keep going, fool!
I'm annoyed at my prospects right now. The interview at Nintendo actually went pretty well, all things considered.
I ran out to Fred Meyer real quick last night after Richard came home so I could buy some updated "business casual" attire. I think my old stuff is just stiff and doesn't say anything about me now. I'm not great at picking out dress clothes, I'll admit that right now. The line between sex appeal and workplace boring is a great divide.
I was having pretty massive cramps after I got back so I took some Advil and a hot bath. It didn't seem to help at all. Richard came in and gave me a deep massage, which amused him greatly, mostly because he's fascinated with the human body and the inner workings of the female form. I didn't mind too much since he does a great job at it, but the idea of my uterus sloshing around rather cooled me off a bit, lol. It still didn't seem to do the trick because I was still cramping, so he gave me a muscle relaxant and I took a scalding hot shower. After I got out, my entire body was relaxed and I quickly dozed off, despite efforts to try and stay awake til at least 1:30. I managed to buy some fabric for Richard online before I zonked, I think he's pretty happy about that.
I slept like a baby but woke up around 7am or so. I was in a light daze but waiting til 8:45 before tossing and turning. I got up and hemmed my new dress pants quickly while Richard took a shower and we chatted about things until his new carpool buddy arrived, he ran out real quick and returned with coffee for me, then drove her to work. I took the bus downtown, determined to get there in time. After checking the bus schedule online, I was pretty confident that my pick-up spot was in the bus tunnel at 4th & Pike. When I got down there, all calmly strolling to see what bay I should wait at, I found to my dismay that the 545 Express to Redmond was NOT on the list of buses that stopped there. I was surprised, to say the least, which quickly gave way to bewilderment as I kept walking down the tunnel, wondering where the hell I was supposed to go. The streets were listed as 3rd & Pike and 5th & Pike. Nowhere was there a 4th & Pike. Shit. I wandered back, convinced by now that I had missed my bus and hoping like mad that there would be another one coming shortly thereafter so I wouldn't miss my appointment.
I surfaced and went straight for 4th and Pike, to where we usually see Cindy off for Everett. I remembered that the bus numbers were pretty high. I got there and they were all numbers in the 200s, heading north. I needed an eastbound route. I stood there in front of the Tully's for a minute, clueless. I called Erin, wondering if I was really desperate if she would loan me her car, but she didn't answer. My last ditch effort was to walk down to the Westlake Plaza, where I used to wait for the 17 homeward. Lo and behold, the 545 was a scheduled stop there. I checked the times - I had missed the 11:11am bus but another was coming in 15 minutes - I turned around and there it was. I was relieved.
The ride was peaceful and uneventful. I got there in record time. I hopped off the bus on the SR-520 ramp at 51st St and stood there. It seemed like a barren wasteland of parks, trees and houses with buildings in the background. Where the hell was I supposed to go now? Luckily the only other guy who had gotten off at my stop turned around, aware that I looked confused, and asked me where I was heading. He walked me across the overpass and directed me straight to the Nintendo offices, which were almost hidden from view at the bus stop. It seemed a little awkward at first. I suspected he might have been coming on to me? It seems like a lot of Microsoft people I meet tend to do that, intentionally or otherwise. I acted as if I was unaware of it.
Of course, once I got to the Nintendo campus, it was large and the parking lot itself took up a lot of the entrance. I stopped, again confused. I called the recruiter's direct line. Unfortunately it turned out to be a receptionist, and when I tried explaining my situation she immediately cut me off and another person answered from the hiring company. Luckily he was very cordial and gave me easy directions to the 4900 building.
There were about 20 people in our orientation group. I wasn't terribly surprised at our makeup, as most were guys anywhere from 20-35 yrs, all milling around while talking about video games. We all sat around for a half hour, determined to be early lest we forfeit our spot. When it came time to 12:30, they handed out work history forms and we filled them out for another half an hour. It was irritating, as we had brought our resumes with us and had been expecting a more personal interviewing session. Instead, we had paperwork. After that, they herded us into an adjacent building, where we sat in a room and listened to another lady introducing us to the hiring agency, the perks of the job, what to expect, and if we were experienced at all with games. As if anyone applying for the position would be utterly moronic enough to not know what they were signing up for.
She then gave us a DVD of examples of spotting game glitches and bugs. We were given a worksheet in which to write down the ones we spotted, in enough detail, if we saw any at all. The objective was to give good descriptions of bugs so that programmers could then go back and fix them. They would look through our sentence structure, grammar and skill to pick up the ones they thought educated enough for the position. It was surprisingly detailed work. There were several instances in which the entire group agreed we had to rewind the DVD in order to see bugs again. We disagreed on several, other times wondering if what the player was doing was a bug or just player preference. The games themselves were all from the Nintendo 64 so it came as a nice throw back in time.
The lady returned, we went through the answers quickly, then we were dismissed. The ones still interested were told to send an email addressing our eager to continue, the ones who decided it wasn't for them wouldn't have to respond at all.
I left quickly, feeling disappointed. I felt there should have been more to the initial interview process instead of copying down professional references and a group quiz on game bugs. I don't think I made one productive statement to anyone the entire time I was there. Some of the applicants definitely sounded like they'd done this before, as their questions were quite direct and focused towards insider information. I still hope there's a chance for me but somehow feel like I'll be put near the bottom of the stack. I'm eager to get a chance to work at Nintendo, even as a tester, but there are so many more qualified people ahead of me with more experience than I've had.
The bus came quickly. Richard had called during his lunch and I filled him in on all the details. He was very supportive and positive, which is what I needed. He always tells me I'm too negative for my own good, which in turn stresses me out. I replied that I let myself down first so that when the opportunity shows up I'll be more surprised. He scoffed at the idea. Still feeling down, I had a fish sandwich and fries at McDonald's at Westlake for a quick feel-good moment. Then went to Border's across the street, skimmed the new Brotherhood Dossier book I'd been eyeing for a while, before returning to the apartment on bus.
Now I'm bored. I'd worked myself up ever since yesterday morning, and again on Friday when I got the first reply. Except now I just feel like I'd let myself down, which is stupid because I didn't do anything wrong. It's very frustrating to know that the power is out of my hands now. I've given someone else the control in which to lead my life. I despise it! After all the energy I've already expended on getting my mind right, knowing that I'm being judged miles away by my past merits doesn't make me happy.
I ran out to Fred Meyer real quick last night after Richard came home so I could buy some updated "business casual" attire. I think my old stuff is just stiff and doesn't say anything about me now. I'm not great at picking out dress clothes, I'll admit that right now. The line between sex appeal and workplace boring is a great divide.
I was having pretty massive cramps after I got back so I took some Advil and a hot bath. It didn't seem to help at all. Richard came in and gave me a deep massage, which amused him greatly, mostly because he's fascinated with the human body and the inner workings of the female form. I didn't mind too much since he does a great job at it, but the idea of my uterus sloshing around rather cooled me off a bit, lol. It still didn't seem to do the trick because I was still cramping, so he gave me a muscle relaxant and I took a scalding hot shower. After I got out, my entire body was relaxed and I quickly dozed off, despite efforts to try and stay awake til at least 1:30. I managed to buy some fabric for Richard online before I zonked, I think he's pretty happy about that.
I slept like a baby but woke up around 7am or so. I was in a light daze but waiting til 8:45 before tossing and turning. I got up and hemmed my new dress pants quickly while Richard took a shower and we chatted about things until his new carpool buddy arrived, he ran out real quick and returned with coffee for me, then drove her to work. I took the bus downtown, determined to get there in time. After checking the bus schedule online, I was pretty confident that my pick-up spot was in the bus tunnel at 4th & Pike. When I got down there, all calmly strolling to see what bay I should wait at, I found to my dismay that the 545 Express to Redmond was NOT on the list of buses that stopped there. I was surprised, to say the least, which quickly gave way to bewilderment as I kept walking down the tunnel, wondering where the hell I was supposed to go. The streets were listed as 3rd & Pike and 5th & Pike. Nowhere was there a 4th & Pike. Shit. I wandered back, convinced by now that I had missed my bus and hoping like mad that there would be another one coming shortly thereafter so I wouldn't miss my appointment.
I surfaced and went straight for 4th and Pike, to where we usually see Cindy off for Everett. I remembered that the bus numbers were pretty high. I got there and they were all numbers in the 200s, heading north. I needed an eastbound route. I stood there in front of the Tully's for a minute, clueless. I called Erin, wondering if I was really desperate if she would loan me her car, but she didn't answer. My last ditch effort was to walk down to the Westlake Plaza, where I used to wait for the 17 homeward. Lo and behold, the 545 was a scheduled stop there. I checked the times - I had missed the 11:11am bus but another was coming in 15 minutes - I turned around and there it was. I was relieved.
The ride was peaceful and uneventful. I got there in record time. I hopped off the bus on the SR-520 ramp at 51st St and stood there. It seemed like a barren wasteland of parks, trees and houses with buildings in the background. Where the hell was I supposed to go now? Luckily the only other guy who had gotten off at my stop turned around, aware that I looked confused, and asked me where I was heading. He walked me across the overpass and directed me straight to the Nintendo offices, which were almost hidden from view at the bus stop. It seemed a little awkward at first. I suspected he might have been coming on to me? It seems like a lot of Microsoft people I meet tend to do that, intentionally or otherwise. I acted as if I was unaware of it.
Of course, once I got to the Nintendo campus, it was large and the parking lot itself took up a lot of the entrance. I stopped, again confused. I called the recruiter's direct line. Unfortunately it turned out to be a receptionist, and when I tried explaining my situation she immediately cut me off and another person answered from the hiring company. Luckily he was very cordial and gave me easy directions to the 4900 building.
There were about 20 people in our orientation group. I wasn't terribly surprised at our makeup, as most were guys anywhere from 20-35 yrs, all milling around while talking about video games. We all sat around for a half hour, determined to be early lest we forfeit our spot. When it came time to 12:30, they handed out work history forms and we filled them out for another half an hour. It was irritating, as we had brought our resumes with us and had been expecting a more personal interviewing session. Instead, we had paperwork. After that, they herded us into an adjacent building, where we sat in a room and listened to another lady introducing us to the hiring agency, the perks of the job, what to expect, and if we were experienced at all with games. As if anyone applying for the position would be utterly moronic enough to not know what they were signing up for.
She then gave us a DVD of examples of spotting game glitches and bugs. We were given a worksheet in which to write down the ones we spotted, in enough detail, if we saw any at all. The objective was to give good descriptions of bugs so that programmers could then go back and fix them. They would look through our sentence structure, grammar and skill to pick up the ones they thought educated enough for the position. It was surprisingly detailed work. There were several instances in which the entire group agreed we had to rewind the DVD in order to see bugs again. We disagreed on several, other times wondering if what the player was doing was a bug or just player preference. The games themselves were all from the Nintendo 64 so it came as a nice throw back in time.
The lady returned, we went through the answers quickly, then we were dismissed. The ones still interested were told to send an email addressing our eager to continue, the ones who decided it wasn't for them wouldn't have to respond at all.
I left quickly, feeling disappointed. I felt there should have been more to the initial interview process instead of copying down professional references and a group quiz on game bugs. I don't think I made one productive statement to anyone the entire time I was there. Some of the applicants definitely sounded like they'd done this before, as their questions were quite direct and focused towards insider information. I still hope there's a chance for me but somehow feel like I'll be put near the bottom of the stack. I'm eager to get a chance to work at Nintendo, even as a tester, but there are so many more qualified people ahead of me with more experience than I've had.
The bus came quickly. Richard had called during his lunch and I filled him in on all the details. He was very supportive and positive, which is what I needed. He always tells me I'm too negative for my own good, which in turn stresses me out. I replied that I let myself down first so that when the opportunity shows up I'll be more surprised. He scoffed at the idea. Still feeling down, I had a fish sandwich and fries at McDonald's at Westlake for a quick feel-good moment. Then went to Border's across the street, skimmed the new Brotherhood Dossier book I'd been eyeing for a while, before returning to the apartment on bus.
Now I'm bored. I'd worked myself up ever since yesterday morning, and again on Friday when I got the first reply. Except now I just feel like I'd let myself down, which is stupid because I didn't do anything wrong. It's very frustrating to know that the power is out of my hands now. I've given someone else the control in which to lead my life. I despise it! After all the energy I've already expended on getting my mind right, knowing that I'm being judged miles away by my past merits doesn't make me happy.