Update XXI: "Scientific Facts Are Not Hard And Fast Rules."

[Joe Biden 2020]

What time did you wake up today and how many naps since?

0915 and one 30 minute nap.

[Joe Biden 2020]

bushie when was the last time (if ever) you were employed for a whole calendar year (jan 1-dec. 31)?

ONG in 2009

What did you weigh then?

I can't recall, but it was significantly less than what I do now.

[Joe Biden 2020]

You all might, and I strongly emphasize might, be at least somewhat happy by this news.  I have an interview at a grocery store as part of a mass hiring event that is opening up in the Tulsa area tomorrow at 1300.  I have applied for a grocery clerk position.  It probably wouldn't pay much, but it would be something and it wouldn't be a call center or sales.  It is what you've all been preaching over the past several weeks - blue collar.  It does have customer service, but it is not a call center.

NOTE: If you go searching and find the ad, please do not share it here.  I do not want the name of the grocery store to be made public.  Thanks.

[Joe Biden 2020]

The only problem with the grocery store is it doesn't open until April 1, so it would be a bit of a wait if I were to get hired.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I asked you not to share the link here.  Kindly delete it, please.

EDIT:  Thanks

[Joe Biden 2020]

Good Thursday Morning!  I am awake and ready for my interview at 1300.  When I woke up, I also got a phone call for a CAD interview in Oklahoma City tomorrow at 1100.  So, I'm thinking about going down to Mom and Dad's this evening while it's still dry so I can be closer to the interview location tomorrow morning.  I'll just stay with them through the duration of the snow storm that's coming in and come back up early next week when the roads clear up.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Walter, you better believe I will accept the job of offered.  I would not have agreed to an interview if I weren't serious.  The job would likely not start until late March so that leaves time to continue interviewing for CAD jobs in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Interview is over and I have a job at said grocery store.  It will pay pretty decently for a grocery store - ~$10.00 an hour.  I will be in the meat department.  I will initiate the background check tomorrow morning and will start likely on March 23 in preparation for the April 1 grand opening.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I will still keep looking for a higher paying CAD job over the next couple of weeks, but this provides a stopgap mechanism to prevent the unemployment from going too deep into the Spring.

We can talk more about it later tonight.  I am going down to my parents' this evening for a couple interviews that I had previously had scheduled.  I am going to keep all my current applications open, but I will not apply for any new ones.  I have an interview tomorrow at 1100 and Monday at 1100.  Monday's interview is a reschedule from the interview I was going to have last Monday.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Thanks, guys.  I am excited about this legit opportunity.  Mom and Dad approve so thats more icing on the cake.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Thanks, guys.  I am excited about this legit opportunity.  Mom and Dad approve so thats more icing on the cake.

Why do Mom and Dad need to approve?  And again, what will you do if the stock boys are a bunch of pot-smoking rascals?

They don't need to approve, but their approval makes me feel better in the decision

I will ignore them as best I can.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I just talked to Dad and he brought up an interesting idea that I wanted to bring by the forum.

He recommends after I entertain the interview tomorrow to suspend the job search entirely and take it easy and focus exclusively on the grocery store because of the job security.  He knows I need to have some stability in my resume, so he recommends me just focus exclusively on the store starting this Saturday morning.  He said why risk a permanent job for a job that may be only temporary?  Sure, the pay is not great, but it is a stable job and a chance to move up the ladder being the first employees to christen a brand new store.  It will be hard work and I will be on my feet the entire shift, but that might help me lose weight.  Hard work will be good for me.  He said also it might help my headaches since I won't be glaring at a computer screen all day long.

He is very excited about this job.

What do you all think?

[Joe Biden 2020]

I will do exactly that.  I am going to entertain the interview tomorrow, but I'm not going to seriously consider it.  I am excited about starting work at the supermarket and look forward to spending the next three weeks getting myself ready for the new job.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Here are the plans for the apartment.  Sometime the week before I start, so the third week of March, I will go ahead and pay my rent for April and officially extend my lease for six months.  The new lease will run from June 1 - November 30 which would put my next decision on or before September 30.

[Joe Biden 2020]

If you're going to have an entire month with nothing to do (because the new job doesn't start until April 1), then you could use that time to…I don't know…learn how to cook something more elaborate than a tomato and bacon sandwich?  (Actually, never mind.  That's obviously wishful thinking.)

Speaking of which, what was for dinner tonight?

The job will likely start on or around March 23 so we can train up before the grand opening.

You know what I might also do is go to a store by the same name in Bixby, OK (south of Tulsa) and look around that store so I can kind of get a general idea of the layout of the store.  It may not be the exact same layout as the Owasso store, but it will be very similar.

Dinner was a grilled chicken and tomato sandwich.

[Joe Biden 2020]

In case you are wondering or are just curious here's the timeline breakdown for the interview today and how it all went down:

1215 - Leave home
1240 - Arrive at the Tulsa Tech Conference Center in Owasso
1300 - Sign in for the interview and determine that I will be in the meat department
1302 - Fill out application
1306 - First interview with the Meat Manager
1315 - I was told I was being passed on to a second interview and told to wait in the designated waiting area
1320 - Second interview with the Store Manager
1325 - Job offer and first paperwork signature
1330 - Wait for HR Manager/Representative
1333 - Meeting with the HR person
1336 - Take and Pass Cheek Swab Drug Test
1340 - Walk out to car
1346 - Update the Update
1350 - Head home
1415 - Arrive home
1420 - Call Mom
1427 - Fill out paperwork online to initiate background check
1450 - Update Facebook

[Joe Biden 2020]

Papa Bushie is going to have a booze-strippers-and-blow blowout in the Train Room to celebrate the possibility that he actually will get to retire after all.

Or just an On the Border or Abuelo's Mexican Dinner.

[Joe Biden 2020]

1. Bushie, do you know anything about meat? Customers at uppity stores expect a certain level of food knowledge. Don't fall back exclusively on the training the store will give you. Learn about meat on your own during the whole month you are planning on having absolutely nothing to do. For that matter, learn about other kinds of food. Both for your own practical use and because people are going to ask you questions every single day.
2. Good to see Papa has given up on the CADD pipe dream. No need continuing to throw good money after bad.
3. You can apply at any grocery. It doesn't have to be a brand new store that is having a hiring event. There must be dozens of groceries in Tulsa. There is no such thing as a supermarket that is not hiring.
4. Nice to see you make a good choice for a change. Way to go!

1.  I am definitely going to study all I can about meat in the next three weeks before I start.  I want to have a well rounded knowledge.  Like I told Mr. Morden, I am going to visit an existing supermarket of this chain in either Broken Arrow or Bixby and see what the layout of the store is like and get a general idea of how the  store is laid out since I've never been in one of their stores before.  I know it's slightly different than your typical grocery store, so I want to get a general idea.  It won't be the exact same store to store, but it will be close.

2. Dad still likes CAD, but he realizes they are probably only contract to contract jobs, not steady or permanent.

3.  I know I can apply at any grocery, but I figured this was the best way to get in the door with a mass hiring event of a brand new store.  I think it may make it easier to move up the ladder.

4.  Thank you so much!  I really do appreciate the forum's approval.  I have not read one ill post about this job.  It sure makes up for all the years of forum disdain.  The forum is only a minor part, though.  I'm glad to finally have a career-capable job.  It is not a wishy-washy call center and it is not a contract to contract CAD job.  I might be able to get a career going here and start a 401(k) just in case I do not go to Kenya to stay.

[Joe Biden 2020]

This being a new store, my hours will be all over the place for the first few months until we get into a groove.  They told me that I could go in as early as 0400, or stay as late as 2300, or even work overnights.  All 24 hours of every day are fair game to be on the clock.  It likely won't be the same day to day or week to week, either.  The store manager said after a few months, we'll likely be able to settle into a regular schedule, but not for a while.  So, I anticipate quite a bit of overtime potentially to start.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Jeff, congrats and try to use this next four weeks wisely.  You can really get moving on some exercise and come in feeling healthy.

Thanks, Patrick.  I am going to do everything I can in the next three weeks to get myself ready.  Now that I will not have the pressures and anxiety associated with looking for a job, I can truly focus on this job.  In essence my job has already started as once I get back to Tulsa especially on Monday, I will be able to do everything I can to get ready in all phases mentally, physically, spiritually, and professionally.  I look forward to the challenge and the opportunity.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Jeff, I think you've made a good decision. I know it's not "living the dream," so to speak, but it has the potential to be stable employment that could truly develop into something. I think your dad gave you some sound advice -- do what you can to excel at this job (or simply to keep it) and don't get so distracted by possibilities that have proven futile in the past.

Others have given you good advice, too -- learn about cuts and types of meat, and start exercising a bit more to prepare your body for days on your feet. I'm making an assumption that they'll have a skilled butcher on staff ... honestly, it's a decent skill to have and one that you could always fall back on in life, as long as you learn it and master it. To paraphrase a certain someone: there is NOTHING WRONG with this type of work.

Here's one thing I actually envy about this position -- when you go in each day, you'll have clear tasks to complete, and you'll be able to train, learn and eventually excel at a skill that can stand on its own. You'll be good at the things you're expected to do. I haven't felt that for years ... I wake up every morning to complaint emails or calls from my staff, I get beat on every day from every angle, and I go home knowing that the endless stream of complaints will follow me to bed. Today, I've been working for 14 hours straight, simply to feel caught up. And as soon as I am caught up ... or as soon as I have a victory ... there are a dozen new challenges there to greet me, each one harder than the last. It's like one of those video games that you never win and then repeat on the same level -- you win and repeat and it's harder and harder and harder every time.

Jeff -- I live "the dream:" an office job where I can dress fancy and meet with customers and bring home a respectable amount of bacon. And I actually like it. But it sure as hell ain't for everyone.

Enjoy the opportunity that you have; the opportunity to earn stable employment and to learn a true skill that is useful and usable on its own.

Thank you for your words of encouragement.  I am beyond blessed by this opportunity.  This has so much more potential, in my mind, than a CAD job that will likely only be temporary and definitely so much more than a call center of any kind.  I'll start at the bottom, but that's a good place to get in the door.  I can definitely sleep easier tonight knowing I've got something.

[Joe Biden 2020]

This is great! What will you be doing in the meat department? Cutting meat? Hauling sides of cows?

I will be a meat clerk.  I don't think that involves cutting the meat, although it could.  I looked at the job description on the websites late last night and I found basically a wide assortment of different activities that a meat clerk does or could do

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'm pretty sure chain stores do their butchering off site. He might have to trim some pieces of someone asks, but I'm guessing he'll mostly just be making sure all the meat in the display case is fresh.

That was the jist of the online job description.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I just talked to Dad and he brought up an interesting idea that I wanted to bring by the forum.

He recommends after I entertain the interview tomorrow to suspend the job search entirely and take it easy and focus exclusively on the grocery store because of the job security.  He knows I need to have some stability in my resume, so he recommends me just focus exclusively on the store starting this Saturday morning.  He said why risk a permanent job for a job that may be only temporary?  Sure, the pay is not great, but it is a stable job and a chance to move up the ladder being the first employees to christen a brand new store.  It will be hard work and I will be on my feet the entire shift, but that might help me lose weight.  Hard work will be good for me.  He said also it might help my headaches since I won't be glaring at a computer screen all day long.

He is very excited about this job.

What do you all think?

Of course he is.  The man's retirement account is skinnier by the day.

lol, you're pretty accurate there, probably.  That's why I had to put in this stopgap.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I am home from the interview and just like I thought, it is Civil CAD.  So, I am not going to pursue it any further.  I politely told him "thanks, but no thanks."  Now, as of Friday, February 27, 2015 at 12:15 pm (an hour ago) I have officially put all my eggs into this grocery store basket (no pun intended).  I am going to give it my all.