A second job
Yes, that's right, folks, I have just been hired for a second part-time job. That's not so exciting, until you hear what it is:
I'm going to be working as some sort of assistant for Alexander Publishing, who also owns Sonic Control. This company is a tiny publishing company specializing in music composition courses, but there are also projects involving text book writing, reviews, publishing Christian literature, and probably a couple other things I haven't caught onto yet. These guys have lofty goals, and at least some of them are already coming to be.
Who these guys are is actually just a married couple working out of their home in Petersburg. I think they have a couple other employees, or maybe just one.
Here's some of what I'll be doing: Receiving orders, running credit cards for orders, packing and shipping items we keep in stock, and communicating with customers who need help. But those are just the main tasks right now. I'm going to start my probation period on the 31st, and some of what he says I might be doing includes proofreading, writing reviews (if I'm any good, which I've never tried), scanning books into pdf's, and generally becoming a wheel in the machine rather than just another cog (Peter Alexander's words).
I'm excited about this. I'm going to be with a small, growing company using my latent artistic talents, which Peter thinks I might have, judging on what my resume says about my sandwich artist abilities that I demonstrated at Subway. It turns out my getting laid off at a scanning company and taking a parttime food service job helped in my career. I find that ironic.
The interviews were interesting. The phone conversation started with me answering the very unexpected question of "What do you see as God's plan for your life?" I mean, wo, they never asked that at WalMart (not that I'd know, I never applied there). I decided prior to interviewing that if I tried to impress them, I would be nervous and look weak. So I answered the questions unimpressively and honestly. Sometimes too honestly, giving more information than I should have. I admitted my weaknesses and anxieties. And the strategy worked. They responded to my straight answers, liked my honesty, and I think it made what I did list as my strengths more credible. The "make yourself sound good" strategy of my resume-writing experience would not have worked. I may change my resume now to be more self-effacing.
But, actually, this little gig was kind of a gift from God. I had connections through my church secretary. She's the one that told them about me and gave me their number. And she apparently spoke very highly of me to them. She says that when they were talking about the job to her, I came to mind, so it must have been meant to be.
But, there's a drawback already. This job is in Petersburg and my current job is in downtown Richmond and I live in Chester. So there's going to be alot of commuting. I've been thinking alot about trying to use alternative fuels. It would probably be a worthwhile investment, but I don't have the money right now to invest. I need to find someone who's done biodiesel and someone who's done ethanol. Ethanol has the advantage of being a conversion of a car I already have. With biodiesel, I'd have to find a diesel and buy it. More investment I can't afford. Any of you know someone I can talk to for details and answers?