#tindercat

On the job front, things finally worked out for me.  It was a lot of back-and-forth with a Recruiter, then a phone interview, followed by an in-person interview 2 weeks later, where it was basically a done deal already.   Only, it really wasn’t that simple at all.  I was applying left and right daily and 2 other things hit too.  I had this interview at a bottle/can sleeving company that was so different and interesting and very high pay.  It was honestly a why not apply, but they actually bit and were interested in me!!  [It’s clear that these guys were my first choice, but it didn’t work out.]. Still, that interview was SUPER positive and I wouldn't have some sort of answer until 3 weeks.  [The fuck!?] That was not unlike the job I ended up with.  Long waiting period.

Then, there were 2 other places that bit too, but they were an easy 3rd and 4th place.  I won’t give names, but both were Warehouse jobs.  The 1st one was just so disorganized and the place looked dirty.. and when it came time to talk about pay, it was kind of up in the air, but I’d either get $14 as a Warehouse Associate or $16 as a Lead.  Get the fuck outta here.  I was upfront and let her know that I needed time to get back to her because I was waiting to hear back from other places.

The other Warehouse opportunity was way more promising, but the bottom dollar was $15.72 at start.  As I’ve never worked in a Warehouse before, there wasn’t much room for negotiation, but I really tried very hard.  This was a Hiring Event that I was at, so things moved quick.  Before I knew it, I was filling out an app on one of their laptops and then received an offer e-mail.  But when I saw that low number, there was no way I could sign the dotted line.  After any of that negotiating at the first interview!?  What the Hell, man?

The only thing that would've made me consider taking that risk was the Game this guy talked.  He was promising me that this was a lasting career.  People moved up there.  Great benefits.  There’s nothing wrong with starting at the bottom.  In 6 months, things open up, you apply within and see what happens.  etc. etc.  He told me that people on his team moved up to Corporate or other high paying departments, and he trained everyone on everything if he saw that they were willing to go that extra mile.  All this good stuff.

But I crunched those numbers, and they just didn’t make sense at all.  I’d barely be making grocery money, let alone bills.

So...  in my mind I had my 1st Place spot - the canning/sleeving company, this 2nd place spot from the Recruiter, the 3rd place spot, which was the $15.72 Warehouse job and 4th place, which was a last resort $14 or possible $16.

My in-person interview at the 2nd place area was the next day, and I didn’t know what I was gonna get.  He could’ve trapped me with more in-depth questions about things I didn’t know.  He could’ve completely caught me off guard.  But instead, just like the phone interview, he was very impressed.  He told me he needed a week, before he had his answer. That night the Recruiter called me, asked how it went and then told me, I got the offer.

!!!  I was shocked.  It was 2nd place, but it’d been so long since that 1st Place job saw me, that I had to consider putting it out of my mind.  4th place, also wasn’t an option.  So really, it was down to this place, which gave me an offer, which met me at my number, or a Warehouse job that was offering $15.72 an hour.

It should be a no brainer, but again - gotta think long term.  The Warehouse would've hired me directly, and despite starting at bottom, I’d be one of them, and climb the ranks within.. Maybe.

Meanwhile this job offered my number, they wanted me, but its Temp-Perm for 6 months.  No promises at continuity.

I had to weigh this option and I decided that it was a risk worth taking.  As I said to my family the night of the first phone interview.  It’s low risk.  On their end, if this doesn’t work out, they could just let me go.  And on my end, even if this doesn’t last past half a year, I’m going to learn more skills and really hike up my resume in experience.  Also the work is very comparable to what I’ve done for the past 2 years.  It’s Customer Service for an Aerospace company.  It just makes sense.

But again, at this interview, I really impressed it upon him that I was interested in working full-time in the long-term.  I asked how often it was that they’d hire a Temp, but things were going well and smooth, so they ended up hiring them full-time after the contract was up.

His answer was pretty positive.  He projects that the company is only going to keep needing people, and kind of let me know that this is how they do it.  [They just want to save a buck.]

But I’m not just gonna sit back and think I’ve got this in the bag.  I’m going to work hard and prove myself and earn my keep.

And all of that starts Tomorrow! I honestly can’t wait to get back to work and feel a sense of normalcy again.

But wait, there’s more.

In the Dating Realm things are heating up again!!

Last time I mentioned that Teacher person on Tinder.  She’s out. I don’t remember the time table, but there was another girl on Tinder that matched me, and for a literal 2 days that was exciting, until she peetered out as well.  Let’s call her TinderCat for lack of a better name. There’s no reason to really get into it about her, but our first conversation was a lot to do with cats, but then we just found that we didn’t have a lot in common.  It certainly wasn’t personal.  But when I gauged the whole Social Distancing and eventually meeting, she ghosted completely.  So.. ::farts::

Then came this week when a pretty hot girl swiped on me.  She was blonde and  looked a little tougher, but I said, “Cool!” and matched.  Conversation was fine, but not really groundbreaking.  Then, when I showed her off to my Dad, he thought she looked like a Whore, because she didn’t smile in any of her pictures...  I was so pissed at him, but that nickname has certainly stuck.  The Whore and I talked a little more the next day, and we put out a tentative plan to hang out at a bar near me that Friday or Saturday.

That night, while in a band meeting conference call, this other girl swiped on me out of nowhere, and I was blown away!  She’s a brunette, has a beautiful smile, she kind of looks like Allyson Hannigan and already, she just seemed so sweet!  I don’t have a name for her yet, but we’ve been talking, getting along and are starting to bond a little, so we actually have a date already!!  It’s tonight, so I’ve been referring to her as Sunday Girl, lol.  She’s really sweet and I can't wait to meet her.  That’s practically what we’ve been saying all week.  ::fingers crossed::  We’ve both been keeping it cool.

But that’s not all.  I hit a touch of deja vu when that Old Flame with a kid wanted to go on another trail date.  I know better now though.  She’s seeing someone and it’s getting very serious.  This was just a friend thing.  But I’m bringing it up, because on that day she posted some pics of us walking on the trail, and suddenly the Whore unmatched and unfriended me on FB.  I didn’t notice until that night.

Honestly, I’m head over heels for Sunday girl, but I didn’t forget about the Whore.  I let a healthy 2 days of space go by, but that was too much for her.  We already set a plan for later that week.  I was gonna check back on Thursday or something to talk about hanging on Friday or Saturday.  We never clarified the day.  But now that she fucking deaded me, I had a choice to make.

Let her Ghost and just let her win, thinking I wasn’t interested at all, or be a dick about it and show her that she fucked up.  I chose to be a dick.. I was careful, because I honestly didn’t want this date anymore.  I didn’t want to fuck up any potential for Sunday, however I needed to know if it was those Trail Pics.  It turns out it wasn’t.  It turns out that after 2 days of space, she thought I ghosted her.  She said it wouldn’t work out because she needed attention.

What the fuck ever.  I was busy.  I actually have hobbies.  And it’s really funny, because I’m Never the ghoster.  But apparently this time it was.  So there was real role reversal here.

I’m still a nice guy though and told her that if she ever changed her mind, I’d still be down to hang out.  But no.  This is done.

Then came a new contender!  This one matched me on Tinder and calls herself the Real-Life Daria, so we’ve got that nickname covered.  We spoke just a little bit on Friday and everything was positive, but then she just disappeared.  And I’m absolutely fine with that.

This is why they tell people to multi-task and gear up in the dating scene.  Everyone is different, but most people have the attention span of a gnat.  So they’ll either gravitate toward you, or they’ll completely focus on themselves and forget to respond altogether.

It’s a dangerous balancing act though, because things are still going well with Gal Pal.  Needy Girl is also still in the picture.  I haven’t mentioned them at all yet, because by shitty coincidence both of them had Covid scares and quarantined just in case.  In Gal Pal’s situation, she’s also been recovering from having her tonsils removed.

I honestly don’t remember the last time I physically saw her.  We made up since that weird date, and things have absolutely normalized again.  We don’t text every day, and since getting all excited about Sunday Girl, I’ve been pretty quiet.  But Gal Pal has been making the extra effort and she’s been feeling better.  She’s well enough to talk on the phone and wants to start hanging again, which is nice.

We had 2 really good conversations this week, and she continues to surprise me.  We really do get along and have more in common than I think.  So things are really getting interesting now.

But we’re gonna see what happens.

In general, to sum up the crazy dating life, the newest developments were:

* getting ghosted by TinderCat * getting deaded by the Whore  * setting up a date with SundayGirl * randomly talking to RL Daria * Needy Girl quarantining for my safety * Gal Pal recovering/quarantining herself, but texting/calling again.

You might have noticed that I haven’t said too much about my Date tonight. Honestly, it’s because I don’t want to jinx anything.  I don’t want to gush too much, just to tear it all down if things don’t work out tonight.  

But again, what attracted me was certainly her Allyson Hannigan look, she’s into metal, hiking, good beer...  2 of those are kind of common, but the Metal aspect is a specialty.  She’s definitely my kind of person in that regard. But then it turns out she has a cat and we bonded pretty hard about certain things in pet ownership.

She just seems fun and sweet and really likes my attention.  She’s also a hard workin’ woman, which is good, because I’m about to be quite busy myself.

So we’re gonna see!  I’m really excited to meet her.  We’ve been saying that to each other literally all week.  So here’s to tonight.

And the Future, as I start a new job!!