Friday was my last day at Ford, i left at about 12:00pm. At 1:00 i had a phone interview with Sarah, in New World Systems' HR department. She called me back later to say she had spoken with a manager, and we scheduled an interview for Monday at 2pm. The position i applied for is database centric. Seemingly, i found it via Google, landing me at jobsinlawenforcement.org showing a listing on Dice. Interesting.

After the phone interview, there was a pre-employment information sheet. In requested full employment history with interests, both career-related and otherwise. I had to call the companies i worked for for some information. Exact start and end dates, titles, and managers. Although i worked at Ford and DaimlerChrysler, i officially worked for the contracting houses. For earlier positions, i was vague. Some companies simply no longer exist.

It asks for desired salary. That's a hard one. I depends on responsibilities, venue, and the total package. I called the HR rep and asked about it. She said to put in a range, and when i was putting in an hourly rate, she reminded me this was a salaried job. Really? Oh, yeah. It's been a while, i just naturally think in hourly rates.

I asked her if i should wear a suit, or causal. In tech departments, casual rules. While i wore a suit for the DaimlerChrysler interview, my Ford interview was much less formal. Also, my "casual" is dress shirt and dress pants. Someone reminded me that casual actually means t-shirt and jeans. Oops. :)

She quickly responded that a suit was required, though i could show up without the jacket. And that interviews there are more formal. I excused myself as it having been while. But i'm still kind of glad i asked.

She told me that before the interview there are tests i can't study for. There was a pattern recognition test and whatnot. I don't remember everything she said exactly, but it came down to a series of tests or interviews as i proved to be a good fit for the company.

The pattern recognition test sounds interesting, for as an INTJ, i am an introverted intuitive. van der Hoop explains intuition as getting the entire image, or seeing a pattern without knowing what the pattern is (that requires Thinking or Feeling.

So, i got a haircut last night and now i'm wondering what the interview will be like.

After the car's last milestone, i was hoping to hit 150k, but alas, it was not to be. In September, even before the Day of Judgment, and ironically on the way back from the cemetery, it died. On 696, just a few miles from my apartment, it took up smoking. I'm probably at fault for not taking care of the engine, but oh well.

Getting a new car was an interesting thought. But do i actually need a car? Am i just assuming "i need a car"? Thinking it through, i realized the main reason for a car was to get to the office. Yet, i had a friend and co-worker driving me every day anyway. This worked out particularly well, as i don't really drive at night anymore and getting back from the office on those short winter days would have been difficult. As for the other needs of a car, what were they? Travel? Rent. Shopping? buy local, borrow, or go with a friend. I did not want to buy a car just to buy a car. And now, perhaps, it was time for an interesting experiment.

Since then, it has been working. No car, no insurance, and no gas really does save a few dollars. And renting "would you like to purchase insurance?", "no thanx, my credit card will handle it". After an explanation of its secondary nature, i respond that it is primary, as i have no car, and thus no insurance. It even came into play once, and i must say that Visa and Enterprise Rent-A-Car were wonderful. Once i had the basic forms filled, they worked with each other to get the whole thing taken care of. I was impressed and told the Visa guy to register my compliment.

Another benefit is speeding tickets. Their main cost is not the ticket itself, but the insurance rates which can add $100, once every six months, for three years. That's $600 per ticket. The $150 of the ticket itself (including all those ridiculous added "costs") is almost worth it for the amount of time it saves (over time). With no car, there's no car insurance, and the cost of a ticket is now at a manageable level.

Having no car has gotten me on my bike more, and even walking. It's truly a pleasure. It's something i'd like to keep up as well.

I'm not against having a car. I'm just trying to identify if i actually need one. When the times come, nay, *if* the time comes, i'll have to get another. But, there's always hope.

I help support a local organization's computers. I think the secretary's computer's winsock is infected, but i'm afraid to fix it just now, because it might mess it up. So, i disabled IE with a bogus proxy server, and expected them to use Firefox.

I just got an email from someone saying he can't connect to the Internet from that computer. After finding out what happened, i explained to him that i "turned off Internet Explorer" on that computer. I should be ashamed of myself. But, it got the message across quickly and clearly.

Only two days left for employment. I already put my resume on the Michigan Talent Bank, and i might fill out the unemployment forms online on Friday. I think i'd still have to go in, but it simplifies the process.

I even got a call from a headhunter already. Plus, i submitted my resume to a few local places. I'm customizing my email address in the resume and during submissions. Where dice might be dice@, my resume at dice is dice.resume@. I'm curious if it'll provide anything interesting.

A friend owns a business in a hud zone, and as he employed the appropriate 35% of the people in his office from our tiny little area, he qualified for a special program. Well, two people left, so he's in middle of losing his special status.

So, he made me an offer. He needs work done in his office on his network, and i live in the hud area. So, he wants to hire me for 10 hours a week, at $10/hr to take care of it. It's not much, but its something. It's easy, and i'd love to help him out. I'd probably help him out for free, but not that many hours, and certainly not every week.

The question is, what would this do to my unemployment benefits. I believe i can file for the maximum, which i think is $362/wk. If i make $100/wk from this job, does it hurt my status? Well, i'm going to have to check it out, but it is an interesting proposition, and it benefits both of us. I guess the potential is to let small businesses know i can help them out computer-wise, and perhaps grow my own small business. It's tempting to resurrect and an old idea.

Well, the last week starts. So many people are worried about it. I tell them i'm happy to have some time off in the summer. I can't think of a better time to look for a job.

Vacation time on its own isn't enough. A few days here or there, or a couple of weeks, then its back to the grind. Vacation is not paid time off. Those who get paid for it, are making less on other days for it. Strangely enough though, unemployment is actually paid vacation, albeit, you have to look for a job, and the "vacation" can end unexpectedly. How's that for a Pollyannish view?

I was hoping to get a job by asking family and friends. I asked two people, and was given some positions to look at, but nothing really fit. They want a java coder, or someone with PM experience, or experience with that...i'm just a SQL coder, with some administrative experience. If it's a database, i can do it.

So, this week means posting my resume on the usual job sites, and the Michigan Talent Bank, the latter being a precursor for unemployment benefits. Last time i put it there, i got a few views. Kudos to whoever put that together. I'll also be asking my supervisor to find me another position here. I may not think its perfect, but its something, and i can not accept unemployment benefits if there actually is a job offer, or if i'm not looking.

Though, if i do find something, i might negotiate a later start date. I'm not sure i can just go from one position straight to another and put in the same effort. Well, unless it's exciting, but how often do those come along? Regardless, all is negotiable.

Ideally, i want a small company in Oak Park, Southfield, or Royal Oak. That'd be within walking or riding distance. I used to work in Royal Oak, and it was great being so close to home. Well, i can dream.

Our project was canceled, making my last day next Friday (6/25), it's time to look for another position, perhaps too soon.

My resume isn't that impressive, i have no idea how to write those. I seem to impress people in interviews, and i rely mostly on networking to get me an interview. By and large, networking means friends and family.

I usually focus on Databases. A number of years ago i was the DBA and DB coder for an oracle database at a small company, learning as i was going along. I would have liked to continue that path and become an Oracle DBA, but my positions since then took me elsewhere.

At Chrysler i migrated a database from Sybase SQL Server to DB2 for LUW, and wrote some 300 PROCEDUREs. At Ford, i first worked with Oracle, and then with Microsoft SQL Server, both in coding, not administration. While my preference is Oracle, i'd work with any database (except, perhaps, Progress). Years ago i would have also promoted myself as a mid-level Oracle DBA. But i've been out of it too long.

I would think, therefore, based on my current experience, i should sell myself as a SQL Developer with the pluses that i can do design, understand administrative concepts, and participate in forums (currently, i am an Answerer in MSDN's Database Design forum). But, i'd still prefer a DBA positions where they will train, or let me train myself.

Or maybe i have to get back into coding with other languages again. Are there really SQL coding jobs out there? (I'm sure there are, and soon i will probably have to look for them.)

Last time i was looking for a job (oh my, look at all those typos, just fixed them) someone here got me an interview in Toledo, but telecommuting was not on their minds. Too bad, it seemed nice overall, even if meeting a fellow slashdotter seemed awkward.

Well, i'm looking forward to some summer time off.

I was talking to a neighbor and mentioned that i could use an MP3 player. He pulled out an advertisement offering an iPod Touch for opening a checking account at Key Bank.

I filled it out online Saturday night and got a call on Monday as they could not verify my address. Apparently i mistyped it, so we corrected it on the phone. I asked if i had set it up right to get the iPod, and she said no. I hadn't put in the marketing code. But she fixed it for me. I'm glad i made the typo.

Today, i got a phone call from a local branch welcoming me, asking me if i had any questions, and asking if i knew of the iPod promotion. I mentioned that is what interested me, and he told me that i had to fulfill the requirements and call back at the local branch. He responded to my next question that the welcome kit would come in the mail in a few days, and that it would be faster if i brought it in, but i could mail it.

So far, so good.

I'm planning on pulling two bills from there "automatically" (for over $100 each) and making the local purchase soon enough. Luckily i can change most billing accounts online.

Admittedly, the iPad looks tempting, but it's so expensive. A "free" iPod might satisfy that desire.

Warm air puts me to sleep. Well, in our team room, there is no fresh air. The thermostat was not working too well, the air conditioning doesn't work well when it rains, and they turn the air conditioning on later in the day.

We asked them to fix it, and after a couple times, the thermostat seems to work. This week (and last perhaps) the air was on by the time we got in, so things are going well. It gets to about 71.5, which isn't perfect, but with my fan it's bearable. I still won't be able to think perfectly well, but it's enough to get by.

Today, one guy who likes it at 78 comes i the room with a light shirt and short sleeves, walks over to the thermostat and turns it up.

I don't get it. Why don't people who like it warm put on sweaters or the like? Or at least don't wear light shirts with short sleeves! I can't take off clothes (and that wouldn't help much anyway) but they can put on clothes. We can both be happy! But nope, warm-air people refuse to put on clothes to make them warm. The room itself must be warm.

Again, i cannot work well in a warm room. I cannot do anything to make myself feel cooler other than lower the ambient temperature. They can work well in a cool room, they can also do other things to make themselves warmer.

Oh well, i guess it's back to working less and taking a lot of walks. But, wait, that's what they do too.

I'm definitely going to ask about ambient temperature or fresh air on my next job. As these people are so inconsiderate, i'm going to have to ask for this at the very beginning.

Warm air puts me to sleep, unless it's fresh air. Otherwise, i need 65 to 68 to be comfortable. So, why is it that i have the luck of working with people who seem to want 75-78?

They claim it's because i'm overweight. Nope, i've been wanting 65 since grade school. They say it's because i wear wool tzitzis. Nope, wanted it 10-20 years before that happened. They claim i'm abnormal and that under 70 is cold. Nope, "room temperature" is commonly defined as including those temperatures.

They say it's not the heat, it's the humidity. Humidity feels different, but it doesn't put me to sleep. I'd easily take a hot and humid day with fresh air over cold and not humid, but no fresh air. At some point, air conditioning just gives me a headache.

Personally, i think the warmer temperatures are wanted women who dress poorly or lazy people who like sleeping on the job.

Next time i look for job, i think air quality will be on my mind. It's commonly overlooked, but it affects us tremendously each and every day. I wonder how much sugar i drink during the day just to keep me awake in these environments.

In Sylvie and Bruno, Sylvie is offered one of two lockets by her father the newly elected King of Elfland (after going down a hole in the ground). One is blue, one is red (first called crimson), she chooses the red one, to which her father seems very happy she chose that one, ostensibly allowing the story to continue.

The Matrix has Alice references. But is the Red Pill and Blue Pill also a Carrol reference? Probably not, but i find the similarity interesting.

I went to the Doctor again. This time i avoided the glass door. The "stress echo" indicated i was doing well, but the blood test showed high cholesterol. Specifically, my LDL was 150, and he said i should be closer to 100.

The choice was medicine or diet change, with stress on the diet change, and a checkup in four months to see how well i am doing.

Now i have a mission: Lower my LDL.

I went to the source of all truths, and searched for facts and tips. I came Harvard's School of Public Health's Nutrition Source. Overall, it's a good website. It has a definite liberal bias noticeable in the tone here and there, but they did a decent job of covering most of that with unbiased facts and charts. Although i read or skimmed most of the sections, the section of obvious interest was Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good.

The article discusses how fat affects cholesterol levels more so than cholesterol itself, and that it is specifically saturated fat that is the problem. Unsaturated fats--both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated--are good in this regard, though total fat intake itself should not be overlooked. That is, basic instructions are to ingest some unsaturated fat daily.

It includes a useful chart of common oils and their fat breakdown, What Type of Fat Is It? It shows the monounsaturated goodness of olive oil, the polyunsaturated goodness of safflower oil, and the overall unsaturated goodness of Canola oil, which has the least saturated fat of them all.

So, now i am a bit confused. If saturated is bad, and unsaturated is good, doesn't that mean that canola oil is better than olive oil (in this regard)? Why is olive oil touted as being so good and regular oils not so good? Unless monounsaturated is the best.

There one more question i keep thinking about. Does the goodness of the unsaturated fat "cancel out" the badness of the saturated fat? Or, is it just better to also have unsaturated fat, but still go for the least saturated fats?

I contacted them about my concerns, perhaps i will hear back form them.

I forgot to mention two notable things when i got my EKG.

One, i had never been to this doctor before, nor to the building. But the person who drove me also gave me directions. Down the stairs, right-turn, left-turn, immediate left is his door.

So, off i went down the stairs, and made a right turn into a glass door. Boom! While i bounced back laughing at myself, i looked and saw two women coming down the stairs absolutely horrified. Not sure if it was because i made a stupid mistake, i might have been hurt, or because i was a lunatic laughing at myself. I announced some like "oh, there's a door there", opened it and moved on. I gotta get me their glass cleaner's name.

Two, they wanted a basic idea of my weight using a doctor scale. You know, those super-accurate things they use with your clothes on to get a roughly accurate idea of your weight. So me being the smarty that i am, i got on and moved the big clunker over to two-hundred, and, when i was on, went to adjust to small-fry to 10 or something. Well, as i'm reaching for the top, the nurse reaches to the bottom and moves it to 150. Me being bewildered at this gross mistake of hers, she then found i weighed ~186. What a pleasant surprise.

Went to the doctor and had an EKG. He said he it was not regular, and he wants to do another test. But nothing to be worried about. So, i have another appointment on Tuesday.

Now to go get some health insurance. I was late in paying BCBS and they canceled on me. They don't do auto payments from the credit card. Makes me wonder.

Taking yet another bubble bath, i decided to browse Keirsey's Portraits of Temperament.

When viewing NTJs, Keirsey says they use deduction over induction. Once again, Keirsey completely missed the boat. INTJs use intuition almost exclusively, using deduction only if needed. ENTJs use deduction, however.

It's amazing. His correlation between the functional types and the four temperaments is absolute genius. What drove him to incorrectly redefine the letters, is mind boggling. As right as he is about the correlation, he is even more wrong on the letter definitions.

Vacationing a human right, EU chief says

The European Union has declared travelling a human right, and is launching a scheme to subsidize vacations with taxpayers' dollars for those too poor to afford their own trips.

Antonio Tajani, the European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, proposed a strategy that could cost European taxpayers hundreds of millions of euros a year, The Times of London reports.

"Travelling for tourism today is a right. The way we spend our holidays is a formidable indicator of our quality of life," Mr. Tajani told a group of ministers at The European Tourism Stakeholders Conference in Madrid on April 15. Mr. Tajani was appointed to his post by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The plan -- just who gets to enjoy the travel package has yet to be determined -- would see taxpayers footing some of the vacation bill for seniors, youths between the ages of 18 and 25, disabled people, and families facing "difficult social, financial or personal" circumstances. The disabled and elderly can also be accompanied by one other person. The EU and its taxpayers are slated to fund 30% of the cost of these tours, which could range from youth exploring abandoned factories and power plants in Manchester to retirees taking discount trips to Madrid, all in the name of cultural appreciation.

"The commission is literally considering paying people to go on holiday," Mats Persson, of pro-reform think-tank Open Europe, told Britain's News of the World. "In this economic climate, it's astonishing that the EU wants to bribe people with cheap holidays."

Mr. Tajani said the program will be piloted until 2013, and then fully launched.

Intended to instill a sense of cultural pride in Europeans, Mr. Tajani's human-rights travel will also help bridge the continent's north-south divide and pad resorts' business in their off-season, the Times reports.

Northern Europeans will be encouraged to visit southern Europe, and vice versa. Mr. Tajani wants to ensure people's "right to be tourists" remains intact.

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