#hr difficulties

I was let go from my previous full-time job in October 2010 ... and since then (again, I've mentioned previously) I've only had 3 in-person interviews. 3. in 18 months. a year and a half. that's over 500 days of my life. I find it extremely hard to believe, of all of the resumes I've sent out and all the jobs I've applied to, that only 3 people have actually thought me worthy to reach out to for further investigation.

not to toot my proverbial horn, but your girl has mad skillz that would benefit many a company. also, to wit: I'm active in social media; I have a blog (hi!); I have an updated profile on LinkedIn; I have a website with writing samples ... do I virtually smell or something? am I delusional about my skills and expertise? is there a vast conspiracy to keep me from being gainfully employed? I JUST.

and on top of this particular existential crisis, I'm freaky tired from Night 2 of Tech Week AND I had to deal with my current health insurance provider this morning -- who should've sent me a special certificate thingie recently (I know I didn't receive it cuz I would've put it somewhere safe; I'd be so surprised at myself if I've lost it) but haven't. the guy on the phone was incredulous because they list my hire date at my last job as October 1998.

say wha? evidently, they count when I worked part-time retail for under a year at this particular company as my initial hire date. I don't even ...

when the guy kept asking me when my start date was and I kept saying April 2008, he literally thought I was lying. or committing ID theft.