Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Loading...100%...Please wait...

Sooo, I'm in quite a bit of an interesting Schrödingery situation right now. I both do and do not have a job.

See, I had been told by the owner of the station in Pago Pago a few weeks ago that, if we can work out all of the logistics, namely finding a decent apartment for me to live in (no easy task in such a third-worldish place) and arranging for my flight down there, then I have the job. So then this is the only thing separating me from the job that I really, really want.

This is like when you're loading updates on your computer, and the "Loading" bar makes it to 99% and abruptly stops. You are too impatient to sit there and wait for it to finish, you're too convinced that it's almost done to go off and do anything else, and you dare not touch the "cancel" button because you know that will destroy all the progress that it's made so far, and you'll just have to do it again anyhow. So you just have to sit there and wait, hoping it will finish loading, which it usually does.

A few weeks pass, and the guy at the station tells me that they are now open to putting me in a hotel nearby until I can find a long-term place to stay if I'm up to that. So of course I'm ecstatic about that and send them an email saying I'll do it.

This puts me at the top of the Freakout Continuum.

The Freakout Continuum looks something like this. Sorry, I'm too lazy to actually draw it in Photoshop or something. Here it is in ASCII:

(TOP)
"Yay! I am going to Pago Pago!
(Just heard from one of them)
____________________
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(MIDDLE)
I haven't heard from them in a while. Maybe I'm not going! FREAKOUT!
(Usually takes about four days of not hearing from them to get here)
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____________________
(BOTTOM)
You know, if it happens, it happens. It's just one of many career options, anyhow.
(Usually takes about three more days to get here)

This was on Thursday and is the last I have heard from either of them. Thus putting me into the center of our little continuum.

I start freaking out for a bit, and then call the station owner (who lives in Vegas) to try and set up a date for me to head down there and to figure out my salary. I get his message machine and find out that he's out of town until next Tuesday. So at least I know why he's not answering my emails and when I can talk to him again. Drop to bottom of continuum.

There are a number of reasons why I get so stressed about this. The biggest one is that I have some massive student loans that go into repayment in December. The second is that we've been talking about this job since July, and I still don't know when I'll be starting. The third is that my mom, either in a massive state of denial or a firm member of the I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it crowd still does not consider me to have the job until I have signed a contract and know when I'll be leaving. Then there are other things, like "What if they've read the previous post on this blog and misinterpret it to think that I'm a slacker?" "What if they read this one and think that I'm a perpetual nervous wreck?"

So anyway, I was waiting on a solution to the housing situation to come up. Now that's been taken care of. I no longer know what the hell I'm waiting on, other than for the future boss to come back from his trip, but I'm definitely waiting.

LOADING...100%...PLEASE WAIT...

I should also note that, unlike in our "loading" scenario, I have been applying for other jobs, but have yet to hear back from any of them.

We shall see where this takes us...

Oh yes, and should I actually be sure that I get the job, I have plans for a cartoon short on the subject of American Samoa. That's right, I know how to animate!