Back to being a productive adult

STIPIMM: “I’ve Got Rhythm,” by George Gershwin

The current period of employment uncertainty is about to come to an end. Not a permanent end, mind you, but a two-and-a-half month hiatus. It’s been a big mess: working here and there, a day or two at a time at all kinds of places. Keeping track of it has not been the easiest thing in the world. I think I’ve already filled out three W-4 forms this year, and that’s not counting the several I’ll probably end up filling out by year’s end. Let’s look at some of the places I’ve worked in the past couple of months, almost worked at, or will be working at in the near future.

1) Avid — This is the big fish that finally landed in my boat. I’ve been itching to work here in some capacity since I got to Massachusetts. For those of you who are uninitiated in filmmaking, Avid is one of the biggest makers of video editing software in the world. Indeed, before Apple’s Final Cut Pro began making inroads, it was pretty much the only game in town. Most editing professionals still use Avid in their daily work. Avid’s clientele tends toward big corporate clients looking for proprietary software, so they’re always working on new software at Avid. I will only be working there for two and a half months (while someone is on maternity leave), but while there, I’ll be doing quality control on a few specific aspects of their software. Essentially, I’ll be looking for bugs in the software by putting it through its paces, over and over again. Probably won’t be the most exciting thing in the world, but it will be interesting enough, makes excellent use of my new degree, and gets me in the door at one of the best places to work in this area for people like me. And they pay pretty darn well too. Not H&R Block well, but well enough. The only negative: they’re HQ’d in Tewksbury, MA, which is about a 45-minute drive from home. It’ll be worth it.

2) AVFX — This is a company that sets up audio-visual-lighting equipment for corporate clients. Usually this means they work in hotel conference centers, but sometimes they do bigger work (like the 2004 Democratic National Convention**). It’s a really cool little company and they are very good at what they do. I answered an ad on Craig’s List in which they were looking for various types of people. I didn’t fill the bill on any of their full-time jobs, but I was more than qualified to help out on some of their crews, which involved hauling around equipment, setting it up, tearing it down, and loading up the truck to take back to the company’s HQ. Not the brainiest work around, but I did learn plenty from it and if anyone ever looks at my soft, uncalloused hands and says I never did a day of manual labor in my life, I can always point to AVFX. The main negative of this place was that the work was scattershot; I was hired as needed for various crews, and I ended up working maybe once or twice a week. Had I really wanted to, I probably could have stuck it out and after some months I probably would have moved up to larger positions, but it’s not really my bag in the long run.

3) Houghton-Mifflin — Actually, I was technically working for a temp agency, but Houghton-Mifflin was their primary client and the one I worked with for two days. Another valiant attempt on my part to fill my empty schedule with temporary work. There were two nice things about working here: 1) it was Houghton-Mifflin, which is perhaps the biggest publisher of textbooks in the country; if you’re in book publishing in Boston, that’s the place you probably want to work; 2) it wasn’t just typical temp work; I was doing graphic production work, right in line with my background. But it was temp work, and it was few and far between. Moreover, the temp agency seemed to expect me to be at their beck and call at the drop of a hat. That got old quick.

4) Professional Staffing Group — Another specialty temp agency where I spent the better part of a day filling out paperwork… only this time with no resulting work. I miss the days where I actually applied for the place I'd end up working at instead of some impersonal assembly line of workers.

5) Borders Books & Music — After a while, Bridget and I decided that I might have to bite the bullet and get a brainless retail job or some kind. Borders was the first of a couple of places that I almost ended up working at. I had applied online not really expecting a reply, mainly because I’d never gotten a response from any of the previous times I’d applied to big chain bookstores like that (in D.C., particularly). But lo and behold, they gave me a call and I interviewed there. Turns out though, they were mainly looking for someone who could, at first, work a couple of weeks during the wee hours of the morning, helping renovation during 12-hour shifts six days a week (that’s 72 hours a week for all you mathophobes). I tentatively accepted at first, but then backed out. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I can start saying no to things that will drive me crazy to do.

6) Home Depot — Another online application that I didn’t expect to bear fruit. But sure enough, they called me not once, but twice to try to set up an interview. As much as I like touching the wood at Home Depot, and as interesting (if physically difficult) the work might be to a handyman like myself, the offers for interviews came after I’d already gotten the job at Avid. No discounted tools for me.

7) Hollywood Express Video — Not to be confused with the nationwide chain with a similar name, Hollywood Express is a small local chain of video stores that falls into the category of “good” video stores, i.e., ones that have a good selection of foreign and independent films. I was originally set to have a second interview today, but because of Avid and editing “Commit to the Line,” it would have been waaaay too much to try to add this to the mix. It kind of broke my heart though… it really was a cool store, with surprisingly good benefits for their employees, and they were looking to possibly make me a full-time manager sooner rather than later. But on the bright side, I’ll never have to encounter one of those irate customers who doesn’t think they should have to pay a late fee.

8) The crappy interviews — I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the insultingly bad interviews I had at two places where I was applying to be an editor. One was an interesting web site that markets the “lifetips.com” name to various businesses (e.g., “taxes.lifetips.com” goes to H&R Block) and then develops the tip sites for them. The other business was a small journal and book publisher for various businesses. In both cases, I wound up with an interviewer that decided it was his job to give me career advice, advice that invariably led away from their companies. It would have been laughable if it wasn’t so insulting. However, they were doing me a favor, though not for the reasons these assholes thought. Avoiding these jobs kept me open for something much better. (N.B.: Remember that any comments involving "one door closing, another door opening" or any Chicken Soup for the Soul kind of crap will be made fun of.)

9) New England Institute of Art — Rachelle, the woman for whom I’m editing the documentary, was hired a few weeks ago as the head of the new Photography department at the New England Institute of Art. Because she has been pleased with me and my work (I didn’t say she was sane… 8^), she asked me if I’d be willing to teach a class or two in her new department this fall. Needless to say, I told her to take a flying leap, teaching is beneath me. Okay, no… I gladly accepted. Then, Rachelle told me that she was recommending me to the places she already taught at but wouldn’t be able to continue at (Emerson College, Art Institute of Boston). No word from them yet, but Rachelle also recommended me to the Digital Media Production department head at NEIA, and that head was very interested in me. Indeed, I went in today to meet her, and she seemed very pleased with my background and all but signed me up to teach up to three classes this fall, all in film and/or video! (these are in addition to whatever I’d teach for Rachelle) I was very impressed with the facilities at NEIA (much better than those to be found at American University) and I’m extremely excited about teaching there. The only question mark is enrollment; Mary, the head of the department, seemed confident there would be enough enrollment in their ever-growing department to need to hire me this fall, but the possibility is always there that it won’t be. Whatever the case, this is big.

10) Newbury College — This fall, I applied to several colleges and universities that had openings in their film and video faculties. None of them bore any fruit, until today. Literally five minutes before I was due to meet Mary at NEIA, a department head at Newbury College called and asked if I was available to teach a Video Field Production course there this fall. Just like I told Rachelle, I told this woman to go away and leave me alone. Not quite… I said I was absolutely up for it. And so, I’ll be going into meet with this department head on the 23rd. Another potentially big coup.

And so, my period of unemployment will end next week after two and a half months. Then, I will have one full-time job until the end of June, after which I’ll probably try to do some more temp work, maybe at AVFX, until the fall, when hopefully I’ll get to teach. And if not… there’s always H&R Block…

Whew!

** When I found out that AVFX did the Democratic National Convention, I jokingly asked their manager if they were responsible for the balloon fiasco (“We need more balloons! ... What the fuck are you guys doing up there?!”) on CNN. No, they weren’t to blame, but he did have a theory as to why it happened. He noted that security concerns led to a lockdown during major speeches (like Kerry’s), during which no one could go up or down between floors; once a speech began, you were stuck on that floor. He believes that the people who were in charge of setting off the balloons were caught on the wrong floor when the speech began, and thus there was no one to release them when the time came. Thus, a very angry director became immortalized on CNN.

Phoebe burped

STIPIMM: "Sad Professor," by R.E.M.

Well, that was weird.

I am sitting in Bridget's office at B.U., waiting for her to finish a meeting with two of her classmates. I was originally just supposed to drop her off and return home whence I came. But, fortuitously, Bridget invited me into Starbucks (where her meeting was going to be...those college kids and their coffee) to get something. Thus, I parked at a meter, plopped in a quarter and went in to get a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino (Is that spelled right? I don't care.).

When I came out, however, to take myself and Phoebe back home (well, first to Target, but that's neither here nor there), I put the key in the ignition, turned it over like I have 1,000 times, and... nothing. Well, I take that back -- the radio did come on, and the dashboard lit up all "let's go!" But the car itself did not start; indeed, the starter didn't even turn over, which told me pretty much right away what was wrong. Entreaties to "Phoebe, don't do this to me" were futile. Phoebe wasn't starting.

My first thoughts in these situations is always practical. We got a problem, how do we fix it, or at least get it to someone who can fix it? But, for the first time in this situation, I had a wife who was sitting not 75 feet away idly drinking her coffee. So I went in and told her so I could share the worry. And of course, she wanted to see what was happening, and out she came, only to watch me repeat the same things I'd already tried to get her started (I'm not blaming Bridie here... I just think it's funny).

Now, starts the worry. We're gonna have to call a tow truck, right? And my day is ruined. And so is my bank account. All that. Fortunately, two of these things didn't have to happen. You see, 99% of the time that a breakdown happens, you're nowhere near a service station. Had I gone to Target and shut down the car in the parking lot, or had I gone home and stopped the car in front of our apartment, we would have been in trouble, and a tow truck would have had to be called. But, by some great luck that I don't know I deserve (maybe Bridget deserves it...), there's a service station on the corner opposite from where I parked the car.

And so, I go over and see if they can take the car. Sure enough, if we can get it there. All that would take is pushing it across the street, which is no small feat in Boston traffic, but still not too bad. As far as getting people to push it, why, Bridget was meeting with two strapping young lads who were more than happy to put their backs into getting Phoebe across the road (to get to the other side...).

Thus, Phoebe was eased into a service bay less than 15 minutes after she wouldn't start. That has to be a personal record. Of course, since I planned to come back here to work on sound for Bridget's show anyway, I'm sticking around to see what the damage is to fix the starter (told ya so) and, well, to hang out. But also, thanking my lucky stars, because this could be much, much worse.

Old friend

STIPIMM: “Surfer Girl," by the Beach Boys

I wrote a friend of mine from Houston, Wynn Martin, an e-mail on March 12, trying to catch up:

Are you still at this address, old friend? If so, let me know!
Chris Mc.

I’ve written him an e-mail like that every year for the past 10 years or so, ever since we both lived in Houston, Texas, while I was going to Rice University. Since I left undergrad, our friendship has been limited to these occasional e-mails, which one of us will send checking in on the other, followed up with a couple of friendly e-mails back and forth. And then, for another bunch of months, we wouldn’t write, for how much is there really to say when you’re not involved in another person’s life anymore?

When I was at Rice University, however, it certainly wasn’t that way. He was the only real friend I made in my freshman year of college, and I would go on to become his housemate sophomore year. Indeed, he would be the last person I would ever share a room with until Miss O’Leary came along. Many of my best memories of Rice involve him in some way: he was my lookout when I stole the head of the school mascot from the keeper’s wide-open dorm room; he and I together waged an unsuccessful campaign to have Beavis and Butthead elected homecoming queen and king (respectively). He was the first person to comfort me when my high-school sweetheart broke up with me, and he vociferously protective of me when I was dabbling in the dating waters of Rice during my sophomore year. So many memories, some good, some not-so-good, some awful, but all fundamentally involving Wynn. I spent my junior year overseas, and when I returned, we had both sort of moved on. Nevertheless, we have remained friends ever since, and my memories of Houston and Rice University will always be vitally linked to him.

Wynn’s an odd cat, though; anyone who meets him will figure that out in about 30 seconds. He’s as outgoing and outwardly comfortable as anyone I’ve ever met. He has a sense of humor that only a few people, including myself, really completely get. He has a tendency (that many thought was weird) to seek out friends who are considerably younger than him; for instance, when I met him, I was 18 years old, and he was 24. I guess he was one of those people who didn’t quite like the fact that he had to leave campus once he graduated from Rice. Another unusual thing about him: he prides himself (sometimes a bit too much) on being an expert on the life and work of Theodore Geisel (he once taught a class at Rice on the subject). I should also mention that he's always been a very bendy fellow, in part because of a childhood injury that left one leg shorter than the other and his skeleton just in a general state of flexibility. The thing about his bendiness of which he was most proud? Auto-fellatio. He came out of the closet while I was away in France, which was a relief to all of us who knew that there was something awfully repressed about his sexuality. After that, though, he was fiercely proud to be gay; coming out was clearly a turning point in his life, and those who cared about him were very happy for him.

I’ve lost track of a lot of the details of his life post-1996. I know he worked in a small computer business (which I think he partially owned), and then, several years ago, he changed course and went into nursing (he just became a registered nurse earlier this year). I stayed with him in 1999 when I went down to Houston for Beer-Bike, but since then, it’s just been those scattered e-mails that have kept us in touch. When I wrote him on March 12, I was looking forward to telling him about my marriage to Bridget and moving up to Boston. I was sure that the e-mail address I sent my latest message to was good (it has worked for the past 8 years), so I was surprised when he didn’t write back.

Every so often, I do what I call my “stalker searches,” when I get nostalgic or curious or whatever and do Google searches on just about everyone I’ve ever known. I did one of those today for people I had known at Rice; for some reason, today I was remembering the failed homecoming campaign and it triggered curiosity into where everyone I knew from those days was at. Wynn was first on the list.

And as you can probably guess by the tone of this post, I found an obituary. Wynn died on February 22, three weeks before I sent my e-mail, and just a month after he became a registered nurse. I’m not sure what the cause was, but it seemed to be a natural death, perhaps related to some chronic problems he had.

The feelings I have are new to me. I do feel very sad for Wynn and his family. He was still a young man, and he was certainly someone who deserved happiness, because he was so free about giving it to other people. But what I'm feeling is not out-and-out grief, per se, for this loss of an old friend. Like I said, our remaining contact was fleeting, and I won’t pretend that he was an important part of my life any more. But he was a very important part of my memories, and as all of you who know me know, I’m nothing if not excessively nostalgic. I can remember my great-uncle Hank reading through the daily obituaries in the Daily Oklahoman, looking for people he knew when he was a kid; I always wondered what it would feel like to find someone you knew from your childhood, someone who was perhaps important to you back then, and then learn that they were just gone. Now I know.

It feels weird to say this about someone whom I haven't seen in over seven years, but I will miss Wynn dearly.

Environmental scourge

Dihydrogren monoxide. Donate what you can!