I’ve switched over all blogging efforts to greentintedglasses.net

Take a visit, it’s all about the Charlotte 49ers!

Maybe I’ll never grow up. When I hear snippets of conversation at work, I usually interpret it in the most immature ways.

Take for example…

“Well…..we can do it. But, I’ll have to show you what comes out first.”

That’s just disgusting.

BTW, I’m getting married.

I haven’t updated in, what, 3 months? That’s terrible.

I’ll start posting again shortly, hopefully.

In the meantime, here’s an adorable picture of our new cat, Twitter:

Twitter drinks from Kenzie's bowl.

As most of you know, I recently accepted a position and began working at Inmar, CMS Promotions Logistics in Winston-Salem.

What do I do?

Well, I’m an Account Representative in the A-segment in Client Operations. Jason…..what?

Basically my job is to invoice the manufacturers and pay the retailers for coupons used by consumers. Got it? Good.

But now that I’m fully employed and on the training regimen, I can finally say what I want about the whole interviewing process.

First off, it sucks. Its a game, and it really isn’t worth it if you don’t know anyone who can give you a solid recommendation and reference. While you may get a job by applying as many places as possible, your best bet is to exhaust all of your contacts. My reference came from one of Jenn’s co-workers. Look everywhere you can.

Secondly, the people you’re interviewing with could be jerks. I’m serious. Don’t think that everybody likes you and won’t let you down. I’m an extremely trusting person and give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but I have to admit I was a little let down.

For those conducting interviews, please respond to emails and keep the candidates updated. This is extremely frustrating. I had countless thank you emails go unanswered regardless of being invited back to interview a second time. This is extremely unprofessional. I even had one company not call or email after the SECOND interview. They specifically told me, “We’ll be in touch with you next week.”

I wanted anxiously on Monday… and then Tuesday… and then Wednesday… I emailed on Thursday to keep in touch… hear nothing on Friday. On the following Monday I called and left a message with my interviewer. I never heard back. No courtesy email, not even the standard form ones. What a joke.

In addition, if you’re conducting interviews be wary of the things you say. The previously mentioned interviewer also remarked that she worked with “complete idiots” and “hated her job somedays.” Tell me again, why am I interviewing here? You hire idiots and you hate your job?! Sign me up!

The best feeling I had during this entire process was the last week of unemployment. I had two offers on the table. After almost half a year of searching and interviewing resulting in countless rejections, I had TWO offers. When I sent one company an email notifying them that I would not be accepting their offer, I got this email in reply…

Thank you for message Jason.  We decided to pursue another candidate, since we didn’t hear back from you.  We hope that you made the right decision and wish you the best in your future endeavors.

I have a few problems with this email.

• I was in contact with them. They gave me no deadline, and it had only been a few days since the last conversation.
• Why does she feel the need to mention “another candidate”? I can’t think of any reason other than to try and make me feel bad and her feel better. It is simply unnecessary.
• Oh yah, they “hope that [I] made the right decision”. Another unnecessary statement.

If I ever receive an email rejecting my offer. I am going to keep it simple…

Thanks for letting me know. While it is not what I had hoped, I am sure you are making the best choice for your career goals. Best of luck, Jason.

Seriously.

April 17th was a really good day. It was the day after I got a job with Inmar, so I was already in a good place. Jenn took me out to lunch at a nice restaurant and the parents took us out for Japanese that night. It was just a great day all around.

But, I felt different all day, and I couldn’t figure out why. Now I know.

I WOKE UP CANADIAN!!! How awesome is that? I am now eligible to be a citizen of both the United States and Canada! I can be both arrogant and overly-friendly at once! With two Canadian parents, I am definitely eligible, and all I have to do is send in my information, write a check for $75 and then I’ll receive my certification that I’m a bonafide Canadian.

This all raises interesting questions. For example, who do I cheer for in the Olympics? I technically have allegiances to both nations now.

Should I go back to being a Leafs fan? Heavens no, I don’t enjoy misery.

So, all of my friends that are already Canadian, I hope you will welcome me with open arms and a nice bowl of poutine, because i’m ready to be Canadian.

I know.

I’ve been absent.

Really, life hasn’t been busy. I’ve just been, well, unmotivated to write on here. Things are so-so in J Felt’s world. I didn’t get the job with Wildfire in Winston that I REALLY wanted, but alas, there WILL BE others.

On the flipside, I am going to be Tom’s best man when he weds Mary later this year. Such an honor. I never really thought I’d ever get to be a best man for any one, but this is pretty sweet.

However, March 1st passed a long time ago. And I never declared a winner in my “Count the change” contest. So, I will now.

The actual final amount was $81.74. Yep, enough money to actually buy something of use.

Of course, the closest guess was from MeckCharlotte of $81. However, since her answer was given on March 3rd, past the deadline, her answer is disqualified.

Therefore, Adam Peter Shinn, or Pete Wurthy, is our winner with a close guess of $86!!!

Adam will be receiving his prize shortly.

Worst guess was from Justin Ritchie, who guessed $20. He’ll be winning his own book.

Time for a little contest.

As most of you may know, I’m unemployed at the moment. No need to harp on it, but the reason I mentioned that is because I’m fairly broke these days. Any money I have is good money.

So when I realized that my coin and penny jars I’ve had since childhood were full, I wondered just exactly how much money I had in change. I started putting my change aside at a very young age in hopes that one day I’d accumulate enough to buy something worthwhile. I was right, I DO have enough money to buy something worthwhile. But just how much do I have?

The person closest to the actual answer by March 1st, 2009 will win a prize. Of sorts. Either way, its still fun.

bling?

The block on the far left is quarters stacked in fours.

The block in the middle is dimes stacked in fives.

The block on the right is nickels stacked in fives.

The coins in the middle are half dollars, gold dollars, and left over nickels, dimes and quarters.

The jar of pennies is shown in the back, you have to guess that amount.

Picture is clickable for a better look.

So do the math, and then guess the pennies. YOU COULD BE A WINNER!!!

This is gross.

From the inside of my 1994 Volkswagen Jetta… which I mentioned in an earlier post.

There’s mold (is that mold?) growing on the seats, steering wheel, shift knob, doors and everywhere. Take a look.

If you want to drive this, bring gloves.

Let’s play pretend.

You now live in a strange world. Before you are allowed to get a license/be a citizen/be employed/get married/etc., you must pass a test of courage.

You have two options: Bungee Jumping or Sky Diving.

Bungee Jumping would seem like the easiest choice. But, think of all the possibilities. The chord could snap. SPLAT. The chord could wrap your neck. SNAP. The chord could overstretch. THUD. And of course, all of the connections and straps on your harness could break as well. Either way, there’s a good chance you could die and/or be seriously hurt.

Sky Diving seems more dangerous at first. But, there’s really only one thing that can go wrong. The parachute (and back-up) doesn’t open. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (breath) AAAAAAHHHHHH….SPLAT. That would be one hell of a long ride just to die at the end. Truly terrifying.

So, which one do you choose? All those who don’t make a choice will be thrown into jail and forced to watch Gigli, Battlefied Earth and The Adventures of Pluto Nash over and over again.

While channel surfing late one evening last week, I came upon the AKC National Agility competition. Jenn and I had often joked about trying agility out with Kenzie, but neither of us thought that Kenzie would be good at it. After all, she is sort of short, stumpy and perhaps a little chubby (maybe she takes after me).

Either way, I was hooked to this competiton. The connection between the dog and handler was amazing. The dogs were hurdling over bars, jumping through hoops, conquering see-saws and best of all, running through tunnels all at breakneck speeds. Frankly put, it looked like fun. But still, could Kenzie do this? Most of the dogs I kept seeing were leaner and more athletic, so my dream of an agility dog seemed short-lived at best. But then a Golden came on. Not only did it compete flawlessly, it won its class in thrilling fashion. My mind began to change, maybe Kenzie could do this. Then the announcers stated that Goldens are perfect for agility and extremely easy to train.

Yes. My short-lived dream was now a definite probability.

After reading about some basic beginning agility training, Jenn and I set up our own little course in my back yard. Using chopped up bits of Nathan’s Famous, we began teaching Kenzie to do simple things such as walk on a raised plank and jumping over obstacles. I was amazed at the ease (and eagerness) that Kenzie exhibited. For such a seemingly chunky dog, she sure can jump.

The key is to remain patient and be consistent with your directions. The dog needs to understand exactly what you’re asking it to do, so timing is also very important. Within an hour, we had Kenzie conquering two jumps and a plank all in one run.

It was a fun day, and I used the opportunity to grab some good dog jumping shots.

Look at the concentration!