Did I pass? Or did I lie?

On Tuesday I went out to Medina to undergo a poly graph and drug test. First off, Map Quest has never steered me wrong! I always hear complaints about their directions, but so far, they have always been perfect for me. It was about a 35 minute drive and luckily it was nice out, so I had my windows down, wind blowing, and radio turned up (and yes, on occasion I was "dancing" in my car to the music). Most of my time was spent on curvy country roads with 45 mph speed limits. Much nicer to drive than the city!
I got there early and had nice fun paper work to fill out. Good thing I really don't mind doing it-I'm use to it. A guy came to take me to the poly graph and asked if I wanted to do the "sample" for the drug test first. Well, yeah, I had drank a lot of fluid so I would have to go--and I did have to go. But I have this anxiety about people hearing me go. Despite my efforts, nothing.....So we decided to wait until after the test. Which would be about an hour and a half--and I really did have to go! This was going to be fun.
I got in and he explained the procedure to me. Didn't sound too bad. I had a list of 13 questions about whether or not I was holding back any information regarding certain things. Of course all the answers were to be no. We discussed the questions, I told him my life in a nut shell, and honestly didn't hold anything back. It's not like I have anything I'm trying to hide!
Then he hooked me up to the machine. Kinda uncomfortable, but not too bad. There was a cord like on a telephone (back in the day when they still had coiling cords!): one that went around at the waist and another right above the chest. Then there was a thing like nurses use to take your blood pressure, which he pumped up until it cut off circulation to the rest of my arm. Then there were these two metal things that went on my fingers to measure my sweating. After I was all hooked up, he asked the questions, I answered them no, then we waited a few minutes and did it all again. It really wasn't that bad, and kinda fun actually. I know, I am not a normal person, but being normal would be boring!
After the poly graph, I tried for the drug test again! But, who can go with someone outside the door asking how things are going and if I had anything yet? Well, not me! And by this time I really had to go! So I had to wait in the waiting room until I thought I would burst and try again-about 45 minutes later! Third time's a charm....Right? It was for me! At least that day it was :) It literally took me 3 hours to pee in a stupid cup. It's just not normal in my mind to pee in anything other than a toilet. Even though I had to when I was pregnant (every single doctor's visit), I still couldn't do it. I had problems doing it then too, but there was never anyone outside the door asking me about it!
Did I mention that there was also the chance they could reject my "sample" because it wasn't the right color, temperature, or odor? Yeah, I guess they smell it! Luckily it was fine.
So home I went! Almost 4 hours after I had left. I gotta say though, I did enjoy looking at all the nice houses, farms, and just driving down those country roads. I always thought I'd stay a city girl for the rest of my life but now.......

Yesterday's Fiasco!

So, yesterday I had to go to Wadsworth to turn in my high school and college transcripts along with copies of both diplomas; then get re-fingerprinted. I waited at the stupid high school (that I had tried twice to get transcripts from) for the secretary to get off the phone. Then when I told her what I wanted and the year I graduated she said "Well, let me see if I can get into those records", because she dealt with even year graduates and I graduated in 2001. Then I told her my name, and she was like "Oh, you're related to..." And I said "Yeah, Jaimee, she's my sister", and her whole attitude changed and she was more than willing to help. Hmmmm....funny. (By the way, my sister is a teacher there.)
So off to Wadsworth I went. When I got off the expressway, this old guy in a truck beeped at me. I looked and he told me to roll down my window. I was kinda hesitant, but did it anyways....He informed me that my back tire was completely flat. Great. This whole process was suppose to take less than an hour.
I got to City Hall, turned in my stuff, and went to get fingerprinted. The guy there informed me that they had prisoners (not common, this is such a small city!), and I could call in like an hour and they should be gone and I'd be ok to come in. I said ok, and called a friend who I had planned on visiting. Her boyfriend had just moved in with her (don't get me started on that, but it served well for me at the time!), so I asked if he could come and put air in my tire. It would have taken me forever to figure it out!
So he did. Then we could hear the air hissing out and found a nail embedded in it. Great. So, he tried to take it off and put my spare on--after we dug through my trunk to get to it. After about 20 minutes or more of trying he could not get the stupid thing to come off. We ended up taking it to this tire shop a couple miles down the road and they did it for me. It had been about an hour and a half since I had left City Hall, so I called them back and they said I could come in. So I did. Then I had to go the long way home straight through the ghetto of Akron (with my doors locked of course) to Firestone so they could put a new tire on. It was a hectic crazy day! But I tried to stay positive and laugh as much as I could.
After yesterday and today with the poly graph and drug test, I really hope I get this job!! I'll tell more about the poly graph tomorrow. I don't feel like reliving it right now! Sorry. But I promise its coming.

Poly graph and drug test

I got a call from the detective Thursday-two actually. In the first one he said he had done one of the fingerprint cards wrong so he needs me to come back in and re-do it. No big deal. I'll just take all my transcripts and copies of my diplomas with me instead of mailing them (although mailing is a bit cheaper than the gas!). But, that's okay, because I like it out there and I think when I go in Monday, I'll look around a little more and maybe visit a couple of the shops that are right next to City Hall.
He called back a couple hours later and had scheduled a ploy graph and drug test for Tuesday at 1pm. I'm nervous and excited. Since I was honest on the questionnaire, and that's where they are going to get the poly graph questions from, it should all be ok. I really don't have anything to hide!
I'll be back to update on the poly graph after I take it! Things are getting close with this job! I'm really hoping it works out because I don't want to have to start all over again! The looking, applying, interviewing, is not my favorite thing to do! And to get this far for nothing would be a huge let down.
Well, that's all I have for now! More to come in the next couple days!

My new hobby....

So, I have a new hobby and I absolutely LOVE it! I even have pics for you. As someone who is pretty much broke, but planning on moving out on my own (with Elisabeth of course) in a few months after settling into a job, I'm gonna need a ton of stuff. So, how do I get all the stuff I'll need to furnish a place of my own? Well, I find crappy stuff and make it better. So off to yard sales I go. It's actually pretty fun to see what kind of stuff other people have and don't want. Last week I went out to a couple and found three very old, very ugly chairs (yes only 3, not 4). Bad finish, bad vinyl on top....here's what they looked like....













Yeah, pretty bad. So now my new hobby comes in. I love refinishing furniture. Don't ask me why, I have no clue, but I love it! I get to be creative, have fun, and be busy. So, I got all three of these chairs for $5 at this yard sale. I found maple finish in our basement along with padding to put under the new covers I planned on making. I went to Jo-Ann's during their big sale last week and found the perfect soft material. I paid $2.75 for a yard and a third. So, for less than $8, I have three beautiful chairs. Here's what they look like now...













Amazing. I love them. One for me, one for Elisabeth....who's gonna sit in the other one? Hmmmm.....I'm sure it'll get filled eventually......

So, if anyone ever finds or has a piece of furniture that needs refinished, let me know! If you provide the stuff, I'll come out and do it. :) Well, that's my fun new hobby. I can't wait to get ahold of something else so I can refinish it! Off to yard sales again this weekend. My only problem...(other than money)....I don't have a vehicle large enough to get big stuff home....anyone willing to help?

The process thus far...

So, this morning I went in and met with a detective after having filled out a 16 pages questionnaire asking about my entire past and present. It had some hard questions. Like, What are the best and worst things that happened to you in high school? What type of gambling do you enjoy? What is the most serious thing you were caught and not caught doing as a juvenile and as an adult? Now, if anyone would like to share their answers to any of these, please leave a comment for all of us to enjoy.
The worst part of this questionnaire was I had to list Elisabeth's father. We'll get into that more soon.
So, I went in and the detective said that we were going to go over a few of my answers for some clarification on a few. Not a huge deal. Then I would have to sign release forms for them to check with creditors and social security and stuff. Plus they took a picture and two sets of my fingerprints. They made sure no one was in the jail to watch :) It was kinda fun, but not something I want to have done on a regular basis.
Anyways...I sat down in his office and the first thing he said after the greeting, introduction, and stuff was..."I gotta ask JH (Elisabeth's father, I won't name his name), is this him?" and he handed me like a 40 page print out with his picture on it that was his criminal record-it was thick and heavy. I said "yes" and his reply was "He has a pretty colorful past." And I said, "Yeah I know, but it was all after me, and we haven't even spoken to each other in three years." Then he mentioned a recent domestic violence charge of JH's and asked if that involved me. Which of course it didn't. He really never even came close to even considering hitting me when we were together (I didn't tell that to the detective), I never gave him a reason to want to, but things change, people change. So, the detective was fine with the fact the JH was a part of my distant past and I don't think it will be held against me. They can see that his criminal record pretty much starts after my daughter's birth, and I made sure it was known that we did not associate after that.
It will take 10-14 days for all the background stuff to go through and in the mean time I have to send in high school and college transcripts. Then I should hear something from them. They aren't sure what shift it is going to be yet, but right now I think I can work out child care for any of them. And still be able to balance time with Elisabeth and myself. I don't think God will give me a job that I can't handle or that won't work out. The competition for this job is down to 3 at the most. Possibly 2, he said that one person dropped out because of the shift possibility, but I don't know if that was from the original 10 who were interviewed or the 3 that had second interviews. I would assume the three because after that interview is when it went to this detective for background checks.
I also get to pee in a cup and take a lie detector test if they offer the job. Fun stuff. I love peeing in something other than a toilet! Anyways...
Luckily these are some of the best people I have ever dealt with. Nice, polite, helpful. It is a wonderful group of people that I have met so far at Wadsworth City Hall. The area is beautiful....I'm already looking into apartments just in case. We'll see. It might be a couple weeks before I can update on this more just because it will take time for the background check. Gotta love government work! This process is actually going quicker than most government jobs, but it has already been a month since I first applied for the job.
Hope that's a good enough update for you Aunt D! It's all I got right now.

Job update

Just to keep everyone updated who is interested.....
My second interview went much better in my mind than the first. It was a lot more casual and conversation like than the first. The same three guys from the first interview were there along with a guy from the detective's bureau. They just looked through my stuff and asked questions, and the five of us sat around the table and talked. I got a call later yesterday afternoon asking me to come in and pick up a packet of forms that need to be filled out for a background investigation. Fun stuff. There's not much they can find about me though :) I've been a good girl.....for the most part. I have to put 5 people down for references and my three closest associates, so if you get a call, think positive about me :) Really, just be honest. I don't know what kind of stuff they would ask. The bad part is I have to put down Elisabeth's father-where ever the heck he is. Hopefully, they can't find him either. Who knows what he would say about me--not that it would be true. So, no offer yet, but on to the next step! I guess this is step like 3 out of who knows how many. They might verify it with a lie detector test and make me pee in a cup to see if I'm a druggie. Yeah, like I have time to take drugs! Or the money! I did find out that I scored 5th out of the 40 people who took the civil service test, and was the top civil service test scorer who got called for a second interview (I guess they didn't like the top 4 people-better for me though!). I'll keep everyone updated :) I'm excited.

Much needed Update

Ok, so I had a request to post an update, and I must agree that it is much needed and long awaited for those who check my blog regularly-if there is anyone who does that. Things have been busy, but that is no excuse. I do post a blog on my MySpace site (mostly the same as here), and I forgot to post the last one on here too, so sorry.
Well, graduation was on May 13 and except the fact that people are ignorant and feel the need to yell and clap and make idiots of themselves when someone they know walks across the stage, it went well. I debated for a long time as to whether or not I even wanted to attend, but in the end, I'm glad I did. It gave a nice closure to the whole college thing. So, me and The University of Akron have parted ways :) I have still gone back a couple times to visit the Admissions office. I miss it there and all the people :( It was a job that I really enjoyed and excelled at.
Since graduation, I have been busy looking for a job. I refuse to spend 10 years paying off student loans not to use this degree. Ohio.com Classifieds has become my best friend-sad I know, but that's just how it goes. So, I applied to take a civil service test for an emergency dispatcher position (you know, the 911 operator person) in Wadsworth, OH. It cost $25, but I thought hey, if I don't try, I'll never get it. For many years I've thought that dispatch would be fun and something that I would be good at (I have that whole good communications thing going for me). Well, 40 people took the test for one opening. Kinda slim chances.
I felt really good coming out of the test, but didn't want to get my hopes up too much. They said they would contact the top 10 scorers within a week and bring them in for an interview. I was in that top 10. Yay! The down side, I HATE interviewing! I don't think I'm good at it and just really don't like doing it. There's many reasons why. Anyways, I went in on June 6th for the interview. Luckily a good friend of mine went over tons of structured interview stuff with me the night before and told me what the interviewer is looking for. This got me thinking along the lines of the types of questions they might ask and what type of answer they were looking for. It was a huge help.
I got to the interview early and they took me right away. Wait! I was planning on using that 15 minutes I was early to mentally prepare for this! It was probably a good thing I didn't though. The interview was in front of 3 guys and they had a list of 10 questions they were asking everyone and scoring them on. Then they were going to take the top 3 from that and bring them back for a less structured interview. My interview was over by the time it was scheduled to start! That didn't seem like a good sign to me. But for those who know me, my answers are short, sweet, HONEST, and to the point. No BS, not mushy, wordy crap-just my answer. I did NOT feel good leaving this interview. So, I was planning on looking into other options the next day.
Then I got a call saying I was in the top 3 interview scorers and they scheduled me to come back Friday, June 16 @9am. So, everyone be praying for me! Less structured interviews are more my element. I really want this job. It had to be by the grace of God that I got a second interview because I really thought that was the end of it for me. And I had bought a new suit and everything! I think the suit had a lot to do with it. And the no BS answers. Oh, plus eye contact is one of my biggest things. Now with 3 people it was hard to look at everyone, but I did a lot. Well, 2 were constantly writing stuff as I answered, and as much as I tried, I couldn't read it!
So, I'll let you know what happens. The job pays pretty good, especially to start plus it has medical, dental, paid holidays, etc... I just don't know what shift it is. I'm just trusting God with it. It will all work out if this is the job He has for me. I'm not stressing about the shift, and what I would do with Elisabeth if it isn't mornings until I get past the step of getting the job. I do plan on moving closer to Wadsworth if I get it. Might look at some places early next week just in case. I now feel really good about this job. I have really wanted it since I first saw it in the newspaper. It's the type of thing I'm meant to do and would be very good at.
I promise to update on the interview and what I hear from them. I won't take over a month next time! I just got doing too many things with job hunting, church, and other stuff that's been going on. Sorry. It won't happen again!