the guy who played the bishop in The Princess Bride

(I assume you mean The Impressive Clergyman) was a great great man who died over ten years ago.

No, but if your grandfather and grandmother were Finnish, you could become a Finnish citizen. This, because of the Finns who spent a whole generation stuck in former Finnish territories occupied by the Soviet Union.

Huh. I never knew that. Though I think my great-grandparents were the ones who immigrated, so I'm out of luck. My grandparents are just of full Finnish descent.

So, went to the placement agency today. Didn't die driving in the city and I managed to find parking only 6 blocks away, so that was good. Things ended up running much longer than expected though, and I ended up getting back to my car a minute before my pakring voucher expired, which would have been bad as there were a couple of cops hanging out in front of the coffee shop right by my car when I walked up. I'm not sure if they were actually parking enforcement, or just traffic cops getting a cup of coffee before they had to start doing their rush hour thing.

Everything went well enough, I suppose. I feel inadequate when trying to describe my skills and abilities, as I'm very much self-taught/on-the-job-training and my skills are very much oriented to what was needed for my previous job. I rattled off a bunch of the software products I was familiar with supporting and pretty much got a blank look from the placement agency guy. Feh.

That said, they did have an opportunity for me already.

The Good

• It'd be a 15% increase from what I'm making now.
• The company has good benefits
• The current IT Manager was placed there by this same agency and is very happy with the environment.

The Bad

• It's in the Loop. That's a 1.5 hour commute both ways by train.
• Taking the train, even buying monthly passes, would cost me close to $1800 a year.
• After my bonuses, my salary last year came out to be the same as what they are offering and I only had a 5-minute commute, so I'd effectively be making less at this job once commuting time and expense is taken into account.

Mitigating Factors

• If I end up with this job and start it quickly, my severance package from the old job will cover the cost of the commute and then some.
• If I get a standard raise next year, it will cover most of the commuting costs.
• Our bonuses were never-guaranteed, whereas this salary is.
• It's a job, which I currently don't have.

The agency is supposed to give me a call tomorrow and ask if I want to try for this one. Part of me wants to wait and see if I can find something closer/better. On the other hand, even if I do go in for an interview, it doesn't mean I'll get the job and I don't have to take it even if I do. And considering I haven't done an interview in almost ten years, I could certainly use the practice if nothing else.

Friday Night Lights:

::wibble::

This show is going to break me. shrift, i will fight you for Saracen, though when I lose, someone please give me a Coach Taylor of my very own.

even if I do go in for an interview, it doesn't mean I'll get the job and I don't have to take it even if I do. And considering I haven't done an interview in almost ten years, I could certainly use the practice if nothing else.

This, Kalshane. The practice would be good, and there's nothing in the books that says you have to take the first job offered. Sometimes it actually does work out. Much job~ma to you.

Sometimes it actually does work out. Much job~ma to you.

Thanks.

I'm wondering if I should just start posting my resume, even though my former boss has been swamped and hasn't been able to help me spruce it up like he offered. I'm torn between getting it out there and trying to find something and worrying about turning off potential employers due to it sucking.

I had a friend of the family help me out a little bit before I sent it to the placement agency, but they asked me a whole bunch of questions that weren't even covered by it. On the other hand, I don't want to make it ridonkulously long, either.

I'm wondering if I should just start posting my resume, even though my former boss has been swamped and hasn't been able to help me spruce it up like he offered. I'm torn between getting it out there and trying to find something and worrying about turning off potential employers due to it sucking.

Well, if you're so inclined, I'm sure a few people here wouldn't mind taking a look at it. I'd be more than happy, but be forewarned I do not have a tech background and don't know C++ from Perl. If that doesn't scare you, my profile addy is good.

The Clergyman from Princess Bride was a friend of my father's.

Good luck with the job hunt, Kalshane. It sounds like the interview would be good for you even if it turns out you don't want that job.

I need opinions on this coat. [link] Is this a look I could pull off?

Maybe I should just drive down and deliver it, since we have a 3 day weekend.

Road trip!

God, I feel like ass. Pervasively.

Oooh, Lee. That's pretty. Though I tend to want to actually try on things before buying, because clothes tend to hang funny on me.

Kalshane, what they all said. Is the 1.5 hour commute total or one way? Becuase that's about what I've got (with wiggle room for catching buses and off-schedule subway trains) and it leaves just enough time for an hour or more of reading time per day. I call it reclaimed fun time.

One of the most important things in an interview is to realize that you're interviewing them, to make sure they're good enough for you to work with them. Check for signs of asshat management (though goodness knows an asshat manager can come into a job at any time) and job satisfaction among the present workers. Especially nice to see, given the type of job you're looking for is retention of workers who started in your job slot and have advanced/been kept around and happy.

I will say, when you become a parent, that time lost to commuting becomes more precious. If only because the partner at home with the small person needs you home sooner so s/he doesn't go kablooey. Just something to take under advisement, though I think you should definitely go for the interview.