Signing This Friday!

In my last post I spoke of other promoting opportunities, and I completely forgot to mention the signing I'm doing this Friday! I'm back at Indigo Spirit in Royal Bank Plaza (downtown Toronto), doing a 'make up' signing, and by 'make up' I mean that I'll be making up for my signing back in December when Flux didn't ship copies of Epoch to them in time. This time, the store is packed and ready.

I also have a job, finally! I'll be doing phone surveys for the next five weeks, starting tomorrow. There is still time for that job to evaporate, of course - they could say they want 'someone with more experience' or they could 'decide to fill the role internally' - but I'm pretty sure this one is actually going to happen. It's when they say the job will start the following week that the evaporation process usually occurs.

So, like I said, I'll be doing phone surveys. I'll be working four hours a night (5-9), and 10-6 on Saturdays. That's not a lot of hours, but I don't do much with my evenings anyway. Plus, I'll have lots of time to write.

No Ad Astra This Year

For the last few years I've been attending Ad Astra, Toronto's annual Science Fiction convention. This year, however, I just don't have the dough. I wanted to - heck, it says I'll be there on my website - but I just can't.

It's too bad. I was really looking forward to promoting my upcoming novel, EVIL? Still, there will be other opportunities. Anime North comes in May, followed by Polaris in July. I'm confident I'll land a job before then.

Solidifying Job? No.

Yep, it evaporated just like all the others. The client wanted someone with 'more experience'. Yes, things are so bad now that even call centres can demand experience. What's next? Will McDonald's be demanding MBAs?

Wart Zapped 3: The Revenge 2

Most of the skin from the zapped area has flaked off now, leaving a scabby crater. It's sore, but in a good way - I feel certain the wart's not coming back from this one.

Sure looks ugly, though, like I took a very small bullet in my knuckle.

Aren't you all glad I didn't post photos? You're darned right you are.

Solidifying Job?

At nine this morning I got a call from one of my agencies, telling me about a potential job starting next week. It would be a call centre job, but dealing with inbound calls only (no selling, no bothering people having dinner). I'm not crazy about phone work, but my last job helped me get over some of my telephone phobias. I think I'll be okay with this one.

The question is, will the job still be there next week? It looks pretty solid, but time will tell.

Tomorrow I'm going to be interviewed by another agency. They wanted me to do an on-line registration thing for them before the interview, but for some reason I can't get it to work. Hopefully we can get that sorted out tomorrow. Then, I might actually be in a position to choose which job I want! That would be a change.

Return of the Evaporating Jobs

Financially speaking, life stinks. Violet and I have both experienced the evaporating job syndrome in the last couple of weeks, and our situation is turning desperate.

No, Violet did not get the Home Depot job. It seemed like an absolute sure thing two weeks ago, especially since the manager had worked with Violet at another Home Depot location. Still, for reasons they wouldn't divulge, they said no.

I was to have started another temp assignment this week, but on Monday I was told the client simply decided not to bother. The week before that, another sure-fire assignment "was filled internally". I did have an interview this week with Sandwichbox; it went okay, but they asked me if I felt I was overqualified for the position. I'll know what their decision is this week.

It's hard to stay positive, but I'm trying. Please send Violet and I your best wishes as we fight the recession into the last week of March.

Wart Zapped 2: The Revenge

My zapped wart continues to evolve. The clear fluid that was oozing out of it has hardened, and the skin in the 'blast zone' has started to peel a bit. Cool, huh?

Wart Zapped!

I've had a tiny yet annoying wart on my right index finger for some time now, and it proved resistant to Compound-W. I used that stuff for a couple of months and developed quite the crater on my knuckle, but the wart still managed to survive. So, on Monday, I brought out the big guns. Or, rather, I brought myself to those big guns - a dermatologist and a can of liquid nitrogen.

Now, I've seen movies where people use liquid nitrogen to freeze other people's body parts and then smash them off. The actual experience of being sprayed with the stuff(yes, it's just like a spray can) was a little less dramatic. The doctor warned me it would hurt, and I chided him for not using the universal doctor code-phrase for "I'm going to hurt you" which is, of course, "you may feel a slight pinch." It stung, but wasn't all that bad. Nothing broke off, and I walked away fine.

Interesting note: wart removal isn't covered by OHIP. The price tag for a liquid nitrogen spray in Ontario is $20. Luckily, the doctor gave me my first one free.

Now for the gross stuff! The zapped wart started bleeding almost immediately, but that soon stopped. Then, an hour or so later, it started oozing a clear fluid. And it's still doing it! Isn't that fascinating? Bet you're happy I threw that detail in.

So there you are. That's my wart removal experience. I'll keep you all updated if anything else interesting happens.

Blog Crossover!

Last weekend while Violet and I were visiting my parents in Ottawa, I had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow blogger Wendy at the Rideau Centre's Chapters. She treated me to a tea, and we had a lovely conversation about blogging, writing, the world in general, and old guys in transparent speedos (click here for an explanation of that one). Sadly, we only had an hour to chat before I had to get back to my parents (they want me all to themselves, you know), and I hope that sometime Wendy and I can have more time together to discuss the see-through speedo guy.

It was fun, meeting a blog friend in the flesh. I hope it happens more often, because I'd love to be treated to tea by the rest of you!

Wendy posted her version of this epic blog crossover last Sunday, and here I am finally getting to it now. It's been a busy week - I had a four-day telemarketing job, and Violet's hard at work on her thesis project for school, so my time at the computer has been minimal.