Things I did today

Well, the interview went ok, nothing exceptional, but being on the 18th floor was nifty, and there was a lot of nice glass up there, with sexy offices and stuff. The interviewer dude, Ivan, was a nice guy and was even later than I. But before I go on, let me digress into the story of the trip out there.

I specifically was planning to leave around 11:45 (the interview was at 1), so that I could have the hour it would take to get me to downtown Vancouver (Zoolink [archive.org link] is just up from Canada place at Hastings and Burrard). It was non-rush hour, so I figured hey, no problem. As fate would have it, I ended up hitting the highway at pretty much 12, leaving me only an hour. Turns out that it takes exactly an hour to get down there, with speed only going 10 or 20 over the limit. I get down there and find the place with about -4 minutes to spare. Then comes the dreaded parking. I found a place that caters to Canada place just down on Burrard, with a lovely “early bird” price of $9 for all day. When I parked and headed to the exit, I should have realized that down was a bad thing. It said exit, so I figured, “hell, that’ll get me out right?” Well, it did, but somehow I ended up in the utility zone down almost at sea level at the pier šŸ™ The door didn’t open up from the outside of course, and the direction of the building (or at least, the direction least away) was obviously not going to let me back to the streets, so I ended up running in the other direction, my UF shirt and “hire me” jeans getting a decidedly non-interview workout. I found some guys from someplace who were locked out of somejob who pointed me to a utility elevator that would get me up to Cordova. This of course left me about two blocks down, and three across from where I parked, leading me to a run that got me to the building sweaty and tired, trying to fan myself in the elevator as it rocketted to the 18th floor. I arrived about 15 minutes late (you’ll note that that was the exact amount of extra time that I gave to myself originally that was eroded by making sure I had everything I needed, and getting lunch on the way), but Ivan was busy apparently as well, so we didn’t get to talking till about half past.

The person they were looking for was a php person to do stuff on their website, and the possibility of dealing with some cool stuff in the future (my C experience gave me a plus there it sounded like). They also have a contract to do stuff to deal with my Real Estate experience (again, another “yay” for me). I won’t disclose what I was told about what they’d be doing, or what the successful applicant would be doing, not that it would be a company secret or anything, but they probably wouldn’t want that, and I don’t feel like typing all that much. The interview ended well, though Ivan and myself didn’t get into a really chummy banter. The disadvantages should I recieve the job would have to do with the drive (an hour, plus cost of parking) and that they only want a part time person to start. However, I’ll wait until I get a job offer before worrying about that šŸ™‚

Speaking of job offers, looks like Tig came through for me! I just received an email requesting a phone interview with his company! Wh00p!

11:00am

Well, just about to head off to my interview. I am wearing my new “hire me” jeans (no, not the buttless ones) that I got last week. I figured that when your pants have a hole in the crotch and the legs are about to fall off (or simply disintegrate), it’s time for a new pair. So I headed to Marks Work Wearhouse, the only place that has jeans that fit me perfectly, and got not one, but two pairs! One was the normal faded blue, the other black, working on the theory that black jeans are not only comfortable (like bluejeans), but also professional (as in “please please hire me!”). A bit ago I realized that I really have no idea what to wear. I actually went through 3 different shirts and three different belts trying to find a look that was not too lame, and not going to make me boil while in the car. The end ensamble? Black jeans, brown belt, and the grey version of this userfriendly polo shirt [archive.org link]. Not great, but not terrible. Anyway, wish me luck and send me good karma, I’m outta here!