Hi folks,

My last hopes of getting a job before losing my house have been dashed. I have until June 10th to get something but, it's hard to believe that any job will act fast enough to get me in place in 10 days.

I had two really good prospects running this week and they both crashed and burned. The first was a permanent position as a level 2 support analyst working with EDI and XML. I feel I lost it because it was a couple steps down from the work I did before and the salary would be less and the employer didn't think I'd stay with them very long (little did they know that I'm a very loyal employee and would have stayed).

The second was a fantastic contract opportunity working with Simon McClenahan and Alliance Consulting. I was interviewing to be a combination Project Manager/Business Analyst. My interview went great and I really felt like I had it but there was a second candidate (and only one other candidate). Prior to the interview, I was told it was a Business Analyst position with some project management duties. But, during the interview, it appeared to be just the opposite. I was the stronger candidate for the business analyst duties but, the second candidate had more years of project management experience and was selected over me. I was later told the client really liked us both and had a tough decision about what skills were really more important for the project...PM or BA.

Back to the drawing board and more thinking about my next steps in this life. I'm off now.

Catch up with you all later,
Woj

Hey Stevie !!! Hey Curt !!! Hey Curtis !!!

As discussed at the show...Stevie "Mother F*cking" Starlite for President !!! Now, WIN and kick some ass!

The Stevie Starlite show on Friday, May 23 at Hot Shots in Warrenville was great as usual. I always know I can go see Stevie and have a good laugh and a fun evening. The show is always hot and the music never disappoints. Plus, the crowd always adds that certain spice that makes things interesting.

Stevie Starlite is one of the constant good things that's been happening during this lousy time in my life. I started going to Stevie Starlite shows right before I was laid off. I've been going ever since. I go to a Stevie show and escape from the reality of life and being out of a job. I always leave his shows with a smile on my face....and ringing ears (LOL). Plus, I like to think I can call him, Curt, and Curtis friends.

Keep up the great work Mr. President !!! Let there be Crown for everyone !

Woj

Hi friends,

I've joked about the name for this page and used "The Woj Report" for awhile because I once felt like I was writing "The May Report". I never really liked that name. The other day, I was reviewing my old website content and found my old E-Zine, "The World According To Woj". (Yes, years ago, I wrote a serial publication on the Internet called "The World According to Woj". I wrote it consistently for about 2 1/2 years and had it registered in the Library of Congress.)

I've been reading this book about creating Blogs and there was a reference to Blogs being registered as serial publications in the Library of Congress. So, I've decided to reincarnate my E-Zine here...at least the title for now.

TTFN
Woj

I'm counting down the days on the townhome. I have until June 10th to find a job. It's not a pleasant feeling.

On the bright side, I was thinking over the weekend. I can't continue to call myself unemployed when I've been working at Starbucks and doing short-term contracts. So, I've decided that from now on I can start thinking of myself as UNDEREMPLOYED. What do you think?

It's a fun thought.

I have an interview tomorrow so, I'll be keeping you posted if something breaks.

Have a great day!

It's Thursday evening and I've developed most of the new website for Dealer Technologies, Inc. Plus, it doesn't look too bad for a simple site with minimal graphics. I get to spend about an hour or two wrapping up some final loose ends tomorrow and I'm done.

At this time, they have no other work for me. They want to talk to me about my complete skillset so they can decide if I can help them in other ways. This means they might bring me back later when they start version 2 of their application. In the meantime, I get to go back to unemployment.

On the bright side, I had a really great interview last week with a company in Chicago and they dropped me a line today with an update on the process. Sounds positive so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Keep your chins up,
Woj

I feel like a human yo-yo!

I went to work today at Dealer Technologies for the start (finally) of that 4-week contract to do Crystal Reports.

The project, which has been long in starting and a bit whacked out, has not disappointed. I arrived at 9 a.m. to start work and was immediately told I would be developing a website first. Then, I would be helping them develop new interfaces for version 2 of their application.

What about Crystal Reports? ...maybe later....????

No problem. I love building websites and spent the day writing copy and designing the site. This company is a technology company with a web-based application but, they have no web presence for their company. Go figure!

Near the end of the day, one of their regular developers realized that the reason their existing Crystal Reports didn't work well was because of the way their application and database was structured. So, they are going to build new reports using a different tool.

Guess what that means for me? First, I get to return (for the second time) the $53 Crystal Reports book to Borders. Hopefully, they don't keep good records of returns or they are going to think I am playing some kind of game with them. Next, after I build this website in 2-3 days, I may be out of a job again. I hate this shit!

On the good side, I worked for 9 hours today and was paid better money than Starbucks or unemployment insurance pays. Plus, I've been invited back to work with them for another day or so.

This has all been very flaky. I LOVE CONSULTING !!!!

Well gang,

One day after I write the long gripe about Systems Research Inc.'s handling of the Crystal Reports gig, I get a call from the recruiter with his apology for not calling sooner because he was in the hospital with a back injury. So, today, he works everything out and I'm again scheduled to start the Crystal Reports gig this coming Monday.

Needless to say, I went back to the store and bought the same book I returned just the other day. I'm going wacky here.

Ciao...

Hi friends,

Interesting things happening in my job search. It's all been a little flaky actually.

The guy that set me up for the 4-week gig as a Crystal Reports developer didn't really qualify me very well for the position and, since I haven't heard from him in a couple of days, I think the contract has gone down in flames.

Here's the whole story...

I was out cycling on the Fox River Trail one day about a month ago when this recruiter from Systems Research Inc. calls me on the cell phone (Yes, I actually took my phone with me on a 25-mile bike ride). He had this opportunity for me that he said was "a great opportunity for me with some real long-term potential". He told me it was as a Crystal Reports Developer and was a 4-week contract initially. Even though I have this skill, I told him that I haven't touched Crystal reports in 6-7 years. He said that it was okay and that he'd still talk to the client about me. He told me I'd probably have to have a phone interview and a face-to-face before we could close the deal. I was fine with all of that.

After I got off the phone with the guy, I thought to myself..."why would this guy think that doing Crystal Reports for the first time in 7 years would be a great opportunity for me?" I'm thinking this because I was last a National Marketing Manager for divine and prior to that did a lot of Project Management and Analyst work. Development is the lowest rung of what I'd like to be doing for a living right now.

So, about 30-45 minutes later, he calls me back and tells me I'm starting work on Monday at Dealer Technologies, Inc.. Now, this sounded really fishy and threw me for a loop... "What happened to the phone and face-to-face interviews?"... "What did they say about the fact that I haven't done Crystal development in 7 years?" ... "Why do they want to hire me sight unseen?" All of those thoughts are running through my head along with the one that said "Yeah, I can finally get back and do some meaty work!!!"

Anyway, he asks me what rate I'd want for this work. HELL!!! What do I know? I haven't done Crystal Reports development in 7 years. Since the market is so bad and since I haven't done Crystal in 7 years, I gave him a pretty low rate and he took it. I was just happy to be working again.

After that call, he said he'd get my actual start time and more details. He told me a website to visit for more info about the company.

I went home, got online, and went to check out the Website. It wasn't there. I couldn't find it. Oy!!! To this date, I still can't get that web address to work.

I played phone tag with my recruiter a little and by Friday, he told me my start date would be delayed by a week and a half because the principal players in this small company were set to be out of town. In the meantime, I had already reduced my part-time work hours at Starbucks and wasn't scheduled much in the coming weeks.

We plodded on like this for the week and a half and then a further week's delay before they gave me a definite start date. I purchased a book on the latest version of Crystal Reports and was prepping for the work.

Anyway, I went to work for this company on Monday, May 3 at 9 a.m. I was met by a dark office. After about 10 minutes, a guy showed up and introduced himself as one of the business partners but NOT the guy I was supposed to meet. That guy was in downstate Illinois at one of their clients. He had forgotten I was coming in. :(

I was all ready to get to work but the guy that met me sat me down and interviewed me. After talking a little, we realized we were both on different wavelengths. He thought I was there for an interview and I thought I was there to start work. Apparently, the guy in downstate Illinois had my resume with him and knew more of what was going on than the guy meeting with me at that moment. So, he sent me home after 30 mins.

I called the recruiter and he was puzzled about the turn of events. (My personal opinion is that the recruiter was pushing to get me placed and didn't really know what was going on. I don't think he qualified me very well for the assignment and was just trying to get this placement to make some money.)

Here I am a week later sitting at my computer, still not working, and writing about this cluster f**ked consulting assignment that hasn't started yet. I took the Crystal Reports book back to the store to save myself the $50 it cost and have a strong feeling this project is just NOT going to happen.

I'm still looking for other work in the meantime. I can't think too much about this mess except to complain that it has caused my Starbucks hours to drop from 20+ hours per week down to 7 or so. I'm not a happy camper.

Happy Cinco de Mayo !!!

Well, I went to start my 4-week gig today and it was a misfire. They weren't ready to bring me in. The guy I was supposed to meet with wasn't even in the office and the guy that was there thought I was there for an interview....not to start working.

So, here I am waiting to be called to see if this gig is actually going to go through.

I had dinner with Lynn Weissenstein from divine last night. She's doing great in her new position at Zebra Technologies. It's good to hear some of us former divine employees are gainfully employed and happy. LOL.

I'm thinking of heading out to the Stevie Starlite show again Friday, May 23 at Hot Shots in Warrenville. The show is great and Stevie is a riot. If you think you might be interested in joining me for an evening of laughs, rude humor, and great music, drop me a line.

Bye,
Woj