Here you can almost see the charming Hallowe’en cards sent by Scriveling and Ozarque.
We had very few trick or treaters. #1 son dressed up and headed off to a party. We all helped him decide on a costume. He started with the suit That Man gave him to wear for Homecoming, plus white sneaks. Then we had to assist him in choosing a hat.
I was in favor of the wizard hat, on the theory that he could be a Wizard of Wall Street. There was also a faction voting for a white fedora, which would allow him to look like a mobster. Something called a “pimp cane” was invoked at some point, but I didn’t enquire into it further.
His little brother suggested a Santa cap at one point, but he went with a dapper Panama hat and Ray-Bans, which his sister said could be “Mobster on Vacation.”
#2 daughter went out on the town with The Computer Guy. My husband claimed that he went trick or treating, but I think he went to some low dive to play pool.
#2 son and I stayed home to hand out candy to the trick or treaters.
#2 daughter and I went down to the Medical School yesterday for further job interviewing. You can’t see the fall color starting in this picture, taken from the car window, but it was beautiful.
She hung out in a waiting area doing her online job huntwhile I took tests. I am never very confident about these things, frankly. I am confident about my skills, but they were just giving me a casual editing job and then a list of bulleted points to write into a web page. Very subjective, right? I tend to overthink these things and consider all the possible goals and circumstances under which they might be used. Also, when it comes to various styles (they use AP, I’ve been teaching MLA…), I normally just look up the details for the style the client prefers. I sat there debating whether AP style uses commas before “and” in a list or not, decided not, and moved on
I was fast, but there was no feedback so I don’t know how they liked my efforts.
Then the woman who had set tests for me took me back to the v-c’s office and explained that she was going to take me “down to meet the Web People.”
That was fun, actually. We had a pleasant conversation around the table and they showed me their workspaces in the basement. No windows, but their cublicles were brightly colored. One guy had a Nerf basketball set-up in his. They want someone on site because they like to hang out together and play Nerf basketball and you can’t do that via Skype, can you?
#2 son is totally up for it. He has more friends in that town, from Governor’s School and so on, than he does up here. My husband thought he should stay up here with the boys till the end of the year, and then come down with #2 son. #2 is planning to transfer immediately and come down with me so I won’t be lonely. #1 son is excited about living in the dorms. So, while my husband is not at all sure about the wisdom of starting over in his work after 16 years at the same company, my sons are hoping I get and take the job.
As for my having to be down there by myself for a while, I have sometimes thought I might like to live alone. Maybe I wouldn’t really. I just hardly ever have any chance to be alone, so it seems like a great luxury. I expect that I would actually be lonely. But it might be fun to find out.
Initially, I was thinking of how I would replace all the elements of my current life if I went down there. Where would I sing, where go to church, how find the local chapter of the professional organization or the book club or the gym… But if I really go down there, it might be interesting to wait and see.
I guess I would get up early and do my freelance work, and then go work among the Web People in the basement all day. Then when I went home to whatever shelter I find, I’d be through working.
I don’t know what I’d do then. Knit and read? Probably. I’m not all that exciting a person. At one point during the interview, I was getting warnings that the volume of work is high and people sometimes give close deadlines.
“Oh, I like that,” I said. “I like variety, and the occasional little crisis just adds to the fun, right? I probably shouldn’t admit that, but you have purple and green walls in your conference room, so I feel freer to say things like that.”
Realizing that I probably sounded eccentric, I added, “I’m not saying I’m a thrill-seeker. If I were, I wouldn’t spend my days at a computer, would I? But I like having lots of work to do.”
At another point, they said that there were sometimes tasks that might seem tedious or even beneath my skill level. They all stared at me anxiously.
“What? Like cleaning the bathroom?” I asked.
No such thing. They meant proofreading and stuff like that. “I do linkbuilding,” I assured them. “You can’t scare me.” Then I took the opportunity to explain that I was a team player and expected to pitch in and do whatever needed doing.
Overall, I think I did a good job. We seemed to get along well, and I think I answered their questions with an appropriate level of self-disclosure: enough that they could tell whether I’d fit in with the team, but not so much that they’ll be alarmed. You can’t spring things on people after all.
And yes, I am still boringly rabbiting on about this all the time. Even in real life. Over dinner, I mentioned that they would be deciding next week and they wanted someone to start right away, so I might have to go on down right after the Faure concert. My family seemed unconcerned. They’re tired of the topic. I also talked at The Computer Guy about it, though he was there to pick up #2 daughter for Hallowe’en hijinks, not to listen to me obssessively discussing my life decisions. And here I am talking to you about it, too.
At this point, I’m boring myself.
It all depends on how well the Web People liked me, compared with the other candidate, whom they’ve not yet met. I’m the v-c’s top choice, but he told me he plans to let the Web People choose whom they like best from his top two. They’ll let me know next week, so perhaps I can quit thinking about it till then.
#2 daughter has several good job prospects and an excellent attitude. #1 daughter is coming in today, so I’m going to take the day off. I hope I’ll send out the invoices I failed to send on time this month, but I did all my assingments and communicated with all my clients, so I can have a day off if I want to.
I hope you can, too.
I leave you with this picture of Spicer with her fiendishly glowing eyes. They only look like this in the picture, of course, but it can be a last Hallowe’en image.
We had one trick or treater, who was soooo impatient for sweeties that he rang the doorbell, waited about 3 seconds and headed off down the street. By the time I poked my head out of the sitting room window (we are on the second floor – which may be the third floor in foreign), he was 20 yards down the street.
Not that I had any sweeties to give out, but I was very pleased not to have to go running down the stairs to find that the child involved had no patience.
~x~
We only had 2 sets of trick-or-treaters. I think it’s because we’re in a cul-de-sac and there’s only one streelight. Maybe it’s too c – r – e – e – p – y! How far away is the new town? Would you sell your house and up and relocate everyone? Wow – what a big undertaking. The boys sound downright pleased though.
@princess_smartypants –
I don’t know what I’d do. Current thinking is that I’d just go down and live like a student, in a tiny apt on a bus line or something, till we had more sense of what the town is like and where would be a good place to live, and the rest of the crew would join me next semester.
Sounds exciting – new job and a new town. You will find it interesting living on your own if you have never really done so before.