Tag Archives: Kraftwerk

Love Vigilantes

Stayed up late, waiting for Bill to come home. Went to bed at 2:22, still no Bill. I guess he came home an hour later since I wasn’t sleeping all too well and when I went to visit the loo, there he was getting ready for bed.

I slept better once he got home. Before I went to sleep I heard reports about the earthquake in Chile. It was reported as an 8.3 earthquake but when I woke up this morning it was 8.8 which is really big.

The closest I ever got to or felt an earthquake is about a year or so ago and it was a quake in Morristown NJ I believe. I was sitting where I am now, in front of the computer, my right elbow on the table when I felt a vibration that lasted a few seconds.

Enough for me to notice, but not enough to remember until it was announced on the 11:00 News. One can’t help but wonder, especially on the east coast, more specifically in this metropolitan zone how much destruction would be cause if the epicenter was in this area.

I try not to think about it but when it’s the main story on cable news, you can’t help but think about it. I watched most of the day, waiting for the tsunami to hit Hawaii. MSNBC seemed to have a loop of surfers in the water for some reason.

They would report that the waters have been cleared of people, then these two dudes on long boards would be shown.

It’s been reported that Hawaii dodged a bullet, the waves weren’t as destructive as anticipated. Of course, Guam, Japan and Russia as well as other Pacific coast countries are still in danger.

I spoke to my brother in law Rex in California, who told me people were headed out to the coast to see the tsunami which is stupid. The ocean will kill you and doesn’t care. Still the jabbering continues on the cable news.

I’ve been listening to Spoon lately. I heard of them and had a few tracks from Mojo/Uncut and the Dark Was the Night CD’s but never went any further than that. After reading about them in last month’s Uncut I decided to download a few tracks and I find that I love them.

Very close to the types of things I would be doing if I had a band. Really cool stuff, acoustic based. Looked them up on Ultimate Guitar and found that their songs are easy to play too. Not too many Norwegians.

I learned that via Nick Lowe on Spectacle with Elvis Costello. Norwegian Fjords = chords.

Like Hot Chip a couple of weeks ago, I would be listening to a song that I thought was merely alright would have me wanting more a few minutes later. Last night, Spoon’s song, The Underdog blew me away.

And manageable on the guitar, and that includes the tricky and fast chord changes in the middle eight.

On the other end of the spectrum, thanks to my friend Sheilah posting a video clip of Maria Callas the other day I went to the library and took out two Callas CD’s. Collections of her arias. Amazing stuff, quite powerful and beautiful. I do have a Kiri te Kanawa collection, but this is legendary stuff.

Then on Facebook there was a posting about Brian Wilson who was quoted as enthusing about Johann Sebastian Bach and when I was in the library this afternoon I saw a collection called Weekend Bach and took it out.

Jeez, look at me! I’m getting all cultural and shit.

I also downloaded Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk. A remaster that came out late last year, and that of course is excellent.

And I downloaded Moses by Elizabeth Fraser (formerly from Cocteau Twins). Always good to hear Liz’ voice. All is recommended.

Here is what Hoboken looked like today.

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Back Door Man

Well it’s been yet another odd day in the course of a weird week. Let me also start off by saying that I was upset yesterday and decided to post directly to the people that comment frequently, namely Annemarie and Harpy.

It left me with a strange feeling, enough so that I relented and posted on the blog today, what was written yesterday. I’m feeling slightly better today despite somethings that have happened in the last couple of days.

It all started Tuesday night. Around the close of the business day for those that are still engaged in business, I saw an ad on Craigslist and sent my resume to the email address posted. I didn’t expect to hear anything until the next day, but to my surprise, I got a call back within minutes.

Cathy Cline was her name and she told me that she had received a job posting that I would be perfect for, and could I come in to see her the next day, Wednesday? She mentioned that timing was everything and I chose the 9:30 appointment in the morning.

I got there, right on time, filled out paperwork that I was told I would not have to fill out since I filled it out online. I meet with Cathy Cline who mentions that she’s worked with Teresa Scalisi & Janelle Rintrona, both former Wanker Banker employees.

It seemed like I was in good company. Cathy Cline had some requests, to revamp my resume, using bullet points. She gave me a memo with the company’s name on it, Selective Equity. Selective Equity is located at Great Jones Alley by Lafayette Street. I could definitely work there.

I called Bill afterward and asked if he could help with the revamping. He started doing it when he got the chance and I continued working on it when I got home. Emails between Bill and myself and Cathy Cline went on for an hour or so before we agreed on a bullet point resume.

All I had to do was wait. The day progressed into the evening, no problems. I had a good feeling about Selective Equity and hoped for the best. The next morning I was in the shower.

I heard the phone ring but couldn’t get to it. When I dried myself off I checked the phone. It was Cathy Cline asking me to call back. It’s all in the timing. Cathy Cline seemed pretty happy.

I called her back. She told me that the company, Selective Equity liked my resume and wanted to see me either that day or today, Friday. Timing being everything, I said today, meaning yesterday.

I was excited and started to think about what I was going to wear when the phone rang again a few minutes later. It was Cathy Cline. This time she didn’t sound so happy. She tells me that Selective Equity changed their minds, something about tossing out all the resumes and going to start all over again.

It seemed that Selective Equity was revamping their job posting. That was crushing. And from that point I drifted into despair. And while despairing, I decided to not post last night. I was that unhappy.

The day went on and it dragged for me. As I shuffled about here and there both inside the apartment and outside in Hoboken, a dark cloud hovered over me. I did whatever it was that I did yesterday when I finally had an idea.

I decided to call Selective Equity directly. Their website was quite lame, just a pitiful logo with no information available but I did have their phone number from the memo.

It was around 5:00 when I called and spoke to the receptionist. I mentioned that I had applied for a job and was told that Selective Equity had decided to do the job search a different way and threw out the resumes they had gathered.

The receptionist didn’t know anything about it and asked how I knew about the job, what company did I sign with? I told her I was reluctant to say the company’s name. She asked the counselor’s name and once again I was reluctant. She asked my name and I said, John.

Then she put me on hold and I thought to myself, ‘What the fuck am I doing?’ and hung up. I had a feeling I had gone too far. I did my best to put it out of my mind.

No harm, no foul, right?

Watched the usual Thursday night comedies, couldn’t get into them. My phone call lurked in the back of my mind. Bill came home but I didn’t say anything about it. We watched Jurassic Park, which I rented from the library.

I had seen it a few times, and I still really enjoy it. Bill had never seen it so we watched it. I was still enjoying the intensity of the whole thing. Spielberg, if anything truly can do suspense really well.

Bill went to bed afterward, I stayed awake watching TV. The day started as usual, Bill kissing me goodbye, me getting out of bed some time later.

Once again, I showered and once again the phone rang. Once again I checked the voice mail. Once again, Cathy Cline. Not so happy. I called Bill.

Now here is the basic difference between Bill and myself. I’m hesitant to call Cathy Cline back, and I explain what I had done the day before. Bill says I should call, that she might have a different position for me.

For Bill the glass is half full. For me, the glass is being held by Hiram Monserratte and he’s coming towards my face.

I thought the best possible thing I could do is deny, deny, deny. I get off the phone with Bill and call Cathy Cline. Oh how Cathy Cline was upset with me.

How could I betray her like that? She trusted in me, giving me the name of the company, since I knew Teresa Scalisi and Janelle Rintrona that I must be alright. This is why companies hire recruiters so they don’t have to deal with applicants like myself.

I explained that I was desperate and just wanted to find out about the job. She didn’t need to hear that, telling me that she knows how hard it is out there. Only a few jobs and way too many applicants. Her own son is unemployed so she knows all about that.

Oh she was disappointed with me and basically left me feeling that she would not doing anything else for me. Oh, and she wished that I would have a good weekend.

I actually felt a little better once I knew where I stood. The day wasn’t as heavy as it was yesterday. I went out, walked around. Enjoyed the sunshine. Texted a lot with Rand and when I got home sent out more resumes.

Hopefully Cathy Cline won’t blacklist me, sending my name out to other staffing agencies and letting them know of the egregious sin that I performed.

If she did, well the news hasn’t reached Jersey City, where I have a job interview set up for Monday morning for yet another agency.

Nothing is guaranteed, they’re just going to meet me and see what skills I have.

I will be there at 10:59.