02.04.10 - 8:58 am

opportunity is excessively intimidating, in spite of the excitement. and in this case it all seems to come in one continuous wave.

Dear Jordan,

Thank you for your interest in the Communications Operator Trainee (911) position with the City of Lake Oswego. You have been selected to participate in the next phase of this recruitment process. The Emergency Communications Personnel Test is scheduled for...

it started here. the first response from any position i had applied for in months. a few days after that, i ran into an old customer from waves. a beer and wine distributer. he gave me his card, i emailed him and soon after i received this:

OK, Jordan
Can you please send me your Info Home Address and how we can contact you? Our Merchandiser Manager Jason Boykin will be getting a hold of you. Can you start Monday? How Driving record? Drug test? All Cool? Also any questions can also call me.....

then, julies sister camie mentioned that her boss was considering hiring to work in his lab at portland state university and gave me his contact information.

Hi Jordan,
Thanks for sending along your Resume and cover letter. As I am sure that Camie told you we run a small fishroom here at PSU to support the research efforts in the lab. I could certainly use someone to help manage the facility. I would be happy to meet with you in person to discuss things in more detail and to show you the fish facility and lab. I am still not sure if I will hire someone for this position, but I should have my budgets for the next 4 years worked out very soon. Please let me know if you would like to visit the lab and check things out. This would be an informal visit and not an interview at this point since I have not officially advertised a position yet.

meanwhile, after the firing of tom from upscales, travis calls me to ask if i would work part time for him. suddenly after four months of unemployment i abruptly find myself facing four different employers and ill have to chose from them based on my needs of income and parenting. i get $12 an hour at upscales. i asked for $15 an hour at the PSU lab. emergency operator is $18 an hour. i think ill ask for $18 to $20 from the merchandiser manager position.

at upscales my responsibility is low. i get to help people surrounded by the things i love to talk about and take care of. i could float along and just enjoy the ease of the job, but instead i have already begun changing things. cleaning things. organizing things. trying to make the store as good as it should be for a store of its caliber. much more potential than the current employees have invested into it. it also exposes me to the people who would hire me to clean their tanks, design their lobby aquariums and then pay me handsomely to do so.

the PSU fish lab would suddenly put me in a position of responsibility i am not accustomed to. i would be overseeing research and grad assistants. they would come to me with concerns or questions and i would be there to make sure they do their job. i would maintain fish systems, be involved with the spawning processes and other scientific protocols. i would create and enforce a standardized set of tasks for my assistants to perform every day. and i would be the conduit to my boss, so that his hands are free to write grants and whatever else research doctorates do. i would have flexible hours and depending on the amount of money the grant offered, i could work part time to full time. i would have access to a lab and with it the potential to conduct research on my own, furthering my education. the wheels are already turning in my mind about curing diseases in marine fish among other potential advances to the hobby and industry. working with other researchers. getting paid to scuba dive in the south pacific.

then there is the distribution of beer and wine. i imagine i would always have a steady supply of tasty free samples. but beyond that i know nothing else of the job. could it become a career? probably. does it pay well? ive heard yes, it does. will i be driving a truck at 5 am every day? i dont know, i hope not. i need to be able to get ashton to school, at the very least a babysitter in the morning. or likewise, be able to pick him up from a babysitter by 530 every day. i want to be paid well for this.

all of them are getting their ducks in a row, so to speak. the PSU researcher is organizing the details of his grant and the hiring he can do. ive been playing phone tag with the HR lady from columbia distribution. im waiting on the results of my test from the city of lake oswego. and to fill my time i work at upscales three days a week, maintain several private aquariums and wait for my career life to potentially take off for the first time.

in very exciting directions.