People must be nuts.

It finally happened. I got a call yesterday saying I got the fucking job... How awesome is that. The guy told me they only hired two people out of twenty two. I just cannot believe I was one of the two. Honestly, I am just really happy I can bullshit my way through anything. If it weren't for my constant yapping for almost two hours, I doubt they would even look at me among all those other candidates. I guess my social skills are good for something after all and all that chatting random people up in bars finally paid off... And people say going out is a waste. It got me a job...
I still cannot believe they actually gave me a job.
Another thing is that the company I interviewed with first also wanted to bring me in for another round of interviews but I guess I am going to pass that offer since... it was one damn job I wanted.
You know what I've realized? It doesn't really matter what set of skills you have and what you can do with them, but more like being able to sell yourself and present your skill set in the best light possible. You can have minimal skills or virtually no working experience (hello, that's me), and still land a very decent job if you are able to make other people like you and convince them you actually know something. They must have believed me if they decided to call me back. And another thing? As I've mentioned yesterday, I interviewed with five different teams and apparently they all liked me and would like me to work for them. Which works out perfect for me since I have a choice now as to what I will be doing for the next few years... That is if I don't get bored with it again... And even if I do, I can always find another job. It's not like it's a difficult thing to do. I can bullshit my way through pretty much anything. And I will actually have some relevant experience once I start this position.
I wish they only knew what they are doing by hiring me...
Crazy people.

Getting away.

I had yet another interview this morning. I truly think it went much better than the one yesterday. I did have to meet with five different managers which was a bit overwhelming and somewhat annoying towards the end (try to repeat the same thing to five different people). However, I enjoyed it overall and I am pretty sure that the first manager liked me as she took more than the allotted half an hour to talk to me. Looks like a good sign to me. I liked one more manager, or should I say I would be interested in working on her team the most as well...
Yesterday was the usual Wednesday night and, as usual, I was in DC. This time, a few of my friends called me up so it was ten of us that went out. It was pretty awesome since I haven't seen some of those people for months. It just meant the evening was going to turn out to be even more exciting than usual. And then a good friend of mine broke news to me that he is leaving the country for a year... going to Africa... leaving next Friday. Damn, damn, damn. It was very upsetting in a way since I've known this guy for ages by now and I will really miss him while he's gone. On the other hand, with all the things that have been going on in his life lately, he does need to get away from here to straighten his life and sort out his thoughts. So hopefully it'll do him some good. Plus, I might meet him in Europe next spring when he takes his vacation and I finally leave this country to travel around a little bit.
Can't wait till that happens...

A mysterious call.

I just had my first job interview today. It went... OK I guess. It wasn't as great as I thought it would be, but then again, I primarily went there to prepare myself for tomorrow's gig since that is the one I really want. The atmosphere was pretty relaxed and informal but, to my horror, I realized that the position is very similar to what I am doing now... and I am trying to escape this line of work. They do seem a lot more forgiving and less stringent but I doubt they would accept my salary requirements anyway. But it was worth a try and helped me avoid the important interview jitters.
The funny thing happened while I was driving back to work. Naturally... when was the last thing something interesting happened? I wouldn't be exaggerating if I say yesterday... Anyhow, I have to back up a little bit... when I was interviewing with managers my phone went off... twice. It was on vibrate so I don't think they heard it, but it was still uncomfortable. Every time it went off, I tried to talk as loud as I could to prevent them from hearing it. Hope it worked. Anyhow, once I was in my car I decided to call back to see who was so persistent. I didn't know the number so when some guy picked up on the other end, I just told him that someone just called me from this number, and then asked who it was. The guy replied, "Is this S.?" - naming some random girl name. "No, you have the wrong number". And then I asked him where he got the number from. He said that some girl gave it to him when he was in DC. Me, thinking that maybe I have done it and just forgot about it, asked when and where it happened. He said it was in Cheesecake Factory in Georgetown. Now I knew it couldn't have been me since I don't go there... ever. And then something unexpected happened... the guy said "Thank you" in Russian... so I said something back.
"You speak Russian?"
"Yes, do you?" I was surprised when he said he does. I expected to hear a few standard phrases that everyone knows, but he was fluent, although had an accent.
It was getting interesting so I kept chatting. He told me about his background and what he does. I decided not to tell him anything, since I didn't know who he was. At the end, when I was about to hang up he asked if we could meet sometimes.
"What for?"
"To hang out somewhere"
"Well, we'll figure out a way to hang out sometime". I will probably never see him anyway.
Seriously, what are the odds of a guy getting a wrong number from a girl (maybe even on purpose), calling that number and coming upon a girl who also speaks his language. What are the odds of me calling him back and keeping up with the conversation until I found out he used to live there for a while... This is very mysterious...
In any case, I have to prepare for my interview tomorrow now and give myself a crash course on CMOs and SOX.
Until the next time.

Young and restless... still.

Seriously, I thought weekends were invented for people to rest. And yet, after this past one, I feel as if I've never stopped to take a break from work. This Monday felt like Friday all over again... At least it was fun.
This year, my birthday fell on this past weekend, therefore I couldn't miss the opportunity to take full advantage of it and instead of having a birth day, have a birth weekend. Why not, right? I decided to take it slow Friday since I knew Saturday would be pretty busy and I needed to be rested. As a result, I ended up in the local bar with a friend and her potential new man. Apparently, she wanted to get my opinion on him to decide whether she wanted to date him or not. The night flew by fairly quick, and then we decided to leave the place and move to some lounge. However, as we were trying to get into one, the bouncer wouldn't let us in since the guy we were with wasn't dressed appropriately. Big deal... we just went to R.'s house and hung out there for another hour or so.
Next day was like a blur. I spent half of the afternoon on the phone trying to coordinate things with my friends who were coming out with me. My stupid phone was going off every ten minutes. Finally, by 8pm everything and everyone seemed settled and I could breath easier... except it started raining. That's just great. Then, as I was about to leave my house, my friend told me that the highway was blocked due to some major accident. Apparently, as he was driving to my house, he saw a fire truck standing perpendicular to the traffic. That sucked big time. I was running late as it is, and having to take an alternative route would delay me even further. That's why I convinced my friends to try and take highway before we do anything else. To my great relief, everything was cleared by the time we left and we got to DC on time. We also got totally soaked the moment we got out of the car. It was raining like crazy and the place we went to looked much emptier than usual. That suited me well since at least we had space to move both inside and outside... The night turned out to be awesome, even though some of my friends couldn't make it because of the rain. It was about fifteen of us that made it and everyone ended up having a good time. We finally left the lounge not long before it closed and headed home. I got to my bed exhausted and passed out almost immediately, but no before uploading all my pictures on my laptop... there's a lot of blackmail there, if you ask me.
And the funniest thing was the present that my friend gave me - the case of wine. It was awesome and so hilarious, and right on point. Now, not only can I get drunk while I'm out but also slowly become an alcoholic within the walls of my own apartment. Just joking... fantastic present though.
Sunday wasn't any slower since it was the day my family came over. More than twenty of them. It was loud and long, but still pretty fun. We certainly laughed our asses off at one guy's jokes and stories - I remember him since I was ten, always telling funny stories and making everyone else laugh till they cried.
Once everyone left, I still had to go meet a few other friends. I have a group of friends who normally don't go out anywhere except movies and Starbucks, and they wanted to see me too over the weekend. I met up with them around 11pm and spend another hour chatting. When I got home around 12:30am, I was exhausted yet again and couldn't believe the weekend was over.
Don't get me wrong, I had a ton of fun, but I feel like there was no weekend at all and that I started off this week without getting any rest. It was all worth it. And by the way, I feel like I'm getting old now... really old. Alright, alright, I am just kidding again. I am having too much fun to feel old. And another great thing? No drama this weekend with guys. Which is an accomplishment in and of itself. Actually, no... I am lying now. Although I wouldn't call it "drama". More like a funny episode.
When I was talking to my friends Saturday night, some guy came over to me and started a conversation, claiming he knows me. His face definitely looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I know him from. And then he said, " You are the one who borrowed my jacket a few months ago!". That's when it came to me... I know him through another friend of mine when we were out together, and as we were about to head home, I took his jacket since it was chilly outside and we had a long walk to the car. I truly hope he got his jacket back, although him not mentioning anything else about it convinced me that he did. The guy told me that since it was my birthday I had to dance with him... and I wanted to, but I was so busy with other people that I simply did not have time to do it. Sorry, hope he forgives me... I guess I'll make it up to him next time I run into him... which I'm sure will happen pretty soon... it's been a theme with me lately... running into people I know from somewhere... half of the time not knowing where I know them from...

Organized confusion.

So today started off kind of weird and up until now, proved to be hilarious. One major thing is the fact that I stayed home last night even though it was a Wednesday night. I simply overslept and by the time I woke up it was too late to go anywhere. My friends bitched at me that I abandoned them but I figured they are together so they would have just as much fun. It's not like I was leaving one of them alone in DC. I missed being out though...
As I was driving to work today, the real fun began. First, I got a text message from this guy I met last Saturday, saying "Bella, went to [DC lounge] yesterday but you weren't there, was looking for you". I then remembered telling him that I usually go to that place on Wednesday. I replied saying that I wasn't there last night. Poor guy... went out all the way to DC hoping I was going to be there. Oh well, it's not like I promised him to show up... not like we made any plans. Then I messaged my friends asking them how their night went, and telling them about the morning message from this guy. Around 11am, one of them replied, "I thought I saw him there... How could you stand him up when he went there just for you?" Obviously, she was mocking me so I replied with some dumb joke and then asked what else was interesting. "Some guy was asking R. about you". OK, this was getting interesting. I waited for another hour until R. got on the messenger hoping to find out who the guy was. Here's how our conversation went.
R.: Do you remember white dude with spikes at [DC lounge]?
Me: White dude with spikes?
R.: Spiky (gel) hair
Me: Short and lean one? (at this point I was thinking about a friend of mine I hang out with quite often all over DC... but then he's not really white...)
R.: Yes.
Me: He's not white... wears a lot of neck jewelry? Hangs out with bold dude? About my height?
R.: No jewelry, he was dancing with you the other time at [the lounge], and then you started kissing, I thought you knew as he acted as if he were good friends with you...
Me: (first of all, I've never kissed anyone there, and now I have absolutely no clue who that was) Kissing? I've never kissed anyone at [the lounge]... lately...
R.: Yes you did! I remember!
Me: I am trying to remember. Definitely white? When was it?
R.: Yes, definitely, definitely, definitely.
Me: Copman? (a nickname my friends gave to my most recent now-ex-flame)
R.: No. It was maybe last week or the one before that.
Me: (OK, so after Copman) The one you bought cigarettes for?
R.: No! Okay, white dude, brown hair, not the cigarettes guy...
Me: (last chance guess that I just thought of) Oh I remember... The one who was sitting with us outside and then went inside... The one you said wasn't your type?
R.: Yes.
Me: Ah... Finally! (I almost forgot about him). What about him?
R.: He was asking about you and looking for you.
Me: Oh? And? (I can't believe she just put me through all that if nothing even happened. I was hoping for some interesting story there).
R.: He was just wondering where you were. That is all.
Me: Damn, I have to start making PSAs every time I plan to show up there. S. told me she saw the guy from Saturday looking for me, now you are telling me about this guy...
Seriously, this is so funny. Half an hour spent trying to figure out who it was... And by the way, I never kissed that guy. We danced, yes, but that was it. I don't care about him anyway, so all that excitement was for nothing... bummer.
Oh well, back to my iPod and The Economist.
And yes, I am definitely going out to [the lounge] today. I guess I have to check in and show my ass there before someone files a missing person report...

A sigh of relief.

So all this mess with the HR manager yesterday? Totally exaggerated to my deepest relief. I called him back today from another phone number and he didn't seem to recognize me since I tried to change my voice up a bit too. Or it is also possible that he is professional enough to pretend he wasn't aware who it was. Either way I am happy we were able to put this misunderstanding behind us.
Now I am happy to announce that I actually have some options. Ah, it feels so good to have options. I have two job interviews next week, and even though the one I mentioned yesterday is more important to me, it's good to know I have a back up. Or at least I can pin them against one another if it comes to choosing between the two. Of course, in order to do that, I have to secure both positions. I am keeping my fingers crossed. For both of them.
I also switched up a bit my plans about buying a new place. Now I decided to wait until winter. First of all, I am hoping for the interest rates cut. Part of it came true last Friday when the Fed finally cut the discount rate. Now I just have to wait for the federal rate cut. Next, I decided to boost my credit score in order to move it from "Good" to "Excellent". I am almost there... actually according to two out of three credit bureaus, I am there, but the other one doesn't think so. Therefore I applied for the credit card earlier today in order to increase my credit line. That, in turn, should bring my credit score up a few points before I am finally ready to buy a house. Another thing, and possibly a major reason, is the fact that I am currently in the process of looking for a new job and, in turn, higher income. Although I think I will be able to qualify for the loan I need now, a higher pay will give me more options and greater flexibility. Plus, I'll be able to save up some more towards my down payment and other associated costs. Lastly, I want to wait a bit and see what happens to the market. I am positive that the buyer market will hold for at least another year, so I have until at least next summer to buy something... Just a few thoughts here.
Anyhow, it's almost time to go home and definitely time to pack up my stuff. Seriously, my iPod has been my savior at work over the past few weeks. It definitely got me through some rough boring days. Just need to keep uploading more songs into it...

The light at the end of the tunnel.

I finally got a phone call from my recruiter this morning telling me she was able to arrange an interview with this financial company I would love to work for. It is scheduled for next Tuesday but I still need to have an interview prep before I go there. The good thing is, these recruiters will actually meet with me to go over the details of the interview, things to expect and lookout for, and such. The only thing left for me to do is to show up for an interview. So wish me luck.
But as usually happens with me, I have to mess up somewhere. Everything cannot be perfect. So I did. On my way home. Last night I got a voice message from this guy whom I met Saturday, but I didn't get a chance to call him back or store his name in my phone. I just figured I'd call him back the next day. Today, as I was sitting at work, I got another phone call from the number I knew was his. Since it wasn't stored, I couldn't tell for sure, but I was pretty positive it was the same number that appeared on my called ID last night. As I was driving back home, I decided to call him back. So I dialed the number and when someone picked up on the other end, said "Hey, it's [me]. What's up with you?" The person, and it was a guy, sounded very surprised, so I repeated the greeting, now adding "dude" at the end of the sentence. The person went quiet so I figured I called the wrong number, or that the guy is sharing a number with someone, and just hung up. Then I decided to check my messages. As I was listening to the most recent one, I felt the color draining from my face and my mouth fell open - the guy who called me while I was at work wasn't the Saturday guy, but turned out to be an HR manager I had a phone interview with last week. You must be kidding me... I cannot believe that an idiot like me did not listen to her messages first and then returned a phone call. I cannot believe I asked him what is up... I cannot believe I called him "dude"... Oh I hope he did not recognize the phone number! The fact that no one called back gave me some hope, but not much... Stupid, stupid, stupid me...
My friend recently told me his desk is an organized confusion... With me, it's even worse.

My life seems to be an organized confusion...

Without wasting any time.

Oh I am so excited it's almost weekend. And it's almost my birthday too so it's about time to start thinking about the place to go and people to invite. I'll do it next week though...
You know the funny thing that happened this Wednesday though? If you've guessed it involves a guy, you're right. That night I last saw E. I forgot to mention that when we ran into each other, I was with another guy and he was with some chick. The best part of it though is that I ran into him again this week. Well, actually he ran into me more like. As I was walking through the crowd of people trying to make my way to the bar, I felt someone pulling on my arm. I turned around and there he was, standing there smiling at me. We chatted for a bit again , and then went our ways. Am I bound to run into him every week now? Anyhow, as the night was approaching its end, I went outside with this guy I met on the dance floor. The moment I walked out, I regretted it though. There was E. with his friends, talking to some girl. He saw the guy I was with, and smiled at me. I smiled back, it's not like he's wasting any time either... For the rest of the night, the guy and I were chatting with his friends since mine were dancing somewhere downstairs. At some point during the night, he gave me a rose, so now it was laying beside me on the couch. Then something hilarious happened. E., who was sitting nearby, got up and started walking past us, actually climbing past us, since the place was fairly packed. As he was doing so, he saw the rose, picked it up and moved it about three inches away from me. Then he just kept climbing... I think he saw some of his other friends at the other side of the couch. So here's the thing... what the hell was the deal with the rose? It looked so funny, I could barely restrain myself from laughing... Why climb and make a fool out of yourself if you could get up and walk extra ten feet?
Anyhow, it's time to go home and this was so amusing, I decided I had to mention it. I guess I'll see him again next week... me with a new guy and him with a new chick. I hope it doesn't happen every week though. Although so far it's two out of two.
Weekend's here... finally.

Finito La Commedia.

I think I'm done playing games with E. There's another proof in the string of my recent relationships how easily I get bored with a person. Relationship is the wrong word here though, since it wasn't one... more like... I can't even think of the right word. I just don't want to pretend anymore that there's something there when I know there isn't. Since that last Wednesday, I saw him once again during the weekend. I heard from him that Saturday when he text messaged me to say it was hot outside. Well, no shit... it's hot outside here too. We then made tentative plans for Sunday, after he gets off work. As I was doing my usual Sunday evening thing, i.e. reading a book and sipping a latte at Starbucks, he asked me if I were bored. Well, not really, but if you got better things to do... We decided to meet up later that same evening and it would've been even more fun if he hadn't been complaining about how tired he was... poor thing. In any case, I managed to leave early this time leaving him to get some sleep and trying to catch up on my own a bit.
... As I was talking to my friends yesterday afternoon though, I realized that this fling is basically over for me and it's about time to wrap things up. I still sent him a message on Tuesday asking him what he was up to. I didn't want to disappear so abruptly. His reply was, "Was sleeping". Oh well, I let him sleep that evening.
Yesterday I was in DC, as usual. Imagine my surprise when I saw him and his friends there too... Actually, I saw his friends first and I am pretty sure they saw and recognized me too. Still, I just kept walking straight to my friends who were sitting nearby. After all, I only saw them once so it's not like we were obligated to talk to each other. Moments later though, he came by to me presumably to say Hi. I didn't see him approach since I was facing in another direction but my friend darted her eyes in his direction when she saw him, so I figured someone was behind me. We made some small talk and then he asked me how come he never heard from me again. I told him I messaged him last night and didn't hear back... I didn't say I received that last text. He looked surprised but didn't say anything. We talked for a few more seconds or so and then he was off and I was back to my friends.
Did I tell you how much I love my friends? They didn't ask me any unnecessary questions and were satisfied with my "Eh, it wasn't working" answer to their question as to why it's over... One thing they did ask me about was if he were good in bed... Amusing... But seriously, the thing is, I don't know how to answer this myself... not the bed question, you know what I mean. And until I figure it out for myself, I can't answer to anyone else either... Good thing they understand. I wish I knew it at least for myself though...

Meet the family.

So the copman and I went to DC last night. Actually, I was supposed to go to his house first upon getting off work, and then leave from there. At least that was the plan. In reality, I was so tired after work I had to go home and take a nap, so I didn't get to his house until about 10pm. That's when I also found out that his friends are coming over and we're all going together. That's just great. As if I needed to meet his friends now. In any case, it was too late to back out so we just waited until they got there to leave the house. You know one thing I was praying wouldn't happen? That one of his friends wouldn't be A., the guy I was involved with some time ago. Thankfully, I didn't know either of his friends. We stayed in the house a little bit longer waiting for his friends to finish their drinks and finally left for DC around 11pm. I decided to take my car since they didn't have to work the next day and I wasn't sure how long they were planning to stay out. The copman scared the hell out of me though when he knocked on my car window as I was waiting for the green light not five blocks from the lounge we were going to. Apparently, he left his friends to look for a parking and decided to ride with me to look for a space.
Once we got to the lounge, we did our own thing, drinking, dancing and chatting with my friends. We had our fun although his friends were leaving disappointed - they didn't have much luck finding girls... Too bad. As I was about to leave though, he asked me for a ride home since his friends live in Baltimore and were going to have to go out of their way to drive him home. Just one question, where were you before? I mean, didn't you realize it was going to happen before you left your house? Thankfully, his house is two miles away from mine, so I told him it wasn't a big deal. Once we got there, I figured I might as well come in... Why not? Especially since he jokingly told me he "might take advantage of me later" when we were dancing. I didn't leave until 5am again now having only two and a half hours of sleep. He was fine since he was off, and me? Me, that's another story. Don't ask me how I feel today.
Maybe it's his payback for the last week...