So this last week has been crazy for me. Actually started a couple weeks ago when I lost a filling in one of my back molars. There were a lot of dentists trips, lots of issues with insurance, but finally on Friday I got the tooth pulled (which was the right way to go, I probably could have had a root canal then a crown and still likely would have had to have the tooth pulled in five years or so).
But it's left me completely dead to the world and exhausted. It hasn't really been that painful since the tooth came out, but my body has just refused to do anything. Yesterday I actually got out my computer and checked the forums and felt exhausted at the end and had to go back to bed. But last night I actually got a full uninterrupted nights sleep so I'm feeling much better.
Except for the extreme hunger that hit me this morning. I've been living off soft foods, and evidently not efficiently because I just thought my stomach was eating itself when I woke up this morning. Which is also good because I really haven't felt that hungry the last few days.
Anyway, while all this tooth stuff was going on, something else happened. I got contacted by a recruiter who wanted to hire me for a new job, and there's been this long series of interviews. It's kind of a crazy process, because the company that's going to be paying me, isn't the company where I'll be working. They are a giant IT consulting firm that among other things provides the IT staff to other major companies. So there have been all sorts of interviews with them, and then finally with the company where I'll actually be showing up to provide IT support.
Also they just went through a 'spin-merger' or is it a 'merger-spin-off' I don't know. But a month ago they had a different name and they absorbed another giant IT firm into themselves, so they are kind of scrambling I think to figure out how things work now, as well as make sure all their positions are filled.
Plus my specialization has finally payed off for me. See I'm an Apple Certified Technician (used to be a Genius). I lot of IT jobs out there, even in a mixed Windows/Mac environment want people with various Microsoft certifications and experience, and figure those people will figure out the Mac stuff. Which both is and isn't fair, in that if you understand how to troubleshoot, and basic computer theory, some well executed Google searches should get you where you need to be.
Not that your average Windows tech is going to be able to do the kind of command line fixes I can do, but honestly, those are usually only needed in the strange one-off things have gone terribly wrong situations. So there are definitely less IT jobs out there for someone with my skill set. But. . . the upside is that in this particular case, where it's an ad agency that sounds like it's 90% Mac, I definitely got the feeling that they really really really wanted to hire me because I fit so perfectly. Which has kind of been my experience, even with the job I'll be leaving. There aren't many jobs out there for me, but when I find the one I fit, they want me right away.
So yeah, I'll be starting a new full time job in a few weeks (I've been working part time at a small mac repair center). Sadly, it's in Denver, which means a commute, but then so was my other job, so I'm already used to that. And it's Monday - Friday 8-5 which is also often unheard of for IT jobs, because many of the ones I've seen want you to be on call for weekends and evenings, which would make it hard for me to do theatre.
So I'm excited. And scared, because although I want/need the full time hours, this job isn't very flexible, and I'll have lot less time for things like 3D. But I should be able to also learn a lot of things, and gain some new skills. Weirdly all IT jobs seem to be obsessed with your experience with ticketing systems, which is so strange to me. I feel like if you can troubleshoot an operating system, you should be able to learn most software (I say most, because learning something like Blender and most other 3D programs isn't just reading the instructions and clicking buttons. I'm sure the high end music creating software is the same, but software that says, "Hey, go help this person, then this one" etc should not be so complicated that it can't be learned by someone proficient with computers.
Okay thanks for letting me babble on about my life. I do have to share one last thought. I have to do a drug screening for this job, which isn't a problem, but as you may have noticed from the Denver comment above, I live in Colorado. However the two companies (the one paying me, and the one I'm working at) are both corporations with their headquarters in other states, and according to federal law, marijuana is still illegal, even though Colorado considers it legal. I just kind of wonder what they do with someone in Colorado who tests positive for marijuana here?
But it's left me completely dead to the world and exhausted. It hasn't really been that painful since the tooth came out, but my body has just refused to do anything. Yesterday I actually got out my computer and checked the forums and felt exhausted at the end and had to go back to bed. But last night I actually got a full uninterrupted nights sleep so I'm feeling much better.
Except for the extreme hunger that hit me this morning. I've been living off soft foods, and evidently not efficiently because I just thought my stomach was eating itself when I woke up this morning. Which is also good because I really haven't felt that hungry the last few days.
Anyway, while all this tooth stuff was going on, something else happened. I got contacted by a recruiter who wanted to hire me for a new job, and there's been this long series of interviews. It's kind of a crazy process, because the company that's going to be paying me, isn't the company where I'll be working. They are a giant IT consulting firm that among other things provides the IT staff to other major companies. So there have been all sorts of interviews with them, and then finally with the company where I'll actually be showing up to provide IT support.
Also they just went through a 'spin-merger' or is it a 'merger-spin-off' I don't know. But a month ago they had a different name and they absorbed another giant IT firm into themselves, so they are kind of scrambling I think to figure out how things work now, as well as make sure all their positions are filled.
Plus my specialization has finally payed off for me. See I'm an Apple Certified Technician (used to be a Genius). I lot of IT jobs out there, even in a mixed Windows/Mac environment want people with various Microsoft certifications and experience, and figure those people will figure out the Mac stuff. Which both is and isn't fair, in that if you understand how to troubleshoot, and basic computer theory, some well executed Google searches should get you where you need to be.
Not that your average Windows tech is going to be able to do the kind of command line fixes I can do, but honestly, those are usually only needed in the strange one-off things have gone terribly wrong situations. So there are definitely less IT jobs out there for someone with my skill set. But. . . the upside is that in this particular case, where it's an ad agency that sounds like it's 90% Mac, I definitely got the feeling that they really really really wanted to hire me because I fit so perfectly. Which has kind of been my experience, even with the job I'll be leaving. There aren't many jobs out there for me, but when I find the one I fit, they want me right away.
So yeah, I'll be starting a new full time job in a few weeks (I've been working part time at a small mac repair center). Sadly, it's in Denver, which means a commute, but then so was my other job, so I'm already used to that. And it's Monday - Friday 8-5 which is also often unheard of for IT jobs, because many of the ones I've seen want you to be on call for weekends and evenings, which would make it hard for me to do theatre.
So I'm excited. And scared, because although I want/need the full time hours, this job isn't very flexible, and I'll have lot less time for things like 3D. But I should be able to also learn a lot of things, and gain some new skills. Weirdly all IT jobs seem to be obsessed with your experience with ticketing systems, which is so strange to me. I feel like if you can troubleshoot an operating system, you should be able to learn most software (I say most, because learning something like Blender and most other 3D programs isn't just reading the instructions and clicking buttons. I'm sure the high end music creating software is the same, but software that says, "Hey, go help this person, then this one" etc should not be so complicated that it can't be learned by someone proficient with computers.
Okay thanks for letting me babble on about my life. I do have to share one last thought. I have to do a drug screening for this job, which isn't a problem, but as you may have noticed from the Denver comment above, I live in Colorado. However the two companies (the one paying me, and the one I'm working at) are both corporations with their headquarters in other states, and according to federal law, marijuana is still illegal, even though Colorado considers it legal. I just kind of wonder what they do with someone in Colorado who tests positive for marijuana here?
