Come On Baby, Give Me a Promotion

Please read above title to the tune of "The Locomotion." I know I am a loser but I have been working 12 hour days this week and it made me feel clever when I thought of it.

Tomorrow is a big day. It is my interview for a promotion. The job that I would get if I do get the promotion is probably one of the most important roles at work. Due to tons of middle management and the general "please shoot me" look I get when I try to explain working for a major fiber optic cable company, just think of it as the UltraMiddleMan. This job is the only link between about 5 different departments. The person in this job does everything.

There are about a million reasons why I want this job but here are the top three:
1. My current department is being downsized. That dreaded word. Someone got fired this week and based on the lack of papers sitting in my file right now, I can't say I'm terribly confident my boss's boss isn't going to wonder why we have 2 copyeditors.
2. The promotion comes along with a huge salary increase, meaning I would be able to quit my second job, meaning I would be back to regular work hours. Also the benefits are crazy. 3 weeks paid vacation. Yes please.
3. Experience. This job encompasses so many things I could apply it to pretty much any other job I will ever want in my life. So many doors would be open.

Buuuuuuut the competition is really tough. They are interviewing outside candidates (people not already affiliated with the company), other people on my current job level (specifically the only other person my age, who I also interviewed against for my current job...but more on that later) and people from Corporate. Which is in New York. And yes I capitalized corporate for effect. Like it's big and scary.

I'd like to think I have a legitimate shot. I mean I know all the people in the department already and have done jobs for them and also created their current job-planning system/tool. What scares me is the other girl my age. She is super nice and a really good worker, so I am kind of afraid. The reason she works there even though she didn't get my job is because they hired her to cover for someone on maternity leave, and they really liked her, so now they are trying to find a job for her so they can keep her. Here is the ironic thing though. My job is not full time - her temp position was. Temping also gave her a lot of skills and know-how that will be great for the promotion. If she gets it and I do not, I can't help but be upset because it doesn't seem fair, in the grand scheme of life and whatnot, that by not getting a job she wanted, she ended up with a way better deal than the person who did get the job. And even though I said that, I would be happy for her if she got it and I didn't because it's not like they'd be taking my job away (for now at least!) and I like working with her. I would just be in awe of my really shitty luck.

If I don't get the promotion, I am strongly considering moving back to VA. Not to NOVA though (that probably will never happen) but to Richmond or Newport News. The economy in NC is still terrible and if they do end up chopping up my department, I'll be hard pressed to find something else here.

I guess I will have to wait and see how it goes! I'm nervous and excited and trying to figure out what to wear. I'm going to a bar tonight with some friends and Athan to at least take my mind off of it. I wish I could just get drunk and not physically be able to think about it, but I don't think showing up tomorrow hungover and smelling like Miller High Life would properly showcase my talents to the interview panel.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The baseball game today ended up being a double-header, so that was awesome. At first it was overcast and muggy so we all thought it would end up getting rained out, but it held off and after the first game the sun came out and it got HOT! We got 10 "Crawdad bucks" from our office to get lunch with. The meals only cost $5-$6 soooo we all ended up getting beer too because it was $4! Free baseball + free food + free beer. Just another day at the office, haha. It was a great opportunity to get to know people at work too. I ended up just sitting and talking with all the designers almost the entire time. They're all men in their late 30s with wives and kids and all that but they are cool. I don't know why I can't manage to get more friendly with the girls at work, especially since its almost all women. I'm just shy I guess and these guys are really open and whatever so it's really easy to just have a conversation with them. Also they thought the story about me & my brothers getting in trouble when we were little for trying to rip the tail off Conrad the Crawdad (the mascot) was funny, whereas the women asked if I was the kind of kid who got in a trouble a lot. Oh well.

I am going over in my head whether or not I should be embarassed about one thing though. It was really hot out and when I got up to leave I had a feeling I had a sweat imprint of my butt on my pants, so I went to the bathroom to check and there it was. Is this embarassing? I didn't feel embarassed. Maybe that's what matters. I'm sure people saw but it's pretty obvious it was sweat, and we had to wear nice pants since we had been at work before the game so I was a lot hotter than I would have been if I could have worn shorts. I've always sweat more than usual so I guess I am just used to it now. Oh well. I can't un-sweat, and I also couldn't have just sat there until everyone else left. I feel pretty okay about it. Maybe it's considered gross but whatever.

I don't have work on Friday so I am going to try to get my drivers license changed to NC. It kind of sucks because no matter how old you are, they make you re-take the test to get a new DL or to renew one. So I have to study the stupid little book before I go. I feel like I am 15 again. I will feel like an idiot if I don't pass. At least when I get it I will FINALLY have a horizontal drivers license! No more getting shit for having a vertical one! No more being mistaken for a child?? Well, probs not that. When I walked into the baseball game today it was summer camp day, and a guy tried to hand me my complimentary happy meal. I had to reject it out of pride.