with my Dad and (b) we will have Christmas Ale to console ourselves with in the event of a tragedy. I honestly don't know what I did before the discovery of Great Lakes' Christmas Ale. I guess I drank mass quantities of cheap beer :)

Another Day, Another Interview

This week has proven to be the week of interviews. By Saturday, I will have had four in one week in addition to the four previous ones I've had in prior weeks. This job change has been very different than my previous career move over three years ago. Of course, the economy is a major factor since now the employers have the upper hand and can pick whomever they choose, but I'm also noticing some regional differences in how to go about getting a job.

Recruiters are the bane of my existence as of late, but unfortunately, they are necessary for most job moves within my industry. I've been surprised by the lack of responsiveness I've experienced with the majority of the people I've been "working" with (aka. babysitting). Some have completely dropped off the radar no matter how many times I remind them I'm still looking for a job. As an employable candidate with a very strong resume, I was hoping for more proactiveness on their part, but again, the market's been flooded with applicants, so there's some tough competition out there.

The level of incompetence is also astounding. Scheduling calls and then not calling, mixing up interview times and forgetting appointments are all par for the course with the lovely recruiting professionals I've been "working" with. Most of this idiocy has been confined to one individual, but there's been major apathy from every recruiter thus far.

My favorite part of the process has been the unsolicited "career advice" I've been getting from these jokers. A naive person would think these recruiters are trying to help the prospective employee, but really, these goons are looking out for themselves. Oh, what fun the past six weeks have been! I'm sure there's more to come in the near future.

Overall, the job market seems to be improving, but companies are still taking their sweet time hiring people. I'm hoping to hear some good news after completing my last two interviews for the week. I plan to be in Cleveland Friday the 13th with the possibility of staying through Monday, the 16th to meet with potential employers face to face.

So, chin up, fingers crossed and all that jazz. It's only a matter of time at this point!

1,000+ miles in 48 hours

That's my weekend. I will be driving up to Cleveland Friday night/Saturday morning with a carload of things that clutter the condo, Brian's dog (Chance), Brian's bike and a partridge and a pear tree. Brian needs to unload a few of his things, including Chance, on my parents while he tries to sell his condo, too. Since I can't take off work on Friday, I'll leaving Charlotte in the evening and will be spending the night at a pet-friendly hotel in lovely Marietta, Ohio. This will be my first road trip/sleepover with Brian's lovable dalmatian, so I hope it turns out to be a fun trip. Onyx will be spending the weekend with Uncle Brian, and will love every minute of it.

I have a full schedule while in Cleveland. Besides seeing my parents Saturday morning, I will be heading to Westlake to vist with my uncle, who is a repo lawyer. He knows all about buying a foreclosed house, which is what I hope to obtain once I find a job. There are many foreclosed homes in the Cleveland area and several of them are in nice neighborhoods. I need to get familiar with the details of how to go about getting one. Cleveland home prices are much lower than those in the Charlotte market, and if I'm able to get in on a foreclosed one, all the better. After the house meeting, I'll be watching the Irish take on BC at Sarah Lane's pad. She claims to have amassed quite a booze collection since I last saw her, so I'm going to have to help her out with that.

Sunday morning, it'll be back to Charlotte. The drive will be long and the trip will be quick, but I think it's worth it in the long-run. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Condo for Sale

Please buy it!

http://www.mytownhome.com/cgi-bin/detail2.pl?listnum=892609

Pinehurst Triathlon

I have triathlon #2 under my belt! It was a long, hilly, challenging course, but I finished in a decent time, placed 6th in my age group and 7th overall in the swim. Not too shabby. Over 800 people participated in the triathlon, so the venue was a little crowded, but everyone I ran into was nice, easy going and encouraging. Triathletes really are some of the nicest people out there! Even though it was a difficult course, I'm glad I was able to finish and get a challenging race added to my resume. If I can finish this Olympic distance course, I don't think there's much out there I can't handle. I'm enouraged with my progress and am more committed to participating in a Half Ironman in 2010. I'll need to step up the bike training, but I'm confident I'll manage.

My next challenge is the Women's Running Half Marathon in St. Petersburg in November. Now that Pinehurst is over, I need to hit the pavement hard and get back into long distance running mode. I'm really excited to be running the race with Angela. She and I will be training together for the next month (if I'm in Charlotte that long).

The condo is being shown again this afternoon to a different prospective buyer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I hear something back from the people who went through late last week. I'm glad that I'm getting some foot traffic through the place; it's been surprising given the current market conditions. Onyx hasn't been too thrilled with the rearrangment of furniture and her toy box, but she'll deal.

Big football weekend coming up: Notre Dame vs. USC on Saturday and Browns vs. Steelers on Sunday! I'm so upset I have to work Saturday afternoon and will likely miss the game. Another reason why I need a new job -- this one cuts into my football time!!

“Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.”

Sorry to be MIA for awhile, but changes are a'brewing for this little chickadee. My Myers Park condo is on the market and the Clevelane job search is in full swing. It took about a week to get my place painted and ready to sell. I am grateful my Mom was able to come to town and help me out. The condo looks great and is in move-in condition. Some potential buyers will be coming through today and an open house is being held tomorrow while I'm at the Pinehurst Tri. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something good comes out of this weekend.

I'll be in Pinehurst, NC on Saturday for an Olympic distance triathlon. This race is the largest in the North Carolina race circuit, and I'll be participating with two former coworkers from Ernst & Young. The course is long and hilly, so it'll be a tough race. I'm looking forward to the challenge. One of the big appeals of this race is that it was scheduled during Notre Dame's bye week, so I don't have to worry about missing a game or watching yet another nailbiter of a game. I think the Irish are going to give me an ulcer this season.

Have a nice weekend and wish me luck!