Year: 2010

My last post was about one’s Outlook.

This post is more of an update of my outlook.

Everyone knows that I had accepted the Wells Fargo job despite it being outside of my comfort zone.  I didn’t know how much the job wasn’t a good fit for me until I had actually started training.  During training the class was listening to a call from a customer.  An older man called in saying “I want to make a cash advance out of my credit card” and the rep on the phone told the man that there are probably better options available to him.  One of those options would be to open up a credit line, or a personal line that he can remove money from whenever he needs to.  She explained that it would benefit him in the future in case this happened again.  She checked again to see why he needed the money, “oh just looking to get ahead” and so confirming this choice again she got him to the right department to help him out.

Wrong answer.  The trainer stopped the class and asked what was wrong with the call.  Everyone shot their hand up as if this was a horrible call.  The class talked about how the woman on the call was wrong to offer anything than the cash advance and that the bank was actually losing money because the representative didn’t just proceed with the cash advance.

Here I am thinking… what? ….. are you serious?  That was a bad call?  The trainer went on to say that he used this call to show the class what never to do.  He knew that nobody in the class would make such bad actions and was not worried.  This bothered me immensely.  I stopped him as the class went on break and told him that if I were a customer I would want this rep to answer the call as she did.  That the big bank should not only be about turning a buck for themselves but that in a sense we should be seen as the people who will help our customers make good decisions with their money (if possible).  He replied saying that he too would want a rep to respond like that, but that it was against policy to do so.

Sales and screws.  Welcome to Wells Fargo Consumer Credit.  I won’t knock their banking side too much, because I have actually had a pretty good experience with their banking section.  However I did not like that whole scenario.  I ended up giving my notice a few days later.  If I can’t feel like I can give my customers honest and trustworthy answers then the job isn’t for me.  I’m not going to be pushed in to selling things to people that they don’t need.  You may not fully see the picture from the above example, but there were others.  Other examples to push someone into a sale even if they didn’t need what you are offering.  Ways to get them to close anyway.  I’m just not into that.  The job would be better suited for someone else.

I’m not bitter about it, I just feel that I have a better understanding on how the credit department in WF works.  I am back to searching for jobs and I am also able to spend some additional time on my other job at 2nine studios ( see http://2nine.us ).  Now I will keep my eye out for a job that will better suit me and my talents.  I won’t force the issue any longer.

It was last Friday that I got home and was in a really good mood for all sorts of reasons.  However this did not stop from one of the biggest blowups that me and Maryia have had from happening.  I’m not sure what it was about.  We both ended up regretting things that were said and she also regretted the things she did to me.  Things were somewhat resolved as of the next day, but this one almost felt like a crack in the foundation.  We were already tearing down walls, putting new wallpaper up, getting a new roof etc and now this?  We have discussed these things and are working on them.  Things seem to be looking up… I am mainly trying to stay positive and keep my head clear.

Sigh.

Sports news!  Blazers ended their 6 game losing streak last week and went on a 4 game winning streak.  Then things started to go south again and they are currently riding a 2 game losing streak.  It feels like a roller coaster.   In many ways I believe this to be the last year for Nate on this team.  I also think that some changes will come, sooner than later.  This team can’t wait forever for the prospect of what could be.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now.

Outlook.

I think people’s outlook has an effect on where they get.  This statement may also come back to bite me some day.  I look at friends I have who have troubles finding a job and I look at myself.  The problems they have and that I have are not similar.  One of my friends cannot interview very well and in light of that has been unemployed for quite some time now.

It bothers me.  I want to help them, but I have already went down that road in the past.  They did not want my help, so instead now they have surrounded themselves with people who tell them that everything will be OK.  That its the employer that needs to change what they are looking for, not the person being interviewed.  They give them this false reality that everyone is the bad guy, except them.  I don’t get it… I don’t understand it, but maybe that is why there are so many unemployed people right now.

I took a temp job at MTI recently, but I did not like how I was treated.  I was treated the worst that I have been of any job I’ve had.  I know that I am a little spoiled due to LifeLock – but hey, I would at least know if things were on the up and up.  They weren’t.  I didn’t like going in to work with half of the time them not knowing what I could be working on.  The other half  they told me I was doing the wrong thing (when they explicitly told me to do that very same thing to being with).  Needless to say, I didn’t keep the job for long.  It was supposed to last for a while, a couple of weeks at the very least.  It took me 2 days to know this job wasn’t for me.  5 days total and I was out of a job.  The temp agency I worked with hasn’t contacted me again for any other jobs…. and  I’m alright with that.  After this experience I don’t really want to look for more temp jobs unless it is a great opportunity.

I then had a couple interviews the week that I ended my job with MTI.  I applied and was given phone interviews with Walgreen’s and Wellsfargo.  Both of these jobs told me they wanted to have me come in for a better look at my skills.  Walgreen’s seemed like the better opportunity as I would have been a phone rep giving consults to people that had questions on medications.  On the other hand,  Wells Fargo seemed like something I did not want to get involved in.  Why?  When I received a call about the job they told me that a big part of the job would be sales and the other customer service.  Oh, and I’d be working nights and weekends.

I never wanted to get involved with sales… on top of that I didn’t want to be on the phones (of all things…. not the phones!)  As with most phone jobs..  it seems to be just another dead end job.  Due to this, I focused more on the Walgreens job.

A week later I find out that Walgreen’s has passed on me… and Wells Fargo extended a job offer.  I accepted the job offer as I need to get back into the work place and make some money again.  It would be nice to be making money again, even if it is going to be about 5 dollars less per hour than I have previously been making.  It’s an adjustment period… I am still adjusting.  I am still trying to wrap my head around being on the phone and what the sales aspect will really look like.  I’ve been told that you have to push hard on sales.. and I will tell you now that I won’t push anyone into something they don’t want.  How that will factor in to the job or how I am reviewed is still in the air.

The job market is less than favorable, yet there are still jobs to be had if people are willing to work outside of their comfort zone.  Example being this Wells Fargo job.

As a side note, over the Thanksgiving weekend I was able to meet up with Michael.  My family traveled to Yakima and we spent the day with my brother.  It was nice to be around him, even if now he smokes and has picked up chewing.

Last little note, is that I’ve been feeling the Europe bug.  I had felt it for a while a few years ago but it is starting to heat up again.  I really want to visit the UK and the possibly live overseas for a period of time.

So much going on.  I’ve gotten a cold this week… and this coming Monday I start the Wells Fargo job.  Blazers try to end a 5 game losing streak tonight against the wizards and the Cardinals look to end a 6 game losing streak (even though playoff hopes are now all but out of the picture).

That’s all I’ve got.

Until next time…

Listening to Mariah Carey – Breakdown
It brings back memories.  “Back in the day” kind of sentiments.

There really isn’t any way to segue into this next section so here goes.  This morning shortly after waking up I was informed that midnight had died.  Why?  It seems that we got a bad litter.  Poor guy, he was strong enough to survive for a while- but could not survive any longer.  It was/is rather sad.  He was stiff, like really stiff.  I went outside into the yard with Maryia and we buried him.  Good thing these people had a few acres worth of land.  Poor guy…

Afterwards I ran some errands.  Nothing too special.  I checked into T-Mobile’s deal that they have going on.  On a friends and family plan you can have up to 5 lines for the price of 2.  It’s a smokin deal… but I am still under contract with Verizon and I’m not so sure that it is worth paying the early termination fee.

Tonight I watched the Blazers game.  They won the season opener against the Suns last night and again tonight against the Clippers.

Applying for jobs is constant.  I’ve moved my area to include any area I can drive to within an hours time.  I applied a few new places (now that I have opened my options a little more).

I realize that many might not know the situation on everything.  In a nutshell – there was some important family things going down that I had to deal with and leave LifeLock abruptly.

I really miss working with those guys.  Especially my team (Amanda – of course, Joey and Emily).  I also tend to miss my daily emails with my other Emily.. haha.  I know that I will and do miss the job.  I now sometimes find myself not knowing what to do now that I am not going 110% all the time.  Yeah, and so on top of the family reasons it also made my relationship a bit easier (being engaged and having the relationship long distance is hard).

The engagement.  We had the date set for 12.29.10 however life happens and now the date is TBD.  I’m alright with that, because I would like to have a job and recoup some of the losses that I am having to take being out of work.

Last night I reviewed my main website www.jshox.com and removed some old pages.  Also linked up some current sites for future visits.  I am also making an attempt at blogging once again.

I’ll leave it at that.

This job market is tougher than it looks.

Now, I know that you probably are shocked to hear that I’m not working at LifeLock any longer.  It shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise to some of you.

The part that worries me is that nobody is getting back to me about a job.  I can take not getting a job due to too many interviews and people with degrees got the job instead of me – but to not even land an interview?

That is what I don’t like about the whole thing.  I’ve had 4 interviews so far.  I read something that says on average 17 interviews for every job offer.  It is frustrating.  On top of that I have a fiancee who wants to go on dates and go to friends houses and whatnot.  The problem with that – everything we do costs money.  Even if it is to go to a park to go watch the clouds roll by, we still have to pay for the gas to get to the park.

I don’t know what to do.

We are probably going to buy another bunny.  Midnight (our bunny) seems depressed and lonely.  I can’t say he has made a great impression on me.  He has pee’d on me 3 or 4 times now.  I don’t even hold him anymore because of it.  A pet you can’t even hold…. ugh.

So this post was about how hard it is to find a job.  I have applied at places like Public Storage to Sears (retail) to call center jobs to even some collection agencies.  Nothing….

My interviews I had were with: Netflix, First Tech Credit Union and I can’t remember the others.  I’ll get back to you.

I guess thats all I got… for now.

Rabbits.  Bunnies.

What can I say about these furry creatures?  Just a few months ago I couldn’t say enough about them.

I would tell you that they have an attitude and that they are intensely sensitive creatures.  They are sociable and love attention, they are a wonderful secret/hidden pet that nobody knows about.  They are cute and soft.  They don’t make any noise.  They live to be about 8 to 10 years old.

The truth about these creatures is: they are chaos.  Maryia and myself have had the following bunnies: Zeatao (she picked the name, don’t ask me), Thunder, Midnight, Sicily, Seasail and Mahle.

Of all of those bunnies: Zeatao (one of Maryia’s bunnies) hated Maryia and myself.  She was only about 3 years old.  She stopped eating and showed severe dislike of her living situation.  She once hopped over me to where Maryia was lying and pooped near her head (before jumping back into her cage).  We returned her to Maryia’s dad in about 1 week after picking her up.

Thunder (picked him up from the shelter).  He was about a year old.  He had dental problems that were not disclosed to us when we picked him up.  After taking him to a vet we found that those dental problems could cost (up to) a few thousand dollars to fix.  He did not like to be held at all and would thump constantly at everyone to show his displeasure.  The shelter said he was littler box trained which was a lie.  Every time he was out of his cage he ran behind a couch or somewhere you couldn’t easily reach him.  We ended up returning him to the shelter so that he could get the medical attention he needed.

Midnight (we picked up from a breeder) and got him when we was only 9 weeks old.  He is the only bunny we still have… and he seems to be healthy.  He is a filthy little beast – but then that (by nature) is what bunnies are.  Filthy creatures who do not want any attention from you but want to eat, poop and do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it.  If you pick him up he might lick you if you sit down with him and force him to stay in one area (various websites list this as a big bonding thing but I’m not so sure I believe it).  Bunnies also scratch a lot.  Plus they stink.  Did I mention they are filthy?    Every bunny we have had has eaten their poop.  Plus when they eat they like to have some poop in their feeder.  This is also normal for every bunny we’ve had.  You can clean up a bunny cage 3 times a day and it will still be messy.  Clean the cage 5 times or more a day and you will probably be safe to have a somewhat clean area for the bun.  All of that for what?  An animal who doesn’t want anything to do with you.  Can you read my disgust with these animals?  I hope so.

Sicily (also from the same breeder/litter as Midnight & Seasail) was also 9 weeks old and we had her for about 2 weeks.  Then one night as we were watching a movie and getting ready to hold Sicily and Midnight, she spazed and started scratching like crazy.  Hit the floor and flipped on her side.  Started breathing VERY heavy and almost died.  She regained control of her breathing and her body.  Went into the living room later that night and found her dead in her cage.  At the ripe old age of 12 weeks.  Maryia and myself went outside at 4am to bury her.  She apparently had some disease.  Fun times, I think not.

Seasail (was Midnight & Sicily’s brother) was 11 weeks old when we picked him up.  He seemed to be a good bun.  He was just as messy as Sicily and Midnight (this is worth noting: two bunnies will always make twice the mess).  They are also twice the chaos and x2 for havoc they wreak.  He was with us for 3 days.  He was fine until one morning we went outside to check on them and found him dead.  He apparently had the same disease that Sicily had.  This time Maryia, my mom and myself went to bury him at 9 something in the morning.

Mahle (also from the shelter) was 5 and 1/2 (if not older).  We had her for about a week and 1/2.   She was totally sociable and sweet at the shelter.  Every time we went to her cage she went to the side and ducked her head so that we would pet her.  After getting her home we noticed that she really couldn’t see anything so we took her to the vet.  Turns out the shelter gave us a blind bunny (again not disclosing any problems to us).  We were so caught up making sure the teeth were alright we didn’t bother paying too much attention to her eyes.  Unfortunately it turns out that she was not really a sociable bunny.  She would tolerate being held but did not enjoy it much.  Even tried to bite us a few times… that was one good thing about having a blind bunny.  She couldn’t see where to bite.  The shelter also said she was litter trained- which turned out again to be a lie.  She was as messy as any of them.  Regardless, Mahle had a stroke one afternoon and died a few hours later.  This time (on a Sunday evening) we went outside to bury her.

Bunnies don’t seem to be the brightest bunch of animals.  Big surprise, I know.  But there is all of this talk about bunnies being smart and clean.  Have one and you will think otherwise.  I don’t say that because they die so easily.  They just aren’t very smart.  They really don’t serve much of a purpose.  If Maryia didn’t like them so much I would not get another bunny.  They really are creatures better left as prey (or in the wild).

You wouldn’t believe how disappointed I am in bunnies.  I really believed them to be a good companion when I first read up on them.  That is the furthest thing from the truth.  I use to advocate owning a bunny; now I can’t think of a reason to have one.  I suppose if you want an animal you can cage up all day and let out for a short time (and not care if it likes you or not) but want something to feed and look at then a bunny is for you.  A bunny is kind of like owning a rodent.  Some people love it, others don’t.

I would rather do a lot of things.  Owning a bunny is not something I care to do any longer.  I can check that off of my list.  They die quickly and/or easily.  They smell bad.  They aren’t that bright, they don’t clean up after themselves… they make a mess (a complete mess) of any area they are left with.  They can get sick with almost anything.

Sure, they’re cute.  If you get the right one, maybe it will tolerate you holding it.  I still have yet to see any bunny that actually wants attention.  I’ve been told that they do exist.  I can assure you it is not the norm.

Consider yourself warned.