Working

Diogenes finds your resume lacking

Last week I had my first job interview in Florida. I was nervous beforehand, trying to remember my answers for those typical awful interview questions.  "What is your weakest quality?"  "Where do you want to be in five years?" 

I go into the interview and within 10 minutes, I was told was I getting the job. I was a bit flabbergasted. No multiple interviews, no annoying questions. Just introductions, brief overview of the position, and asked if I could handle photo manipulation and graphics and start right away. Um, yes. I am not complaining, I am thrilled I got it, just the strangest interview I ever had.

So yay, I am employed again. I am a Graphic Artist for a shipbuilding firm in the area, working with a small team that is putting together a proposal for a contract. So far, it is going well and I am enjoying it a lot. I am learning so much about all things ships. I even have port and starboard straight! Right now the position is part time, 20 hours a week minimum, even though so far it has been more than that. It has the potential to lead to a full time position down the road depending how the project progresses.

I'll save my answers for the tough questions next time.

Rays

 The beach was pretty busy on our beach walk today.

A couple stingrays were cruising the shallows. I need to pick up a reference book on Florida wildlife. Lots of new faces to learn.

minecraft sheep

If only dyeing sheep wool and

shearing sheep was this easy in real life.

Spin

Saturday afternoon at the laundromat.

hanging out

Reptilian visitor tonight on the window screen. Afterwards he ate a moth.

sea life

Today Zachary had off from work so after relaxing a home for a bit, we went for a quick swim.
(well by quick, we had to be finished at a certain time, which wasn't planned... i inadvertently locked ourselves out of the house when we left to head to the beach. we realized it right away and called the landlord, and she was going to meet us 45 mins later. so we swam anyways in the meantime. i was the last one out of the house, but i assumed Z had the keys already. oops...)
So anyway, we brought along our camera, which is waterproof. This is the second time we have gone swimming since we have been here and had noticed there is a lot of fish in the water. We saw a dolphin today too, but it was out in the deeper water.

Strange marine life. Definitely not salt water natives.

banking

 Another double red flag day today, it has been stormy lately. Celebratory beach walk after opening a new bank account. Huzzah. Up next, attempting to get Florida drivers licenses...

Diogenes

 In our pre-move prep, we thought it would be a good idea to get Diogenes, our Maine Coon, a hair cut. A lion cut to be precise. We figured it would be best for him for the move, keep him from overheating and cleaner in case he made a mess in his carrier during the 1200 mile trip. Above a quick before shot a few days before we left. He is a large cat to begin with and with his hair fully grown out, he is quite the beast. Since he has had it done before, before we got him, we figured he would be a pro at the groomers.

A day before we left town, I dropped him off at the groomer and was scheduled to pick him up at noon. About 10 am, I get a phone call. It is the groomer. Diogenes was beginning to be too much of a beast and they were worried he as about to turn violent towards them. They said I could get him tranquilized and bring him back, but with us leaving the next day and still a ton of things to do, I said I would pick him up as is. So he looks like this now. Mr. Ridiculous. Sorta a reverse mullet going on. He is about half shaved for what a typical lion hair cut looks like. Oh D...

Settled

 This last week and a half since we left Wisconsin has been an adventure for us. For one, moving all our belongings 3 times in 8 days was a little exhausting. From loading up the Uhaul, to unloading it into storage, and then loading it again and moving into our new apartment. The first few days we stayed at an La Quinta in town while we searched for places. At first it looked like Hurricane Issac was coming straight for us in Panama City Beach, but it drifted west.

 For a few days the beaches were scoured by the wind and waves. Saw our first double red flag warning for the coast. There were some people on the beaches still, mostly beachcombers (lots of shells on shore) and a few surfer dudes looking for waves. After staying at a hotel, we rented a small guest house near Laguna beach for a few days.

 Diogenes made himself at home, tangling himself in cords. (Yes he has a ridiculous hair cut... I'll come back to that in another post) The cats by the way did great. They of course hated the car riding and the cat carriers, but once we got into a new place, they adjusted quickly.

Late last week we found a 2 bedroom upper apartment in Panama City Beach. Living on the second story is nice. I can say that now, the aches and pains from carrying all our furniture up 17 stairs is starting to fade :-) It is a few blocks from the beach. We are still unpacking boxes and re-arranging furniture, but we are glad to find a new home. (and have real internet again) Zachary started working yesterday already, and the job hunt begins for me.