The Stars Aligned…

Ever had one of those weeks where everything seemed to be happening just right and just wrong at the same time? No? Well isn’t your charmed little life just a Sunday stroll in the park…

My life, on the other hand, has been a gut-wrenching, dizzying, roller coaster of emotions this past week. Yes, this means I’m about to go into a long-winded rant, so only feel obligated to continue reading if you care/are a family member. But I will give you this SPOILER ALERT: It all turns out ok in the end:

It started with me trying to apply for unemployment based on working hard all summer/fall for two different seasonal employers. Oh, it would have gone through without a question except good ole Manhattan Plant Design Experts decided to “deny” my claim because I quit back in January to move up here. This is ridiculous for two reasons, 1. I don’t need to use that quarter in order to qualify and 2. I actually made more in a different quarter, so I wouldn’t be collecting from them anyway. It all really boils down to my former boss Pam being a complete psycho bitch who is of the mindset “Oh, let me screw this person before they screw me.” Even if that person isn’t trying to screw her, and actually worked hard and well for her despite her being…well, a psycho bitch. So my unemployment claim would now perpetually be “under review” until I either got a job or the judgment day occurred – whichever came first.

However, it also started to to occur to me that not only would I not really be making very much through unemployment, I would also be completely bored and stir-crazy. Coming from New England, I’ve been working since I could drive, even worked all through college, and have been working since graduation. So a seemingly endless stretch of non-working time actually didn’t sound very appealing.

Then a phone call. Gray’s Florist, down in Watertown, called me based on an application I had put in back in June. So I set up an interview with them for Tuesday and felt very pleased with myself.

IN THE MEANTIME, I decided to start house-hunting with Butch, since it had been suggested to me that I start looking early, to get a good idea of what we like before deciding. Well, wouldn’t you know it, on the first day we looked at a house and fell in love. It fit every requirement that I had written down, been on the market 6 months, and the guy had just dropped the price 20K in hopes of getting rid of it as part of his divorce settlement. I made an appointment with the bank to get pre-approved for a mortgage (which we had done a few months ago, so there was no doubt we would be fine).

I have my interview at Gray’s. It goes great, but they’re interviewing other people and will know by end of week.

I meet with the bank. It’s going wonderfully. Our credit is amazing, we have no debt, I could easily come up with the down payment, we could lock in a 4.5 fixed interest rate…until we get to my current employment. Uh…you can’t get a mortgage without a job, dummy.

My broker is unswayed – she insists we still put in our offer, because THERE’S ANOTHER COUPLE interested in the house and meeting with the bank that day! Plus she has no doubt I can’t land myself a job in the next few days…so confident in fact that she’ll sit there with me in the room while she calls around town seeing if anyone’s hiring. Cool. Said no one. And a few hours later she calls to let me know the seller is tired of waiting, has accepted our offer point blank and is now going out of town for a few days. However, once he gets back I’m sure he will not want to deal with further delays. The heat is on!!!

So it’s time to hit the streets. I start applying everywhere. Even if it’s seasonal. Everyone is online now, so I spend hours applying with those lovely multiple choice 45-minute applications that everyone has now…and once you’re done they keep the app on file for 6 months – theenks! I get a tip that a local restaurant is hiring because they’re starting a minor league hockey team up here and their rink will bring in more customers. I fill out an application in person, but since I have no serving experience, I insist on setting up an interview before I leave. The interview is scheduled for Monday at 1pm.

As the week nears its end, I still haven’t heard from the florist, so I call them to see where they’re at. The owner says oh yeah, he wanted to have his wife call me to set up a 2nd interview with me can she call me tomorrow (Friday)? Sure. Tomorrow comes and no call. So I call back, talk to the wife and wouldn’t you know, he forgot to tell her to call me. So I tell her I’ll be in the area later that day and we set up a 2nd interview. That 2nd interview goes great but they still need to discuss some things, can they call me in a couple days?

Ok. So we’re down to the wire. I wake up Sunday morning to a strange phone call from someone named “Lou” who’s “putting me on the schedule” but “wants to meet with me first.” After talking for a few minutes I figure out she’s from the restaurant, so we set up an interview for the same time I already had one scheduled with them, 1pm on Monday. Well, there’s the back up plan!

Now we’re at Monday morning. I again haven’t heard from the florist, so I call/harass them again to check my status. It’s apparently held up on the matter of money, and can she call me back later today? So I just gently let her know that I actually have another interview later today, am in a position where I will need to take the first job that comes to me but really want to work for them. Well, that works like magic and we quickly figure out pay rate and schedule and I’m starting on Friday.

So I cancel my other interview, call my broker and call the bank to set up a time to finalize the mortgage. But for right now, I need a strong drink.

 

P.S. For any friends interested in seeing photos of the house, just email me and I’ll send you the “official listing.”

 

Meteor photo from Fort Photo’s flickr page